The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-05-12
Handling Bees.


Occasionally we hear of some one GO
ing about the country selling . bee
charm. The vender says that if we
only have this wonderful preparation
we can handle bees with impunity, and
never get stung. These so-ealled bee
charms are of no value, unless it is to
the one who sells them. can tell the
true secret of subduing and handling
bees. A bee will never sting when it is
full of honey, unless it gets pinched. 1t
is like man just after he has eaten his
dinner; he is good natured. One can
poke such bee around considerably
without its getting angry.
When bees are alarmed. the first
thing they usually do is to fill them
selves with honey. If one should wake
up in the night and find the house in
flames. he would probably load himself
with the most valuable articles that he
could lay hands upon. So if one blows
q puff or two of smoke into the entrance
of hive, the bees do not know but that
their house is on fire. If one closes the
hive, and then raps on the side of it,
the bees think, perhaps, that their house
is about to tumble down. In either case
the first thing they do is to secure q
load of honey, which is probably the
most precious substance known to them.
In order, then, to handle bees safely,
it is onlv necessary to smoke them q
little, give them time to fill themselves
with honey, and then open the hive
carefully and handle the bees decently.
They will usually be as harmless as
house flies. Light one end Of roll of
cotton rags, or piece of dry, rotten
elm or Eastwood, and it will be found a
good thing with which to smoke bees.
If there are many hives, ''smoker"
will be found a great convenience. 1t
is little, round tin stove, about three
inches in diameter and six in height.
The top of it runs up to a peak, and
there is q hole in the peak for the
smoke to out. The top or cover fits on
like the cover. to common pepper
box, 50 that it can be removed and a
fire built inside the smoker. Rags, rot
ten wood, or even cobs, are the SUBJ
stances generally used for fuel. At the
bottom or side of this little stove, and
connected with it by tube, is fixed a
small bellows. By working the bel
lows, a strong current of air is driven
through the smoker, which causes the
smoke to issue in stream. BY using
this little instrument, the apiarist is
master of the situation, as there is no
danger of setting things on fire. He
can put the smoke just where he wants
it, and in such quantities that the little
insects will soon become quiet. The
usual price of the smoker is one dollar,
and can be obtained of any dealer in
apiary supplies.
When there is plenty of honey in the
fields there is little need of smoke, as
the bees are busy and contented, and
have little disposition to sting. Do not
try to handle bees just after cold rain
or some other cause has checked their
gathering honey; wait two or three
days, until the disappointment has worn
off somewhat. In times of scarcity be
careful not to leave any honey where
the bees can get at it, as when it is gone
the bees will probably be very cross,
and may give trouble by their robbing
each other.
When bees swarm they fill themselves
with honey before leaving the hive,
which usually makes them very peacea-
BILE; but ii they are left hanging in the
sun three or four hours before they are
hived they seem to lose all patience,
and become very cross. l have never
tried it, but, as a remedy, l would sug-
gest giving them good sprinkle with
sweetened water before attempting to
hive them. Try to avoid quick mo-
tons, and handle bees carefully. Per-
haps the beginner, if he is timid, had
better protect himself with a veil until
he has had some experience, and there
by gained confidence. The veil may be
made Of black tar etan, sewed up like
a bag, without top or bottom, and of
the diameter of the rim of common
straw hat. Gather the top with a cord.
SO that it will just slip over the crown
of the hat, and have it so long that the
lower part may be tucked inside the
coat or vest. Common buckskin or
sheepskin gloves may be worn, but the
most timid person will soon consider
gloves an unnecessary nuisance. Cor.
Country Gentleman.