Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1897-02-18

peculiar way he Will get Stung Daclys
but il his motions are regulated to
their whims, ne will get along with
few Or perhaps no stings. Another man.
cir. B, is not afraid of bees, and does
not care much whether he is stung or
not. Perhaps he thinks veil useless.
and does not wear one; or maybe ne
rips the cover off with yank. he Is
clumsy in his motions. One bee stings
him. He draws his hand back quickly,
and receives half a dozen more. lie
does not know the Importance OF doing
all things decently and in order.
Smoker? Oh, yes! he has one: but he
uses 1t at the wrong time, and does not
/ keep it on hand ready to Quell any dis
| turbance that is likely to arise. Mr.
A, on the contrary, observes that bees
are crosser on some days than on
some others: but II he must handle
them on an of day" "a cool day after
a rain; a day when the bees have been
robbng, or day following sudden
stoppage of the honey-flow), he will
first make sure that his smoker Is In
| good order, and ready to give of
good volume of smoke. He will blow
little of it in at the entrance, and
then pry the cover up q little very
gently. AS he does so he Will send
stream of smoke into the crack made
by the putty-knife or screw-driver.
This drives down the guards, and then
the crack is made little wider, and
more smoke Is then driven in, when the
cover is removed. II the bees show q
quick nervous movement, standing up
high on their legs, bobbing their bodies
quickly one way and then the other, he
gives them a few more light whiffs Of
smoke until they are subdued. With
screw-driyer he loosens the frames,
holding the smoker in his hand. Just
as soon as the bees stick their heads
up, ready to show fight, he drives them
back again, and then very cautiously
and deliberately removes the first
frame. His movements from now on
are very deliberate; and occasionally
when the bees are little obstrcperous
he gives them another Whit Of smoke.
Only very little is required-just suf-
fcient to let them know that he is mas
ter, and that they must let him entirely
alone. This summer l worked with
the bees nearly week before re-
ceived single sting, and yet one OF
the boys who worked near me at the
time. doing the same work, was stung
anywhere from three to five times a
day. Perhaps some may feel that these
slow movements wasted good deal Of
time but l find that l can really dc
more work in day by closely and
carefully watching any disposition on
the part Of the bees to resent my in.
trusion. Right here rests the whole
secret. To one who is accustomed tc
handling bees there is a certain indie
shows when they are ready to sting. A
little smoke at the right time takes the
fight" all out of them. 1 do not be-
lieye it is good policy for one whe
handles bees very much to get stung
great many times. and one should b.
careful to avoid every sung as much
as possible. In the summer. when thu
bees are working in the fields, one OF
two stings perhaps in the Who'll:
month would be all that l should get
providing there were nothing bu
ltal1anS ITOD imported StOCk, vi "
that persuasion; and how l avoid thu
stings is simply by following the plar
laid down for Mr.. A. In this connec
ton it nigh. be we'll to state that ont
who makes business of keeping bce'
is liable in years to come to experience
some bad effects from too much o
the apis-mellifica poison being inject
!" ed into his system. The Rev. L. L
Langstroth, James Heddon, and other
in later years experienced some incon
) yenience from what they ascribel t
the presence of too much bee-sting poi
son in the system. In regard to dis
. pensing with veil-yes, this can b
done, but 1t doesn't pay. l have seel
: some of these same chaps boast Of hoy
= they did not need any face protection
i. yet l have seen them waste valuabl
. time in stopping to put the hands up t
= the face, or plunge the head in clum
T. of bushes, in ignoble retreat.