Decejiber, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



fields and on sunn}' banks. Honeybees, 

 bumblebees, and wasps were liis prey wher- 

 ever he found them; he had no apprehen- 

 sions from their stings, but would seize them 

 nudis manibus, and at once disarm them of 

 their weapons, and suck their bodies for the 

 sake of their honey-bags. Sometimes he 

 would fill his bosom between his shirt and 

 his skin with a number of these captives; 

 and sometimes would confine them in bot- 

 tles. He was a very merops apiaster, or bee 

 bird; and very injurious to men that kept 

 bees; for he would slide into their bee gar- 

 dens, and, sitting down before the stools, 

 would rap with his finger on the hives, and 

 so take the bees as they came out. He has 

 been known to overturn hives for the sake 

 of honey, of which he was passionately fond. 

 Where metheglin was making, he would 

 linger round the tubs and vessels, begging a 

 draught of what he called bee-wine. As he 

 ran about he used to make a humming noise 

 with his lips, resembling the buzzing of 

 bees. This lad was lean and sallow, and of 

 a cadaverous complexion; and, except in his 

 favorite pursuit, discovered no manner of 

 understanding. Had his capacity been bet- 

 ter, and directed to the same object, he had 

 perhaps abated much of our wonder at the 

 feats of a more modern exhibitor of bees; 

 and we may justly say of him now, 

 * * * * Thou, 

 Hnd thy presiding star propitious shone, 

 Should'st Wildman be. * * * * 



' ' When a tall youth he was removed from 

 hence to a distant village, where he died, 

 as I understand, before he arrived at man- 

 hood. 



' ' I am, etc." 



(Can anyone, by the way, enlighten me as 

 to the lines White cjuotes in this letter? 

 "Metheglin" sent me to the dictionary, 

 where I learned it is "an old-fashioned 

 beverage, usually fermented, of honey and 

 water." Perhaps you knew that; I did not. 

 But notice the derivation of it! From the 

 Welsh "meddyg, " meaning physician, and 

 "llyn, " meaning liquor — oh, the sick in Sel- 

 borne! And is there, outside of poetry and 

 bees, a subject with more fascination wrap- 

 ped in it than philology — the study of lan- 

 guage — of which be assured I myself know 

 nothing at all. Indeed, the very word 

 "philology" itself has an origin like a ca- 

 ress — from the Greek "philos, " meaning 

 loving, and "logos," meaning speech.) 



Then there is another letter, written two 

 or three years later, full of the most delici- 

 ous comments on echoes, which this dear old 

 Oxford scholar seemed usually to test with 

 Latin verse! Dactyllic meter he found 

 brought him back the most syllables on the 

 echo, sometimes as many as ten, far fewer 

 being returned when he used "slow, heavy, 

 embarrassed spondees!" And should there 

 be anyone today planning to play battledore 

 and shuttlecock with old Latin phrases, with 

 only an echo for a partner, let him take care 

 to choose "a still, clear, dewy evening" 

 when the air is most elastic, because the 



"weather and the time of day have a vast 

 effect on an echo; for a dull, heavy, moist 

 air deadens and clogs the sound; and hot 

 sunshine renders the air thin and weak, and 

 deprives it of all its springiness; and a ruf- 

 fling wind quite defeats the whole." Mid- 

 way this lovely, Latin-strewn letter, White 

 speaks of a certain "strange notion" of 

 Vergil's that echoes are injurious to bees, 

 and right gallantly he refutes it thus: 



' ' This wild and fanciful assertion will 

 hardly be admitted by the philosophers of 

 these days; especially as they all now seem 

 to agree that insects are not furnished with 

 any organs of hearing at all. But if it 

 should be urged, that tho they cannot hear 

 j'et perhaps they may feel the repercussion of 

 sounds, I grant it is possible they may. Yet 

 that these impressions are distasteful or 

 hurtful, I deny, because bees, in good sum- 

 mers, thrive well in my outlet, where the 

 echoes are very strong: for this village is 

 another Anathoth, a place of responses or 

 echoes. Besides, it does not appear from ex- 

 periment that bees are in any way capable 

 of being affected by sounds; for I have 

 often tried my own with a large speaking- 

 trumpet, held close to their hives, and with 

 such an exertion of voice as would have 

 hailed a ship at the distance of a mile, and 

 still these insects pursued their various em- 

 ployments undisturbed, and without showing 

 the least sensibility or resentment." 



Apparently he made no particular study 

 of bees, as these are the only extended ref- 

 erences to them I have found in the letters. 

 But how blessed we are to be able to add to 

 our treasure this quaint picture of the schol- 

 arly old naturalist blowing his large speak- 

 ing-trumpet, close by his hives, "with su»h 

 fin exertion of voice as would have hailed a 

 ship at the distance of a mile! " Yes, in his 

 beekeeping, he was strictly a sideliner, this 

 Gilbert White of Selborne. And how glad 

 I am that at least in good summers bees 

 throve well in his outlet, where the echoes 

 were so strong. 



* * * 



WHEN I MET DR. MILLER. 

 Aged 88 

 Sometimes a moment drifts across our days 

 Gold-freis'htpd, and upon us thereby lays 

 Eternal eratitudes; for, lo, it flings 

 Great gifts to ii.s, rich, une.xpected things 

 All go'd; and our dull pathways evermore 

 Shine in the memoried splendor like .some floor 

 Trodden in olden times by crowned kings. 



I saw your face, and such a mom&nt came. 

 The common air was glory and a flame. 

 Your presence made my heart to understand 

 The goodly pride I felt to touch your hand. 

 Of gifts you gave unknowingly to me 

 A chain I wove and wear it royally — 

 Each mood and memory a shining strand. 



I hold that moment yielded me a gift 



Before which heart and soul and eves may lift. 



Thru all this life wherein we bungle so 



The noblest, lordliest thing that we can know 



Is goodness such as yours, and love of truth, 



Aliveness, and old age surpassing youth ! 



God let you live a hundred years or so I 



