692 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



so good as on the previous year; but they had ti 

 K'ood yield from fall liowcrs, which made the year 

 a better one for bee-keepers than the i)receding- 

 one. Two of the colonies were so busy ^atherinj;' 

 honey they did not swarm at all. Two others 

 swarmed only once, and one swarm went to the 

 woods. So at the close of the season they had only 

 five of an increase, makiii"' their colonies number 

 thirteen. 



One day, near the close of the yield from white 

 clover, they, with the help of their father, removed 

 the sections from the hives prepared for comb hon- 

 ey, and, taking- out the two outside combs, extract- 

 ed the honey from ^heni and returned them, that 

 the bees might till them with honey from fall flow- 

 ers, which 5s usually of an inferior quality, and not 

 80 ready sale, but does for winter stores. From 

 these they obtained enough to make their crop of 

 extracted honey weigh .500 lbs. Extracting: those 

 outside combs doubtless made the yield of comb 

 honey less than it would have been. Their yield of 

 comb honey was only r^O lbs. 



Although nothing has been said about stings 

 since Tommy received his first one, you are not to 

 suppose thej' worked all this time and escaped 

 without receiving another. They had received so 

 many that a sting or two were g-enerally expected 

 when they had much work to do in the apiary. In 

 tact, a dread of being stung often kept them from 

 doing needed work, until their father urged them 

 to it. Tommy took many a dance in consequence 

 of some cross bee touching him on a tender spot; 

 and Jane had often run from the apiary with a bee 

 in her bonnet, calling upon her mother to help 

 remove it. One evening she received a sting on 

 lier nose, between the eyes. The next morin'ng, 

 when her mother entered her room to call her, she 

 could hardly believe that the gir! she found in the 

 bed was her own little Jane, liolh eyes were closed 

 by the swelling, and she looked like an entirely 

 different person. Her appearance at the break- 

 fast-table was greeted with a hearty laugh from 

 both Tommy and her father; but now the stings 

 had ceased to produce swelling as formerly. 



The day they took out and extracted the outside 

 combs from the lower stories was a rather unfor- 

 tunate day for Tommy. The bees seemed vt-ry 

 cross, and to have a spite at him; but he received 

 sting after sting. At dinner he said, "I wish bees 

 had no stings!" 



His father replied, " Bees liTlve very precious 

 stores to guard, and require arms to guard and 

 protect them. They have an army of lancers who 

 stand guard over these stores. ]f let alone, bees 

 ai-e harmless; but when we try to rob them of their 

 stores, this army of lancers charge on us. If they 

 did not thus guard their stores, all animals that 

 have a sweet tooth, and men and boys, would feed 

 upon the products of their labor, and they could 

 have no lieart to work tind gather stores. It is the 

 fact that bees have stings, and use them, which 

 makes it pay to keep bees. If they had nesting, 

 so many would keep them that lioney would bring 

 almost nothing in the market. As it is, skill is 

 required to handle bees and not be injured by their 

 stings. Few acquire this skill. Patience is also 

 required, and few attain that patience. Hence 

 bee-keeping becomes a business, and can be en- 

 gaged in by the skillful and patient as a means of 

 livelihood. 



Concluded next montli. 



APICULTURE A SUITABLE AVOCA- 

 TION rOR WOMAN. 



A liECUEATION AND liEI.IEP FROM HER DAILY 

 ROUTINE. 



"JIP LL persons are not born bee-keepers, or even 

 9fl^ made bee-keepers by j'ears of experience, 

 J^^^ and it would bo but folly to expect that all 

 '*'*■' would be successful in that branch of indus- 

 try. And, indeed, there is often more profit 

 in bee-keejjing as a recreation than in all the many 

 returns that are realized, although there is some- 

 times a consideration in that respect. 



When the weary rounds of business have become 

 so monotonous that the heart at times sickens at it 

 all, it is then a real relief to turn away from all these 

 things and watch that "band of imited workers 

 who never strike " nor complain, moving so system- 

 atically along in their ceaseless toil. There is a 

 practical lesson to be learned in watching- these un- 

 complaining-little workers. We who so of ten grow 

 weary of our toil; who so often complain that our 

 labor brings in no returns, can learn some valuable 

 hints from the busi' l)ee that expects no returns 

 save a bare subsistence. 



For the overworked, and those whose occupation 

 consists of one changeless round of drudgerj', we 

 can not too earnestly recommend this employment. 

 It has been argued by some, that woman is not 

 physically fitted for this business; and by others, 

 that it is unladylike. To such weakness as would 

 prompt the latter thought we have no reply— noth- 

 ing but a contemptuous pity! That woman is not 

 strong- enough for the more laborious pai't of bee- 

 keeping as well as for many other things which 

 come within the routine of domestic life, is only too 

 true; but is there not for women, and especially on 

 the farm, other back-breaking weights that have 

 far less sweetness in them than honey-boxes? Most 

 farmers' wives have no Irish or negro help to lift 

 their wasli-tubs, churn the butter, or do the various 

 other hard jobs that are daily to be encountered. 



It has been estimated that a large per cent of the 

 insane entombed in the asylums ave farmers' wives. 

 Why is this? Simply Ijecause there is too much 

 sameness— too little recreation in their lives of toil. 

 Their work brings no remuneration; and woman, as 

 well as man, is only human, and would like some 

 little individual income (u- possession; and so, soon- 

 er or later, the oft-recurring- duties become tasks, 

 and life is, at length, reduced to the sphere of sla^'- 

 ery. 



This recreation among the bees is not at all need- 

 ed where women are musicians, and can while away 

 an hour or so each day on the latest sheets of music 

 at the piano; or where she is educated to sketch, or 

 paint on silk or velvet— painting the bee or butter- 

 Qy on some household ornament; l3ut really half 

 the women on farms would feel guilty of some mis- 

 demeanorif seen at such employment — so thorough- 

 ly have thej" been taught to know nothing but real 

 work! 



Then, for ujcrcy's sake, do not try to set up a 

 "scarecrow" o\er bee-keeping, silk culture, or 

 anj' other occupation that will be at all remunera- 

 tive, and tend to lead the mind away from these un- 

 changing household duties— duties that are all right 

 and proper that e\ery women should perform, but 

 nevertheless need to be at intervals sweetened by 

 change. There is nothing dishonorable in any hon- 

 est employment. It will do to tolerate such scnti- 



