34 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION 



against robbing, or late in the fall, when cold nights begin to come 

 on, it is well to close up a portion of the entrance to keep out the 

 cold air. This may be accomplished by a couple of blocks which 

 can be adjusted or by one piece with a smaller entrance or arch- 

 way cut in it. 



It will be seen that the essential features of a hive are very 

 simple. With a simple hive manipulation is greatly enhanced, and 

 in every way it is better to have as few contrivances about a hive 

 as possible. There have been various plans to include in the con- 

 struction of the hive a feeder, but no good device has been 

 put in the field. Feeding is usually either accomplished from above, 

 in an empty story, or at the entrance. It pays to nail hives well, 

 and paint them well with a good grade of white lead. The covers 

 may be even put together with white lead to insure tightness. 



TECHNIQUE OF HANDLING BEES. 



The art of handling bees cannot be learned out of books. The 

 successful beemaster is only such by dint of the hard knocks in the 

 school of experience. Yet there are a few points which, if kept in 

 mind, will greatly lessen the number of mistakes and their con- 

 sequences. 



Fig 7 The Bingham Bee Smoker. 



An essential implement in the handling of bees is a good bee 

 smoker. There are several makes in the market. There seems to 

 be none, however, which greatly excells the Bingham for all practi- 

 cal purposes. The mistake of getting too small a size is a common 

 one, which results in trouble to light and keep a fire going. About 

 a three inch barrel is the most convenient size. A fire may be 

 lighted by twisting small bunches of excelsior into compact and 



