1136 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



"^ 





THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF BEE CUL- 

 TURE. 



Reasons Why it is such a Valuable Study. 



BY R. B. M'CAIN. 



Fads and fashions are not unknown to the 

 educational world of to-day; and, while we 

 may not approve of some of the fads which 

 have been introduced, we can see a steady 

 progress toward more reasonable and prac- 

 tical methods of mental development. One 

 of the good signs of the times is the intro- 

 duction of nature study in the common 

 schools. One would devoutly wish that this 

 may not prove a "fad," but that it may 

 be developed sanely and along practical 

 lines in order that the graduates of these 

 schools may have at least a passing acquaint- 

 ance with the many and varied forms of 

 life which abound all about them in both the 

 vegetable and animal kingdoms. 



The suggestion that the study of nature 

 be made practical does not necessarily carry 

 with it the thought of making money, but, 

 rather, the idea of turning the commonplace 

 things of life into educational values. 



It would be hard to find a more delightful 

 subject for study than the honey-bee. As 

 an introduction to the great subject of na- 

 ture study, no other form of life seems so 

 well adapted. The bee is not only a most 

 marvelous piece of creation as to its physi- 

 cal structure, in which it shows its wonder- 

 ful adaptation for the work it has to per- 

 form, but it is the living link between the 

 members of many famiUeg of the vegetable 

 kingdom, and becomes the active agent in 

 cross-fertilization in the perpetuation of 

 their species. It will thus be seen that one 

 can not progress far in the study of this lit- 

 tle insect without discovering one of nature's 

 most mysterious processes. 



HONEY-BEE PRESENTS A HIGH FORM OF LIFE. 



It is true that the honey-bee is but one of 

 many thousands of the great insect family, 

 any one of which might be profitably stud- 

 ied, and yet there are many reasons why the 

 honey-bee can be studied more profitably 

 as an educational discipline than any other 

 form of insect life. One of the chief of 

 these reasons is that it presents such a high 

 form of life. It would be hard to find any 

 thing more interesting than the little realm 

 bounded by the walls of the bee-hive. When 

 we enter that domain, or, better, observe it 

 through a glass wall, it is to find a most or- 

 derly and perfectly regulated common- 

 wealth. Its thousands of inhabitants labor 

 in perfect unity and harmony. The beauty 



of all the waxen structures, the energy and 

 the industry of the little toilers, together 

 with the deliciousness of the finished prod- 

 uct of their labor, unite to make the study 

 peculiarly fascinating; and the deeper we 

 penetrate, the more wonderful and the more 

 fascinating the study becomes. 



INTIMATE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MAN AND 

 THE HONEY-BEE. 



Another reason why the study of the hon- 

 ey-bee is eminently fitted as an educational 

 aid is that there is such close and intimate 

 association between man, the highest form 

 of life in the family to which he belongs, 

 and the honey-bee, the most perfect of its 

 kind. There can be little doubt that the 

 honey-bee was divinely destined to minister 

 to the needs of man and to supply the very 

 necessary means of adding to health, happi- 

 ness, and long life. Honey is one of the 

 most perfect foods in existence; as a con- 

 fection it can not be equaled by the art of 

 man; and the fact that its use prolongs life 

 is attested by so many witnesses that one 

 would hardly dare to doubt the statement. 



BEE CULTURE A GREAT INDUSTRY. 



A very practical reason for believing that 

 the honey-bee was destined for man's over- 

 sight and use is found in the results of mod- 

 ern scientific bee culture. The stock of the 

 honey-bee has been wonderfully improved 

 by man's management in the application of 

 the principles of scientific bee culture. This 

 improvement manifests itself in the produc- 

 tion of bees which are better adapted to par- 

 ticular localities, also for particular kinds 

 of work. The quantity as well as the quali- 

 ty of honey has been affected by the im- 

 provement in the stock. The disposition of 

 the race may be and has been improved in 

 many cases, so that, because of gentleness, 

 work with some stock is attended with far 

 less danger from stings than with others. 

 The point at which improvement seems 

 most evident is the "soul of the colony," 

 the queen. Color, prolificness, length of 

 life, have all been the object of man's at- 

 tention in the effort to improve the stock, 

 and at all these points he has been, in a 

 measure, successful. 



NATURE STUDY VALUABLE AS A MIND- 

 TRAINER. 



This much has been said to hint at the 

 possibilities of bee culture as an introduc- 

 tion to the great subject of nature study. 

 But when one remembers the prime object 

 of any study in a prescribed course— that of 

 training the mind to think and the eye to 

 observe — it at once appears plain and prac- 

 tical that nature study is second to none in 

 usefulness. We do not need to disparage 

 other mehtal exercises in order to magnify 

 nature study as a means to this end. But if 

 nature study is to be employed (and that 

 seems pretty well recognized now as a settled 

 question) why not the study of nature at the 

 point of the useful and the practical? It 

 has taken us a long time to outgrow the- 



