1882 



gletvnings in bee culture. 



141 



SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 



I unitetl two stocks— a stronger whose queen I had 

 removed two or three dajs before, and a weaker one 

 with a 3'ellow queen. I gave them decisive handling, 

 to take the "fight" out ot them; but the stronger 

 killed every bee of the weaker, except the queen, 

 which they saved alive to be their own queen. 



John FOTnERiNGHAM. 



St. Mary's, Out., Can., Nov. 2."), 1881. 



HO.ME-MADE HORSE-POWERS. 



I have made a horse-power according to direc- 

 tions given by M. H. Hunt (p. 487, Oct., 1881), and it 

 works " bully." My wheel is 15 feet in diameter. I 

 use a chain. Friend Hunt says it is hard on la horse. 

 Well, just put in two, one on each side, and a " small 

 boy" to dri\e, and things will hum, "you bet." If 

 you want to amuse the chillren, just remove the 

 chain, set them on the rim, and whirl it. It makes a 

 splendid " living Dutchman." F. W. Stevens. 



Moore's Hill, Dearborn Co., Ind., Jan. 10, 188;J. 



I have a letter inclosing a small amount of money, 

 signed Edson Hains, but not a sign to tell where it 

 came from; even the po'^tmaster forgot to ink his 

 stamp. Date of letter, Dec. 7, 1881. Another dated 

 Feb. 5, 1882, with mone?, and signed L. Bock with, 

 Berlin, but doesn't say where Berlin is. Both claim 

 to have seen ad. in Gleanings. Will you please 

 call attention to this in your next issue? No reply 

 necessary. C. H. Deane. 



Mortons ville, Ky., Feb. 13, 188i. 



[We have a man by this name at Berlin, Wisconsin.] 



AN AfOLOGV; SEE P. -iS, .IAN. NO , AND 83, FEB. NO. 



No, friend Neuhaus; if I had such a large yield, I 

 should not be ashamed to tell of it. 1 was perhaps a 

 little hasty; but when I hear of such big yields, it 

 fairly takes my breath away. Now, I have always 

 thought that if I could get 100 lbs. of surplus, and a 

 swarm from one colony, I was doing nicely; indeed, 

 if I could average that, I would be satisfied. At any 

 rate, I offer you my hand in apologj', and doubt not 

 but that you will take it, owing to the gentlemanly 

 manner in which you answered. Jong. 



La Porte, Iowa, Feb. 13, 1883. 



MB. ^TIKKKYBANKS AND HIS NEIGH- 

 BOR. 



I have been yoving, and now am old; yet have I 

 not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed beg- 

 ging bread.— Psalm 37:2."). 



M FT EU Chnstraas. things seemed rather 

 j^^ dull, and Mr. Jones, for the first time 



' in many weeks, found it hard to tind 



some work to do. The roads were bad, and 

 every oi)ening to earn even 2-5 cents a day 

 seemed to have been closed, for no one got 

 out away from home. All that the surround- 

 ing farmers had to do, they did themselves ; 

 and there were so many oifering to work at 

 the sawmill, at whatever price the owner 

 would give them, during the winter months, 

 there seemed no kind of a chance there. To 

 tell the whole truth, he began to feel a great 

 longing for his )tipe during these dull days, 

 ami Satan kept whi.speiingthere could not be 

 any thing so very wrong in a simple matter 

 like this, until he was in very gieat danger 

 indeed of getting back into his old ways. 



lie did very wisely indeed in telling his wife 

 all about it. I hardly think he would have 

 done this had it not been for a very warm 

 friendship that had recently si)rung up be- 

 tween the two. I dare say, some of the 

 friends may smile at the idea of a friendship 

 springing up between man and wife; but, if 

 1 mistake not, there may be others who know 

 something what a friendship of this kind is. 

 Young folks often form friendships (if you 

 will excuse the word) before marriage; but 

 they do not then know each other as they do 

 after a few years of acquaintance amid the 

 sometimes monotonous duties of home life. 

 Well, the great friendship between John's 

 father and mother commenced about the 

 time they formed a habit of kneeling in 

 prayer together the last thing at night,' and 

 asking God for all they felt they needed. 

 After both voices had been lifted up to God, 

 each felt a new trust and confidence in the 

 other ; and it was after such an exercise that 

 he ventured to tell her he feared he was los- 

 ing trust in God a little, and also felt a long- 

 ing for his old tobacco. The little Bible 

 soon supplied the text at the head of our 

 chapter, and her bright woman's faith and 

 trust soon made him feel ashamed of any 

 such feelings. They were all regular in at- 

 tendance at all Sunday services, and no Sab- 

 bath passed without something being con- 

 tributed to the cause of God's work. The 

 utmost economy was practiced in all their 

 expenditures, and so she felt she had a right 

 to plead with her Savior, on the strength of 

 the promises in his holy word. She was but 

 a small, weak, feeble woman ; but her faith 

 in Liod was bright, and she knew their pray- 

 ers would be heard. She didn't know, how- 

 ever, after all, and I presume never dreamed, 

 of the way in which God would use those 

 prayers, nor of the cares and trials that 

 would come through the answer to them. 

 Sometimes God sees lit to answer our pray- 

 ers so quickly that we are fairly startled. 

 At other times it may be years before it 

 would be best for us to have them answered, 

 or even safe for us. This one came very 

 quickly. 



" Mr. Jones, 1 want you to help me right 

 away, this morning.'' 



It was ITncle Billy, and he seemed in a 

 great hurry as he stood in the door on that 

 stinging cold morning. The husband and 

 wife exchanged glances. 



" All right, sir; what tools shall I bring?"" 



" Bring all the tools you used in cutting 

 that under-drain in the rock."' 



'' But. isn"t it pretty " 



Here he stopped abruptly, because of a look 

 of pain in his wife's face, as she shook her 

 head at him. 



"• What is it, my man? out with it ! " 



'•I beg pardon. Uncle Billy; I was just 

 going to ask if it wasn't pretty cold for such 

 work ; but I Mant to take it back, and to 

 say that I will gladly go anywhere, and do 

 any thing you bid me, to earn an honest liv- 

 ing."' 



'• Spoken like a man, Mr. Jones. Here is 

 my hand on it, and you just stick to that and 

 we will be friends."' 



Do you see how nearly he came to reject- 

 ing the answer to their prayers, when it was 



