1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



241 



into mud, it is not difficult to keep hens free from 

 vermin. 



Now, in the above there is no hint of using 

 a white egg-shaped onion for a nest egg; but 

 it came into my mind like a flash that our 

 White Victoria onions would fill the bill ex- 

 actly. Mrs. Root says the hens would kick 

 the onions out, and refuse to be humbugged ; 

 but if some of our nice Victoria onions are not 

 a better imitation than a great part of the 

 nest-eggs commonly used, then I will give up. 

 Just try a hen that wants to sit on a nestful 

 of white onions. If the hen does not do her 

 part, I shall be mistaken. (Whenever you set 

 a hen, always put in one white onion. ) Well, 

 now, friends, if in the course of time the 

 standard nest-egg of the world should be a 

 white onion, won't you all bear witness that 

 Uncle Amos first suggested the idea ? 



Our Roll of Honor. 



Friend Root: — I have been a subsciber to Gleanings 

 since 1883, and have received "real estate" benefit 

 from its teachings in apiculture, and especially from 

 Home teachings. I want it to live and benefit others. 



Joy, 111., Feb. 14. W. M. Miller. 



I have taken Gleanings so long that I don't think 

 I can do without it unless my bees all perish. I have 

 been looking over rny old Gleanings. The oldest 

 are of 1879; but as I have been in the habit of giving 

 them to others who cared to read on the subject after 

 I had read them I am not certain when I commenced 

 taking it. J. B. Hains. 



Bedford, O., Feb. 20. 



I can not exactly tell the date when I began reading 

 Gleanings, but I think it was in 1874, at Salem, Ind., 

 where I resided until the fall of 1883, when I moved to 

 Florida. I have not kept the papers having friends 

 who were desirous of reading them, and very few of 

 them eve r returned home. Gleanings all these years 

 has been a great and shining light to me in many dark 

 places. May its light continue to shine and grow 

 brighter long ages after you and I are no more on 

 earth. John Craycraft. 



Astor Park, Fla., Jan. 9. 



Friend A. I. Root. — I think I have taken Gleanings 

 over twenty years, and followed you through the 

 American Bee Journal. I recollect reading about wind- 

 mill, four-horse power engine, then forty, and up to 

 the present. I do not take Gleanings for informa- 

 tion about bees, as I have none; but I like your Home 

 talks and information about home comforts, garden- 

 ing, etc. I think I can say your writings have done 

 me good, and have helped many times to lift me out 

 of self (in mind), and led me to think of higher and 

 better things. I wonder how many take Gleanings 

 for the above consideration. Walter Senior. 



Webster, W. Va., Jan. 21. 



Dear Mr. Root. — I have been looking over that Sym- 

 posium of the Wterans again, and I see the "2.5 years, 

 more or less." takes me in also. I don't want the pres- 

 ent, but I want to express myself in regard to some 

 things I think I took Gleanings in 1880 or '81. I 

 was then in Spotswo d, New Jersey. I invented (or, 

 rather, discovered) one way of imbedding the wires in 

 foundation; that was, I think, in 1882. I took a sew- 

 ing-machine needle, broke it at the eye, stuck the 

 point in a handle, and then ran the broken eye over 

 the wire and pressed it down. All was common, no 

 patents. If any one discovered any thing new it was 

 turned over to Bro. Root, and tried. Well, as a token 

 of appreciation Gleanings was sent without pay. 

 All your veterans seem to be bound to be helpful. If 

 they have any thing that can benefit fellow-bee keep- 

 ers, they go to some trouble to give it freely. 



But there is one part of Gleanings which is like 

 the flashes of sunshine in a beautiful landscape; and 

 that is Our Homes. I send Gleanings to my mother, 

 over 70 years old, when we are through with it, and 

 she enjoys reading it. 



I understand you, Bro. Root, from Jan. loth and fol- 



lowing numbers. Those who don't, really miss the 

 cream and honey of life. I send you a hearty amen ! 

 I had a brother (he is dead now) who came to Dakota, 

 bought a quarter section of land and two yoke of oxen 

 (stags), and went to breaking. It did not go very 

 well. If you ever plowed with two yoke of oxen you 

 know all about it. Somebody was concealed in the 

 tall grass near by. Brother "had great trouble. He 

 got very angry, aiid it seemed as if he had to give it 

 up; but he knelt right there by the plow, and prayed 

 the Lord to forgive him for getting angry, and to help 

 him. He placed all in line, and started again, and, 

 lo ! all went smoothly along, and he broke a great 

 many acres of prairie that summer. Those who have 

 had the experience know that there is much in the 

 hymn. " Take it to the Lord in prayer." I can say 

 with the Psalmist, " I had fainted unless I had believ- 

 ed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the 

 living." " Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and 

 he shall strengthen thy heart; wait, I say, on the 

 Lord." Stephen J. Harmeling. 



Marion, S. Dak., Feb. 22. 



Ft iend Root. — 1 was a bee-keeper before Gleanings 

 started, and 1 have read nearly all the periodicals pub- 

 lished on bee culture. The first paper I remember 

 reading was published by H. A. King & Co., of New 

 York, dating back to 1873, and we have one copy of 

 that paper yet. As to the exact date when I became 

 acquainted with Gleanings I don't remember; but I 

 remember quite well the photo of yourself with Blue 

 Eyes sitting on your knee, and when you signed your- 

 self " Novice " I have been a subscriber nearly every 

 year since, and have followed its teachings all the 

 way through to the present time "Our Homes" I 

 have been interested in, and have read and practiced 

 it' teachings. While we have been reading and prac- 

 ticing what Gleanings has taught, we never met its 

 editor until the Omaha convention, at which time we 

 saw other old-time writers such as Dr. Miller, G. W. 

 York, Dr. Mason, and others. We are still bee-keep- 

 ing, and like to work with and handle bees, as well as 

 when we first commenced. J. M. Young. 



Plattsmouth, Neb., Jan 10. 



Dear Mr. Root: — I think it was in 1871 when Mr. 

 Axtell and I began keeping bees; and about two years 

 later we began taking Gleanings. I well remember 

 what a real comfort a letter from you to us about that 

 time was, in answer to whether our bees were put up 

 right for wintering, as we felt a good deal as if grop- 

 ing in the dark, though we had read every thing on 

 bees we could hear of, reading and re-reading, and 

 committing to memory directions given in books and 

 papers. We have taken Gleanings ever since. 



Cleanings has been a great help tons in many 

 ways besides in helping us to understand bee culture. 

 The Home Papers have been a source of comfort and 

 strength, and generally the first read. 



The first few years the honey crop was short, and 

 bees did not pav largely; then for about ten years we 

 had scarcely a failure; but the past few years honey 

 crops have again been posr, and some years would be 

 almost a failure except for the benefit to my health in 

 working out of doors, and perhaps the benefit of bee- 

 stings, as I have had some days as many as ten to fifty. 



I ha e hardly felt like calling any year a failure, be- 

 cause of the benefit the bees have been to my health 

 and happiness. » 



The largest amount secured in any one vear was in 

 1882—39.000 lbs. of comb honey, except about 500 lbs. 

 of extracted, from 180 colonies, spring count, and in- 

 creased to 208. The following winter was very hard 

 on bees, and we lost over 100 colonies, which taught us 

 to go back to the Quinbv mode of giving room under 

 brood-frames, and packing hives with chaff, which 

 will give successful wintering out of doors if the hon- 

 ey is good, and large entrances when wintered in cel- 

 lar. Mrs. L- C. Axtell. 



Roseville, 111., Mar. 2. 



Just now the men seem to have the floor. Although 

 not a veteran, I am a subscriber, and I do enjoy read- 

 ing Gleanings. In reading of your wheel-trips I 

 was tempted to buy a wheel, and have been riding 

 two years, and like it At first I thought I was too 

 old to ride one, as I was born in 1838. I do errands on 

 it, make calls, and even go to church on it. Women 

 have said to me, " I glorv in your wheel." I can blame 

 it all on Mr. Root. I thought he was not going to have 

 all the fun in his old days. Sister bee-keepers, where 

 are you ? Let us not let the men have all the say. 

 Success to A. I. Root and Gleanings is my wish. 



Bilmond, la., Feb. 27. Mrs. J. H. Allison. 



