336 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



these many years, for the best interest 

 of her lord and master, and is grudg- 

 ingly allowed an occasional pittance for 

 needful clothing. One of these lives in 

 my locality. Her husband, the owner of 

 hundreds of acres, kindly granted her 

 space enough in the orchard to place her 

 ten hives of bees, but insisted that she 

 was, on no account, to expect any 

 assistance from him or his help. What 

 she should do would be to dot that 

 orchard with the white domiciles of her 

 bees, claim the profits, and thereafter 

 have in her history an independence day 

 to celebrate. 



Women are so constituted as to de- 

 mand pets; from husband, children and 

 friends, down through the long line of 

 plants, birds, cats, dogs, etc. Her pets 

 are the constant recipients of caressing 

 attentions. Then why not supplant the 

 more unprofitable ones by the busy bee? 



Bees for pets ! They sting ! Admitted, 

 but women love and caress cats and 

 dogs, and bees never scratch nor bite, 

 and have never been known to transmit 

 hydrophobia. 



Get women interested in bee-keeping, 

 and there is no knowing to what 

 heights their ambition will lead them. 

 Do you deny them the attribute ? Just 

 wait until the Spring bonnet has to be 

 purchased, and some of you who have 

 the bills to foot will agree with me. 

 Women have ambition ; yes, with quite 

 a reserve yet to be heard from. 



Doolittle, in one of his late messages, 

 says: "No one should follow any of 

 our writers blindly — that is, without 

 having some thoughts of their own." 

 This is a good reason for women becom- 

 ing bee-keepers. They all have thoughts 

 of their very own. 



As managers, women excel. No busi- 

 ness will give them greater scope for 

 the exercise of this talent than bee- 

 keeping. She who can out-general de- 

 camping swarms when the air is black 

 with masses of excited, determined 

 fugitives, may well weep for other 

 worlds to conquer. 



Again, the ambitious woman apicul- 

 turist has neither time nor opportunity 

 to either hear or deal out gossip, and 

 thus is happily kept out of many a 

 muddle. Do not imagine that I am 

 taking the stand that bee-keeping can 

 be run without labor, or with but little 

 brains, unless, indeed, you wish to run 

 it into the ground. 



But did you ever think of the amount 

 of patience and endurance involved in 

 the production of yards of crochet trim- 

 mings, elaborate designs in embroidery, 

 wax-work and painting? Engage the 



same amount of perseverance, energy 

 and concentration of mind in the apiary, 

 and note the grand results. And 

 although Dr. Miller "don't know " about 

 some things connected with bee-keeping, 

 he is satisfied that he does know that a 

 woman is as good an assistant as he 

 wishes. 



To be sure, it is not a " flowery bed of 

 ease," but who could desire it, knowing 

 that those of other vocations must 

 " fight to win the prize." There are to 

 be endured the bedragled skirts on 

 dewy morns, and the long, hot days in 

 June, when the mercury dances around 

 100-^, and the prespiration just flows in 

 streams. But then what cosmetic is 

 superior ? 



Woman's innate love of the curious 

 and beautiful, will at once be satiated 

 in the pursuit of apiculture. The gold 

 of the bees is never counterfeit. They 

 never make false assignments, nor move 

 out in the night, not paying for the place 

 vacated. 



Women are constantly seeking to 

 elevate themselves, and as some of the 

 brightest intellects are engaged in bee- 

 keeping, and since it is confessed on all 

 sides that women possess much more 

 nimble, dextrous fingers than men, and 

 as bee-keeping readily coalesces with 

 house-keeping, being easily carried on 

 in the door-yard, and as we are not 

 asked to accept any less for the fruits of 

 our labor, simply because we are women, 

 pray tell me why bee-keeping is not 

 eminently suitable to women ? But it 

 just occurs to me, with great force, that 

 delightful as this harangue may be to 

 myself, its length, breath and depth 

 may be just the least bit wearisome to 

 you. — Read at the Missouri State Con- 

 vention. 



A Lecture oi tlie Honey-Bee. 



Mr. G. B. Jones recently delivered a 

 very interesting and instructive lecture 

 on the honey-bee at Toronto, which was 

 illustrated by large charts depicting the 

 various portions of the anatomy of the 

 bee. From the report of Fai^m and Fire- 

 side, we make the following extracts : 



The family of the honey-bee consists 

 of three distinct varieties of individuals : 

 The queen (or mother), the drones (or 

 male bees), and the workers (or laborers 

 — undeveloped females). 



The tongue of a worker averages in 

 length one-quarter of an inch, and is 



