CHAPTER XIII 
THE MANIPULATION OF BEES 
The work which the beekeeper does with his bees has for 
its object an increase in their productiveness. Bees gather 
nectar and pollen when they are available in response to 
their own instincts to gather; they build wax when it is 
needed if space and food are available. The duties of the 
beekeeper are not concerned with creating these impulses. 
However, bees do not always work so as to accomplish the 
most efficient results, when measured by the commercial 
standards of the beekeeper, and the care which he bestows 
on his bees serves to provide conditions suitable for the 
turning of their natural instincts into those channels which 
will yield the greatest profit. 
Disturbance to be reduced to a minimum. 
Bees should be handled so that their work will be dis¬ 
turbed as little as possible, for the manipulations of the bee¬ 
keeper are only accessory to their labors. Stings should be 
avoided. This is not so much because they are painful, but 
chiefly because the odor of the poison irritates bees and 
makes them difficult to manage. A veil (Fig. 26) and a good 
smoker (Fig. 24) are practically indispensable. By the 
use of smoke, the bees may be quieted so that they may be 
handled readily, the guards are disorganized and the bees 
gorge themselves with honey, after which they are not 
easily provoked to an attack. Too much smoke must be 
avoided as it disorganizes the entire colony and considerable 
time elapses before the bees fully return to their normal 
activities. 
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