1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



339 



Whether or not tliis be true, the wetting of 

 the winsjs would certuinly have some ettect 

 in disorgani/.inji," their llyinii' apparatus; and 

 it miglit induce theui to return to tlie hive 

 innnediately. or ehister upon the nearest 

 avaihible object. In the enji'iaviuK Hic api- 

 arist is slidwu in tlie act of jiivin^' the bees a 

 shower-bath witli tlie Smith force-i)uuii). 

 Unfortnuately. liowever, the artist lias rep- 

 resented the liees as benig clustered, and 1 

 can scarcely iuiauine what desired effect 

 could be had from sprayinti; the swarm after 

 being' (dnstered. unless the apiarist weie 

 afraid that the bees nught leave tlie limb 

 and innnediately thereafter start tor the 

 woods. The siirayinf; of the bees would 



it wQuld not be as convenient for spraying 

 bees on a chase, the pail conld be carried 

 and set down beneath a large body of the 

 llyiuu bees. It is superior to the Whitman, 

 in tiiat it wiU seuil a larger stream to a 

 greater distunce. 



.Vuy ( f our readers who are desirous of 

 testing this niatter of the possibility and the 

 utility of the force-pump in bringing down 

 swarms can do so with the Smitii pumj), and 

 yet not be at a very great exjteiise in mak- 

 ing the experiment. If it is not snccessful 

 in operating on swarms, it certainly is a 

 very convenient thing to have around for 

 (ires, washing windows, watering gardens, 

 spraying currant-bushes with a liquid that 



-rnAVlNc^ A SWAH.M WrrU IUK SMIIH F<iK<:K I'UMI'. 



l)robably compel them to rejuain for a little 

 while, or at least until he could make snch 

 arrangement that he could hive the bees. 

 Ordinarily, however. 1 believe the idea is to 

 wet tlie bees while tlying, in order thai they 

 may be si)eedily induced to clnster. We 

 h ive had reports of the Whitman puni]) be- 

 ing use 1 lor this pnrpose. and, if I am C(n-- 

 rect. swarms were induced to settle. The 

 Whitman pump, however. costs more money 

 than must apiarists care to invest in any 

 thing that will be nncertain as to its utility 

 in brin,a;ing- down swarms. The Smith force- 

 puiuu. at the present price of $1.00 each, is 

 within the reach of all : aijd while perhaps 



is deatli to cunanl-worms, for cleaning out 

 worms' nests in fruit-trees, and for renovat- 

 ing chicken-coops by spraying the inside 

 with a thin solution "of whitewash. In re- 

 yard to cleaning out worms" nests in fruit- 

 trees, I would say that this was one of my 

 jobs when a small boy. With a force-pump 

 and a pail of water I could blow the worms' 

 nests to ideces in short meter, and it didn't 

 matter how high above the ground, or how 

 inconveniently the nest was sitiuited, the 

 pump would scatter the worms like a small 

 charge of (huamite. It was only last sum- 

 mer that 1 had a patch of thrifty growing 

 tomftto-yijies in the back yard. They were 



