The Smoker. 



221 



will be quiet. Sprinkling the bees with sweetened water will 

 also tend to render them amiable, and will make them more 

 ready tp unite, to receive a queen, and less apt to sting. Still 

 another method, more convenient, is to smoke the bees. A 

 little smoke blown among the bees will scarcely ever fail to 

 quiet them, though I have known black bees, in autumn, to be 

 very slow to yield.. 



The Syrian bees are maddened rather than quieted by use of 

 smoke. I find, however, that with handling they soon become 

 more like Italians. Deliberation is specially desirable when 

 we first open the hive of Syrian bees. 



I (Dry cotton cloth, closely wound and sewed or tied, or, better, 

 pieces of dry, rotten wood are excellent for the purpose of 

 smoking. These are easily handled, and will burn for a long 

 time. But best of all is a ' 



BELLOWS-SMOKEE. 



This is a tin tube attached to a bellows. Cloth, corn-cobs, 

 or rotten wood (that which has been attacked by dry rot is the 



Fig. 99. 



Fig. 98. 



best) can be burned in the tube, and will remain burning a 

 long time. The smoke can be directed at pleasure, the bellows 

 easily worked, and the smoker used without any disagreeable 

 eflfects or danger from fire. 



