12(5 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



uiitai y thinking machinery is lil<e the canaries 

 and the little honsehold prattlers. Just as soon 

 as something of importance is going on, it just 

 puts in its level best to be heard; and in this 

 matter of the worship of God I am sui-e that 

 Satan makes an cffoit to divert our attention 

 and to draw us away, if possible, from holy 

 things. He can not hear to see us take up the 

 Bible. He will keep us away from church 

 if he possibly can: and he will help us to make 

 all manner of excuses, and he does not give it 

 up even then. If he finds we are bound to go to 

 church any way. he follows up. keeps close at 

 hand, and just as soon as the man of God com- 

 mences something that is leally spiritual and 

 elevating, then he pushes in week-day trattic. 

 He holds up a thousand and om^ allurements to 

 draw us away, if it be a possible thing, from the 

 subject in hand, and to make us lose the great 

 spiritual truths that have been so carefullv 

 prepared to do us good. Many and many a 

 time I have with resolute will put away green- 

 houses and schemes for gardening during the 

 Sabbath. I have said to this planning machin- 

 ery. "Now. look here, you just shut up and 

 keep still. When it comes Monday morning 

 we will have a good timi- in working out these 

 problems, and pei'haps have a good time in put- 

 ting them in practice; but not another ivonl of 

 it on God's holy day." Why. I have sonu-times 

 even longed for ]\l6nday morning, that I might 

 plan and build with a cleai' conscience. When 

 Monday morning came, however, the thing 

 that looked so (uiticing during the sermon had 

 little or no attractions at all. and possibly it 

 was all dropped until another Sunday morning, 

 when it was sure to start out anew. Some- 

 times I have been foolish enough to follow 

 these plans out. at least somewhat on Sunday; 

 but they never turned out well. If we are to 

 enjoy God's spiritual gifts to the fullest extent, 

 we must obey his holy command, and forbear 

 not only physical but mental work on the Sab- 

 bath. I confess that I fcu'l more encoui-aged to 

 fight these battles wIumi I know that somebody 

 else has had tcmijtations along the same line; 

 and who knows but thei'e are others besides Dr. 

 Miller and myself among the readers of Gi.eax- 

 ix(;s who have like trials and temptations? 

 Let me say to such. " He not wearv." In the 

 7th chapter of Revelation we have the follow- 

 ing words: '• These are they which came out of 

 great tribulation, and have washed their robes, 

 and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

 Therefore are they befoi-e the throne of (Jod. 

 and serve him day and night in his temple."] 



MORE ABOUT THE HONEY FROM THE CACTI. 



CACTI-BI.OSSOMS AS LARGE AS COWBELLS, AND 

 HONEY BY THE SPOONFUL. 



In the Dec. 1st i.ssue of Gleanings, p. 8.')8, 

 under the heading of "One of the Cacti.'' Prof. 

 Cook asks, " Who will inform us in the matter?" 

 The i-eaders of (JLKANiN(iS would not. as a 

 whole, be any more than amused were I to 

 wi'ite up the cacti (the 31 varieties) of Ai'izona, 

 and the amount of honey secreted in the flow- 

 ers, from the fact that a true statement would 

 simply be taken as a wonderful exagijeration. 

 B. F. Johnson, of Tempe, now a i-i sident of 

 Mexico, tells me that the cacti m Mexico have 

 more honey than ours in Arizona. Mr. Editor, 

 you have long been acquainted with the pen 

 of Mr. Jolnison; and as to his truth and 

 veracity, I leave the readers of Gleanings to 

 judge, when he tells us that in Mexico some of 

 those cacti have a bloom as large as a cowbell, 

 and honey lying in that bloom till you can 

 gather it up with a teaspoon. It won't be long 



before the readers of Gleanings will read. 

 " Pure cacti honey, from the deserts of Arizona," 

 on the eastern market. But we expect trouble 

 in getting it on the markets, as it grains in the 

 bloom. It grains in the hive too: and when 

 yon people strike it in the condition of Yankee 

 maple sugar in the can, you will ci'y out. "Adul- 

 teration 1" But. buy just a little: try it; and 

 next time you will hunt the mark(!t for Arizona 

 cacti honey. Geo. K. Millek. 



Tempe, Ariz., Jan. 11. 



[Thank you, friend M. In passing through 

 Arizona, nothing, perhaps, interested me more 

 than the wonderful class of vegetation you have 

 mentioned. It was not the time of flowers when 

 I was there, but the fruits not only interested 

 me but i-efreshed me greatly. I looked over in 

 the direction of Mexico, and longed for liberty 

 to go down and investigate. Providiuice i)er- 

 milting. may be I shall some time have that 

 pleasui-e.] 



SURPLUS ARRANGEMENT. 



DOOLITTLK 



METHOD OF SECri:iN(; 

 HONEY. 



As we go back ovei- the i)ast in memoi'y. we 

 can not help seeing the great strides made in 

 bee-keeping during the last thirty years. We 

 have many new things to-day that were hardly 

 thought of at that time, such as comb founda- 

 tion, the honey - exti-actor. (pieen - excluding 

 metal, etc.. which are often mentioned as the 

 "great advancements;" but it seems to me 

 that the improvements regarding some of the 

 things that wej'e used thiity years ago should 

 call forth our admiration fully as much as do 

 the many new things. I think, in no other one 

 thing has the advancement been any greater 

 than in our mode of taking comb honey. Thir- 

 ty years ago the smallest section, oi' honey-box. 

 as it was then called, held six poiuids of honey, 

 or thereabouts, the same having three combs. 

 Soon followed the two-comb box, then the one- 

 comb box. next the two-pound section, the 2}:^- 

 pound section, the one-pound, and finally from 

 the half-pound down to the Harinei' two-ounce 

 package, all coming in rapid succession, when a 

 want for any or all of these was felt. Well, 

 with the advent of sections came the want of 

 something to hold them, keep them clean, etc.; 

 and many have been the inventions for this 

 purpose, such as wide frames, single and double 

 tier; honey-racks, crates, T supers, etc.. all of 

 which have had their advocates. Aft<>r testing 

 inany of these different arrangements I decided 

 on the one-tier wide frames as being the best: 

 and in using them I adopted the jjlan known as 

 "side and top storage combined," with which I 

 was very successful for many years. I never 

 did like the tiering-up piaji. used so successful- 

 ly by many, for the ivason I'lat, in this locality, 

 it so often happened that tlie season would 

 close before many if any of the sections were 

 finished, leaving me with a large lot of unfin- 

 ished sections on hand, witli few if any com- 

 pleted for mai'ket. With the side and top stor- 

 age plan I could take the sections off the top as 

 fast as finished, raise the partly finished ones 

 from the sides to the top, and, by putting in 

 empty S(>ctions at tiie sides, keep the bees on 

 new work there and finishing it on top. When 

 the season drew toward a close, no more was 

 put in at the sides, and thus I had nearly all 

 the sections which were used duiing the season 

 finishi'd at the end of the honey harvest. In 

 this way remarkaiile results can be secured: in 

 fact. I do not believe there is any other plan 

 known whereby as much nice white comb hon- 

 ey can be obtained as by the above, where any 



