Ever wonder why we don’t have photo features about Mia Maids or Laurels (under those or some other names) from the early 20th century? That’s because the Beehive program was the entire girls’ program in its earliest years: Girls remained the responsibility of the Primary until they were 14. The Beehive program was a three-year program, which took the girls to 17. Then they could become “senior” Beehives if they wished, helping to direct the younger girls in the same way that older boys assumed leadership positions in the Scouting program. By the time girls were 18 or 19, presumably they were focusing on marriage prospects and domestic duties.

So, when we speak of the Beehive Girls in 1918, we’re really talking about all the young women of the church — and in 1918, they were engaged in learning, recreation, and service, as shown by these photographs:

Tremonton, Utah, raising potatoes for wartime relief

Tremonton, Utah, in the potato fields

Trenton, Utah, gleaning wheat for the Relief Society

Riverside Ward, Blackfoot Stake, Idaho

LaVerkin, Utah, drying apples

Lewisville, Idaho

Loa, Utah

Los Angeles, California

Orangeville, Utah

Pocatello, Idaho

Taber, Alberta

Thayne, Wyoming

Tremonton, Utah

Tremonton, Utah, entertaining their parents

Poplar Grove, Salt Lake City

St. Johns, Arizona

Alamo, Nevada, practicing first aid!

Box Elder Stake, Utah

Draper, Utah

Duncan, Arizona

Glendale, Idaho, on canyon ride

Holden, Utah