334 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



an essential condition to success after all ; 

 but for all that, I should be a litt)e ashamed 

 to buy all my bees crery spring. 



H. A. BIRCH & CO. 



?N our June No. we had considerable en- 

 couragement that friend JJurcli was go- 

 ing to lill at least a part of his orders 

 this season. It is now July, and no word 

 has come from any of his cu"stomers of hav- 

 ing received bees or any thing else. If bees 

 are sent now, they will be like those sent out 

 last fall — of little use to those who receive 

 them. Hearing that Mr. B. had quite an 

 apiary this season, I wrote him, after our 

 last number had gone out, asking if he would 

 be so kind as to let the friends know what to 

 depend on, or at least let us know about how 

 many bees he had, with which to fill orders. 

 Here is his reply : — 



Friend R<ii>t:—Ccvlam\y; yet our matters arc in 

 such a shape at present that wo hardly feel at liber- 

 ty to comply with your suggestion. Will give the 

 matter clue consideration, and may possibly forward 

 you such a statement in time for publication in 

 your July No. H. A. Bdrch & Co. 



South Haven, Mich., June 8, 1883. 



I presume it will be as well to consider 

 now, without further delay, how we may 

 have this business settled up, so far as it con- 

 cerns myself. Those who were not bona-fidc 

 subscribers to Gleanings when they sent 

 their orders to 13urch I'v:. C'o., have, of course, 

 no claim on me ; neither have those who, al- 

 though they may have been subscribers, 

 were induced to send by receiving Mr. B.'s 

 circular, or seeing his advertisement in some 

 other publication. I shall have to trust to 

 your word and honor on this last point ; but 

 I am not afraid, for I have found bee-men, 

 the most of tliem, remarkably truthful. If 

 you deceive me, you may get some of my 

 money ; but you will lose in the happiness of 

 a clear conscience, and in the eternal sum- 

 ming-up that is to come to us all. 



Now to the remainder, to those who did 

 send money to Burch & Co. solely because 

 the latter advertised in Gleanings, I would 

 make the following plea : First, my purpose 

 in wording my remarks about advertisers, 

 was to guard against being taken in by 

 swindlers, or such men as N. C. Mitchell, 

 who make it a constant practice to receive 

 money, without any purpose of making any 

 return. Mr. Burch has been for many years 

 a business man, and has been prompt enough, 

 at least, to build up quite a business. He for 

 years stood in good repute by the great mass 

 of our bee-keepers. We have letters from 

 him where he refused to receive more mon- 

 ey. I never intended to hold myself respon- 

 sible for men who failed in business. My 

 friends, I will submit it to you, and I beg of 

 you to answer me without prejudice : Do 

 you think I should pay the debts of a man 

 who fails in business, because of my guaran- 

 tee on my advertisers V 



One more point, and I am done. In the 

 August No. of last year I said this : — 



If Mr. Burch, or any other one, fails to send the 

 goods, or return the money, I will pay back the 

 amount as soon as it Is determined that It can not 

 be collected of such advertiser. 



Do you wish to know why I am not as 

 good as my word, and why I do not pay all 

 these bills without further 'words, this is my 

 plea : The amount then was about $200 or 

 such a matter. To my great astonishment, 

 I learned, after this had gone out, that he 

 had received nearer two thousand than two 

 hundred. Does this make any difference V 

 Perhaps an illustration will make it look a 

 little more as it does to me. AVhenfdn. was 

 first sent out, years ago, I made for Mr. 

 Burch, out of his own wax, a small lot. The 

 amount we received for working the Avax 

 was something like five or ten dollars, per- 

 haps. It did not please him. After some 

 considerable correspondence, rectifying mis- 

 takes, he still complained, and I, perhaps a 

 little petulantly, told him to say what amount 

 would make it satisfactory, and I woidd pay 

 it. He demanded $.'30.00. I meditated a 

 good while as to what I should do. I had al- 

 ways been a man of my word, and I did not 

 see any way to get out of a fair and square 

 promise. 1 sent the fifty dollars. Did I do 

 right y Suppose he had demanded five hun- 

 dred, or five thousand. Would it still have 

 been my duty as a man or a Christian to 

 have made my word good V This brings out 

 the point, that every promise given is to be 

 taken in the spirit of it, and not the letter. If 

 we hold a man to what we feel sure he meant, 

 we should be satisfied without demand- 

 ing the letter, or the exact words he used. 

 Is it not true, that every promise given is to 

 be taken within the bounds of reason V 



No doubt you will think I ought to be 

 careful of what promises I make, by this 

 time. It is true, I ought to have learned 

 more by experience. I have several times 

 cautioned our advertisers against promising 

 to give satisfaction, unconditionally. I think, 

 therefore, I will make no promise now ; but 

 I would ask all who think I honestly owe 

 them, on this Burcli matter, to say what 

 amount I must pay them, to have the whole 

 matter dropped pleasantly. Let us have all 

 the claims sent in before the August No. 

 comes out, if we can. I have been unwise, 

 and perhaps foolish, and I will try to bear 

 my punishment bravely. 



HONEV FROWI THISTLiK, AND HONEV 

 FROM DANDELION. 



fSEND you by to-day's mail a small package con- 

 taining honey from thistle, and also dandelion, 

 ' thinking perhaps you never saw honey from 

 the former before. It has been in the hive since 

 August last. T. C. CRiLtiY. 



Grafton, O., June 15, 1883. 



The honey from dandelion is lighter in 

 color and milder in flavor than what we 

 have been in the habit of considering dande- 

 lion honey ; but as it had candied, this may 

 have made a change in it. That from thistle 

 is dark, but perfectly clear, and of much 

 finer flavor than the dandelion honey. I can 

 hardly suppose anybody would raise thistles 

 on purpose for honey ; but in tracts where 

 thistles are suffered to grow in great abund- 

 ance, it may be that hives might be profita- 

 bly located. Thanks for the samples, friend 

 Crilly. 



