May 23, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



331 



and it is better still that the most of our bee-keepers will 

 prize it most because of this very fact. Any one who knows 

 Mr. Hatch and his kindly thoiightfulness, can readily under- 

 stand his satisfaction as he removes this wax dirt from the 

 domain of the household. Some may wonder that I speak of 

 wax as '■ dirt." A weed is a plant out of place. Dirt is mat- 

 ter out of place. Purslane (pusley) on the common or by the 

 roadside is no weed. In the garden or field it is a pestiferciis 

 one. Wax taken by the new method outside the houses is 

 neither dirt nor dirty. Inside the kitchen it is usually both. 



THOUQHTFULNESS FOR OTHERS. 



The above suggests what I believe will prove the best 

 ornament in every home circle. I mean thoughtfulness to 

 help and to give pleasure to all its members. In many a home 

 the thoughtful habit becomes almost instinctive. If any 

 member of the household has the habit of rising earlier than 

 the others, he will also form the habit of great quiet before 

 the others rise from their beds. Thus at this earlier hour he 

 will find himself tiptoeing about the house, which he would 

 not think of doing later in the day. The door will be care- 

 fully shut and will not slam, and the fire-lighting will be done 

 so quietly that one wonders that so little noise is possible. 

 This caution may become so instinctive that it will even last 

 through the day, as I have known the father frequently to 

 find himself tiptoeing even in the daytime as he approached 

 the sleeping-rooms. 



It has been my privilege in my past life frequently to 

 pass, often quite late in the evening, by the house of an old 

 gentleman whose habit it was to retire early, with a person 

 whose thoughtfulness for others' comfort was always an 

 inspiration to me. This one, as we approached the house of 

 the old gentleman, would always lower the voice or cut short 

 the laugh which might awaken the sleeping one. This never- 

 failing thoughtfulness did more to beget thoughtfulness in 

 others than would a dozen requests to act in like manner. 



We often hear people lamenting that there is so little rev- 

 erence at the present time among us. I believe this implies 

 an error. I believe there is more genuine reverence among us 

 to-day than there has ever been before. Yet, I am not wholly 

 displeased at the complaint. Want of reverence is so hateful 

 a thing that even fear that it is a growing evil may well cause 

 unrest and regret. We must remember in this day of tele- 

 phone and rapid transit, we have pictured to us the whole 

 world, each day, and our fuller knowledge often misleads us 

 in regard to the condition of society. 



I repeat, I believe the world never had so much of rever- 

 ence as it has to-day. It is certainly true that nothing so 

 increases the reverent spirit among us as thoughtfulness. 

 There is no place where thoughtfulness pays such large inter- 

 est as in the home. I remember once a girl asked me for a 

 sure test in selecting the right person for a life companion. I 

 believe I made the correct reply : " The person who is ever 

 thoughtful of father, mother, yea of all the members of the 

 home circle — always intent to add to the pleasures of others, 

 and equally careful never to wound or make uncomfortable 

 — has a first requisite of the perfect husband." 



Unselfishness must always be at the root of thoughtful- 

 ness. Unselfishness is a Godlike attribute. If we can only 

 teach our children from the very cradle always to be thought- 

 ful of the happiness of others, and always to be on the look- 

 out for opportunities to make the home more a place of com- 

 fort and good feeling, we surely have done our part toward 

 the building of an unselfish and a reverent character. 



In the years when I lived at the Michigan Agricultural 

 College, it was my habit to drive of a Sunday morning with 

 my wife and family to the church in Lansing, three and a half 

 miles distant. In going, we almost always passed one of the 

 business men of the city going with his family to the same 

 church. A little boy of this family invariably walked beside 

 his sister. In the early years, up to the teens, they were 

 always hand in hand, and the evident attention of the 

 brother, and watchfulness for the comfort of his little com- 

 panion were often the subject of remark in our family as we 

 passed the little group. That little couple, all unconsciously, 

 were helping us to become better people. As the young people 

 grew into their teens, the same attention on the part of the 

 brother was always in evidence. Walking on the windward 

 side, picking up a fallen handkerchief, stepping back to let 

 the others pass first into the church, were all signs of a lovely 

 character which from the first challenged our admiration. 

 Mrs. Cook often remarked, ••There is the making of a model 

 husband." Time proved that her judgment was not ill- 

 founded. There are a few things which we in the homo 

 circles should never forget Inve of truth, self-control, and 

 this habit of thoughtfulness: it is a trinity of blessed quali- 

 ties, and means so much not only to the life of the individual 



but to the comfort and blessedness of the home, that we 

 should commence at the very cradle to speak their importance 

 to the loved ones whose characters wo are to fashion. 



NEATNESS AND ORDER— A FOURTH VIRTUE. 



It has been my happy fortune to visit very many of the 

 bee-keeping homes of our country. It is always a rare treat 

 to visit those who are interested in the same things that 

 occupy our thought and attention. But as on the street or in 

 the audience-room, one of the best pleasures comes from the 

 study of others, their habit and manner, so in these visits 

 it is not the least pleasure that comes to us to study the spe- 

 cial habits of our hosts. 



I remember my first visit to Mr. T. F. liingham's apiary. 

 I had often met Mr. Kingham in conventions, and was always 

 pleased at his perfect attire and every courtesy, and so was 

 prepared to find his shop and apiary the perfection of order 

 and neatness. 



I have one other example that is quite-as striking, and no 

 one will wonder that it Is suggested. It was that of Mr. 

 Hetherington, who has been so long associated with Mr. liing- 

 ham in the matter of the honey-knife. Many of my readers 

 win remember how pleasant It was to look upon ]\Ir. Hether- 

 ington at our conventions. One had to see him but a moment 

 to know that system and neatness were ever in attendance at 

 the Hetherington apiary. And so it was. I might mention 

 hundreds of similar cases. Mr. Hilton and Mr. Taylor were 

 other examples. These men never came to a convention with- 

 out a necktie, or with spots on their clothing. These gentle- 

 men had apiaries that were justly their pride. It always 

 gives me unalloyed pleasure to make such visits. These men 

 have not to look for things, for everything is in place, and 

 they could put their hand on every utensil even In the dark. 

 Such system implies neatness, for nothing is out of place, and 

 so from our definition above, there can be no dirt. 



I have often wished that It might have been ray good for- 

 tune to have visited the apiaries of Captain Hetherington, of 

 New York State. I have no doubt he has the same habit of 

 order and neatness that I admired at his brother's. We have 

 all wondered that one man could manage so large a business 

 as is carried on by Captain Hetherington, and win success all 

 along the line. Does not the word system give quick explana- 

 tion ? 



We have given above a trinity of qualities so excellent 

 that we should commence at the cradle to develop them in the 

 lives of our children. Would it not be well to make it a quar- 

 tet, and add the virtue of neatness and order ? This can be 

 done by teaching the child always to hang his clothes neatly 

 upon a chair as he retires : to keep his playthings in perfect 

 order ; and his room, if we can afford him one, always neat 

 and orderly. Put a premium upon such habits, and if we 

 ever knit our brow in disapproval, let it be upon occasions of 

 finding a disordered room or an untidy drawer or closet. It is 

 well to go often and inspect the drawers, and as we find them 

 all in perfect order, put in* them some coveted toy with the 

 words neatly written, " Couldn't help it." Sucli a neat drawer 

 merits a drawer full of toys. 



" The Hum of the Bees ia the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the finest bee-keeper's song' — words by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a "hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the 

 copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent 

 by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompanj'. The Bee 

 Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and 

 thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of SI. 00 

 for your Bee Journal subscription a full year in advance, 

 we will mail you a Wood Binder free — if you will mention it. 



I — I Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 ceTits, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy 

 of this song. 



The Premiums offered this week are well worth work- 

 ing for. Look at them. 



