THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



275 



ly one-half its lenfjth, and are well defined. 

 ' The parts are ot a horny consistency , of 

 a deep red color, and transjmrent; tliey are 

 also nollow alon^ the greater i>ortion of 

 their length, intended, jierhajts, to eoinl)ine 

 lightness and strength. 



The two chief parts of tlie base of the 

 sting gradually assume a n^^arly round and 

 tubular form, each terminating beyond the 

 base of the sting within the body of the 

 bee, and having an arm attached to it at 

 rignt angles, which forms apart of the mus- 

 cmar mechanism by wliich their movement 

 is effected. 



Also, to each of the chief parts, and lo- 

 cated In the cavity formed at the base of the 

 sheath, is attached a jdano-couvex valve, the 

 convexity of whicli is athipted to the inner 

 side of this receptacle, and they oc- 

 cupy about one lialf of the space 

 therein. When tlie sting is in action 

 each of the cliief i>art^ are thrust out 

 out and withdrawn alternately; so that 

 when working Its way into a wound the 

 \ alves, by their action, force out the poison 

 which tills the cavit\' and which is received 

 from a sac situated a])rtrt from the base of 

 the sting. The poison readily passes along 

 the tube, (whicli is a continuation of the 

 cavity,) and finds its \\ay into tiie wounds 

 with great facility, owing to the peculiar 

 formation of the sting. 



It often happeds that one or both of the 

 chief parts ot the >ting are left in the 

 wound, when the sli.Mth is withdrawn. 

 The.se being very minute, are seldom per- 

 ceived, the person stiuig congratulating 

 himself at the same time that the sting has 

 been extracted. Additiniial pain and swel- 

 ling result from lenving any portion of the 

 sting in tlie wound. 



In common with all the doctors who ])re- 

 ficribe for the bee-stuu'^- patients, Mr. Bled- 

 soe advises the immediate removal of the 

 sting, but there is a touch of grim irony in 

 tlie advice, when it is added, "it continues 

 its worlviug motion tor several seconds af- 

 ter being torn from the body of the bt^e, 

 and thereby buries itself so deep asgi'neral- 

 Iv to make it impossible to withdraw all of 

 it." 



The peculiarity just noticed, juobably ac- 

 counts for the severity of the consequences 

 .•esulting from bee stingy, in certain cases, 

 ni which highly se7i>iti\ e jiarts of the body 

 are attacked: but in view of the fact that 

 the extremely tine j>oiiit of the stiug is arm- 

 ed with a number of liarlis, may it lutt l)e 

 ()uestioned whether aus tiling but the outer 

 ;-heath is ever got oiil of the wound inllict- 

 c-d by this instrument? 



Leaving the scieiititic iiaper of itr. Bled- 

 soe, and indulging in some general remarks, 

 Mie celerity and force with whicli the sting 

 IS propelled cannot fail to indicate a remark- 

 ■.ble endowment. It has been styled a 

 weavw)!! of war. and sueh it is, always ready 

 L'ndliighly foriuidalile. Is any other erini- 

 fure, in proportion to its size, so thoroughly 

 (•quiped for martial i)ur|ioses as the li(>e''.' 

 it has been remarked that if man were as 

 .;ood a jumiK'r. a<'coidiiig to his size, as tlu! 

 Tlea, he could clear the dome of St. Paul's 

 ;it a bound. In like manner, if he were 

 armeil iiroportioiially a> perfectly as the 

 tiee, he would be a teriilde warrior indeed. 

 The bee itself, if it had human depravity, 

 would be an insect so intolerable that. si)ite 

 of the sweet honey it hriiigs us, we shoiiUl 

 be ctuiipelled ti> go in for its extermination. 



Fortunately, ljo\\e\< r. the liee is i>aeifleal- 

 [y disj>osed. It i- armed tor the ]ireserva- 



tion of peace, and not for the juosecutirm of 

 war. If maintains "an armed neutrality," 

 and must be stirred uj) or interfered with m 

 some way, to show sign of menace or threat 

 of attack. The common idea .seems to be 

 that the bee resembles the devil, who goetli 

 about seeking whom he may devour. But 

 the foraging excursions of this industrious 

 insect are for other i>urposes than to find 

 victims to sting. The stings of the bee 

 colony are undoubtedly meant to defend 

 their stores, and if l)ee.s were as harmless 

 as flies, very little honey would ever find 

 its way to the market or the t^able. Hence, 

 the idea of .some time or other bringing api- 

 culture to such perfection as to bret^l a race 

 of stingless bees, is as unwise as it is Uto- 

 pian. 



There can be no doubt that fear of being 

 stung is a very great hindrance, probably 

 the greatest, to the extension of bee-keep- 

 ing. Nor is this at all surprising, when you 

 consider what serious and even fatal conse- 

 quences result, in some cases, from being 

 stung. It is no mark of wisdom to de- 

 spise a bee-sting. To do so is to display ig- 

 norance, inexperience, or foolhardiness. 

 No person who has been stung in a highly 

 sensitive part of the .l)ody. when the poisoii 

 injected has been peculiarly virulent, will 

 pooh-pooh the affair. Une such sting is 

 enougn to teach a lesson of caution that will 

 last a life time. The wise course is to look 

 a danger in the face and guard against it. 

 rrecaution can easily be taken if the habits 

 of the bee are properly understood. A bee 

 will sting only under two conditions exas- 

 peration, or presure. The second of these 

 conditions would almost seem to render 

 stinging involuntary. If you press the body 

 of a dead bee, you will find that the sting 

 will dart forth with astonishing celerity and 

 force. Squeezing a Tue bee is very much 

 like touching the trigger of a loaded gun at 

 full cock. A diserarge is the inevitable and 

 immediate result, '["here are a few simple 

 rules the observance of which will reduce 

 the danger of being stung to a minimum if 

 not remove it altogether. 



1. The first is tocomjiletelv master the 

 emotion of fear. No person .should under- 

 take to handle bees who cannot maintain a 

 perfectly calHi, self-possessed, cool and de- 

 termined bearing, under all circumstances. 

 Bees know by some subtle discernment. 

 Avhether you " are timid or courageous 

 just as a' spirited lu)r>e knows whether 

 timidity or courage has hold of the reins. A 

 show of feai is j)retty sure to exasperate 

 bees. They seem to re.^ent being meddled 

 with by a tinnd hand. 



2. Gentle and (luiet movements alone are 

 safe and proi>er among bees. They are ex- 

 cessively nervous and irritable, and should 

 be treated accordingly. .Vll rough ways, all 

 sudden jars, all hurried motions are to be 

 carefully avoided. Just as nou would make 

 everything as pleasant and .soothing as pos- 

 sible to a nervous and irritable human be- 

 ing, .so should you act among bees. Especi- 

 allj- should this rule be observed in opening 

 out a hive, and ]>erforiiiing any manipula- 

 tions on the interior. To insects accu.stom- 

 ed to a dark. ]>erfectly quiet habitation, 

 with everything lirmly fixed and in a most 

 orderly state, it nnist be a rude interference 

 at best for a hive to be ontiiied, flooded with 

 sunshine, and put completely out of kilter. 

 It they can reason, they should be made to 

 do it in this wise: '■Man is our liege lord, 

 he has a right to control us, he means us no 

 harm, it will he all right." In all but rare 



