SMOKE AND SMOKERS 
759 
f'ial instructions, but, as a rule, too much 
smoke is'used. It is best to use just as 
much as is necessary and not any more. A 
beginner so often stupefies the bees that 
they appear completely overcome. It is 
needless to say that this is a very bad plan. 
Very often colony after colony can be 
opened without the use of smoke, espe¬ 
cially when the bees are working; but at 
the same time it is well to have a smoker 
near at hand. 
it is not considered good practice to 
smoke bees out of comb-honey supers, as 
they are frightened at the smell of smoke, 
Fig. 7.—Carrying a smoker with the little finger 
when the hands are full. 
and, in their desire to save honey, uncap 
some of the cells and thus spoil the appear¬ 
ance of what might otherwise be fancy 
honey. 
In looking for a queen use as little smoke 
as possible, as it is very easy to set the bees 
running over the combs, making it next 
to impossible to locate the queen. At such 
times the frames should be handled slowly 
and carefully, the beekeeper doing nothing 
to disturb or excite the bees. See last part 
of A B C of Beekeeping and Manipula¬ 
tion of Colonies. 
Fig. 5 shows the most natural way of 
holding the smoker when the cap is opened. 
A better hold is secured with the left hand 
Fig. 8.- — Holding a smoker between the knees 
while manipulating frames. 
if the bellows is compressed as shown. 
Take hold of the eoiled-wire handle with 
the right hand and it will be seen that the 
cap can be raised very easily without the 
Fig. 9. — Manipulating frames while holding the 
smoker between the knees and working the bel¬ 
lows. 
