44 The Bulletin. 



The woman who goes to the meetings will gain a knowledge of diseases, 

 their cause and prevention, helps in the upbringing and educating of her 

 children, a practical knowledge of the laws of hygiene ; in short, a knowledge 

 of home making and home keeping. 



Like the little woman who said : "I never did do outside work, but I came 

 to realize that I just had to go outside to know what was going inside my 

 baby," let us use our own brains in deciding for ourselves the right of any 

 moral custom in the community, and throw all our weight on the side we be- 

 lieve to be right. When we get to heaven the great book of life will not show 

 how many times we used our influence on the side that was popular in the 

 home, but it will show whether or not we used our influence for good or bad. 

 Let it be good. 



A French writer says : "If we would upbuild our nation let us educate the 

 mothers of our future sons." A superintendent of institute work puts it more 

 beautifully than I can when he says : "Although we hear of political corrup- 

 tion, and betrayals of trusts and frauds in business, we can place every 

 confidence in the stability of the nation when the best mothers and daughters 

 meet together in large numbers, with a common object in view — the better- 

 ment of the home and the advancement of the nation — 'For Home and 

 Country.' " 



BEE-KEEPING AS AN OCCUPATION FOR WOMEN. 



By Walter L. Womble, Raleigh, N. C. 



Of the various industries in the State of North Carolina bee-keeping could, 

 with intelligent management and the expenditure of a little energy, be made 

 to pay handsomely with less outlay of capital and time than anything else I 

 know of; and of the various classes engaged in bee-keeping, the "woman on 

 the farm," it strikes me, is the one best fitted to push this industry to the 

 front. 



In the first place, nature, as a rule, provides her with a good field, and this, 

 combined with study and energy, will, under favorable circumstances, yield 

 her quite a little income annually. 



Do not understand me to say there are no ups and downs in the business, 

 that all is clear sailing, that you will make money every year and plenty of 

 it, regardless of the kind of bees you keep, the boxes you use or the section 

 you live in, for such will not be the case. 



Bee-keeping, as an occupation for woman, has its objectionable as well 

 as commendable features, and for this reason I would not advise any woman 

 to adopt it as an occupation until she is satisfied beyond a doubt that the 

 section in which she lives is well fitted for bee-keeping. It is also necessary 

 that she herself should have a taste for the business, otherwise I would not 

 advise her to engage in it at all. 



It is true there are women in our State who have made quite a success 

 financially as professional bee-keepers ; but such cases are very rare and the 

 sections in which they live are exceptionally fine for the production of honey. 

 This is not said to discourage bee-keeping as an occupation, but as a pro- 

 fession. 



While there are some whose locations are especially adapted to bee-keeping 

 and who make handsome incomes annually, there are others who, with the 

 same expenditure of labor and capital, owing to the unsuitability of their 

 locations, make little or nothing. Hence, the location has more to do with 

 successful bee-keeping, according to my way of thinking, than anything else. 

 For instance, there are sections of our State where from 200 to 300 colonies 

 of bees may be successfully kept in one yard, owing to an abundance of good 

 honey-producing plants, while there are others where not more than a dozen 

 may be kept profitably. 



