1876. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



()0 



barrels tliat always rolled onto your toes, 

 glass sash that belonged in the forcing house 

 ■'upon a time," ouc-horsc wagon, sleigh, some 

 heavy iron wire tiiat seemed to take a perverse 

 delight in eouspiring with aforesaid lath wlien 

 one tried to think, and cultivate patience; 

 also a 1)0X of nice frames of worker comb, from 

 which the cover had tumbled leaving the mice 

 at liberty to occupy it at pleasure. Spiders 

 had built webs all over the windows, and un- 

 lucky bees had become entangled therein ; an 

 old horse blanket, an overcoat, besides other 

 unmentionable rubbish that encumbered the 

 floor, conse(iuent upon a hospitable invitation 

 to a neighbor to use the barn as if it were his 

 own, and — there ! I really forgot to say that to 

 make more room the thills of the wagon had 

 been propped up at an angle that made them 

 always bump one's head, that a blacksmith's 

 anvil always stood in the middle of the floor 

 for one to bump his toes against in the gloom 

 that of late was tlaiiy growing thiciver in that 

 barn of ours. Yet it was a very nice barn, 

 and we paid two carpenters liberally forlixing 

 the stalls, mangers and everything just right. 

 / did tell master Ernest to slick it up only a 

 few days before, it is true ; but as I was unable 

 to see that any change had been made, when I 

 went into it the next time, I had become rath- 

 er discouraged. When (]uestioned, he replied 

 that "the things must all be somewhere ;" and 

 ]n-obably got over it all, much as the boy did 

 in hoeing the corn, who reasoned that the first 

 hill would never amount to anything if he did 

 hoe it, and that the second was good enough 

 as it was, etc. 



Well, it was several days after this when my 

 attention was called in the manner indicated, 

 and I walked sorrowfully toward that barn. 

 "Aladin's lamp certainly must have been 

 here !" was my thought, as I glanced in. A 

 bright cheerful, dean room met my gaze, and 

 as sure as you live the floor was carpeted ; 

 some of the obnoxious hives were doing duty 

 as easy chairs, the wagon and sleigh had crept 

 into corners so close that one hardly remarked 

 their presence ; some of the "calamities" were 

 stowed away in the lolt, and some were snugly 

 packed in large boxes that hatl been used for 

 bringing sawdust ; but none were destroyed. 

 Blue-Eyes sat in her rocking chair well know- 

 ing with the rest, the huge joke they had play- 

 ed on "papa," and ready to see him open his 

 eyes. 

 "And is it possible that you did all this V" 

 "Why, mama, she helped a little." 

 Do you know dear reader, that if I had been 

 presented with a bran new barn entire, I 

 should not have felt as happy as I did with 

 this old one V For I should have feared that 

 the new one ■would very soon have shared the 

 same fate. And now, I knew that we could if 

 we would, keep things tidy and — and pleasant 

 to look upon. It seemed to me that I never 

 before realized what it was to feel that "a thing 

 of beauty is a joy forever." 



For at least several weeks afterward, the 

 barn was a place to which I was proud to lead 

 strangers. But alas! At this moment it is 

 pretty bad again, and I have just been contem- 

 plate a fresh Sl^ege 



Do any of ray readers want any farther 

 hints as to hov/ they may make those of their 



own family happier than they possilily could 

 by giving them sums of money untold V And 

 do you wonder that I have reasons for going 

 vehemently against having a multitude oi 

 traps about your apiary, and having them 

 clumsy, awkward and heavy at thatV If you 

 have any spai-e moments, or an idle, rainy day, 

 just see what transformations you can make 

 about your own home, and reap the rich re- 

 ward that always comes from such pleasant 

 surprises and from the consciousness of hav- 

 ing done one's duty. I dou't believe that any 

 one likes dust or cobwebs ; but how many are 

 there who are always ready and willing to do 

 their part— or more — in brushing them away ? 

 and in trying to make even inanimate objects 

 look smiling and cheerful V 



It soon will be spring time ; and by the way, 

 it seems like spring time in good earnest, al- 

 ready ; the doors are wide open and the sun is 

 J shining as warm and bright on this 11th day 

 [ of Feb., a.-- if it v/ere April or May. The grass 

 IS growing green, and one feels as if it really 

 were time to be slicking up the door yard. How 

 does your door yard look dear reader y You 

 certainly can appreciate a neat tidy i)lace, for 

 I never saw a man or woman who could not. 

 But I fear by far too many of you imagine one 

 must necessarily be rich to have a pretty home. 

 Is this the case'? I feel sure it is not. Did yo-.i 

 ever observe how a rich man goes to work to 

 fix up a poor, neglected, run down place V I 

 believe he usually has all the rubbish cleared 

 up to commence with, and njany times we are 

 astonished to see what an improvement is made 

 by attending to this simple matter alone. 



A homestead often looks unattractive, simp- 

 ly because there is no visible evidence ihat 

 some loving hand has been at work about it ; 

 it looks as though no one lived there, to use a 

 common expression, and it almost seems as 

 though nothing could compensate lor this lack, 

 not even money applied unsparingly, in the 

 shape of hired labor. Do you say you have no 

 time to bestow on such work yourself';' Sup- 

 pose you get up just one hour earlier in the 

 morning, and employ this hour in seeing how 

 much of a change you can make in the appear- 

 ance of your front yard. I presume there are 

 some who say this will take their time and at- 

 tention from other duties ; but what is the reid 

 end Awd aim oi ovut's lifeV You may And that 

 these hours or half hours before breakfast are 

 about the happiest of your life, if you work 

 with energy and enthusiasm, and furthermore 

 you may make the very pleasant discovery that 

 you are really improving the value of your 

 possessions in dollars and cents, to such a de- 

 gree that you are also doing your most profit- 

 able work. If you are unaccustomed to such 

 work, just try it; if for nothing else, to see 

 what a glorious smile will beam from the coun- 

 tenance of your wife, and jiossibly from the la- 

 ces of your grown up daughters also. Do you 

 know how fondly the.y, in after years may turn 

 back to the recollection of that dear old home- 

 stead '? and do you know how much it is with- 

 in a father's power to make home a pleasant 

 place to them '? Do you know how^ easily that 

 love of home is fostered and encouraged '^ 

 What a pure and holy feeling it is y and how 

 powerfully it may influence them in after life, 

 when temptations of a more worldly nature 



