1881 



GLEiVNINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



3.57 



could care for the unsealed brood, and the 

 sealed could hatch out. In this way the 

 whole contents were disposed of. Of course, 

 bees kept crawling up the sides of this sec- 

 ond story, but -John brushed them back 

 while his father held the light at a little dis- 

 tance. After the hive was pretty nearly 

 empty, friend M. set it down, and asked for 

 the other queenless colony. AVith a quick 

 but quiet movement, this colony, being in a 

 Simplicity hive, was raised and set over the 

 one containing the drowned bees, and not a 

 bee was mashed, nor could one more crawl 

 out in the dirt without coming through the 

 bees in the lower story of this three-story 

 triple colony of bees. 

 '' But AVon"t they tight V" said John. 

 "No danger of fighting, with all this mass 

 of honey to take care of,'' said Mr. M.; and 

 he moved the whole back a little so as to give 

 a larger entrance. '' The daubed bees will 

 naturally crawl upward, and are sure to get 

 licked oif clean, no matter which way they 

 go. The bees from above and below will, 

 unitedly, have every thing clean before 

 morning, and the loose honey all put near 

 the brood in the good combs." 



The old sticky hive was then set over a 

 colony, with a good queen, and all went 

 home.' I do not know what the rest of them 

 dreamed when they got to sleep ; but poor, 

 tired, sticky, guilty John dreamed he was a 

 queen bee pursued by a great monster of a 

 toad with horrid eyes and a great club. This 

 club was full of sharp spikes, and as he 

 raised it over him, John distinctly recalled 

 the look of the poor toads as they dealt them 

 blow after blow, without mercy, just the 

 evening before. 



JOHM S DKEAM. 



With a scream of terror John awoke to 

 find it was only a terrible nightmare, and, 

 what Avas more strange, it was his mother's 

 soothing voice that quieted his nerves and 

 bid him tell her all about it. How came she 

 there at such a time of night? She came to 

 pray for her boy at his bedside, as she had 

 so many times before, and God had answered 



her by so ordering it that she should be there 

 at just the time, of all others, when John 

 would be most likely to tell her of his first 

 steps m sin. He told her all about the 

 events of the evening, and promised her not 

 only to never allow another drop of beer to 

 pass his lii)s, but to carefully avoid the so- 

 ciety of bad and wicked boys, even though 

 he had to stay at home without company at 

 ?J^-^.^^*"°^® Soing back, she opened her lit- 

 tle Bible and read, — 



"My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou 

 not, etc. 



Friend M. came over in the morning , and 

 John just laughed to see that all the bees 

 Avere clean and comparatively bright. The 

 hives were taken apart, and each restored, 

 as near as it could be, to its original place. 

 The brood from the box hive was nicely put 

 into frames, and as half the hive belonged to 

 Tom, the stock was fairly divided, giving 

 Tom the queen, while John had a capped 

 cell in his. Tom came after his colony in 

 tlie afternoon, bringing a lot of boys with 

 him. When some instruction was offered 

 him in regard to moving 

 them, he declined listen- 

 ing, saying he knew how 

 to handle bees as well as 

 anybody. He would not 

 even accept the loan of a 

 veil or smoker, saying his 

 father never used any 

 such things, and he knew 

 liOAv. I really can not 

 spare the time to tell 

 you how Tom prospered 

 Avith his bees, but I Avill 

 give you his picture as he 

 appeared next day. 

 Good-bye, kind friends, until next time. 



TOM, THE doc- 

 tor's SOX. 



TOBACCO COIiUMN. 



f BELIEVE that I have smoked with my mouth 

 long enough, and as my Simplicity is gone, I 

 ■ need a smoker. If you choose I will take one on 

 your offer to smokers. I do not wish to pledge my- 

 self positively to never smoke again, for I can not 

 tell what may be brought to bear upon me— influ- 

 ences I mean; nor will I agree to pay for five nor 

 two; but if I return to the pipe, I will pay promptly 

 for the one I get. You may send me a Quinby 

 double-blast this time, good size; and if my smoker 

 pledge is not strong enough, why, just charge it up 

 to me. J. L. Cole. 



Carlton Center, Barry Co., Mich., June 14, 1881. 

 All right, friend C; your promise is enough. 

 May the Lord help you to " put on the whole 

 armor.'' 



I think I will take some stock in that smoker busi- 

 ness. It's a square stand-up bet, only I hold the 

 stakes; but to off-set that 1 give odds of two to one; 

 that is, you send me a large Bingham smoker, 

 price J1.50, and if I use tobacco, either chewing or 

 smoking, I pay $3.00, with interest on the f 1.50 from 

 date of receipt of smoker. I inclose 25c for postage. 

 Now, to make the above square I must tell you that 

 I have been in trainiug about five months; so you 

 see I have the advantage in the game. I am 5i years 

 old, and have used tobacco since I was 18. I have 

 often thought I would quit the use of the vile stuff, 



