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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



773 



given the free air of heaven, they will expand into biossoms, 

 tnaturinj; delicious fruit. Woman will then develop into a 

 self-reliant, capable beinR ; she will then no longer be the 

 slave of a drunken despot of a husband for the sake of a crust. 

 A man, in one of his drunken sprees, said to a friend of mine 

 lately, "Women used to cling to a man, get him out of the 

 gutter when drunk, but they will not do it any more." She 

 don't have to when she can support herself and her little ones. 

 Many a woman who is well provided for desires to earn 

 money ; a lady who had traveled the world over, and had 

 everything that she desired that money could supply, being 

 askt what had given her the greatest pleasure, she replied, 

 "A few dollars that I once earned." Maay a woman whose 

 heart's desire is to help a poor relative, give to a charity, or to 

 a church, has said to herself, " O, if I could only earn the 

 money myself, I would gladly do so." 



There are many avenues of emolument open to women 

 who have no home ties : teaching, typewriting, book- 

 keeping, telegraphing, and many find' employment in 

 manufactories. The number of occupations open to women 

 have iucreast from TO to more than 500 In less than 40 

 years. The want is something that home-keepers can do to 

 earn money. There was a wide field open to the ingenuity of 

 our grandmothers. They spun wool, cotton and flax, dyed 

 and wove, cut and made garments, but now the inventive 

 genius of man has superseded this with nimble-fingered ma- 

 chinery. Butter and cheese are made at factories. The ever- 

 busy mind of woman must now seek other avenues for the 

 exercise of her faculties. 



There is much more in a colony of bees than the honey 

 and wax they represent. They offer to any intelligent and 

 inquisitive mind a rich field of thought. Nature is rich in re- 

 sources, and honey-bees are in close relation with it. Sex in 

 plants Is now attracting more attention than formerly, and 

 bees act as marriage-priests ; while gathering the pollen to 

 make the bee-bread for their brood, they disseminate the 

 father dust from flower to flower. The cultivation of the 

 honey-bee opens up a new world to a woman of inquiring 

 mind, for every plant that grows possesses new interest to 

 her, for it may mean dollars and cents to her purse. The 

 little, modest white clover, wherever it rears its head, is petted 

 and carest as it holds within its petals nectar — fit food for the 

 gods. There Is a lesson to be learned from the inmates of 

 the hive. 



" So work the honey-baes— 

 Creatures that by a rule in Nature teach 

 The art of order to a peopled klnffdom." 



The government of a colony of bees is all in the hands of 

 the females, and a woman may gain inspiration by its study 

 as to how best to manage her household. When the young 

 bee issues from its cell, weak and downy, it has not strength 

 to roam the fields and carry heavy loads of honey and pollen — 

 it is then given the care of the young to feed and nourish ; 

 digest the food and feed the queen and drones; secrete wax 

 and build the comb, and is daily given a play-spell in the open 

 air to locate its hive, and gain strength for the heavy labors 

 of the field. 



The office of the queen is no sinecure, as she lays, at her 

 best, 3,0OO eggs a day, and let her reproductive powers fail, 

 her throne is given to another, for their law is like that of 

 the Medes and Persians, which changes not — the greatest good 

 to the greatest number. 



Bee-culture opens an avenue for woman which has long 

 been a want, as it gives to her the means of acquiring money 

 in the retirement of her home, and at the same time look 

 after the comfort of her household. She may have an invalid 

 husband, decrepit parents, an imbecile brother or sister, or 

 little children ; tho her hands are full yet she feels the need of 

 money to supply their wants. Most of those individuals men- 

 tioned, tho not able to manage an apiary alone, would become 

 interested helpers. Little children can watch bees during 

 swarming-time ; so can an aged parent, sitting in an easy 

 chair, overlooking an apiary, and inform of a swarm, and 

 from which hive it issued, and where it has settled. They 

 would enjoy putting together sections; make time pass hap- 

 pily with them, tho not able to walk. The feeling of being 

 useful in lieu of burdens, would cause tbem to forget their 

 aches and pains. 



Bee-culture requires no great outlay of strength at any 

 onetime; but to be a success there must be a faithful per- 

 formance of many little items. Any woman who can make 

 a perfect loaf of bread can, having a good location, make bee- 

 culture a success, as she realizes the importance of perform- 

 ing all the manipulations of the colony at the exact time. It 

 requires no outlay for land upon which to raise crops, for as 

 yet there has been no plant discovered that pays to plant for 

 honey alone. The honey-bee is a benefactor to our race, 



roaming the fields at will, gathering honey and pollen which 

 it pays for in the fertilization of flowers. She takes nothing 

 from the fertility of the soil, but gives to It one of the great- 

 est fertilizers known — the clovers— which would become ex- 

 tinct if it were not for her agency in fertilizing the bloom. No 

 land is required except a spot on which to place the hives. I 

 knew a poor woman who occupied the second story of a tene- 

 ment in a large city, and had no place to set her hives except 

 upon a slanting roof. Her few hives kept under such dis- 

 advantages added materially to her slender income. I know 

 of another lady who invested SfiOO in bees, hives, and patented 

 fixtures who realized nothing from her expenditures. She had 

 read a sensational story of a fortune being made in beekeep- 

 ing, and invested her means without knowledge, and en- 

 trusted the care of her apiary tn a person who knew nothing 

 of bees, but that "they stung and gathered honey." Bee-cul- 

 ture is a science requiring study and thought. 



Women have made a success In bee-culture, and what 

 woman has done woman can do. Two young women attend- 

 ing a boarding-school, suddenly found themselves thrown 

 upon their own resources. Their father's fortune had flown, 

 and with it his mind. In a log house upon a little clearing in 

 a Michigan woods they engaged in bee-culture, and from its 

 source supported their invalid parents, and obtained the 

 means for erecting a good home, surrounded not only with the 

 comforts but the elegancies of life. Mrs. Sherman, a grand, 

 noble woman of Texas, left a widow with an only son, reared 

 and educated him, at the same time caring for an aged 

 father, by the culture of bees and poultry. 



I've been a bee-keeper for 25 years, with varied experi- 

 ence, commencing with two colonies, and increasing in bee- 

 lore with the same ratio as my colonies by reading standard 

 works on bee-culture, and the many periodicals devoted to 

 this industry. Crops of honey have their off years, the same 

 as fruit and grain, with this in their favor, when the honey 

 crop fails, there has been no labor expended in plowing and 

 sowing. And with very few exceptions bees will store during 

 the season sufficient honey for their own wants until flowers 

 bloom another season, costing their owner nothing for their 

 support. In most States bees are not taxt. The largest 

 number of colonies that I have owned at one time was 120; 

 the largest crop of honey during one season was 5,000 

 pounds. 



Bee-keeping has been to me one of ray greatest pleasures. 

 The ancients called the honey-bee " Deborah," or she that 

 speaketh. She has spoken to me in words of love and cheer ; 

 expanded to my view rich fields of thought; improved my 

 health and cheerfulness ; inspired me with new aims and de- 

 sires ; and furnisht me with the means for travel, recreation 

 and improvement. I cordially introduce other women to her 

 acquaintance, and that she may prove as good a friend to 

 them as to the writer, is my fondest desire. 



(Mrs.) L. Harrison. 



G. M. Doolittle^How many bee-keepers present ever saw 

 a worker feed a drone ? 



Seven held up their hands. 



Mr. Doolittle — I have never seen a worker feed a drone. 



F. Danzenbaker — I have seen workers feeding drones 

 when the latter had been shut up in a trap three hours. 



Mr. Doolittle — Unless we need drones for propagation we 

 should keep them down. If you put six combs of drone-brood 

 into a colony just before the basswood honey harvest, these 

 drones will eat all of the honey that is gathered, and no sur- 

 plus will come from that hive. 



Dr. A. B. Mason — How do the bees get rid of drones? 



Mr. Doolittle — The bees persecute them and drive them 

 from the hive. 



Dr. Miller — I think that I have seen it mentioned that 

 the workers prepare food for the drones the same as they do 

 for the queen, and that the workers bring about the destruc- 

 tion of the drones by withholding this food. 



Mr. Abbott — T«'o of the most competent men in Europe 

 have taken this stand. 



Rales on Honey anal Bees. 



A petition was read asking that the transportation com- 

 panies class extracted honey the same as syrup, that is, fourth 

 class. Approved. 



Mr. Holtermann — The rates on bees are too high. The 

 railroads stand iu their own light. It rates were lower, more 

 bees would be shipt. 



Mr. McKnight— So few persons ship bees that it isn't of 

 much consequence. 



Dr. Miller— In the old countries rates are so low that bees 

 are sent to new pastures and returned by rail. We cannot do 

 that in this country. We often advise a beginner to buy a 



