BE£-HU>'TES'G. 



45 bee-ki:epls'& fob WOMEX. 



for in hraitia? for a bee to start with we find 

 many plants that are carious and many that 

 we woiCd not otherwise know bees frequent. 



BBK.KKIiPJ-BfG AS A SPECZAIiTT. See 

 BZ:£-KXI£FI2<7G FOB. ^770MZIZf. 



_ em eaaomblo- 



ii ii.j 



Two questions invariably " pop-up" at us 

 when this matter of feminine bee-keeping is 

 discussed; One is. " Why shouldn't a woman 

 keep bees ?~ and the other is. " Why should 

 a wtxnaii keep beesr" Like most other 

 questims tliese may be answered jaKH^e or 

 less rationally with prc>per eonsideraticm. 



Taking tlie "why dioaldn't" qoestkra 

 first, we are bound tij confess that nowadays 

 there is no efEectiTe reason why a woman 

 dMuM not do almost any thing that she 

 takes into her enterprising little bead to do. 

 But quite aside tram the eocsideratioii of 

 wcMnan's prowess, there are one or two rea- 

 sms that might deta* sonae c^ the faint- 

 hearted &ir from undataking bee keeping. 

 Thae is no use of trying to gloss over the 

 faet that there is a great deal of hard work 

 and heavy lifting in the eare of a profitable 

 apiary. Tlie hard woik is really no objee- 

 tion. as moe^ women <tf whatevo- ^ass are 

 at it any way. Bat lifting heavy Lives is 

 certainly not partieiilailj good exercise &<r 

 ZBj wcunan, allhoi^i I must eoifess tlot I 

 have neva- lifted half so stremiOGsIy when 

 earing for bees as I used to oa the fsura 

 wh^ we moved the eoc^-stove into the 

 samma'kitebQi. aeeomplishing this feat by 

 oar fiPMrifiinp selves, ratter than toing to the 

 sacfaee any d the latmt ^oCanity wMeh 

 aeenu to be ei^eiideied in the maseoline 

 boann when taking part in this seasonal 



There are at least two ways of obviating 

 ttusfraifciriiie disability in bee-keqiii^. One. 

 inedeed aaeeestfaHy by several wcaien. is 

 ttaroi^^ the use of a Boardman hrve^cast. 

 wlnefa almo^ solves the ^oUem if the bees 

 are wintoed oat of do«s. and do not have 

 to be euried ap and down edSar stairs : the 

 otiKT metfaod is to get some man to do the 

 fifing and carrying. It may be the hos- 

 band. tibe fatfaa-. the iKotfaa-. the son. or the 

 hired laan; bat as ttia woik ean be dtme at 

 a time wbieb can be fanned for, it is not so 



difficult for the men of the establishment to 

 give the help needed. I am sure mv hus- 

 band woxild say that I am •. ^ 

 tically in favor of the man - ^ 

 problem: but his opinio r " -/- .. : : r 

 much, because he loves '---: .--- = -i. - -:- 

 asticaUy that I have to beg for a ciiance to 

 work with them at alL although he virtu- 

 ously points out the Mves to people as "Mrs. 

 Comstock's bees." 



Another •*d»onldn"t~ reason might be 

 that women are afraid of bee-srlngs. This 

 falls flat, from the fact tbat TrorneT! are not a 

 bit more nervous than :. 



This year when I was - . . _ 

 swarm from a most diffieui: 

 terested man stood off at a - 

 a most pained state of mind. H^ ^t3 a 

 courteous gentleman, and he felt ' .jat i: was 

 oatrageous tot me to have to do the work 

 alcme. but he did not dare to ecane to my aid. 

 and I tMnk be eiHisdered mj temerity in 

 dealing with the awazm as almost seandal- 

 oas. 



Thus having disposed of all tiie reasons I 

 can think of why women shouldn't keep 

 bees. I turn gladly to the mere intaesting 

 reasons why ^b& should look up(m the apisy 

 as one of her legitimate fields of labca^. 

 There are so many reasons for this that I 

 could not enxmaerate them even if a ct<m- 

 plete mmiber of a bee journal were given 

 me fox the purpose. So I shall speak of juit 

 a few of the most eogmt reasons. I should 

 put first qS. alL and as embaemg all other 

 reasons, that bee-keeping may be made an 

 interesting aroeation wMeb can be eaizied 

 <n eaineidestally with otber em^oyments ; 

 it is an intaesting study in natmal Instary: 

 it cultivates calmness of spirit, self-c<mtrol 

 and patisiee: it is a "heap" of fan: inci- 

 dentally it may supply tbe heme table wtth 

 a real loxury ; and it may add a vezy eoo- 

 sidexable amount to any wcman's spending- 

 money. It can also be carried <m as a regu- 

 lar boanesB. to support a family. 



Bat it is as an aToeatioa that I am e^»c- 

 cially interested in tlie apiary. Anywcman 

 who keeps boose needs an avocation to take 

 the mind and attention eoraptetely off ha- 

 boasdtoM cares at times. Tbae is anne- 

 thing aboot tbe daily roatine <rf hoosekeep- 

 ing that wears mind and body fall ol ruts. 

 even in the ease cA Hioee wbo lore to do 

 hoasewc^k better than any tbii^ ejae. Talk 

 about tbe savant qaesbora ! It is not tbe 

 servant qoestim. bat tbe booaewock ques- 

 tion. If some means eoold be devised by 

 whieh boosewoik eoold be pafoimed witb 



