8?H 



GLEANIXC4S IN J3EE CULTUJiE. 



1)EC. 



They did say, however, that I gave them a 

 verv pl'^asaut conversational account of the 

 woiiders of Mammoth Cave. Well. I am 

 afraid the friends at the National Conven- 

 tion thought I was not much of a speaker ; 

 but I guess tliey gave me credit for being 

 honest, just as the newspaper reporter did. 



I wish I could tell you what was said and 

 done during the convention during that day, 

 but it is utterly out of the question. The 

 reports of the papers read, you will doubt- 

 less see. But no pen can picture the pleas- 

 ant, hearty good feeling that pervaded the 

 convention ; and above all, the kindness 

 and broad charity for each other, even in 

 our differences, that seemed to be the pre- 

 vailing spirit through it all. We went there 

 with our hobbies, a great many of us, and 

 we got lauglied at ; but we were laughed at 

 so good naturedly, that grace was given us 

 to laugh back again. W. F. Clarke had liis 

 hibernating -box there on the stand, and 

 friend Ileddon had his pollen tlieory along 

 with him. D. A. Jones had his wonderful 

 stock of dry jokes ready to crop out when 

 an opening gave even lialf a chance. Idv. J. 

 B. Hall, of Woodstock, Ontario, kept us 

 roaring with his grotesque oddities, and 

 Prof. Cook rose up once in a while (in fact, 

 I was sorry he did not rise up oftener) and 

 give us wise counsels and wise suggestions; 

 and Prof. Cook has such a kind, neighborly 

 way of telling these suggestions, or even 

 calling us back to the right track, that no 

 one can ever for a moment think of feeling 

 hurt at any thing he says. 



Friend Muth was tliere too, towering 

 above the rest of us, and making us all feel 

 pleasant just to look on his genial face while 

 he read an article on the sale of extracted 

 honey. I for one was surprised to learn that 

 they are now using honey largely for pack- 

 ing and curing pork ; and friend Muth stat- 

 ed that he had filled one order for 100 bar- 

 rels, to be used solely for this purpose, be- 

 sides numerous smaller orders ; so you see 

 another avenue is opening for the sale of 

 honey. Honey has the property of answer- 

 ing e^en better than any grade of molasses 

 that can be bought at' any thing near the 

 price. 



In shaking hands with the different friends 

 at the noon intermission, I asked one great 

 stalwart chap his name, and he just laughed 

 at me. '• Why,'" said he, •• I am G. M. I)oo- 

 litlle ; and altliough I stayed once with you 

 three or four days, you don't know me." I 

 felt ashamed of myself, and no doubt blush- 

 ed in confusion. i3ut when there was such 

 a sea of pleasant faces, and so many wanted 

 to shake hands with '• Bro. Root,"" "I got sort 

 o" mixed uj), and scarcely knew anybody. 

 Besides, tliat big book had scared me and 

 astonislied me, so that it all seemed some- 

 what unreal. By the way, I forgot to say 

 that the book Avas a large illuminated edi- 

 tion of Paradise I>ost. illustrated by Gustave 

 Dore. Now, I am almost ashamed to say 

 that I don't know Avhat Paradise Lost is 

 about very well ; but I am going to com- 

 mence reading it to my wife evenings. 



Mr. L. C. Hoot, the president in the chair. 

 I had never before met. Before tlie conven- 

 tion was over I had abundant reason to be 



sorry that I had never met him : and, by 

 the way, before the first day had passed I 

 began to have a much higher opinion of a 

 gieat many Avliom I met and heard from 

 there than I ever heard before ; and by some 

 queer coincidence I began to have a smaller 

 opinion of myself. 



Neighbor Blakeslee once said it took the 

 conceit out of him to go and visit his brother 

 bee-keepers. Well. 1 shall have to admit 

 that this convention took the conceit out of 

 me in a great many ways. I was surprised 

 and astonished, over and over again, at the 

 masterly way in Avhich one brother after an- 

 other handled the subjects as they came up. 

 Their experiences indicated that they had 

 read and thought and practiced, and also 

 that the deductions that they had drawn 

 were based on much wisdom and common 

 sense. The Bible says, ''In the multitude 

 of counselors there is safety," and I had a 

 feeling that, with such meetings as this, the 

 future of bee culture must be safe and sure. 

 And then came every now and then a glim- 

 mer of the thought embodied in our text, 

 that it is certainly a good and wise thing for 

 men of great intellects to meet and compare 

 notes and exchange ideas. I have before 

 had strange convictions that these meetings 

 were going to result in pleasanter feelings 

 between the North and the South, and the 

 East and the West, and between people of 

 different nations and different ideas, and 

 that through such meetings the glad millen- 

 nium Avas to be hastened— the time when 

 God"s kingdom should come, and his will be 

 done on earth as it is in heaven. 



The number in attendance at the Antisdel 

 Hotel was so great as to fill it to overflowing, 

 and every room was alive with buzzing 

 voices. It seemed like one great family re- 

 union. The waiters eyed us a little curious- 

 ly, and the newspaper men evidently didn't 

 quite know what to make of us. In the 

 Evening Xeu-s of Dec. 9, appeared the fol- 

 lowing little item, which, although probably 

 greatly exaggerated, I think has enough 

 truth in it to cause our hearts to rejoice, and 

 to indicate again that the promise in our 

 text is surely coming. Here is the item : 



" The bee-keepers seem to absoib something- of 

 the traditional virtues of the insect they cultivate. 

 Those attending- the convention now in session 

 in this city stop at a temperance hotel, seldom 

 indulge in the dissipation of a theatrical enter- 

 tainment, retire early, and are straiifjei-s to the fas- 

 cinationsof the weed. The boy who keeps the cl{rar- 

 stand at the Antisdel liouse, to a remark about 

 trade, replied, " I've sold only one eijjar to the 

 whole bee-keeping gang, and that was a tive-ccnter." 



In the morning I was up as usual at half- 

 past five. The cleik inquired if bee-keepers 

 alwa>s got up at that time in the morning. 

 I told him I did lor one. and asked him if 

 he could give me the address of the largest 

 greenhouses in the city, and whether any of 

 them were devoted to raising vegetables. 

 He coidd not answer me directly, but by the 

 aid of the directory lie gave me' some points 

 to look up. I was the first one to go into 

 the breakfast-room. Iheakfast over, I hied 

 for the greenhouses. The air was bright 

 and frosty, and the half-mile walk soon 

 made me happy. I found a beautiful green- 

 house, but it was all flowers. I would very 



