172 



Feb. 28, 1907 



American Bee Journal 



appealed very much to the palate, but 

 the first-named was by all means to be 

 preferred. 



Unripe honey is a hard thing to leg- 

 islate against, and the only remedy I 

 see is the education of the bee-keeper 

 to understand that it is to his interest 

 to put only well-ripened honey on the 

 market. Even if you can not appeal 

 to a man's moral instincts, as a gen- 



eral rule, if you pander to his pocket- 

 book, you can convince him. It is 

 always easier to tear down than to 

 build up, and in this matter of better 

 honey, it is discouraging to know that 

 some who could be a power for good if 

 they choose, on the contrary use their 

 influence in persuading bee-keepers 

 that it is not necessary to allow the 

 bees to ripen the honey on the hive. 



Qur ^ 

 'Bee -Keeping 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Mureiiijo, 



Women Lead in Bee-Keeping 



A. I. Root has found at least one re- 

 gion where women take the lead in 

 bee-keeping. He says in Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture : 



It is a Utile peculiar that bee-keeping all 

 through the Black Hills seems to be largely 

 in tbi- hHnds of the women. Our good friend 

 Mr. Anflerson has a harness-shop, and does 

 quilt a business; but his wife has been sue- 

 ceediDg so well in bee-culture that I believe 

 he contemplates closing up his shop and giv- 

 ing his whole attention to bees. I think they 

 have now something like 130 colonies, and 

 have started a very pretty apiary a mile or so 

 out of town. 



Speaking of Bellefourche, S. Dak., 

 he says : 



I found quite an excitement in regard to 

 what had recently been done in bee-culture at 

 this place; and, queer enough, bee-keeping 

 there is almost entirely in the hands of 

 women. One lady said that the bees got so 

 much honey they were everlastingly swarm- 

 ing; and there were so many swarms that 

 came out when nobody was around to care for 

 them that they clustered in dooryards and 

 gardens all over town; and now almost every 

 home had one or more colonies hived in dry- 

 goods boxes, kegs, or something else; but the 

 women were taking the lead. 



Honey Sandwiches 



Chop together enough seeded raisins 

 and English walnuts to make a large 

 cupful, half and half. Add to them I/2 

 tablespoons of honey and 1 tablespoon 

 of orange or lemon juice ; mix well and 

 spread between thin buttered slices of 

 white bread. — Chicago Record-Herald. 



Beginners and the Bee-Papers 



I have a great deal of sympathy for 

 beginners in not understanding tech- 

 nical terms, and the more advanced 

 knowledge that comes from practise 

 and experience. I can remember the 

 time when all these things were Dutch 

 to me, and of making some great, big 

 blunders in managing my bees, owing 

 to this ignorance. But after getting 



That Black-Stockinged Little Qirl 



an " A B C of Bee Culture," and apply- 

 ing the knowledge gained therefrom in 

 handling my bees, I soon learned to 

 know the terms, and step along in the 

 more advanced classes, which, in a 

 graded school, would be like keeping 

 back classes to bring up certain new 

 members to a standard equal to those 

 more advanced, in order to go on. I 

 refer to the editorial on page 25. 



Mrs D. M. Brown. 

 Cherry Hill, Pa. 



Yes, like any other study there are 

 things a little difficult to understand 

 for the beginners in bee-keeping, even 

 the terms used are not always self- 

 defining. But do you really believe 

 that you would be satisfied to have 

 everything in every number of the 

 American Bee Journal so written that 

 the beginner with absolutely no knowl- 

 edge of bee keeping, should understand 

 every sentence ? Take this sentence : 

 "An excluder is often used to prevent 

 the queen from entering the supers." 

 Probably not one reader in a thousand 

 will have any difficulty in understand- 

 ing what is meant ; but to bring the sen- 

 tence to the comprehension of such a 

 beginner as has been mentioned, it 

 would be necessary to expand the sen- 

 tence somewhat after this style : 



"An excluder, which consists of zinc 

 having perforations about ' 6 of an 

 inch wide, through which the workers 

 may readily pass, but which prevents 

 the passage of the queen, which is the 

 only perfect female in the hive, and 

 lays all the eggs, is often used to pre- 

 vent the queen from entering the 

 super, which is the compartment placed 

 over the hive in which the bees may 

 store the surplus honey." Now, sup- 

 pose that that sort of thing were kept 

 up, and in every number each word not 

 fully understood by the rawest begin- 

 ner should be fully defined, how long 

 would you be willing to take such a 

 paper ? 



tS' I can't say too much for the American 

 Bee Journal. I can't keep bees without it. 

 I wish it the best of success. — M. A. Stone, 

 of Iowa. 



I note with pleasurable interest tjie 

 comments on page 1034 (1906), under 

 head of " Our Bee Keeping Sisters," of 

 the picture of a " Black-Stockinged 

 Little Girl." A§ I scan that criticism, 

 it occurs to me that Miss Wilson should 

 have been a lawyer. That " Doesn't it 

 prove too much ?'' — if she had said 

 nothing more, reveals what was dis- 

 turbing the gray matter of her brain. 

 The point was ingeniously made, and, 

 had her hypothesis been correct, might 

 have furnished a basis for an argu- 

 ment ; but, the fact is, in taking the 

 picture, I had no other motive than to 

 present the young lady with a photo- 

 graph of herself holding a frame of 

 bees. 



Now, right here, before I forget it, 

 allow me to pay my respects to the 

 Editor for the part he has taken in this 

 matter. He made the question of 

 "Black Stockings " prominent by en- 

 titling the picture. To be candid, I 

 think he should be indicted for malic- 

 ious mischief, and be sent up for life. 

 Nobody can tell what a world of trouble 

 this matter may cause me, for we all 

 know that, to intimate to the majority 

 of bee-keepers that bees are no more 

 inclined to sting persons dressed in 

 black than in any other color, is like 

 flirting a red rag before an infuriated 

 bull. It stirs up an immense amount 

 of nevous energy, and I'm not the fel- 

 low to do anything of the kind if it can 

 be avoided, but have my own convic- 

 tions upon that matter from personal 

 experience and experiment. 



But to return to the little girl : When 

 she came into the yard, I put a veil 

 over her face to insure safety, and after 

 going through the hive, finding the 

 queen, etc., and the bees becoming 

 quiet, I risked removing the hat for a 

 snapshot (as my kodak was near), the 

 wearing of black stockings being a 

 mere incident which I regarded as un- 

 important. 



I am sorry to learn that the bees in 

 the neighborhood of Marengo have a 

 reputation such as is generally given 

 them by those most intimately ac- 

 quainted ; it certainly is anything but 

 flattering. As results follow cause, we 

 are naturally inclined, especially where 

 the results are unpleasant, to try to 

 ascertain what the cause is. My bees 

 are handled gently, neither tobacco in 

 any form, nor intoxicating liquor of 

 any kind used, neitherdo they give me, 

 nor any one else, any trouble. It is 

 true, they are thorough-bred 3 banders, 

 but are no sleepy-heads by any means, 

 for I could stir them up so that they 

 would ^o for the whole neighborhood. 



Not knowing just what the practise 

 is in handling bees in the neighbor- 

 hood of Marengo, it would be almost 

 hazardous to offer advice, and espe- 

 cially gratuitous advice. Were one 

 better acquainted with Miss Wilson, 

 we might suggest as an experiment, 

 that she secure a different sort of a 

 helper. You know slight changes 

 sometimes produce surprising results. 

 For instance, some remove the queen, 

 thinking to cure bee-paralysis; others 

 paint the barn red and think the result 

 favorable. "The woods are full " of 

 good material — persons who have none 



