286 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



you look bland, and say, " Oh, yes ! but some one 

 must stay to feed tbe chickens," I can g-o out and 

 take her with me. Then how interesting the work 

 is ! one finds that, unconsciously, he is becoming so 

 intensely interested that some one will say, " Why, 

 he's enthusiastic." Then there's danger that he will 

 forget that he is a minister, and imagine he is a bee- 

 keeper. What a satisfaction it is when one's friends 

 come to " see a body," to take them out into the 

 apiary, and show them the wonders of modern bee- 

 keeping, and see them stare and wonder where you 

 learned so much, and how different now and then, 

 and tell them that you read Langstroth and Quinby 

 and Cook and Gleanings, and then practice what 

 you read. I must not forget, however, that it was 

 Rev. Dr. Van Eaton (deceased), of York, N. Y., a 

 very able and successful apiarist, who gave me my 

 first lesson in the work. I found at first that I would 

 have to guard against seeming too much interested 

 and too enthusiastic in the work, lest I should incur 

 criticism and censure; but who does not want to be 

 warm-hearted, whole-souled in every thing? and I 

 think there is no industry in which there are really 

 more whole-souled men and unselfish women en- 

 gaged than in bee-keeping. 



One thus situated may not feel at liberty to use all 

 the anecdotes and illustrations from the apiary that 

 might present themselves, for setting out a discourse, 

 lest his people might think that his mind was run- 

 ning too much in the "bee line," and that, whilst 

 they liked honey from the apiary very well, would 

 prefer sermons from some other source. These 

 need not, however, be lost. Last summer, in com- 

 ing up the St. Lawrence by boat, I fell in with a 

 young brother from LTtica. In speaking of the mat- 

 ter of illustrations, I told him there was one which 

 I did not feel free to use; but as there was neither 

 patent nor copyright on it, he might have free use 

 of it. The search for a stingless honey-bee has been 

 rewarded only in finding a poor worthless creature, 

 and so the search for stingless preachers has result- 

 ed about as favorably. Preachers who do not wound 

 whilst sending home the arrows of truth, and deal- 

 ing out words quick and powerful, sharper than a 

 two-edged sword, are certainly about as valuable as 

 a hive of stingless bees. But as a little honey is a 

 ready remedy, so the wound itself carries its healing 

 balm in itself. " He wounds to heal." " Good ! " 

 says he, and, out with note-book and pencil, added, 

 " I'll use that some time on the defensive." If he is 

 inclined to pursue the study of entomology, there is 

 perhaps no field more inviting or fruitful; and when 

 a friend comes and sees a nice plate of honey on 

 your table, he is delighted. " Your own production?" 

 "Oh, yes ! certainly." And why should he not have 

 something of his own with which to bless others? 

 The blessings of the sick, whose hearts are gladden- 

 ed by a little taste of the balm of a thousand flowers 

 from the minister's apiary, is treasure laid up in 

 heaven. What we have used on our own table, with 

 what I have had the pleasure of giving away, has 

 paid me well for all my labor. 



The points in favor of bee-keeping as a little in- 

 dustry for ministers, may be summed up then as 

 follows : — 



1. It is in the best possible keeping with his great 

 work in life as a minister. 1 know of nothing that 

 could harmonize more completely with the dignity 

 and nobility of his high calling. If properly con- 

 ducted, it will prove a great help, a valuable adjunct 

 to his profession. 



2. The least capital is needed for beginning. The 

 smaller the beginning, generally, the better. One 

 hive is sufiicient. 



3. The most rapid increase of capital stock, under 

 careful management; if stock is desired, they will 

 increase very rapidly, especially by artificial swarm- 

 ing. 



4. The greatest returns for the least outlay of cap- 

 ital and labor; 100 per cent is good, but more may, 

 by skillful labor, be realized. They are the only 

 thing that I can find that will work for me, board 

 themselves, and, as a little rogue remarked at the 

 dinner-table, " cell " their own honey and give me 

 all the profits. One can keep 25 stocks of bees with 

 less labor than 25 chickens, and ten times the profits. 



5. The production of an article the most beautiful 

 in appearance and most exquisitely delightful in 

 taste. 



6. A staple, useful, healthful, salable commodity. 



7. He is leai'ning from one of the least, but, at the 

 same time, one of the most beautiful and interest- 

 ing little beings in the universe. If we may learn 

 from the ant, much more from the honey-bee. Thoy 

 lead to direct lines of study and fields of thought 

 peculiarly their own, yet cognate to all his other 

 studies, and most valuable incentives to seek the 

 highest attainments in all departments. What a 

 field here for the entomologist 1 



8. It gives him physical exercise, as a recreation 

 from sedentary habits and their evil tendencies. Un- 

 less he is a bungler, he will acquire a skill in the use 

 of tools which is not to be despised. Next to my 

 " book shop," in the front part of the house, I value 

 most highly my little work and " tool shop " in the 

 woodhouse. 



9. The care of his apiary will fall most heavily at 

 just such a time as he will feel least like being in his 

 8tudy,and most like being out,building up for another 

 year— June, July, and August. Few country pastors 

 have regular summer vacations, and a couple of 

 months with the bees is just about as good as a va- 

 cation during these hot days; he would go asleep 

 over his books, but not among the busy bees. This 

 allows him to be absent from home at almost any 

 other season of the year for a week or a month, as 

 may be necessary, and then his wife doesn't have to 

 stay to attend to them, but can go too. 



10. The little revenue of a hundred dollars or more 

 each year will enable him to get some valuable 

 books, which will increase his own self-respect very 

 much, and may add greatly to the efficiency of his 

 ministry. A few weeks' labor in the summer may 

 furnish him all the books he can read during the 

 winter. A small steady revenue of this kind is bet- 

 ter than an interest in a gold mine (?), and some- 

 times, like the honey itself, it isn't hard to take. 

 Most men who preach have either to practice self- 

 denial in many things, such as the useless luxury of 

 books, or supplement their own salaries in some 

 such way, and thus help to support themselves in 

 order to enjoy the privilege of preaching the gospel. 



I can not insure himthat, just about the time when 

 he is becoming vehement, and the trumpet waxing 

 louder and louder, a swarm of these golden birds 

 may not get to capering, and elope for parts un- 

 known; but he must take his losses with his gains. 

 If he extracts, he need have but little difficulty. 

 Besides, there are many other precautions he can 

 take. If he is at ITthly and finally, they may hang 

 on the bush until he responds to the Macedonian 

 ci-y. Of mine, I can testify that they are like a great 



