284 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



June 



I am a l,oy 10 years old. I have a brother who is 

 going into the bee business; he has 4 hives of bees; 

 they came through the winter in good condition; he 

 winters in dry-goods boxes packed with chaff. He 

 is going to get some more this spring, and so ara I. 

 I have a sheep and three dollars. I am' going to sell 

 my sheep and get a hive of bees with the money. A 

 great many of the bees around here have died. 

 Some men who have kept bees for years have lost 

 all they had. I like to read Gleanings and the A 

 B C. - Robert W. Murkar. 



Aberdour, Ont., Can., April 30, 1881. 



Very good, Kobert, and I wish also to 

 commend you for such good handwriting, 

 for a boy only 10 years old. If all the big 

 folks would write as plain and neatly as you 

 do, it would save us a " heap of trouble." 



A year ago last summer a swarm of bees came to 

 papa up in one of our bird-houses, and Mr. Quinby 

 came and put them in a hive. Last summer they 

 swarmed, and then wo had 3 colonies. Last fall pa- 

 pa bought 30 Cvilonies, and sold 3 to one of our 

 neighbors. They put them in a cupboard that was 

 damp, and they wore dead this spring. Papa put 

 his bees in chaff hives. He put one of his best colo- 

 nies in his cellar, and this spring it is dead, and 7 of 

 those on the summer stands, it has been such a hard 

 winter. Papa loves honey, and so do my 3 brothers; 

 but mother and I do not care for it. It is so sweet 

 it makes our teeth ache. We go out to see the bees; 

 they are bringing in pollen very fast. Our dog 

 Major was very much interested in bees early in the 

 season, but one day they gave him too warm a wel- 

 come, so he lost his interest in bees. Pa likes 

 Gleanings very much. I am 11 years old. I attend 

 the Methodist Sunday-school. We have 150 mem- 

 bers, and my brothers and I go nearlj' every Sunday. 

 We all like music, and we all can sing, and play the 

 organ. Cora M. Russell. 



White Plains, Westchester Co., N. Y., May 3, 1881. 



A ^'ery good report, friend Cora, and we 

 are all the more interested in it, because it 

 gives us a glimpse of our friend I). M. Quin- 

 by, of whom we have not heard in quite a 

 spell. I have known other folks, with more 

 sense than poor old Major, who lost their in- 

 terest in bees "all of a sudden." If I liave 

 figured right, your pa has now 11 colonies. 



I received your card, book, and sugar. Thank you 

 ever so much. It was 57 quarts of strawberries 1 

 picked in a day. We had a good many little girls 

 picking too, and some picked more than that; but 1 

 had to quit and help to wait on customers at the 

 house. Anna A. White. 



Wolf Creek, Pa., April 14, 188L 



My pa takes Gleanings, and likes it real well. 

 He reads it all through from beginning to end. I 

 read it some too, especially Mr. Merrybanks and the 

 Juvenile Department. I am older than some whose 

 names I see in the Juvenile Department. I am 

 about 13 years old, and this is the first letter of this 

 kind that I ever attempted to write. My pa keeps 

 bees, and has ever since I can remember, and he 

 says he has ever since he was 10 years old; he is 

 now 53. I like honey, and would like bees if they 

 would not sting. I got stung when I was a baby, 

 and it came very near killing me. I had one swarm 

 last season, but they are dead now. Pa has lost a 

 good many; he had 123 swarms last fall, but he says 



he will send a report, and you will know more about 

 it than I can tell you. I like to read Sunday-school 

 books, and I like to attend Sunday-school, and I do 

 when there is any. Lydia A. Newton. 



AVhitney's Crossing, AUe. Co., N. Y., April 12, 1831. 



Why, friend J.ydia, your pa is quite a "big 

 bee-man," if he has got so many colonies as 

 you mention, especielly if he has got them 

 all alive this spring. 1 suppose you help 

 him " a big lot," do you not V 



Papa went to the P. O. yesterday and brought 

 home four copies of Gleanings. We sat up until 

 ten o'clock reading them. We like Gleanings. I 

 am a little girl ten years old, and have one colony of 

 Italians in the cellar, when they ought to be at work; 

 but our bee-yard is under the snow about three feet. 

 My papa put his bees in the cellar last Nov., but 

 some have died, and the rest are getting uneasy. 

 We have a nice strawberry bed close to the bee-yard, 

 and if you will come and see us and bring Blue Eyes 

 we will have fun picking berries, and swinging in 

 the hammock, while you and papa are looking at the 

 bees. Papa calls me curly head. Jennie Webster. 



Parks Corners, 111., Apr. 18, 1881. 



Well done, my curly-headed little friend 

 Jemiie. I shoiild like to come and bring 

 JJlue Eyes, above all things, for yovi know by 

 what I said in the last Gleanings that I 

 like strawberries; if you don't my wife does. 

 But what do you suppose all these boys and 

 girls would do liere if I should go away? 

 Tell your papa I should dearly love to look 

 over his bees with him. 



We have received Gleanings, and are having nice 

 weather. You did not come out much better than 

 we did, with your bees. We have just one colony 

 left. It is strong, and carrying in pollen every day. 

 We have not got our bees from the South yet, but 

 we are looking for them about the middle of this 

 month. This is going to be a good honey year. The 

 peaches and apples are in bloom ; the woods are get- 

 tin;^- green fast. I never saw a better prospect for 

 white-clover honey than this year; the prospect for 

 fruit is good. We will have a railroad coming here 

 soon— the Evansville & Eastern Railroad. We are 

 making preparation for a fair next fall. 



Salem, Ind., May 5, 1881. Freddie Craycraft. 



Why, Freddie, you are quite progressive, 

 I should judge, from your letter. Going to 

 have bees from the Soutli, a railroad, a fair, 

 and lots of white clover. Our apiary is now 

 booming under the influence of 40 fine colo- 

 nies that came from the south too— about 

 ten miles south, and we are sending out bees 

 by the pound at a lively rate. Twenty pack- 

 ages, with queens, go off to-day. Bee-keep- 

 ers must "never say die." Isn't that so, 

 Freddie? 



How (loth the little busy bee 



Delight to bark and bite; 

 He gathers honey all day long, 



^Vnd eats it up at night. 



I found the above in the Apostolic Times^ 

 under the signature of our friend L. C. Root, 

 and thought it would do very well for the 

 Juvenile Class at this season of the year. 

 Within a few days, I have found colonies in 

 just this "predicament." At night, they 

 would have honey scattered through the 

 hive pretty fairly, but next morning not a 

 drop nor cell full eoiUd be found. The se- 



