FIFTY YEABS AMONG THE BEES 223 



not close enough but that a bee sometimes gets under it. Al- 

 though a bee is not at all likely to sting when it gets inside a 

 veU, it is just as well to have it remain outside. So my assist- 

 ant devised the plan of drawing the veil down very tightly in 

 front, and pinning it to her waist with a safety pin. Seeing 

 it work so well with her, I have also adopted the plan, pinning 

 on to my suspenders o"n one side, or to my vest if I have one 

 on. 



Sometimes a face-piece of silk net is sewed in the veil. 

 Instead of having the veil sewed to my hat, so that the bee-hat 

 must be taken along when we go to the out-apiary, I sometimes 

 have in my pocket a veil made with a rubber cord shirred into 

 each end, and when I reach the apiary the veil is slipped on 

 over the hat I am wearing. 



BEE GLOVES AND OTHER PBOTBOTION. 



The openings at the wrist and neck of my shirt are small, 

 the cloth lapping over so as to give a bee little chance for 

 entrance. If bees are likely to be on the gToimd I put my pants 

 inside my stockings, or, stUl better, put on a pair of trouser 

 guards such as bicyclists wear. I get a great many stings on 

 my hands, but the inconvenience and discomfort of gloves are 

 so great that for many years I felt the stings to be the lesser 

 of the two evils. But after working for years to get bees that 

 would give the most honey, without paying any attention to the 

 temper of the bees, I finally had bees so cross that in spite of 

 the inconvenience I felt obliged to wear gloves. 



My assistant prefers to wear gloves, not only to avoid the 

 stings, but to avoid the bee glue. I may say in passing that I 

 am not always very particular about getting the bee glue off 

 my hands, but when I do clean them I usually give the bee glue 

 a good rubbing with butter or grease, and then wash off with 

 soap and water. I confess I don't very much mind having bee 

 glue on my hands unless there is so much of it that it sticks 

 to the bedclothes at night. But I do abhor the sticky feeling 

 of honey on my hands ; and when they get daubed, if I have no 

 water I pick up some soil to rub them with. That at least 

 takes away the sticky feeling. Perhaps you think the soil is 

 worse than the sticky feeling. I don't. 



