CHAPTER XIII 

 THE MANIPULATION OF BEES 



THE work which the beekeeper does with his bees has for 

 its object an increase in their productiveness. Bees gather 

 nectar and pollen when they are available in response to 

 their own instincts to gather; they build wax when it is 

 needed if space and food are available. The duties of the 

 beekeeper are not concerned with creating these impulses. 

 However, bees do not always work so as to accomplish the 

 most efficient results, when measured by the commercial 

 standards of the beekeeper, and the care which he bestows 

 on his bees serves to provide conditions suitable for the 

 turning of their natural instincts into those channels which 

 will yield the greatest profit. 



Disturbance to be reduced to a minimum. 



Bees should be handled so that their work will be dis- 

 turbed as little as possible, for the manipulations of the bee- 

 keeper are only accessory to their labors. Stings should be 

 avoided. This is not so much because they are painful, but 

 chiefly because the odor of the poison irritates bees and 

 makes them difficult to manage. A veil (Fig. 26) and a good 

 smoker (Fig. 24) are practically indispensable. By the 

 use of smoke, the bees may be quieted so that they may be 

 handled readily, the guards are disorganized and the bees 

 gorge themselves with honey, after which they are not 

 easily provoked to an attack. Too much smoke must be 

 avoided as it disorganizes the entire colony and considerable 

 time elapses before the bees fully return to their normal 

 activities. 



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