BEE-DRESS. 423 



satisfaction, in my zeal for new discoveries, of suffering 

 more from the pain and swelling, than I had previously done 

 for years. 



An old writer recommends a powder of dried bees, for 

 distressing cases of stoppages ; and some of the highest 

 medical authorities have recently prescribed for violent stran- 

 gury, a tea made by pouring boiling water upon bees j 

 while the homeopathic physicians employ the poison of the 

 bee, which they call apis, for a great variety of maladies. 

 That it is capable of producing intense head-aches any 

 one who has been stung, or who has tasted the poison, very 

 well knows. 



Timid Apiarians, and all who are liable to suffer severely 

 from the sting of a bee, should by all means furnish them- 

 selves with the protection of a bee-dress. The great objec- 

 tion to gauze-wire veils or other materials of which such a 

 dress has been usually made, is that they obstruct clear vision, 

 so highly important in all operations, besides producing such 

 excessive heat and perspiration, as to make the Apiarian 

 peculiarly offensive to the bees. I prefer to use what I call 

 a bee-hat, of entirely novel construction. It is made of wire 

 cloth, the meshes of which are too fine to admit a bee, but 

 coarse enough to allow a free circulation of air, and to per- 

 mit distinct sight. The wire cloth should be first fastened to- 

 gether in a circular shape, like a hat, and made large enough 

 to go very easily over the head ; its top may be of cotton 

 cloth, and it should have the same material fastened around its 

 lower edge. If the top is made of sole-leather, it will serve 

 a better purpose. A piece of wire cloth one foot wide, by 

 two and a half feet long, will make a good fit for most per- 

 sons ; although persons with noses or necks unusually long, 

 will require a larger size. It ought slightly to rest upon the 

 crown of the head. A .drawing of it is given in the plate 



