188G 



GLEAKINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



893 



stopped laying iu the early fall, she would com- 

 mence sooner in the spring- (honey being plentiful 

 and of good quality), and I think my reasoning 

 correct; for when those hives were set out this 

 spring they were full of bees, all had abundance of 

 brood, and are among the best I have. Most of the 

 hives hatched brood three and four weeks later, 

 hut were no better. 



Some advocate having one or two empty combs 

 in the center of the biood-nest, for clustering. I 

 gave nine combs full of honey. The bees hung 

 below and close to the entrance. I presume empty 

 combs are l)eneficial when bees are wintered out of 

 doors; but in the cellar I should not deem it neces- 

 sary. Roland Sherbuhne. 



Lone Tree, Johnson Co., Iowa. 



Friend S., your wintering-cave is not un- 

 like many that liave been described before. 

 The objections are, the general untidiness 

 of such a temporary arrangement, and also 

 that, during many winters, they do not 

 seem to have kept the frost out suftlciently. 

 Quite a number of the veterans have decid- 

 ed that they not only want a building above 

 this repository, but they want a fire kept in 

 that building. I believe you are a smarter 

 man than most men whom we ordinarily 

 come across, if you can build such a struc- 

 ture as you describe, and have it frost-proof, 

 and do the work in two days ; yet 1 know 

 from my own experience how much even an 

 ordinary man can accomplish when his heart 

 is really in the work. 



^ I — 



CATNIP TEA VERSUS HOT "WATER. 



A TjETTek from dr. higbie again, on the whys 



AND wherefores IN THE t^SE OF MEDECINE. 



^TrTEALTH is one of the greatest olessings that a 

 *l^ person can enjoy in this life, and a great 

 JSI many people enjoy it for a long term of 

 ■*■"''*■ years without knowing or caring whether it 

 is preserved or not, and regard it as throw- 

 ing money away to obtain information in that di- 

 rection. Without health, the prospect of doing- 

 much gooil in the world is rather small, and it 

 should be the duty of every one to study to live up 

 to the conditions that will secure healtli. I think it 

 wrong to teach that, because we have sickness in 

 the world, it is not possible to avoid it. If God dotes 

 allow sickness to come upon us, he has, on the 

 other hand, gi\en us reason and intelligence to pre- 

 pare against and neutralize it. We have it in our 

 power to investigate in such a thorough manner 

 that it may be speedily removed when it comes, 

 and also to avoid the conditions that are sure to 

 produce it. The science and philosophy of preven- 

 tion is much more valuable than the science and 

 philosophy of cures. If people had the interest, 

 and would make use of the means, and spend as 

 much time to prevent sickness as thej' do to cure 

 themselves when sickness exists, there would be 

 much less suffering in the world, a large amount of 

 valuable time saved for chosen pursuits, and a great 

 many less doctors in the way, and fewer doctor- 

 bills to pay. 



Now, Brother Hoot, you have asked for more light 

 on the subject of medicine, and, to make a point, 

 you have asked a stupendous question: "Suppose 

 I should drink a gallon of the strongest catnip tea 

 that could he mafU, inside of 2i hours, would it do me 



any harm?" Now, tlrst, let us look at the quan- 

 tity; second, the conditions. The quantity would be 

 .5'^ ounces every hour, of the "strongest tea that 

 could be made." The conditions would be twofold 

 —first, on the side of the tea; second, on the part of 

 the system. If the tea were taken warm it would 

 have one effect; if hot, another; and if cold, still 

 another. If taken warm, the effect would be nau- 

 sea and sweating; if hot, such a terrible relaxation 

 of the cutaneous vessels would follow, that the 

 whole system would suffer: unless the cooling pro- 

 cess were carefully guarded, I should have no desire 

 to be the victim— the condition would be extremely 

 dangerous; if taken cold, the effect would be tonic 

 and stimulant. A woman ct)uld do two washings in 

 one day under the inHuence of such tea, but she 

 would not feel like washing her hands the next. 1 

 have known many women to drink an extra stroinj 

 cup of tea on washing-daj-, and do no more work 

 for a week. The philosophy of this process is plain. 

 Over-stimulus incites to overexertion, and both 

 are injurious to health. You again ask, "Does not 

 the warm drink do the work, many times, when the 

 catnip has the credit?" I answer: If warm water 

 possessed the properties needed to meet the condi- 

 tions and wants of the system, that would he just 

 the remedy; if it did not possess those properties, 

 it would be no remedy at all, and valuable time 

 would be lost. It is an admitted and well-known 

 fact, that different substances possess different 

 properties, and that different diseases demand dif- 

 ferent treatment. For a recent cold, a remedy that 

 will open the pores and pi'oduce sweating is just 

 till- irmrdii; but who would think of using the same 

 remedy for rheumatic or typhus fever, for inflam- 

 mation of the eyes, or a sore toe ? Now, when a 

 fellow feels a "tremendous cold coming on," a 

 rush for the stove, well fired up, is a rush in the 

 right direction; and that "dipper of hot water with 

 the feet in the oven" is a valuable remedy just at 

 this time, and the circumstances comhine to make 

 quick work of that cold. The only unfortunate cir- 

 cumstance is, that the oven is only large enough to 

 admit the feet. Now T am sure if some of that hot 

 water in the dipper, say a pint, were turned upon 

 half an ounce of dried catnip top, and used freely 

 as the water, after steeping about three minutes, 

 you would find a great improvement in the treat- 

 ment, liecause the jjlant possesses properties that 

 the water does not, and in-oi)erties that are indicated 

 strongly, and must be brought into use by employ- 

 ing some agent. I would not attempt to discard or 

 lessen the use or benefit of water in its many modes 

 of application, when directed by experience and 

 good judgment; neither would I attempt to discard 

 or lessen the value of any of the long-tried, well- 

 tried, and successfully tried products of the vege- 

 table kingdom. The majority of the best-known 

 remedies in the world to-day are from the veg- 

 etable kingdom, and freely acknowledged as such 

 by every medical school except the " Hydropathic." 

 Water is the world's panacea in their estimation, 

 and nowhere can any thing be found that is of 

 equal value. Every pain can be stopped, every ex- 

 alted condition can be reduced, and those too much 

 reduced can be brought up to a healthy standard. 

 Theory is beautiful, but practical benefits are more 

 so. God has given us a beautiful vegetable world, 

 and the value of their medical properties should be 

 prized as highly as their external beauties, and the 

 immense range of application where these proper- 



