703 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



I think that the bees control this by eating 

 much and exe.cising little when wax is secret- 

 ed. A cow worked hard would give but little 

 milk. When the bees woik hard they can not 

 secrete wax. Mr. H. will find all about wax in 

 any of the excellent bee-books. A. J. Cook. 

 Agricultural College, Mich., Aug. 27. 



UNCLE TOMS CABIN OF SPECKLED BEAUTY. 



MR. LANGSTROTH S EAR-TRUMPET. 



Mr. Root: — I can heai'tily indorse all Mr. 

 Langstroth says on page 063 in favor of the ear- 

 trumpet. I have used one like it for three 

 years, and find it a great help, as I am very 

 deaf. With its help I can hear conversation 

 that would be inaudible to my unaided ear. 

 The price is very reasonable, as I paid ^IJyO for 

 the first one I owned. 



White clover was a failure in this section 

 this year, but we got an average of 20 lbs. of 

 nice white honey from basswood and sumac; 

 very little swarming. F. W. Humphrey. 



Oronoque, Ct.. Sept. 3. 



alley's IIIVER. 



Bro. Alley has sent me two self-hivers. and 

 each has caught a swarm since their arrival. 

 They will catch the whole swarm. There is 

 no mistake about it. The reason is. that the 

 bees, in leaving and returning to the old hive 

 in their eveiy-day labors, pass through the 

 hiver; and when they swarm, the queen is 

 caught near the outer entrance of the hiver; 

 and when the bees return they stay in the hiver 

 with the queen. — Bee-keepers^ Review. 



PUXICS BAD STINGERS. 



Dl got one of H. Alley's $.5.00 Punic queens last 

 September, but they are good only for sting- 

 ing, and packing propolis. It is a pretty hard 

 matter to find a Punic queen when you want to. 



No honey crop here, and very little swarming. 

 From 40 colonies, spring count, I have taken 

 only 300 pounds extracted and about 70 pounds 

 of comb honey. 



Roodhouse.Ill., Aug. 16. 

 H. Marden in The Progressive Bee-keeper. 



NOT A TC»TAL FAILURE OF THE HONEY CROP IN 

 CALIFORNIA. 



I think your correspondents ought not to say 

 total failure of the honey crop here. While it 

 has been total in some localities, other localities 

 are getting considei-able honey. I learn that, 

 in Eldorado County, the yield is 100 lbs. per 

 colony; besides, there have been dozens of car- 

 loads sent from Southern California. 



Riverside, Cal., Aug. 10. John H. Martin. 



THOSE HOFFMAN SELF-SPACING FRAMES. 



I bought six of your Dovetailed hives with 

 self-spacing frames, and I like them much bet- 

 ter than any other frame and hive that I have 

 seen. I shall want some more next spring. I 

 get them from Mr. Posson, our seedsman. 



Allow me to say this much for Oregon as a 

 honey- producing State: She can produce as 

 fine honey in appearance, and as fine in flavor, 

 as can be found anywhere; but we lack in 

 quantity, no doubt. We have an abundance of 

 clover, but it does not learn to yield much 

 honey. There is no wild basswood. Peas, 

 clover, and fireweed are the main honey-produc- 

 ing plants here. Joel Bowman. 



Portland. Or., Sept. 3. 



My crop for 18<t2 is 16,(J00 lbs. 

 Middleburgh, N. Y. Wesley Dibble. 



TWELVE MONTHS OF POULTRY LIFE ; AN IN- 

 TERESTING CHICKEN- STORY FOR THE 

 JUVENILES. BY MRS. ANTELL. 



When I was a wee bit of a chick my first 

 consciousness was when I was all cramped up 

 in a bunch, struggling to get out of my shell. 

 I made a desperate leap, and out I sprang, 

 chirping as I came. Mother Biddie bade me be 

 quiet, as she was watching over me, and cuddle 

 up close under her wing. I was very quiet for 

 a time, when I began to feel something very 

 annoying, biting and running over me and try- 

 ing to get into my eyes. I could not keep still, 

 and my little brothers and sisters complained 

 of the same. Mother Biddie would stand up 

 and pick herself every once in a while, so she 

 stepped on and killed two of us. She did not 

 intend to. but she could not sit still, so annoyed 

 was she. 



Mistress Brown said she w'as a naughty biddie 

 to thus tramp her chickens and break her eggs; 

 but mother Biddie told her it was she who was 

 to blame, because she did not put ashes in the 

 bottom of her nest, with a little straw on top. 

 and sprinkle insect-powder in all cracks and 

 corners of the nest, box, and through her 

 feathers. She said, " Do you not see how I ruf- 

 fle up my feathers when you come near, so if 

 you would spray the powder above me it would 

 fall all through my feathers, and these annoy- 

 ing hen-mites would soon be gone, even before 

 one of my downiy chicks had hatched?" Mis- 

 tress told her she would grease her under the 

 wings, and us chicks on our heads, as she had 

 raised chickens many years. I guess she forgot 

 how much to use, and put on too much: for we 

 all looked slick, and two of us died, and the rest 

 of us did not feel very well either. Old mistress 

 said she must use but the least trifle of grease 

 next time, and may be she'd better try the Per- 

 sian insect-powder. 



She took us out of our warm nest and put us 

 into her apron, one on top of the other, and 

 then went to another nest and got a lot more 

 little soft downy chicks, just like ourselves, 

 and put on top of us. in her apron, and doubled 

 mother Biddie up under her arm by holding one 

 leg and her neck in the same hand. Mother 

 Biddy felt indignant to be carried in that w-ay, 

 as she says she is a very quiet and peaceable 

 hen, and deserves gentle treatment. As a mer- 

 ciful man is merciful to his beast, so a merciful 

 woman is merciful to her chickens and bees. 



Mistress Brown sprinkled insect-powder 

 through our mother's feathers, and took us out 

 to a nice large coop on the green grass, and 

 gave us some nice food to eat. as we had been 

 hatched three days, and had not tasted food; 

 but we were a big lively brood of chicks, 24 of 

 us all together. We cuddled up under mother 

 Biddie's wings at night, and when it was cool 

 and rainy. 



When the sun shone warm we ran out on the 

 green grass, and were very happy. One little 

 sister said she felt very badly because we near- 

 ly crushed her when old mistress put us all into 

 her apron. 



One wet and rainy morning mistress took her 

 to the house and said she would wrap her up 

 and put her by the stove: but mother Biddie 

 said she had better not have mashed little 

 sister, as prevention is better than cure for 

 little chicks. Little sister never came back to 

 us again. 



One night it rained very hard, and the water 

 came through the coop and ran in on all sides, 

 and we had to stand up in the water. Just 

 think of it! little soft downy baby-chicks stand- 

 ing in cold water! How could they help catch- 



