CHAPTER III. 
QUIETING AND MANIPULATING BEES. 
The demeanor of bees toward an individual depends largely upon his 
bearing and treatment of them. Langstroth, in his excellent treatise, 
Langstroth on the Honey Bee (p. 193, revised edition), says: 
Let all your motions about your hives be gentle and slow; never crush or injure 
the bees; acquaint yourself fully with the principles of management, and you will 
find you have little more reason to dread the sting of a bee than the horns of a 
favorite cow or the heels of your faithful horse. 
Most bee manipulators, however, grow somewhat indifferent to stings, 
since in time they become 
so inoculated with the poi- 
son of the bee that the pain 
of the sting is less severe 
and the swelling slight. 
But to avoid the stings is, 
with some of the races more 
recently introduced into this 
country, simply a question 
of care in manipulation and 
a free use of smoke. It is 
not meant that the bees 
should be stupefied with 
smoke, but merely alarmed 
and subjugated, and when- 
ever they show any dispo- 
sition to act on the offen- 
sive recourse is to be had 
to smoke. It is not neces- 
sary that the smoke should 
be from a particular source, 
but that from certain sub- 
stances, as tobacco, subju- 
gates them more quickly, 
while burning puffball stupefies them for the time. There are some 
objections to these substances which do not apply to wood, either par- 
tially decayed or sound, and as the latter when in a good smoker holds 
fire best and is very effective, it is advisable to keep a good supply at 
hand. Seasoned hickory or hard maple are best, though beech, soft 
Fig. l-. — Ose of veil ami bee smoker. (Original.) 
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