1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



19 



l)ody to buy honey they did not want, I 

 shoiihl l)y all means object. There are, 

 without doubt, two sides to this matter ; but 

 the wrong I had in mind is indeed a griev- 

 ous one, and many tan bear me out in say- 

 ing so. I mean, overpersuading people 

 against their better judgment. In our es- 

 tablishment, younger people who have not 

 judgment and discretion have l)een persuad- 

 ed again and again into buying books at 

 extravagant prices wlien they hadn't the 

 wherewith to pay their honest debts. A 

 young married man was induced to buy the 

 Life of Grant, when he ought not to liave 

 bought it. Tlie same agent wanted to sell 

 liim another book, but I objected, because 

 the young man was out in the lield woiking 

 on riu/ time. Tlie young man told me after- 

 ward that he was very glad I did so, for he 

 was so much in need of money that he very 

 much regretted having made the foi-mer 

 purchase. Books sold by agents, so far as I 

 know% are sold at extravagant prices, and at 

 extravagant profits. Those who sell books, 

 or take subscriptions for bee-journals, are 

 satisfied with a profit of from 10 to 25 per 

 cent ; but book agents often make lUO per 

 cent or more. In regard to religious books 

 sold by colporteurs, I think this is indeed 

 praiseworthy, and they ouglit to be encour- 

 aged ; but the profits in this business are so 

 small that a scheming and unprincipled 

 man would never think of going into it. 



The waste of time that it takes to listen 

 to a book agent, when you don't want wliat 

 he has to sell, is, to my mind, one of the 

 greatest objections. However, you have a 

 right to stop and listen, if you choose— that 

 is, when you are working on your own time ; 

 but if you arew^orking by the hour for some- 

 body else, I do not think you liave a right to 

 stop your work and look at a book. In our 

 establishment we have had to make very 

 stringent rules, because of this kind of work. 

 One lady book agent argued the matter with 

 me quite at length. When I told her that 

 the proper place to see our people was at 

 their homes, outside of working hours, she 

 replied. " But just think how much trouble 

 it w^ould make me to go around to all of 

 them at their homes, compared with seeing 

 them all together here at once." I did not 

 tell her about the boys and the frogs, but it 

 seemed to me that what was rare fun for 

 her was death to— my poeket-bo;)k. If you 

 want to sell honey, get subscriptions for 

 Gleanings, or sell A B (' books, don't. I 

 beg of you, go to people who are working by 

 the hour for somebody else, and inteirupt 

 them during their work. What Ernest put 

 in in reference to the insurance agent w as 

 intended as a joke: but I am free to confess 

 now, that I felt somewhat pained when I 

 found it in print. A bee sting is, to many 

 people, a serious matter, and we have no 

 right to give pain to any one, especially any 

 thing that is so excruciating as the pain of a 

 bee-sting, either in jest or earnest. I now 

 remember that several jokes of this kind 

 have appeared in Gleaninos. and I thank 

 friend "\Valler for calling my attention to it. 

 One who professes to follow Clu'ist should 

 never perpetrate jokes, nor have fun wlien it 

 will give pajn to a fe]lo\v-being. even if this 



fellow-being has been importunate to the 

 extent of l)eing troublesome. There is noth- 

 ing in this world that is so much to be ad- 

 mired as simple, frank honesty and sinceri- 

 ty in all our deal and in all our differences. 



Friend W. strikes on another point in his 

 remarks. I Avould not advise anybody to 

 undertake to exhort a man in regard to his 

 soul's salvation, even (without the employ- 

 er's sanction), while he is employed by some 

 one else, and while this some one else 

 has bought and paid for his undivided 

 time and attention. 1 think the cause of 

 Christ would be furthered, many times, by 

 remembering things of this kind. Choose 

 a proper time and fitting oi)portunity, and 

 don't say too much, remem])ering that the 

 Scripture says, '■ Words fitly spoken are like 

 ap]>les of gold set in pictures of silver." 



BEES vs. BEAVERS. 



A New Office lor the Bee-Sting, from the 

 Scientifle American. 



F. CLAHKE'S NEW THEORV OF THE 



Cl'StfED. 



STING l>IS- 



N order that our readers may better un- 

 derstand the purport of the following 

 article from J). F. Savage, we clip from 

 the Scievtiiic American, under date of 

 Dec. -i, page 0.33, the item to which our 

 friend takes exceptions. The waiter ques- 

 tions the scientific accuracy in such a pleas- 

 ant manner that we feel that our old friend. 

 W. F. Clarke, will not take it unkindly. 



A ucw champion has arisen to defend the honey- 

 bee from the obloquy under which it has always 

 rested. Mr. Wm. F.'Plarke, of Canada, claims to 

 have discovered, I'rora repeated observations, that 

 the most important function of the bee's sting- is 

 not sting-ing-. In a recent article he says: 



My observations and retiections have convinced 

 me that the most important office of the bee-sting 

 is that which is performed in doing the artistic cell 

 work, capping the comb, and infusing the fornii<! 

 acid by means of which honej' receives its keeping 

 qualities. As I said at Detroit, the sting is really a 

 skillfully contrived little trowel, with which the bee 

 finishes off and caps the cells when thei' are filled 

 brimful of honey. This explains why honey ex- 

 tracted before it is capped over does not keep well. 

 The formic acid has not been injected into it. This 

 is done in the very act of putting the last touches 

 on the cell work. As the little pliant trowel is 

 worked to and fro with such dexterity, the darts, 

 of which there are two, pierce the plastic cell sur- 

 face, and leave the nectar beneath its tiny drops of 

 the fluid which makes it keep well. This is the "art 

 preservative" of honey. A most wonderful pro- 

 vision of nature, truly! Herein we see that the 

 sting ajid the poison-bag, with which so many of us 

 v.ould like to dispense, are essential to the storage 

 of our coveted product, and that without them the 

 beautiful comb honey of commerce would be a 

 thing unknown. 



MK. savage's comments ON THE SAME. 



Here is a strange theory of the uses of the sting 

 of bees in slicking otf the cappiugs of cells, and in- 

 jecting therein a p(n'lion of formic acid, so that the 

 honey may keep the better. The idea seems to be 

 I>ut forth in all seriousness, that the most important 

 function of the sting is e.vercised within the hive, 

 and that its occasional employment outside is only 

 an incident or an accident. I find it in the Sciottitir 

 Ameiicaii. purporting to be the substance of an 

 article by Wm. F. Clarke, of Canada, who, it ap- 

 pears, made some statements on the subject at De- 

 troit. Now, I wish to know whether any company 



