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{ THE HIVE ¥

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THE HONEY-BEE:

PRICE TWENTY-FIVE CENTS.

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE

DISEASES OF BEES, AND THEIR REMEDIES.
BY .H. D. RICHARDSON,

" autnowm or “tHe norsk” “rus woe,” &e, ke.

y PPAR AA EAL PAA SAPP LLL

New-Pork ;
co. M. SAXTON,
«AGRICULTURAL

PUBLISHER.
5
C9) WV.

te

read

HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE;

WITH

PLAIN DIRECTIONS

FOR

OBTAINING A CONSIDERABLE ANNUAL INCOME FROM THIS
BRANCH OF RURAL ECONOMY.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISEASES OF BERS,

WITH THEIR REMEDIES.

ALSO,
¥

REMARKS 4S TO THEIR ENEMIES, AND THE BEST MODE OF
PROTECTING THE BEES FROM THEIR ATTACKS.

BY
i rent CHA RDSON,
é 4 Author of “The Horse,” “Domestic Fowl,” “The Pests of the Farm,”
x “The Hog,” etc., etc.

me 3 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS ON WOOD.

4 NEW YORK:
C. thes AX? ON,

AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER.
1852.

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’

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CONTENTS.

Page
Cuarter I.—Introductory . : : 5 : 7
Cuapter IIJ.—The Honey-Bee and its three Classes : 5 9
Cuarter III.—Architecture of the Honey-Bee, and Economy of the
Hive . ; : : 5 : ; c 14
CuartEer [V.—Generation of the Honey-Bee : : : 18
Cuarter V.—Position of the Apiary ° : : 0 23
Cuapter VI.—Hives and Boxes : : : é 5 27
Cuarter VII.—How your Stock is to be obtained . 5 : 41
Cuarter VIII].—Swarming . ¢ : 2 : : 44
Cuapter [X.—The Honey Harvest . ; : 5 2 49
Cuaprer X.—Management during Winter and early Spring : 61
Cuarter XI.—The Diseases and Enemies of Bees . ‘ é 65

Cuartrer XII.—How to treat the Produce of your Honey Harvest 69

Ais ates
th acta 4 ry

THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.

Tue subject of Bee culture is one that should occupy a far
more prominent position than it at present does, in the do-
mestic economy of the farmer. When successfully conducted,
the management of these interesting insects becomes a source of
pecuniary profit ; and to be a successful cultivator requires only
a very moderate degree of care and attention: let it be remem-
bered that the first outlay in procuring a swarm, and providing
suitable accommodation in the shape of hives or bee-boxes, is the
only expense to be incurred ; while the return, yielded by each
honey harvest, is very considerable, and to be regarded as clear

ain.
: In order to give the reader some idea of the profit which may
accrue from bee-keeping, under favorable circumstances, I may
mention a statement of the late Mr. Nutt, relative to the quantity
of honey taken by him from one set of collateral boxes, in a
single season, viz: 183 Ibs. 5 oz.

This statement has surprised many, and its accuracy has been
doubted by some hee-keepers; and it certainly does, at first
sight, appear startling. A correspondent informed me that he
had last season, and one considered a bad one for bees, taken
102 lbs. of honey from two sets of boxes, and that he might
have taken, perhaps, 10 lbs. more, without impoverishing the
bees. The writer on Bees in the “ Naturalists’ Library,” details
the quantity taken from cottage hives in one season at about 10
Ibs. from each hive. This is a very low average, however, and
it has reference to a single deprivation only, as well as to a very
imperfect description of hive. It is not my intention to exhibit
the advantages of keeping bees on old and erroneous, and, I

8 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

wish I could add, exploded systems of management, but to show
what can be done, if done correctly. I shall say nothing, there-
fore, as to what may be done with the common old hives, as I
regard keeping bees in them, when more fitting ones may so
easily be procured, as evincing something very like a, self-willed
determination not to make profit. Bee-keeping, when conducted
on a proper principle, will form no mean item in the domestic
economy of the extensive agriculturist ; while to the humble
cottier it will prove a little fortune, and furnish the means of
effectually and permanently bettering his condition. I would
say that a single set of collateral boxes, so simple in its con-
struction, and composed of such inexpensive materials that any .
one could make them, ought to yield a profit at least sufficient to
pay the rent of from five to ten acres of land, by no means a
despicable holding, and one which, in its turn, will become a
source of comfort, of independence, of social, and consequently,
of course, of natzonal amelioration. asain”

The importance of honey both as an article of food and a
valuable medicament, would appear to have been known to the
ancients from the very earliest times. ‘The land of promise,”
to reach which the Israelites journeyed in protracted pilgrimage
across an arid desert for a period of forty years, was described
as “a land flowing with milk and honey ;” while numerous pas-
sages throughout the sacred volume furnish evidence of the
attention devoted by the ancient fathers of the Jewish people to
the habits of the Bee itself, and the degree of acquaintance with
that insect at which they had arrived, We are also told that
several of the enlightened sages of ancient Greece deemed this
subject worthy years of diligent investigation. Pliny informs us
that Aristomachus made bees his whole study for a period of
fifty-eight years. pes

Philiscus retired into desert places for the purpose of keeping
and contemplating them.

Aristotle, also, wrote much concerning bees, proving himself
intimately acquainted with the subject, and his observations were
subsequently confirmed and enlarged upon by Pliny. Aristotle’s
observations furnished the Mantuan bard, Virgil, with the ground-
work of his very beautiful, and in many respects faithful descrip-
tions of these insects, and their management. We have since
them Columella and others, and in more modern times an actual
host of writers, amongst whom I may mention Prince Frederick

THE HONEY-BEE AND ITS THREE CLASSES, 9

Ceci, Swammerdam, Boerhave, Wildman, Reaumur, Huber,
Huish, Nutt, Cotton, Briggs, with a host of other and eminent
names, to many of whom, but to Mr. Briggsin particular, I have
to acknowledge myself indebted, for some of the suggestions
conveyed in the course of these pages, which it is to be hoped
may prove as useful as it is my earnest desire they should, and I
sincerely trust that no obstinate attachment to old usages, or dis-
like to encounter the very trifling degree of trouble consequent
on a change of management, will prevent their being, at all events,
taken into consideration.

CHAPTER II.
THE HONEY-BEE AND ITS THREE CLASSES.

Tue Honey-bee belongs to the social family of the Apidze (from
Apis, the Latin for bee), to the order, fifth of INSECTA, termed
Hymenoptera, and including all insects possessing four mem-
branaceous, gauze-like wings, of unequal sizes, furnished also
with a sting, or process at the extremity of the tail, resembling
one. ‘The interesting family of bees now under consideration, is
known peculiarly as the Apes Mellifica, Honey-making or Honey-
bee—not that this species alone makes honey, but that it is the
one so long known to man, and which has so long yielded to him
its rich store of sweets. Sie

Of the family of the Honey-bee there are two varieties to be
met with in Europe—one inhabiting the north, and the other the
south ; the principal difference, however, would appear to consist
in color, the southern bee having the rings encircling his body of
a deeper red color; the description, consequently, of the common
Hive-bee of the British Islands will apply, sufficiently for every
practical purpose, to both insects.

The number of bees contained in a hive will, of course, vary
with their condition, and the amount of accommodation they
possess : whatever, however, be their numbers, their occupations
are alike, and are similarly distributed amongst the three classes
composing the inmates of the hive. These classes are, first, the
Queen-bee, the sovereign of the community, and literally, the
prolific parent of her Sones The Queen-bee reigns alone ;
1

10 - THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

but one of her sex is permitted to exist in a hive at the one time,

: and to her protection and comfort are the
energies of the other bees to be directed,
~ The Queen-bee may be recognized by her
greater length of body, which is of a
blackish color above, and of a yellowish
tint beneath. She is usually, but not by
any means invariably, of a larger size than
either of the other classes; her abdomen
contains two ovaries, or receptacles for eggs; and her sting is of
a curved form. The Queen-bee commences depositing her eggs
when about five days old; during the heat of the season she lays
from 150 to 200 eggs per day, and lays with little or no inter-
mission from early Spring to the middle of Autumn. The pro-
gress of her eggs from their deposition to maturity, shall be
treated of elsewhere. :

The second class of bees are the Drones. These are bulkier
in the body than either the Queen or the Working-bee. Their
head is rounder, proboscis shorter, eyes
ms fuller, an additional articulation to the

“—) antenne, and no sting. They also make
ey more noise in flying than tig! athe bees.
The Drones are the males of the hive;
by them the royal mother is impregnated
and her eges fertilized. How or when
this intercourse takes place has long furnished philosophers with
a subject for controversy and inquiry; and it has not even yet
been set at rest in such a manner as to admit being proved to a
positive demonstration. —

Aristotle supposed that no such connection took place; Swam-
merdam held the same opinion, but imagined that she required
to be in the neighborhood of the Drones, from whose bodies
there proceeded to her a vivifying aura, producing fertilization.

It has been by some supposed that the eges are fertilized by
the Drones after having been deposited. his cannot be the
case, as many accurately instituted experiments satisfactorily
prove that eggs once lard will progress to maturity, and prove
fertile in the absence of Drones.

M. de Reaumur described passages which occurred between
the Drones and the Queen, which were sufficient to induce sus-
picions at least of somewhat more than he actually witnessed,

THE HONEY-BEE AND ITS THREE CLASSES. 11

but farther, he never could ascertain. The passages to which I
allude are not very creditable to the royal character, from whom
De Reaumur states all the advances came, while the Drones ap-
peared cold, distant, and to prefer being let alone, destitute of
all gallantry, and thoroughly justifying their name.

The celebrated Huber, whose reiterated experiments and
close observation entitle him to the greatest confidence, is of
opinion that actual intercourse does take place, not, however,
while the parties are in the hive, but during their flight in the
air. This also satisfactorily explains the reason why the number
of drones in each hive is so great, viz., in order that the queen-
bee may have the greater likelihood of meeting with a consort
when on the wing; it is also probable that the drones perform
some yet unexplained functions relative to the young or larve.
The late Mr. Nutt coincided with Mr. Huber in this opinion,
while at the same time he expressed his conviction that this will
ever remain a debateable point. Mr. Huber, likewise, was of
opinion that the Queen, once impregnated, remained so during
her life; and that as she exists for some years, the Drones are
called into existence for the purpose of fecundating the young
Queens, or supernumeraries—insects kept as it were in reserve—
lest she which first comes forth should prove sterile. or meet
with any casualty. During the working season, especially the
months of May, June, and July, when the working bees are con-
tinually absent from the hive, the presence of the Drones is per-
haps requisite for some offices they may render the larvee ; but
whether they are spared for that purpose, or are, contrary to
Huber’s opinion, still requisite for the impregnation of the Queen,
I am not prepared to say ; but the fact remains the same, that
at the end of summer they are ignominiously expelled the hive,
and even slain by the workers, as if they, being of no longer any
utility to the community, should not be fed from the store during
winter, and were killed to avoid this unnecessary waste. ‘This
destruction usually takes place in August or the end of July.

During summer, the Drones remain dispersed through differ-
ent parts of the hive, but towards its close they assemble to-
gether in companies, as if preparing for their impending fate,
which they await in patience, or rather, perhaps, in motion-
less lethargy. When the attack commences, they resist
to their utmost; from the number of their executioners, how-

12 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

ever, and their own deficiency, not being furnished with a sting,
they have not a shadow of chance.

It is, perhaps, unnecessary to observe that the Drones do not
work for the support of the hive, but lead an idle life, feeding
upon the produce of others’ labor. j

We now come to the most interesting inmate of the hive—the
Workine-BEz.

The Working-bee is considerably less
than either the Queen-bee or the Drone.
It is about half an inch in length, of a
blackish brown color, covered with closely
set hairs all over the body, which aid it in
carrying the farina it gathers from the
flowers ; and on the ézbza, or forearm, as it
were, of the hind leg, is a cavity of cup-
like form, for the reception of the little kneaded ball of pollen.
It is the Working-bee which collects honey and pollen, and
which forms the cells, cleans out the hive, protects the Queen,
looks after the condition of the young brood, destroys or expels
the Drones, when these are no longer necessary to the well-being
of the community ; who, in short, performs all offices connected
with the hive and its contents, save only those which have refer-
ence to the reproduction of the species. The Working-bees are
of no sex, and are furnished with a horny and _ hollow sting,
through which poison is ejected into the wound it makes; this
poison is of an acrid character, and of great power in its effects,
proving fatal to any insect, and instances being on record of its
proving so to horses and cattle, nay, even to human beings:
when human beings, however, are stung (an accident that will
happen very seldom, if they use the precautions, in manipulating
with their bees, that shall be detailed in the course of this
volume), they can instantaneously obtain relief by pressing upon
the point stung with the tube of a key; this will extract the
sting, and relieve the pain, and the application of common spirits
of hartshorn will instantaneously remove it ; the poison being of
an acid nature, and being thus at once neutralized by the appli-
cation of this penetrating and volatile alkali.

I may here describe the structure of the bee. The one descrip-
tion answering, with some exceptions, to be pointed out as I pro-
ceed, for the three classes—Queen—Drone—and Workers.

The bee is, like insects generally (which derive their name

THE HONEY-BEE AND ITS THREE CLASSES, 13

_ from two Latin words, signifying cut in parts, or divided), com-
posed of three parts—the head, thorax or chest, and abdomen.
The shape of the head varies somewhat, as also does its size, in
the three classes ; it is attached to the thorax by a thin liga-
ment, and the thorax is attached in a similar manner to the ab-
domen. In front of the head are two eyes, which are protected
by hairs from any substances that might otherwise injure them,
and on the top of the head are three smaller eyes. This visual
apparatus renders the bee’s power of sight a very extended one.
Two feelers, or antennz, spring from between the front eyes, and
curve outwards on each side; these are endowed with a very
acute sense of touch, and doubtless perform many of the offices
of eyes in the dark recesses of the hive. It is probably by the
assistance of these delicate and highly sensitive organs that
these insects form their combs, fill their cells, and feed the
young. Iam of opinion also, that they serve as a medium by
means of which the bees convey intelligence to each other.

The mouth of the bee is composed of a pair of mandibles, or
jaws, which open vertically, and act (opening and shutting) to
the right and left. These are furnished with teeth at their ex-
tremities. The mouth is also furnished with a very minute
tongue, and with a long, slender instrument, called a proboscis,
or trunk, resembling in form and use that of the elephant ; it is
composed of numerous cartilaginous rings, fringed with minute
hairs. This instrument does not, however, act as a tube, but by
rolling about and attaching to the hairs which fringe it, whatever
substances the insect wishes to convey to the mouth ; from about
the base of the proboscis also arise the labial feelers, as they are
called, which are also furnished with a hairy fringe.

The bee possesses three pair of legs, of which the posterior
are the longest, and the anterior the shortest. These are formed
and articulated much like the same limbs in man, and are at-
tached to the thorax; at their extremities we find two little
hooks, which appear like sickles, or reaping hooks, and have
their points opposed to each other. By means of these, the in-
sect suspends itself to the top of the hive, or in any other posi-
tion it may desire. I have already mentioned the basket-like
provision on the hinder thighs of the workers—it is peculiar to,
and characteristic of them. ;

To the superior portion of the thorax are attached four wings,
consisting of two pair of unequal size. These wings are hooked

14 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

together, in order that they may act simultaneously, and not
only serve to convey the insects from place to place, through
the air, but by the humming, buzzing noise their motion pro-
duces, to give notice of their departure from, and return to, the
hive, as well as possibly to animate their fellows in their mutual
labors.

Interiorly, the thorax contains the cesophagus, or gullet,
which traverses its extent on its way into the abdomen, where
it dilates into, first, the honey-bag, which is furnished with two
pouches posteriorly, and a muscular apparatus, by which it is
enabled to give forth its saccharine contents; and, secondly,
into the true stomach, in which digestion goes on for the nourish-
ment of the insect, and the secretion of wax. _

Next to the stomach is situated the sting: this consists of
two darts enclosed in a sheath. The whole apparatus enters the
wound, and the two small darts then enter still farther: these
are barbed, and, on the insect withdrawing them, aid in widen-
ing the puncture, and thus afford greater room for the introduc-
tion of the poison. At the base of the sting, the bag containing
the poison is placed ; this fluid is, as already stated, an acid, but
further than that it is so, has not been ascertained.

The bee respires by means of spiracles, or breathing-holes,
situated in the thorax, beneath and behind the wings. Through
these, air is admitted into the thorax, for the purpose of oxy-
genating the circulating system: for oxygen is no less essential
to the well being of the bee—nay, to its very existence—than it
is to that of man. Will not this convince every reader of the
necessity which exists for duly ventilating the hives, or bee-
boxes ?—an operation so much neglected, and yet so important
a feature, as I shall show hereafter, in the proper and remune-
rative management of these insects. , heed

CHAPTER III.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE HONEY-BEE, AND ECONOMY OF THE HIVE.
WHEN a new swarm of bees establish themselves in a hive, or

other receptacle, whether natural or artificial, their first proceed-
ing is to cleanse the interior thoroughly, and carefully to stop up

H

ARCHITECTURE AND ECONOMY OF THE HIVE. 15

every chink that might admit the weather: the substance which
they employ for the latter purpose, and which likewise forms the
basis of their comb, is called propolis, and is quite distinct from
wax. Even the ancients appear to have recognized the distinc-
tion between wax and propolis; for Virgil particularly describes
two sorts of waz, one of a character adapted for smearing (this
was the true wax), the other for cementing or glueing—this was
the substance we now know as propolis. This is a resinous sub-
stance of a greyish-brown color, and aromatic odor, and possessed
of singular tenacity. Huber first showed that the bees collect
this substance from the alder, birch, and willow trees, but espe-
cially from the poplar. A small filmy thread of the viscous pro-
duce of the tree is drawn off by the bee, and carefully kneaded
into a ball by the action of the mandibles, after which it is secured
in the basket which I have described as existing on the hinder
legs: so tenacious is this substance, that on the laden bee’s arriv-
ing at the hive, it requires the united efforts of many bees to dis-
engage the load from the receptacle in which it has been placed ;
it also rapidly hardens ; the bees, therefore, use it at once while
it is yet fresh and plastic. It is with this substance, also, that
the hive is attached to the stand on which it is placed, and with
which the bees attach the comb to the hive: it is, however, of
waz that the cells are formed.

To Huber we are indebted for having been the first to commu-
nicate to the world the mode in which the cells are commenced.
He compelled the bees to buald upwards, instead of allowing
them to begin in the ordinary manner from above, downwards,
and thus avoided the concealment of their work, attendant on
their usual suspension from the top of the hive. A glass window
did the rest.

Mr. Huber’s discoveries are astonishing and interesting in the
extreme. The combs formed by the bee, when permitted to
follow its natural instinct, are commenced from the top of the hive,
and consist of parallel plates of comb, having cells on both sides,
the one base, therefore, serving for both, which effects a great sav-
ing: of material. The form of each cell is hexagonal, having six
equal sides, with the exception of the uppermost row, the shape
of which is an irregular pentagon.

Here we must pause for a moment to wonder and admire—to
admire the extraordinary instinct the Almighty has implanted in
the bodies of these little insects. ‘The chief requisites to be looked

16 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE:

for in constructing the cells, would naturally be, economy of ma-
terials, of room, of labor, and the greatest possible quantity of
internal space. M. De Reaumur employed the celebrated mathe-
matician, Koénig, pupil of the no less celebrated Bernouilli, to
ascertain what the measurement of the angles composing these
prisms should be, in order to obtain the above requisites ; and
the result of his calculations showed the exquisite nicety with
which instinct enabled the bees to work. I shall explain in the
words of Dr. Bevan :—

“The partition which separates the two opposing rows of cells,
and which occupies, of course, the middle distance between their
two surfaces, is not a plane, but a collection of rhombs, there
being three at the bottom of each cell; the three together form
in shape a flattened pyramid, the basis of which is turned towards
the mouth of the cell; each cell is in form, therefore, a hexagonal
prism, terminated by a flattened trihedral pyramid, the three sides
of which pyramid are rhombs, that meet at the apex by their
obtuse angles.

“The union of the lozenges in one point, in addition to the
support which it is the means of affording to the three partitions
between opposing cells, is also admirably adapted to receive the
little egg, and to concentrate the heat necessary for its incubation.
Each obtuse angle of the lozenge or rhombs forms an angle of
110 degrees, and each acute one an angle of about 70 degrees.
M. Maraldi found, by mensuration, that the angles of these rhombs,
which compose the base of a cell, amounted to 109 degrees and
28 seconds, and 70 degrees and 32 seconds; and the famous
mathematician, Koénig, pupil of the celebrated Bernouilli, having
been employed for that purpose by M. Reaumur, has clearly
shown, by the method of infinitesimals, that the quantity of these
angles, using the least possible wax, in the cell of the same ca-
pacity, should contain 109 degrees 26 seconds, and 70 degrees
and 24 seconds. This was confirmed by the celebrated Mr. Mac
Lauren, who very justly observes, that bees do truly construct
their cells of the best figure, and with the utmost mathematical
exactness.” It will be seen, then, that, in their architecture, the
bees obtain the requisites which I above enumerated.

Perhaps the following is the most wonderful of Huber’s dis-
coveries: The design of every comb is sketched out, and the rudi-
ments laid by one sengle bee, who forms a block froma rough masa
of wax, from materials furnished him by hosts of industrious

ARCHITECTURE AND ECONOMY OF THE HIVE. 17

workmen ; determines the relative position of the combs, and
their distances from each other; attaches the blocks to the hives,
and then leaves his inferior architects to go to work, and form the
cells. One bee does not complete any cell; but these insects re-
lieve each other in succession, to the number of from fifteen to
twenty, until the last finishing polish is given to the work. The
cells designed for the drones are built with due reference to their
superior size, and are usually near the bottom of the combs.
The royal cells are built last, are usually from five to ten in num-
ber, and placed near the centre of the hive: these are designed
as receptacles for the infant queens. I should not omit observing,
that, while one set of workers are forming the comb and cells,
another set are busy flying to and fro, collecting materials, and
bringing them to the hives. Nor do they furnish their. architec-
tural brethren with materials only ; they supply them with food
also, and with the sweets from which they likewise elaborate wax
in their interior. . ;

The royal cells differ in form and dimensions from the others.
They are much larger; more wax is expended on their formation ;
their form is not hexagonal, but an oblong spheroid; the mouth,
which is at bottom, is left open until the grub is ready to undergo
its transformations, when it is closed like the rest; and imme-
diately on a perfected queen emerging from her cradle, it is de-
stroyed, and its site built upon with common cells. Nor are the
royal cells built in among the other cells, but attached to them
externally, suspended perpendicularly, with their sides parallel to
the orifices of the common cells,

The bees occasionally depart from the regular form of their
cells, and in doing so exhibit something so nearly resembling de-
sign as to become absolutely startling to the observer. ‘These
deviations appear when, after having formed a number of small
cells, the bees wish to form larger ones—they may be termed
cells of transztion ; their bases are composed of two rhombs and
two hexagons, instead of three. Reaumur and others have re-
garded this departure from regularity as a proof of imperfection.
Dr. Bevan justly looks upon it as “determined by a sufficient
motive,” and forming ‘no impeachment of the sagacity of the
bee.”

The cells are by no means used indiscriminately for all the pur-
poses of the hive: there are, on the contrary, as I have shown,
cells peculiar to the royal brood: there are also cells peculiarly

18 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

kept for the young workers, and others for the young drones—
these latter are much less numerous than those of the former:
there are likewise cells reserved for containing honey. It is true
that, when the breeding season terminates, the cells of the drones
and workers are generally well cleansed out, and these also em-
ployed as receptacles for‘honey, but the honey preserved in them
is never so pure or fine in quality as that which has been kept in
its own peculiar storehouses: some of the cells are also kept
apart for holding pollen; these are of large size. Pollen is not,
as Reaumur erroneously conceived, the sole substance on which
depends the formation of wax—if, indeed, it have anything at all
to do with that process. It is eaten by the bees, forms a large
portion of the food for the young, and may possibly thus lend its
quota of assistance to the general elaboration.

To give some idea of the extreme thinness of the walls of the
cells, I may mention that two of them laid together are not equal
in thickness to a leaf of ordinary letter-paper; yet not only are
they first formed, independent and sufficiently strong, of wax
alone, with a basis of propolis, but are likewise subsequently coated
over with a mixture of propolis and wax. The soldering at the
orifice of each cell is formed with a large proportion of propolis ;
according as each cell is filled with its appropriate contents, it is
carefully covered in.

—

CHAPTER IY.
GENERATION OF THE HONEY-BEE.

As soon as the severity of winter has passed away, and the
genial influences of spring have begun to be felt, the queen-bee
commences laying ; and a hive, however it may have lost in num-
ber during winter, will by the middle of summer be crowded to
excess, and, unless properly managed, throw off a swarm. The
queen continues to lay until about September, and as she is calcu-
lated to deposit nearly 200 eggs per day, my readers may form
some idea of the prodigious number she deposits in an entire sea-
son. This has by many authors been calculated at from 8,000
to 10,000, which I think much under the mark.

Wherever the queen-bee moves, she is attended by ten or a

GENERATION OF THE HONEY-BEE. 19

dozen workers, who watch her every motion apparently with the
utmost attention. Previous to depositing the egg, the queen puts
her head into the cell for a moment, as if_to ascertain its empti-
ness and fitness otherwise to receive its charge. If she find
everything satisfactory, she then turns round, introduces her pos-
terior extremity until it almost touches the bottom of the cell,
and lays the eggs. Mr. Wildman says, that while thus occupied,
the attendant bees, surrounding her in a circle, perform a sort of
obeisance, and caress her with their feet and trunks. I am dis-
posed to think this a little fanciful; I have never witnessed any
such demonstration myself, but it is possible that my observation
may have been defective. When she has deposited one egg, she
goes on to another cell, and so on, and after laying about ten
eggs in succession, she retires for awhile, and then resumes her
prolific employment. The egg remains without undergoing any
apparent change for about four days, when it gradually assumes
the form and aspect of a little maggot, changing in the same
manner as the caterpillar. This little maggot is nourished by
the bees until the eighth day, by which time it has grown so _
much as to occupy the whole cell, when they close up the cell,
and imprison its inmate for about twelve days more, during which
time it undergoes gradual transformation until it becomes a
nymph or aurelia, presenting the appearance of a perfect fly,
except in being soft and white in color.

The white pellicle which envelopes the nymph now gradually
strips off, and about the twentieth day the perfect fly is ready to
attempt extricating itself from its confinement. This object she
speedily attains by cutting round the cover with her mandibles.

On first emerging from the cell, the young bee appears weak
and lethargic, doubtless from the novelty of its situation and the
effects of the new medium by which it is surrounded. It soon,
however, acquires vigor, and the very first day of its entrance
into the world it may be seen returning from the fields,. emulating
its elder born comrades in the richness and quantity of the sweet
burden with which it is laden.

As soon as the young bee has left the cell, two workers come
to it, one of which draws out and works up the wax of which it
was composed, while the other repairs it, restores its symmetry,
and cleans out its interior. Sometimes new eggs are deposited
in these cells the same day, and sometimes they are filled with

20 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

honey or farina. When five days old, the young bee, if.a queen,.
is ready to commence the office of amother,. =. ss
In the event of the eggs being designed to produce drones,
their changes present precisely the same. phenomena,as_in the.
case of workers, except that they take more time, requiring.
twenty-four days for the change. Huber states that, the eggs of.
the males require eleven months to be perfected in the ovaria of.
the queen, and assigns this as a reason why the eggs of workers
continue to be deposited for eleven months before the queen,
commences depositing those of Drones. There are, however,
~ some facts which at least throw some doubt on this suggestion ;
among others, that if a young queen be not impregnated within
twenty days after her emergence from the cell, all her subse-
quent progeny will be drones, and drones only. I am not aware
that any naturalist has yet attempted an explanation of this very
remarkable fact. The eggs of the queen differ in no respects,
when laid, from those of workers or drones, but. they are deposit-,
ed in peculiarly formed cells, already described ; but when..the.
larva appears on the fourth day, and from that. time, extraordi-.
nary attention is bestowed upon it, and it is fed upon a peculiar.
substance, a sort of rich jelly of an acid character. In five days
the royal larva commences forming her web, and the nurses close
up her cell. In four and twenty hours she has completed her
cocoon, in which state she remains for nearly three days. She is
then pupa aurelia or nymph, and after five or six days more the
royal insect is perfect. The young queen does not, however,
like the other bees, begin at once to extricate herself from her
cradle; her cell is, on the other hand, now more securely fasten-
ed than ever. But one reigning monarch is permitted to exist in
the hive, and it is only in the event of the old queen dying, or.
issuing forth with a swarm, that the young aspirant to the throne
is discharged from captivity. So strong is the instinct which
prompts the bees to permit but the presence of a single sovereign
in each hive, that the old queen makes frequent attempts to get
at the royal cells; if she succeed in doing so, she will rend them
open, and furiously destroy their contents ; and the moment a
young queen is suffered to depart from her cell, her very first
act is to destroy her yet unreleased, and often undeveloped,
royal sisters. It occasionally happens that two queens emerge
at the same time; when this occurs a mortal combat ensues,
which only terminates in the death of one of the combatants—

GENERATION OF THE HONEY-BEE. 21

the workers meanwhile looking quietly on, not only not interfer-
ing to put a stop to the conflict, but actually, should one or both
appear anxious to give up the struggle, hemming them round,
and will permit of no compromise, but compel the rivals to bring
the affair to a deadly issue. It very rarely happens that both
queens perish in the encounter, for such is their instinctive dread
of leaving the community unprovided with a sovereign, that
should they, in the engagement, get into such a position in refer-
ence to each other, as would permit of mutually plunging their
stings into each other’s bellies, the only point where they are
vulnerable, they hastily disengage, and do not use their stings un-
less when one queen can take the other at a disadvantage.
Even, however, should such a casualty occur as the death of both
queens, or should any other accident occasion a hive to be de-
prived of its queen, the bees possess a most wonderful power of
supplying the deficiency.

The bees do not at once discover the loss of their queen, but
when they do, all is tumult and confusion, these insects humming
loudly, and hurrying hither and thither over the combs in a state
of apparent distraction. If there be any royal nymphs ready to
be released, one is at once set free—if only royal larve exist,
their attention is at once devoted to them; but now comes the
wonderful portion of the matter. If the bees possess only the
larvee of working bees they at once enlarge their cells, converting
them into royal cradles, for which purpose they pull to pieces
whatever cells are in the way, unhesitatingly sacrificing life after
life to the great end they have in view: these larve, by peculiar
feeding, become converted into qgweens. It was that close ob-
server, Schirach, who first made this singular discovery, the
truth of which was subsequently confirmed by Huber I quote
his account : “I put some pieces of comb, containing worker’s
eggs in the cells, of the same kind as those already hatched,
into a hive deprived of the queen. The same day several cells
were enlarged by the bees, and converted into royal cells, and
the worms supplied with a thick bed of jelly. Five were then
removed from these cells, and five common worms, which, forty-
eight hours before, we had seen come from the egg, substituted
for them. The bees did not seem aware of the change; they
watched over the new worms the same as over those chosen by
themselves ; they continued enlarging the cells, and closed them
at the usual time. When they had hatched them seven days,

22 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

we removed the cells to see the queens that were to be produc-
ed. Two were excluded, almost at the same moment, of the
largest size, and well formed in every respect. The term of the
other cells having elapsed, and no queen appearing, we opened
them. In one was a dead queen, but stilla nymph; the other
two were empty. The worms had spun their silk cocoons, but
died before passing into their nymphine state, and presented
only a dry skin. I can conceive nothing more conclusive than
this experiment. It demonstrates that bees have the power of
converting the worms of workers into queens, since they succeed-
ed in procuring queens. by operating on the worms which we
ourselves had selected.”

Huber likewise proved by experiment that the working-bees
occasionally become endued with fertility, this taking place only
in hives which have been deprived of their queen, and altogether
he came to the conclusion that a development of the ovaries can
be given to any bees by feeding them on the royal food, a won-
derful provision, by which nature has secured the industrious in-
habitants of the hive from the effects of unexpected contingen-
cles, which would otherwise be attended with disastrous results.

«When bees,” says Huber, “ give the royal treatment to cer-
tain worms, they, either by accident, or by a peculiar instinct, the
principle of which is unknown to me, drop some particles of
royal jelly into cells contiguous to those containing the worms
destined for queens.”

It will occasionally happen, however, that a queen is lost when
no egos of any kind in a fit state of transformation exist in the
hive. When such is the case, the bees discontinue the collection
of honey ; live riotously on whatever is left in the hive, while
that lasts; fly about with no apparent object, and soon either
perish or seek a home elsewhere. If, however, they be supplied
with a new queen, they revive; butif they appear much reduced
in numbers, it is better to join them to another stock.

It has been suggested that this power possessed by bees of
manufacturing queens in cases of necessity, might be taken ad-
vantage of for the purpose of forming artificial stocks. I do not,
however, see either the necessity or utility of so doing. One
strong stock is ever worth three weak ones; and union not scat-
tering—giving the bees plenty of house-room, according as they
may require it, instead of partitioning them into insignificant and
feeble colonies, is the only line of conduct towards them that

POSITION OF THE APIARY. 23

may be expected to keep the hive wealthy, and consequently
bring profit to its human proprietor.

oO

CHAPTER V.
POSITION OF THE APIARY.

Tue most favorable aspect for your hives or boxes is south-
westerly ; but if you can so contrive as to reserve to yourself a
power of modifying this aspect with the season, so much the
better. In spring, for instance, the aspect would be improved
by inclining more to the west; in autumn the reverse. My rea-
son for this recommendation is, that the morning sun is prejudi-
cial to the interests of the hive, not from any inherent bad qua-
lity in its rays, but because when the bees are so placed as to
receive the early light, they are tempted forth too early—an
event objectionable on two accounts; first, that, especially in
early spring, the dawn is too cold, and will occasion the death of
numbers if they are induced to venture forth ; and secondly, be-
cause the bees, if they commence operations so early, become
wearied before they have performed a good day’s work, and the
afternoon is a more advantageous period for their labors. I shall
afterwards treat of “ shifting’—a subject which has produced
considerable controversy among bee-fanciers.

The place where you intend to fix your stand must be a dry
soil—if sandy, so much the better. _ It should slope towards the
front, in order to carry off the surface water produced by occa-
sional rains, and should not, on any account, be exposed to the
droppings from the eaves of houses, or even hedges. Shelter is
essential, especially behind, and on the east of the hives, a house
or high wall is the best you can procure ; and I am also an advo-
cate for the stand being placed in a sort of small, open shed, well

ainted on the outside to protect it from the weather; a few
shrubs planted about the stand are also good as additional shel-
ter. Some recommend high trees for the purpose of keeping the
air calm, lest the bees should be blown down when returning
home. High trees are not advisable; they form an evil them-
selves of greater magnitude than that which they may be de-
signed to remove. Bees are seldom blown to the ground by mere

24 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

fy an : BR ee

wind ; but even when they are, they can, in a great majority of
cases, recover themselves. Whereas, if blown amongst frees,
they will be sure to be whipped so violently by the branches,
that they are absolutely hurled to the ground with such force as
to render their recovery hopeless. The bees also fly dow on their
return, when they arrive at the immediate neighborhood of their
stand, and, consequently, high trees would be not only useless,
but absolutely inconvenient. Whatever trees you wish, therefore,
to plant in the immediate vicinity of the hive should be of low
size. Wildman recommends them—and I think very judiciously
—to be “of the dwarf kind, with bushy heads, in order that the
swarms which settle on them may be more easily hived.” Now
although by judicious management swarming will generally be
prevented from taking place, yet despite of our utmost care it
may accidentally occur’; or the bees may quit their boxes in a
body, from various causes—some of which I shall endeavor here-
after to explain—and under such circumstances, Mr. Wildman’s
suggestions will be found valuable. The garden, therefore, in
which you fix your stands should be thus planted ; and I further,
for the same reasons, recommend wall fruit trees and espaliers.

Avoid a site near mills or other noisy places, or the neighbor-
hood of bad smells, as factories and the like ; and if, as occasion-
ally may happen, your stand be placed against your garden wall,
behind which is the farm-yard, let not a dunghill be built agaznst
the opposite side. I have witnessed this before now, and in one
instance found the consequence to be a desertion of the boxes.
Do not place your stand where you see rat or mouse holes, and
let your shed be all of wood, never thatched with straw, as that sub-
stance harbors mice, moths, and other similar enemies to your stock.

Water is essential to the well-being of your bees; it. must,
however, be presented to them judiciously, or it will prove a
greater evil than a good. If you can coax a shallow rippling
brook through your garden, so much the better; if not, place
near the stand, small, shallow, earthen pans of water, and
put some pebbles in them. This water must be changed
daily. It is highly objectionable to have ‘a pond or canal
in your neighborhood: you will lose thousands of your bees
through their means every season, as they will be constantly
blown into them when returning heavily laden to the hive, es-
pecially in the evening, when wearied after the toil of an indus-
triously-spent day. ‘The pebbles in the trough are for the bees

POSITION OF THE APIARY. — 25

to rest on while drinking, and are the recommendation of Colu-
mella. JI have seen tin plates perforated with holes, and placed
over the pans, just on the surface of the water, used for drinking-
vessels for bees ; I, however, prefer the pebbles. ;

It is essential that you haye your gardens abundantly planted
with such shrubs and flowers as afford honey, in order, as much
as possible, to prevent the necessity of your bees constantly
traveling to an inconyenient distance in search of food. It will
be as well also that you contrive to have a succession of such
food, adapted to the season, a matter comparatively easily man-
aged and of very great consequence to the well-being of your
stock. Among these plants I may enumerate broom; furze or
gorse; thyme, especially lemon thyme; clover; crocus ; heaths ;
fruit-trees ; mustard; mignionette; sage; single roses ; radish-
es; primroses ; privet ; parsley ; pease and parsnips ; marigolds ;
violets ; lily; laurustinum; daffodils; celery ; cauliflower ; as-
paragus ; sunflowers, &c. Mr. Nutt has given a very copious list
of bee flowers in his work on bees, but I think many of them
might be omitted without any loss. Mr. Briggs, a most enthusi-
astic bee-fancier, mentions also as good bee-flowers—phacelia te-
nacitifolia ; salvia nemorosa ; lithrum salicaria ; winter aconite ;
hepatica and wall-flowers; borage, winter vetches, ivy, a few
perches of turnips running to seed in spring, and a succession of
crops of buckwheat during summer and autumn. Mr. Briggs
also mentions a plant so very valuable to bees that it is only a
pity it is not more generally known, viz., MELILOTUS LEUCANTHA,
which, with Borage, he seems to think the most important of
bee-flowers. Mr. Briggs adds that the former, for bee purposes,
“should be sown in March or the beginning of April, on a deep,
rich, and dry loamy soil, in drills about eighteen inches apart, and
the plants thinned to nine or ten inches’ distance from each other.
It will grow from six to eight feet in height during the first sum-
mer, and from ten to twelve during the second. If some plants
of it are cut down to the ground, when about two feet in height,
they will bloom later in the summer—a succession of them may
be had from June to November, and they will be frequented by
thousands of bees during every fine day throughout the season.
Mr. Briggs has, with unusual generosity, distributed quantities
of this valuable seed to bee fanciers, so that there can be no dif-
ficulty in obtaining it.

While I recommend the sowing of such seeds as will produce

2

26 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

plants beneficial and grateful to the bees, I have also to observe
that there are plants which prove noxious to them or to the con-
sumers of their produce ; sometimes to one, sometimes to both.
Xenophon mentions, in the Anabasis, that soldiers of his army
were poisoned by honeycomb they found near Trebizond ; and
M. Tournefort, a traveler through that country, discovered a
plant called “ chamzerhododendron, mespili folio,” a plant closely
resembling the honeysuckle in smell, which produced effects iden-
tical with those described by Xenophon, namely intoxication,
vertigo, stupor; the men affected recovering from their illness in
about three or four days.

Recollect also that your hives should on no account be so
placed as to be exposed to the noonday sun—this will injure the
honey and melt it, and will raise the temperature of the hive so
as to produce unwished-for swarming, besides otherwise annoy-
ing and injuring the bees. A few shrubs, therefore, should be
so placed as to cast their shadow across your stand during the
heat of the day; you may also let these shrubs be of such a de-
scription as the bees are fond of—you will thus effect a double
object ; and you may also dispose them tastefully, so as to give
your apiary a pleasing and picturesque appearance.

Finally, I object to bee-houses, whose chief recommendation is
set forward as consisting of their capacity for containing a great
number of hives—these are only fit for keeping the bee-boxes in
during winter—one, two, or three sets of collateral boxes are as
many as any moderate hee-keeper will desire, or be able conveni-
ently to attend, and these can be kept, each in a little shed by
itself. Beehives should never be placed close to each other, as
they must necessarily be in these houses, for bees are naturally
very irritable and pugnacious insects, and if two colonies be kept
too near each other, battles will ensue, and the weaker hive be
destroyed. If you persist, therefore, in using hives, at all events
let them be at least three feet apart—but I shall show you in
the next chapter, how you can make for yourselves collateral
boxes, sufficient for success, and for so little money, if indeed you
are called upon for any outlay, that I think I shall be able to
wean you altogether from the old and unprofitable straw basket.

—_——

HIVES AND BOXES. 27

CHAPTER VI. .
HIVES AND BOXES.

Tue old straw, conical-shaped hive is too well known to need
description, and is too unprofitable to be worthy of it. I may
merely observe, that its mode of management was simple enough,
consisting only in leaving the bees to themselves until autumn,
then inserting brimstone matches into the hive, suffocating its
miserable inhabitants, and taking, perhaps, 15 or 16 lbs. of very
bad honey, smelling foully of sulphurous acid gas, and full of the
dead bodies of its ill-requited producers. When, about midsum-
mer, the temperature of the hive increased to such a degree
as to become insupportable to the inmates, they swarmed, as it
was called, that is to say, the queen took her departure, accom-
panied by a certain number of her subjects, to seek a more
roomy residence.

The main objections to this old system of management are, its
inhumanity, its absurdity, and its unprofitableness. What could
be more inhuman than killing the poor things unnecessarily, for
the sake of their produce? What would be said, did we kill

‘the cow for her milk, or calf, or the hen for her eggs? Indeed,
to nothing can I compare this practice more aptly than to the
man in the old fable, who killed and cut open his goose, in order
to come at her golden eggs. What can be more absurd than to
destroy in mere wantonness the lives of multitudes of creatures
that, if permitted to live, would be ready to resume work for you
the following spring? and in what is its absurdity shown so
plainly as in its unprofitableness ? What signify ten or fifteen
pounds weight of honey, or even thirty pounds weight to be
produced by a single stock in a season—and that, too, when 100
Ibs. weight, will be furnished, provided only that you take advice
—and that honey, moreover, of superior quality, pure, crystal-
line, and limpid ?—very unlike the foul produce of a dirty straw
hive, copiously clogged with the bodies of your murdered bene-
factors.

The chief objects to be effected by the use of a suitable re-
ceptacle for your bees are—_

First—The power of depriving your bees of their honey at
pleasure, and without injury to them.

28 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

Secondly—The obtaining it in its pure and uncontaminated
form. °

Thirdly—The means of enlarging their accommodation when
necessary, and the consequent prevention of swarming.

These requisites have been recognized for a great many years
back; and the humane system of management so enthusiastically
promulgated and insisted upon by the late Mr. Nutt, is by no
means novel, as it is identical in principle with that described by
bee-fanciers who lived more than half a century before him. As
Mr. Nutt’s hive is in more fashionable repute at present than any
other with which I am acquainted, I shall give it the precedence
in order of description ; I shall quote Mr. Nutt’s own descrip-
tion, from his very interesting work.

“There has been some difference of opinion as to the most
suitable dimensions for bee-boxes. I approve of and recommend
those which are from eleven to twelve inches square inside, and
nine or ten inches deep in the clear.

“The best wood for them is, by some, said to be red cedar ;
the chief grounds of preference of which wood are, its effects in
keeping moths out of the boxes, and its being a bad conductor
of heat. But of whatever kind of wood bee-boxes are made, it
should be well seasoned, perfectly sound, and free from what
carpenters term shakes. The sides of the boxes, particularly the
front sides, should be, at the least, an inch and a half in thick-
ness ; for the ends, top, and back part, good boards one inch
thick, are sufficiently substantial ; the ends that form the interior
divisions and openings must be of half-inch stuff, well dressed off,
so that, when the boxes and the dividing tins are closed—that is,
when they are all placed together, the two adjoining ends.should
not exceed five-eighths of an inch in thickness. These commu-
nication ends, the bars of which should be exactly parallel with
each other, form a communication or division, as the case may
require, which is very important to the bee, and by which the
said boxes can be immediately divided, without injuring any part
of the combs, or deluging the bees with the liquid honey, which
so frequently annoys them, in extracting their sweets from the
piled or storified boxes. This is not the only advantage my
boxes possess : the receptacles, or frame-work, for the ventila-
tors, which appear upon each side of the end boxes—the one
with the cover off, the other with it on—must be four inches
square, with a perforated flat tin, of nearly the same size; and

HIVES AND BOXES. a9

in the middle of that tin must be a round hole, to correspond
with the hole through the top of the box, in the centre of the
frame-work just mentioned, an inch in diameter, to admit the
perforated cylinder tin ventilator, nine inches long. This flat tin
must have a smooth piece of wood, well made to fit it closely,
and to cover the frame-work just mentioned, so as to carry the
wet off ; then placing this cover over the square perforated tin,
your box will be secure from the action of wind and rain. The
perforated cylinder serves both for a ventilator, and also for a se-
cure and convenient receptacle for a thermometer, at any time
when it is necessary to ascertain the temperature of the box into
which the cylinder is inserted. Within this frame-work, and so
that the perforated flat tin already described may completely
cover them, at each corner make a hole with a three-eighths cen-
tre bit, through the top of the box. These four small holes ma-
terially assist the ventilation, and are, in fact, an essential part
of it.

“We next come to the long floor, on which the three square
bee-boxes which constitute @ set, stand collaterally. This floor
is the strong top of a long, shallow box, made for the express
purpose of supporting the three bee boxes, and must of course
be superficially of such dimensions as those boxes, when placed
collaterally, require; or, if the bee boxes project the eighth part
of an inch over the ends and back of this floor box, so much the
better ; because the rain or wet that may at any time fall upon
them will drain off completely. For ornament, as much as for
use, this floor is made to project about two inches in front; but
this projection must be sloped, or mace an inclined plane, so as
to carry off the wet from the front of the boxes. To the centre
of this projecting front, and on a plane with the edge of the part
cut away for the entrance of the bees into the pavilion, is attached
the alighting board, which consists of a piece of planed board,
six inches by three, having the two outward corners rounded off
a little. The passage from this alighting board into the pavilion
is cut, not out of the edge of the box, but owt of the floor-board,
and should be not less than four inches in length, and about half
an inch in depth, or so as to make a clear half inch way under
the edge of the box for the bee passage. I recommend this as

referable to a cut in the edge of the box; because, being upon
an inclined plane, if at any time the wet should be driven into
the pavilion by a stormy wind, it would soon drain out, and tha

380 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

floor become dry; whereas, if the entrance passage be cut out
of the box, the rain that may, and at times will be, drifted in,
will be kept in, and the floor be wet for days and perhaps for
weeks, and be very detrimental to the bees. In depth, the floor-
box, measured from outside to outside, should be four inches, ©
so that, if made of three-fourth-inch deal, there may be left for
the depth of the box part two inches and a half. Internally it
is divided into three equal compartments, being one for each bee-
box. Admission to these compartments, or under boxes, is by
the drawer, or drawer-fronts, or blocks, which will be described
presently.

“The bottom, or open edge of each of the boxes, should be
well planed, and made so even and square, that they will sit
closely and firmly upon the aforesaid floor, and be as air-tight as
a good workman can make them, or technically expressed, be a
dead fit, all round. In the floor-board are made three small
openings, 7. e., one near the back of each box. These openings
are of a semilunar shape (though any other shape would do as
well), the straight side of which should not exceed three inches
in length, and will be most convenient, if made parallel with the
back edge of the box, and about an inch from it. They are
covered by perforated, or by close, tin slides, as the circumstances
of your apiary may require. The drawer, the front of which
appears under the middle box, is of great importance, because
it affords one of the greatest accommodations to the bees in the
boxes. In this drawer is placed, if necessity require it, a tin
made to fit it, and in that tin another thin frame, covered with book
muslin, or other fine strainer, which floats on the liquid deposited
for the sustenance of the bees. Here, then, you have a feeder,
containing the prepared sweet, in the immediate vicinity of the
mother hive, and without admitting the cold or the robbers to
annoy the bees. When you close the drawer thus prepared with
bee food, you must draw out the tin placed over the semilunar
aperture, which will open to the bees a way to their food in the
drawer beneath. The heat of the hive follows the bees into the
feeding apartment, which soon becomes the temperature of their
native hive. There the bees banquet on the proffered boon in
the utmost security, and in the temperature of their native domi-
cile. Under such favorable circumstances, it is an idle excuse,
not to say a want of humanity, to suffer your bees to die for
want of attention to proper feeding.”

HIVES AND BOXES. - 81

The box fronts on each side of the feeding drawer are formed
of a bit of tale suspended over a hole on the outside, thus per-
mitting egress, but precluding ingress. By means of this con-
trivance you are enabled to add to the number of your bees,
without alarming or annoying them, and they can likewise escape
when you are depriving them of one or the other of the collateral
boxes. This contrivance further precludes the intrusion of insect
enemies.

The centre is perforated on the top, and over the hole a bell
glass is placed, which, when the hive is filled, the bees fill with
honey, and it is unnecessary to add that this honey is of the
very purest description. Wooden fittings or covers are provided
for the protection of these glasses.

The bees being placed in the centre box, or pavilion, soon
commence operations, and speedily fill it with honey. When full,
which you may ascertain by looking through a window fixed in
the back of the box, you are to draw the tin slide which sepa-
rates it from the bell glass ; this is best done on a warm day, and
you should previously cut through the comb with a thin wire.
Before taking off the glass the operator should pause for a few
minutes, to observe whether there be any unusual stir among
the imprisoned bees, for if they do not appear alarmed, the
queen is among them, and, in that case, you should withdraw
the slide, and postpone the operation to another day.

In taking away the glass, envelope it ina silk handkerchief,
and remove it about ten yards from the boxes; then place it a
little on one side, so as to permit the imprisoned bees to escape,
which they will do in the course of a few minutes.

When occasion requires, the bees are to be similarly admitted
into the side boxes, by drawing the slides, but in removing one

.of these boxes some precautions require to be used. For in-
stance, open the ventilator the night previous; this will, by
lowering the temperature of the hive, and admitting a current of
air, induce the bees to leave the box thus treated, and to con-
gregate in the pavilion. You may then put down the slide, and
let the bees remain for ten minutes or so in darkness. If the
queen be not in the box to be taken, any bees that may remain
in it will be restless and in confusion. If she should be there,
the commotion will be in the centre box. If the queen should
be in the box you intend taking, draw up the slide again and she
will soon leave it. Having emptied the full box, return it to its

82 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

ws ee
place. In Mr. Nutt’s system it will be perceived that Sumaga-
tion, or bee-dress (hereafter to be described), are rendered unne-
cessary, and that even a child may manage his boxes with ease
and safety. De ee aye

The centre box, on account of its being the breeding place, is
never to be meddled with. 4

“Weaken not its population, but support its influence, and
extend it to those accommodations which no practice, expect my
own, has yet put into operation, or made provision for.” _ ey

The value of Mr: Nutt’s set of bee-boxes is unquestionable,
but they are, at the same time, necessarily too costly to be
within the reach of those whom Providence has not seen fit to
bless with “ golden store.” Mr. Nutt’s views, although possibly,
as far as he himself is concerned, original, were entertained by
bee-keepers many, many years before him. Among the rest, I
may mention Wildman, who not only used collateral boxes, but
even bell glasses, similar to those of Mr. Nutt; the Rev. S.
White, and Madame Vicat. Mr. White evidently mismanaged his
boxes, for the complaint against their utility was, that the queen
laid her eggs promiscuously in all of them. This would have
been obviated had he thought of Mr. Nutt’s subsequent idea,
viz., of reserving one box as the seat of generation, and sepa-
rating it from the side boxes, until necessity called for junction,
by tin sliders. Not only, however, must I pronounce Mr. Nutt’s
boxes an evident improvement upon those I have just mentioned,
on the score of utility and completeness, but actually also on the
score of simplicity, and the comparative facility with which they
are consequently susceptible of being worked.

Any person of common ingenuity can form for himself a set of
collateral boxes, by attending to the following directions:

Take as a stand a piece of strong board; let it be about four
feet long, and about two feet wide, as thick as you can procure
it; place it on four legs, and let the edge project over the legs,
in order to prevent the incursion of insects; plane the upper
surface smooth. .

Make three boxes, each about ten inches square, with, of
course, no bottom, and have the edges of the bottomless portion
planed smooth, so as to lie as close as possible to the board.
Cut away a portion of the bottom of one side of each box, and
in that designed for the centre box, do so on two opposite
sides—these are for communication. Get two sheets of tin, or

HIVES AND BOXES, 383

thin wood—a piece of a broken tea-chest will do admirably—
and place one between each of the collateral boxes and the cen-
tre one, so as to cut off communication between them, until it is
desired to open it, when of course one of them is withdrawn,
and, at the same time, the side-box, thus opened, will be
pushed close to the central one.» Let the standboard be on an
inclined plane, sloping towards the front, so as to throw off wet,
and let the said board project a couple of inches, to serve the
bees as a place on which to alight. You may make a small hole,
about half an inch, or rather less, in diameter, in front of this
centre box, partly in the box, and partly in the board, for the
ingress and egress of its inhabitants. If the board have a pro-
per inclination outward, there is no fear of any wet either pene-
trating or lodging. Paint your boxes externally, but do so a
considerable time before you require to use them, and encom-
pass them, with the best sort of rough shed that you can
“knock up ;” bore a hole, with a centre bit, in the top of each
box, and place a glass vessel over it. When it is necessary to
feed your bees, you can do so by attaching a feeder to the en-
trance door, and the holes for the bell glasses will afford you am-
ple means of ventilating. In case they should not, however, you
may have a hole at the back of each box, stopped with a cork,
which you can withdraw for the admission of air when neces-
sary. ‘Take care, however, that you do not push the cork en-
tirely through the wood of the box, or it will be so cemented by
propolis, that you cannot, perhaps, draw it out without injury or
disturbance to the combs. Such a set of boxes as I describe
may be made easily enough, and for little or no cost, and will
answer all purposes of utility, though, perhaps, deficient in or-
nament, as well as the most costly and elaborate.

Mr. Briggs, on the formation of bee-boxes, says :

“They should be chosen, or constructed, of as good quality
as possible, so as to effectually preserve their contents from
either extreme heat or cold, dampness, or any sudden changes of
temperature.

“The size of the centre box should be about ten and one-half
inches cube, inside measure ; and it would be an advantage to
have six bars fixed across the top of it, from front to back,
which should be one and one-eighth inch in width, half an inch
in thickness, and half an inch apart—the ends of each of which
should be neatly rabbeted into the front and back of the box.

O*
2

54 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

Over the bars should be laid a piece of thin gauze, and upon it
the top or covering board of the box, which may have a circular
hole in the middle of it, securely stopped by a good cork bung,

il

to be removed for the purpose of placing a small bell glass over
the hole as occasion requires. =

«The side boxes may be made and used of different sizes if
desired, and to contain from 350 to 1100 cubic inches each. If
the smaller sizes are adopted, the entrance to them must be
along the hollow part of the bottom board ; but it would be con-
sidered more complete to have the side boxes of the same width
and depth as the centre one, and to have them well fitted and
secured together during the honey-gathering season. The en-
trance from the centre to the side boxes may then extend along
the under edges of each of them from front to back, and about
three-eighths to one-half an inch in depth: there should also be
a perpendicular one three inches long, and half an inch wide, up
the centre of the end of each of the boxes, the upper part of
which should reach to within three inches of the top of the box
inside.

“The use of bars to the top of boxes is frequently of much
service to the apiarian, as he can thereby occasionally remove a
few of the old combs from the box, and can, at any time, have
an opportunity of examining the state of the interior of the
boxes. Before using a new box with bars, as above, a piece of
pure and clean brood comb should be neatly fixed to each, or
every alternate bar, which may be readily accomplished by the
assistance of a long and smooth piece of heated iron—the comb
being rubbed for a few seconds on the iron, should immediately
be applied to the bar, and will then, in a short time, firmly ad-
here to it. :

“The use of hives of straw is by many persons still continued
una approvel, and I have no doubt, that when they are pro-

HIVES AND BOXES, . 35

perly made, and judiciously managed, according to the direc-
tions previously given, the returns from them will often equal, or
surpass, those from some of the more fancy-shaped and expen-
sive wooden boxes.

“The size of straw hives should be from sixteen to seventeen
inches in diameter, and twelve te thirteen inches in height; and
they should have a narrow, flat, and thick top of wood, with a
circular hole and cork bung in the centre of it, similar to that
which is recommended for wooden boxes.

“The outer box, in which the stock-hive and side boxes are
enclosed, having been made wider than the interior hives or
boxes, should have a partition from front to back, on each side
of the stock-hive, and the interstices round the centre hive filled
up with dry sawdust, powdered charcoal, or other suitable ma-
terials, which will be of service in preserving the temperature of
the hive in a congenial and uniform state.

-“T have above stated that the communication from the straw
stock-hive to the side boxes should be along the hollow centre
of the bottom board; and I recommend that three or more cir-
cular holes be made in the bottom board on each side, in such
a manner that each of them may be covered with a bell-glass,
or that one of the larger side hives or boxes may be placed over
them, as may suit the wishes or convenience of the apiarian.

“When glasses are used, they should be well covered with
some soft woollen materials, and a hive or box should then be
placed over them to effectually exclude the light, and preserve
them from accidents of any kind, and sudden changes of tempe-
rature.

“Tt is advisable to have the outer box well made, with a neat
and substantial roof to carry off the wet, d&c.; and it should be
made of such breadth as to leave a space of one-half inch on
each side of the stock-hive.

“T would recommend, that if the bees are kept in a straw
hive, that it be of a large size, and well made; and should be
stocked with a strong swarm at the usual period of the year. It
should then be placed on the centre of a stout bottom board,
made long enough to hold a small hive or box on each side of it,
and having hollow communications from the centre hive to the
side ones, which can be opened or closed at pleasure. When the
bees require room in the Spring or Summer months, the entrance
from the centre to one of the side hives must be opened, and

86 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

after they have fairly taken possession of it, it must be prope rly
ventilated by a hole previously formed on the top, and covered
with a piece of perforated zinc, keeping the temperature between
65° and 75° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer. _ :

«The three hives should have a well made wooden covering
over them, with a span-shaped’ roof to carry off the wet, &e.,
and an opening at the back for the purpose of examining the
progress of the bees; the outer box should be well painted and
waterproofed, and will greatly assist in regulating the tempera-
ture of the hives, and in protecting them from extreme cold,
dampness, and sunshine. Oe

“TT would recommend a set of two or three of the improved
collateral boxes, which may be made of well-seasoned boards,
about ten and a half inches cube, inside measure, and to be
neatly fitted together, with convenience for ventilation and in-
spection, and they must also have a wooden covering over them,
with an opening at the back, similar to the one above mentioned.

“The outer box should be one inch, or one and a half inch
wider inside than the outer dimensions of the interior boxes.

“By constructing boxes on the above plan, the swarming of
the bees may be, by judicious management, for a time prevented,
but it is not recommended that that propensity should be en-
tirely defeated, as a swarm may be occasionally taken from col-
lateral boxes with advantage to the swarm and to the stock hive.

“ By proper attention, large quantities of pure honey may be
obtained by the above system of management. Last year, a
friend in this vicinity obtained 109, 97, and 89 pounds of pure
honeycomb from three sets of Nutt’s collateral boxes.”

Mr. Taylor, in his “‘ Beekeeper’s Manual,” speaks as follows of
bee-boxes :—

“Tt matters not much of what wood the boxes are made, pro-
vided it is sound, thoroughly seasoned, and well put together.
Different opinions are entertained as to the best size of bee-
boxes, but I think that much must depend on the number of
bees they are to contain, and on the honey locality ; there must
also be a reference to the proposed mode of working them, for,
where no swarming is permitted, a larger hive may be advan-
tageously used. A good size is twelve inches square, and nine
inches deep withinside, the thickness throughout being not less
than an inch. The top of the box ought to project on all sides
nearly three-quarters of an inch, for better protection and ap-

HIVES AND BOXES. — 87

péarance, and as affording convenience for lifting. On the top,
a two-inch hole should be cut in the centre, for placing a bell-
glass, and for the purpose of feeding; and another hole to re-
ceive a ventilator may be made near the back window, that posi-
tion being better for inspection, and less in the way of the bees,
than the centre of the hive, which is, or ought to be, the seat
of breeding, and should not be disturbed. A window may be
placed at the back and front, five inches high, and six or seven
inches wide. The best and neatest way of securing the win-
dows, that I have seen, is by a sliding shutter of zinc. Round
the window, there must be a projecting moulding, mitred at the
corners. On one side, the piece of moulding is movable, and to
the back of this is screwed a plate of sheet zine. This passes
into a rabbet to receive it, cut, on the remaining three sides, at
the back of the lower edge of the moulding. To prevent any
wet from lodging at the bottom moulding, an opening or two
may easily be cut through, on the under side, to allow its es-
cape. For the sake of uniformity of appearance, blank win-
dows may be made opposite to the real ones. Hives of this
kind require to be placed under some cover or shed, as a pro-
tection from wet, and a hot sun.”

- Tt will not, I am sure, be deemed amiss that I here supply my
readers with an account of the “ Leaf Hive” invented by the cele-
brated Huber, and designed by him to furnish all the requisites
for which Mr. Nutt produced his collateral boxes :—

“This hive,’ says Huber, “consists of eight frames, each
eighteen inches high and ten inches wide inside, having the up-
rights and top cross pieces one and a half inch broad, and one
thick, so that the eight frames, when placed close together, con-
stitute a hive eighteen inches high, twelve inches between end
and end, and ten inches between back and front, all inside measure.
The frames are held together by a flat sliding-bar on each side,
secured by wedges and pins. To the first and eighth of these
frames is attached a frame with glass, and covered with a shutter.
The body of the hive is protected by a sloping roof, and the en-
trance is made through the thickness of the floor-board. We dis-
like the sliding-bars, with their pins and wedges, which are so
far inconvenient, that, in drawing them out, all the frames are
liable to open, and the observer is exposed to some hazard of
annoyance, from the bees issuing out at every joint: and we have
substituted for them hinges on one side, and a hook-and-eye on

38 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

each frame on the other; we can thus open any particular leaf
without meddling with the rest. In taking honey from this hive,
the bee-master has the whole interior completely under his eye,
and at his disposal, and can choose what combs best suit his pur-
pose, both as to quantity and quality ; taking care, however, to
do so only at such periods as will leave the bees time to replenish
the vacancy before the termination of the honey season. It is
also well adapted for artificial swarming. By separating the hive
into halves, the honey, brood-combs, and bees will, generally
speaking, be equally divided ; and by supplying each half with
four empty frames, we shall have two hives, one half empty,
equal in number of bees, of brood, and even of stores. One of
the new hives will possess the queen; and if the operation has
been performed at the proper time—that is to say, a week or ten
days before the period of natural swarming—the probability is,
there will be a royal brood coming forward in the other; at all
events, there will be plenty of eggs and larve of the proper age
for forming an artificial queen.”

Cheapness, and an obstinate adhesion to the customs of our
forefathers, induce straw hives still to be used by many. Mr.
Briggs has already shown how they may, when necessarily or
optionally employed, be rendered almost as productive as boxes.
I add the following from Mr. Taylor, who objects to the use of
sticks or cross-pieces, sometimes employed for the purpose of sup-
porting the combs :— '

the bottom band of the hive, as recommended by Dr. Bevan,
who says, ‘It should be perforated through its whole course,

» 9 HIVES AND BOXES. — : 89

and the perforations made in an oblique direction, so distant from
each other as to. cause all the stitches of the hive to range in a
uniform manner.’ The hoop gives greater stability to the hive,
preserves the lower edge from decay, and affords facility i in moving
it. J advise a circular piece of wood (turned with a groove at
the edge, to retain it in its place) to be worked into the crown,
having through it an inch and a-half hole. With a little ingenuity,
the bees may be fed through this opening—a better method than
the ordinary one at the bottom of a hive. A piece of wood or
tin will commonly cover the hole ; but at times, and especially in
winter, it may be used for the purpose of ventilation, and allow-
ing escape to the impure air of the hive. In this case, a bit of
perforated tin or zinc should be placed over it, which, when
stopped up by the bees, can be replaced by a clean one. An
earthen pan is a common cover to a straw hive ; and this may be
slightly raised by wedges on the four sides, to permit a small
space underneath. Of whatever material the outer covering con-
sists, it must project so far on all sides as to protect the hive from
the least moisture. This cannot be too much guarded against ;
and whether of wood or straw, all hives ought to be well painted
at the beginning, and periodically afterwards.”

I can confidently recommend the following simple and cheap
description of hive to my readers :—Get a common straw hive,
but let it be of somewhat larger dimensions than are ordinarily
used, and cut it across (about one-third of its length) from the
upper or conical end ; fit to this end a round piece of wood,
about an inch in: thickness, having in its centre a hole about an
inch and a half in diameter: fitted with a cork or bung. Take
another hive of ordinary dimensions, and place it over this. This
is called capping. When, during the proper season, the bees
have filled the lower part of the hive, and show symptoms of re-
quiring more room, you have only to draw out the cork, and
place the cap over the board. ‘This acts as a bell-glass ; and the
honey you will collect in it will not be inferior to that procured
from the most costly set of bee-boxes. A coating of Roman
cement on the exterior surface of these hives, will render them
almost everlasting.

De Gelieu states that he took 72 Ibs. weight of fine, pure
honey from a straw hive thus capped, in one season.

Glass, or, as they are called by some, “observatory hives,”
are not such as I approve of. Bees love darkness, and hate light

40 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

or observation. In a state of nature they are in the habit of
seeking some hollow, vacant spot beneath a bank or rock, the
cleft of a tree, or some similarly dark and secluded sithaee
The observatory hive is, then, foreign to the natural habits of the
insects, and as such, of course, it is not to be recommended.

The accompanying cuts will give a good idea of stands for
hives. This one is intended for the open ground. Itis a post

ner éiF y Saal
a
NII | aor
NT wd lee

set into the ground, with cross ie. let into it.

Mss Faas aba | Rag aia’ BIG
pcan eres

HOW YOUR STOCK IS TO BH OBTAINED. 41

whole boards. These frame-works have the advantage of more
firmness and the facility they afford for ventilation. On whole
boards the hive must be elevated by bars, or holes be cut through
the shelf.

CHAPTER VII.
HOW YOUR STOCK IS TO BE OBTAINED.

You may procure stock either in the spring or autumn. I
should prefer the former period, because that is the fitting time
for removal of stocks from the old-fashioned, awkward hives to
the more improved modern receptacles; but it is more difficult
to ascertain the exact condition of the stock you are about pur-
chasing in spring than it isin autumn. I am sorry to say that
unless you purchase your stock from a friend, or from some one,
at all events, that you can confidently depend on, you are very
likely to be taken in, and must, therefore, be upon your guard
against imposition: as some writer—I forget who—quaintly
enough remarks, “ Let it be with the bees as with a wife, never
take them on the recommendation of another party.’ If you
would purchase a stock in early spring, just after the bees have
been removed from their winter quarters, you need not attempt
it unless from 4 person on whose honor you can positively de-
pend. If during the months of May or June, you can form some
judgment for yourself, and if you act cautiously, may, perhaps,
bid defiance to trickery: in this case you should visit the garden,
or other locality, in which the hive stands that you intend pur-
chasing, about mid-day ; stand opposite to it, and observe atten-
tively the actions of its inhabitants. If they crowd busily in and
out of the hive, giving evidence of their industry by the laden
appearance of their legs, and altogether exhibiting a busy ear-
nestness in their toils, you may safely buy the*hive ; and if you
obtain this hive before swarming has taken place, you may look
upon yourself as a fortunate man.

If the object of your intentions be an autumnal hive, you had
better ascertain that the massacre of the drones has taken piace ;
an observation of the stand and of the ground around the hive
will tell this. Observe the actions of these bees—see that they

42 _. THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

are lively and industrious; and if, on your too near approach,
one or two bees dash at your face, do not be alarmed, but rather
regard their pugnacity as a sign of vigor, and buy the hive.
Some writers speak of the necessity of purchasing only such
stocks as are in nice new hives. ‘This is an advice very necessary
to be attended to, but it would not be so, were you sure that the »
interior of the hive were filled only with honey-comb, and with
no old, worn-out comb, the accumulation of years. If you are
in.doubt on the subject, you should fumigate the hive in the
evening, in the manner hereafter to be described ; then, turning
up the hive, you can readily ascertain the character of its con-
tents. If the comb be black, have nothing to do with the stock.
The genuine color of the comb is white, and, consequently, the
lighter it is, the more the stock is to be esteemed. ;

Never, unless you can depend on the party, send your hive to
receive a swarm; for you may, if you do, have a second swarm
imposed upon you for a jirst—a comparatively valueless stock
for just the very thing you desire. The first swarm begin the
formation of the combs at the mddle of the apex of the hive;
the second does so at the sede. These are the only criteria I can
furnish, for neither weight nor bulkare to be depended upon. It
is to the obstinate use of the old-fashioned hive that these diffi-
culties, and these opportunities for fraud, are attributable. Were
the improved system once established, these cautions would be
no longer called for. Wildman has given some good advice
as tothe purchase of stocks; and in this advice he speaks like
an oracle. Attend to him :— ~ *

“The person who intends to erect an apiary, should purchase
a proper number of hives at the latter end of the- year, when
they are cheapest. The hives should be full of combs, and well
stored with bees. The purchaser should examine the combs, in
order to know the age of the hives. The combs of that season
are white ; those of a former year are of a darkish yellow ; and
when the combs are black, the hives should be rejected, because
old hives are mos} liable to vermin and other accidents.

“Tf the number of hives wanted have not been purchased in
the autumn, it will be necessary to remedy this neglect.after the
severity of the cold is past in the spring. At this season, bees
which are in good condition will get into the fields early in the
morning, return loaded, enter boldly, and do not come out of the
hive in bad weather, for when they do, this indicates that they

HOW YOUR STOCK IS TO BE OBTAINED. 43

are in great want of provisions. They are alert on the least dis-
turbance, and by the loudness of their humming we judge of
their strength. They preserve their hives free from all filth, and
are ready to defend it against every enemy that approaches.

“The summer is an improper time for buying bees, because
the heat of the weather softens the wax, and thereby renders
the comb liable to break, if they are not very well secured. The
honey, too, being then thinner than at other times, is more apt
to run out at the cells, which is attended with a double disad-
vantage—viz., the loss of the honey, and the daubing of the
bees—whereby many of them may be destroyed. A first and
strong swarm may indeed be purchased ; and, if leave can be
obtained, permitted to stand in the same garden until the autumn ;
but if leave is not obtained, it may be carried away in the night,
after it has been hived.

“«T suppose that in the stocks purchased, the bees are in the
hives of the old construction. The only directions here necessary
are, that the first swarm from these stocks should be put into one
of my hives; and that another of my hives should, in a few
days, be put under the old stock, in order to prevent its swarming
again.” ;

_ Nor can I very well leave Wildman, without saying something
of the “Count de la Bourdonnaye,” so frequently quoted by him
in his “ Account of Bees.” M. de la Bourdonnaye is justly
entitled to our gratitude and remembrance as the original inventor
of the caped or capped hives; a most useful contrivance, and
one which I have already described.

“Count de la Bourdonnaye’s hives are made of straw, divided
into two parts, which are placed one over the other. Each
of these parts is thirteen inches in diameter in the inside, and
twelve inches high; so that when joined, they make a hive
twenty-two inches in height. ‘They are nearly flat on the top,
and have in the middle of the top a hole an inch and a quarter
square. The upper half rests on the lower. They are made of
sufficient thickness to be proof against cold, and not. to be heated
by the rays of the sun. When united, their joining is luted close.”

So then the origin of our modern caps is to be referred to a
period of upwards of ninety years ago! I may, however, ob-
serve that proper fitting of the upper portion, or cap, upon the
lower portions or true hive will quite do away with the necessity
of luting.

44 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

CHAPTER VIII.
SWARMING. 5 ¢ Bay,

Bees multiply, during the breeding season, with astonishing
rapidity ; it is, therefore, not to be wondered at that the young
brood should speedily produce crowding in the hive, thus be-
coming not only inconvenienced for room, but more than agreeably
warm : it is also supposed that the queen becomes alarmed at
the number and progress to maturity of the royal larvee, which
indeed she would fain kill, were not she prevented from doing so
by the workers. While swarming is by no means to be forced,
yet if symptoms of a swarm present themselves, early, say m
April or May, you may permit it to take place—provided the
parent stock be still sufficiently strong in numbers—otherwise it
is of course highly disadvantageous to the well-being of the hive
as well as to the emigrants. I disapprove altogether of late
swarms, 7. ¢., allowing them to come off in July or August—
hence the utility of such hives as place this circumstance under
the control of the keeper. .

The most certain indications of swarming are, the hive ap-
pearing full of bees—clusters of them gathering on the outside,
and sometimes hanging from the alighting-board ; they also ne-
glect their daily toil and refrain from going abroad in search of
sweets, even though the weather be ever so inviting. Just be-
fore they take flight the hive is hushed, the bees are silent and
carefully loading themselves with provender for their journey.
For two or three nights prior to swarming, you will also hear a
peculiar humming noise within the hive; the second swarm is
announced by a different sort of buzzing, being, according to
some writers, the result of a contest as to which of the two
queens shail lead off from the hive. It is the old queen who
leads off the first swarm. ree

If a swarm be about to quit the hive, the slightest change of
weather will prevent their doing so ; but nothing so effectually as
a shower of rain: hence an excellent mode of preventing it,
when the bees cluster on the outside of the hive, by syringing
them with water from a common metallic syringe. When a
swarm leaves the hive, if it do not settle on some tree or bush,
but remains in the air, and you fear its going off to too great a

distance, if not evading you altogether, you may bring it down
by throwing up sand or dust, which the bees mistake for rain, or
by firing a gun, which they mistake for thunder; hence the old
fashion of the country-people following a swarm with the noise
of fire-shovels and frying-pans. You must be the more diligent
in at once securing your swarm, for it is a fact that the bees send
out scouts previous to swarming, whose duty it is to select a
proper habitation for the colony. It is, on this account, a good
plan, when you anticipate a swarm, to leave an empty hive, pre-
viously smeared on the interior with honey, in some convenient
place, but not too near the old one. ;

When the swarm settles, the bees collect themselves in a heap
round the queen, hanging to each other by means of their feet.
When thus suspended from a tree, they may be secured by sim-
ply holding an empty hive under them, and tapping the branch
from which they are suspended. They should, in this case,
be sprinkled with honey and water, and confined for about twelve
hours. When a swarm divides into two or more bands, and
settle separately, it is probable that there are two queens. In
this case you must secure one of them.

If through your inattention, a second swarm comes off, you
should, as soon as you have hived it, secure its queen, and return
the swarm to the hive; indeed, when deprived of its queen, it
will usually immediately return of its own accord. Swarming is
a subject 1 have reason to believe is very generally misunderstood,
most persons desiring to promote it, conceiving that the greater
number of swarms, the richer will the hives be in August. The
very reverse of this is the case; for when a hive is weak in num-
bers, a sufficient number of bees cannot be spared to go forth for
honey ; and, hence, they will be scarcely able to collect enough
for their actual support, far less to collect any surplus for their
master’s benefit. Hear Mr. Briggs :— ; :

_ “ The swarming of bees is a subject on which much miscon-
ception prevails. Most persons who keep their bees in the old
straw-hive plan, and suffocating system, appear to anticipate
their swarming with much anxiety, and to be of opinion that the
greater number of swarms—firsts, seconds, thirds, &c.—that they
obtain from their old hives during the summer, the more remu-
nerative will they prove to the owner at the end of the season;
whereas the reverse of the above practice is much nearer of
being the best. system to follow, which I shall endeavor to eluci-

46 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

date. It has been proved from observation, that the average per
centage of swarms have been—twenty-four in May, sixty in June,
fourteen in July, and two in August ; from which it will appear
that June is the principal month for swarming, in ordinary sea-
sons; and it isin June and July that the greatest quantities of
honey are stored up by the bees, when managed in a judicious
manner. ae
«« When the swarming is assisted and encouraged during June
and July, the old stocks are considerably weakened, and the
swarms are employed in building combs in their new hives, col-
lecting pollen, and attending to the young brood, until the best
part of the honey-storing season is over; so that, at the honey
harvest in autumn, it will frequently require the contents of five
or six old stocks, or late swarms, to produce as much pure honey
as might have been obtained from one colony on the system of
management which is recommended.” ; ~—
‘In collateral boxes, and in capped hives, swarming may be
prevented by affording the bees additional accommodation, and
reducing the temperature ; and for this end, it is recommended,
by most apiarians, that the hive or box should be furnished with
a thermometer as well as ventilator. JI think, however, that
even those who do not possess these accommodations may man-
age well enough by proper observation and attention to the
symptoms I have detailed. When these appear in a collateral
box-hive, open one of the partitions, and admit the bees into a
new apartment ; if all be full, take off a box, empty and restore
it. In the case of a capped hive, remove the bung, and admit
the bees to the cap; if full, remove, empty, and restore it. On
this subject, Mr. Briggs says :—“ The most favorable degrees of
heat for the prosperity of the brood are from 75° to 90° in the
stock hive, and from 65° to 75° in the side boxes. The heat in
a prosperous hive is sometimes upwards of 70° at Christmas, and
will, in hot summer weather, sometimes rise to near 120°, at
which time the combs are in great danger of being damaged,
and of falling to the floor of the hive ; this may, however, be
prevented, by giving extra room when required, and by shading
the hives from extreme heat as previously directed. It should
always be borne in mind that all operations with bees should be
performed as carefully and as speedily as circumstances will per-
mit.” The late Mr. T. Nutt remarked, in a conversation with
him a few months previous to his decease, ‘that in removing

-SWARMING. AT

boxes, glasses, slides, d&c., the apiarian should proceed in a man-
ner so steady and cautious, that the bees should scarcely know
that their habitation had been meddled with ;’ in which remarks
I fully concur.”

After having a new swarm, you must also recollect, that if
unfavorable weather follow their departure, you must feed them,
otherwise they will be starved; indeed it would be well if each
new swarm were always fed for a few days, as this will assist
them in gaining strength in numbers and in store, before the
principal part of the honey season goes over. In conclusion I
would merely say, that the weight of a good swarm should be
from five to seven pounds, and that all under five pounds in
weight should be united to others, as being too weak in numbers
to support themselves.

You shall receive instructions for uniting swarms in the next
chapter, as the process is the same as that adopted in depriving
a hive of its honey. In hiving a swarm it is as well to be pro-
tected with a proper bee dress, as well as to use such precau-
tions as you will find detailed in a subsequent chapter when treat-
ing of the honey harvest. Prevention is better than cure, and it
is better to be sure than sorry ; yet bees are certainly less apt to
sting at this time than any other.

Some persons are particularly unhappy in possessing those
qualities which render them disagreeable to bees. The main ob-
jections are, excessive timidity, and likewise, with some an un-
pleasant odor, in some instances the result of personal negli-
gence, but frequently of peculiarity of constitution. The remedies
are, a bee-dress for the former, and the use of some strong per-
fume which the bees like, and which ble effectually conceal
whatever is offensive to them.

“JT have gone among them,” says 1, Worlidge, in their
greatest anger and madness, only with a handful of sweet herbs
in my hand, fanning about my face, as it were to obscure and
defend it. Also, if a bee do by accident buzz about you, being
unprovided, thrust your face amongst a parcel of boughs or
herbs, and he will desert you. But fhe most secure way cof all,
‘and beyond the completest harness yet published, is to have a
net knit with so small meshes, that a bee cannot pass through,
and of fine thread or silk, large enough to go over your hat, and
‘to lie down to one en of your dress, through which you may
aren

(48 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

perfectly see what you do, without danger, having also on a pair
of gloves, whereof woollen are the best.”
& ik writers on bee management, have suggested other modes
to prevent objectionable swarming, besides the collateral boxes
and the capped hive. Among these plans I may mention stord-
fying or piling, and eking. The latter is speedily disposed of ;
it consists of adding ekes, or additional bands of straw to th
bottom of the common hive, according as additional room was
required. The objection is, that although it may thus answer
your purpose during one season, the next finds you in as much
perplexity as ever. a Ry Adtete: Abt Sete. wen eee wae. tete
_. Storifying requires some notice, as itis a custom of very con-
siderable antiquity, and also as it is a practice that has. been, ap-
proved by such eminent bee-masters as Warder, Thorley, and
more recently by Dr. Bevan. . SR eT ee aes
The principal objections to the storified hiveare—
Ist, Its occasioning the bees greater trouble and labor, and
hence rendering their labor less productive. ss st
2d, The absence of provision for dividing the ordinary cells
from the more sacred and mysterious operations of the queen,
and of course a consequent deterioration of the honey in respect
of purity; besides much inconvenience and waste of time to the
poor bees, which certainly should be taken into consideration. A
laden bee cannot mount up from one box to another, and th,
a labyrinth of comb, with anything like comfort or ease.
3d, In taking a box of honey, the proprietor cannot be cer-
tain of not taking away a quantity of brood-comb, &c. This
objection, however, may be classed with that which rests on the
impurity of the honey, except with the additional one, that this
also refers to loss of life, which the bees, both brood and. adult,
must thus sustain. And, se ie iw cee
4th, In consequence of these objectionable circumstances,
which are the inevitable consequences of the piling system, the
profit accruing from such management will be far inferior to.that
obtainable by the system I have already recommended.
A very eminent writer on bee management says—“In piled
boxes bees are subjected to unnecessary labor, which is so far a
waste of time. From piled boxes not nearly the quantity of
honey and wax is procured, that may be procured from collate-
ral boxes; nor is that deficient quantity of a quality at all com-
parable with the other. In managing piled boxes many bees are

ie

THE HONEY HARVEST. 49

destroyed. These are my objections to that system of bee man-
agement ; and I put it to every person who has practised stori-
fying to say whether they are not well founded.”

It sometimes, but very rarely, happens, that a swarm is almost
wholly, if not altogether, composed of an entirely new genera-
tion of bees, but usually old and young go forth toyether. You
may distinguish the young from the old by the intensity of their
coloring, the latter being of a deeper red. The swarm is usually
led forth by a young queen ; but at all events the bees never swarm
unless led by a queen, and sometimes by two or even three. In
this case the supernumerary sovereigns are put to death by the
workers. Sometimes, indeed, instead of the supernumerary queens
being destroyed, the swarm divides, and a portion follows each
monarch, and sometimes the queens themselves do battle for the
throne. The destruction of the supernumeraries by the workers
is, however, the most common case.

Battles also will frequently occur in consequence of a swarm
seizing upon a habitation already occupied by other bees, or two
swarms simultaneously selecting a similar place of abode. The
attack is said to be usually begun by the queens, with what truth,
however, I am unprepared to say.

Having now suggested all that occurs to me interesting, or
profitable for you to know, on the subject of swarming, we shall
leave the bees at work, and in the next chapter presume matters
ripe and ready for the “ honey harvest.”

CHAPTER IX.
THE HONEY HARVEST.

Tuost who possess collateral boxes may begin taking a box or
a bell glass very early in the season, indeed even so early as May
or June; this must be, of course, dependent on the state of af-
fairs, and on their own discretion. Those who keep their bees in
the capped hive, may also get a cap full of honey in or about
the middle of June—I do not call this the “honey harvest.” I
allude to the grand deprivation that should take place in the be-
ginning or middle of Aagust, ere commencing other operations

still to be explained.
3

50 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

I may observe with reference to the collateral hives that no in-
structions of mine are necessary further than those already given
when describing the mechanism of Mr. Nutt’s boxes. You who
possess these admirable contrivances will have little or no trouble
—a child could manage them, and long ere this (August) you
have already begun to gather your delicious harvest. You have,
of course, had more than one bell-glass full, and possibly a box
of pure honey removed in May. You have certainly obtained,
at least, one box in June; but I should rather imagine that you
have, during that month, obtained both the side boxes full of ho-
ney. You must now, however, act with caution, and recollect
that wet, damp weather is unfavorable to the operations ‘of the

_bees; they cannot go abroad to collect their treasure, and you
must avoid trespassing too much upon their stores in such wea-
ther.

The old mode of obtaining the honey was, by the suffocation
of the inmates of the hive. I fear I need scarcely tell the ma-
jority of my bee-keeping readers, but sincerely hope I am wrong,
that this used to be effected by digging a hole in the ground,
placing therein a bundle of matches, or scraps of tow dipped in
sulphur, igniting these, and setting the hive, covered with a thick
cloth over it, in the latter part of the evening. The fumes of
the sulphur soon caused death, and the honey was removed af-
terwards at pleasure. Whatever others may think or write, I
must assert as my own opinion that this is a most barbarous prac-
tice ; and it is as silly as it is cruel. You, if you act thus, ef-
fectually prevent the fulfillment of what should be your chief
object, viz., the increase of your stock, you also impregnate your
honey with filthy vapors, and seriously injure its quality by the
dead bodies, which you thus cause to be intermingled with the
combs. :

Mr. Huish recommended dried rags, or leaves, to be employed
instead of sulphur, the smoke from these only producing partial

_ stupefactions from which the bees subsequently recovered, when
the surviving stock was united to some other weak hive in the
_ apiary. i

- It is along time indeed since Wildman, White, and others,
- showed that the honey could be taken, even from a common
straw hive, without injury to the inmates. Without, however,
_ wearying my readers with an investigation of the several ap-
proved methods of doing this, I shall briefly direct them as to

THE HONEY HARVEST: o1

the manner in which I, myself, recommend this very simple
process to be performed.

“Fumigation” is a word employed by bee-keepers to express
the process in which, by the aid of certain intoxicating smoke,
the insects become temporarily stupefied, in which state they are
perfectly harmless, and may be deprived of their honey without
any risk or trouble. They subsequently soon recover from their
stupefaction, and are nothing the worse for it. Indeed, as Mr.
Cotton quaintly observes, this intoxication proves, contrary to its
effects in the case of man, rather salutary than otherwise. The
‘dried Fungus Pulvurulentus, or fuzz ball; the Bovista gigantea,
or frog-cheese, will be found best for that purpose: but, in their
absence, rags steeped in a solution of saltpetre, or a few tobacco
leaves, wrapped in brown paper, will do nearly as well. If
tobacco be used, care is necessary, lest the fumigation be carried
to too great an extent, so as to cause the death of some or all of
your stock. Persons not accustomed to deal with bees, should
wear an over-all of thin gauze over the head and breast, and
gloves on their hands. With this, and a little bottle in their
waistcoat-pocket, containing aqua ammoniz, or aqua potassee, to
be used in case of accident, they need have no cause for trepida-
tion, but can go to work with coolness and deliberation.

There should be provided, for the purpose of fumigation, a
small tin box, with a tube extending from each of two opposite
ends; one end of this tube being so fashioned that it can readily
be inserted into the hive, and the other so formed, that it can
readily be attached to the tube of an ordinary bellows. The box
should be so formed that it can be opened at pleasure.

In this box the matter to be employed in fumigation is first
placed, having, of course, been previously ignited, and the proper
end of the tube having been inserted into the hive at the lower
part, ply the bellows very gently. The bees begin at once to
feel the effects of the smoke. At first, you will hear an unusual
humming and commotion, but in less than ten minutes all will
be still. The bees will fall upon the board under the hive, and
lie quite still, as if dead. The hive may then be removed, and
a fresh hive—the interior well smeared with honey—may be
placed over them, or they may be united to another stock, which
should also be previously fumigated, one queen being removed.

Some persons may conceive it to be a difficult matter to come
at the queen. When fumigation is resorted to, she is, of course,

52 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

easily discovered; but even when it is dispensed with, and the
practice adopted which I have yet to describe, she is not so very
difficult to come at; for, on a hive being turned up and tapped,
the queen is among the first, if not indeed the very first, who
makes her appearance, as if to discover the occasion of the un-
wonted disturbance ; the dusk of an autumnal evening answers
best for this purpose. The queen usually lodges near the crown
of the hive, and is, when fumigation is resorted to, one of the
last to fall; she will, consequently, in this case, be found amongst
the uppermost bees. In practising fumigation, two persons should
act in concert, each taking a hive, and operating upon it, in order
that both stocks should be simultaneously in a similar condition
as to intoxication. I may add, that in fumigation, the hive must
be well covered with acloth, to prevent the escape of the smoke.
When you have united the two stocks in the manner I have de-
scribed, it is advisable to confine the insects to their hive for that
night and the following day. Do not, however, wholly deprive
them of air in doing so, or you may smother them. On the
evening of the following day, about dusk, uncover the hive, and
open the entrance. The bees will probably at first tumultuously
issue forth, but finding the lateness of the hour, will as hastily
return. Let me here forewarn my readers to be more cautious
on this than perhaps any other occasion, as the bees will doubt-
less be very indignant at the manner in which they have been
treated. They are naturally a very irritable insect, and if they
find you near them and unprotected when they sally forth, they
will be apt to attack you ina body. The sting of a bee is not
only very painful, but even sometimes seriously dangerous.

The most suitable period of the year for uniting weak with
strong stocks is from the middle of August to the latter part of
September. This, however, is not a proper time to remove stocks
from straw hives to boxes, for the season is too far advanced.
When taken from their warm hive, and removed into a cold box,
bees rarely recover from the effects of the fumigation sufficiently
to resume business. _ May or June is the best time for this removal,
or perhaps still earlier, say the beginning of April, before the
eggs of the queen bee have attained the stage of larve. If the
operation be performed in cold or even cool weather, it is recom-
mended by Nutt to do so “in a room where the temperature is
about 60 degrees.” Twelve hours or thereabouts suffice for the

THE HONEY HARVEST. 53

recovery of the bees, and they may then be removed with safety
to their ordinary stand.

Various other precautions besides outer clothing are recom-
mended by writers on bee management—such, for instance, as
taking a short pipe in the mouth, and smoking during the opera-
tion: every one does not, however, smoke. Others recommend
taking a drink of ale previous to commencing. Others again
recommend rubbing the face and hands with ale or beer ; for my
own part, I do not see any absolute necessity for the adoption of
any of these measures, if the protecting overall be used ; but if
I were to recommend any, it would be that spoken of by Mr.
Briggs—viz., water to which a small quantity of creosote has
beenadded. Mr. Briggsadds, ‘The juice of the Black ocymum,
or Indian bazil, is also strongly recommended for the same pur-
pose; and it is said that the bees will not go near to a person
whose skin has been recently rubbed with it. It is, I suppose,
unnecessary to observe, that aqua potasse will answer the same
purpose, and fully as well. These remedies will likewise be found
equally efficacious for the sting of that wolf of- insects—the
ferocious and formidable wasp. It may be as well that I wind up
my observations on fumigation with a few directions for the pre-
paration of the fuzz balls for that purpose.

Put the ball into a piece of stout paper, and compress it as
tightly as you can; tie it closely up in this condition, and put it
in a moderately cool oven, about as cool as that from which
bread has just been withdrawn—let it remain there until it will
serve as tinder. ‘The quantity of the prepared fungus necessary
for the fumigation of a hive is a piece of about the size of a hen’s
ego—-less may, in some instances, answer ; but it is unquestiona-
bly better to have too much than too little. I should have ob-
served, that, prior to union, even where fumigation has been em-
ployed, the sprinkling with liquid honey should not, on any ac-
count, be omitted.

The system which dispenses altogether with fumigation, called
tapping or “ Driving,” is spoken of favorably by many writers ;
it is as follows :—

When twilight appears, you will find the bees all quietly re-
posing in the hive ; let whoever is in the habit of tending the
pees be the agent in the process ; no assistance is necessary ; let
him or her take an old chair from which the bottom has been
either worn or cut away—but a worn one is best, as it best jits

54 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

the reversed hive; turn up the héve on the chair, and place over
it an empty one, which you have previously smeared interiorly
with honey, or sugar dissolved in water; wrap a cloth round the
point of junction for the first few minutes, and, with a stick, tap
the reversed hive round the sides, beginning near the bottom, and
gradually ascending in your strokes towards the top; let your
strokes be not too rough, lest you loosen the combs ; still, how-
ever, these are far more firmly attached than non-practical
writers are aware of.

Ere you have been long thus employed, you will hear a hum-
ming noise, and presently the disturbed bees, more than half
asleep, will mount into the upper hive. If the ascent of the bees
appear checked ere all have left the lower hive, remove the cloth,
which, by the way, is, once the ascent has commenced, no longer
necessary, and raise the upper hive an inch or so above the low-
er. This will be found to facilitate the emigration, and will be
unattended with danger. The lower hive being fully deserted,
place that containing the bees on the stand. Some like to close
the aperture for ashort time; but I conceive such procedure to
be useless, as, at that hour, the insects are too sleepy, too stupid,
to have any desire*to stir abroad ; and on the morrow will pro-
ceed to their ordinary avocations, as if nothing had occurred.
This resumption, however, of the insects’ ordinary avocations,
will not take place unless the above operation be performed early
in the season.

The most secure mode of procedure, and the most approved, is,
to unite these exiled bees with those of another hive. You must
always, be it remembered, leave your bees a sufficient store of
honey as food. This is usually done by setting apart what is
called a stock-hive—a hive well filled with honey, and capable of
containing and supporting more bees. Turn up this stock-hive ;
sprinkle its drowsy inmates, or rather drench them, with sugar
or honey, dissolved in water. Do the same with your exiles ;
and once again invert the abode of the latter over the mouth of
your inverted stock-hive. Proceed in other respects as you did
before; and by tapping drive them down. The two families
speedily recover from their surprise, and the agreeable employ-
ment afforded to all their individual members, of licking the re-
sults of your sprinkling from each other’s bodies, will soon pro-
duce friendliness, meanwhile the odor of the liquid with which
you have saturated them, will prevent their distinguishing

THE HONEY HARVEST. 55

betwixt stranger and comrade. Of course you have previously
taken the precaution of removing the queen of the swarm to be
united to the stock hive. Some recommend permitting the rival
queens to “fight it out.” This is too apt to occasion a general
affray, which can readily be avoided by the plan I mention. The
whole procedure will not occupy above half an hour, if indeed so
much. You need be under no apprehension of being stung.
The bees are too sleepy, too lethargic, too much fatigued after
their day’s toil to care for you. In order to inspire you with
confidence, let me call to your recollection the lethargic condition
of common house-flies on a ceiling, in a summer or autumn even-
ing. The bees are similarly disposed ; and unless you clumsily
crush some of them in your hand, they will not take the trouble
of hurting you. If you be so very clumsy as to do so, you have
only yourself to blame.

This is your first harvest: you may, by adopting the following
approved system of management, obtain even a second, ere plac-
ing your bees in their winter quarters. This latter operation is
termed “shifting.”

Many writers on bee management have been in favor of shift-
ing the hives at certain periods of the year, in order to secure a
succession of food, according as it fails in one place, or proves
more abundant in another. One of the earliest advocates of this
system was Columella. He founds his advice on the observation
that scarcely any one district can afford an equally adequate sup-
ply of pasture both in spring and autumn. Celsus and Pliny
hold the same opinion. Later writers have also recommended
this removal, as A. de Montfort, Maillet, in which they are fol-
lowed by Wildman and others. This practice is still extensively
followed, and there is still living on the Pentland hills near Edin-
burgh, a shepherd, who takes charge of upwards of a hundred
hives annually for bee-keepers living at a distance.

From the middle of August to the end of September is the
usual time when we perceive the food of bees beginning to fail
them. ‘This is the period for removing them to new pasture,
which is then in bloom. Before moving, ascertain the condition
of your hives; for these which are well stocked with honey
should be deprived by the process already detailed; and this
should be done some days prior to removal, for the combs con-
taining the young may have been loosened in the operation, and

56 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

the bees should be allowed time to fasten them once again se-
curely in their places. ;

«Water carriage, when procurable, is the best, as it shakes
the hives least ; but when land carriage must be resorted to, the
hives should be carried on poles, slung on men’s shoulders.
The journey should be pursued at night only, and the bees suf-
fered to go forth and feed during the day. Such is their instinct,
that they will readily find their way back; but they should not
be suffered to go forth until at the distance of upwards of ten or
eleven miles from their original home, otherwise they will be lost
in endeavoring to regain it—a moderate distance induces them
to abandon the idea, and to become reconciled to their new quar-
ters If traveling by canal, the hives should be removed from
the boat, and placed on stands, at some distance from the bank
ere the insects are let out, otherwise they will be lost in thou-
sands by falling into the water on their return. If your weak
stocks happen to be placed near the strong ones of some one else,
you will stand a fair chance of having them all killed in encoun-
ters with their more powerful neighbors. It would be well also
to see that your hives are placed ina situation where they will
be safe from the attacks of cattle or other foes. Before fetching
the hives home again, it will not be amiss to ascertain their con-
dition and weight, and to take from them what honey they can
spare.

m must here inform you how to ascertain the state or wealth of
a hive. About the middle of September examine your hives ; at
all events do not, whatever be the aspect of the season, neglect
this necessary operation until October; but if the season appear
likely to turn out to be a severe one, set about it even earlier
than I have indicated. But do not mistake me—I do not mean
that you can deprive your bees of any honey so late as this; if I
said so, I should be only instructing you in the best and most ex-
peditious method of destroying your stocks. I only mean, that
under certain circumstances, and in peculiarly favorable weather,
you may postpone until the periods I have named, your final ex-
amination of your stocks, in order to ascertain which can, and
which cannot, support itself, unaided by you, during the winter
months.

In observatory hives, and such as are formed on the collateral
box, or piled box principle, there are usually such contrivances as
will admit of inspection of the hive and its contents without the

THE HONEY HARVEST. 57

necessity of handling it. In the ordinary hive, however, we can-
not avoid manually ascertaining the weight and condition of our
stock. In order todo so, you must previously have been ac-
quainted with the weight of your hive, and of the probable num-
ber of bees which it contains; and I may also add, that it would
be as well if you had your stands so contrived as to admit of their
being raised with the hive for the purpose of weighing, as, if you
forcibly separate the latter from the former, you break the cemen.
of propolis—a substance I have yet to describe, which unites the
hive to its position on the stand, and puts the bees to much un-
necessary trouble and annoyance.

A hive should contain twenty pounds of honey for its support
during winter ; an increase of number in the hive, produced by
union, will not require an increase of food. Precisely the con-
trary is the case; and the more abundant the stock of the bees
in autumn, the richer and the better able to work will they be in
spring—the more forward, therefore, will they be in summer, and
the greater will be your profit.

There should be twenty pounds of honey left in a hive for winter
consumption, exclusive of the weight of both hive and bees. Of
course I cannot give you any assistance in ascertaining the weight
of the former, as that feature must depend upon its structure,
&c., and the materials of which it is composed. But the weight
of the bees themselves is quite a different matter. In 1]b. avoir-
dupois, or 16 oz., there are about five thousand bees—from fifteen
to twenty thousand bees constitute a strong hive, that is, from
four to five pounds in weight.

If you find, after making these calculations and deductions,
that your stocks are under weight, you may either supply them
with food or unite two or more together. I am in favor of union ;
I now only speak with reference to such persons as have reaped
a second, or perhaps a third harvest from their bees. Had they
omitted the last, no such care would have been called for.

Mr. Briggs, in a few words as to autumnal feeding, says,
The hives should be weighed. -Age will cause hives to weigh heavier
than their legitimate contents would call for; this is occasioned
by an accumulation of bee-bread and the cast sloughs which had
furmerly served as envelopes to the young. In the case of old
hives, you must, therefore, allow from two to five pounds, accord-
ing to age, for these matters, These substances require to be
occasionally removed from the hive, as otherwise they will accumu-

58 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

late to such an extent as to render the hive too small for breeding,
and your stock will thus soon become extinct. Spring is the
proper season for removing these substances ; the process 1s very
simple, consisting merely in fumigating the hives, and thus ren-
dering the bees for the time insensible, then, while they are in
this state, turning up the hive and: cutting out a portion of the
old comb ; you should only cut away half ata time. The follow-
ing spring, perform the same process; you will find the gap your
knife had made the previous year completely restored, and you
may now remove the remaining portion of old comb. By this
system of constantly inducing a renovation of the combs, you
will preserve your stock in a state of perpetual youth. Your
hive, even if made of straw, will last for an indefinite length of
time if protected externally by a thick coat of whitewash, or,
which is better, Roman cement; do not let any one persuade you
to employ paint for this purpose; if you do, you will lose your
bees. This cutting away of the combs may also be resorted to
in cases where your hives are infested with moths; under such
circumstances you may cut away ad/ the combs that contain the
larvee of those insects:
Every bee-keeper should have an ordinary spatula,
@ and a set of bee knives. .These should be in the forms
of the cut.. They should be a foot long, beside the
handle, of metal; and the blades should be so sharp as
to cut the combs and not bruzse or break them.

All hives under the clear nett weight (bees and honey,
the hive and stand properly deducted) of 20 lbs. avoir-
dupois, must receive an allowance of food; the exam-
ination to take place at the close of September. Honey,
when you have it and can spare it, is, of course, the
ma ST best food you can give your bees, and will not, as Mr.
Huish has asserted, give bees the dysentery ; but if you cannot
give honey, you may form an excellent substitute by boiling ale
and sugar together gently in a clean and well-tinned vessel, over
a clear fire, for about five minutes. One pound and a-half of
sugar may be added to each quart of ale, and the mixture is to
be skimmed, according as the scum rises to the surface during
boiling ; when the syrup is taken from the fire, add to it about a
teaspoonful of common table-salt for each quart of syrup.

The cuts show a bee feeder. There is a hole in the centre
and tube in it. The lower cut shows the feeder with a glass bell

THE HONEY HARVEST. 59

over it. It may either be placed near, or on top of the hive with
the tube going into a hole in the top of the hive,

It is bad to be compelled to feed bees in _.
the winter, as, by descending to the bottom |~ iL |
of the hive in order to get at the food, they | ”
expose themselves to cold, and many perish ;
by early examination in autumn, and uniting
weak hives, together with judicious feeding
at that season, if necessary, the winter man- (===
agement will be simplified. ———

Bees kept in boxes are as liable as any 9 ~--—willilli
others to the attacks of insects, mice, weasels,
and other foes. In such case the stand

i |

should have been removed, and traps or
poison used to banish the vermin. You will
sometimes find the bees strong in numbers,
yet poor in stores. This may also be a re- |

sult of the presence of moths, d&c., in the gj Pegs lll I
hive; that should, therefore, be examined, r - il
and the intruders removed. Do not, on any
account, fumigate a hive with tobacco or sulphur for the purpose
of expelling or destroying moths ; for, if you fail of destroying
your bees along with them, you may safely calculate on, at all
events, rendering the honey injurious to them; and, in some
cases, especially when tobacco has been used, absolutely poisonous.
Doubtless, it was honey, impregnated with these deleterious
fumes, that Mr. Huish found to give his bees the dysentery.
When bees are found to be thus rich in numbers and poor in
store, it frequently happens that the cause is the loss of the queen ;
for if anything happen to the sovereign, the community speedily
decay away. The remedy in this instance is, of course, union to
another stock. If this occur in winter, I should recommend you
to unite, and feed abundantly. Mr. Nutt, however; says, that
when this occurs in winter, all your feeding will be thrown away,
and your bees perish, despite your care. Some people also defer
feeding until the bees are absolutely in want. This is very
wrong; the assistance should be rendered several weeks before
the hive is in a state of positive destitution, otherwise, when you
do feed, the bees will be too weak to avail themselves of your
bounty. The good mode of feeding is, to put the honey, or syrup,
as the case may be, in a shallow box; lay over the sweet liquid

bij
Arvin

tiene
at

M
wit
Ml
ue

Un,

60 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

a sheet of strong paper, perforated with holes, through which
the bees can suck the syrup without falling into the mess, or
becoming clogged by it ; attach the box to the mouth of the hive,
the bees will soon make it out, enter, and remove the store to their
cells.

It is bad to lift up the hive for the purpose of feeding, as, by
so doing, you lower the temperature of the interior, and often
destroy your stock. When the feeder is attached to the entrance
of the hive, all this is obviated.

It is quite important to the bee-keeper to have a weighing
machine. This may consist of three poles of wood, seven feet
long, fastened by hinges to a triangular block of wood, six inches
on each side. The poles must have spikes at the lower end, to
stand firmly on the ground. ‘To the underside of the block is
fastened a pulley wheel. Over this a cord passes, one end of
which is held by the hand, while to the other is attached a spring
balance, with a hook at itsend. The cut will show the method
of using.

WINTER MANAGEMENT. 61

CHAPTER X.
MANAGEMENT DURING WINTER AND EARLY SPRING.

Oxe of the most important particulars connected with bee
management, is taking care that they are abundantly supplied
with food in autumn, and also taking care at that season to ascer-
tain whether or not they are sufficiently strong in numbers, and if
not, to unite your weak stocks, so as to form strong ones. It is
by such treatment as this that you may expect to preserve your
bees in health and strength through the winter, and td have
them in a condition to attend properly to their brood in the early
spring.

In a large straw hive, there should be left, at your autumnal
honey harvest, from twenty to twenty-five, or even, according to
the size of the hive, thirty pounds weight of honey, exclusive,
be it remembered, of the weight of hive, stand, and bees. If
you should, from any accident, find your hive deficient in weight,
you must make up the deficiency by artificial feeding, either with
honey or with the mixture of ale and sugar.

Having ascertained that you have supplied your stocks with a
sufficiently ample quantity of food for their support during win-
ter, or that they already possess enough, you should next narrow
the entrance of the hive so that it will scarcely admit of the pas-
sage of more than a single bee at a time; and towards the middle
of November the entrance should be closed nearly altogether.
The hives should be covered up with matting, fern, or other
similar substance, in order to preserve them from rain, frost, or,
the most dangerous of all, the sun’s rays of a fine winter’s day.
These deceptive rays would afford a temptation to the bees to
sally forth, and the result would be, that they would become
chilled by the cold. Few would survive the flight soas to return
to the hive: its temperature would fall, and you would lose your
stock. Your hives should remain thus carefully covered and
closed until the beginning of March.

I must here mention a mode of protecting your hives, and
rendering them in point of warmth in winter, coolness in summer,
imperviousness to wet, inaccessibility to moths, and other foes at
least, unless through the entrance, and also in durability, equal
to wooden boxes, viz.,a coating of Roman cement on the exterior.

62 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

When there is snow upon the ground, the entrances of your hives
should be entirely closed, and a screen or shade should be placed
before the hive, in case of an accidental sunny day occurring, in
order to prevent the bees from encountering even a single decep-
tive ray.

Another danger from which you are imperatively called upon
to protect your bees during winter is dampness. It is to this
cause that the loss of many a stock is to be attributed—an zn-
ternal. dampness, generated within the hive itself. This is best
remedied by careful ventilation, placing a bell-glass, well covered
with flannel, over the aperture on the top of your hive or box,
removing it from time to time, and carefully wiping away from its
interior the damp formed by condensed vapor; this remedy is at
once simple and efficacious.

It will, perhaps, appear to some of my readers a singular ex-
periment, resorted to by some bee-keepers, viz., burying the hives.
When this is to be attempted, the hive should be buried ina
cool, dry, shady place, among leaves, about a foot deep, and the
interment should be performed during the first or second week of
November.

A friend buried a hive of bees, in the first week of November,
about a foot deep, amongst dry leaves, &c., and disinterred it in
the last week of February, when it was just 2 lbs. lighter than it
was in November, and the bees in a lively and healthy state.
Another person immured a hive of bees in the earth, four feet
deep, in the second week of November, and at the end of
January it was removed, and weighed only 3 oz. less than it did
before it was buried. cs

The above experiments are worthy of attention ; a shed, having
a northern aspect,. and which is as dry as possible, would be a
suitable place for further trials. The principal poimts by which
there might be cause for fear of failure, would, as in other cases,
be from dampness, disease for want of fresh air, and attacks from
vermin, &c. To prevent the former I would recommend that the
hives be placed on a long frame of wood, covered by a web of
closely-worked wire, and raised a few inches from the ground,
the ends of which should communicate with, and be occasionally
opened to, the fresh air. A long tube should also be placed
from the hole at the top of each hive to the open air of the shed,
from the upper end of which any dampness might be condensed
by bell-glasses, and conveyed away as already directed.

WINTER MANAGEMENT. 63

The materials with which the hives are covered and surround-
ed, should consist of dry leaves pressed closely together, or dry
and powdered charcoal or cinders, and may be several feet in
thickness, to preserve the bees in a cool and torpid state, and at
a regular temperature, in which state they should be kept as dry,
dark and quiet as circumstances will permit.

It is the opinion of many experienced apiarians, that a cold
winter is not injurious to bees, provided they are sufficiently pre-
pared for withstanding it, in the manner above detailed; and
which, I trust, comprises several facts, hints, and suggestions,
which are not generally known, and may be of service to bee-
keepers of the present day.

It is considered that those localities which are suited to the
cultivation of good barley and Dutch clover, are also suited to
the production of honey, and that where a rose will prosper, a
bee will prosper also; consequently there are but few situations
in which the keeping of bees might not be profitably extended.

In all plans and operations with bees, the laws of nature
should be attentively observed and assisted, by which much may
be experienced and acquired from attention and perseverance,
and the results aimed at obtained at less trouble and expense
than if an opposite course were pursued.

_As the spring approaches, the winter coverings should be
gradually removed, and those hives which have been buried
placed in their summer situations. Small quantities of food
should then be supplied as occasion requires, until winter is past.

It must always be borne in mind that seasons, situations, and
the laws of nature, present influences which may be guarded
against, or assisted, but cannot be completely controlled. Thus,
the aspect for the entrances of the hives may require to be varied
a few points between the eastern and western sides of the king-
dom ; and there may also require to be, on some occasions, an
advance or delay of a few weeks in some operations with bees
between the northern and the southern parts of any country of
some considerable extent.

Among other obvious mistakes, I may mention the recommen-
dation to give the bees an opportunity of leaving the hive, and
going abroad every fine day, already detailed. What advantage
is expected to be derived from thus permitting the insects to go
forth 2? They may be supposed to want exercise. Thisis a mis-
take ; for the bees naturally crowd together, and remain in a

64 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

sort of torpor during winter, and every thing that could tend to
interfere with, or arouse them from it, must, of course, prove
contrary to their natural instincts, and consequently, prejudicial.
During winter the bees are inactive.

It seems generally recommended that the hives should be re-
moved to a northern aspect during winter. If the bees are to be
set at liberty, this very removal, otherwise so necessary, will
cause their destruction ; for they will, on being permitted to issue
from the hive, of a certainty fly back to their old quarters, where
they will remain until benumbed by the cold that, despite’a few
gleams of treacherous sunshine, pervades the air, and will, of
course, soon fall to the grouud, and miserably perish—all owing
to your bad management.

Independent of these considerations, I may also, and I think
most reasonably, adduce the very considerable, and at the same
time, most unnecessary waste of food consequent on the adoption
of the liberty system.

Bees can endure the extreme cold of a Russian winter with
impunity, while a far inferior degree of cold often proves fatal ;
the true cause of the phenomenon is the greater dryness of the
Russian climate, and that to dampness it is that we are to ascribe
failure.

An old French work suggests a mode of preserving bees by
interment during winter. It consists of laying some very dry,
powdered earth upon the bottom of an old cask, to the depth of
about half a foot, pressed down very hard, and setting on this
the stool with the hive ; then- preserving a communication with
the air, by cutting a hole in the cask, opposite to the mouth of
the hive, and placing a piece of reed from the mouth of the hive
to the hole in the cask ; then covering the hive up witha quanti-
ty of dry earth similar to that on which it stands. In spring it
is only necessary to remove the winter coverings gradually and
with caution ; to examine also the state of the bees’ provisions,
and, if necessary, feed them. Be cautious in at once giving them
liberty, or in doing so too early, or in unsettled weather. The
mouth of the hive should be kept facing due west, until all these
dangers have passed away: when the working season arrives,
the aspect of the hive must be moved southward, and the insects
left entirely to themselves. When spring-feeding is necessary, it
is usually in April, for then the demands of the young brood call
for a greater consumption of honey than ordinary, and from

THE ENEMIES AND DISEASES OF BEES. 65

want of attending to this circumstance, hives have been lost even
so late in the season as the month of May.

About the beginning of the month of March, is the proper
time for transferring stocks from hives to boxes; the latter should
be previously well cleaned out, their interior smeared, and sup-
plied with a portion of honey, in a proper feeder.

As the warm weather approaches, shade your hives from the
sun. If the bees be induced by the heat to attempt injudicious
or ill-timed swarming, and hang in clusters about the entrance of
the hive, you can check it by sprinkling them with some water
from the nose of a watering pot or syringe; they will mistake
this for rain, and retire within the hive to resume their work.

CHAPTER XI.
THE DISEASES AND ENEMIES OF BEES.

Brzs, when properly attended to, and managed on the im-
proved modern system, are neither very subject to disease, nor
very liable to suffer from the attacks of enemies ; still, however,
accidents of these kinds will occur, once in a while, despite of
our most anxious care.

The diseases of bees are not numerous, so that a lengthened
detail will be unnecessary.

DISEASES OF BEES.

These are Diarrhoea and Dysentery. The latter is probably
only produced by neglect of the former: at all events, we may
regard these two affections as springing from the one cause, and
certainly they can only be combated by the same remedies.

Cotume.ta speaks of diarrhoea as a purging which seizes bees
annually, in the spring ; and conceives it to be occasioned by the
bees surfeiting themselves on the young flowers in their first re-
past. He recommends a remedy, still earlier proposed by Hygt-
nus, viz., covering the bees with the warm ashes of the fig-tree.
On his own part, Columella recommends giving them rosemary
and honey diluted with water. '

In my opinion this looseness is occasioned by the bees feeding
on what is called “‘ candied honey”—a substance, the deleterious
effects of which were well known to Aristotle, and subsequently

66 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

to Virgil, who gives, in his account of bees, express directions for
preventing honey from candying. _ He regarded the cause of its
doing so to be cold.

I cannot very positively account for the formation of candied
honey, unless, as is very probable, Wildman’s opinion be correct,
viz., that it becomes so by being too long in the hive, too stale,
and hence unfit for use. ‘The mode of prevention is obvious :—
A periodical examination of the hives or boxes, and a removal of
a portion on each occasion of the old or mouldy combs. The
presence of candied honey in a hive is so obnoxious to bees, that
it frequently induces them to desert it.

The candied honey proves fatal to bees in another way beside
their being poisoned by it. When the bees find candied honey
in the combs, they, knowing its prejudicial qualities, if they have
other and wholesome store, throw it out of the combs, and it of
course falls on the bottom board of the hive. In doing this the
bees prepare their own graves. They can neither enter nor leave
the hive without bedaubing themselves, and their. endeavors to
free themselves and their companions from the incumbrance only
make matters worse. When bees are found in this state, it is
difficult to relieve them; but if anything will do so, it is immer-
sion in tepid water ; for this purpose you can sweep them into a
tub with the wing of a fowl, leave them in the water until insen-
sible, and wnite them, when they revive a little, to the bees of
another hive, taking care to serve these latter similarly. Though
I recommend this treatment, I can by no means pronounce it in-
fallible ; but I have known it to succeed in more than one in-
stance.

In an old French treatise we find purging and dysentery at-
tributed to the bees feeding on too pure honey, which is there
said not to be sufficiently substantial for them by itself. The cure
recommended is to give them from another hive combs well sup-
plied with bee-bread or crude wax.

ENEMIES OF BEES.

These are far more numerous than their diseases, and are as
follows :—

Poultry, Mice, Toads, Frogs, Snails, Slugs, Caterpillars, Moths,
Millipedes, Woodlice, Ants, Lice, Spiders, Wasps, Hornets.

Fowts should not be permitted in any apiary. They will kill
and eat the bees, and such as they do not destroy they will an-
noy and disturb—besides, your bees will probably occupy a

THE ENEMIES AND DISEASES OF BEES, 67

stand in your garden, a quarter whence other reasons should ne-
cessarily exclude poultry.

Mice.—While the bees are vigorous, the field-mouse does not
dare attack the hive ; but as the cold approaches, and the bees
become less active, he enters, and commencing with the lower
comb, ascends by degrees as the bees become torpid, until he
either clears all away, or by the smell of the honey he has wast-
ed on the board, induces other bees to come and plunder. As
soon as the warm weather returns, the surviving bees will leave
the hive in disgust. The remedy is easy. By having your straw
hives, if you use such, coated on the exterior with Roman ce-
ment, you will prevent mice from nestling in the straw, whence
otherwise they would speedily eat their way into the interior, and
by narrowing the entrance of the hive in the manner already de-
scribed, you will effectually keep out these little intruders. If
your stands be placed on a single foot, or if the feet are so
placed under the foot board as to leave a wide, projecting ledge,
no mice can arrive at the hive.

Toaps will kill bees occasionally, but not in sufficient numbers
to excite our alarm; but is rather to be regarded as a friend to
the bees, one of their enemies, the spider, being his favorite food.

Froes may be classed with Toaps.

Swarts and Stucs.—These creatures are not absolutely enemies
of bees, as they have no design upon them or their honey in en-
tering the hive, but merely do so from accident. The mischief
done by them consists in the alarm and confusion they occasion.
The bees first attack the unfortunate intruder and kill him with
their stings, after which they carefully encase him in propolis,
effectually preventing putrefaction or the production of maggots.

CarerPitLars.—The most dreaded is the caterpillar of the
Wax-moth, so called from the ravages it makes amongst the
combs as soon as it obtains entrance. By having the legs of the
stand placed as I have already described, no caterpillar can climb
up to the hive; but this will not prevent the Morn herself from
entering and depositing egos in the hive; and so prolific are
these moths, that a single brood would suffice to destroy a
wholé stock. Periodical fumigation, and cutting away such
combs as contain the grubs, is the remedy to be adopted. Moths
are only nocturnal enemies. During the day you have nothing
to fear from their attacks. Let the entrance to the hive, there-

68 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

fore, be nearly closed in the evening, and you will protect your
bees from their ravages. Columella recommends, as a trap for
moths, a bottle, or other vessel, with a long and narrow neck in-
creasing gradually to a wide mouth, and having a light in the
ueck, to be placed under the hive in the evening. I can vouch
for the efficacy of this trap—it will destroy numbers. Another
particular to be attended to is to have your stocks sufficiently
strong ; and for this purpose, if the hive attacked be weak, unite
it to the bees of another hive, in the manner already described.
The bees are themselves, if sufficiently strong in numbers, both
willing and able to destroy the intruders.- If weak, they will
necessarily fall victims.

MiturrEpes, or Woopiice, are often produced by the stand
being made of decayed wood, or the hive being placed too near
an old hedge. Let the stand be of new wood, and strew soot on
the ground under and about the hive. This will also serve in
part as a protection against the attacks of

Awts.—You should always destroy such ants’ nests as you
find in the neighborhood of a hive. In the West Indies glass
Jeet are used to prevent these insects from getting into furniture,
&c. Might not such be used with advantage for bee-hives ?

Licz.—These are smal! parasitical insects of a red color, which
adhere to the body of the bee, and derive their nourishment from
her juices. They are about the size of a grain of mustard seed,
or rather smaller.

Reaumur and others tried many remedies for these trouble-
some insects, but in vain, till at length Madame Vicat discovered
that Morocco tobacco will kill the lice without injuring the bees.

Spmwers.—Brush away their webs wherever you meet with
them near your stand.

Wasps and Horners.—These insects are most noxious to bees.
Dig up and destroy their nests wherever you meet with them;
but you will most effectually get rid of them by offering a re-
ward for every queen wasp brought to you in spring. ‘The de-
struction of each queen is tantamount to that of an entire nest;
and if this plan were generally adopted, wasps would eventually
be extirpated.

Birps.— Among those which are the greatest enemies to bees,
I may mention sparrows and swallows. Set traps near the hives,
baited with dead bees; shoot the birds; and hang up a few of

TREATMENT OF YOUR PRODUCE. 69

such birds as you kill, on trees near the stands. Perseverance
for a time in this will rid you of the annoyance.

Brexs.—Bees are amongst the most dangerous foes of their
own kind, being bold and resolute plunderers. It is only weak
stocks, however, that suffer, so that wnion is the obvious cure.
Avoid also placing your hives too close together; and also avoid
at any time placing a weak stock near a strong one.

I have now enumerated the principal foes you have to appre-
hend, and you will find if you follow my directions, they will not
prove so very formidable, but be much more easily got rid of, or
guarded against, than you imagined. On the other hand, if you
neglect proper precautions, and suffer the enemy to remain un-
molested, you will be equally astonished at the incredible amount
of mischief they will do, and the rapidity with which they will
do it.

———

CHAPTER XII.
HOW TO TREAT THE PRODUCE OF YOUR HONEY HARVEST.

In the first place, you must remove your store to some room
without a fire-place, for the bees have been known to make use
of even that mode of access in order to come at the honey, which
they are able to scent from a considerable distance. Close all
the doors and windows. You should previously have in the
room whatever implements you want—viz., some large glazed
earthen vessels, clean, new, horse-hair sieves, a strazner, some
clean linen cloths, and abundance of water to wash your hands.
Wildman recommends burning cowdung, or rotten hay, at the
doors and windows of the room in which you are at work, in
order to keep away the bees, and experience has shown that this
recommendation should be attended to. —

Your first care should be to examine the combs, and free them
from all dirt, grubs, young bees, or other foreign matters—re-
membering, of course, to have previously well and thoroughly
washed your hands. You then cut the combs horizontally into
pieces of an inch wide, and lay them on the sieve over the glazed
earthen vessels ; when they have dropped all the honey that they
will yield without squeezing, put them in the cloth already men-
tioned, and wring tt over another crock; this will furnish the

70 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

second class honey—that spontaneously yielded is called virgin
honey, and is equal in purity to that obtained from the bell glass.
Some have recommended heating the combs in order to pro-
cure an inferior, a third, description of honey; but this is bad.
When you have obtained all that you can squeeze through the
cloth or bag, carefully cover up the two sorts, put the combs,
also well covered, into a vessel by themselves, and remove all the
other cloths, vessels, and other utensils, to the apeary, that the
bees may lick them clean.
- Your next object is to obtain the wax ; for this purpose, put
the combs into a clean vessel, and add as much soft water as
they will float in—distilled water would be best—but razn will
answer nearly as well. Place the vessel on a clear and not too
hot fire, and watch it, stirring occasionally until the combs be
completely liquefied. You then strain this through a fine canvas
bag, into a tub of cold water. The water first flows through,
and then the bag requires pressure to make it yield the wax.
The simplest press is that recommended in Mr. Nutt’s book :—
“‘Have ready then a piece of smooth board of such a length that,
when one end of it is placed in the tub of cold water, the other
end may be conveniently rested against, and securely stayed, by
your breast. Upon this inclined plane lay your dripping, reek-
ing strainer, and keep it from slipping into the cold water by
bringing its upper part over the top of the board, so as to be
held firmly between it and your breast. If the strainer be made
with a broad hem round its top, a piece of strong tape or cord
passed through such hem will draw it close, and should be long
enough to form a stirrup for the foot, by which an additional
. power will be gained of keeping the scalding hot strainer in its
proper place on the board; then, by compressing the bag, or
rather its contents, with any convenient roller, the wax will ooze
through and run down the board into the cold water, on the sur-
face of which it will set in thin flakes. When this part of the
operation is finished, collect the wax, put it into a clean sauce-
pan, in which is a little water, to keep the wax from being burned
to the bottom; melt it carefully, for should it be neglected, and
suffered to boil over, serious mischief might ensue, liquid wax being
of a very inflammable nature; therefore, melt it carefully over a
slow fire, and skim off the dross as it rises to the top; then pour
it into such moulds or shapes as your fancy may direct, havin
first well rinsed them, in order that you may be able to get the

“TREATMENT OF YOUR PRODUCE, 71

wax, when cold and solid, out of them, without breaking either
the moulds or the wax; place them, covered over with cloths
or with pieces of board, where the wax will cool slowly ; because
the more slowly it cools, the more solid will zt be, and free from
flaws and cracks,” ;

You may bleach your wax by re-melting it, and running it
several times into very thin cakes, suffered to cool, and exposed
to the influence of the air and sun. This will render the wax
perfectly white.

You will find the separation of the honey from the wax, and
the sale of these substances separately, much more profitable
than the sale of the honey in the comb. The larger the cakes of
wax are, and the better, the higher price it brings. The same
may be said as to the purity of the honey. Honey may be
CLARIFIED by placing the vessel containing it in hot water, and
continuing to skim as long as any scum arises. In order to pre-
serve honey, it should be stored in jars, well bladdered, and
otherwise secured. It should also be kept in a dry place.

Meap.—Some persons may feel desirous of making for them-
selves this once famous drink, and I shall accordingly furnish
them with simple directions for so doing. Common mead is
formed by mixing two parts of water with one of honey, boiling
them together, and taking off the scum.

Fermented mead is formed of three parts of water to one of
honey, boiled as before, skimmed, and casked. The cask is to
be left unbunged and exposed to the sun, or in a warm room,
until it ceases to work. It is then bunged, and in about three
months is fit for use. The addition of a ferment is of course ne-
cessary, taking care that it be sownd, sweet, and good.

Hops are an improvement to mead, taking from its extreme
sweetness ; and so is the addition of chopped raisins boiled with
it, at the rate of six pounds of honey to each half pound of
raisins ; also some lemon peel; a few glasses of brandy, dc.

Metuecuin is only another name for mead, altered by the ad-
dition of various ingredients, according to the taste of its pre-
parers. These liquors may be racked, fined, &c., like other wines,
and will, if properly managed, keep for years. j

It now only remains for me to conclude my account of the hive
and the boney-bee with a few parting directions, forming a sort
of summary of the instructions I have already endeavored to
convey :—

we -

72 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE.

I.—Never suflocate your bees.

Il—Do not take too much honey from them at the honey
harvest. le

IU.—Keep them in such receptacles as will admit. of extend-
ing their accommodation when desirable, and thus preventing the
necessity of unwished-for swarming.

.1V.—Unite weak hives in autumn, and leave the bees a sut-
ficiency of food for the winter, so shall they be strong in store
and in numbers in the spring. »

V.—During winter keep them confined, cool, dry, and quiet ;
and in spring again examine and feed diberally such stocks as re-
quire it; and

VI.—If you, by attending to the advice I have endeavorec,
through the medium of this little volume, to convey to you, suc-
ceed in the culture, and discover how profitable as well as how
interesting a pursuit it is, when judiciously conducted, communi-
cate your experience to your neighbors. Abjure selfishness, and
so may you prosper; and in after years you will, perhaps, con-
gratulate yourself on having bestowed your attention on the
Hive anp THE Honeky-BEE.

THE END.