178 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. 15 



bodies to break propolis connections. The 

 rounded shoulder at this end is just the 

 thing to get leverage when prying frames 

 apart. 



THE SMOKER. 



Any one who has ever indulged in the ex- 

 citement of a combat with even a single bee 

 would be apt to think that the word "fear " 

 did not occur in her vocabulary, and that 

 no power on earth could bring her to sub- 

 jection. But even the bee has her moments 

 of weakness, though the writer can not for 

 a second admit they are due to a streak of 

 cowardice. It seems to be lather complete 

 indifference to immediate surroundings 

 while she is making provision for a great 

 calamity that is impending. For countless 

 ages the natural home of the colony bee has 

 been in the hollow trunk of some monarch 

 of the forest where the most terrible fate 

 that could threaten would be destruction by 

 fire. It seems to the writer that, as a con- 

 sequence, there would be developed an in- 

 stinct in the race that, on the first hint of 

 smoke, would make each bee gorge herself 

 with honey preparatory to a general flight 

 to some safe region where the work of the 

 colony could be resumed. When, therefore, 

 we wish to enter a hive we force smoke into 

 the interior. On opening it we find most of 

 the inmates with their heads in the cells 

 lapping up honey, and more or less indiffer- 

 ent to the monster who is invading their 

 home. In times not so very long ago, bee- 

 keepers used very crude methods for driving 

 smoke into a hive, such as burning rags or 

 rotten wood in an open pan, and blowing 

 the smoke into the chamber with breath 

 from the mouth. By a happy inspiration 

 Moses Quinby combined a bellows with the 

 holder for the burning material, and paved 

 the way for the smokers of to-day, one of 

 which is sho'wn in Fig. . Essentially it 

 consists of two parts — the bellows and the 

 stove. When the former is quickly com- 

 pressed it forces air into the stove under the 

 grate on which rests the cotton or linen rags 

 (never woolen), rotten wood, pieces of old 

 discarded hive-quilts coated with propolis, 

 oily waste, or short lengths of well-dried 



fruit-tree prunings; in fact, any thing handy 

 that will smoulder slowly and give off pun- 

 gent smoke. The best substance the writer 

 has ever used is greasy waste. Enough of 



Fig. 4. — Two diflferent types of smokers, the hot and 

 to be preferred, because it is much more efficient. 



Fig. 3. 



this to last for a whole season may easily be 

 had for the asking where a steam-engine is 

 used. The current of air drives a volume of 

 smoke through the nozzle into the hives or 

 across the frames as may be desired. 



COSTUME. 



There is nothing very stylish about the 

 raiment recommended to be worn while one 

 is working in the bee-yard. Like that of 

 many other pastimes it is peculiar to itself, 

 consisting essentially of hat, veil, and 

 gloves; but, though the head gear is gener- 

 ally of ample dimensions as regards the 

 brim, it can not be grouped among the 

 "merrv widow" type, nor can the veil be 

 deemed a variety of the "automobile" 

 style. The gloves may or may not be worn. 

 Bee-keeping is like golf in this respect, for 

 no particular regulation prescribes the prop- 

 er dress wear for the hand. The brave baron 

 of old worked up quite a reputation for cour- 

 age by kill- 

 ing off miser- 

 able wretch- 

 es on foot 

 whose sole 

 protection 

 was a leath- 

 jacket, while 

 h e himself 

 was mount- 

 ed on a horse 

 which, like 

 the rider, 

 was encased 

 in steel. His 

 long lance 

 drilled a neat 

 hole in the 

 skin of the 

 foot soldier 

 whose short 



the cold blast. The hot blast is 



