January, 190S. 



American ^ae Journal 



profitable employment in outdoor ways, but to 

 my way of thinking not enough are so in- 

 clined. There arc a number of things which a 

 woman might do that would enable her to live 

 in comfort and yet to enjoy the freer air of 

 heaven while doing it, but I shall mention only 

 one or possibly two that are well adapted to 

 her. 



Bees and poultry are a combination that go 

 well together, and which a woman can man- 

 age as well as a man. Indeed, I believe she 

 will achieve greater success in cither line. She 

 is especially well adapted to them by nature. 

 She has an infinite capacity for detail that 

 doubly discounts the other sex. She has a 

 natural neatness that surpasses her male rival, 

 and hence I look for her product to be pre- 

 pared for market in a more attractive style. 

 The history of bee-culture shows that some of 

 the most successful bee-keepers have been wom- 

 en. They adapt themselves to the require- 

 ments of the business with such readiness that 

 they surpass everybody, including themselves. 



For the benefit of those who would like to 

 take up this branch of outdoor work, and who 

 hesitate for fear of stings, or the difficulty 

 of hiving swarms, I will try to make it plain 

 that neither of these fears are as bad as they 

 appear. With a bee- veil and gloves, and a 

 good smoker, there need be no fear of stings, 

 and after a little practice the first will be dis- 

 carded almost entirely. A knowledge of the 

 creatures will give confidence. One soon learns 

 their dispositions and knows when a veil is 

 necessary; and when most necessary there is 

 usually little occasion for handling. During a 

 honey-flow, when one is putting on or remov- 

 ing supers, bees are seldom cross, and a veil is 

 a hindrance to rapid work. 



A woman may manage swarming by clip- 

 ping the wines of all laying queens, thus dis- 

 missing the dreadful thought of climbing trees 

 to capture high-flying swarms. A woman could 

 find a queen as readily as a man, and if she is 

 captured the swarm will not go far and will be 

 pretty sure to return. Or the colony may be 

 divided at the proper time instead of waiting 

 for natural swarms. All this can be attended 

 to by a woman as well as a man. A woman 

 could soon learn to rear queens to supply di- 

 vided colonies and to sell, thereby adcling to 

 her income. This part of the business would 

 prove quite fascinating and quite profitable. 



Putting hives and sections together is as 

 practicable for women as for men, and the 

 charm of working with bright and clean new 

 lumber, and putting in the dainty and fra- 

 grant foundation is as alluring as the click of 

 the typewriter or the rattle of dishes in the 

 kitchen. Besides taking one out of doors and 

 thus proving a more healthful occupation than 

 any office work or teaching or dressmaking, 

 there is no doubt that it is a money-making 

 business and rapidly growing more so. 



Everything now used in an apiary is made 

 in factories, and is furnished made up or in 

 the flat as demanded. Supplies are uniform 

 and exact, and it is a pleasure to handle and 

 make them up. 



The first requirement in bee-keeping is a 

 knowledge of the natural history of the bee. 

 This can be gained through books easiest and 

 cheapest, and if one has the instinct of curios- 

 ity, or a leaning to scientific research, .the 

 study will be found very interesting. A prac- 

 tical work on apiculture is a necessity unless 

 one chooses to learn natural history through 

 observation alone. But life is too short. It is 

 better to begin where the others ha\-e left off 

 and, through experience, add to the knowledge 

 gained from books. Eugene Secob. 



This article by the Hon. Eugene Se- 

 cor, the poet-laureate of bee-keepers, 

 copied from the Northwestern Agricul- 

 turist, is somewhat lengthy, but it is all 

 so good that none of it can be cut 

 out. In one respect many of the sisters 

 would probably not agree with Mr. Se- 

 cor. The three articles mentioned, ''the 

 bec-veil, gloves and a good smoker," 

 would all seem to most of us actual 

 necessities, but if we really had to give 

 up one of the three no doubt the gloves 

 would have to give place to llie bee- 

 veil and smoker. To a "mere man" a 

 veil may be "a hindrance to rapid work," 

 but then he is not a woman, accus- 

 tomed to a veil as a* regular article of 

 dress. 



gives an illustration of a hive-lifter 

 used by John Bailey, and says: 



"His hive-lifter must be a great aid 

 in the bee-yard, particularly for those 

 whose pliysical strength is at all im- 

 paired by age or otherwise. Our lady 

 friends should find it a great help. Mr. 

 Bailey says he uses his four-wheel cart 

 as a wlicclb.'irrow, and can carry one to 

 six hives or suoers on it, as des'red. 

 By running the shafts under the cleats 

 on either side of the hive, it can be 

 picked up ami placed in its new location 



during swarming season. This, with his 

 hive-lifter, will greatly facilitate his 

 work." 



A good deal has been said lately 

 about hive-lifters, some of the lords of 

 creation lauding them, others seeming 

 to think them hardly worth while. The 

 Canadian Bee Journal thinks the hive- 

 lifter especially adapted to ladies. How 

 is it, sisters? Have any of you tried 

 them ? Whatever may be said about 

 a hive-lifter, certainly a cart or wheel- 

 barrow is often a great help. 



oiithern 

 ^eedoin JM 



Conducted by LOUIS H. SCROLL, New Braunfels, Ttx. 



Are Hive-Lifters Valuable? 



The Canadian Bee Journal, page 337, 



Qood 1908 Honey Prospect 



Texas has gone "wet" by a big ma- 

 jority (of counties) this time, for sure. 

 It's been raining most of the time all 

 over the State for the past 3 months, 

 and is still at it at this writing. This, 

 however, means big things for Texas 

 in 1908, in the way of a honey crop and 

 other crops, other conditions being fav- 

 orable. 



Friendly Criticism Desired 



If any of our readers see anything in 

 this Department under my signature 

 that is not in accordance with Southern 

 bee-keeping according to their views, 

 they will confer a favor by calling at- 

 tention to it, keeping in mind that 

 friendly criticism is always in order. 



Our 1908 Honey- YiELDERs Already 

 Growing. 



If it were not for Dr. C. C. Miller 

 laughing at nie, I would say that pros- 

 pects were never brighter at this sea- 

 son of the year for a honey crop the 

 coming season. This is owing to the 

 warm and very wet weather we are hav- 

 ing. All of our best honey-plants are 

 up and growing, as if it were spring. 

 This will put them in excellent condi- 

 tion to stand the next 2 or 3 month's 

 winter weather that we are likely to 

 have. Then with a few showers of rain 

 m the spring, with the warm sunshine 

 we are sure to have, Texas will be one 

 vast flower-garden through March, 

 April. May and June. 



Qu.\LiTY OF "Marigold" Honey. 



My oldest daughter heard a bee- 

 keeper not long ago say, "I had to 

 give up bee-keeping in my location, on 

 account of the bees getting so much 

 honey from wild 'marigold,' and spoil- 

 ing my honey so I could find no sale 

 for it." This is another new one to 

 me. I have kept bees, and have been 

 a close observer of the various honey- 

 plants of this State, for something like 

 25 years, and this is the first time 1 



have heard that "marigold" honey was 

 of an inferior grade. I have sold thou- 

 sands of pounds of it, and never had a 

 single complaint of it. I wish 1 had 

 to-day all the "wild marigold" honey I 

 could sell. What say you, Mr. Scholl, 

 about the quality of "marigold" honey? 



Caged Queens at the Entrance. 



I can't remember seeing before in 

 print the statement that Mr. Doolittle 

 makes, on page 1433 of Gleanings for 

 Nov. IS, 1907, that to cage a queen 

 near the entrance of the hive, the work 

 goes on right along as if nothing had 

 happened, the bees often failing to start 

 queen-cells at all. This is vrorth remem- 

 bering, if true ; and I am not prepared 

 to say it is or is not, from experience. 

 And if I doubted his statements I should 

 hesitate to say so, for you know Mr. 

 Doolittle's head is usually pretty level 

 on bee-topics. 



Supersede Those Old Queens. 



You have it right, Mr. Scholl, in 

 speaking of leaving it to the bees to 

 supersede their own queens. Where you 

 say. "Too often the queens get so old 

 and feeble that the colony dvjfindles 

 down to a mere nucleus before it gets 

 a new queen, and will require a long 

 time to recover, if at all, at the expense 

 of the bee-keeper." (Page 1434, Glean- 

 ings for Nov. 15, 1907) I am sure it 

 has always paid me well to look after 

 failing queens in all of my work with 

 the bees. It is so very easy to rear 

 good queens during the honey season 

 from the best colonies, and requeen all 

 colonies with old or otherwise undesir- 

 able queens, that I can see no possible 

 excuse for leaving this to the care of the 

 bees. I would almost as soon leave it 

 to the bees as to how often they should 

 swarm and re-swarm, without any re- 

 sistance on my part, as to allow them to 

 do their own requeening. Yes, sir, it 

 pays, and pays well, to destroy old and 

 failing queens, in "this locality." Es- 

 pecially is this true in poor years for 

 bees. I have often known bees in a poor 



