By Fumigation.--Much has been said and written upon the subject of
fumigation, yet this is a process that I am not at all partial to; and,
as far as my experience has gone, it is one which I have never yet
had occasion to resort to in a single instance; for even in the most
difficult operations I have always found a puff, and that a very little
one, of tobacco-smoke to be all-sufficient. As I have said before,
gentleness is the best protection; still, if by any little accident
the Bees become irritated, a slight puff of tobacco-smoke quiets them
at once. One reason for my not being partial to fumigation is, that I
could never see the necessity for it; and another reason is, that all
the Bees, which I have seen thus treated are sluggish and inactive for
some days after the operation, besides many having been killed. Now,
this in early spring, or in the midst of the honey-gathering season,
is certainly of great consequence, especially when we are told that a
prosperous colony of Bees will, in a single day of the latter season,
collect from 4 to 6 lbs. of honey.