178 AUSTRALASIAN 



has time to get into the system, and be careful not to rub any- 

 thing in. 



It is very rarely that any serious effects ensue from a sting 

 beyond a little pain, and perhaps a swelling of the part around 

 the wound, but there have been cases where death has resulted 

 from the sting of a bee, the immediate cause being either suf- 

 focation, a shock to the nervous system, or blood poisoning, 

 where the person has been in a bad state of health. The 

 following from a correspondent to the British Bee Journal gives 

 the treatment for extreme cases : — 



" In the Journal for December ' E. H. B.' wishes to know the treat- 

 ment to be adopted when a man or woman gets into a state of coma 

 from a bee sting, which, of course, will depend on the cause of the 

 coma. 



' ' The bee poison, when taken into the system, gives rise to a form 

 of blood poisoning, but as the amount of poison even from twenty 

 stings is so small, the symptoms, except in those cases where the person 

 stung is in a bad state of health, never become serious. 



" Death has resulted from persons having been stung inside the 

 mouth or the throat, by eating fruit, honey, etc., in which a bee has 

 been overlooked, and the swelling caused by the bee poison, closing up 

 the windpipe, has killed the patient by suffocation. 



" In these cases the only remedy would be to make an artificial 

 opening in the windpipe, an operation difficult even for an experienced 

 surgeon. 



" In those cases where death is imminent from the ' shock,' the best 

 remedies would be stimulants, either in the form of brandy, whisky, 

 ■etc., sal- volatile internally, or by injection under the skin, strong 

 coffee or tea, together with galvanism, and hot cloths applied to the 

 head and chest. 



" The after treatment would consist in building up the patient's 

 strength by means of stimulants, strong beef-tea and soups, milk and 

 eggs, with quinine, bark, and mineral acids.— George Walker, 

 X.R.C.P., Wimbledon, 22nd December, 1882." 



FEEDING. 



There are times and seasons when a little attention given to 

 the matter of feeding stocks will tend greatly to increase the 

 profits from the apiary. A prudent apiarist will no more 

 neglect feeding his bees when they require it than he would 

 his horse, cow, dog, or any other of his domestic animals. 

 Feeding is resorted to for one of two reasons, viz., either to 

 supply a colony if it has fallen short of the necessary food, or 

 for the purpose of stimulating breeding. The seasons when 



