194 



GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



lift but very little, and such is the case yet when I 

 begin in the spring, as I always run down in the 

 winter; but by having my girl always with me to 

 take steps and do the light lifting (as there is no 

 need of heavy lifting with our hive, as the sides are 

 clamped topetber, and all parts, both top and bot- 

 tom, are separate, and can bo taken away, and 

 combs left standing on the bottom-board), there 

 need be no lifting of heavy hives; and if there are 

 piles of unsealed honey on top, it does not need to 

 be removed before you get into the brood-nest, but 

 simply take off one side. I would strongly rccom- I 

 mend the Quinby hive, holding about 10 brcod- 

 Irames, for the use of ladies and invalids. I 



WnO SHOULD KEEP BEES? 



The question is often asked through the journal?, 

 and answered, " Who should keep bees?" I should 

 like to suggest that oil Christians should, and give 

 the half of the proceeds to home and foreign mis- | 

 sions, and prove the Lord therewith, and see if they 

 will not need to build larger houses to hold the hon- 

 ey. His promise is, if we will but bring in ihe 

 tithes, that he will "open the windows of heaven, ! 

 and pour us out such a blessing there will not be j 

 room to receive it." He is a promise-keeping God. 



Friend Root, I was just reading that you some- 

 times sold tiLEANiNGS for waste paper; yo\i did not 

 like to give them away, because it would not be j 

 serving all alike. I should like to ask that you send 

 a few numbers to Rev. S. R. Keam, of Caddo, Indian [ 

 Territory, a very faithful and earnest missionary to 

 the Choctaw Indians, and also a few to Rev. James ' 

 Brewer, of Gladbrook, Iowa, who is f ither-in-law to 

 Rev. Mr. Christy, of the Turkey mission. Sending to 

 them would be exceptions to the general ruJc, as they 

 both have a few colonies of bees, and would be very 

 thankful for any such helps. 



Those hymn-books your employes sent us went ; 

 to Mr. Ream's Indian mission. I wish I had 

 time and space to tell you of the great good he is do- 

 ing, and of the help ihose books and hats sent him 

 have been to him. He turns the hats into money, 

 and uses it to help build Indian churches. Every 

 littlehelps. He has four Sabbath-schools under his 

 charge, and asks for Sabbath-school papers; askslor 

 old ones, but of course new would be acceptable. 

 He says he has his heart set on building two more 

 log churches, and a parsonage for himself this nest 

 year, to save t-he A. H. M. Society p.iying rent for 

 parsonage. He asks us to send him all the hats and 

 bees we can, and he will do his best to convert them 

 intti money. Won't others help him too? Supt. Doe, 

 of the A. H. M. society of the South-west, speaks 

 very highly of him and his labors. 



Roseville, 111., Feb. 23, '84. Miss. L. C. Axtell. 



We are very glad indeed to know, my good 

 friend, tliat vou are still successful with I 

 the bees. V>\\i 1 must confess I had to smile 

 pretty broadly when I got where you told 

 about employing a lawyer to make your 

 commission man come to time. So it is real- 

 ly true, that with'all your zeal for Christian 

 work and foreign missions, you at the same 

 time think it right to goto law in order to 

 save your property. I believe you are right, 

 my good friend, but I am afraid some of our 

 skeptical friends will think it a little queer 

 to hear you talk of lawsuits and foreign "mis- 

 sions almost in the same sentence. I do 

 think there is great danger that we get into 

 a way of going to law with neighbors, or : 

 perhaps fellow-Christians ; though 1 feel sat- 

 isfied, too, especially of late, that it is right I 



to compel unscrupulous, or even slack and 

 heedless people, to pay us our just dues, 

 though, of course, we should go about it with 

 Christian kindness. I am glad to know of 

 this point you mention in regard to the ad- 

 vantage we have in sending our honey to 

 commission men. Will somebody tell us if 

 this holds good in all the States ? I confess 

 that I should take a note, without thinking. 

 And so, Mrs. A., you think all Christians 

 should keep bees.' While I am not quite 

 prepared to indorse all that, I do most ear- 

 nestly wish that all Christians would conse- 

 crate a part of their earnings to Christ's 

 cause, and for the advancement of his work ; 

 and I do firmly believe that we should all be 

 gainers insteatl of losers thereby. 



DEPARTMENT FOR THOSE WHO SAY GOODS 

 WERE NOT THERE. 



fe5n|S|HE comb starters that I missed are all right. 

 Js| My brothers were putting the frames togeth- 

 — ' er; and when they were putting the frames 

 away they put part of a package of the starters 

 away with them, instead of putting them into the 

 box with the unlioished frames. Thus they were 

 lost for a time, but are all right. Xo mifitalce of 

 yours. J. F. Keuwin. 



Java, N. i'., .Jan. 17, 1884. 



You see, the friend above wrote us that 

 we had not sent his starters. As soon as his 

 letter was received, his correspondence had 

 to be looked up, then a clerk hunted up the 

 order for his fdn., and carried it back to the 

 wax-room. After hindering several hands, 

 as well as getting proof from the shipping 

 clerk that the goods were certainly inclosed, 

 we wrote back that he must be mistaken. 

 The above card is the answer, if I am correct. 

 Now, the moral is this : Do not let anybody 

 else open your goods for you. Take your 

 box on a clean bench or table, and then with 

 invoice in hand go over each article. After 

 you see that every thing is correct, then let 

 your brothers or any other persons handle 

 ihem all they please, and lay them around 

 wdiere they like. Another thing: Many 

 business houses, as you know, print on the 

 heads of their invoices, " No claim for dam- 

 ages or shortage allowed, unless made im- 

 mediately on receipt of goods." 1 have often 

 thoughtof doing so, but 1 disliked it, because 

 it seemed hard. Those in the mercantile 

 business very soon learn by sad experience 

 the importance of inspecting and checking 

 all goods before anybody can handle them, 

 liut 1 am afraid our bee-friends, many of 

 them, have not yet learned this. In our es- 

 tablishment, sometimes new clerks think it 

 pretty hard because I object to their touch- 

 ing a box of goods. until the proper clerk has 

 first inspected tliem. to see if they are all 

 right. When I try to explain the matter, 

 they smile at the idea that they are not ca- 

 pable of checking off a bill of merchandise. 

 1 have found that it takes a smart clerk to 

 open goods and put them away, and not 

 niMke mistakes. If you make an order your- 

 self, you yourself ought to know whether 

 you have got just what you ordered ; but let 

 another person undertake it, and thei'e will 

 almost always be misunderstandings. 



