276 



THE AMERICAN BEE- JOURNAL. 



and exct'ptioiial cases, they succumb to firm 

 and gentle treatment, and soon form a habit 

 of aquiescence in tlie )>ee-keeper's will. 



3. It is well to avoid meddling with bees, 

 when from any cause, known or unknown, 

 they are excited. Sometimes it may be 

 necessary to siilxluc them under such cir- 

 cumstances, but these cases are unfrequent.^ 

 In any necessary interference with them, 

 clioose a time when all is serene, and they 

 are pursuing the even tenor of their way. 



4. When, from any unavoidable causes 

 they become exasperated, a steady, decided 

 course is absolutely indis]iensil)le. Stand 

 \our ground. Have smoke at hand and ply 

 them with it until they become pacified. It 

 is like a controversy with a passionate, self- 

 willed child. If you uive in, worse contests 

 will follow, and the hive, like as]K)iledchild 

 become unmanageable. Now and then a 

 iiybrid colony will have an luigdvernable 

 temper. If it cannot be subdued, it is bet- 

 ter to sentence it to death at the end of the 

 honey season, than to have the nuisance of 

 an uutractalde stock on hand. Such cases 

 arCj liowever, extremely rare, aiul are gen- 

 erally the result of bad management. Spoilt 

 bees, like spoilt children, show bad training. 



5. The utmost care should be taken luner 

 to crush a bee, if it can possibly be avoided. 

 Some bee-keepers are very careless in this 

 respect. Witli a strong colony uund)ering 

 thirty or forty thoxisand, what signifies the 

 loss of two or three bees? Well, the slaught- 

 er of a single bee will sometimes infuriate 

 that whole colony. To crush a bee is, as we 

 Jiave seen, to necessitate the thrusting out 

 of the sting and the consequent emission of 

 the poison. No sooner is the odor of that 

 poison detected by the colony than the tone 

 of their music changes from a peaceful hum 

 to a warlike strain, their tails are elevated 

 high in the air, and from every tail the pois- 

 on' odor at once enuinates. winch rouses and 

 lashes up the war spirit, until the entire 

 army is ready and anxious for the fray. 



t». Whatever style of hive is adopted, it 

 should be such as' to -facilitate ojierations 

 among bees. 'J'he simiiler the better, if it 

 only answers all lU'cessary. practical pur- 

 poses. Comjilicatioiis and nice adjustments 

 are to be avoided as far as possible. A hive 

 easily opened and closed, giving ready fa- 

 cilities of access to all its parts, without 

 nnich danger of crowding or crushing the 

 bees, is the one best adapted for the pur- 

 lK)se. whether it be covered all over with 

 patents, or entirely free from that style of 

 ornament. 



T. Precautionary measures in the way of 

 l>ersonal defense, and taming the bees, are 

 worthy of adojition by all inexperienced 

 bee-keepers, and by all, however experienc- 

 ed, wlio know thcu'iselves to be obnoxious 

 to bees. Inexperienced bee-keepers are 

 apt to make slips, to haxc accidents, and to 

 lose i)resence of mind, so that however 

 anxious tliey uuiy be and usually are to 

 prove their" skill by handling their bees 

 without protection, it is advisal)le t'ortlieiu 

 to use a bee veil and gloves imi»er\ ious to 

 stings, for a tinu' at any rate. In regard to 

 the other class of liee-keepers, it is a well ; 

 known fact that bees, as well as lunnan be- 

 ings, have tlHur likes and dislikes. There j 

 are those who are bee-loved and there are 

 those who are bee-hated. The sense of | 

 smell is very acute in bees. ]>y this they ; 

 are gui(U'd in" the recognition of the fellow- 

 occu]>ants of their own hive, and in the re- 

 jection of the natives of other hives. 'i'h(>re 

 Is little doubt that it is their keen sense of 



smell which leads them to take to cei'tain 

 persons, and to turn against others. The 

 law of atitinity which guides these little in- 

 sects is not well understood, but that there 

 is such a law is indisputable, and we must 

 conform to it. Those bee-keepers are to be 

 envieil why are favorites with the busy lit- 

 tle Avorkers, and it is these who should feel 

 called to go largtily into the business, but 

 those who are bee-hate<l n 3ed not on that 

 account forego the pleasiu-e and profit of 

 keeping bees. They must prosecute bee- 

 keeping luider difficulties; but after all, 

 some of the eminent apiarians have over- 

 come greater obstacles than the dislike of 

 their bees. Witness Huber, the father of 

 modern bee-keeping, who made such won- 

 derful discoveries in apiculture, and yet 

 was a blind man. The wearing of a veil 

 and gloves is an inconvenience, but it must 

 be submitted to by those who have the mis- 

 fortune to the objects of dislike to bees. It 

 may be added that the use smoke as a 

 means subduing bees, will often enable bee- 

 hated i)ersons to handle their hives without 

 protection. Much judgment is needed, 

 liowever, in the emphiyment of smoke, as 

 an overdose of it, or ah injudicious use of 

 it has a tendency to irritate the bees. 



8. Finally, a word remains to be said con- 

 cerning antidotes for bee-stings. It would 

 be a long detail to mention all the remedies 

 that have been suggested by way of curing 

 bee stings. In a general way it nuiy be 

 stated that almost any alkaline application 

 is good, though antidotes do not always 

 have the same effect on all persons. Bee- 

 keepers nuist judge for themselves, after 

 trial of various remedies, what ai'e most ef- 

 fectual in their se\ eral cases. AVithout hav- 

 ing any interest iu it except a benevolent 

 interest in the relief of sufi'ering humanity. 

 I strongly recommended the German Bee- 

 Cure advertised l)y Mr. llawley, of Utica, 

 N. y. I can testify." along with many others, 

 that the relief it glA es is well nigh instan- 

 taneous, not only relieving the pain but 

 preventing the swelling. C)f course, like 

 other antidotes, it uuiy not operate alike 

 on all persons, but thus" far I have heard of 

 no exception to its curative efficacy. 1 

 would suggest whether it might not be well 

 for this Society to take means to have the 

 remedy just nanu'd thoroughly tested; for 

 assuredly, if we could say to the public 

 here is an a]>])lication which will take away 

 all the pain and i>reveutthe swelling frou) a 

 bee-sting, we should ]iresent one of the 

 strongest inducements to endjark in bee- 

 keeping that can ]iossibly be held out. Take 

 away the fear of being stung, or provide a 

 neifect antidote, and many w'ould become 

 oee-keepers who now. acting on the princi- 

 ple that "discretion is the better part «tf 

 valor," give the business "a good letting- 

 alone." 



Secretary Pope, of Indianapolis, said lie 

 had always been hated by bees, and yet 

 he did not fear them. 



The discussion was continued l\v 

 Messrs. King, Benedict, Cliapnuui and 

 others. 



SiarUINO SWAliMS. 



This topic; was introduced by President 

 lloagland, who exhibited a wooden box, 

 perforated with holes, and elevated on a 

 ])ole. This, he said, had been used with 

 great success in securing swarms. 



Mrs, Ellen S. Tupper, ofTowa, took 



