MAY 15, 1916 



393 



GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE 



A NEW HOBBY FOR GIRLS 



BY E. S. BRINTON 



I believe in hobbies. What it is makes 

 little difference so long as it is something 

 that calls forth the best that is in one and 

 not the worst. It should be something so 

 interesting and entertaining that it will ab- 

 sorb the leisure hours, provide food for 

 thought during idle moments, and quicken 

 the desire for study and reading. 



In taking up this subject my mind tarns 

 first to the girl of limited means and oppor- 

 tunities. She may be living in town or 

 country. She has had a public-school edu- 

 cation, but is ambitious to do moi^e — hun- 

 gry for outside interests, and to have and 

 do something for herself; yet, because of 

 finances, family conditions, or health, she 

 cannot leave home or make any radical 

 change in the routine of living. To this 

 girl especially, I recommend beekeeping. It 

 opens a door of marvelous interest. Thru 

 it is a wide field for mental and physical 

 development. 



At the very beginning I wish to say I am 

 not an expert in any phase of beekeeping, 

 and cannot boast of phenomenal increase, 

 high-bred queens, or gi'eat harvests of hon- 

 ey. I started with my first bees eight years 

 ago, and now have six colonies — quite 

 enough for a back yard that is supposed 

 to be the family playground. We have 

 honey to eat, to cook with, and to give 

 away. The bees have paid expenses, and I 

 have had no end of pleasure with them. 



The cost of starting with bees is small. 

 If good judgment is used, this hobby will 

 not only pay expenses, but also yield a rea- 

 sonable interest on the money invested ; and 

 to a girl who must count every penny, this 

 item alone is worth considering. 



Notice the different vocations and profes- 

 sions in which a girl will gain knowledge in 

 connection with her hobby of bees. First, 

 local botany and geogi'aphy. She must start 

 with her immediate neighborhood; study 

 the trees, shrubs, and wild flowers and the 

 time of their bloom — learning which will 

 yield pollen and which nectar. She must 

 know the nature of the farming country 

 and how it influences the bees. In other 

 words, are there large acreages of swamps 

 to yield a fall crop of honey, or is it an 

 upland region of clover, alfalfa, or buck- 

 wheat? Seasonal temperatures and weath- 

 er conditions should be noted ; for while 

 books and bulletins give general directions, 



every locality differs, and each one to a 

 great extent must work out her own prob- 

 lems of management and wintering. 



A knowledge of simple carpentering, and 

 the use of tools and painting, is necessary; 

 for to buy the hives already set up is ex- 

 travagance. Full directions for fitting the 

 pieces of hives come from the manufactur- 

 er, and any one who can read the patterns 

 of crocheting and knitting can understand 

 these. 



The possession of honey in quantity will 

 bring a desire to use it in cooking; to make 

 syrups, honey ice cream, cakes, and candy. 

 The Farmers' Bulletin on this subject Avill 

 be an incentive for experimenting in the 

 home kitchen. 



Selling the surplus is a problem all its 

 own. Probably the whole question of prof- 

 its will depend on whether the girl herself 

 can also become a good salesman and create 

 a market for her honey, bees, and wax. To 

 do this she must mingle with people, over- 

 come any shyness she may have, and learn 

 to talk interestingly and intelligently. She 

 must adopt some scheme of keeping records 

 of hives and queens. She must learn to 

 correspond with business houses, to handle 

 money, to do simple book-keeping and ac- 

 counting. 



A very important question arises — " How 

 shall I begin beekeeping when I do not even 

 know a bee when I see it? " Begin slowly. 

 Don't do as one young man did who adver- 

 tised for twenty-five colonies of Italian bees. 

 He was fresh from the city, and had never 

 been in contact with country life except for 

 summ.er vacations, but even then he should 

 have known better. Of course, he became 

 discouraged, lost his nen^e after a few 

 stings, and by the second summer his bees 

 were not in evidence. One colony of bees, 

 properly cared for, with the usual annual 

 increase, is sufficient to engage all your 

 spare time and thought. 



Read Kipling's story, "The Mother Hive," 

 found in his book called " Actions and Re- 

 actions:" also Maeterlink's "Life of the 

 Bee." Beekeepers as a rule have little pa- 

 tience with the latter book on account of 

 the mistaken idea that it is a text-book. It 

 is not. The author says in the first sentence 

 he did not intend it for a treatise or a prac- 

 tical hand-book. I value it for its inspira- 

 tional description of the inside of the hive 



