92 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



against accident. A veil may be readily 

 made of net or thin gauze, and the best gloves 

 we know of, are the cheap harvesting ones 

 made of sheep-skin to protect the hands from 

 thistles. 



Various remedies are used to antidote bee- 

 stings. Any alkalie application is good. 

 Common washing soda and blue-bags, are 

 generally at hand, and may therefore be recom- 

 mended. A drop of honey, a little garden 

 soil, spirits of hartshorn, alchohol, and tinct- 

 ure of iodine, are among the external appli- 

 cations advocated. In severe cases, a dose 

 of whiskey or brandy is said to be good. A 

 wet sheet pack is also recommended. But 

 we have discarded every other application 

 since becoming acquainted with a German 

 remedy lately introduced. A drop or two 

 will remove all trace and effect of a sting in 

 a very few minutes. It costs but a trifle per 

 bottle, and a single bottle will last a bee- 

 keeper for a lifetime. 



®h^ §^ § (E of §tt §ufx\\^. 



CONDUCTED BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



ARTICLE I. 



Of course I have wondered why the wise 

 managers of the dear oIq Bee Journal, chose 

 me from all the fraternity to conduct this 

 department. I suppose the answer would be 

 suggested by the oft repeated assertion of 

 school directors: "Any one can teach our 

 school, they are all beginners." But, slyly, 

 they are fooled, for our best educators think 

 that those just commencing need the wisest 

 instructors. So all will see that there is one 

 joke connected with this department, however 

 dry it may be in the main. 



BEGINNERS. 



Who are thay, who should be eager to lend 

 me their ears each month, whom I am to lead 

 understandingly into the ways of pleasantness, 

 and the paths of rich pecuniary reward V All, 

 I answer, whether in country or town, who 

 have si)ace for one or more bee-hives, who 

 are not now keeping bees, and who desire 

 either more money or more pleasure, and who 

 can give a few minutes weekly to jileasure 

 and to prolit. Kspec.ially farmers, who need 

 something to supplement, their regular busi- 

 ness, and add to the length of their purse. 1 

 am a teacher, yet last year, by spending not 



more than an hour a week, from May to Octo- 

 ber, and even that only when I needed the 

 rest and recreation, my three colonies of 

 bees netted me over $100.00, and all may do 

 this, if they will but inform themselves, and 

 work intelligently. That able bee-keeper, 

 Mr. E. Rood, so long the genial President of 

 our State Society, used to say no one should 

 keep bees, who could not make a neat hive. 

 I have heard others say no one should become 

 a bee-keeper who did not enjoy being among 

 bees. But I would say: Let all keep bees, 

 who have a taste for the wonderful in nature, 

 which they wish to gratify, or a desire to " in- 

 flate their individual currency," which may 

 thus be done with perfect safety. 



But, say the eager ones, how are we to com- 

 mence ? Just what I am about to explain to 

 those who will attend. And more, I will war- 

 rant success to all who will heed and obey. 

 First, as a preface to your beginning, sub- 

 scribe for the American Bee Journal, and 

 purchase either Langstroth on the Honey Bee, 

 or Quinby's Mysteries of Bee-keeping. The 

 first to be carefully read, the second to be 

 ! studied and kept ever close at hand for refer- 

 ence. 



HOW TO get the bees. 



A beginner should be satisfied to begin with 

 about two colonies. If you can find some 

 one who has bees in movable comb hives, 

 that suit you, for sale, by all means take them. 

 If the hives do not suit, it will be cheaper to 

 get those in box-hives, as in either case, you 

 would wish to transfer them into a suitable 

 hive. But you ask. What is a suitable hive? 

 It must have movable frames, and then the 

 more simple the better. Discard all doors, 

 drawers, traps etc., which only involve ex- 

 pense, and are worse than useless. I prefer 

 a square frame, say a foot each way, as per- 

 mitting the most compact arrangement for 

 wintering, and as less apt to be severed from 

 its full comb, when handled or placed in the 

 extractor. Those who know nothing of hives 

 could not do better than send to A. I. Root 

 (Novice) for a two story Gallui) hive for a sam- 

 ple, and be sure to get the tin corners for the 

 frames. His bent tins on which the frames 

 are to rest, you can, as you make a hive, re- 

 place by a narrow strip of heavy tin, which 

 you can easily tack on. This is cheaper, and 

 I think just as good. Also replace the old 

 honey board by Novice's quilt or a piece of 

 old carj^et or heavy cloth which will do as 

 well. I am thus particular about hives, as 

 very much dei)ends on a correct start in tliis 

 direction. 



now TO select the colonies. 



Go to the Apiary on a warm day, note those 

 hives from which the bees rush out as though 

 they were jxicked, and from such select your 

 two colonies; for the beginner especially, 

 should have none but strong vigorous colonies. 



