90 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



have found to remain at about 50 degrees,) 

 ample ventilation, complete dryness, and total 

 darkness ; these constitute all the essentials to 

 success. After burying, the bees gradually be- 

 come quiet, usually requiring two days, then 

 an even stillness i:)revails, which is not inter- 

 rupted throughout the time they remain, unless 

 heavy jaring occurs on the ground immediately 

 adjoining. The time bees should be buried is 

 when they cease collecting honey, even though 

 it happens in v/arm weather ; then the num- 

 bers, which are always large, can be preserved 

 imtil a yield occurs again. In burying 7 lots of 

 bees last winter, numbering from 1 to 40 colo- 

 nies, in all 224 stocks, we found burying bees 

 in trenches to require only half the material 

 and labor that placing them in pits, did, as de- 

 scribed in the Sei^tember number, last year. 

 We ascertained it required but one pound per 

 month to winter a strong colony, numbering 

 from 40 to 50 thousand bees. Where the win- 

 ters are not too severe, as the next best plan to 

 burying, we would advise letting them remain 

 on the summer-stands, remoAaug the honey- 

 board, and placing in its stead a straw mat like 

 that described in the February number of the 

 Agriculturist for 1863, page 49 ; place over it 

 the honey-board and stand-boards, evergreen 

 boughs, or brush with the leaves on around the 

 hives to keep off the Avarm sun and cold wind, 

 removing occasionally in pleasant weather. 

 This is far better than the usual practice of de- 

 stroying the bees in autumn, or allowing them 

 to waste away in winter, and might, we think, 

 add millions of dollars annually as profit to 

 bee-keeping. 



Stings— Their Prevention and Cure. 



Some of our readers may deem us neglectful 

 in having, as it Averc, left them to struggle 

 through their bee-keeping noAatiate Avithout in- 

 forming them how to avoid being stung by their 

 docile but Avell-armed flock. Of course, having 

 described the bee-dress, we have supposed that 

 the apiarian was clad, if not "in complete 

 steel," at least in the head-gear and gloves, 

 Avhich will render him invulnerable. The best 

 safeguard from the anger of bees — as, indeed, 

 the malice of men — is a quiet and peaceable 

 spirit. The apiarian Avill learn to handle his 

 bees not only as "if he loved them," — as the 

 quaint angler says — but as if he fully believes 

 that the bees love Jiivi. This they will do 

 Avhenever he approaches and treats them gently. 

 There are some cases of exception to this 

 generally peaceable disposition of the bee; some- 

 times a fcAV bees are dispeptic, and rel\ise to be 

 pacilied — let their master seek to bribe them 

 never so Avisely. Then, too, sometimes the 

 l^ee-master himself may be dyspeptic, Avhich 

 the unerring olfactory sense of the bees speedily 

 detects, and their anger is immediately aroused. 

 Some fcAV persons, owing to constitutional pe- 

 culiarities iu their 1)reath or insensible presijira- 

 tion arc objects of constant animosity Avith 

 bees, who, by driving them from the apiary, 

 are giving a physician's advice Avithout charge 

 for a fee. Some of the choicest perfumes usfd 

 by ladies are ofl'ensive to bees; and one may 



feel very certain that the "fine puss gentleman" 

 who disgusted the brave Hotspur Avith his 

 "pouncet box" and praise of " 'parmacoti for 

 an inward bruise," Avould have been speedily 

 driven from an apiary in ignominious flight. 

 Ocassionally, even a skilful apiarian may inad- 

 vertently crush a single bee ; such a mischance 

 is detected by the community with much more 

 facility than by any " croAvner's quest," and 

 their prompt verdict decrees the summary pun- 

 ishment of the olTender. There Avould be much 

 less fear of stings if it Avere always remembered 

 that bees are never aggressive. "Defence, not 

 defiance," is their motto. They scarcely ever 

 attempt to sting wdien away from the hive, and 

 very seldom indeed at the time of SAvarming, 

 for then they are gorged with honey. When 

 molested by angry bees, the safest and best re- 

 treat is a green bush. Thrust your head into 

 this, and the bees will soon leave you. 



Yet some people appear to think they must 

 inevitably be stung if they meddle with bees; 

 and for their sakes it is needful to explain why 

 it is that a sting is painful, and how the Avound 

 inflicted by the bee may be cured. Those 

 familiar with the usual microscopic objects will 

 knoAV how marvellously delicate and yet effec- 

 tive is the mechanical structure of abee's sting. 

 This Aveapon, as Ave see it with our nacked eye 

 — finer than a needle's point — is only the sheath, 

 Avhich lengthens or contracts like the tubes of 

 a telescope. Froni the sheath is projected the 

 dart, which is double, each half of it piercing 

 alternately deeper into the Avound made by the 

 sheath. The dart is barbed on each side, so 

 that the bee, vihcn'veri/ angry, is scarcely ever 

 able to withdraw it : — 



"Deems life itself to vengeance well resigned ; 

 Dies on the wound, and leaves the sting behind. " 



If a patient who receives the sting could only 

 take it patiently, it would not prove half the 

 inconvenience to him that often is the case. 

 There are indeed some happy mortals whose 

 "blood such an CA^en tenor keeps" that a bee- 

 sting is to them simply a puncture, and nothing 

 more. Dr. Bevan has suggested that lovers 

 should subject themselA'csto the ordeal of a bee- 

 sting in order to prove, we suppose, that their 

 temper is proof against " the stings and arrows 

 of any outrageous fortune" that matrimony can 

 bring. 



It is the homoeopathically minute tincture of 

 poison injected by the bee AAdiich causes inflam- 

 mation. The first thing to do is to remove the 

 sting, Avhich, CA'cn when detached from the 

 bee, Avill continue to penetrate still further into 

 the wound. Next, press the hoUoAV point of a 

 watch-key exactly over the place stung ; this 

 Avill express a.considerable portion of the A'irus. 

 Then dip the hand or bathe the part Avith cold 

 or tepid Avater, for the poison is volatile, and 

 Avill thereby be dissipated to a great extent. On 

 no account Avhatever should the part alfected 

 be rubbed ; to do that Avill diff'use the poison, 

 and increase the inflammation. The specific 

 remedy for a bee sting is taught us by chemis- 

 try; the A^enom is an acid, Avhicli an alkali AA'ill 

 immediately neutralize Avhen brought into con- 

 tact Avith it. Spirits of hartshorn Avill generally 



