37th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., APRIL 8, 1897. 



No. 14. 



mRS. J. N. HEATER. 



Last week we gave but a simple aDDOUcemeat of the sud- 

 den and unexpected death of one of our best loved of women 

 bee-keepers — Mrs. .' N. Heater, of Columbus, Nebr. This 

 week it is with a sad heart that we record some of the partic- 

 ulars concerning her departure, and somewhat of her devoted 

 life and labors. Permit us to say that for much of our infor- 

 mation we are indebted to the enterprising newspapers pub- 

 lisht where Mrs. Heatsr'lived and labored. 



About three-montfis ago Mrs. Heater left her home to go 

 to Kansas City, Mo., to spend the winter. She was apparently 

 in the best of healv'a, and when on Saturday, March 13, a dis- 

 patch was received that she had past away at 4 o'clock that 

 morning, it created a ereat shock in the community where she 

 was so well known and beloved by all. 



The funeral services were held at the family residence, 

 Tuesday, March 16, the Rev. A. L. Mickel, of the Methodist 

 church oCSciating, with hundreds of friends of the deceast pres- 

 ent to pay their respects and extend condolence to the be- 

 reaved husband. 



The particulars of the death are very sad. An operation 

 had been performed on Mrs. Heater for some ailment, and was 

 considered successful, but the administration of. the necessary 

 anaesthetic had a bad effect on the patient's system, and she 

 was taken down and continued to sink until the end. On Fri- 

 day night, Mrs. Heater could not sleep, and towards morning, 

 Mr. Heater, who was at her bedside, said to his wife: "Shall 

 I sing to you ? Perhaps it will put you to sleep." The suffer- 

 ing one nodded assent, and Mr. Heater softly sang a favorite 

 song, and she seemed to drop into a gentle sleep, but, alas, the 

 watching husband soon found to his sorrow it was the sleep of 

 Death. 



Mrs. Heater was born in Defiance county, Ohio, March 5, 

 1866. Her maiden name was Annie E. Case. She came to 

 Nebraska in 187.3 with her parents and settled in St. Edward, 

 Boone county. She was married to Mr. Heater September 6, 

 1876, and in July, 1878, they took up their residence in Co- 

 lumbus. 



Mrs. Heater was a woman of amiable disposition, warm 

 hearted and of generous sympathies. She was kind hearted, 

 a good neighbor, a loving wife, and merited the good will of all 

 with whom she was acquainted. 



Before her marriage, Mrs. Heater taught school in Indi- 

 ana and Nebraska. About 15 years ago she embarkt in the 

 bee-business as a source of employment in the absence of her 

 husband, whose business called him away from home most of 

 the time. For many years she was the leading exhibitor of 

 bees and honey at the State fair. She was one of the distin- 

 guisht bee-keepers of Nebraska's bee and honey display at 

 the World's Fair. She enjoyed the distinction of being the 

 "Bee-Queen of Nebraska." In bee-literature Mrs. Heater 

 was known far and wide. She was on the "Question-Box" 

 staff of the American Bee Journal for a number of years, and 



many of her contributions on bee-culture have been publisht 

 and widely circulated. 



In this sad hour, Mr. Heater has the tender sympathy of 

 a host of friends who well know the loss be has sustained. 



It was our good fortune to meet Mr. and Mrs. Heater at 

 the World's Fair convention, in 1893. Both Mrs. York and 

 the writer were wonderfully drawn toward them, as we felt 

 that in them we had found two true and noble persons. 



At the Lincoln convention, last October, we again had a 

 very pleasant meeting with both Mr. and Mrs. Heater. We 

 distinctly remember walking from the hotel to the convention 

 hall with Mrs. Heater, one morning, her husband having some 

 business to attend to that forenoon. Mrs. Heater was so cheer- 



Mrs. J. N. Heater. 



ful, so hopeful, and talkt on about her prosperous bee and sup- 

 ply business, her property interests, her home, church work, 

 and busy life in general. 



Her paper on "The Past and Future of Bee-Culture," read 

 at that meeting, was a bright gem. It will be found in full in 

 the publisht report. 



But Mrs. Heater is gone. No more will her sweet voice 

 and winsome ways bless our conventions, or her intelligent 

 pen grace the pages of our literature. But the memory of her 

 life and loving deeds will ever remain, to encourage us all to 

 be more faithful, more true, more Christlike. 



The Editor. 



Spring Work Among the Bees. 



BY W. M. BARNUM. 



The long winter's sleep Is now over, and the bee is herself 

 once again. Those colonies wintered on the summer stands 

 should now be cautiously examined. It may be that a little 



