"^ * -^ '\M ^:_^ \^A^A^A^ mm m_m ifc^*^a^^i»-'-*^ ^^iiri----^ a_^ rTi_^ *:^_t^^.^. *-^_'^.'* *• ^^ t-^ '■^■^^-'-la^*-^*-^''^ *ah^ 



Boardman nearly scared me. when I 

 got home I got two thermometers, and 

 let one down through the flue from the 

 top of the stack among the hives to 

 test the temperature. The other one 

 was placed outside, in the open air, 

 only covered to keep it di-j-. Now I 

 will give the temperature as I took it 

 day by day : 



UNDKH THE STACK. OCT-SIDE. 



Feb. 26 40 30 



" 37 12 13 



" 28 10 11 



Mar. U 38 33 



•' 12 31 29 



" l.S 13 13 



" 14 43 42 



" 18 33 •?! 



" 19 29 39 



•' 20 60 .59 



" 31 40 31 



" 23 19 11 



" 31 22 19 



" 26 61 61 



" 30 39 41 



" 31 60 60 



I left 38 colonies on the summer 

 stands. Of these, 2 starved, but the 

 rest are all in good condition, and 

 have from 5 to 8 frames of Ijrood. Of 

 course I could not help taking from 

 the rich and give to the poor pets that 

 were under the straw-stack. We had 

 plenty of fruit-bloom this spring, but 

 on account of the cold weather, bees 

 could not work on it more than about 

 two days in all, but yet they are doing 

 well. 



Kenton, Ohio. 



mii&mmicmn mmm j&xsmMmi^. 



411 



SMOKE. 



Its Value in tlie iflodern IMan- 

 affcineiit of Bees. 



Written for the Bee-Keepers' Guide 

 Bl T. F. BINGHAM. 



When honey was at the higliest price 

 ever known in this eountrj', viz,, from 

 1863 to 186G, little use was made of 

 smoke by the greater number of bee- 

 keepers. 



Even Roswell C. Otis, the veteran 

 who mainly introduced the Langstroth 

 hive in New York and the West, only 

 used a cigar in his demonstrative 

 work. 



It is true that Mr. Langstroth had 

 explained the action and value of 

 smoke in the control of bees, and the 

 principle on which its eftect rested, in 

 his most efiicient work, "Langstroth 

 on the Hive and Houey-Bee." 



Hunters of bees had used burning 

 straw about bee-trees when cutting 

 them down, and found the cloud of 

 smoke a protection against stings. But 

 the main conception of the value of 

 the .smoke in the management of bees 

 was associated with the common pipe 

 or cigar. This fact, no douljt well 

 based, came from the prompt action 

 of tobacco smoke — an action more 



efiicient than any other smoke, and 

 also more convenient with the means 

 then in use, especially when the bee- 

 keeper was a tobacco smoker. (And 

 such habit w.as likely to prevail with 

 bee-keepers whose aversions to the 

 habit of smoking were not strong.) 



The invention and application of the 

 direct-draft principle in bee-smokers 

 at once revolutionized the management 

 of bees. 



Tobacco smoke was no longer of 

 value, because more condensed and in 

 use by pipe and cigar smokers. The 

 great abundance — a cloud of smoke 

 enveloping the user of a Bingham 

 smoker — and the fact that su(^h a 

 smoker never went out — and that 

 smoke in clouds could be instantly ap- 

 plied to bees — at once supplanted the 

 tobacco pipe and cigar in their man- 

 agement. 



While it is not the province of this 

 article to discuss the tobacco habit, the 

 directKlraft smoker plays an impor- 

 tant part ; as there is no excuse for a 

 bee-keeper smoking tobacco, so far as 

 bee-keeping is concerned. 



The tact that bees fill their honey- 

 sacs with honey when frightened, and 

 do not, wlien so tilled, volunteer an 

 attack, and the ease with which smoke 

 is applied, has led, no doubt, to the 

 abuse of smoke in managing bees. 



Bad habits are common from super- 

 ficial methods of reasoning, when a 

 more thorough analysis of apparent 

 results would eradicate or modify 

 them. This is especially true in the 

 use of smokers, and the smoker in the 

 case of the apiary. 



The fact that a cloud of smoke 

 around a bee-tree reduces the anger 

 of tlie bees, and removes the danger 

 of attack fron\ them, leads directlj- to 

 the conclusion that such a cloud of 

 smoke would liavc the same eftect in 

 an apiary. Circumstances which have 

 come under my observation lead at 

 once to this conclusion. As an evi- 

 dence of the fact, allow me to cite the 

 sale of smokers at certain .seasons of 

 the year, and the sizes most sold at 

 such season. 



The inference from the sale of any 

 particular sizes of smokers, at a season 

 when smokers arc not much jn use, 

 is that the most experienced bee-keep- 

 ers provide themselves with such tools 

 as they are likely to need, before tliey 

 are actually required for use in the 

 a])ia'r}', while the amateur waits until 

 the case becomes urgent before he de- 

 cides, and then is likely to consult the 

 first cost (which lie sees clearly) rather 

 than the results and principles under- 

 lying his purchase, which he does not 

 so clearly understand. 



Early in the sjn-i ug, and also in the 

 autumn, our sale of smokers are as 

 five of the two largest to one of the 1 



smaller sizes, while in the middle of 

 the season, when the young bee-keeper 

 is obtaining liis urgent outfit, the 

 small and medium sized smokers lead 

 in sale the three largest sizes some- 

 what, so that the entire season wings 

 around with about the same total num- 

 ber of each as sold. 



As the larger sizes hold more wood, 

 and make as much smoke in propor- 

 tion, it is safe to infer that bee-keepers 

 of experience do not object to an im- 

 mense volume of smoke in handling 

 bees. 



This conclusion, providing the premi- 

 ses on which it is based are correct, 

 leads to the decision that bee-keepers, 

 whether they understand the principle 

 or not, recognize the value of a con- 

 tinuous cloud of smoke in the apiary 

 at all times when bee-keepers are of 

 necessity or choice "among the hives 

 and bees. 



It is idle to presume that a peaceful, 

 non-aggressive apiaiy can be found 

 where gloves and veils are resorted to 

 instead of constant and overwhelming 

 smoke. 



With abundance of smoke, the eye 

 of the Ijee-keeper holds the temper of 

 the bees, as the experienced horse- 

 man holds the vicious horse, and any 

 careful manipidation maj' be made 

 vcithout a puft' of smoke, provided al- 

 w.a^'s that the smoke is abundant in 

 the air, and at the service of the op- 

 erator should occasion require. 



The above leads directly to the much 

 discussed fuel for smokers. Of course 

 circumstances alter cases, and the 

 means of obtaining fuel of any particu- 

 lar kind will play a conspicuous part. 

 One tiling, however, will be found ad- 

 visable under all circumstances, viz., 

 to consult the smoker. 



It is useless to try to burn anthracite 

 or hard coal in a box-stove designed 

 for burning wood. It would be equally 

 futile to attempt to-burn stove wood in 

 a smoker not having a strong continu- 

 ous draft. 



This being understood, a clear un- 

 derstanding of the principles leading 

 to results desired, it seems to me but 

 one conclusion can be reached, viz., 

 that sound sun-dried, or other perfectly 

 dried maple stove wood meets, in the 

 highest degree, the needs of the bee- 

 keeper using a direct^draft smoker. 



Some of the reasons why perfectly 

 dry hard wood is preferable for use, is 

 that it burns only at the bottom or 

 lower end. That is, it renders the 

 direct-draft smoker a base burner. 

 (Rottoii wood burns all over, and is 

 soon gone.) Wood in sticks does not 

 obstruct either the draft or blast, both 

 of which render quick and continued 

 action easy. 



Sound wood, which has live coals 

 left after it has ceased to smoke, main- 



