Fcbriuiry, 191- 



American Hee Joarnal 



Bee-Keeping <^ For Women 



Conducted bv Miss Emma M. Wilson. MarenKO. 111. 



Bees Wouldn't Sting Her 



If it be desired td learn how many 

 errors a newspaper reporter can pack 

 into a given space, just start him to 

 writing about bees. He will range all 

 the way from things that are every- 

 day affairs to a bee-keeper, but given as 

 wonders, up to things that are beyond 

 belief. The following newspaper clip- 

 ping about Miss Susan Howard (who 

 is probably J/rs. Susan F. Howard) is 

 a fair sample : 



Boston.— More than 100 pounds of honey 

 were removed from anions: the hives of 

 swarms of wide-awake bees without disturb- 

 ing them or inciting them to sting, by Miss 

 Susan Howard, of Greenwood, at the apiary 

 of Harrv Munroe. in South l.yniitield. Miss 

 Howard, who is recogni-^ed as Wakefield's 

 leading bee-e.\pert. was summoned only 

 after Munroe and dozens of other South 

 Lynnfield youths were driven away by the 

 bees after attempts to get the honey. 



When the Wakefield woman approached 

 the hives, and with her deft hands loosened 

 the combs, the bees looked at her motion- 

 less, as if under a spell. Bees that were on 

 the combs flew out of the way with as much 

 obedience as a naughty school-boy leaving 

 the room at his teacher's command. Miss 

 Howard claimed she hoodwinked the bees 

 by psychology. That is. she attracted their 

 attention to rings on her fingers. 'I'hey were 

 so fascinated by the rings that they did not 

 seem to mind the loss of the honey. 



Miss Howard holds office in the National 

 Association of Bee-Keepers. She is 45 years 

 old. has an independent fortune, and de- 

 votes practically her entire time to bee- 



study- 



♦-•-•^ 



Honey In Europe— Honey-Bread 



We are indebted to S. R. Stewart for 

 the following clipping from the Chris- 

 tian Herald, which is certainly doing a 

 Christian work in commending so good 

 a thing to its large circle of readers : 



In Europe, where the food value of honey 

 seems to be much better understood tlian in 

 the United States, enormous quantities arc 

 used. Of late years we seem to be waking 

 to a realization of the value of honey as a 

 wholesome and delicious article of food, and 

 also as to its preservative qualities. Cakes 

 and sweet-breads made with sugar soon be- 

 come dry and crumbly, and to get the good 

 of them must be eaten when fresh; but 

 where they are made up with honey, they 

 seem to retain their moist freshness indefi- 

 nitely. In France, honey-bread a year or i.s 

 months old is preferred to that just made. 

 They say: "It has ripened." It is the pre- 

 servative, or rather the unchanging, quality 

 of honey that makes it so popular with the 

 best confectioners. 



country, this question is always asked; 

 "Well, where is Mrs. Lundgren -" 



The home bee-yard during the summer 

 months is visited by hundreds of beginners 

 in the business, and almost always she is 

 the one from whom they get their first 

 knowledge of the care of bees. It is not 

 only at home where she helps the ignorant, 

 but she tours with her husband and lectures 

 at the professional meetings of beekeepers. 

 Often she contributes an article to her hus- 

 band's bee-paper. " Bigarden." of which 

 paper she often has the whole responsi- 

 bility. 



By the older bee-keepers Mrs. Lundgren 

 is called "The Queen." Nevertheless, work- 

 ing as she does for this profession in the 



Mrs. Naria Lundgren— A Swedish Sister 

 Bee-Keeper 



A woman bee-keeper in the fullest sense 

 of the words, is the one whose likeness is 

 given herewith. Mrs. I.undgren. who is 3i 

 years old (togetlier with her husband, con- 

 sidering the Swedish conditionsi. has con- 

 ducted a pretty fair bee-yard in the vicinity 

 of Stockholm, Sweden. I ler idea in the care 

 of bees has always been to have a few colo- 

 nies, but to give them good care. During 

 licr husband's sickness in 1006. together with 

 the house-keeping, she had the whole charge 

 of the bee yard with queen-rearing, and 

 superintended a smaller bee-supply shop 

 with about a dozen employees- 

 Mrs. I.undgren is well known among the 

 beekeepers in Swe<len. and when her hus- 

 band is out on his business tours in the 



Mrs. Maria Lindgren. 



Far North, she does not neglect her children 

 and her home, where she is as "busy as a 

 bee." Not of a " stinging" nature, she gains 

 everybody's confidence by her gentle and 

 attractive ways. Bkk-Keei'ER. 



We are proud to know of this bee- 

 keeping sister in far-away Sweden. The 

 probability is that she is the only 

 woman in the world on whose shoul- 

 ders at times falls the entire responsi- 

 bility of a bee-paper. More the pity 

 that the paper is published in an un- 

 known tongue. 



Value of Honey in Baking, Etc. 



Many people who do not keep bees. ;nid a 

 few that do. consider honey a luxury, when, 

 iffreeiyused.it will save enough of either 

 butter or sugar to much more than equal its 

 cost. For example; Have a pitcher of ex- 

 tracted honey at hand, and as each cake is 

 taken from the griddle, pour honey over it 

 and fold like an omelet. The result will be 

 cakes that will be " simply delicious " with- 

 out the use of butter— and every housewife 

 knows that hot-cakes call lor a great deal 

 of butter, when that is used. 



Honey has greater sweetening power than 

 sugar, and is less needed. In a sponge-cake 

 that would call for a cupful of sugar, ,'4 of a 

 cupful of honey is sufficient. To make such 

 a cake, beat H of a cupful of honey with the 

 yolks of 3 eggs; beat in one cupful of flour, a 

 little at a time, then add 4 t;iblespoonfuls of 

 hot water, and lastly fold in the stillly beaten 

 whites of the 3 eggs, with any fiavoring de- 

 sired. , 



In general use of cake or cooky recipes, it 

 is safe to allow b tablespoonfuls of honey 



and 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar to each cup of 

 flour called for in the recipe. 



One of the most delicious of cake fillings 

 is made by cooking half a cupful of honey 

 and an equal amount of sugar with 2 table- 

 spoonfuls of water until it "threads." and 

 then beating it into the stilfiy beaten white 

 of one egg. Continue the beating until the 

 mixture is cool, and like heavy cream. This 

 makes a fine filling for sweet sandwiches, as 

 well as for layer cakes. 



To make a fine preserve, peel and quarter 

 tart apples, and to each pound of prepared 

 ;ipple add a pound of honey and a few pieces 

 of ginger-root. .-Arrange in layers in a jar 

 and let stand 72 hours, .\fter that, simmer 

 very slowly until the apples are transparent 

 and the syrup thick. If the apples reach 

 the transparent stage before the syrup is 

 tiiick enough, take them out and cook 

 tlie syrup until of the proper consistency, 

 and of a .bright, rich golden color. I'ears, 

 quinces, and other soliil fruits may be pre- 

 pared in the same way. and are superior to 

 those preserved with sugar. 



Honey may be substituted for sugar in 

 preparing pickles, and the change will be an 

 improvement. In fact, honey-vinegar is the 

 purest and has the best keeping Qualities of 

 any vinegar made. 



The foregoing, by Eva Rynian-Gail- 

 lard, is taken from Suburban Life. It 

 is a line thing to have such matter 

 placed before the readers of a popular 

 publication, but a caution is needed 

 lest too much be claimed for honey. 

 Honey is more wholesome than sugar, 

 especially if sugar be used in large 

 quantity. Cake, cookies, etc., will keep 

 very much longer when honey is used 

 in them than when sugar is used. 

 Either one of these c|ualities is enough 

 to give honey a great preference. In 

 perhaps most families it would be real 

 economy to use honey instead of sugar 

 in baking cake, even if honey should 

 cost twice as much as sugar, and even 

 if honey should be considered no more 

 wholesome than sugar. This would 

 not be true if all cakes were eaten as 

 fast as made. But this is not the case. 

 Cake in which sugar is used is at its 

 best when first made, and cake which is 

 stale is likely to stand around until it 

 is thrown away. This, even in families 

 that are fond of cake and see no ob- 

 jection to eating it. There are, how- 

 ever, many families which do not con- 

 sider cake a very wholesome article of 

 food, and the number of such families 

 is constantly increasing. But they can 

 not get away from the idea that cake 

 should be constantly on hand "in case 

 company comes." And to put stale 

 cake before company — perish the 

 thought! So cake must constantly be 

 made in order to be constantly fresh, 

 and then as constantly — thrown away. 

 In such families it might be economy 

 to pay four prices for honey. 



So it is not necessary, nor is it wise, 

 to claim that " honey has greater sweet- 

 ening power than sugar, and less is 

 needed." Honey may seem to the taste 

 sweeter than sugar, perhaps because 

 one more promptly gets the sweet taste 

 from honey than from sugar, hut it is 

 prettv certainly an error to think that 

 a pound of honey contains more sweet- 

 ening power than a pound of sugar. It 

 has tjeen said that a pound of sugar 

 will go as far as a pound and a half of 

 honey, and some have made the differ- 

 ence greater. It would be of interest 

 if some sister who has positive knowl- 

 edge upon the point would tell us just 

 what is the sweetening power of honey 

 as compared with sugar. Indeed, such 

 knowledge would not be despised if it 

 should come— in a proper spirit of re- 

 spect — from one of the brethren. 



