BEE BUSINESS 59 



stung. That they do this is almost certain 

 for there are some persons who are ut- 

 terly unable to work with bees on this 

 account. I once had a man working for 

 me in the orchard who was mortally afraid 

 of bees and if one came within reaching 

 distance of him he was certain to be 

 stung. He never attempted to open a hive 

 and I often wondered just how badly he 

 would have been stimg if he had attempted 

 that feat. Probably not so much as might 

 be expected for it would have required 

 courage on his part to handle bees and the 

 bees in turn would have known that he 

 was less afraid of them. With proper 

 handling there is not much chance of be- 

 ing stung, but at the same time one must 

 take certain precautions and the begin- 

 ner certainly should be urged to watch his 

 step. Years ago when I first began to 

 write about bees I resolved that I would 

 never publish a picture showing any one 

 handling bees without a bee-veil on. It 

 is a regular gallery stunt to open a hive 



