230 



AMERICAN BEE JOUHNAL 



April 10, 1902 



ivg our extracting- crew at work for a few hours, he said : 

 "It is of no use for one to think that he can, after IS years 

 of absence, find an industry just as he left it, for he is sure 

 to be away behind." 



And so, if we read a text-book, we will get knowledge 

 acquired at the date when the text-book was printed ; but if 

 we do not take a bee-paper, we are sure, after a few years, 

 to find ourselves " away behind." 



Yet practical bee-keepers are very careful not to accept 

 new theories, or new implements, or new methods, until 

 they have been thoroughly tested, and it is well to warn the 

 beginner against taking hold of anj' new thing which he 

 has not seen recommended in the text-books, unless it has 

 been previously tested on a sufficient scale to make it rea- 

 sonably sure of success. Many and many an implement or 

 a new method has been lauded to the skies, to be found 

 afterwards only an imposition, usually introduced in good 

 faith by some self-deluded individual. 



Hancock Co., 111. 



No. 4.— Bee-Keeping for Women. 



Helpful Advice on How They Should Dress for 

 Bee-Work. 



BV EMMA M. WILSON. 



THERE is no disputing the fact that in bee-keeping men 

 have a decided advantage over women in the mat- 

 ter of dress. It is so much easier for them to dress 

 cool and comfortable, and also easier to protect themselves 

 from stings, than it is for women. I have felt tempted to 

 envy Dr. Miller more than once, on a sweltering hot day, as 

 he walked around attired in a pair of painter's white over- 

 alls, said overalls tucked in his socks to protect himself 

 from stings. He looked so cool and comfortable — perhaps 

 he did not feel as comfortable as he looked, but he looked 

 tantalizingly cool, at any rate. 



But women can do much to make their dress comfort- 

 able, by a little thought. 



Do not wear heavy skirts that take about all your 

 strength to carry around. I have found a light-weight 

 ■worsted skirt the most satisfactory. Duck skirts are com- 

 fortable, but the fact that they soil so easily is a serious ob- 

 jection to wearing them, as they are not very easily laun- 

 dered. But a worsted skirt and a shirt-waist make a very 

 satisfactory rig. 



A large denim apron covering you completely from head 

 to toe is indispensable. Be sure to make it long enough to 

 reach to the very bottom of your dress, so that if a little 

 honey drips on your apron it will not lodge on the bottom 

 of your dress-skirt on its downward course. 



Denim is the best material I know of for aprons. I 

 formerly used ticking, but I like denim better, as you can 

 get it in plain colors. The last ones I made were of plain 

 brown demin, and were very satisfactory. Either denim or 

 ticking is good, as far as the wear is concerned, as neither 

 will allow the honey to soak through readily. And when 

 you slip out of your apron, after your day's work is done, 

 you present quite a creditable appearance, which is some- 

 thing dear to the heart of a woman, especially if you are at 

 work in an out-apiary and have a long ride home before you. 

 My aprons are cut by one of the Butterick patterns. No. 

 3696, and certainly they are ideal aprons for the apiary. I 

 have worn them for years, and have thoroughly tested 

 them, and I really would feel lost without my big aprons, 

 with their generous pockets. Those pockets are such a 

 comfort II wish our dressmakers would manage to give some 

 such pockets in our dresses; but no. Dame Fashion has 

 doomed us poor mortals to go pocketless). What do I use 

 those pockets for? Well, I am not going to tell you all I put 

 into them, but one thing I do use them for is to carry my 

 hive-tool. I think it would be lost a good share of the time 

 were it not for those pockets. 



One very important item in your outfit is your gloves. I 

 wear a pair of light-weight buckskin at present. I have 

 tried a good many different kinds. For quite a while I wore 

 a white glove, which is quite common. I do not know 

 whether it is sheepskin or hogskin. but I do know that it 

 had a very disageeable odor. If it was not for that it would 

 be a good glove : as it is, I much prefer the light-weight 

 buckskin. 



I sew a pair of white sleeves around the top of the 

 gloves, having the sleeves long enough to come well up on 

 my shoulders. I have a strap sewed from one sleeve to the 

 other across my back. A similiar strap across my chest is 



MISS WILSON DRESSED FOR BEE-WORK. 



sewed to one sleeve! and bottoned to the other. This is a 

 very convenient arrangement, as it takes very little time to 

 slip my gloves off or on, is perfectly bee-proof, and at the 

 same time keeps the sleeves of my dress clean. 



The reason for having the sleeves white is that the bees 

 will rarely sting anything white. I have about half-a-dozen 

 pairs of sleeves, and as fast as one pair becomes soiled I 

 rip them off and sevv on a clean pair. The gloves can be 

 washed clean any time. It is a little more convenient to 

 have two pairs, then you are always sure of having one pair 

 ready for service. 



A comfortable pair of shoes is an item not to be over- 

 looked. Never get a pair of shoes with high heels ; and if 

 you can get a pair with rubber heels you will find them ex- 

 tremely comfortable. If you cannot get the shoes with rub- 

 ber heels, you can have the rubber heels put on by your 

 shoemaker for 50 cents a pair. If you have never tried 

 them just try a pair and see how you like them. 



I am very fond of wearing low shoes and slippers, and 

 many an unnecessary sting I get to pay me for it. 



Now we must not forget the bee-hat. I like a broad- 

 brimmed straw-hat with a veil made of net sewed around 

 the brim, and a rubber cord run in the hem around the bot- 

 tom of the veil ; a safety pin caught through the hem 

 passing over the rubber cord in front, ready to pin down 

 securely to my apron, pulling it down tight enough so the 

 rubber cord will be drawn taut, then I feel sure no bee will 

 be able to get under my veil. 



One advantage a woman has over a man is that she can 

 use a hat-pin to pin her hat on, and that is a comfort. You 

 are sure your hat is not going to tumble over your eyes at a 

 critical moment when both hands are full. Let us score one 

 for the women on that point. 



One trouble I have is to get a hat with a crown small 

 enough so the hat will not rest on my ears. I don't see why 

 some accomodating soul doesn't make a few hats especially 

 for women. McHenry Co., 111. 



Selling Comb Honey by Weight vs. Case. 



BY K. A. BURNETT & CO. 



WE have read two articles in the March 13th issue — one by 

 J. A. Green, and the other by R. C. Aikin. They are 

 both excellently written, and the personality of each 

 writer i.s strongly in evidence. Recently we had the pleasure 

 of meeting Mr. Green (who, by the way. is an old acquaint- 

 ance), and we have the usual regret that comes to all of us 

 when we lose a neighbor ; yet the matter of a thousand miles 

 separation is not as much of a hindrance to intercourse as it 

 was a (juarter of a century ago. So rapidly are we progress- 

 ing in the evolution of the power latent in man that we can 

 even dare look forward to the time when competition — 

 which until very recently has been considered the necessary 

 thing to the developement of man's power— that it, too, will 

 have served its purpose and no longer be a necessary evil. 



