gleajnIings in bee culture 



new in the matter of women's bee-dress. 

 Really I have nothing new to offer in that 

 line. The only extras I don for the apiary 

 are a large denim apron with two big pock- 

 ets, gloves with sleeves attached, and a veil. 

 The sleeves sewed to the gloves are white, 

 and are fastened together in the back with 

 a band between the shoulders, securely sew- 

 ed to the top of each sleeve. A similar band 

 fastens them in front, only the band in tliis 

 case is sewed to only one sleeve. The other 

 end of the band is furnished with a button- 

 hole, and a button sewed on the other sleeve 

 completes the fastening. This makes it easy 

 to slip the gloves off and on when you wish 

 to clip a queen. The veil is drawn down 

 taut, and fastened with a safety-pin. 

 Marengo, 111. 



•-•-•^ 



A WOMAN IN THE SPHERE OF ASSISTANT 

 BEEKEEPER 



MRS. LIZZIE SHIELDS 



I can scarcely, as yet, claim to be a bee- 

 keeper; but my husband has started, and I 

 help him. In 1906 a farmer whose cattle 

 we pastured for the summer offered us in 

 part payment a colony of bees which we 

 accepted. They arrived in November, when, 

 according to advice received, we dug a hole 

 and buried them for the winter. The fol- 

 lowing May we found the hive afloat, and 

 every bee dead — drowned by the melting 

 snow. We steadfastly gazed on the bees 

 that were dead, and bitterly thought of our 

 lost five-dollar bill. 



In 1907 tb.e man again brought his cattle 

 10 jiasture, and joined us in our lamenta- 

 lion. He said we should ha\e made a drain 

 to run off the surplus water. He wanted 

 us to try again, and offered us a colony for 

 half price. Again we agreed, and again 

 put the liive in the same place; but this 

 time we had a drain; and, lo! on bringing 

 them out the next spring they were alive 

 and in good condition. They were common 

 black bees in an old box — very primitive 

 indeed. We began to read and stud^' about 

 bees, and finally became enthusiastic. 



We were unfortunate in 1910, expecting 

 to winter three colonies. On moving them 

 to the cellar, however, we found that two 

 had decamped, root and branch, leaving 

 only beeless hives with honey in them. So 

 in the spring of 1911 we started again with 

 a single colony. I purchased Mrs. Com- 

 stock's admirable book, and we also secured 

 the A B C and X Y Z of Bee Culture. By 

 and by, as a Christmas gift I gave my hus- 

 band " Langstroth on the Honeybee." We 

 purchased an Italian queen, a:id made i. 

 new colony from a nucleus. Ere long we 



had a fine colony of Italians, and from 

 them got a queen by wliich we Italianized 

 the second colony. Meanwhile the second 

 colony swarmed, and we had a third colony 

 (blacks). We had 85 lbs. of surplus honey 

 from our bees in 1911 — practicality from 

 one colony, all the others being youngsters. 

 These three colonies were wintered in our 

 cellar, and were in fine condition last spring. 



My husband took a short course in api- 

 culture at the Ontario Agi-icultural College, 

 Guelph, last January; visited the Brant- 

 ford bee-supply factoiy with the other stu- 

 dents, and left a fair-sized order for lii\es, 

 foundation, excluders, etc., with the firm. 

 On his return home he was satui^ated with 

 bee lore. 



Last June we purchased another Italian 

 queen, and in September a third. Our three 

 colonies have increased to six, all flourish- 

 ing and strong. 



We are now glad that we took heart and 

 kept on trying. We find great pleasure in 

 more ways than one. The honey is a good 

 addition to our table, and we sell all we do 

 not use. 



Last summer the bees insisted on swarm- 

 ing, or otherwise demanding attention on 

 three successive wash-days. My apprecia- 

 tion of their demands for attention was 

 much below par. However, the swarms were 

 little trouble to secure, as in each case we 

 had clipped her majesty's wings, and so 

 prevented her from flying off with her ret- 

 inue. She had to content herself with walk- 

 ing on a wliite dress laid in front of the 

 hive, where we quickly espied her, and care- 

 fully placed her in the new hive. In a very 

 short time every bee found out that the 

 so\ereign was holding a levee, and went to 

 jiay i;s respects to her. 



The only objection I have to bees is the 

 s'irig. They and I have frequently dis- 

 agreed about that, and sometimes I got the 

 best of the argument, though more fre- 

 quently they came off victorious. If they 

 were of a less aggressive and inquisitive 

 turn of mind it would be more pleasant ; but 

 they are " mixed mercies," so we need not 

 grumble. At first I thought I should never 

 handle the little creatures, but one becomes 

 accustomed to bad usage, so now I accept 

 the stings as meekly as possible. The worst 

 sting I ever got was when hunting for a 

 queen. While peering into the hive the tip 

 of my nose Avas suddenly attacked. Now, 

 that is a decidedly vulnerable point, and the 

 tears coursed down my cheeks so heavily 

 that I had to retire, for I could not see. 

 They say that stings cure rheumatism. I 

 do not know whether that is true or not; 

 but this I can aver: For some years I suf- 



