1883 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



217 



A NEW HONEY-HOUSE, A BRANCH APIARY, ETC. 



My pa has 50 swarms of bees, and he and my two 

 eldest brothers made 40 new hives during the win- 

 ter. Most of them are Langstroth hives. I like to 

 watch him take honey from them. Pa built anew 

 honey-house and lathed and plastered it. I have 

 signed the pledge, and go to the Band of Hope every 

 Saturday. I like to go. I also go to Sunday-school; 

 I have a very good teacher. Pa has an apiary 7 

 miles from town. Ho says you will give a book to 

 little boys and girls if they write. "Would you please 

 send me one? I am lame. James Footer, age 10. 



Cumberland, Alleghany Co., Md., March :.'3, 188:5. 



To be sure, we do, James, when they 

 write a good letter like yours. 



IS OLD FOUNDATION GOOD? 



We received the supplies March 24th. Pa began 

 last spring with two stands, and increased to live, 

 and got about 150 lbs. of honey, mostly extracted. 

 He never saw the inside of a hive with bees in it. 

 We have our bees in the Champion hive, but are go- 

 ing to change to Simplicity this spring. Pa would 

 like to know if foundation two or three years old is 

 just as good as new. Dwight Birchabd. 



College Springs, Iowa, Mar. 24, 1883. 



This question has frequently come up lately, 

 as to whether fdn. is just as good atter it is 

 several years old. Vie have often tested the 

 matter, 'but have not been able to see much 

 if any difference. Fdn. is frequently put 

 into the frames, and a part of it left over 

 until another season, without being drawn 

 out. These frames, when given new 

 swarms in the spring, seem to answer as 

 well as any. . 



CHARLEY'S STORY OF THE BEES AND THE HIVES. 



My pa has 23 stands of bees. We got lots of honej-. 

 We turned our horse into the yard to cat some 

 grass, and he come close to a hive of bees, and got 

 stung on his nose by a bee. He then ran so that we 

 could hardly catch him. 1 tell you, he remembered 

 It, and he never went close to a hive of bees again. 

 I am going to school, and can read and spell tolerably 

 well, but I can not write very well. Our teacher 

 does not instruct us in writing, so I am very much 

 deticient in it. I also go to Sunday-school. 



Chakles W. Neld, age 9. 



High Hill, Mo., Mar. 20, 1883. 



My little friend Charley, it is a very bad 

 habit to fall into, of hiidihg fault with your 

 teacher. I presume that the teacher thinks 

 that nine years is almost too early for a boy 

 to commence to learn writing, and very like- 

 ly he is right. Do as your teacher asks you, 

 and study to obey his orders, and I shall 

 have no fear but that you will become a good 

 writer in time. 



BEES AND STRAWBERRIES. 



We have some bees. 1 like to work with them. 

 The mnths killed ten hives. We also have some 

 strawberries — about two acres. We shall have lots 

 of them this spring. My cousin wrote this letter for 

 me. Wade Manning, age 10. 



Bartlett, Tenn., March 28, 1883. 



I am afraid. Wade, that what you say 

 about the moths killing ten hives is not 

 quite orthodox. Do you know what ortho- 

 dox means ? I am afraid your bees were 

 not properly cared for. We bee-folks think, 

 nowadays, that the moths never kill bees di- 

 rectly. After they get down very weak 



from neglect, moths may sometimes do them 

 some injury. Probably you pay more atten- 

 tion to the two acres of strawberries than you 

 do to the hives of bees. 



BERTHA'S LETTER ABOUT HER FATHER'S BEES. 



My father has 130 swarms in the cellar, except 6 

 which he put outdoors Saturday. He has a hand- 

 barrow, with which he carries his bees out of the 

 cellar. He and my brother Will were carrying some 

 of them out of the cellar. They set one on top of 

 the other, and they tipped them off. When Will saw 

 them going he let go. Pa had quite a time to get 

 them back. I have never helped much in the bee- 

 yard, only to catch queens and drones; but pfi said 

 he would sell me a swarm and let me try to be a bee- 

 keeper. He makes beeswax and foundation. He 

 puts the comb into a boiler, with water; when it 

 boils he sinks a little wire basket in it, and then he 

 dips the wax out of the basket with a little dipper. 

 Bertha Blanchard, age 11. 



Ironton, Sauk Co., Wis., March 26. 1883. 



Thank you, Bertha, for the idea about 

 rendering wax. I suppose you mean your 

 father puts his combs into a basket made of 

 fine wire cloth, and when the water boils he 

 sinks basket and all into the boiling water, 

 and then dips off the wax as it rises to the 

 top. I think your father and brother had 

 better be careful how they set the hives 

 down. It makes pretty bad work to let the 

 hive tip over. You see I know, because I 

 have tried to do it. 



A NEW WAY OF TRANSFERRING; BY A JUVENILE. 



I am an A B C scnolar. I read it from the begin- 

 ning to the end. 1 have one stand of Italian bees, 

 which my pa gave me this winter. They are very 

 strong; I am going to run them for comb honey this 

 year. I am going to be a bee-keeper. Pa bought 

 one box hive of bees last week at a public sale, for 

 one dollar. We prepared a Simplicity hive by put- 

 ting in three frames of comb and hoaey. We cut a 

 hole in a board six inches square, and put it under 

 as a bottom for the hive; we then turned the box 

 hive upside down, and placed the Simplicity hive on 

 top, and placed them in a spring wagon and started 

 for home, a distance of three miles. When we got 

 home, all of the bees were in the upper hive. What 

 do you think of transferring bees in this way? Our 

 bees wintered all right. We put sixteen in the cel- 

 lar, and packed seven colonies on their summer 

 stands in drj-goods boxes, six inches larger than 

 the hives, with hay and straw between the hives and 

 boxes, and about 8 inches above, and placed boards 

 on top to drain the rain off. They are all in fine 

 condition at present. Four weeks ago, on a fine 

 warm day, we carried those in the cellar out to have 

 a flight, and then carried them back again. They 

 are all healthy. John V. Nebel, age 13. 



High Hill, Missouri, Mar. 20, 1883. 



AVhy, John, your trip of three miles an- 

 swered the same purpose as drumming them 

 out, which some of our old bee-keepers tell 

 about. Your .discovery in transferring, then, 

 is this : Fix your new hives with combs or 

 foundation, or both ; then fasten it secure- 

 ly over your old box hive, turned bottom 

 upward. Set it in the wagon, and drive 

 three miles, when you will find the bees all 

 out of the old hive, in the new one ; then 

 you can transfer the combs at your leisure. 



