1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



647 



of Woodman; and what else could it be 

 used for except to manufacture something 

 they called honey, and then make believe 

 the bees gathered it V " 



I presume most bee-keepers will readily 

 surmise that the sugar our enterprising 

 young bee-man and storekeeper had brought 

 in was to feed his bees, and keep them from 

 starving during drouths and poor seasons. 

 But his neighbors, especially those who did 

 not know him intimately, would have it 

 that he was manufacturing honey. May be 

 it was wicked, but I led my companion 

 along until he had given the whole family a 

 regular setting-out; then I stopped him. 



" My friend," said I, " I have let you talk, 

 and now I want to teacli you a lesson. How 

 much does nice white sugar sell for in the 

 town of Woodman ?" 



He said he did not know exactly, but 

 probably about 10 cents. 



" Very good. Now, do you know what 

 they are retailing honey for in your town ? " 



He saw the trap he had got into, and did 

 not answer. I went on : 



"These friends of whom I have been 

 speaking are selling beautiful basswood hon- 

 ey, even by the single pound, for only eight 

 cents. Now tell me, pray, how anybody can 

 buy sugar for 10 cents and put it into honey 

 for which they get only <?." He was used 

 up ; but he made a faint plea that he was 

 sure they put sugar in the honey when the 

 sugar was cheaper and the honey was high- 

 er. 



Now, dear friends, it is not only the men 

 who drive stages and liveries that are guilty 

 of bearing "false witness" against their 

 neighbors in just the way I have indicated. 

 You and I are both guilty of uncharitable- 

 ness, and of being in haste to think evil in 

 just this line. If I were riding with you an 

 hour I think I could convince you of it, and 

 without question you would have a chance 

 to reprove me, providing I kept talking, as I 

 should be pretty sure to do. It is just this 

 kind of work and just this kind of spirit 

 that have brought things to such a pass as 

 to get these false statements in the papers 

 in regard to comb honey being made of glu- 

 cose and paratiine. As a rule, I believe that 

 those who lack in education and culture are 

 most guilty. Traveling among people at 

 large, with the right spirit in the heart, 

 helps one to overcome this habit. 



Not many days later, another man carried 

 me, with a pretty span of colts, eight or 

 nine miles over the hills. His charges were 

 very reasonable, and he was in many re- 

 spects a nice old gentleman ; but he gave me 

 a glimpse of one of the worst cases of 

 "bearing false witness' 1 I have ever met. 

 Of course, he found out in a very short time 

 that I was a Christian. Then he warmed 

 up and " went " for me. His good wife was 

 present, for she went along for the ride. I 

 turned to look at her face, and it expressed 

 so much trouble as she said, " Please don't ; 

 it can't do any good," that she had my 

 earnest sympathies at once. I breathed the 

 little prayer. " Lord, help," and then ' went " 

 for him. He attacked professing Chris- 

 tians, declaringl'our land was not a land of 



liberty,* and then pitched into ministers. 

 He said one of their best and biggest minis- 

 ters around there was detected in horse- 

 stealing, and that live horses were found in 

 his possession. His wife looked pained, and 

 shook her head. Then he said that he had 

 some neighbors across the way who belong- 

 ed to the church, and read the Bible, and 

 prayed, and sang hymns, yet their children 

 w r ould steal like every thing. 



" Oh ! no, Mr. F., you must be mistaken." 



" No, I am not mistaken. They stole my 

 iron wedges ; and every thing they can get 

 their hands on they steal and carry home." 



"But, my good friend, their parents cer- 

 tainly would not approve of their stealing. 

 If they knew it they would most assuredly 

 make them carry your iron wedges back 

 again, or any thing else." 



"No, they don't. They just encourage 

 them in it, and teach them to steal more." 



" My friend, it is possible that a man may 

 be so depraved ; but I am sure that no wom- 

 an — no mother of a family of children— can 

 go to church, and sing and pmy, and at the 

 same time encourage the children in steal- 

 ing. Either the stealing would have to be 

 dropped, or else the prajer-meeting would. 

 The two can not possibly exist long togeth- 

 er ; and the same way with the man who be- 

 longed to a gang of horse-thieves. He 

 might have been a good minister once ; but 

 when he commenced dishonesty, either the 

 religion or the dishonesty would have to (jo. 

 ' Ye can not serve both God and mam- 

 mon.' " For nearly an hour I repeated text 

 after text. I hurled them at him like clubs, 

 but of course I did it smilingly. He dodged 

 and evaded, then started out on a new 

 track ; but I could see that I was gaining 

 ground. I told him of the pious old couple 

 who were accused of adulterating eight- 

 cent honey with ten-cent sugar, and plead 

 for the charity that "thinketh no evil." His 

 wife looked more hopeful, and he, poor man, 

 began to admit that all humanity except 

 himself are not hypocrites. As I reached 

 my destination he said something more 

 about the Bible being the work of man. As 

 I extended my hand to him in parting I 

 said, " Mr. Fiddler, do you think it was a 

 human voice, and was it in a line with hu- 

 manity as we find it all around us, that ut- 

 tered the words, ' Love ye your enemies, do 

 good to them that hate you, pray for them 

 that despitefully use you and' persecute 

 you?' Don't these words savor more of 

 God than of man ? and does not the very 

 thought savor more of heaven than of 

 earth V " 



He smiled good-naturedly ; and as I shook 

 hands with them both I felt that my poor 

 plea had not been altogether in vain ; and 

 as I walked down the lane to another bee- 

 keeper's home, it was not altogether the hum 

 of the bees above my head that made me 

 feel buoyant, joyous, hopeful, and happy. 



" Thou shalt not bear false witness 

 against thy neighbor." 



* The man who has no faith, either in Ooil, his 

 neighbor, or his country, is but a step away from 

 anarchy. 



