AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



691 



they were on hand, with all the force 

 they could command, drawing for that 

 purpose even from the streets, and 

 equipped with tin pans and buckets, 

 created the most unearthly, distracting 

 confusion imaginable. 



One of our tinners remarked he never 

 could divine how we managed to wear 

 out so many stew-pan bottoms until then 

 and there revealed. 



All this was very trying at the time, 

 but as memory paints those days, I in- 

 variably laugh, at least to myself, when 

 good Aunt Mary's earnest face presents 

 itself, and I can almost hear her say, as 

 she did then, " You must do something 

 to save your bees." 



Women bee-keepers, especially, need 

 patience to brook the jibes and jeers of 

 their own sex, because they are bee- 

 keepers. 



Then our endurance is put to a cru- 

 cial test on the arrival of the high-flying, 

 fashionable caller with a multitude of 

 fine airs, and dressed in the very latest 

 of styles, while we, perchance, are be- 

 daubed from head to foot with wax, 

 honey or propolis — or all of them— but 

 under these conditions do we not our- 

 selves feel considerably "stuck up?" 



Again, custom denies to women the 

 privilege of giving vent to their pent-up 

 feelings through profanity, which seems 

 to be a source of great relief to many of 

 the " Lo^-ds of Creation." 



Mr. Dadant has said ours is a business 

 of details, thus implying the necessity of 

 patience. We need patience over a 

 short crop, or no crop at all, severe 

 Winter losses, foul-brood, etc., but the 

 patience that will endure many defeats, 

 and even hardships, will secure success 

 at last. Adversity, not prosperity, 

 develops and brings to the front all there 

 is in a man. 



Some may aver that many of our best 

 bee-keepers are devoid of patience, but I 

 should advise, unless you have a surplus 

 stock of it, do not embark in the busi- 

 ness of bee-keeping. 



On the other hand, patience must not 

 develop inactivity. "Laziness travels 

 so slowly that poverty soon overtakes 

 him." The young man who thinks of 

 little but fast horses and stylish turn- 

 outs ; or the .young lady whose mind is 

 mostly engrossed by dress and beaux, 

 would, most probably prove failures as 

 bee-keepers. 



Our watchword should be, "Eternal 

 vigilance is the price of success." An 

 apiary neglected or mismanaged is worse 

 than a farm overgrown with weeds, or 

 exhausted by ignorant tillage. Yet 

 many, both old and young, will read a 



book on bee-culture, and then waltz 

 right into the business, just as sure of a 

 golden success as though the book was 

 equal to the lamp of Aladdin, and all 

 they had to do was to rub the leaves and 

 take in the treasure. 



Mr. Heddon says that if there is any 

 business in this world that demands in- 

 dustry, skill and tact, to insure success, 

 it is this business of ours. He also says: 

 "The earnest desire of succeeding is 

 almost always a prognostic of success." 



But I do not exactly like to quote 

 from him, for, as you are aware, he is 

 not in favor of the gentler sex as bee- 

 keepers. Let me warn you that if any 

 of you are disciples of his, in this re- 

 spect, do not make things disagreeable 

 by so expressing yourselves. 



If an earnest desire of succeeding is a 

 prognostic of success, allow me to ask, 

 as a sex which of the two, women or 

 men, are the most devoted to a cher- 

 ished cause, or the most ambitious to 

 excel ? But as he has done so much to 

 make the business available to women, 

 through the divisible brood-chamber 

 principle, we can readily forgive him, 

 and look forward to the time when our 

 sex, by their works, shall demonstrate 

 to him and the world that he is laboring 

 under a mistake. 



The successful bee-keeper must pos- 

 sess an elastic temperament. There are 

 always two sides to everything, and 

 should we feel disposed to repine we 

 should leave the discouraging page and 

 give the leaf a turn and read the other 

 side. If, after reading to the bottom of 

 the page, we feel no better, we might 

 borrow from one of our more favored 

 city friends, their book of Life's 

 Tlioughts and Experiences, and read 

 from that the discouragements and 

 trials, the close financial grip ofttimes 

 given them by the fickle god of Fortune, 

 and the many discomforts of city life, 

 hemmed in from the pure air of the 

 country, away from the green fields and 

 forests, compelled to breath the hot, 

 vitiated, smoke-stained air of the crowd- 

 ed city. Think you not we might find 

 solace in the comparison ? 



The successful bee-keeper must be 

 quick and observant. Scientific knowl- 

 edge is useful, but practical knowledge 

 is indispensible. He must understand 

 the flora of his locality, and have his 

 colonies booming at the right time. He 

 must be rigidly economical, without be- 

 ing penurious ; must be ingenious, and 

 adapt himself to circumstances. 



Where is the bee-keeper who feels 

 himself or herself overburdened with 

 sagacity, when in the disposition of his 



