598 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



SoY RKANS AND KA H'riF-ALMONDS. 

 This row of soy beans was planted about the first week In June. The chufas, or earth-almonds, were 

 planted about July 1. The picture was taken the last week in August. — See A. I. Root's department. 



breathe as human beings do, Ihroufjh the 

 mouth or nostrils, I don't see any advantage 

 in this. As bees' eyes are immovable, and 

 of a like substance with their bodies, 1 still 

 fail to see why they should be smoked in 

 this particular way. for I think that it would 

 affect their respiration only when cool smoke 

 is used; and if there was any considerable 

 amount of heat to the smoke they would 

 move away from it, to avoid the pain which 

 comes to animate creatures by contact with 

 fire or highly heated substances. 



While I think Mr. Chapman is correct in 

 his idea as to a sudden change of tempera- 

 ture having much to do with the handling 

 of bees in a general way, there are many 

 more causes, just as pertinent as this, which 

 he could have applied equally well to his 

 case. 



To my mind it seems he could have said 

 that, on a cool windy day, it is hard to get a 

 sufficiently dense smoke from a smoker 

 down to and into the cluster of bees; and if 

 you do succeed, how quickly it is wafted 

 away by the wind! or how rare a thing it is 

 to find two colonies that are so much alike 

 that you can't tell "which from the other " 

 in behavior. I have yet to see the first col- 

 ony that does not resent jarring, provided it 

 has a good healthy queen therein. 



As to smoking at the entrance of a hive, 

 I think this is a matter of difficult solution, 



for I have found that, on certain occasions, 

 and when one has to deal with bees whose 

 hives are placed close together, the use of a 

 very small quantity at the entrance is of de- 

 cided benefit provided one follows up this 

 entrance smoking by immediately remov- 

 ing the hive-cover and right away com- 

 mencing to use more smoke beneath; for if 

 one waits but a very short while, the en- 

 trance smoking loses the effect that is to be 

 the most desired — viz., that of preventing 

 the bees from alighting and clinging to one's 

 clothing. If I am looking at a queenless 

 colony, or one in which I desire to find the 

 queen quickly, I seldom use any smoke at 

 the entrance, nor do 1 like to use much 

 smoke at all in such cases. 



As to formulating any rule to use in smok- 

 ing bees it is something that I for one do 

 not believe will be accomplished by any one 

 as long as a queen-bee dies and a new one 

 takes the place of the old queen; for when 

 this occurs it is very likely that a hitherto 

 gentle colony will be transformed into a veri- 

 table hornet's nest. 



Then, too, there is a tendency on the part 

 of most beginners to overdo this smoking of 

 bees at any time, partly from their lack of 

 knowledge and sometimes from pure cow- 

 ardice; but if one has fair common sense, 

 and gets some black bees or Carniolans, and 

 overdoes the smoking act once, he will be 



