1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



597 



warm weather) are present, 1 guarantee its complete 

 success. KOBERT Sproule. 



Fairview, Ireland, July 5, 1890. 



We are glad, friend S., if formic acid will 

 prove to be a germicide for foul brood. We 

 are pretty sine from our own experience, 

 and from reports that have passed our eyes, 

 that salicylic acid is about so much time 

 wasted ; and the same is almost equally true 

 of carbolic acid, or, as it is sometimes 

 termed, phenol, in its pure forms. It w^ould 

 be valuable, however, if an acid could be 

 discovered that would kill the germs of the 

 disease, or, better still, prevent infection in 

 healtliy colonies, in apiaries where the dis- 

 ease exists or has existed. After all, we 

 feel like cautioning our friends about fuss- 

 ing very much with acids. Let scientists, 

 and those who can afford it, demonstrate 

 whether formic acid is superior to carbolic 

 and salicylic acid. Putting bees into clean 

 hives, and compelling them to build out 

 foundation, is an absolute and sure remedy. 



AArEIGHT OP SECTIONS. 



MRS. HARRISON ALSO TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT 

 HER ENJOYMENTS. 



I ASKED a grocer J man last fall, who had a fine 

 store, well stocked, and apparently considerable 

 trade, if he wanted to purchase some honey. He 

 replied, asking, " What condition is it?" 



I said, "White clover, in one-pound sections." 



He said, " What do they weigh?" 



" Most of them one pound," I said. " I weighed a 

 number of them to-day, and they were straight up 

 and down, exactly one pound." 

 i He replied, " I bought a lot lately that weighed a 

 trifle over three-quarters of a pound, and that is 

 about the weight I like. I bought them by the 

 pound, and sell them by the piece." 



I interviewed a couple of grocerymen lately, who 

 deal exclusively in the best goods the market af- 

 fords, with reference to the weight of sections. 

 They both replied in substance as follows: 



" I want them to weigh as nearly one pound as 

 possible, not overweight, for then I lose, as I buy 

 by the pound. In all large markets there will prob- 

 ably be some persons who will prefer to buy 

 sections of light weight; but those who do a 

 straight business will want those of full weight. 

 Those who prefer the light weights are the kind of 

 persons who claim to sell more pounds of sugar for 

 a dollar than other dealers; but when you get it 

 home and weigh it you find they have forgotten to 

 put in the extra weight." 



RECREATION. 



Yesterday I baked, and made the necessary prep- 

 arations to go today on an excursion up the river 

 on a boat, with the Sunday-school; but circum- 

 stances beyond my control kept me at home, so I 

 have a change by writing in the shade of a tree. 

 Idleness is no recreation for me. As a pastime I 

 am raising cuttings from roses, staiting them in a 

 crock of sand which I keep upon the top of a hive, 

 in the hot sun. The sand is kept wet all the time, 

 but no water is allowed to stand on the surface. 

 They are putting forth new leaves now, which 

 shows that little white roots are starting. In a few 

 days I will put them into little pots filled with rich 

 soil, which I will i)ut into a box of sand, which will 



be kept damp to keep them from drying out, and 

 will exchange for larger ones as soon as their 

 growth demands it. I save all the paper bags for 

 various uses, and utilize all of the smaller ones to 

 pin over nice bunches of grapes, to keep them se- 

 cure from insects and birds. 



It is recreation for me to study the Sabbath- 

 school lesson in company with many millions of 

 fellow-Christians throughout the world. The last 

 few weeks we have been accompanying the Master 

 in that last sad journey toward Jerusalem. 



Peoria, 111., July 22. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Why, my good friend Mrs. 11., I think 

 ever so much more of you than I ever have 

 before, and that is saying quite a good deal. 

 So you really love to see things grow% as 

 your old friend A. 1. Root does. If you 

 ever see Dr. Miller again, you just com- 

 mence talking roses to him. We have a 

 rose-garden too— a little one. Dr. Miller 

 sent us the plants ; and I tell you it is just 

 fun to see them put out their bright new 

 leaves, and to see them push out their little 

 white roots. Starting things in sand always 

 had a special delight for me. The sand is 

 so clean, and keeping it of just the right 

 degree of wetness during hot summer days, 

 has a special fascination about it. There is 

 a real inspiration in your last paragraph. It 

 did not occur to me before, that, when we 

 are lovingly studying and striving to follow 

 the Master, we are really joining the ranks 

 with millions of fellow-travelers. And the 

 grandest thought of all is. that these fellows- 

 travelers are also fellow^- C7msh'ans. 



BAD BOYS, AND "WHY. 



a few words to THE GLEANINGS BOYS, FROM 

 MRS. J. HILTON. 



Mr. Runt: — A remark was made to me the other 

 day that I want to speak to the Gleanings boys 

 about. The remark was, "Charley J. has gone 

 crazy, and has been sent to the insane asylum." 



I could hardly believe my informant, because 

 that same Charley was a young man we had often 

 spoken about as being such an unusually good- 

 appearing young fellow, in spite of the fact that he 

 never went to Sunday-school or church, nor even to 

 the merry-makings of the young folks. But it was 

 proved to me that he was crazy, and, saddest of all, 

 that the cause of his insanity was Impure thoughts. 

 Never going to Sunday-school or church, and rarely 

 associating with Christian people, his thoughts 

 were otherwise occupied. The old quotation, "Sa- 

 tan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do," 

 should also read, "Satan finds mure mischief still 

 for idle minds to do." Dear boys, you who think it 

 is so tiresome of mother to be so sharp after a fel- 

 low if he is not on hand to go to Sunday-school or 

 church, they know what mischief may get into 

 those busy, active brains, if they are not kept in the 

 straight way; and while you are learning about 

 God and his wishes you are not only well occupied 

 at the time, but you are learning things that will 

 help you when mother and father are not by to help 

 you. Be thankful that you have some one who is 

 anxious as to what you are doing, and pray that 

 you may never, never feel like saying to your pa- 

 rents what one poor boy did whose mother always 

 let him do as he wanted to in every thing, because 



