1S77 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



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But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the 

 lowest room; that when he that bade thee conielli, 

 he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher; then 

 .shalt thou have worsliip in the presence ot them tliat 

 sit at meat with thee. For wliosoever exalteili him- 

 *eU'6liall be abased; and he that humbleth himself 

 dhall bo exalted.— Lulse 15 ; 10, 11. 



^E^^EFORE taking up the subject embodied 

 ■^^ iu the text above, I beg to be allowed to 

 go back to where I left off last month, for I 

 have not quite had my say iu regard to walk- 

 ing iu the open air. I fear there are many 

 among our readers who do not know what a 

 pleasure, and what a stimulant to good 

 thought, and better impulses, is walking iu 

 the open air, even though the temperature be 

 below zero. Very likely there are many who 

 will say they have tried walking but that they 

 can not stand it, and there they will stop and 

 <>ive it up, just because they did not persevere 

 until dear kind old Dame Nature had learned 

 just what was wanted and had made provision 

 for the unexpected demand in a new direction. 

 If you break a comb in a bee hive during the 

 working season, you will tind that the bees 

 commence at once to repair the mischief by 

 removing all the honey, and then very deftly 

 •luiitiug the fractured edges, so that when all 

 is done it would hardly be discovered there 

 liiid ever been a break at all. If you should 

 again tear the comb apart in the same place a 

 day or two afterward, you will find that they 

 the second time, make a much stronger job of i 

 it than they did the first time, and so on ; 

 many of our readers have had opportunity of 

 verifying this with badly constructed hives. ] 

 Now if one of the bones of our bodies are bro- 

 ken, nature goes to work to repair the damage, ' 

 in a manner quite similar; the blood and 

 proper organs, performing the office of the bees, i 

 A few years ago Dr. Salisbury gave me a work 

 upon human (blood, with plates representing 

 the discoveries he had made in regard to the 

 circulation, by use of the microscope. I was 

 much struck with the view of minute tlireads, 

 looking like tiny straws or hairs, that were ; 

 floating iu the blood, and which were in reali- ; 

 ty fibres of lean meat or muscle, that were just ; 

 ibrmiag, for the purpose of building up the ' 

 tissues of the body. These fibres are carried 

 along in the blood to points needed, and are 

 then interwoven in such a way as to build up 

 ue\T organs, or to repair old that are in the 

 process of wearing away. This seemed almost 

 too wonderful to be true, and on my next visit 

 I enquired why I had never seen these fibres. 

 Were they really to be seen in all blood y The 

 reply was that they were to be seen in all 

 blood, but that they had never been observed, 

 simply because ao one had thought of looking 

 for them, like the planets in the heavens, and I 

 many other things. As soon as some blood 

 was placed under the microscope, and I was 

 told what to look for, I saw them distinctly in 

 great numbers. Well, now is it not a fact 

 that when we undertake any form of exercise 

 that we are unused to, nature begins at ouc^' 

 build ins stronger and firmer the portions of 

 the body that are found unable to bear the un- 

 usual strain, and is it any indication that some i 



duties are too much for us, simply because we 

 feel at first that we arc not strong enough to 

 to bear them ? Wlien a person who is unused 

 to it, commences to use an ax or a hoe, they 

 fre<iuently find the skin wearing from their 

 I hands, or if the exercise is not taken gradually, 

 blisters are frequently the result; afrer a time 

 I nature has supplied a thick hard skin iu place 

 of the light and soft, and seems making proper 

 ! provision for the work to be done. 

 I Soiue years ago. Dr. Salisbury as a part of 

 I his prescription, advised horse back riding. 1 

 I told him it was impossible for me to think of 

 such exercise, and that I could never stand il. 

 He said that it was only a notion I had, and 

 that I would soott enjoy it very much; that I 

 must, take it up as a regular business. Well, I 

 ' did think for the first week or two, that it 

 would use me up entirely, and then I was such 

 a great coward, that 1 suffered from fear, al- 

 most as much as from fatigue; I was sure I 

 should never get so as to like it. What was 

 i the result V In less than a month, I was riding 

 all over the country, at times at a break-neck 

 speed, and getting glimpses of health and an- 

 imal spirits such as I had never before dreamed 

 of, and more than that as I became accus- 

 tomed to the exercise I forgot all about being 

 timid and preferred a wild colt, to any other 

 way of going 10 miles that could be devised. 

 xlt one of our livery stables was a horse that 

 had been used for racing, Init had a bad fault 

 of stumbling ; after I had been thrown over 

 her head twice, I so far forgot all fear, as to in- 

 dulge in a hearty laugh as I sprung out of her 

 way as she fell a third time. The point I wish 

 to illustrate is that nature not only adapts our 

 bodies to the circumstances in which we are 

 placed, but our minds as well, and I do think 

 that the veriest coward, may become reckless 

 almost, if that is the right expression, simplj' 

 by becoming accustomed to rough life and the 

 exhileration that accompanies brisk muscular 

 exercise and becoming familiar with danger. 



One more word about cowardice, since the 

 recent rail-road disaster near us, there are 

 those who say they shall be afraid hereafter to 

 ride on the cars, and there are people who fear 

 to cross the ocean, and others who will not 

 work in mines, or go up on high buildings, etc., 

 etc., because all these situations endanger life 

 more or less. To come nearer home, we occa- 

 sionally have reports of people dying from the 

 efl'ects of a bee sting, and therefore some will 

 say they never wish to have anything to do 

 with bees. My friends do you think those peo- 

 ple really enjoy life who are constantly look- 

 ing out and shaking in their shoes because 

 there is danger of their being hurt? I once 

 heard of a woman who was in such constant 

 fear of getting the cholera, that she could 

 hardly partake ol the ordinary fruits and veg- 

 etables, and with all her pains and precautions 

 she was the first and almost the only one to 

 take it, when it did come in her vicinity. Ev- 

 ery little while we hear of people getting killed 

 by horses running away, etc., but shall we 

 therefore decline riding at all ? 



Is it not best to consider our lives of no 

 more importance thau that of our neighbors 

 and when it seems necessary that we should 

 run some risk, to take our chances manfully V 

 There are persons who seem bold and daring 



