How to ^uiet Bees. 297 



trimmed that the lady apiarist \Yould ever be ready to greet 

 her brother or sister apiarists. In such a dress there is no 

 danger of stings, and witli it there is that show of neatness 

 and taste, without whicli 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 a sting. But at other times and whene\ er 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 ;ilso 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 Svrian 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 Svrian 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 a long time. But best of all is a 



