12 



GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



the heavenly Father. I can understand your care, 

 your solicitude for the men and women, boj'S and 

 yirls, under your care; for do 1 not experience it all 

 in m<j factory? These churches and schools, all 

 t)ranclies ol' the g-reat factory, the home factory 

 M-ith all it means, enables me to see your care. 

 Hut, friend Koot, 1 think we have some cares you 

 can hardly expect in your work. You have men 

 more or less fitted to your hand. We get material 

 from the wildest of nature's children. Sometimes I 

 think that yratlhule, as the name, has no place in the 

 hearts and language of these peoples. Your noble 

 helpers help you; and even the material ?/ou work 

 on, I see, often remember you with thanks. But, 

 did you ever think liow hard it would be to labor on 

 years without one " thank you"? The other even- 

 ing, about 9 oclock, as I was retiring to rest, all tired 

 f>ut, ] discovered, providentially, that my whole 

 factory of boys and girls, with a verj- few notable 

 exceptions, had quietly packed up their books and 

 clothes, preparatory to leaving secretly by moon- 

 light, say 1 or "i o'clock in the morning, and all be- 

 cause I had called the school to account for break- 

 ing a rule forbidding them to go out among the 

 Hurman heathen, where they would learn all sorts 

 of evil, in the evenhuj time; i. e., without permission 

 from some of the teachers. There were orphans 

 among this number whom I had saved fit)m death 

 by starvation, and had ted and clothed for years. 

 There were boys who had been in the theological 

 .seminary at Rangoon, studying for the ministry. 

 There were none of the whole company who 

 bad not received aid and love and kindness from us 

 in many ways; yet in a sort of panic of evil-heart- 

 cdness they were all ready to break up their school 

 on the slightest provocation. 



1 may add, that there was not one who did not 

 afterward acknowletlge that he was wrong, and 

 ask forgiveness for what he had done. Your bless- 

 f'd Huber cheers you after your work is done. 

 Hless 4he boyl m;/ darlings are in far-off America, 

 and T have not seen them for over four years. But 

 I wont say more, lest you think 1 am comjilaining, 

 which I am not. 1 merely speak of these things so 

 tliat you who have already shown so much kindness 

 and thoughtfulness for this far-off worker may the 

 more intelligently pray for us that our strength 

 fail not. 



Notwithstanding what I have said, and much 

 more of the same sort, 1 believe that the spirit of 

 (Jodisable to lift this people; that the Holy Spirit 

 can and does convert their souls, and will lift them 

 into civilization. I may not see a great advance in 

 my life; but it will come, for the "Lord hath spok- 

 en it." We here have to fall back and rest entirely 

 on the promises, after working on in the dark for 

 years; but the promises of God are yea and amen. 

 T have been struck with the similarity of our work, 

 after all. They touch in many points. Allow me to 

 say, that that lOminutPs' prayer-meeting at noon in 

 your establishment gives me more hope and joy 

 than all else in the book. It is, by God's grace, the 

 key-note to your whole work, and your success is 

 sure. 



.\s time permits, I have been sucking in bee- 

 knowledge. Perhaps I shall get a little time in the 

 opening of the honey-season here (after the rains) 

 to experiment. For this purpose I have sent an or- 

 der to you. I wish now I had ordered more hives. I 

 had not th»'n learned the price. It would cost me 

 here ti\e times as nuieh to make a Simplicity hive 



as it would to order from you in America, ordinarily. 

 Carpenter work of a good sort is very high and 

 I very slow. At best it is poor. If I can start two or 

 I three of my best Karens in bee-keeping I can help 

 I them very much, and perhaps the art of bee-keep- 

 ing in the country. 1 shall be happy to do good in 

 any way I can. I am here for that purpose. I sus- 

 pect I shall have to send you larger orders as I get 

 experience. In any case, with God's blessing I'm 

 bound to make this go. 



You see, I've caught the lever, and such fevers 

 run with me usually till I win success or decided 

 failure. My letter in Gleanings has stirred up 

 several to write to me for queens! They want them 

 sent by express. Why, there is no express within 

 hundreds of miles of where I am. To reach Rangoon, 

 the nearest sea-port town, we must take a native 

 boat, a very rude affair, and go by the winding river 

 nearly 'MO miles. This a hot sickly country, away 

 liaek among the ages of the Philistines, save where 

 English enterprise has pierced this gloom of igno- 

 rance and superstition. To get a queen from Toun- 

 goo, after we had her caught and caged, would cost 

 hundreds, and perhaps, I had almost said, thousands 

 of dollars to get her home safely. At least, it would 

 take the salary and expenses of a skilled bee- fancier 

 to get bees from Burmab to America. 



By the way. I saw in a i-ecent Gleanings, under 

 the head, " Notes from Burmah," something like it. 

 concerning bees in Singapore. The fact is, Singapore 

 is some tKX) miles south of the most southern point 

 of Burmah. Burmah is divided into two provinces 

 —upper Burmah, and English, orSouthern Burmah. 

 the most southern point of which runs down on the 

 Malay peninsula as far as Victoria Point, opposite 

 an island of that name, at lat. 10"^ north. The divid- 

 ing line between Burmah and Siamese provinces is 

 the water-shed running north and south. This line 

 runs down the Malay peninsula to lat. 10°, when it 

 turns to the west, and strikes the ])oint above 

 named. As to fact, 1 have yet to learn that there is 

 one hive of bees kept in any scientific way in the 

 whole province of Burmah. There are wild bees ev- 

 erywhei-e, and on a bright day their hum fills the air, 

 and swells to a roar on the grand old trees covered 

 with bloom, till they look like a bouquet of the 

 giants, and sicken the air with the richness of the 

 perfume. 



There, T didn't Intend to wi-ite so much when I be- 

 gan; but we see few of our kind, and it's a relief to 

 talk to some one who can sympathize with us some- 

 times. This, of (!Ourse, is not intended for publlca- 

 I tion. A. BrNKEii. 



I Toungoo, Burmah, Sept. 20, 1884. 



Why. friend B.. do you say, ''Of course, 

 not for ])ublication'*V Your letter has 

 cheered and encouraged me greatly; and do 

 you not know there are hundreds and thou- 

 sands wild read (J leanings who are toiling, 

 many times amid darkness and discourage- 

 menis, in the same way you and I areV 

 Don't be afraid to let your light shine, my 

 good brother, and don't be afraid to ask us 

 to pray for you when you feel weighed down 

 by maiiy cares. AVe rejoice at the opportu- 

 nity, and daily ])rayers go up from many 

 homes where Gleanings goes; and I am 

 sure these prayers will be as an amen to my 

 own prayer, that (iod may bless you and 

 your flock away off across the ocean. "We 

 are intensely interested in your little story; 

 but I wat(,'hedall through your letter to have 



