ON MAKING A COLLECTION 221 



butterfly net, though males drowsing on flowers may- 

 be picked up in the fingers. 



The best way to kill the bees is to place them in 

 a wide-mouthed bottle, in the bottom of which a 

 mixture of cyanide of potassium and plaster of Paris 

 has been spread to a depth of an inch or two. Any 

 chemist will make up this kind of killing-bottle. 

 Care is needed to prevent moisture from getting 

 into the hairs of the specimens lying in the killing- 

 bottle, for this soon spreads over the coat and quite 

 spoils the appearance of the specimen. The moisture 

 is usually caused by the bees regurgitating the 

 nectar they have collected, and is quickly communi- 

 cated to all the specimens through their rolling 

 about in the bottle. The best preventative is 

 crushed tissue paper put into the bottle before going 

 out collecting ; this will absorb the moisture and 

 will keep the specimens from moving about. The 

 bottle should not be exposed to sunshine, for this 

 heats it and in cooling moisture condenses on the 

 inner surface of the glass. Of course the fewer 

 specimens there are in the bottle the less likely they 

 are to damage one another. 



A properly prepared cyanide bottle, if it is kept 

 well corked,* lasts for a year or two, and renders any 

 bee placed in it motionless and insensible in less 

 than half a minute. If the specimen is to be set, it 

 should at this stage have its wings pulled so that 

 they rest in a horizontal, not vertical, position. It 

 should then be left in the bottle for an hour or 

 two ; if less it may revive, and if longer it will stiffen 



