1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



825 



<}od's gifts to boe-koopors I digressed from my 

 reading long enough to mention the Spanish- 

 needle honey I had been told of (samples were 

 on the table at my side) on the banks of the 

 Illinois Kiver. and suggested that God's gifts 

 were many times lying near our own doors, un- 

 known and unappreciated. A lady in the 

 audience suggested theie were untold acres of 

 the same plant lying along the Mississippi 

 River also. Somebody who lived further down 

 stream gave us another corroboration of the 

 statement, and pretty soon so many facts came 

 in to support the spirit of my paper— have faith 

 in God — that the president tried to call them 

 to order. They had got to going, however; and 

 in their eagerness to supply your humble ser- 

 vant with the facts he wanted, they forgot 

 president, essay, and every thing else. Finally 

 the president good-naturedly called a halt. 

 Said he, in substance, " Why, who ever heard of 

 such a thing as interrupting an essay to give 

 your separate experiences? Let Bro. Root 

 finish his paper, and then we shall be glad to 

 have you discuss the matter to your hearts' 

 content." 



Some of them looked somewhat astonished, 

 and perhaps a little put out, because they could 

 not tell their story right then and there. But 

 instead of feeling annoyed myself, it gave me 

 a new thrill of ioy to see how anxious these 

 friends were to furnish me any information I 

 called for in any particular line of our work. It 

 touched me, too, to see how soon they felt ac- 

 quainted with me, and treated me as if I were 

 really " one of the family." 



Later on, when they came to discuss impor- 

 tant matters, I was surprised and astonished to 

 see how eager and full of enthusiasm these 

 Western friends were to understand more of the 

 different questions that puzzle us in bee-keep- 

 ing. As an illustration: The president asked for 

 a show of hands in regard to the matter of us- 

 ing foundation — how many used it in full sheets? 

 how many used only starters? how many prac- 

 ticed Hutchinson's plan of using only starters 

 for hiving new swarms? how many used foun- 

 dation in section boxes? Our good president, 

 R. L. Taylor, seemed to have a happy faculty 

 of bringing out all these points, and in getting 

 every one in the room to have something to say 

 in the matter, and at the same time not have 

 valuable time wasted. 



Some facts in regard to the value of sugar 

 compared with honey for winter stores interest- 

 ed me greatly. President Taylor himself gave 

 us the following most important item. Quite a 

 number of colonies were fed on stores of sugar 

 syrup, and an equal quantity were provided 

 with stores of honey. The colonies were weigh- 

 ed, both in the spring and fall; and those hav- 

 ing honey consumed nearly if not quite twice as 

 many pounds of feed. I have been for years 

 past fully satisfied that stores of sugar syrup 

 are more wholesome, and a more concentrated 

 food than any honey; but I was not prepared to 

 find so great a difference. A great amount of 

 questioning and experiences were given in this 

 line, and the whole evidence seemed to be al- 

 most invariably in favor of sugar. A conven- 

 tion is the only possible place in which such 

 a matter can be thoroughly discussed, and 

 important facts like this settled. Bee-journals 

 are good, and have their office, but we must 

 have conventions also. I felt ashamed of my- 

 self for having ever ent<'rtained tiie thought 

 that I might be excusal)ie in staying away. At 

 one of our temperanc(^ meetings sonu^ years ago, 

 a reformed man told a little story of his soldier 

 life. He said a young boy, who had enlisted 

 contrary to the best iudgment of his friends 

 and relatives, once toid his comradciS that he 

 was afraid he might show the " white feather " 



in a coming conflict. Said he, "Boys, if you 

 see any indications in me of any thing of the 

 sort, I just want yon to take me by the collar 

 and straighten me up, and hold me to my post." 

 Our reformed friend remarked that he wished 

 the Christian temperance people to tak(^ hold of 

 him in the same way, if he got back; and my 

 feeling during that whole convention is just 

 expressed in the above. If I should again show 

 any such foolish, short-sighted disposition to 

 shirk and stay at home. I hope some of my good 

 friends will take me by the collar, and straight- 

 en me up, reminding me of this passage in this 

 present paper. 



I think I never saw more facts of importance 

 brought out in so short a time. The bright and 

 expectant faces, the brief, simple tcstiinonics, 

 and the general feeling of brotherly love, and 

 desire to help each other, were really wonderful. 

 Before I knew it I was enjoying myself most 

 intensely. Those thrills of joy that I have told 

 you alxiut, began to come into my heart, wave 

 after wave. There were not very many present 

 who had i-ead the bee-journals, and experi- 

 mented with bees, as long as 1 have. Perhaps 

 7ione had read so much voluminous correspon- 

 dence, and this enabled me to furnish impor- 

 tant connecting links here and there. There 

 was so much interest manifested that the presi- 

 dent found it hard work to get them to adjourn 

 at dinner time. After the adjournment, of 

 course a great many gathered around the Roots, 

 both old and young. Ernest's visit through 

 York State had made him acquainted, not only 

 with the York State people, but with friends 

 away out west as well. A good many were in- 

 viting me to go home with them, or to look at 

 something. But a white-haired German friend, 

 Weyend by name, in a sort of comic way cap- 

 tured and ensnared your old friend completely, 

 by a few brief sentences. His invitation was 

 worded something as follows: 



" Mr. Root goes with me. I can show him 

 artesian wells, where the water comes out so as 

 to make a little lake." 



He had been reading Gleanings, and he 

 knew well where I was deeply interested, and 

 was ready to take advantage of it. He contin- 

 ued : 



" Yes, there are beautiful fish in the ponds 

 around the wells, and I will show you where 

 the water goes down the bluff and carries a 

 water-motor that runs a dynamo." 



When he spoke these words he looked at Er- 

 nest in a comic sort of way, as much as to say, 

 " You see I am going to have Ernest too;" and 

 in a little time a party was organized to go and 

 see th(>se wonders in the suburbs of Keokuk. 

 If you look now at the words in the latter part 

 of our text, you will see there a promise— 

 " and show thee great and mighty things which 

 thou knowest not." I wish I could give you a 

 picture of our good friend Weyend. May be 

 we will some time; but for the present we must 

 content ourselves with a pen-picture. He is an 

 excellent type of a good-natured, jovial, enthusi- 

 astic son of the " fatherland." His quaint, pe- 

 cidiar ways, win friends at once, and a sort of 

 dry native wit soon sets his companions into 

 fits of laughter that are almo.st uncontrollable. 

 For instance: 



•' Why, Mr. W.. you are taking us on top of a 

 great hill. Surely the artesian wells an> not up 

 here, are they? What should put it into the 

 head of any man to think of drilling a well on 

 top of this great bluff ?" 



Thes<r wells belong to a wealthy starch-man- 

 ufacturer, Mr. J. C. Hubinger. Friend W. ex- 

 plained: , ^ 



" Why, Mr. Hubinger he has got lots of mon- 

 ey, and he wanted a well right up there, and 

 when he wants any thing he; wants it b<id .'" 



