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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



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W. F. CLARKE, Editor. 



Bee-Stings. 



One of the most formidable hindrances to 

 the extension of bee-lieepiug, is the fear of 

 being stung. If you suggest to any one well 

 situated for the purpose, the advisability of 

 starting an apiary, most likely the objection 

 Tvill at once be made, that the wicked little 

 creatures are so mischievous with their stings, 

 that there is no desire to have anything to do 

 with them. The impression many people 

 seem to have, is that the chief mission of the 

 bee is not so much to store honey, as to 

 sting all and sundry. Bee-keeping will always 

 be confined to a select few, until popular 

 mistakes are corrected, and more light is dif- 

 fused in regard to this aflair of stinging. 



As a matter of fact, bee-stings are " like 

 .angels' visits, few and far between." It is 

 -only now and then that any one is punished 

 thus, even in localities wliere large numbers 

 »of bees are kept. When it is considered that 

 ■ordinary colonies contain twenty or thirty 

 thousand bees, and that the population of, 

 say forty hives, is about one million, it must 

 he evident that stinging is a rare and excep- 

 tional thing, and so far from its being the 

 ■chief business and constant aim of these in- 

 sects, it is very seldom resorted to. "Were it 

 •otherwise, and as too many unreflecting per- 

 sons think; were bees as apt to sting as mus- 

 >quitoes are, it would be absolutely impossi- 

 ble to keep an apiary. 



All creatures have means of defence fur- 

 nished them adapted to the repulsion of those 

 ■enemies by which they are likely to be as- 

 sailed. Self-preservation is the first law of 

 nature. Man is the chief enemy of the bee. 

 Though this busy little worker is intended to 

 -do important service for the human race, it 

 must have protection against the very beings 

 whose interests it i,s meant to serve. If bees 

 were as harmless as flies, no honey would be 

 stored for mankind. Their operations would 

 constantly l)e interfered with. Every school- 

 boy and little child would so "meddle and 

 muddle," tliat the order, discipline, industry 



and usefulness of the hive would be destroy- 

 ed. The sting is therefore a beneficent pro- 

 vision of nature, without which the bee could 

 not accomplish its mission or fulfill its destiny. 

 Some exceedingly scientific apiarians, indulge 

 the dream of being able some day, to breed 

 out the sting, or at any rate, the disposition 

 to use it. Whether this dream will ever be 

 realized, is a very doubtful matter, and wheth- 

 er its realization would, on the whole, tend 

 to advance the interests of bee-keeping, is 

 perhaps even more doubtful. 



Some people afi"ect to despise a bee-sting. 

 We do not. A bee-sting is no joke under any 

 circumstances, and under some circumstances, 

 it is a very serious and painful aftair, as we 

 can testify from personal experience. In 

 parts of the human body, where there are 

 important blood-vessels and main lines of 

 nerves, near the surface, causing the poison 

 to act quickly and spread rapidly, a sting is 

 sometimes dreadful, especially if inflicted at 

 a time when the virus injected is more than 

 usually powerful. For it is well known by 

 experienced bee-keepers, that the poison is 

 more virulent at some times than it is at 

 others. We were once stung in the central 

 point of the upper lip. The poison took im- 

 mediate eft'ect, and spread with astonishing 

 rapidity, upward to the head and downward 

 to the throat and stomach. The pain was- 

 excruciating. Sickness, burning fever and 

 various alarming symptoms quickly resulted. 

 It was three or four days before the ett'ect of 

 that one sting passed off. There have been 

 cases in which a single bee-sting has caused 

 death. It is therefore no sign of wisdom to 

 ridicule the matter, but rather to estimate the 

 thing as it really is, and endeavor to guard 

 against it. 



Intelligent acquaintance with the habits of 

 the bee, and the use of proper precautionary 

 and remedial measures, will either prevent 

 stinging altogether, or will secure immunity 

 from any serious and fatal consequences. 



In the first place, it should be distinctly 

 understood, that when bees are out foraging, 

 they are too intent on their work to sting, 

 unless they are interfered with, fought at, 

 crushed, or made fast in some way. If hu- 

 man beings would mind their own business 

 as dilligently as the bees do, it would be well 



