48G 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUJ.TUEE. 



(3ct. 



ing till nig-ht, and the seeds are tiyiug like a swarm 

 of bees past our door as I write this letter. The 

 honey is nice, but not as good as basswood. The for- 

 est is full of basswood here, and a good place for 

 bees; only 5 colonies near here for several miles 

 that we know of. Joseph Monica. 



Romeo, Marathon Co., Wis., Aug. 38, 1881. 



Well done, friend Joseph. It speaks well 

 for you that you are on such good terms 

 with your stepfather ; and if you can handle 

 those hybrids, you will probably have no 

 trouble when you get to the pure Italians. I 

 am glad, also, to see one of your age so ob- 

 servant. Make the most of that field of fire- 

 weed, and don't be hasty in condemning 

 those to whom you send orders. AVe could 

 liave told you that you money was perfectly 

 safe with our old friend Dan White. 



MRS. LUCINDA HAKKISON TO THE .IDVENILES. 



I've just finished reading the Juvenile Depart- 

 ment, and am pleased that so many boys and girls 

 are interested in bees. I had so much talking to do 

 in August, that I coul<l not write to you for the Sep- 

 tember Gleanings. I was in Vermont, visiting a 

 brother whf) had been a missionary in Turkey for 37 

 years, and who came back to this country on ac- 

 count of poor health. As he was not a bee-keeper, 

 he did not know much about the bees there, and re- 

 marked that the honey they bought in Turkey was 

 not as white and nice as that seen in America. Do 

 you not think the Turkish bees are as neat as ours? 

 They are striped, and arc probably Italians; but 

 then they have such funny houses to live in, that I 

 suppose that has something to do with their honey 

 not being any whiter. 



If you would ride up to some of thet^e Turkish vil- 

 lages, you would think it was a field of potato pits; 

 but if you entered one of these houses that are con- 

 structed underground, you would find a great large 

 place that had been built many hundred years, and 

 a queer family living there, consisting of donkeys, 

 cattle, sheep, and fowls, and I almost forgot to say, 

 men, women, and children. They build under 

 ground to keep warm, us there is little wood in that 

 country. There is plenty of coal, but none of the 

 mines have ever been worked, for the government 

 does not mind its own business, but meddles and 

 prevents people from working, just as it did when 

 the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilding. 



The people must have a fire to cook, so in warm 

 weather they take the manure that the cattle have 

 made, and the women roll up their loose trowsers, 

 and work it up with their feet, and make it into 

 cakes, drying them in the sun. They fence off one 

 corner lu their underground houses with a light 

 railing for the people, and sink a big jar down in 

 the floor, to burn these cakes in. At night in win- 

 ter, when the fire is burned down low, they cover 

 up the top, and lie with their feet on it to keep 

 warm; and when the fire is out, they let their legs 

 hang down in the warm jar. 



The bee-hives are made out of manure, by work- 

 ing it up and forming cylinders, which are dried in 

 the sun, and have a few cross-sticks in them. They 

 have to be kept out of the rain, for if they get wet, 

 the poor bees would be in a sad plight. Do you 

 wonder, now, why the honey is not as nice as ours? 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 

 Peoria, 111., Sept. 9, 1881. 



m 



..g 



99 



This department is to be kept for the benefit of those who are 

 dissatistted ; and when anything is amiss, 1 hope you will " talk 

 right out. " As a rule, we will omit names ana addresses, to 

 avoid being too personal. 



M S for me renewing my subscription, I don't 

 J(^\ think I will, my time having expired. While 

 ' I have been reading Gleanings it struck me 

 a good many times that you wrote one thing and 

 practiced another, especially in one case; that in re- 

 gard to my boys. They wrote to you for advice as 

 to what they would reqviire. They had saved their 

 spending money, and had taken a notion to bees. 

 They wrote they had never kept bees. Then was 

 the time you should have dropped a postal, saying 

 they would be risky property, unless in the hands of 

 an expert. I tried as you wrote, to give them some 

 brood; all had box hives. One man in Philadelphia 

 I saw, said he would not open his hives to take a 

 frame of brood out for $10.00 at that time of year, 

 as it would be almost sure death to them. 



I got a pipe and tobacco last week; first time I ev- 

 er smoked a pipe in my life. I declare if it did not 

 make me sick a good deal more than bees. The boys 

 had a good hearty laugh. I said it was the first time, 

 and would be last. Willie says, " Now, father, for a 

 smoker from Hoot; it will be all we shall ever get 

 from him." I said no. I did not think I was entitled 

 to one, as I was not an old smoker. I was afraid a 

 number might tell stories to get smokers from you, 

 and would not return money if they began agaip; 

 but certainly it must have done a deal of good to 

 break so many from the evil habit, which I think 

 leads to a desire for strong drink in many cases. I 

 hope that what my boys saw of me smoking may be 

 a lesson to them as long as they live, sulficient to re- 

 pay both me and them without getting a free smo- 

 ker. John Earnshaw. 



Germantown, Pa., Aug. 16, 1881. 



Now I must really protest, friend E., 

 against some of your strictures. Is it not a 

 little unkind and uncharitable to intimate 

 that I necessarily had a selfish motive In 

 view, because I did not discourage the boys 

 from going into bee culture? If your boys 

 went to the store to buy matches, would it 

 be the duty of the clerk to discourage the 

 purchase, because matches are often danger- 

 ous things in the hands of boys? Do all 

 boys turn out badly with bees? See the Ju- 

 venile Department, and other letters in this 

 and other numbers. Have we not every 

 month a "Blasted Hopes" department, on 

 purpose to have every one fairly warned of 

 the risks of bee culture? I do not think I 

 either discouraged or encouraged ; for with 

 my busy cares, I can only treat your boys as 

 I do all others, in a general way. About all 

 I can do Is to hand new comers the sample 

 copy and price list,. and leave them to draw 

 their own deductions. — I can not say I very 

 much admire your plan of enforcing good 

 morals on your boys, by object lessons, when 

 it goes into tobacco, as you did. Notwith- 

 standing, I am glad you sent me the money 

 for a smoker, and did not claim one for 

 breaking off. We are good friends, any 

 way, are we not, friend E.V 



