1870 



GLEA.NINGS IN BEE CUJ.TURE. 



199 



k'mt^ heavy blows at each otl'.or, that wonlil 

 snflice to build not only schools unci churclies, 

 hat rail-voads and s team-boats ; and the most 

 lamentable part of it all, is that it is otten- 

 times the very bosfc friends, nay, even loving 

 brothers and sisters that thus quarrel. 'When 

 this subject is mentioned, almost everybody is 

 ready to assent that such is the case, and still 

 more, many seem to thinK that it must be the 

 case, for in all the attempts they have seen 

 made to make peace, nothing could be done 

 with the parties. Amid' families of the highest 

 r'jspoctability, the most talented and best edu- 

 cated, and with sorrovr I say it, even among 

 church members and in rare cases among min- 

 i -iters, we liud trouljles of this kind that seem 

 as hopeless of removal as the very hills them- 

 selves. 



A great many troubles and disagreements 

 •;row out of mere business transactions, and I 

 .avc wondered whether much of it was not 

 ■aused by the idea that many of our people 

 cem to have, that every one must '-look out 

 \)V ISTo. !,'■ and that he will be cheated out of 

 very thing he has, if he does not keep hiiiown 

 'iterests uppermost, in all his dealing. Per- 

 naps I shall get into deep water, in what I am 

 .■oing to advise, but at any rate' I will hazard 

 ■iving you a little of my experience. 1 shall 

 ike pleasure in doing, so, because it pays a 

 ompliment to my fellow beings. Many peo- 

 ple are fond of calling the world selUsh, sche- 

 laiug, and dishonest; I have found them liber- 

 >1, pleasant, and accommodating, and many 

 iaies where I have been sadly at fault, very 

 indulgent. . . 



Shall I tell you what iz isV what kind of a 

 "hilosopher's stone I have found that will 

 '< 1 aw out peoples' better qualities V I will try, 

 if 1 love to speak vreli of the kind good 

 iiends I have found awa}^ in distant States, 

 ;;d in many by- places where I may in all Hke- 

 I'lood, never have the pleasure of seeing them 

 , : all. 



Well, my philosopher's stone is simply a 



'an of allowing j'our opponent to decide all 



iificult points, just so soon as you discover 



'icre is coming up a diff>3reuce of opinion. If 



is a bad unscrupulous person, make up 



•ouv mind you are going to lose, jind after 



• ■ ating the matter as kindly and pleasantly as 



)U can, tell him you will leave it all with 



:)U, and then give him to the very letter, just 



■ iiat he claims. Many times it will seem for 



verity, casting your bread upon the waters ; 



lut do it cheerfully, and try to think what is 



ur loss, if loss there be, will be his gain, or 



least a gain somewhere on the wide waters 



■ humanity. Please do not for an instant, get. 



J idea that I would approve a reckless 



"rowing away of one's property, for I would 



;vise the utmost frugality in every respect, 



id a careful economy and looking aftei*, of 



'.e smallest item. To illustrate : One of our 



aders proposed to sell bees, and asked what 



id better be said about giving satisfaction. 



advised saying all transactions woidd be 



idc satisfac*-ory. But said he, "If they hap- 



.1 to be notional and arc not pleased, what 



en V" I advised that he should in such a case, 



.!)lain things as well as he could, but that if 



;e explanaiiou would not be accepted, tell 



.jm to send in bill tor what they thought 



right and proper, and thou pay it cheerfully. 



His reply was a positive refusal to do bus- 

 iness in that way ; a way that seemed too much 

 like opening one's purse to whatever amount 

 the "•greedy" Vvorld might choose to take. 

 More than one of my readers can I'ccall wliere 

 I have, to prevent hard feelings, or possibly 

 misunderstanding, left a •mattei* in question 

 entii'cly to their own sense of what was right, 

 and I have as yet no reason to feel that I have 

 been robbed. On the contrary I have many 

 times l)een astonished at the very liberal Vi'ay 

 in which they h.ave consented to be satisfied, 

 when just before, they had seemed especially 

 difficult and bard to please.' The very act of 

 giving up, , and surrendering your o\rn 

 rights, seems to have a magic power in calling 

 out peoples better selves, where they have 

 been gradually led into some controversy or 

 quarrel. 



Another thing: if we commence doing bus- 

 iness with a purpose of making every bodj^ sat- 

 isfied v;'ith every thing we send out, we shall 

 very soon discover that it will not pay to al- 

 low any thing poor or even indifferent to bo 

 sent away, and tha,t we shall ba obliged to 

 inspect every package with something like the 

 care and precision we would if we were going 

 to send it to a brother or sister, or to some 

 very dear friend, whom we would bo careful 

 to please. It is a very hard matter to do this 

 where a business necessitates many hands, and 

 we are at this minute conscious that very few 

 of the goods we sell are jnst what we would 

 like, or expect to have from others. 



Do you care to know how we have fared by 

 trusting our customers to make, out their own 

 bills for damages, and paying them cheerfully? 

 In some cases we have paid for things feeling 

 that rather too much was being asked, it is true ; 

 but were amplyrepaid by feeling the matter was 

 all closed up pleasantly; and in several cases, 

 much to our surprise, the money was returned 

 to us months afterward, In one case it was 

 after the lapse of over a year, and the person 

 who sent it did it of his own free v/ill, with- 

 out a word having been said on the subject, 

 meantime. Is it not possible, dear friends, that 

 mankind has never yet learned of the reward 

 that awaits those who fry to follow the teach- 

 ings of the little text. 



And if any man will sue thee at the !av,% and take 

 away thy coat, let him have tliy cloali also. Mat., .'J : 4i). 





by comb from different hives with cUiilci-in.-; bscs . 



s^fJ ET me warn you against your mei 

 by comb from different hives with 

 It won't do, especially Avith "!N"ovices." The swarm 

 <loe.s well enough, but too often more than one (iiieen- will 

 get on the combs and thus you damage your stock miini'- 

 ially. A better way is to take your combs without bees 

 and exchange places \vith a, populous stock, sccutiu:-' its 

 queen. This gets all the advanta.qo oiits full wot-l'iuj 

 /o?re, with a hive full of comb, and in extracting from 

 such a hive, but little dimunition in honey . yiol J. can bo 

 SDcn. Also dividing thus can be done as late in the honey 

 season as one wishes. • Rufus MoKG.\:f. 



Olb Fokt, ^^. C, July ifi, 187G. 



[Quite right friend M., and we intended to give the 

 warning you speak of. I the queens are found be- 

 fore removing the frames of bees, we shall be perfect - 



