l^ORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



73 



A quarter or half a pound of saltpeter may be used to a 

 gallon of water, and if it evaporates so that the solu- 

 tion becomes stronger, water may be added. A cotton 

 rag dipped in this solution will be ready for use as soon 

 as dried. As a matter of convenience, quite a lot of rags 

 are prepared at a time. They are wrung out of the solu- 



Fig, ?.7. — Ready for Clipping. 



tion and spread out to dry in the sun, and when thor- 

 oughly dry are put in the tool-basket, which always con- 

 tains a supply. When taken out of the, crock, the rags 

 may be wrung quite dry, thus containing not so much 

 saltpeter, or they may be wrung out just enough so the 



