1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



283 



I sometimes scold tlie big bee-folks when 

 they are so careless ; but as you are only an 

 eleven-year-old-little girl, I guess I won't 

 this time. 



I am ten years old, and I go to school. 1 have not 

 got any bees myself, but pa keeps some. He lost 

 one stand, and had about eight left. I like bees bet- 

 ter than I do honey, and I like to watch them when 

 they swarm. We built a kind of a house over them. 

 The roof was just tall enough to go over the top of 

 the hives when they were in a row. We are going 

 to raise all the bees we can this summer. We are 

 going to build a bee house too this summer. Pa is 

 a carpenter, and he expects to commence on a barn 

 ia a few days. I think the cartoons and pictures of 

 Mr. Merrybanks and his neighbor are very funny. 

 Birdie M. Harden. 

 Good Hope, McDonough Co., 111., May 3, 18M. 



Very good. Birdie. My pa used to be a 

 carpenter too, so you see you and I are al- 

 most related to each other. I suppose you 

 will tell us how much honey your pa gets 

 from those eight stands. 



ters from the little folks. Ma says you must be one 

 of the best men in the world, and she likes to read 

 the Home Papers. Emma Williams. 



Vanceburg, Ky., April '„'8, 1881. 



Many thanks, friend Emma. I am much 

 obliged to your ma fov her good opinion ; 

 but this morning I have been feeling very 

 sad, because some of tliose near and dear 

 to me scold real hard beciiuse I will not do 

 things tliat I think would be wrong for both 

 of us. That is a tip-top idea, your pounding 

 up cobs for your pa's smoker, and I hope 

 other little girls will take the hint. 



I am a boy 13 years of age. Pa takes Gleanings. 

 We keep bees. Ours are alive, and dning Avell. AVe 

 wintered them in the American hives with chaft 

 cushings over the frames. We feed them candy' 

 made of coffee A sugar. I believe I can And a 

 swarm of bees. The Juvenile Department is getting 

 very interesting. I think Freddie L. Craycraft Is 

 quite right by not wanting to be put with Blasted 

 Hopers. I think those whose hopes are so easily 

 blasted do not have much faith; and the Bible says, 

 have faith, hope, and charity. I have a brother 10 

 j-ears old. We go to Sunday-school. 



Bela M. Armstrong. 



Hancock, Harrison Co., Ind., April 2.5, 1881. 



Tip-top, friend Bela, and most especially 

 do I admire your concluding remarks. If 

 they have faith in God and the Biljle, they 

 certainly won't have blasted hopes very long. 

 I only wish the "chaft cushings" had 

 worked as well with everybody else as they 

 did at yotu' house. 



I am a boy 14 years old. My father, Mr. L. C. Sea- 

 ton, keeps bees; he has 30 swarms, almost all Italian; 

 they are coming out all right this spring. My 

 father bought an A B C book, and he takes Glean- 

 ings. I read them all. I like the " cartoons," and, 

 in fact, all the rest. My brother, James Dightou, re- 

 ceived a book from you, entitled " My Brother and 

 I, and the Little Captain," which I think is very 

 nice; it seems it was pretty hard for that man to 

 break the chain, but he finally succeeded. I have 

 signed a temperance pledge, and promised that I 

 will never touch any more tobacco, neither to smoke 

 nor chew, and I intend to keep my resolutions. I 

 have not touched anj' tobacco for over a month. 

 Frederick O. Seaton. 



Banks, Faribault Co., Minn., April U, 1881. 



Very good, friend Frederick. I hope you 

 Will always keep that pledge. I am glad 

 that you and your brother liked the books. 



I am a little girl twelve years old. Pa has a good 

 many bees. I am afraid of bees, but I pound cobs 

 for the smoker, and carry boxes up and down stairs. 

 My younger sister has a swing out on one of the ap- 

 ple-trees, and watches the bees, and runs and tells 

 pa when they are swarming. I like to read the let- 



I am a boy 11 years old. I have one swarm of bees, 

 and pa has about 65. He commenced the winter 

 with 94 colonies, but 39 died, and more are likely to 

 die, for it is never safe to count chickens before 

 they are hatched. The reason pa lost so many 

 swarms was, some were queenless, and he was sick 

 and not able to give them brood to raise themselves 

 a queen. My swarm is Italian, and I expect to rear 

 queens from it. Pa says it is worth $25.00 for that. 

 The past winter has been very hard on the bees. 

 Our bees are set in rows, and dirt banked up 

 against them with chaff next to the hives to prevent 

 their rotting. Pa has been feeding them water to in- 

 duce them to rear brood. I nail up some of the 

 honey-boxes; they are made of 4 pieces. Ma makes 

 the most of them. She is getting to be quite expert 

 in the business. She has made 400 honey-boxes in a 

 day. Who can beat that? I think those cartoons 

 are splendid. Charlie A. Balch. 



Oran, Onondaga Co., N. Y., April 11, 1881. 



Very good, Charlie. I am real glad you 

 told how many honey-boxes your mother 

 could nail up in a day, for I suppose that 

 some of the other women wiiose husbands 

 are bee-keei)ers will, after reading your let- 

 ter, get hold of the idea, and try to see how 

 many they can put up in a day too. Has 

 any other little boy got a mother who can 

 do any Ijetter than Charlie's mother? 



Seeing so many nice letters written by little girls 

 and boys, I thought I would write and tell about my 

 papa's bees. Last fall papa made the nicest little 

 houses for them, and mamma and I made the little 

 cushions to put above, below, and around them. 

 The houses were as large as a good-sized dog kennel, 

 and lie put them upstairs before he used them, and 

 one day two little girls came over to play with me, 

 and we got in them (the little shingled top came off), 

 and played we were bees. t)ne time our kitty thought 

 the alighting-boards made a splendid place for him 

 to sit on and sun himself ; so one morning he went 

 out and sat down on one of them. Pretty soon he 

 began to look around, and by and by he gave a hop, 

 and ti'p all knew what the matter was. We used to 

 have some chickens, and whenever a bee got on one 

 hen another would pick it oft" in such a way as to kill 

 the bee and not let him sting her. But our old roos- 

 ter thought he would have a feast, so he went along, 

 picked up a bee, and of all the noises that rooster 

 did make! And he went around crying for a long 

 time. Papa takes Gleanings, and I like to read it. 



Detroit, Mich., May 4, 1881. Lizzie. 



That is a very good letter, Lizzie, and the 

 writing is beautiful; but as you did not tell 

 us the rest of your name, I don't see how we 

 can send you a book very well. Do youV 



