CORNER FOR BUSY BEES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 134, 8 June 1929, Page 3 (Supplement)

CORNER FOR BUSY BEES.

WAR ON MOTHS.

THE GUARDIAN OF THE

WARDROBE.

{Conducted by TINKER BELL.)

Dear Girls, —

Winter has come with its chilly winds, its crisp night airs, and its deep penetrating cold. Wardrobes and chests of drawers will be ransacked to unearth the furiest and warmest of clothing,. and. where busy bees have been a little" careless the ravages of moths will be very apparent. Everyone knows of *he queer smelling mothballs than can be purchased for a few pence a dozen at any drapery store, yet many forget to put a few of these balls in the box in which they store their winter furs. If you do not want your clothing to be spoilt by insect pests, set to work at jonce and make a little moth scai-er. There are many "coddy" ways of incorporating mothballs with ribbon and muslin to make dainty novelties which can be hung in a wardrobe or laid on top of clothes in a drawer. A mothball "moth" can be made at very little expense, and the gueer little shape undoubtedly reminds one of the real moth and the havoc it can play in a wardrobe of furs.

To make one you will require five moth balls, short lengths of yellow and blue organdie muslin, and a strip of green ribbon. From the yellow material cut a strip sJin long by 2£ra wide, and sew it up into a long bag, leaving one end open. Fill the bag with the five mothballs, then sew up the end. Bind black thread round the cloth between each mothball, to give the bag the "lumpy" appearance of a caterpillar's body. The wings, made in pairs, are shaped from scraps of buckrum, the foremost wing being of a blue colour and the other being yellow. The buckrum shapes are covered with the blue and yellow material, then are sewn into position .under the body of the .moth. The antennae is madeirom pieces of wire, bound with cloth and twisted into shape. They are sewn into position on the moth's head between the eyes, which are marked in with black ink. All that remains to be done is the sewing on of the loop of green ribbon by which the mothball moth can be hung to a clothes peg in the wardrobe.

TJhe usefulness of the moth outlasts its beauty, Jor no real moth will .trespass on its domain, and so furs and! woollens can be stored with security in a wardrobe guarded by a mothball moth.

AN INCH OF RAIN.

WHAT IT REALLY MEANS.

Do you really understand low much' an inch of rain Ist The average troy or girl probably hae an idea that an inch of rain is a mere trifle .on nature's part. In reality it is a good big rainfall—more than falls in most places in the average week. The rainfall of one inch means, literally, that the amount of water descending in a particular shower would cover the. surrounding territory to a depth of one inch, provided it did not iun away or soak into the ground. .An inch of rain coming down on a single acre of land, would fill more than 600 barrels of 45 gallons capacity each. This .amount of water would weigh more than 110 tons, or nearly a quarter of a pounds.

THAT AEROPLANE.

"What a graceful thing an aeroplane is!" I .said one day. We had been scrambling up the slippery rocks by the seashore, and were now very hot and out of breath. So we sat on the top of the cliffs to let the clear, eweet sea breezes fan our flushed cheeks and blow in our hair, while the many busy steamers went past far below.

Aβ I spoke I had been watching and admiring the antics of a 'plane that glided and swayed many hundreds of feet above the briny blue.

"See how it twists and turns," I continued glibly, "as if it were unconscious of the peril'that would be apparent if it should fall. How wonderful it looks, and how free!"

We' continued to watch it for some time in silence, until my companion clutched my arm and exclaimed loudly, "Look, it isn't a 'plane at all!"

"Wh-what is it, then?" I asked in wonder.

"It's a birdj Only a bird! Oh, you old duffer!" After recovering -sufficiently, I said, with dignity, "No matter what it is. I was true in what I said. It is free, graceful and it is wonderful."