194 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



October 



BEE-KEEPING AS A SIDE ISSUE, 



Or a Back-yard Industry— Beginners' 

 Lesson No. 3. 



BY F. G. HEKJIAN. 



IT is easy to move and to handle bees 

 when you know how ; but it is the 

 prospect of learning that frightens 

 many people away from bee-keeping. 

 Undoubtedly a bee-keeper often gets 

 stung ; it is useless to deny it. It is 

 scarcely consoling to tell a novice that 

 in time he will grow used to being stung; 

 but after a time a bee-keeper does really 

 become inoculated, after which, although 

 the momentary pain may be sharp, 

 there are no disagreeable after effects 

 such as swelling etc. I myself thought 

 very seriou&ly of having to give up the 

 pursuit after one or two years' experi- 

 ence, for the bees insisted upon stinging 

 me several times in the same spot on 

 the wrist. I carried about a swollen arm 

 for over a week; but it soon wore away 

 and I was troubled no more with bad ef- 

 fects. In fact, I now consider bee stings 

 in moderation good and stimulative, for 

 the bees certainly do insert some of 

 their snap and energy into their keeper. 

 Of course, when handling bees I wear a 

 veil over my face, and liave them always 

 ready for visitors to my apiary ; but I 

 never protect my hands with gloves ex- 

 cepting when I go to my out-apiary, 

 which consists of nearly all black and 

 hybrid bees, some of which are in a 

 liouse, and are sometimes unusually 

 cross, probably made so by the boys 

 throwing stones at the hives. 



But examining the hives and removing 

 the frames would not be so simple a mat- 

 ter were it not for another implement of 

 the bee-keepers' trade, namely, the 

 smoker. The apiarist would have a dis- 

 tinctly bad quarter of an hour at the 

 hands, or rather, at the stings of his bees 

 if, before beginning his pilferings, he 

 did not send a preliminary puff of smoke 

 from his bellows into the hive. This 

 alarms the bees and causes them to fill 

 themselves full of honev, for the bee is 



such a miser that her instinct for saving 

 her horde is stronger than even that of 

 self preservation. It has been found 

 tliat when bees are full of honey they do 

 not use their stings so freely as at otlier 

 times, and so the bee-keeper can with 

 perfect security lift out the frame from 

 which they are hanging in groat clusters, 

 brush tliem into the hive and make off 

 with the honey. 



WU. F. G. HEKMAX. 



One day, while working in the apiary, 

 a gentleman was watching me. He was 

 curious to know how I managed to get 

 the honey from the hives ; said it must 

 be at night when all the bees are asleep. 

 This, of course, would be the very worst 

 time of all, as bees know nothing about 

 sleep, but labor twenty -four hours a 

 day; for there is plenty of work to be 

 done inside of the hive at night, such as 

 evaporating honey, comb building, etc. 

 It is the custom of tiie bee-keepers gen- 

 erally to select warm and clear days in 

 which to perform the operations of the 

 hive. The older bees which consti- 



