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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mr. Trumau knew better, and lio hastened 

 into the house to get the saleratus, and to call 

 his wife for help. When he came out, he found 

 poor Narrow sitting down on the grass, hokling 

 his head and rocking his body. It was too late 

 for the saleratus. His eyes became red and roll- 

 ing, his face was flushed and burning, and it seem- 

 ed to Narrow that it was growing large, large, 

 and was alreadj- as big as a bushel basket. Then 

 it seemed to be covered with a sheet of fire. 

 Soon after, the world began to whirl around, 

 and the ground to rise up and strike his head. 

 The fact was he had fallen over on his back. 

 He now became deadly pale — white as a sheet 

 — with cold moisture covering his face, and 

 every part of him was in a tremor. Then he 

 began to faint, and the world grew dark, and 

 he groaned, and felt that he was dying. He 

 grew faint and fainter, till he was all gone. 

 After a while, as he began to revive a little, the 

 stomach took its turn, and the poor fellow vom- 

 ited as if he would retch himself to death. 

 There was no peace till the stomach was com- 

 pletely empty. Gradually, however, he began 

 to come to; and after two hours was able to 

 walk to his home. He went away silent, as if 

 still suffering; and, in fact, it took him a week 

 to recover fully from the affair. 



The next time he met Mr. Truman, he seem- 

 ed cold towards him, as if he had set the bee on 

 him, or as if he had done him some wrong. 

 The fact was, he had met with a theological ar- 

 gument which he knew not how to answer — 

 and it troubled him. On the other hand, Mr. 

 Truman well knew that he could now corner 

 his friend. 



"Well, friend Narrow, have you fully recov- 

 ered from the bee-sting?" 



"Yes, pretty much. But who would have 

 thought?" 



"Thought what?" 

 "How much does a bee weigh?" 

 "Why, it takes between three and four hun- 

 dred of them to weigh an ounce." 



"And how much of the poison did the critter 

 leave in my ear, I want to know?" 



"A quantity so small that you probably could 

 not have seen it with the naked eye." 



"Now aint it strange that so little poison could 

 go through my whole body, and in five minutes 

 make me so sick? Why, 1 was never so sick in 

 all my life!" 



' 'Very powerful, to be sure. But tell me, now, 

 don'tyou think that the bee is a powerful preach- 

 er, and very sound in argument?" 

 "What do you mean?" 



"Just this: you know now — and if you don't, 

 just step over into my bee-yard and have it re- 

 peated — you know that in an instant of time 

 the sting may go into your body, and in an in- 

 stant you may, from the smallest particle of 

 poison, be so sick that you can't stand — nay, 

 you are at the very door of death. This is just 

 what the Bible teaches about sin. It does not 

 take much time to commit it. It may seem a 

 very small affair; but it is a deadly poison, or, 

 as the Bible says, 'the exceeding sinfulness of 

 sin.' If so small a speck of the bee-sting can 

 throw you, a strong man, flat on the ground, 



and take almost your life away, don't you see 

 that one sin could ruin our first parents? Your 

 ear seemed to stand for the whole body, and 

 touching that, poisoned the whole. It made 

 'the whole head sick, and the wiiolo heart faint,' 

 did it not?" 



"Well, well, I won't dispute; but this I wnll 

 say — that if anybody hereafter tells me that a 

 little poisen can't produce great sufferings, just 

 let one of your bees sting him, that's all." 



The Western Christian Advocate says of the 

 above article: "It has some statements that 

 seem improbable, but a friend well versed in 

 bee culture informs us that it takes about 400 

 bees of ordinary size to make an ounce, or 

 6,400 for a pound avoirdupois. A bee-sting on 

 a vein of the neck has in several instances re- 

 sulted fatally. Horses have died from the ef- 

 fects of half a dozen stings on the veins of the 

 nose. The article in question has an argument 

 in theology worth heeding." 



Bagster's Process of Melting Honey 

 Combs. — The combs are placed in a conical 

 earthen vessel filled with a mixture of one ounce 

 of nitric acid to a quart of water. This is set 

 over an open fire and stirred till the combs are 

 completely melted, when it is removed from the 

 fire, and allowed to cool gradually. The pro- 

 duct is divided into three layers, the upper one 

 pure Avax, the lowest chiefly impurities, and the 

 middle containing sufficient wax to be added to 

 the next melting. A marketable w^ax is thus 

 obtained at a single operation without straining 

 or pressing. 



Bleaching Beeswax. — Add to one pound of 

 melted wax two ounces of pulverized nitrate of 

 soda, and then stir in by degrees a mixture of 

 one ounce sulphuric acid and nine ounces of wa- 

 ter. When all the acid is added, it is allowed 

 to become partially cool, and the vessel is then 

 filled up with boiling water and allowed to cool 

 off slowly. The wax, when cold, is put into 

 boiling water to remove the sulphate of soda 

 and the acid. It is then quite white, and should 

 be perfectly freed from nitric acid, which tends 

 to render it yellow. 



There is still so much mystery attached to the 

 habits of the bee, and especially to the internal 

 economy of the hive, that the scientific study 

 of these insects affords ample scope for much 

 patient and hopeful research. But if the whole 

 history of the hive bee had been opened to us, 

 so as to preclude the hope of future discovery, 

 there is quite enough in the simple verification 

 of the discoveries of others to interest and as- 

 tonish every lover of nature. 



The farmer who is content with an occasional 

 stroll over his fields, and a similar inspection 

 of his yards and granaries, will in vain expect 

 to thrive. A careless and ignorant bee-keeper, 

 who does not know and does not do the right 

 things at the right time, can just as little hope 

 for success in his pursuit. 



