1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTIKK 



SI 



serve that they are made of straw, closely 

 knit, and large enoii,2;h to cover the sleeve 

 half way to tlie elbow. 



When workino- among the bees I always 

 like to have my shirt-sleeves draw up a lit- 

 tle from the wrist. They arc held uj) by coil- 

 ed wire garters. This diuws the sleeve tight- 

 ly about the wrist, and prevents, to a great 

 extent, bees crawling up. I'ut whether tlie 

 sleeves are drawn up or not, the l)ees are lia- 

 ble to sting the exposed i)arts of the wrist, 

 which, when stung, with me, the pain is ex- 

 ceedingly sharji. To protect myself during 

 past seasons T wore the straw cnfts. You 

 notice they drop down close to the hands, so 

 that, when a bee crawls n|) the latter, being 

 unable to walk under, he crawls ui) the cuff. 



In autumn weather, during fall feeding, 

 for instance, when it is comfortable to wear 



ducking, tlie ordinary m;ilerial. Those 

 made of lin(Mi arc in general a better tit. 

 The ordinary overalls are so ill fitting and 

 baggy that I am afraid I should be ashamed 

 to be introduced to visitors when attired 

 thus, especially if father should come out 

 (as he is liable to do) and say, '• Mr. .Jones, 

 this is my son. He will take great pleasure 

 in showing you about." 



In warm weather I prefer low shoes and 

 light cotton socks. If the grass is wet with 

 dew in the morning, as is often the case, I 

 slip on rubbers. Lately, however, I have 

 found something that I "like a little better 

 than rubbers; i. e., light rubber boots de- 

 signed for ladies. I think 1 shall prefer the 

 latter, for the reason that they keep the l)ot- 

 tom of my pnnts dry. which rubbers some- 

 times fail to do. 



THE .\P1ARIST AT WOltK OVBH A H I \ K ; \>, 



■ himvim; (?is m vnnkk Or iiiit;.-.-^. 



a coat, the sleeves of the latter may be tuck- 

 ed into the cuffs, and thus prevent the bees 

 crawling up the mouth of the sleeve, which 

 always seems especially Inviting to a bee, 

 especially if hybrid or black. As stated in 

 the heading, the cuffs are useful in another 

 respect; namely, keeping the coat or shirt 

 sleeves clean from honey or wax. Our boys 

 have, therefore, found them invaluable 

 when transferring, or in any other job where 

 one is liable to get his fingers sticky. 



OVEIt.VLLS. 



If I intend to work for any length of time 

 among the bees, I invariably don a pair of 

 overalls as you see. The kind I use are 

 made of a fine quality of -blue linen — not 



Having now for tlie present disposed of 

 this matter of dress, perhaps you in(iuire 

 what the fellow in the picture is doing. 1 

 intended, among other things, to illustrate 

 how I use the Simplicity-hive t.-over for a 

 stool. 1 sit down to a hive thus, w^hen I be- 

 come tired of stooping when on my feet, 

 and. as you see. the cover answers admira- 

 bly. Indeed, I think it is a far better sub- 

 stitute than a tool-box. which has to be lug- 

 ged about. The stool is always ready as you 

 see. 



I had intended to mention one or two oth- 

 er items in this connection, but as the " boss 

 printer '' says my room is limited. I will de- 

 fer them until next issue. 



