M 



(jLlCANtNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



natural restless dispositions of rliese little 

 folks. They were hiirdly asked to sit still at 

 all, but at the same time there was sucli a 

 system about their motions that the school 

 was not a noisy one. Before some little 

 urchin began to feel a disposition to twitch 

 around, the whole school twisted around in 

 regular ordei', in obedience to some signal 

 from tlie teacher. Then tliey stood up ; 

 then a little hymn was sung that required 

 them to swing their arms. A great part of 

 the exercises was child's play — yes, a good 

 deal of such child's play as you see going on 

 with the baby, and those a little older. Then 

 they read a few sentences together. To 

 prevent them from getting into a mechani- 

 cal way of reading the lessons without look- 

 ing on the book, she had them read back- 

 ward. Pretty soon she asked who would 

 stand upon thetloorand sing for the gentle- 

 men. I thought possibly that three or four 

 among the whole school might volunteer. 

 To my surprise, almost every little hand in 

 tlie school was raised, and yon could see 

 by their faces how they regarded the two 

 who were selected as the lucky ones. What 

 pretty little childish songs those were! ('hil- 

 dren tire very quickly of almost any thing. 

 They will pick peas awhile, they w^ill pull 

 weeds awhile, and so on with a great many 

 other things. But if you want them to work 

 well you must change w^ork often. Miss 

 Smith seemed to recognize this, so she had 

 a variety of primers that occasionally took 

 the place of the standard schoolbooks. The 

 primers were wisely edited and wisely chos- 

 en, and an involuntary " thank God" well- 

 ed up as I turned over the one I held in my 

 hand. Thank God, that strong pure-mind- 

 ed men and women were giving their best 

 energies to the work of understanding child- 

 ish minds, and ministering to childish 

 tastes. What a thrill of joy it gave me to 

 And that Miss Smith was" working in the 

 same line I had been, and that she was rec- 

 ognizing, as I had been, that in the care of 

 these little ones we may apply the text, " In- 

 asmuch as ye have done it unto one of the 

 least of these my brethren, ye have done it 

 unto me." 



I remember the time when I was required 

 to sit for hours together on a hard bench, 

 without any desk before me, without even 

 a slate and pencil. If I shuffled my little 

 feet so as to make a noise, I was in danger 

 of the master's ruler. My dogs-eared First 

 Header was the only thing I was permitted 

 to look at. although I had read every page 

 of it until 1 could almost repeat it off by 

 heart. I had noticed that the little folks 

 who worked for me were always ready to go 

 when it was schooltime. They never seem- 

 ed to dread going to school. There was an 

 air of cheerfulness I had never understood 

 until I visited that school. I tell you, my 

 friends, that, before those children are teii 

 years old, a foundation will be laid for a 

 good solid Christian character that will go 

 a great way toward shaping the course of 

 their future lives. I am told that like im- 

 provements are being inaugurated all over 

 oin- land. Thank God, that in this land of 

 liberty w^e are l>eginning to recognize the 

 importance of commencing with the chil- 



dren. Thank God, that the tyranny (and I 

 don't know but it is right to say cruelty) 

 that has been exercised in teaching and 

 managing these little ones is passing away. 

 It seems to me to be a glimpse of the new 

 heaven and new earth that is promised in 

 the Scripture. People give me credit for 

 ability in interesting and keeping busy 

 these little folks. My friends, I don't de- 

 serve half the credit in that line that has 

 been accorded to me. I am ashamed of my- 

 self when I think of my shortcomings in 

 this direction. By tits and starts I have, 

 perhaps, been trying to take up these tasks 

 for the glory of God; but it is only now and 

 then that I have had glimpses of the possi- 

 bilities in this direction. It begins to dawn 

 on my understanding now just a little. I 

 am beginning to understand the field unex- 

 plored that is contained in the words of the 

 little text at the head of this talk, '' Wheth- 

 er therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever 

 ye do, do all to the glory of God." I sup- 

 jjose t'ne latter would include making gar- 

 den, and hiring the juveniles to catch pota- 

 to-bugs, transplant celery-plants, pull weeds, 

 etc. I repeat, '' Whatsoever ye do. do all to 

 the glory of God." It may be true, there 

 are not many in this world who apply this 

 rule to their every action. It may be true, 

 that humanity 1ms not come up to very 

 great possibilities in this line as yet; but for 

 all that, there are glimpses of what even 

 one Christian life might be, that sometimes 

 almost bewilder me. Oh if my poor life 

 could only have more of that spirit in it ! 

 Lord, help us! May the great Father help 

 you, my friends, who are hungering and 

 thirsting, and who are longing to see these 

 little ones led in wisdom's ways ! Pray for 

 me, that I may do my work better; and 

 while we learn to have a wider and broader 

 charity for small boys who are inclined to 

 shirk over the tasks we give them, may God 

 help us to have a wider and broader charity 

 for all humanity, old as well as young! 



©OR 0WN ^PI^^Y. 



CONDUCTED BY ERNEST R. ROOT. 



APIFUGE. 



fllOSE who take the British Bee Journal 

 ' have doubtless noticed considerable 

 said in regard to "• apifuge." The deri- 

 vation of the word is from two Latin 

 words — apis, meaning bee, and/w^o, I 

 route, I drive, or I scare. Literally its An- 

 glo-Saxon English name would be " bee- 

 scarer," answering the same purpose, I sup- 

 pose, as the scarecrow, so familiar to farmers' 

 boys. It is claimed that a few drops of this 

 liquid, sprinkled on the hands and well rub- 

 bed over the flesh, will make the bees loth 

 to sting those parts so covered. In other 

 words, they will be so scared that they won't 

 dare to sting. It is even stated by some 

 that it will dispense largely with the use of 

 smoke. My curiosity having been aroused 

 as to the merits of this wonderful stuff, I 

 sent for a couple of bottles of it. A few 

 days ago they arrived. The liquid smells 



