34 ' MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION 
against robbing, or late in the fall, when cold nights begin to come 
on, it is well to close up a portion of the entrance to keep out the 
cold air. This may be accomplished by a couple of blocks which 
can be adjusted or by one piece with a smaller entrance or arch- 
way cut in it. 
It will be seen that the essential features of a hive are very 
simple. With a simple hive manipulation is greatly enhanced, and 
in every way it is better to have as few contrivances about a hive 
as possible. There have been various plans to include in the con- 
struction of the hive a feeder, but no good device has been 
put in the field. Feeding is usually either accomplished from above, 
in an empty story, or at the entrance. It pays to nail hives well, 
and paint them well with a good gradé of white lead. The covers 
may be even put together with white lead to insure tightness. 
TECHNIQUE OF HANDLING BEES. 
The art of handling bees cannot be learned out of books. The 
successful beemaster is only such by dint of the hard knocks in the 
school of experience. Yet there are a few points which, if kept in 
mind, will greatly lessen the number of mistakes and their con- 
sequences. 
Fig 7—The Bingham Bee Smoker. 
An essential implement in the handling of bees is a good bee 
smoker. There are several makes in the market. There seems to 
be none, however, which greatly excells the Bingham for all practi- 
cal purposes. The mistake of getting too small a size is a common 
one, which results in trouble to light and keep a fire going. About 
a three inch barrel is the most convenient size. A fire may be 
lighted by twisting small bunches of excelsior into compact and 
