14 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
sally forth to repel the disturber ; but if a few puffs 
from a pipe or from smouldering rag had first been 
blown into it, the bees would have retreated between 
the combs, where they might have been easily kept 
by a further dose after the skep had been lifted 
and turned up for examination. The habitual con- 
sumer of tobacco, who owns but a few hives, may 
perhaps shift with his pipe, from the stem of which 
he may pour a terrifying stream by grasping the 
bowl between his little finger and palm, and with 
the remainder of his hand forming a tube, through 
which he blows; but to those to whom ‘‘the weed'’ 
is no solace a “smoker" is indispensable. All the 
different forms of these are practically reducible to 
two — the Bingham and the Clark — although our Eng- 
lish makers have given various names to them after 
adding special hand-guards to prevent burning, or 
making some alteration which does not touch general 
principles. The Bingham (Fig. 2) is mostly used, and 
is my preference, for reasons presently given. 
Both smokers, which are not very different, may be 
well understood by Fig. 3, representing them in section, 
and a knowlege of their construction is, in practice, 
necessary, as it enables the owner to see the cause 
of, and remedy any hitch in, their performance. 
In the Bingham, the bellows boards are kept apart 
by a spiral spring while the air is admitted by 
the valve {v). When the bellows are collapsed by 
thumb and fingers, the air is driven forcibly out 
through the blast-pipe ( 3 /). The current enters the 
lower end of the fire-box (which is pierced by a hole 
somewhat larger than the diameter of the blast-pipe, and 
