40 
Poisonous Arthropods 
injections of bee-sting poison were then discontinued. At the end 
of a month they were repeated at intervals of four or five days. 
Again, after two or three weeks the itching sensation came on, but 
it was less pronounced. The patient was given a rest of about a 
month, when the doses were repeated as before.” By this course 
of treatment the young man became so thoroughly immunized that 
neither unpleasant results nor swelling followed the attacks of the 
insects and he is able to handle bees with the same freedom that any 
experienced bee-keeper does. 
In an interesting article in the Entomological News for November, 
1914, J. H. Lovell calls attention to the fact that “There has been a 
widespread belief among apiarists that a beekeeper will receive more 
stings when dressed in black than when wearing white clothing. 
A large amount of evidence has been published in the various bee 
journals showing beyond question that honey-bees under certain 
conditions discriminate against black. A few instances may be 
cited in illustration. Of a flock of twelve chickens running in a bee- 
yard seven black ones were stung to death, while five light colored 
ones escaped uninjured. A white dog ran among the bee-hives 
without attracting much attention, while at the same time a black 
dog was furiously assailed by the bees. Mr. J. D. Byer, a prominent 
Canadian beekeeper, relates that a black and white cow, tethered 
about forty feet from an apiary, was one afternoon attacked and 
badly stung by bees. On examination it was found that the black 
spots had five or six stings to one on the white. All noticed this fact, 
although no one was able to offer any explanation. A white horse 
is in much less danger of being stung, when driven near an apiary, 
than a black one. It has, indeed, been observed repeatedly that 
domestic animals of all kinds, if wholly or partially black, are much 
more liable to be attacked by bees, if they wander among the hives, 
than those which are entirely white. 
In order to test the matter experimentally, the following series 
of experiments was performed. In the language of the investi¬ 
gator : 
“On a clear, warm day in August I dressed wholly in white with 
the exception of a black veil. Midway on the sleeve of my right arm 
there was sewed a band of black cloth ten inches unde. I then 
entered the bee-yard and, removing the cover from one of the hives, 
lifted a piece of comb with both hands and gently shook it. Instantly 
many of the bees flew to the black band, which they continued to 
