ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 



S3 



it will just slip down nicely over the hat crown. And when it is 

 necessary to wear a veil in hot weather, who has not wished that 

 there was some way of holding it down, aside from that of tucking- it 

 inside the collar ? When the neck is hot and sweaty, how uncom- 

 fortable it feels with a sort of muifler pressed close against it by 

 the collar. Besides this, the veil is held suffocatingly close to the 

 face — so close, too, that the bees often sting through it. All this 

 may be avoided, and I'll tell you how. In a hem in the bottom of the 

 veil run a string, leaving about a 

 foot of the hem, right in front, un- 

 occupied by the string. That is, 

 let the string enter the hem at 

 about six inches to the right of 

 the center of the front, pass it 

 around the back of the neck, 

 bringing it out of the hem at a 

 point about six inches to the left 

 of the center of the front. The 

 projecting ends of the string 

 must be long enough to pass 

 under the arms, cross at the back, 

 and then be brought around and 

 tied in front. The string holds 

 the edge of the veil securely out 

 upon the shoulders, while, if the 

 right length of hem is left with- 

 out a string in front, that part 

 will be drawn snugly across the 

 breast. To Mr. Porter, of bee- 

 escape fame, belongs the honor of 

 devising this unsurpassable way 

 of holding down a bee veil. 



Gloves I have never worn, and doubt if I could be led to believe 

 them a comfort. To use them would seem too much like a cat with 

 mittens on trying to catch mice. Perhaps a beginner might tolerate 

 them until his timidity had worn off. 



I know of no comfort in the apiary greater than a smooth sur- 

 face (of earth) thicklj^ covered with grass. A lawn mower can 

 scarcely be called a comfort — it is a necessity. Sprinkle salt around 

 the hives to kill the grass a distance of six inches from each hive, 

 then the lawn mower can cut all of the grass that grows. 



About the first thing needed upon beginning work in the apiary 

 is a smoker; and oh, how much comfort or discomfort can come 



