162 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



November 



and you wish to winter them, this 

 thin division board again is of advant- 

 tage, as they have only one side ex- 

 posed to the cold. These hives always 

 stand up to all the wind we have in 

 southern 111. Try these hives and 

 report, or if you have something you 

 think better let us have it. 

 Steeleville, III. 



A Fortnight's Experience 

 with Bees. 



BY J. F. ILLICK. 



Hold your hat ye bee enthusiasts — 

 dry our aprons if you happen to be the 

 milder gender — while I divulge into 

 you some bee lore. It is exactly 

 twenty-nine and one-half days ago at 

 this writing that I became interested 

 in bee-keeping and little less than 

 half that many days since I am an 

 owner of bees. And Presto! I know (?) 

 it all, and am willing to disseminate 

 at so much per "know." 



As this is written gratis the reader 

 can easily comprehend the scope of the 

 writer's knowledge of bee-keeping, it 

 also being gratis — nothing. 



My capital stock consists of two 

 colonies of hybrids, which were 

 brought a distance of five miles in a 

 wagon, during the early evening and 

 placed on the stands prepared to re- 

 ceive them and the entrances opened. 

 Early next morning the bees were fly- 

 ing and carrying pollen as if nothing 

 had happened. Here is where the ex- 

 perience begins ; curiosity got the bet- 

 ter of me — to my sorrow. I was anx- 

 ious to see whether the jolting of the 

 wagon had not shifted the frames. Not 

 then possessing a smoker and having 

 been told that thick woolen gloves 

 were just the thing to handle bees with, 



I donned a nice heavy pair and a veil, 

 and thus armored I made the on- 

 slaught. Being in a hurry and 

 " green " I went about matters rather 

 roughly but got through with the first 

 and weakest colony all right. 



This made me bolder and more care- 

 less. I had no more than raised the 

 enameled cloth on the second hive 

 when out popped one of its splinter 

 tailed inhabitants and demonstrated 

 and proved to me that woolen gloves 

 were just a little worse than no gloves 

 at all. Till I got the hive closed I 

 had a sum total of about ten stings in 

 hands, fingers and wrists. 



Having had little experience with 

 stings, I thought after the smarting 

 pain stopped a few minutes later that 

 all was lovely. Twelve hours after I 

 knew better. The injured members 

 began to swell and itch. The more 

 they itched, the more I scratched ; 

 and the more I rubbed and scratched 

 the more they swelled. I got up sev- 

 eral times during the night and soak- 

 ed the affected parts in water and was 

 somewhat relieved. I applied ammo- 

 nia, alcohol, vinegar and numerous 

 other lotions and " remedies." I got 

 the most comfort by immersing in 

 water as hot as bearable. The swell- 

 ing lasted about thirty-six hours. 



You can well imagine that I was 

 heartily sick of bee-keeping; as the 

 heated reception I got somewhat cool- 

 ed my ardor. 



Nor has this been all my experience 

 within a fortnight. One sting in the 

 wrist caused my arm to swell to twice 

 its natural size as far as the elbow 

 and lasted for three days. In this 

 case I tried an application of salt, vin- 

 egar and baking soda applied warm 



