160 



THE AMEBICAN BEE-KEEPER 



July 



shape of their blades which are ex- 

 ceedingly slender with finely rounded 

 points and all parts bnt the cutting 

 edges are round and polished. They 

 slip under the queen's wings almost 

 of their own volition. There is no dan- 

 ger of impaling the queen on any 

 sharp points, or of denting her abdo- 

 men with the sharp side of a wide 

 blade. It is not even necessary to 

 pick the queen from the coml)S, but 

 just hold her still by pressing her 

 thorax against the comb with one fin- 

 der, and then snip the desired wing or 

 wings. 



Good tools pay and he who works 

 "with poor tools is more than twice 

 tired. 



KELATING TO SMOKERS. 



One of the tools of absolute neces- 

 sity is a good smoker, and from the 

 sundry things which pass for such, 1 

 begin to believe that the i-eally good 

 smoker is a rare bird. Everybody 

 seems to want a "low priced" article, 

 but it is the worst kind of economy. 

 Unfortunately, however, a high price 

 does not always prove a guarantee of 

 quality. The first essential of a good 

 smoker is the 'Talow;" if the bellows 

 are not ample.the air suppl.v is limited, 

 be the draft ever so free. But big bel- 

 lows must be supplemented with free 

 draft into' the fire box, a condition 

 found in precious few smokers. Add 

 to good bellows with clear di*aft, a 

 ■fire box which will take "any old fuel" 

 and you have a smoker that will 

 "smoke." Many of the widely advertis- 

 ed "strong blast" smokers would not 

 supply the nimble flea with half a 

 breath. They are fine for what they 

 are made for — to sell — but avoid them 

 for use with bees. 



The best smoker that I know of is 

 the largest sized Bingham; its faults 

 lie in too light stock and careless put- 

 ting together. Inspection before ship- 

 ping should have prevented poorly 

 made ones from getting out. Heavier 

 stock would not add materially to the 

 ■cost, but would add decidedly to its 

 serviceableness. 



But there are a number of little 

 kinks which go to make the use of any 

 smoker more satisfactory, and the 

 handling of bees more pleasant. The 

 first of these is starting the fire. Salt- 

 petered rags will do it; kerosene will 

 <lo it; pine shavings will do it, but a 



handful of charcoal (half-burnt twigs 

 and chips from a bonfire) is by all 

 odds the best thing to put in on top 

 of the rags or shavings. A few puils 

 will kindle the coal, and then punk, 

 chips, hard tvood or most anything 

 that can burn will ignite and stay 

 burning. A maxim which every bee- 

 keeper should paste in the front of his 

 bee veil is: Never open a hive without 

 a well-fired smoker right at hand. You 

 may never need it. or life may depend 

 on it. A really good, ever-ready smok- 

 er is cheap at several times present 

 prices. Never take the lit smoker in- 

 doors unless you stay there with it. 

 When through using it dump the fire 

 and put it out. and if the smoker is 

 hot, set it on something which cannot 

 burn. Leave the top off and Then you 

 won't have to bang it to pieces to open 

 it when you want to fire up again. 

 A particularly convenient appliance is 

 a tobacco burner to use in conjunc- 

 tion with the smoker for introducing 

 queens, etc. Ordinarily a handful more 

 or less of tobacco thrown into the 

 smoker is used, but 'tis a wasteful 

 way and burns out quickly. True, to- 

 bacco stems are cheap, but not availa- 

 ble to many, and the "cut-plug" tobac- 

 co is more convenient and gives a fine 

 pungent smoke which I like. 



THE ROBBER CLOTH 



The robber cloth devised by Dr. Mil- 

 ler is almost as essential as a smoker, 

 and .often saves using it and pre- 

 vents many a lot of roiled and angry 

 bees For the uninitiated I would 

 describe it as a square of cloth about 

 eight inches larger each way than the 

 hive, and having sticks nailed to two 

 opposite edges. Keep them handy and 

 thi"ow one of them over the open hive 

 when you have to leave it for a few 

 moments or when you want more time 

 to examine some comb. 



BEE GLOVES. 



Many a veteran looks with scorn on 

 all who use gloves while working 

 about the bees. To those among us 

 who have become immune to the bee 

 poison, stings have few terrors, but to 

 the novice and the timorous amateur 

 it is diflPereut, but even the veterans 

 may sometimes find gloves a decided 

 help and comfort. Two occasions 

 when they are appreciated by the initi- 



