The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-01-04
ElAs, BEES ] = :: T..
Il: BEE KEEPING
|y5hz =, - - H.. -.
KEEPING A FEW BEES.
An Easy Way Of Supplying the Table
or Adding to Ones Income.

or Adding to ones Income.
Any person living upon farm or
in the outskirts of village would
find it a pleasure and a profit to keep
one or more colonies of bees, especial
ly II he desires to have few dollars
Of his own. The honey bee is
benefactor to our race, roaming the
fields at will, gathering honey and
pollen, which it pays for in the fertili-
zation of the flowers. She takes moth
ing from the fertility of the soil, but
gives to it one of the greatest fertliz-
ers known, the clovers, which would
become extinct II it were not for her
agency in fertilizing the bloom. No
land is required except a spot on
which to place the hives.
The fear Of stings, think, prevents
many from not liking the work, and
yet, when properly protected with
bee veil, and working only in the
warm part Of the day, and never when
cloudy, rainy or cold, and with the
use of good smoker, one need rarely
be stung. In many cases the sting
of a bee Is attended with much pain
and swelling, while in others there Is
no doubt that the system can soon be-
come Injured to the poison so that no
bad effects are produced. Well the
writer recollects the time when bee
sting was very painful to him and
was always attended with much pain
and swelling. l know there is sort
of current impression to the effect
that bees will sting some people more
than others. While this is true, 1t is
not because they are able to recog-
nize any peculiar physical condition
or difference, nor is it because one
person smells to the bees differently
from another 1t is because they no.
tice a difference in behavior of diff
ferent persons. Avoid quick mo-
tions; do not breathe upon them, and
If there are other bees flying about in
search of plunder do not leave the
hive open too long. In case Of acci-
dents the smoker should be used
freely, and it ought to be at hand for
any manipulation in the apiary. 1t
is much easier to prevent the anger
of bees than to put stop to it after
it has begun. If you mismanage a
colony of bees and rouse their anger
It Is quite likely that this disposition
will remain with them for few days.
A bee away from home, or laden
with honey, never volunteers an at
tack. This is so well established and
SO we'll known by apiarists that If l
were not writing mainly for beginners
should not think of mentioning it.
Thus, in order to render bees harm
less it is only necessary to cause them
to fill themselves with honey, and this
is done by frightening them with
smoke. When smoke is driven into
hive through the entrance the bees
at once begin filling themselves with
honey. But with them, as with hui
man beings, it is the most experienced
that are the slowest to take fright.
So when the old bees are all at home
1t is more difficult and takes more
time to compel them all to fill them
selves. For this reason it is much
safer to handle bees during the warm
est part of the day, or at time when
the greater part of the old bees are
in the field. The bees which compose
a swarm are usually filled with honey
for the journey that they expect to
take, and are harmless unless crush
ed or very much irritated by the an
ger of others and the smell of the
poison. 1t is not absolutely necessary
to smoke a colony of bees till all the
bees fill themselves with honey in or
der to handle them safely, but it is
certainly the safest method.-F. G.
Herman.