484 



GLEAi^INGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



back Nos. and vols, will answer about the 

 business being adapted for women, and your 

 capital may be anywhere from one hive of 

 bees up; better small, perhaps, than other- 

 wise. __^_ 



' AM a little girl 13 years old. My pa keeps bees; 

 we went into winter-quarters last fall with 9 

 stands of bees. We came out this spring with 

 7—3 weak ones and 5 strong, and the 3 weak ones 

 died. The 5 strong ones swarmed 15 times. My pa 

 gave me a swarm last summer, and he bought a yel- 

 low queen from you and put it in with my black 

 bees, and she stayed in only W2 days, and she led otf 

 with a swarm of bees, and I have two stands of bees 

 now. We use the Simplic-ity hive. Our neighbor, 

 Mr. John Farren, had 16 stands of bees last fall, and 

 came out this spring with 4 stands. 



My pa takes Gleanings; we could not do without 

 it. He gets some very good ideas out of it. I like 

 to read It. Pa has one of your smokers. I attend 

 Sunday-school. Julia Bannon. 



Well, that is a first-rate letter, Julia ; but 

 we have puzzled our brains in vain to tell 

 where to send the book, for you see you 

 haven't told where you live, at all. The 

 postmark on the envelope has a little resem- 

 blance to Pennsylvania, and the girls were 

 going into a long hunt to lind you, until I 

 stopped them. Now, when you see this, you 

 will take a postal card, won't you, and tell 

 us real plainly what town, county, and 

 State, you live in V I am glad the yellow 

 queen did not go off— aren't you V Are her 

 bees yellow now too V 



In 1879, my pa bought one colony of bees in the 

 old-fashioned box hive; they swarmed three times, 

 and pa, not knowing any better, smoked two of 

 them with sulphiu-, and took out the honey and bur- 

 ied the bees. Pa put the other two in the corn-crib, 

 and wintered them all right. We stayed home all 

 the next summer, and watchedthera, andthey never 

 swarmed, and we were quite provoked; so pa said 

 there must be some different way of managing bees 

 than that. In the fall he bought 13 more colonies at 

 $1.00 each, then making 14 in all ; he transferred two 

 of them, and put them into hives 19 inches long, 15 

 inches deep, and 13^4 inches wide. We put them in 

 a good warm stable on the north side of the barn. 

 About the first of January, pa found three of them 

 that needed feeding. We brought them in the house, 

 and found one of them dead; the other two being 

 weak, he thought he would put them in the cellar to 

 keep them warmer; but the cellar being too damp, 

 the comb molded and the bees died. About the first 

 of April we put them out on a plank, all close to- 

 gether. In a few days there was a heavy snow- 

 storm, and when it began to get warmer the bees 

 flew out and fell on the snow and died; so pa scat- 

 tered straw on the snow for about ten feet out in 

 front of the hives, and stopped the holes up with 

 straw, so that the bees could not get out; but he 

 gave them plenty of air. Last year pa gave a neigh- 

 bor one dollar if he Avould show him how to transfer 

 them. This spring, about the first of May, wc trans- 

 ferred the 11 that were left, and then bee-keeping 

 began in earnest. The next day after transferring, 



pa bought two more colonies. By taking from the 

 strong ones, and adding to the weak ones, by the 

 middle of May they were all quite strong. By keep- 

 ing the queen at work, he got them so strong that he 

 had to buy 13 Italian queens, and divide them up. 

 We have now one Holy-Land, 3 Cyprians, 17 Italians, 

 4 hybrids, and 31 blacks. Pa's share of the bees is 

 ten-thirteenths; my brother Clarence's share is one- 

 thirteenth, and my share is two-thirteenths. Pa 

 makes all of his own hives, and my 9-year-old brother 

 and 1 make the racks and paint the hives. We ex- 

 pect to get 1300 lbs. of honey this year. We have got 

 1300 lbs. up to date. I have two brothers and two 

 sisters; one brother is two weeks old, and the other 

 one is nine years old; my youngest sister has bine 

 eyes. I would like a picture of your Blue Eyes, and 

 give you a picture of my Blue Eyes. I live in a 

 country place, and I am 11 years old, and go to Sun- 

 day-school and day school. I read in the fourth 

 book, and study arithmetic, geography, grammar, 

 and algebra. Pa has been taking Gle.^nings and 

 the A. B. J. for about ;5 months, and we like them 

 very well. My brother and I are going to Toronto 

 next week with pa, to attend the fair and bee-keep- 

 ers' convention. H. Fr.^ncis Cook. 

 Atherton, Norfolk Co., Ont., Sept. C, 1881. 



Well, I declare, friend Francis, I shall 

 have a pretty good opinion of you Canadians 

 after a while. You know our boy John is 

 from Canada, and here you are, only 11, 

 owning a share in an apiary, going to fairs 

 and bee conventions, and writing good long 

 letters to a bee journal. Now, while I think 

 of it, I want to put in a plea for the juveniles 

 at our conventions. If any are present they 

 are to be allowed to speak, in place of some 

 of the men who make such long speeches. 

 I am a little afraid you have not been tak- 

 ing just the right course in wintering; but 

 with the bees you have now on hand, you 

 will likely find out what is best in the mat- 

 ter. The pictures of Blue Eyes are all gone ; 

 won't the one in the A B C do V I should be 

 very glad to see the picture of your " Blue 

 Eyes.'' 



My father has kept bees 17 years. The first swarm 

 he had he found in a hollow tree on the bank of the 

 river; he sawed the tree otl on both sides of the nest, 

 and put a pole into the hole of the log, and tied a 

 rope to each end of it, and hung it on the back of 

 the wagon, then hauled it home. He left them in 

 the log a short time, and then drove them into a 

 hive. He has now about 300 swarms from that one. 

 In swarming time I watch to see where they alight. 

 This summer 1 got 10 cents for every swarm I saw, 

 and earned a gold breastpin, and still have some 

 money left. My father don't use tobacco in any 

 form, nor whisky either. Eva Amery. 



St. Croix Falls, Polk Co., Wis., Sept. 3, 1881. 



Well done for you, friend Eva. So you 

 have bought every thing you need — at least 

 I suppose so, and have money left. I had 

 made up my mind that your father was a 

 good man, before you told that last line, and 

 now it seems to me you can thank God for 

 having given you so good a father. Pretty 

 well done, for the bees that came out of that 

 one old tree. 



