316 



Is it possible, then, that nature, so care- 

 ful in her adjustments of reciprocal obliga- 

 tions, has forgotten the flowers ? Is there 

 no possible benefit, we ask, derived by the 

 blossom from the visits of the bees ? We 

 bee-keepers unite with botanists and all 

 other lovers of nature in affirming, there is. 



All flowers are composed of two essential 

 parts— stamens and pistils. The stamens 

 bear the anthers which contain the pollen. 

 The pistils produce no pollen, but have a 

 waxy substance in its stead called the stig- 

 ma, which receives and retains the pollen. 

 This pollen must unite with the stigma of 

 the pistil, else there can in no possibility be 

 fruit. The stamens when they shed their 

 pollen, like our drones when they have 

 served the purpose of their creation, imme- 

 diately die. The pistils, unlike the stamens, 

 when fertilized live and develop into fruit. 



Wyandotte Co., Kan. 



Read before the Central Michigan Convention. 



History and Use of Bee Smokers. 



PROF. A. J. COOK. 



The fear of bees, and the dread of their 

 sting, deters many from engaging in apicul- 

 ture, who would otherwise find in its pur- 

 suit both pleasure and profit. Could these 

 same parties know how easily bees may be 

 subdued, and how, with experience, all fear 

 would vanish to nothingness, they would 

 no longer stand aloof, but would make bees 

 their companions, and the apiary their place 

 of business. I suppose it was such thoughts 

 that led the officers of our soeiety to urge 

 me to write an essay on the history, and 

 use of smokers in bee-keeping. 



The first mention I find of smokers, and 

 smoke to render the bees tractable, is from 

 Columella, who, as Mr. Langstroth once 

 said to me, writes not as the narrator of 

 others' experience, but as the practical 

 man. In his Lib. 90, 15, in giving directions 

 for securing the wax and honey without in- 

 jury to the bees, he says: "Have also ready 

 an earthern pot, with live coals in it, and 

 with a funnel-shaped cover, through which 

 the smell of dried dung may be conveyed to 

 any part of the hive." Tims this wonderful 

 man, at the very dawn of the Christian era, 

 used smoke, and had invented a better 

 smoker than the old pan of chips still used 

 by some bee-keepers of our country. 



Du Hamel, of France, as we learn from 

 Wildman, p. 184, used a roll of rags to quiet 

 bees in 1754. 



Reaumer, English translation of 1764, p. 

 382, speaks of raising the hive, when the 

 smoke of a burning rag is introduced. 



In a quaint old book, by John Mills, F. R. 

 S., published in London in 1766, on p. 80, 

 the author speaks of a pot of live coals, and 

 of burning linen rags. On page 99, of this 

 work, the dust of the fungous puff-ball is 

 recommended for use, in stupi tying the 

 bees. While on page 111 is found the earli- 

 est reference, 1 have seen, to the use of a 

 bellows for smoking bees. This was used 

 by Madame Vicat, a very learned Swiss 

 lady in 1764. She used this implement to 

 blow the smoke made by burning linen 

 rags into the hives. 



In a very interesting work by John Keys, 

 "The Ancient Bee Master's Farewell," 

 published in 1796, a special vessel or box for 

 fumigating bees is described and figured. 



In Bevan's admirable work on " The 

 Honey Bee," which appeared in 1838, on 

 page 136, there is described and figured a 

 fine tube to be attached to the nozzle of a 

 bellows. Here, then, we have the essential 

 features of our present admirable smokers, 

 only very clumsy in form. Tobacco is rec- 

 ommended for fuel. 



In the third edition of Henry Tailor's 

 " Bee-Keepers' Manual," London, 1849, 

 there is figured and described on page 98, a 

 similar apparatus, except that the bee-keep- 

 er's lungs are to form the bellows. He recom- 

 mends puff-ball or devil's snuff-box for fuel. 



John Pettitt, London, in his price-list of 

 1S64, illustrates a bellows smoker of the 

 Be van pattern. 



Von Keine, in his work of 1856, printed in 

 German, wishes nothing better than tobacco 

 and a good pipe. I regret that he has so 

 many followers. 



De'beauvoys, in his work of 1853, printed 

 in French, figures and describes a Bevan 

 bellows smoker ; and advises his readers to 

 burn old rope, dried cow manure, old hay, 

 or nut shells. 



Hamet, the present editor of VApicul- 

 teur, in the second edition, 1861, of Cours 

 Pratique d' Aviculture, makes the same 

 recommendation as does Debeauvoys. F. 

 Bastian, in his work, Paris, 1868, does the 

 same, and praises rotten wood for fuel. 



Langstroth, in his first edition, 1853, states 

 the now well-known fact that bees full of 

 honey never volunteer an attack. That 

 fright causes them to fill with honey, and 

 that smoke will alarm them. He pronounces 

 against the use of tobacco, and recommends 

 cotton cloth. Sprinkling with sweetened 

 water is also recommended to quiet bees. 

 Quiet, gentle motions about the apiary are 

 stoutly urged. In succeeding editions rot- 

 ton wood is commended for fuel. 



Mr. Quinby, in his work, recalls the old 

 Tailor tube in which tobacco or rotten 

 wood may be burned and the smoke blown 

 through by the bee-keeper. 



In 1874 Mr. Quinby figured in the March 

 number of the Bee Keepers' 1 Magazine an 

 improved bellows smoker. This improve- 

 ment simply consists in changing the fire- 

 tube to the side of the bellows, making the 

 latter smaller and omitting the handles. Yet 

 it was a mighty stride in advance. It con- 

 verted an unwieldly, impracticable imple- 

 ment into a convenient, serviceable and 

 almost indispensible accessory of the apiar- 

 ist's apparatus. More than this, if Mr. 

 Quinby had not thought of this, very likely 

 we should still be without the valuable bel- 

 lows smokers which are such valuable ad- 

 juncts to our aparian work of to-day. Mr. 

 Quinby was not only a master of apiculture, 

 but he had a great heart which endeared 

 him to all who knew him. Hence, it was 

 characteristic of the man to give his valu- 

 able invention, from which he might have 

 realizedLa large profit, to the bee-keeping 

 publicXln his first announcement he savs : 





