81 



to subdue and control the bees. The veil should be broad 

 enough to stretch round the rim of a straw hat, and 

 long enough to allow the free end being well tucked under the 

 collar of the coat. A piece of elastic sewn round the top of the 

 veil will hold it tightly in position around the crown of the 

 hat. As regards the smoker, the best smouldering materials 

 are corrugated-paper, old bags, corduroy, and decayed wood; 

 any of these, when ignited, will, by the action of the bellows, 

 give off a good column of smoke. The smoker, once ignited, 

 may be kept alight when not in use by standing it vertically 

 with its nozzle upwards. 



All manipulations should be performed gently and slowly. 

 Clumsiness only serves to irritate the bees. To inspect the 

 colony, a few puffs of smoke should be blown in at the entrance, 

 and, after allowing 2 to 3 minutes for this to take effect, the 

 bee-keeper should take up his position at the back of the hive, 

 and gently remove the roof. The lift is next taken off, without 

 any jarring effect. Following this, the wrappings over the 

 brood chamber, with the exception of the quilt next the bees, 

 are removed en bloc. In removing the quilt, the eorner should 

 be slightly raised, and a few whiffs of smoke blown into the hive. 

 This process should be continued until the quilt has been 

 entirely removed. The smoke frightens the bees, and they 

 instantly rush to their cells and partake of their own honey, 

 after which they are exceedingly docile. An examination of 

 the brood chamber should not occupy more than a few minutes. 

 The bee-keeper should first of all remove the " dummy " from 

 the back or the side of the hive. This is a piece of wood, shaped 

 like a frame, and when removed enables the bee-keeper to have 

 more space at his disposal to lift out the frames. Each frame 

 should be taken out evenly and gently, care being taken not 

 to crush any of the bees during this operation. When putting 

 back the frames, the same precaution should be observed. If 

 the bees get at all irritable or out of hand, they can be controlled 

 by the application of a little more smoke. 



No colony should be inspected when the thermometer is below 

 60 degrees Fahrenheit, or the brood will be chilled. Bees can 

 be more easily handled on warm, sunny days than in cool or 

 windy weather. 



