1883 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



149 



busy " somewhere else, after he got stung ; 

 >n't vou think so. Mark? 



don't you think so, Mark 



A JUVENILE LETTER FROM MERRY ENGLAND. 



My father keeps bees, and I help him to swarm 

 thtm. He has 8 stocks now; 3 have died. We have 

 Gleanings every month from Mr. Abbott. I like 

 the Juvenile very much, and I like honey ; but we 

 have not had any this year, as the bees did nothing 

 but swarm. Father says he will give me a swarm 

 next year. This is my first letter. I am just 9 years 

 old. Can you send me a book ? 



George A. Sissling. 



Birkin Avenue, Nottingham, Eog., Dec. 21, 1883. 



It would be funny if we couldn't, friend 

 George, when you have written us a letter 

 from so far. 



left-handed LAURA. 



Pa had five stands of bees last spring, and has in- 

 creased to 14. Ma and my Sister Ellen hived lots of 

 swarms. I go to school. I was left-handed, and my 

 teacher is having me write with my right hand, and 

 I can't do it as well as I could. Pa got 3C0 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honey, and has sold $60.00 worth of comb 

 honey. I filled the upper story of the hives with 

 straw and leaves. Laura Wright, age 10. 



Linn, Dallas Co., la., Dec. 26, 1883. 



1 think your teacher is a very reasonable 

 one, Laura, and I am sure you will soon 

 write as well right-handed as you ever did 

 left. I am glad to know you like to help 

 your father about the bees. 



A LETTER FROM MY "COUNTRY NIECES." 



Well, as you are getting letters from almost every 

 one, I thought may be you would like one from one 

 of your country nieces. My aunt Drusie has five 

 swarms of bees. One day mamma and aunty were 

 out working with the bees, when my little kitten 

 went out and a bee stung it. You ought to have 

 seen it run. It was pitiful, but I believe you would 

 have laughed. Tell Blue Eyes that I have aoother 

 kitten that is blue all over. Mr. Eioot, you need not 

 print this if you don't want to, but I hope you will. 



Edna Greaves. 



Moawcqua, 111., Dec. 28, 1S82. 



I would not laugh, if I were you, niece 

 Edna, at any thing that gives any creature 

 pain; but I presume you didn't mean to, 

 did you ? 



HOW NELLIE'S FATHER GOT THE MOTH WORMS OUT. 



My father had about 60 swarms of bees last spring; 

 he now has about 75. He got about 1500 lbs. of hon- 

 ey. After he took off his honey, the millers both- 

 ered it so that he made a large box to put it In. It 

 is about 16 feet long-, and wide enough to hold two 

 Langstroth frames, with a center-piece in the mid- 

 dle. Then there ai-e holes cut in the side of the box 

 and on the cover, which are covered with screens; 

 and when he wants to smoke the honey he has a 

 slide to put over the holes, and then puts some fire 

 and sulphur in a kettle, and puts it Into the box, 

 and that does its work effectually, and father thinks 

 it is a grand thing to keep frames of old comb in. 

 Nellie M. Hudson. 



Belden, Lorain Co., O., Dec. 23, 1882. 



Nellie, our printers extend you a vote of 

 thanks for the remarkably accurate manner 

 in which your letter is written. Your writ- 

 ing is good, punctuation very fair, and spell- 

 ing faultless. 



FROM 4 TO 14, AND 600 LBS. OF HONEY, REPORTED 

 BY A JUVENILE. 



Pa had four swarms of bees in the spring, which 

 increased by natural swarming to 14. Pa thinks he 

 took off about 600 lbs. of honey, and they have plen- 

 ty to do them this winter. He took six swarms of 

 another man this fall, and is to pay for all he win- 

 ters. He has them all ready for winter, but two or 

 three; he makes a box a little larger than the hive, 

 and puts it on, then he fills it with sawdust. We 

 have Blue Eyes too, but it is a boy. He is the only 

 brother I have. I have four sisters. If you think 

 this letter is worth a book, please send me Pilgrim's 

 Progress. Matie McCrory. 



Jerome, Ohio, Dec. 25, 1883. 



To be sure, it is, with such a report, friend 

 Matie. 



AWAY OFF AMONG THE INDIANS. 



My pa used to keep bees in Indiana; he had 11 

 stands, but last summer we moved to Arizona Ter- 

 ritory with the Indians. I have seen but one bee 

 since I have been here, and it was a bumble-bee. 

 There are no bees here, for It is so hot and sandy. 

 We get all our honey from California in cans. It is 

 i2\'< cents a pound. I like the comb honey best. 

 Honey is good, but the bee-stings are not. Pa had 

 a bee-smoker and a plane to make hives. We found 

 a swarm in the chui-ch-yard. We put them in a hive, 

 and took them home, but they soon left. Pa had one 

 chafE hive; they were all Italians. We have no 

 snow here, only on the mountains. I go to school, 

 and sit with an Indian boy named Lewis Nelson. 

 JiMMiE Ellis, age 11. 



Tucson, Pima Co., Ariz., Dec. 1, 1883. 



THE BOY that COULD FIND QUEENS BEFORE HE 

 WAS 3 YEARS OLD. 



My little boy, 2 years and 8 months old, could, last 

 fall, find a queen bee when caged with 30 or 40 bees. 

 He would say, " I want to show papa queen bee,'* 

 and then would find her. In the summer he would 

 come and stand by the hives while the frames were 

 being taken out, and take as much interest in the 

 whole transaction as n;yself. Although stung twice, 

 he was just as keen as ever, and even now wantsme 

 to come and see the bees. L. G. Hallup. 



New Hamburg, Ont., Can., Dec. 20, 1882. 



And so, friend H., your boy might be of 

 considerable service to some who have kept 

 bees nearly all their lives, and can not yet 

 find a queen. Who can say it will not pay 

 to have a juvenile bee journalV 



Happy Christmas to you! But then, I don't know 

 you; but I think, from the size of your paper, you 

 are not very big. Pa had two hives of bees on a hill 

 about half a mile from our house, where there is a 

 great deal of blue thistle. But some bad boys, I 

 think they were, came along a few days or nights 

 ago, and tried to steal some honey; but pa says they 

 did not know how to go about it, and did not get 

 much. What do you think ought to be done with 

 such boys? Angie Bosserman. 



Gettysburg, Pa., Dec. 25, 1882. 



My way of doing with such boys, friend 

 Angle, would be to get them to come to Sun- 

 day-school ; and I think they would be more 

 likely to come, if a girl about your age should 

 ask them, than for almost anybody else. 

 Did your pa leave the hives off on the hill 

 away from any house ? 



