AUGUST 1, 1913 



523 



unsolved problem. I never pass our hives 

 without mentally asking, ' Well, you dear 

 little rascals, what will you do next ? ' The 

 bees are of particular interest to women for 

 several reasons. If she likes good house- 

 keeping, 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 perfection; 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 an ideal, although as a 

 widow she is certainly remarkable and per- 

 haps even notorious. Another phase which 

 makes beekeeping a pleasing avocation for 

 women is that much of the work is interest- 

 ing and attractive. I never sit down to the 

 job of folding sections and putting in start- 

 ers without experiencing joy at the i^retti- 

 ness of the work. And if there is any high- 

 er artistic happiness than comes from clean- 

 ing up a section holding a pound of well- 

 capped amber honey and putting the same 

 in a dainty carton for market, then I have 

 never experienced it. 



" As a means of cultivating calmness, 

 patience, and self-control, the bee is a well- 

 recogiiized factor. Bees can be, and often 

 are, ptofoundly exasperating, and yet how 

 worse than futile it is to evince that exas- 

 peration by word or movement! No crea- 

 ture reacts quicker against irritation than 

 does the bee. She can not be kicked nor 

 spanked; and if we smoke her too much, 

 we ourselves ai'e the loser. There is only 

 one way to manage exasperation with bees, 

 and that is to control it, and this makes the 

 apiary a means of grace." 



AVhile these words are a message of a 

 woman to women, they are words of wisdom 

 to any who contemplate getting bees. 



One of the most interesting things in 

 connection with the bee is its adaptability to 

 so many different climatic conditions. Ap- 

 parently being able to adapt itself to any 

 locality that will furnish the necessary nec- 

 tar-producing plants, C. P. Gillette, of the 

 Colorado Agricultural College, in a lantern 

 lecture before the Colorado Beekeepers' 

 Association, said in part : 



" The honeybee is, with the possible ex- 

 ception of the silkworm, the most important 

 commercial insect. Although the bee is 

 handled and cared for throughout its life 

 by man, it can hardly be considered a do- 

 mesticated animal. A colony of bees in the 

 apiary differs from a colony of wild bees in 

 a bee-tree or a ledge of rocks only because 

 of the difference in the home they dwell in. 

 The insect intelligence is not capable of 



being taught as one might teach a dog or a 

 horse. 



" Bees do wonderful things to provide 

 for their home needs and the care of the 

 young; but they do all from instinct, and 

 not from education received from others 

 after they are grown. 



" There are a great many fossils of in- 

 sects found in rocks of the earth's crust that 

 must have been formed at a time long be- 

 fore man inhabited the earth. It is alto- 

 gether probable that our honeybee was 

 present upon the earth gathering nectar 

 and pollen, cross-fertilizing plants, and 

 caring for its home, before the earth was 

 in a condition to be inhabited by human 

 beings. We are also interested in the honey- 

 bee because it stands at the head of its 

 class, thus rather ranking in the insect 

 world with man in the I'ealm of higher ani- 

 mal life." 



While the bee is of great commercial im- 

 portance to man as a gatherer of one of 

 the choicest sweets that we have upon our 

 tables, it probably is of even greater benefit 

 in the cross-fertilization of the flowers of 

 our agi-ieultural fruits and plants in so 

 causing larger crops. 



Mr. John Fields, editor of the Oklahoma 

 Farm Journal, and able exponent of alfalfa 

 and Bermuda grass, says, " We feel that an 

 extension of the bee industry would help 

 extend the acreage of alfalfa, and that 

 everybody would be all the happier as a re- 

 sult." 



Well, I am not sure whether I am in the 

 big field of beekeeping as a side line or not, 

 but will call your attention to the words of 

 Mr. Doolittle as to the necessary requisites 

 for a successful beekeeper. 



" Like all other branches of rural economy 

 it demands care and experience; and those 

 who are conscious of a strong disposition 

 to procrastinate and neglect will do well to 

 let bees alone unless they hope by their 

 systematic industry to reform evil habits 

 which are well nigh incurable. If you are 

 to succeed you must be so absorbed in it 

 that you will think bees, talk bees, dream 

 bees, and never tire of their study. You 

 must be one who anticipates their every 

 want, and one who will do the right thing 

 at the right time." 



Root's A B C of Bee Culture has this to 

 say about bees as a side line : 



" The keeping of bees is generally more 

 successfully carried on in connection with 

 some other business. Many a professional 

 man desires some sort of light recreation, 

 and a few bees will afford him just the di- 

 version he needs. Farmers, fruit-growers, 

 or horticulturists, can keep from 50 to 100 

 colonies without greatly interfering with 



