772 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



last year i which you verbally agreed to accept), for 

 the purpose of establishing- a queeu-rearing apiary, 

 which would prove available both to you and me." 

 He again refused to do as he agreed. 



My next otter was to present him some movable- 

 frame hives (some of his being box hives), which he 

 refused to accept. I also offered to transfer them 

 free. 



My next and last otter was to lurni.-h him (with- 

 out charge) $15.00 worth of Alley's drone and queen 

 traps, to catch his drones. He refused to accept 

 the latter, in a very harsh and unkind tone. Do 

 >ou, Mr. Koot, think a man can be a true lover 

 of the gospel, and at the same time be guilty of 

 such an act— to cause a young man to be compelled 

 to quit a profitable business, and lose a good trade, 

 by not living up to his agreement? 



I made several attempts to rear queens, but with 

 no success— every one of my queens proving im- 

 purely mated. I also made contracts with the rest 

 of my neighbors, agreeing to furnish them with 

 Italian queens. They all agreed to accept them, 

 except the person in question. In regard to 

 Gleanings, I must say I can not do without it. 

 Send it on. Though I am compelled to quit the 

 business, I hope I may have the pleasure of helping 

 to promote the interest of such a religious and api- 

 cultural work. 



For convenience we will name the writer 

 of the above letter A, and his neighbor Z. 

 Friend A, I sincerely liope yon will retain 

 the good opinion of Gleanings which you 

 express in your concluding sentence, even 

 though you may not agree with the advice 

 your old friend A. 1. Root shall think proper 

 to give you. I have had some trials almost 

 exactly like yonr own. In my case, how- 

 ever, a neighbor purchased some colonies of 

 black bees that were full of drones, and 

 moved them within a few rods of our queen- 

 rearing apiary. I fear I did not do just as 

 a Christian ought to do, clear through the 

 whole matter, for I am human, yes, exceed- 

 ingly human. When we get into such a 

 predicament, let us remember the Scripture 

 text which says that '' he that ruleth his 

 own spirit is greater than he that taketh a 

 city." I think my judgment may be a little 

 better now, in the case you present, for I 

 am not prejudiced either for or against 

 either of the parties. I hope and pray, dear 

 friend A, tliat yon may have faith enough 

 in me to believe me when I assure you that 

 your friend is to be pitied more, perhaps, 

 than blamed. Satan has got between you, 

 and you are both, ])erhaps, more or less 

 biased. When neighbors get into troubles 

 like these, they lose their ordinary good 

 judgment and good sense. Yes, we all of 

 us lose our good judgment and good sense 

 when we get into a quarrel. The first thing 

 for you to do, dear friend, is to say, " Get 

 thee beliind me, Satan." Do not censure 

 your neighbor too severely. It is the most 

 natural tiling in the world to complain of 

 him, and to make out a pretty hard case 

 against him. Resist witli all your might this 

 tendency. Keep saying, over'and over again, 

 " Love ye your enemies : do good to those 

 that hate you, and pray for them that de- 

 spitefully use yon." You say he vreiendsto 

 be a great lover of tiie gospel. Now, dear 



friend, do not be in a hurry to use the word 

 " pretend." I think he /.s a lover of the 

 gospel. He may be unwise regarding the lan- 

 guage he uses after attending prayers ; but 

 do we not all at times iind ourselves guilty 

 of the same to a greater or lesser extent V 

 From the fact that he once promised you to 

 have the bees Italianized, I think he is a 

 good sort of man, and means to do right. 

 Something has prejudiced him and provoked 

 him, I fell quite sure, from your letter. A 

 great many such cases have been brought to 

 my notice ; and a great many times I have 

 assured the one who complained, that his 

 neighl)or would do what was right if ap- 

 proached in tlie right way. I have some- 

 times seen people act very stubbornly ; and 

 yet when I came to them in a friendly, 

 neighborly way, with a remark something 

 like this. '' Friend M, you surely mean to do 

 what is fair and right in regard to this mat- 

 ter between you and your neighbor, do you 

 not?" what kind of an answer do you 

 suppose I got '? Why, I have hardly ever 

 found a case where the reply has not been 

 something like this : 



" Why, Mr. Root, to be sure I will do what 

 is right ;" and the result has shown that, 

 when the other party was willing to abide 

 by my decision, he kept his promise. I 

 think, my friend, we shall find it so in this 

 case. As you state it, it seems pretty hard 

 when he refused your offer of some movable- 

 frame hives ; but please remember, friend 

 A., that few of us like to receive property 

 without any equivalent. I do not believe it 

 is best to offer Italian queens to somebody 

 who has black bees, without pay. Suppose 

 you offer them at a very low price, say what 

 it actually costs to raise them ; the same 

 with the drone-traps which you offer him. 

 Such an offer as yours would be apt to make 

 many people stubborn and contrary. I do 

 think your neighbor ccm be a lover of the 

 gospel, even after what has happened. But 

 I am afraid that Satan has got between you, 

 and warped the better judgment of both of 

 you. It is surely yonr neighbor's privilege 

 to keep black bees, and have nothing to do 

 with the Italians, if he chooses to do so, 

 and I am sure you exao:gerate the degree of 

 wrong you have sustained, in several ways. 

 First, it is not entirely out of the question 

 for you to raise pure queens, even if your 

 neighbor persists in keeping blacks. It has 

 been tried a good many times. Again, it is 

 by no means certain that you could do a 

 profitable business, providing all around 

 you were Italians. A great many queen- 

 rearers have not made it pay, even after 

 tiiey had Italianized the whole neighbor- 

 hood. It requires a good many years of 

 practice and experience to compete with the 

 low prices at which queens are now offered. 

 Finally, from the fact you mention, that 

 your neighbor is a Christian man, I take it 

 for granted that you are a Christian man 

 also. If not, dear friend A, is it not your 

 first and most important duty to take up 

 your cross and follow Ilim who said, "i?iesse(Z 

 are ye when men shall persecute you and re- 

 vile you," etc.? With a real 'Christ-like 

 spirit in yonr heart, I am sure you can go to 

 your neighbor and find him friendly and 



