316 
TI1IC 1I1VE 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 purpose. 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 bee-keepers, like Mithridates, appear almost 
to thrive upon poison itself. When I first became interested in bees, a sting was 
quite a formidable thing, the pain being often very intense, and the wound swelling 
so as sometimes to obstruct my sight. At present, the pain is usunlly slight, and, 
If the sting is quickly extracted, no unpleasant consequences ensue, even if no 
remedies arc used. Huish speaks of seeing the hahl head of Bonner, a celebrated 
practical Apiarian, covered with stings, which seemed to produce upon him no un¬ 
pleasant effects. The Rev. Mr. Kleine advises beginners to suffer 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 as speedily 
as possible another bee, and make it sting on the same spot. Even an enthusiastic 
disciple of Huber might hesitate to venture on such a singular homoeopathic 
remedy; but as this old writer had 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, 1 compelled another bee to insert its sting, as nearly us 
possible, in the same spot. I used no remedies of any kind, and bad the satisfac¬ 
tion., in my zeal for new discoveries, of suffering more from the pain and swelling 
than for years before. 
