1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



91 



mature and unnecessary death, I will give here some 

 Instructions as to the treatment of diphtheria, 

 which I have done before, and which has not been 

 without grood results. 



Of course, it is impossible to give a detailed treat- 

 ment to apply in all cases, as the diV(t7(CS IS varies so 

 much; but a general plan may be Indicated. Cold 

 applicrttions to the ihroat, abstinence for a time 

 from food, enemas to free the bowels, eonling drinks 

 of pure soft water, lepid bathing, and thorough ven- 

 tilation and cleanliness is the siaiple hygienic treat- 

 ment of 1 his disease, and will save every child and 

 adult to whom it is applied in time, except, perhaps, 

 those with very frail or scrofulous constitutions, 

 whom no treatment could save. A small piece of ice 

 taken into the patient's mouth and swallowed, or al- 

 lowed to melt in the mouth, and then replaced by 

 another, and soon, has been effectual, with good 

 nursing, in many cases, without any special treat- 

 ment. The rationale of this treatment is simply 

 this: The cold applications to the mouth and throat, 

 by reducing the violent heat and intlaramation, ar- 

 rest the fihrinoiis e.vwlatinn, thus preventing the for- 

 mation of the false membrane, which so often chokes 

 the patient to death. It is very important that the 

 feet be kept warm, and the excess of blood diverted 

 from the head to the extremities. Indeed, a primary 

 indication in all diseases is to restore the balance of 

 the circulation; and this can be done in a simple, 

 common-sense way by the application of water, 

 heat, etc., to the different parts instead of resorting 

 to the barbarous allopathic practice of bleeding. 



Let all parents, as a conscientious duty, study the 

 laws and conditions of health, so that they may not 

 only preserve their own health, but that of their 

 children, and save them from premature and unnec- 

 essary death. This is by far the most important of 

 all knowledge, inasmuch as not only our own high- 

 est welfare is involved, but the future prospects of 

 the human race. Allen Pringle. 



Selby, Ontario. 



Friend Hayhurst, it surely behooves every 

 human being to study carefully the laws 

 that govern our health, and that save us 

 from premature death. I hope our friend is 

 right in saying that death from diphtheria 

 is not necessary. I do know that the prac- 

 tice of medicine is undergoing some great 

 changes, and I think that we are beginning 

 to use fewer drugs and more common sense. 

 I too have scarcely taken a bit of medicine 

 in 2-5 years, and yet the amount of labor I do 

 every day of my life is considered, by most 

 people, enormous. I am not going to brag 

 either, nor am 1 going to take all the praise 

 of it to myself. Our family of five have hardly 

 known any of these diseases, and we have 

 scarcely known fevers. I give a great part 

 of the credit to Mrs. Hoot, with her common- 

 sense habits. She will have, and always 

 would have, an abundance of pure air and 

 pure water. The coldest dav in ihe wuiter 

 our sleeping-rooms are aired almost all the 

 time they are unoccupied. Every thing and 

 everybody has to be washed, and washed 

 well, I tell you, just a little before they real- 

 ly need it ; and ihe same way with ventilat- 

 ing the rooms. If the cellar does not always 

 smell like a spring morning, a civil war will 

 soon break out. The food also must be 

 pure, wholesome, and healthful. In fact, 

 during the H-'i years or more I have known 

 hei, she has so thoroughly converted 

 me to her ways that I can not stand it to 

 sit, even a feV minutes, in many of the 

 waiting-rooms of our depots, or sleep in 

 many of the sleeping-cars, to say nothing 

 of crowded audiences. 1 have been in 

 houses repeatedly where the inmates Avere 

 sick or ailing, or under the doctor's care a 

 great part of the year. I have known such 

 families to employ doctor after doctor, when 

 I was abundantly satisfied the lack of clean 



water and pure air was all that ailed them. 

 The directions given in the above article are 

 very much like the treatment my wife gives 

 the children for colds and sore throat. 

 Swallowing ice in pieces the size of a bean 

 is one of my favorite remedies wlien a dis- 

 ordered stomach would prompt me to drink 

 more water than was good for me. When 

 suffering from continement and overwork, 

 I get outdoors and ramble among the honey- 

 plants, letting the sun have a fair chance on 

 the bald spot on the top of nay head. If that 

 don't do, I help Samuel dig underdrains, 

 and I like it a good deal better than drugs 

 and physics. 



DO BEES SELECT A LOCAIilTY BEFORE 

 SIVARMING? 



f HERB WITH give you a few curious incidents in 

 regard to an absconding swarm of bees, as it 

 settles the oft-asked question, whether bees do 

 select at times a location as a future home, before 

 they swarm. 



About the 30th of August we observed a lot of 

 bees in a linden-ti'ee, CO ft. from our front doorstep. 

 They were on a hunt, so it seemed, but pased in and 

 out at a knot-hole 20 ft. up. Next day the number 

 increased, and in a few days after we could- hear 

 them from our porch at night. On the 37th of Aug. 

 our No. 33 swarmed, and they went directly to the 

 tree. 



Second incident: Esq. Colby, near here, observed 

 bees passing in a tight barrel at the bung-hole, on a 

 hunt, but increased in number until Anally a large 

 swarm came and passed in and took possession. At 

 night he transferred. 



Third incident : A farmer with whom 1 am well ac- 

 quainted left his single-shovel plow inverted, or, as 

 some would say, upside down, in the slough grass. 

 In a few days he found a colony of bees with a fine 

 lot of honey on the under side of the shovel, working 

 away for winter stores, well contented in their grass 

 home. 



Fourth incident : Dr. Higgins, of our town, had a 

 large swarm of bees select the chimney of one of 

 his neighbors for a home, and I tried to smoke them 

 out, but they refused to go until only a small rem- 

 nant were left alive. 



Fifth incident: The church steeple in our town was 

 the home of a colony of bees for a long time, but 

 they finally dwindled and played out (couldn't stand 

 the music, I guess). 



QUEENS THAT HATCH OUT AFTER THE CELLS AKE 

 DESTROYED. 



In looking over the last year's Gleanings I find 

 many cases of queen-cells all being cut, and yet 

 there are plenty of queens appear. Where do they 

 come from? The cases are not isolated, but nu- 

 merous, and if described they arc slim, waspy, and 

 long. A. L. Klar. 



Pana, III., Jan. 14, 1881. 



Friend K., you make a pretty strong point 

 on the mattei". I guess we shall have to ad- 

 mit that bees do send out scouts to look up a 

 place to locate ; and I guess, too, they often 

 send them several days ahead, and go in con- 

 siderable numbers so as to clean house, and 

 get things fixed up a little. I presume it 



