American ^ae Journal 



Jan. 10, 1907 



p=^^m^~l 



doing as directed in the clipping from 

 the Dallas News by me. See page 1003 

 (1906). 

 Rescue, Texas. L. B. Smith. 



Your explanation is good. The same 

 has happened to me, and one season bees 

 were getting much honey (?) from 

 blooming sorghum, but observation 

 showed that the bees were not only 

 working on the bloom, but at the base 

 of the leaves and the upper part of the 

 stem, as well. The cane-stalks were 

 covered with lice, and the bees took 

 home the honey dew. 



At another time the bees were gath- 



ering honey from the oaks, but an in- 

 vestigation showed that the real source 

 was the "live-oak balls" — formed on the 

 trees and caused by a gall insect — from 

 which the "honey" was oozing in large 

 quantities, and eagerly sought by the 

 bees. The honey was dark brown and 

 strong-flavored, unfit for human food, 

 but came just at a time to be of much 

 value in stimulating brood-rearing. 



I have never thought the bees got 

 honey, to any amount at least, from the 

 tassels of the corn-plant, but I have got- 

 ten considerable corn-honej' from the 

 stalks after they had been cut off. 



C^oJnvention 

 Proceedings 



Report of the Ontario, Can- 

 ada, Convention 



REPORTED BY MORLEY PETTIX. 

 [Conlianed from pa^e 14] 



Mr. Miller never was accustomed to 

 have any one use his smoker for him, so 

 he makes a large smoker, the bellows 

 loyi inches long, with the barrel pro- 

 portionately large. This is so he could 

 use a large piece of wood, and so the 

 use of the bellows would not make a 

 flame. He holds the smoker between 

 his knees when not in use, to avoid 

 stooping to the ground. 



Mr. McEvoy does not wear a veil, 

 but smokes the bees so they won't sting. 



Mr. Holtermann knows there is an art 

 in smoking bees, yet it is wiser to wear 

 a veil, and not smoke them so heav- 



Mr. Byer — It is better to smoke just 

 enough, and not too much. The nozzle 

 should be hinged on so it can not 

 drop off. 



Mr. Newton can easily tell by the 

 sound of bees when and how much to 

 smoke. As to a veil, he finds he can 

 do more work in the same time by its 

 use. He does not call for a large 

 smoker, and likes the slip-over cover, 

 not hinged. 



Mr. Hershiser does not believe in be- 

 ing foolhardy about going without a 

 veil, yet does not use it very much. 

 He believes in using one when it is 

 necessary, and not use too much 

 smoke, because it will injure the flavor 

 of the honey. He uses a large smoker 

 because it does not need to be filled so 

 often. He believes the latest Bingham 

 smoker a good one, but has a weak 

 point. It is not strongly enough con- 

 nected with the bellows. Otherwise it is 

 a good one. 



Mr. Miller has a piece of light chain 

 attached to the cover, and a hook on 

 the barrel to fasten the nozzle on. To 



keep the fire from lalliug out there is 

 a narrow rim in the nozzle, and then 

 wads the grass in behind this rim so it 

 does not fall out. 



R. Lowe)' does not like the hood that 

 turns the smoke to one side. He likes 

 a straight nozzle. He does not smoke 

 bees much, and uses pine bark, second- 

 growth. 



Mr. Holtermann likes a narrow and 

 longer barrel. 



Mr. Bailey has an arangement on the 

 barrel of his smoker to hang it on the 

 side of the hive. He uses green grass 

 to keep the smoker cool. 



Mr. Bruune has no hives and does 

 not use a smoker at all during the honey- 

 flow. He wears a veil and carefully 

 handles the bees so as not to irritate 

 them. 



BEE-KEEPING AS AN OCCUPATION 

 FOR WOMEN 



As a rule, to the woman who has had 

 no practical experience with bees, if she 

 thinks of the subject at all, bee-keep- 

 ing stands for honey, large profits, stud- 

 ies in natural history, and stings, the 

 latter probably being considered the sur- 

 est and most objectionable adjunct of 

 the business. But a few years' acquaint- 

 ance with the bee-keepers' pets will 

 teach her that stings are but insignifi- 

 cant incidents in the bee-keeper's life, 

 that honey is not always sure, nor prof- 

 its always large, but the study of the 

 nature and habits of the bee can 

 be depended upon at all seasons of the 

 year to yield a fund of interest to any 

 woman who engages in this occupation. 



The story of my experience with bees 

 is probably my best means of showing 

 what bee-keeping may be as an occu- 

 pation for women. 



I started bee-keeping in 1900 with one 

 colony, for which I had paid $5.00. They 

 did not swarm nor give any surplus 

 honey during the summer, were weak 

 the following spring, and gradually 

 dwindled away till the hive was empty. 

 I purchased another colony for $6.00, 



in May, 1901. When they swarmed I 

 divided the bees and brood in the old 

 brood-chamber, putting half into a new 

 hive, and alternating each with frames 

 of foundation. From the swarm I re- 

 ceived 30 pounds of surplus honey. 



In the spring of 1902 I had 3 colonies, 

 which had given me so little trouble that 

 I thought I could manage a couple more, 

 so I purchased 2 strong colonies for 

 $15.00. When they started to cast out 

 first, second, third" and fourth swarms, 

 I began to have some idea of what 

 bee-keeping meant. Having double brood- 

 chamber, 8-frame Langstroth hives, the 

 swarms were large, and when 2 swarms 

 issued at the same time I had enough 

 to do to lift the double hives away and 

 replace with new ones before the bees 

 began to return, the queen being clipped. 

 I had heard of 20 swarms issuing at 

 the same time in large yeards. but 2 at 

 a time were enough for me just then. 

 Those five colonies gave me 928 pounds 

 of extracted honey, and increased to 16. 

 At the end of the next season I had 

 35 colonies and 1400 pounds of honey 

 from them. I had 30 colonies in the 

 spring of 1904 — 5 having died in the 

 cellar; they yielded about 2600 pounds. 



In the spring of 1905 I had 33 colo- 

 nies, when the weak ones were united 

 with the strong ones; they stored 4700 

 pounds of honey and increased to 49 

 colonies. Last spring (1906), the num- 

 ber decreased to 40, 5 being queenless 

 and 4 too weak to go alone. They 

 yielded 1600 pounds of honey, and I 

 have 39 colonies this fall. 



As to stings, my first serious experi- 

 ence with stings nearly put me out of 

 the business. It was when I had only 

 5 colonies. They seemed to be trying 

 to make a record of 200 pounds per 

 colony for that season, and when I at- 

 tempted to take the honey off they re- 

 sented my interference with their plans 

 with such vigor that I left the hive 

 open and ran to the house, saying to 

 the folks when I got there, "There is 

 no use talking about getting used to 

 stings, I will never be able to stand 

 such punishment as this. It is too much 

 for me." 



But I did not like to be beaten by the 

 little bee so I fortified myself against 

 another attack by covering my hands 

 and wrists with long, heavy gloves, and 

 succeeded in taking the honey off. Ever 

 since that time I have worn gloves in 

 handling my bees; even when clipping 

 queens I used gloves with the finger- 

 tips cut off. I know that wearing gloves 

 is not looked upon with favor by the 

 professional bee-keepers, but when it 

 comes to the question of gloves or de- 

 feat, 'Mcar gloz'cs. 



There are other things connected with 

 the occupation that are not very agree- 

 able — the stickiness of the honey in un- 

 capping; extracting, weighing aiid pour- 

 ing into cans, which has won for the 

 male bee-keeper the title of "Lick 

 Thumbs." This is one of the mildest 

 miseries, so easily reduced to insignifi- 

 cance by the use of w-ater as to be 

 scarcely worth mentioning, only we are 

 treating of bee-keeping as an occupa- 

 tion for women, and she who takes it 

 up is sure to find that this feature cer- 

 tainly belongs to it. 



She may expect, too, considerable 



