468 



GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 



June 



then is carried away, instead of getting 

 down into the well for an outlet. 



Very much greater pains is also being 

 taken with sink-drains and cellar-drains. In 

 the construction of the cellars for the two 

 houses we are now building for John and 

 Ernest, I talked the matter over a good deal 

 with the builders, and those who are accus- 

 tomed to sucli work, and they say it is now- 

 adays customary to have the slop drain 

 of sewer-pipe from 4 to 6 inches in diameter, 

 and this large tile is laid with a good strong 

 fall, so that the slops pass off quickly and 

 surely. Nov/, there is so much danger from 

 foul gases coming up through this slop- 

 drain that a separate drain is constructed 

 for the cellar to drain off the surface water, 

 so it shall not get into the cellar. In our 

 case a ditch was dug under the cellar walls, 

 a fojt in depth; then a ]»Iace for the tile 

 was cut out into the bank, the tile being on 

 a level with the bottom of said ditch. After 

 the tile is laid, the ditch is lilled with cob- 

 ble-stones or broken wall-stones ; and on top 

 of this foot of loose stones the wall is placed. 

 With such an arrangement you will notice 

 that no water can possibly get into the cel- 

 lar, for the cellar bottoni is a foot higher 

 than the tile that drains it. Slop-drains 

 should also have some sort of a trap that 

 will make it impossible for a,ny gases to 

 rise up into the cellar, or into any room of 

 the building. These arrangements cost 

 some money; but, my friend, how much 

 money does it cost tahave typhoid fever in 

 your family? At one of our bee-conventions 

 Prof. Cook"^had one of the college professors 

 give lis a talk on statistics ; and in his talk 

 we were told just how many more cases of 

 typhoid fever occurred, when tlie water of 

 the wells stood very low on account of a 

 drought. The lowtr the water is in the 

 wells, the greater is the tendency for foul 

 waters to find a passage into thern, for the 

 ]"easons given in the fore part of this article. 

 I should be very glad indeed to have both 

 Prof. Cook and Mr. Terry say how far I am 

 out of the way in the foregoing. 



BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN, 

 FOR THEY SHALL. BE COMFORTED. 



SOMETHING FUHTHEll FROM BilO. G. C. STOKELY— 

 SEE OUR HOMES FOR MARCH 15. 



R. ROOT:— Allow inc to ackiiowleilg'e your 

 tcndor of sympathy ixiirt Christian senti- 

 ments, kindly ottered to one in dire distress. 

 Although an utter strang-er to you, Icind 

 friend, I feel deeply grateful to you. I am 

 trying' earnestly to accei)t your admonitions in the 

 same spirit which prompted them, and I trust I 

 have profited by them. You have given to my few 

 poor words a prominence that I did not contem- 

 plate; but 1 hope your Chrlstianly effort has reach- 

 ed other hearts as well as my own. I have received 

 many e.xpressions of the deepest feeling from 

 friends. I know they are friends, for no other mo- 

 tive could induce these otters to me in this ob- 

 scure corner; but I know that only those whose ex- 

 periences are similar to my own can fully under- 

 stand my case. Well, it is from this class notably 

 that these expressions come, and I should flnd much 



encouragement in the fact that, in many instances, 

 their heart-wringing sorrows have been e.^changed 

 for rejoicing. 



As these kind words come from all over this 

 broad Christian land, it would be impossible to reply 

 in severalty, so I must beg a little space in Glean- 

 ings, because this must have been the medium 

 through which thej' learned my address, and I can 

 only say to each and all of them, " May God reward 

 you as he only can !" 



It is a sad comment upon the gratitude, or, rath- 

 er, ingratitude, of the human heart, to say that im- 

 munity from suffering, uninterrupted sunshine, 

 never brings us to our senses or to our Savior; that, 

 while we are sailing over summer seas, we forget 

 to prepare for ilisaster, but so I have found it. 

 Friend R., your imaginary picture of my once joy- 

 ous but now poor broken home, is singularly truth- 

 ful; and equally true is your remark, that few 

 words ofttimcs express a great deal. When the 

 heart is sinking down, down, down, a great wave of 

 despair rolling over us, the weight of a dark world 

 crushing us yet lower down, then the agonized 

 spirit finds little use for words. But few words are 

 required to tell that hearts have bled— that joy is 

 dead, that hope has fled, that all seems starless 

 night. Our parent hive is queenless now; the flow 

 of our earthly sweetness has for ever ceased; but 

 we have the hope, and we cling to the promise, that 

 we shall begin anew where the flowers shall never 

 wither, and where the How shall continue through- 

 out the long summer of eternity. G. C. Stokely. 



Arnoldville, Ind. T., May 24, 1887. 



Friend S., I have often thought of the 

 very point you make, that when we have 

 uninterrupted sunshine and blessings in- 

 numerable, instead of bringing our hearts to 

 the Savior in praise and thanksgiving, it is 

 quite apt to lead us to get cold and indiffer- 

 ent; and at such times nothing but gfeat 

 trials brings us back to the foot of the cross. 

 May God be praised that you are indeed 

 rooted and grounded on the rock Christ 

 Jesus. 



^EP0^¥g Di?cea^i?6i]M6. 



"ten left to tell the STOItV;'* HOW SHALL WE 



REPOPULATE HIVES WHERE BEES HAVE 



DIED THE PREVIOUS SEASON? 



ISERY always likes company— not that I an^ 

 glad J. F. Patton (see p. 406) had the mis- 

 fortune to lose 18 out of 31 colonics last 

 winter, but I was especially interested in 

 his report in Gleanings, May 1,5. 1 packed 

 23 colonies in the fall, and there are only 10 left to 

 tell the story. Some of t hose si)eak feebly, while the 

 other 13 joined that " innumei-able caravan," and 

 have "gone where the woodbine twincth." Mr. P. 

 will surely be awarded the "first premium," be- 

 cause of his happy way of accepting the inevitable, 

 and we can not but admire his spirit of thankful- 

 ness for the remaining three. But I wonder if, aft- 

 er all, at times he doesn't have " rolled across his 

 peaceful breast " just a shallow wave of blasted 

 hopes. 



Mr. Root, what is your opinion as to the best 

 method for us of repopulating these deserted habi- 

 tations—buying bees by the pound, frames of nu- 

 glei, or full colonies? In this vicinity tjiis winter's 



