220 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



Apr. 



REPORT FROM CANADA. 



Pa had 45 hives of bees when he packed them last 

 fall; he looked at them this week, and he found 13 

 stocks dead. Pa got my sister and me a swarm each 

 last summer for helping- him with them. They are 

 both alive yet. I like bees, but they do not like me. 

 We got flrst prize for honey and beeswax at Lindsay 

 Fair for .3 or 4 years. If you ever come to Reaboro, 

 come and see us, and I will give you some nice white 

 honey. Do you think you could find our house? We 

 are next neighbor to John and Robert Calvert's 

 father. Ma says if she ever goes to Medina she will 

 take me with her to see you and your bee-yard. I 

 hope she will soon go. We had 2000 lbs. of honey 

 year before last, but had not more than 400 lbs. last 

 summer. My two sisters took off 160 1-lb. sections 

 from two hives one day. Emma Hickson. 



Reaboro, Ont., Can.. Mar. 31, 1883. 



DECOY HIVES— A FACT FURNISHED BY ONE OF THE 

 JUVENILES. 



Last spring we didn't have any bees at all; we 

 had some hives (in which we used to keep bees) 

 standing in the yard. One day we saw bees flying 

 around It; they came and they went until they got 

 the hive clean; they then moved into it. Another 

 swarm came soon after, but they died. We put the 

 remaining swarm In a box with some straw about 

 them, but it was too damp, and some of them died. 

 We then put them up stairs. They are all right now. 

 This is my first letter. Gektha Ribble, age 13. 



Cedar Rapids, Linn Co., Iowa. 



Thank you, Gertha. You have revived 

 the old matter in regard to putting up decoy 

 hives. Some years ago it was suggested, 

 that if convenient hives were fixed in readi- 

 ness for the bees when swarming-time came, 

 they would go into them. You see, you 

 have given us proof that this may be some- 

 times so. Who can give us more facts of 

 new swarms going into hives already pro- 

 vided for them V 



horsemint honey; is its peculiar flavor go- 

 ing to injure the sale of it? 



My pa's bees are doing very well. He has promised 

 brother John and myself a bee-hive apiece if his do 

 well this year, and I shall be very much delighted 

 with them. The most of the honey that is extracted 

 here is flavored with horsemint, and it is very good. 

 The honey that is made late in the season is general- 

 ly bitter. Is not very good to eat. It does quite 

 well for the bees to eat in the winter. It is flavored 

 with wild chamomile, and that makes the honey 

 bitter. Simmk Carr, age 11. 



Maysfield, Milam Co., Texas. 



I am glad to hear about horsemint honey, 

 my little friend ; and while I think about it, 

 I have some good news to tell you in regard 

 to the horsemint. Last year one of our 

 friends in Texas sent us a can full to try. It 

 was very thick and light-colored, but it had 

 a twang to it that few of us could like very 

 well. After trying several times to eat it, it 

 was set away in the cupboard and left until 

 this spring. As we had to cut a round piece 

 out of the top of the can to get at the honey, 

 it stood open all winter. Well, this spring I 

 was most agreeably surprised to find the un- 

 pleasant flavor almost entirely gone. In 

 fact, we now pronounce it most beautiful 

 honey. It stands in a quart fruit-jar, and is 



so wonderfully clear that people inquire 

 what it is. It is so thick that the jar could 

 be turned over in cold weather, without 

 spilling it. The flavor is somewhat similar 

 to clover, with a slight horehound taste, or 

 something nearer like horehound than any 

 thing else I can think of. Now, then, 

 frienUs, set your horsemint honey in open 

 dishes, protected from dust and flies ; and I 

 think if you let it stand long enough you 

 will find the peculiar unpleasant flavor lias 

 entirely disappeared. While weare on this 

 subject, I believe it is true that the same 

 treatment will remove any unpleasant flavors 

 from any honey; even though gathered from 

 seed onions, 1 have been told it becomes 

 perfectly sweet and pure after standing long 

 enough either in the hive or in exposed ves- 

 sels, in the way I have mentioned. 



COUNTIIVG THINGS, AND SOME OTHER 

 MATTERS. 



rapidity AND ACCURACY. 



f WONDER how many of these children 

 can count correctly. Suppose your moth- 

 ~^ er gives you a basket of eggs, and tells 

 you she wants you to tell her exactly how 

 many there are. Can you do it, and have it 

 right the first time ? How old must a boy 

 or girl be to count, say four dozen eggsV 

 Again, if I should set you at it, how would 

 you go to work? I fear there are a great 

 many of you who would count 1 , 2, 3, 4, etc. 

 Now, my little friends, there are many rea- 

 sons why this is a very poor way to count 

 any thing. Sometimes we see big men 

 whose time is worth from $1.00 to $1.50 per 

 day, or even more, who will pick eggs out of 

 a basket one at a time in counting them, and 

 even then make mistakes. Grown-up peo- 

 ple often count pennies in the same way ; 

 and when we get new hands in the shop, 

 counting out pieces for frames, they almost 

 always commence counting one by one, un- 

 less they are watched and told better. 



Shall I tell you the better way V 'fhe bet- 

 ter way of counting eggs, you will easily 

 discover if you will watch the man to whom 

 you sell eggs. You will observe that he 

 takes three eggs in each hand, and lays them 

 in the basket. In this way he is counting 

 six at one operation. He does it without 

 thinking, and almost without the possibility 

 of making a mistake. All he has to do is to 

 count the number of half-dozens. In count- 

 ing loose pieces here in our factory, we are 

 in the habit of taking five in each hand. 

 Lay them down together, and you have a 

 heap of 10. Do the same thing until you 

 have 10 heaps of 10 each. Now gather them 

 up and you have 100, without any mistake. 

 After a little practice, the fingers will count 

 five without even knowing it, and you will 

 soon learn to detect 10 almost at a glance. 

 So you see your work is proved as you go 

 along. In this way a little girl will count 

 comb-guides faster and more accurately than 

 four big men would do it in their awkward 

 way of counting one at a time. One thing 

 more : When you have to count a number of 

 things, have them very handy. Suppose, 

 for instance, you want to count out 50 honey- 



