358 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
a background of experience in the subject. A demonstration adds as 
much to the work of an extension specialist as pictures do to the text of 
a bulletin. 
There are many ways in which field demonstrations are valuable to 
the people of a state. One of them is to interest more persons in the 
possibilities of beekeeping. This is brought to the attention of the 
greatest number, perhaps, by exhibits of honey and bees at the state 
and county fairs. If these exhibits are accompanied by public demon¬ 
strations of handling bees in practical, up-to-date ways, much valu¬ 
able information can be imparted to the public. When these exhibits 
are well handled, a good deal can be done to advance better bee¬ 
keeping in the state. 
I believe there is no great value in the so-called “stunts,” except to 
draw a crowd, but if demonstrations are well conducted by competent 
beekeepers, they may be valuable extension work. I think it might 
be well for the Extension Service to lend encouragement and super¬ 
vision to this class of demonstration work. 
One of the greatest values in field demonstrations is in showing 
beginners right methods of handling bees. Beginners are more or less 
afraid of bees. They know that bees sting, and, naturally, are some¬ 
what afraid of being hurt. They may never have seen a hive opened, 
so do not know what to do first. The inside of the hive is all mystery 
to them. They do not know what will happen when they take off the 
cover for the first time. They rather dread the first step in investi¬ 
gating the inside of a hive filled with live bees. When the demonstra¬ 
tor comes along with his assurance of knowledge and his confident 
manner of handling the smoker and hive tool, the fear and the mystery 
vanish. It does not seem to be such an ordeal to open a hive. Begin¬ 
ners gain confidence and forget their timidity. They come up nearer, 
alive with interest, to get all the information they can of the best 
ways of doing things with bees. At such a time a good demonstrator 
can render very great help to the beginners in his audience and gain 
their cooperation in all his future efforts in their communities. 
The New England farmer is conservative. He is slow to adopt new 
ways of doing his work, or of taking up the use of new tools for doing 
the old tasks. The field demonstration is practically the only way by 
which he can be made to see any advantage in new equipment. This 
also applies to new methods of doing work. The, way grandfather 
did it is too often the way the grandsons still do it. 
The field demonstration gives the extension specialist a good chance 
to show the value of new equipment or improvements on old equip¬ 
ment as they are developed. Improvements in ways of handling bees, 
discovered by the federal and state research workers, are passed on to 
the beekeepers in the best way by means of field demonstrations. 
