1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



463 



SUITABLE DRESS FOR WORK AMONG 

 THE BEES IN HOT WEATHER. 



FURTHER HINT.S 



ANU SUQOESTIONS FROM DR. 

 MIIjLER. 



fp^IIE following letter was sent to me 

 I'' from I)i-. Aliller. It was not written 

 ^ for publi> ation ; bnt as it contains so 

 many matters of interest, we give it 

 below : 



Dear Ernest :~\'ouv iirticle on page 30 interests 

 me much. 1 am glad to see you getting- down to 

 the minuticV— to the little details. I strongly sus- 

 pect, that in hut weather woolen may be better for 

 next tlie skin, and that you are right, both for fat 

 and lean people. I am making some irnjuiries that 

 may help us out. 



I once had a hat of the same kind, I- think, as you 

 describe. I do not think I li^e it so well as the live- 

 cent hat I use. Their cost is so little that I gener- 

 ally keep a set at each apiary, a veil being sewed to 

 the rim of each. My wife says you would not wear 

 one, "they are such awful-looking things." It is 

 true, they are not models of beauty, after being 

 worn awhile, especially after being wot. They pre- 

 sent an appearance something like this: 



I like them better, how- 

 ever, after they assume 

 this drooping habit. They 

 shade the face and eyes 

 better, and hold the veil in 

 better shape. They have a 

 look of such abject humili- 

 ty that no one is likely to 

 be very hard on you for 

 any thing you have done, 

 while you are covered by 

 one of them. 



I wish you would try a 

 pair of Newburgh (N. Y.) 

 overalls. They are thor- 

 oughly made, no button 

 ever comes off. Each but- 

 ton about the waist has 

 plainly stamped upon it, 

 " Newbui-gh Overall." The material is good, and 

 they are neatly fitting; in fact, they are a standard 

 article. 



You have said nothing about the suspenders. An 

 article of good, substantial, easy suspenders at low 

 cost is something very much needed. I doubt if 

 the right thing is yet invented. It should be some- 

 thing that will admit of stooping forward without 

 lifting you out of your seat or tearing off the back 

 buttons. This is usually accomplished to a certain 

 extent by the use of rubber. The rubber, however, 

 is not durable, and becomes worthless with age, 

 even if not used at all, and I want a pair of sus- 

 penders fitted to each pair of pants, to avoid ad- 

 justing them each time I change; and this makes 

 it that, on a pair of pants but little used, the rubber 

 is spoiled while the suspenders are very little worn. 

 I think the right suspender will have no rubber in 

 it. I have worn several pairs of Argosy suspend- 

 ers, made with cords and pulleys, without rubber, 

 and like them well, but they are expensive, costing 

 .50 cts., and the cord wears through in some spot be- 

 fore long, and then the whole thing must be thrown 

 aside. 



Once while I was sitting in an office in Chicago, a 

 man came in with a pair of patent suspenders, in- 



MILLiER'S BEE HAT 

 AND VEIL 



tended to cover the ditliculty by mnintaining the 

 same easy feeling, no nuittir what position the 

 Avearer took. 1 tried on a paii-, and they certainly 

 were a success. I have since been sorry 1 did not 

 buy a pair, as 1 have never seen any like them 

 since. There was some sort of a patent device at- 

 tached, which it wa.^i claimed secured the proper ad- 

 justment upon any change of position, t)Ut I doubt 

 if this device liad any thing to do with it. I think 

 it was simply the way in which the suspenders were 

 fastened on the pants. 



Since writing the above 1 have been experiment- 

 ing a little, and I think I have bit upon the principle 

 used in the suspenders last mentioned. Wove the 

 two back suspender buttons 6 or 8 inches further 

 apart, and use only the hindmost of the two front 

 buttons on each side; in other words, have no but- 

 tons before or behind, but two at eacli side, three 

 or four inches apart. Now put on a pair of the 

 plainest kind of suspenders, eiossed on the back in 

 the old-fashioned way, and I believe you will find 

 them easy for the stooping so common about bee- 

 work. 



Now let John get us, on the 15 or 20 cent countei", 

 a pair of stout suspenders that are made of one 

 straight plain piece— no rubber, but heavy enough 

 to remain pretty rigid, with strong leather at each 

 end. Possibly there may be an advantage in hav- 

 ing the two buttons at each side in front; that is, 

 having each front end of the suspender attached to 

 two buttons. 



Since the above was written I have made inquiry 

 as to the matter of cotton or woolen clothing for 

 those exjjosed to extreme heat. My brother in-law 

 is superintendent of iron and ^teel works, having 

 two or three thousand men under his control (from 

 the minors to the last workers on steel), and he says 

 all his experience is in favor of woolen clothing. 

 The only men he knows of who don't wear woolen 

 shirts when so exposed are puddlers, and they 

 strip to the waist; but as a very general thing they 

 wear woolen drawers. That is the result of an ex- 

 perience among iron and steel workers extending 

 over thirty years. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111. 



Many tlianks, friend M., for yt)ur kind let- 

 ter. 1 am still wearing the underwear I 

 spoke of on page 30, current volume ; but I 

 have not seen the day. this spring that I de- 

 sired lo take it off, and we have had days 

 when the thermometer registered over 80^, 

 even in the month of May. You know, that 

 when warm weather comes very suddenly in 

 the season we feel the heat much more. 

 While others were complaining about the 

 very hot weather, I don't think i experienc- 

 ed any inconvenience. I know of several 

 who are wearing underwear, and they claim 

 that it is not only better on very hot days, 

 but quite a protection when the weather 

 changes stiddenly. and the air feels chilly 

 and damp. I do not know, but suspect, that 

 the great majority of those who are exposed 

 to a considerable amount of sun heat or arti- 

 ficial heat would l)e a great deal better off 

 with light underwear. I know that T have 

 not, for the past few years, suffered so much 

 from the heat as I formerly did when I re- 

 moved all underwear at the approach of hot 

 weather. I think it is a fact everywhere, 

 that where men are obliged to work with 

 and around melted metals or blast-fiuiiaces. 



