174 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



We know that all things work together for good to 

 them that love God. — Romans 8:28. 



And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I 

 will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I 

 will hear. — ISA. 65:24. 



The path of the just is as the shining light that 

 shineth more and more unto the perfect day. — 

 Peov. 4:18. 



IN our last is- 

 s u e I had 

 something to 

 say about the to- 

 bacco habit; and, 

 good friends, I 

 now find I have 

 something more 

 to say. By the 

 way, I have giv- 

 en you instances 

 of nearby an- 

 swers to prayer. 

 I have in mind 

 at least three 

 more to mention, 

 and these three 

 might be called 



"long-range" . 



answers. When I first began to investigate 

 bee culture there was very early mention of 

 driving bees or hiving them with smoke. I 

 think one of the first plans was the use of 

 smoke from a cigar; and as at least a few 

 people did not use tobacco they suggested 

 rotten wood; and our good friend Dr. Miller, 

 when he made that first visit here, suggest- 

 ed that a small saucepan would be an excel- 

 lent thing to hold the smoking wood or punk. 

 By blowing across the top of the saucepan 

 he could quiet the bees very nicely without 

 any ashes dropping on the combs. A few 

 days after he left, however, I burned up a 

 colonv of bees by being careless with that 

 same 'saucepan. In order to keep the grass 

 and weeds down I had a good coating of 

 sawdust put around the entrances of the 

 hives. This made the apiary look very neat 

 and tidy. But others, as well as myself, 

 had trouble from the sawdust getting on 

 fire. Later on somebody suggested a smok- 

 er made of a tin tube. You were to blow in 

 at one end, and the smoke would come out at 

 the other. If I remember correctly, Doolit- 

 tle described and devised such a smoker; 

 and then somebody (I do not know but it 

 was Moses Quinby) suggested a little hand 

 bellows to blow the smoke in order to avoid 

 getting out of breath when one happened to 

 have some bad hybrids. Grace Allen sug- 

 gested that Quinby gave us the first bellows 

 smoker, and I think she is right about it. 

 But it was a small affair. 



About this time T. F. Bingham of Michi- 

 gan and myself each invented what we con- 

 sidered to "be an improved form of bellows 

 smoker. Bingham had his patented. Let 

 me now digress a little: 



I went to visit some beekeeping friends 

 in Chatham, near Medina. Several young 

 boys were with us out in the apiary; and 

 some one of the crowd had a lighted cigar, 

 and showed us how quickly the bees could 

 be quieted with toharcn smoke. Thereupon 

 one of the boys remarked that he was go- 

 ing to learn to smoke, in order to handle 

 his bees in the way we had just witnessed. 

 Then I spoke up and said: 



"No, no, my young friend. Do not learn 



March, 1922 



to smoke tobac- 

 co. I have just 

 invented a good 

 bellows bee- 

 smoker. The 

 price is fifty 

 cents; and I will 

 make you a pres- 

 ent of one of 

 these new smok- 

 ers, provided 

 that if you at 

 any time in the 

 future use to- 

 bacco in any 

 form you are to 

 pay me the fifty 

 cents." 



This caused 

 some merriment. Then another boy spoke 

 up and said, "Mr. Eoot, can I have one on 

 the same terms?" Then still another asked, 

 "And can I have one, too?" To both of 

 whom I replied, "Yes, I will give any one 

 of you a smoker on the same terms. But 

 your names will have to be printed in our 

 bee journal, so that everybody who knows 

 you may keep you in mind of your tobacco 

 pledge. ' ' 



The matter was written up and printed 

 in Gleanings as to how the tobacco pledge 

 got started. But little did I know what was 

 to be the outcome. See our first text at the 

 head of this talk. You may be sure the 

 mothers and sisters, wherever Gleanings 

 went, took hold of this, and I hope that 

 many of the fathers did. We were kept 

 quite busy making smokers and giving them 

 away. At just this time, however, Mr. 

 Bingham informed me that my new smoker 

 was an infringement on his patent. I told 

 him that my invention was made prior to 

 his. In order to settle the matter in a 

 friendly way, Mr. Bingham paid us a visit; 

 but the more we talke/', the more it seemed 

 plain that the matter would have to be set- 

 tled in the courts. While we were discuss- 

 ing tlie matter I said: 



' ' Mr. Bingham, tonight is our regular 

 teachers' meeting for the study of our Sun- 

 day school lesson, and I seldom miss the 

 teachers' meeting; so I hope you will kind- 

 ly excuse me. ' ' 



Let me now explain that, altlio Mr. Bing- 

 ham was a very bright and good man, I am 

 sorry to say that he stood a good deal with 

 James Heddon, who was to some extent a 

 follower of Bob Ingersoll and Tom Paine. 

 With this in mind, imagine my surprise 

 when he replied, "Why, Mr. Eoot, I should 

 like to attend your teachers' meeting my- 

 self. Why can't I go along with you?" 



Of course, I told him that I should be 

 very glad to have him go with mo. At the 

 close of the meeting our pastor asked me to 

 make the closing prayer. Please remember 

 that I was then a comparatively new con- 

 vert. I do not think that I ever prayed be- 

 fore in public — at least not in such a gath- 



