214 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[March 



a, week ago. Her end was peace and joy. She 

 retained her consciousness fully until about an hour 

 before she gently fell asleep in Jesus. It pleased 

 God to grant me restoration to health, and I was 

 able to be with her every night but one." 



We expected to receive a full obituary notice of 

 the late Mrs. L. for insertion in our present issue, 

 but a letter from Mr. L. says: " The obituary is 

 not yet sent to me by the friend who is preparing it, 

 and it cannot appear in the March number ; perhaps 

 it may not be best to insert it at all in the A. B. J. 

 I have written some account of my dear wife's 

 sickness and end for an old Yale friend, which he 

 will send you for your private perusal." Several 

 passages in this account are so beautiful and touch- 

 ing that we trust Mr. Langstroth will pardon the 

 liberty we take in transferring them to the A. B. J. 

 They will, we are sure, be read with interest by all. 



" My dear wife's sickness was only ten days, but 

 she has been an invalid for the last fourteen years, 

 and just previous to her last sickness she had lost 

 her strength and flesh by a cruel felon which left 

 her without any use of her right hand, and no 

 prospect that she would ever again have any good 

 use of it. Her sickness began with a violent 

 nervous chill, affecting at first the brain, but during 

 most of her illness she was in perfect possession 

 of all her faculties. She died as she had lived, 

 full of faith and love, and able to comfort us all by 

 repeating the precious promises of God's word. 

 Sorrowing as we do that we shall see her face no 

 more, we rejoice that she has entered into her rest, 

 and that we have the rich treasure of her unselfish 

 and holy example. From a child she delighted to 

 store her memory with the Holy Scriptures and the 

 sweet songs of Zion. At the death-bed of her 

 father, an intimate friend of our dear Dr. Taylor, 

 she said (when not six years old,) to her mother: 

 ' To see dear father so happy reminds me of the 

 hymn, 



Jesus, the vision of thy face 



Hath overpowering charms ; 

 Scarce can I feel death's cold embrace 

 While folded in thine arms.' 

 Her mother told me that when she repeated these 

 lines her father drew her down to him and kissing 

 her said : ' Precious child.' How early she entered 

 upon her life work of consoling the afflicted. 

 ' Precious child ! ' Precious sister, precious wife, 

 mother, grandmother, friend ! Surely it was such a 

 character, intimately known and loved, that inspired 

 the pen of the sacred writer : 



' The heart of her husband doth safely trust in 

 her, for she will do him good, and not evil, all the 

 days of her life. 



'She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her 

 tongue is the law of kindness. 



' Her children shall rise up and call her blessed ; 

 her husband, also, he praiseth her. Many daughters 

 have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.' 



At one time during her sickness she became 

 unconscious, her extremities grew cold, and we 

 gathered around her bed to see her breathe her 

 last, but after some hours she revived, and opening 

 her eyes spoke of the blessed sleep God had given 



her, and her mind taking in at once the situation, 

 she said to me : ' Those lines of Hood, dearest : 

 We thought her dying when she slept, 

 And sleeping when she died.' 

 If you are familiar with the piece, beginning with 

 the words, 



' We watched her breathing through the night, 

 Her breathing soft and low,' 

 you will see how touchingly she expressed her per- 

 fect consciousness. 



In nearly thirty-nine years of acquaintance I never 

 knew her, in a single instance, deliberately to prefer 

 her own happiness to that of others. Similar is 

 the testimony of sisters, brothers, and all who 

 knew her intimately. About an hour before she died 

 she fell into a gentle sleep, and woke to find herself 

 beyond the Jordan. God granting to her a desire 

 often expressed, that she might thus peacefully fall 

 asleep in Jesus." 



Our sympathies, and those of our readers gen- 

 erally, are with our dear friend in this his greatest 

 earthly trouble. May he be enabled to say, "Good 

 is the will of the Lord." " God is our refuge and 

 strength, a very present help in trouble." 



[ For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Stands and Bottom Boards. 



Dear Bee Journal : — Some of the writers of the 

 Journal recommend, and practice, placing hives 

 upon the ground, with only a two-inch strip under 

 the bottom board. I prefer placing my stocks on 

 stands about twenty inches high. My reasons are : 

 first, the stocks are kept dryer by a little elevation ; 

 second, they are much more convenient to exam- 

 ine ; and thirdly, we avoid the annoyance of 

 skunks and toads. My stands are made as follows : 

 Take four square posts twenty inches long, three 

 boards the required length, (say five feet), and one 

 foot wide, and two boards twenty-six inches long. 

 Nail the long boards to the posts, letting the square 

 ends come even with the posts, then nail on the 

 end pieces ; next nail the remaining board in the 

 centre, (edge up), even at the top with the sides. 

 Such a stand will accommodate two hives, if the 

 hives are painted different colors. The bottom 

 board of the hive then rests on the edge of three 

 one-inch boards. Such a stand, when well nailed 

 and properly adjusted, stands very firm, and the 

 bottom of the hive coming in contact only with the 

 edge of the boards forming the stand, but little 

 opportunity is offered for the harboring of moths 

 and ants. 



In regard to bottom boards — a stationary bottom 

 board (except on small nucleus hives) is an intol- 

 erable nuisance, not to be thought of. For more 

 then twenty years, I have used a bottom board 

 similar to that described by Novice, if I under- 

 stand him. The idea of so constructing it, was 

 gathered from the work, " Bevan on the Bee." I 

 first used it under box hives, but retained that 

 form of bottom on adopting the Langstroth hive. 

 My hives are twenty inches from front to rear, 

 (outside measure,) with inside lower edge of front 

 and rear beveled to near an edge, outside of sides 

 beveled also, bottom board twenty-six inches long. 

 At twenty and one-half inches from rear end, start 



