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118 



TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OP THE 



ing-. It offers some advantages to her 

 that many others do not possess. 



First, a large capital is not required 

 to begin with. Indeed, it is best to 

 begin small and go slowly; a few 

 colonies of bees, extra hives and su- 

 pers, a bee-veil, gloves and smoker, 

 are all that is needed. 



Of, course, there are a whole lot of 

 traps and contrivances that she can 

 buy if she wants to get rid of her 

 money, and the inexperienced apiarist 

 always does buy a whole lot of stuff 

 that is discarded later on. The above 

 is. really all that is necessary. 



There is a great deal of work con- 

 nected with an apiary. It is a business 

 of details. I have received numerous 

 inquiries regarding bee-keeping for 

 women, and most of them seem to 

 think it a business giving big returns 

 with little labor. That is not exactly 

 the case. There is some money to be 

 made, to be sure, if carried on on a 

 sufficiently extensive scale — even a 

 small competence, perhaps. But it 

 would require all a woman's time and 

 energy. 



While I believe most women would 

 do better at something else, yet, as 

 there are all sorts of women with all 

 sorts of tastes, there will be some to 

 whom bee -work would be congenial, 

 and these would find it fascinating, 

 and would probably make a success of 

 it. 



But the woman who thinks there is 

 little work connected with it will fail, 

 as will the woman who does not do 

 the right work at the right time; or 

 the man either. 



To secure a little pin money, or to 

 get the fresh air and exercise that 

 some women need, bee-keeping on not 

 too large a scale is excellent. 



Of course, if she has a good helper 

 she can keep more bees at a profit; 

 but I am writing from the standpoint 

 of the woman who is largely dependent 

 upon her own resources and labor for 

 her success, and I believe that the 

 average woman, under such circum- 

 stances, would make a failure of ex- 

 tensive bee-keeping. Perhaps the 

 average man would, too; I don't know. 



One thing I like about bee-keeping 

 as a business for women is that we 

 get "equal pay for equal labor." We 

 do not get less money for our work 

 just because we are women, and are 



not made to feel that we are belittling 

 our occupation in competing with men. 



And in the good time coming, when ^ 

 bee-keepers shall co-operate together ' 

 instead of competing with each other, 

 the business end of bee-keeping will I 

 be much more simplified for us, and f 

 more profitable, too, I ihope. 



MATHILDE CANDLER. 



Cassville, Wis. 



Pres. York — We have not very - > 

 many women in our convention today 

 — not as many as yesterday. There 

 are - two or three here, I think Mrs. 

 Holbrook has had quite a little ex- 

 perience with bees. We would like 

 to know if she agrees with what Miss 

 Candler has said, and will add any- 

 thing to it. 



Mrs. Holbrook — I can sanction one 

 point. There is a great deal of work, 

 and it requires a great deal of atten- 

 tion. My experience in the past, in 

 other lines of work, is that it demands 

 the same attention. If we succeed in 

 anything it requires constant thought, 

 and deep thought — your best time — 

 your best energy, and a love for it — 

 at least a deep interest — enough love 

 for it to keep a deep interest in it, and 

 enoug'h self-respect to impel you to I 

 give out, and to get in, all that is ! 

 possible and I am so thankful from 

 mouth to mouth for the good thought 

 we get in the bee-paper articles. 

 That is the secret of our success. 



We would be very slow in accom- 

 plishing a knowledge of, and in mas- 

 tering, bee-culture if we had to de- 

 pend upon our experience; it would be 

 an expensive occupation, but if we 

 can have the patience to wait until 

 the bee-paper has come, we are sure 

 to find some article that will meet the 

 need of that very hour, perihaps. I 

 have many a time picked up my bee- • 

 papfer and found an article which an- 

 swered the very question thatr I was 

 so much wanting to know. Now this 

 is a blessing which I feel that we 

 sometimes don't appreciate. ; 



Then, again, we must believe — we 



must first strive to get a proper article i 



of honey — believe that we have it, an-» ■ 



then appreciate it enough to command \ 

 a price which we know it is worth; if ' f 



you don't believe in it yourself, you ! 



cannot expect any one else to believe ; 



that you have a good article. No one ; 



is going to give any more than you j 



ask. j 



