FOLLOWING THE BEE LINE 
IX 4 
neutral blend, with sage predominating, and the 
displeased customer had been used to dark strong 
buckwheat honey. And those used to light honeys 
may believe that dark honey contains molasses! 
Are beekeepers immune to poisoning from bee 
stings? Somewhat, if they work constantly with 
bees and are “tapped’’ fairly often. More frequently, 
I think, supposed immunity consists in quick re¬ 
moval of stings before the formic acid has had suffi¬ 
cient time to get into the system. Another factor, I 
feel sure, is a certain professional habit of “forget¬ 
ting” stings. Anything unpleasant seems worse 
when dwelt upon; thus it is far better to consider 
stings as one would minor cuts or bruises. 
Certain types of rheumatism are helped by the 
formic acid from bee stings; other types show no 
improvement. So beekeepers, through their occu¬ 
pation, have no guarantee against lumbago! 
How far do bees fly when gathering honey? Gen¬ 
erally not more than a mile and a half, although they 
have been known to travel three or four miles when 
near-by nectar was scarce. I have known several 
such cases, authentic beyond a doubt. 
Then there is the often-heard: “I love honey but 
I don’t dare eat it because it’s so much more fatten¬ 
ing than sugar!” 
