How to Quiet Bees, 297 
trimmed that the lady apiarist would ever be ready to greet 
her brother or sister apiarists. In such a dress there is no 
danger of stings, and with it there is that show of neatness 
and taste, without which no pursuit could attract the atten- 
tion, or at least the patronage, of our refined women. 
TO QUIET BEES. 
¢ In harvest seasons, the bees, especially if Italians, can 
almost always be handled without their showing resent- 
ment. Our college bees—hybrids, between Syrians and 
Carniolans—are so gentle that I go freely among them 
without protection each May and June, with my large 
classes. At first each student puts on the veil, but soon 
these are thrown aside, and it is rare indeed that any one 
gets asting. But at other times and whenever they object 
to necessary familiarity, we have only to cause them to 
fill with honey—very likely it is the scare that quiets the 
bees—to render them harmless, unless we pinch them. 
This can be done by closing the hive so that the bees 
cannot get out, and then rapping on the hive for a short 
time. Those within will fill with honey, those without 
will be tamed by surprise, and all will be quiet. Sprink- 
ling the bees with sweetened water will also tend to render 
them amiable, and will-make them more ready to unite, to 
receive a queen,-and less apt to sting. Still another 
method, more convenient, is to smoke the bees. A little 
smoke blown among the bees will scarcely ever fail to 
quiet them, though I have known black bees, in autumn, 
to be very slow to yield. 
The Syrian bees, when first imported, are maddened 
rather than quieted by use of smoke. I find, however, that 
with handling they soon become more like Italians. Delib- 
eration is specially desirable when we first open the hive 
of Syrian bees. 
Dry cotton cloth, closely wound and sewed or tied, or 
better, pieces of dry, rotten wood are excellent for the pur- 
pose of smoking. These are easily handled, and will burn 
for along time. But best of all is a 
