62 



will not injure the shagbark nor the watermelon, any more than 

 they would hurt a horseshoe or a gutta percha walking-stick. But 

 if the fellows will not revel in a Bolmar Washington Plum, or a 

 Bartlett Pear, then our eyes and ears, and fingers too, have de- 

 ceived us. We might as well say (some of us think) that a cow 

 will not meddle with vegetables in the garden, because she does 

 not graze tomato plants ; or that a yeoman does not like fruit be- 

 cause he refuses olives, as that a bee does no mischief because it 

 does not do every conceivable kind of mischief, on every conceiv- 

 able kind of fruit. 



But we are not writing a prize essay, and therefore return to 

 the exhibition itself, to express our opinion of what we saw in your 

 exhibition hall. 



We saw Dr. Eddy's Protective Beehive and Dr. Eddy himself, 

 and Mr. W. S. Damrell's bees in the hive, and some beautiful 

 drawers of honey, belonging either to the bees or Mr. Damrell, as 

 sound ethics may determine. We heard the statements of the 

 Doctor concerning the hive, and are prepared conscientiously to 

 say, that we believe he has accomplished a work in which all 

 others have failed, that of protecting the bee from the moth. No 

 intelligent miller would attempt an invasion. Every joint is se- 

 cured — or, if by an inadvertence one little crevice is exposed, he 

 could penetrate no further than a Jew can penetrate the mosque 

 of Omar. He might perchance smell the honey, but to reach it is 

 a stubborn impossibility. Furthermore, the Doctor has provided 

 for a most judicious ventilation, and equalizing the temperature of 

 the hive, well adapted to preserve the operatives in an amiable 

 spirit and excite them to an exemplary diligence, — two objects to 

 be attained in respect to other hives. 



We think Mr. Damrell's bees did creditably and profitably, and 

 presented an interesting feature of your exhibition, and we think 

 also that the whole subject of raising honey is yet open to discus- 

 sion, experiment, and the estabhshing of facts. We have not 

 altered, however, but rather cling more tenaciously to our opinion, 

 that ambitious fruit-growers may observe caution in regard to the 

 bee enterprise. 



We make these strictures, however, as applicable to Norfolk 

 County and those around Boston particularly, and not applicable 

 to our Central or Western Counties. 



