[CHAPTER XXII.]
THE BEE-DRESS.
The Storifying system, when conducted with proper precaution, in a bee-house, renders a bee-dress quite superfluous to the apiarian, as all his operations may be safely performed at all times and in all weathers, without one.
They may be as securely performed, by the storifier in a simple shed, if the time of operating be either early or late in the day, when the bees are all at home and can be confined by shutting the slide of the floor board.
Still, as timidity may foster a feeling of insecurity, and as the armour of a bee-dress may give confidence to an operator, I shall describe the dress that appears to me most suitable.
In the first place the apiator should be armed with a pair of thick cloth gloves, made to tie over the sleeves of his coat. Secondly, his legs should be fortified by a double pair of thick woollen or worsted stockings, or some kind of stout leggings as they are called. And thirdly, he should be provided with a short dress of Scotch gauze or catgut. This dress should be so formed as to tie round the crown of a hat having a shallow brim (about 2½ inches deep), should have short sleeves to tie round the arms, and descend low enough to tie round the body. A woollen apron should also be worn, as high as the bottom of the catgut dress, otherwise, in the language of Mr. Keys, the prying little insects may find an opening of sufficient size to enable them to tickle the belly. “Women,” says Mr. K. “should not meddle with bees, without a bee-dress, nor then without the addition of a man’s coat, and I had almost said of breeches also.”
This dress is the most complete mode of securing an operator from bees or wasps; but if he be adventurous enough to brave their attacks, I recommend him first to drink or rinse his mouth with a little malt liquor; to wash his face and hands with the same, and to approach them with a bunch of sweet herbs in his hand, gently fanning his face with them, whilst he is in the vicinity of their domicile, and breathing as much as possible through his nose. (Vide Part II. [Bee’s Sting].) In case of an actual or threatened attack, (the latter of which may be known by the peculiar noise which precedes it,) a defence by striking at them would be highly imprudent. An attempt may be first made to put them gently away; should that not succeed, the only resource is to retire quietly, and to conceal the face in shrubs or boughs, if any be near, or if not with the hands spread over it. The bees will then generally desist from further attack, and go home.
The smart quick strokes of the wings, when bees are angry and prepared to sting, give a sound very different from their usual buz. “Instead,” says Mr. Hunter, “of that soft contented noise made by the bee when coming home loaded on a fine evening,—when a bee meditates an attack with its sting, it makes a very different one.” There is a piercing shrillness in the sound, as the author and some of his friends have often experienced.