This section is from the book "Bees For Pleasure And Profit", by Samson G. Gordon. Also available from Amazon: Bees for pleasure and profit; a guide to the manipulation of bees, the production of honey, and the general management of the apiary..
By Anna Botsford Comstock
Two questions invariably "pop up" at us when this matter of feminine bee-keeping is discussed: One is,
"Why shouldn't a woman keep bees " and the other is. "Why should a woman keep bees?" Like most other questions these may be answered more or less rationally with proper consideration.
Taking the "why shouldn't" question first, we are bound to confess that nowadays there is no effective reason why a woman should not do almost anything that she takes into her enterprising little head to do. But aside from the consideration of woman's prowess, there are one or two reasons that might deter some of the faint-hearted fair from undertaking bee-keeping. There is no use trying to gloss over the fact that there is a great deal of hard work and heavy lifting in the care of a profitable apiary. The hard work is really no objection, as most women of whatever class are at it any way. But lifting heavy hives is certainly not particularly good exercise for any woman, although I must confess that I have never lifted half so strenuously when caring for bees as I used to on the farm when we moved the cook-stove into the summer kitchen, accomplishing this feat by our feminine selves, rather than to bring to the surface any of the latent profanity which seems to be engendered in the masculine bosom when taking part in this seasonal hegira.
There are at least two ways of obviating this feminine disability in bee-keeping. One, practiced successfully by several women, is through the use of a Board-man hive-cart, which almost solves the problem if the bees are wintered out of doors, and do not have to be carried up and down cellar stairs; the other method is to get some man to do the lifting and carrying. It may be the husband, the father, the brother, the son, or the hired man; but as this work can be done at a time which can be planned for, it is not so difficult for the men of the establishment to give the help needed. I am sure that my husband would say that I am quite enthusiastically in favor of the man solution of this problem; but his opinion does not count for much because he loves the bees so enthusiastically that I have to beg for a chance to work with them at all, although he virtually points out the hives to people as "Mrs. Comstock's bees."
Another "shouldn't" reason might be that women are afraid of bee-stings. This falls flat from the fact that women are not a bit more nervous than men in this respect. This year when I was struggling to hive a swarm from a most difficult position, an interested man stood off at a safe distance in a most pained state of mind. He was a courteous gentleman, and he felt that it was outrageous for me to have to do the work alone, but he did not dare to come to my aid, and I think he considered my temerity in dealing with the swarm as almost scandalous.
Thus having disposed of all the reasons I can think of why a woman shouldn't keep bees, I turn gladly to the more interesting reasons of why she should look upon the apiary as one of her legitimate fields of labor. There are so many reasons for this that I could not enumerate them even if a complete number of "Bee Gleanings" was given me for the purpose. So I shall speak of just a few of the more cogent reasons. I should put first of all, and as embracing all other reasons, that bee-keeping may be an interesting: avocation which may be carried on coincidentally with other employment; it is an interesting study in natural history; it cultivates calmness in spirit; self-control and patience; it is "a heap" of fun ; incidentally it may supply the home table with a real luxury; and it may add a very considerable amount to the woman's spending money. It also may be carried on as a regular business and be made to support a family.
But it is as an avocation that I am especially interested in the apiary. Any woman who keeps house needs an avocation which shall take her mind and attention completely off her household cares at times. There is something about the daily routine of housekeeping that wears the mind and body full of ruts, even in the case of those who love to do housework better than anything else. Talk about the servant question! It is not the servant question, it is the housework question. If some means could be devised by which housework could be performed with inspiration, zeal, and enthusiasm, the servant problem would solve itself ; but this ideal way of doing housework can be carried on only when the spirit is freed from the sense of eternal drudgery. I am not a wizard to bring about this change; but I know one step toward it. and that is the establishment of some permanent interest for woman that will pull her out of the ruts and give her body and mind a complete change and rest. Embroidery, lacemaking, weaving, painting, and several other like occupations, may serve this purpose in a measure, and prehaps if carried on in the right way might achieve more in this line than they do at present. But these are all indoor occupations; and what a woman needs is something to take her out of doors where she can have fresh air. The excess perspiration induced by the cook-stove is weakening; but the honest sweat called forth in the open air by an application of generous sunshine is a source of health and strength.
 
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