602 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



worthy of joining the church. It is not that we are 

 worthy, but that Christ who died is worthy, and we 

 come in his name. We do not profess to be sinks*, 

 but sinners saved through Christ. If there is in the 

 heart a godly sorrow for the past, a sense of sin for- 

 given, and a firm determination to serve Christ in 

 the future, then you should come at the first oppor- 

 tunity and offer yourself for reception into the 

 church of Christ. It is always a mistake to wait. 

 Your duty is clear. "This do"— and there can nev- 

 er In- any good excuse fur the neglect ofaplain dutu. 

 It is your duty to join the church, and the first op- 

 portunity is the Lord's time for the performance of 

 that duty. 



Second, to CJiristia)ts in disguise, sometimes self- 

 styled "secret Christians" Yet what a secret Chris- 

 tian is, 1 hardly know. Christ says: "No man, 

 when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a 

 vessel, or putteth it under a bed ; but setteth it on a 

 candlestick, that they which enter in may see the 

 light " (Luke 8 : 16). What can be the object of hav- 

 ing the light of a Christian hope lighted within the 

 heart, and then covering it up so that no man can 

 see the light? Is it because ashamed of Christ that 

 such as these sometimes conceal the light? " Who- 

 soever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in 

 this adulterous and sinful generation," says Christ, 

 " of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he 

 cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy an- 

 gels" (Mark 8:38). How can a man be Christ's and not 

 want others to know it? One would think that he 

 would want to proclaim it to all the world, if really 

 and truly a " child of the king." Such as are en- 

 gaged in seeking a place in which to hide their 

 light, either never were Christ's, or have ceased to 

 be Christ's, or will soon no longer be Christ's. Hid- 

 ing a light beneath a bushel not only keeps it from 

 shining, but also causes it to grow dim, and at 

 length to go out. You must place your lamp upon 

 the high stand of a public confession of Christ, if 

 you would have it truly shine for him. 



Third, t<> lapsed members. How many there are, 

 who were once church-members, who now are not! 

 Ask them whether they are members of the church, 

 and they will answer that they are. In reality they 

 are h i )>sed members. This comes about in various 

 ways. Many change their residence, and fail to 

 take a letter of dismissal with them, because, as 

 they say, they "expect to go back some time." 

 Thus they are classed as " absent members," and at 

 length their names are stricken from the list. 

 Church-membership amounts to nothing after one 

 has been absent a year or two. Few churches 

 would count such an absentee a member at all. 

 Others go to another place to reside, expecting to 

 stay, and take a church-letter with them, but neg- 

 lect to present it to any local church. Such can be 

 classed, if at all, simply "pocket members," or 

 "bureau-drawer members." They are placing a 

 " pocket veto " upon the law of church-member- 

 ship enacted by Christ. There are people in every 

 community who are in reality Christians, who are 

 ranked as " non-Christian " because they have fail- 

 ed to unite with any local church, and thus let peo- 

 ple know where they stand. It is just as much our 

 duty to keep up our membership in the church of 

 Christ as it is our duty at the first to join the church 

 of Christ. Neglect of this duty is the first step to- 

 ward carelessness in the discharge of other Chris- 

 tian duties, and indifference toward the interest of 

 Christ's cause in the community where we dwell. 



I have thus plainly presented the reasons why, if 

 you are a Christian, you should be a member of 

 Christ's church. I beseech you to weigh them, and 

 not to dismiss them from your mind, as you value 

 your soul and love Christ's cause, till you have seen 

 your duty clearly in this regard. Behold the truth 

 as it is. Pray God for guidance. Determine that 

 you will fully confess Christ before the world, and 

 thus become a part of the church which he loved, 

 and for which he gave himself, that he might sanc- 

 tify and cleanse it, and at length present it unto 

 himself without blemish. And the God of all peace 

 abide with you evermore. Amen. 



dim 0wn ]lmnw> 



CONDUCTED BT ERNEST R. ROOT. 



SWARMING, FOUNTAIN PUMP, ETC. 



J^U RING the last week or ten days we 

 il <J have been having an unusual amount 

 )1§J °f swarming. Beginning with the 4th 

 *& of July, the weather, instead of being 

 stormy, has been fair, and every thing 

 has been favorable for the secretion of nec- 

 tar. Honey has been coming in at a faster 

 rate than we have seen it before for several 

 years. We have had an average of about 

 seven swarms a day, and Sunday has been 

 no exception. Mr. Spafford had about all 

 he could do to take care of the apiary, and 

 fill orders for bees and queens, to say nothing 

 about bothering with swarms. Your hum- 

 ble servant has been obliged more than once 

 to leave matter for Gleanings heaped up 

 on his desk, and go out to the apiary to help 

 Mr. Spafford. Sometimes we had three or 

 four swarms in the air at one time. One 

 day after I had waited half an hour, or twen- 

 ty minutes, for a swarm to cluster, and still 

 they were Hying around without showing 

 any disposition to settle, I became disgusted. 

 The fountain pump had been recommended, 

 but heretofore we had never given it a trial, 

 although good bee-keepers like James Hed- 

 don and others had recommended its use. 

 A pail of water and a fountain pump were 

 procured. " Now," thought I, " we will see 

 whether you'll settle or not.' 1 After quick- 

 ly adjusting the spray nozzle, I began pump- 

 ing the spray among them where they were 

 flying thickest. Sure enough, it had the de- 

 sired effect. After about half a pail of 

 water had been thrown, some of the bees 

 began to settle on the grapevines. When 

 the entire contents of the pail were exhaust- 

 ed, there was a decided settling on the part 

 of the bees. Laying down the Whitman 

 pump I grasped the Manum swarming-ar- 

 rangement (which is always in sight), jarred 

 the bees into the basket, and had the satis- 

 faction, in a few minutes more, of seeing 

 the cluster hanging from the basket. 



On another occasion two swarms came 

 out almost simultaneously, from hives re- 

 mote from each other. As the bees from 

 each soared £into the air, I perceived that 

 they were gradually circling together. 

 " Now," thought I, " I will see if I can not 

 separate you, or, rather, prevent you from 

 ever getting together." I began spraying 

 the outer edges of the flying bees of the^ 



