1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



681 



was disappearing I reached the further 

 shore, and a little further on I reached the 

 town of Orion, resting on the banks of the 

 Wisconsin. The banks were grassy, clear 

 to the water's edge. The waters were pure, 

 and as clear as crystal, while many beauti- 

 ful islands dotted the stream here and there. 

 Now, I want to say, that, although I have 

 seen many beautiful rivers in my travels, 

 north, south, east, and west, I have never 

 met any sight so entrancing as the Wiscon- 

 sin River as it appears from the town of 

 Orion. Seeing a group of men near the 

 postoffice I approached them. As I came 

 up I gathered that their conversation was 

 about buckwheat. I smilingly broke in 

 upon them, and asked if it were not likely 

 there was a bee-keeper among the number, 

 judging from their topic. Almost the first 

 person I addressed proved to be Mr. Sny- 

 der. As he introduced me to the doctor I 

 spoke to the little crowd something as 

 follows : 



"My friends, has it often occurred to you 

 that you ought to thank God for the surpass- 

 ing beauty that is spread out here before 

 us around your home f " 



The doctor replied : 



"Mr. Root, the man who has lived to the 

 age that most of us have here, and who has 

 neglected or forgotten to do so, would be 

 low and base indeed. 1 ' 



I love that village doctor, and always 

 shall. A few more steps, and fr'end Snyder 

 showed me his home. It is right on the 

 banks of the river, directly opposite one of 

 the most beautiful islands. The pasture lot 

 for the cow is right on the hillside, sloping 

 toward the river. Said hillside is so steep 

 that I suggested to friend Snyder that I 

 should be afraid the children in their plays 

 might roll down into the river. But he said 

 they never did. 



After my walk 1 felt a little thirsty. I 

 had planned to hunt up a glass of lemonade 

 somewhere in the town, before going to 

 friend Snyder's ; but I came on him so sud- 

 denly that I did not have time. When, 

 however, I invited him to go with me and 

 get some lemonade he replied : 



" Oh ! we have lots of lemons at home, 

 and nice cool water. Just see if I can't fix 

 you up some that will fill the bill." 



My wife says my only excess in the way 

 of drinks is lemonade. And if she had not 

 seen me drink a whole pitcherful after the 

 labors of a hot summer day were over, so 

 many times, she might feel worried as to 

 the result. But it never hurts me a bit — no, 

 not even if I drink a pitcherful just before 

 going to bed. (Of course, I mean a small 

 pitcher.) Well, if somebody siiould ask me 

 where I found the nicest lemonade I ever 

 tasted in my life, I would say that it was 

 the pitcherful that friend SnydeUs mother 

 made for me that evening after my walk. 

 Before I got the lemonade, however, I had 

 to be introduced to the little ones of the 

 household. They had all heard of Uncle 

 Amos. Why, bless you, the baby's name 

 was Ernest R. Since God had taken their 

 mamma to jher far-away home, friend Sny- 

 der has been almost father, and mother too, 



to the little ones. They help him make 

 garden, and they help him handle the bees ; 

 and, oh ! isn't that a pretty garden and 

 apiary on the banks of the river i No won- 

 der friend Snyder has christened it '■ River- 

 side Apiary." We looked at the Ignotum 

 tomatoes, and at various vegetables and 

 plants that adorn their pretty little garden, 

 grown from seeds bought of Uncle Amos ; 

 and the show of Chapman honey-plants was 

 larger and finer than any thing of the kind 

 1 ever saw anywhere else. Why, the great 

 balls were away up above our heads. The 

 bees did not pay much attention to them, 

 however, for basswood was just in its prime 

 at the very time when these were blooming. 



It was getting to be bed-time for the lit- 

 tle folks, however, and I was duly installed 

 in the big arm chair and given the family 

 Bible. Before opening it, however, I want- 

 ed to know a little more of the particulars 

 just why Uncle Amos came to be such a 

 welcome guest in that little home. Friend 

 Snyder is a " big man " — big in a good many 

 ways. His home is but an humble cottage ; 

 but for all that, it is a home far pleasanter 

 to me than the finest palace our land can 

 furnish. One of the most beautiful sights 

 I have ever beheld is to see a strong man 

 devoted heart and soul to his own home, his 

 garden, his bees, his children, and to the 

 work of making the home for the little ones 

 around him a pleasant and happy place ; 

 and, above all, letting Christ Jesus be 

 " Lord of all " in the home. In answer to 

 my inquiries my friend spoke something as 

 follows : 



"Mr. Root, my wife and I began reading 

 Gleanings before we kept any bees at all. 

 I am a carpenter by trade, and one of our 

 neighbors here in Orion employed me one 

 winter to make some bee-hives for him. 

 One day while I was eating my dinner I 

 happened to see a sort of magazine on the 

 work-bench, that Mr. Stewart had been 

 reading, and he probably forgot to take it 

 home. I turned the pages over absently, 

 and finally began to read the coarse print. 

 The style of teaching rather pleased me, al- 

 though I then neither knew nor cared about 

 bees more than to make the hives as 1 was 

 directed. I became more interested, and 

 asked Mr. Stewart if he would just as soon 

 lend me a few more of those journals. Of 

 course, he was glad to do so, and through 

 them I became acquainted with A. I. Root. 

 I talked with my wife about it, and in due 

 time we had some bees of our own. Of 

 course, it did not take us very long to find 

 out that A. I. Hoot was more devoted to 

 one other matter than to the bees ; and as 

 we had begun to consider him as our teach- 

 er, w T e followed him through the Home 

 Papers and Our Neighbors. Pretty soon 

 we felt it a duty and a privilege to unite 

 with the little band of Christian workers 

 here in our town, and now you know why I 

 wanted to see you here in my home." 



My stay was necessarily short, in order to 

 meet all the friends I expected to meet, or 

 had promised to meet, and on this account 

 I got only, a glimpse of the pretty little 

 church by starlight where friend Snyder 

 and his wife had united with the people of 



