316 
TnK HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 
once be procured. Bevan recommends the use of spirits 
of hartshorn, and says that, in cases of severe stinging, 
its internal use is also beneficial.* 
Timid Apiarians, and all who suffer severely from the 
sting of a bee, should by all means protect themselves 
with a bee-dress The great objection to such a dress, as 
usually made, is, that it obstructs clear vision, so highly 
important in all operations, besides producing such exces¬ 
sive heat and perspiration, as to make one using it pecu¬ 
liarly offensive to the bees. I prefer what I call a bee-hat 
(Plate XI., Fig. 25), of entirely novel construction. It is 
made of wire-cloth, the meshes of which are too fine to 
admit a bee, but coarse enough to allow a free circulation 
of air, and to permit distinct sight. The wire-cloth should 
be first sewed together like a hat, and made large enough 
to go very easily over the head ; its top may be of cotton 
cloth, and the same material should be fastened around its 
lower edge. If the top is made of sole leather, it will 
serve a better puipose. A piece of wire-cloth one foot 
* It may bo some comfort to novices to know that the poison will produce less 
and less effect upon their system. Old boc-kcepers, like Mithridatos, appear utmost 
to thrive upon poison Itself. When I first became Interested in boos, a sting was 
quite a formidable thing, the pain being often very intense, and tbo wound swelling 
so as sometimes to obstruct my sight. At present, tho pain is usually slight, and, 
if the sting is quickly extracted, no unpleasant consequences ensue, oven if no 
remedies are used. Huish speaks of seeing the bald head of Bonner, a celebrated 
practical Apiarian, covered with stings, which seemed to produce upon him no un¬ 
pleasant effects. The Eov. Mr. Kleino advises beginners to suffor themselves to bo 
stung frequently, assuring them that, in two seasons, their system will become 
accustomed to the poison I 
An old English Apiarian advises a person who has been stung, to catch os speedily 
os possible another bee, and mnke it sting on the same spot. Even an enthusiastic 
disciple of Iiubor might hesitate to venture on such a singular homffiopatklo 
remedy; but ns tills old writer hod stated, what I had verified in my own expe¬ 
rience, that the oftener a person was stung the less ho suffered from the venom, I 
determined to make trial of his prescription. Allowing a sting to remain until it 
had discharged all its poison, I compelled another bee to insert its sting, ns nearly as 
possible, in the same spot. I used no remedies of any kind, and had tho satisfac¬ 
tion, in my zeal for new discoveries, of suffering more from tho pain and swelling 
than for years befure. 
