1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



59 



•does. However, we will try and test the matter 

 next summer, when our machine-shop is not so 

 rushed with orders for Cowan extractors, foun- 

 •dation-mills, etc. No. nol We do not make 

 fun of models when not fathered by some lead- 

 ing bee-keeper; but when an insignificant de- 

 vice comes from such a one we have respect for 

 it at once. See what Dr. Miller says of the 

 Hewes escape on p. 7.] 



FIRE INSURANCE ON BEES. 



Tell Dr. Miller I have my bees insured in the 

 " London Mutual Fire Insurance Co.. of Cana- 

 da." $.5.00 on each hive, A. I. Root's chaff hives. 

 and it costs me only 4,^.2 cents per hive for a 

 three-year risk. I have them insured along 

 with my other property. Ii.A Michenek. 



Low Banks, Ont., Dec. 26. 



Dr. Miller asks in one of his last Straws what 

 insurance company insures bees against fire. 

 The last clause of our Farm Property form reads 

 as follows: '" ?600on bees, bee-hives, and honey, 

 on or in same premises." We are insured in the 

 New York Bowery Co. Number of colonies 

 covered by this clause is 100. H. P. Langdon. 



East Constable, N. Y., Dec. 24. 



OURSELVES AND OUR NEIGHBORS. 



HOW TO BE WEI.I.: WHAT DID GOD INTEND WE 



SHOULD DO TO PREVENT AND CURE 



DISEASE? 



Bless the Lord, O my soul, and fnig:L't not all liis 



benefits ; who forg-ivetli all thine ini<iuities ; wlio 



healeth all thy diseases.— Psai.m 1(«:2, 3. 



You know already this is a subject that has 

 been much on my mind. Is it according to the 

 will of God. and did he intend in the beginning, 

 that we should dose ourselves and physic our- 

 selves with powerful drugs, both vegetable 

 and mineral? Now, please do not think that I 

 am going to commence a tirade against doctors 

 and druggists. 1 certainly am not, for they are 

 my personal friends, and I know that at least 

 many of them are seeking for light, just as I am 

 seeking for it; therefore my prayer in the out- 

 set of this article is, that God may not only give 

 me ivisdum, but charity for my fellow-men 

 while I write. Perhaps one thing more I should 

 say in the outset. I propose to use some very 

 plain language this morning, and some of the 

 friends may possibly feel that I am outstepping 

 the limits of good breeding and decency. There- 

 fore, dear friend, if you do not like my very 

 plain health-talks, may be you had better com- 

 mence right here to skip this article. I have 

 decided to talk plainly, that I may be plainly 

 understood, and that I may help a world of 

 people in avoiding and getting rid entirely of 

 some of these things that are almost disgusting 

 to Utlh about in a home periodical. " Forwarn- 

 ■ed is forearmed:" and so if you read any fur- 

 ther you must not find any fault. Perhaps I 

 should add, no one has found fault yet, that I 

 know of, because of my plain speaking ; but 

 some of the good friends in our home have felt 

 greatly troubled for fear somebody would take 

 exceptions to my plain language. 



I nave told you how I have been recently 

 praying for light in this matter. I have told 

 you, too. of that wonderful answer to prayer 

 that still animates and inspires me when I 

 think of it; namely, that, by the use of the 

 wheel, I could perform muscular feats that 

 might astonish even the athletes of a few years 

 ago; and that, in so doing, I have found vigof- 

 ous. robust health and physical enjoyment. 



such as I had never known before. It was to 

 me almost a miraculous transformation, from a 

 feeble, sulTering invalid, to an individual who 

 could travel by his own strength, unaided, forty 

 or fifty miles a day, and rejoice in his strength 

 like the horse that " paweth in the valley " and 

 "rejoiceth in his strength." Of course, I am 

 not riding the wheel now as I did in the sum- 

 mer time The state of the roads will not per- 

 mit it. Besides, such a course of exercise is 

 hardly possible for everybody even in the sum- 

 mer, and possibly to only a few in the winter. 

 Let me say, however, that I am still riding my 

 wheel two or three miles every day. Yesterday 

 the thermometer was down to only 15 above 

 zero, but I rode several miles in perfect comfort, 

 and kept warm without any trouble. Now, 

 while I felt perfectly well during this excessive 

 riding, there was a good deal of the time when 

 there was manifestly more or less derangement 

 of my digestive organs; and if I omitted my 

 rides for two or three days, the old troubles 

 were sure to come back. I wanted more light 

 on the subject. I prayed that God would show 

 me more: that he would enable me to discover 

 what laws we were transgressing, and where 

 we were blundering. During months back, dif- 

 ferent friends have been sending me, or sug- 

 gesting, remedies, and I have been strongly 

 urged to try various patent medicines. I have 

 not tried any of them, however. I do not be- 

 lieve this is the way to do when we are sick — 

 that is, generally speaking; and I never intend 

 nor wish to come out in these Home talks, and 

 tell you that "Dr. Blank's wonderful medical 

 discovery " is the thing for sick people to take, 

 especially if I am going to end my exhortations 

 by saying, " Thus saith the Lord." Does that 

 latter expression startle you? I hope it does. 

 He who stands up in the pulpit, or he who 

 stands anywhere else, and says to his listeners, 

 "Thus saith the Lord." had better be very 

 careful what he says. Yes. indeed should he be 

 careful. 



Now, if we shall not cure our ills by " taking 

 something," what shall we do? What does the 

 Lord tell us to do? Let me frankly confess, 

 that, although I have studied the Scriptures 

 considerably with this matter in view, I can 

 not find that they tell us very much about it. 

 The closing sentence of our text tells us very 

 plainly that it is the Lord who does the healing. 

 The Bible was not given us to teach astronomy 

 nor any other science, nor even physiology, ex- 

 cept that bodily health is so very closely con- 

 nected with spiritual health that one, to a cer- 

 tain extent, follows the other. The Bible 

 teaches, however, very plainly and clearly that 

 we should avoid gluttony, and beware how we 

 give loose rein to sensual appetites and feelings. 

 No other book in the wide world has ever pre- 

 sumed to prescribe such a course of purity, self- 

 control, and abstemiousness, as God's holy 

 word. And I think I may say right here, that 

 the "thus saith the Lord" is very plain and 

 clear in this whole matter. We should eat to 

 be strong and well, and not because it gratifies 

 our appetites and taste. Enjoyment in eating 

 is very well to a certain extent, providing we 

 eat to live and not live to eat. A few days ago 

 I had occasion to ask a man what his business 

 was. His reply has been in my mind a good 

 deal. It was something like this: 



"All the business I have is to eat, and there- 

 fore I am out this morning hunting upsomething 

 good to eat. What have you in your garden 

 that will probably fill the bill ?" 



He did not say any thing more, but simply 

 made his purchases and went away. I like the 

 business of market-gardening and fruit-raising, 

 because it furnishes the world with good and 

 wholesome articles of diet— that i.s, generally 



