1883 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



167 



A BRIEF REPORT. 



Pa did not have very good luck last summer. We 

 have got two hives of bees. We have received no 

 honey from them this season. 



Lewie Ketcham, age 9. 



Port Crane, N. Y., Jan. 28, 1883. 



I have 2 hives of my own. Pa has kept bees for a 

 long time in box hives, but we don't get much hon- 

 ey. We are going to transfer in the spring to Sim- 

 plicity hives. We are going to get them from Mr. 

 Flanagan, so as to avoid freight. I like to read 

 Gleanings. Pa doesn't take it, but I borrow it from 

 one of our neighbors. Lizzie and I don't have very 

 far to go to school. Lizzie is my little sister. We 

 don't learn bee-keeping at our school. 



Joseph Schroeder, age 12. 



Freeburg, St. Clair Co., 111., Feb. 2, 1883. 



blasted hopes. 



My mamma went to visit grandma in Keithsburg, 

 Illinois, last summer. She gave us a stand of Ital- 

 ian bees. They were expressed here in August; but 

 the dry weather had burnt up every thing, so the 

 poor bees could not get any honey. We fed them 

 for a good while, then the poor things died. We all 

 felt bad about losing them. I hope mamma will 

 soon get some more. Mollie Tester, age 11. 



Salt Creek, Kan., Jan. 30, 1883. 



But you ought to have fed them a good 

 deal more, friend Mollie, so they couldn't 

 starve. 



CATNIP seed. 



Pa has four stands of bees. We had all the comb 

 honey we wanted to use and some to sell. Do you 

 buy any catnip seed, and how much do you pay for 

 it? Mar\' Perry. 



We have all the catnip seed we shall need 

 for some time, Mary, but we want some 

 horsemint seed. 



Pa has 4 stands of bees. They made a lot of honej', 

 and would have made more, but for the dry season. 

 Pa takes Gleanings, and I love to read the Juve- 

 nile. I wish we could hear more of Merrybanks. 1 

 should like Rescued from Egypt for pa's renewal. If 

 you think this worth printing, please send me " Ten 

 Nights in a Bar-Koom." Charley Perry. 



Southbury, Conn., Feb. 5, 1883. 



FANNIE GREEN AND HER LITTLE SISTER. 



Some of my schoolmates have written and got 

 quite nice books. My name is Fanny Greeu. We 

 do not keep bees now, for they all died two years 

 ago, and we have not had any since. My little sis- 

 ter Is going to put her letter in with mine. Mother 

 says I had better put five cents in my letter, and 

 that will pay for a book for some little girl who can 

 not buy one. Fannie A. Green. 



Clarence, Erie Co., N. Y., Jan., 1883. 



THE LITTLE SISTER'S LETTER, POT IN AS SHE PRINT- 

 ED IT. 



I am seven years old. I can not write, but I can 

 read, and I want a book. I would like Bennie's 

 White Chicken. Mamie Green. 



Clarence. Erie Co., N. Y. Jan. 11, 1883. 



Your letter is very good, Mamie, and I 

 read it all real easy, which is more than I 

 can say of some of the big folks' letters. 



gave it a nice yellow queen-cell. It hatched out, 

 and my pa looked at it and saw a nice yellow queen, 

 and in about a week afterward I looked for it, but 

 could not find it; so I gave it another black queen 

 already hatched out, and I fed it with sugar boiled 

 with water, and in a few weeks it swarmed out. We 

 put it back in the hive, and in the evening when I 

 was not at home it swarmed out and went away. 

 Now, my pa says he will give me another one in the 

 spring. So all my work was for nothing. 



Homer A. Rxv, age 11. 



Columbiana, O., Jan. 23, 1883. 



Not altogether for nothing, was it. 

 Homer V Didn't you learn something about 

 bees, by that experience V 



THE FINCH CHILDREN. 



THE "YELLOW" QUEEN-CELL, AND WHAT CAME OF IT. 



My pa has 28 stands of bees, and I believe he 

 thinks more of bees than any thing you can give to 

 him. He gave me a stand of bees last spring, and I 



REMINISCENCES ON BEES. 



My father used to keep bees, but is not able now. 

 I can remember of standing on top of the hives to 

 pick apple-blooms from the trees that stood just be- 

 hind the hives. I don't think I ever got stung from 

 it. Anna E. Finch, age 14. 



My old hen stole her nest in the woods. She hatch- 

 ed 12 chickens, about the first of October. A stone 

 fell on two and killed them; 5 died. I sold my hen 

 for 20 cents. I have 5 chickens left. I bring in al- 

 most all the wood we burn, and snow for ma to melt 

 to wash with. Willie C. Finch, age 6. 



Well done fore a (i-year-old chick, Willie. 



BEES in SYRIA, BY A JUVENILE. 



One day last summer we had visitors who live 0000 

 miles from here — ma's cousin and her husband and 

 little girl. He is a missionary in Syria, Asia. He 

 was at Beyrout when Frank Benton landed there. 

 The little girl's name is Mizpeh. The Arabs call 

 water jHoi. They keep their bees in earthen jars 

 fastened in stone walls; and when they want honey 

 they take the jar out and break it. There are 130 

 sheets In a quarter of a ream. How much is the 

 postage on it? Bible question: Who washed his 

 steps with butter? Ada J. Finch, age 12. 



West Township, Albany Co., N. Y., Feb. 6, 1883. 



Well done, Ada. The postage on the 1-5- 

 cent note paper is 13c. It is best to have it 

 go with other goods when practicable. 



how rush "didn't" gut THE BEES DOAVN OCT OF 

 TH.iT ELM-TREE. 



This is my first letter. I have one swarm of bees. 

 I had two. I gave my sister one for watching bees. 

 Father has 73 swarms. Last summer father went to 

 town, and while he was gone a swarm of bees came 

 out and alighted on a big elm. Mother and myself 

 got the swarming-box, and tried to get them down; 

 but, down they did not come; so I got a big ladder 

 and set it up against the tree, and I went up with 

 the swarming-box and brush to get them down. 

 But, no, sir; that did not work. They stung right 

 and left. I saw I could not do any thing with them. 

 I was determined they should not go off, so I got 

 some water and gave them a cold bath, and kept it 

 up till father came home, and he had some trouble 

 to get them down, they were so cross; but they 

 made lots of honey. Now if this is worth a book, 

 please send Ten Nights in a Bar-Room. 



Rush Holmes. 



Sauk Rapids, Benton Co., Minn., Jan. 30, 1883. 



Of course it is worth a book, Eush, and 

 you did as well as any boy could well have 

 done under the circumstances. 



