APPLIANCES FOB SUBDOING AND BANDLING BEES. 67 



CHAPTER XII. 



APPLIANCES FOR SUBDUING AND HANDLING BEES. 



126. The Smoker (Figr. 53) is employed for subduing bees, 

 and IS a most useful appliance in an apiary (171). A puff or 

 two of smoke blown in at the entrance frightens the bees, and 

 causes them to fill themselves with honey; in which condition 

 they are not inclined to give trouble (167). The smoker has 

 a bellows, a fuel box, and a removable nozzle. A roll of dry 



brown paper, a piece of 

 rag, or a piece of dry, 

 rotten wood is lighted 

 and placed in the fuel 

 box, lighted end down ; 

 the nozzle is put on, and 

 if the smoker be left 

 standing nozzle up, it 

 will draw like a chim- 

 ney, and the fuel will 

 Iceep alight. To ex- 

 tinguish the fuel the 

 smoker is placed on its 

 side. If brown paper is used it may first be damped with a 

 weak solution of saltpetre, and then thoroughly dried (175). A 

 grating in the lower part of the nozzle prevents the blowing 

 into the hive of particles of lighted fuel. Smokers require to 

 be cleaned occasionally. The nozzle may be cleaned by being 

 boiled in water. If the fuel box require cleaning, it may be 

 similarly treated, after having been removed from the bellows. 



127. The Carbolic Cloth is also a subduer of bees, and by 

 some is preferred to the smoker. In certain operations it is 

 somewhat easier to work with than is the smoker, and once 

 prepared (176), it requires little or no attention during a long 

 period. Ticking, calico, or muslin, 20" x 18", may be used, 

 with (if preferred) a hem on one 18" edge to take an iS" lath. 

 A solution of Calvert's No. 5 Carbolic Acid, one part to ten 

 parts of water, is prepared, and with it the cloth is thoroughly 



