12 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



name to those who understand its 

 nature, the business will become de- 

 sirable to many who are now deterred 

 only by reason of their dread of be- 

 ing stung. 



Our Heavenly Father gave us con- 

 trol of all created things lower than 

 man, and in that power he included the 

 honey bee. It is true He did not lay 

 down any direct rules for the govern- 

 ment of the lower orders of creation, 

 but He gave us reason and common 

 sense and, by the aid of these, we are 

 enabled to rule and govern the lion 

 and the tiger, and the honey bee as 

 well. The world is full of compen- 

 sations ; every poison has its antidote, 

 and all that is required on the part 

 of man is to use the judgment and 

 discretion that forms a part of his 

 God-given nature, to enable him to 

 manage and control all creatures 

 lower in the scale than himself, and 

 render them subservient to his views, 

 wishes and desires. To this end, 

 certain fixed rules may be applied ; 

 and it has been learned that, in bee- 

 keeping, certain axioms exist, which 

 axioms are as positive as are any of 

 those laid down in our mathematical 

 works. I propose to give a few of 

 those that relate to the bee and its 

 management, viz. : The honey-bee, 

 when filled with sweets, whether 

 honey or a substitute therefor, never 

 volunteers an attack ; were this not 

 the case, it would be impossible to 

 control it and we should be deprived 

 of the most deUcious article that ever 

 tempted the palate, — honey. 



When a colony prepares to swarm, 

 the bees fill themselves with honey 

 from the old hive in order that they 

 may have something with which to 



set up housekeeping in their new 

 home. This renders them extremely 

 amiable and makes it easy to gather 

 them into the new hive prepared for 

 them. 



Taking advantage of this hint, we 

 have learned to handle our bees with 

 impunity. We have learned, also, 

 that anything that gives our bees a 

 scare will cause them to at once fill 

 themselves with honey or any other 

 liquid sweets offered them. Now, 

 knowing, that when they are so filled, 

 they are rendered amiable, we have 

 only to ascertain what will give them 

 the desired scare and then we have 

 a solution of how we can handle them 

 without fear. 



The smoke of burning rags, punk 

 or decayed wood that will burn 

 without blaze, is all-sufficient. In- 

 struments called " smokers " have 

 been invented, in which rags or wood 

 can be burned, and the veriest novice, 

 armed with one of these, can easily 

 subdue any colony of bees so that it 

 can be controlled and manipulated 

 as he may desire. 



The whole secret of bee handling 

 lies in this : the smoker is duly charged 

 with dry rags or dead wood so set 

 on fire that it will yield a large quan- 

 tity of smoke without bursting into 

 flame ; a few puffs of smoke from this 

 simple instrument are blown into the 

 hive ; in a few minutes each bee has 

 filled itself with honey, and is so 

 amiable that so long as it is not in- 

 jured personally, it can be moved and 

 removed at the wish of the owner. 



Care must be taken, however, that 

 no bee is pinched or hurt, else its 

 weapon will be ready to resent such 

 injury. So long as proper care is 



