
15 
continued for some time will so fix the desirable traits as to result in 
their reproduction with a fair degree of certainty in the offspring. 
Bees having the blood of blacks and Italians are nearly always quite 
vicious in the case of the first cross, and are even harder to subdue 
with smoke than are pure blacks. Other races need not be considered 
here, as they are adapted to special purposes; and the skill of the bee- 
master, the conditions of climate, flora, etc., and the particular line of 
production to be followed, should decide whether their introduction 
is advisable or not.@ 
The second essential to enable one to avoid stings is to have a 
good smoker at hand whenever the bees are to be handled. Any way 
of getting smoke of any kind into the 
hive and about it may answer the pur- 
pose, but for ease and effectiveness in 
keeping bees under control nothing will 
take the place of the modern bellows 
smoker (fig. 1). A good one lasts years, 
and its cost is so slight ($1 to $1.25 for the 
medium sizes) that the expenditure may 
be considered one of the wisest that can 
be made in fitting up an apiary. 
A veil (fig. 2), made of black bobinet or 
Brussels net, to draw over the hat, and a 
pair of gloves, preferably of rubber, may 
be used at first. But whoever has fairly 
peaceable bees and learns even a little 
about their ways will soon discard the 
gloves, unless, indeed, he be exceedingly 
timid, or one of those to whom a bee sting 
would be a dreadful affliction. The veil can be safely dispensed with 
if the gentlest bees are kept. 
Simple and convenient hives, employing the Langstroth principle, 
and with stories and frames interchangeable and so constructed as to 
reduce propolization to a minimum and to insure straight combs, will 
much facilitate the avoidance of stings. 
The use of the bee escape (fig. 3) in removing surplus honey greatly 
reduces the risk of being stung during this operation, for it saves 
much manipulation of combs and shaking and brushing of bees. This 
useful device is fitted into a slot made in a board the same size as the 
top of the hive, and the whole, when slipped in between the brood 
apartment and an upper story or super, will permit all of the workers 
above to go down into the lower story but not to return to the top 




Fie. 2.—Bee veil. 

@¥or a fuller discussion of this subject, see ‘‘The Honey Bee: A Manual of Instruc- 
tion in Apiculture,’’ by Frank Benton, M.S., Bulletin No. 1, new series, Bureau 
of Entomology, U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture, third edition, 1899, Chap. I, pp. 11-18. 
59 
