AMERICAN BKE JOURNAL. 



397 



death of good queens when the pur- 

 chasers are so anxiously awaiting their 

 arrival. Then what a disappointment 

 to find them dead ! 



I would so much enjoy meeting your 

 bee-keepers in convention. Your con- 

 vention reports are very interesting and 

 instructive to us over here. I like to 

 read your Australian bee-talks ; and, by 

 the way, your Bee Bulletin is an excel- 

 lent journal, and you are deserving of 

 patronage and success. I trust that 

 Australian bee-keepers will sustain your 

 efforts. Jennie Atchley. 



To Beginners in Bee-Keeping. 



Dr. Miller's talk on answering ques- 

 tions by letter strikes me very forcibly, 

 and I cannot help offering a few more 

 words in addition to what the Doctor 

 has said. First, I will allow you to read 

 one of hundreds of just such letters, 

 then you can better understand my ex- 

 planation : 



Houston, Tex., Aug. 6, 1894. 



Mrs. Jennie Atchley : — I saw a com- 

 munication from you some weeks since, 

 in the Houston Post, concerning bee- 

 culture, so I thought perhaps you would 

 be kind enough to answer a few inquiries 

 that I would like to make about the 

 business, and also about Beeville. 



I am a widow with five children, have 

 a little money, and would like to go into 

 some business that a woman could at- 

 tend to herself, and still beat home with 

 her little children. I know nothing 

 whatever about bees, but after reading 

 your letter, it occurred to me that prob- 

 ably I might buy just a few acres of 

 ground, have one or two cows, and so 

 almost raise my living, then make some- 

 thing with the bees, as I should not sup- 

 pose it would take all one's time to at- 

 tend to them. 



Please excuse me for troubling you 

 with my private affairs, but I thought if 

 I explained the whole situation, you 

 would be better able to advise me 

 whether you thought any one with no 

 experience whatever, could venture to 

 undertake the business, with any hope 

 of success. 



If you would kindly write me about 

 what it would cost to get started, and 

 about what a small place would cost, 

 etc., I would be very thankful to you in- 

 deed. Is there any opening in Beeville 

 that you know of that a lady could take 

 hold of, except the bees — any business, I 

 mean ? I have a great notion that a 

 person could get on better in a small 



place where everything is not already 

 filled. Are there good educational ad- 

 vantages there, so my children would 

 not suffer? 



Hoping that I have not asked too 

 great a favor, and that you will answer 

 at your earliest convenience, I am. 

 Very truly yours, 



Mrs. B. B. R. 



Now, it seems that such letters mxist 

 have a personal reply. Well, that is 

 only the beginning of trouble, as the 

 answer just opens up a place for ques- 

 tions four times in number, and to cut 

 off such correspondence is next to an im- 

 possibility, unless one just drops it, and 

 that won't do, for if we wish to promote 

 apiculture, we must answer questions. 



Now, after writing the good lady 

 above mentioned, and explaining things 

 in as short a manner as I knew how, 

 telling her if she would subscribe for the 

 American Bee Journal I would there 

 answer all her questions, and she would 

 gain knowledge faster, and be less bur- 

 den on me, then came a second letter, 

 asking if she had better get a colony or 

 two of bees, and correspond with me a 

 year or two and get some experience, 

 then take the Bee Journal. Of course 

 I always advise a beginner to get from 

 two to four colonies of bees (not more), 

 and then take a bee-paper, etc. 



Now, after considerable correspond- 

 enc3 I wish to give the last letter re- 

 ceived, and you will at once almost 

 catch the middle correspondence : 



Houston, Tex., Sept. 4, 1894. 



Mrs. Atchley :— This is the first op- 

 portunity I have had to answer your 

 kind letter, owing to serious illness in 

 my family. Your letter gave me a good 

 deal of encouragement. I am very fond 

 of an out-door life, have always been, 

 and would neglect my household duties 

 any time in order to work in my flower 

 garden. 



I think I possess the qualities you 

 speak of, viz.: energy and determina- 

 tion, and am certainly not afraid of 

 work. I had about made up my mind 

 that I had made a mistake in regard to 

 the bee-business not taking my whole 

 time — just as you said anything will, 

 properly attended to. 



One thing troubles me. I am not at 

 all nervous or timid, still, would it be 

 safe, do you think, for a woman to live 

 alone with five small children, out in 

 the country, or is it pretty well settled 

 up around Beeville? Would it be wise 

 to undertake as many as 30 to 50 colo- 

 nies right at first? I thought probably 



