528 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



ent has said in favor of points 1 to 5, it may 

 be well worth our while to get them here. 



In our next issue Mr. Morrison will tell of the 

 plan he has for going through the Eastern 

 countries, and how he proposes to carry it out, 

 for, indeed, I believe he is just the man to in- 

 troduce new races or species into the civilized 

 world; and he will do it, too, providing the 

 bee-keepers stand back of him, even if he does 

 not secure an appropriation from our own na- 

 tional government. He has had wide experi- 

 ence as a traveler, and is well acquainted with 

 all the intricacies and difficulties of travel 

 among semi-barbaric peoples. — Ed.] 



BEE-STINGS AND RHEUMATISM. 



NOT A CURE, BUT ALMOST A KILL; A SEQUEL 



TO MR. hart's ARTICLE ON PAGE 386; 



FUNNY BUT SERIOUS. 



By W. Hood. 



Editor Gleanmgs;— Having been an interest- 

 ed reader of your journal for several years, es- 

 pecially the portion dedicated to A. I. Root and 

 his garden, 1 usually welcome it on arrival as 

 one of the family. In your May 15th number 

 I was highly interested in reading pages 386,'7, 

 from the pens of Hart and Hendrickson. in re- 

 gard to bees and rheumatism. After reading 

 of the miraculous cure I almost felt like shout- 

 ing "Eureka," for here was found a lightning- 

 like cure that would knock out Electropoise 

 and give "Pink Pills "a black eye in the first 

 round, while I. in blissful ignorance of the 

 medicinal qualities contained within the 

 peaked end of the busy bee, had been cha«ing 

 rheumatic pains up and down my leg with a 

 bottle of liniment, and rubbing it in until 

 the cuticle was almost worn away instead of ap- 

 plying a very small portion of the forty swarms 

 out in the back yard, all of which, with the 

 slightest provocation, would be more than will- 

 ing to sacrifice their lives in my behalf. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I am not writing this to air 

 my apiary, nor to lay my sorrows before the 

 public, but that others who may read it may be 

 benefited by my experience as well as the expe- 

 rience of those who have been cured by bee- 

 stings. 



Some four years ago I spent the winter in the 

 much-lauded State of Florida, and ever since 

 then have been troubled some with rheuma- 

 tism; but it never really settled down to busi- 

 ness until about three months ago, when it 

 located in the hip joint as a permanent settler, 

 spreading out as occasion offered until it reach- 

 ed the end of my toes. In its infancy I got 

 along nicely by wearing a cane; but as its 

 growth increased I felt it very convenient to 

 add a crutch to my outfit, and by so doing we 

 got along nicely together. In all my wander- 

 ings it was my constant companion, reminding 

 me that I was not so young as I used to be. 



After a month or so of rather close compan- 

 ionship, the portion extending out beyond my 

 toes got broken off, or at least I lost it some- 



where, and felt so much better that I laid away 

 the crutch and continued to hobble around the 

 garden and greenhouse with the cane. About 

 this time Gleanings wafted to me the good 

 news found on pages 386,'7, and before retiring 

 that night I promised myself that I would cure 

 that rheumatism or sacrifice the whole forty 

 colonies of bees. 



Accordingly, bright and early the next morn- 

 ing I visited the nearest hive and found the 

 first bees just venturing out, wiping their eyes 

 so they could see better which hive to rob next. 



1 bared my ankle, and, as my bees are always 

 ready for work of this kind, I reached out and 

 gathered in No. 1. It did its work nobly. Nos. 



2 and 3 did likewise. I reached for No. 4 and 

 caught it on the fly. The Tittle fellow, being 

 over-anxious, could not wait till placed in po- 

 sition, but fired away and caught me just un- 

 der the finger-nail. Now, six or seven being 

 the regular dose for adults, and I being about 

 as adult as I ever would be, decided to try 

 about six. In catching No. 5 I made a little 

 miscalculation, and smashed it so flat that, had 

 it been used, it would have had to be in the 

 form of a poultice. In smashing this one I 

 seemed to have given offense to the whole out- 

 fit, each one taking it as a personal insult, and 

 each one insisting on sacrificing his life wheth- 

 er I required it or not. 



I have discovered during life that even rheu- 

 matism is preferable to some other things; and 

 this being one of them, I retired in good order, 

 or in as good order as a man cau with about 

 four quarts of angry bees playing tag round his 

 face. I had decided to take the prescription on 

 the sly, but was caught in the very act; and, 

 during the morning, there were many smiles 

 passed round the family circle at my expense. 



I felt no inconvenience from the stinging un- 

 til about 10 A. M., when I began to realize that 

 something besides rheumatism had moved in. 

 By 11 o'clock I was past navigating. The boys 

 being in a hurry for seed potatoes, I got propped 

 up against a pile of bee hives and went to cut- 

 ting potatoes. When my ankle became too 

 painful I would stoop over and rub it to subdue 

 the pain. At noon, with a little help I reached 

 the house and lounge. 1 took my dinner on the 

 installment plan. 



After dinner the family gathered around to 

 see my sore leg. After my ankle was bared to 

 view they stood in silence, viewing the disabled 

 member for a few moments; but instead of 

 that sad and sorrowful expression that I had 

 expected to see creep over the faces of that 

 group I saw nothing but what I took to be sup- 

 pressed merriment. In the hours of anguish 

 and sorrow I looked for sympathy that I might 

 be able to bear my burden with a lighter heart; 

 but as I gazed into their faces I beheld not that 

 expected sympathy, but in its stead a hidden 

 smile crept over their counlienances; and when 



