BEE-KEEPING FOR WOMEN. 



46 



BEE-KEEPING FOR WOMEN. 



inspiration, zeal, and enthusiasm, the ser- 

 vant problem would solve itself; but this 

 ideal way of doing housework can be carried 

 on only when the spirit is freed from the 

 sense of eternal drudgery. I am not a wiz- 

 ard to bring about this change ; but I know 

 one step toward it, and that is the establish- 

 ment of some permanent interest for woman 

 that will pull her out of the ruts and give 

 her body and mind a complete change and 

 rest. Embroidery, lacemaking, weaving, 

 painting, and several other like occupations, 

 may serve tliis purpose in a measure; and, 

 l»erhaps, if carried on in tlie right way, may 

 achieve more in this line than they do at 

 present. But these are all indoor occupa- 

 tions ; and what a woman needs is some- 

 thins 10 take her out of doors where she can 

 have liec; 1 air. Excess of perspiration In- 

 duced by tne cook-stove is weakening; but 

 honest sweat called forth in the open air by 

 an application of generous sunshine is a 

 source of health and strength. 



Bee-keeping is one of the best of these 

 life-saving, nerve-healing avocations; it 

 takes the mind from household cares as 

 completely as would a trip to Europe, for 

 one can not work with bees and think of 

 any thing else. Some of the attributes 

 -,■ ..xC.x make bee-keeping an interesting avo- 

 cation I will mention : First of all, bees are 

 such wonderful creatures, and so far beyond 

 our comi)rehension, that they have for us 

 always the fascination of an unsolved prob- 

 lem. I never pass our hive without men- 

 tally asking, " Well, you dear little rascals, 

 what will you do next V" Bees are of par- 

 ticular interest to woman for several rea- 

 sons : if she likes good housekeeping, then 

 the bee is a model : if she likes a woman of 

 business, again is the bee a shining light ; if 

 she is interested in the care of the young, 

 then is the bee-nurse an example of per- 

 fection ; if she believes in the political rights 

 of woman, she will find the highest feminine 

 political wisdom in the constitution of the 

 bee commune. In fact, it is only as a wife 

 that the bee is a little too casual to pose as 

 ideal, although as a widow she is certainly 

 remarkable and perhaps even notorious. 



Another phase which makes bee-keeping 

 a pleasing avocation for women is that much 

 of the work is interesting and attractive. I 

 never sit down to the " job" of folding sec- 

 tions and putting in starters without expe- 

 riencing joy at the prettiness of the work. 

 And if there is any higher artistic happiness 

 than comes from cleaning up a section hold- 

 ing a pound of well-capped amber honey 



' and putting the same in a dainty carton for 

 market, then I have never experienced it ; 

 and the making of pictures has been one of 

 my regular avocations. By the way, woman 

 I has never used her artistic talent rightly in 

 this matter of cartons. Each woman bee- 

 keeper ought to make her own colored de- 

 sign for the carton, thus securing something 

 so individual and attractive as to catch at 

 once the eye of the consumer. 



As a means of cultivating calmness, i)a- 

 tience, and self-control the bee is a well-rec- 

 ognized factor. Bees can be, and often are, 

 profoundly exasperating ; and yet how worse 

 than futile it is to evince that exasperation 

 by word or movement ! No creature reacts 

 more quickly against irritation than the bee. 

 She can not be kicked nor spanked ; and if 

 we smoke her too much, we ourselves are the 

 losers. There is only one way to manage 

 exasperation with bees — that is, to control 

 it ; and this makes the apiary a means of 

 grace. 



The money-making side of bee-keeping is 

 a very important phase in arousing and con- 

 tinuing the womans interest in her work. I 

 think woman is by birth and training a nat- 

 ural gambler, and the uncertainties of the 

 nectar supply and of the honey market add 

 to rather than detract from her interest in 

 her apiary. I know of several women who 

 have made comfortable incomes and sup- 

 ported their families by bee-keeping ; but, 

 as yet, I think such instances are few. How- 

 ever, I believe there are a large number of 

 women who have added a goodly sum yearly 

 to their amount of spending money, and 

 have found the work a joy instead of drudg- 

 ery. Personally, I have had very little ex- 

 perience with the commercial side of bee- 

 keeping. Once when our maddeningly suc- 

 cessful apiary grew to forty hives when we 

 did not want more than a dozen at most, and 

 the neighborhood was surfeited with our 

 bounty, we were "just naturally" obliged to 

 sell honey. We enjoyed greatly getting the 

 product ready for market, and were some- 

 how surprised that so much fun could be 

 turned into ready cash. As a matter of fact, 

 both my husband and myself have absorb- 

 ing vocations and avocations in plenty, so 

 that our sole reason for keeping bees is be- 

 cause we love the little creatures, and find 

 them so interesting that we would not feel 

 that home was really home without them ; 

 the sight of our busy little co-workers adds 

 daily to our psychic income. We are so very 

 busy that we have very little time to spend 

 with them, and have tinally formulated our 



