1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



222. 



which the truth was pifsciited so pointedly and 

 interestingly that I could not get away IVom it 

 OHC .S'CcoHfZ.even to think of some horse-trade 

 or some other exciting thing that Itappened 

 onlv yestejday. that was the theme of the 

 whole commnnity. While I have the highest 

 ]-espect for all preachers of the gospel of our 

 Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, yet I have a lin- 

 gering thought about mo that some of them 

 might be serving the master better between the 

 plow-handles, over a bee-hive, or in other call- 

 ings in life — preaching the word by their 

 "daily lives and godly conversation," rather 

 than trying to preach it from the pulpit. But, 

 really, is it contrs>ry to Cod"s will to do any 

 planning about temporal affairs on Sunday? If 

 the Christian has placed his life and all his 

 ways in the hands of God. willing to be led by 

 the Spirit, and to use all of the things of this 

 world which come to him for the honor and 

 glory of (iod. so that all the success of his 

 planning is to be put into the cause of the Mas- 

 ter, may not his planning then be according to 

 God"s will '? What is God's will ? and what am 

 I to think about on Sunday? About heaven 

 and (iod in the way many people try to do? If 

 so, then I feel a good deal like the heroine in 

 "Stepping Heavenward." where she says she 

 does not wish to " sit on a bench in a row with 

 others, singing through all eternity;"' yet this 

 is abotit as high and enlarged views as most 

 people have of heaven. Jesus went about do- 

 ing good, healing the sick, lifting up the fallen, 

 etc.; and he did this on the .Sabbath as well as 

 on other days, and he is our great Exampler: 

 and if the outcome of our planning reaches out 

 wide enough to take in all this, why say, "Not 

 another 'Word of it on God's holy day"? Oh for 

 broader views and greater enlightenment along 

 the road toward heaven I views that reach out 

 till they can in some measure grasp the Infi- 

 nite. 



BASSWOOD. 



If I am correct, Ernest says that the bass- 

 wood is more luxuriant in growth here than it 

 is in Ohio, and I have so itnderstood by other 

 parties. This being the case, imagine my sur- 

 prise at seeing, on page 130, that you are receiv- 

 ing lumber cut from logs which have grown 

 from sprouts from the stumps of basswood 

 trees cut only ten years ago I I know basswood 

 is capable of doing great things; but this is al- 

 together aliead of me. Ernest spoke of the 

 thrifty growth of basswood near my apiary, 

 which has grown since the year before I canie 

 here, it being all cut off at that time (1874). yet 

 there is not a stick in all this growtli that is 

 more than seven to nine inches in diameter, 

 that growth taking 1(> years. Some, further 

 from the apiary, that are from 30 to 35 years 

 old. are a foot to fourteen inclies through, 

 which might do to cut; still.it would be very 

 wasteful to do so. Would it not be well to mod- 

 ify that statement a little? 



Borodino, N. Y. G. M. Doolittle. 



[I grant, friend I)., that these statements, 

 when put side by side, look a little contradicto- 

 ry; but one fact, perhaps, you have overlooked. 

 Tlie trees which we referred to as having such 

 a rapid growth, grew fi'om the parent stumps, 

 i. e., "on the old man's capital." The roots 

 were, of coui'se, strong, and gave the young 

 shoot a tremendous boost, and it is not much 

 wonder that they grew so rajjidly. If I remem- 

 ber conectly, the basswood -trees which you 

 showed me, and to which you allude in your ar- 

 ticle, grew from seed: i. e.. they had to build 

 up from their own capital. You will notice 

 sometimes, that young locust shoots will spring 

 up and grow with wonderful rapidity from the 

 roots of an old tree: but thev would not begin 



to make half that growth if they had to depend 

 upon their own roots. The farmers who 

 brought us the basswood lumber in question 

 said they had cut it from the same roots from 

 which they had taken lumber ten years ago. 

 If your trees grew from the stumps of old trees, 

 then, of course. I am unable to explain it; but I 

 am sure that the trees of n(itnr((l giowth in 

 York State are much more thriftv than those 

 in Ohio.] E. R. R. 



[I think you are probably right, friend D., in 

 regard to dampness in the cellar; but in re- 

 gard to Sunday planning, my test is this: 

 When I plan greenhouses or other week-day 

 matters, even though the sermon may be dry 

 and dull to me. I feel a loss of spirituality, and 

 conscience tells me that I am out of the 

 straight and narrow path. Like yourself there 

 are some sermons, or. i-athei-. times, when it is 

 no effort to follow the preacher at all; but 

 sometimes Satan pi'esses me sorely, even when 

 good sermons are being preached. Perhaps my 

 greatest temptation is to let my mind go run- 

 ning on some affront I have received. Then 

 befoi'e I know it I begin to plan the letter that 

 shall be wi'itten to so and so. Now. letting my 

 mind go on such topics on the Sabbath does me 

 harm, and I believe it is the Holy Spirit that 

 tells me I had better listen with all my mind to 

 the di-yest seimon I ever heard, rather than to 

 let my thoughts wander on week-day cares or 

 enjoyments. Every sermon, as a rule, contains 

 •more or less Scripture texts; and if we listen to 

 them, we shall be doing well. I agree with 

 you. that Sunday should not be ahtzy day; 

 and when I have a good-sized class in jail (as I 

 have now) I oftentimes do quite a little plan- 

 ning as well as praying in endeavoring to lead 

 them to the Master.] 



CLOSED-END FRAMES. 



TESTIMONY FKOM ONE WHO CONSIDERS THEM 

 "UNBEAKABLE AND ABOMINABLE.'" 



Friend Iioot:—l am completely astonished at 

 so many testimonies in favor of the closed- end 

 or half-closed frames. I have tried them both 

 in Texas and Cuba, and, to own up. they are 

 simply abominable and unbearable: further- 

 more. I never have known any one to try them 

 who did not get a hatchet and reform them at 

 the first convenient time. They positively will 

 not do here in Cuba, no matter how expert the 

 operator may hav(» become in a colder coiuitry. 

 The main reason is, genuine bee-glue, or prop- 

 olis, that -abounds too abundantly, and of a 

 superior quality. In reality, it is so good for 

 glue that, when a colony is left gluing for half 

 a year on a stretch, its frames can be removed 

 only in pieces by a chisel; for, before the joints 

 will separate, the wood will split away off in 

 some other way. and leave the edges glued as 

 firmly as ever at the joint. 



As for liandling the Hoffman frame rapidly, 

 it, of course, could be done by a Hoffman-frame 

 man: but I should feel shabby if I saw any 

 man handle Hoffnum frames as fast as the com- 

 mon frames (that are in general use) can be 

 handled by a man who has had practice enough 

 to work rapidly. Friend E. R.. the reason you 

 get only the Hoffnuin side of the question testi- 

 Hed to is because so many like myself have such 

 a contempt for a frame that kills bees and clogs 

 up so. that they don't even care to give in their 

 testimony. But it is now time that the other 

 side of the question were being spurred up: for 

 if it keeps as silent in the future as it has dur- 

 ing the past six months, all the beginners will 

 hav<' Hoft'man frames, and owe their thanks to 



