Mar. 28, 1907 



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Americ nUae Journal 



263 



thing on the place "—his stock is fine, 

 and the cattle, hogs — even the chickens, 

 if the beekeeper be a farmer also. 



Ask for a drink of water, and tell 

 him how you used to be on the farm at 

 one time or another, and by this time, 

 if he has not already invited you to 

 stay for dinner with him, there is your 

 opportunity to ask him something 

 about his honey-prospects and /tis bees. 

 Nine times, if not ten times, out of ten 

 you will gain your point. Most likely 

 dinner will be ready by this time, and 

 it will be proposed by the bee-keeper, 

 of course, that " we'll have dinner first, 

 and then we might take a look at my 



apiary." I len, of course, he will 

 show you li bees, while "the Mr. In- 

 spector, wh ot the 'noteof warning,' 

 does the resi See ? 



It must b( remembered, however, 

 that not all ■•.ises can be " handled " 

 alike, and one manner of approaching 

 a bee-keeper who does not want the in- 

 spector on his place, may succeed with 

 one and not with another. If possible, 

 study your subject, and then plan your 

 " attack " accordingly ; and if the 

 plans are the right ones, the battle is 

 easily won. 



Such is the more difficult part of bee- 

 inspection. 



Dur ^ 

 "Bee- Keeping 



'>.y~'aai';vTr- 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marcut^u, in 



A Sister's Experience in Folding 

 Sections 



Dear Miss Wilson : — One day I 

 noticed an invitation to bee-keeping 

 sisters to " rise in meetin' " and tell 

 their experiences. So I thought I would 

 begin mine at the beginning, and if 

 you consider me at all interesting, I 

 will tell you several things that hap- 

 pened. I can not give any learned or 

 scientific papers on "Why is a bee?" 

 but for plain, every-day facts, I can 

 tell a few. 



The way I became interested in bees 

 was one day papa said, " I need sec- 

 tion-boxes very much, and I don't see 

 how I will find the timetomake them." 

 I said, " I'll make 'em." Papa thought 

 it over, and finally concluded I might. 

 So he showed me just how to proceed. 



The boxes were in two pieces, and I 

 laid quite a bunch across a pan. and 

 poured hot water into the grooves with 

 a spoon, always having one bunch 

 soaking while I made up those pre- 

 viously soaked. Picking up a piece I 

 took hold of both ends and carefully 

 bent it into shape, holding it with my 

 left hand. I laid the short piece into 

 place, and with a light blow from a 

 tack-hammer, it slipped into the notches 

 on one end. Then I fixed the other 

 end. Of course, it sometimes happened 

 that it did not work smoothly, but I got 

 along very nicely, so papa offered me 

 10 cents per hundred for all I would 

 make. He generally told me several 

 days in advance how many to make. 



Well, one day I wanted some extra 

 money, and I decided to earn it by 

 making boxes. There being no one at 

 home, I pitched in. I took my mate- 

 rials on the rear porch, which, by the 

 way, was not large. I worked faith- 

 fully, and when mamma came home I 

 had the porch piled so full of boxes she 

 could not get indoors. Of course, she 

 made me stop and carry them to the 



basement where papa had his work- 

 shop. There were something like 700 

 made up, so I piled them up on the 

 work-bench, putting what was left in 

 wash-tubs and anything else that 

 would hold them. When papa came 

 home and saw the mess, he said the 

 market was overstocked, likewise his 

 work-bench ; and not only was the 

 price cut in half, but I must work over- 

 time and clear off his bench, so he 

 could fix supers to put the boxes in. 



I filled everything I could find with 

 boxes, and thought I was done with 

 them, but, oh dear ! I had completely 

 forgotten wash-day, so the next day I 

 moved those boxes again, but this time 

 I strung them, putting SO or more on 

 each cord, and hung the cord over nails 

 driven in the joists. Yes, and every 

 time any one went to the cellar for any- 

 thing, he or she was sure to " butt 

 into" those boxes, and from the dark 

 and stilly depths would come some- 

 thing that sounded suspiciously like 

 " confound it," or "doggone it." 



That was the beginning of my bee- 

 business, and I have never been out of 

 it since. Some time, perhaps, I'll tell 

 you how I used to hive swarms. 



Sister Esperanza. 



I think your papa was very generous 

 to give you lo cents per hundred for 

 making boxes — yes, or half that price. 

 Would it not be economy to adopt the 

 one-piece sections and get a machine 

 to make them ? 



Let us hear from you again. 



A Texas Sister Wins Success— Bee= 

 Veils 



In the American Bee Keeper Mrs. A. 

 E. St. Leger, of Wooster, Tex., says, 

 under date of Oct. 18, 1906 : 



By this time, 1 suspect, masy colonies have 

 gone into wintti luarters in the North, while 

 here the bees are working, carrying in big 



loads of pollen, fllUng the combs with honey 

 and hurrjinint; aa If It were spring. 



Two weeks ago, while standing under an 

 elm-tree, I thought there must be a swarm on 

 an upper limb, but there were Ijees about all 

 the eliiiB, anil I discovered that they were la 

 bloom. The prairie is bright with flowers, 

 and my bees have given me more honey than 

 ever before— such beautiful amber-colored 

 honey, all nicely capped. 



Many times I feared my pets would have to 

 be given up, as my husband (who is in poor 

 health, and for whose benelU we moved to the 

 country, he giving up hi* practise as physi- 

 cian) would get BO nervous every time I went 

 near the hives; but little by little he over- 

 came his fear when he found 1 did not get 

 stung; and this spring he was so interested 

 in them himself that he helped me a great 

 deal. 1 was delighted, for this year I have 

 been able to work without him begging me 

 to " come away." 



KiCE BoBiNET Bee-Veil. 



I wonder if any of the bee-keepers have 

 tried the rice bobinet for veils. It is so much 

 stifterthan other kinds, and stays stiff. After 

 making the veil with an elastic band for the 

 hat, and one in the lower hem, I stitch about 

 6 inches of broad elastic on the latter at the 

 back. Opposite the underarm it has a loop 

 at the end of tape. After drawing the broad 

 elastic forward, the loop is slipped over a but- 

 ton stitched on the front lower hem. It is so 

 easy to fix, and the veil is held in place. 



Mrs. a. E. St. Leger. 



It is a turning of the tables as com- 

 pared with the usual way, to have one 

 of the lords of creation become inter- 

 ested in bee-keeping so as to play " sec- 

 ond fiddle " to one of the sisters. Mrs. 

 St. Leger is to be congratulated, and it 

 is to be hoped that bee-keeping may 

 prove so favorable to her husband's 

 health that he may become an equal 

 partner. 



Mrs. St. Leger's plan of making a 

 veil seems to be good. The favored 

 bee-veil in this locality is made after 

 this fashion : 



One end of the veil is sewed firmly 

 to the outer brim of the hat (of course, 

 an elastic to slip over the hat may be 

 used if preferred); this keeps the veil 

 smooth, avoiding wrinkles in front of 

 the face. An elastic cord is run in the 

 lower hem. A safety-pin is caught 

 through the hem in the front, taking 

 in the elastic cord. This is always left 

 hanging in the veil, then when hat and 

 veil are on, all that is needed is to pull 

 the elastic down until taut — not only 

 taut, but stretched until very tif^ht— 

 and then to fasten the safety-pin to 

 keep it so. If a rigid cord were used 

 instead of an elastic, when the body 

 was bent it would become slack and 

 allow bees to pass under, but if the 

 elastic is drawn down tight e^iough no 

 bee can get under, no matter what 

 change is made in the position of the 

 body. Nothing can be simpler as a 

 fastening, and it is perfectly safe. 

 Try it. 



Bee-Song Souvenir Postal Cards. — 



We have issued in colors, 3 bee-song postal 

 cards for bee-keepers, each card having one 

 of the following songs, about I'^i^Zfi in size, 

 also with illustrated heading on each card; 

 "Buckwheat Cakes and Honey,'" -'The Bee- 

 Keeper's Lullaby," and the " The Humming^ 

 of the Bees." The first two cards have small 

 pictures of the authors ot the words and 

 music. This makes 4 souvenir postal cards 

 we have now issued for the use of bee-keep- 

 ers, the first being the " Honey-Bear " card. 

 Prices, by mail, are as follows : Sample cards, 

 3 cents each ; 7 for 30 cents, or 10 for 25 cents. 



