188S 



JUVEKILE GLEAKINGS. 



483 



Her " Heads of Grain " did far exceed 



The " Blasted Hopes " recorded, 

 And "Reports Encouraging" in leed 



The " Smilery " rewarded. 

 The boys and girls wrote letters, too. 



To say that " pa keeps bees ; ' ' 

 To a wheelbarrow load the letters grew, 



And yet they did not cease. 

 So Juvenile followed behind 



And carried the letters along; 

 Impelled by a "Hasty" mind, 



It soon grew large and strong. 

 But, alas! the factory's too small; 



Oh, joyl we'll build again; 

 We now behold the rising wall. 



Dotted with busy men. 

 Soon the cheerful buzz of "biz" 



Will fill the new wing too. 

 And Novice's contented phiz 



A broader field will view 

 At the dear old noon meeting 



By the organ clustered round. 

 During the ten moments fleeting, 



Which daily we have found. 

 So, long live Gleanings and Juvenile, 



With a fat subscription list; 

 May they always carry peace — good will. 



And the helpless ones assist. 

 When Novice has grown old and gray 



In the Master's service here. 

 May he hear the voice of the Master say, 



" I'm with thee, never fear." 



PATJii price: and his pets. 



WHERE HE LIVES, WHAT HE DOES, AND HOW IT 

 PAYS. 



IE have been both instructed and amused by 

 the many communications from bee-keep- 

 ers in Gleanings; and seeing nothing 

 from this part of our country, concluded to write. 

 Bee culture was much neglected here until Paul 

 Price, a boy of 15 summers, embarked in this fas- 

 cinating pursuit, which has given it an interest and 

 impetus of rapid and healthful growth. I wish to 

 tell you of Paul and his " honey-pets;" but " writing 

 in regard to matters concerning which one's know- 

 ledge is limited," may not be pleasant for your read- 

 ers. I know nothing of bees, except what I have 

 learned through Gleanings and Paul's instruction. 

 But of Paul I know every thing. He is not an en- 

 thusiast, but an earnest, constant, watchful, hope- 

 ful worker, and is seen early and late among his 

 pets. He is not only mamma's bee-man, but is and 

 has been, ever since he could toddle, her chief help 

 in housekeeping. On wash-days his time is divided 

 between the washer and the bees; and with mam- 

 ma's help in making up the "batches," he is as suc- 

 cessful in the cleansing art as with his pets. He 

 began last August with two colonies of Italians and 

 one of black bees. The blacks did not live long, the 

 Italians making war upon them, which we supposed 

 was the cause of death; but now we think the queen 

 was either killed or disabled in transferring. Be- 

 sides, he bought one stand for the honey, giving 

 away the bees; and from all these he sold 100 lbs. of 

 the most delicious honey, besides having all they 

 wished for the table, from August till the late win- 



ter months — that from the black bees being by far 

 the richest and most delicate in flavor. 



So far as our experience goes, we find that the 

 black, or wild bees, are the best workers, and pro- 

 duce the superior honey in the hives, but they are 

 not so kind as the Italians. This may be accidental, 

 or does it apply generally? I know so little of these 

 interesting little creatures, I am almost afraid to 

 write. He carried his two colonies safely through 

 the winter, keeping them during the severest 

 weather, in the store-room, up stairs, with the win- 

 dow open; finding them thriving and healthy in the 

 spring, with an abundant supply of honey till long 

 after they began gathering from fruit-bloom and 

 other early flowers. 



After giving the subject careful study, mamma 

 and Paul are of opinion that the great problem of 

 wintering is solved by bountiful stores of honey, 

 and shielding from the north-western winds. We 

 had quite a blow last night, and, amid our anxiety, 

 the question was asked, " How does Mr. Root pro- 

 tect his bees from storms?" How does he? Paul 

 finds that a brickbat does not always keep the caps 

 on. Surely there is some better way. 



But I am always flying oflf at a tangent. In addi- 

 tion to these two Cf-lnnies, he bought in the spring 

 three more, and now has a nice little apiary of nine 

 hives, strong to overflowing, and the bees possessed 

 of no other impulse than to collect and store the 

 honey. One he formed by taking two frames from 

 a full hive, with the queen and bees clinging to it, 

 and placing in another. By further reinforcement 

 this has become as strong as the others. He uses 

 the Langstroth hive, and, by the help of Howard, his 

 younger brother, makes all he uses. They have 

 their tools and lumber in the upper hall, and they 

 are as busy and happy as the other little workers. 

 It is a very pretty and interesting sight — these col- 

 onies dotted about under the trees, each one with 

 the name of its queen in bright blue letters on the 

 front. His most beautiful young queen, a present, 

 his queen of queens, he calls Sue, in honor of your 

 wife; then comes Blue Eyes, followed by Josephine, 

 Stella, Vanessa, Marie Antoinette, and others, with 

 the only wicked one, Beatrice Cenci, on the out- 

 skirt. He opens the hives, takes out and looks over 

 the frames every day, running his hands and fingers 

 over and through the depths of workers, often with- 

 out veil or smokex, and rarely ever with stings. It 

 is wonderful how gentle he has made them. They 

 have the lower stories filled with brood and honey. 

 So far he has taken out but little honey; has never 

 used an extractor; he has none, but will have next 

 year, when he expects to buy 30 or 30 colonies more. 

 I suggested to him greater ventilation during these 

 hot days, but he found, on trying it, that the bees 

 sought the darker and remoter places, and there- 

 fore concluded much air and light not desirable for 

 them. He seems to understand transferring, and is 

 pretty successful in general management. How 

 closely he watches their progress ! Several times a 

 day he looks through and studies them up; and 

 what a delight he takes in showing the broad white 

 sheets of comb, filled and sealed 1 



This seems to be a splendid locality for bees, as 

 there are plenty to be found in hollow trees in the 

 woods. In this valley nature is so bountiful, and 

 there is so constant a succession of nectar, that it 

 would indeed be strange if the honey-bee found not 

 a home here. The comb found here is very white, 

 and the honey of a bright amber color, of fine flavor 



