16 FOLLOWING THE BEE LINE 
ing what was happening inside the hive. . , . 
The college bees were nice, well-behaved bees and 
no one was stung. 
I went home full of enthusiasm and spurning all 
accessories sold by bee supply houses for the timid 
—such as long canvas gloves, leggings, or overalls. 
Among beginners there is apt to be an attitude of 
overconfidence, which is a good quality on the 
whole, though one which needs to be tempered by 
experience. I did, however, put a black mosquito 
netting bee-veil over my face when I went down to 
interview “my” bees. 
The whole system of modern beekeeping hinges 
around frequent inspections of the bees. Not mere¬ 
ly by watching them fly in and out their doorway 
but by taking the roof off their house—like some 
complacent giant—and lifting out some or all of the 
detachable combs which hang inside, covered with 
bees and filled with brood and honey. Some bee¬ 
keepers “open the hives” once in two weeks, some 
once in ten days, some as often as once a week. The 
theory is that bigger honey crops can be secured by 
this watchfulness; if conditions are not just right 
they can be remedied. 
The beekeeper allows each colony to practice 
Home Rule. Indeed he is helpless to prevent it, for 
