person who manages his bees properly can escape being stung occasion- 

 ally, though it is often erroneously stated that there are individuals 

 who can do anything with bees, without being protected in any way, 

 and never get stung. 



Beekeeping for Ladies. 



Bee-culture offers a splendid opportunity for our settlers' wives and 

 daughters and other ladies who would like an outdoor, healthy, and 

 profitable occupation. As a result of the encouragement given to the 

 industry by the Department, quite a number of ladies are taldng up 

 beekeeping as a business. In America they rank among the successful 

 beekeepers, and peasants' wives on the Continent of Europe usually 

 looli; after the household bees, from which they derive a considerable 

 proportion of the family income. There is nothing to prevent a fairly 

 healthy young woman, with a httle assistance during the height of the 

 season, from managing and doing the work of an apiary of a hundred 

 hives. 



The average farmer rarely attaches to his bees the importance that 

 he should, yet their value as fertilizing agents is very great. Did he 

 appreciate the possibilities in beekeeping as a side line to his farming 

 operations, he could, by the exercise of a little care and thought, make 

 them a good source of revenue. Many a farmer's wife has found a 

 few hives an important means of providing the home with groceries 

 and adding to the pleasure of the table. Instead of leaving the calm, 

 clean, and healthy environment of the country for a city office or 

 factory, the daughter of the farmer would probably find it better for 

 body and soul to take up beekeeping — one of the most entrancing 

 occupations when properly studied and carried out. The work carried 

 out by the lady cadets at the Ruakura Apiary, where, in addition to 

 their actual bee-work, they put together and paint the hives, make the 

 frames, and do everything necessary on a bee-farm, affords practical 

 proof that there is nothing connected with bee-farming that a young 

 woman cannot accomplish. 



Beekeeping for Returned Soldiers. 



Many men who have returned from the front are taking a keen 

 interest in beekeeping. It affords a good opening for those who prefer 

 a clean, healthy, outdoor hfe. Student classes have been formed in 

 various centres, and practical work in demonstration apiaries has been 

 instrumental in starting these men on right lines. 



Cadetship. 



Where it can be managed, the very best course for a young person 

 intending to adopt beekeeping is to go for a season as a cadet with 

 some successful bee-farmer, beginning the season in September, when 

 the bees are being prepared for the first of the honey-flow, and 

 continuing until the honey has been prepared for market in the following 

 autumn. Any young person with intelligence and application should 

 be able to gain such a practical knowledge of the work as would enable 

 him or her to start, confident of avoiding the mistakes usual in all new 

 undertakings. 



Cadets at the Government Apiaries. 



Suitable applicants of either sex, for a course of instruction in bee- 

 culture, are received at the Government apiary each season as cadets, 

 with the opportunity of gaining a certificate at the end of their term. 



