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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' BEE CLUBS 



March 



An Account of a Most Successful Bee Club Which Under the Leadership of 

 Charles A. Boyle, is Attracting Nation-wide Attention. 



ONE of the most practical educa- 

 tional enterprises of recent 

 years is the buys' and girls' 

 club work. The success of the corn 

 clubs, pig clubs, calf clubs and can- 

 ning clubs has been remarkable. The 

 bee club offered some more serious 

 obstacles, but it has remained for 

 Charles A. Boyle, of Kansas, to make 

 it a success. Boyle is the district 

 club leader at Emporia, and became 

 interested in the possibilities of bee 

 clubs early in his experience as a 

 club leader. Several bee clubs were 

 started by others only to fizzle out, 

 or had secured a very moderate de- 

 gree of success. The difficulties be- 

 came more apparent after the work 

 was under way, and he decided that 

 the bee clubs are of sufficient import- 

 ance to justify specializing with them. 

 Mr. Herbert Popense, County Agent, 

 has actively co-operated with Mr. 

 Boyle. 



To avoid possible disappointment, 

 boys or girls whose parents did not 

 already have bees were not encour- 

 aged to take up the bee club work, 

 but rather something with which 

 they were already familiar. The de- 

 sign was not to induce more people 

 to keep bees, but to improve the bee- 

 keeping on the farms where bees are 

 kept. The results are particularly 

 striking, because the work is being 

 carried on in a county where there 

 was, at the time the clubs were or- 

 ganized, no commercial beekeeping. 

 Most of the bees were kept on the 

 let alone plan. As is usually the 

 case in such communities, no way of 

 production was known except to put 

 sections on the hive and take what 

 the bees placed therein. In a good 

 season, a super or more of honey was 

 secured; in a poor season, nothing: 

 Swarms were the rule, and the profit 



shown by the bees was not such as to 

 encourage a large investment in bee- 

 keeping. The enthusiasm shown for 

 the bee club was not great the first 

 season. It was necessary first to 

 demonstrate the possibilities of bee- 

 keeping with up-to-date equipment 

 and methods. 



The club was organized in the 

 spring of 1917 with twelve members. 

 On the advice of Mr. Boyle, all joined 

 in the purchase of an extracting out- 

 tit, which was carried from place to 

 place and used by the members as 

 needed. This reduced the expendi- 

 ture for equipment much below what 

 would otherwise have been neces- 

 sary. 



The leader was wise in inducing 

 the members to begin by producing 

 extracted honey, for the production 

 of comb honey is a skilled opera- 

 tion, successful only in the hands of 

 an expert. The purchase of a part- 

 nership extracting outfit also, by re- 

 ducing expenses, made it easier for 

 some of the boys to get started. 



The writer enjoyed two days spent 

 with Mr. Boyle and the club mem- 

 bers last June. The zeal of the mem- 

 bers was contagious, and he returned 

 home very enthusiastic for bee clubs. 

 A good leader is essential, for there 

 are so many perplexing problems, 

 which the novice is called upon to 

 meet, that he is likely to become dis- 

 couraged if left to himself. Mr. 

 Boyle makes frequent visits to the 

 members and assists them with their 

 problems. One boy says: "I am 

 thinking about getting some of my 

 chums to go into the bee contest 

 next year, as we get acquainted with 

 so many boys over the country when 

 we have club meetings. Then Mr. 

 Boyle, our County Club Leader, takes 

 such an interest in us that it is a real 



The boys like 10 compare notes on ircquent occasions. 



pleasure to take an afternoon off 

 and go with him to see what the 

 other fellow is doing." 



The parents all seem as enthusi- 

 astic as the club members, appreci- 

 ating the value of the effort on the 

 part of the youngsters. The success 

 of the first year can be measured 

 somewhat by the membership of the 

 second year, increased from twelve 

 to fifty, only three of the second year 

 members failing to complete the sea- 

 son's work. 



The boy who has bees in a stand- 

 ard hive at the beginning has an ad- 

 vantage as far as the showing from 

 his crop is concerned, but he misses 

 some experience which the box-hive 

 member gets. As soon as conditions 

 are favorable, the bees in boxes are 

 transferred to standard hives, with 

 lull sheets of foundation. The mem- 

 bers .ire icquired to keep an accurate 

 record of the cost of the whole 

 transaction from the beginning to 

 the end of the season. The value of 

 the colony is estimated at the start, 

 cost of equipment added, and this is 

 deducted from the value of the honey 

 harvested, to show the actual net 

 profit secured. The members are 

 thus given a sample of good business 

 methi "Is. "I hej are furnished with 

 blanks to be filled mil at the close of 

 the season, showing in detail the 

 practice followed, amount of increase 

 and honey, price for which it was 

 sold, kind of equipment used, etc. In 

 addition, each member writes a story 

 of his beekeeping experience, follow- 

 ing an outline furnished by the 

 leader. 



