IRufylishe'cl WGGlcly, at Sl^OO per annum. 



San2i>lG Copy sent on Ap-pUcation, 



36th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., MAY 21, 1896. 



No. 21. 



Bee-Keepiag for Women. 



BY MRS. L. C. AXTELL. 



Women living upon a farm, or in the outskirtsof a village, 

 would find it a pleasure, and a profit, by keeping one or more 

 colonies of bees, especially if they desire to have a few dollars 

 all their own. Even though they may have their hands 

 already full of other work, the little time that it takes to caro 

 for bees out-of-doors would give renewed strength and energy, 

 so that the time taken for the bees would not be missed. 



Bees and Sunshine. — In all cool and cloudy or rainy 

 weather bees ought not be disturbed, so that we are not 

 obliged to be out-of-doors caring for bees in weather that 

 would bo injurious to our health. When the bees fly freely, 

 and the wind is not blowing hard, any time during the warm 

 part of the day is a good time to work with them. I prefer 

 not before 9 o'clock in the forenoon, or after 4 in the after- 

 noon, as I find it a little difficult to see the interior of the hive 

 with my bee-hat on, owing to the sun being low down in the 

 horizon. 



Bee- Work is Not Hard Work — at least I do not find 

 it nearly so tiresome as most out-of-door work, or even com- 

 mon housework ; washing, ironing, sweeping, mopping, I find 

 much more tiresoiue. I suppose it is something as we take it ; 

 if we like to do anything, it is more easily done. Of course, if 

 we are already tired out before we go to work with the bees, 

 we will grow more tired, and yet not so much more tired as if 

 we had continued at work in the house, as it is a recreation to 

 be out-of-doors in the glorious sunshine after being shut up in 

 the house the most of the time perhaps for days. To feel and 

 breathe the pure air, and hear the birds sing and the busy hum 

 of the bee, and the eye to rest upon the green grass and trees, 

 and bright flowers, and the beautiful blue sky, is restful, even 

 to the tired body, if not continued too long. 



The Pear of Stings I think prevents many from not 

 liking the work, and yet, when properly protected with a bee- 

 hat or face-veil, and working only in the warm part of the 

 day, and never when cloudy, rainy or cold, and with the use 

 of a good smoker, one need rarely be stung, if we immediately 

 extract the sting by scraping it off (not pinching it, as that 

 squeezes the poison-sac, and causes more poison to enter the 

 flesh), and then pay no attention to the pain, work all the 



harder for a few minutes, most people will soon get so they 

 do not care much if they are stung ; but if we stop work and 

 nurse the sting, and think about it, it seems almost unbear- 

 able ; the mind being upon it makes it many times harder to 

 bear. 



Bees for Young Women would be a delightful employ- 

 ment, it seems to me. They could then remain at home where 

 they could be helpful to their parents, and at the same time 

 be making something for themselves. They, nor any one, 

 should attempt to work with them without learning how. A 

 dollar spent for a good book on bee-culture will teach any one 

 a great deal. Possibly bees in the old box-hive, kept after the 

 let-alone faihion, might be profitable, but I think it pays much 

 better to read up and find out their needs, and get the gentle 

 Italian bees, and give them a chance to do their best, by giv- 

 ing them a warm, movable-frame hive where their wants can 

 all be known and be supplied from time to time. 



Women can be just as successful with bees as men, and 

 that is one kind of work they receive just as much pay for as 

 do men. When we take our honey to market a pound of 



Mrs. L. C. Axtcll, RosevUle, III. 



honey that a woman gets from her bees brings just as much as 

 her husband's or brother's honey. 



Honey Alway's Brings a Paying Price, at least we 

 have always thought so. When there has been a great deal 



