216 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



Apr. 



REPORT FROM A TRAPPER. 



Pa has 23 hives of Italian bees, and he got 600 lbs. 

 of honey in 1883. He has islands in James River on 

 which he traps. He has caught 270 musk-rats and 8 

 raccoons, and 3 otters. I have two sisters and four 

 little brothers. Cora F. Stegeb, age 13. 



Paynes, Va., March 27, 18S3. 



SAWING boards, AND MAKING SUGAR ALL AT ONCE. 



My father has a saw-mill. He saws lots of logs; he 

 saws from three to four thousand ft. a day. There 

 are about 500 logs in the mill yard now, besides what 

 he has sawed. We make molasses, and boil it by 

 steam in the mill. Mary Barnaby, age 10. 



Rootstown, Portage Co., Ohio, March 30, 1883. 



There, Mary, that is just what I thought of 

 doing— boiling our maple sap by steam pow- 

 er. The only trouble is, 1 did not know just 

 how to do it. I wish 1 had lime to make 

 you a visit, and then, you see, I should know 

 all about it. 



BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS. 



We live between two mountains, about one mile 

 apart. You will think that is a narrow valley; but 

 it makes it up in length, nearly forty miles long. 

 Our bees are working very strong now on sumac 

 and white clover. Sumac is very plentiful, and it 

 swarms with bees from dawn till dark. Are your 

 section boxes made of bass wood? Papa says it is 

 what we call linden here. I do not know whether 

 they are the same or not. 



FIXING THE "ENTRANCES. 



Brother Lee and I took our hand-cart and went to 

 the steam sawmill, half a mile, and hauled sawdust 

 and banked up in front of our hives to make an 

 alighting-place for the bees; they came so laden, 

 that they would fall before they got to the alighting- 

 board. Victoria J. Fields. 



Valley Point, Pa., July 20, 1882. 



Basswood and linden are the same, my 

 little friend. I am glad to know you are fix- 

 ing up the hives so nicely. Your letter came 

 last summer and we have just got to it. 



THE TWO " EARNEST " CHILDREN ; FROM 5 TO 21, 

 AND 50 LBS. OF HONEY. 



Papa has got 21 stands of bees. He started with 5 

 In the spring ; took off 50 lbs. of surplus honey, and 

 Increased to 21; he feeds them when it isn't too cold 

 for them to fly. Sometimes mamma feeds them. I 

 go to school all the time. Hattie Earnest. 



Knightstown, Henry Co., Ind. 



BERTIE'S letter JUST AS HE WROTE IT. 



i niR KootE paPA Ha^ i)ot.2i \ 



i sI'anqS o E J5^bSI AM aXitTlE ; 



: BoY FiFE Fears ol-D if YoU Tjjinl- ; 



: This letter jq^ WcHtH ^ Book ■. 



: PLEASE S'eNq siLyEB Ke^^S : 

 : BERTIE EARNEST 



; JlNiGf^T^S'TO^F'N HENi?r C'O iND- : 



Well done, children ; to be sure, you shall 

 have your books. 



WINNIE tells HOW HER FATHER MAKES FDN. 



I am going to tell you how my father makes foun- 

 dation. He buys the wax, and has to cleanse it; 

 then he melts it again, and takes thin boards, about 



18 inches long and 8 inches wide, with a bail on, and 

 dips it into the hot wax two or three times; then 

 dips it into cold water, which makes it come off. 

 He piles it up in piles and puts it away until he 

 wants to make fdn. of it. I have to help him make 

 the fdn. He uses the press machine. I wet the dies 

 for him with starch; after he makes fdn. of it he 

 cuts it up to put in the boxes and frames. I think 

 this is all. Winnie Rians, age 13. 



York, Liv. Co., N. Y. 



SARAH'S PA'S BEES. 



My pahad two swarms of bees last summer. They 

 did not swarm at all. Pa got a man to look at them, 

 and he found they had made 25 or 30 lbs. of honey, 

 outside of the frames. I do not know what kind of 

 hives they were. 1 can cook, wash dishes, sweep, 

 make beds, and do almost all kinds of housework. 

 Our bees were blacks, and pa sold them in the fall. 

 Sarah Higbee, age 10. 



East Randolph, N. Y., March 16, 1883. 



I suppose, Sarah, the bees made the honey 

 in the cap to the hive, or in some vacant 

 space. I should think, from your report, 

 that your pa is not very much of a bee-man. 



160 LBS. OF honey FROM 4 STANDS OF BEES. 



Pa has 4 Stands of bees, and he extracted 160 lbs. 

 of honey from two of them. I thought the honey 

 was very nice, and everybody who saw it wanted to 

 buy some. Extracted honey is something new to 

 everybody in our part of the country. Last summer 

 when [ was gathering flowers to make a bouquet I 

 saw bees on a weed called carpenter's-square. I 

 watched them awhile, and I could not imagine what 

 they were doing; and when I went home I asked pa, 

 and he said thej' were gathering honey from the 

 flowers on the weed. Katie Thompson, age 12. 



La Fontaine, Ind., March 26, 1883. 



Katie, your "• carpenter's-square," as you 

 call it, is our old friend the Simpson 

 honey -plant that so much is said about in 

 the A li C book and the bee journals. Its 

 real name is figwort, I believe. I am glad 

 to know that you are interested in seeing 

 the bees work on it. 



SYLVESTER, AND THE WAY HE HAS "FUN." 



I have brothers and sisters. We live about 3 

 miles from Montrose, in Ambrosia school district. 

 We have 4 horses to tend to, and 13 hogs and 22 cat- 

 tle. We have a good deal of fun on Sunday playing 

 ball and marbles. In the summer we go swimming 

 sometimes. I am going to a party the 10th. I was 

 over to a party the other night, and had a good deal 

 of fun. I have written all I can think of, and now I 

 will close. The book I will take is Pilgrim's Prog- 

 ress. Sylvester Boyd. 



Montrose, Iowa, March 5, 1883. 



Why, Sylvester, do you mean to say that 

 you piay ball and marbles on Sunday V It 

 seems to me our boys and girls of your age 

 ought to go to meeting and Sunday-school. 

 Don't you think so V If you read the little 

 book we send you,'' The Pilgrim's Progress," 

 I think you will see what troubles Christian 

 and his companion Hopeful had when they 

 got just a little way out of the straight and 

 narrow path. They got imprisoned in 

 Doubting Castle, and had several troubles 

 before they got out. Now, think of it, will 

 you, and see if it doesn't seem to you that 

 such games on Sunday are starting just a 

 little in the wrong path V 



