38 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 15. 
comfortable. She pinched, and saved, and struggled with 
his increasing difficulties, with a steady faithfulness that never 
flagged or murmured, and set a beautiful example to all who 
serve “ masters according to the flesh.” But in a few years 
a change took place. Her master married; Martha’s health 
was so broken 1 that she could not fill an active situation in a 
family ; and, as most generally happens, an old servant and 
new mistress did not comfortably go on. Poor Martha was 
obliged to leave the home of many happy years, and take 
refuge among her friends. She loved her master dearly; 
but the faithful service she had rendered did not meet its 
due reward. She had saved a little money, a trifling sum, 
and left it in his hands ; and the difficulty she had to get it 
from him, in her sickness and distress, convinced her friends 
of his selfish ingratitude, although she could never see that 
he was wrong. 
Martha’s little means soon melted away, in consequence of 
some years of sickness and helplessness. Her friends were 
poor and needy themselves, but they shared their mite with 
her, and waited upon her with steady ldndness. At length 
her health mended so far as to enable her to wait upon 
herself, and go about a little, but she was totally past active 
service, and subject to attacks that often laid her up. Her 
prospects were sadly dreary. She was a dead weight upon 
her friends, who worked for their scanty bread, and yet she 
shrunk from the Union Workhouse with great dislike. She 
was at this time in very trying circumstances ; but a pitying 
Eye regarded her, anil an Ann, “ mighty to save,” wrought 
deliverance. 
At this very time, a family who knew her well were in a 
little household difficulty, and they bethought them of 
Martha Williams. She cheerfully went to them, staid until 
the difficulty passed, and was such a comfort to them that 
they could not bear to part with her. Her steady head, her 
trustworthiness, her saving habits, were invaluable; and in 
such a place, where there was no company, no bustle, no 
need for stout health and early rising, nothing but frugal 
fare, regular hours, and peace, Martha could do very well. 
She took up her residence, therefore, in this family, with a 
young girl to assist her, and there she still remains. Her 
health was at first so bad, that she was often on the point of 
going away. Circumstances in the family often threatened 
to oblige them to give her up, and once she really did leave 
them for a time. But somehow or other Martha is there 
still. She has lost the use of her right hand, but she is 
there still. The same gracious Hand provides for her, 
preserves to her a home, and food, and friends who do what 
little they can for her, and she is there still. Her 
own relations wonder, but so it is; and the grateful 
affection she feels for them, endears her to the family she 
lives with. 
Martha Williams has many virtues, but there is one 
thing lacking. She has experienced the loving-kindness of 
the Lord; it has been clearly and pointedly shown forth; 
she has had relatives who have been anxious for her 
spiritual good ; she has had warnings, remindings, and trials. 
But her heart is not given to God. She can speak well upon 
religion, she is unrepining, patient, thankful, and contented, 
but it is all done in a worldly way, and there is no anxiety 
shown to serve God in her daily walk, or to frequent His 
courts, when an effort is to be made. She can get up early 
if she is going from home ; but she is not well enough to go 
to the morning service of the Sabbath, it “ hurries and 
Hurries ” her, and there is an obstinacy and unpersuad- 
ableness about her on these points that pains and alarms 
those around her, and makes them tremble for her here, 
and hereafter too. 
One thing lacking! Let us examine our own hearts 
closely on this point. Are we not Martha Williams’ our¬ 
selves—too many of us ? Do we not receive God’s common 
and iifi-comraon mercies, His constant, and often amazing 
mercies, as things of course, for which we express gratitude 
before men, but without any dedication of our hearts and 
affections to the Lord? Are we not provided for in 
ways that surprise ourselves? Do we not receive this 
kindness, and that assistance, which we never expected, 
while we see the Hand, but not the Power that wields and 
orders it? Very few of us can boast of Martha’s active, 
unceasing benevolence to all she sees and knows, to the 
poor especially, or her faithfulness, her trustiness, her 
willingness, her everything, in fact, as regards her fellow- 
creatures ; yet too many of us are standing well in our own 
eyes, and others’ eyes too, while we are standing as dead 
trees before God! This is a terrible thought. Lot us dig 
deeply into our hearts, and see if it is not so, and let us 
answer the inquiry truly. We may shine with a fair light in 
the eyes of men, but unless we shine with the reflected 
light of Him who is the “ Light of Life,” our days will close 
in “ the blackness of darkness ” for ever ! 
“ The Lord is strong and patient,” but He is also just, for 
He will reward according to our deeds, and worldly goodness 
will but receive a worldly reward. Let us all examine 
ourselves, and see whether there may not be one thing lacking. 
BEES DESERTING THEIR HIVE. 
Although I am hi the act of troubling you again with a 
greater frequency of my lucubrations, I cannot suffer the 
occasion to pass without noticing the supposed case of bees 
deserting their hive lately given in so clear and business¬ 
like a manner by your correspondent “Verax.” If people, 
in asking the “wdierefore” of any “ singular occurrence” of 
a like kind, would only give the previous history of the 
swarm or stock in question, it would afford a fair opportunity 
to the experienced in such matters to account for it if they 
can. In the present instance, I have no hesitation in affirm¬ 
ing that the death of the queen at an unfavourable season 
(probably in September or October last) was the sole cause 
of the misfortune. It was not, therefore, a case of desertion, 
properly so called. When bees desert a hive (if I mistake 
not) they always carry away with them the remnant of their 
honey-stores, should there happen to be any; but here were 
a good many pounds left behind. Moreover, the state of the 
hive and comb forbids the idea of any such disaster; every¬ 
thing was found clean and in good order. The number of 
dead bees found, some of which were seen alive and moving 
(and these could not by any possibility have been other than 
the original possessors of the hive) only a few days before, 
all point to the gradual decay of the population, as in the 
case of Dr. Bevan's bees, described at page 318 of his in¬ 
valuable work “ The Honey Bee.” The condition of the 
stock, too, all last summer, quite corroborates the view I 
take of the matter. The queen was evidently in a very 
languishing condition, as is clear from the stock throwing 
no swarm, and yet collecting so little honey that not more 
than 17 lbs. of nett contents (of which not more than 13 lbs., 
at the outside, could have been honey ) were found in Oc¬ 
tober, no surplus honey, it appears, having been yielded by 
the stock besides. To my mind it seems clear beyond a 
doubt, that, after languishing in this way through the 
summer, she died at last of old age in the autumn, too late 
for the bees to rear another queen; or, if they did rear 
another, too late for her to become a fruitful mother, owing 
to the absence of drones, and the near approach of winter. 
Hence, as no eggs could have been laid since September, 
and not many probably for some months previous, owing to 
the old queen’s decaying powers, the bees of necessity died 
away by degrees in the ordinary course of nature. That 
this is the true solution of the mystery is further apparent 
from the previous history of the hive. It was originally a 
first swarm of May 28th, 1850, and at that time, therefore, 
its queen must have been a year old; how much older she 
may have been we cannot tell in the absence of further 
evidence. If she led off a first swarm in 1840, as she did in 
1850, she must, at the latter date, have been two years old 
at least, and, consequently, must have about attained the 
ordinary limit of {queen) bee fife last autumn. It is my 
firm belief that when bees do not die of absolute starvation. 
their decay in whiter, which so commonly occurs, is almost 
solely attributable to the prevailing practice of keeping 
swarms in preference to stocks, and, consequently, old queens 
instead of young ones, from year to year. Against this 
practice I have raised my voice, and I am glad to find that 
Mr. Payne has borne witness to the soundness of my argu¬ 
ments (see The Cottage Gardener, vol. vii., page 08). 
The only effectual way I know of for securing the main¬ 
tenance perpetually of a youthful race of queen bees (and 
is it not a simple one ?), without hazard of any kind, is that 
which I first gave to the world in the “ English Bee. 
