OUR FRIENDS, THE BEES 
RENOS-; AIRES 
693 
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Photo from “A B Cand X Y Z of Bee Culture,” by A. I. and E. R. Root 
HIVES OF BEES PACKED FOR EXPORT TO ARGENTINA 
Bees are of particular interest to 
woman for several reasons: if she likes 
good housekeeping, then the bee is a 
model ; if she likes a woman of business, 
again is the bee a shining light; if she 
is interested in the care of the young, 
then is the bee-nurse an example of per- 
fection; if she believes in the political 
rights of woman, she will find the highest 
feminine political wisdom in the consti- 
tution of the bee commune. In fact, it 
is only as a wife that the bee is a little 
too casual to pose as ideal, although as 
a widow she is certainly remarkable and 
perhaps even notorious. 
As a means of cultivating calmness, 
patience, and self-control, the bee is a 
well-recognized factor. Bees can be, 
and often are, profoundly exasperating ; 
and yet how worse than futile it 1s to 
evince that exasperation by word or 
movement! No creature reacts more 
quickly against irritation than the bee. 
She cannot be kicked nor spanked; and 
if we smoke her too much we ourselves 
are the losers. There is only one way 
to manage exasperation with bees—that 
is, to control it—and this makes the 
aplary a means of grace. 
The money-making side of bee-keep- 
ing is a very important phase in arousing 
and continuing the woman’s interest in 
her work. I think woman is by birth 
and training a natural gambler, and the 
uncertainties of the nectar supply and of 
the honey market add to rather than de- 
