1888 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



i4i5 



dui^ pejvLEp. 



And the glory which thou hast given me I have 

 given them ; that they may be one, even as we are 

 one: I in them and thou in me, that they may be 

 perfect in one.— John IT: 2~, 23. 



T SUPPOSE that most of tlie readers of 

 m Gleanings have noticed the wonderful 

 ^t way in whicli a cok^ny of bees works to- 

 ''' jielher for the good of the multitude 

 that fill their particular hive. JSIo doubt 

 you liave remarked theo?K'?ie.s's of feeling' and 

 sentiment that seems to pervade their little 

 bodies. If an enemy comes on the scene, 

 no bee stands back and suggests that some 

 of his comrades give their lives for the sal- 

 vation of the home. The first bee that gets 

 a gJimpse of the intruder, recklessly throws 

 his life away, as it would seem. The others, 

 as fast as they catch a glimpse of what is 

 going on, do the same thing. If you should 

 fall into the fire, you would not think of 

 putting your hand behind you to save the 

 hand from being burned, and thus allow 

 your face or vital portions of your body to 

 encounter the fiery element. The hands are 

 thrust forward to shelter the rest of the 

 body, especially the face and eyes, without 

 a particle of retlection as to what may be 

 the fate of the hands. Every part of the 

 body is used to its utmost in defense of its 

 other members ; and so this wonderful lit- 

 tle commonwealth inside of the bee-hive 

 uses its separate members in the same way. 

 With many of you, doubtless, during these 

 February days, the bees are going forth for 

 pollen, and possibly for new honey. The 

 bee that gets the first load of nectar by no 

 means thinks of saving it for himself, or for, 

 perhaps, a few particular acquaintances. 

 He puts out his tongue to the first bee he 

 meets, and so on to the rest as far as it will 

 go. If I am correct in my conclusions, it is 

 by this means that he makes known to his 

 mates that honey is to be had again abroad 

 in the fields. The same way with pollen 

 when pollen is scarce. It is divided np so as 

 to be spread among as many needy ones as 

 possible. In fact, I am not sure but that a 

 single load of pollen gives a taste to almost 

 every bee in the hive. Their joys and sor- 

 rows are shared in common. When the 

 queen is lost they all set up a mournful re- 

 frain (I do not know whether the drones 

 participate or not— tliey are queer chaps any 

 way, and we don't know very much about 

 them). In fact, a hive of bees is a most 

 complete picture of unselfish devotion, and 



by a rule in nature, teach 



the art of order to a peopled kingdom. 



There is no ambition, no greed, no jealousy, 

 no envy, no strife, among the members of 

 any one hive. The inmates of the hive do 

 steal sometimes, it is true, but they do not 

 steal from each other. Every one of the 

 forty thousand that may possibly make this 

 little populace, is a true soldier. He could 

 no more quarrel with his brothers and sis- 

 ters than your right hand could quarrel with 

 the left, or feel jeahnisy or bitterness. 



Last Sunday evening, at our young peo- 

 ple's prayer-meeting I was almost startled 

 by a remark something like this by one of 



the younger ones. I can not remember the 

 exact words, but the idea was something as 

 follows : 



"■ A new thouglit has come to me during 

 the past few days, that I will try to tell you. 

 It is this : Jesus has need of me; yes, even 

 my poor self, in just the same way that I 

 have need of my two eyes. Without my 

 eyes I could do comparatively nothing ; and 

 in the same way, without us Jesus could do 

 but comparatively little. We are a part of 

 him, in the way our eyes or hands or feet are 

 a part of our bodies." 



I confess that I felt somewhat inclined to 

 think our young friend was a little off the 

 track right here, or that she had presented 

 the truth she had in mind, almost too 

 strongly. I was still more surprised, how- 

 ever, to hear first one and then another in 

 different parts of the room repeating differ- 

 ent texts of Scriptnre, backing her up, as it 

 were, in her position — in fact, clinching 

 nails, to make the truth stronger. Per- 

 haps I can remember a few of the texts : 



For as the body is one. and hath many members, 

 and all the members of that one body, being many, 

 are one body, so also is Christ.— I. Cor. 13: 13. 



And, again, in the same chapter, verse 21 : 



Tiie eye can not say unto the hand, T have no need 

 of thee: nor again the head to the I cot, I have no 

 need of you. 



At this point an elderly man — that is, 

 elderly in years, but not in the love of Christ 

 Jesus (a new convert)— arose and said, with 

 imperfect English, for he is a German by 

 birth,— 



" My friends, since I have been one among 

 you I "have been pleased to notice how Chris- 

 tians seem to be tniited, either in joy or sor- 

 row. A few weeks ago, when so many of 

 these younger ones united with our church, 

 happiness beamed from every face, from the 

 youngest to the oldest ; and a week or two 

 later, when a terrible calamity fell upon 

 one of the members of our church, every 

 face showed sadness and sorrow. What 

 affects one of us, seems to affect us all." 



Just then a boy at my elbow, and one who 

 has lately come into the church, repeated 

 verse 2(3 of this same chapter : 



And whether one member suffer, all the members 

 suffer with it: or one member be honored, all the 

 members rejoice witli it. 



Now, friends, 1 hardly need point out to 

 you the resemblance between a hive of bees 

 and the churcli of Christ; that is, if we 

 could have a model band of Christ's follow- 

 ers, so perfect that the spirit of Christ and 

 nothing else should actuate each and every 

 member, then we should have a little com- 

 monwealth like a hive of bees. 



What a power such a band of workers 

 would be here on earth ! Wheie you see 

 real, healtliy, live, active church-members, 

 you get a glimpse of the possibilities in this 

 direction. A few months ago our people 

 took up tlte matter of saloons in our town. 

 There had l)een revival meetings in all the 

 churches ; yes, more : there had been for 

 some time regular gospel temperance meet- 

 ings. Christian people from all the churches 

 joined in. People who loved temperance, 

 sobriety, and truth, who were not members 

 of any church, came ami took hold of the 



