October, 1918 



WE h a V 

 spoken, all 

 of us, of 

 the fraternal 

 spirit among 

 beekeepers, the 

 friendliness and 

 all -of - a - family 

 sort of feeling 

 that draws them 



GLEANINGS IN B E E CULTURE 



c 





Beekeeping as a Side Line 



about bees and 

 h o m e ? Then 

 later in the let- 

 ter he speaks of 

 his plan to visit 

 the U n i t e d 

 States with One 

 Other (this isn 't 

 telling, is it, 

 , . ^ w h e n I don 't 



give his name?) after he gets home and 

 they are married. And don't we all most 



one to another. And among the letters that 

 have dropped in on me from fellow bee- 

 keepers, some of them, by coming from fervently wish him g7eat "good fortune over 

 io,wi. O....CC ti,o .ooc .1. K,n,.n. +i.nf ,.ovt^.„. there iu Fraucc, and a speedy safe return 



and the full realization of all of his dreams? 

 Indeed we do. 



Then out of the friendly thoughts of one 

 ot our own American beekeepers there re- 

 cently dropped into my life a most ingeni- 

 ous box for hunting bees. It is all cut and 

 htted and fashioned most perfectly and with 

 great dexterity and skill. And a delight of 

 a hive tool from another— and it all means 

 triendhness, simple great-hearted friendli- 

 ness, one of the biggest and best qualities 

 (xod has i3ut into human souls. 



This spirit does not stop with letters and 

 graceful gifts, however; it goes on out into 

 practical helpfulness. Most generouslv in 

 all places, year after year, do veteran* bee- 

 keepers give of their experience and learn- 

 mg to those just starting in the work 

 Once, to be sure, a beekeeper said to me in 

 a letter that it was an old saying and true 

 that those who tell do not know and those 

 who know do not tell." But I don't believe 

 It about beekeepers. Doubtless those who 

 tell do not know everything, and possibly 

 . -r ^f^^'e ai'e a few who know valuable things 



I was very curious to see one in Japanese, they will not tell, but I doubt that the most 

 as I was told I should m the " Yoho no of those who know a oreat deal hide the 

 Tomo." In that letter itself was a Japan- light of their knowledge under a bushel of 

 ese poem, inscribed m the Japanese char- self interest. Think of the bio- men who 

 acters, that look so mysterious to us who stand head and shoulders abovl; the rest 



How freely they have given of the fruits 

 of their experience and observations, from 

 I3r Miller down. "A good beekeeper and 

 . 1 - w .1 <<4= ^ A • ;. 1, 1 sort 0' soft at the heart, too. So a lot of 



tachment to the "far, far America" he has beginners go to him to get started ffoin ' 

 never seen, because America, too, keeps right " was how M.-A.-O. recentlv spoke of 

 bees. — ^^ ,,.,.. . .. M 



And then, just lately, came a letter from 

 the ' ' Australian Imperial Forces, on active 

 service, abroad, ' ' with these words as part 

 of it. "We are near the 'line,' and tonight 

 the sunset was glorious. One of the boys 

 mentioned bees, staying out to see it. * * * 

 I ' keep a bee ' in Queensland, Australia, and 

 am an enthusiast who has great hopes of the 



lands across the seas, do bring that particu 

 lar quality very close home. In a friendly 

 note from New Zealand, I find these words, 

 "I want you to know that we beekeepers 

 in this Dominion, that is generally known 

 as 'God's own country', have a very warm 

 place in our hearts for all of our craft, 

 wherever they may be, and particularly 

 those of our blood and language across the 

 water.'' And in a charming letter from one 

 of the editors of the ' ' Yoho no Tomo, ' ' the 

 monthly Japanese bee magazine, there is 

 plainly evident that same spirit of frater- 

 nity. And, by the way, the name "Yoho no 

 Tomo ' ' means ' ' The Friend of Beekeep- 

 ers. " Isn't that a captivating name? 



Unfortunately, tho, the magazines that 

 were mailed by these two friendly-spirited 

 gentlemen, one from New Zealand and one 

 from Japan, failed to reach me. War condi- 

 tions doubtless had much to do with it. But 

 I was disappointed, of course, for they both 

 would have been so interesting — the one 

 thru what I could read, and the other thru 

 what I could not. And as I have never seen 

 one of my own verses in a foreign language, 



do not know them. But it was courteously 

 translated, and there again was the same 

 brotherhood of beemen in the little Japan- 

 ese poem, for it told of the writer's at- 



„. „ , _• spoke w. 



one. Of all this big-hearted feeling and 

 generous spirit manifest by the beeKeepers 

 of the land, and of the world, I for one feel 

 particularly proud. 



* * * 



The Tennessee Beekeepers' Association 

 held their annual Field Meet on the campus 

 of I eabody College, Nashville, on Thursdav 

 Aug. 22. It had been hoped that Dr. Phil- 



industry, and great love for all connected lips, who was prevented by weathe 

 with the bee, and who feels the warm grip tions from beine with us la«t wi„fo 



of ' hands across the sea ' that seems to 

 come to those who are fortunate enough to 

 have the song of the worker ringing in 

 their hearts and lives. Am on my way to 

 help in France. Hope I will soon have the 



„ -r condi- 



bemg with us last winter, could 

 be at this meet; but this time he was detain- 

 ed by important matters, so we shall wait 

 again for some more favorable time. It was 

 not a big meeting, about 25 in all, but it 

 was very pleasant, sitting there under great 



good fortune to return to my beloved Aus- shady trees, talking about bees Nearlv 



*^"^^^^-" , , ,, , everybody told freely what he did and 



Can't you see them over there "near the when, and why. and what -he thought the 



L-o " watching the sunset and talking best wav to do :t. Rev R S Scitterfield 



line, 



