% J\)t Apiary $ 



HINTS TO AMATEUR BEE-KEEPERS.— II. 



more than $2. 



LTAIN appliances are requisite in the man- 

 cement of bees, if modern methods are to 

 e followed. For the amateur, with his two 

 or three stocks, these are 

 neither numerous or costly. 

 A veil, a pair of gloves and 

 a smoker will suffice, if 

 comb honey only be taken. 

 For taking liquid honey an 

 extractor is indispensable, 

 but this may very well be 

 dispensed with for a while. 

 It will pay, however, to 

 procure one, if as many as 

 half a dozen colonies be 

 kept. The veil, smoker 

 and gloves need not cost 

 Smokers may be had from any supply dealer, at from 

 50c. to $2 each, and cannot well be dispensed with. Some bee-keepers affect 

 to laugh at the idea of using either gloves or veil, but it will be well for the 

 beginner to use both, till confidence is established, and the dread and the effects 

 of stings in a measure pass away. The fear of being stung, and the pain 

 and swelling that follow, deter many people from keeping bees ; but 

 these are only temporary, and soon cease to be regarded with apprehension. 

 Indeed most old bee-keepers prefer a bee sting to a mosquito bite, the latter 

 causing them more inconvenience than the former. Some of your readers may 

 consider this an extravagant statement, but it is nevertheless true. It is true in 

 my own case, and true in the case of most bee-keepers who have manipulated 

 bees for any length of time. The pain of the sting is as acute in the one case 

 as it is in the other, but in both cases this passes away in a few minutes. With 

 the veteran no appreciable after-consequences result — with the beginner, how- 

 ever, swelling usually follows, and frequently continues two or three days. In 

 time the secondary effects gradually diminish, till the system becomes indifferent 

 to the poison. Inoculation has then produced its full effect. Bee poison is as 

 much a remedy against its own effects as the virus of the cow-pox is against the 

 more malignant disease of small-pox. The use of veil and gloves, if properly 

 made and worn, will effectually protect both the amateur and the veteran from 

 being stung, and on the principle that prevention is better than cure, it will be 

 well to wear them. Black is the best color for a veil, and silk tulle the best 



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