Bees The Honey Helper

Rev. Percy J. Furgeson

By: Rev. J. Furgeson

I have often wondered – How did Papa know so many things?  It just seemed like there wasn’t anything that Papa didn’t know how to do on the farm. That was even more impressed upon my mind when Papa captured his first swam of honeybees. I remember very well his going out with another man back in Minnesota to rob a bee-tree of some of the honey the bees had made there.

But when we got to Washington State, Papa saw a swarm of bees settle on one of our trees out in the orchard, and so he gathered some information of how to capture them. First it means building a bee hive with proper panels inside to which the bees can attach the honeycomb in which to store their collection of honey. A beehive was built like a box – sixteen inches wide and twenty-five inches long. It was set on a wood base the same width, but three inches longer. A tiny opening at the front of the hive (eight inches) provided entrance to the hive for the bees. This entrance was only about one-eighth inch high – just large enough so that the bees can crawl through. A beehive will normally contain a bee population of thirty to fifty thousand bees. Of course there is a slope-roof lid for the hive.

The main part of the hive (the lower section) will hold eleven or twelve frames (like a picture frame) approximately 22 inches long and 11 inches wide. These frames will hold the honeycomb and honey supply for the bees during the season when they cannot collect honey. Another section which will hold the honeycomb frames is then placed on top of the beehive. The bees will then also fill these small honey boxes which we have then for our personal use. It is really man’s way of having the bee work “free of charge” for his delicious product. We can only imagine how many tons of honey are provided each year throughout the world by the hard-working bee.

In the course of time Papa had as many as seven swarms of bees from which he could gather honey, and I am sure that in our period of living there he must have sold a really great amount of honey. It was always interesting to see him put on his “bee protection garment,” and go out to the hives to remove the honey the bees would not need for themselves. I never did have the job of taking the honey from the bees, but I did capture several swarms of bees. It is truly a fabulous family arrangement, and in the honey collecting season, the family of bees work with strenuous anxiety. At the emergence of the sun  each day the honey-makers are busily engaged in their respective duties. Some of the bees do constant police work at the entrance to their hive. The female worker bees do the collecting, storing, and building the honeycomb in which the honey is stored.

Our family members very early in life learned to be careful around bees. This meant avoiding playing around the hives, or standing directly in front of the flight-path of the bees as they went about their work. Mostly we learned that the bees would not harm us if we did not play too close to their hives – or did not play around in the areas where they were collecting. I can remember being stung only a few times in my life –  and I can say that it hurts, but is not fatal. It is their way of saying “we are serious workers – stay out of our way.”

The bees do most certainly add to the beautiful mystery of life. They have such a limited lifetime, but what they give is sweet and helpful to all mankind. I am reminded that the mosquito also has a sort of a sting – but  it “takes” and does not “give.” It is a marvelous and mysterious and beautiful world that God has given us and I am certainly glad He gave us honeybees.

“Roots, Branches, and Twigs”; The Story Continues: Family – Friends – Events
Written and Printed at the California Christian Home, 8417 E. Mission Drive, Rosemead, CA, (1990)
Chapter:  Bees – The Honey Helpers (p. 43+)
Reprinted and edited by permission of Jolaine Lamb, member of Martin Severance Chapter

REV. PERCY J. FURGESON
Biography

Percy John Furgeson was born on a farm near Frazee, Minnesota to Charles H. Furgeson and Hettie Bellmont (Randall) Furgeson on February 5, 1903, and passed away on November 20, 1992. He had two brothers and three sisters. He was preceded in death by their young son, Winston Furgeson, and followed in death by his wife of 65-years, Doris Pittman Furgeson, daughter Alma Jean Furgeson Wilson, and grandson Rev. Robert John Wilson. His surviving daughters are JoAnn Wieman and Jolaine Lamb; grandchildren include Dwight J. Wieman, Even Wieman, Susan Connor, Carolyn Wilson, William Wilson, and Dorothy Jean Wilson Westphall, and many great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Rev. Percy Furgeson was ordained on April 14, 1924, by Rev. Nelson, at the Central Christian church, Prosser, Washington. His pastorates included McKinley Park Christian Church, Tacoma, WA ((1926-29); Port Orchard Christian Church, WA (1929-1942); Fairmount Christian Church, Seattle, WA (1942-43); Chaplain, U.S. Army (1943-46) and remained in the U.S. Army Reserves as Chaplain; Aberdeen Christian Church, WA (1946-47); First Christian Church, San Pedro, CA (1947-1958). He was the Administrator of the California Christian Home (National Benevolent Association), Rosemead, CA (1958-1972). He continued to serve in supply ministries from 1972-1984 and was the Minister of Visitation at the First Christian Church of Pasadena, CA, until 1987.

He and his family had farmed and helped the grandfather with the land and a sawmill back in Minnesota. The family left Minnesota in 1912 and headed to Washington State where they farmed. Father so enjoyed writing about the early days of the family, their daily chores, the social life of the community, and about the ties that bind. Yes, he enjoyed writing about the bees.

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