Nov. 8, 1906 



933 



American Ttee Journal 



dian Bee Journal, with the opinions of 

 himself and E. G. Hand on the sub- 

 ject of packages. I quite agree with 

 the idea of pushing large packages, in 

 which the honey can granulate and be 

 eaten in that way. Mr. Byer says : 



Only a few days ago we had the pleasure of 

 having Mr. E. G. Hand, of Fenelon Falls, 

 spend a day with us. Among other things 

 discussed at the " convention,'' the subject of 

 retailing honey came in for due attention. As 

 most of the readers of this journal are aware, 

 Mr Hand is a strenuous advocate of pushing 

 the home market for all it is worth, and has 

 in his own town and vicinity exemplified the 

 fact that with a systematic plan of placing 

 good honey before the public, much more 

 honey will be consumed than is the case 

 when ordinary, slipshod methods are followed. 



While the experience of extensive retailers 

 seems to prove conclusively that for the town 

 trade it pays to put up honey in glass, yet to 

 the writer's mind it seems doubtful whether 

 this is true as regards the country and village 

 trade. For example, in a village near us of 

 1200 population, last year, over 2000 pounds 

 of honey was sold in packages of 10 and 5 

 pound pails. To my knowledge not a single 

 pound was sold in glass, and I can hardly 

 think that so much honey would have been 

 sold had all been put up in 1-pound packages. 



On the other hand, it might be argued 

 that some who would pay 15 cents for a single 

 pound would never think of investing 50 cents 

 at one time for a 5-pound pail. In fact, Mr. 

 Hand said he knew of one family who an- 

 nually bought over 150 pound-bottles, who 

 would never think of buying a 5 pound pail 

 at one time. Personally, I feel inclined to 

 think that if there were no pound packages 

 in sight, more than likely the same family 

 would buy 5-pound pails, and incidentally 

 come to the conclusion that it was much the 

 cheaper way of buying honey. 



From the producer's standpoint there is not 

 half as much work in selling honey in pails 

 as there is in putting it up in glass, and in 

 the case of the pails being used the consumers 

 become educated to the use of honey in the 

 granulated form, and it is surprising how 

 many become partial to honey in that condi- 

 tion. 



All things considered, while I would not 

 discourage any way of increasing the sale of 

 honey, yet, in my trade, after taking into con- 

 sideration the demand in my own iocality, I 

 feel a bit slow about investing in glass as long 

 as I can sell in tin packages as readily as in 

 the past. 



would make, and where 3000 to 5000 

 pounds of honey is to be extracted 

 daily for a couple of weeks, is entirely 

 out of the question. With two work- 



ing at a hive, with a good smoker and 

 brushes, the bees can be shaken and 

 brushed off the combs before the rob- 

 ber-bees have much chance. 



Honey-Judging' Contests 



A splendid suggestion for bee-keep- 

 ers' conventions, and even for fall 

 Fairs, in sections where bees are 

 largely kept, comes from R. F. Holter- 

 mann, in Gleanings in Bee Culture — 

 that is, to have a judging contest. He 

 says : 



" Let, say six, samples each of clover, lin- 

 den and buckwheat honey be taken. Let 

 these be judged by points and score card, and 

 the same be filled out by those competing; 

 then let the same be changed about and 

 judged again, and the prizes be given for 

 those doing the most accurate and correct 

 judging, giving reasons for the decision. An 

 hour or two of the convention time taken up 

 in this way would be an educator of value." 



Getting- Bees Off Combs 



Some one writiug in the Maritime 

 Farmer, advises simply taking extract- 

 ing supers, bees and all, into the 

 honey-house to allow the bees to fly to 

 the screen-door and be released. What 

 a terrible mess of clustering bees that 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Why Women Should Keep Bees 



On page 865 were arrayed the possi- 

 ble reasons why women should not 

 keep bees. After having thus pre- 

 sented them, the writer, Mrs. Anna B. 

 Comstock, proceeds thus in Gleanings 

 to present the other side of the ques- 

 tion : 



Thus having disposed of all the reasons I 

 can think of why women shouldn't keep bees, 

 I turn gladly to the more interesting reasons 

 of why she should look upon the apiary as 

 one of her legitimate fields of labor. There 

 are 60 many reasons for this that I could not 

 enumerate them even if a complete number 

 of " Bee Gleanings " were given me for the 

 purpose. So I shall speak of just a few of 

 the more cogent reasons. I should put first 

 of all, and as embracing all other reasons, 

 that bee-keeping may be an interesting avoca- 

 tion which may be carried on coincidentally 

 with other employment; it is an interesting 

 study in natural history; it cultivates calm- 

 ness in spirit; self-control and patience; it is 

 " a heap " of fun ; incidentally it may supply 

 the home table with a real luxury ; and it 

 may add a very considerable amount to the 

 woman's spending money. It also may be 

 carried on as a regular business, and be made 

 to support a family. 



But it is as an avocation that I am espe- 

 cially interested in the apiary. Any woman 

 who keep6 house needs an avocation which 

 shall take her mind and attention completely 

 off her household cares at times. There is 

 something about the daily routine of house- 

 keeping that wears the mind and body full of 

 ruts, even in the case of those who love to do 

 housework better than anything else. Talk 

 about the servant question? It is not the 

 servant question ; it is the housework ques- 

 tion. If some means could be devised by 

 which housework could be performed with 

 inspiration, zeal, and enthusiasm, the servant 

 problem would solve itself; but thi6 ideal 

 way of doing housework can be carried on 

 only when the spirit is freed from the sense 

 of eternal drudgery. I am not a wizard to 

 bring about this change; but I know one 

 step toward it, and that is the establishment 

 of some permanent interest for women that 

 will pull her out of the ruts and give her 

 body and mind a complete change and rest. 

 Embroidery, lacemaking, weaving, painting, 

 and several other like occupations, may serve 

 this purpose in a measure, and perhaps if 

 carried on in the right way might achieve 

 more in this line than they do at present. But 

 these are all indoor occupations; and what a 

 woman needs is something to take her out-of- 

 doors where she can have fresh air. The ex- 

 cess perspiration induced by the cook-stove is 

 weakening; but the honest sweat called forth 

 in the open air by an application of generous 

 sunshine, is a source of health and strength. 



Beekeeping is one of the best of these life- 

 saving, nerve-healing avocations; it takes the 

 mind from household cares as completely as 



would a trip to Europe, for one can not work 

 with bees and think of anything else. Some 

 of the attributes which make bee-keeping an 

 interesting avocation I will mention: First 

 of all, the bees are such wonderful little crea- 

 tures, and so far beyond our comprehension, 

 that they have for us always the fascination 

 of an 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 woman 

 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 shin- 

 ing 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 cer- 

 tainly remarkable, and perhapseven notorious. 



Another phase which makes bee-keeping a 

 pleasing avocation for women, is that much 

 of the work is interesting and attractive. I 

 never sit down to the "job "of folding sec- 

 tions and putting in starters without experi- 

 encing joy at the prettiness of the work. And 

 if there is any higher artistic happiness than 

 comes from cleaning up a section holding a 

 pound of well-capped amber honey and put- 

 ting the same in a dainty carton for market, 

 then I have never experienced it; and the 

 making of pictures has been one of my regu- 

 lar vocations. By the way, woman has never 

 used her artistic talent rightly in this matter 

 of cartons. Each woman bee-keeper ought 

 to make her own color design for her carton, 

 thus securing something so individual and 

 attractive as to catch at once the eye of the 

 consumer. 



As a means of cultivating calmness, pa- 

 tience and self-control, the bee is a well-recog- 

 nized factor. Bees can be, and often are, 

 profoundly exasperating, and yet how worse 

 than futile it is to evince that exasperation 

 by word or movement. No creature reacts 

 quicker against irritation than does the bee. 

 She can not be kicked nor spanked; and if 

 we smoke her too much, we ourselves are the 

 losers. There is only one way to manage ex- 

 asperation with bees, and that is to control it, 

 and this makes the apiary a means of grace. 



The money-making side of bee-keeping is a 

 very important phase in arousing and con- 

 tinuing the woman's interest in her work. I 

 think woman is by birth and training a nat- 

 ural gambler, and the uncertainties of the 

 nectar supply, and of the honey market, add 

 to rather than detract from her interest in her 

 apiary. I know of several women who have 

 made comfortable incomes and supported 

 their families by bee-keeping; but, as yet, I 

 think such instances are few. However, I 

 believe there are a large number of women 

 who have added a goodly sum yearly to their 

 amount of spending money, and have found 

 the work a joy instead of drudgery. Per- 

 sonally, I have had very little experience with 



