1883 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



181 



A JUVENILE REPORT. 



Pa gave ma a little swarm of bees last summer; 

 but they starved this winter. Pa sold all of his bees 

 last fall. He was afraid they would all die, so we 

 have none uow; but we will get some in the 

 spring. Ernest Haksford. 



Troy, Gilmare Co., W. Va., March 1, 1883. 



Why, Ernest, I should think yonrs al- 

 most a report for ''Blasted Hopes.-' Did 

 your father sell out because he was afraid 

 they would starve f 



FROM 2 TO 5, AND 150 LBS. OF HONEY. 



We had two stands of bees last spring, and they 

 increased to 5 during the summer. We received 

 about 150 lbs. during the fall, from 3 stands; wc did 

 not get any honey from the other three; one or two 

 swarms went off before we could get them hived. 

 Our bees arc black. We have the Champion hives, 

 but pa is falking of getting soiue Simplicity hives 

 this spring. Walter Comix, age 13. 



College Springs, la., March 6. 1883. 



"AUNT DRTJSIE'S" WAY OF CATCHING SWAUMj:, ETC. 



My Aunt Drusie has a frame of comb fastened to 

 a long pole for the bees to alight on whenever they 

 swarm. It ij real handy. She thinks chaff hives are 

 the best. I go to the Methodist Sunday-school. We 

 have a nice library of 136 volumes. There is a lady 

 living near here who used to be a great bee-woman, 

 but now won't have anything to do with bees, be- 

 cause she once got stung very bidly. She does not 

 believe there Is any queen bee. Isn't she a strange 

 woman? Edna Greaves. 



Moawequa, Shelby Co., III., Feb. 26, 1883. 



ALBERT'S FIRST LETTER. 



As my pa was sending for your journal, I thought 

 I would write a few lines to let you know tliat I 

 work among bees. My pa has 10 stands of bees this 

 winter, and I help him to put them away in the bee- 

 house. I smoke the bees when pa takes out the 

 frames. Last year was not a good one for bees 

 here. I go to school every day, and I help pa do 

 the chores morning and night. AVe have a sawmill, 

 and pa runs it in the winter. This is my first letter. 

 Albevt McCurdy, age 11. 



Hornby, Ont., Can., March, 1883. 



wintering bees under A SNOAVDRII'T. 



Do you know that a big snowdrift is a good place 

 for a hive of bees to live in, such a cold winter as 

 this has been? My pa has two hives near the hedge 

 that was all covered over about 3 leet deep. He 

 thought, "Poor little things!" but he thought he 

 would just let them alone, to see how they would 

 get along. So one day when it was warm he dug a 

 hole down to see if they were alive. The snow had 

 melted around the hives; and as soon as the day- 

 light came in, the bees came out as if they said 

 good-morning. They were under the big drift C or 

 8 weeks, and seemed to be happy. 



Jacob J. Brubakeu, age 8. 



Maxwell, Story Co., Iowa, Feb., 1883. 



Yes, Jacob, a snowdrift is a very good 

 place if we can keep the snow dry, and have 

 it cover the hives all winter. 



a runaway swarm; how they c.vught them, and 



WHAT CAm'e of it. 



I live on a farm, and I help papa do the work. I 

 have 4 brothers and 2 sisters. One of my brothers 



and I were working in the garden when a swarm of 

 bees came flying over us. We began pitching 

 dirt into them, and my brother ran to the house 

 and told mamma, and she came running out to the 

 garden with an old pan and a stick, and she com- 

 menced pounding on it, and my brother and I kept 

 on pitching dirt; mamma kept pounding on the pan 

 till the bees settled on the fence, and my brother 

 i-an over to a neighbor's and got a hive. Papa was 

 away ; and when he came home he put them into the 

 hive, and they made about 50 lbs. of honey that sea- 

 son. It was the 4th of June, 1881, and in 1883 they 

 increased to 5 stands of bees, and we got 45 lbs. of 

 honey that season. This winter we have lost one 

 stand of bees, and papa thinks from what he has 

 learned in the ABC book it was dysentery. Papa 

 claims the bees, and we all like the honey. My papa 

 takes Gleanings, and he thinks there is nothing 

 like it. Jessie H. Bull, age 13. 



Sidney, Ohio, Feb. 23, 1883. 



BEES, printing, AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



I am much interested in reading the letters in 

 Gleanings. We keep bees. Last fall wo made 

 some cushions of coffee-sacking, and filled them 

 with chaff, and placed them in the caps of the hives 

 to keep them warm, and to absorb the moisture 

 from their breath. Pa also made some board houses , 

 open on one side, and set them over the hives, and 

 filled in between them and the hives with straw. We 

 have a printing-press, and I sometimes help pa set 

 type, and print. I send one of my cards to Caddie, 

 as a specimen of my printing. I'a keeps a green- 

 house; one wing of it caught fire and burned down, 

 with $400 worth of plants, the evening of Jan. 23d; 

 but we have rebuilt it, and have it ready for plants 

 again. I will send you one of pa's catalogues. 



Verna V. Abbott, age 9. 



Morena, Mich., March 1, 1883. 

 Well, I declare, Verna, you must be a 

 busy sort of people at your house ; and if 

 you have such an eye for all the business 

 going on at only 9 years old, I should think 

 likely you would be a busy woman when 

 you grow up. May God bless you all! 



does the old queen lead out the swarm? 



I write to you for Information in regard to bees 

 swarming. The question which I wish to ask you is, 

 whether the young queens leave with the swarms, 

 or the old ones. Some say the old, and some the 

 young queens. Please inform me through your 

 next Juvenile, giving me the thoughts of other 

 good substantial bee-men. Willie Trimble. 



Washington, Ills., Jan, 18, 1883. 



The time has almost gone by to discuss 

 such questions, friend Willie. When we 

 had bees in hollow trees and box hives, we 

 had to guess and speculate ; but now it is all 

 as open and plain as the broad daylight. 

 The old queen leads out all first swarms, as 

 a rule. The exceptions are usually caused 

 by the death of the old queen, or something 

 of that sort. If the same swarm sends out 

 a swarm the same season, the old queen 

 leads as before, so she keeps traveling from 

 one hive to another, as long as she lives. 

 That is, she travels every time a swarm goes 

 out. liees don"t seem to approve of the idea 

 of setting a young miss at housekeeping in 

 a new house, when they can send out an old 

 hand. 



