Gleanings in bee culture . s;and if such an accident occurs on a well-traveled highAvay there is a great deal ofdanger of becoming a nuisance to the trav-eling public. While it may be a pleasantbreak in the monotony of life to a disil-lusioned beekeeper to watch the peoplefrantically scamper away from Ids load ofpets whenever by accident they get loose,it adds nothing to the good will that thesepeople bear him or the beekeeping businessin general if they are compelled to hustleaway or stay and be stung. Necessity is ever the mother of inven-tion. This part of the east coast of Floridahas been
Gleanings in bee culture . s;and if such an accident occurs on a well-traveled highAvay there is a great deal ofdanger of becoming a nuisance to the trav-eling public. While it may be a pleasantbreak in the monotony of life to a disil-lusioned beekeeper to watch the peoplefrantically scamper away from Ids load ofpets whenever by accident they get loose,it adds nothing to the good will that thesepeople bear him or the beekeeping businessin general if they are compelled to hustleaway or stay and be stung. Necessity is ever the mother of inven-tion. This part of the east coast of Floridahas been enduring a succession of very pooryears for bees, and I have often had tomove my colonies or lose them. My liives,moreover, were mostly second-hand to be-gin with, and it is very hard to make thembee-tight. Furthermore, I have had to movewith as little loss of time as possible. After trying different kinds of smokeinto, on, and around hives from which beeswere coming through vfirious unforeseen 446 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. Geo. J. Van de Vord moving 41 colonies of bees, using only tobacco smoke to keep them in tlie Van de Vord has moved bees for over four vears without screens over the entrances. cracks and crevices, I found that smokehaving a part of its volume derived fromtobacco has a very sedative effect withoutbeing stupefying or harmful if not usedexcessively. When I first tried the plan Irisked it on only a small load. Though Idid not close the entrances, and though Ismoked the bees but a very little beforeloading them, I found that scarcely a beeflew from the hive during the journey which*lasted about two hours; and the few thatdid were not looking for trouble nor mak-ing any. Since that time about four yearshave elapsed, and I have used the planseveral times each year, and invariably itl:as kept the bees in a xerj quiet condition,even though they are sometimes severelyjolted. The use of the tobacco smoke hasfurnished me a method of controlling themwith the l
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbees, bookyear1874
