1876. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



8c 



dm^ n®iaEi©s® 



[In this departmeat I beg to be aJlowed to lay aside the 

 editorial "we," and have a friendly chat and feel "at home."] 



CHAPTER XIV. 

 ^||^)EFORE dropping the subject of sidevvalk.s 

 1^) and underdraining, I beg to consider a 

 matter that has something to do with both, 

 and besides its bearing on the health of all 

 members of the family, has more to do with 

 the comfort, especially of the little ones, than 

 almost any other one item. I refer to the little 

 structures that usually are given a place in 

 some obs<>ure part of the back yard, or garden, 

 ami which I verily believe no one ever men- 

 tions, looks at, or even thinks about, if it pos- 

 sibly can be avoided; unless it be some juve- 

 nile or childish prattler who has not yet learned 

 there are forbidden topics, and who, despite 

 mammas repeated gestures of caution, will 

 talk, and then open its innocent eyes in won- 

 dering inquiry, as to why such an afiair of ev- 

 ery day life should be so studiously avoided. 

 I can not think it should be avoided, when if 

 all members of the family would give it a faith- 

 ful and honest consideration, so much real 

 good might be brought about. Are these 

 structures well enough as they areV Look 

 tibout you and see. Not only when you are 

 visiting your friends, but take careful notice of 

 their condition at our hotels, at the R. R. sta- 

 tions, «)u the cars, on board our steamers, and 

 go almost where you will. Money has been 

 <.*xpendcd on them it is true, and the proprie- 

 tors many times have evidently gone to work 

 with a determination to have them models of 

 neatness and— sweetness ; but alas, if you have 

 visited the place after a lapse of only a year or 

 two, you may be obliged to think that it /« im- 

 })ossible for a public place of the kind, to be 

 kept entirely free trom bad odors, etc. 



Carlyle is said to have made the remark that 

 if every man would reform himself, there would 

 be one less rogue in the world, and I am very 

 much inclined to think that in this matter, if 

 we would all commence a reform at home, our 

 traveling public would sooner or later feel the 

 effects of such reformation, and the number 

 who can ruthlessly consent to bring careless 

 habits where they do so much mischief, we 

 think would certainly decrease. Our people 

 do not mean to be unkind or to make trouble, 

 it is only because they are thou»htiess ; and at 

 home is the very place to teach them to be 

 thoughtful of the rights of their fellows. As I 

 have often said before, we do not want money 

 to commence these reforms, we only want to 

 set to work at once and make a good use of 

 what is in our own door yard. 



I would like to give a description of the two 

 extremes, as I met them within a few days of 

 each other; but an account of the first, I 

 should not dare to even jnit on paper. I would 

 not by any means advise a false modesty that 

 would deter one from taking right hold, with- 

 out gloves, of any kind of work that needs to 

 be done, but I do declare it to be an act of ab- 

 solute cruelty, that forces a child or one of the 

 weaker sex to enter such a place. It hardens 

 children to scenes of tilth and uucleanliness, in 

 a way that may explain why grown up people 

 sometimes seem to be almost destitute of a 



sense of delicacy in such matters. Ye fathers 

 and brothers, think of your daughters, wives, 

 sisters and mothers, and think how much you 

 could add to to their comfort by removing all 

 unsightliness, and fixing up these too often, 

 rickety structures. 



The model I have referred to, was liuilt in 

 connection with the wood-house, and the floor 

 was i)erhaps 6 feet feet from the ground. Ou 

 entering the closet one found themselves in a 

 very pretty little room ; I think, but am not 

 sure, that the window was curtained, but I nra 

 sure that a very pretty picture neatly hung, 

 added very much to the home-like appearance 

 of the place. Near the floor was a little sli- 

 ding door, and when this was opened, a little 

 recess was seen containing a little wooden 

 shovel, and a small heap of dry dust, just such 

 as we see in the roads in summer. AVhen a 

 shovel full of dust was used another came 

 down from a hopi)er firll, placed in the wood- 

 shed. As we were curious to knovr just how 

 well this dry dust answered the purpose, we 

 pried inquisitively into every suspicious place 

 to see if there really did lurk no odor to indi- 

 cate the nature and purpose of the building. 

 Nothing of the kind ; the dust did its work so 

 eflectually that I do not know how moie could 

 be desired. As the room was really a part of 

 the building, there was none of the usual ne- 

 cessity of going out through wet, damp grass 

 during rainy weather, etc., to say nothing ol 

 its convenience during the winter season. 

 Now then, if your garden house or by what 

 other name you may choose to call it, is loca- 

 ted and must be kept at a distant part of the 

 premises, please do make a good walk to it, 

 and if the door is hanging loosely or the boards 

 are coming off, or there are huge cracks that 

 allow the snow to drift in, by all means fix 

 them. At about the time we did our under- 

 draining we found on our new premises one of 

 the ordinary tumble down affairs with no roof 

 but some broad boards that had almost suc- 

 ceeded in rolling themselves up into a scroll, 

 and boards for the sides had pulled most of the 

 nails out in their attempts to follow suit. At 

 first it was thought advisable to have it burned 

 up as useless rubbish, and to build a better 

 one ; it was decided that unfortunately, we had 

 no money to invest in such a structure as 

 seemed desirable, and much against our incli- 

 nations we set about making the best we 

 could of the old one. It was rolled over until 

 somewhat nearer the house, and then set up 

 square and level over a capacious vault pre- 

 pared for it, we then took off the roof boards, 

 turned them over, and made a respectable look- 

 ing roof of a bunch of cheap shingles. A bun- 

 dle of lath served to batten all the cracks, and 

 to make it all of one color, v,e gave it a good 

 painting with a whitewash l)rush, and a paint 

 made of milk and water lime; this makes a 

 very pretty stone color, and has stood the 

 storms of 10 years very well indeed. Some 

 scantling and bits of board, made a narrow but 

 comfortable walk to the wood-shed door, and 

 as it is raised slightly above the ground it is 

 but a slight task to brush away the snow the 

 first thing in the morning before the juveniles 

 have made their appearance. Again, by hav- 

 ing it located near the door to the wash room, 

 it is but the work of a few minutes to take 

 broom and soap suds and make the whole iu- 



