Jan. 10, 1907 



American Tiee Journal 



hard wurU and heavy hfting, for in 

 handhng tlic 8-fraiiu; Langstroth— one 

 of Iho sniiillcsl Iiivfs— tlioro arc many 

 6o-ponnd lifts, and if slie be incapable 

 of lifting that amount, a woman is 

 likely to be handicapped by her inabil- 

 ity to move or carry a full hive or super, 

 or 6o-ponnd can of honey. It is well 

 enough to depend upon outside help for 

 big days, when carrying in supers of 

 honey for extracting, or in weighing it 

 and crating it for shipment, or convey- 

 ing the bees to their winter quarters; 

 but for the common, every-day work of 

 the apiary, which requires much mus- 

 cular exertion, the woman who aims to 

 become an efficient bee-keeper can not 

 afford to depend too much upon outside 

 help. 



Bee-keeping may be looked upon as a 

 healthy occupation for vvoinen in com- 

 parison with many of the avocations to 

 w'hich she is called, wherein exercise, 

 fresh air and sunshine are denied her. 

 It is true, there will be times when 

 the humidity of the air and the intense 

 heat of the sun, aggravated by the ex- 

 ercise she is forced to take, through 

 the excessive activity of the bees conse- 

 quent upon the weather conditions, may 

 lead her to exclaim, "Why v/as I ever 

 born to be melted like this?" but these 

 conditions usually last for only a few 

 hours in a day, and not very frequently 

 through the season, and there are so 

 many rare, beautiful days to enjoy, dur- 

 ing the honey harvest, that one forgets 

 the discomforts of a few hot, damp, 

 wilty hours, in the pleasure of those 

 when air, and sun, and bees, combine 

 to make the bee-keeper's life worth 

 living. 



One very important part of the busi- 

 ness is the melting of old combs. It is 

 hard, sticky work to cut wired combs 

 out of the frames and put them into 

 the extractor. It is difficult for a wom- 

 an to lift the lid, handle, screw and 

 press off the extractor, without getting 

 up on a chair, even though she be strong 

 and tall ; and this has to be done every 

 time the extractor is filled with combs. 

 The heat, steam and odor of hot wax, 

 pollen, etc., make this one of the most 

 objectionable features of bee-keeping; 

 but as house-cleaning, with its dust, 

 disorder, and discomfort, while in prog- 

 ress, proves such a delight to the house- 

 keeper in its results, so comb-melting 

 amply repays the bee-keeper by the im- 

 proved sanitary condition of the hives ; 

 and from what we learn from conversa- 

 tions with experienced bee-keepers, items 

 in the bee-papers, and deductions from 

 papers read at conventions on the sub- 

 ject of healthy, disease-proof colonies, 

 the renewal of clean, new foundation in 

 the hive forms a very important factor 

 in insuring healthy conditions in the 

 apiary. And the possibility is that if 

 woman, with her natural house-cleaning 

 proclivities, should invade the realm of 

 bee-keeping, this branch of business 

 would be well attended to, and the prob- 

 lem of foul brood solved without any 

 other formula. 



There are many things in connection 

 with bee-keeping that a woman can work 

 at with great pleasure. Take that of 

 opening up a few crates of bee-supplies 

 and transforming the neatly-made and 



precisely-fitted pieces into hive-bodies, 

 bottom-boards and covers, frames with 

 top, bottom and sides of white, clean 

 wood that fit each other like a charm, 

 and fit the hives just as perfectly. Then 

 there are the folding of sections, the 

 wiring of frames and imbedding wire 

 in foundation, etc., all neat, clean, fas- 

 cinating features of the business. 



My advice to the woman who wishes 

 to take up this work would be to spend a 

 season with an experienced bee-keeper, 

 if she has an opportunity, paying strict 

 attention to every detail of the work. 

 She would gain thereby much kriowl- 

 edge that if won by her own experience 

 would cost her dearly. An instance in 

 point of this: 



I had been told to put an empty super 

 under a large swarm, to give them room 

 to cluster and prevent them from swarm- 

 ing out again. I only grasped the one 

 idea — put the super under — and did not 

 note that it should be taken away at a 

 given time; the consequence was that 

 that colony did not store as much honey 

 in the supers ; and in the fall, when I 

 strove to take out what I supposed was 

 an empty hive-body, I found a peck or 

 perhaps a half-bushel of trouble accumu- 

 lated there, in the shape of combs built 

 toward all the points of the compass, 

 young brood in all stages, hundreds of 

 bees crushed between combs that had 

 fallen when the hive was lifted oft', and 

 a possibility that the queen was killed in 

 the general mix-up. To have seen this 

 done promptly would have saved me 

 time, trouble and expense. 



In conclusion, this record shows that 

 a woman ma}' expect the little busy bee 

 to gather honey for her at an average 

 yearly rate of 8l pounds to the colony; 

 that stings may be subject to her, with 

 stickiiKss also ; that hard work, heavy 

 lifting, perspiration, and disagreeable 

 odors must be borne with fortitude ; that 

 careful attention to detail is imperative; 

 and that there are many things in bee- 

 keeping that are calculated to make it 

 an attractive and enjoyable, occupation 

 for women. Miss Trevarrow. 



Meadowville, Ont. 



Mrs. Scott, daughter of Samuel Wood, 

 one of the oldest members, thought that 

 Miss Trevarrow's experience was very 

 encouraging to women bee-keepers. 



Mr. Hershiser — This paper shows 

 what women can do in this line. They 

 should be able to hire inexperienced help 

 to do the heavy work. 



Mr. Deadman — The lifting may be 

 avoided by using Heddon hives, and a 

 wagon to draw supers to the extracting 

 room, and many other labor-saving de- 

 vices. 



Mr. Craig has visited Miss Trevar- 

 row's apiary and found everything neat 

 and in order. 



Mr. Hershiser likes to have the heavy 

 lifting. 



R. W. Roach — Women will notice 

 things going wrong in the yard before 

 a man would do so. 



Sugar Barrels for Honey. 



"How would sugar barrels do for can- 

 died buckwheat honey?" 



Mr. Timbers — If they would hold the 

 honey till it is candied, they would be all 

 right. 



"How can we get lo cents per pound 

 for extracted honey?" 



Always put out a good article. 



Never offer buckwheat honey to a cus- 

 tomer until he asks for it. 



Mr. Hershiser— Well-ripened buck- 

 wheat honey is just as good as clover. 

 The difference is a matter of taste. 



Mr. Ro.ich has learned lo like buck- 

 wheat honey, and finds customers learn 

 this, toi,!. 



Mr. Holtcrmann — It is important that 

 buckwheat honey be well-ripened, and 

 then people who are accustomed to it 

 often prefer it to clover; and the more 

 it is used the more they seem to like it. 



Morley Pettit — When buckwheat hon- 

 ey is well granulated, it is more palata- 

 ble than liquid. 



Mr. Timbers — Next spring make the 

 buckwheat honey all into bees, so it does 

 not get mixed in with the white clover. 

 Pure buckwheat honey is a better flavor 

 than mixed, and the belter flavor is ob- 

 tained on the lighter soil. 



Mr. Craig — Buckwheat is one of the 

 honeys that won't stand re-liquefying. It 

 injures the flavor. 



Mr. Hershiser — You must go slow. 

 Take 24 hours to liquefy a 60-pound can. 

 As to value, I have found that buck- 

 wheat honey suits purposes of biscuit 

 factories just as well as the white honey. 



Mr. Timbers — It is all a question ef 

 locality. If we have more honey than 

 we can retail, hold it over till the next 

 year. Retail as much as possible. I 

 retailed, in 1903, 3000 pounds from the 

 house without soliciting a sale, and I live 

 right in the country. 



A. Laing condemned retailing at a 

 wholesale price. It is not advisable to 

 sell honey-dew at all for retail trade. 



Mr. Holtermann and Secretary Kerby 

 moved that where gross weight is put 

 in a lo-pound and 5-pound pail, the label 

 bear the word "gross weight." Carried. 



Mr. Byer and Morley Pettit favored 

 this idea. 



Mr. Holtermann is in favor of legis- 

 lation, but would not urge that. 



Mr. Dickinson thought they should be 

 compelled to put in net weight. 



Mr. Hershiser puts net weight in 60- 

 pound cans, but gross weight in smaller 

 packages. 



Mr. Timbers said we can not compel 

 meinbers to sell net weight when all 

 other goods with which they have to 

 compete are sold gross weight. 



Laing and Byers — It is far easier to 

 sell a package gross weight than to get 

 pay for the package in any other way. 

 (Coottnued next wceti.) 



HoDey as a Health- Food. — This 



is a 16-page honey-pamphlet intended to help 

 increase the demand for honey. The first 

 part of it contains a short article on " Honey 

 as Food," written by Dr. C. C. Miller. It 

 tells where to keep honey, how to liquefy it, 

 etc. The last part is devoted to ■' Honey- 

 CookiDK Recipes" and "Remedies Using 

 Honey." It should be widely circulated by 

 those selling honey. The more the people are 

 educated on the value and uses of honey, the 

 more honey they will buy. 



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 American Bee Journal. 



