502 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



Aug. 



Pa has 30 stands of bees; he has the Italian bees, 

 of which he thinks a great deal. All of his bees 

 don't make 7CK3 lbs. of honey. He has a smoker, but 

 no extractor. We live in the South, where we have 

 no use for chaff hives. I have a dog and pet sheep 

 which I raised, and am very fond of. I love to read 

 in the Juvenile the letters of my Northern friends. 



Alatoona, Ga. Emma Nichols, age 9. 



I live in the country, and go to school, and have 

 good times. My school will soon be out, and then I 

 shall have to go to work. My pa farms 2f acres of 

 land. He has 18 hives of bees; he is making hives 

 now for next summer. Willie Fetrow, age 12. 



Yocumtown, Pa. 



That is considerable land, Willie, and I 

 hope you will do your farm work as well 

 as you write. Do you like farming better 

 than school? 



lam ju6ta little over 8 years old, but I go to 

 school. I have not got anybody to go with me now, 

 for little brother Emory died two months ago to- 

 day, and that left me alone. He was 6 years old. 

 He could read in the First Reader. T don't know 

 much about bees, but I like to see them work. I 

 think they are smart little things. 



L. May House. 



Dodd's City, Tex., June 3, 1883. 



I think bees are smart little fellows, friend 

 May, judging from the way people rub when 

 the bee puts in his bill for damages. 



My pa had one swarm of bees last summer, and 

 they died last winter. He took from it 85 lbs. Pa is 

 superintendent of the Sunday-school. I go to it. 

 In the year 1881 1 watched the bees for Uncle Augus- 

 tus, and got $3.10. Last fall he lost $5000 worth of 

 honey and machinery. His canning house was 

 burned down, and every thing that was in it. The 

 Are started from a saloon. Anne Bullis, age 9. 



Smithland, la., July 29, 1883. 



Worse troubles than fires come from sa- 

 loons at times, do they not, Anne ? A brain 

 on fire is far worse. 



We have 9 swarms of Italian bees. The bees be- 

 long to ma, but pa tends them. They were my 

 brother's, but he was afraid of them, and he sold 

 them to ma. I go to Sunday-school. I have gone to 

 schoolin a dug-out, and have seen lots of Indians; 

 but we have got a good schoolhouse now, and the 

 Indians have all gone away. The flowers are for 

 Peter. Sadie H. Bogqs, age 10. 



Edincott, Jeff. Co., Neb. 



So your brother sold his bees to your ma, 

 did he, Sadie V I wonder who among our 

 juvenile friends can tell us what a ''dug- 

 out " is, and how it is made ; that is, the 

 kind of dug-out they have in Nebraska and 

 other Western States. 



God bless you, Sadie, for remembering lit- 

 tle Peter. He is getting now so he can 

 laugh and crow, in a manner that would 

 make anybody feel happy and look good- 

 natured. It is the first bouquet of flowers 

 that he ever received, and we all appreciate 

 your kind remembrance. 



I saw the other little girls writing, and I thought I 

 would write too. My father has no bees; he is a 

 farmer. We bought a good deal of honey last year, 

 but I do not know whether he is going to buy any 

 this year or not. We have plenty of bee pasture 



nearly all the year around. My uncle, Ruf us Robin- 

 son, has 126 colonies. He has had 8 swarms. All 

 the honey they are making now is from jack-oak 

 trees. I do not like it myself. 

 La Clede, 111. Mamie Keen, age 11. 



It seems to me, Mamie, your pa is just the 

 man who ought to keep bees.— The " jack- 

 oak '" you speak of is probably what we call 

 " black oak." I fear few would like honey 

 from such a source. 



EMMA'S STORY ABOUT THE BEES. 



I have but little to tell you. We have only one 

 hive of bees. Ma followed them and threw water 

 among them, and they stopped on a high limb. Pa 

 sawed them off three times. He says he will not rob 

 them this year. Emma Hatcher, age 11. 



Dodd City, Fannin Co., Tex., July 17, 1883. 



Why, Emma, did the hive really start to 

 run off, or was it only the bees V And did 

 your pa saw the same limb of three dilf erent 

 times, or did the bees go on three different 

 times ? I think we must take you as you 

 mean, and not as you say, shall we not V 



FROM 3 TO 16 IN TWO YEARS. 



As I am a beginner at bee-keeping, I would report 

 how I succeeded. My grandpa started me with two 

 swarms of bees last lear, and they swarmed twice 

 apiece that year, which made me six swarms to go 

 into the winter with. They came through the win- 

 ter in very good condition; they had plenty to eat, 

 and more bees than they went into the winter with. 

 I did not lose one swarm, and now have 16, and are 

 all full of honey. My bees all swarmed twice apiece 

 before the 11th of July, and still act like swarming. 

 D. M. SAULSGivEb, age 13. 



South Frankfort, Mich., July 15, 1883. 



Well done, my little friend. I know of a 

 good many folks who are twice as old as you 

 are, who do not do half as well as that. 

 Now you are all ready for a honey crop. Do 

 not let the bees get ahead of you. 



TOBACCO AMONG THE .JUVENILES. 



Please send ma a smoker. I hired her to quit us- 

 ing tobacco, for 15 cents. We have three hives of 

 bees; two are ma's, one is mine. We have to borrow 

 a smoker when we use one. 



Johnny Crosier, age 8. 



El Dorado, Butler Co., Kan. 



Why, bless your heart, Johnny, when I 

 started the Tobacco Column it never occurred 

 to me that I should be so fortunate as to get 

 the little ones to help me in the work. I am 

 sure that it is God that is putting it in their 

 hearts ; and may he help your mother in all 

 her efforts to give up tobacco. Tell her 

 when she is tempted, to ask the Lord to help 

 her; and may he be praised for the in- 

 fluences that seem tending toward the gen- 

 eral overturning of this old habit of tobacco- 

 using. 



ABOUT THE HENS THAT ABSCONDED, ETC. 



I have just been away in the country, helping my 

 uncle to make telegraph poles. While out there I 

 helped him to transfer three colonies of bees from 

 old box hives to good frame ones. A great lot of 

 his bees died since he took them out of the cellar in 

 the spring. 



My mother is a widow woman. I had four hens 

 and a rooster; but about 10 days ago two of my hens 



