1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



445 



to give nie all the information in his power, 

 and for many years we offered the Bienenzeit- 

 uftg to our German readers through friend 

 Muth's kind services. We had become quite 

 well acquainted through correspondence, and 

 I had promised to make him a call and see 

 his apiary on the roof of his store. One day, 

 however, I was surprised to meet a tall fine- 

 looking man who spoke English quite broken- 

 ly. He introduced himself as "Mr. Moot, of 

 Cincinnati." He told me we had had some 

 little correspondence, but somehow I did not 

 quite catch on ; but when I saw his name on 

 some circulars, " Muth," then I knew him at 

 once, and we shook hands over again and 



C. F. MUTH. 



took another start. He brought along some 

 of his famous honey-cakes. I took him over 

 home and introduced him to Mrs. Root and 

 the children. Then he sent me a lot of his 

 honey-jars and tumblers in which he sold the 

 honey in such immense quantities. Many of 

 our readers, especially the older ones, remem- 

 ber how ably friend Muth stood at the head, 

 and represented bee culture in America among 

 the German people. When I spoke of mak- 

 ing him a visit, or putting the street-number 

 on his letters, he said everybody knew him in 

 Cincinnati, and I guess this was pretty nearly 

 true — at that time, anyhow. 



Of course, there were complaints occasion- 

 ally from dissatisfied customers against A. I. 

 R. and C. F. Muth, and others; but Muth and 

 I were building up a trade with bee-keepers, 

 and -we both tried hard to keep things plea- 



sant. I remember once, when there was some 

 misunderstanding, saying to a friend who 

 complained, that I had so much confidence in 

 friend Muth, that, if he did not make the mat- 

 ter right, / would. Mr. Muth heard of it, and 

 laughingly said he had been returning the 

 compliment. When his customers complain- 

 ed of A. I. Root he would say, " I know Mr. 

 Root, and he is a good man. You explain to 

 him all about it; and if he does not make it 

 all right, / rtvV/." This arrangement was kept 

 up for a number of years. 



Mr. Muth was one of the cleverest, most 

 whole-souled, and generous men I ever knew. 

 He tried to be right and fair; but when he 

 met somebody who wanted to be unfair, or 

 even if he got it into his head that somebody 

 was trying to get more than was just, he 

 sometimes showed that his good nature might 

 give place to something quite different. 



Of late years I have felt that our jolly, whole- 

 souled friend had too nmch business on his 

 hands. I have heard him speak a good many 

 times about that farm alluded to in the ex- 

 extract above; and I fear, from what I have 

 heard from those who had sent him money, 

 that of late his prompt energetic business 

 habits have not been quite up to their former 

 standard. I wonder if there is not a whole- 

 some moral here to more than one of the vet- 

 eran bee-keepers who are reading these words. 

 Suppose friend Muth had accepted the S82,00O 

 that was offered him for the farm, had paid 

 up all his debts, got a little place near home, 

 and taken things easy; might he not have 

 been spared to cheer and give life to our na- 

 tional conventions for some years to come ? * 

 In view of the injury by sunstroke, he 

 should have been careful about undertaking- 

 too much business. I know it seems hard to 

 sell property for less than it is really worth; 

 but we all know, and many from sad experi- 

 ence, that money and property have compara- 

 tively little to do with real happiness and con- 

 tentment. I fear our poor friend brooded over 

 his financial affairs, and imagined they were 

 worse than they really were. From the state- 

 ment given above I infer that, after every 

 thing is settled up, there is a large property 

 still for his wife and children. How gladly 

 they would have borne his cares and troubles, 

 and let him take things easier had he permit- 

 ted them so to do ! The bee-keepers of our 

 land can remember our departed friend with 

 grateful feelings for what he has done to bring 

 about the present advanced state of bee cul- 

 ture, especially in the way of selling, and get- 

 ting it into the regular channels of trade. 

 Even if some of the friends have suffered 

 somewhat by neglect, they may learn by the 

 above that our old friend had been for years 

 a sufferer; and we can afford to let a broad 

 charity help us to forgive and forget whatever 

 was not exactly as it should have been. — A. I. 

 R. 



*Too much property on one's hands, and especially 

 where the property is in different places widely apart, 

 has been the means, as I happen to know, of wearing 

 out prematurely more than one good man. Shall we 

 not, each and all, think over and over that beautiful 

 and suggestive text that commences, " What shall it. 

 profit a man ? " etc. 



