1883 



JtrVEKILE GLEANINGS. 



645 



FLORENCE'S PETS. 



We like to keep bees. Ma often hives a swarm 

 without getting a single sting. I have 3 pets — a 

 canary, a red bird, and a big white cat. I think the 

 most of my cat. He will sleep in my lap; but the 

 birds are afraid of me. We think you a nice uncle 

 to send us Juvenile Gleanings. 



North Lawrence, Kan. Florence C. Smith. 



LETTER FROM A LITTLE GIRL IN TEXAS. 



I live in Eastern Texas; am on a visit to my aunt, 

 who has bees. She gave me a queen in a little box, 

 but she got away. Cousin John has caught me a 

 little mule-eared rabbit. I am going to raise It. 1 

 expect some of your little readers would like to see 

 such a rabbit. They look big galloping over the 

 prairies. Addie Foster. 



McGregor, Texas, Aug. 14, 1883. 



FRANK'S LETTER. 



Pa keeps bees; he has 8 stands. He got them so 

 late in the summer he has not robbed them. They 

 are all well but one, which the hybrid bees were rob- 

 bing until pa put a queen-cell into it, and then in 

 about a week he looked for the queen-bee, and 

 could find none. He then put two queen-cells and a 

 brood comb in it, closed up the entrance, and moved 

 it. Frank W. Hunt, age 12. 



Kirklin, Tenn. 



THE HOUSE THAT HAS NO BABY IN IT. 



I am interested In your talk about your baby. We 

 have not any babies at our house, and there never 

 were but two — brother and myself. He is in his 

 18th year. He has 6 fingers on each hand. Pa has 

 got the smoker that you sent him. He is well pleas- 

 ed with It. He talks of sending for your ABC. 

 Ma says that she is sorry when Gleanings is out. 



Anna B. Butt. 



Shermansville, Ky., Aug. 15, 1883. 



THE HARRIS FAMILY. 



I saw your kindness In giving little folks books 

 for writing letters, so I thought I would earn one 

 too. My mother has five bees in the new hives, and 

 they do well. We have one of your smokers, and 

 we like it well. Berdella Harris, age 14. 



My mother keeps bees. I have a little white dog; 

 his name 13 Daisy. He is my pet, and I am fond of 

 him. Victor Harris, age 6. 



Richfield, Pa., Oct. 3, 1883. 



THE SWARM THAT WENT OFF AND DIDN'T " SAY 

 - ANY THING." 



We Started with one colony of bees which came to 

 us. The next year it increased one, and the next to 

 f; but 3 of them went to the woods. I have one 

 swarm which I call my own. The last swarm came 

 out and did not cluster, but they went right off. We 

 were at a neighbor's, hoeing corn, and they came 

 right up where we were, but they did not say any 

 thing, but went right past us. I go to Sunday-school. 

 Johnnie Hotelling, age 13. 



Dansville, Liv. Co., N. Y. 



I saw In the ABC book that you sent papa, a great 

 many nice pictures. I saw yours and Blue Eyes' 

 pictures. I think they are nice. I looked clear 

 through the book to find the picture of that little 

 " rosy-posey, chubby, dimpled boy - baby," but I 

 could not find It. I reckon you were afraid to put 

 his picture in, through fear I would come up there 

 and steal him, If he Is as pretty as Blue Eyes. I will 

 send him a name, If it suits him. As David was a 



great king, and a righteous man, and Samson was a 

 strong man, and could rob bees, I will call his name 

 D. S. Root. How does that look? 

 Pisgah, Ala., Sept. 26, 1883. JosiE Davidson. 



I saw in Gleanings that you sent a book to any 

 little boy or girl who wrote to you. Pa hasn't any 

 bees, but he is going to get some before long. I am 

 In the fourth book, and can do " interest " In arith- 

 metic. I go to school every day. I have lost a 

 quarter of a day since school commenced. I live 

 close by two ponds. I had a dog which would fetch 

 the cows and dive in the water for sticks, and some- 

 one shot him. I have read Robinson Crusoe and the 

 Swiss Family Robinson, and Ten Nights In a Bar- 

 Room. Freddy R. Matthews, age 10. 



Houghton Beech Lane, Ont., Can., Sept. 34, 1883. 



I can read Juvenile, but can not write very well, 

 so my ma writes this for me. My pa has 231 stands 

 of bees, but they have not gathered much honey 

 this summer. My ma is afraid of bees, but I help 

 my pa sometimes. When two swarms go together 

 he puts them in the shop cellar a couple of days, 

 and then they stay in the hive all right. He has all 

 the queens' wmgs cut off, so they can not fly away. 

 We like to read Cyula Linswik's letters. She is my 

 ma's cousin. I should like to go to school, but my 

 ma thinks I am too little, so she teaches me at 

 home. Connie Carhart Ward, age 5. 



Fuller's Station, N. Y., Oct. 1, 1883. 



You talk so kind to us, I should like to hear from 

 you every day. Papa's bees are doing well, except 

 some which go out and get drunk when papa makes 

 cider, and they get killed, as did Mr. Henry Gent. 

 Papa was not at home, and mamma had Mr. Gent 

 go and see the doctor for brother. He got to drink- 

 ing, and got shot and killed, and never returned. I 

 think it very bad to get drunk. Don't you think so, 

 Mr. Root? Anna B. Butt. 



Shermansville, Ky., Oct. 3, 1883. 



It certainly is the strangest of all things, 

 Anna, that a man will destroy himself by 

 means of liquor. Even the brutes know 

 better. 



HOW BERTIE TAKES CARE OF 50 SWARMS OF BEES. 



My pa bought 50 swarms this spring, and they in- 

 creased to 93. I have worked with the bees all sum- 

 mer. Pa hired Mrs. Potter to take care of them at 

 first. I have taken care of them since July last. Pa 

 has about 1800 lbs. of white box honey, and expects 

 about 1300 more of fall honey. We would have had 

 more, had it not been for wet weather In basswood. 

 Pa has a hive of fertile workers. I get stung, but I 

 don't mind it much. How many boys and girls have 

 nuclei set up? I have 5. Bertie Loope, age 13. 



I think, Bertie, you did pretty well if you 

 took care of fifty swarms of bees very long ; 

 but perhaps at the time you took care of 

 them they did not need very much care. 

 Was not that the secret of it V 



I am making a book of the Juveniles, by sewing 

 them together. The Aug. No. did not come. Please 

 send It. Pa keeps about 90 colonies of bees, and 

 1000 lbs. of honey. He has built a new honey-room. 

 I helped nail lath on it. 



BEES AND peaches. 



Pa thinks that the bees gnaw holes In the peaches. 

 I think so too; for when I go into the peach orchard 

 I see a cluster of bees around a hole In a great many 



