1802 



r,LEANIN(JS IN BEE CULTURE. 



937 



Our iratliMs who liavo onr back voIiiuk's will 

 liiul. by tuiiiiiiij to tho issii(> for. Ian. 1, ISSli, a 

 ItMigtliy lifsrriptioii of tliis canyon, witli the 

 Ojai liot s|>riiiirs. cW.: also an I'xrt'iltMit pii'tiirc 

 of tlio numntain si-oiicry. 'Plu'y will also rc- 

 nicnibrr an aci'ount. of th(> visit, we made iiisl, 

 .lanuary. wbcn Mrs. IJoot was aloim. IJi^forr 

 taking my bath, friend Wilkin and I imshcd 

 ahead np to an a|>iary beyond iho hot sprinjis. 

 Tlie proprietor, however, was not at hi>in(». I 

 foil sad to think that we eonld not go any 

 further, for if we did weeould not reaoh home 

 by niijrht: and just now it seems to me as if I 

 could not stand it unless 1 could make certainly 

 one more visit to this wonderful canyon, taking 

 time enough to explore it to my heart's content. 



The apiary presented in the picture i.s one 

 just beyond where we commenc(>d to retrace, 

 our steps. The tnM>s. with their dense sluuhnvs, 

 and the bi'autiful shrubs, are covei'ed with foli- 

 age clear up to the niountain-peak. Vou can 

 not see it in the picture: but in the photograph 

 the soft feathery foliage, some of it almost 

 equal to the down of the ostrich feather, makes 

 some of the views rival any thing to be found 

 in our cultivated gardens. U[). up, up. those 

 great mountains loom, until the sunshine is so 

 cut oir that sunrise and sunset are but a few 

 hours apart, even during a summer day. In 

 the other picture the canyon opens out, giving 

 one a view of the mountain -peaks beyond: and 

 away up liere, where it woultl seem a horse and 

 buggy would never travel (and I think they 

 never do travel, unless it is in the river-bed 

 during low water), somebody has started a 

 home. Yes, and it is a real home, even if it is 

 away from civilization: for if you look closely, 

 just between tlie two buildings you will catch 

 a glimpse of a figure. Some woman has con- 

 sented to go away off here in the wilderness, 

 and make a veritable home indeed. I suppose 

 friend Kapp stays out here only during the 

 honey season, for you will notice his letter is 

 dated at Ventura: but it seems to me, as mem- 

 ory goes back to those days of enjoyment, that 

 there is no place on earth where the natural 

 scenery lias stirred my soul as those glimpses 

 during my brief visit to the Ojai springs in the 

 Matilija Canyon. Ordinarily Mrs. Root is com- 

 pletely used up by a buggy-ride of only eight 

 or ten miles; but on this occasion she rode 

 nearly if not quite forty miles, and felt scarcely 

 a bit of fatigue. I ascribed it to that soul -stir- 

 ring scenery that I felt sure must lift her as it 

 did myself almost away from earthly things. 

 She says, as she looks at the pictures, and 

 memory goes back, that it seems almost like a 

 dream: but it was ii hedutif id dream, and one 

 whose memory will long be cherished. Friend 

 Rapp, if you continue to hold forth we may 

 make vou another visit still. 



Ud/es' Conversazione. 



WOMAN AS A BEE-KEEPEK. 



Our space is usually so crowded with original 

 matter that we generally do not find room for 

 papers read at conventions; but the one read by 

 Mrs. J. N. Heater, of Columbus, Neb., at the 

 annual State convention of the Nebraska bee- 

 keepers, is so pertinent and to the i^oint that we 

 reproduce it for this department. 



Personally, we see no occasion to draw sex. 

 race, or color lines in our calling, the whole 



matter n^sting entirely, jis it does, in one word 



-adaptability. 



iiife is a frt>e-for-all race, and I mwer did feel 

 willing to grant to the " lords of creation " (ex- 

 clusive right to any tiling, and I always con- 

 tended that I hud just as good a ri«hl to whistle 

 as my brother had losing, aufi exercised it. 



We all kiiow the most famous milliner in the 

 known world, as well as the most noted cooks, 

 are men. They have invaded our territory, 

 and. worst of all. carried off the laurels. ,So, by 

 way of rinaliation. we have a perfect right to 

 cross any boundaries. I have never considerc^l 

 it a compliment to woman to be asked if she 

 could make a success of bee-keeping, as it casts 

 a strong relkn-tion upon her mental as well as 

 her physical aiiilit.y. I always believe any man 

 or woman capable of accomplishing whatevei- 

 any other man or woman has accomplisiied, 

 until they have tried diligentlv and made a 

 failure of it. 



There are three all-essential requisites for 

 eitlier man or woman to possess in order to b<! 

 successful bee-keepers: viz., grit, grace, and 

 generosity. Grit is called to a severe test when 

 one poor season after another follows in un- 

 broken succession for a number of years, and it 

 takes long sighs and close figuring to make the 

 ledger pages balance. Grace is to be exercised 

 when, after your tenderest care and all vour 

 sentimental talk about your "little pets," these 

 same little pets administer to you a stinging 

 rebuke, into which they have thrown all the 

 venom at their command, because, perchance, 

 you have dared to meddle with their affairs. 

 And generosity is to be practiced in full mea- 

 sure when your competitor attempts in any 

 manner to appropriate your customers to his 

 own profits, by giving him full details as to his 

 duty, and forgiving him for his wickedness. 



In this one pursuit we are all aware that the 

 master can not dictate to the worker, and per- 

 haps this very fact has more to do with woman's 

 success in the business than any other one 

 thing, so used has she become to watching for 

 '•just the right time" before she ventures to 

 give her cotnmand. She carries the same pre- 

 caution into her apiary, where she must as 

 closely watch her opportunity before making 

 a demand for any thing if she expects to ob- 

 tain it. 



No woman is so stupid as to suppose for a 

 moment that, if she were to give her bees sec- 

 tions early in the spring, they would go right to 

 work in them, simply because she was the mas- 

 ter—or mistress— and they were working for 

 her. Oh. no I She has worked on that line too 

 long for that. She will commence by being real 

 good to them. She will overhaul every frame; 

 in the hives, putting them into the best possible 

 condition; then, if they are short of stores, will 

 give frames of well-ripened honey carried over 

 for this very purpose, or feed them tempting 

 sugar syrup, either of which will cause them to 

 build up rapidly — which is just what she wants 

 them to do. When she has beguiled them into 

 filling their hive to overflowing with bees, 

 and has take jirecaution to have it so at a time 

 when she knows there will be an abundance of 

 honey-producing plants in bloom, she continues 

 her kindness to them still further by giving 

 them a case of sections all nicely filled with 

 foundation; and the poor deluded little dupes 

 rush into tliose sections pell-mell and fill them 

 witli honey in less than no time. That's just 

 what that deceitful woman has been plotting 

 for since early spring, and she gets it. 



I need not enumerate the many women in 

 foreign lands, as well as our own. who stand 

 with those at the very head of our business. 

 Aside from those who are writers as well as 

 apiarists, and wlio are well known to us all 



