s: 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



cow or a hog broken into that orchard and eaten that 

 same iruit the owners would ceilainly have been 

 liable for damages. 



After reading the literature of the subject with 

 great care, I think I am justified in saying that ihe 

 bee has fuller and more complete legnl piolecticn 

 than t ny other dome^tic animal. Why should not 

 this be so, siuce, even in its wild state, untiained or 

 directed by men, the bee is led by its very in-tirict to 

 labor for the renefit of humanity? Ceitainly no wild 

 animal woi ks for nien as the bee does, and no domes- 

 tic animal accomplishes so much without dirtct har- 

 ness or guidance. 



Invoking the law against bees is running up against 

 a hard pro ositicn. l,aws have been pa.'-sed against 

 spraying tiuit-trets while in bloom. They are in- 

 tended to give the bee legal pioiection. These laws 

 have actually ltd some tough old ftUows to spray at 

 just that lime, so as to kill the bees. The law was a 

 suggestion of sl&ughter to them. Some men are so 

 peivcried that they see a wiong and coddle it as a 

 " persi^nal right." These laws have helped the fruit- 

 grower more th.in they have the bee keCi er, becau.se 

 they have led the scientific nitn to investigate and 

 tell'us why it is a mistake to spray too early. 



It appears to have been settleu ih^t, before the law, 

 bees are lo be considered domestic animals — not natu- 

 rally inclined to be offensive. A fair synopsis of the 

 bee's legal status is about as follows : 



1 Bets kept b3' a regul ir bee-keeper have become 

 absolute property as domestic animals, and therefore 

 enjo> legal rights. 



^ rhe bee is not naturally savage. It is no more 

 likely to commit seiiuus damage and mischief than 

 dogs, cats, Cows, or horses. 



3. The law looks with most favor upon those ani- 

 mals which are most useful to man. No animal is of 

 more actual service to man iu piopcrlion lo his size 

 and the mischief it cunimits than the bee. 



4 After bees have been kept in a certain situation 

 for a reas^ual.le time without serious injiirj-, it Can 

 not be said ihat it is cangerous to keep tl em thete. 



5. The bee-keeper becomes lable for injuries done 

 by bees, only on the ground of actual or presumed 

 negligence. 



This seems to give the bee a clear field to go ahead 

 about his business in his own way. It must be s-iia 

 that this strong legal position of ihe bee is largely due 

 to the fact that bee-keepers have picked up some of 

 the strong trails of the bees. When one of their num- 

 ber is attacked, they do nit sew tp iheir pockets and 

 run off with their stiare of the honey, and as mucli 

 more as thej can get. They fly at once to the defense 

 of their comrade, and make, not an individual, but a 

 society matter t,f it. 



The fruit grower will obtain little satisfaction in a 

 lawsuit against the bee or the bee keeper. The bee is 

 too good a friend of the judge. The le'ations between 

 these two classes should be settled, not by the scales 

 but bj' the Golden Rule. Every man who receives 

 a benetit should r member where the benefit comes 

 from. The bee keeper might say with truth : " It is 

 true that my bees feed upon my neighbor's trees ; but 

 they have not injured his farm, because the y took no 

 fertility away ! He has no reason to kick, because 

 they kic't.ed life into his fruit-buds." 



This is all true enough, tiu it is only one side. The 

 fruit-grower may say : 



" These bees h-.ve increased my crop of fruit, but 

 have they n.t been well paid lor their work ? I frd 

 them, and the money iu their owner's pocket comes 

 from my farm !" 



Two classe-i of men with interests which lap and 

 nick in th;s way should never fight ; for when one ot 

 them hi\s the other in the nose he is sure lo blacken 

 his own eje. They should rec gn ze their niuluU 

 dependence-, and lieat eaeh other fairly The bee- 

 keeper may say that the law gives him a right to put 

 his hive.'* cb'se to another's dwelling. Still, if tnat 

 location is offensive to his neighbor, the law which is 

 higher tcan the decision of an> human judge should 

 lead him ^.■^ put them elsewhere. I have heard of an 

 old farnie'r who insisted on keeping an old brindled 

 calf tied on his lawn. The c;.lf was in every way 

 offensive to his neighbors, and he had amp e space 

 for it behiiiel the barn; but he thrust that calf under 

 the very noses of his neighbors, because the law said 

 he had a right to do as he ple^.sed with his own. That 

 man, like many others, figured that such magnifying 

 of his legal rights g^ve increased dignity to his per- 

 sonal rights; and what a fo lish mistake he m<de ! 

 The man who will use his legal privileges as an offen- 

 sive weipju against others, when it should be drawn 

 only in cefense of true principles, is not a true pomol- 

 ogist or bee-keeper. 



I regard the raising of fine fruits, and the training 

 and renting of bees, as the highest types of soil cul- 

 ture, and hence of human industry. He who can 

 diiect and watch the slow development of the perfect 

 fruit, and loving'y guard it from plant disease and 

 injurious insects through the long road to perfect 

 matuiity; and he who can patiently and skillfully 

 guide and trnin the honey-bee through its long sum- 

 mer's wotk — such men ennoble and dignify labor 



Their work ruay be hard and const - lit. Their hands; 

 may be hard and rough ; but the callous on the palm 

 is not a badge cf servitude, but an honorable scar 

 frcm label's battlefield. Such men are not mere 

 drudges with hof'y and spirit brc ken on the haid 

 wheel oT lab r; but, dealing with the fine and most 

 delicate p oblems e f nature, they keep step with the 

 Creator; they are in direct partnership with Hod him- 

 self: and, as such partners they of all men 'h luld be 

 guided by the wisdom and justice of the Golden Rule. 



A. I. R. says that the Rural N^cw-Yorker 

 fairly bristles with bright, witty, sensible, 

 and practical tiilk all through. It is a 

 clean Christian paper that takes no adver- 

 tising of a doubtful or questionable charac- 

 ter, and its editor, Mr. Collingwood — well, 

 you can judge of the man by his address as 

 above given. Gleanings would like to 

 have every one of its subscribers also a pa- 

 tron of that grand paper, the Rural New- 

 Yorker. We will club Gleanings and this 

 paper for Si. 75. We can club other papers 

 of equal size for less money; but thej^ may 

 not and probably do not contain the real 

 worth that this does. 



STARTING A NEW HOME. 



Therefore I hated life ; because the w^ork that is 

 w-rought under the sun is grievous unto me ; for all is 

 vanity and vexation of spirit — Ec'C 2: 17. 



But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and 

 came to him. and said. Lord, dost thou not care that 

 my sister hath left me to serve alone ? Bid her, there- 

 fore, that she help iiie But Jesus answered and said 

 unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and trou- 

 bled about many things. But one thing is needful. — 

 EVKE 10:40-42. 



There are many points about the two 

 texts I have chosen that might be consider- 

 ed ; but just now I am going to talk about 

 only one of thein. Doubtless thousands 

 have felt something as Solomon did, when 

 considering the demands of society and 

 fashion of the present time — so inuch care 

 and worry if one half tries to do as other 

 people do. Solomon probably kept lots of 

 "help," and ver}^ likely the "hired girls" 

 of oriental time were much like those of the 

 present day. Any way, he says he "hated 

 life'" because he found it all "vanity and 

 vexation of spirit." Nowmind you, friends, 

 I have no special grievance with the hired 

 girls, for I rather think Solomon was soiite- 

 what at fault; and, \)y the way, I fear we 

 are all more or less w^rong when we com- 

 plain of our help. How bright and pleas- 

 ant the words of the Savior come to us after 

 listening to Ecclesiastes ! He knew all 

 about the care and worry, and j'et he tells 

 us so plainly it is all, or at least a great 

 part of it, unnecessary! 



