1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



53 



the cloth on very quietly, and carefully avoid 

 rubbing or irritation. I have often dipped 

 my hand in cold water after having a pain- 

 ful sting, but as my hand ached just as bad 

 under the water (it really ached worse, be- 

 cause I had nothing else to do but to stand 

 there and think about it), I soon dropped that 

 remedy also. A year or two ago, kerosene 

 oil was suggested as a remedy, and two of 

 our friends regarded it of such importance, 

 that they almost got into a controversy about 

 which was entitled to the honor of the dis- 

 covery. Well, I had a very bad sting on my 

 hand, and I went for the oil can, and dropped 

 oil on the spot for some time ; as kerosene 

 will remove a rusty bolt or screw when noth- 

 ing else will avail, and as it seems to have a 

 wonderful power of penetrating all cracks 

 and crevices, I began to have faith that it 

 might follow the sting of the bee, and in 

 some way neutralize the poison. I had the 

 satisfaction of having one of the most pain- 

 ful and lasting stings I ever got, and togeth- 

 er with the offensive smell of the oil, it quite 

 sickened me of that, as a remedy. I pre- 

 sume the oil made it no worse, but it really 

 seemed to me that it must have done so. 



In discussing this matter of bee sting rem- 

 edies, we should remember that the pain of 

 a sting very often ceases suddenly, with no 

 application whatever; those who have been 

 stung a great deal will all tell you that this 

 is the case. Well, the beginner who carries 

 his saleratua water or hartshorn, and always 

 makes an application of some kind, will tell 

 you, and truthfully too, that the pain stopped 

 the very moment the remedy was applied. 

 Again ; some stings swell very badly, while 

 others do not swell at all. Well, if an appli- 

 cation is made, and no swelling results, he 

 will remember how former stings had 

 swelled, and at once ascribe the difference 

 to the remedy applied. STou will see from 

 this, that it is only by repeated trials, ex- 

 tending through a considerable period of 

 time, that Ave can arrive at the truth. There 

 is one rule that will apply to this, and to a 

 great many other similar matters. If a 

 thing is really good, it will come into general 

 use, and stay there, not only for a few weeks 

 and months, or for a single season, but will 

 be in demand year after year. If I am cor- 

 rect, not one of the bee sting remedies have 

 stood this test. Sooner or later, they have 

 all been dropped, and old bee-keepers get 

 along in the way I have advised— picking 

 the sting out, if they are not in too much of 

 a hurry, and thinking no more about it. 



WHAT TO DO WHEN STUNG A GREAT NUM- 

 BER OF TIMES, ALL AT ONCE. 



There is very seldom any need of such a 

 catastrophe, but as such an event may come 

 about, it may be well to consider the matter. 

 In hiving hybrids, under certain conditions, 

 I have known them to attack the operator in 

 a mass, and sting him most unmercifully. 

 A neighbor of ours was stung in this way 

 until he fainted, and had to be carried into 

 the house. In such cases, I would resort to 

 the usual means to restore the person from 

 the fainting fit, and then extract the stings 

 as speedily as possible, and treat with wet 

 cloths. It is true that death may result from 

 the stings of bees, and if report is correct, a 

 single sting has been known to result in 

 death, in very rare instances. Shall we stop 

 keeping bees on this account V People are 

 killed by horses almost every day, and such 

 cases are comparatively frequent, but did 

 anyone ever advocate giving up the use of 

 horses on that account V Cases that have re- 

 sulted fatally, or in laying a person up for a 

 time, or have produced fainting, are usually 

 where the person is stung for the first time ; 

 after the system gets inured to the poison, 

 its effects are comparatively harmless. 



GETTING HARDENED TO THE EFFECTS OF 

 STINGS. 



When I first commenced bee keeping, 

 stings swelled so badly and were so painful, 

 that I had either my hands or eyes swelled 

 up most of the time, and I seriously contem- 

 plated giving up the business, just on this 

 account alone. After I had had a little more 

 practice, I discovered that there was very 

 little need of being stung at all, if one was 

 careful not to provoke the ire of the little in- 

 sects. Still further, I found the swelling to 

 be gradually less and less, and before my 

 first summer was over, I very seldom felt the 

 effects of any sting, the day afterward. 

 When first commencing, if my eye was 

 swelled so as to be closed by a sting, it often 

 took until the third day, to have it go down 

 entirely. The A B C class, almost without 

 exception, corroborate this experience. 



HOW TO AVOID BEING STUNG. 



Some may imagine, from the foregoing, 

 that it is necessary for one who keeps bees 

 to submit to the pain of being stung several 

 times, every day. A short time ago, a lady 

 said that she could never stand it to have 

 her husband keep 100 swarms, for she got 

 stung four or five times a day with only a 

 dozen, and 30 or 40 stings a day would be 

 more than she could possibly stand. Now, 



