610 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



economic speed of from 25 to 30 miles an 

 hour makes the distance between beeyards 

 comparatively short. The larger tires, the 

 larger wheels, and better springs, enable the 

 boys to go more in comfort, and with less 

 shock and jar on the combs, when bees are 

 removed to an outyard. We found, also, 

 that 700 to 800 lbs. is about all that we de- 

 sire to carry at a time. By doing a little 

 head work we can plan to carry a good 

 many tons of freight in a season. We are 

 aiwa3'S carrying something. When we get 

 into the extracting season, one big extractor 

 with a complete outfit can be put into this 

 fast truck, thus saving the expense of an 

 exti'acting-outlit at each yard. 



Good second-hand five-passenger autonio- 

 biles can now be purchased at from $150 to 

 $200, and $50 ought to supply such a ma- 

 chine with a truck body with high sides. 

 Never buy a second-hand automobile with- 

 out getting the advice of a disinterested ex- 

 pert. A good machine should not cost 

 to exceed $250 ; and a second-hand auto- 

 mobile truck would cost twice that, nor 

 would it begin to be as sendeeable. Fast 

 speed and comparatively light loads are 

 more practical than a slower speed and 

 heavy loads for ordinary outyard work. 

 At other times the touring body can be sub- 

 stituted for the truck body and the whole 

 family take a ride. 



For a i^ieture of our converted touring- 

 ear automobile truck see Fig. 4, page 590, 

 of our last issue. 



Going; too Far with Live-bee Demon- 

 strations 



We have just received a newspaj^er clip- 

 ping relating an incident where a beekeep- 

 er has been giving live-bee demonstrations; 

 and was severely stung. It seems lie had 

 been advertising that he would " take a 

 bath in live bees." He stripped himself to 

 the waist and poured the bees into a pan 

 and then poured them over his bare back 

 and chest. There is nothing so very awful 

 about that kind of work if it is properly 

 done. But the average person makes a 

 bungle of it. In the first place, he should 

 take only gentle bees, and in the second 

 place he should not use the same bees more 

 than once; and in the third place he had 

 better not strip himself to the waist. Bare 

 arms, head, and neck " will astonish the 

 natives" just as well as the bare back and 

 chest; and the danger of being seriously 

 slung is not nearly so great. 



It appears that our operator referred to 

 in the clipping was so badly stung on the 

 bare back on one of these occa.sions that the 



doctors had to work over him half the night 

 before he could be relieved. Then, accord- 

 ing to the newspajier report, he proposed 

 to go right into another demonstration the 

 next day. 



We cannot too strongly condemn such 

 foolishness. While there are lion-tamers 

 who can stick their head in a lion's mouth, 

 too many have llieir heads crushed to make 

 the practice safe. 



We liave given some two hundred live-bee 

 demonstrations, and with one exception we 

 have never been stung more than two or 

 three times all told. The exception re- 

 ferred to was where we were foolish enough 

 to boiTow another man's hat. The hat prov- 

 ed to be an old one, literally soaked with 

 sweat and dirt; and when the bees were 

 dumped into it they immediately showed 

 their aversion by boiling over; and when 

 the hat was placed on our head the bees 

 stung us, not once but several times. Of 

 course we removed the hat and gently 

 combed the bees otf from our head as though 

 nothing had happened, and went on with 

 the lecture, and no one was the wiser; but 

 next time we made up our mind tliat we 

 would use our own hat. 



There is no need of one being stung at 

 such demonstrations providing he does the 

 thing properly; and a live-bee demonstra- 

 tion will draw a crowd for the purpose of 

 selling honey as will nothing else. 



We take a gentle strain of bees and shake 

 them into a tin dishpan. Then we roll 

 them over a couple of times. We next gently 

 run the hand into the mass of bees, tak- 

 ing care not to pinch a single bee. The 

 movement must be very deliberate. It 

 takes about a full minute to pick up a hand- 

 ful of bees. To push or crowd the bees 

 too fast will cause them to sting. A com- 

 mon dishpan that is slightly greasy is bet- 

 ter than anything else. The bees cannot 

 stick to it, and it is our usual plan to roll 

 the bees into one hand. There is no danger 

 of being stung if one is careful not to 

 pinch the bees. With the handful of 

 bees we walk down into the midst of the 

 audience, and ex])]ain why thej- do nol 

 sting. Following this we shake the handful 

 into our own hat, then place the same on 

 the head, and continue the lecture. We have 

 sometimes put a few bees in the mouth and 

 blown them out. While we have never been 

 stung more than once, Ave consider this an 

 unnecessary demonstration. 



A couple of yeai's ago, for the benefit of 

 the moving-pif'ture men, two of our men 

 offered to strip to the waist. We then took 

 a large panful of bees and poured them 

 over tlie backs of the boys. In the mean 



