1877. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



241 



as well as Italian, can be handled almost the 

 season round without smoke, while there 

 are others that it would be almost madness 

 to attempt to handle in the same way. 

 AVith a little practice, we can decide before 

 going- far enouj^h to get stung, whether it 

 will be safe to attempt liandling them with- 

 out smoke. 



When away from home, if I have occasion 

 to handle a colony, I test their gentleness, 

 by proceeding to open the hive as carefully 

 as possible. If they rush out in a great body 

 as soon as an opening is made, I wait a lit- 

 tle to see if they will go back soon ; if they 

 do not, but show a disposition to fight, I 

 hunt up a couple of pieces of rotten wood, 

 and get a coal of fire to put between them. 

 With this, smoke can be blown on them, 

 initil they are driven out of the way, down 

 among the combs. If a coal of lire is not 

 handy, light the wood with a match, but it 

 takes more time to get it going. If com- 

 pelled to use a match, a roll of cotton rags 

 is very convenient, as it lights quickly. If 

 it is carefully extinguished as soon as done 

 with, a roll of rags will do very well for a 

 small number of hives. With a large apia- 

 ry, rotten wood chips or sawdust, is much 

 cheaper than the rags, and to use them con- 

 veniently a pan or kettle is often used. 

 ^Several of our neighbors who keep bees 

 largely, UvSe such a kettle with a long bail, 

 fixed so that it always stands upright, that 

 the operator may not be obliged to stoop 

 every time he wishes to pick it up. In the 

 kettle, are put chips, slicks, sawdust, «S:c., 

 and when it is once started, it will keep 

 burning for a whole day. If it burns too 

 strongly, some damp sawdust is thrown on, 

 and when not in use, the tire smoulders in- 

 A'isibly. When smoke is wanted, the kettle 

 is given a shake by the bail, and at once a 

 dense smoke arises. If this smoking kettle 

 is placed at the proper side of the hive, the 

 wind will throw- the smoke where wanted, 

 leaving both hands at liberty. Where rob- 

 bers are bad, this is a very convenient ar- 

 rangement, for it not only keeps the bees in 

 the hive in subjection, but keeps the angry 

 bees flying about in the air at bay. 



I presume there are many who will 

 use this kind of smoker in prefereirce to any 

 other. The objections are, that one is pret- 

 ty apt to have smoke blown in his eyes very 

 inopportunely, and I for one, would almost 

 as soon be stung, as to be smoked. Another 

 is, that bees frequently fall into the kettle, 

 and the sight of one heavily laden little fel- 

 low writliing in death agonies on the burn- 



ing embers, would be enough of a lesson for 

 me. At one time, a queen fell into our ket- 

 tle, and was only by rare good luck rescued. 

 To prevent sucli mishaps, I thought of a 

 wire cloth cover for the kettle, and as I had 

 been using a small saucepan with a handle, 

 in plac(^ of a kettle, with good satisfaction, 

 it did not take very long to decide that a 

 connnon corn-popper was just about what 

 was wanted. 



COUN-POPl'ER SMOKER. 



This, when tried, proved to be in many 

 respects very convenient, for it could easily 

 be started burning briskly by whirling the 

 whole about the head, like a torch, tlie ashes 

 fell out of theniselves, and for awhile, we 

 thought we should want nothing better. 

 The ditticulty, however with this, was that 

 it would often give too much smoke ; it 

 smoked the eyes, and it burned so rapidly, 

 that it was quite a task to provide fuel. It 

 I is true that it never annoyed us by going 

 I out as did the bellows smokers, but it, on 

 i the other hand, did not offer the same facil- 

 \ ities for throwing a jet of smoke down into 

 ' the hive, or into any particular corner. 

 I With a.ll the good points of the corn-poi)per, 

 it was finally laid aside for the Quinby smo- 

 ker again, even if it did try our patience 

 sorely going out whenever it was allowed to 

 tumble over, and many times when it did 

 not tumble over at all. The Bingham smo- 

 ker comes a little nearer to the kettle and 

 corn-popper, in having a much larger recep- 

 tacle for the fuel, and as one of the valves 

 that Quinby used is dispensed with, it is not 

 very likely to go out, unless it is overturned. 

 Although there are some who prefer a 

 simple tin tube with a wooden plug in each 

 end, to be held in the mouth, the majority 

 of our bee-keepers, seem to be strongly in 

 favor of the bellows smoker, and after try- 

 ing to learn to like one, I find myself much 

 like the rest. I should of course, much pre- 

 fer a mouth smoker, to none at all. There 

 is one point in its favor, it can be held 

 in the mouth so that both hands are at lib- 

 erty, but one that can be set on the ground 

 so the wind carries the smoke over the hive, 

 I think preferable. 



FUEL von SMOKERS. 



Perhaps rags work as nicely as anything, 

 but as it would require a great many, for the 

 wants of a large apiary, we must hunt up 

 something cheaper. If we go out in the 

 woods during a dry time, we can find rotten 

 wood by taking some care and pains, that 

 will ignite readily with a nuitch, and keep 

 burning. This is quite desirable for the 



