Use the smoker to scare the bees rather than to punish them.
Do not stand in front of the hive lest the bees passing out and in take umbrage.
Be careful not to drop any implements with which you are working; take hold of all things firmly.
Move steadily and not nervously.
Do not run if frightened, for the bees understand what running away means as well as you do.
If the bees attack you, move slowly away, smoking them off as you go.
If a bee annoys you by her threatening attitude for some time, kill her ruthlessly.
WINTERING
Before buying your hives you must decide where your bees are to winter. If you have a suitable shelter you can use the ordinary hives; but if your bees are to winter outside, you may decide that you want the great chaff-packed, double hives. As the summer wanes every hive must be examined to make sure that the colony is strong and that the supply of honey is not short. If the season has been a bad one for flowers, or if the region provides few blossoming fields it may be necessary to feed the bees. Special directions are needed and any bee book will supply them. A strong swarm, supplied with twenty-five pounds to thirty-five pounds of honey, will winter without serious loss in a chaff hive. Other protection than that afforded by a good windbreak is unnecessary. In our furnace-heated houses no part of the cellar is cool enough all the time for the bees. The temperature should not go above forty-eight degrees Fahr., nor below forty degrees; forty-three degrees is considered just right. Sudden changes are bad for bees.