and showed the bees' work; for the trees were so laden with fruit that, although they had been thinned, the branches had to be supported by strong wooden props.'

Many people who have the time and means are undoubtedly deterred from keeping bees by one or both of two great drawbacks. The first is the prevalence of Microsporidiosis, or Isle of Wight disease; the second is the fact that bees are armed with stings. The Isle of Wight disease has been reported from every county in England and Wales; and many neighbourhoods are entirely denuded of bees. But, if healthy bees can be obtained, how may they be handled safely, and what is the best remedy for stings? There are a few people whose scent is offensive to bees; and there are a few, a very few, to whom bee-stings are really dangerous. Again, there are a few who seem to possess some magnetic power over bees, and again a few for whom stings have no terrors. Gilbert White tells of an idiot boy who overturned hives and robbed them with impunity. But in most cases the safe handling of bees is an art only to be learned by study and practice.

An apprenticeship in a large apiary is the best training; but, failing this, the novice can usually watch some local bee-keeper at work, and learn to assist him. At the same time he must study a good handbook, for his tutor may be utterly out of date, or careless and happygo-lucky. Two such books stand out as the best of their kind; they are those of Mr T. W. Cowan and the Rev. J. G. Digges. For cottage bee-keepers, Mr HerrodHempsall, who used to share with Mr Cowan the editorship of the Bee-keepers' Record,' has produced an excellent sixpenny handbook entitled 'Bee-keeping Simplified,' and more recently a similar work, 'Bee-keeping in Wartime,' price ninepence.

When he has mastered such books as these, the student may go on to larger and more scientific works, such as those of Cheshire, Langstroth, and Root. But it is essential that he should learn to handle bees with confidence, and without assistance. Gloves should scarcely ever be worn; and, when a bee settles on the hand, the hand should be kept still. To show fight is to court defeat. Sudden movements must be avoided, and

everything be done with studied calmness and deliberation.

The advice given by Butler, a 17th-century bee-master, in his 'Feminine Monarchie' is by no means out of date, if we except the cup of beer:

'If thou wilt have the favour of thy bees, that they sting thee not, thou must avoid such things as offend them. Thou must not be unchaste or uncleanly; for impurity and sluttishness (themselves being most chaste and neat) they utterly abhor. Thou must not come among them smelling of sweat, or having a stinking breath, caused either through eating of leeks, onion, garlick, and the like, or by any other means; the noisomeness of which is corrected with a cup of beer. Thou must not be given to surfeiting or drunkenness; thou must not come puffing and blowing unto them, neither hastily stir among them, nor violently defend thyself when they seem to threaten thee; but, softly moving thy hand before thy face, gently put them by; and lastly thou must be no stranger unto them. In a word, thou must be chaste, cleanly, sweet, sober, quiet, and familiar: so will they love thee, and know thee from all other.'

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If Butler's excellent counsels are followed, bees may often be examined without any previous precautions, especially in spring and early summer. But there are two invaluable aids, one of which should always be at hand; these are smoke and carbolic acid. The object of their use is not to stupefy the bees, but to frighten them into gorging themselves with honey. They suspect some impending calamity, and immediately plunge their heads into the honey cells, in order to take in emergency rations, as a swarm always does before issuing. swarm carries a three or four days' supply, and swarming bees seldom sting. Smoke is the easier and safer to apply, especially if a 'smoker' be used-a pipe or cigarette often suffices-but a carbolised cloth is usually preferred by experienced hands. At agricultural shows an expert may be seen in the bee-tent offering a handful of bees to any lady who will accept it, and promising a shilling for every sting that she receives. The explanation of this apparent wizardry is very simple: the bees have been 'subdued,' and are not in the mood to sting; nor can they easily do so when their honey-sacs are full.

But it is always wiser to wear a veil, which should be

securely tucked in under the coat collar, and not hanging loose as in the illustration in Mr. Cowan's guide-book, or an angry bee will surely find her way under it. Armlets fitting tight round the wrists may be worn if desired, and ladies can use skirt protectors with elastic bands round the ankles. But it is far better to be stung occasionally, and thus gradually inoculated with the poison. Old beekeepers take no notice of a few stings, for they produce no effect on them. At first the irritation and swelling may be troublesome, but there are many ways of alleviating it. The first thing to do is to pull out the sting, which the bee usually, though not invariably, leaves in the wound. Then the puncture should at once be dressed with some antidote. Many are recommended, including honey, but one of the best we know is the nicotine from the stem of a foul pipe. At the worst bee-stings do no harm; at the best they may cure rheumatism.

Bees vary much in temper. Carniolans have earned a high reputation for gentleness, and Syrians for ferocity; but any bees will grow savage if clumsily handled, or repeatedly disturbed in wet weather, or at the end of the season. When they become unmanageable, the best thing to do is to close the hive and beat a hasty retreat, hoping for a better opportunity. Pursuing bees may be shaken off by plunging the head into a thick bush.

The common English black bee (apis mellifica) still has its supporters in this country, but in America the Italian or Ligurian bee, with its elegant yellow-ringed abdomen, is almost universally preferred. It was introduced into this country in 1859. It is more prolific than the black bee, easier to handle, and a better honey-gatherer. About its disease-resisting properties opinions differ, but there is good evidence that in Italian-black hybrids lies the best hope of overcoming the Isle of Wight disease. Kent bee-keepers have started a re-stocking scheme with these hybrids, and are able to report well-deserved success. Last year they established two hundred new colonies, entirely by voluntary work. Similar efforts are being made in Staffordshire, and we hope many other counties will follow the lead given by Kent. The method is to cultivate a selected strain of hybrids, and form 'nuclei,' with queens specially reared for the purpose. Queen-rearing is itself an important branch c

modern apiculture; and re-queening with a vigorous young queen is one of the most effective means of combating disease.

All syrup and candy should be medicated with some disinfectant. In 1916 the Government set aside fifty tons of sugar for bees, and issued bacterolised candy. The Board of Agriculture have been experimenting for many years, and have issued a free pamphlet on the disease; but none of the official remedies is infallible. Dioxogen has been used in some cases with success, but at present we believe the best chance is to try Izal. Immunity has been claimed for Dutch bees, but in vain. Probably no strain of bees is entirely immune; but, given strong healthy strains, with young queens, and all food medicated as far as possible, there is no reason why beekeeping should not be restored to its condition at the beginning of this century, before Microsporidiosis made its appearance in the Isle of Wight. This disease is caused by the presence of a protozoan called Nosema Apis in the chyle stomach of the bee. Articles on it by Dr Shipley, Master of Christ's College, Cambridge, were published in Country Life,' May 20, 1911, and July 19, 1913. The symptoms, in his words, are

'first a disinclination of the bees to work, and a habit of flying about aimlessly; then they begin to lose their power of flight, and are unable to travel more than a few yards without alighting, till finally they can only crawl, and may be seen creeping up grass-stems or other upright objects. After that the end comes quickly, and they die.'

Where diseased bees have large supplies of their own honey, it is probably safer to remove this, and replace it with medicated sugar syrup. There is no evidence that pure cane-sugar is less wholesome for bees than honey, which can safely be used as human food, even when infected. We have for some months past been using honey from infected bees. If the bees die, the hive should be thoroughly disinfected, preferably by being scorched with a painter's lamp, and the frames and quilts burnt. All dead bees should be collected and burnt, and the ground well dug and limed. If these simple precautions had been observed from the first, the course of the disease might have been arrested.

But unhappily many bee-keepers take the idle and selfish course of leaving everything to chance. Mr Simmins claims that, where his directions are carefully followed, no hive need be lost. We quote the following from his book A Modern Bee Farm' (1914, p. 445):

'(1) The substitution of a young queen of a vigorous prolific variety, during the active season, will turn a dwindling stock into a prosperous, highly profitable colony every time.

'(2) Any plan of division that, during the active season, separates the older and more seriously affected workers from those slightly or not affected, from the younger bees and the brood still to hatch, will always form a basis of cure.

(3) Feeding any affected stock rapidly with suitably medicated food will subdue the worst case in twelve or fourteen days, changing the queen meantime.

'(4) Where the earlier symptoms of the disease are noticed--with no hairless, dark or bloated bees-the trouble is instantly checked by spraying with warm medicated water.'

Mr Simmins attaches great importance to the right strain of bee, not the pure English black, and also to sufficient ventilation, a point often overlooked. He mentions a case where bees were actually wintered successfully with no bottoms to the hives. All good hives are now made with adjustable entrances and ventilators. This alone gives them an immense advantage over straw skeps. Wood, moreover, and not straw, is the natural home of the bee, which in a wild state loves hollow trees. Whatever type of hive the beginner selects, he should keep to the same one, for it is a great convenience to be able to interchange the internal fittings of different hives. The W.B.C. hive, named after the inventor, the late Mr William Broughton Carr, is a double-walled hive, and holds the field as first favourite in this country today. Any one with a knowledge of carpentry can make his own hives, by copying a good model.

The standard size of frame is 14 inches long by 8 deep. Larger frames are commonly used in America, and we have seen them in the apiary of a French abbé. They give more room in the brood-chamber, which may easily become overcrowded, for a good queen at her best will lay up to 3500 eggs a day. Shallower frames are used in the 'supers' for extracted honey, and sectioncrates, containing twenty-one sections each, for section