JS7(5. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



35 



•HP' jl 0,115 <*•;«'« 



[lit this dep;\rtment I V)eg to be uilowod to fay aside the 

 (litoiiai"we,"and have a Meisdiy chat aitd feet "at home,"] 



|^q^]!HERE is 110 help for it, dear friends, and 

 Sj the trouble is something like that of the 

 clothier. You see a cou[yle of good people were 

 in want of a coat for their boy. and they by 

 chance entered one of those stores to be found 

 in cities vvhere oue can ne%'cr get away peace- 

 ably without making a purchase. Well, the 

 K'oats were not of the proper size for their son, 

 so the parents judged, and Ikey wished to try 

 'Isewhere. Our friend vehemeiitly declaimed : 



"The coat isli all right, Isut the poy ish too 

 r'Chniall." 



Now tliat is just our trouble at present, lui- 

 niaiuty is all right, at least wc are trying to 

 think they are, and it must be our own self 

 that is "too small." Yes, we haven't a doubt 

 of it, come to think of it deliberately ; and the 

 only thing v/e can do is to grov>' so that wccan 

 wear "big coats" like other people. 



In commencing to write Gi.e.vnikgs, we dis- 

 covered that our '•Home Matters" wotdcl get 

 mixed in wilh it, and tlicn when we got to work 

 at "Our Homes," it scented just as difttcult to 

 keep "Bees and Honey" out of mind entirely. 

 Besides, v/hcther our work amounts to much 

 or not, we liave been so fortunate (or unfortu- 

 nate,) as to have enlisted the interest of very 

 many of our fellows. You know how well we 

 like to do things promptly, and that wepartic- 

 •iilarly like to have everything well done; and 

 perliaps some of you know how difficult 

 It is to do tills always, and not have tlie ex- 

 penses exceed the income. Well, we seem to 

 liave an unusual number of new friends tliis 

 centennial year, and as usual, and in fact just 

 as they should do, tlicy have commenced by 

 asking a perfect torrent of (luestions. This is 

 ;tll right, for it shows a disposition to improve, 

 and to try and ansv/er all these numerous in- 

 quiries we have printed most voluminous price 

 lists. But the "centennial g-eneration" do not 

 take kindly to price lists, it is too much trouble 

 to read them over, and postals are so handy 

 they prefer to just ask and have a reply on a 

 card that contains nothing else. Wlao is to 

 blame, ihe coat or the boy V If the question 

 happens to come up wlien we have a mail con- 

 taining an unusual amount of money, I have 

 noticed that tlie temptation is much stronger 

 to say : 



"They have got the price list right before 

 them, if they can't take the trouijle to read it 

 over it is their own loss. How many price 

 lists do they think one should print and mail 

 them all at one's own expense?" A quieter 

 voice sometimes says, — oftener when money is 

 rather scarce — 



"You have no right to think rudely of your 

 mstoiners, much less to treat them so, and if 

 they prefer to have persoiial answers to their 

 iiKiuirics 3'ou should give them. You sent 

 them the price lists hoping you would get 

 orders tliereby." 



"But it is impossible for me to do so much 

 writing." 



"Employ some one to do it." 



"They v^ould want more pay than I could 

 give, and besides they would make more 

 bluii— " 



"Take care, you are getting back on the old 

 track again and abusing the boy because he is 

 too small, when the rial trouble is with the 

 coat 3^ou have to «cll. If your customer seems 

 unreasonable, and your employes inefiicient, 

 it is more than probable that you do not use 

 system about your business and that you do 

 not make things plain and easy to be under- 

 stood, as every business man should do. 

 Every one may not be as Ibnd of poring over 

 catalogues as you a ^e, and it is not unlikely 

 that you would ask just as many thoughtless 

 questions in regard to some business that was 

 new to you as others do. Bear in mind that 

 as it is 'a bad workman that quarrels with his 

 tools', it is invariably a bad business man that 

 even so much as allows himself to feel the 

 lieast bit unpleasantly toward a single one of 

 his patrons, or toward any oue that pays him 

 the compliment of even so much as making 

 any kind of an inquiry in regard to his especial 

 business." 



Now, dear patrons, since we have got into 

 the proper frame of mind, we have made a res- 

 olution that every inijuiry of whatever nature 

 shall have the best reply that we can give it 

 under the circumstances ; and that this reply 

 shall be given at once, whether you are a sub- 

 scriber or not, if you will only excuse brevity 

 and postals. When we fail to do this it will 

 probably be because prosperity has spoiled us ; 

 a %'ery unlikely result, considering the number 

 of "irons in the tire" at present. 



CHAPTER Yin. 



Starting a Home. 

 1% LMOST all through the animal kingdom 

 ^^, wc sec traces of the powerful instinct 

 that prompts the choosing of some regular 

 place of abode, and since I was old enough to 

 watch the chickens in their sometimes perverse 

 determination to roost on the same spot occu- 

 pied on the previous night, I have felt a pow- 

 erful sympathy witli all animated creation in 

 their craving for some little spot on earth that 

 they might feel was all their own home ; some 

 place to retire to when persecuted and to feel 

 secure from intrusion, especially when tlie 

 shades of night draw near. But a few Aveeks 

 ago in moving a hive of bees — just as I said it 

 woidd be, "I told you so"— about a pint of the 

 poor fellows came back to their old home, and 

 the dismal note they gave forth, and the de- 

 jected air of utter misery that seemed to pos- 

 sess them as they wandered sorrowfully about 

 the familiar points of their old abode, fairly 

 haunts me still, and strengthens the determin- 

 ation that I feel, to have them henceforth oc- 

 cupj^ their stand permanently the year 'round, 

 and never to bring sorrow and grief to a single 

 one of the little insects if I can help it l\y giv- 

 ing them a new location against their will. 



Who has not remarked the independence and 

 pride with which old "Dog Tray" gives an in- 

 truder to understand that too much familiarity 

 around his home is not to be tolerated, and 

 then to contrast the changed demeanor if he 

 perchance should lose his master in some 

 strange town and feel that lie had a home no 

 longer. Even puss will travel a long way to 

 sit complacently on her own doorstep, and 

 pigs ! why if they are carried miles away in a 



