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ALBERT R. MANN
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New York STATE COLLEGES
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AGRICULTURE AND HoME ECONOMICS

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CORNELL UNIVERSITY

EVERETT FRANKLIN PHILLIPS

BEEKEEPING LIBRARY

ustralian bee lore and bee culture, incl

iii

Cornell University

Library

The original of this book is in
the Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright restrictions in
the United States on the use of the text.

http://www. archive.org/details/cu31924003192329

AUSTRALIAN
BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

AUSTRALIAN
BEF, LORE

D

BEE, CULTURE

INCLUDING

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS

AND

THE COLOUR OF FLOWERS AND ITS INFLUENCE
ON BEE LIFE.

BY
ALBERT GALE

Late Bee Expert and Lecturer on Apiculture to
N.S. W. Government.

ER

SYDNEY :
William Brooks & Co., Ltd., Printers,
17 Castlereagh Street.

1912.
hia es

£11664

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.—INTRODUCTION OF BEES.

Native bees—First hive bees, by Captain Wallace—First adver- Pas.
tisement—Controversary from 1822 to 1824—Taken to Jervis
Bay in 1840—White-fellow’s sugar i a in the early
seventies .. Ke 2 “i 4 os . a 1-3

CHAPTER II.—_INTRODUCTION OF THE ITALIAN BEE.

First Italian bees—Attacks by bee moth—‘‘Australian Bee
Manual,’’ references to, in 1886—Value of Italian queens
in 1882, onwards—Bee-keepers’ Association—Improvement
in hives—Foul brood, great destruction of bees by.. a 4-6

CHAPTER IIJ.—BEES’ POSITION IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

Classification —Vertebrata —Annulosa — Anthropoda — Lepidop-
tera, coleoptera, Irymenoptera, and apidae contrasted—
Genera and species of bees—Honey-producing and wax-pro-
ducing bees on si ave ig 26 Sa ae 7-9

CHAPTER IV.—SPECIES AND VARIETIES.

Social bees of commercial value—The bee of the future—Apis
mellifica, English bee—Apis ligustica, Italian bee—Virgil’s
description—Historical references thereto—Golden and
leather coloured—Italian drones, queens and workers—
Suitable for warm climates—East Indian bee, apis dorsata—

Great wax producers—Apis indica, description of—Apis
trigona, our native bee—Apis florea, description of—Car-
niolian bee—T'unic or Punic bee—Difference between species
and variety - Ag ee ~ x sn ie .. 10-18

CHAPTER V.—BEES’ HOME.

The bees’ home—Various hives—Bees bringing home supplies—
Bee-glue—Drone and worker cells—Wax-workers—Bees-
wax—Brood in various stages—Nurse bees—Uses of bees’
legs—The queen and her cell .. a3 ee we os 19-25

CHAPTER VI.—BEE-KEEPING.

Bee-keeping—Ancient history of—Francis Huber—The inmates
of bees’ home—Queen not royal—The mother bee—Always
a widow—Drones and workers always posthumas—Queen’s
power of reproduction—Queen cells—Neuter, a misnomer—
The eggs—Royal jelly—The cocoon—The bee-grub .. axe 26-31

iv. CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.—QUEEN BEE.

Queen’s internal anatomy—Power of control of sexes—Selection Pages.
of the fittest—Golden rule of queen breeding—Emergency
cells—Production of honey—Artificial queen cells—Traits of
a good queen—Metamorphose from egg to perfect insect
Fecundation of a queen—Her marital flight—Queen from
maturity to maternity—Production of drones, its cause—
Impregnation of ovary, not the ovum—Productive and non-
productive female bees—Change of sexual character of
egg—Differentiation of eggs—Egg, embryonic stage to
maturity—Circumstances controling reproduction—inferior
queens ve a3 a eh bs oe it ~ 32-53

CHAPTER VIII.—THE DRONE.
Drones greatly maligned—Drone cells and their inmates—

metamorphose—Food during development—Comparative
area, &c., of wings—External anatomy of drone and
worker compared—Parthenogenical reproduction of—Not the
Ishmaels of bee—Five questions and the various answers
from correspondents, re drones—How to obtain high-class
drones 3 ee hs ace ‘3 a: i = 54-60

CHAPTER IX.—MYSTERIES OF DRONE PRODUCTION.

Not lazy nor idle—Value of males—One mating only—Progeny
all female—Drones result of previous mating—Ilemale pro-
geny, result of queen’s fecundation—Male progeny, result
of queen’s mother’s fecundation—Atavism—Perfect and
complete females—Perfect and incomplete females .. a 61-63

CHAPTER X.—THE WORKING BEE.

Working female—Home duties—Foragers—As forest makers—
As florists—Novelties in flowers—Orchardists—Nature’s
workshops and workmen—Swammerdam on fecundation—
Development of egg and transformation—Moulting of larvae
—Chrysalis stages—Nurse bees, duties of—-Wax workers—
Care of the young—Huber on nurse bees—Most useful in
the division of swarms .. ie Ke 24 si es 64-68

CHAPTER XI.—FERTILE WORKERS.

Procreative y»workers—Drone-laying queens—mysteries of the
hive—Superseding queens ie a ifs “es y 69-70

CHAPTER XII.—SELECTION FOR STOCK.

Selection of bees for stock purposes—Select the fittest and these

survive—Mating uncontrolable—Can select the dam but not

the sire—Select so as to excel in gentleness and labour—

Resultant characteristics seen only in progeny—There is a
barrier to overcome i ae 53 i i oe 71-73

CONTENTS,
CHAPTER XIII.—EDUCATING BEES.

Ornamental comb building—How to-select bees and hives for the
purpose—Results—Successes and failures—Differences in
working abilities of bees—Physical energy :

CHAPTER XIV.—WHY DO BEES SWARM?

Nature’s reasons—Francoise Huber on swarming—Some errors—
Early Spring conditions—Supply of pollen an incentive—
Drones on the wing—Hours of swarming—Queen not frst
to leave—Piping of queens—Swarminy not for want of room
—Naturalist’s errors in regard to swarming—Signs of swarm-
ine—Parables—Natural and artificial swarming

77-85

CHAPTER XV.—SWARM CATCHING, HIVING, AND TRANS-

FERRING.

Special call notes—Scouts—Bee-song on settling—Not led by the
queen—Origin of beating frying pan when swarming—
Queen. not first to settle—‘‘Be gentle’’—Natural swarms—
How to hive—Place of rendezvous—Decoy boxes—EKarly
swarms—To prevent swarming—Vagabond swarms—How to
find queen in swarm—An adage—Site for permanent home—
Queen handling—Queen’s wing should not be clipped—Time of
swarming—Swarm removed to permanent home—The next

day—Casts
a

CHAPTER XVI.—TAKING BUSH SWARMS.

Tools and implements—Smoke bellows—Get the bees into a
box—Save all brood comb—To secure the queen—Main
object; bees and brood-combs not honey

CHAPTER XVII.—HANDLING.

Eyes, ears, fingers—Manipulation—Kindness and gentleness—
Docility—Bee knowledge—Length of bee life—Subdued by
smoke—Language of bees—Don’+ stand in their way—
When and how to examine—Charging the smoker—How
to smoke—Signs of subjugation

CHAPTER XIX.—DIVISION OF SWARMS.

When to divide—Conditions for—The season for—Internal
appearances of hive—Virgin queen—Necessity for fertile

86-100

103-107

108-112

queens—Summary v4 ee si ai ae .. 118-116

vi. CONTENTS,
CHAPTER XX.—RE QUEENING.

Change necessary—Throw-backs—Mating haphazard—Parentage Pace.
known by progeny—Life of queen, drone, worker—Early
stage of queen to lay—Queen’s procreative powers subsiding
—Workers’ love diminishes—Various ways of re-queening—
Caging new queen—Bee-candy—Grafting cells—Chloro-
forming—Why not always accepted .. see ue .. 117-121

CHAPTER XXI.—TRANSFERRING.

Maxim—Subduing—Drumming—Manipulating—Like begets like
—Confidence required—Charging the smoker—Virgil’s
method—Description of illustration from figurel to figure9 122-131

CHAPTER XXII.—THE HISTORICAL BEE-HIVE—ITS
EVOLUTION.

Amateur apiarists—Artificial bee-homes—Bible references—
India, Egypt, Japanese sun-dried clay-hives—Early experi-
mentors in hive construction—Various styles of hives—
Early germ in bar frames—Huber’s discoveries—Dzierzon’s
top-bar—Langstroth movable frame—Evolution of bar
frames—Nearing perfection—Value of the bar frame—Spac-
ing—Fixing foundation comb—Correct spacing by bees—
Bees and natural comb building—Bar frame, rise and pro-
gress—Shape and _ size—Storing honey—Brace combs—
Attachment of comb to frame—Dimensions—Natural heat
required—Nature’s bee space—Shallows—British Association
—Various improvements—Summary of hives—Machine
made hives—Hoffman’s metal ends—Narrow bottom bar—
Antipropolising inventions—Langstroth’s 61 reasons for his
perfect hive—Materials—Convex and concave bevels, advan-
tages of guide for measurements—Bee-space—Quantity of
timber required—Iron guages—Heddon’s measurement of—
Other hives—Langstroth’s simplicity, measurement of .. 132-138

CHAPTER XXUI.—MOVABLE BOTTOM BOARDS FOR THE
LANGSTROTH SIMPLICITY HIVE.

Measurements of V entrance No. 1—Measurements of No. 2—
Alighting board—Measurements of roofs—Quilt—Full-size
bar frame measurement—Centre bar—Shallows—Division
boards—Frame blocks, measurements of—Description of
Shallows—Division boards—Frame block, measurements of
—Description of fig. 2—Measurements of .. oh .. 139-150

CHAPTER XXIV.—CONCRETE FLOORS.

Superior advantages of—Measurements—Description of dia-
grams ae ” a ee ay ey i .. 151-153

CoNnTENTs, vii.

CHAPTER XXV.—HAWKESBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
APIARY.

1, General views—2 shows floor, wire cradle, and sections— Page.
Various hives in use in college apiary—The kiosk—Removing
hives and bees to another site si inf <a .. 154-160

CHAPTER XXVI.—ADVANCE OF BEE-LIFE UNDER
DOMESTICATION.

California—Extensive apiaries—Value of apparati—Honey har-
vests—N.S.W. National prizes a hobby—Ornamental apiaries
—As an article of diet—Some uses for honey i .. 161-165

CHAPTER XXVII.—APPLIANCES AND HOW TO USE THEM.

How to manipulate—Protection—Bee veils—Bee gloves—Other
protections .. ae ok ae) re a Zi .. 166-169

CHAPTER XXVIII.CHARACTERISTIC SITES FOR AN APIARY.

Make the most of it—Uses for honey—Will it pay?—Flower
culture—Gardening—Will it pay ?—Bees kept on house roor
—Bees at Agricultural Shows .. ee ne v8 .. 170-176

CHAPTER XXIX.—HIVE ARRANGEMENTS.

Success and failure—As a hobby—Semi-circular and straight
quincunx plan—Advantages of-——Bush-house apiary—lIts fit-
tings—Berlepsch hive preferable fa ae fs .. 176-181

CHAPTER XXX.—EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE.

Domestication — Nature’s home — Clay-hives— Hollow logs—
Hives of the first bee-keepers—Wild honey—Early writers—
Destroying bees for the honey—Nutt’s supernumary box—
The bar frame—Huber’s book hive—Langstroth and Dzier-
zon—Bees working in the open—Spacing—Bar-frames—
Heddon frame, its measurements—Shallow frames—Quinby
and other types, measurements of—Bar frames in parts—
Langstroth frame, its measurements—Thick top bar—Hoff-
man ends—Narrow bottom bar—Guage for staples—Ready-
made bar-frames—Langstroth’s 61 pros and cons—Materials
—Brooy chamber—Half-size super-roof—Quilis—Full-size
frame, page 221, and for shallows—Dummy—Section cradle
—Sections—Half-size dummy—Section holder—Sections see
diagram, page 228—Gale’s wire cradle—Berlepsch hive—
Hive in parts—The frame—Description of observatory doors
—How arranged—The verandah—Advantages and _ other-
wise—The combination hive—Its advocates and its pros and
cons vi oe oe is i Ae st .. 182-234

viii. CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXI.—BEE-KEEPING IN BAR-FRAME HIVES.

Beginner’s kit—How to get your bees—Transferring from trees
—Foundation comb—Home made foundation comb—Gloves—
The smoker—Swarm catcher—Uncapping knife—Solar ex-
tractor

CHAPTER XXXII.—BEE-WINTERING.

“‘Apiology”’—Climatic changes—Essentials for bee-life and
health—Winter feeding—Kind of food—Temperature—
Huber’s experiment—Ventilation—Numerical strength of
colony—Outside protection—Internal dampness

CHAPTER XXNIII.—NOTES ON HONEY.

Virgil—Honeys from Crete, &c.—Cuban honey—Parramatta
and Gordon honey—Orange blossom honey—Almond flavored
—White box, yellow box, and prickly tea-tree honey—
Uses of honey we 2 zo we = ;

CHAPTER XXXIV —THE VALUE OF BEESWAX.

Prices for wax—Wax production—Nature’s economy—Huber’s
experiments by forced production—Bees lengthen the cells
—aAdulteration—Demand for beeswax—Profits—Alcohol—
Specific gravity—Cheshire on adulterations—Testing for
adulterations — Discoloration — Causes — Moulding — Black
combs—Loss of wax—Solar extractor—Apis dorsata

PAGE.

235-241

242-249

250-251

252-256

CHAPTER XXXV.—THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS.

Essential addenda for crops—Nature’s reproductive army—
Flowering and flowerless plants—No bees, no fruit—Butter-
flies—Cross-pollenisation—Reproductive organs of plant
life—Nature’s use for blossoms—Stamens and_ pestils—
Fructification of entomophilous flowers, &c.—Parts of a
blossom and their uses—Bees and pollen or bee-bread—
The corolla—The calyx—Daylight and twilight flowers—
The nectary—Analogy between flowers and insects—Dar-
win on orchids—Male and female flowers on different plants
—Pollen for sale—Nature’s safeguard against in-and-in re-
production—Herodotus—Apples and pears—A grain of pollen
necessary for every grain of seed—Cause of mis-shapened
fruits—Matrimonial ceremonies—Conjugal traits of plant
life—Bees gathering pollen—Adaptation of bees’ bodies
for pollen gathering—Ovule receives the “germ of life’’—
Accomplished—How fruit becomes mature—Bees make no
mistakes—Work of butterfly and bee contrasted—Influence
of dust and rain storms on fruit crops—Destruction caused
by insects other than bees—Bees have few enemies—The
fall of unpollenised fruits.

257-273

CoNnTENTs. ix.
CHAPTER XXXVI.—ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION.

Bees the great fruit producers—Inoculated or cross-pollenised— Pacs.
Removal of pollen—Sexual flowers—How to effect inocula-
tion of the female flower—How to protect the essential
flowers—Instruments to use to effect fertilisation—Hybri-
disation—Healthy stameniferous and pistiliferous plants
necessary—Bisexual blooms—Double flowers—Plants_re-
turn to earlier forms—Pollen blooms, the cells of life;
pistillate blooms, the cells of matter—Hybrid plants, how
to perpetuate—‘‘Natural orders,’’ illustrations from the
poultry yard—Nature’s agents in the production of food for
man—Bee par excellence as procreative agents with entomo-
philous plants—Handicrafts, illustrated in bee-life—Bee-
keepers and orchardists’ confederates—Don’t check bee-
life—Color and perfume of flowers—Ants, bees, and wasps
—Sir John Lubbock—Inconspicuous blossoms more attrac-
tive than highly colored—Lubbock’s experiments—Grant
Allen’s advertisements—Brilliant foliage v. bright colored
flowers—Artificial flowers—The agent that attracts bees—
Nasturtium—Double flowers not attractive to bees—Bees’
various movements in gathering honey and pollen—Turnip
blossoms and lucerne flowers—Poppies—English bees with
Australian flowers—Australian white flowers more attractive
to bees than bright colors—Bright colors fail to attract
imported bees—Australian bee-keepers’ experiments .. 274-292

CHAPTER XXXVII.—COLOR OF FLOWERS AND ITS INFLUENCE
ON BEE-LIFE.

Entomophalous and anemophilous flowers—Sexes among plants
—Locomotive powers in plant-life—Difficulties in the way
of cross fructification—Nature of pollen—Bees pre-eminent
in storing pollen—Preceptive organs of insects—The native
bee—Adaptability of flowers to bees and: vice versa—Aus-
tralian honey plants—Nuptial flight of bees—Refutation of
authorities—Lubbock on ‘‘Bees, Ants, and Wasps’’—
Tests inaccurate—Observations in Botanic Gardens—Mr.
Baker, Technical Museum—Turnips and lucerne—Darwin
on bees’ ‘‘taste for coloured flowers’’—Poppies—Bees neg-
lecting to work on certain flowers—Why?—Sign boards
and fingerposts a hasty conclusion—Grant Allen—Nastur-
tium—Agricultural examination papers—Bees disregard
their Old World training when in Australia—Their loss of
education after they cross the equatorial line .. .. 293-302

CHAPTER XXXVIII.—BEE CALENDAR.

From January to December, inclusive—The work for each
month a by ocd a ws ia es .. 803-313

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Advance Australia (Frontispiece)
Honey Bees : ie vu

Bee Farming (past and present)
Queen cages and protectors

Queen cages (another type)

Queen cells

Queen cells on natural combs

Queen cells on bar-frames

Alley queen nursery (reversed)

Nursery cage es

Comb built in the open air

Queen rearing

Shallow bar-frame

Old straw hives

N.S.W. written by bees

Catching a swarm

Taking a clustering swarm

Transferring bees from a log

The smoker

Introducing queen cages 2 i a we Ss
The author transferring bees at the Hawkesbury College ..
“Yes, we believe it’’

The Heddon Hive

Bottom Board, No. 1

Bottom Board, No. 2.

Alighting Board

Descriptive Bar-frame

Frame Block, Fig. 1

Frame Block, Fig. 2

Concrete floors for bee-hives ‘
View of Apiary and Kiosk, Agricultural College

Pace

xii.

Hive and section cradle filled with sections

A Bee Farm

Hive Arrangements

Bush-house Apiary

Summer Shelter

Colony of bees on Geebung plant ..
Shallow Frame a
Frame Angles (thick top bar)
Measurement of Frame (new comb)
Self-spacing thick top bar

Staple Gauge an a
Langstroth’s Hive and its Fittings
Cradles for sections

Section : ee 2

Wire Section Cradle (Gale’s)
Berlepsch Hive and Frame
Foundation Comb

Honey Extractor (Novice’s)
Smoker (Pender’s)

Uncapping Knife

Solar Extractor

Bee-Wintering

Abdomen of worker showing wax pockets and wax scales ..
Essential or sexual organs of a blossom

An open blossom showing the organs and floral envelope

A deformed apple
Bee in the act of fertilising
Bee sting in sections

Fig. I. showing the combination of the floral envelope ..

Fig. II., Stigma, anthers, stamens, &c.

Brood-combs, and developing brood

List or ILLUSTRATIONS.

PREFACE.

N this volume I have collected together some of my published
articles, chiefly those that appeared from time to time in the
N.S.W. ‘‘Agricultural Gazette.” One of my reasons for so

doing is to make known the history of the introduction into this
State, of so valuable an insect as the honey bee. The publication
of newspaper and other extracts, herein presented, will prove the
historical authenticity of the facts.

A large percentage of the following pages was uttered from
public platforms, and what was there voiced was obtained by
research and of life-long observation ; not as Wisdom learned, but
as knowledge gained from the book of Nature. Nevertheless, a
well and judiciously selected library is the best of fertilizers to

inspire a healthy growth in research and of keen observation.

ALBERT GALE.

AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND
BEE, CULTURE.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION OF BEES TO AUSTRALIA.

As a business to which a man may devote his sole attention, as a
subsidiary to farming or fruit-growing, as an addendum, for
pocket money for settlers’ wives, or as a pastime for persons of
leisure in suburban homes, beekeeping has nowadays throughout
Australia, so many votaries, that it almost goes without saying
some brief account of the inception and growth of apiculture
under the Southern Cross will be appreciated.

It is a singular fact that, although both in the American
continent and our own, indigenous honey producing flora abounds;
the most diligent search by the entomologist and other natural-
ists, on the discovery of these new lands, was not rewarded by the
discovery of any social honey-bee having a commercial value.
Certainly there are indigenous bees in America, but the honey-
bee was an introduction. In Australia the only social honey-
storing insect in any way resembling the true hive bee is the
little so-called native bee, Trigona carbonaria. The native bee
of America does not occur here. Our native bee, Trogona,
is found in Africa and India, as well as throughout Australia.
The honey produced by these native bees is variable in quality,
and never equal to that of the hive-bee. It is not so very long
ago, however, since ‘‘wild’’ honey was much sought after in our
Australian bush as one of the greatest of luxuries. The fact that
the Trogona has no sting induced many people who would, in
those days of crude, ruthless methods have shrunk from an
adventure with social honey-bees to wage war against the stores
of the ‘‘wild bush bees.’’

In 1822 the first hive bees were brought to this part of the
world (Sydney), by a Captain Wallace, or Willis, in the ship
‘Tsabella,”’ according to Haydon. From the bees thus introduced
colonies were propagated and distributed inland. In the Govern-
ment Gazette, of 21st June, 1822, there appeared this advertise-

2 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

ment :—‘‘Hive of bees for sale by Mr. Parr. Bees imported by
Captain Wallace (or Willis).’’ In a number of the old Sydney
Gazette, dated Friday, lst November, 1822, there appears this
paragraph :—‘‘We congratulate our readers upon the complete
establishment of that most valuable insect, the bee, in this country.
During the last three weeks three swarms of bees have been
produced from two hives, the property of D. Wentworth, Esq.,
purchased by him from Captain Wallace, of the ‘Isabella,’ at his
estate, Homebush, near Parramatta.’’

In the Sydney Morning Herald, of 10th August, 1863, it
stated that at a meeting of the Acclimatisation Society of New
South Wales, bees were first brought to this country by Captain
Braidwood Wilson, from Hobart Town, in 1831. This was contra-
dicted in a later issue of the same paper in these words :—‘‘Bees
were brought from England to Sydney in the year 1824, in the
ship ‘Phoenix,’ which sailed from Portsmouth in March of that
year.’’ This, too, is evidently a mistake, or perhaps another
importation, as is evident from the fact that bees were advertised
for sale in 1822, which hag already been referred to. In 1840,
a settler at Jervis Bay purchased two colonies of bees, for which
he paid £4, and engaged two aboriginals to carry the hives on
their heads a distance of 40 miles. These were the black or
English bees, sometimes termed the German bee. For most
of these dates and extracts I am indebted to Mr. S. M. Mowle,
Usher of the Black Rod, of the Legislative Council, who married
the only daughter of the late Captain Braidwood Wilson, R.N-

From the foregoing small beginnings the descendants of these
bees soon spread themselves fairly well over New South Wales.
Of course, these bees were kept in hives or boxes of any or every
shape or style. The bar-frame hive was then unknown. Under
the old system anyone could have bees who had the courage to rob
them. The stray or escaped swarms of bees took to the bush. The
aboriginals soon learned from their white brothers how to subdue
bees by means of smoke, and with tomahawk and firestick, aided
by strong vines, would ascend the loftiest and smoothest of trees
to obtain the ‘‘white-fellow’s sugar bag.’’ The aboriginals have
no word in their own language for the introduced bee. The
flavour of the honey from the little native bee was no stranger
to them, but they were not long in discovering that both in
quality and quantity ‘‘white-fellow’s sugar-bag’’ was far superior.

In the early seventies, so plentiful had bees become in the

‘INTRODUCTION OF BEES TO AUSTRALIA. 3

bush that in the old George-street Markets, dishes and buckets
full of it, mixed with dead and dying bees, dead larvae in all
stages, broken comb, and rotten wood, were exposed for sale under
the cognomen of bush honey. To look at it was anything but
appetising. Better samples were bottled and sold under the name
of ‘‘prime garden honey.”’

About 1872, our bees met with an enemy that bid fair to
almost exterminate them—the bee moth put in an appearance,
from whence we know not. Hitherto no skill was required in the
management of bees that were kept at that time. New swarms
were put into a piece of a hollow log, sawn off evenly at both ends,
with pieces of stringy-bark nailed over the openings, and the bees
had to obtain ingress or egress as best they could. Gin cases, tea
chests, or boxes of other descriptions, were preferred, but in the
bush at that time these were not always to be obtained. Mani-
pulation of these hives was as crude as the grotesquely-made
hives. There was no consideration given for the lives of the bees.
These early beekeepers knew little or nothing of the importance
of the queen bee; they did not understand ‘‘no queen, no bees,’’
therefore no honey. It was a general destruction. When the
bees were robbed, wax, brood, comb, and queen were all sacrificed
for the honey, and the waste of the latter was almost as great in
quantity as that obtained. This slovenly way of bee-keeping,
combined with the ravages of the bee moth, would have set a
limit to the days of bee-keeping in this country had not means
been devised to check it.

4 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER IL.

INTRODUCTION OF THE ITALIAN BEE,

Unver the foregoing adverse circumstances thinking men
looked around for something that would be the salvation of the
bees. It was long believed that the Italian bee (Apis ligustica)
was an insect far superior in many ways to the English bee (Apis
mellifica). Not only was it superior as a honey-gatherer, but it
was reported to be far more alert, and more persevering in resisting
the attacks of enemies, more especially the bee moth, which in
England is known as the wax moth. So great was the onslaught
with these moth pests that people owning as many as 200 colonies in
a few years found themselves without a single bee. How to con-
tend against this pest was an unsolved problem. The bar-frame
style of hive was then little known, and the method of fighting the
moth in the gin-case hives was not understood; and so it remains
to this day. Not only were the bees kept in the crude
methods of the day decimated by this pest, but those that had
taken to bush life suffered, perhaps, to a greater extent than those
more immediately under the control of man. On the Clarence
River, to my knowledge, in the latter part of the sixties, it was not
unusual for men to take a horse and dray and go in search of bees’
nests, returning with two or three hundredweights of honey.
Neither was it an unusual thing to find two or three bees’ nests in
the same tree. But in later years these, through the ravages of the
bee moth, have nearly all disappeared. From the general slaughter
among the bees caused by the pest named, some few bee-keepers,
with more watchfulness than others, saved a few colonies out of
the general wreck. To perpetuate and multiply these was the
question of questions. The Italian bee was looked to for over-
coming the trouble, and enthusiastic beekeepers were not long in
importing the far-famed golden and leather coloured Italian bees.
In the Australian Bee Manual by Isaac Hopkins of New
Zealand, the introduction of the Italian bee in the Southern Hemis-
phere is thus referred to :-—‘‘It was stated by Dr. Gerstaecker that
four stocks of Ligurian bees were shipped in England by Mr. J.
W. Woodbury, in September, 1862, and that they arrived safely in

INTRODUCTION OF THE ITALIAN BEE. 5

Australia after a passage of 79 days.’’ It does not appear,
however, that these stocks succeeded and propagated any more than
a colony which Mr. Angus Mackay, Editor of the Zown and
Country Journal in Sydney, subsequently took to Brisbane, at
great expense, from America. Mr. S. McDonnell, of Sydney, im-
ported two colonies from America in 1880, and succeeded in raising
stocks from them; and, later, Mr. Abrahams (now of Beecroft).
a German bee-master, brought some colonies with him from Italy
in 1883, settled in Parramatta, and, having succeeded in rearing a
pure race of his queens, started an apiary for the Italian bee-
farming Company, of which he is manager and Mr. McDonnell
Secretary.’’ The date of the Bee Manual from which this is taken
is 1886.

In 1882 Mr. C. Fullwood, Brisbane, had sent to him direct
from Charles Bianconini, of Bologna, twelve Italian Queens. Of
these five arrived alive, and of a second’ shipment in the following
year seven reached their new home safely. In these early years of
the introduction of the Italian bee into Australia, the price of
pure-bred tested queens, reared in the colony, was from £2 to £3
each; and I have heard that in some cases as high a figure as
£5 had been asked. Of late years I have seen three advertised for
7s. 6d.

The inauguration of Bee-keepers’ Associations for the assistance
of amateurs, and exchange of thought and bee-keeping ideas, fol-
lowed soon after the introduction of the Italian bee. These
Associations were based on similar lines to those established in
England, which are acknowledged to have given incalculable benetit
to the peasant classes in the rural Wistricts, and the results have
been equally beneficial in this State. It was never the intentions.
of these associations to do more than give instructions to aid people
to add luxuries to their own table, in the same way as poultry-
keeping, fruit-culture, kitchen-gardening, &c., is carried on, so as
to expand the earnings of wage-earners, farmers’ wives and daugh-
ters, and such-like.

With the pure Italian bees which were at that time expensive,
came the necessity for the improvements in hives to permit of their
successful and profitable management. The Langstroth simplicity
bar-frame hive was welcomed as the very thing for housing these
costly insects, and although there are many types of bar-frame
hives available, the Langstroth bar-framed hive still holds chief
place in the esteem of up-to-date bee-keepers.

Some years ago, a disease, far more destructive to bees than

6 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

the bee moth, and now bids fair to be far more serious, made its
appearance amongst our bees—Foul Brood. On one occasion, at
Bombala, I saw over 100 colonies of bees destroyed by this disease.
The hives were filled with dead bees and festering foul-brood comb.
thus spreading the disease far and wide, for the disease is conta-
gious. Districts that were regarded as ideal as apicultural ones
were almost swept clear of bees. If keepers of bees, be it but
a single hive or an extensive apiary, earnestly set about acquiring
a knowledge of the character of the disease and of the causes that
are conducive to its spread, and co-operate with their bee-keeping
neighbours and the Associations in suppressing it, the bee-keeping
industry will be freed from a disaster that threatens to overwhelm
it.

THE BEES’ POSITION IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. a

CHAPTER III.
THE BEES’ POSITION IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

ALL natural objects belong to one of three great divisions—mineral,
~vegetable, or animal. In classifying any object of nature, the first
thing is to find to which of these kingdoms it belongs. These
kingdoms are cut up into groups, and are divided and subdivided
‘for the better understanding of the group or division any member
-of either kingdom may occupy.

Nature is very fond of diversity. She has been very lavishing
in the distribution of her infinite resources in all three kingdoms.
Jn the animal world alone she has'spread out before us nearly half

-a million classes of creatures endowed with life which inhabit land or
-sea. To better understand this vast army, of which the honey-bee is
a member, each one is marshalled under eight or nine different heads.
This splitting up is for the purpose of narrowing down or limiting
any one of them to a known position in the kingdom to which they
belong, so that in speaking, reading, or writing of them the mean-
‘ing will be the more intelligible and comprehensive. Thus, a bee
is as much an animal as a horse, cow, or fish, but in their classifica-
‘tion there are many grades between them. A horse resembles
a fish far more than it does a bee. The horse and fish have internal
skeletons and backbones (vertebrata), but the honey-bee has
neither. Again, the honey-bee resembles a spider, crab, or earth-
worm more than it does a horse or fish, but there'is a very wide
difference between a bee and the first three named. A bee is like
a spider or worm in that none of them have an internal skeleton or
framework of bones. The framework of bees, spiders, worms, &c.,"
are of the same construction, 7.e., made up of external rings.
Animals whose bodies are made up of external horny rings are
termed Annulosa. The organs of locomotion in spiders, worms,
.&c., have feet, Bees, also, although they fly, walk upon feet. But
the feet of a bee differ very much from those of a worm. There
are joints in the feet of spiders and bees, but there are none in those
of worms. Animals, the framework of whose bodies are composed
of horny rings and have jointed feet, belong to that division of the
animal kingdom termed Arthropoda.

Bees have jointed feet, and are, therefore, separated from

8 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

worms, &c., but she still keeps company with spiders. Arthropoda
are divided into classes. The honey-bee belongs to the class Insecta.
Here she leaves the company of spiders and crabs, and is joined
with butterflies, ants, beetles, éc. The honey-bee is not much, like
a beetle, but more so than it is like a spider. Compare the body of
a spider with that of a bee, you cannot but notice that the spider’s
body is made up of two parts only, head and body, and her eight
legs are attached to the latter. The bulk of a bee’s body is com-
posed of three parts—head, thorax, and abdomen. Bees have but
six legs, and these are attached to the thorax. Again, spiders lay
eggs, and so do bees, but the young hatched from spiders’ eggs
differ greatly from those hatched from bees’ eggs. From the
spiders’ eggs hatch out young spiders as perfect in form as their
parents. The young hatched from bees’ or butterflies’ eggs are as
dissimilar as an earthworm is from a butterfly, and in few respects:
like the bee or butterfly that laid the egg. From the butterfly’s
egg caterpillars are hatched. At first these young caterpillars are
very small; they grow rapidly, and when full-grown, they enter
another stage of development—a chrysalis or pupa. This third
stage is so unlike the caterpillar it developed from, were we not.
acquainted with the fact, it could not be conceived that it is in any
way connected with the parent that laid the egg. In course of
time, from this strange-looking chrysalis, a perfected bee or butter-
fly emerges. Spiders belong to the sub-kingdom Annulosa, and to
the division Arthropoda, but not to the class Insecta, because they
do not go through those stages in developing to the perfect form or
imago, as bees, butterflies, &c., do. Spiders change from egg tc
imago only. ‘Here the honey-bee must part from the company
of butterflies, beetles, &c. These latter are insects as much as.
bees are, but there is a great difference between them, chiefly in
their wings. Butterflies belong to the order of insects termed.
Lepidoptera, %.e., insects having wings covered with feathery scales,
and beetles to the order Coleoptera, their true wings being pro-
tected under horny cases. Bees to the order Hymenoptera because:
their membrane wings are thin, fibrous, and interwoven like net-
work. This order (Hymenoptera) contains the largest number of
families in the insect world. Some of them are very remarkable for:
their social habits and wonderful instinctive traits of character. The:
order Hymenoptera is narrowed down into families—Apide. In
it are included ants, hornets, wasps, ichneumons, bees, &c. All
these are very bee-like in their general form. We have not as yet

THE BEES’ POSITION IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 9

reached the particular position in the animal kingdom allotted to
true bees. The family Apide is divided into genera. In one of
the divisions termed Apis honcy-bees are placed; accompanying
them are mason-bees, carpenter-bees, &c. These latter are short-
tongued members of the genus, and therefore are not honey-
gatherers. Nevertheless, the habits of the whole of them are
extremely interesting. Of long and short tongued bees there are
about 2000 varieties. The genus Apis is split into species, and the
honey-bee belongs to the species Mellifica, and here is the exact
position assigned to our friend, the harbinger of civilized man—
one of the very few insects that have been domesticated for his use,
and the only one that he has brought under his subjugation as an
auxiliary in supplying him with that highly essential article of diet,
honey.

Nevertheless, every member of the species is not equally pro-
fitable from a commercial point. Some varieties of this species are
profitable only as wax-producers. When we consider the increasing
demand in the Home market for Australian bees-wax, the
quantity of honey consumed by our hive bees in the production of
comb, and our local requirements for the manufacture of that
indispensable adjunct to profitable bee-keeping, artificial founda-
tion comb, it at once raises the question:—Would it not be a
prudent step to introduce into our State some highly profitable
wax-producers !

10 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER IV.
SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF SOCIAL BEES.

THE genus Apis contains about 16 species and varieties of social
bees having a commercial value, and these are the only .ones to be
dealt with here. A large number of bee-keepers favour crosses,
and the cross sought for—the ideal bee of the future—must be one
possessing untiring industry, great energy, and unlimited endur-
ance, the queen possessing a docile temper, vigorous constitution,
and known for her powers of fecundity, producing workers that
are unlimited honey-gatherers and builders of flat, highly-finished
combs, in which drone cells are not too numerous, the workers
possessing, like the mother, the mildest of tempers. That such a
variety of these industrious and interesting workers as the fore-
going describes will be produced is only a question of time.

The cat, a descendant of the most ferocious of felines, by years
of domestication and association with the human family, has
almost forgotten the use of her talons; so also the dog, the ox,
and the horse have almost forgotten their powers to injure; there-
fore it is not unreasonable to suppose the bee of the future,
although possessing a formidable sting, will, by careful breeding
and selection, refrain from using the power she possesses to inflict
injury.

The various races of bees differ greatly, and their geographical
distribution is almost as wide as the poles, being found in a state
of nature in both the temperate and torrid zones.

Whether the bee of the future, possessing all the qualifications
and attributes that we think it ought to possess, will be a pure
race or a cross that has not yet been produced time alone can
decide.

With the pure races of bees that have already been imported
into this State—black, Ligurian, and Carniolan—important steps
have been made towards the ideal worker.

Apis mellifica is too well known to need any description, but
a chapter on “The Species and Varieties of Bees” would be incom-
plete without reference to them. Our old friend the black bee was
the first variety imported into Australia, and, like the black
aboriginal human race of the continent, will be soon superseded by
a superior variety.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF SOCIAL BEES. 11

Whether the black bee was the first variety that was domesti-
cated or not we have now no power of determining. The bees now
found where the human race was first cradled are varieties of
Apis ligustica. Therefore it is more reasonable to suppose that it
was the Ligurian rather than the English bee. Be that as it may,
it is the black bee that has followed in the wake of civilisation.
Wherever the colonist has planted his foot the black bee has
followed, but she is now fast making way for another variety that
is more fashionable in its attire. | Nevertheless, the black bee
possesses some excellent traits that it will be well to retain with
the incoming race. Her comb-honey is far superior in appearance
to that of the Italian bee. This is the only attribute in which
she excels her yellow-banded sister.

Apis ligustica, also known as the Ligurian, the Italian, and
vhe yellow Alpine bee, has long been known to entomologists. It
is supposed to be the bee that the Greeks and Romans wrote and
sang about.

Of the three varieties mentioned by Aristotle it is the one that
he speaks of as being ‘‘small and round in shape and variegated
in colour’’—his best variety. Virgil wrote of two varieties, and
speaks of the better of the two ds being ‘‘variegated and of, a
beautiful golden colour.’’? They appear to have been very fashion-
able in the time of these ancient historians.

The fashions of this world change. After the lapse of more
than 2000 years these yellow-banded bees have again become the
favourite variety, not alone on account of their attractive markings
and form, but for the many excellent qualities they possess over
their old-fashioned black brethren.

In 1805 Spaniola described it, and was the first to call it the
Ligurian bee. He found it in the plains of Piedmont. Spaniola
gave the variety the name of Ligurian from the old Roman name
of the northern shores of the Gulf of Genoa, the district that is
hemmed in by the Carmic and Helvenic Alps. The bee of the
northern districts of Italy, generally known amongst the bee-
keepers as the leather-coloured Italian, differs somewhat from its
more southern neighbour.

This southern bee is smaller, more ‘‘ladylike,’’ and three of
the abdominal rings are of a bright golden yellow. This bee is
also found in Asia Minor, the islands adjacent thereto, and in the
Caucasus. Its nature is more excitable, and it cannot be depended
upon like that of the north. In America, Italian bees are now

12 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

being bred for high colour; four-banded, or even five-banded
bees have now become a fixed strain. Some time ago, Mr. Abram,
of Beecroft, obtained by careful breeding four-banded Italian bees,
but did not attempt to fix the strain, being convinced that breed-
ing bees for colour, like breeding fowls for feather, would result
in no advantage in their more useful qualities.

Busch in 1855 described the Italian as follows: ‘‘The workers
are smooth and glossy, and the colour of the abdominal rings is a
medium between the pale yellow of straw and the deeper yellow
of ochre.’’

‘‘These rings have a narrow black edge, so that the yellow
(which might be called leather-coloured) constitutes the ground.”’

This description tallies with that of the bee of Northern
Italy. Cheshire’s pen describes it more accurately. He says ‘‘the
first abdominal ring on the dorsal sidé mainly faces the thorax,
and may be missed by careless observation; its lower edge only is
black. The upper two-thirds of the second is yellow; the upper
third smooth and hairless, because this passes beneath the ring
above it when the body is contracted. A band of yellow hair
covers the second-third and adds much to the beauty of the bee,
as the hairs and ground are alike yellow. The lower-third of the
ring is glossy black, carrying many microscopic hairs and a minute
fringe. The third ring resembles the second, while the fourth and
fifth carry yellowish hairs, but are otherwise black; the sixth ring,
black also, is nearly hairless.’’ These are the chief points that
mark the pure three-banded Italian bee.

This bee readily crosses with A. melificu, aud the cross thus
producled, as is usual with the crossing of other animals besides ‘
bees, will partake of the character of both parents, some of the
offspring showing the characteristics of the male stronger than
the markings of the female, and others retaining more of the
peculiarities of the mother than the father. We often see in the
same swarm of crossbrids, bees differently marked.

The drones Apis ligustica differ from the workers in having
the upper half of their abdominal rings black and the lower half
yellow, and they are somewhat smaller than the drone of A. melli-
fica. As compared with the worker the under side of the abdomen
is yellower. In colonies where the workers are found to be uniform
in markings the queens greatly vary, some are dark and may be
mistaken by amateurs for the queens of A. mellifica. Other queens
are to be met with quite yellow, except a small dark brown dot on
each dorsal plate of the abdomen. Most Italian queens have

SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF SOCIAL BEES. 13

the abdomen long and beautifully tapering towards the caudal
extremity. These yellow queens are very beautiful and have the
advantage of being more readily distinguished on the comb when
mixed with the workers than their darker compeers, an advantage
that should not be lost sight of, especially with those who have not
a very observant eye. The advantages that A. ligustica have over
A. mellifica may be summed up as follows:—The queens are ex-
tremely prolific,,and as soon as one brood emerges from the chrysalis
she is ready to refill the brood cells with enormous quantities of
éggs. In this respect she greatly surpasses her black sister. It is
seldom one finds the brood comb of the latter regular. In the same
comb will be found eggs and larve in various stages of development.
In the brood combs of the Italian bee these irregularities are very
rare, the brood in each comb will be as even as sealed honey, every
cell having its inmate in the same stage as its neighbours. They
recover from spring dwindling early in the season, and as the early
honey-bearing flowers expand they have a large army ready to
enter upon the labours of the field. The variety as a,rule is
possessed of a mild temper. Nevertheless I have seen the progeny
of some queens far more irritable than any black bee I ever
handled. A little smoke will easily subdue the Italian bee, and
they bear manipulating well. It is not an unusual thing to see
the bees at work while the comb is held in the hand, and occasions
have occurred of the queen depositing her eggs in the presence of
the observer. They adhere to the comb with greater tenacity than
the black bee; the latter can easily be removed by a sudden jerk,
whilst the Italian bee has nearly always to be brushed off. They
bear artificial swarming much earlier than our old friend the black
bee, and to an extent that would soon decimate if not entirely
annihilate the latter. They defend their stores with the courage
of a British tar, whilst that same attribute makes them marauders.
and determined robbers of their weaker neighbours. A fairly
strong colony is proof against the wax moth. For industry, and as
honey gatherers, they have not as yet been surpassed. Mr. Radl-
kofer says ‘‘Not only are Italian bees distinguished by an earlier
awakened impulse to activity and labour but they are remarkable
also for the sedulous use they make of every opening flower, visiting
some on which common bees are seldom or never seen.’’

Morawits and Douglas say ‘‘The brighter coloured ggouthern
bee of Italy is more suitable for hot climates,” whilst Langstroth
(speaking of the Italian bées generally) says that ‘‘the Italian bees
are less sensitive to cold than the common kind’’ (black). * ‘There

14 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

is no doubt a good deal of truth in both statements, for bees like
other animals adapt themselves to climatic changes more readily
than members of the vegetable kingdom. In the warm valley of
the Hunter River the leather-coloured bee is the favourite.

Italian drones are far more vigorous than those of the black
bee, and as a rule are on the wing much earlier in the day. The
virgin queen has also this early rising habit. This habit of the:
sexes is a great aid in keeping a good strain unmixed, especially
inea district where black drones are numerically weak. Dzierzon.
was under the impression that where both kinds of drones exist in
about equal numbers the Italian queens will usually encounter the
Italian drones, because both drones and queens are more active
and agile than those of the common bee.

The reason of the Italian bee again becoming the favorite
after the lapse of so many years was without doubt the beauty of
its markings and the mildness of its temper, the latter making it-
the ladies’ bee par excellence, and the amount of care and attention
that has been bestowed upon it has developed traits and charac-
teristics that could never have been brought out in the black bee.
If the same amount of care and attention be bestowed upon it-
during the next quarter of a century that has been bestowed upon
it during the last, the ideal bee of the future will soon become a.
reality.

Apis dorsata.—This bee is sometimes termed the giant bee of
East India. No variety of bees build such. slabs of comb as this
one. Of ten times under the ledges of rocks, or hanging from the
thick branches of trees, combs 6 feet long by 3 feet in width are
met with. <A. dorsata frequently appear to build these slabs of
wax for the mere fun of the thing, or for the purpose of keeping
their ’prenticed hand in practice, which must be accounted as an
advantage in their utility as wax producers. A. zonata, of the
Philippine Islands, is said to be a larger bee than A. dorsata, but
it is highly probable that it is a variety of the latter. In con-
structing their comb, the cells in which drones are reared do not
appear to differ in size from that of the worker’s cell. Mr. Frank
Benton was the first to give any reliable information in regard to
these bees. He visited India in 1880-81, and in the jungles ob-"
tained colonies by cutting the comb from their original attach-
ments. He placed these colonies in frame hives, and permitted
them to have free ingress and egress, and they did not desert these
enclosed habitations. They were found not to be so ferocious as
had been represented. With proper precautions when hived they.

ie

5.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF SOCIAL BEES. 15

HONEY BEES.

Worker, Carniolan Variety of Apis mellijica—twice natural size.

Giant Honey Bee of Kast India (Apis dorsata), Worker—twice natural size.
Giant Honey Bee of East India (Apis dorsata), Drone—twice natura] size,
Drone, Carniolan Variety of Apis mellifica—twice natural size.

Queen, Carniolan Variety of Apis mellifica—twice natural size.

SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF SOCIAL BEES. \7

are easily handled, even without smoke. From the quantity of
honey and wax present when these bees were obtained, it was evident
they are good gatherers. Owing to illness Mr. Benton failed to
take these bees to America for the purpose of acclimatisation. He
says: “These large bees would doubtless be able to get honey from
flowers whose nectaries are located out of reach of ordinary bees,
notably those of the red clover, now visited chiefly by humble bees
and which, it is thought, the East Indian bees might pollinate and
cause to produce seeds more abundantly. Even if no further
utility, they might prove an important factor in the production
of large quantities of excellent wax, now such an expensive
article.’’

Apis indica is common in Ceylon and the southern parts of
Asia. It is domesticated in the East Indies by the Dutch and
British settlers, who keep them in habitations made of clay similar
to drain pipes, placed in trees and other elevated positions.

The worker of this species of bee is 3 inch long ; general colour,
a dark brown, almost black, with a yellow shield on the thorax
between the wings; each segment of the dorsal plates of the abdo-
men is tinged with an orange colour. ‘The queen is about one-
fourth larger than the workers, and is readily distinguished from
them, being of a dark coppery colour. The drones are not much
larger than the workers, but differ from them in colour, being of a
metallic blue; their wings in the sunlight constantly changing
colour—something like shot silk. They are very active, and are
said to be very gentle, while the pain resulting from their sting is
not so severe as that of A. dorsata.

Apis trigona (our native bee) are natives of Australasia, and
extend into India. They are something less than our common
house fly; colour, black, with dirty white rings on the dorsal seg-
ments of the abdomen. They generally build in the hollows of
trees, and store their honey in irregularly-formed cells. It has an
agreeable flavour, but the storage of it by the bees is so small the
insect is not worth domesticating.

Apis florea.—The tiny honey bee of India, one of the smallest
of the species known, even more slender than our native bee. In
colour, they are a blue black, one-third of the abdomen having a
bright orange tinge. Like A. dorsata, they build in the open air,
fasteuiny their single comb to a twig in a bush, and, like all honey-
gathering bees, it hangs vertically. ‘lhe comb seldom contains
more than about 20 inches of surface, usually about 7 inches long

18 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE-

by about 3 inches in width. The cells in the comb are extremely
small; there are about 100 to the square inch.

Apis mellifica.—There are several varieties of A. mellifica, and
it is this species, on account of their use to man, that has been in
all ages so universally sought for. The black or brown, or, as it
is sometimes called, the German bee, is the common well-known
hive bee that was introduced into New South Wales by Dr.
Wilson, and is now so universally distributed throughout our
forests. The Cyprian bee, as its name indicates, is a native of
Cyprus. The dorsal segments of the abdomen are a golden yellow.
They are very irritable, easily angered by rough handling, and
susceptible to the least excitement, nevertheless they are valuable
as honey gatherers. Zhe Italian bees (Ligurians) are natives of
Italy. They have golden or leather-coloured segments on the three
dorsal plates of the abdomen nearest the thorax. Those having
the golden markings are chiefly met with in the southern parts
of the peninsula, whilst the leather-coloured are inhabitants of the
northern districts of the country. They are supposed to be a fixed
strain of a cross between the German and the Cyprian bees. Both
these varieties readily interbreed and their progeny are always re-
productive. Since the Ligurian bee has become fashionable four
and even five banded bees are to be met with. The Carniolian
bees are natives of Carniola in Austria. The workers are some-
what larger than the common black bee, neither is the abdomen
so pointed. They differ in colour in having a ring of silvery-hued
hair on each dorsal plate. As honey gatherers they probably rank
equally with the Italian bees, and the cross between the two varie-
ties is said to be superior to that between the black and Italian.

The Tunie bee is sometimes named the Punic bee; they are
natives of the northern districts of Africa. They are not so
valuable as either of the former as honey-gatherers. The best
working variety of A. mellifica is the pure Italian.

Apis dorsata, A. indica, A. trigona, A. florea, and A. mellifica
are species of the genus Apis; but the German, the Cyprian, the
Italian, and the Carniolian bees are only varieties of the species
Mellifica. Species differ from varieties in that they do not readily
interbreed, and where such intercourse takes place the progeny are
hybrids or mules, and result in not being reproductive. A species
is a conception subordinate to a genus with attributes extending to
fewer individuals, whilst a variety is that which varies or difiers
from others of its kind.

THE BEES’ HOME. 19

CHAPTER V.
THE BEES’ HOME.

Nort the home of the bees—their habitat; that would necessitate
my writing of the species Apis mellifica, and that would require a
description of the habits of dorsata, fasciata, mellifica, and many
others having social habits, and also of the varieties these have
branched off into—the leather-coloured Italian from the north of
Italy; the golden Italian, from the south of that peninsula; the
Cyprian, from the island of that name; the Carniolian, from
Hungary; and our old friend from England, the black bee.

I was asked some time since, by a lady, what is a bee like?
is it anything like a blowfly? I then began to ponder is it possible
in the eleventh hour of the nineteenth century that there are
people who do not know anything about bees—the hive bee espec-
ially. If I had been asked if there are any other bees besides the
honey bee, it would not have set me thinking so much. It is not
to be supposed that people who eat honey can have any interest
in the solitary bees—the mason, the carpenter, the upholsterer bee,
&c. Then I thought, well, but everyone are not bee-keepers.
What is so very familiar to me and other bee-keepers cannot be
universally understood. One time I turned up a school book of
object lessons that was written by a lady, and it said ‘‘a bee is an
insect. with two wings,’’ and I have turned up some of the latest
works of natural history and I find they are still perpetuating old
theories about the honey bee and its home, and why the cells in
the comb have six sides. Most people believe what they read,
but that is not always a wise thing to do.

Let us take a ramble to the bees’ home and see who and what
are there, what they are about, and how long it takes to perfect
some of their productions. Turn over some other pages and you
will see several patterns or styles of bee-hives. Come out into my
garden with me and have a look at some of them in the wood in-
stead of illustrations on paper. There is an old-fashion Langstroth,
and here is a very modern Langstroth with all the latest improve-
ments. That one? Oh, that is a Heddon. I don’t want you to
look at the hives; I want to give you an insight of the interior
and what is going on there. Are these bees going in and out of

20 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE-

that hole? Yes. I want to draw your attention to these. You
see that one with lumps of yellow clayey-looking material on her
hinder legs. Well, that is pollen; they get it from the anthers of
flowers. Many people think it is the wax, but it is not. It is the
stuff they make bee-bread with. What is bee-bread? When we
open the hive I will show you some and tell you all about it. There
are some bees going into the hive without, apparently, any load,
but nevertheless, they are well laden, but the'cargo they are taking
in is honey. Look, I will catch one of the bees that is outward
bound, and show you; I must kill her or she might sting. Her
body (I am not going to use any scientific terms) is formed with
six horny rings; these are slightly overlapping each other. If I
caught that bee away from her home I should know she was going
out to work, because the rings are close together and rather over-
lapping. Now look at this one; she has just returned from her
field labour. Her body is longer, and there is a little whitish
mark between each ring; that tells me that her honey sac (she
carries that internally) is full of honey. From those markings,
if I caught her in the street, I should know she was going to her
home. What is that—that one covered all over in yellow dust?
That is pollen too. It differs from that carried on the legs. The
pollen they carry on their bodies in that way is dry and floury, and
they cannot kneed it into little pellets, and stow it away in the
pollen baskets on their hinder legs. Pollen from some plants is
like damp flour, and from others like dry sand; the former they
can kneed into balls, the latter they carry home between the hairs
of their bodies. That little furry bee just gone out is a young
one; that one there is more shiny—she has not so many hairs over
her body ; that is the effect of old age and other causes. That big
bee just outside that box—is that the queen? No, that is a drone,
or male bee. I can catch him alive; he has no sting. You
notice he has seven horny rings to form his body. He has larger
cyes and longer horns than the workers. Those bees in that hive
there are not like those? No, that is the English black bee. These
here with four bright golden bands on their bodies are the golden
Italian bee. Look, these bees working in this hive have all sorts
of markings; some have two yellow rings, others have three. There
is one all black, and there is one with four golden bands. These
are cross-bred. Yes, all these varieties readily interbreed, one
with the other. I thought cross-bred animals would not reproduce ?
Yes, they will; it is hybrids that do not often reproduce. Is there
anything more you would like to know about these bees that are

HOME.

5)

BEES

eo

THI

ear ay, *Bululiej-a39g ae Sy

THE BEES’ HOME. 23

flying in and out of the hive? No; only I notice that some of the
bees have much shorter wings than the others. They are old bees,
and their wings are much worn with constant use. You must re-
member the number of trips they make daily, and the many miles
they have to travel.

Well, now let us: have a look inside at the bee nation, so
poetically described by fanciful writers; but it is not a nation—
it is only a home where dwells the mother, the father, and the
children. No; that is wrong. There is no father. He is dead.
Bee progeny are always posthumous. There are drones in here, but
they are not fathers. You see, this is a 10-frame hive; it is too
large for around Sydney. I will lift the quilt at one corner and
blow in a little smoke. You will note the Why and the Where-
fore further on. That dark sticky stuff on the top of the frames
that makes the quilt adhere so firmly is termed by bee-keepers
bee-glue. It is a substance bees procure chiefly from the buds of
trees. There is not much in this outside frame but honey. That
glistening liquid is the new honey they are just bringing in. Those
cells on the top of the frame are filled and sealed over. They will
keep that for winter use unless it is required earlier. You will see
these cells on the outer parts of the comb are larger than those
more in the centre. The larger ones are drone cells and the
smaller workers’ There are not many bees on this frame; we
shall find more towards the centre of the hive. Here, look!
These bees hanging down in a festoon like a chain are
wax workers. Oh, beeswax is a secretion that forms in eight
little pockets that are found in the under part of the body of all
workers, but not in the queen or drone. Let us take a frame
from the centre of the hive. I shall find all we want to see there.
Yes, just as I expected! Tere is brood in all the stages of de-
velopment. See the little white specks at the bottom of these
cells? No? Here, let the sun shine in on them. I thought you
would see them then. These are the eggs the queen has laid either
to-day or yesterday. These little fat fellows curled around in the
bottom of the cell are bee grubs a few days old. These big fellows
that almost fill up the whole cell have nearly completed their grub
stage. Where the brown caps are on the cells are the young bees
in their last stage cf development. Here is one that is just
eating her way out. That little woolly fellow, after about twenty-
one days of imprisonment, has just come out to see what the bee-
home is like. These light-coloured woolly ones that are running
about more nimbly are older. They are now engaged in the duty

24 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

of feeding their younger brothers and sisters. They have not been
ont of the hive yet. They don’t go out to work till they are
about 14 days old. They then give up their nursing duties and
become field labourers. Those capped cells that stand out more
prominently? Oh, there are young drones in there, they will
remain in the cells about forty hours longer than the worker; you
see the cells are more bulky every way than the workers. That
dark substance in these cells is bee-bread, made from that pollen
you saw the bees carrying in on their hinder legs. That, eaten
by the nurse bees, with a little honey and water added, is the
material the young bees are fed upon whilst they are in the cells.
No, these big bees out there are not queens, there is only one
queen. Well, there is very likely to be one or two unhatched
queens; these are always more or less present in the spring and
also in summer, if the season is good Why are there so’ many
drones, when there is only one queen! You will learn that further
on. That long bee there is the queen? The first you ever saw!
Yes; she is easily picked out when you know her. Not much
difference, only much larger? To you there may not be, but I
can see a vast difference between her and a worker even externally.
True, she has six rings to her body, and four wings and six legs,
the same as a worker. Those two legs nearest the head of the
worker are very similar to those of the queen. They both carry
little combs in them for the purpose of cleaning their horns
(antenne). In the hinder legs of the queen there are no baskets
to carry the pollen, neither has she those little nippers for remov-
ing the wax scales from the pockets that the worker has. The
middle pair of legs in the worker contains a crowbar to lever out
the pollen from the baskets. This is not so with the queen. The
legs of the queen and the drone more nearly resemble each other
than those of the queen and the worker. I will pick up the queen
by the wing. I must handle her very gently or I may injure her
for life, or she may become what bee-keepers term a drone layer.
Oh, yes, she has a sting, and a very formidable one too. It is the
drone has no sting. No, she won’t sting. She can if she wishes
to, but as a rule she only uses it on rival queens; her sting is not
like that of the worker—that is straight, like a fine needle, but
the queen’s is somewhat curved. You would like to see the cell
the queen lives in? She does not live in a cell. Her home is
anywhere in the hive; but usually she is to be found on comb, in
the cells of which she is laying. That large knob there, some-
thing like a lady’s thimble, is a queen’s cell; that is the cell from

THR BEES’ HOME. 25

which one will be hatched. She will be out in a day or so—
sixteen days from the time the egg was laid till she emerges from
the cell. That cell like an acorn-cup is one from which the queen
has emerged. No, they won’t use this cell a second time. Well,
I think now we had better close them up, they are getting restless.
Those bees you hear flying around you, making a sharp, shrill
noise, have just returned from field labour, and they cannot
understand what we are up to. Further on, you will find the
whole theory of this in detailed or in practical and scientific
language.

Queen Cell
Protector.

Queen Cage.

26 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER VI.
BEE-KEEPING.

Tue natural history of bees and their economy are subjects that
have attracted the attention of man for many ages. The most
ancient writings, sacred and profane, are frequently interspersed
with references to bees and their habits. In the earliest Jewish
sacred writings both bees and honey are often mentioned. Honey
is first mentioned when Joseph was in Egypt. These early people
were impressed with the value of honey as food, and also with the
wonderful peculiarities in the habits of the bee. Aristotle and
other ancient philosophers did not deem the subject of too trivial
a nature for investigation. Virgil and other early historians and
scientists of that day patiently pursued the same track with a zeal
worthy of the men and times. It was not until towards the close
of the 17th century that any practical means and appliances were
constructed for looking into and observing the bees actually en-
gaged in their domestic duties. Francis Huber, born 1750, and
died 1831, was one of the most zealous workers in apiculture that
the world had ever seen, notwithstanding that he laboured under
the great physical defect of the deprivation of sight. .In his
labours he was greatly assisted by his wife and man-servant. In
more modern days, Dzierzon was an indefatigable investigator of
bee-life. Professor Cook says of him:—-‘‘As a student of practical
and scientific apiculture he must rank with the great Huber.’’
Latterly apicultural societies have been formed in every civilised
country— those of Europe, America, and Australia, being in the
van.

A hive of bees in the spring and summer time is made up of a
mother-bee and her sons and daughters, but late in the autumn it
is composed of a mother and daughters only. The inmates of a
hive are not of ‘‘three different kinds’’—an error of Aristotle and
other early historians, and perpetuated by many writers of these
modern days. They are all of one sort or kind. They differ only
in sexes. There are not three sexes—they are males and females.
The drone is not a different sort of bee to the queen, neither is
the worker a different sort to the queen or drone. Upwards of
2000 years ago, when the honey-bee first began to draw the atten-

BEE-KEEPING. 97

tion of the then scientific men to the wonderful economy of the
‘Bee Nation,’’ there were some wonderful flights of conception
written. What could not be discovered by actual observation was
filled in by imaginary facts. If Aristomachus spent fifty-eight
years of his life, and Philiscus the: whole of his, in the woods in
attempting to unravel the hidden mysteries of bees ‘‘at home and
abroad,’’ what is there to wonder at that the big bee that was
sometimes found in a swarm should be regarded as ‘‘the king’’ of
that swarm, or a hive or nest of bees as governed by laws as un-
alterable as those of the Medes and Persians. In no sense are bees
royalists. The so-called queen before her marital flight is not
even noticed by the other members of the household: She is one
of them. The working-bees pass her with indifference. Those
feeding her are supposed royal suite of attendants. In
her maidenly days the bees do not take the trouble to feed or even
offer her food, but when the queen’s maternity arrives they are
most solicitous in offering it to her. They follow her wherever she
goes, always anxiously anticipating her every want. If in the days
of her maidenhood her stomach be microscopically examined no
chyle food that has been supplied by the workers will be found
therein. Undigested pollen-grains in numbers are always there—
nourishment that she has obtained direct from the cells. It is not
till she is about to become a mother that she is ‘‘carefully watched
and tended”’ by the other inmates, and the attentions they then
bestow upon her are not those of courtiers to royalty, but for
economical reasons. During the queen’s laying period she has not
even time for her food to digest to form egg-matter. Her time is
wholly taken up in her maternal duties. Bees are not even repub-
licans. The queen (custom compels me to use the term) is in no
way chosen by the citizens. ‘‘Mother-bee’’ is the term used by
German bee-keepers, and it is far more expressive than that of
queen. She is destined to be the mother-bee from the laying of the
egg.

As our families are composed of a father, mother, and sons
and daughters, so a colony of bees is similarly constituted; but
with this difference: the mother-bee is always a widow, and is such
immediately after the consummation of the matrimonial ceremony.
The brood in the hive, both drones and workers, are always post-
humous children.—i.c. have no father.

The mother-bee is a perfect and complete female, and is the
only female that is so complete and perfect in a hive. In these
characteristics she differs from a working-bee—-the latter is perfect,

28 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

but incomplete. The queen, like drones and workers, is also
posthumous, and is the only one capable of fecundation. Her one
duty is simple, but very exhaustive. It is that of egg-laying.
During early spring she is capable of laying 2000 to 3000 eggs a
day; that is, if she is one of a strong colony—a colony containing
plenty of nurse-bees, and also plenty of foragers. If her daily
count of eggs fall short of this there is something wrong with the
queen, the other inmates of the hive, or the bee-master.

Shiemenz says, ‘‘the queen’s body-weight is 100 grammes, the
eggs in her ovaries half that weight, and that she produces in eggs
her body-weight 110 times in a year.’’ Cheshire says ‘‘she lays her
own weight (in eggs) daily.’ To keep up this enormous drain,
her system requires a constant supply of very highly-nutritious or
egg-producing food. Indeed, during her laying-season she has no
time to digest food, to say nothing of the time required to feed
herself. Her feeding is done by proxy, and her digestion is largely
performed by working-bees. :

Schonfeld says ‘‘that this queen-food is produced, not secreted,
in the chyle-stomach of the workers, and is pure chyle-food.”’
Dzierzon calls it bee-milk, and Dr. A. von Planta by chemical
analysis has proved the truth of the assertion.

The queen-cell, as is seen from the diagram, is in no way even
similar to the drones’ and workers’; the two latter are built of
wax, compactly put together, and almost horizontal. Queen-cells
are perpendicular, with their openings upwards; and according to
Dr. A. von Planta and others, ‘‘their sides, as -well as their
cappings, are porous, and consist of wax and pollen.’’ He also
says that this porosity is of physiological importance for the vital
functions of the larve, and is more pronounced in the sides of
queen-cells than in the worker and drone cells (of which I shall
treat further on); and it is highly essential to be so when ‘‘such a
precious creature as a queen has to breathe therein.’’

In such cell, in early spring, if there is a fairly good honey-
flow, the mother-bee will deposit an egg. All the egg-germs within
the ovaries of a queen bee are uni-sexual (males); nevertheless it
is within the queen’s power, according to season or requirements,
to differentiate the sexual character of the egg-germ, by (as it
passes through the ovaduct) permitting it to receive a germ of
spermatozoa before it is deposited in the brood-cell. When thus
the sexual character of the egg is changed, it will produce a female
—one that is perfect and complete, or one that is perfect and
uncomplete. If it is to become a mother-bee, the egg that has

BEE-KEEPING. 99

has been differentiated will be laid in a queen-cell, and its inmate
will be perfect and complete. If it is to become a worker-bee, the
egg will be laid in a worker-cell, and its inmate will be perfect,
but incomplete. By perfect and complete I mean a female that is
capable of reproducing a colony of bees—queen, drones, and work-
ers. By perfect and incomplete we mean that inmate of the
hive which is wrongly termed a neuter.

Nevertheless this neuter is equally as perfect as the queen,
but is physically incapable of reproducing her species, being
deprived by nature of the power of fecundation. To term a
working-bee a neuter is scientifically and grammatically wrong.

The eggs laid in the queen and worker-cells must undergo the
sexual change above referred to. Sometimes eggs that have not
thus been feminised are laid in worker-cells; such eggs always
produce drones. They are known by their cappings being much
elongated. Working-bees do not appear to discover the queen’s
error till too late, or they are satisfied to ‘‘leave well alone.”
Working-bees have the power of removing the eggs from one cell
to another. This may easily be demonstrated by removing in the
spring-time a frame of brood-comb containing eggs from the
centre to the sides of the hive. The morning following the eggs
will all have been removed elsewhere. When the queen lays a
drone-egg in a worker’s cell they (the workers) prepare for the
development of the masculine inmate accordingly. Not by the
removal of the interloper to a drone-cell, but bv increasing the
capacity of the one it is already occupying longitudinally. What
the inmate loses in girth is made up in length.

A bee-egg is cylindrical, rounded at each end, one end being
rather larger than the other. The larger end may be termed the
head of the egg, as the head of the inmate develops at this point.
When an egg is laid in a queen’s cell it is attached to the base of
that cell, ¢.e., the part opposite to the cell-mouth, and at first
hangs perpendicularly within and parallel to its sides. As the
egg develops and advances towards maturity it inclines more and
more towards a horizontal position, and some hours before the little
prisoner is liberated from its captivity it lies at right angles to the
sides of the cell. From the laying of the egg to the hatching
usually occupies about three clear days. The newly-hatched grub
or larva now becomes the recipient of unceasing feeding. The
workers are all attention to supply this new-born babe with “‘royal
jelly’’ till she literally floats in it. This food termed ‘‘royal jelly’’
has to sustain the young queen during her larval stage. She is

30 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

not weaned and fed on more solid matter as is done in the case of
both drones and workers. This queen-food is composed of albumen
45.14, fatty substances 13.55, and sugar 20.39.

When the shell of the egg breaks the tiny inmate is seen
wriggling backwards and forwards as it enters into the world.
It has now entered its larval stage and can be seen slightly curved
lying floating in the royal jelly. As it grows it will lie more
circularly until it forms a complete ring. Very soon the princess
outgrows the room in which she has been reclining. When thus
grown she commences to lift her head above her body, or we had
better say lowers her head beneath her body, because as she ad-
vances towards perfection her head is downwards and her abdomen
upwards. The larval queen is generally fed by the workers for
about four or five days.

Just before this well-fed baby-girl changes from a larva to a
pupa ‘‘a sealing,’’ says Cheshire, ‘‘full of minute perforations is
added by the never-weary attendants, and the princess weaves
within a cocoon of very singular structure.’’ When the weaving
of this cocoon is completed she ‘‘rests from her labours’’ for about
twenty-four hours; soon her ‘‘works follow,”’ and another stage
in her metamorphosis begins. She becomes a chrysalis, nymph,
or pupa. All these synonymous terms are used for this stage of
her development, from the time she has completed her cocoon until
she becomes the perfect insect—the imago. The whole time occu-
pied from the laying of the egg till the inmate leaves the queen’s
cell is about sixteen days, perhaps a little more and sometimes a
little less, according to the temperature and other local circum-
stances.

At the time this ‘‘princess’’ was entering the chrysalis stage
the workers were very eager to seal her in while the work of
cocoon-building was in progress. As the third transformation
nears completion the workers are as anxious to remove the sealing
as they were to construct it only a few days or about a week before.
The riping queen may always be known (v.e., the queen-cell in
which the inmate is preparing to emerge) by the removal of the
wax and pollen covering with which she was lately imprisoned
and the dark-brown silky cocoon becoming exposed. When this
uncovering of the cocoon takes place the enclosed tenant will soon
prepare for her escape. With her jaws, like a pair of strong
clippers, she will bite through the exposed cocoon (see diagram),
twisting around in her cell as she performs the work of self-
liberation. Cutting a circular piece from her silken shroud, she

BEE-KEEPING. 31

comes forth perfect and in no way resembling the little white grub
that was so careful to hide herself behind the delicate but strong
lacy fabric that she had constructed to produce this her last or
final transformation. It is a miraculous change. The inanimate
bee-egg to be transformed into a wriggling footless grub is strange
and wonderful. But for this apodal grub to be resurrected in the
course of a few days into a beautifully-formed four-winged insect
—an insect capable of both terrestrial and aerial locomotion, is
infinitely more so.

FH
tyre
1 a

Queen Cages.

ica
it
Ti
At

anual

Queens.

32 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE-

CHAPTER VII.
THE QUEEN BEE.

From these diagrams my meaning will be made clearer :—
a is a portion of the internal anatomy of a mother bee; (a a) the
ovaries; (d) the sac (spermatheca), containing the feminine
life germs, that is to differentiate the sexual character of the eggs
seen in the ovaries; B is a portion of the same anatomy taken

from a working-bee. In a, the mother bee’s reproductive organs,

the ovaries and spermatheca, are perfect. The former contains
developed and developing eggs, and the latter is surcharged with

feminine life germs. These constitute her completeness. Thus a
mother bee is perfect and complete. In B the ovaries and sper-
matheca (reproductive organs) are as perfect as they are in a, but
the eggs are in embryo and not developing, and the sac is void of
feminine life germs. Therefore, the working-bee is as perfect as a
queen, but her reproductive organs are empty. She is incomplete.

Neverthless, those eggs in a (a a) contain a life-germ, but it
is masculine. Under certain conditions those eggs may never be
feminised, notwithstanding they are contained in the ovaries of a

THE QUEEN BEE. 33

mother bee, a bee that has developed under all the conditions
necessary to produce a queen. She may emerge from the cell
perfect, but her powers of reproduction may never be completed,
as will be seen further on. So with a working-bee. She emerges
from her cell with her ovaries as complete as those of a queen, and
under certain conditions, to be named when treating of the
working-bees, the embryo eggs contained therein sometimes develop
the masculine life-germ, and she becomes what is termed a fertile
worker. In her development, nature has stepped in and effectually
barred the door against her ever receiving completion.

The queen, when she enters into her new life (the imago) will
have her ovaries surcharged with embryo ovules. These will
develop under every condition and every circumstance, accidents
excepted. She is perfect. She is also perfect in another sense
(virginal). Her reproductive and generative organs are fully
developed, but the latter, when the final metamorphosis has been
completed, is void of the feminine life-germ, that is to transform
the male eggs in the ovaries into females—working-bees and queens
of future swarms. It is posible for queen bees never to produce
females.

Sometimes this happens naturally, and it is possible, artifi-
cially, to compel the queen to lay eggs that hatch out male bees
only.

In handling frames with queen cells thereon, containing the
larva or nymph, the greatest care should always be taken not to
injure the inmate, a sudden jerk, or holding the frame so that the
developing pupa is removed from her natural position, frequently
results in producing a deformed queen, by crippling her wing, so
that she is incapable of taking her marital flight, the result being
that she is a drone layer from the beginning.

A knowledge of the queen bee is the axis around which re-
volves successful bee-keeping, and its failure is always more or less
caused by a want of that knowledge. By a knowledge of the
queen bee I do not mean a scientific knowledge, or a knowledge
of her natural history, but a practical knowledge. A knowledge
of a queen bee is not the survival of the fittest, but the selec-
tion of the fittest. ‘By their fruits shall ye know them.” There
is no beekeeper but must have observed that certain of his
hives are more profitable than others; not profitable as regards
increase in colonies, but profitable in their yield of surplus honey.
It has always been so. There is no industry in which immediate

34 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

nature has to play an important part, but the success of that
industry is the result of careful selection.

The useful and profitable characteristics, both mental and
physical, in domesticated animals for ages past have been developed
by crossing and selecting of the fittest, and these traits are
always in the ascendency. The injurious mental traits and unpro-
fitable physical forms are being rapidly eliminated.

It is the same in those members of the vegetable kingdom
that have become indispensable to man. But to return.

What ones are we to select? ‘‘Like produces like.’? If we
find among our colonies of bees a swarm possessing a trait or
characteristic more to our ideal than is to be met with in any of
the others we should use every effort to perpetuate the valuable
qualities thus selected.

In apiaries there are frequently hives of bees that ‘‘live into
themselves.’” They pull through winter, throw off a spring
swarm, and do well in summer and autumn, but not for the bee-
keeper. They have never sufficient honey to extract. It is
highly probable the queen is at fault. Destroy her and introduce
one from a hive that has the qualities you most admire.

Swarm from your best colonies is a golden rule. Breed your
queens from the same is still more golden. The queen of every
swarm that is thrown off from a colony whose work is centred in
self should be at once destroyed, and one that is a direct descen-
dant from your best of colonies introduced. If this substitution
be impracticable unite the workers with some others, the weakest
you have, which has a queen from a pet colony. In no way be a
party to perpetuate a mental, physical, or industrial deformity.

In artificial queen breeding select your larve from your most
notable colony for surplus honey storage. Keep a debtor and
creditor account, a day-book and ledger of every hive you possess ;
perhaps a stud-book is the better term to use.

If your new queen is to be the result of grafting a queen-cell
on the comb of a queenless colony you must be very careful in your
selection. Utilise one that is in a convenient position. Queen-
cells are differently situated, sometimes on the edge of a comb, as
in C, or on the base or the side of the comb, and again as in D,
named an emergency cell. Under no circumstance use an emer-
gency cell. These cells are the result of a last hope of a queenless
colony, or of the mother bee from accident or infirmity ceasing to
produce worker eggs. Emergency cells are worker-cells trans-
formed into royal quarters. No queen-cell is better adapted for

THE QUEEN BEE. 35

grafting purposes than the one produced during the swarming
season. The inmate of an emergency cell as a rule has advanced
too far towards worker development.

An emergency cell may produce a fairly good-looking queen,
but her ovaries and other reproductive organs during her worker
period of progress, have been greatly checked, and her laying
capacity of worker eggs greatly limited or wholly destroyed. Eggs
in queen cups are not superior to those in worker-cells; as far as
eggs go they are one and the same. -But when once that in the
worker-cells has reached the limit of maternal development and
turns the corner towards perfecting a working-bee, its utility for
a queen ceases. It needs no argument to prove the superiority of
queens started in normal queen-cells from the egg or before turn-
ing the corner workerwards over those raised in emergency cells.
Promotion from worker larve to that of queen larve should take
place as early as possible after the hatching of the egg.

The chief and only aim of a beekeeper should be the pro-
duction of honey. Amateur beekeepers, as a rule, lose sight of
this. With them the multiplication of colonies is the one thing
needful. Of making many swarms thereisnoend. The increase of
colonies is a mania with far too many; too rapid an increase of
colonies always ends in a failure of honey storage. Notwith-
standing there may be an abundant honey flow, and! while a near
neighbour is extracting honey and glorying in his success, another
will vote beekeeping a failure, because the object of the latter has
been to increase his bee crop at the expense of that of honey.

This autumn, as I was passing through Orange, I was inform-
ed of a beekeeper with twenty-six colonies of bees who had har-
vested 5 tons of honey from October to April. A few miles off 1
met with two beekeepers who had conjointly eleven colonies; both
rejoiced in their success of this multiplication in one season. They
would have been delighted could they have shown a ton of honey
as a result of the summer’s work; the fault was in the bees,
aided with a want of knowledge on the part of the beekeepers
The judicious selection of queens in the early spring would have
given a surprising honey-yield, and the monetary profit would have
appeared as a miracle.

The emergency cells are always constructed over an egg or a
developing larva, generally the latter. In no case are they so
selected for the purpose of the queen bee depositing an egg therein.
The queen’s cell is always the colour of the comb on which it is
constructed and that of the other combs surrounding it. The

36 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

only cause that I know of for thus simulating the colour of the
cells is that the materials of which it is built are scraps removed
from those near to, and therefore the most handy for the purpose.
Almost any material seems capable of utilization. Bee-larve
whilst developing, moult frequently—that is, cast off their skins
as they increase in size. These skin-casts and also grains of pollen,
with the wax scraped from the other cells, are the material from
which all queen-cells are made. Worker and drone cells are built
with new material, but are used for the rearing of many genera-
tions of brood. Queen-cells, on the contrary, are built of old
materials, and never used a second time. As a rule the worker
and drone-cells are complete when the queen deposits the egg
therein; but not until the inmate enters the chrysalis stage is it
capped over. The queen-cell is built so as to accommodate the
“royal’’ larva as she grows, and the walls of the cell are enlarged
until the inmate enters the third form of development. Workers’
cells are pared down to the utmost limit, and their strength is
obtained, as will be seen by referring to the accompanying dia-
grams, by the form of their construction, and the massing of so
many together. Although so fragile in appearance they resist the
pressure of the thousands of bees that are continually clustering
thereon. The queen-cells, built as they are, semi-detached, are
exposed to a much greater strain than those of the workers.
During the whole time the queen larve are developing the cells
are massed about by bees. The object of these clustering bees is
the supplying of royal jelly, and to keep a high temperature
around the inmate of the cell. If the queen-cells were as fragile
as the workers’ they would collapse before the inmates were per-
fected. To overcome this risk, the constructing bees, so economic
in the building of other cells, heap on the material until the queen-
cell is forty or fifty times thicker than that of a worker’s. But
that the instinct never forsakes them of saving material in all
they do is very easily demonstrated by noting both the natural and
artificial queen-cells in the accompanying diagrams. In each case
it will be observed that the cells under review appear to be a com-
pound of workers’ cells. This appearance is caused by the thick
walls scooped out and pitted as to save material without loss of
strength. As a rule, queen cells are constructed singly, but not
unfrequently are they semi-detached, as in diagrams Nos. 3 and
4. At other times, when an extra good honey-flow is anticipated,
as many as seven or eight of these cells will be under construction
at one and the same time. Nos. 2 and 3 were taken from a hive

THE QUEEN BEE. 37

No. 1.

Queen Cells.

No. 2.

No. 3.

THE QUEEN BEE.

Queen Cells.

39

41

THE QUEEN BEE.

cerre
CREST,

Li dele

eles.

0.)

No. 6.

Queen Cells.

THE QUEEN BEE. 43

in which seven queen larve—all about the same age-—were de-
veloping simultaneously.

Cheshire speaks of as many as thirty of these cells being
constructed in succession. There is not much economy in per-
mitting this. It keeps a large number of the bees from field
labour, and the secreting of so much royal jelly necessitates the
consumption of a lot of material that could be far better utilised
in the rearing of brood. When there is such a superabundance
of queen-cell building going on they should be destroyed after
selecting three or four of the best, or as many as may be required.
Of course, these remarks do not apply to nucleus swarms that are
kept especially for queen-raising. In addition to the seven cells
in the hive referred to, there were other cells hanging here and
there in various stages of maturity. The abnormal abundance of
developing queens in this hive resulted in four swarms issuing
therefrom at intervals of about eight days each. No. 4 shows the
vacated cells from which can be judged, approximately, the
difference between the ages of its inmates as they emerged there-
from in the order lettered from a to d respectively. These cells,
as before stated, are never used the second time. The thimble-
like form, as seen in No. 1, is gradually reduced until it assumes
the form of an acorn cup seen in the same figure.

Spring-time is the season when queen-raising is carried on
most vigorously. When pollen and honey are coming in abun4-
antly, the bees put forth the whole of their united strength to
fulfil the command to be ‘‘fruitful and multiply, and replenish the
earth.’’ It is also the season when artificial que2n-raising is most
successful. Nos. 5 and 6 will give some idea of how queens can be
raised artificially, and the number that can be produced at one
time on the same frame in nucleus hives. These frames were pro-
duced by Mr. A. A. Roberts, of Muswellbrook, and resulted in
the production of upwards of twenty queens of excellent type and
perfect health. No bee-keeper can expect to be successful, no
matter how good the season may be, unless he practises queen-
raising.

The queen—which to the inexperienced differs in nothing but
size from an ordinary worker, although in reality she is differently
formed in every part from that of the common herd—when she 1a
laying, which is the only function she has to perform in she
domestic economy of bee-life, she moves slowly and gently from
cell to cell, followed in her progress by a number of workers who
are constantly seen to touch her with their antenne, but in no way

44 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

stopping or impeding her progress or movements, always moving
to one side, or backing out of her way, as the movements of thc
queen may require. As the queen proceeds she puts her head first into
a cell, as if for the purpose of satisfying herself that it is not
already occupied by an egg. Then withdraws, advances a few steps,
clutches firmly the edges of some of the cells surrounding that
already inspected. Lifting her body in a graceful curve, she in-
serts it in the cell until the abdomen is almost entirely hidden from
sight. For a moment she is still, then she withdraws and proceeds
to another cell in like manner, and so on, from cell to cell. If
she is a good laying queen she will attend to each cell in rotation.
This is one of the points in a good queen—laying evenly and
regularly throughout the whole of one side of a comb. In ex-
amining a comb of hatching brood, it is frequently to be noticed
that the queen appears to have selected a certain starting-point,
and then laid around this common centre, enlarging her sphere of
laying as the circle extends, and this process goes on in the same
cells year after year.

The queen cell is frequently formed on the base of destroyed
workers’ cells, by enlarging the walls thereof. The egg that has
been chosen from which to evolve a queen, after it is hatched and
been fed for a few hours, is thus surrounded by a new building.
The position the larva will occupy now differs. Instead of lying
on its back horizontally, it will hang pendulously, head downwards.
As the little inmate increases in bulk, so the walls of its home will
be enlarged to accommodate it, and large quantities of food will
be placed therein. When she reaches the nymph or chrysalis
stage, the young queen partly enshrouds herself in a cocoon, re-
maining hidden until she is ready to emerge, which is in about
sixteen days.

Having completed her series of wonderful transformations—
egg to larva, larva to chrysalis, chrysalis to a perfect insect—she
prepares herself for exit. Six or seven days ago the workers were
very anxious to make her a prisoner by enclosing her within the
cell, now they are as solicitous for her escape. The inmate had
spun a cocoon over the entrance to the cell, and the bees had
covered it with a mixture of pollen and wax. Now, knowing that
her departure from the cradle is at hand, they remove that cover-
ing, leaving the cocoon once more exposed. The inmate, freeing
herself from her last moult, exercises her powerful serrated jaws
as a pair of shears, and works away cutting through the tough
covering she had been at such pains to construct a short time since.

THE QUEEN BEE, 45

As she cuts so she turns in her cell, until she cuts a lid almost
clear away, but frequently hanging by a silken hinge, then she
is ready to make her escape. But, perhaps circumstances are not
sufficiently ripe for her to take charge of the hive. The mother
bee may not be ready to quit, the weather may not be what is
desired for swarming, or there may be a sudden cessation in the
honey flow. In the latter case she is executed without much
ceremony, but in the two former cases she is again sealed up and
fed where she is by the bees until the conditions that caused her
re-imprisonment are removed ; then she is permitted to enter the
busy home, and ready to commence the journey from maturity to
maternity.

The beehive and its inhabitants are like the conjurer’s inex-
haustible bottle, only there is no trickery about it; nevertheless,
they contain a never-ending theme. Dr. Johnson said: ‘‘I have
often amused myself with thinking how different a place London
is to different people,’’ and I have said, if not in so many words,
the same in regard to the beehive and its inhabitants. The
scientist, from his standpoint, sees only the wonders of the sociality
of insects and their wonderful architecture. Both of these, to the
uninitiated, are mysterious adaptations to the domestic economy in
bee-life. Solomon of old held up the ant as an example of in-
dustry—‘‘Consider the ant.’’ The moralist of to-day points the
improvident and lazy to the thrift of the hive—‘‘Consider the
bee.” Paterfamilias takes his text from the same source from
which to reprove and improve his share of the coming generation.
The commercial man looks upon bees only as a source from which
financial profits may be obtained. The school-master refers his
class to them (the bees) as one of Nature’s greatest object lessons,
teeming with incentives for the acquisition of knowledge. I
venture to affirm there is not a school-teacher in the Public Service
but has given an object lesson to his class on some phase or other
of bee-life. If all the good things that have been said in schools
about bees were gathered together, what an interesting volume
they would make! Every writer on natural history, of course,
must say something about bees; but how they let their fancy rove
from facts! Neither is there an insect in the whole entomological
catalogue that has had so much poetry written about it as the bee.
And what wonder-imaginations the poets have taken into rhyme!

The most interesting point of any and everything is the centre
from which radiate the facts which give knowledge. By far too
many beekeepers ‘‘have eyes and see not’’ beyond’the commercial

46 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

centre. The axis around which revolves all the interesting facts
of the bee-home is the queen. The queen is the centre of success
for the commercial beekeeper; she is also the centre of failure.
The whole of the domestic economy of the hive is centred in her,
and all the interesting lessons given and learned on the subject are
as nothing when the queen is absent.

The queen bee has been studied and written about more than
any other inmate of the hive, or the female of any other species of
insects; nevertheless, the queens of other species of bees are full
of interest.

When a young queen first emerges from the cell she does not
leave the hive until she is fixed as sole head of the establishment.
She remains in what is known as the queen cell till she is fully
developed, and ready for all emergencies. Usually she remains in
the hive perfectly contented for five or six days after she escapes
from the cell. During this period she is treated only as a com-
moner by the worker bees. After that period she takes her
marital flight. Prior to her leaving the hive for this purpose the
air resounds with the deep sound produced by the numerous drones
(male bees) that are on the wing. The excursions of the drones
are only made on fine days, and immediately around about the
hive from which they have made their exit ; and the reason of these
flights is in quest of queens. When these drones are on the wing,
the queen, if she be sufficiently mature, soon follows. If prevented
by some of the modern appliances now in use she exhibits the
utmost anxiety to escape, by searching in the most anxious manner
every available nook that may, perchance, afford her exit. Even
if there be no impediment to prevent her from taking her marital
flight, she appears to be greatly agitated, as if full of timidity or
anxiety. She decks herself in no bridal costume, but, as she is
about to sally forth, she is a thing of beauty. She is all aglow
in her most beautiful tints. She is small—not much larger than
an ordinary worker; it is true, perhaps a little more lady-like,
but, like all brides, she puts on her most fascinating looks and
graces. Among all the drones that are out awaiting her
advent there is but one that will be chosen as bridegroom; all the
others are to be best men, or perhaps only second and third best,
for in this case the race is to the one that is most expert and alert
of wing. The bride, full of apparent coyness, advances, circles,
and recedes, pursued by a number of the lords of the bee creation.
With the most agile the gordian knot is tied. The final matri-
monial ceremony is completed mid-air. She that went forth as the

THE QUEEN BEE, 47

blushing bride returns to her home in the earliest stage of mater-
nity—not like.the completion of other weddings, where the bride
returns to her home on the arm of her lord, but the queen bee
returns alone, leaving her lord not even to follow her. He, poor
fellow, dies on the battlefield of love—not killed by his disappointed
rivals, but dies as Nature has willed it. I have said elsewhere
that all bees are posthumous. No drone that is in the hive, or
that is on the wing, has ever been a father. He may become one,
but he must pay the penalty his father had to pay before him.

The mother bee returns to the hive a fecundated—a complete
female bee, now capable of becoming a mother. Indeed, had she
never met with a consort she would nevertheless become a mother,
but only to lay eggs that would produce males, and males only.

The fecundation of a queen bee—With nearly all other
-oviparous animals, it is the ovule that is fecundated; but with
bees it is the animal herself, and she fecundates the egg according
to requirements, and, to a certain extent, regulates their sexuality.
The number of eggs the queen bee lays in the cells is in accordance
to the strength of the colony. She will not lay more in the cells
than there are inmates to cover them. Ofttimes a queen will be so
prolific she will lay her eggs, although there are not sufficient bees
in the hive to cover them. These supernumerary eggs are wasted.
This should be an incentive to bee men to keep strong colonies.
Langstroth says: “It is most amusing to see how the supernu-
merary eggs of the queen are disposed of. If the workers are
too few to take charge of all her eggs, or there is a deficiency of
bee-bread to nourish the young, or if, for any reason, she does
not judge best to deposit them in the cells, she stands upon a comb
and simply extrudes them from her oviduct, the workers devouring
them as fast as they are laid. I have frequently witnessed, in
observing hives, the sagacity of the queen in thus economising her
necessary work, instead of depositing her eggs in the cells where
they are not wanted.”’

On her return to the hive after her marital flight she is
received by the workers, although not her own children, with all
the signs of love and affection that children can bestow upon a
parent. You must know there is nothing regal about the queen
bee; although she is called such, she is only the mother bee.
Before she went out the workers treated her as one of them-
selves, excepting that the nurse bees occasionally fed her. Now
nothing is too good for her. Her every want is attended to with
lavish kindness She is about to become a mother. Yet what a

D

48 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

mother! The only maternal trait she possesses is that of egg-
laying.

In two or three days after she returns to the hive the act of
laying commences. So eager is she in this duty that I have
frequently seen her depositing an egg in cell after cell without
even taking the trouble to note if she had not made a mistake now
and then—I mean a mistake in not leaving a cell empty. During
the earlier months of her laying she uses the workers’ cells for
worker eggs only. Later on she will lay in both sized cells—drone
and workers. Then I have known her make mistakes by dropping
a drone egg—that is, an egg that will produce a drone—in a
worker’s cell; and, as far as I know, neither queen or workers
discover the mistake till it is too late, when they rectify it, as
far as they can, by elongating the worker cell so as to make up to
the little inmate what is lacking in width. Here her motherly
instinct ends. All other domestic duties are delegated to the
worker. Theirs it is to attend to the egg when hatching, and to
the developing larve. What a wonderful division of maternal
duties! The queen, with the power of being a mother without
the power of being able to administer to the wants of her off-

“spring. The worker, with power to attend to, care for, and
nourish, even to the supplying of the earliest necessary food—bee
milk—-but not the power of being a mother-—that is, not the
power of reproducing her species.

Having taken a cursory glance of the mother bee—not from
the cradle to the grave, but from maturity to the first stage in
maternity; not from a scientific or a practical standpoint—but
with a view to interest those outside the practical and scientific
sphere of bee-life, I will now retrace the steps, and go back to the
beginning—the egg that hatches out a queen. But is the egg the
beginning? Which was first—the egg or the bee? The queen
laid the egg and the egg produced the queen; that is a never-
ending cycle—writing around and around a ring.

We know that frequently after returning from her marital
flight she begins laying after two or three days’ rest. Before she
took that flight her ovum was surcharged with ovules; these ovules.
are germs of matter—(a philosopher once said matter was never
mind, and mind was no matter);—but her spermatheca was
empty. The spermatheca is an internal sac to receive and to
retain the life-germs. The object of the flight I have referred to
was to get this empty sac charged with these life-germs. You will
remember I said the egg was not fecundated, but the queen.

THE QUEEN BEE. 49

The germs of life received by her in her aerial flight from one,
and only one, contact must number thousands upon thousands of
these germs. Once becoming fertile this fertility remains
for two, three, and sometimes as long as five years, but there is
never a fresh supply of life germs from the male. Every seed of
a plant requires a grain of pollen to fructify it. In like manner,
every ovule of matter produced by the queen requires a germ of
life to fecundate it. Every germ that is discharged from the
spermatheca so far exhausts the supply. The health and strength
of the queen may be such that the whole supply of these life-
germs may become exhausted; nevertheless, the queen will stul
go on laying, and the eggs will hatch out living bees. They are
always drones. As the germs in the spermatheca diminish in
number, so the male population of the hive is augmented. The
first reproductive efforts of a queen result in a progeny of female
bees—workers and queens. The final efforts produce males—
drones. The line of demarcation between the queen’s powers of
producing males and females is not a sudden cessation of her power
to produce females, but is a gradual one and at first unnoticed.
As the numerical strength of workers diminishes, so that of the
drones increases. How is it so? Just now I said the virgin’s
spermatheca was empty, and she went out to get it charged, so
that she may be capable of reproduction. Then I said that when
these life-germs she has received become exhausted, she still goes
on laying, and produces living descendants. Does not this appear
to be contradictory? Yes; but it is true, nevertheless. St. Paul
said, in referring to a future life, ‘‘Behold, I show you a mystery.”’
I am doing the same now in relation to bee-life. How do I know?
Because, if from any cause, natural or artificial, the queen bee is
prevented from taking her marital flight, the result is the same
as if she were an old queen, and in the stages of reproductive de-
cay I have mentioned. But if she be debarred from the power
of flight, cannot the same results be produced on terra-firma or
within the hive?) No. Because the results, of a mid-air meeting,
are productive of a male and female progeny; so a queen not
having the power of flight, even if she be deprived of that power
as soon as she emerges from the cell, produces only males, and it
has always been so. ‘‘How can these things be Y?

You will remember I said it is the queen that became im-
pregnated, and not the egg—the ovary, and not the ovum—a
method of reproduction not uncommon in the insect world; but
ia the higher orders of oviparous terrestrial animals this method

50 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

is rare; whilst, on the other hand, aquatic animals, with the
fishes especially so, it is the egg that is fecundated, and that,
too, in most cases, after extrusion.

Here I propose to deal with the queen from the extrusion of
the egg to the mature and perfect insect; nay, in one sense it will
be necessary for me to deal with the egg prior to extrusion. We
speak of the inmates of the hive as the queen, drones, and workers.
There is nothing wrong in it. We also refer to the queen as having
the power to lay eggs that will produce these three beings. Drones
are male bees; the queen and workers females. The former has
power to reproduce her species; the latter have not that power.
Nevertheless, these conditions may be, and frequently are, changed
—sometimes by the act of the bees themselves, and at other times
artifically ; that is, at a certain stage in the development of the
egg, the queen structure may be advanced or checked, so that the
egg shall produce a working bee or a queen, as may be required,
either by the bees themselves or by the bee master. Note this
transposition for a reproductive female or for a non-productive
female takes place after the egg has been deposited in the cell
by the queen—that is, the change or transition does not take place
within the ovary. In the case of the production of the drone, the
sexual character of the inmate of the egg is fixed within the ovary.
The spermatheca of ia virgin queen is void of female life-germs; but,
notwithstanding this, the ovary is sur-charged with embyro ovules.
Each one of these ‘contain a male germ, and each one, if laid by
the queen in the same state as it is whilst in the ovary, would pro-
duce a male bee. It is immaterial as to where the queen deposits
that egg either in a drone, a worker, or a queen cell, the result
of development is fixed—it can hatch out nothing but a drone, a
perfect male bee. But, for the production of a female bee, all the
conditions for the production of the male are followed by Nature
up to one point, when under certain conditions the sexual charac-
ter of the egg changes. This sexual change takes place whilst the
egg isin transition from the ovary to extrusion, during its passage
through the oviducts of the mother bee. The egg is an elongated
sac, one end of which is much larger than the other; in the larger
end there is an aperture (micropyle). ‘‘This aperture is extremely
minute; but the minuteness of the opening does not prevent its
being continued through the underlying egg membranes, and giving
an opportunity of entrance to the spermatozoon (the life germs
contained in the spermatheca), whose rhythmic movements, as

THE QUEEN BEE, 51

though guided by intelligence, conduct it to the micropyle when
the egg passes within the fertilising pouch, on its road towards
being laid in a worker cell. The wondrous thread enters, coales-
ces with the germ (of matter within the egg), brings about fer-
tilisation, and affects the resulting sex in a female bee, either a
worker or a queen,’’** Had not this egg passed within the fertil-
ising pouch, and had not the wondrous thread referred to entered
the micropyle of the egg, it would have passed out through the
ova-depositor, and its sexual characteristic would have been mascu-
line; but that ‘‘wondrous thread’’ differentiates the whole creature,
and an egg is deposited that will produce a queen—a perfect and
complete female, capable of sexual intercourse and capable of re-
producing its species, but unable to administer in the slightest.
degree to the wants of its progeny; or a female, a working bee,
perfect in all her anatomical parts, but incomplete—that is, the
spermatheca is incapable of reception, and the only female instinct
she possesses is that of nursing. We know little of the growth of
the egg from its embyronic stage to its maturity other than that
which differentiates its sex. I have already explained that an egg
which is to produce a male bee in whatsoever cell it is laid, the
result is the same—a drone. Not so with the egg under review. -
Contact between that ‘‘wondrous thread’’ and the aperture in the
egg does not fix the question whether it shall be a queen or a
worker; it only fixes the fact as to gender. The egg toat has
received the life-germ from the spermatheca will produce a female;
but it does not settle the question as to its future destiny. The
queen, the workers, and the bee-master have that under control.
[The question whether the queen can lay an egg at will that shall
produce a male or female bee will be dealt with when treating
of drones.] Under ordinary circumstances the locality in which
the egg is laid determines the position the bee will occupy in the
future domestic economy of the hive. The laying of the egg in
the cell in the first instance is controlled by the queen. Circum-
stances only decide whether it shall be deposited in a worker or a
queen cell. If the egg be permitted to remain in the worker cell,
it will develop a worker bee; but if it retains its position in the
queen cell, a queen bee is the result. The circumstances that con-
trol these productions are many; naturally, the seasons; but even
these are subject to great variations.’ An early spring, with an

*Cheshire.

52 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

abundance of bee fodder, both in honey and pollen, results in the
early development of queens. In fact, queens are bred naturally
according to requirements. If there be a prospect of the brood
multiplying to the extent that swarming will be necessary, queens
-are produced to meet this contingency. The brighter the prospects
‘for a large and continuous honey flow, the greater is the eagerness
among the bees to rear queens. One fertile queen ig required for
every swarm that issues forth from the parent hive. But, many
queens are developed where only one is required. The reason of
this is obvious. When it is remembered that every queen bee is
an enemy to every other queen bee, the destruction of queens must
“be frequent. The fight is always to the finish. No matter what
the conditions are; the developing queen larve is as much an
object of hatred to the reigning queen as is a healthy fertile and
fully developed rival.

The cell in which a queen bee is developed differs greatly from
that of the worker, not only in form, but in many other respects.
The cells in which workers are developed are sexangular tubes.
These are arranged horizontally, or nearly so, and form one com-
~pact mass. Each of these six walls form a division between any two
«cells. The arrangement and the massing of these cells form what is
familiarly termed brood comb or honey comb. How unlike these
are the queen cells. They are circular tubes that hang perpen-
-dicularly from the workers’ cells. Workers’ cells are always built
of new material—there are occasional exceptions; but queen cells
-are always built of old material without exception. The workers’
cells are used for two purposes—nurseries and storage; queens’
cells as nurseries only. These are detailed contradistinctions suffi-
cient for my purpose. Note, if the queen lays an egg in a worker
-cell, and within two or three days lays another in a queem cell,
naturally we shall have a queen from the latter and a worker from
the former cell; but if we apply art, and transpose those eggs,
-we differentiate the entire creatures that are developed therefrom,
checking the evolution of a queen to a worker, reducing the period
by about five days by altering its surroundings and other condi-
‘tions; but we extend the evolution of the worker to a queen by the
-same time, from the same cause, and the same altered conditions.
The queen cells are, as a rule, built on the sides or base of the
»brood comb. Occasionally a pop-hole—that is the hole frequently
-seen in honey comb or brood comb to permit the bees passing from
-side to side of the comb—is enlarged, and the queen cell constructed
«on the upper edge thereof. And again, it is sometimes met with

THE QUEEN BEE. 53

as if protruding from a worker cell. These latter are only con-
structed in cases of emergency. From some cause or other the
queen becomes sick, or her laying powers become deranged, or from
some other cause she ceases to lay. When the bees make this
discovery, their instinct naturally leads them to rectify the queen’s
omission. The discovery that no eggs are being deposited by the
queen causes great anxiety in the hive. Instinctively they know
that where there are no eggs there will be no workers, and
where there are no workers there will be no food, and thus
the continuation of the home must speedily come to an end. The
development of queens is entirely left to the workers. After the
queen has laid the egg, her duty with it ceases. The workers know
that any or every egg or larva is not suitable for queen develop-
ment. Occasionally, under the stress of the impossible, cases have
been known where the bees have chosen a drone egg or larva with
the idea of developing a queen therefrom, the reason being that
every other avenue of continuing their species had been closed
against them. This is bee ignorance, caused by anxiety. Those
emergency cells protruding from the workers’ are constructed over
a larva from a similar cause, it being the best within the hive to
select for the purpose of developing a queen therefrom. The queens
evolved from such cells are always far inferior to those evolved
from cells constructed of the edges of the combs.

. — ALLEY QUEEN NURSERY.

54 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

CHAPTER VIII.
THE DRONE.

Drones, or male bees, as will be seen, differ very much from the
queen or other inmates of the hive. Indeed, so’ much so, as to
lead unobservant people into the belief that they belong to a
different variety of the same species rather than being male mem-
bers of the same family in which they are found. On this account
drones have been very greatly maligned and looked upon ag inter-
lopers rather than factors equal in importance to that of the
queen bee. That they exert a pernicious intluence in the colony
to which they have uninvitedly attached themselves; are danger-
ous to the well-being of the swarm; militate against its increase
and prosperity; and operate against the financial success of
bee-keepers, are opinions still held by far too many bee-keepers.
The word drone is associated with idieness, worthlessness, and
a sponger on, or a vampire of society. It has been borrowed from
the supposed uselessness of the drone-bee. A quaint old writer
says:—‘‘The drone is a gross, stingless bee, that spendeth
his time in gluttony and idleness, for howsoever he brave it, with
his round velvet cap, his side gown, his full paunch, and his loud
voice, yet is he but an idle companion, living by the sweat of
others’ brows. He worketh not at all, either at home or abroad,
and spendeth as much as two labourers; you shall never find his.
maw without a drop of the purest nectar. In the heat of the day
he flieth abroad, aloft, and about, and that with no small noise,
as though he would do some great act, but it is only for his plea-
sure, and to get him a stomach, and then returns he presently
to his cheer.’’

That drones have ‘‘loud voices,’’ and that in the heat of
the day they fly ‘‘abroad, aloft, and about,’’ is a part of the
economy of their nature, and is a factor in the perpetuating of
the fittest of their race.

The external anatomy of the male bee (drone) differs very
greatly from that of the females (queen or workers). In cell
accommodation he occupies a greater space. Drone-cells are only

four to the lineal inch, whilst the worker-cells go five to that
measurement.

THE DRONE. 55.

The cappings of drones’-cells are more convex than those of
workers, and as in the case of both queen and worker, are porous.
They contain not nearly so many pores as those of the former,
but far more than that of the latter. When the inmates of these
cells have completed their larval stage and are entering upon that
of the chrysalides, they are sealed or capped over with a mixture
of wax and pollen. The shape and texture of the cappings are
such that they are easily thrust off by the mature inmate. The
inmates of the cells spin the cocoon by which they are enclosed,
but the construction of the cappings is the work of nurse bees.
The cappings of brood-cells differ greatly from those of honey cells;
these latter are not nearly so convex—in fact, are in the centre
slightly concave, so as to more easily resist the pressure of the
honey within; they are, moreover, formed entirely of wax, and
are therefore air-tight.

In developing, the drone goes through the same metamor-
phoses as the other inmates, but the time occupied therein is
longer. From the laying of the egg to its hatching occ..pies three
days, he remains six and a-half days in a larval form, then changes
into a chrysalis and becomes a perfect insect in from twenty-four
to twenty-five days. During his larval stage he is fed for about
the first four days on 55.91 albumen, 11.9 fatty substances, and
sugar 9.57 parts, but as the larva advances in age the two former
are decreased and the sugar increased, the average being 43.79,
8.32, and 24.03 respectively.

In the wing he is more expansive, as the following measure-
ments of Cheshire will show :—

Length of Length of Ratios of

Anterior Posterior United

Wing. Wing. Area.
Worker _....... ss ee wees 38 28 5
Queen iwi wc eee eee eee 41 29 6
Drone sagen Severe earns 49 35 9

These measurements are given in one-hundredths of an inch.
From this it will be seen that the expansion of a drone’s wing is
nearly twice that of a worker, and one-third more than that of-a
queen. Therefore his aerial locomotive power must be
greater than either of the females. His antenne (or-
gans of smell) have also a greater development of olfac-
tory nerves, and are two-thirteenths longer than _ either
that of queen or worker, thus his power of smelling
is far superior to theirs. His eyes, notwithstanding he spends a

56 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

large portion of his time in the dark, have a far keener power
of vision than either female. Bees have both simple and com-
pound eyes. The compound eyes of a queen bee have 4,920 facets,
she having to spend the largest portion of her time in the dark.
The compound eyes of a worker, who has to spend most of her
time in the open air, have 6,300 facets; but those of a drone,
although he spends most of his time in the hive, contain 13,090
facets, or nearly three times the number of a queen, and more
than double the quantity of the worker; therefore, his power of
sight must be far greater than that of the other sexes of the hive.

Why has Nature endowed him with these superior aids to sight,

to smell, and to locomotion? His paternal duties are always con-

summated in mid-air. The race is to the swift and fight to the
strong. The fleetest, the most dexterous, and the strongest are
the successful competitors in the matrimonial race when the virgin
queen is on the wing. That is why ‘‘in the heat of the day he
flieth abroad, aloft, and about, and that with no small noise.’’
Drones are stingless; their abdomen is made up of seven belts,
and each belt is composed of two plates—a dorsal and a ventral—
the former being the larger, and overlaps the ventral on the lower
side of the body. In queen and worker the abdomen has only
six belts.

To sum up, the chief external anatomical differences of drones
are, as compared with the workers, larger eyes, larger wings,
larger body, longer antennez, an extra belt to the abdomen, and
an absence of sting, wax pockets, and pollen baskets.

The life-history of drone bees is a very short one, and, apart
from the other inmates of the hive, is not interesting to the bee-
keeper, but to the scientist it is fraught with the deepest interest,
and is full of scope for research. The Parthenogenical production
of male bees; workers becoming fertile without copulation, and
producing drones only; queens that have failed in their wedding
flight to meet with a consort, or that in their development or in
maidenhood have been deprived of the power of flight, also become
fertile without copulation, but such fertility is confined to the
production of male bees only; that they are rarely produced by a
queen in the full vigour of youth, health, and strength, etc., but
are always produced as the queen advances in age-—the older the
queen the greater the abundance of males in the hive. These are

subjects in connection with the ‘‘inmates of the hive’’ that I shall
deal with later on.

THE DRONE. 57

Very little attention has been given to the production of high-
-class drones. They are the Ishmaels of bee life. Every bee-
ikeeper’s hand is against them. They have been given a bad name,
and it sticks to them, and all sorts of traps have been invented
for their destruction. For the improvement of other domesticated
animals a high-class sire is the one most sought after. In the
improvement of bees it is otherwise. A high-class dam (queen)
is supposed to be the one thing needful. We have the mating
proclivities of bees so little under control that breeding by the
‘selection of males appears to be a thing of the future. As we
now stand, much can be done to improve our bees by the power
we have in our hands. An immediate descendant partakes of
‘the mental, physical, and industrial character of both parents.
Traits in parentage can be traced for many generations, and there
must be an influence exerted on a descendant from both sides.
‘Parthenogenesis, as it regards drones, has been proved to have
exceptions. Bee-keepers have frequently met with cross-bred
.drones. uJ. Lowe, in 1867, as recorded in Trans. Ent. Soc., says
that fuily 20 per cent. of drones bred from the same mother showed
the mixed character of the parentage. J. Perez, in 1878 and
1880, in his ‘nvestigations, obtained similar results, and P. Came-
‘ron, in an article on Parthenogenesis, in the ITymenoptera, pub-
‘lished in the Trans. Nat. His. Soc. of Glasgow, 1888, drew
ibee-keepers’ attention to similar facts.

Some time ago we submitted the following series of questions
on this point to some of the most observant and practical bee-
-keepers of the colony :—

Ist. Ifave we hybrid drones? -

(The term hybrid to mean a crossbred. Hybrid is a mis-
nomer as applied to a cross between varieties. A hybrid is an
‘intermediate between species, variety is subordinate to species in
the same manner as species is subordinate to genus).

2nd. What are the markings of the progeny between the first
.cross of a pure Italian drone (Ligurian) and a black queen?

3rd. What are the markings of the progeny between the first
cross of a biack drone and a pure Italian (Ligurian) queen ?

4th. A drone two removes from a pure Italian queen. What
are his markings?

5th. Through how many generations of drones can you trace
Italian blood ?

To all these questions we received answers from every one to

58 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

whom we applied, and from which we compile the following
answers :—

Ist. The general opinion is ‘‘No,”’ as it regards markings or
appearances. The drone progeny from a queen that has mated
with a drone of another variety partakes of the nature of both
parents, but the maternal nature always predominates. Two very
striking instances in proof thereof are mentioned. A writer says,
“I bred a solid yellow American queen, not a particle of dark
colour even at the tip (Sixth dorsal plate). This queen was
mated with a Ligurian (Italian) drone. This queen, during the
Summer of 1893-94, produced, being young, evenly marked drones,
almost yellow (samples of them were forwarded by Mr. Mans-
field, Largs, to the Technological Museum, Maitland). During
the Summer 1894-95 about 10 per-cent. of drones from this same
queen varied from the characteristics of the typical Ligurians.”
In the second case there was a similar result, but the mother bee
was one remove further from the American blood by that of
Ligurian, in this case there were between 40 and 50 per cent. of
the drones showing Ligurian markings.

2nd. ‘the male progeny partakes of the paternal colour and
markings, with the exception that the hairs on the abdomen are
browner and more dense near the tip.

3rd. The same markings as those from a pure Italian queen,
i.e., the three bronze bars on the upper edges of the abdominal
segments, each of these bars being somewhat narrower than those
of the cross mentioned in No. 2 answer. Occasionally there is a
darker patch of bronze extending from the first and second dorsal-
ring, and partly down each side of the segment. The rest of the
abdomen 1s black. Of the species forwarded to the Maitland
Technological Museum the donor says, ‘‘Many persons are disap-
pointed in the appearance of these drones, and it would be a good
thing to make these characteristics more generally known.”’’

4th. These drones vary in their markings similar to that of
the workers, the black blood showing itself more prominently
in some of the progeny, and again in others of the same family
the Italian markings predominate.

5th. None of our correspondents have traced as yet the Italian
blood beyond the third generation. This is a point well worthy
of careful investigation.

For breeding purposes the strongest male bees should be used.
As stated above, the strongest drone is naturally the selected male,

THE DRONE. 59

selected by his own powers of flight, etc. Weak drones, whatever
may be the cause thereof, can only perpetuate weakness.

Drones are tolerated in the hive and admitted from others as
long as there is a probability of a queen requiring fecundation.
But let the honey-flow suddenly cease, and in a few days every
one in the hive is banished.

As soon as the honey-fiow is no longer abundant the edict is
sent forth for the destruction of all the males of the household.
There is no mercy shown. The old and the young, egg, larve, and
chrysalides, must all suffer the same fate. The only crime for
which they have to suffer is they are masculine. Those males,
that a few weeks before were so active and strong on the wing,
when the general order has gone forth for their destruction, offer
no resistance. They readily submit to be slaughtered, and those
very nurse bees that were so watchful of their well-being at once
‘become their executioners, until the whole of the male sex of that
hive is exterminated. :

As queen bees mate but once during life, the drones that are
required for the following season are the progeny from the same
mother, and are fuil brothers of the slaughtered victims of the
previous year.

How often has the question been asked, ‘‘Why are thera so
many drones?’’ and what queer answers have been given to it.
To produce extra heat, to aid in the ripening of the honey, food
for birds, etc., are the answers that have been given. It must
be remembered, as stated above, that conjunction between the
queen and one drone takes place but once during the former's
lifetime, and such conjunction must take place when the queen
is about six days old, although cases have arisen where queens
have successfully mated for some time after that period. If there
were ascarcity of drones the queen may fail to meet her mate and
become a drone-layer. The superabundant number of male bees
to one female is analogous to the great number of stamens and
anthers in a peach ‘‘blossom’”’ or other bloom to the one or few
carpels in the flower. One grain of pollen from one stamen is
sufficient to fertilise one ovule, then why so many stamens and
pollen grains is a question the answer to which has never been
doubted. Undoubtedly the same answer as it regards the exces-
sive number of drones applies in this case.

To my mind an excess of useless drones is an argument against
the ability of the bee-keeper, or a want of knowledge of the age
of his queens. Drone over-production can be minimised by judic-

60 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

ious management. Young queens, and closer spacing of brood--
comb when necessary, are about the best drone-traps that were:
ever invented.

For high-class drones, select an old queen, one that has a
record of good traits, perhaps the older the better. If she has-
produced workers up to your ideal standard of usefulness, there
is a moral certainty that her drones will be of equal merit. To
a certain extent in this way good drones can be selected. ‘‘It is-
not tully true that the drone is beyond control,’’ says Cheshire.
With care, selected drones can be so secured for the purpose of
mating with selected queens. When a queen is 5 or 6 days old,
and unmated, close the hive she occupies at night, and remove
it to a cool dark room, and keep it there till the afternoon of the
second day; return the hive to its original stand. A nucleus hive
is the most handy for the purpose. Before returning it to ‘ts:
place, feed all within with heated honey diluted with warm
water. Before liberating the queen and other inmates of the hive,
be satisfied there are no drones on the wing. This may be done:
by listening for their deep bass hum, and noticing the entrances
of the surrounding hives. It is better to have two nucleus hives.
for the purpose. One should contain the virgin queen and the
other the drones, wherein there is a fertile mother-bee. When
the nucleus hives are placed on the stand in the sunlight, it will.
cause great excitement in both hives. The queen and drones will
at once rush out, and there is a moral certainty that the object-
sought will be attained.

—NURSERY CAGE.

THE MYSTERIES OF DRONE-PRODUCTION. 61

CHAPTER IX.
THE MYSTERIES OF DRONE-PRODUCTION.

AssocraTeD with the word drone are the terms lazy, idle, and indo-
lent, a ne’er-do-well, one who sponges on society, a human parasite.
Sometimes it is used to indicate a low, dull, heavy, monotonous
sound. In either case the character of the drone or male bee
has given birth to the meaning of the word as now used.

In the latter case the sense attached to the word is very ap-
propriate. In the spring time, those who live near bee-keepers,
even if they have no ear for music, cannot fail to be attracted
by the low, heavy sound in the air that is so frequently heard
about midday when the sun is shining brightly. As it regards
the sound emitted by the male bee, the use of the word in that
sense is quite justifiable. But as it regards the traits of the male
bee being classed with society’s drones, there is nothing whatever
to justify the assumption, and there is nothing analogous or
parallel between the drone bee and the idle and indolent of the
human family.

The idea of bracketing everything lazy and idle with the male
bee sprang from a want of knowledge in the early history of
social bees.

Why should the male bee be so maligned? Why should he
be a Cain amongst his brethren. everyone trying to slay him?
Why should he be an Ishmael bee that every man’s hand is
against? Amongst other domesticated animals the males are re-
garded as of the first importance. Their owners are as proud,
and in some cases even prouder of the pedigree of their choice
sires than they are of their own genealogical records. Sires always
fetch a much higher figure in the market than dams. It is the
same in the feathered race. A rooster is worth no more for the
table, weight for weight, than a hen. In the yard he is not
nearly so valuable. A hen will lay without him, and the eggs
are equally good, if not more so, for table purposes. It is the
same with other high-class domestic animals. If a man wishes
to obtain a name for himself as a breeder of high-class animals,
he spares no expense to obtain high-class sires. The dams are
looked upon as secondary. Why? The sire iv one with many,

62 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

and the dam with one. The type of the sire is gradually trans-
mitted through the whole herd. Generations afterwards the
throwbacks can be pointed out as carrying the typical form and
traits of character of a favourite ancestor. Every care is be-
stowed upon the sires; it is they that are so advertised. In the
show parades it is the sires that are the observed of all observers.
When we come to bees the scene changes. We never hear the
remark, Where is the drone? but, Which is the queen? If the
Sire amongst quadrupeds is one among many, transmitting all
his good points among the many, how much more so is the case
with drones? With the quadruped every descendant is the result
of one or more matings between two animals. With bees how
different. It is one, and only one, mating between two individ-
uals, as will be seen by referring to the section on the queen bee.
But how different the result of that single mating. It produces
hundreds of thousands of descendants. More remarkable still,
the mating of drone and queen results in a progeny of all females.
Do not mistake me. I know that queen bees produce a mixture
of sexes. But the males are not the result of the mating with
her consort, i.e, the one that produced the progeny resulting
in all females. The male progeny are the outcome of the mating
of a previous generation. How can I tell? <A golden Italian
queen (a) mismates—that is, she has come in contact with a black
drone (an English bee). What is the result? All the females
(workers and queens) are what we should expect them to be,
cross-breds, usually termed hybrids; and if the queen is from a
pure stock with Italian blood running in her veins for two or
three generations back, the males she produces are all pure Ital-
jana without a taint of black blood visible or invisible. Again,
a pure-bred English queen (0) with two or three generations of
black blood in her veins mates with a full-blood Italian drone (0)
resulting in a female progeny of cross-breds as with the queen
(a), but the males are full-blood blacks. Now let a perfect and
complete female bee (a2), being an immediate and direct descen-
dant from the queen (a), mate with another black drone. Of
course, it will neither be drone (a) or drone (0), because that would
be an impossibility; drone (a) and drone (8) having died imme-
diately after mating, as is always the case. This was fully ex-
plained in a previous page on the queen bee. The result of the
fecundation of the queen bee (a2) is that all tne female progeny
have more black blood (three-fourths) in them than their mother ;

THE MYSTERIES OF DRONE-PRODUCTION. 63

but the males have the same amount (one-half only). The
female progeny from the queen (@2) is the result of her mating
with the second-named black drone—her consort; but the males
are the result of the mating between the first-named black drone
and the queen (a). Again, let a perfect and complete female bee
a queen (2 6)—also being an immediate and direct descendant
from the queen (0), mate with a full-piood Italian drone. The
result of the contact is that all the female progeny have more
Italian blood in them (three-fourths) than their mother; but the
‘males—the drones—have the same amount (one-half only); so it
goes on with every succeeding generation. The female progeny
of every queen is the result of her fecundation; but her male
progeny is the result of the queen’s mother’s fecundation. Is
this a case of partial parthenogenesis—production without imme-
diate fecundation; or is it a case of atavism—a throwback ?
Here is another peculiar thing in connection with the mys-
teries of drone production. Queen bees are what are termed per-
fect and complete. They are perfect as it regards their form, and
have their sexual organs fully developed—that is, procreatively
receptive. Working bees are perfect and incomplete. They are
perfect as it regards form; but their sexual organs are unde-
veloped—that is, they are procreatively non-receptive.

Working in the Open.

64 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER X.
THE WORKING BEE.

Worxine bees are the rank and file of the hive; the architects,
the builders, the preparers of building materials, the purveyors,
the cooks, the nurses, the inspectors of nuisances, the scavengers,
the sentinels and the defenders. All and every bee when at home
has to fulfil these and many other duties at some time during
her indoor life, from the day she escapes from the chrysalis tll
she goes out to procure home supplies.

“The working female,’ say Kerby and Spence, ‘‘is zealous for
the good of the community, a defender of public rights, enjoy-
ing an immunity from the stimulus of sexual appetite, and the
pains of parturition, laborious, industrious, patient, ingenious,
skilful; incessantly engaged in the nurture of the young, in col-
lecting of honey and pollen, in elaborating wax, in constructing
cells and the like. Paying most respectful and assiduous atten-
tion to objects (queen bees), which, had her ovaries been de-
veloped, she would have hated and pursued with the most vindic-
tive fury till she had utterly destroyed them.”’

Abroad they are foragers, collecting pollen to supply the
juveniles at home with bee bread, honey for winter stores, .and
propolis to glue up cracks, and cementing foreign intruding sub-
stances that are too cumbersome to remove bodily or too tenacious
to be removed piecemeal. Abroad they are one of the great
fertilisers of the vegetable world. They are our forest makers,
our orchardists, our florists. As forest-makers, they perpetuate
the species of trees and’ plants upon which they work. As fruit-
producers, they are constantly improving their torm, their colour,
their flavour, and their season. As florists, they are ever varying
our flowers in shape, in perfume, in colour, in tint, in streak,
and in freckle. They are constantly reproducing odd colours and
fashionable combinations thereof, and suffusing them with the
most attractive shades to please the searcher for novelties in the
floral world.

In the pages on queen-bees I named the workers as incom-
plete females; we now propose to follow the latter, watching the

THE WORKING BEE. 65

changes she undergoes in her transition stages from egg to imago,
noting how she performs her various home duties, and following
her into the field, the orchard, and the garden, and watching her
in Nature’s workshops elaborating new varieties of flowers and
fruits.

The fecundation of the mother bee by the drone is the first
element in differentiating the sexual character of the egg-germ
in the ovary of the queen-bee. Swammerdam, an old entomolo-
gist, on noting a strong odour, enanating from drone bees, was
under the impression that the said odour permeated the body of
the queen-bee, and in this way the eggs were fertilised. Francis
Huber, experimenting with the theory, confined a number of
drones in a perforated box. Placing this box of drones within
a hive, from which all drones had been excluded, and confining
a virgin queen within the same hive. Needless to say, with our
present knowledge of the domesticated bee, she became a drone-
breeder.

THE EGGS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND
TRANSFORMATION.

The egg, after fertilisatibn and the treatment it receives
after it is deposited in the worker-cell, produces one of the rank
and file. While in this cell it is termed a ‘‘worker-egg.’’ A
misnomer introduced into the bee-keeper’s vocabulary before the
scientific knowledge of the economy of the hive bee was so well
understood as at present.

There are such things as worker-eggs. They are the produce
of a fertile-worker, but these eggs always develop drone-bees.

The queen-bee, after she has satisfied herself that the cell she
has selected is wholly untenanted and cleaned ready for the recep-
tion of an egg, places her abdomen therein, and after it is with-
drawn we see fixed at the base of the cell, and parallel to its
sides, an elongated pearly-white egg, one end being rather larger
than the other.

In the larger end there is a minute doorway (micropyle) by
means of which the sexual character of the embryo drone-bee
contained therein was differentiated. These eggs remain in the
position in which they were deposited, and then gradually alter
it until they are lying parallel to the base of the cell, which
occupies about two days to complete its final position. The heat
necessary to hatch these eggs and for their after development
should not be less than 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

66 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE-

Draughty hives have much to answer for in preventing early
spring swarms. So also has the too common practice of leaving
the supers on the brood-chamber without an intervening warm
quilt between. the two boxes. The more snugly in the brood-
chamber the bees are kept during the winter months and early
spring, the sooner will early swarms issue, always providing the
old stock has been kept numerically strong since the previous
autumn. If ‘‘the early bird gets the first worm,’ it is the early
swarm that gets the most honey.

When the inmate of the egg hatches, a little whitish
worm is seen lying on the bottom of the cell and parallel to it.
As soon as the little inmates are liberated from the egg-covering
they are supplied with a white semi-transparent fluid by the
nursing bees. After receiving this food they grow rapidly and
very soon touch the angles on either side of the cell. The little
inmates literally float in this milky fluid. Very soon their couch
becomes too short to stretch themselves upon. Then they. assume
a bent or semicircular position. The degrees of these circular
segments increases until both ends meet. When there is no further
room to coil they stretch themselves along the sides of the cell
and parallel to it.

When the larval transformation is nearly completed the
organs of locomotion commence developing, first the legs followed
by the wings, and so on; this is the beginning of the chrysalis
stage. Then the nurse bees begin the work of enclosing the in-
mates by sealing them in with a brownish mixture composed of
wax and pollen, or bee-bread, the same kind of material as the larger
cappings of the drone cells and that of the queen-bee are formed
with. Under the microscope these cappings are seen to be full of
small holes, which freely admit the warm air from the
clustering bees to be utilised by the two spiracles in the thorax
of the maturing inmate, the ten in the abdomen remaining in-
active during the final stage of this transformation.

During the second stage of transformation the larve fre-
quently moult or change their skin; this occurs five or six times
during growth. After the final moult they are fed for about
four days. The inmate is now supplied with no more food, and
the work ‘of cocoon-spinning begins as soon as the capping of
the cells is completed. The silken threads composing the cocoon
are produced from a fluid yielded by a gland, and the work of
its construction is exactly similar to that of the silkworm and
other cocoon-building insects. Indeed, the bee cocoon may be,

THE WORKING BEE. 67

described as made of bee-silk. The fluid escapes from spinerets
in the lips of the larve, and after its extrusion quickly hardens
and becomes fibrous. On the completion of the capping, all
further attention from the nurse-bees ceases. The construction
of the cocoon occupies about thirty-six hours. While the final
development of the chrysalis stages are completing they remain
motionless until the twenty-first day is reached, when they emerge
from the cell to commence the duty of perpetuating their race,
having all the maternal instincts of the mother bee without the
sexual appetite and the power of parturition. The queen is ono
of the most unconcerned onlookers in the hive, as it regards the
rearing of the family that is developing from the very eggs she
has laid. Not so with the workers. Their one thought is the
protection and nurture of the helpless young; an incessant,
laborious, patient, and life-long toil; a life cut short by premature
death when the family is most numerous; not a death from a
ripe old age, but a life worn out by industrious labour, in what
should be the spring-time of energy.

NURSE BEES.

The first duty devolving on working bees on entering the
world is the care of her brothers and sisters during their infantile
lives ; a solicitude for their welfare; their cleanliness, their health,
always anticipating their every want. Huber was the discoverer
of nurse-bees. He speaks of two kinds of workers. One of these
is, he says, ‘‘In general destined for the elaboration of wax, and
its size is considerably enlarged when full of honey; the other
immediately gives what it has collected to its companions; its
abdomen undergoes no sensible change, or it retains only the
honey necessary for its own subsistence. The particular function
of the bees of this kind is to take care of the young, for they
are not charged with provisioning the hive. In opposition to the
wax-workers, we shall call them small bees, or nurses. Although
the external difference be inconsiderable this is not an imaginary
distinction. Anatomical observations prove that the stomach is
not the same; experiments have ascertained that one of the species
cannot fulfil all the functions shared among the workers of a hive.
We painted those of each class with different colours, in order to
study their proceedings; and these were not interchanged. In
another experiment, after supplying a hive (deprived of a queen)
with brood and pollen, we saw the small bees quickly occupied
in nutrition of the larve, while those of the wax-working class

68 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

neglected them. Small bees also produce wax, but in a very
inferior quantity to what is elaborated by the real wax-workers.”’

There was never a more careful observer of scientific bee life
than the physically unfortunate Huber. Since the introduction
of the Italian bee, nainting and other mechanical aids to observe
the various works carried on by the inmates of the hive—the
species, class, or kind so named by Huber as wax-workers, nurses
and foragers—have dwindled almost into nothingness. That in
the hive there are nurse-bees, wax-workers, foragers, etc., is well
known to the practical bee-keeper; but that these functions are
deputed to various sections of operating bees is now known to be
incorrect. Huber must have the credit of the discovery of the
division of labour among bees; but that a nurse-bee is always
a nurse-bee is incorrect. These different functions or classes
of labour carried on in the hive are performed by every bee during
her lifetime. The first duty of a working bee is that of elabora-
ting chyle food, the nursing of the inmates of the cells, and as
she advances in age so she is promoted from office to office until
she becomes a breadwinner of the establishment. In this final
duty her wings wear out, and she dies in harness, at her post,
as the little busy bee.

These nurse-bees are all-important to the bee-keeper. When
bees refuse to cluster on the brood comb, or to accept a new
queen, or even to rear one, it is because some of the natural con-
ditions of the hive are absent. A want of a sufficient number of
nurse-bees is a serious drawback to the prosperity of a colony.
In artificial swarming ‘‘forced colonisation,’’ if on the brood
comb introduced there be not sufficient adhering bees or nurses
to feed the larve the foragers become dissatisfied at the deserted
appearance of the comb, and, refusing to stay, they swarm out or
returm from whence they came. A constant, regular, and good
supply of nurse-bees is the important factor in queen raising. If
increase of colonies is the thing sought always note that the combs
introduced contain brood in all stages of development, from egg
to chrysalis, as well as a good supply of stores,—honey and pollen
—this last is indispensable.

FERTILE WORKERS. 69

CHAPTER XI.
FERTILE WORKERS.

It is not an uncommon thing, from some as yet unknown
cause, for a working bee to become procreative. They are usually
termed fertile workers. These fertile workers assume all the
functions of queens. The workers treat them as such, but I think
always with a certain amount of misgiving. They lay eggs, but
from these eggs drones are always evolved. Is this power of
laying the result of the copulation of the previous generation, or
is it a case of parthenogenesis? If parthenogenesis, how is it
that it so rarely shows itself? If a virgin queen, through some
accident to her wings or any other cause, ‘looses the power of
flight, thus preventing her consorting with a mate, she becomes,
in bee-keepers’ phraseology, a drone-layer. In this respect she
stands exactly on the same plane with fertile workers. All un-
mated queens are always drone-layers; but drone-laying workers
(fertile workers) are of rare occurrence. In the case of drone-
laying queens, through the loss of the power of flight, she ceases
to be procreatively receptive. A fertile worker has, and has
always had, the power of flight, but, procreatively, she was never

receptive. Yet a drone-laying queen and fertile worker stand
exactly upon the same footing.

The mysteries of the bee-hive, what an interesting subject!
The reason of this is full of wisdom! In this it is seen no
working bee has a brother of full blood. It may appear to be
paradoxical. It may even appear to be absurd, seeing that the
same mother produced both the males and females of the family ;
yet, as absurd as it may appear, it is true in fact. It may be
asked what relationship exists between the mother bee and the
drone she produces, seeing that the father of her own son was
the consort of her own mother—a relationship that is not cata-
logued in the tables of consanguinity ?

Thus, if the influence of the drone, both in traits of tem-
perament and working energy (although the drone works not, the
energy for such is transmitted by means of the life-germ), is it
not of paramount importance that as much, if not more, care
should be taken to produce drones of high physique and energetic

70 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

will, as is now being done in relation to queen-breeding? If the
sire in the higher type of animals is of such vital importance,
how is it that the drone bee is not viewed in the same light with
bee-keepers? A difficulty stands in the way: We have not the
selecting and mating powers in relation with bees that we have
over other animals. Nevertheless, we can do much towards the
selection of sires among bees. With bee-keepers it is well known
that the queen’s powers in the reproduction of working bees
gradually subsides with age; and as her powers of worker produc-
tion diminish her powers of producing drones increase until,
finally, she ceases to be sufficiently profitable or even capable of
continuing her female species. It is usual with bee-keepers to
supersede all queens after two seasons’ laying. It is also known
that the progeny of sorne queens are 50 per cent. more energetic
than that of others. If one or more of these known energetic
queens, after they cease to be profitable, owing to the non-pro-
duction of working bees in sufficient quantities to keep up the
numerical strength of the colony, are kept for stud purposes to
breed drones, one of the difficulties of selecting is overcome.
Further, if the keeping of the drone-laying queen be followed by
systematically cutting out or otherwise destroying all young drones
in other hives before they emerge from the cells, we shall go
a long way in the controlling the selecting powers of mating our
bees.

Queen Rearing.

SELECTION FOR STOCK PRODUCING, 71

CHAPTER XII
SELECTION FOR STOCK PRODUCING.

CuLtuRE, farming, rearing, and raising are synonymous terms when
applied to any of the members of the vegetable or animal kingdom
that are under the fostering care or guiding hand of man. Our
chief aim in these matters is the selection of the fittest that may
become in one way or the other useful to us. There is no culturist
under so great a disadvantage, as it regards the selection of the
fittest, as the bee-keeper. Those interested in the culture of mem-
bers of the animal kingdom other than bees, can select and mate
both sire and dam with a reasonable probability of producing a
certain ideal or development of an animal more akin to man’s
requirements than those that were the parentage of the said pro-
duction. So with the vegetable kingdom. The knowledge we
have, and the power we possess as it regards cross-fertilisation,
has put such a lever in our hands, that, after having conceived the
idea of what may be an improvement either in colour, form,
flavour, or bulk, something near thereto is the result. I know that
the percentage of failures are far greater than the successes, but
from these we select the fittest, and these survive. In these mat-
ters the bee-keeper is under one great and lasting hindrance to his
success, he cannot select and mate both sire and dam. With hin.
there is no reasonable probability of achieving an ideal type of bee
that may suit his fancy. Neither can the bee-keeper ever hope
to have the power in his hands to regulate the mating of his stock,
so as to change the character of the wild type, either in form or
size. Freaks in these matters undoubtedly have occurred that,
according to our way of thinking, have produced a bee an improve-
ment on her ancestors. There have been cases of albinos; but
even supposing that these cases were more numerous, and still
supposing that albino bees would be an improvement on their
more sombre brethren, a new variety could not be worked up there-
from, because the cases have always occurred among drones and
infertile females (workers), and not fertile females (queens). Again,
we occasionally see working-bees extra long in the abdomen; that
length not being produced by the surcharged honey sac, and,
indeed, some queens seem disposed to produce inmates of two or

a2 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.-

three different types. This differentiation in the case of drones
is the result of being bred in worker-cells. These drones while
in a chrysalid form are easily distinguishable by the capping of
the worker’s cell being much more elevated than those surround-
ing it. It is a question with me if these drones bred in worker-
cells have the power of pro-creation. Even if it were so, our so
far utter inability to mate such an ideal drone with a queen of an
unusually long abdomen is debarred by our not having the power
to control the mating instinct of bees. A gentleman once said
to me, ‘“‘I have found a method by which I can increase the size
of the honey bee.’’ The method was by enlarging the size, ever
so little, of the impressions on the foundation comb, and after
breeding many generations of this enlarged bee, to again increase
the pattern on the foundation, and so on, as the increased size
of the bee became fixed. Of course, he knew nothing of practical
bee-keeping, and less of its scientific aspect. But when I pointed
out that if it were possible to increase the size of the physical
structure of bees the whole of the entomophilus flowers would have
to undergo a series of new evolutions, so as to fit the enlarged bee,
for, according to the Darwinian theory, flowers have evolved to
fit the bees, it would appear, according to the creative standpoint,
the size and forms of the bees were made to fit the flowers. Be
this as it may, we cannot, even if we would, breed bees for a
material alteration in form or any increase in size.

From the foregoing it is evident that the object of bee-culture
or bee-farming is not for an improvement or an alteration in the
physical contour of the insect. Neither can it be for the produc-
tion of ornamental or fancy varieties as it is with poultry-farming
or pigeon-fancying, but to produce a bee that shall excel the wild
types in gentleness and in labour.

Elsewhere I have said that I think it possible to produce a
type of bee that shall be purely: Australian in traits of character,
that is, as regards docility and gentleness, activity, and foraging ;
also in health and in prolification. To obtain these ends there
must be the selection of the fittest. The traits of disposition, etc.,
cannot be traced as coming in any way from the sire’s side, for we
seldom, nay never know him. His resultant characteristics can
only be seen in the progeny, and these traits that emanate from the
masculine side cannot be perpetuated for the reasons given in the
earlier part of this subject, and that on ‘‘From Maturity to
Maternity.’’ In breeding other domestic animals, and, indeed,

SELECTION FOR STOCK PRODUCING. 73

flower culture and other members of the vegetable kingdom, an
ideal can be reached with a greater certainty than is the case with
bee culture, because the ‘‘fittest’’ can be selected from both genders.
The selection of a typical sire in bee culture is a barrier that seems
impossible to surmount.

Thus, then, we must confine our whole attention to the dam,
the mother bee, so as to secure those traits of docility, activity,
and prolificness so essential in the manipulating of bees, and secur
ing the greatest amount of profit. It is said that females supply
the elements of matter, and males those of disposition, activity,
etc. Although the queen bee appears to select her consort at
random, as a rule it is really the selection of the fittest, for the
coveted prize is won by the swiftest of the queen’s male attendants.
Nevertheless we cannot select the fittest male element of the hive
with any degree of certainty; we have the female element almost
under positive control. Then how are we to select our queen so as to
secure the characteristic traits here enumerated? “By their fruits
ye shall know them.’’ Every bee-keeper, practical, amateur, or
the most careless amongst them, knows that he has certain colonies
that he can walk around about, handle, or move with almost an
absolute amount of security from an attack, whilst there are other
colonies that he dare not go within coo-ee distance of without
having to pay the penalty due to the bees’ aggressive temper.
Again, in an apiary, no matter whether it be of large or small
extent, there are certain colonies that seem to do all the work.
Every bee-keeper when he is taking you around amongst his pets
will be sure to take you to one particular hive, and inform you

“this is the best, or one of the best, lot of workers I have
in the place.’’

74 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER XIII.
TEACHING BEES TO WRITE.

Whilst I am now writing, just in front of my study window
I have a few hives of bees, one lot as black as any British bees I
ever saw. For years past these have given me the greatest amount
of section-honey as compared with other hives. It is well known
that the honey harvest this season (1900), so far, has been a failure
almost all over the State, and Sydney district in that respect stands
at zero. Some time ago I conceived the idea of teaching my bees to
work out certain ornamental designs for the forthcoming Royal
Agricultural Snow. When everything was ready to give them their
first lesson in ornamental comb-building, the honey crop suddenly
failed. So as to produce the said designs in time for the Sydney
Royal Agricultural Show, I was compelled to have recourse to sup-
plying the bees with honey for the purpose. The honey was given
in large quantities. I distributed the ornamental designs amongst
five colonies. I knew the first thing they would do was to pack
away as’ much as possible of the stores in the brood-chamber. When
that work was accomplished I naturally supposed all five of the
colonies would commence to work out my ornamental designs,
N.S.W. N.B.K.A., 1900, which is now in the Sydney Technological
Museum. What was the result? No. 1, after having stowed
away as much honey as they could, conveniently in the brood-
chamber, absolutely refused to take another drop of that supplied.
them, notwithstanding there was plenty of room in the designs.
For years past this No. 1 has never given me a single section of
honey. No. 2 was already well stocked with storage in the brood
chamber. ‘hese also refused to build comb from fed-back honey.
No. 3, in like manner, had plenty of honey in the lower storey,
but went to work comb-building in a listless manner, and soon
became tired of the work. No. 4 (full-blood Italians) went to
work manfully, and in a few days had worked out “0” design,
and on the fifth day commenced storing, and as long as I gave
fed-back honey to them so they continue to work the designs and
have completed the second ‘‘0” and capped the greater portion of

TEACHING BEES TO WRITE. 75

the filled cells. No. 5 are real old-fashioned black bees—the bees
of my childhood—largely discarded now for the more gaudily-
wttired Italian. These, too, soon went to work on the design ‘‘19,’”
but, what is most singular, they worked out the curvilineal] lines
of the 9 in preference to the straight line 1. Undoubtedly, the
main cause of apathy with Nos. 1, 2, and 3 was the failure in the
natural honey flow; but why should they refuse to build comb
when there was an abundance of honey supplied them? I will
tell you. Because they are not descendants from an industrious
wnd energetic family. Like produces like; not only in colour,
form, and size, but in energy, disposition, and docility. In these
respects there is as much difference amongst bees as is the case
with other animals. In form and features we can easily trace a
family likeness in the human race, and in the same race traits of
character and intelligence are as indelibly pourtrayed. Of course,
there are exceptions to the rule—or throwbacks, as cattle breeders
term it. And the same thing is met with in bee culture.

Again, go into a large apiary at early dawn, and you will
see bees swarming into certain hives almost before sunrise heavily
laden with pollen and other stores, whilst in other hives the bees
are scarcely on the move. Yes, there are sluggards amongst bees
as well’as amongst men.

Every bee-keeper in a large way—and, indeed amateurs if they
are men of observation—will tell you they have seen, more or less
frequently, strong colonies of bees that throw off weak swarms.
Some bees, whilst being handled and the ‘comb examined, are as
restless as a flock of wild sparrows, others, again, appear to take
little or no notice of your interrupting their order of work. I
have lifted a comb of brood into the light and seen the queen go
on with her egg-laying duties as undisturbed as if the frame had
not been touched, and the workers at the same time attending
to their occupations.

Now, why all this? .Because I want you to see the difference
there is in the working abilities and mental powers (may I use such
a term? I don’t see why!) of bees. What caused the differ-
ence in the work accomplished by the bees with the ornamental
designs referred to? A difference in physical energy. For ener-
getic workers bred from queens whose progeny exhibit the
greatest amount of endurance and working powers. For foraging
also these will be on the alert in the early dawn. You can only
ascertain the health, the energy, the docility, etc., of a queen by
observing these things in the workers of that queen. Then breed

76 THE SWARMING FEVER AND ITS SYMPTONS.

from such queens whose progeny give the greatest number of
advantageous points. As yet, we have no means of choosing bees
furnishing the superior masculine traits of character; but by
constantly selecting queens for stock purposes, possessing the
greatest number of desirable peculiarities, a strain of workers will
be the result, valuable for all the good qualities required in a
domesticated bee. Always select the fittest, and the fittest must

survive. Not otherwise.

Old Straw Hives.

WHY DO BEES SWARM ? 7

CHAPTER XIV.
WHY DO BEES SWARM?

‘ Wuy do Bees Swarm?’’ The answer, stuffed into the proverbial
nutshell, resolved itself into this: ‘‘It is one out of the many
methods Nature has of distributing and perpetuating her species.’’
True, there is a vast difference between Nature’s method of dis-
tributing bees into new localities and that of other animals whose
offspring leave the dam singly, or, seeking a mate, strike off to
find pastures new. The offspring of bees leave accompanied by their
dam, if it be the first spring swarm, provisioned for the journey,
and ready to construct some of the furniture necessary for making
a start in house-keeping on their own account. What is the cause
of this extraordinary exodus is an effect that is followed from a
cause. What is that cause, and how is it brought about? These
are two out of many questions that I propose to deal with here
—hboth more or less useful to the inexperienced bee-keeper. For
want of such information many a valuable swarm of bees has been
lost, whereas, had the signs been properly interpreted, many of
them would have been saved.

It is admitted by all, both scientific and practical, bee-keepers
that Francois Huber, who wrote his researches on this subject
more than 100 years ago, was the greatest inquirer into bee life
that ever lived. He is always looked upon as the Solomon of bee-
keepers, yet on p. 220 he says: ‘‘Therefore, to preserve their race,
it is necessary that the old queen conduct the first swarm. But
what is the secret means employed by Nature to induce her de-
parture? I am ignorant of it.” On p. 240 he again says, ‘‘It
has been demonstrated that the principal motive of the young
females departing when hives swarm is their insuperable antip-
athy to each other. All the young queens are successively treated
alike in hives that are to swarm. But the conduct of the bees
towards an old queen destined to conduct the first swarm is very
different. Always accustomed to respect fertile queens, they
(the workers) do not forget what they owe to her; they allow
her the most uncontrolled liberty. She is permitted to approach
the royal cells, and if she even attempts to destroy them no oppo-
sition is presented by the bees. Thus her inclinations are not

78 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

obstructed, and we cannot ascribe her flight, as that of the young
queens, to the opposition she suffers. Therefore, I candidly con-
fess myself ignorant of the motives of her departure. No one
cause induces the old queen to depart from the hive or the bees
to swarm out without her. The same is the case with young or
“virgin queens.’’ I think if the justly celebrated Huber had looked
for the external natural conditions, and had noted how these
produced the internal circumstances necessary for what he terms
“the formations of swarms,’’ he would have discovered ‘‘the
motives for her departure.’’ The motives that cause the queen
to depart with a swarm from the hive are beyond dispute. Yet
there appear to be climatic conditions that are obscure to us, but
are, nevertheless, instinctively understood by the bees. The whole
rank and file of the hive are not ignorant of the fact that con-
ditions are fast ripening for that all important time; that the
hour is at hand when they must go forth and set up a home for
themselves. When and how the word is passed from bee to bee
that swarming is to take place, and that on a certain day and
hour the flight is to be made, appears to largely depend on the
age of the maturing queens, and the favourable condition of the
weather. In fact, the productiveness of queens largely depends
upon the seasons. If in early spring the blooming of honey-bear-
ing flowers warrants a continuity of a few weeks’ honey flow, the
preparations for swarming are proceeded with. Just at this point
is where the skill of the practical (I do not mean professional)
bee-keeper aids in the production of early swarming. Here I
must repeat that string I have so often harped upon—the nume-
merical strength of the hive carried through winter with a suffi-
ciency of food to induce the queen bee to commence laying, when the
first signs of a favourable spring for swarming. If we
place ourselves near the hives in.early spring, and carefully watch
the ingress of the inhabitants, it will soon be apparent that pollen
gathering is the chicf industry just now. It is one of the chief
ingredients in food preparation for the raising of brood. To this
end bees are often supplied with artificial pollen to aid in the
early maturing of swarms. The eagerness of bees for pollen
gathering is the earliest sign of the approach of the first swarm
of the spring. On examining the frames of brood combs,
if the queen be from 10 to 12 months old, there will
be an abundance of worker brood in all stages of development,
from the tiny eggs just laid to the emerging young bee. In addi-

WHY DO BEES SWARM ? 79

tion to these there will be a large number of nurse bees, young
downy ones, eagerly engaged in supplying the infantile wants of
the younger brood. These are among the first internal indications
of swarming. If the bees be a well established colony, and the
queen is about completing her first year, there will be indications
of the approach of drone laying. In the early part of her life
a fecundated queen never lays what are termed drone eggs. When
about entering the second year of her existence her drone-laying
powers are first developed. The maturing of drones within the
cells is the second stage in the order towards swarming. There
are no drones wintered with the bees. Of course, it can be done
artifically, and perhaps under required conditions it is done when
bees are in a state of nature.

As spring advances and bee food becomes more plentiful, the
bees seem to realise the conditions necessary for swarming. As
queens do not leave the hive, after their return from their marital
flight, till they go forth with the first spring swarms, the swarm-
ing conditions must be arrived at by the queen observing the abun-
dance of the food supplies brought in by the bees, and the genial
warmth of spring. In the first place these auxiliaries conduce to
the rapid increase in worker brood, followed, as before stated,
by drone production. Drones as their strength and power of
flight increase do not remain in the hive like young workers, but
are eager to get on the wing. During the warmest parts of spring
days their deep hum can be heard mid-air, and if we place our-
selves near the hives we shall see them busy at the entrance
thereto. This will be a sure indication that queen cells are in
progress and young queens are developing. When looking through
the hives, these cells are easily distinguishable from the worker
or drone cells both by their form and their positions. They are
constructed, as a rule, on the edges of the combs. There is no
rule as to the number; neither do the number of cells give any
indication of the number of swarms that will be cast off during
the season from any particular colony. If there are a dozen or
more queen cells containing maturing queens, it is seldom that two
or more of these are of the same age, that is, it is not probable that
any two of them will emerge from the cell at one and the same
time, for reasons to be explained further on. The perfecting of
these developing queens is another advancing stage in the swarm-
ing symptoms. The aversion that queen bees have the one to the
other is well known, and also the jealous guard placed over the

@

80 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

cells by the workers; yet a fertile queen, one destined to accom-
pany the first swarm of the season from the hive, is allowed all
sorts of latitude. How different is the action of bees towards a
laying queen to that of the virgins! Is it caused by filial affec-
tion? As soon as all the swarming indications succeed one and the
other, that is, the rapid increase of workers, and of worker brood,
the advent of drones, and the perfecting of young queens within
the cells, if the weather be favourable, the first swarm may be
expected on any day, and almost at any hour, generally from 10
to noon. I have known bees to swarm as early as 6.30 a.m., and
as late as 5 p.m., but such times are exceptional. No queen,
under normal conditions, will go forth with a swarm before de-
positing eggs in queen cells; but she will leave before the first
young queen emerges from her cradle.

There is one symptom of swarming that is infallible, a peculiar
sound they emit, and known by most bee-keepers, termed piping.
But singularly enough, piping emitted by the bees does not take
‘place prior to the issuing forth of the first swarm, but prior to
that of the second. Therefore, it is sometimes contended that the
sound is only produced by virgin queens. Be that as it may, it
is an unmistakable sound, differing from every other note produced
in bee music. It is a high-set, rasping note, likened to ‘‘ ‘peep,
peep, peep,’ and hence the word ‘piping’ has been applied; but
‘teet’? and ‘zeet’ have seemed to some to better mimic the vor
regalis’* These sounds can easily be distinguished above the or-
dinary hum of the bees. By placing the ear to the side of the
hive after the bees have ceased from outdoor labour the sound of
“peep, peep, peep,” will be heard at frequent intervals. Both
the young queens imprisoned in the cells as well as those at
liberty, produce this challenging cry. Huber says, ‘‘What seemed
most singular was that this female (virgin queen) emitted a very
distinct sound, or clacking, from her prison. It was still more
audible in the evening, and even consisted of several monotonous
notes in rapid succession.’’ Further on, referring to a newly-
emerged queen, he says, ‘‘When she approached the other royal
cells, the bees on guard pulled, bit her, and chased her away ;
they seemed to be greatly irritated against her. She twice emitted
the sound; in doing so, she stood her thorax against a comb, and
the wings crossed on her back; they were in motion, but without
being unfolded or further opened. Whatever might have been

*Cheshire, Vol. I.

WHY DO BEES SWARM? 8k

the cause of her assuming this attitude, the bees were affected by
it; all hung down their heads, and remained motionless. The
queen confined in the second cell had not yet left it, and was
heard to hum several times.’’ Undoubtedly for hum he means
pipe, or clack as he terms it. If the piping is heard in the evening,
every preparation can be made to receive the swarm next day.
There will sure to be a swarm issue forth. I have known, after
hearing the piping over night, a swarm to come forth on a bright
morning ; afterwards, the sky becoming overcast, they again re-
turned to the hive, and issued out on the day following. I have
also heard the piping, and on the next morning have seen the
swarm rise in the air, and before they alighted re-enter, and not
to swarm again during that season. I suppose the cause was a
fight to a finish between the rival queens.

Why do bees swarm? Why does a hen sit, rear her chickens,
and then leave them to scratch for themselves? Why are the mem-
bers of the smaller feathered race so solicitous for the safety of their
callow nestlings and so anxious to protect them when they leave
the nest as perchers, and in a few weeks afterwards, are just as
anxious to vent out their rage upon their own offspring, as if they
were the greatest strangers, should they approach the old domain?
And why do members of the vegetable world bloom, bear seed, and
scatter it far and wide? Some seeds are armed with little hook-
lets, that hitch in the coats of animals that browse upon the parent
plants, and are thus carried and dropped miles away; others are
coated with adhesive matter which answers the same purpose as
the hooklets; other seeds again are bedecked with delicately buoy-
ant down, as in the thistles, and, being thus armed with sails,
are wafted far away from the neighbourhood of their nativity.
Are not the various methods Nature has adopted to distribute
the animal and vegetable kingdom analogous to swarming for the
purpose of replenishing the earth? True some go away into a
far country singly, others again gregariously. What bee-keeper
has not looked at a bed of thistles when the wind is blowing, and,
seeing the seeds caught up by their downy attendants, conceived
the idea that they rise into the air like a swarm of bees? And
what is ‘‘to swarm’’? An Anglo-Saxon word, meaning to ascend
or go up. In some parts of England the word is so used to this
day. ‘‘Shall I swarm the tree and get that bird’s nest?’’ was an
expression used when I was a boy. Now we use the word as mean-
ing a great number, or a great multitude.

82 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

Bees swarm because it is one of Nature’s ways of distributing
and perpetuating their species. All species of bees do not swarm
—that is, go away in a multitude—only social bees; and not these
in all cases.

What queer notions, past and present, have been given why
apis mellifica swarm. A evry commonly accepted opinion is the
want of room. I knew a swarm of bees to enter the gable end of
a house and build on the ridge;pole, and therefore had all the
space between the roof and the ceiling—room enough to build
yards of comb and store tons of honey. They occupied this space
for years and regularly swarmed; but on one occasion, making my
way under the roof to have a look at the supposed great mass of
comb and honey, there was to be seen only a very medium quantity
of comb, but a fair supply of honey. In too much space the con-
ditions are not good for wax secretion.

What strange statements are published by entomologists in
referring to the swarming of bees—I mean those men who go in
fo the study, or perhaps I had better say the reading, of general
insect life, and not confining their research to a special class. In
Insect Miscellanies I read: ‘‘Bees being confined within a limited
space, they cannot there increase and multiply beyond a certain
point, and consequently, when the hive becomes too crowded for
the population, it is expedient to thin their numbers by emigra-
tion (swarming). De Réaumur, the naturalist, says he frequently
possessed hives so full of bees that a portion of them were com-
pelled to remain on the outside, conglomerated in a mass, and
yet no swarm was sent off to thin their numbers. In other hives,
on the contrary, where there was so much spare room, more than
one swarm was thrown off.’’ Again, the writer in Insect Mis-
cellanies says: ‘‘The researches of naturalists, indeed, have dis-
covered many curious facts relative to the proceedings of bees in
such cases; but still many things, like the immediate cause of their
swarming, remain doubtful and obscure.’’ In the latest work on
natural history published, there are some romantic statements
given as to the reason the cells in honeycomb are six-sided (hex-
agonal).

What is the incentive amongst bees that causes the swarming
impulse? Chiefly, season or climatic circumstances. But not
always these. There are exceptions. A friend of mine in the
Old Country informed me that he once found a swarm of bees on
a gate post in the depth of winter, when the ground was covered

WHY DO BEES SWARM? é 83

with snow, no doubt starved out. Not always when bees are short
of stores will they leave in a mass as if swarming. I once knew
a swarm of bees that had but a small quantity of honey stored
for winter use make friends with an ‘adjoining colony where
there was plenty of stores, and acted literally up to the text ‘‘To
him that hath shall be given,’’ the members of the better equip-
ped colony helping to transport the store, the weaker colony grad-
ually intermixing with the stronger. Bees, as a rule, will not
permit intruders to enter, but when they bring their own but-
tered scone, and their own tea and sugar, the visited very much
relax that supposed hard and fast rule. Langsworth says: ‘‘Bees
sometimes abandon their hives very early in the spring or late in
summer or fall. Although exhibiting the appearance of natural
swarming, they leave, not because the population is so crowded
that they wish to form new colonies, but because it is either so
small or the hives so destitute of supplies that they are driven to
desperation.’’ I have known a starving colony to leave their
hive on a spring-like day in December in the old land.

There is no doubt the instinct of swarming is not a sudden
impulse, but notwithstanding that, De Réaumur has assured us the
immediate cause of swarming remains doubtful and _ obscure.
Practical and scientific observation has robbed it of its doubtfulness
and obscurity. The bar-frame hives of to-day have drawn aside
the veil of mystery and thrown wide open the door for investiga-
tion, so that the merest novice may ascertain the fact that the
earlier scientists yearned for but died without the knowledge.
The great Teacher said: ‘‘Now learn a parable of the fig-tree:
When his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves ye know
that summer is nigh.’’ Now learn a parable of bee life: When
the fruit-trees putteth forth their tender blossom buds you know
that spring is nigh; and when the bees are seen hurrying home
with their thighs packed with spring pollen you know that the
swarming instinct is nigh; and when you look into your hives
and see queen cells developing you know that swarming is even
at your door. Now learn another parable: When the tender
grass blade shoots forth, and insects and other poultry food become
plentiful, you know that the laying season for your hen is nigh;
and when she has been laying for some time, and remains on
the nest longer than usual you know that her sitting time is
nigh; and after she has been sitting twenty-one days you will
expect the chicken at your dovcr.

84 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

Are not the parables of the bees and the hen parallél or
analogous, the one of the other? The seasons and the local and
natural conditions combined were suitable, and these produced
the laying conditions, the brooding instinct, and the maternal
love of offspring until these latter were capable of shifting for
themselves. It was not because the hen-house was too small that
the hen commenced to lay, sit, and hatch; that would militate
against it. So the seasons and the blossoming of honey and pollen-
producing plants, etc., cause the swarming instinct to take hold
of the bees. It is Nature’s way of guarding against the extinction
of the race.

With bee-keepers swarming is always spoken of under two
heads-—natural and artificial. I am only dealing with the former.
I much prefer a natural swarm to one produced artificially. The
conditions attending a natural swarm are far more satisfactory.
To my mind bee-keeping is robbed of a large percentage of its
interest when no swarms issue forth. The delight of witnessing
the swarm hurrying pell-mell from the parent hive; the tinkling
of the tin kettle, antiquated now in good bee-keeping society,
following the vagabonds, the houseless wanders hither and thither
full of expectation as to where they will alight; the joy of listen-
ing to the calling of the wanderers home to the alighting bush ;
the picturesque sight of the increasing and clustering swarm
hanging pendulously from the tiny twig of leaflets; the pleasure,
at one time highly seasoned with fear, of shaking them into the
straw hive for their new home; the frequent visits during the day
to see that all is well; at nightfall wrapping them in cloth to carry
them home; the placing of them on the stand with care and cau-
tion; and the following days of superintendence—are pleasures of
my early bee-keeping days that will never be blotted from my
memory. Even now such experiences are fnll of interest to
amateur bee-keepers, and give rise to feelings that artificial
swarming never produce; but then artificial swarming is for profit
and not pleasure.

Who shall draw the line of demarcation between the swarm-
ing instinct and the swarming intelligence of bees? They have
no infallible rule as to when they shall swarm. The season may
be propitious, the swarm may be strong and healthy, the young
queens may be in the cells ready to emerge, and the workers’
honey-sacs filled for the anticipated journey, but let the weather
change to unfavourable conditions, all the preparations will come

WHY DO BEES SWARM? 85

to an end and so remain in abeyance until the weather is more
suitable for the requirements of swarming. As a rule, on the
morning prior to the swarm issuing forth, peace and quietness
reigns at home, and there are few bees going abroad foraging.

The incentive to swarming are those natural ones herein men-
tioned.

86 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER XV
SWARM CATCHING, HIVING, AND TRANSFERRING.

Preruars the one stage in bee-keeping that requires the least
protection and a minimum of courage is ‘‘swarm-catching’’—that
is, taking natural swarms after they have alighted in a cluster
on a bush or other object they have chosen for the purpose. To
me it is one of the most interesting sights in Nature to watch-
a swarm leaving the parent stock, rising on the wing, and perform-
ing beautiful, mazy evolutions like a country dance mid-air, to
the accompaniment of a soft, melodious, gentle hum, so indicative
of peace, goodwill, and enjoyment at the prospect of establishing
a successful home of their own; the main body keeping up these
beautiful movements whilst the scouts are flying hither and thither
in search of a suitable spot on which to alight; and then to see
them hasten to a bush in thousands, and threading in and out
amongst the foliage, now here, then there, until the scouts trumpet
forth the call to assemble. I have never yet discovered that call,
but it must be we}l known to the bees; for when the spot on which
to alight is found, and the call made, you will see all the bees
that are on the wing head towards it, even those that form the
most distant circle.

When the place of assemblage is found, what a change takes
place in their song! from the gentle, peaceful hum to one of ecs-
tatic delight. Note again, if the bees have made up their mind
to go farther afield to form a new home, there will be a change
in their movements and in their song. Instead of making easy,
graceful movements to and fro, the whole swarm will become
agitated, the scouts will be called in, and their song becomes one
of great disappointment, not to them, but to you, when you see
your cherished hope rising in the air like a solid mass, and with
a sharp cry and rapid movement they make for—you know not
where. ‘“'But,’’? you say, ‘f was given to understand that bees
were always led by the queen—that she gave the call, and directed
their movements ;—is not that why they beat the tom-tom or ring
the frying-pan with the door-key?’’ Not a bit of it. That 1s an
old superstition, grown out of a custom declaring the ownership

‘ <n
Sw
ww \K\

SWARM CATCHING, HIVING, AND TRANSFERRING.

CATCHING A SWARM.

87

SWARM CATCHING, HIVING, AND TRANSFERRING. 89

of a swarm of bees when on the wing. Jt was equal to the ringing
of a bell and saying, “This is to give notice these bees belong to
me.’’ I have more than once seen the queen on a leaf some feet
from where the swarm was clustering. I have seen her parading
to and fro on a rail while the swarm was clustering on the post,
the bees paying not the slightest attention to her. At other times
T'have seen her alight on the cluster and burrow in amongst
them. Evidently she had been on the wing for some time after
the main body had settled.

When bees have once clustered they are in the best of temper ;
you may do almost what you like with them. Frequently, to
prove to onlookers the ease and freedom from danger with which
you can handle bees under such circumstances, I have bared my
arm and passed my hand through to the other side of them. To
do so your movements must be slow and gentle. Try it; but, in
doing so, don’t forget, ‘Be gentle.’’

If bee-keeping be indulged in as a hobby, artificial swarming
robs it of one of its most interesting and fascinating features.

As a rule, early spring swarms do not abscond on the day
they leave the parent hive. Sometimes they will hang for days to
the place where they first settled. Early swarms cluster low.
The reason is not far to seek. It is the old, pregnant queen that
issues forth with the early swarms. She is heavy, and the workers
know it. Sometimes bees cluster in the most inaccessible places ;
against a wall, in the cleft in a log or stump, in between the forks
-of trees; from such places you cannot shake them. It is under
such conditions as these that the amateur’s courage and patience
are put to the test. How can they be dislodged and put into a
box prior to hiving? Sometimes you may dislodge them with
smoke. The most effectual way is to remove them with the hand.
Place the receiving-box as near to the bees as you can; on the
ground is best. Then scoop them up in handfuls, placing the
first few handfuls on the ground. Put the receiver over them,
resting on a small stone with room enough to give access; then
throw other handfuls near the entrance to the box. When you
see those you have placed on the ground freely enter the box,
those bees you have left behind will soon follow. But if you are
present when the bees are on the wing, all this mav be avoided:
“Prevention is better than cure.” When you see the bees have
chosen a place of settlement from which it will be difficult to dis-
lodge them, take a leafy bough and quietly move it up and down

90 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

over the site chosen. They will soon forsake it for one better
adapted to your purpose; if not, repeat the action.

If they have chosen a leafy bush on which to settle, boxing
them is easily enough done. Place the receiving-box directly under
the cluster of bees, mouth upwards; give the bough a sudden jerk;
the bees will fall in and around the box. Then turn it over, with
the bees in it—of course some will fall out—yresting on three little
stones. The bees will at once begin entering it; but should they
return to the bough, wait till about half are clustered, and shake
them again.

Sometimes they are so indiscreet as to select a bough high up
out of reach. It is then the swarm-catcher comes in very handy,
as will be seen by the illustrations. To your swarm-catcher have
other portions, so as to lengthen it. These can be made like a
jointed fishing-rod, each portion having a ferrule on one end. When
the bees are so situated, let them well cluster before you use the
catcher. Raise the catcher to the swarm till it surrounds them;
then, with a sudden jerk, shake them into it. Let it rest tor a
while somewhere in the locality where the bees clustered. The
bees on the wing will soon join those within the catcher. Having
secured your bees in the receiving-box—that is, when a half or
two-thirds are settled therein—lose no time in removing the box
a few yards away. The bees that have gone back to the o'd
spot—and some hundreds of them will be sure to do so—and those
that are on the wing, will soon find it and enter it more freely
and much sooner than if it be permitted to remain where they
were first shaken. :

When the bees are well settled in the receiving-box, don’t
be too particular if a few hundreds are on the wing; it won’t
matter. Take them to the hive that is to be their permanent
home. Always have an untenanted hive, properly fitted up with.
starters (strips of foundation comb attached to the top bar of each
frame), and put in position so that all the frames will hang per-
’ fectly plumb. Remove the cover of the hive and also the quilt;
space the frames—don’t be too particular just now—bring over
the bees in the receiving-box, and tumble them pell-mell on top
of the frames (you will see how by referring to the illustrations
of transferring, p. 101). As soon as they are thrown on to the
frames they will begin to descend in a moving mass into the
hive. Pick-up the quilt, place it over the bees that are resting
on the frames—it won’t injure them—put four stones, one on each

SWARM CATCHING, HIVING, AND TRANSFERRING. 91

corner of.it, to keep it from blowing away, and then leave them
alone for some hours. Don’t wait till night, or even the twilight,
as is usual, to do all this. There is no advantage in it that I
have ever discovered; but, on the contrary, the bees may abscond
if not soon hived. If you have not time to attend to all this,
that is another thing. In that case remove the box with the bees
to the shade of a bush, or in some way protect them from the
direct sunlight, and leave them till you have time. Under no
circumstances should the bees be allowed to remain in the box
too long. As soon as they have taken possession of a place they
at once begin to work. I have seen them, when they have been
hanging on a bush or elsewhere for a few hours, leave their mark
behind tnem in the form of small bits of comb attached to where
they hung. Before turning in for the night, remove the stones
from the quilt and replace the lid of the hive; it will protect them
from rain should a shower come on.

On the morrow remove the lid of the hive and the quilt, and
have a look at the bees. They are just as quiet to-day as they
were yesterday when they were clustered: Note how much room
they occupy. If you have not bees enough to fill the whole hive,
and it is not likely you will, close them in with a division board,
and increase their home as required. It is always a disadvantage
to you and the bees for them to have too much room to work
in; the reason will be given further on.

If the bees do not appear to take to their home, from some
cause unknown to you, or perhaps even to themselves, put in a
frame of comb with young brood in it. There will be no abscond-
ing after that.

For some reason, bees when swarming take a special fancy
to alight on the same spot chosen by a former swarm. My neigh-
bour has a stunted lemon-tree trying to grow in his yard, and for
years past the majority of swarms have selected that lemon-tree
as a place of rendezvous. Undoubtedly bees leave behind them
an odour easily recognised by their brethren of another hive. '1his
may be taken advantage of, and provision made to meet your bees
at such spots. Knowing this trait in their swarming habits,.some
bee-keepers have turned it to advantage by, putting up one or
more boxes to serve as decoys. For this purpose they use an or-
dinary candle-box with one side removed, the remaining sides
being pierced with inch auger-holes; it is then fastened to a long,
fairly light rod. When the bees are on the, wing, this ‘‘decoy-

92 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE

box’’ is held up amongst them. If a swarm has once entered it
there is not much trouble to induce others to do so again. I have
known a German bee-keeper use such boxes with great success,
and as an additional attractive inducement pin a dead queen
therein. I have not proved that there are any virtues in the
latter to attract a swarm.

I have mentioned in these pages several appliances in con-
nection with swarming. You will find that a box to shake them
into from the place wnere they first alight, and to remove them in
to their permanent home, the only thing really necessary, and
the catcher when the bees settle high in the trees.

The advance swarms of the season are, almost without an ex-
ception, numerically strong, and give far more satisfaction to the
bee-keeper than late ones. As arule, fairly early swarms will again
throw off swarms late in the season. The only way to obtain
strong swarms is to prepare for such in the previous autumn.
Put the bees up for the winter with all the adjuncts that will keep
that end in view. These adjuncts may be briefly summed up in
a few words: hives proof against cold and damp; the swarm
strengthened to its uttermost; and food supplied to carry them
well on to the spring.

To accomplish this should be the aim of the bee-keeper at all
times. The only thing that will mar his success will be the sea-
sons. These he cannot control; but all the adjuncts referred to
are in his power.

Last-season’s queens are more disposed to swarm, or are more
frequently seized with the swarming impulse, than are the second
swarms or casts. These are always accompanied by queens of the
season. It is these swarms that issue forth from the first swarms of

the season-—technically termed ‘‘maiden swarms’’—that give the
bee-keeper a lot of trouble. It is not far to go to understand the

reason of these maiden swarms giving so much trouble. Queens
that come forth with the spring swarms are at the least from
eight to twelve months old. During the previous season these
queens laid eggs that produced female or working bees only. These
last year’s queens are in a condition to lay drone-producing eggs.
The production of drones acts as a stimulus for queen production.
Where an old queen is hived in a bar-framed hive where founda-
tion-starters only are used, there will always be found a superabun-
dance of drone-cells constructed. With the second swarms or casts
it is not so. The combs built by these are constructed of. small-
sized cells (workers’).

SWARM CATCHING, HIVING, AND TRANSFERRING. 93:

A bee-keeper’s ideal should be, as far as possible, to prevent
swarming. The building of comb and the preparation for swarm-
ing are two luxuries that bees delight to indulge in; but they
are far too expensive for the bee-keeper’s profits, because both
comb-constructing and swarm-producing are carried on at the
expense of the honey stores. It must be remembered that these
after or maiden swarms, and also casts, are largely made up of
young bees that have seen very little field labour, and the with-
drawal of these from an established colony is a heavy drain on the
labour market of the aforesaid colony; whereas, if they can be
kept as inmates of what I may term their own home, they will
add to the exchequer of their owner.

A mercantile person would consider cent. per cent. a superb
profit for business purposes, and a sheep or cattle farmer would
rejoice at a hundredfold as the increase of his stock for the year ;
and so should a bee-Keeper.

As there are mechanical aids to produce swarming, so there
are mechanical aids to prevent it. Of course, if the bee-keeper’s
ideal is in obtaining a large number of hives of bees, then he
should husband all casts and after-swarms; but, I must repeat,
it can only be done at the expense of his honey profit. True, it
is possible, in a very short space of time, to increase an apiary
to some hundreds of colonies by means of natural and artificial
swarming, providing the locality will carry such a stock as it
regards honey-producing plants. Even if some of the colonies of
this extensive increase be weak, with proper management they
can be brought up to the required strength; but honey must not
be expected during the period of strengthening the weak colonies.

Let us see what are the mechanical aids to prevent swarm-
ing. We all know, or should do so by this time, that old queens
are drone-layers, and the older they become the more drones they
produce. Now, nothing will prevent an old queen from becoming
a drone layer, any more than we can prevent an old mammal trom
becoming sterile. You may put in whole sheets of foundation
comb, and cut out drone cells by the thousand, but the queen will
lay drone eggs in spite of you. If she has nowhere else to deposit
them she will put them in the worker cells. Drones are always
kept alive at the expense of the storage of honey. They have only
one use—one of the aids to reproduction. When that is accom-
plished the bees themselves get rid of them. During this period
they have been occupying valuable room by their superabund-

94 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

ance, and devouring food that would be far better used in the
rearing of workers. All this can be prevented by getting rid of
drone-laying queens. The early spring swarms are always
accompanied by a drone-laying queen, and she will very soon com-
mence her drone-laying proclivities. Here you will see the
necessity of trying your apprentice hand at queen raising. As
early as the season will admit, have an overplus of young laying
queens on hand, ready to replace the queen that accompanied
the first swarm. This is the first and most important mechanical
aid to prevent swarming. The second is like unto it, but not
nearly so effective. A queen develops from egg to maturity some
five days sooner than the worker; therefore, about every fourteen
days take out and examine every comb for constructing queen
cell, or developing queens, and destroy them. A keen knife will
do it. 1 always use my finger and thumb and pinch them out.
If, from any cause, you may have been unable to procure
young laying queens (although they are always to be procured
from dealers in season, and almost out of season), or to examine the
combs for queen cells, there are almost sure to be late swarms to deal
with. This country is one of the most likely in the world to pro-
duce casts and after-swarms, and these are the ones that will give
you trouble. In all probability, when they rush from the hive
they will go further afield than the spring swarm, before they
settle; in fact, it is these swarms that become the vagabonds, and
are found hanging on fences and elsewhere about Christmas time.
One of the first swarms of bees I ever saw on the wing was one
of these vagabonds, high up in the air and hurrying across a
meadow. [I tried to follow, but a wide and deep brook stopped me.
In these early days of my bee-keeping experience, well do I re-
member tin kettling—ringing them down we called it—tHe bees
attempting to settle first here and there, and, finally, nowhere;
while they suddenly took it into their heads to alter their course,
rapidly gathered together, were soon lost to sight, and it was good-
bye to my swarm. It is this peculiar trait in their character
that gives all the trouble. These thousands of bees that escape
in this way are so much loss to the colony they came from. If
they can be kept in the hive it means more extracting for the bee-
keeper. The prevention of these casts means having a strong
colony through the winter; and a strong colony through the
winter means a strong early swarm in the following spring. How
can we keep them at home? Even this cannot always be done.

SWARM CATCHING, HIVING, AND TRANSFERRING. 95

These casts are too frequently led by a virgin queen. Where these
after-swarms alight you will have to go through the same process
of hiving, as already described, and return them to the hive.
But, you say, will there not be two queens in the one hive? Very
probably there will. One must be destroyed. Either you must
destroy the one with the cast, or there will be a fight between the
two queeng in the hive, and then it will be the survivor of the
battle that will henceforth reign. But how can we find a queen-
bee out of the thousands that are in a swarm? There is a little
trouble in doing this. If you are acquainted with the form of a
virgin queen, by watching the swarm after it clusters, you may
sometimes find her running about on the outside, and occasionally
threading her way in and out amongst the crowd. To do so you
must have an experienced eye. After you have shaken them out
and they have settled into the reception box, by spreading a
cloth on the ground and throwing the bees on to it, letting them
re-enter the box by crawling towards it, you are often enabled
to pick her up. All this requires patience—a commodity no bee-
Keeper can afford to be without.

One thing worth noting is, that drones are not produced in
very early spring, only in a well-conditioned colony. Drones are
unnecessary where there are no young queens developing. Noth-
ing retards spring swarming more than badly constructed hives
that are cold and damp, and the bees themselves wintered on a
too limited supply of stores, and have come through winter on
the verge of starvation, and so dwindled in numbers they have not
strength enough to hatch out a large number of eggs, these will not
swarm early, no matter how favourable the season may be.
Conditions the reverse of the above are the ones that will aid the
bee-keeper with early swarms, providing the seasonable conditions
are favourable. In the West of England they have this proverb:
‘‘A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm of bees
in June is not much out of tune; but a swarm of bees in July is
not worth a single fly.’’ There is a deal of truth in it.

Be prepared. Have all the required adjuncts at hand and
in place for catching your swarms and hiving them. Choose
the site on the grounds where you intend to keep them. If it
be under natural shade, trim off over-hanging twigs, so as to have
head-room. You will find the advantage of this, especially if you
are in the habit of wearing a bee-veil. Nothing 1s more annoy-
ing, when you are handling bees, than to find a sudden pull at

H

96 AUSTRALIAN EEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE

your head-gear, and you stand bare-headed with a frame of irritable
bees in your hand. Under such circumstances an apprentice at
the work would find it hard to follow out the advice I so often
give—be gentle and kind in handling your bees. Level the spot
where each hive is to stand. Place four pieces of brick on the
ground, so they may stand about two inches high. The
surfaces of these must be even, try them each way with a spirit-
level. On these, place your hives. Before placing the frames in
the hives see that the starters (artificial foundation comb, from
1 to 2 inches deep, attached to the top bar of the frame) are
securely fastened to the top har. For hiving purposes I prefer
these starters to full sheets. In placing the frames in the hives
see that they hang plumb and equidistant from each other. Put
a quilt over the frames, and the lid in position. In fact,
treat each empty hive intended for the reception of bees as if
the colony were in it. You will find an advantage in this when
your new swarms issue forth. A swarm-catcher of some descrip-
tion, a bee-veil (always wear one on your hat ready for use), and
a queen-cage should be near by, so that you may be able to place
your hand on them at a moment’s notice. A queen-cage is
necessary if you keep your queens with clipped wings. If bees
are kept in a town it is an advantage to clip the queen’s wings,
and also, if your occupation keeps you around about your bees
during swarming season, otherwise there is no advantage in ‘t,
especially with first swarms. There are a number of other swarm-
ing devices, all more or less useful, for which see supply dealers’
catalogues.

In Symptoms of Swarming I have mentioned the piping of
the queen. By placing the ear to the hive this cry may be heard
on the eve prior to swarming. But the absence of the cry 's
no proof the bees will not swarm on the morrow. On the
morning of the day the bees intend to swarm, the inmates of
neighbouring hives will be seen issuing forth and returning with
all the energy they are capable of, whilst the hive the swarm
is expected from will be quiet, and labour will appear to be almost
suspended, only a few bees passing in and out. Yet this is not
an infallible sign. I have frequently seen a swarm of bees on the
wing, and mixed up with them numbers of bees with their pollen-
baskets well packed with pollen; evidently they had not received
word that swarming was to take place that day.

The time of day for bees to swarm is not well defined. It

SWARM CATCHING, HIVING, AND TRANSFERRING. 97

is some time between sunrise and sunset, As a rule, it is during
the hottest part of the day. It is a pretty and interesting sight
to see the bees issuing forth from the hive for the purpose of
swarming. They all appear eager to see which will be out first,
pushing and tumbling one over the other. Bees with their wings
fringed with hard work and old age; middle-aged and baby bees;
young, downy fellows, even too young to take part in the general
exodus. You will find many of the latter running about outside
the hive. If the hive is close to the ground, and of easy access,
they are soon inside again; if not, it is as well to pick them up,
and put them on the alighting board. A young bee is worth
more than an old one.

To any bee-keeper it is pleasant to watch the bees manceuv-
ring in the air; advancing, receding, rising, falling and circling ;
not looking about for the queen. She is mixed up with them, but
she has no allotted place in that busy crowd. Whilst on the wing
the hum they emit is a pleasant one, and to them one of joy.
We do not know how the information is telephoned from one to
the other, when they are on the wing, that a chosen spot has
been selected, and it is time to settle. A practised ear can detect
a change in the hum. At once, when the sound of the bees
change, you will see those bees that have been scattered far around
heading for the spot selected. Indeed, there appear to be many
spots chosen, for you will see the bees forming little clusters here
and there. ‘These are all ultimately abandoned for the central
one. Watch the central one. You may see the queen, if she be
unclipped, alighting with the rest. Pick her gently up by the
wing and cage her for a few minutes. (If the queen is clipped,
stand by the hive as the bees issue forth and cage her there.)
When a fairly good number of the bees have settled, shake them
into a receiving-box, and at once, if you have caged the queen,
place her amongst them. If you have not secured the queen, watch
the box into which you have shaken the bees. If they persist
in returning to the place whence you shook them you must shake
again, and repeat the process as often as they return thither. One
way of ascertaining if the queen is in the receiving-box is to move
it a few yards from the spot in which you first placed it. If the
bees follow, you may be sure the queen is there. Nevertheless,
a large number of bees will continue to hang about the place
where they first clustered. If you have secured the queen, these
will soon begin to dwindle away. If you have little or no exper

98 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

ience in swarm catching and hiving, do not get excited or hurried
over the job. It is the quiet, easy movements that will bring
success. You have no occasion to be afraid of the bees. When
they have the swarming impulse on they are most docile, and
put on their best behaviour. You may do almost anything with
them if you move and handle them gently. I have seen the most
timid ladies, when given to understand this, and shown how to
do it, pick bees up by the handful without being stung, and you
may do the same. In doing so, put no pressure whatever on
the bees.

If the bees settle some distance from the apiary, as soon as
about two-thirds of them are in the receiving-box begin to remove
them homewards by easy stages—at first say 5 or 6 yards, and
increase the distance each removal. As soon ag you see that the
bees have found the box, give the move-on order, and shift the
box nearer home. Do not wait till sundown to take your bees
home. The stragglers will follow the box. There will be some
few that may not do so; these will return to the hive from whence
they came.

Presuming that you have been following all the advice I here
tender, and the permanent home for your bees has been ‘‘swept
and garnished,” and in every way ready to receive its inhabi-
tants, the last stage in the removal of the receiving-box containing
the bees should be close to their permanent home. Remove the
lid of the hive and its quilt, exposing all the frames to full view.
Take your box of bees, and with one jerk tumble the bees in
amongst the frames. In a very few minutes they will have des-
cended into the hive, and cluster to the frames. Put the quilt
over them, placing a stone on either corner to prevent the wind
lifting it. Shortly afterwards remove the stones and put the lid
of the hive in its place. The bees will soon find the entrance,
and your trouble is over.

Probably next morning you will find them very quiet. They
are secreting wax and comb-building. Remove the lid and quilt,
and see if all the frames are correctly spaced; if they are not, you
know what to do without me telling you. Some on the following
day will be seen examining the hive, flying a little way off,
and returning. They are learning the geography of the neigh-
bourhood. Within a few days you will see them carrying in
pollen. All the danger of their leaving the hive is, perhaps, now
over. I say ‘‘perhaps,’’ because bees are such erratic things.

SWARM CATCHING, HIVING, AND TRANSFERRING. 99

I have known bees, after they have been hived and built combs
as large as your hand, take a fad into their heads and clear out.

Why, I cannot tell, and I do not think any one else can. Should
they do so, there is nothing for it but to go through the whole
work again.

100 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE-

Now, if you have been anything like in luck’s way, the whole
process from the time the bees made their exit from the parent

hive to that when you hive your new swarm will not occupy more
than an hour. But to this statement I must make certain reser-

vations. Did the bees settle in an easy accessible place? Did
they settle near the apiary?

All here stated has reference to first or early swarms, which
are led by a pregnant queen. when there is a certain amount of
assurance that they will not abscond. Casts or after swarms—
those that come out with virgin queens—may give a little more
trouble than here detailed.

101

TAKING BUSH BEES.

Transferring Swarm of Bees from Log.

TAKING BUSH BEES. 103

CHAPTER XVI.

TAKING BUSH BEES.

On the northern rivers of this State, back in the early seven
ties, bush excursions were frequently made in quest of bees’
nests, and ofttimes it proved a very profitable pastime. Armed
with a good axe, a knife, and vessels in which to carry home the
booty, a party would sally forth, frequently with horse and dray,
and come back with 2 or 3 cwt. of honey. True it was bush
honey, that is, a mixture of rotten wood and what else the hollow
spout contained. But what did that matter? Those who feasted
on the luscious delicacy in those days knew nothing of a purer
article, excepting that which went under the name of ‘‘garden
honey.’’ This article differed nothing from ‘‘bush honey’’ only
there was no rotton wood in the mixture. More than once I have
seen trees felled in which there were two nests, each containing
upwards of 14 cwt. of marketable honey, which was then sold at
2d. per lb. I have also seen a big, old, solid ironbark, the hollow
spout of which contained a bees’ nest, after a deal of labour
bestowed upon it by two axemen, come down with a crash, and
that was all the fun and profit got out of it, beyond the discom-
fiture of the bees, for the nest proved to be a duffer, and the bees
were permitted to find new quarters.

The idea of these excursions was to get honey, and nothing
but honey. Bees and brood-comb were discarded, the latter al-
ways; sometimes the former if they clustered in a come-at-able
place, and it was near the house, were taken home and put in the
typical gin-case hive, for the purpose of obtaining that better
article, ‘“‘garden honey,’’ with a little less trouble.

Well, that day is fast passing away to be treasured up among
the things that have been. The snap-shot illustrations on page
101 are two or three stages towards fitting up an ideal bee farm.
The operator has with him some modern bee appliances, notably
that indispensable adjunct to bee-keeping, a smoke bellows. By-
the-bye, it is an old-fashioned one and if he is not careful to stand
it nozzle end up the fire will be choked with its own smoke. One
of the newer pattern may be placed on the ground as shown in the

104 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

?

illustration, ‘‘Catching a Swarm,” on page 87. I prefer the
modern bellows of the Pender type (fig. 2).

Fig. 2

Now, away in the bush many a good swarm of bees can be
obtained in the way our hero with the smoker in his hand is doing.
It is evident he is not gone out for honey and honey alone. Note
his accompaniments. Nevertheless, by these he appears to be
satisfied with two things—the bees and the honey. When you are
chopping out a bees’ nest you must go in for one thing more,
the young brood in the comb. The bees are all very well as far
as they go; they will do to unite with a weaker colony, or if they
are numerically strong lay the foundation for a good colony. but
the majority by far are mature bees, and their days are numbered.
The life of the youngest of them at the outside will not be more
than two months. The brood comb is the most valuable portion
of the operator’s find; therefore, it will be so to you if you are
going to do likewise.

You know the cook’s old adage, ‘‘first catch your hare.”’
When you have found your bees’ nest, if the bees’ entrance to the
nest be within easy reach smoke the bees as the tree stands. Of
course before you do that you will encase yourself as shown. There
is no advantage to be obtained in giving them ‘‘a regular good dose
of it.” After three or four good whiffs of smoke have been
driven in, rest awhile, and when the smoke has cleared away note
the direction the bees are coming out from the entrance; that is,
see if they are coming up from below or down from above. That
little bit of observation will save you a deal of chopping. Do not
fell the tree till you are sure the nest is out of your reach. If you
fell the tree the chances are when it reaches the ground with a
thud the comb will break into one conglomerate mass, and when
you take out its contents it will be a perfect hotch-potch. By all

TAKING BUSH BEES. 105

means, if it be possible, chop the nest out as the tree stands. In
chopping, when you come to the nest, with a little care, you will
be able to secure the brood combs without breakage. Remember
the young brood in the comb is the most important factor in the
nest; that is if you are intending to strengthen your apiary.
True, dirty and as full of foul matter as it may be, the honey is
useful to feed back to your bees for winter storage. I have seen
more than once, in chopping the bees from a log, when the nest
is reached, that very few bees were to be seen amongst it or on it.
This is one of the most happy acts the bees can accomplish for
their own safety and for your success in operating. The bees will
leave from timidity as soon as they feel the jarring caused by the
chopping process, act precisely the same as they do under the im.
pulse of the tapping that is used in driving when transferring them
from a gin-case hive to one of the modern bar-frame type, or as
was done when robbing the former makeshift hives. The bees
will only do so if there be an additional cavity in the tree by
means of which they can escape from their two-footed enemy. In the
illustration on page 101, our hero does not appear to have met with
a tree with the desired additional cavity, or the bees are extra
vigilant, judging from the swarming seen around both man and
tub. In chopping do not spare the tree. Remove as much of the
timber as will give you full access to the combs, so that they may
be removed in as large slabs as possible. Large combs are always
easier to adjust in bar-frames than smaller pieces. The latter
require a lot of manipulating to fit them. If, when you arrive
at the nest, the bees are seen still clinging to the combs, try a
little moral suasion to dislodge them therefrom. This can be
accomplished by placing a box over the nest. See tnat one side
of the box rests near to where the bees are in the most dense cluster
so they can ascend to it with freedom. Remove someof the
combs gently. If there are no young brood therein, put it in the
honey tub. Hold all empty comb up to the light to see if there
are eggs therein. They are as valuable as brood, nay more so.
As you take out each bit of comb examine it carefully to see if the
queen is thereon. You are more likely to find her between the
combs of brood, or where there are the greatest number of bees
clustered. Satisfied that the queen is not on it, brush the bees
off with a bunch of ferns or leaves, and put it in the receptacle for
the honey; have another tub or box for the brood-comb. Do not
mix the brood and honey together; it will cause the death of a
number of bees. Having removed sufficient comb to get at the

106 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

bees, commence to drive them into the box placed over to receive
them. This cannot be accomplished with the gentle tapping given
in the case of driving them from a box hive. Heavy thuds with
the head of the axe will do it. Sometimes even this fails. In
that case, disturb them by brushing them rather roughly with a
bunch of ferns; at the same time drive in amongst them two or
three clouds of smoke. They will very soon begin to travel into
the box put to receive them. All the time you are preparing to
drive them, and whilst you are doing so, keep a constant watch
for the queen. If she is seen moving into the box let her go, all
the bees will soon follow. If she is seen moving away from the
box, pick her up by the wing or the thorax—do not touch her
abdomen, you may permanently ruin her laying powers—and put
her in the box. Do not put her in the box unless there is a
handful of bees clustered therein. ‘There will now be no further
trouble as regards securing the bees. In a little while you may
remove the box a little further afield. In a few minutes the bees
will be seen making towards it like a flock of sheep. Do not be
in a hurry to go to work to get out the comb; it will soon be
deserted by the bees. Of course there will be a few stragglers on
each bit of comb as you remove it; these brush off near the box.
As each bit of comb is removed it will be seen that most of what it
contains is both brood and honey. Cut away the latter, dropping
it into the tub with the honey. When the brood comb is much
besmeared with honey you will find it more difficult to adjust in
the frames. So far so good. Now let us see what comes after.
“You have the box containing the bees; a tub containing the brood ;
and a tub with the honey. If it be early in the day when you
began work there may be a lot of bees still out foraging. In this
case it is just as well to leave the box of bees where they are.
Of course if it be too far from home you must put up wich the loss
of the few hundred bees that are away; otherwise you can leave the
bees where they are till sundown. Take home the tub of brood
and that of honey. I do not care what you do with the latter.
Here it is none of my business to say anything about it. I want
you to look after the bees and brood. At home you have, or ought
to-have, a bar-frame hive. If you are only going to transfer the
bees to a box-hive, remember it is only one remove from where
you took them. You know all about that method of doing things.
I want you to become a bee master. There is a wide gap between
getting honey out of a log, as you have been doing, and obtaining
the comb honey from the one-pound sections taken out of a Lang-

TAKING BUSH BEES. 107

stroth super, or extracting it from the frames; and the gap is
just as great in the article you obtain. You have the brood comb,
but do not know how to fit in the frame? Take a flat table, or
some other flat surface; have a number of pieces of tape cut long
enough to tie around a full-size frame, the narrow way; place
three or four on the flat surface, parallel and equally distant, ac-
cording to the size of the comb you are about to fix in the frame;
place the frante on the tapes; cut the comb to fit a little tightly
in the frame, so that the bottom bar shall grip it firmly; it will
be all the better to see that the comb is not put in upside down ;
adjust each frame in the hive. If not combs enough to fill the
hive, put in a division board. Fetch your box of bees, and shake
them out on the top of thé frames; this is better than throwing
them in front of the hive, for in this case they sometimes cluster
under the hive, and it takes time to dislodge them therefrom.
Cover them over with the quilt, and leave them till morning.

108 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE-

CHAPTER XVII.
HANDLING.

UnpovusTepLy the three most important allies to a bee-keeper are
eyes that are keen to observe small movements, ears quick to
detect the tones and semitones made by the wings of the bees, and
fingers, very sensitive to touch, and nimble enough to adjust, swiftly
but gently, frames at the required distances, or to change those
spaces as circumstances may require. The last-mentioned faculty
is, perhaps, the most important of all, and the novice will learn
from experience that’ much of his success will depend upon the
dexterity and discretion he is able to exercise in the manipulation
of his frames.

Somewhere in his Complete Angler, old Izzak Walton says, in
referring to putting a worm on the hook, ‘‘Handle it gently, as
though you loved it.’’ That is the most essential advice I can give
to any who want to know how to become a bee-master. Be kind,
be gentie. Gentle in all your movements. Kind in moving the
bees from place to place. What queer ideas onlookers have as to
the reason why a practical bee-keeper is so successful in handling
his bees, and the extraordinary notions these onlookers entertain
as to the docility of the bees when under manipulation. ‘‘Oh, the
bees know him,” or ‘He has chloroform about him,’ or, “He puts
something in that smoker (the bee-bellows) that stupefies the
bees,’’ are some of the ejaculations that I have overheard again
and again when giving practical lectures on ‘‘How to handle bees.’’
If I were giving my experience under this head, many amusing
and interesting circumstances could I relate that bee-keepers them-
selves would hardly give credence to. An experienced bee-keeper
dioes not handle his bees with that apparent nonchalance because
he is assured of the fact that his bees know him. How can it
be so? Look at the thousands of inmates in a hive. How can
the individuals in that community become acquainted with their
keeper? No, it is not that the bees know their master, but that
the master has a knowledge of his bees. He knows by certain of
their movements, their appearance, and tone (perhaps I had better
say voice), how far he can go, and no farther. We must remember

HANDLING. 109

the duration of the life of a working bee is only about six weeks.
We know the length of time required for the most docile of wild
animals to become acquainted with their keeper; and the pugna-
cious nature of the whole race of bees does not except them from
the catalogue of the untameable. Nevertheless, the handling of
generation after generation of bees, and the breeding from queens
of known docility, is telling upon the retaliatory disposition of the
bees. That, combined with our increasing knowledge of bee-life,
is no doubt having its effect upon their disposition.

I tried chloroform once in my early days, acting on the advice
of a chemist. Do not ask me to give my experience. I would
rather not. Smoke from the bee-bellows does not act in any way
upon their nerves, other than compelling them to gorge themselves
with honey.

From the movement and the tones emitted by the bees, the
bee-master knows by experience when he can handle them suc-
cessfully. Again, bees have a language that can be interpreted
by a practical bee-keeper as easily as the language of the poultry-
yard is understood by the hen-wife. What poultry-farmer does
not know the call of a hen when danger is nigh, or when she is
looking for a nest, or when she has laid an egg, or when she ‘s
about to sit, or when she has chickens, or when she has found a
tit-bit for them, etc., etc. So bees have a language that is as
distinct to the practical ear of a bee-master as the calls of the
farm-yard are to the ears of a farmer.

The joyous, natural note of bees when they are flying from
flower to flower, there are very few who cannot recognise it. By
that same note the bee-keeper knows when his pets are returning
home that they are peaceful and happy. When that note changes
sharp and shrill, it is the war cry; then he retires if he has dis-
cretion. If, when he has blown a little smoke in amongst his
bees, there is a dull, heavy sound, he knows it to be the cry of
defeat. He knows, too, their cry of distress at the loss of their
queen, and the ecstatic cry of joy when she is returned. Try
it with a swarm of bees that is queenless, and without brood, by
putting in a frame of brood-comb containing young brood and eggs
—at once they change their note to one of joy. What a melodious
note they give forth when rising on the wing to swarm; how it
changes when they have found a suitable place whereon to alight ;
then the rallying call to the fugitives as they cluster in thousands
one upon the other, and how that cry gradually subsides as the

110 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

wanderers return to the cluster. When all the swarm has re-
turned to the alighting spot not a sound is produced. Then, again,
listen at a hive at the close of day, when they rest from their
out-door labour—the exhaustive labour during the honey harvest.
As they stand with their rapidly vibrating wings expanded fan-
ning and ventilating the hive, what a peaceful sound they emit
a3 they sing their evening doxology, ‘‘Praise God from Whom
the honey flows.’’ These are sounds that must be learned, and
can only be learnt by experience; every bee-keeper knows tliem.
Perhaps not in the order and the language that I have employed,
but he knows their change of tone under different circumstances
and conditions.

When examining a hwe do not stand i front of it. Stand
at the side or, better still, behind. In the subject on the arrange-
ment of the hives in the apiary I have already cautioned you to
have the hives sufficiently far apart from row to row to give the bees
room to enter their home without your presence interfering with
their direct line of flight. Stand by a hive of bees and watch
them ‘going out to their field labours, and returning with the
spoils of the trip. On going out, especially if the honey flow be
from trees generally surrounding your homestead, after they emerge
from the hive they rise in the air, and make abortive attempts to go
in as many different directions in quest of honey or pollen. When
they have decided, they at once hie away to where they can get
the greatest quantity in the shortest space of time. Watch
the returning bees. Each one comes in a straight line from the
last flower she rifled of its nectar, when she drops almost suddenly
to the hive entrance. There is no hesitation. She enters at once,
eager to disburden herself of her load. If they are coming from
any point in a direction fronting the hive, their line of flight
between the last flower wrought upon and their home is a direct
one. Keeping rather high in the air, until near the hive, they
gradually descend, forming an inclined plane to the entrauce.
But, if the foraging ground be somewhere away to the back of their
home, they keep at about the same altitude till they get a little
beyond their home, when they drop suddenly to the entrance.
If bees are interrupted in their line of flight by an animated object
near the entrance to their home, they are at once angered. If you
stand in front of that line you become that object, and the bees
will resent it upon you; but if you take up a position at the
rear, the bees, in their homeward flight, pass over you, and you

HANDLING. 111

stand on very safe ground. Now you know where to stand, when
‘you are about to handle your bees, and the reason of it.

The time to examine your bees must be guided by the season
-and circumstances. In the summer season, any time, if the day
be bright; but the middle hours of the day are the best, because
there are not the number of bees at home as there are in the
earlier or later ones. In the colder seasons never open your hives
except under very exceptional circumstances; then select a bright
day about noon.

Charge your smoker with anything that will smoulder, and
at the same time will throw off a fair volume of smoke, but will
not ignite into flame. Old, semi-rotten bagging, old fustian,
dry cow-droppings, or cotton-waste that has been used to clean
the oiled parts of machinery. There are plenty of other things
that are equally good. When the contents of the smoker is lit,
see that it smoulders well. First, remove the lid of the hive
gently and quietly; next, turn back one corner of the quilt so
as to leave a small aperture in that opening; blow in two or three
puffs of smoke, keeping the nozzle of the smoker about six inches
from it, so that heated smoke shall not reach the bees. I have
more than once seen the wings of bees singed for the want of
taking this precaution. Wait two or three seconds after this for
the bees to well gorge themselves with honey. It is this gorging
of themselves with honey that subdues them, not their knowledge
of you, nor smoke that stupifies them. After the lapse of a few
seconds, gradually and slowly peel off the quilt. You will find
it adhering to the frames rather firmly, especially if it be some
time since the bees have been examined. As you peel it off
follow it up with a good cloud of smoke, still keeping the nozzle
well back from the bees. When the whole of the frames are ex-
posed, or as many of them as may be required, just look at the
bees, some of them will still have their heads in the cells sucking
up the honey; others will be walking rather leisurely over the
surface of the comb; others, again, forming little clusters here
and there. Those bees on the frame will appear rather longer
in the abdomen than those that are coming out of a hive near by
that has not been so disturbed. The dorsal rings of the abdomen
of bees when surcharged with honey are distended one from the
other by a little whitish ring between each of the plates, six in
number. When these whitish rings are visible, the bees are on
their best behaviour; their hum is peaceful and quiet. No more

r

112 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

smoke will then be needed, except when necessary to drive the
bees from one place to another. If, on the other hand, the bees
on the comb are restless, some of them standing as if on stilts,
their abdomens rapidly vibrating to and fro, occasionally pro-
truding the sting, and those on the wing uttering a sharp, shrill
war cry, it is just about as well to leave them alone if you are
an amateur. An old, practical bee-keeper would not mind all
that; he would very soon bring them to their senses, and go
about his work as though they were on their very best behaviour.

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING AND DIVISION OF SWARMS. 113

CHAPTER XIX.

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING AND DIVISION
OF SWARMS.

TueErE is nothing like natural swarming. A natural swarm issues
forth with all the conditions demanded by Nature. Every mem-
ber of the swarm has started from the parent hive in a first-class
temper, and with a determination to succeed and to overcome
every obstacle. More especially is it so if it be a spring or first
swarm from that hive of the season. The ordinary workers, the
rank-and-file, are the most numerous. Upon them falls the bulk
of the labour—the field-work for the supply of the essential stores
for establishing and sustaining the future home. There is also
a good supply of nurse bees. Of course, they are only young
workers. Although there are no developing brood for them to
attend to, there soon will -be, because the queen or mother kee
accompanying the early spring swarm is in a condition to com-
mence depositing her eggs as soon as the necessary domestic arrange-
ments are sufficiently far advanced to permit of it. A few drones
or male bees will also be mixed up in the swarm—that, appar-
ently, disorderly crowd.

A similar multitude of bees, too, are left in the parent hive,
with the exception of a fertile queen. Similar and yet dissimilar.
Similar in that there are working bees—field-labourers and the
nursing bees, and also drones. Dissimilar, because in addition,
there are developing bees, 7.¢., brood in all its stages of development
from the eggs that have only been laid a few hours to the bee
just emerging from the chrysalis. I said above, with this
exception—a fertile queen. The parent hive the swarm
quitted contains a queen, but she is not fertile. Until
the old queen that is fertile has departed, she remains
in her cell. She may not become fertile till some days,
after the departure of swarm under review. During the tenure
of the queen that accompanied the swarm, every day she religiously
fulfilled all the conditions that Nature demanded of her—the pro-
duction of eggs. While in health and strength every day saw
hundreds, nay thousands, of eggs deposited, one in each cell. There

114 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

was no break in the continuity of her duties till the bees prepare
for swarming. From then until the virgin queen that was left
behind becomes fertile and becomes a mother, there is a break in
the succession to the daily numerical increase to the inmates of
the old hive.

All the conditions, too, of Nature are in sympathy with the
new swarm. The weather is warm and genial. The gardens,
fields, and forests are aglow with blossoms. The air is filled with
the odour from the fruit trees, and in the evenings when you stand
near the hive the perfume from the stored honey is almost over-
powering.

Take a look into the hive the day before the swarm vacates,
and you will see the bees densely packed between the brood combs,
each comb a perfect slab of sealed brood or otherwise developing,
and also eggs. Probably not much honey, but an abundance of
bee-bread, and queen-cells containing inmates. If you search for
the old queen, the mother of all this immense concourse of bees,
this mass of animated insects, you may find her, but it is almost
like the proverbial ‘‘looking for a needle in a bundle of hay.”’
Take another look a day or so after the swarm has left. How the
appearance has changed. Not nearly so many adult bees, but
plenty of little, woolly fellows to take the place of those that left.
The slabs of sealed brood are gone, and there are plenty of empty
cells. There are no eggs. Their place have been taken by little,
pearly white bee-grubs, that are seen curling at the base of the
cells, where you saw the eggs a few days before. Looking for the
queen-cells in which were embryo queens, those you will find to be
empty. The ‘‘cups’’ are there, with their edges much frayed.
Other of these ‘‘cups’’ may be torn open at the side; but all are
tenantless. You look for the queen that has emerged from one
of them. Now, you think, I can find the queen, because there
are not so many bees to contend with; but if you have had little
or no experience in looking for these hidden mysteries, it is more
than likely to be a search in vain. Still, she is there somewhere
She is a virgin queen. Here we cannot call her the mother-bee.
Virgin queens are not easily distinguished. You must not look
for a big bee, like the one you saw before they swarmed, but a bee
not much larger than an ordinary worker. In form she will be
much like her mother, but not in size. All this is Nature’s way
of propagating her species, distributing them far afield.

What has all the foregoing to do with artificial swarming?

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING AND DIVISION OF SWARMS. 115

Why, to show you the state of the parent stock, and outside the
climatic conditions that are necessary before you attempt to in-
crease the number of your bees by the division of the old stocks,
or, as they are frequently termed, swarms.

If all the foregoing conditions are at hand, then you can
commence work thus:—Take your strongest and best stocks, ones
that are noted for their traits of storing honey. This is the golden
rule of bee-keeping that every bee-keeper should paste on his veil,
so as to be constantly before his eyes. Weak and effete queens
produce weaklings that are content only to live through the summer
when it is all sunshine; in the winter they are content to die.
Operate on one hive at a time. Smoke them well from the en-
trance. Place an empty hive by the side of the one you are work-
ing on. It is as well to have near at hand some frames of empty
combs. Take out from three to five of the best frames of brood
(those containing the most sealed brood) having plenty of working
bees thereon, and be sure to note if the queen is amongst them
in the empty hive or empty combs. Place the brood combs in
the centre of each hive, the one wherein you place the queen,
and the one you leave queenless. If no empty combs be at hand,
use division boards, but in that case you had better keep the
brood on one side of the hive. Place the hive containing the
queen on the new site. It is well to remember that the most
bees should go with the queen, because at the time you
are dividing, a number of bees will be at work, and these will
return to the old site. It would be as well to put some obstacle
in front of the removed bees, say a piece of wood leaning against
the hive. This will cause the bees, when they come out, to take
a survey of their new location, and prevent them returning to
their old home. Indeed, both of the divisions may be removed
to fresh sites if the foregoing precaution is taken. Of course, the
brood comb in the old hive left on the stand must contain eggs
from which a new queen can be developed. To develop a queen
from an egg in a divided swarm is a round-about way of the divi-
sion of swarms, and a very great waste of time. No one should
keep bees unless he has a few fertile queens on hand, or the means
of procuring them at short notice. A colony kept long without
a queen is an unprofitable servant. If either of the divisions of a
colony do, not build up quickly, 7.e., in about three weeks, add
a frame of brood from a strong colony. But be sure you do not
rob Peter to pay Paul.

116 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:
SUMMARY.

Do not attempt the division of a swarm till drones are on the
wing, or at least until there is drone-comb within, and the cells
have been sealed for some days.

If we select queens, we should select drones, at least they
should come from distinct mothers, if possible.

There should be sufficient empty combs in that portion of a
division that are permitted to raise a new queen for themselves,
otherwise it is probable that the new combs constructed will con-
sist entirely of drone cells.

Do not have anything to do with the division of swarms in
damp or cold weather.

Leave the numerically weakest division on the old stand.

Remember you are not likely to get a good queen from a weak
colony.

Do not attempt to divide your colonies unless a fair amount
of honey is coming in.

Remember, also, a rapid increase of swarms by dividing, and
a good honey production, are not co-equal. Artificial swarming
is always done at the expense of the production of honey.

In dividing, keep the brood in both divisions as compact as
they were before division, and keep the frames of brood in the
same order relatively.

Three or four frames of brood will be enough to form a new
colony, be sure you have the old queen with the new colony.

RE-QUEENING. 117

CHAPTER XX.
RE-QUEENING.

Tnat is the introduction of a young queen into an established
colony. Deterioration of stock is always attributable to the want
of new blood. The breeders of horned cattle, whether it be for
the butcher or dairying purposes; of horses, for draught, speed,
or ornamental use; of sheep, for various classes of wool; and also
the breedsr of useful and ornamental members of the feathered
tride, recognise the introduction of new blood as the chief factor
of retaining special types of animals for special purposes. Nor is
the introduction of fresh blood a necessity confined to only the
animal kingdom, both domestic and wild. Change of seed is as
necessary to the agriculturist and the horticulturist as a change
of sires amongst stock-breeders. The very soil itself becomes sick
of having to produce a crop of the same class year after year. In
the introduction of new breeds and varieties in the foregoing that
has been obtained through sports or crosses, how difficult it is to
fix and retain an ideal type. Generations after the type is sup-
posed to have been permanetly fixed there will appear among the
fancied strain a stranger, differing altogether from the paternal or
maternal side—a throw-back—a type of generations long gone by
—weedy and of little use. This is not the sole reason why we
requeen. As yet we have not arrived at that point of breeding
special strains of bees and fixing the type to a permanent ideal
with only an occasional throw-back. With bees we cannot con-
trol the sexes as with other domestic animals or even with mem-
bers of the vegetable kingdom. The mating of bees is very much
haphazard. That is the reason why dealers in queen bees charge
so much more for ‘‘tested queens’’ than for untested. They can-
not tell the paternity until the resultant progeny has been ex-
amined. Bees, too, like all other organisms, have a very strong
tendency to revert to the type from whence they sprang.
“‘Change and decay’’ is a condition written on all things since
the days of creation, and it is this change that is so necessary
among the hive bees. The inmate of the hive that has the longest
life is the queen. Drones are required only for the season, and

118 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

that season is sometimes longer and sometimes shorter, according
to climatic circumstances. The life of the workers, too, ‘‘from
the cradle to the grave,’’ is dependent on the amount of work
they have to do. The greater the honey-flow the shorter their
lives, and six to eight weeks is their allotted span—longer when
there is little or no honey coming in. The queen’s life continues.
for years. She matures rapidly to her apex of perfection, and
when that point is reached her reproductive powers gradually
diminish. Yet this is not exactly the right way to state decaying
powers. Almost to the last she is reproducive; but it is an un-
profitable progeny—male bees that have not the power, no matter
how good the will may be, to procure the common necessaries
of bee life. Hence the necessity of regularly and systematically
superseding all queen bees. This, to obtain success as a bee-
keeper, should be done every alternate year. Some bee-keepers
introduce a fresh young queen every season, but I don’t know
that it is a bad practice. There is more to be gained by it than
lost.

There are many methods, ways, or plans, adopted by various
bee-keepers for re-queening, all more or less adaptable to obtain.
the desired results.

‘Many fish of many kinds and many men of many minds’”
is an old aphorism, and as there are many modes of re-queening,
I propose here to deal with the most of them. Before doing so
I should like to point out to the reader a few little facts in relation:
to this phase of bee-keeping.

‘‘A new broom sweeps clean’’ is another proverb that is also
very applicable at this point of the subject. Did you ever notice
the energy thrown into the work of construction by a swarm that
has been newly hived? After they have taken possession of
their new home, clustered, and the process of wax-secretion is well
under way, the bees having spread themselves out in wax-working
curtains and ‘‘the foundation of the house is laid,’’ the queer
becomes feverishly anxious to commence her duties of reproductior
—egg-laying. This anxiety is shared equally by the workers, for
they are as eager to be about their maternal duties as the mother
bee. Ofttimes, before the cells for worker bees are complete, the
queen will deposit her egg therein, and the work of cell-construc-
tion proceeds whilst the egg is maturing. At this stage in their
domestic economy the zeal of the workers knows no bounds. Be-
fore the sun rises they are up and away, and returning again and

RE-QUEENING. 119

again with the fruits of their early excursions. So it goes on all
day until the lateness of the hour checks further outside labour.
This will continue for the first and well on into the second season
if there be out-door labour to be done. After these two seasons
the foraging-bees’ zeal and energy will begin to wane. They don’t
rise in such numbers as they did, and their excursions are not so
frequent as they were. Why? The queen’s procreative powers
are subsiding, therefore the workers’ maternal duties and love of
offspring diminish in like manner. To introduce a new queen,
one having all the elements of a queen that has sailed forth with
a swarm, is to put new life and energy in the bees that had afor-
time settled down into the humdrum lassitude of a declining queen.
A change may be as good as a rest. But in this case a change
means more labour for the bees and extra profit for the bee-
keeper.

Again, what pleasure there is in knowing that you are master
of your bees, and that you can stimulate a sluggish colony into
activity. This activity is a mutual help to both parties.

Let me enumerate the different methods of doing this all-
important work:—({a) By destroying the old queen, and letting
the swarm take its chance; (6) by grafting a queen cell on the
comb of a queenless colony; (c) by the aid of chloroform; (d)
by leaving the colony queenless for a given period; (e) by direct
introduction. Can these various methods be equally successful ?
All may be successful, but not equally so. Then why recommend
them? Because some of the methods referred to can only be suc-
cessful in the hands of an experienced bee-keeper. Other methods
depend for success upon the season of the year and the abundance
or otherwise of the floral season.

By destroying the old queen and letting the colony take its
chance.—In the hands of a beginner this is always a success. In
the warmer parts of this State there are always eggs and larve
from which the bees can manufacture a queen. Although a new
queen can be thus produced, it is not wise to do so at all seasons
of the year, because drones are not always available. If there
are no drones the queen will lay only drone-eggs. Spring and
summer are the only seasons that should be chosen, and the former
one preferable. Look at the waste of time in this method of re-
queening. There is a loss of about seven weeks during the most
important season of the year. No; don’t requeen in this way if
you can succeed otherwise.

120 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

=
FEE

OHO

Pipe-Cover Cage.

TO INTRODUCE A QUEEN.

Dequeen and allow the colony to remain queenless for three or four
days. During these days search for virgin queens and destroy them.
Remove all queen-cells in course of construction and those completed
before introducing the new queen. In handling the queen, do it carefully.
Pick her up by the wing or thorax. By no means touch her abdomen;
you may thereby ruin her procreative powers. Place her in one of the
many introducing cages shown on these plates, with about a dozen of her
own progeny. If the pipe-cover cage be used, press it into the comb
where the honey-cells are capped over. With the other cages use bee-
candy in the places allotted for it.

After the introduced queen has been within the dequeened hive for
about forty-eight hours, set her at liberty. If the bees take kindly to her
they will pay little or no attention to her beyond making an inspection
and offering her food. In about an hour after she has been set at liberty
‘have another look at her, and if the inmates appear in any way to molest
the queen, recage her, and go through the whole work again. There is
no doubt of an introduced queen being accepted during a good honey-
flow, and if there be plenty of maturing brood in the cells.

Bee-candy is made by boiling sugar in a little water till it becomes
of the consistency of candied honey—i.e., when the boiled sugar has cooled.

RE-QUEENING, 121

By grafting a queen cell on the comb of a queenless colony.
You must first make it queenless, and let it remain so for three
or four days. Illustrations of this have been given elsewhere.
Like the former method, there is no saving of time in this. Its
only advantage over the other method is that you introduce a
queen from a better strain of bees.

By the aid of chloroform: I have never tried this, but in
the Canadian Bee Journal, page 390, are these words :—‘Drop
a dry sponge into the fire-barrel of the smoker, then a sponge
wetted with chloroform (a teaspoonful), and another dry one on
the top of this in the nozzle, when you are ready for action.
Proceed to the queenless colonies, and puff in the chloroform at
the entrance (as in the act of smoking), say for a quarter of a
minute. Then pass to the next (hive), and so on, for about two
minutes. Return to the first hive, give a few more puffs with
your chloroform-smoker, and let your queen run in.’’ The writer
claims that in this manner you may run in fifty queens in so
many minutes, and in each case be successful.

By leaving the colony queenless for a given period. It is well
known that if a colony is deprived of its queen that the tone
emitted by the bees differs from that previously uttered, and that
when their own queen is reintroduced peace seems to reign, and
the bees appear to be happy. Huber, in the early days of scien-
tific bee-keeping, demonstrated this; but when he attempted tc
substitute a strange queen in lieu of their own, they declared war
to the knife with her. Now, what was the reason? Most of the
lower order of animals recognise each other by the senses of touch
and smell. Ants meeting each other touch with their antenna,
their organs of smell, and there is no doubt that bees recognise
their queen in the same way. On one occasion I rolled a queen
in honey, and introduced her to a colony at the same time as I
withdrew the reigning queen. It was a success. At other times
I have tried the same plan, and it has been a failure.

122 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER XXI.
TRANSFERRING.

Tuis is a phase of bee-keeping that falls only to the lot of be-
ginners. A bee-keeper who has had if but a very slight insight
into the freemasonry of bee-life should have risen above transfer-
ring, other than when he may have bought out a gin case bee-
farm for the purpose of adding to the number of his colonies.

The maxim, ‘‘be gentle when amongst bees,’’ never received
a better illustration than on the day I transferred a colony at the
Hawkesbury Agricultural College, for the purpose of obtaining
the illustrations accompanying this article. I wanted the views
to be original and true to life. To anyone who has not seen a
colony transferred from a common box to an improved bar-frame
hive, such illustrations will be extremely interesting, as few can
understand how freely and safely these pugnacious little warriors
can be handled when we set about it in the right way. Two or
three friends left Sydney with us to see that interesting operation.
One little fellow who had not been told that he must be gentle
and kind when amongst bees, took a stroll amid the hives, but
when a bee flew against him he soon quickened his pace, and his
cries and tears told that he had not learned the maxim. <A
number of students of the College had the privilege to be present
to watch and take lessons in transferring. At first they were
very dubious as to my statement that bees can be handled as easily
as you can handle chickens, when you once know how. That you
can pick up bees in handfuls as you can pick up hand-
fuls of grain seemed to their ears to savour somewhat
of the Rougemont type of phraseology. When the gin
case of bees was picked up and carried to the work-table,
the bearer discarding all bee protection whatever; and when the
manipulator doffed coat, turned up his shirt sleeves, and com-
menced to break up the old box for the purpose of getting at its
contents to put them into bar-frames, it was a picture to see how
the uninitiated amongst those students stood back and wondered

TRANSFERRING. 123

Transferring Bees at Hawkesbury Agricultural College.

TRANSFERRING. 125

how such liberties could be taken with such a dangerous race of
combative insects. More quickly than it takes to write it, when
the box was placed bottom upwards prior to drumming, the bees
came out in hundreds, nay in thousands. The students, by their
movements, gave one the idea that a life amid bees was not a
happy one, but when the manipulator, with naked hand and bare
arms, began to remove the bees that blocked the way to the re-
ceiving box the students’ surprise ripened into confidence. No
matter who the manipulator is, or who the onlookers are, if the
former understands the why and wherefore of bee-life it is always
the same. I have met timid ladies who would not go within
‘‘eoo-ee’’ distance of a bee-hive, because, as they assert, the bees
are always in a fightable disposition ‘‘when they are near.’’ Yet
in a few minutes afterwards I have seen those same ladies come
over to the work-table and, removing their kid gloves, handling
the bees as freely as the manipulator was doing. And men, too,
who have Herculean strength and the courage of a ‘‘she-bear
robbed of her whelps,’’ but would turn tail and run if a little bee
flew against them, converted from the idea that bees cannot be
handled, and after one practical illustration, such as we had at the
College, become enthusiastic disciples of the physically blind
Huber, and develop into enthusiastic followers of Langstroth’s
method of bee-keeping.

Wherein does the supposed secret lie? Not in any charm, or
in the possession of a stupifier, as is too often supposed; but the
manipulator has confidence, and, as ‘‘like begets like,’’ his con-
fidence stimulates and creates a confidence in the onlookers. It
was so when these illustrations were produced. It can be seen
when the receiver, made out of an empty candle-box, was put in
position how the onlookers stood as far from danger as possible, and
how the graduations of confidence expand up to the illustration
where the students are gathered around the work-table. These
youths are so intermixed with the bees, that if the latter werd
human beings it would be a difficult task to find the former. All
that has ever been written about subduing and handling bees will
never convince a sceptic in bee matters half so much as this one
bit of practical work. Every onlooker that is depicted around
that table is now convinced that bees can be handled, as I told
them before I began work, with as little danger as we handle
chickens. Count the individuals in the group, note their attire ;
observe the subdued, patient, movements of those industrious

126 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

little bees as they are seen being tumbled about in the various
illustrations, and ask how many in that group got stung, and the
reply will be, one: And why did he get stung? He placed his
hand on a bee; and if a burly fellow were to come along and put
his hand with crushing weight on you, would not you sting? It
may not be a sting that would give physical pain, but your sting-
ing rejoinder would give mental pain.

On another page the artist has represented an individual
as having “dropped his gun and run.” On this occasion he stood
his ground well. He had learned the lesson, ‘‘Confidence, gentle-
ness, kindness;’’ a lesson not difficult to acquire, but when once
mastered must always be borne in mind and ever acted upon;
and as surely as sparks fly upwards, success in transferring and
other manipulations in connection with bee-keeping will follow.

Can anyone, ladies especially, transfer bees? If these illus-
trations and what I have written, do not convince you, what will?
Are the implements used in transferring expensive and difficult to
obtain! Not a bit of it. Some are in every house, and most
of the others can be found in the wood-heap or about
the yard. They are all visible in the illustrations; let us
take an inventory of them. First there is that ever-indispen-
sable ‘‘smoker’’; you cannot do without a smoke bellows. Pen-
der’s is one of the best we have; that is it you see in my hand.
It was charged with a bit of half-decayed bagging. But more on
that subject anon. When the old box stood on its original stand
a half-dozen strong blasts of smoke were driven in at the entrance
That settled the question ‘‘to sting or not to sting’’ for all the
rest of the necessary work in connection with their being trans-
ferred to a more convenient (for the bee-keeper) and a better house
(for the bees). What did the smoke do? Why, old Virgil under-
stood the use of smoke with bees. Centuries ago he wrote to this
effect, ‘“‘If at any time you would open their narrow cells (to
take) the stores of honey from their treasure house, first rinse out
your mouth with a draught of water, and hold in front of you
clouds of smoke.’’ The smoke does not stupify them, but each
inmate takes in about a week’s supply of honey. All animals
are more docile when they have their stomachs full than when
they are empty. Otherwise, you see the bees are removed some
distance from their old camping-ground to the protection of an
outhouse. Not altogether for the convenience of the makeshift
table you see, but the foraging bees returning home will resent

TRANSFERRING. 127

Fig. 9. Yes, we believe it now. Bees to the right of us, bees to
the left of us, hummed, buzzed, and bumped us, but none of them
stung us.

TRANSFERRING. 129

your intruding on their domain, and the other bees in the apiary
may become robbers; and thus being out of their way is being
out of danger.

Seconflly, there is a broken candle-box with about a third
of its side removed. With this the four cleats that hold it in
position as seen in Fig. 3 are made. Third is a basin to hold the
honey as it is taken from the hive-box, as comb with honey should
not be put in the frames when transferring. Fourth, a dinner
knife, seen in No. 5, for cutting out the comb from the box,
and Fifth, some narrow bits of tape for the purpose of holding
the comb in positicn in the frame as seen in Fig. 4. In front of
the table is the bottom board of the old box.

Fig. 1 is the gin case of bees as it was brought from the apiary
for the purpose of transferring. It was procured from elsewhere
for that purpose. It has many open joints; these are stopped up
with old bagging. Such a box fitly illustrates bee-keeping as it
was prior to the introduction of the bar-framed system. ‘I'he open
joints are the entrances for bee enemies and dampness and cold
draughts of air that foster all manner of bee diseases, and the old
bagging is the breeding ground for the bee-moth and the harbour
of spiders, etc.

Fig. 2 is the same box on its side, showing the arrangement
of the combs within. It will be seen that some of the combs have
fallen down. Fallen comb is always a trouble to the bees, and
a loss to the bee-keeper. In a Langstroth hive if such a thing
happens it can be rectified. It will also be noted that the combs
are built diagonally, and in two different directions.

Fig. 3 is the box turned bottom upwards and one of the sides
removed. The receiving box is in position and drumming is being
done. The bees are driven into the receiving box by rapid and
constant tapping at the sides of their old home. Sometimes a
puff of smoke or two is driven in between the combs for the purpose
of hastening their movements. If the bees should cluster in
amongst the combs in the corner of their old homes it is some-
times necessary to remove them. It can be done with the naked
hand far better than with a bee-brush. It is quite safe, as can
be seen in Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 illustrates the method of fixing the transferred combs
in the frames. The largest combs are first taken and cut to fit
the frames as near as possible. They are held in position with the
narrow tapes, as seen in the frame to the right. The smaller

130 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

pieces of comb, seen in the frame to the left, are cut to fit each
other as near as possible, and are also held by tapes. Sometimes
wires are used in lieu of tapes. I always prefer the latter. These
frames are now ready to be placed in the bar-frame hive prior
to the bees taking possession of their new home. Care must be
taken in transferring the comb to the frames that it is put in
correctly, and not reversed, 7.e., upside down.

Fig. 5. You see bees are quite harmless under transferring,
and can be handled as easily as chickens. After drumming, the
box with the driven bees was put on one side out of the way, but
is now brought back and is resting on their old home. from which
all the brood combs have been transferred. To your right is unused
comb, some of that which had fallen, drone comb and empty
worker comb, for in transferring we never use these, nor the comb
with stored honey. The smoke bellows is there, but it has done
its work long since, notwithstanding the advice of the ancient
Virgil. The bees are now ready to be placed in their new quar-
ters where the frames with the transferred comb have already
been placed as in Fig. 6, where thousands of bees are seen still
clinging to their old home. Other thousands are in the transfer
box ready to be tumbled pell mell, as seen in Fig. 7, where the
onlookers’ intense interest is plainly seen. Half an hour ago and
you dare not handle those bees as here seen. What has made
the difference? They have been subdued; we have obtained do-
minion over them. The manipulator is jerking them from the
transferring box, from which they are falling like sand, and are
piling up on the top of the frames. Yet not one of them puts
on that angry tone so indicative of something sharper to follow.
What would our grandfathers have thought of seeing anyone
handling bees as the manipulator is here doing? And yet anyone
can do it when they have been shown how.

Fig. 8. What a transition. Look at it. The past and the
present. The old and the new. The old, with its accessories for
disease and enemies. A home for bees where they could store
honey in its purity for winter consumption, but man in obtaining
it for his use had to destroy the bees or the brood comb, or both,
with the destruction of the honey-comb, at the same time receiving
many a reminder from the bees. And what did he obtain? Honey,
mixed with bee-bread, and broken comb and bee-eggs, and crushed
larve, etc, too numerous to mention. The old, where all the
interesting sights in the natural history of the bees that the sages

TRANSFERRING. 131

and naturalists of old desired to look into in vain. The new with
its ease of manipulation, giving us an insight into the develop-
ment of the bees from the egg to the perfect insect, giving us full
control of the queen, the centre around which revolves successful
bee-keeping at all times, and giving us a food free from those
objectionable matters named.

132 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE

CHAPTER XXII.
THE HISTORICAL BEE-HIVE—ITS EVOLUTION.

“‘MakE your cage before you get your bird’’ is a proverb very
applicable to amateur bee-keepers.* I have always advocated
that spare hives should be on hand and in position to receive any
stray swarm that may chance put in an appearance. No matter
how small it may be, it is always more or less valuable if only to
strengthen a weak colony. The object of these pages is to give
instruction as far as can be on paper, not to professional bee-
keepers, but to beginners and would-be bee-keepers of the ‘‘back-
blocks’? and other remote places where carriage and other con-
comitant troubles are always more or less standing in the way of
newly fledged and enthusiastic amateur apiarists.

Artificial homes and habitations for bees, like those of man,
have had their periods and architectural developments and changes
from the first primitive type to the more or less perfect movable
bar-frame hives of almost universal adoption. Like man, too,
bees were once ‘‘cave dwellers,’’ and indeed wild bees still are.
Whilst man led a nomadic life he was content with the ‘‘wild
honey’’ that was found ‘‘dripping from the rocks.’’ In those
early times there was no occasion to construct artificial homes for
the domestication of the bee till man himself became a settler on
the soil. The development of an artificial home for bees has been
very slow. Some of the earliest history of civilization is silent
thereon. Nevertheless, artificial homes for bees ‘‘are as old as the
hills.’? The artificial beehives used in Egypt at the present day
are sun-dried earthen tubes, about 4 feet long, similar to unglazed
drain-pipes. The same style of hive is said to be the one adopted
by the Japanese, and also among the hill tribes of Northern India.
From these sun-dried clay-pots of thé ancients to the old straw
hives of our great grandmothers, architectural progress was very
slow.

*He was a sound philosopher who first shaped it and gave it utterance, and
the proverb is now as familiar to us as household words.

~
THE HISTORICAL BEE-HIVE. 133

For obtaining the honey from both the clay-pots and the
straw hives, ‘‘fire and brimstone’’ were the persuasive arguments
used to induce the little busy bee to yield up its laboriously-
gathered winter stores to satisfy the cravings of the sweet-tooth
of the bee-keepers of bygone days. How long the common straw
hives were annually operated upon with fire and brimstone before
some humane individual came to the conclusion that something
more than a drain-pipe was needed to save the valuable lives of the
inmates I don’t know. Notwithstanding that after the applica-
tions of the brimstone argument, when every onlooker smelt a
little of the torments of the valuable sufferers, all the sympathy of
the bee-keeper ended in, ‘‘What a pity; only this, and nothing
more!’’ until Nutt invented a straw super. This invention was
improved by Neighbour’s, Pettitt’s, and Taylor’s bell-glass supers.
Nutt’s super straw skip was superseded by Mr. Pettitt’s ‘‘Temple
Bee-hive for the humane treatment of the honey-bee.’’ It was
got up in a tasteful and substantial manner, and when placed in
a neat and ornamental flower-garden had a very picturesque ap-
pearance. ‘‘Each hive was furnished with four bell-glasses,’’ he
tells us, “from which the drones are effectually excluded, and the
temperature of the interior can be so regulated by the use of the
ventilators and thermometers, as to prevent the necessity of swarm-
ing,”’ only this ‘‘necessity for swarming’’ came off all the same.

About 1864, The Times (London) Bee-master, strongly re-
commended ‘‘Pettitt’s hexagonal,’’ as improved by himself by the
introduction of six slides for the purpose of communication bet-
ween the brood chamber over the super. But, later on, he dis-
carded it for the Ayrshire box-hive. Pettitt’s “Temple hive”
seems to nave been one of the first wooden structures for bee-
keeping having any pretensions to use and ornament used in
Great Britain.

In 1846, The Leipzig Illustrated Almanac, in a report on agri-

culture, said, ‘‘Bee-culture is no longer regarded as of any
importance in rural economy.”

In 1848, the Rev. Mr. Dzierzon published his Theory and
Practice of Bee-culture, wherein he describes his method of remov.
ing the combs without the said combs being wholly destroyed.
His method was by a movable top-bar to which the bees attached
the comb, and also attached it to the sides of the hive from where
it had to be removed by the application of the knife. This was
the germ from which sprang the movable bar frames.

134 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

The Rev. L. L. Langstroth constructed a hive on the plan of
the folding hives used by the celebrated Huber, for the purpose of
verifying some of his (Huber’s) valuable discoveries. The use of
the Huber hive convinced Langstroth that a hive could be made
that should give the bee-keeper a complete control of the combs
without enraging the bees. The cutting of the combs from their
attachment to the sides and bottom of the hive was the great draw-
back to Dzierzon’s invention, and Dzierzon’s movable top-bar
speedily gave place to Langstroth movable frame.

The Heddon Hive.—a, Bodies used as brood-chamber ; B, Bodies used as super; C, Cover ;
p, Bottom board; Slated wood and zine honey-board (Queen excluding); @, Wood
thumb-screws ; b, Handholes for lifting,

Having thus given a short history of the rise and progress of
artificial homes for bees, I propose to give a detail description of
some of the movable bar-frame hives in general use. The various
forms of hives now in use are all more or less modifications of the
Langstroth.

Whatever the pattern, model, or size, hive chosen by the bee-
keeper who intends to make his own hives, its construction must
be simple, and the material most suitable is a soft, porous, light
wood. The wood should be well-seasoned, so there may be no

THE HISTORICAL BEE-HIVE. 135

shrinkage with atmospheric changes. Hives should be so made
that in the manipulating of them it will not be necessary to injure
any of the inmates in the slightest degree.

The hives in use in this State are the Langstroth or Lang-
stroth Simplicity, although occasionally we meet with the Gallup,
the Heddon, the Quinby, the Berlepsch, the Long-Idea, etc., or
modifications thereof.

The following description is taken from Cheshire’s Bees and
Bee-keeping, Vol. II.* ‘‘The body-boxes (bb) are each 5? inch
deep, by 19 7-8 inch, by 13 inch, outside the ends 7-8 inch, and
the sides # inch thick. Before nailing together, the inner part
of the top and bottom edges is rebated down 3-16 inch, leaving
a rim 3-8 inch wide only, so that when the boxes come together
they touch only at the 3-8 inch rim, while the 3-16 inch rebate in
each make together a full bee-space (bs) of 3-8 inch. This prin-
ciple of allowing a half bee-space above and below in each horizon-
tal section of the hive, so that the needed 3-8 inch and no more is
given in any possible combination, is a salient and new feature in
the Heddon hive. The bottom board carries a lath 3-8 inch deep
and 3-8 inch wide at its upper edge, upon which the hives rest,
so that a larger, but not excessive, bee-space is made beneath.
An entrance (e) is thus secured, which is regulated by the Lang-
stroth blocks (Iblb). Since the body-boxes are made invertible,
Mr. Heddon has felt himself compelled to abandon the hanging
Langstroth frame, and adopt a modification of the standing form
of Quinby with wide ends. This frame he dove-tails together in
the manner of section-boxes. The top and bottom bars are }
inch by 13-16 inch by 18 1-16 inch, while the end pieces are 3-8
inch by 1 3-8 inch by 5 3-8 inch, 7.e. (to preserve the before-
mentioned bee-space) 3-8 inch shallower than the body-box itself
within which the length of the frame has 1-16 inch play. It will
be seen that the end pieces of these frames are 9-16 inch wider
than the top and bottom bars; hence the space between any two
top bars, or bottom bars, will always be 9-16 inch, by which the
bees pass freely from section to section of the hive body. To pre-
vent these frames falling through the body-box, the inside measure
of which is 1-16 inch greater than their external length, strips
of tin are nailed on to the lower rebates of the end pieces. These
tin strips project 1-8 inch, and give a resting-place for the frames

* T have given Cheshire’s measurements in detail, because they are
the sizes now universally adopted.

136 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

which stand upon them. As the outside width of the body-box
is 13 inches, and the thickness of the sides ? inch, 114 inches inter-
vene between the latter. Hight of the frames, each 1 3-8 inch
wide, occupy 11 inches of this, so that the 4 inch play provides
the additional space required on the outside of the outer combs.
To divide this equally, a narrow off-set, } inch thick, is nailed
into the corner on to the side, and against this the outside frame
rests. Wooden thumb-screws (ss), that have been previously
boiled in tallow, are now tapped into the sides, so that their ends
work on the edges of the wide sides of the frames, squeezing them
together until they hold their position securely when the body-
box is inverted.

“The stand (st) needs little explanation. The cleats of the
bottom board touch its end pieces a trifle before the bottom board
itself touches the side pieces, such a bearing causing the weight of
the hive to assist the cleats in keeping the bottom board perfectly
straight. The honey-board (hb) Mr. Heddon arranges on the
‘break joints’ principle, its slots standing over the interspaces be-
tween the frames of the body-box, with the object of preventing
the building of brace-combs as they are termed, 7.e., strips and
irregular extensions of comb introduced between upper and lower
frame or frames and section-boxes, filling the bee-space and at-
taching together, according to bee notions of security, parts that
the bee-keeper desires to remain separate. The frame which holds
the honey-board together extends in thickness 3-16 inch, both
above and below the slots, thus keeping the half bee-space so char-
acteristic of the Heddon system. The honey-board, as supplied,
has no further addition, but the inventor recommends, and Mr.
Jones actually places, queen-excluder zinc between the slots,
which have saw-kerfs made in their edges, so that zinc, wider than
their interspace, can be run in and kept in position. Zine ex-
pands and contracts greatly by change of temperature, and would
be consequently likely to seriously buckle if given in full sheet;
but this is entirely prevented by the arrangement described.

“‘The section-racks (sr) are constructed on the general plan of
the brood-chambers, with which they have the same length but a
slightly greater breadth; their edges, however, abut accurately
upon the brood-boxes, which is accomplished by giving to the sides
a small outside bevel. Since they are intended to hold frames
accommodating 4} inches by 4} inches section-boxes, they are only
5 1-8 inches deep, which allows 4 inch for top and bottom bars
of frames, and 3-8 inch for two half bee-spaces. The sides of the

THE HISTORICAL BEE-HIVE. 137

wection-racks are 5-8 inch only (1-8 inch less than that of the
brood-boxes), giving 1 foot full of internal width to the section-
rack, which thus accommodates seven frames, each carrying four
of the sections previously named. The thinning of the side neces-
sitates battening, to give the tightening screw (s) sufficient hold,
and the rack itself adequate rigidity. The tin rest and -rebates
are applied to these racks as to the body-boxes.”’

These Heddon hives are only suitable for the most expe-
rienced bee-keeper. It requires a skilled mechanic to make them,
and they are far more difficult in manipulating than the Lang-
stroth. The wooden thumb screws are a serious drawback; not-
withstanding they are first boiled in oil, the sides of the hive in
which they work always contract in damp weather, and I find it
impossible to move them. I have had one in use now for two
seasons, and during damp days or after a shower I find it impossible
to open them until the sides are again thoroughly dry.

Every bee-keeper of note finds it to his advantage to make
certain alterations applicable to his wants and the district in which
he lives; but where one cf any other name is used in this State
there are a hundred of the Langstroth’s or the Langstroth Sim-
plicity, and these terms for all practical purposes are synonymous.
The Langstroth hive has stood the test of nearly half a century.
Professor Cook’s remarks many years ago are still applicable. He
(Professor Cook) said of it, ‘‘It left the hands of the great master
(Langstroth) in so perfect a form that even the details remain
unchanged by many of our first bee-keepers.’’

Anyone who has a fair amount of skill—a bush knowledge
of the use of tools—can make a Langstroth hive. Winter even-
ings in the country often hang heavily, therefore those having
spare time cannot employ it in more profitable pastime than that
of hive-making.

The wood used should be soft and light and well seasoned,
and the only thing that is imperative in the construction is that
the measurements must be rigidly adhered to, otherwise there
will be no end of trouble in the manipulating of the bees. Many
a bee-keeper who has been his own carpenter has given up bee-
keeping in disgust, because in the construction of his home-made
hives there has been a want of care in giving bee-space—quarter
of an inch—true bee-space is 3-16 inch.

The wood in kerosene and other packing cases is more or less
suitable. They are to be found around about all country stores,

138 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

and can always be cut down for the making of bee-boxes. For the
colder districts the sides of the first named is too thin. The smell
of the kerosene is quickly evaporated by putting the cases in the
full glare of the sun. The most suitable thickness is that of one
inch, or a little less if it is not to be planed. The ends must always
be of inch wood, or of sufficient thickness to admit of a rebate
(rabbet) for the movable frames to hang freely. The ends of
kerosene cases, although not an inch thick, answer very well for
the purpose.

The brood chamber, or body of the hive, is 91 inches deep if
a movable bottom (to be hereafter described) be used, but if the
bottom be a fixture (though a movable bottom is always prefer-
able) it should be 10 inches in depth. For an 8-framed hive thd
ends must be 14} inches—tMat is, if the sides are to be nailed to
the ends—but if the ends are to be nailed to the sides an allow-
ance must be made for the thickness of the sides. The sides should
be 20 inches outside measurement. Therefore, a piece of timber
6 ft. x 10 in. is sufficient to make a brood chamber or a full size
super. From such a piece of timber, first cut off 284 inches (if
the sides are to be nailed to the ends, and it is always better so
to do) and work a rebate (rabbet) 3-8 in. plus the thickness of the
top bar of the movable frame, and the top bar of such frame
should be at least 4 inch thick, afterwards cutting it into two
equal parts. Of course, each one will be 144 in. x 10in.

An easier and simpler way of making the rebate, although
not so workmanlike, is to plant a strip along the end piece of the
frame, and fasten it with fine nails thus:—(a) # x 3-8 in. piece
planted on (c) to form the rebate, and fastened with fine nails;
(B) rebate, which should be ? in. by not less than } in., for the
frame to hang on; (c) 8% in. x 1 in., or a shaving or two less.
(aa) 94 in. if the bottom board be a fixture.

A full-sized super is the same measurements as the brood
chamber. It will be noticed that if a movable bottom board be
used the depth of the bar-frame (to be hereafter described) will
be 9} inches, thus coming flush with the base of (c), and showing
no bee-space—a cleat to form the bee-space is fastened on the bot-
tom board. Half-size supers for shallow frames are the same
measurements in all except in depth. This will be explained in
the article on Frames, etc.

MOVABLE BOTTOM BOARDS—LANGSTROTH SIMPLICITY HIVE. 139

CHAPTER XXIII.

MOVABLE BOTTOM BOARDS FOR THE
LANGSTROTH SIMPLICITY HIVE.

Lizz all other portions of the hive, the bottom board should be
made of well seasoned timber, light and free from cracks. <A
faulty bottom board is always a nuisance and vexation to the bee-
keeper, and alike a fruitful source of trouble to the inmates of the
hive. Cracks and badly fitting joints in bottom boards, and indeed
in any other part of the hive, are always nurseries for the larve
of the bee-moth and other enemies. If cracks, etc., cannot be
avoided they should be filled in with putty or some such stopping.

For an eight-framed hive the width of a movable bottom
must be 144. inches, plus the thickness of the sides of the hive;
that is, if the sides are nailed to the end pieces, but if the end
pieces are fixed to the sides, they should not be included in the
measurement of the bottom board. In other words, a movable
bottom should be the full width of the hive, and no more. in
length it should be 2} inches longer than that of the bottom of
the hive, the extra length being used as an alighting board. The
wood in thickness should not be less than 1 inch stuff dressed down
to 7-8 inch.

There are several patterns of bottom boards, but I have
selected two that are the most commonly used. If the hives have
been constructed the full 10 inches in depth, with a view of having
a }-inch space beneath the frames, and a }-inch above, it may be
constructed in either of those shown in the two following dia-
grams :—

For this platform, or bottom board, a piece of wood 1 inch
thick, 2 feet long, and 16 inches wide (the width of the hive) 1s
needed. It may be made of two or more pieces, but the fewer
joints the better. As before stated, joints give great facilties to
bee enemies for depositing their ova, and these chinks and cran-
nies are difficult places for the industrious bees to dislodge them
from. The entrance is cut in the solid wood in V shape, as shown

140 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

in the diagram, or in crescent form, shown in the diagram by a
dotted line. The first shape named being by far the easier method,
especially for amateur carpenters. In marking out the entrance
take either 16-inch end and draw a line 14 inch from each corner
to a point 5 inches from the front of the bottom board. Run a
saw-cut from the corner points to the centre one 3-8 inch deep.
This will save a deal of after labour in chiselling away the super-
fluous wood. The legs, marked = F, should be about 16 inches long,
3 inches wide, and of sufficient substance to securely hold the

Bottom Board No, 1 for an 8-framed hive, A B or C D 2 feet, or 24 in, longer than the full
width of the hive. A Bor B D143 in., or the full width of the hive. E F the legs,
16 in., or the length of the width of the board, and 3in. wide. ABO, the points of
the V entrance.

nails when fixed to the bottom board. These legs are for a two-
fold purpose; they keep the hive well up off the ground, and also
prevent the wood from warping. The underside being invariably
damp, and the upper surface dry, the bottoms have a great ten-
dency to twist. Four bricks will answer the same purpose for
keeping the hives free from the ground, and have the advantage
of preventing the ravages of the white ant. Nevertheless, it is
always well to plant strong cleats on the underside of the bottom
board. It is a preventive for the warping, and, of course, is abso-
lutely necessary if the bottom is made from more than one piece
of wood. The twisting may also be prevented by using grooved
cleats. The V-shaped entrance has the advantage of providing
for greater or lesser ingress or egress, as may be required according

to climatic changes, by sliding the hive forth or back as may be
found necessary.

MOVABLE BOTTOM BOARDS—LANGSTROTH SIMPLICITY HIVE. 14]

The above diagram is another pattern, and is still more simple
in its construction than that with the V-shaped entrance. ‘The
wood for its construction is of the same dimensions as that above
described ; but instead of the entrance being cut out from the solid
wood, it is formed by cleats being fixed on three sides, as shown
on diagram. The short cleats on the end should be the width of
the thickness of the wood in the end of hive (7-8 inch), and of

Bottom board No, 2 for an &-frame hive. A Bor C D2 ft., or 23 in. longer than the full
width of the hive. AC orB D 14} in., or the full width of the hive.

the same length. So also should the side cleats be the thickness
of the side of the hive, and the same length less the width of the
end cleats; that is, somewhere about 19 inches. The cleats must
be fixed on the surface of the bottom board as shown, and should
not be less than 3-8 inch, nor more than } inch in thickness. It
must be borne in mind that this last-named bottom board is de-
signed for the hives in which the bottom-bar of the frame comes
flush with the bottom of the brood chamber or super. (The 3-8
inch thickness of the cleats forms the bee space, and is a substitute
of the extra depth of the brood chamber, etc., thus permitting
the brood chamber to be used as a full super or vice versa. This
bottom board may be strengthened similarly to the former; or a
grooved cleat may be used for that at the end; the grooved cleat
aiding in strengthening the board, and doing duty as the end cleat
shown in the diagram. To strengthen the forepart of the board
a cleat about an inch wide and #? inch thick is nailed or screwed,
the latter being the better method, on the front of the under side
similarly placed on bricks for the purpose of keeping it off the
ground. In no case should an entrance be made in the end or
side of a hive. If such be done it will be found impossible to sub-
stitute the super for the brood-chamber, or interchange one for the
other. Of course, it will be observed that the bee entrance of this
last-named bottom board is the full width, and differs materially
from the former or V-shaped entrance. Nevertheless it can be

142 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

contracted to any smaller width required, by means of triangular
pieces of wood as shown in the Heddon Hive. Or it can be con-
tracted by the means of two pieces of l-inch thick wood cut in the
form of a scalene triangle (three unequal sides), the longest side
being half the length of the opening. If so required, the two
entrance-blocks will completely close the entrance to the hive. The
sides of these triangular blocks being of three different dimensions,
offer any degree of contraction or expansion of the entrance to the
hive, from that of full width to that of only sufficient for one bee
t> pass at a time. The longest sides of the entrance blocks being
half the whole length of the entrance, the longest sides entirely
close it when needed.

THE ALIGHTING BOARD.

THis may be made separately and detached from the bottom-
board, as shown below.

It will be seen that its position is in the front of the hive
at the entrance. The inclined plane makes a splendid platform
for weary bees to ascend to the hive. By means of these inclined
plane alighting-boards the life of many a bee is saved, and many

A BorCD, 16in.; AQor BD, 10in.; BE, 3in.

a load of honey carried home that would have been otherwise lost.
It should be made the length of the width of the hive, thus the
platform would be 16in. x 10 in. 1t should be so constructed that
the upper edge of the alighting-board should come flush with the
surface of bottom-board, the lower edge resting on the ground. If
a detached alighting-board be used, the bottom-board need not, be
the full 24 inches.

MOVABLE BOTTOM BOARDS—LANGSTROTH SIMPLICITY HIVE. 143

COVERS OR ROOFS.

Noruine is more injurious to bees than a leaky roof. I have
seen where a drip has penetrated and run down the sealed brood,
a space of from 1 to 2 inches of dead larve on both sides of the
comb; thus causing the destruction of not less than 20 square
inches of brood, or about 500 young bees just ready to emerge upon
the active labours of life. Far better kill 500 of the old bees that
have nearly accomplished the span of life than the developing
brood. From the former nearly all the profit has been gathered
in, whilst with the latter the whole has to come. A leaky cover
is always an irritation to a bee-keeper. As a rule, it is only dis-
covered after wet days when a promise is made to repair, but the
day of reparation seldom comes, especially with careless or half-
hearted bee-keepers. Nothing can be substituted for a well-made
watertight cover. No part of the hive requires to be more care-
fully constructed. A leaky cover is an abomination alike to the
bees and ‘the bee-keeper. The flat top is the easiest to make. It
should always be without crack or joint, and of a light, thoroughly-
seasoned wood, and so constructed that it should lie evenly, and
with as small interstices between it and tle hive as possible. Being
the most exposed part of the hive, it is liable to expansions and
contractions by the frequent changes in the weather, and is more
apt to warp than any other portion of the woodwork. Grooved
cleats fore and aft are the best preventive to minimise this twist-
ing. In the grooving of these end cleats there is a deal of work
for an amateur carpenter; nevertheless, it will pay in the long
run. Cleats, 1 inch wide by } thick, nailed or screwed to the under
side answer fairly well. A piece of wood, 22 inches long, and
the full width of the hive, and 1 inch thick, is the thing required
for a flat top roof. In the hotter parts of the State the thick-
ness of the cover is an important consideration. The thicker it is,
combined with lightness, the better, because it keeps out the heat,
thus aiding greatly in keeping a lower temperature during the
hotter months of the year, and a thick top is equally valuable in
the colder districts, the temperature of the hive being kept more
uniform.

Where economy in timber is a consideration, or where thick
wood is difficult to procure, the hipped cottage gable-end roof makes
a capital cover. In its construction care should be taken that the
joint in the ridge is perfectly watertight. This may be accom-
plished by painting the roof, and, while the paint is still wet,

K

14h AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

placing a strip of calico about 3 inches wide over the joint and well
rubbing it down till it is evenly stuck to the woodwork by. the
paint, then again painting the upper surface of the calico. A
strip of tin or zinc may be substituted for the calico. In
that case no painting will be needed, only for the preservation
of the wood, and if the whole hive were so treated it would look
better and last longer. Care must be exercised not to split the
woodwork in the nailing of the tin ridge-capping. A fall in the
roof about 24 inches and a l-inch eave will be ample for all
weather purposes. Gable-end roofs are great harbours for
spiders.

THE QUILT.

Puace a piece of American leather-cloth between the cover and
the top of the frames, the leather side downwards in the summer
months, and the cloth side downwards during winter. This leather
quilt has many advantages. If it be a flat top cover the quilt
prevents the bees glueing the top bar of the frames to the movable
roof of the hive. In the case of a cottage roof it prevents the bees
going up and building underneath it. In either case the cover
is removed with more freedom and without jarring the hive, and
thus irritating the bees. Taking the quilt by one corner and grad-
ually peeling off, prevents the light suddenly flashing on the
bees. It also subdues the anger of a bad-tempered colony. By
the aid of a quilt a bee-keeper can manipulate his bees with far
greater freedom and security.

FULL-SIZE BAR-FRAME.

THESE can now be purchased in the flat so cheaply that the
home-made amateur article is only used by bee-keepers in the
remote corners of the State, or by persons who have a deal of
spare time on their hands. In previous pages I have objected
to the use of self-spacing bar-frames, and the reasons are there
given. Briefly, they are these: These frames can only be made by
machinery or practical tradesmen. Of course, if they are pur-
chased that is not a valid objection, but sometimes it is found to
be absolutely necessary to space closer than the orthodox bee-
space between the frame. Self-spacing bar-frames cannot be so
manipulated. This objection is a valid one. Again, any small
bit of soft wood can be run out for the construction of frames,

MOVABLE BOTTOM BOARDS—LANGSTROTH SIMPLICITY HIVE. 145

especially where the bee-keeper is so fortunate as to be in posses:
sion of a small treadle circular saw, or so ‘clever as to make one
out of the remains of a corn sheller and an old sewing-machine.
I have seen a very serviceable circular saw so constructed. The
following are the dimensions for a full-size standard Langstroth
bar-frame :-—

A B

A B, out to out, g 1-8 inches; C A, out to out, 9 inches. The top bar
must be 19% inches, i.e., out to out of C D, 17 5-8 inches; two
bee-spaces, one on either side, 4 inch, equals 4 inch; plus the 4-inch
rebate on each end of the hive equals 1 inch; total, 19 1-8 inches.
(17 5-8 plus 4 plus 4 plus 3 plus } equals 19 1-8 inches).

From these measurements it will be seen no note has been
taken of inside measurements. These will be always regulated
by the. thickness of the bars. It is not imperative that any inside
dimensions should be adhered to, but the outside measurements
should be scrupulously followed.

1 he width of the top and side bars should be 7-8 inch, but the
bottom bar not more than 4 inch. In fact, the narrower it is
the better, so long as there is substance sufficient for nailing pur-
poses is all that is needed. A thin bottom bar has its advantages—
bees, in building their comb from the top bar downwards, and no
matter in what position the hive stands, will be sure to
build their combs plumb. In completing their combs bees always.
leave bee-space between the base of it apd the bottom of the hive.
In the construction of comb the mid-wall—that portion of the
comb forming the base of the two sets of cells— is the first con-
structed, and is always kept a little in advance of the construc-
tion of the side walls of the cells, giving the comb, as the building
advances, the appearance of an axe-edge, being bevelled on both

146 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

sides towards the point. If the frames have been hung perfectly
plumb, and it is imperative they should be, if only for ease and
freedom in manipulation, the wax-working bees are constantly
building towards the centre of the bottom bar. From the above
it will be seen that the increment of the comb is always making
addition to the fine edge of the mid-wall, and as the wax-workers
come nearer to the bottom bar, the line of their vision being inter-
cepted by it, they conceive it to be the floor of their home. They
thus finish off their comb within the bee-space of the bottom bar.
Now, if the bottom bar be narrow, and the narrower the better,
the line of vision of the constructing bees is carried over the bar
to the floor of the hive. The result is the incorporation of the
narrow bottom bar with the comb, leaving bee-space between it
and the floor of the hive, culminating in the comb being fixed to
the whole of the sides of the frame. This strengthens the comb
for extracting purposes, and minimises the trouble of the mani-
pulation thereof. In thickness the side bars should not be less
than $ inch, whilst the top bar should be #? inch to 1 inch. A
thin top bar containing a heavy comb of honey is always liable more
or less to sag. Another reason given for the thick top bar is, the
queen is less liable to go up in the super and convert it into a
brood chamber. The frame of the super, or the brood chamber,
may be strengthened by means of a centre bar. It is not abso-
lutely necessary to use a centre bar in brood frames, as in the
ordinary honey seasons the little surplus honey in them should
never be extracted. If a thick top bar be used, the shoulder
should be reduced to the 4 inch, or the rebate in the ends of the
hive must be sunk deeply enough to accommodate the extra thick-
ness of the top bar. It will be found much easier to reduce the
shoulders of the frame than to form a deeper rebate in the ends
of the hive.

CENTRE BAR
(Shown in the diagram by means of a dotted line).

Tue centre bar should be 3-8 inch square, and slightly longer
than the side bars. It should be sprung into its position. It will
require no other fixing. As the bees work they will inclose it in
the coinb, and the bar will be as firm, or firmer than if it had
been fixed by nailing. This centre bar entirely supersedes the
necessity for wiring, a consideration that should not be over-

MOVABLE BOTTOM BOARDS—LANGSTROTH SIMPLICITY HIVE. 147

looked. It is also much cheaper. Then the contrast in the sav-
ing .of time between the inserting of the centre bar and wiring
is greatly in favour of the former. ‘‘Time saved is money earned.’”
For a centre bar nothing but the waste ends cut to length is
needed. The wire of a frame, when the foundation is inserted,
must be fixed with an embedder, or the bees will not work thereon.
The many little tools or implements required in wiring are saved
by this little simple perpendicular centre bar.

HALF-SIZE SUPERS OR SHALLOWS.

In dimension these are exactly the same as the full-size frame,
only the side bars are cut half the length—that is, 44 inches in
depth from out to out. It will be noticed that is a 1-16 inch less
than a true half. These shallows are now coming very much to.
the front. They have advantages over the full-size frames. When
honey is coming in sparingly, the bees take to them more readily.
The honey ripens in them quicker, and the cells are sooner capped.

There is an advantage also, in the uncapping for extracting
purposes.

THE FOLLOWER, OR DIVISION BOARD.
No hive is complete without a division board. It is a plain
piece of board wrought in the form of a full-size frame—length
17 inches and 9 3-8 inches deep; in length and depth a little
more than the frame. The shoulders in followers must be cut
to the same gauge as the frames, so that the top of the follower
shall be flush with the tops of the frames when they are in posi-
tion in the hive. The uses of a follower are to prevent the bees
scattering too far over the hive, or, in case of a small swarm, to
confine them to one side of the hive so that they may build their
comb more regularly. Bees should never have more room than
they can occupy, without being too much overcrowded. With judi-
cious management a follower is a great help in aiding the bees.
to fill up the frames with comb more systematically and regularly.
It is also of great value in wintering, as by its aid the bees are-
kept more snugly, and there is not the loss of animal heat as is the
case when bees are wintering in a full-sized hive which they can-
not fairly well fill, and can roam over at their own sweet will.

148 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

FRAME BLOCK.

Accuracy in the external measurements of the bar-frames, inde-
pendent of the name they bear or of the form or size of their
make, is of utmost importance. Whatever may be the design of
the hive selected, and the size of the frame adopted, uniform
external measurement must be continually observed. To facilitate
this, many methods have been tried, and many an invention put
before bee-keepers all with more or less success, but none perfect.
Some of them, perhaps the most, have been cumbersome to
handle, and difficult to adjust. Amateur bee-keepers who make
their own frames soon discarded them, and fell back on hap-
hazard guesswork, resulting in the discovery that home-made bar-
frames are always more or less awry, fail to hang plumb, and if
there be a sufficiency of bee space between the top bars, there
is too much between the bottom bars, or the bees will persistently
build between the side bar and the hive. They try every remedy
suggested, and finally come to the conclusion that to be a fairly
good practical bee-keeper needs a well-fitted carpenter’s shop,
plenty of patience, and an apprenticeship to boot .

Now the following very simple contrivance will save an infi-
nite amount of trouble, a deal of vexation of spirit, and amateur
carpentering, and bee-keeping by means of its use will be voted an
enjoyable and profitable pastime.

A B
E ET
fa b 6 an

c
ce
H
'G
c F F O

Fig. 1.

Of course, it is constructed of wood. Cedar or redwood is the
best kind of timber, on account of its lightness. A piece of 3-
inch stuff 22 in. x 9 in., and two pieces of inch stuff, 9 in. x 2 in. is
all the wood that will be necessary. As this bar-frame block will

MOVABLE BOTTOM BOARDS—-LANGSTROTH SIMPLICITY HIVE. 149

serve. for all time, it should be made from well-seasoned timber,
neatly dressed and firmly put together.

The following are the measurements:—-A B from shoulder to
‘shoulder in the end pieces, 19 1-8 inches, or the full length of a top
bar. CD about 22 inches; AC and BD, 9 inches; EF 8
inches, or the full depth of the length of one side of a frame; G
H, 172 inches, or the full length of the bottom bar of a frame.
a 6 and 6 a are two spiral springs, as shown in diagram No. 2;
bb the screws fixing the springs to the block; ¢ c, the points of
contact with the 9-inch side pieces, A C and B D. aa, two screws
firmly screwed into the frame block, but projecting about 1 inch,
around which the spiral spring is coiled in such a manner, so that
the portions of the springs a ¢ shall have full play and capable
of extending to a sufficient width to receive the side bars of eny
frame. The shoulders at A E and B E must correspond exactly
with the projecting shoulder of the frame, both in length and
thickness.

This bar-frame block can be made as a duplicate by fixing two
additional springs and two other side-pieces. Where a large
number of frames are to be made, a double frame block is a great
advantage in point of speed. With it a very large number of
handlings are avoided.

i ; a Cc

Oe a

Fig. 2.

Diagram No. 2 is an end of a double bar-frame block—c a 6
and } ac are the two sets of spiral springs. The end pieces are
shown grooved, and the back tongued into it. It is not necessary
to fix the two ends by tongue and groove. Of course, it is both
neater and stronger ; it also prevents any tendency to warping. If
the ends are put on in four lengths instead of two grooved pieces
they should be securely fastened with screws. Care must be
taken that the side-pieces are at right angles with the edges of the
block. This block prevents all twisting in the frames, and the
external measurements of frames will be the same without the
least deviation.

In putting the frame together prepare the top, bottom, and

150 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

side bars, keeping them in three different heaps. It ‘will not be
necessary for the side-pieces to be of one uniform thickness. The
springs will adjust themselves to any differences that may occur.
Fix to the work-bench one or two bottom bars according to
whether a single or double block is to be used. Place the bottom
of the block so that the fixed bottom bars shall stand in the
measurement G H. If it be a double block it will stand without
holding. ‘ Over the one or two fixed bars, when the block is placed
in position, insert the end-pieces for the frame so the springs will
grip them firmly to the sides of the bar-frame block. Next, place
the top bar in the shoulders A E and B E, shown in diagram No..
1. The side pieces should come flush to the point E. Nail the
top bar to each end and three of the four sides will be firmly:
fixed, then invert the block for the insertion of the bottom bar,.
and fix it in the ends in like manner to that of the top.

This bar-frame block, besides being applied to the use named,
is also a permanent gauge for all portions of bar-frames. In dia-
gram No. 1, A B is the gauge for the top bar; G H that for the
bottom bar; and E F, less the thickness of the bottom bar, is
the gauge for the end-pieces.

It may be a difficult matter in country places to obtain or
make the spiral springs referred to. In that case the main-spring
of an old American clock will be found as serviceable as the spiral
spring.

The clock spring must be curved, and have sufficient strength
in it to keep the end-pieces firmly against sides of the bar-frame-
block. On more than one occasion when even the clock spring was.
not obtainable, I have substituted a piece of iron hoop which did
remarkably well for the time being.

BO

CONCRETE FLOORS. 151

CHAPTER XXIV.

CONCRETE FLOORS.

THESE are a combination, forming at once both a hive-bottom and
a hive-stand. Among bee-men, they have called forth a good deal
of comment, oral and written. Some of these comments are ad-
verse, and others complimentary. The objections are:—They are
too expensive, too heavy, and too hot. Too expensive! A cask
of cement costing 14s. in Sydney will make fifteen of them; that
is as cheap as wood, nay cheaper, because they are everlasting.
Too heavy! This will depend on the gumption of the maker; if
he places the mould on the site where the hive is to stand he will
have no occasion to remove it, and the weightiest object to handle
will be the mould. Too hot! They were used at the Agricultural
College all summer, and were not found so. If this objector
had seen them in use, he would have said otherwise.

Their advantages: Being made on the surface of the ground
there is no harbour for bee vermin, such as spiders, earwigs, etc.
An eight-frame hive covers a superficial area of 280 inches, and
that of the concrete floor about 700 inches; being considerably
more than twice the area of a hive, it thus prevents weeds etc.,
overgrowing the hives, and gives free access for the bees at all
times. They are fireproof. Of late many a hive of bees would
have been saved if these concrete floors had been used; wooden
ones soon take fire. They are much cleaner than wood; are not
affected by conditions of weather, therefore they do not shrink,
crack or warp. They never require painting, and will remain
serviceable for generations, improving with age. Can this be said
of wood? The bee entrance can be contracted to nil or expanded.
to 24 in. x 9 in., so that the bees can fly directly in among the
combs if it be so desired. The entrance has a fall of 2% inches.
in 9 inches, so no rain can beat therein.

The diagrams are lettered from ‘‘A’”’ to ‘‘E.”’ ‘‘A’’ is the
frame in which ‘‘B’’ was moulded. The bevel of it is 9 in. x 18
in. Ic gives a full width entrance to an eight-frame or a ten-
frame hive, and the first concrete floors used at the Hawkesbury

— CULTURE-

152 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BE

D

CONCRETE FLOORS. 153

Agricultural College were of this type. ‘‘C” is the frame in
which ‘‘D’’ was moulded. It will be noted that the difference
between ‘‘B’’ and ‘‘D’’ is that the latter has a 44 inch shoulder
on either side. This when the hive is brought fully forward, gives
it a more solid foundation to stand on, and at the same time gives
protection from cold currents of air sweeping underneath the hive.
‘*B”’ is the tongue that forms the entrance.

In modelling these floors proceed thus: Select the site, place
the moulding frame thereon, first ramming the soil firmly down ;
try the frame with a spirit level; when true, fill in about 1 inch
in thickness the full width of the frame, and about 10 inches on
the end where the shoulders of the floor are, with two of sand
and one of cement. Insert the tongue, as shown in ‘‘C,’’ then
fill in the remaining portion of the frame with concrete, level with
the top of the frame. Leave all to stand for twenty-four hours
‘or more. Take out the tongue (‘‘E’’), lift the frame (‘‘C’’) by
the handles as shown. The block will appear very rough, but
finish it off with a thin coating of a mixture of two of clean sand
and one of cement. The more cement is used in this final coating
the more impervious to damp will the block be. Put this final
‘coating on with a trowel. When the whole block is coated, if it
be rubbed over with a piece of old bagging made very wet, there
will be a very good smooth surface.

The concrete can be formed with gravel, sand, and cement,
one part of the latter to two of the former; or fill in the frame
with broken bricks, stones, etc., and pour in the mixture of sand
and cement until the frame is full, when the whole mass may be
gently rammed together.

154 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE HAWKESBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE
APIARY.

Wir the object of increasing the facilities for practical instruc-
tion in agriculture at the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, the
Minister for Agriculture decided some time ago, to have a new
apiary laid out on an extended scale, and to equip it with every-
thing calculated to be of educational interest not only to the
college students, but visitors. I have had the privilege of super-
intending this work, and now take the opportunity of affording
readers a very full account of what has already been accom-
plished in the arrangement and equipment of -this important
branch. The site chosen for the new apiary is about a hundred
yards distant from the old one, and to the front of the old honey-
house, which is being retained in its present position with sundry
alterations. There were too many twists and turns from the old
apiary to reach the extracting-room. By referring to the ground
plan it will be seen the present apiary is directly in front of the
last-mentioned room, and the footpath leading from the one to the
other is direct.

In shape this new area is the same as the old one—oblong;
but the area is greater, being 120 yards long by 80 yards wide.
The site is a little too flat; but by artificial means the drainage
can be made fairly effective. It is enclosed by a _ post
and wire fence with a top rail. The site is laid out
lawn-like, or, perhaps more correctly speaking, as a par-
terre, being interspersed with flower beds and flowering shrubs.
All these have honey-bearing characteristics. Of course, all bee-
keepers know the uselessness of planting flowers solely for the
honey they produce. Nevertheless, here and on other parts of
the college grounds honey-producing plants are and will be
planted for experimenting in their honey-yielding value. The
apiary is intersected with a series of paths. These are 4 feet wide,

THE HAWKESBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE APIARY 155

1. General View of New Apiary and Kiosk.

ee.
Sout PRINTER

2. Hive and Section Cradle Filled.

°
THE HAWKESBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE APIARY. 157

and well gravelled, running parallel. with sides of the enclosure,
and: others at right angles thereto.

Among the most useful and novel additions. to this new
apiary are the concrete floors for the hives;. they are the author’s
improvement upon: the old wooden floor. These serve a double
purpose; being at one and the same time both stand and bottom-
board for the hives. Those shown in. the illustration are made from
the mould A shown on page 152; those made from mould C are on
the other side of the apiary, and do not come into. focus; the
mesurements will also be found on page 152, The advantages
of these concrete hive-stands will be at- once apparent to every
bee-keeper. Being slightly let into the ground, the sloping por-
tion of the stands are on the same plane as the lawn; and the
hive, when placed on the stand;.is 3-in. higher. There is no wood
in connection with the stand or hive bottom, therefore no decay.
The stands are solid, having no interstices of any description, and
being bedded in sand, there is no harbour for vermin. Being
solid, and the superficial area greater than that of the hives, grass
and other weeds cannot grow so close to the hives, and so inter-
rupt the ingress or egress of the bees. They are cool and dry,
and by moving the hives fore and aft they are easily washed and
dried. To accommodate the hives to these stands, it is necessary
to add a ,three-eighth inch depth to the brood-chamber, so as to
permit bee-space beneath the frames; thus the brood-chamber is
not interchangeable with the supers. By removing the hive to-
wards and over the slope in the stand, any amount of space can
be given for ventilating purposes.

The hives in the apiary are of almost every description that
is, and has been, in use; the original Langstroth, the Langstroth
Simplicity, the Long-Idea, the Heddon, the Berlepsch, the Obser-
vation, the Munday, the old straw skip, and even the old box or
gin-case hive, are to be seen. But why so many types of hives?
And why so many varieties of fowls in the poultry-yard? Simply,
to use a vulgarism,: ‘‘you. pay your cash and take your choice.’’
Every variety of poultry has its advocate, either as profitable or
ornamental. So with the bee hives. But why go back so far as
the old gin-cases; why not go back further to the cave days when
bees were kept in clay pots? The main reason for the variety
of hives is that in the country districts of this State apiculture
is in a transitional state, especially so in the backblocks, and gin-
case hives will serve as object lessons in transferring and demon-
strating the advantages of modern methods.

1A8 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

The bar-frames are of all patterns. In some the thin top
bar, bottom bar and sides of equal width (experience only
will teach how to space), the full length, thick top bar, with
self-spacing sides and narrow bottom bar, the short thick top bar
with staple ends, are all in use. They are all educational, and
answer many a student’s and visitor’s query of ‘‘Why?’’

The sections, too, in like manner are very diversified ; so also
are the separators and the section holders or cradles. One section
holder or cradle with its separators is unique, as it is only at
the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, and at the author’s home
it is in use. It was exhibited at a Royal Agricultural
Show, and called forth the usual amount of comments that are
bestowed upon all improvements in bee-keeping or anything else.
It is made of wire; two of the sides act with a spring and the
sections therefore are self-adjusting. It is Fig. 3 in the illustra-
tion, shows 3 spring sides, which are not necessary. There
are no thumb-screws, wedges, or other appliances used for keeping
them firm in the super. The separators are made from queen-
excluding zinc. When the cradle is fitted it is not made secure in
the shallows as is usually the case. The burr-comb being removed
from the frames of the brood-chamber, the wire cradle, with its
contents, is placed thereon, as seen in the accompanying Fig. 2,
the frame of the half-size super surrownds it, and the ordinary
lid covers it. The two latter are easily removed, and when so
removed, the cradle resting on the frames, by pressing open the
spring side or end the full sections can be removed, and the empty
ones replaced without the slightest trouble. The only drawback
to these wire cradles coming into general use is, they are rather
expensive; but then they are everlasting. These last remarks
will also apply to the concrete hive-stands.

In the centre stands the kiosk. There is nothing new either
in design or make, but there is in its use. It is an ornate struc-
ture, having a concrete floor. In the centre is an octagon table,
and there is ample room for six or eight visitors to sit under-
neath the shade of its roof, which has an octagonal ceiling. From
the centre of this ceiling there is suspended a mosquito net, suffi-
ciently large to envelop the visitors seated around the table.
The object is to protect the timid visitor from the too inquisitive
bee. <A bee tlying to near a person unaccustomed to the hum
gives rise to the fear that the bee so humming must be bent upon
mischief, and accordingly a dive is made for the nearest protec-
tion. Some persons once stung remain timid for ever, and ima-

THE HAWKESBURY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE APIARY. 159

gine that they are the individual object of the hatred of all bees;
hence we often hear it said, ‘I would not go near bees, they
have a dislike to me,” when the boot should be on the other foot
—they have a dislike to the bees. Well, this kiosk and its fittings
are for such ones. Underneath, and surrounded by this net,
they can examine the marvellous sights to be met with in the
domestic economy of the hive, and to. my mind it is one of the
most interesting—a hive of bees under the control and manipula-
tion of man,

The sides of the kiosk are trellised. There are two openings
in the walls, the one for ingress and egress, the other contains
two Berlepsch hives. In these, visitors can be shown all that is most
interesting in bee life, whilst close to the door are the Langstroth
and other hives; the frames from these, containing the queen and
brood in various stages of development, can be easily removed and
carried within, where they can be examined freely by the most
curious of visitors.

From the door of the kiosk to the honey-house is an asphalt
path, 4 feet in width. The honey-house is fitted with all the most
modern appliances used in the honey industry, and not the least
conspicuous amongst them is a four-frame Cowan rapid reversible
extractor. This latter has been fitted so as to be driven by
treadle-power.

TO REMOVE BEES TO ANOTHER LOCALITY.

It was only the last week in December that the bees were
removed from the old site. This was a valuable object lesson
for the students engaged in the work. “Being so close won’t
the bees go back to the old stands?” was the question
asked by more than one. On the morrow not 1 _ per
cent. of the bees returned to the site of their old home, al-
though it was in such close proximity. This is the way it was
done. All things being in readiness, a moonlight night was
selected. At the old apiary the entrance to each hive was
closed by means of damp rags, and the hives were placed on
hand-barrows and carried to the concrete stands in the new
apiary; these were all in place beforehand; pieces of board,
two or three bricks, bushes, in fact anything, was placed in front

L

160 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

of each hive; these, when the bees came out for their morning
flight, caused them to study the new location, and at the same
time to forget the old. A clean sweep had been
made of their old homes. Every piece of loose wood, brick, bush,
etc., had been removed. There was really nothing left to indi-
cate that an apiary had ever stood there. Any one wishing to
remove an apiary to a site near by, if they follow this plan
need have no apprehension that the bees will return to the lo-
cality whence they came.

There are other additions and improvements contemplated,
such as a small pond or fountain, in which floating plants of the
duck-weed order are to be placed, where the bees can slake their
thirst at pleasure. Such a provision is a great boon to bees.
They are thirsty creatures, especially so during the dry warm
seasons we have had of late. Every bee-keeper should place
a tub or bucket of water in his apiary and if a few aquatic
plants are put therein, those of a floating habit being placed
amongst them, it will be found to be very advantageous for
the bees. The water can be made ornamental by being placed
in the centre of a rockery, and trailing plants grown around it.

The Hawkesbury College Apiary is a place worth visiting,
and it will be more so when the seasons are better, and the
flowering plants, shrubs, and hedges have had more time for
establishment.

THE ADVANCE OF BEES UNDER DOMESTICATION. 16L

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE ADVANCE OF BEE LIFE UNDER DOMES-
TICATION.

Tur strides bee-keeping has made of late years have been very
great both in Europe and America, more so in the latter than in
the former, and the financial result of the enterprise by modern
methods has been more surprising than that of almost any other
industry that was brought prominently to the fore at or about
the same time, and that has marched side by side with it for the
same period. The State of California leads in the proportion of
honey, and the largest bee-farmers in the world are met with in
the southern part of that State.

The amount of capital invested in the industry in South-
ern California is stated to be £90,000 exclusive of land. The
people engaged in the work pay for labour annually £14,000,
and circulate no less than £15,000 every year amongst the manu-
facturers of bee-keepers’ supplies. The making of these must
supply the means of living to a large number of families. In
the same State there are nearly 5,000 bee-keepers, each one
averaging 150 colonies, or 750,000 colonies in the Southern
State alone. From this State 5,000 tons of extracted honey
and a proportionate amount of comb honey was sold in 1896.
The price for honey in America is much less than here. In
California extracted honey is sold at £16 per ton, and comb
honey at double that price. Therefore, the bee industry of the
Southern State referred to must have put into circulation not
far short of £200,000 that, prior to the inauguration of the bar-
frame method of bee-keeping, was permitted to go to waste.
Arizona and other places in the States rival the Californias in
honey production. These figures were obtained from an article
recently published in the Los Angeles Journal.

According to the last annual statistical number of the
Californian Fruit-grower there are in the United States 110
apiarian societies, eight journals devoted exclusively to the bee
and honey industry, and fifteen steam factories for the manu-
facture of hives and apiarian implements. There are 300,000

162 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

persons engaged in the culture of the bee, and according to the
United States census report, they produced in 1869 14,703,815
Tb. of honey, and in 1889, twenty years later, 53,894,168 Ib.
According to the eleventh census, the value of the honey and
beeswax production of the United States at wholesale rates was
about £1,458,333, and a conservative estimate of the present
annual production is about £4,167,500. As supplementary to
these figures, it may be stated that in addition to the fifteen
steam-power factories, there is a very large number of smaller
factories, using mainly hand and horse power, which are en-
gaged in the production of supplies, such as hives, smokers,
honey extractors, and other apparati.

Bee-keepers in Southern California have as many as 600
or even 1,000 colonies of bees in a single apiary, and secure
from 100 to 200 Ib. of extracted honey per colony. One bee-
keeper in Riverside county reported one year a crop of 10 tons
of first quality of extracted honey and 3 tons of the finest comb
honey, all from 154 colonies, which, during the season, in-
creased to 196. A report reaches this office of one San Diego
county man whose bees this season produced six carloads of
honey. Not long ago a Ventura county man had the misfor-
tune to lose 2 tons of honey, which ran down a canyon through
an accident, and still had 50 tons remaining for sale. Statis-
tics as to the Californian output of-honey are not available, but
the crop of 1897 is estimated variously at from 225 up to 400 car-
loads of 12 tons each, of which San Diego is expected to furnish
sixty. California honey is known in nearly all markets.

Bee-keeping in this State has not kept pace in proportion
with the population, as is the case in America, neither are we
such honey consumers. The Americans are proverbially fond
of sweets and our people do not appear to be educated in their

tastes to consume a like proportion. Certainly all the honey
produced in this State is consumed ‘here, or nearly suv, and
occasionally we hear of a few tons being imported. In the

country places of America nearly everyone is his own bee-keeper,
the townspeople consuming the overplus.

In 1891 there were twelve competitors for the National
Prize offered by the Government of New South Wales, and in 1892
the increase of competitors was but two. Since then the in-
crease of bee-keepers has been gradually swelling, until this year
the dealers in the bee-keepers’ supplies have been unable to
execute their orders, especially in the supply of foundation

THE ADVANCE OF BEES UNDER DOMESTICATION. 165

comb; but this demand has been mainly by those who are en-
gaged in the industry as an occupation, or bee-keepers in a
large way.

There is no reason why bee-keeping should not be as general
as that of poultry-keeping. In our cities, towns, suburbs, and
rural districts, wherever there is convenience a few fowls are
kept by all, if only for egg-production. Even in the city it
is a common thing to see a small space set aside for a poultry-
yard. The keeping of fowls in small enclosures is always more
or less disagreeable, especially when too near to the dwelling-
house. The care, attention, and expense necessary to success
in egg-production is in no way a small matter and is generally,
when on a small scale, a losing hobby, and if it were not that:
new-laid eggs of home production were a luxury that can only
be depended upon when they are so obtained, few persons would.
take the trouble to keep fowls. Again, however ornamental,
attractive and valuable the fowls may be, the enclosures in
which they are kept can never boast of the two former condi-
tions. With bees it is otherwise. They add a picturesqueness.
and a rural appearance to the surroundings of every home, and
are adaptable to all grounds, whether they are large or small.
The hives admit of any amount of ornamentation, and an obser-
vatory hive (7.e. one with glass sides), creates an amount of
educational interest alike to young and old that it is not open.
to dispute. Whether kept on a large or small scale, the apiary
itself, in addition to the hives, can be made ornate and pro-
fitable, and can be so constructed as to be a pleasurable resort,
equal to that of the bush-house or garden arbour. Indeed there
is no reason why one or more glass hives for the purpose of
observation should not be placed in every bush-house. Of
course, the idea is that bees will sting, but the hives can be so-
placed that the dangers from stinging can be entirely avoided,
and with ordinary caution in the handling of the bees very little-
danger need be apprehended. If proper care be exercised in the:
preparation of the soil for the reception of grape vines, and the
annual pruning be systematically followed, an enjoyable vintage:
as an additional table luxury in the form of grapes will be ob-
tained beyond that given by the bees. If the site for the hives.
is to be a thing of beauty it will admit of a lavishing expendi-
ture to any extent, enough to satisfy the tastes of the most.
wealthy. On the other hand, for an individual of frugal means,

164 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE-

the want of capital never stands in the way. Looking at bee-
keeping as a hobby, it is not surrounded with the expense and
trouble that most other pastimes that are engaged in are. There
is no daily attention required, such as feeding, cleansing, etc.
No attention from the owner is necessary, as is the case in
poultry, during breeding season, and no particular mixture given
at regular intervals to ensure the best results in the increase,
which is always an important factor with all hobbies. With
‘bees the first expense need be the only one.

It is an industry well adapted to the physically deformed
and the weak, and the delicate of both sexes. It is an out-door
occupation and, at the same time, an occupation that can only
be indulged in during fine weather. It offers a fine field to
ladies of small means to augment their income, or at least, one
that will be an addition to house-keeping. I one time met a
lady who assured me that the earnings from her bees during
the year exceeded those of her husband, who was in regular em-
ployment. Not long ago, the daughters of a household informed
me that, after attending to their domestic duties, they at-
tended to their bees when it was necessary, and in addition to
using honey as a table luxury, they did all their fruit-preserving
‘with it, while the sale of the surplus kept them in clothes. Bee-
keeping is valuable where there is a family of children, if only
to give them something to do, and to train them to habits of
thrift. I before said people keep fowls for the sake of there
being a certainty of having new-laid eggs for breakfast. It is
equally wise in these days of extensive adulteration to procure
all kinds of food in its purest form, and home-procured honey
offers one food that can be easily and cheaply obtained in its
native purity.

As an article of diet, especially where there is a family of
growing children, it should be much more largely used than it
‘is. It is both health-giving and invigorating. Its consump-
tion in these States is behind most of the European nations. We
-do not appear to have acquired a taste for honey to any extent.
‘The partiality of the Americans for sweet things is proverbial.
‘There honey is placed upon the tables in the hotels and private
houses as regularly as butter. The rural districts of United
States is a land literally ‘“‘flowing with milk and honey.’’ We
have done wonders during the last few years in making this
State “flow with milk,” and every possible effort has been made
to secure for the butter industry, both for home consumption

THE ADVANCE OF BEES UNDER DOMESTICATION. 165

and for export, world-wide repute. Why not do the same for
honey? The honey crop of New South Wales should be as im-
portant as many others that are continually being trumpeted
forth. In addition to the quotations I have given re the pro-
duction of honey in California, the Australian Farm and Home,
referring to the great strides honey-production has made during
late years says: ‘‘The bee business is evidently destined to ex-
pand into one of the greatest of Californian industries, and is
already rivalling the production of fruit as a source of profit.”

California is constantly being held up to us as a model in
fruit-culture, and the newspapers, etc., are constantly inviting
us to “go and do likewise,’ but in the Australian States the
value of the bee is little known or, at least, it is greatly under-
rated. There are those amongst orchardists and other tillers of
the soil who still believe that they are a prolific source of scat-
tering the germs of disease that fruit-trees are subject to through-
out our fruit districts; nothing can be more fallacious.

As a fruit preservative honey is equal to sugar. In pound
for pound it is more economical. In cookery it answers the same
purpose as sugar, and, in some sweet dishes, it is even superior.
Medicinally it formerly entered largely into various domestic
compounds. ‘

What is now required is to educate people in the many uses
of honey and the keeping of bees, as universally as that of
poultry.

166 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER XXVII.
APPLIANCES AND HOW TO USE THEM.

THE advent of the bar-frame system of bee-keeping necessitated
the introduction of a number of other appliances, all more or
less necessary for manipulation either to avoid the open warfare
of the bees or to aid them in their labour, so as to adapt their
work to man’s better convenience or to obtain their produce with
the least possible waste of bee-labour and bee-material. Apart
from the poetic side of bee-keeping, there is undoubtedly a phase
in it, whether it be indulged in as a hobby or as an industry,
which sorely tests the patience of both men and women bee-
keepers—not only their patience, but also their courage. Oft-
times when the bees have asserted their supremacy and put their
‘enemy to flight, they, the enemy, do not feel the retaliatory
courage necessary to renew the attack. Many a one whose heart
and soul has been in the idea of bee-keeping, whilst he has been
watching veteran bee-keepers handling their bees as if they
were so many flowers, has given up that idea when he attempted
to do likewise because the bees resented the amateur’s interfer-
ence. Stings from bees are things that no one is desirous to in-
dulge in.

The callous indifference of the practical bee-keeper, and the
contempt he has for the little warriors, is all brought about by
use—that is, by experience. We are told that we can get used to
anything. Proverb hath it that the very eels get used to being
skinned, so the practical bee-keepers get used to being stung,
z.e. their systems become inoculated against the virulency of bee-
poison, but in their apprenticing-days all necessary care had to
be taken before they could laugh at the danger arising from the
action of a bee’s sting.

Protection is the starting-point towards the consummation
of perfect success in the handling of bees. The first part of the
body that a bee tries to attack is the most vulnerable—the eye.
Why, I cannot tell you. Perhaps the brightness or the sheen of
it, or perhaps the quick movements of the eye and eyelids may
suggest to the bee a challenge. At the best of times it is not nice
to be stung about the eye. Between the eyes is one of the most.

APPLIANCES, AND HOW TO USE THEM. 167

painful points that can be assailed. I say one, because under the
tip of the nose is another. I saw a gentleman stung on the last
point named and he sneezed nine times in succession. He was
a big man, too, and it nearly shook his head off. After he ceased
to sneeze, his eyes ran water for about half an hour.

Now in the first place protect the face. A veil is the ortho-
dox thing. Whether veils are necessary or unnecessary is a ques-
tion for the bee manipulator to decide, and the decision can only
be arrived at by experience. To me a veil is always a nuisance.
It always more or less obstructs the vision, and as it is always
best to look at your bees in the heat of the day a veil prevents
the free circulation of the air, and you will feel something like
suffocation. Always wear a veil “Bosh!” you say; “I saw in
the Gazette Mr. Gale handling bees as freely as I can
handle cabbage plants!’? When you have had the experience
that I have you will be able to do the same. Let your veil be
large enough to come well down around you. Have a hat with
a broad leaf or brim to it. A straw hat if it fits well is cool and
comfortable. The veil must be made like a bag open at both
ends with an elastic band around one, so that it will draw
closely around the crown of the hat, and hang loosely over the
brim. Put your veil on and tuck it under your braces, or your
vest, or even your coat if you intend to protect the arms. When
you have sufficient knowledge of the work, wear your veil thrown
back over your head in readiness to cover up the face should oc-
casion require it. American bee books give a list of about a half-
dozen different kinds of bee veils; Capeharts’, Coggshall’s, Mar-
tin’s, Mrs. Axtell’s, Mrs. Harrison’s, Mrs. Holm’s, etc.; but a
piece of silk tulle, mosquito net, or Brussel’s net, about 14 yard
long, and sufficiently wide to encircle the shoulders so they
may have full play underneath is all that is needed. Whatever
the material may be, in colour it should be black. If white be
used a square of black should be inserted so as to be worn in front
of the face, because black is more easily seen through than white.

One of the most convenient protections for the face is a veil
sewn around the rim of a broad leaf hat, and the said hat to be
kept in a handy place always ready for use. When the eyes only
are to be protected, a pair of close fitting goggles with wire sides
and clear glass vision are admirably suited for the purpose.

If the arms are to be protected by a coat, the cuff of it should
be tied firmly around the wrist. Many bees will alight on the
hand, and crawl up the arm if this be not done; not with the

168 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

intention of stinging, but finding themselves imprisoned will re-
taliate with the only weapon they have available. With exper-
ience even this protection will be found cumbersome and unneces-
sary. Bare arms and the shirt sleeves rolled up above the elbow,
will be found a better security against stinging than the protec-
tion I have described. If a bee alights on the bare arm, let it
alone; it has not gone there for the purpose of stinging, and
driving it off may irritate it into action. If a bee intends to sting
the only notice it gives is a little sharper tone than usual. If it
has made up its mind to sting, it don’t go fooling around before
the final attack is made, it goes to business at once.

Then again, some people protect the hands; rubber gloves are
sold for the purpose. “A cat in gloves never catches mice,” so
says an old saw. You cannot handle frames, etc., so freely as is
necessary with gloves on. Rubber gloves always keep the hands
very hot. Better than these bee gloves, and cheaper too, are
woollen gloves, with a pair of cotton ones pulled over them and
the gloves kept damp whilst you are manipulating. No bee will
sting through them if so treated. The only material that appears
to be impenetrable to the sting of a bee is rubber or leather, but
then the latter must be thick. Kid will not do; they will sting
through it. Of course, if the material be so thick that the sting
cannot reach through it is right enough. The very first protec-
tion to be discarded should be gloves.. I never wore a pair of
bee gloves in my life, and in my early days came off pretty freely
with the stings.

Now there is one portion of protection should not be over-
looked. In a hive there are bees that have only just emerged from
the cell as well as bald-headed veterans. When inspecting a hive
and lifting out the frames there are bees on it of every age. Some
of the older ones fly off and return to the hive; others cling to the
comb under observation; some of the youngest bees try to imi-
tate the actions of their older sisters to fy home, but suffering
from infantile weakness, are unable to do so, and fall to the earth.

If too young to fly, they are not at all times too young to
sting. These young bees when under a state of siege are very
timid, and become much frightened. When they have fallen
to the ground, their first impulse is to return to the hive as quickly
as possible. To do so they ascend any elevation within reach,
among the most available being the lower extremities of the ope-
rator. These disturbed bees will clamber and invade*the anatomy
of the human form divine, and finding all escape blocked, and

APPLIANCES, AND HOW TO USE THEM. 169

the nether garment pressing upon them, in their turn become
besiegers, and apply their tiny bayonet to some purpose, and to
the discomfort of the manipulator. There are many ways to
check these unpleasant intrusions. Some put on a pair of bike
pants; others tie the pants closely around the neck of the foot.
When looking at your bees it is not always convenient to run and
change your pants, nor is string always available. When a bee-
keeper is manipulating he is always fairly well clad, especially on
the lower extremities. He should always be adorned with at
least boots, socks and patits. Therefore the most handy and con-
venient way to protect your shins from those little crawling bees
as to pull your socks over the leg of your pants; you are then
made invulnerable.

' Now, what I have advocated so far is protection to be used
‘by the “‘lords of creation,’’ who are trying to become lords of the
bees. But the masters of the lords of creation are as good bee-
‘keepers as their lords, or, if not, many of them are as anxious to
“become so. Most of the protections I have named are as applic-
able to lady bee-keepers as they are to men. There are dresses
‘made specially for ladies. I have never seen one worn, and,
therefore, I cannot tell if they give sufficient, protection. Ama-
‘teur bee-keepers, both men and women, should be fully pro-
tected. But each article of protection should be discarded in
‘turn. First learn to work with unprotected’ hands, next unpro-
tected arms, followed by working with an unveiled face, that is
with the veil thrown back over the head ready to be brought into
requisition when required.

170 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

CHAPTER XXVIII.

CHARACTERISTIC SITES FOR AN APIARY.

TERE is no country in the world better adapted for bee-keeping
than New South Wales, especially in the districts where the whole
year through the warmth is sufficient for out-door bee life. Along
our coastal districts, especially northwards from Sydney, the
winters are better adapted for the bee-keeper than are the central
and northerly countries of the old world. After the excessive heat.
of the summer is over, the remaining seasons of autumn and spring.
merge one into the other as to exclude almost any signs of Old
Father Winter’s appearance. And so away on the mountain
slopes towards the Western Plains. Along the base of the Great:
Dividing Range, both towards the coastal districts and where they
abut on the Great Plains, in some of our deep valleys running far
into the mountains, and on the banks of our mountain rivers and
creeks, are bee-farm sites adaptable to the requirements of the
industry in every respect. On page 173 is an ideal picture of a
bee-farm so realistic of Australian scenery that one or more of our
settlers, and one or two of our bee-keepers, may be excused for
claiming it as a photograph of their homestead, with bee-hives
added, or as their bee-farm as it now stands. No site is better
suited for an apiary than is there depicted.

Nestling at the foot of a mountain gorge; protected from the
prevailing cold winds by surrounding hills, that are thickly clad
with eucalypti, etc., which in seasons are dropping wealth that.
was lost till the bee-keeper went amongst them, stands the little
peninsula taken possession of by the apiarist. The creek, as
necessary an adjunct to a bee-farm as to a homestead, both for
domestic purposes and also for the wants of the bees—for these,
like other animals, always require to be more or less supplied with
water—surrounds three-fourths of the tongue of land. Along
its banks are alluvial patches, rich in plant-food, well suited for a
garden for the cultivation of culinary vegetables. Fruit-trees can
be dotted here and there, and patches for the cultivation of
pumpkins and maize. The site on which the hives are arranged.
makes an excellent poultry run, being somewhat sandy, such.
soil being good alike both for poultry and bees. On such a penin-

CHARACTERISTIC SITES FOR AN APIARY. 171
sula there is always a sufficiency of natural herbage to supply
green-stuff to keep fowls healthy. Poultry in no way interfere with
bees, nor bees with poultry. I have heard of a case where a hen
developed a taste for them. In such a case she could be converted
into a dinner. I one time had a hen that was an excellent drone-
trap. When the drones were on the wing she would stand -by
and obtain many a good meal, but when only workers were out the
hen was never present. With such a site converted into a bee-
farm, with two or three cows running in the bush for the supply
of milk and butter, poultry for eggs and fresh meat, one or two
pigs, to fatten with the overplus milk and the refuse from the
garden and pumpkin patches, to supply the larder with hams and
bacon, an industrious man could do well. The garden could
supply a family with health-giving vegetables, and, being in close
proximity to the creek, irrigation could be applied to it that would
ensure a regular supply of them. The fruit-trees could be so
planted that they would receive the benefit of the artificial water-
ing. There would be sufficient surplus fruit to preserve for winter
use, either by bottling or jam-making, that would last from fruit
season to fruit season. Honey is equal to sugar as a preservative
for fruit. A bee-farm with the adjuncts named, with Sydney as
a market for the tons of honey that are to be obtained from our
native honey-producing trees, and a local township where any
overplus of butter, eggs, &c., could be disposed of for ready cash—
what more need a family require? Moses’ incentive to his flock
was that he was leading them to ‘‘a land flowing with milk and
honey.’’ i

There are hundreds of such sites in the districts named await-
ing occupiers. There are also numberless individuals looking out
to establish a place for a home. A young couple taking possession
of one of these sites, starting as above in a small way, so that the
adjuncts could be increased or added as requirements occurred,
could easily make a comfortable and prosperous home.

Many a settler has already a similar site, occupied only by a
few straggling sheep or cattle that are returning at most a pre-
carious living to their owner. It may not be as perfect as the
illustration referred to; but, if the hillsides are fairly well clothed
with indigenous timber, there is no reason why an acre or so could
not be fenced off that would be beneficial, as stated. There is no
great outlay needed. One member of the family having ordinary
energy and attention could be told off as superintendent. Such an
addition would not take up the whole of anyone’s time, and, at

172 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

the very least, it would supply home luxuries for the table, and
thus save the storekeeper’s bill.

Will it pay? Yes, if only for home consumption. Any site
is more or less adaptable. At Tamworth, a gentleman engaged in
business keeps bees on top of his house under a covered turret, and
this supplies him with beautiful sections of honey. He is most
liberal to his friends in supplying them with similar ones. At
Maitland, Mr. Tipper, editor of the Bee Bulletin, for years kept
bees on the open roof of his office, situated in the principal street,
without inconvenience to anyone, and it paid.

In many of our country towns people living in the outskirts
could keep bees far more than they do.

Flower-culture and gardening is taking a hold at last on the
people living in the bush and away from the city, thanks to the
agricultural committees that have added flower sections to their
shows. Competition has produced emulation, and, to excel, bush
and glass houses have been added to out-door gardens. In country
agricultural shows the flower-stalls are among the most attractive
sights; but the exhibits that attract the greatest concourse of
spectators, apart from the jumping contests, are the apicultural.
Those who are in the habit of attending these shows will remember
that for some years past, both at Wellington and Muswellbrook,
the difficulty has been to elbow your way through the crowd of
interested sightseers in the pavilion where the honey and bee
appliances are shown. Competition was so keen at a recent show
held at Muswellbrook, that the judge was occupied two days in
going through the list of exhibits catalogued. The agricultural
committee at the last-named town practically let the pavilion com-
mittee have a free hand to give the bee section choice of place and
almost unlimited space wherein to exhibit their produce.

Flower-culture and bees are hand-maidens. Whatever locality
is adaptable for flower-culture is also suited for bees, and it 13
easy to combine the bush-house for useful and ornamental pur-
poses, the bees adding profit to ornament.

For ladies, the hive placed within the bush-house gives an
extra safety from stings. The hives should be placed so that the
ferns and other decorations should not interfere with the working
of the hive when the supers are placed in position. It is necessary
in the construction of the hive that the alighting-board should be
made sufficiently wide to protrude some inches beyond the walls of
the house. An ordinary sized house could contain ten or twelve

CHARACTERISTIC SITES FOR AN APIARY. 173

A Bee Farm.

FLOWER CULTURE AND BEES. 175

hives. Both bees and bee-keeper are protected alike from the
direct rays of the sun.

Gardens, both kitchen and flower, are always the better for a
few bees kept therein, especially if fruit-trees are also grown in
the former.

The only places that are not suited for bee-culture are ex-
tensive plains, and the vicinity of large areas of water. On large
plains, because the blooming period of indigenous flowers is short
and capricious, and the honey flow does not last so long as in hilly
districts; where there are large areas of water, because aquatic
flora is not worth mentioning, except in the shallows near the
shore, which are well stocked with nymphias, &c. In the neigh-
bourhood of broad rivers and lakes, bees going foraging can cross
them readily; but, when returning laden, many hundreds fall
victims to the length of the homeward flight, especially in windy
weather, and are drowned.

The most important point is to select a site for bee-keeping,
no matter if it be on a large or small scale, where there is plenty
of native flora within the radius of at most two miles. The
nearer these are to the bees the better. Close proximity to fruit
orchards and lucerne paddocks is an advantage. The hive should
be so placed as to secure the greatest protection from the prevail-
ing cold winds.

176 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

CHAPTER XXIX.
HIVE ARRANGEMENTS.

Is it worth while to keep bees? is a question that can only be
answered by local surroundings. And the number of hives of
bees that can be conveniently kept in any district will depend
somewhat on similar circumstances. If the bees are to be kept
for experiment and observation only, then the study of locality is
unnecessary, because bees can be kept and thrive anywhere if
supplied with proper naturally collected food. A person entirely
unacquainted with bee life and management, and living in a
suitable locality, as before described, should go sparingly to work
in the introduction of bees as regards the number of colonies he
proposes to manage. It is much better to learn by practice than
by theory.

Two neighbours whose gardens are contiguous may start in
bee-keeping under precisely the same cimcumstances. In one case
it will be a success and in the other a failure, because the one
observes and is interested in his little venture, and the other fails
because after putting his bees in position he lets them ‘‘take their
chance.’’ Nevertheless, failure is not always caused by want of
interest. If the site chosen is undulating or falls away, and the
low-lying ground is over-shadowed by tree foliage, causing the
morning sun to be late in dispersing the dampness that is always
more or less associated with shady positions, such a situation is by
no means adapted to successful bee-culture. The spot occupied by
the bees must be both dry and’ airy. The apiary protected on all
sides from fierce winds by belts of trees is far preferable to an
entirely open situation. Damp is undoubtedly one of the greatest.
of bee enemies. No hobby should be ridden to death, and bees
are no exception to that rule. Unnecessary handling irritates.
bees and causes delay in the work of the hive. On the other hand,
if the stocks are only handled when a harvest is anticipated the
practice necessary to become a bee-master will be long delayed.
The bee-keeper’s judgment alone must be exercised in these
matters. 3

The arrangement of the hives is important. They should be

HIVE ARRANGEMENTS. 177

arranged somewhat after the method of laying out an orchard on
the quincunx plan, oblong or square according to circumstances.
A hive at each corner and one in the centre is the most convenient
arrangement. Of course, two of the hives that form the corners of
one block will also form the corners of the second series of hives,
and so on to the end.

From hive to hive should be about 6 feet, and from row to
row 6 feet. These distances are not imperative, more or less can
be allowed according to requirements or available space.

o
0
ao

The necessity for such an arrangement is obvious. While
operating or manipulating one row, the workman is in no way
interfering with the ingress or egress of the bees at work in the

ae eee vere] fs A oessteesteeessendl]

hives directly in front or those immediately in the rear. There
are not many worse causes of annoyance to bees than an obstruction
in their flight to the entrance of the hive. Bees generally take a
bee-line from the foraging ground to the hive, and a person stand-

178 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

ing in that line of flight is always in danger of being stung. Next
in importance to standing behind or at the side of a hive when
handling the bees—the former place is preferable to the latter—is
that of not standing in the direct line to the entrance to the ad-
joining hives.

It is not necessary at all times to arrange the hives in straight
rows. If the position chosen has a slight incline, with an easterly
aspect, it gives a very pretty effect if they are arranged semi-
circularly or somewhat in the shape of a crescent. In so doing it
is unnecessary to observe the quincunical placing of the hives.

The arrangement of the hives as stated in the foregoing has
a double advantage; it gives the bee-keeper a better opportunity
of noting the hive requiring attention, and breaks the monotony
that is always apparent when the hives are placed in straight lines
with the entrance of the one in a direct line with the back of the
one opposite. Where all the hives are in the same straight line
and of the same colour it is embarrassing to a young queen, when
returning from her wedding flight; but the quincuncial at once

secures a greater variety of surroundings to act as guide-posts for
the returning bees.

BUSH-HOUSE APIARY.

An ordinary bush-house can readily be fitted up as an apiary,
as shown in the illustration. Some years ago I had such a bush-
house erected close to the dwelling. It contained fourteen Langs-
troth hives. These were about two feet from the ground. Under
the hives there grew many varieties of maiden-hair ferns. Other
plants suitable for bush-house culture were scattered here and
there throughout. In the centre there was a large octagonal table
and fixed seats capable of seating sixteen guests. The walls and
roof were composed of tea-tree. As an adjunct to the dwelling it
formed a grand resort during summer time. When the table and
seats were not in use for domestic purposes they formed stands for
suitable foliage plants. To visitors it was an endless source of
interest, especially when honey was required for the table, and a
hive in the house opened, one or more sections taken out, the bees
brushed off, and the honey put on the table without the slightest
annoyance from the bees. Many timid ladies became courageous
and expressed strong! desires to look into the hidden mysteries of
the bee-home.

It is not essential that the bush-house apiary should be
octagonal. Its shape and design should be in keeping with sur-

HIVE ARRANGEMENTS. 179

A Bush-house Apiary.

HIVE ARRANGEMENTS. 181

roundings. The object to be gained is that which will produce the
most ornate effect, both with regard to internal fittings and the
external parterre.

In practice, I found that the alighting board, if the hives
are raised sufficiently above the surface to admit of the cultivation
of ferns, &c., underneath, should protrude about 3 inches beyond
the wall of tea-tree; but if the plants are grown alternately with
the hives, it is better to place the latter a little above the surface
of the floor, and openings in the walls made to admit of the full
front of the hive as shown in the accompanying sketch. If neces-
sary, the whole of the walls of the house can be utilised for bee-
keeping, the centre for pot-culture, hanging baskets for ferns
suspended from the rafters, &c. If the space available be circum-
scribed, and it be found necessary to tier the hives, then the Langs-
troth hive will be found unsuitable for the purpose. These are
always manipulated from the top, and there must be a sufficient
headroom allowed for the purpose. Where time and space are
of no object, the Berlepsch hive will be found most convenient for
tiering. These are worked from the back, and therefore offer
greater facilities for stacking. In the commencement the idea of
tiering must be taken into consideration and provision made for
Berlepsch hives. The stand for the first row should be at the least
2 feet 6 inches from the floor, otherwise it will be found difficult
to replace the frames with ease.

In gardens, ornamental or otherwise, in addition to the bush-
house for bees, hives may be dotted here and there in out-of-way
places that will give a picturesque appearance to the garden site.
In placing hives in irregular and out-of-the-way places note the
bushes or trees are not so close as to impede the working of the
hive, and at the same time see that there is sufficient head room
for the manipulator. There are few things more troublesome than

having your veil pulled off your head when in the act of examining
a frame.

182 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE-

CHAPTER XXX.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE HIVE.

Havine already described rather lengthily the best localities and
the most suitable surroundings for bee-farms in New South Wales,
also the situations, the positions, and the arrangements most
adaptable for bee-culture both for profit and pleasure, here, it is
my intention to write about their habitat, and the rise, develop-
ment, and progress of their artificial homes.

The domestication of the bee became a thing of necessity, as
being one of the sources from which man was to obtain a food
supply at once nutritious, healthful, and palatable. The transition
of the bee from a state of nature to the care of man is but a grade,
and that an easy and simple one. They seem to have been designed
more for domestic life than for a wild one. Their social
habits, their swarming instinct, the mildness of their temper
when leaving the parent stock and whilst on the wing, or cluster-
ing, and the ease with which a cluster of bees can be transferred
from where they alight to an artificial home, at once stamps them
as an ally for a food-supplying force that could not be overlooked.

Their indigenous home appears to have been in Palestine from
whence they spread the ‘‘wide world o’er.’’ All varieties of social
bees have a strongly migratory instinct, and this is greatly assisted
by the ease with which they can be transported to places far and
near. The only barriers that are placed in their way to a natural
distribution over the whole earth are extensive areas of water and
expansive treeless plains. They are enabled to live in any climate
where there is warmth sufficient for members of the vegetable
kingdom to flower and produce honey and pollen. Their natural
habitat are trees and rocks wherever they can find’ cavities suffi-
ciently large for lodgment, the storing of food, and the reproduc-
tion of their species. These natural homes are chosen with every
regard for health, perfect ventilation, and freedom from drip or
other dampness. If, after they have chosen a home, they discover
that the rain trickles through, as soon as it is dry they at once set
to work to repair the oversight. Quantities of propolis are brought
into requisition, and the leak is permanently and effectually
stopped. I once, on the banks of the Murrumbidgee, found a

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 183

swarm of bees that had taken possession of a small cleft in some
rocks, my attention being drawn to them by seeing some clustering
on a narrow fissure. On closer inspection I found them at work in
stopping the crack. The material used was a resinous matter,
obtained from the small cones of some trees near by, and sand
thickly intermixed therewith. Some weeks after I revisited the
place and found the composition as firmly set as Portland cement.
It is said the bees of the Holy Land frequently settle on the face
of a rock and construct with mud a dome-like covering around
themselves. Here they make their home. The material used is,
undoubtedly, the composition I have referred to. The honey seen
‘‘dripping from the rock’’ is from bee-nests so constructed, when
such are built where they receive the full force of the noon-day
sun which acts upon the resinous wall-material and the delicate
virgin comb within.

From the bee-made constructions named to the clayey sun-
dried tubular vessels in use to-day by the barbarous or semi-
barbarous tribes of Asia and parts of Africa, is but one degree in
the transition from the natural to artificial bee dwellings. These
artificial drain-pipe hives for the convenience of handling and
robbing were the first steps in the evolution of the hives we now
see. The hollow spout of a tree taken possession of by the bees,
broken off and removed nearer to man’s dwelling in like manner
was the prototype of our wood-constructed bar-frame hives of to-
day. In the outlaying districts of this State, and in the early
days around Sydney, I have frequently seen hollow logs sawn off,
pieces of board nailed on either end, with a knot-hole doing duty
for an entrance, used for beehives. A knot or swelling of calabash
form has been pressed into service for the same use. These semi-
natural constructions were the hives used by the first bee-keepers
who started the industry of bee-farming. How many centuries
lapsed before the rude contrivances named were brought into
service we don’t know. It was some time between the days of the
prophets and the Christian era. About the year a.p. 30, a dis-
tinction was made in honey that was got from nature’s hives and
those artificially constructed. In those early times there was
‘‘wild honey,’’ however, obtained from natural sources, and from
the term ‘‘wild’’ being then in use, there must have been honey
to which some other adjectives were employed, perhaps, ‘‘garden,’’
or as our American cousins would say, ‘‘tame’’ honey.

The method, or the hives in use when honey was designated
by qualifying terms have not been handed down to us. Kitto, in

184 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

his ‘‘Natural History of the Holy Land,”’’ says that ‘‘In many parts
of that country bees are still numerous, and are reared (kept) with
great success.’? Hasselquist describes the inhabitants of Sepphoris
as ‘“‘breeding a great number of bees to their considerable ad-
vantage, and with very little trouble. They make their beehives
of clay, 4 feet long and half a foot in diameter, as in Egypt. Ten
or twelve of these are placed on the bare ground without anything
under them. They are covered with a roof which gives them the
appearance of dog kennels. In those in which the bees are at work
the opening is closed up, leaving only small apertures through
which the bees may pass in and out.” The people of these coun-
tries are as primitive to-day as they were 2,000 years ago. These
clay hives are only a modification of those described by other
writers as built by bees with clay against the face of rocks, and
must be regarded as one of the very first steps to the hive of the
present day. Naturally, wood would be considered superior to
sun-dried clay. In China, hollow logs and boxes are still in use
for bee-keeping. The boxes have no alighting board. Instead
thereof numerous half-inch holes are made in the sides of the
boxes to imitate knot-holes, &c. Straw and wooden hives of these
primitive patterns, with the addition of an alighting-board, must
have remained without further development for centuries. The
clay tubes, the straw skips, and the box hive were only an im-
provement upon the home found by the bees at their own sweet
will. They were superior in that they were close at home and the
honey could be obtained without searching in the wilds. From
all these artificial bee-homes the honey was obtained exactly by
the same methods as by the felling of trees or the bursting of
rocks. The bees had to be driven from their comb or smothered
by sulphur fumes. In either case the destruction of the brood
comb (young brood are always the most important part of the in-
habitants of a bee community) was inevitable. For the humani-
tarian part of bee-keeping nothing was done. It did not appear
to enter into their calculations that the destruction of the bees was
killing the hen that laid the golden egg.

EARLY WRITERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BEES.

TuE natural history of the bee had engaged the attention of
scientists from before the days of Pliny and Aristotle down to to-
day. England has given us Dr. John Hunter and Dr. Bevan;
Switzerland, Bonnet; Holland, Von Swammerdam; France, Reau-

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 185

Arrangement of Apiary for Summer Shelter.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 187

mur; Sweden, Linnezus; but the question of the study of bee-life
for the purpose of a food supply by the development of hives
that could be handled and attended to as other domestic animals
did not commence till the latter part of the 18th century or the be-
ginning of the 19th. Thomas Nutt was one of the first Englishmen to
condemn the brutal custom of the destruction of the bees for the
purpose of securing the honey. The introduction of supernumer-
ary reciprocals to box and skips for the purpose of storing of
surplus honey, 7.e., honey over and above that required for the
bees’ winter use, was a step towards a much higher development.
Under the old system of bee-keeping the loss entailed upon the
bees by the destruction of comb was not understood.

The bar-frame, as we now have it, was not the invention of any
one person. The nuclei were narrow bars that rested on rebates
on two sides of the hive. To these the bees attached their combs
and fixed it to the sides of the hive. Both sides of these combs
had to be cut away before they could be removed. There appears
to be no record of the person who introduced these movable slots.
The very slight advantage obtained by their use never made them
general. The knowledge of this slight improvement remained
without further development for fully a century, when Francois
Huber (Huber the elder) invented his renowned book hive, a hive
that worked the same as a book is opened or closed. This invention
was not for the purpose of aiding in the saving of bee life, or an
increase in the honey supply, but for observation and scientific
research. Yet Huber’s invention and the one bar or slot already
referred to were the parents of the complete frame we now have.
Langstroth was well acquainted with both of these improvements.
At the time he, in America, was thinking out and perfecting the
ideal hive that is now in almost universal use, with practical bee
men, Dzierzon, in Germany, was engaged in a similar research.
The latter was trying to improve upon the one bar system, where
all combs had to be more or less cut away. The main difference
in these hives while the two men were engaged in perfecting
similar thoughts was Langstroth’s hive worked from the top and
Dzierzon’s from the back. Langstroth’s hive, in the earliest stages
of its development, was far more workable than Dzierzon’s. In
the former any comb could be removed singly; whereas in the
latter to get at any particular comb all those intervening between
the worker and the required comb had to be removed—thus if the
tenth frame was required nine others had to be removed, and sus-
pended before the one wanted could be obtained.

188 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

After Langstroth had patented his hive, whereby everyone
possessing his patent rights were excluded, ‘‘Ministers of the
Gospel excepted,’’ Baron Von Berlepsch invented frames of a
similar character. This was an improvement upon Dzierzon’s.
complete hive, but it did not do away with the inconvenience of
removing nine frames to get at the tenth. Still, both these men
have their disciples, but the Berlepsch hive is fast falling into
disuse.

Since these hives of various complication have been placed
before the public, all claiming to have more or less greater ad-
vantages over those already referred to, which, perhaps, goes to
show that we have not, as yet, arrived at human perfection as it
regards bee-keeping, I suppose no industry in so short a period has
produced such a host of improvers. ‘‘Amateur bee-keepers are
great inventors.’’

BEES WORKING IN THE OPEN.

The illustration shows a swarm of bees hard at work in the bush
on which they alighted. They were discovered in June, 1894,
near Sutherland, working on a geebung-bush (Persoonia linearis).
about 3 feet from the ground, by Messrs. Bloxham Brothers, of
Peel and Cheshire Creek Apiaries. It is very rare that bees
prefer to work in the open with no other protection than that
offered by foliage and twigs. In the Northern District I found a
swarm working on the underside of the ledge of an overhanging
rock. Although the combs were clearly visible from some dis-
tance they were well protected from rain and sunshine. Another
I was shown in a hollow log. It was fully exposed to view. The
combs were narrow, and the longest about 20 inches in depth. The
swarm working on the rock had been there at least two winters.
The winter climate of the Clarence is more genial than that of
Sutherland. Whether these could have so wintered it is hard to
say. I one time saw a swarm in the Goulburn district that had
taken possession of the thickest part of a sweet-briar bush. It was
late in autumn, and the stores they possessed would not have
carried them nearly through the winter months of that bleak
district. I have more than once seen bees build underneath gin-
case hives for want of room above. In one instance in the cold
district of Queanbeyan. But, as the cold increased and the stores.
in the upper part of the hive were used up, the stores underneath
were carried above.

The accompanying illustration is the most perfect and visible

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 189

Colony of Bees on Geebung Plant.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 191

I have ever seen or heard of, and the discoverers did wisely in
securing a photograph of it.

Bees at work in the open, as there shown, must have been
the first step in the direction of the bar-frame hive of to-day. In
bee-nests so built the combs are attached to sticks. In some cases
these sticks are horizontal, or nearly so, as before shown.

A bee-keeper of keen observation and a little in advance of
his brethren finding a comb so constructed, 7.c., in the open, and
removing it for the sake of its honey, or perhaps to sécure the
bees, and finding the combs built on parallel sticks could not be
otherwise than struck with the convenience of so constructing a
hive when removing the bees home on the sticks whereunto the
combs were attached, if only for exhibition purposes. Under such
circumstances, what great amount of thought would be needed to
place them in a box and so work them. The arrangement of other
straight sticks would be only a sequence of the first discovery.

The bar-frame, as I have already said, was not the invention
of any one person. It has developed stage by stage. The first
idea, as I have already pointed out, was revealed to man by
Nature. Finding that bees in a state of nature always built their
combs parallel, and having discovered honey combs built on
sticks, the idea of a top bar would naturally suggest itself. The
selection of the straightest sticks for trial purposes was as natural
as the removal of the combs found on sticks in a state of nature
and carried to an artificial bee home. Finding that these straight
sticks arranged parallel on the top of a box, were utilised by the
bees for the purpose of fixing their combs thereto, and that the
honey could be more readily obtained than when the bees worked
in boxes according to their own will—what would be more natural
than to follow up this first idea? It is much more simple
to obtain straight sticks or slots artificially than to find them in a
state of nature. These slots were another step towards perfection,
followed by their resting on rebates or grooves, so that the whole,
with the bees, could! be enclosed as within a box. There was an
advantage in this. The bees attached their combs to these slots,
but the combs were fixed to the sides of the hive, and both sides
had to be cut away before the combs could be removed. ‘There
appears to be no record of the person who first removed the combs
built on sticks in the open or of the individual who introduced
these movable slots. The very slight advantage obtained by their
use never became general, and the reason is not intricate to dis.
cover. To arrange sticks or slots so true and parallel as is neces-

N

192 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

sary with the frames, so that the bees shall confine themselves to
the top bar must have been, nay indeed was, the greatest problem
to be solved. If, in the first attempts in the use of slots the bees
worked from them in parallel succession, it must have been more by
chance than design. We know that the slight improvement
obtained by these slots or top bars remained without further de-
velopment for fully a century. And no wonder, for where one
swarm of bees would attach their combs to parallel bars without
wax guides of some kind or other, and continue them parallel with
the sides of the boxes—a hundred swarms would build at right
angles to the bars or diagonally to the box.

Spacing.—So the further development of improvements in
beehives, in the direction of the removal of the combs without
their entire destruction, remained until the days of Huber. Was
it anything to marvel at that it should be otherwise? Yet, with
all the advantages we have obtained from the thoughts and experi-
ments of others, we find many beginners in bee-keeping stopping
short at the difficulties they find in overcoming the first principles
of success, ¢.¢., the knowledge in the correct spacing of the bar-
frames, the necessity for the whole of them to be placed parallel
to each other, at the same time perpendicularly true, and the
securely fixing of the starters or foundation comb. They give up
bee-keeping in disgust, and vote it a hobby or an industry that
can be successful with but few and a certain failure with the many.
But such reasoning is not correct. Patience and observation are
the only ingredients necessary for success to cover the difficulties
the bee-keepers of last century had to stumble against.

Correct spacing was one of the first and greatest difficulties
to be overcome. In a state of nature, brood combs are built 1 3-16
inch from midrib to midrib, or centre to centre. In comb built
for storage, it is frequently otherwise, and unless the slots were so
placed the bees would build despite them. If eight slots only
were so placed in the hive and evenly spaced, and there was room
for nine combs, or if there were nine slats used where there was
only room for eight combs, the bees would attend to their own
spacing irrespective of the bee-keeper’s ignorance. This is actually
one of the great difficulties of the beginner of to-day, 7.e., arrang-
ing for the exact bee space between the frames and getting them
all parallel to the sides of the hive.

In the early times when slats were in use it was not known
that bees always build their combs according to certain guides.
The first bee amongst the wax-workers that is ready with her pellet

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 193

of plastic wax attaches it to the roof, or something corresponding
thereto. No studied direction is chosen. It is fixed haphazard ;
and whatever direction is taken by the bee for the first comb is the
line on which all the other brood combs are constructed parallel
with it. Frequently when a swarm takes possession of a new
home, natural or artificial, where no bar frames are provided,
two or even more wax-workers will start at different points, and
all other combs started on either side of these will follow the
direction of the one they are nearest to, although at a different
angle to others that have been already started, until they gradually
approach. Then they are curved and ultimately connected, still
maintaining the parallel. This accounts for the bent combs fre-
quently met with when transferring from the gin-case hive to a
bar-frame one.

BAR-FRAMES.

The rise and progress of the bee-hive as we now see it having
already been dealt with, it is here proposed to treat with the
various styles of frames and hives that have been the outgrowth
of the keen obesrvation of thinking men. After the first successful
steps were taken, difficulties presented themselves and had to be
overcome. The form the frames should take, the size most con-
venient to manipulate, and the number of frames the hives should
contain, were some of the problems to be solved. Not only was
the convenience of the beekeeper to be considered—he could vary
his wants according to circumstances; but would all shapes and
sizes be acceptable to the little workers themselves? These were
things to be taken into serious consideration when beekeeping was
first entered upon, with the idea of obtaining the greatest profit
with the least labour, and the smallest amount of suffering from
the defensive weapon of the bees themselves. The shape and size
of the hives is of paramount importance Notwithstanding that
bees in a state of nature adapt themselves to circumstances, and
vary their work according to the home chosen, in an artificial
state the requirements are different. In choosing a natural home,
bees do not always appear to act with marked judgment, as the
queer places selected by them and already referred to proves;
but wherever they work, the fixing of the comb securely is always
one of the chief considerations of the bees. If the home only
admits of securing the comb by the upper edge, then, as a rule,
it is built longer than it is deep, and the heaviest part of it (that
containing the honey) is close to the attachment. Each comb

194 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

tapers off at the edges, wedge shape. The size of the comb depends
on the size of the cavity chosen. The brood comb is generally in
the centre of the nest, and if the comb is large, it is generally
found in the centre of it. If it be the spout of a tree, where it
is liable to oscillate, brace combs are built in the bee space be-
tween each comb, and the centre of the comb is always better
braced than are the sides. Where the combs are long and pendu-
lous they are, of course, more liable to vibrate with the oscillation.
Owing to their fragile nature, virgin combs, under such circum-
stances, would be liable to fracture; and where they cannot be
properly and firmly fixed at the sides, and where the superficial
area of the combs is great, these brace combs are used in greater
numbers. When combs are built where they are not likely to be
shaken, few, if any, brace combs are used. From this it will be
noted that the shape of combs requires some bee-thought to pro-
tect them from injury under different circumstances. In the
construction of the hive, and with it the frame, these points must
be considered. If the frames are too large every way, the bees
will attach the comb only to the top bar; where narrow and deep,
they will seldom build down to the bottom bar.

Now, the more insecurely the comb is fastened to the sides
of the frame the more liable it is to accident. No matter how
great an adept the manipulator may be in technically handling
them, the shape of the frame and its attachment have a good deal
to do with success.

These matters—i.e., the suitability of the design of the frame
for manipulative purposes—have given rise to the many designs
or forms of hives brought before the public, each one claiming to
have some special advantage to aid in the work of beekeeping.
From the very beginning difficulties presented themselves. The
cause of these had to be discovered and remedies devised. It is
evident the problem as to the proper depth of the frame is still
unsettled. The Heddon frame is one of the latest introduced. It
has a depth of only 4} inches and in width is 173 inches—an area
of nearly 74 square inches internal measurements. Of course, in
the construction of a frame the outside measurements are the ones
that must be adhered to, so that any variations in the thickness of
the timber used shall not interfere with the internal measurements
of the hives. In the dimensions of a hive they are calculated from
internal measurements—the opposite to that of the frame. The
shallow frames, now so frequently found in use in the supers of
the Langstroth hive are internally about 4 inches x 16% inches,

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 195

the superficial measurement being about 12 inches less than that
of the Heddon, that is, about 62 inches.

These shallow frames that are used in the supers of the Langs-
troth are becoming more and more general every season, and for
the reason it is not far to look. The internal heat of a hive has
much to do with its success. Roofs that are leaky and sides that
are cracked, so as to admit cold draughts of air to circulate within,
are always detrimental to early brood development. In the early
days of a coming honey flow, bees take more readily to shallow

fremes than to those of deeper construction. The reason is, the
artificial starters are near the young brood. The more compactly

both the brood and.the workers engaged in comb-building and
storage are, the more is the heat generated. It is estimated that
from 70° to 80° of heat are necessary for the secretion of wax.
Heat ascends; therefore the shallower the space the greater are
the conditions for the secretion of wax and the development of
brood. These are two important points in successful bee-keeping.

SS

Shallow Frame.

Again, one of the early difficulties with all frames, no matter
under what name or what the shape may have been, was that of
inducing the bees to attach the comb firmly to all four sides. The
more securely the comb within the frame is, the more is the dan-
ger of breakage minimised. To overcome this difficulty starters of
foundation comb have been used on the bottom bar similar to
those on the top one to induce the bees to continue the comb there.
Full sheets of foundation are also used towards the same end. Of
course the primary use of full sheets of foundation is the saving of
labour with the bees. The only alteration that the bottom bar has
undergone is that of from the full width to narrow. Bee space, or
a little more, must be left between the bottom bar of the frame and
the bottom board of the hive. Where the wide bar is used it in-
tercepts the vision of the comb-building bees, for it is directly in a
line between the fine edge of the comb in course of construction
and the bottom board. In a state of nature there is always bee
space beneath every finished comb. The wide bottom bar to the

196 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

vision of the bees is virtually the bottom of the hive. The narrow-
er, therefore, this bar is the less is the vision of the comb-building
bees obstructed. Shallow frames with narrow bottom bars are
great aids in obtaining this consideration—that is in securing all
sides of the comb to the sides of the frame. Securing the brood-
comb to the bottom bar is not so essential as in the frames used in
the supers, the amount as well as the method of handling the
frames used in these two portions of the hive differ greatly.

The ends, too, have undergone various modifications with the
view of obtaining the greatest amount of ease in working and aiding
the bees in their labours, and at the same time giving them man’s
ideas of what bee comforts and ease should be. At one time we
had what was termed Quinby’s close-end frames. These were
similar to the Heddon frames that are now struggling into use,
but differed in measurement. The Heddon ends are 53 inches long,
and full width throughout. The Quinby differs from it only in
being nearly double the length (11 inches.) The latter rested on
the bottom boards, leaving bee-space beneath the bottom bar, and,
like the former, fitted closely to the sides of the hive. The sup-
posed advantage of the close-ends is correct spacing throughout the
entire depth of the frame. Oftentimes if frames are not put to-
gether correctly they twist, and although they may be correct at
the top, they are many degrees out of plumb at the sides. In this
manner, although the bars may be properly spaced, the bottom
bars frequently touch. Under such conditions bees unite the
combs, thus greatly obstructing the free removal of the frames.
One of the uses of the closed ends was to mitigate this, but unless
the hive stood perfectly level it would fail in that one object.

The Quinby oblong hive differs from the modern Langstroth
only in length, being 7} in. shorter but 2 in. deeper—that is, nearly
48 in. less in superficial measurement. Its depth is the principal
objection.

The Adair is another frame of the Langstroth type. In length
it is 13? in., and 11} in. deep, or superficially about 48 in. less than
the Langstroth—the same as between the latter and the Quinby,
and, of course, on account of its depth has the same objection.

The Gallup and the American are identical in shape, both
square, the latter being 12 in. by 12 in., and the former 11} in. by
11} in. What the advantage is in the difference of # in. every way
is hard to guess.

‘Lhere is another frame, similar in form to these two latter,

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 197

named the Munday. It has a full-width top bar. It has a few
advocates in the Hunter River district, where it first saw light.

One of the most queerly-formed frames is Abbott’s Standard.
The internal measurement of the top bar is 164 in., the bottom
one 15 in., and each side 10 in. long. As will be seen from the
diagram, the angles at the top are acute, and those at the base
obtuse. It, like many of the others, is now obsolete. However,
in all my travels amongst the beekeepers of New South Wales, I
never saw one in use. One of the advantages claimed for it was
that of causing the bees to attach their comb more securely to the
ends.

The British Association standard frame was brought out by
the British Beekeepers’ Association in 1886. A Mr. Lee is said
to have been the inventor. The advantages claimed for it were
the simplicity in affixing foundation comb; antipropolising metal
ends; the metal ends were also self-spacing. The top bar is two
longitudinal pieces of equal size. The foundation was placed’ be-
tween these and secured by clamping the pieces together by means
of metal ends. It never came much to the fore. It is too compli-
cated for one thing, and too expensive for ordinary pockets,
especially where bee-keeping was carried on in a large way.

The frames of the Combination Hive or the Long Idea differ
in nothing from the Langstroth, and will be described under
‘‘Hives.”’

The Langstroth, or Langstroth Simplicity, is the frame that
is in universal use in every part of the bee-keeping world. It is
17% in. by 94 in., and has a superficial area of 167 square inches.
It is made in two forms; the broad, as shown, and the shallow.
The former is now always used in the brood chamber. Since it
first left its inventor’s hands it has undergone several slight modi-
fications. The top bar has been made thicker. The thick top bar
has several advantages. In the first place, the queen is not so
likely to pass over it into the supers for laying purposes, and it
gives additional strength to that part of the frame that has to bear
the greatest strain. Improvements have also been made to it for
the purpose of facilitating the fastening of the foundation comb ;
these have been eminently successful. The ends have been so
made that when brought close up they give correct bee-space.
They may be useful for amateurs, but in the hands of practical
men who understand the various requirements under different
conditions, there is no advantage gained with them.

198 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

BAR-FRAMES IN PARTS.

There was a time when it was as essential for a bee-keeper to be
an amateur carpenter as an apiarist; but the construction of hives
and frames by machinery has brought them within the reach of all.
The very school children, with their pocket and pin-money, can
now become the owners of as good, and in many cases better, bee-
hives than their seniors had to work with a few years ago. Not a

decade since there were in use some of the most crudely constructed
hives and other bee appliances that we can possibly conceive of.
When the National Prizes were in distribution I met with some
that were as unworkable as they were grotesque, and the workman-
ship would cause an outburst of laughter among the members of
any of the carpentry classes of our public schools. Not a right-
angle in either hive or frame, and the joints were only such in
name. Some of the bee-keepers with these crude and most
primitive appliances expected to score heavily in the competition.
Nevertheless, some of them actually obtained good results, but to
do so was a work of love.

But this summary of hives would not be complete without a
detailed description of the various parts of both hive and frames.
Notwithstanding the accuracy in measurement and uniformity in
pattern of the various parts of the bee-home that are constructed
from machine-made goods. in some of our distant country districts
it is essential that patterns and measurements should be within
easy reach when required. Such details will also greatly aid in
putting together the various portions when the hives, &c., are
bought in the flat.

The diagrams of the various patterns of frames that are and
have been in use, and also their measurements, are given.

THE ORIGINAL LANGSTROTH FRAME.

The most simple frame in its construction was the original
“Langstroth.’’ “In 1851,” says Professor Cook, ‘‘“Mr. Langstroth

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 199

gave a hive to the world that left the hands of the great master
in so perfect a form that even the details remain unchanged by
many of our first bee-keepers. And up to date the Langstroth
frame has undergone no alteration either in form or measure-
ment.’? The material for its construction should be American
red-wood, or any other wood of a light character, well seasoned,
and free from knots. These two latter are of importance. If
the wood is not properly seasoned, it is very liable to warp or
twist and thus throw everything out of plumb. A knot in a thin
top or side bar very frequently causes the destruction of a comb
by breakage at the knot-hole.

New Comb.

Measurements of a Langstroth Frame.—The wood in all
the Langstroth bars was originally of uniform thickness, }-inch,
and also a uniform width, {-inch, 7@e¢., inch stuff was used
which, after dressing, reduced it to the required width. Top
bar, 194 inches; each end bar, 9 in.; and the bottom bat,
178 inches. All these measurements are from out to out,
and this will be followed in regard to all other pattern frames,
except when otherwise stated. It is almost impossible to put
these frames together to the required accuracy excepting with
the aid of a frame-block or other gauge.

After the ends are nailed securely to the top bar, there must
be a shoulder of ? inch. This gives bee-space between the side
of the hive and the end bar of the frame, and } an inch to rest
on the rebate in the end of the hive.

Of late years all the original Langstroth bars have undergone
modifications. What was said to have “‘left the hands of the great
master in so perfect a form’’ does not hold good to-day as regards
certain details. The top bar has increased in thickness. The
thin top bars, especially when used in the supers, were very liable
to sag by reason of the weight of the honey. I have known the
same result to take place in the frames of the brood-chambers ;
in this way too much space is left between the top bar of the one

200 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

frame and the bottom of the one above it. The bees take advan-
tage of this by building therein, much to the inconvenience of the
manipulator. This sagging is prevented by the use of the thick
top bar. The top bar is generally 3 inch. I have seen them
used a full inch but this is unnecessary. Of course, when the thick
top is used, a shoulder must be cut in it on either end one inch
long, leaving } inch of wood to form it (4 inch for the thickness
ais end piece, } inch for bee-space, and } inch to rest on the
rebate.

Thick Top,

The thick top bar as now used is vastly superior to that of
the Allwood, its superiority being in the tongue for the attach-
ment of the foundation, starters being worked on the bar itself
instead of being an independent or a detached tongue. Not only
is it a great saving in labour, but the foundation has a greater
security, the ends being cut so that the angles, being perfectly
square, have the advantage of all the right-angles of the complete
frame being sufficiently perfect for all practical purposes. Thus
the frame, when in use, hangs plumb, that is if the hive itself rests
perfectly level.

The Hoffman ends are self-spacing. They are always pre-
ferred by amateurs. One of the greatest difficulties with begin-
ners is correct spacing. They are generally more or less timid in
handling bees, and in their hurry to get away from the supposed
danger the quilt is placed over before all the frames have been
properly adjusted. I have frequently seen, after re-opening a
hive that has been closed without due care, the frames in all sorts
of angles, and no two of them collateral. Then, again, if the top
bars vary in width which is often the case with home-made
frames, the discrepancies are seldom taken into consideration.
Correct, parallel spacing should be a maxim indelibly fixed on the
minds of every bee-keeper. The absence of these precautions
pauses More annoyance than all other careless acts put together.

Again, it will be noticed that both ends of the Hoffman side-

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 201

bars are so cut as to ensure all the angles of the complete frame
being correct. The bottom bar dovetails with the side bar, and
the thick top also dovetails into the shouldered ends. With these
adjuncts connected with each portion of the frame, it forms its
own frame-block, and if the frame, when put together, fails to
be true, and each frame is a counterpart of the other, the fault
lies in the connecting of the pieces. The plain end-bars, or those
that have the dovetails on one end only, are far more liable to
go awry than the self-spacing or shouldered ends.

The original Allwood top-bar frame was made with metal
ends, and the bottom bars secured by means of metal angles.
They are still in use with a few. The object of them was two-
fold; greater ease in fixing the foundation starters and to pre-
vent the gluing with propolis the ends to the rebates in the hive
by the bees. A groove in the top bar runs from end to end; there
is also a corresponding short groove in each of the side bars. After
the frame is put together, a thin strip of wood (tongue) is fitted
into the groove; secured in its position by the short grooves in
the end pieces to this tongue the foundation is affixed. The foun-
dation can be fixed more readily, and at the same time more
securely with a foundation fastener than with molten wax. One
of its weak points is the detached tongue, and the loss of time
in fixing it in the groove. Another drawback to it is the detached
metal end pieces. These can never be so fixed as to carry a frame
full of honey. When the frame is full, the ends always more or
less give way at the point of juncture. More than once I have
seen them do so when lifting out a frame for extracting purposes.
The metal corner pieces for fixing the bottom bar to that of the
side have no advantage above the old-fashioned nails. The ad-
vantage sought to be obtained by the use of these metal ends I
have already referred to is antipropolising. These metal ends
resting on the fine edge of the metal rebate very materially mili-
gates the trouble, and sometimes even the difficulty of removing.
Where frames are permitted to remain in the rebate until the
bee glue becomes hardened force has to be used to detach them,
and they come away with a jerk, which is always annoying to
bees. The work of collecting propolis, and its use in any part
of the hive, is an unnecessary labour for the bees, and should never
be entailed upon them. There is no profit in it either for the
bees or their master, and when so engaged, they are neglecting
a work that is far more profitable.

The narrow bottom bar, and the reason for its use, has been

202 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

called attention to. The narrower it is made consistent with
strength, the more readily will the bees attach the comb thereto.

The latest antipropolising invention comes to us from
America Of course, it has not had time as yet to be put into
use here. A. J. Root, who brought it out, and has tested
it, speaks with the greatest confidence for thgmerits claimed for
it, and, from the diagrams forwarded with the description, very
justly so. It has come into my hands since I commenced this part
of my subject. It is well known that bees have an aversion to
work on metals of any kind; hence the metal rebate and the
Allwood metal ends. I have shown wherein the latter failed.
This latest cannot be charged with such a weakness. The shoulder
of the top bar is reduced in (bee-space) on either end for the
purpose of preventing its coming into contact with the woodwork
of the hive. After the frame is put together, a staple is driven
through the end bar and into the thick top, one on either end,
as shown in the diagram. In putting the frame into position the
staple comes flush against the elevated portion of the metal re-
bate, metal against metal, thus the only wood that can be glued

Ss

Gauge.

is where the top of the frame rests on the knife edge of the tin
rabbet. The staple is driven home within } in. A wood gauge,
as shown, is used to prevent’ the staple being driven otherwise
than correct, a device that I adopted very successfully when using
the Berlepsch frame. These latter frames when put into the
hive at the back, were pressed into position, and, to secure the
proper space between the frames, flat-headed nails were used. To
secure a uniform protruding length, I always used such a gauge.

Notwithstanding Prof. Cook’s statement that the bar frame
left the hand of its inventor ‘‘in so perfect a form,’’ etc., it does
not appear as yet, after upwards of forty years being in use, to be
past improvement.

Ready-made bar-frames are obtainable from dealers in bee goods
very cheaply. They should be purchased in the flat.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 203

LANGSTROTH’S HIVE.

Langstroth, in thinking out the pros and cons of his valuable
system of bee-keeping, appears to have well weighed the various
details of the advantages or difficulties that bee-keepers of the
future would be most likely to meet with. Judging from what
he then wrote it would seem that the pros would largely out-
balance the cons. In studying what both mankind and beekind
would require, he has given upwards of sixty necessary requi-
sites that, in his opinion, go to make up a complete hive—a hive
that shall be a protection against all climatic changes, and both
workable and profitable—i.e., profitable as in labour-saving for
the bees and honey production for the bee-keeper.

Out of the sixty odd points he enumerates as the requisites
of a complete hive, experience has taught us that the whole of
them have not worked as the great bee-master had anticipated.
In the majority of his points he is undoubtedly right, and ex-
perience has taught that many are wrong, or need to be greatly
modified. Let us look at the various points in the order he has
given them. He says:—

1. A complete hive should give the apiarian such perfect
control of all the combs that they may be easily taken
out without cutting them or enraging the bees.

The Langstroth hive of to-day can be so worked by the
merest amateur, and with ordinary care with the more docile
bees, frequently few, if any, will rise on the wing with that well
known sharp note indicative of rage.

2. It should permit all necessary operations to be per-
formed without hurting or killing a single bee.

In removing and replacing frames when examining bees,
more are killed by carelessness than in any other way. Hives
that, are constructed so that the frames come flush with the top
of the hive, and where flat covers are used, are one of the causes
of the destruction of bees, and another isin placing the quilt over
while the top bar is covered with bees. With the bellows drive
all the bees below before covering them up.

3. It should afford suitable protection against extremes of
heat and cold, sudden changes of temperature, and
the injurious effects of dampness.

204 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

The hive must be protected from rain, so that there should
be no internal moisture. It should be so placed as to admit every
ray of the winter’s sun. But during the great heat of summer
there must be perfect ventilation. For these the hive should
be so constructed as to permit a good supply of fresh cool air in
summer, and at the same time exclude the chilly winds of winter.

4. It should permit every desirable operation to be per-
formed without exciting the bees.

In point 1 he has said the same thing in other words.

5. Not one unnecessary motion should be required of a
single bee.

That will mainly depend upon the bees themselves. Some
bees are far more docile than others. To obtain this perfection
care and experience must be exercised in selecting breeding stocks.
“The motion” of bees also depends on the season; if large sup-
plies of honey are coming in, bees are more tractable than when
on the verge of starvation.

6. It should afford suitable facilities for inspecting the con-
ditions of the bees at all times.

Hives as now made afford every opportunity for inspection
if proper care is exercised in their construction, and care taken
in placing them in position; but bees should not be examined at
all times—not during the winter season, or during damp rainy
weather, nor when a high wind is blowing.

7. It should be capable of being readily adjusted to either
the wants of large or small colonies.

Bees should never have more frames to work on than they
can occupy. They should be kept in compact quarters by means
of the ‘‘dummy’’ or division board.

8. It should allow the combs to be removed without any
jarring.

All jarring and jerking can be avoided by using hives and
frames so constructed that the bees will find that bee glue is a
waste of labour.

9. It should allow every good piece of comb to be given
to the bees instead of melting it into wax.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 205

There is no greater waste of profit than the destruction of
combs. With care they should last for years, especially in supers.
With the modern honey extractors, little or no comb need be
broken or destroyed. Brood comb, when too old, should be re-
placed with comb from the supers, care being taken to observe
that it is free from drone cells.

10. It should induce bees to build regular combs.

The bee-keeper is responsible for this. If the advice that I
have constantly given on this point be followed, bees will build
their combs as true as a railroad track.

11. It should furnish empty comb, to induce bees to occupy
more readily the surplus honey receptacles.

Means to furnish empty combs should always be available;
but the greatest inducement to bees to occupy surplus honey space
is a strong colony, and a good honey flow.

12. It should prevent over-production of drones by per-
mitting the removal of drone-comb from the hive.

One of the best methods of preventing the over-production of
drone-comb is whole sheets of artificial comb and young queens.
Drone-comb should be permitted in the supers. Bees appear to
prefer drone cells for storage purposes. They are more readily
constructed, and it is a saving of material; but in the brood
chamber a very limited number should be permitted, excepting
where a drone-breeding queen is kept for stock purposes.

13. It should enable the apiarian, if too many drones have
been raised, to trap and destroy them before they have
largely consumed the honey of the hive.

To check the over-production, as mentioned above, comb
foundation is a great auxiliary; but by systematically destroying
all queens over two years of age, drones will be greatly minimised.
To re-queen every hive every season is undoubtedly the best way.
This does not refer to queens that are kept as drone breeders for
stock purposes.

14. It should enable the apiarian to remove all such combi
as are too old. (See remarks on Point 9.)

15. It ought to furnish all needed security against the bee-
moth.

206 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

Strong colonies, Italian bees, and a good honey flow consti-
tute the best security against the bee-moth.

16. It should furnish to the apiarian some accessible place,
where the larvee of the moth, when fully grown, may
wind themselves in their cocoons.

This is encouraging the breeding of vermin so as to have the
pleasure of destroying them. Prevention is always better than
cure. The preventive measures are indicated above.

17. It should enable the apiarian, by removing the combs,
to destroy the worms if they get the advantage of
the bees.

The worms are the weeds of a bee-hive, and as the weeds in
a garden show want of care on the part of the gardener, so worms
show the want of care on the part of the apiarian. If by remov-
ing the combs, the worms can be destroyed, why have some ac-
cessible place, where the larve of the bee moth, when fully grown,
may wind themselves in their cocoons.

18. The bottom board should be permanently attached to
the hive for convenience in moving it and to prevent
the depredations of moths and worms.

Experience has taught that a removable bottom-board is far
better than a fixed one. The dirtiest part of a hive is the bot-
tom-board, especially in spring time, after a winter’s semi-hiber-
nation. It is an easier matter to lift the hives with the bees, re-
move the bottom-board, and replace it with a clean one than it
would be to transfer the bees to another hive. Another thing,
the brood is not so likely to be chilled as removing frames to an-
other hive. If the bee-moth should gain the crevices between the
hive and movable bottom-board as Langstroth points out, they
are much more easily dislodged than when they take possession
of the crevices in a fixture.

See my concrete floors on page 152. The concrete floor has
all the advantages necessary in 19 and 20.

19. The bottom-board should slant towards the entrance
to facilitate the carrying out of the dead bees and
other useless substances; to aid a colony in protecting
itself against robbers; to carry off moisture, and to
prevent rain beating into the hive.

The slight inclination towards the entrance, necessary to
keep the rain from driving in would be no aid to the bees in carry-

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 207

ing out the dead. One of the best ways to aid a colony to pro-
tect itself against robbers is to contract the hive entrance. Mois-
ture in the hive is chiefly caused by condensation. Hives are
liable to it in the winter, the cold air on the outside of the hive
coming in contact with the warm within. An American leather
quilt placed between the top of the frames and the lid of the hive,
with the woolly side down in winter, is the best cure. If the
frames run fore and aft as in the “‘Simplicity,’”’ the hive may be
tilted a trifle forward. This will in no way interfere with the
frames lying plumb.

20. The bottom-board should admit of being easily
cleansed, in cold weather, of dead bees.

In cold weather, how is the bottom-board to be cleaned with-
out the removal of the bees if it be a fixture? But with a mov-
able one it is easily done.

21. No part of the interior of a hive should be below the
level of the exit.

The entrance is most convenient when cut in the solid bot-
tom-board V-shape, having a fall outwards. This will do away
with all the trouble Langstroth refers to in connection with the
bottom-board.

22. It should afford facilities for feeding bees, both in
warm and cold weather.

Honey should never be taken from bees to the extent that
they need feeding. Of course there are seasons when there is
little or no honey flow. No hive has facilities for feeding of bees
better than the Langstroth bar-frame.

23. It should permit the easy hiving of a swarm without
injuring any bees or risking the destruction of the

queen.

The Langstroth hive, with ordinary care, is so workable that
no bees need be injured in hiving.

24. It should admit of safe transportation of the bees to
any distance.

2C8 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

An article on the transportation of bees is given elsewhere.

25. It should furnish bees with air when the entrance,
from any cause, must be entirely shut.

This can always be done, where there is a movable bottom-
board, by lifting the hive, and supporting it with a small nail or
other rest.

26. It should furnish facilities for enlarging, contracting,
and (or) closing the entrance, to protect the bees
against. robbers and the bee-moth; and when the en-
trance is altered, the bees ought not, as in most hives,
lose valuable time in searching for it.

Some modern hives are made with a full width entrance; it
is contracted by means of two slats, one on either side, and are
moved towards the centre, thus the bees never fail in finding it.
Where the V entrance is used, the entrance is extended or con-
tracted by moving the hive forward or backward as required, the
bottom-board being made sufficiently long to admit it. For this
purpose the concrete is admirably adapted.

27. It should give the requisite ventilation without enlarg-
ing the entrance so much as to expose the bees to
moths and robbers.

Experience teaches that moths, with practical men, are
things of the past; and that the best means of ventilation is by
means of a wide entrance, providing there is an escape for the
heated air near the top. Hot air rises, and the vacuum caused
thereby is filled by the cold air taking its place by rushing in at
the entrance.

28. It should furnish facilities for admitting at once a
large body of air, that the bees may be tempted to fly
out and discharge their feeces on warm days in winter
or early spring.

Here again experience has taught that a small entrance is
best for winter. Warm days will be sure to tempt the bees out
for the purpose named. At other times their faces are dis-
charged on the bottom-board, and in this the movable bottom
shows its superiority over fixed one, as it can readily be cleaned
any warm day, even in the winter. On warm days in winter, by

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 209

lifting the hive from a concrete floor it can be washed, and all
traces of faeces removed.

29. It should enable the apiarian to remove the excess of
bee-bread from old stock.

Bees always prefer new pollen to old, and if there is new
coming in plentifully, it is as well to remove a judicious portion
of the old. Nevertheless, ‘‘Don’t discard the old love till you
have safely secured the new one.’’

30. It should enable the apiarian to remove the combs,
brood, and stores (also the bees) from a common to an
improved hive so that the bees may be easily able to
attach them again to their natural position. A col-
ony transferred to my (Langstroth) hive will repair
their combs in a few days, so as to work as well as
before their removal.

The method of transferring bees, etc., from a log or a gin
case hive is of the utmost importance, especially with beginners,
and in the bush. No hive, other than the bar-frame will admit
of this. Transferring is dealt with elsewhere.

31. It should permit the safe and easy dislodgment of bees
from the hive.

This advice is of the utmost importance, and at once shows
the superiority of the Langstroth hive and others of bar-frame
construction over the old straw skip and other artificial bee homes.
To be able to regulate the numerical strength of the inmates of
a hive is the key to success. A frame of brood from a well-to-do
hive is not much missed, and in about three weeks is replaced ;
but the importance of giving a frame of nearly fully developed
brood to a weak colony cannot be over-estimated. To do so from
other than bar-framed hives is an impossibility.

32. It should allow the bees, together with the heat and
odour of the main hive, to pass in the freest’ manner
to the surplus honey receptacles (supers).

If the supers are difficult of access, or are divided from the
main hive pierced by holes, as is the case in the Berlepsch hive,
this necessary condition cannot be maintained. Thus the im-
portance of the frames of the super being placed directly over

210 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE:

those of the brood chamber is at once realised, and also the ad-
vantage of shallows over full size supers. In the supers there
must be a sufficiency of heat maintained for the necessary secre-
tion of wax.

33. It should permit the surplus honey to be taken away
in the most convenient, attractive, and valuable forms,
and without risk of annoyance from the bees.

Undoubtedly ‘‘honey in the comb’ is the most: attractive
form in which it can be placed upon the table; but it is at the
same time the most expensive way. The reconstruction of the
comb is a loss entailed upon both bees and bee-keeper when we
consider it is estimated that it requires about 15 lb. to 20 lb. of
honey to produce 1 lb. of wax. The invention of the extractors
has done away largely with sending honey to market in the comb.

34. It should admit of the easy removal of good honey
from the main hive, when in its place there can be
supplied to the bees an inferior article.

What Langstroth means here is that good honey should be
taken from the bees, and replaced by an inferior article.

In a country like New South Wales, where we have honey
in different seasons of such various grades, this is a great advan-
tage. In nearly every part of the State we have an occasional
flow of unmarketable honey that is looked upon as a loss; at other
times there is a flow of a superexcellent article. We can from
bar-frame hives store the unsaleable article, and feed it back to
the bees, taking the better article in return.

35. When quantity and not quality is the object sought,
it should allow the greatest yield, that the surplus of
strong colonies may be given, in the Fall, to those
which have an insufficient supply.

To feed weak colonies at the expense of stronger ones is a
mistake. Far better to unite two or three weak colonies; it is
far cheaper.

36. It should be able to compel the force of a colony to be
mainly directed to raising young bees that brood may
be on hand to form colonies and strengthen feeble
stocks.

A regular supply of brood must be maintained above the

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 211

death-rate, not so much for strengthening feeble stocks as to
leave a sufficient number of workers on hand for a coming honey
harvest. When artificial swarming is necessary strong colonies
only will admit of division for the purpose.

37. It ought to be so constructed that, while well protec-
ted from the weather, the sun may be allowed in early
spring to encourage breeding by warming up the hive.

It is not so much in the construction of a hive as its situation
or location. It certainly should be so constructed as to be free
from damp, which is one of the greatest drawbacks to early brood
production. The site chosen should admit of the morning rays
of the early spring sun. :

38. The hive should be equally well adapted to be used as
a swarmer or non-swarmer.

That is to say, it should be available for natural or artificial
swarming. Natural swarming, to my mind is far preferable to
artificial; at the same time there are conditions when artificial
swarming may be carried out to an advantage. There are now
in the market devices for controlling swarming.

39. It should enable the apiarian to prevent a new swarm
from forsaking its hive.

For this purpose the bar-frame hive has an advantage over all
others. The introduction of a frame of brood in all stages of de-
velopment, put in the hive before placing the new swarm therein,
greatly checks the desire for leaving ; or a piece of queen-excluding
zinc placed at the entrance so as to prevent the queen from leaving
is a certainty.

40. It should enable the apiarian, if he allows his bees to
swarm, and wishes to secure surplus honey, to prevent
their swarming more than once in a season.

Cent. per cent. is a very fair profit, and no one that is not
extra avaricious would wish for more. Some strains of bees seem
to have a mania for swarming. When a swarm leaves a colony
it carries with it at least a week’s supply of honey. The more fre-
quently bees swarm the greater the shrinkage of honey. If the
object is to simply multiply colonies, then only should frequent
swarming be permitted.

212 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

41. It should enable the apiarian who relies on natural
swarming and wishes to multiply his colonies as fast
as possible, to make vigorous stocks of all his small
after-swarms.

This can only be done at the expense of the honey-crop. These
after-swarms have young queens, and they occur most frequently
during good seasons. If combs containing all the requisites for
brood-raising—bee-bread, honey, and developing brood be taken
from strong colonies to strengthen weak ones, it must be done
judiciously, and as early in the season as possible, otherwise the
strong colony may become the weak one.

42. It should enable the apiarian to multiply his colonies
with a certainty and rapidity which are impossible if
he depends on natural swarming.

_ As before stated, this should only be done when the multi-
plication of colonies is required, rather than the production of
honey.

43. It should enable the apiarian to supply destitute col-
onies with the means of obtaining new queens.

Under the cld skip and box system of bee-keeping, bees could
supply themselves with queens, providing there were eggs or brood
of the proper age, but the bar-frame hives opened up a new era
in this respect. Prior to this the manufacture of queens was not
under the control of the bee-keeper.

44. It should enable him to catch the queen for any pur-
pose especially to remove an old one whose fertility is
impaired by age.

Colonies die out too frequently through the infertility of the
queen either through old age or mismating. In both cases they
become drone breeders. With the bar-frame this can at once be
remedied, and a fertile queen can be introduced to take the other’s
place, and thus a colony of bees can be perpetuated indefinitely.

45. While a complete hive is adapted to the wants of those
who desire to manage their colonies on the most im-
proved plans, it ought to be suited to the wants of
those who, from timidity, ignorance or any other rea-
son, prefer the common way.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 213

There is not nearly the danger to be apprehended from bar-
frame as from the skip or box-hive.

46. It should enable a single bee-keeper to superintend the
colonies of different individuals.

Bee-keeping has now become an industry. In the large bee-
farms of New South Wales it is the work of more than one man
to look after his own. One of the principal objects of Bee-keepers’
Associations was for the purpose of mutual aid, and these associa-
tions are now spread over the civilised world. It is represented in
this State by many societies, the central one being the National
Bee-keepers’ Association, Sydney.

47. All the joints of the hive should be water-tight, and
there should be no doors or shutters liable to shrink,
swell, or get out of order.

The Langstroth hive, as now constructed—that is to say, if
it be made of well-seasoned timber—never suffers from the trou-
bles here catalogued. The hive of to-day differs considerably from
those of earlier patterns in this respect.

48. It should enable the bee-keeper to entirely dispense
with sheds or costly apiaries as the hive itself should
alike defy heat or cold, rain or snow.

In the more temperate zones hives may go without sheds, and,
indeed, in the sub-tropics; but the attendant requires some pro-
tection from the more direct rays of the sun. The best time to
work among bees is the hottest part of the day, when the manip-

ulator requires the protection—not the bees. See ‘‘Summer and
Winter Protection .’’

49. It ought not to be liable to be blown down in high
winds.

Place the hive low, on bricks, about 3 inches from the ground,
so that a current of air can pass underneath the hive.

50. A complete hive should have its alighting-board con-
structed so as to shelter the bees against wind and wet,
thus facilitating to the utmost their entrance with
heavy burdens.

The modern Langstroth hive is constructed with a movable
bottom-board, and the alighting-boards in most cases, are at-
tached thereto; the entrance is cut into the solid wood, and is an

214 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

incline plane, so that all moisture runs away from the hive. This
formation also protects the bees against high winds. In this res-
pect the concrete floor is far above all others.

51. A complete hive should be protected against the des-
tructive ravages of mice in winter.

Mice do not appear to trouble bees in this colony to the ex-
tent they seem to both in Europe and America. Perhaps the im-
provements in the bee entrance to the hives has much to do with
it. Entrances now are made long and narrow—a little more than
bee space; thus, a mouse would find a difficulty in obtaining in-
gress other than gnawing his way in, when the noise made thereby
would surely rouse the anger of the bees.

52. It should permit bees to pass over their combs in the
freest manner both in summer and winter.

In Langstroth’s original pattern, the combs were arranged
parallel with the entrance or front of the hive. Although this
may facilitate the manipulation, freedom of ingress and egress
was not so easy as in the modern hive, in which the combs run
fore and aft, or parallel with the sides of the hive.

53. It should permit the honey, after the gathering season
is over to be concentrated, where the bees will most
need it.

No honey should be allowed to remain in the supers during
winter, and all empty combs should be removed and the winter‘s
supply of honey, when the bees are put up for the season, should
be placed as near to the young brood as possible; and if there be
not sufficient bees and honey to fill the hive, a division board
should be placed so as to keep the whole as compact as possible.

54. It should permit a generous supply of honey to be
left in the fall of the year in the hive without detriment
either to the bees or the owner.

From 30 Ib. to 40 Ib. is sufficient for a fairly good colony.
If more is left it is not wasted, but rather an advantage. It will
be wanted in the spring for brood raising.

55. It should permit the apiarian to remove such combs as
cannot be protected by the bees, to a place of safety.

Spare, or over-plus combs, should be placed in a zinc-lined
case, the lid made almost air-tight and occasionally fumigated

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 215

with sulphur-smoke, to destroy the larvz, etc., of the bee moth,
and other enemies.

56. It should permit the space for spare honey to be en-
larged or contracted at will, without any alteration or
destruction of the existing parts of the hive.

The space for spare honey (super) of modern hives in no way
interferes with the brood chamber. Supers can be expanded or
contracted from a single row of one pound sections to one equal
to a full-sized hive. Sections as we now have them, were not
known till some years after the invention of the Langstroth hive.

57. It should be so compact as to ecnomise, if possible,
every inch of material used in its construction.

58. The hive, while presenting a neat appearance should
admit, if desired, of being made highly ornamental.

See ‘‘Bush-houses as Apiaries,” page 179.

59. It should enable an apiarian to lock up his hives in
some cheap and convenient way.

This is for the purpose of preventing the honey from being
stolen; but I have known cases where thieves have taken honey,

bees and hive.

60. It should allow the contents of the hive, bees, combs,
and all, to be taken out when it needs any repairs.

Not only when it needs repairs, but everything in a Lang-
stroth hive being movable all the fittings should be occasionally
taken out, and the hive thoroughly cleansed, which is an accommo-
dation not to be met with in the old fashioned box, etc.

61. A complete hive, while possessing all these requisites,
should if possible, combine them in a cheap and simple
form, adapted to the wants of all who are competent
to cultivate bees.

In these sixty odd advantages, etc. of the bar-frame hive
over every other description of hive that has been in use since
the day that bees were first brought under the control of man,
Langstroth has not referred to his own particular style of hive,
or lauded it to the disadvantage of other bar-frames, but by uni-
versal consent, and its general adoption by the bee-keeping pub-

216 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

lic it stands at the head of all other bar-frames that have been
. placed before the bee-keeping world; and therefore it is the first
style or pattern hive that demands our attention. The internal
measurement of the hive, no matter what name it bears, or of its
form, is of the greatest importance —exactness is the one word
applicable, so that the fittings or parts may be used with equal
facility to any and every hive in the apiary, and not only in those
belonging to one bee-kepeer but each piece of a hive should be
equally adaptable to other hives in the district.

Langstroth hives are generally made to contain eight or ten
frames. The ten-frame hive is by no means suitable to all dis-
tricts. It should only be used in localities where there is a large
honey-flow. The eight-frame is handier, nd far more fitted for
general use, and is conceded by the most experienced bee-keepers
to be the easiest workable. A queen-bee must be wonderfully
super-excellent that can lay in more than eight frames of the
brood chamber; even in these the outer combs of the two extreme
frames are seldom seen with brood; and as it regards the supers,
there is no, advantage in the larger size. Any number of these
can be used if the honey is coming in too quickly or time is not
available to extract. For brood purposes, the queen confines
herself as much as possible to the centre of the lower chamber.
If, just at the beginning of the honey harvest the bottom frames
are filled with brood—and for profitable bee-keeping, they should
be—there cannot, of course, be empty cells in any number; then
and only then will the bees be obliged to put their store where
the bee-master can most conveniently get at it—that is, in the
super; therefore the eight-frame for brood and also eight-frame
supers are the ones most strongly recommended.

Material :—Wood, light, well-seasoned, and free from cracks
and knot holes, the same as that advised for the frames.

The hives generally supplied by dealers in bee goods are dove-
tailed. This makes extra strong corners. There are cheap ones
lately put in the market, the corners being mitred and fastened
with nails, but the little extra cost of the dovetailed ones makes
them cheaper in the long run. The hives obtained from supply
dealers are made by steam power. Where only a few hives are
required, or there is a difficulty in obtaining machine made ones,
home-made, with the corners square cut and put together with
nails, will do as well as the best machine constructed, for all prac-
tical purposes. If the hive maker is handy in the use of carpen-
ters’ tools the corners are much better halved in. It is not only

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 217

neater, but, being put together with nails, the joints are more
secure than when the wood is cut on the square, and put together
flush.

The body of the modern complete hive, other than super and
frames is composed of three sections or parts, the hive proper or
brood chamber, the floor-board, and the cover. A brood chamber
is synonymous with a full-size super, or vice versa. These three
parts are indispensable. Bees may be kept without super or even
without frame, but then that would take us back to the gin-case
age of bee-keeping.

The diagrams of the Langstroth hive and the various sec-
tional parts thereof will greatly facilitate the hive maker in con-
structing home-made hives.

The American measurements, as stated by Root in his ‘“A BC
of Bee Culture’’ are now generally adopted. The body of the
hive is 94 inches deep, 13% inches wide, and 20 inches long.
There are outside measurements. These cannot be followed unless
the wood of which they are constructed is of uniform thickness,
and that gauge always adhered to. The thickness of the wood of
these hives when dressed is § inch; therefore, to get the inside
measure, which is always best to follow especially in home-made
hives, where the wood obtainable is of various thicknesses, {
inch will have to be subtracted from the dimensions above given
—that is, 8% inches deep, 13 inches wide and 194 inches
long. The modern Langstroth Simplicity Hives are now generally
made with bevelled edges, so that the lower edge of the super fits
closely over the upper of that of the brood chamber. In this case
the floor-board should have a corresponding convex bevel for the
lower side of the brood-box to fit thereto, otherwise the space is
too great underneath the sides, and_is therefore liable to be uti-
lised by the bees for storage purposes when pressed for room.
The advantage is that the rain cannot drive in through the con-
nections; but as machinery is neccssary for forming correct junc-
tions between the two parts (brood-box and super), home-made
hives are excluded from that advantage. Provided they are care-
fully and accurately worked, there is no reason why the square
edges should not be almost as impervious to the weather as bevelled
ones. In the Heddon Hive it is so, the one portion of the hive
merely resting on the upper portion of the other. The ones I have
in use are in no way damper than those bevelled. Where the flat
or square edges are used there is not the objection met with where
the bevelled edges give extra and unrequired space immediately

218 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

between the lower bevelled edge and the bottom board ; and what is
more to the purpose, a more simply constructed floor board can be
used when the edges on the sides are cut on the square. Occasion-
ally there is a little bee-glue used, which certainly is a little extra
labour for the bees; but I have more than once found propolis used
in the conjunctions of bevel-edged hives.

Elsewhere I have advocated the need of light wood for use in
all parts of hives and their adjuncts, but even here we must draw a
line of demarcation. Some of our Colonial pine, when it is exposed
to the weather, is liable to quickly perish, especially so if it has
been lying in the open, when, more or less, the grain opens, and

permanent cracks are the result. On one occasion I saw a hive

thoroughly collapse when being removed, and the frames, hive,
and its contents fall to the ground in one confused heap. And,
further, some of our soft timber acts as a splendid hunting ground
for white ants. I once saw a large apiary, where sawn
hardwood blocks of uniform height were used for hive stands, on
which the hives had become a prey to white ants, and their sides
were so riddled as to necessitate substitution ; and in one case the
ants had built a gallery from the side of the hive to one of the
frames ready to commence work thereon. The apiary referred to
was in the bush, and surrounded by standing and fallen timber.
‘What has been is likely to be,’’ and I do not think by any means
this is likely to be an isolated case. I have always advocated
that hives should stand on bricks. In all locations these are not
always obtainable, and recourse must be given to a substitute.
Where wood is used for a hive-stand, paint it with coal-tar, or,
better still, cover it with a piece of tin or sheet-iron; although,
if report speaks truly, white ants have been known to eat their
way through sheet-lead. I wonder if they would try it on sheet-
iron ?

Perhaps, after all, the best gauge for carrying out the internal
measurements of a hive is to be guided entirely by the frame. If
the frames are made true to the standard gauge, and each of
uniform pattern and size, the necessary size for a hive is more easily
obtained therefrom than in any other way. Allowing bee-space,
} inch is usual (true bee-space is xs inch), on all sides between the
hive and the frame must be right, also bee-space between the
bottom bar of the frame and the bottom board of the hive. The
space between the top bar of the frame and the cover of the hive
will depend on the construction of the cover itself. ‘‘Many men

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 219

of many minds’’ applies to covers or roofs’ of hives as well as to
other matters. In the covering for hives we have many patterns:
flat roofs, hip roofs, gable end or cottage roofs, skillion roofs, é&c.
Whatever their name or pattern, they must be water-tight and
afford bee space between the top bar of the frame and cover of the
hive. Suitable covers for hive will be described further on.

Perhaps it will be as well, where timber has to be purchased,
to bear in mind that a board of inch stuff, 12 feet x 10 inches,
will work up into two bodies—z.e., a brood chamber and a full-size
super or two half supers; shallow boards, 10 inches wide, are
difficult to obtain, unless specially ordered, but 12 feet x 1 foot is
a very common measurement, and I strongly advise such a board
to be obtained. In the first place, it will allow for shrinkage in
seasoning prior to being cut up and put together. The overplus
strip that must be cut off comes in grandly for frame-making or
for making cleats for bottom-boards, or flanges for covers. In
cutting up the board, it is best to cut off the strip, which will be
about 14 inch wide, or a little more, according to the shrinkage ;
then cut off the four ends in one piece. It will be found more
convenient to work out the rabbet in one length than if cut into
the four necessary ends. An iron American plough, used by car-
penters, is one of the best tools I know of for this purpose.

If the hives are constructed to allow bee-space between the
bottom bar of the frame and the bottom board it will save a lot
labour in working out the rebate. If bee-space is left between
the top bar of the frame and the cover, then the rebate must be $-
inch deep—that is, bee-space and the thickness of the shoulder of
the frame; but if it is intended to work the hive with the frames
flush to the top of the hive, which is by far the best, then the
rebate should only be } inch deep, or sufficient for the shoulder
of the frame to come flush with the top of the hive. In this case
the cover must be constructed to allow the required space necessary.
If metal is to be used in the rebates, due allowance must be made
for their reception. A piece of wood (the thicker the better) 13
inches x 19} inches, all the angles cut perfectly true, will be found
very useful gauge in putting hives together. It should be of some
very light material. Iron frame gauges, expressly for working
hives correctly, are procurable from houses (Pender, Maitland,
Lassetter & Co., A. Hordern & Sons), where bee-keepers’ supplies
are sold. They are true to measurement, and so constructed that
all the angles of the hive must be right angles.

220 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

If it is intended to dress the timber for the hives (planed
wood always takes the paint better than rough), do so in the full
length. When the four ends have been cut off the 12 feet board
there will be a little less than 7 feet left; from this cut the four
sides. Allowing for saw-cuts, the waste from the full-length board
will be found to be next to nothing.

Fixed gauges for making the various parts of the hive will
be found very useful tools.

Care is the only necessary trait required in putting a hive
together. Take nothing for granted; see that every piece of wood
is cut to the proper size; all the corners right angles; and whea
putting the hive together, have a bar frame handy, and see that
you have proper bee-space allowed in every place that has been
advised. In making a hive, keep this last paragraph before you,
and note carefully its axioms.

THE LANGSTROTH HIVE—ITS FITTINGS.

On other pages there are illustrations—Bee hive and its
fittings, the details of the hive is (also given; therefore the following
must be read in connection therewith.

In looking at the illustration it will be seen that it is numbered
from 1 to 13, No. 1 being a complete 10-frame Langstroth hive in
working order.

2. The brood chamber with four full-sized frames, and the
dummy or division board with two frames on either side of it.

3. Half-sized super, showing five shallow frames, a shallow
dummy, and a cradle or section-holder containing four 1-lb. sec-
tions. Bear in mind, the half-sized super is half only in depth—
that is 43 inches—sufficient to carry the shallow frame and to allow
bee space between it and the top-bar of the brood chamber.

4, The roof or cover.—In this case the roof is a gable-end,
having a ventilator in either gable formed of perforated zinc.
There is one advantage in having the roof raised some 2 or 3 inches
above the super or brood chamber. In summer time it admits of
a cool current of air passing over the hive. In winter, the spaze
can be occupied by packing to keep out the cold. In the illustration
the roof is made of rusticated weather-boards, which form an even
surface on the inner side, and are not so liable to crack and split
as full-width boards. The roof may be of skillion form. It answers

221

EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE.

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THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 223

precisely the same purpose, and is more easily made; or it may
even be flat; but in this latter case it does not throw off the water
as in either of the two former styles. Whatever may be the design
chosen, it should be of a size to allow eaves of sufficient width to
carry the drip well from the sides of the hive. If a flat cover is
perfectly, water-tight it is equal to either of the two other kinds
mentioned, with the exception that there is no cool current of air
immediately passing over the top of the frames. It is both easier
to make and to handle. It can be overlaid with tin or painted,
and whilst the paint is wet a piece of calico put over it, and another
coat of paint on the top of that. The paint should be rather
thicker than is usually used. If occasionally painted it will last
for years, and remain water-proof to the end. <A bit of ruberoid,
2 new material used for roofing purposes, is one of the best water-
proof coverings that can be used, and is very cheap.

5. Quilt of American Cloth—The more flexible or leathery the
material the better. Of late there has been much discussion on its
merits or demerits, some affirming that the bees quickly gnaw
through it, others that it creates dampness within the hive. Where
there is an imperfect knowledge of how to use this quilt,both argu-
ing, undoubtedly, from experience, if I may be permitted to use
an illogical phrase, both were right and both were wrong—right in
that the glazed side is for summer use, when, the bees having
a sufficiency of storage room, they would not waste their labour
in trying to perforate the leathery side, it being too smooth for
their mandibles to work upon—.e., if a material of good substance
has been used, but I will not argue the point if a cheap, flimsy
article has been chosen. I have quilts that have been in use for
about four years, and fairly good to-day, only they are rather
thickly covered with bee glue. In the winter, the glazed side being
non-absorptive, the stratum of cold air without the hive coming in
contact with warm air within, condensation is the result, and pro-
duces those globules of moisture seen on the glazed surface in winter
months. Wrong, in using the woolly side next to the bees in
summer, as they object to a fabric of that nature so near to them.
They are always labouring to get rid of it; hence they quickly
gnaw through it. The others who argue that it creates dampness,
use the glazed sides next to the bees. They therefore, in winter
months, find dampness on the underside of the quilt next to the
bees. Under these circumstances both were right, and both were
wrong; but if the glazed side had been placed next to the bees

P

224 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

during summer and the woolly side in the winter, neither of the
two troubles named would have happened. Again, some good
practical bee-keepers object to the use of the quilt altogether.
That may do for men of exceptional experience, but to my mind
no hive is complete without a quilt. The hives with a flat cover
are the ones that are so used. Let us see. We cannot make sure
of bees being perfectly subdued without the aid of smoke. When
the flat cover is placed over the super, or over the brood-box,
there is sure to be some space between it and the upper hedges
of the hive that the bees cbject to, and stop up with propolis.
This always fixes these two portions of the hive firmly together,
and to separate these more or less force has to be applied. The
result is that the cover comes away with a jerk, which always
greatly annoys the bees, after which a good deal of time is required
to subdue them to that frame of mind that will be congenial to the
bee-keeper ; but where the quilt is used in the manner before des-
cribed, the cover is easily removed. The quilt is glued to the sides
of the hive instead of the cover. One corner of this is easily turned
back, the nozzle of the smoker applied to the opening, and the
bees are easily driven down. As the quilt is peeled off, so the
inmates can be driven away with the aid of smoke. Other material
than American cloth may be used. I have used leather, bagging,
tin, paper, &c., but I find nothing equal to that advised.

6. For particulars of full-size Langstroth frame, see page
221; and also for

7. Shallow frame for half-size super.

8. Dummy or Division Board. This is similar in form to a
full-size frame. It is made of one piece of wood—that is, it is not
a frame, neither can it be so used. It is a very important adjunct
to all hives, both for full and half-size super, and ‘also for the
brood chamber. For the latter it is almost indispensable, especially
so when a new swarm is first hived. This is fully treated
under ‘‘Swarming.’’ Where used in the supers the object of it is,
as can be seen in the diagram, to keep the bees well together in the
early part of the honey flow or where supplies are coming in slowly.
It should be made gin. wider and deeper than a frame, so as to
prevent the bees from passing under or around it into the unoccu-
pied portion of the line.

9. A cradle of 1 1b. sections.—For private use nothing in the
form of honey can be more tempting than these sections. They
are supposed to hold just .11b. The internal measurement is 4 in.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 225

ay in. and the outer 4} in. x 4} in., the wood being } in. thick.
ey are American-made. As yet no attempt has been made to
manufacture them in the States. They are sold in the flat, and
are very cheap. Before putting them together, take all that is
intended to put into use; hold or tie them firmly together, and
pour hot water direct from a tea-kettle over the whole of the V
joints. Do not let the water spread further than is necessary,
because if you are going to put in the starters at once it will be
rather a difficult matter to get the foundation comb to firmly adhere
to the wet wood. Under no circumstances let the dove-tails become
damped, because if they swell it will be a trouble to put them to-
gether, and cause many of them to break. The starters used in
them should be of the thinnest grade foundation comb made. A
small triangular piece is all that is necessary for the starter. A
piece of foundation the full size of the section is frequently used.
It is a saving in labour for the bees, but it is not so good for the
consumer. Place the starters on that part of the sections that has
been cut out for bee-space, and in placing them in the cradle,
or whatever appliance is used in the hive for carrying the sections,
put the dove-tail joint uppermost; by so doing they are not so
liable to come asunder. The side of the section containing the
starter should form the upper side of the section.

10. Dummy or division board for half-size super, see No. 8.

The little diagram, Fig. 11, is of simple construction, and
adaptable for the purposes required. It can be made in one
piece or in two; the latter is the easier. When made in one piece,
select a bit of cedar or redwood, or any wood that will not warp;
the length of the top bar 19 inches, and about 3 inches wide and
an inch thick. Put in a saw cut not less than 1} inch from each
end, and 1 inch deep, and a similar cut lengthwise of the same
depth, but only about half an inch from the edge. When the
superfluous wood is removed the frame will sit neatly in it. One of
more simple construction is made with a strip of 4 inch soft wood
not less than 19 inches long, 3 inches wide, and another piece 16
inches long, and 2} inches wide, nailed together in the form seen
in the diagram; this will answer the purpose equally well as that
before-mentioned. Before using, soak it in soap-suds, wipe it dry,
place the frame on it in position, and lay the foundation starter,
so that one edge rests against and along the centre of the top bar.
Put some molten wax in a jam tin, to which a lip has been formed ;
hold the frame, foundation, &c., at an angle of about 45 degrees,
and pour the wax along the whole length of the angle formed at

226 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

the junction of starter and top bar. The wax will cool in two or
three seconds, when the starter will be found firmly attached.

In connection with the Allwood and other machine-made
frames, foundation fasteners of other construction adaptable to
frame used are obtainable, and will be described under ‘‘ap-
pliances.”’

Fig 12, Cradle or Section Holder—If the brood chamber be
the most interesting part of a hive, and the knowledge and mani-
pulation of it be the key to successful bee-keeping, then the
knowledge and manipulation of the super and its adjuncts are the
most interesting from a commercial and domestic point of view.
The surplus honey stored in the super is the just reward of the
bee-keeper. To obtain it in its most attractive and purest form
should be the aim of both the practical and the amateur bee-keeper.
For home consumption the most attractive form in which honey
can be sent to table is ‘‘honey in the comb,’’ although not the
most profitable, and that stored in 1 Ib. sections is much neater
than that cut from larger slabs or frames. The beautiful white-
wood American section to my mind is the apex of perfection.

SECTIONS, ETC., FOR A LANGSTROTH HIVE.
(See diagrams on page 228).

Section-holders are of two forms, as seen in the diagrams. A
is worked exactly as the shallow frames, that is, it has shoulders
that rest on the rebates in the same manner, and they are handled
in the same way. The ends are the full width of the sections (C),
i.e., 1§ inch, the bottom bar on which the sections rest is 14
inch, and is fixed to the ends so as to leave bee-space on each side.
The shoulders are the full width of the ends. They are made to
fit into the hive with bee-space on either side. But the internal
measurement of the cradle is of more importance than the outer.
It must hold four sections, that is, it must be 17 in. x 4} in.
The internal measurement of ‘the section is 4 in. x 4 in., external
44 in. x 44 in. The closer the sections fit in the cradle, and the
closer the cradles fit to each other, the less chance for the bees
to use propolis to stop up the interstices; by so working the
cradles and sections, the latter are kept cleaner and more at-
tractive. An eight-frame Langstroth hive will take six cradles
of four sections each.

K is a separator. One is put between every cradle. Their
use is to prevent the bees building their cells so as to project beyond

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 227

the walls of the sections, and also to construct a more even sur-
face to the comb. It will be noted in diagram E that there is
bee-space (3-16 inch) on the upper and lower sides of the sections;
consequently if the starter has been put in the centre of the top
side of the section, the cell built on either side of it is ? inch, or
in other words, the completed comb within the section is 14
inch thick. If these separators are not used, the comb protrudes
beyond the distance required, which frequently produces disfigure-
ment. It will be noted that the separator K has four bee-spaces
similar to those in the section E. Where home-made tin separa-
tors are used, these bee-spaces are not necessary. In home-made
appliances tin or other metal is more procurable than the Ameri-
can machine cut. Before putting the sections in the cradle A,
carefully fasten the separators, wood or metal, with }-inch gimp-
pins; this keeps them in position when completing the fittings of
the super. If home-made tin separators are used, they must be
cut the full length of the cradle, and not more than 4 3-8 inches
wide, and fixed to the cradle so that the bee-space will permit the
bees to enter the sections at the bottom only.

Cradle J is more simple in its construction than A. It has no
shoulders. Externally it is longer, but the difference in measure-
ment is made up in the thickness of the wood used in the ends.
Instead of hanging from the rebates, it rests on two strips
of tin. On the underside of the rebatted ends there are strips
of tin about an inch wide, and the full length of the end pieces
of the super. Strengthen with }-inch gimp-pins. These tin strips
must protrude about 3-8 inch, so as to form ledges for the cradles
to rest upon. Cradle J has eight bee-spaces, four on either side,
as shown. The bottom bar may be made one uniform width, as
in A.

D is a newly-designed section imported from America by Las-
setter & Co. The four sides are of a uniform thickness; there is
the absence of bee-space seen in those of the older type. In width,
they are 1} in. throughout. A specially-designed separator (I)
has been made for them. It is termed ‘“‘the fence separator.’’ The
uprights are 3-16 in. thick on either side of the rails. This will
reduce the thickness of the combs in the sections } in. The bees
will leave bee-space between the separator and the comb. The
only advantage that I can see is that, by containing less honey,
they will be the more quickly filled.

Metal separators for sections C are best made from queen-
excluder zinc, the same length and width as that already men-
tioned. Indeed, the queen excluding zinc could be used for sepa-

228 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

of
ts
hy

Ronn 7
=
=

A erunru

i

al
t
)
)
J

= = |]

i: ene! een ne eee Inne

A—Cradle—The dotted lines showing the position of sections when th2
cradle is fitted for use.

B—Section in flat, showing V grooves.

C—Section in flat, showing dovetails, V grooves and bee-way.

D—The newly-designed section without bee-way.

E—Section showing bee-way and dovetail.

F—Section of the old type, showing bee-way.

G—Section in flat, showing V groove.

fH—Section_in flat, without bee-way.

I—Fence Separator.

J—Cradle for Sections, without bee-way, and for fence separators.

K—Metal or wooden separator for bee-way sections,

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 229

rators to the plain sections D, and answer the same purpose as the
fence-separator. I have used them with success. Broken sections
cut up into excellent uprights.

Sections.

The wire cradle is designed to contain six rows of four sections
each as in A in the diagram; two of the sides work with collaps-
ible springs, thus the sections are always compact and firmly held
together. The writer has used them with marked success. They
were first used at the Sydney Agricultural College Apiary.

Wire Section Cradle.

THE BERLEPSCH HIVE.

Tuis is another make of hive that has still a remnant of admirers
even in New South Wales. Men, who in their early bee-keeping
days, learned the manipulation of bees with these hives, still cling
to them, perhaps for the sake of ‘‘Auld Lang Syne,’’ and seem
loth to go in for “‘innovations,” notwithstanding that where one
Berlepsch admirer is to be met with, there are hundreds of bee-
keepers who use the Langstroth hives. Many of the Langstroth
devotees can date their bee-keeping days back to the use of the
Berlepsch, and were loud in its praise till a new love drew off their

230 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

attention, and they are now wedded to the much plainer, simpler,
and economical Langstroth. Once having tasted the sweets of the
Langstroth, you never hear them even hinting that they are con-
templating a divorce, so that they may be in a position to return
to the old love.

This hive is named after its inventor, Baron von Berlepsch,
of Seebach, Thuringia. The diagram 1 represents the hive closed
with the ventilator open, and two of the bar-frames used in con-
nection therewith resting against the side. In diagram 2 the
larger is the one used in the lower or brood-chamber, and the
smaller belongs to the super or honey chamber. It will be noted
that the larger differs but little in form from the Langstroth frame,
and from out to out contains about the same superficial measurement.
The chief difference in its construction is that the foundation comb
is attached to one of the two shorter sides, and its greater length
is used vertically, and not longitudinally, as in the Langstroth.
The smaller frame is the one used in the honey-chamber, and is
half the depth of the larger. The hives are worked from the back,
where the manipulator stands. The back is a movable door or
shutter ; in some cases it swings upon hinges, but more frequently
it can be detached and removed, as shown in the diagram 2.

On removing the back for the purposes of operating, etc., two
glass-doors are seen, the smaller one in front of the honey-chamber
and the larger, which encloses that of the brood. These glass-
doors are not a fixture, and are used for a threefold purpose—
first, for confining the bees till subdued; secondly, for observation
—-but like all hives constructed for observation purposes, one
side only of a comb is visible, or the end bars of the whole of the
frame; thirdly, to keep the frames securely in position. Diagram
2 gives a view of the internal fittings of the hive and of the con-
struction of the frames. The bars of the shorter sides project.
beyond those of the longer. These shorter bars are not of equal
length, the one used for the top being about half an inch longer
than the bottom ones. The brood-chamber is separated from that
of the honey super by a fixed division board or floor, in which there
are one or more holes leading from one to the other for the pur-
pose of giving ingress and egress to the inmates of the hive. In
both sides of the brood-chamber, which is made of inch wood, a
groove is wrought half an inch wide and three-eights of an inch
deep, so as to allow bee-space between the top bar of the frame
and the fixed division-board. These grooves carry the frames in
the same way as the rebates in the Langstroth hive; the longer
projections of the shorter sides of the frame resting therein, but

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 231

instead of being placed in position from above, they are in-
serted from the back of the hive. Bee-space between the sides
of the hive and that of the frames is preserved by the shorter pro-

Fig. 1. The Berlepsch Hive Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

jections of the bottom bar of the frames. Space between the frames.
is secured by four nails, two driven in the top bar on the one side,
and the other two in the bottom bar on the opposite side of the
frame. The length of the frame is constructed so as to admit bee-
space between the frames and the floor of the hive. The glass-

232 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

doors are so made as to wholly fill the space, the one of the larger
chamber, and the other that of the smaller. They must be so
made that they can be inserted or removed without the least jar-
ring, and not so loosely as to allow the escape of the bees, but to
easily follow the last frame placed in position.

Thus it is immaterial whether there are only two or the full
complement of frames in either chamber. The glass back will, by
pressing it against the last frame placed in the chamber, firmly
fix the whole in position. Sometimes additional grooves, one on
either side of the brood-chamber, are made in each side of the
hive, about mid-way between the fixed division board and the
floor-board. This is for the purpcse of using two half-size or
short frames.

The honey-chamber or super is in every respect a counterpart
of that of the brood-chamber, only the frames are of a shallower
construction.

The only part of the hive proper that is movable is the back.
This is pierced for the purposes of ventilation. The piercing is
covered with perforated zinc and a sliding shutter, as shown in
diagram 1.

The bee entrance is cut in the front of the hive, and is some-
times protected from the weather by a miniature verandah.

The Berlepsch hive is always placed on a stand 2 or 3 feet
above the ground, and frequently in two tiers, one above the other.
For the reception of these hives a shed is necessary, open on all
sides, the tiers of hives occupying the two sides of the shed, so that
the manipulator is always under cover.

One great drawback to these hives is the difficulty in manipu-
lating them. If there are eight or ten frames in a hive, and you
wish to remove the one nearest the entrance, all the others must
be lifted out and placed in a receptacle made for the purpose, and
again replaced in the same order as they were taken out, while
the bees that have been taken from the hive and have fallen from
the comb, must be swept back and gently returned. If twenty
hives have to be examined, this receiving-box has to be carried
from hive to hive, and the withdrawal and reinsertion of the
frames, and the sweeping up of the bees repeated at every hive.

Some of my earliest experiences of bee-keeping in bar-frame
hives were with the Berlepsch, but I soon abandoned it for the
Langstroth. In my transition stage from Berlepsch to Lang-
stroth, I so altered the honey-chamber of the Berlepsch that I
could work the frame for extracting purposes from the top, as in

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEE-HIVE. 233

the Langstroth. I found this alteration a decided improvement,
and particularly convenient for working the one-pound sections.
It was this alteration I made in the Berlepsch that convinced
me of the drawbacks it had, and in the following season I was
soundly converted to the Langstroth pure and simple.
The ordinary Berlepsch hive is made to carry pound sections.

THE COMBINATION HIVE.

This hive was introduced to bee-keepers in 1878, by a Mr.
Abbott, whose name it bears. The inventor claimed for it all
the requirements necessary for a perfect hive—ease of manipula-
tion, full control of the bees, every facility for the bees to store
surplus honey, queen-rearing, and above all ‘“‘the only hive in
the world in which swarming can be positively prevented.” Not-
withstanding all that was claimed for it, it reigned but a short
time with British bee-men. The diagram shows the general ar-
rangement of the interior of the hive. Brood frames, frames for
surplus honey, and broad frames or crates for sections, are all
contained in the one chamber. For wintering, the brood-frames
can be closed in behind by a tightly-fitting dummy. The frames
are the ordinary Langstroth measurements, and are arranged
transversly, and not at right angles, as in the Langstroth Sim-
plicity. This hive has a few advocates in this State, and some
of the largest yields of honey have been obtained from it.

The Combination hive and the Long Idea are synonymous
names for the same hive. Mr. W. T. Seabrook claims to have
introduced this hive into New South Wales, and has added several
useful improvements to that made by Mr. Abbott. The cover
of Mr. Seabrook’s improved combination hive is flat, and made in
two equal sections. The first section of the cover is placed over
the brood, and the second over the honey. With this arrange-
ment the operator, whilst inspecting the honey-chamber, can do
so without disturbing the brood. His other improvement is a
side entrance in addition to the one in front of the hive. This
side entrance acts as a bee-escape. When the honey is to be
extracted, the lid covering the brood-chamber is drawn slightly
back, a plain division-board or dummy is slipped down in front
of the queen excluder. This cuts off direct communication be-
tween the honey and the brood; the lid being replaced, the side
entrance is opened, and the imprisoned bees gradually escape.
These operations are usually done about noon, and the work of
extracting begun the following day. When the full combs are

234 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

removed, and their places occupied with empty ones, the side
entrance is opened, the dummy removed, and the work of the bees.
again goes on as heretofore. This side entrance does away with
the trouble of shaking and brushing the bees from the comb. Mr.
Seabrook claims that the Long Idea hive, with his improvements,
is far better adapted for raising well-finished sections than any
other hive in the market. It is also better suited for wintering
than those in general use. In winter the brood-comb is put in the
centre of the hive, and a dummy placed on either side of it. The
dummy in front of the brood has a bee entrance in it, and a tunnel
is made from it to the main entrance; the spare space both in
front and rear of the brood is then filled with chaff, and the bees
are thus made snug till spring.

BEE-KEEPING IN BAR-FRAME HIVES.

Lo
et
wt

CHAPTER XXXT.

BEE-KEEPING IN BAR-FRAME HIVES.
THE BEGINNER’S KIT.

Bees :—Bar-framed hives, bar-frames, full-size and shallows; bar-
frame block; bee brush; a few canpenter’s tools; founda-
tion comb; gloves; honey extractor; smoke-bellows; swarm
catcher; 1 Ib. sections; uncapping knife; veil; solar wax-
extractor.

; The cheapest way, but, perhaps not the best, is to get the so-
called wild bees that are to be found in the bush. Bush bees are
generally of the common black variety, except those that are found
near where some one has gone in for the yellow or golden-banded
(Italian) varieties. In such localities cross-bred varieties will be
met with. Early in the spring vagrant swarms are to be met with,
either on the wing or settled prior to making a start for a fresh
habitation. If settled, they will put up with a good deal of
handling, and it is almost, if not quite impossible to get them on
_ the wing again. If it is difficult to dislodge them from their
temporary resting-place by the ordinary method of shaking, as
many as possible should be brushed off into a box placed on the
ground, as directed below. If the swarm is on the wing, and they
appear inclined to settle in a place awkward to get at for the
purpose of hiving, take a small bush or bunch of leaves, and
slowly brush it up and down, or backwards and forwards on their
chosen settling spot, and they will soon vacate it for one that
may be handier and easier to take from. When about a third of
them are settled, take your coat off, roll up your shirt sleeves, so
that your arms will be bare to the elbow. In your left hand have
@ candle-box, or one equally light, hold it under the cluster of
bees. If they have setted in a bush, or on the bough of a tree,
take hold of it near to the bees, give it a quick, sharp, sudden
jerk, so that the bees fall into the box you are holding. Be gentle ;
do not be in a hurry. The bees, if they have not been teased,
will not hurt you. Whilst swarming they put on their best be-
haviour. They are never more docile than when they leave the
parent stock to establish themselves as a new colony. If you are
of a timid nature, and most novices in bee-keeping are, put on a
veil, tie your coat sleeves tightly round your wrists, so that the

AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

bees cannot get underneath it. It is when they are imprisoned,
and pressure brought to bear by the coat, that they get angry, and
they then draw swords in self-defence. Should you be stung, keep
cool, grin and bear it. For if you strike at the bees, and run
‘‘with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again,”
yea, and that ten-fold. As soon as the bees, by means of the
jerk, have fallen into the box, lower it to the ground, turn it
gently over, mouth downwards, so that the bees roll out on the
ground; place the mouth of the box over them, one side of it
resting on a small stone or bit of wood, so that they can have
ingress and egress. If you have secured the queen, the bees on
the wing will quickly gather round the box. If she be not there,
they will speedily return to the spot from whence they were
shaken. In that case, wait till they have again clustered, and
again go through the process of boxing. When you have safely
boxed them, take them home, where you should always have a
hive properly supplied with frames fitted with foundation comb,
ready for their reception. Remove the cover of your hive, take
the box containing the bees in both hands, the open end upwards,
gently shake by swinging the box around, as if washing out a
bucket. Do not be rash, and throw them on the top of the bar-
frames. Cover them over with the quilt till evening; by that
time they will have descended. You may then replace the cover
of the hive. If your hive is within 2 or 3 inches of the ground,
and it should not be more, you may turn out the bees on the
ground in front of the hive, close to the entrance. They will soon
find their way in.

If the bees are established in a tree or log, they will have to
be cut out by the method known to every bushman. You want the
bees, not the honey. Let the bees be primary, and the honey
secondary. If you can reach the bee-entrance to their nest, take
the smoke-bellows and blow in a fairly good supply of smoke.
Sometimes the comb is some distance from the entrance. In such
cases more smoke is required than if it be nearer. The smoke
and the jarring caused by the axe in cutting into the tree fre-
quently causes the majority of the bees to leave the comb, and
retire into some other portion of the hollow, where they will be
found clustered, as they are frequently seen hanging on a branch.
Ofttimes to dislodge them requires patience. If they are easily
reached, lay open the cavity in which they are clustered by cutting
away the timber. Place the open end of an empty box over the
bees. A few puffs of smoke from the bellows will often cause

BEE-KEEPING IN BAR-FRAME HIVES. 237

them to shift their quarters, and enter the box that has been
placed for their reception. If it be found that they cannot be
dislodged in the way described, they can be taken out with the
hand or a tea-cup. Care must be taken not to crush any of the
bees, as it may cause them to lose their temper.

In taking a swarm of bees from a tree, always, if possible, see
that you have the queen. She is easily recognised by her size.
When you have once seen a queen bee, you will soon learn to pick
her out. Should you be so fortunate as to see her, take her up
by the wing or the shoulders (she will not sting you), and put her
into the box with a few workers. The other bees will soon find
out where she is, and follow on like a flock of sheep.

The bee-brush is used for the purpose of removing the bees
from the comb when you wish to have the comb entirely free from
occupants. A bunch of leaves, especially fern fronds, makes a
very good one. With it brush the bees lightly from the comb back
into the hive. For the purposes of observation, enough of them
can be removed by holding the framé of comb over the hive, and
giving it a sudden jerk.

Carpenters’ bench tools, not a complete set, will be necessary,

only in the case when you prefer to make all the woodwork ‘‘on
the premises.’’

FOUNDATION COMB.—This can be bought from dealers at
from 1s. 9d. to 2s. per Ib. There is what is termed brush founda-
tion. With a little practice this can be home-made. To do so, it will
be necessary to obtain from a dealer a plaster cast. Briefly, this

b.

Foundation Com!

is the way to produce it from the cast: Soak the cast in soap-suds
for a few minutes before using. Have a glue pot or other vessel
containing molten wax, which should be kept at almost boiling
point. A fair sized paint brush, with the bristles not too long,
should be kept in the wax during the time it is melting. With
this brush paint the molten wax over the plaster slab by one or
two rapid strokes. The fewer the strokes made with the brush the

238 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

neater and more even will be the foundation. It soon cools, and
is then easily peeled from the plaster cast. This brush founda-
tion will answer very well as a substitute for mill-made.

GLOVES.—There are gloves made expressly for the handling
of bees. They are seldom, if ever, used by the practical bee-keeper.
Nevertheless, timid beginners may be excused for so doing, more
especially if they are ladies. Rees can sting through any ordin-
ary wearing glove. Proper bee gloves are made of indiarubber.
Nevertheless it is better to handle bees without gloves.

HONEY EXTRACTOR.—There are several different kinds
of honey extractors in use, both two and four-frame. Some are
reversible, ¢.e., the comb can be reversed without removing it from
the extractor. It will not be necessary to purchase one when you
begin bee-keeping. They are rather expensive. When you have

fairly started in the industry, it will pay to buy one. Remem-
ber, every time comb is destroyed, it is a loss of profit. Wax is
a secretion, and is produced from honey. It is estimated that 1
lb. of wax costs the bees from 15 to 20 lbs. of honey to produce.
I have seen some very serviceable extractors made by amateurs.

THE QUILT.—This is a piece of American leather the ful}
size of the top of the hive, and is placed over the frames next to
the lid. During summer the enamelled side should be placed im-
mediately over the frames, but in winter the cloth side should
occupy that position. In placing it between the cover of the hive
and the bees, it has the advantage of confining the bees to the

BEE-KEEPING IN BAR-FRAME HIVES. 239

hive after the cover has been removed until they have been sub-
dued.

THE SMOKE BELLOWS..—There are hot and cold-blast bel-
lows. In the first-named, the air is blown through the fire, and
thus becomes heated. Beginners unacquainted with this fact fre-
quently injure some of their bees by holding the bellows too near
them. A bellows on the hot-blast principle produces a greater
volume of smoke, and therefore more readily subdues the irrita-
bility of the bees, but too frequently sparks of fire are carried with
the smoke into the bees. The cold blast is the safer, especially in
the hands of a novice. No bee-keeper can do without a smoker.
The smokers in the market are the ‘‘Root’’ and the ‘‘Bingham,”’

Smoker.

both of which are on the hot-blast method. As a cold blast, the
“‘Clark’’ has had a good innings, but is rapidly being superseded
by the “Pender.” This is also a cold blast, and can be used with
the greatest safety by the most inexperienced. The materials used
for charging the smoker are various—semi-decayed wood chips,
and saw-dust from the wood heap, discarded cotton-waste, old
bags, cow droppings, etc. Anything that will smoulder is suit-
able. The last-named must be perfectly dry, and has the advan-
tage that it is almost impossible to blow it into flame.

SWARM CATCHER.—This is a very useful appliance. A
bag made of mosquito net, and sewn to a hoop of about 15 inches
in diameter, makes a very good one. It should be fixed to the end of
a long, light pole, and at right angles to it. With such an instru-
ment when a swarm settles on a tree out of ordinary reach, they
can be secured by such an appliance and brought to the ground.

Q

240 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

An open box, the remaining sides having three or four l-ineh
auger holes pierced in them, and fixed to a stand of about 10 feet
or 15 feet high, in the form of a tripod, is a first-rate appliance for
bees to settle in, especially if a dead queen be fixed within. When
the swarm is on the wing, this box, stood up in the midst of them,
is almost sure to attract them to settle therein, and, if so, it will
save a deal of trouble in following them.

ONE POUND SECTIONS.—These can be bought very
cheaply. They are, when nicely and evenly filled, very sale-
able. There is not so much profit in producing sections as there
is in extracted honey,—but they are very nice for table purposes.
(See page 228).

THE UNCAPPING KNIFE.—These are required only when
you have a honey extractor. As the name implies, they are used

for the purpose of removing the caps from the honey cells before
placing the frame in the extractor. For uncapping, two knives
should be employed. These should be placed in a tin billy of hot
water, or some other such vessel, and used alternately. The water
can be kept hot by means of a small lamp placed under the tin
billy. When uncapping, cut downwards. This will cause the
cappings to fall more readily and clear from the comb.

BEE VEILS.—These are a great protection to the face whilst
working among the bees. A bag made with mosquito net, and
open at both ends, is the usual thing. A broad-brimmed hat, with
such a bag sewn to its edge, is the most convenient. Let it be
long enough to come well over the shoulders. It will be found
difficult to see through the ordinary white netting; therefore, for
the face, a small square of black Brussels net should be inserted
for the purpose of obtaining a clearer vision of the work. Some
veils have gauze wire fronts, others glass. As you obtain confi-
dence, the veil will be discarded.

THE SOLAR WAX EXTRACTOR.—This is a very handy
thing—a sort of save-ail. A shallow box, with glass lid, is the
thing required. A convexed, semicircular false bottom, made of
bright tin, is fixed within. The deepest part should not be more
than 6 inches from the glass. One end of the false bottom should

BEK-KEEPING IN BAR-FRAME HIVES, 241

be made of gauze wire to act as a strainer, the other of tin. Room
should be left at one end of the box to receive a vessel to catch
the wax as it drips through the gauze wire. The cover should be
easily removed. Place the box at an angle of about 20 degrees,
facing the sun. All pieces of waste comb should be thrown into
it. Always keep the cover on, night and day. It will soon pay
for itself. Waste bits of comb lying about encourages the bee
moth.

Solar Extractor.

The best time to manipulate bees is when the day is bright-
est. The best site for your bees will be the most convenient, so
long as they are sheltered from the cold winds of winter. Put the
hive about 3 or 4 inches from the ground, resting on bricks, with
a platform having a gentle slope, inclining from the alighting
board to the ground, and be sure to make the roof water-proof.
The cement floor as advocated, you will find far better than wood.
Bee-keeping will pay if it be properly looked after, if it be only
one or two hives to supply honey for your own table..

The principal diseases of bees are foul brood and moth. If
the hives are examined occasionally, diseased comb or moth larve
can be removed and destroyed.

242 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER XXXII.
WINTERING BEES.

“‘WHILE the earth remaineth, summer and winter shall not cease’”’
is a*Divine promise; but, notwitstanding, New South Wales bee-
keepers find, as far as the honey flow is concerned, that, at least,
in some parts of this State we have no winter—that is, winter
such as necessitates the taking of extra precautions to guard against
the severity of the cold. With the bees, ‘‘summer and winter’’ are
only relative terms, known to them by the extension or contraction
of light and darkness. That is the only sense in which that Scrip-
tural promise to them holds good. They do not know it by the
abundance or cessation of the honey flow. Nay, if such were the
case, the bees’ winter would be when the sunshine is most intense
and the days longest. Often in summer time, in this State of
floods and droughts, the little busy bee is put to her wit’s end to
find the means of livelihood, to say nothing of a surplus for storage
on which to raise the ever-increasing brood. In some years, what
other countries would term the best for a honey flow, with us it is
the worst. Indeed, in some parts of this State, while some bee-
keepers are gloating over their great profits for the season others
are entertaining the thought of Jeremiah’s wish, ‘‘Oh! that my
head were water and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might
weep,” because I have to feed back to my bees, this summer, the
profits of last.

‘‘Apiology,” if I may be permitted to coin a word, because it
is More expressive for my purpose than apiculture, in this country
requires the study of the laws of bee-life far more acutely than that
of any other bee-keeping country with which I am acquainted.
Other bee countries are not subjected to the great changes, in sea-
son and out of season, than we are here. The bee-keeping people
in Europe and America have their Spring, Summer, Autumn, and
Winter with utmost regularity, the periods differing but little year
after year. I do not mean to say that each year or season is equally
resultant, but I do mean to say that within a week or so they know
what will follow, and can prepare for it accordingly. I have known
a midwinter season when the honey-bearing flora were so advanced,
the honey ffow so good, the brood so plentiful, and circumstances,

WINTERING

BEES.

Wintering Bees.

WINTERING BEES. 245

both domestic and climatic, that a swarm issued forth at that
usually unfavourable season. At other times I have known the
floral season so backward that swarming has been delayed till well
on to midsummer. In the Old Country I once knew a swarm of
bees found hanging on a gate-post when the ground was white with
snow; they were starved out.

New South Wales, with climatic districts verging from the
torrid zone on the one side, to the frigid, eternal snows on the
other—what different adaptations have to be sought and to be found
so as to overcome the various necessities and requirements of bees
under these circumstances. Cold and hard frosty nights compell-
ing the bees to seek the warmest parts of the hive, followed by a
day when the sun shines out with almost summer heat, thus tempt-
ing the bees out, not only to bask in the sunlight, which is always
a health-giving exercise, but if stores be short tempting them far
afield in scarch of food, when the sudden cold, as the sun drops
westward, causes the death of many of the valuable little toilers.
Taking this into account, it will be impossible for me to give such
an exhaustive article as I should like on this important phase in bee
management; therefore each district must glean for itself that
which is most suited to its wants. Experience and common-sense
are the two most important factors to be used herewith.

What are the essentials most to be observed in prolonging
health and life under adverse climatic changes? It matters not
whether it be in members of the vegetable or the animal kingdom.
Our endemic plants are not all equally proof against the changes
of climate any more than are the exotics. The care necessary in
our hot-houses and conservatories will best answer this, Nature
has given numberless animals, besides bees, the power to guard
against the privations of winter. I have no need to catalogue them.
How has she instructed others to so guard against the scarcity of
winter food, and to provide means whereby they can fight against
want, and defy the cold when it is standing below zero? With the
herbiverous animals, by laying on an extra accumulation of fat;
with some species of squirrels, by storing a winter’s supply of food ;
with some birds, by uniting to build a common home of extra
warmth for nocturnal shelter and protection against the pelting
rains, and thus they, huddling together, live through the winter ;
with some, ophidians, by hibernation; with others, by semi-hiber-
nation, awakening in the warmer hours of the day to feast on
autumnal gathered stores. Again, some lay-on fat, and construct

246 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

huge warm and dry nests, wherein they sleep till the warm days of
spring awake them.

Are not these, collectively, analogous of the requirements of
bees, and has not Nature taught our bees how to act? Has she not
implanted in them an instinctive knowledge how to overcome the
obstacles of winter in the various climatic zones of the earth?
Nevertheless, they have an instinct that will never leave them—
that of storing. In those parts of the State where ‘‘never-ending
spring abides,” they store with all the energy and prudence as in
the northern world, and that trait of storing will never forsake
them. If left to their own instinct they will store food sufficient
to overcome almost any winter. But the bee-keeper, with that sel-
fish greed for gain, too often extracts the last pound of honey, in the
hope that his bees will be able to weather the winter’s storms. By
so acting, spring will show him that he has ‘‘killed the hen that laid
the golden egg.”” I do not mean to say that it is always the bee-
keeper’s fault that the bees die. Sometimes our summers and
autumns are cruel and unkind to our bees, withholding the honey
flow, and they die from natural want.

Can you not gather from what I have already said, what are
the essentials necessary for wintering bees; a sufficiency of food,
perfectly dry quarters, the heat obtained by density of clustering,
fresh air and ventilation; for in all the cases mentioned air is to be
noted as one of the constituents,

A sufficiency of food; but what kind of food, and what quan-
tity? The quantity of food necessary for a strong colony to pull
through winter, and to come out in spring healthy and vigorous, is
about 25 Ib. This will depend on the length of the winter and its
severity. It is far better to leave a pound too much than an ounce
too little. The winter’s supply should be of capped comb, and so
distributed that the two outer combs on either side should have
about equal quantities ; and where the winters are most severe, pop-
holes should be made through the combs to save the bees the danger
of coming in contact with the cold air surrounding the inner side
of the walls of the hive.

The kind of food. ‘‘What is good for the goose is good for the
gander.” What is good for the babe is good for the parent; but
not all that is good for the parent is good for the babe. No mother
would fill the stomach of a week-old babe with corned beef, pickled
onions, and boiled cabbage; but where is the adult who would not
live and thrive on baby food? Indeed in cases of physical decay,
caused by starvation or disease, human sufferers have to return

WINTERING BEES. 947

again to babyhood as it regards food, before the strength of man-
hood can be regained. Why baby-food for a starving or physically
weak man? Because it is the most nutritious. We all, as bee-
keepers, know the food of young bees differs as their age increases,
and that queens, during their baby days, are fed with the same
baby-food throughout. Why? I think this is something we have
yet to learn. What is this chyle food—this bee-milk fed to young
bees. What are its constituent parts? Honey, pollen, water, semi-
digested by the nurse bees. This is fed to the young bees in a simi-
lar way, and for the same purpose, as young mammals are fed by
the dam, or, as St. Paul puts it, ‘‘fed by milk that they may grow
thereby.”

The Americans assert that the only food necessary to bring
bees through the winter is honey or sugar, and if pollen be ex-
cluded from the bill of fare, dysentery and other abdominal com-
plaints will not occur. I am not so sure of that. In the Old Land,
in the days of my youth, when I kept bees in the old straw skip—
when we used to smother a certain proportion of the stocks with
sulphur, leaving the rest for the next season’s increase, I noticed
that the bees that came out in the warmer parts of the winter days
were those that were starving, and when these were fed on-sugar,
as a rule, dysentery followed; but the strong stocks that were left
with plenty of pollen and honey were the healthiest in the spring,
and gave the earliest swarms. All animals know by instinct the
most fitting food. Pollen to bees is nothing new. They know
their two principal foods, pollen and honey, and how to choose
the beneficial and eschew the deleterious. Bees consume honey to
produce heat and energy; pollen to build up the waste of nerve and.
muscle. They know which to select by the dictates of Nature. So
in leaving the winter supply of honey see that there is propor-
tionately a sufficient supply of pollen. In this Colony, in winter
or summer, I have never lost bees by starvation, because I never
interfere with the food supply of the brood-chamber. Do not do
it; there is nothing to be gained by it, but frequently a great loss.
Your bees will come out better in the spring; they will swarm
earlier, all else being equal; there will be less mortality. The old
and infirm will be sure to die, but the young will be healthy and
strong so as to commence the new season's duties with vigour.

The temperature: Bees can endure great extremes of tempera-
ture, even below freezing point. Francis Huber immersed a swarm
of bees for three hours in water, and they revived. I once found
a gin-case of bees that had been brought down the river during a

248 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

flood, and they were as active as if they had just swarmed therein.
I cannot tell from whence they came. But with these experiments
health is too much interfered with. The question with us is not
what extremes of heat, or what extremes of cold, bees can best en-
dure, but how can we best protect our bees by administering to
their wants that they may best serve ours. Heat may be produced
and conserved in various ways. A full stomach is as good as an
extra blanket. That man who has put up his bees for winter, and
has given them a sufficiency of food and a little over, has taken the
bull by the horns—the first and best step of producing and keep-
ing the required warmth in his hive during the winter months. The
hive itself should be free from open joints and cracks. Ventilation
in winter is as requisite as in summer, but not to the same extent ;
but then that ventilation must be systematic and judicious. The
bees, by their constant breathing, will keep the oxygen in circula-
tion. There must therefore be a means of escape of the heated air
so that the fresh invigorating air may take its place and so benefit
the inmates of the hive.

The numerical strength of the colony is another important tac-
tor in producing and retaining the warmth of the stock. When
bees cluster closely together, they are in a condition to maintain
about 65 degrees of heat in winter, and if a. closely fitting division
board has been inserted so as ta keep the bees and their supplies
handy and well together, the outer circle of bees will be as warm
as those in the centre of the cluster. On the other hand, if the
space they occupy be too large, there will be a greater amount of
mortality than if they have only sufficient room and no more.
Empty or unused combs should be most religiously removed.
These absorb heat, and that is so much taken from the inmates.
Even if they do not absorb the heat, they will absorb moisture, and
mildew, thus militating against the health of the colony.

Paper is a first-class non-conductor of heat; therefore, in our
coldest districts, if the hives are lined with cardboard, and sheets
of paper placed over the top bars, it would conduce greatly in re-
taining the natural heat of the bees. Further, outside protection
should by no means be neglected, but whatever material be used
it must be impervious to rain.

If the hives have flat tops, a sheet of well-trimmed bark half
as long and broad again as the hive may be used. It should be
well and evenly weighted down, or fastened, to prevent the wind
‘blowing it off. In exposed situations it would be well not to use
weights, but drive in a couple of stout pegs at each side of the hive,

*

WINTERING BEES. 249

and ‘lash the bark with cord. For the purpose nothing could be
better than a clothes-line (such as is usually procurable for about
4d.), and for a shilling or two length enough could be obtained
to do a great many hives. Where the cover is only an inch or so
beyond the top of the hive, water dribbles under. For gable-
roofed hives a cover of bagging which has received a coat of paint
or tar will do. Cornsacks coated in this way would last for several
-winters.

Internal dampness must be avoided, and floor-boards kept
clean. These are better renewed during the middle part of warm
days. By no means attempt to winter weak stocks. Far better
carry one strong colony through the winter than half a dozen weak
ones; in proportion, they consume far less food.

But, above all, do not be avaricious, and rob your bees of the
last ounce of honey, and then expect them to pull through the
~winter.

250 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER XXXIII,
NOTES ON HONEY.

WHEN Virgil said honey was ‘‘Heaven’s gift, food fit for the gods,’”
he must have meant gods celestial and gods terrestial. Honey is as:
essential as salt for a food constituent. It contains both sucrose
(cane sugar) and glucose (fruit sugar), not the manufactured article
sold under that name, but the pure fruit sugars from Nature’s
laboratories. ‘‘Heaveh’s gift’’ is also more or less flavoured with
the volatile oils of the flowers upon which the bees work ; hence the
justly celebrated honeys of Crete, Minorca, and Narbonne are due
to the flavour of the volatile oils of rosemary. The ancients loudly
sang the praises of the honey from Hymettus; its celebrated flavor
was due to the oils of the flowers of thyme. The grateful flavour
of the honey of Provens is produced from the flowers of lavender.
The delicious flavour and pleasant aroma of Cuban honey is the
result of the oil of neroli, which is obtained by the bees from the
blossoms of the various members of the citrus family, chiefly that of
the orange. Cuba, an island in size one-sixth less than England,
in one year exported honey and wax to the value of £130,000. This
amount does not include the honey and wax consumed and used on
the island. .

Large quantities of honey, equally as palatable and contain-
ing as an agreeable an aroma as this justly celebrated Cuban article,
is produced in this State, notably in that part of the county of
Cumberland lying between Parramatta and Gordon, and also in
other citrus districts of New South Wales. All that is required.
to obtain this far-famed honey for the market is a certain amount.
of care in the management of the hive during the honey-flow from.
the orange-trees. At the time these trees and other members of
the same family are seen in blossom-bud, the bee-keeper should care-
fully examine every frame in the hive, and remove the winter
storage that has not been consumed. It will not be found neces-
sary to remove every cell of unused honey, more especially if the
surplus supply is in colour a light amber. The oil of neroli is very
penetrative, and its pleasant perfume will soon permeate the un-
used residue of the winter stock. As soon as the petals of the
orange-blossom are seen thickly on the ground, 7.¢., when the young’
fruit have fairly set, no time should be lost in sequring the harvest:

of orange-blossom honey. The almond flavour sometimes met with

NOTES ON HONEY. 251

in the honey obtained from our fruit districts is entirely due to
the volatile oils found in peach blossom and other stone-fruit. With
care all these favourite flavoured honeys can be stored for market
purposes. The worst part of it is, these valuable honeys come in
during early spring, when they are largely required by the bees for
raising the first brood of the season. Nevertheless, if the bee-
keeper has not been over avaricious and extracted too closely be-
fore putting his bees up for winter, this drawback will not be there
to contend with.

The honey of our native flora that is most appreciated is that
from the white box (Eucalyptus hemiphloia), yellow box (E. melli-
dora), and the prickly tea-tree (Afelaleuca sty phelioides). Undoubkt-
edly some honey from our native flowers is so strongly impregnated
with eucalyptus flavour as to give one the idea that it is a com-
pound medicament for coughs, colds, &c., and was never produced
direct from Nature’s laboratories. This inferior, strongly-flavoured
bush honey is objected to by our brethren in the old country, and
indeed by the public of New South Wales; but the honey with the
flavours above-mentioned must ultimately become as popular and
as much sought after as that of Crete, Minorca, Narbonne, or
Cuba.

Honey is not only a valuable article of food, but is at once
dietary, preservatory, medicinal, and a beverage. As an article of
food, cheap as it is, there are few people use it to the extent it
should be. As a preservative of fruit and other vegetable sub-
stances, it is one of the best mediums we have. It is frequently
used in the arts for that purpose. It acts in the same manner as
sugar. It is said the ancient Spartans used honey to preserve the
dead bodies of their kings. The writer once saw the dead body of
a mouse cut out from a jar of granulated honey. Whilst in a liquid
state it had served as a medium of suicide for the unfortunate one.
The body showed not the slightest signs of decomposition, although
it must have been dead over twelve months. Honey diluted with
about four times its volume of water, and exposed in an open
vessel to the heat of the sun, produces a strong vinegar of a fine
flavour. This vinegar is cheaply and easily made, and is equal, if
not superior, to the malted article for pickling purposes. Honey,
prepared with medicinal ingredients, forms an excellent medicated
drink. The metheglen of the ancient Britons was fermented honey.
Light or weak mead (another name for metheglen) is an excellent
cooling summer drink.

252 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER XXXIV,
THE VALUE OF BEESWAX.

Brrswax is gradually going up in price. The bar-frame system of
keeping bees has largely to answer for this. Under the old style,
to obtain the honey, the combs were destroyed; that meant there:
was always a certain quantity of wax to be placed in the markets.
Under the old regime beekeepers never required the wax, but
vinder the new, nearly every grain is carefully husbanded for the
purpose of converting it into foundation comb. As the new sys-
tem of beekeeping spreads the less wax there will be in proportion
to put to commercial use. Nevertheless the demand for wax is
steadily on the increase. It therefore becomes a question: Will the
production of wax pay? In this State there are localities where
the honey is of a very inferior quality, in fact unsaleable at almost
any price; and often times in those localities where good honey
is obtainable there are seasons when an inferior article is brought
home by the bees. I know that the production of wax is expensive
alike to bees and bee-masters. Is it worth while in those localities
where only inferior honey is obtained to try the experiment of wax
production? Bees can be compelled to produce more wax than
they need, and the surplus wax will always find a ready market
when such honey as above mentioned will be on hand from season
to season. The common class of honey can be bought in Sydney
at the present time at 14d. per lb. Fair samples of wax are worth
from ls. 2d. to 1s. 3d. per lb. For the former there is really
little or no sale, for the latter there is a great demand, therefore
always a ready sale. The maxim among merchants is the more
frequently a penny is turned over the greater the profit. Wax never
remains long on hand, but for this common honey there is no
knowing when there will be a sale. There is no denying the fact
that wax is more expensive to produce than honey. On the other
hand it is not merely so expensive to market. The carriage of a
ton of wax is the same as the carriage on a ton of honey. A ton
of honey at 14d. per lb. is worth £14, and a ton of wax at Is. per tb.
is worth £112. Wax can be sent to market in a bag, and if the
bags burst there is none of the wax wasted. This cannot be said
of honey. The vessels to market it in are far more expensive
than is the case with wax.

THE VALUE OF BEESWAX. 253
WAX PRODUCTION.

Nature is very economic in all her ways, although she some-
times appears to be very lavish in her productions. This may seem
contradictory, but it is not so. Where there seems to be a lavish
expenditure, Nature’s object is, ‘‘supply according to demand.”
Labour and production, with all Nature’s tiny workers, go hand
in hand, although with some insects occasionally the labour seems
excessive in comparison with the article produced, notably is this
the case with some of the mason bees. No insect appears to be
more saving in the article produced than the hive bee. Every
grain of wax is thriftly husbanded ; the walls of the cells are always
carefully pared down to the thinnest limit compatible with
strength. In a state of nature bees use the same combs and cells
for years without renewing them. The old box hive was only one
removed from Nature’s primitive ways. It is the bar-frame hive
that suggested such wonderful advancements in the method of bee-
keeping; and it is the bar-frame that has given us the courage
to take such daring liberties with the internal workings of the
bee-hive. Francis Huber’s experiments gave insight to the fact
that bees may be forced to produce wax in a greater abundance
than was necessary for the primary economy of the hive. Nature,
which has taught bees so much, has instructed them in the regular
preservation of a uniform distance between the combs. But fre-
quently on the approach of autumn the honey cells are elongated
so that the comb may contain a much greater quantity of stores.
In the old fashion hives the angles of the box sometimes contained
comb of abnormal thickness, not unfrequently cell upon cell to
more than twice the ordinary dimensions. On the return of
spring such cells are reduced to the uniform normal length.
Lengthening a cell, as far as the bees are concerned, is the same
as constructing a new comb; therefore to produce an extra quantity
of wax it is only necessary to place the completed combs sufficiently
far apart to give the bees enough room to construct an additional
comb in the interstice, and as fast as the new comb is produced
to remove it to the melting pot. Of course this can only be done
when bar-frames are used.

ADULTERATION OF WAX.

The demand for beeswax has stimulated the dishonest to try
all ways and means to adulterate the genuine article and increase
the profits of the dishonest. Not long since I was called in to

254 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

examine some wax that had been purchased by a tradesman. I
found it to be a compound of beeswax and . . and

: (I have purposely left the nouns out eran I do not
wish to educate the ignorant who may feel inclined to be dishonest
in such matters). Adulterated wax can generally be detected by
the senses—by the touch, by the odour, and by the appearance.
But there are other kinds of wax besides beeswax. They are
cheaper, and also much inferior. These are sometimes incorporated
with genuine beeswax, and when some of these adulterants are
used the senses are at fault. Alcohol will overcome this latter
difficulty. The specific gravity of beeswax is, as already stated,
965, and that of water, 1,000. Beeswax is lighter than water,
therefore it will float in water.

‘‘Wax differs from fat in that it contains no glycerine. The
fatty acids united with alkali always liberate glycerine in soap-
making, e.g., but if wax be saponified, 7.e., converted into soap,
no glycerine presents itself, and thus the chemist is furnished with
a method of detecting a certain class of adulterations.’’—-Cheshire,
p. 589.

TO TEST WAX FOR ADULTERATION.

There is a very simple test by means of which the adulterated
article can easily be detected. Fill a clear glass bottle about half-
full of water; place in the water a piece of pure beeswax, add
alcohol to the water until the piece of pure beeswax just settles
on the bottom of the water. Now take a piece of the supposed
adulterated wax, drop it in the bottle with the pure beeswax; if
it has been adulterated with other varieties of wax of commerce,
I will not name them for the same reason before stated, it will
float. The lesser the quantity of genuine beeswax there is in the
mixture the lighter will be its specific gravity, or, in other words,
the more readily it will float. If the sample of adulterated wax
has only had added to it 4 or 5 per cent. of wax other than that
of bees, it will sink to the bottom very similar to pure beeswax ;
but its descent will be slower, and while it rests at the bottom,
if the water be slightly agitated, of the two samples resting at
the bottom, the pure will remain stationary whilst the sample
of mixtures will more or less oscillate according to the percentage
of the added adulterant.

DISCOLOURATION—TO PREVENT.

It is not infrequent at our agricultural shows to find com-
petitive samples of wax of more or less a leaden hue, pervading

THE VALUE OF BEESWAX. 255

uniformly, through the whole sample; at other times I have seen
it somewhat of the appearance of old-fashioned mottle soap. Such
wax is in no way adulterated, but its commercial value is sadly
marred. If this discoloured wax be used for foundation comb
purposes, I do not think that the bees will reject it. Nevertheless,
it is very unsightly even for that purpose. The natural colour of wax
is of various yellow or orange shades. Oftentimes colouring matter
is used to imitate the natural colour—this deception, too, is de-
tectable by the experienced eye. Rendering wax in a galvanised-
iron vessel is answerable for a lot of discolouration. Wax, when
melted in a galvanised-iron vessel, has a more or less greenish tinge
with it. Copper vessels are the best for wax rendering. To
ordinary tin there is no objection, providing no acids have been
in the tin. Wax should at all times be extracted by means of
steam. Boiling water is detrimental. If appliances for extracting
wax by the agency of steam are not available, rain water is tne
next best material for the purpose. Spring water is too often
impregnated with lime or other chemicals. It is these mixing
with the wax that produces that grey spongy mixture seen under-
lying wax after it has cooled.

MOULDING WAX.

Almost any vessel is suitable for this purpose, providing it is
wider at the mouth than at the base. Glass or enamelware I find
to be the best. Wax, after it has been run into the mould and
cogled, is frequently found to be full of flaws. This is caused by
the molten material being permitted to cool. too quickly. As soon
as the molten wax has been run into the mould it should be covered
over with an old bag or other material, and thus, cooling slowly,
these unsightly cracks or fissures will be avoided.

OLD BLACK COMBS.

Some old combs appear to be almost made up of cocoon cases
and other cast off material. There certainly is not the quantity
of wax to be obtained from these old combs as from the newer
ones. Still, while the process of wax rendering is in hand it will
pay ‘‘to gather up the fragments that nothing be lost.” Before
putting these old black combs in the melting pot they should be
thoroughly soaked. Rain water will be found best for the pur-
pose, because it contains no mineral substances.

R

256 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

LOSS OF WAX.

From Cheshire, 589, vol. II.,,I quote the following :—‘‘Much

wax is wasted through failing to note that lime in water unites
with the cerotic acid, forming an insoluble lime soap.
Wax should never be melted, nor should combs be rendered in any
but rain water or distilled water, unless to the water is added an
acid.” Vinegar is always procurable, and will answer the pur-
pose as well as anything else. Sulphuric acid is preferable. Two
teaspoonfuls of the latter to 1 gallon of water will prevent the
formation of lime soap. This soapy material is to be found under-
neath the cakes of wax when cooled. If this be removed and
treated with acid ia good deal of the wax can be recovered. These
remarks do not apply where a wax-extractor is used. A solar
extractor should be in every apiary.

As the arts and sciences advance, the uses of wax are always
on the increase. It is still a question if that wonderful wax-
working insect, Apis dorsata, would not pay to be introduced in
this State.

Abdomen of Wax Worker.

Showing ventral plates only, six in number, the

four Central ones show eight wax pockets contain-

ing wax scales. The first and last are without
said pockets.

THE INFLUENCE UF BEES ON CROPS. 257

CHAPTER XXXV,

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS.

“Ylou have a splendid crop, thank God!” was once said at a
harvest supper in the Old Country. ‘‘What do you thank God
for?” was the reply; ‘‘didn’t I put plenty of manure in the
ground?”’ If we were to put the question, ‘‘What are the chief
necessaries in the production of your crops?” to all the agricultural
societies in the States, many of them would probably answer, ‘‘Deep
and frequent ploughing, the loosening of the soil, keeping the sur-
face well open, judicious manuring, good seed, freedom trom weeas,
and favourable seasons.’’ No matter what branch of soil-culture
an individual may be engaged in, or what crops he is growing, if
he be market gardener, agriculturist, florist, or orchardist, the
answer, perhaps not in as many words, would be tantamount to
the same. The florist and orchardist would add pruning to tneir
catalogue of the necessary requirements. There are tiny
agents employed by Nature that dwarf into utter insignificance all
the modern implements of husbandry that are in use to ensure
‘‘an abundant and heavy harvest.” They are seldom taken into
account. These tiny agents are an absolute and concomitant
necessity for the production of a crop from any member of the
vegetable kingdom. The wind and insects are the agents employed
for the fertilisation of crops. The two mentioned are the chief,
but there are many others of a subordinate character that wvature
frequently enlists to aid in the reproduction of the various memvers
of her plant life. The members of Nature’s great vegetable army,
in regard to their method of reproduction, have two distinct
characteristics by means of which they perpetuate their species
and varieties, 7.¢., some are termed flowerless and others flowering
plants—eryptogamic and phanerogamic respectively. Ferns, mosses,
seaweeds, &c., are included in the former, but this article has
nothing to do with the reproduction of these cryptogamic plants.

Flowering plants, ‘‘the herb yielding seed and the fruit-tree
yielding fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself,’ are the portions
of the subjects I wish to deal with. How herbs yield seed and

258 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE,

how fruit-trees yield fruit, appears strange, if we take into con-
sideration the too frequent destruction of the very many agents,
more especially the honey bee, that husbandmen in their blind
ignorance are constantly waging war upon. ‘‘Smear the trees with
poisoned honey,”’ ‘“‘Destroy the bees of the bee-farmer,” or ‘‘Burn
down the tree where there are bee nests,’ is the too constant
advice given by well-educated fruit-growers, but whose knowledge
of bee life is far below zero. Nature has been very lavishing in
the distribution of her varieties of indespensable helpmates for the
land culturists. The tiller of the soil, after the necessary prepara-
tion of the land and all the mechanical aids he brings to bear in
assisting the earth to yield her increase, and to produce her crops
of cereals, vegetables, and fruits for our imperative use, is solely
dependent on outside agents, over one of which he has little or
uo control. I refer to the wind. In insect agency—of these the
principal ones are members of the bee family—he can to a certain
extent regulate the supply and demand. ’

The chief agent employed in the fertilisation of the seed that
supplies us with the ‘‘staff of life’ is the wind. Seeds that are
so fertilised are termed anemophilus. But life’s luxuries—cherries,
plums, and other drupes or stone fruit generally—are fertilised
by insects; so are the pomes and all apple-like fruits, citrus fruits,
verries, &c. Insects make the labours of the fruit-grower a-great
certainty—make ‘‘assurance doubly sure.’’ Without them all his
labours would end in a wretched and miserable failure. We are
entirely dependent on insects for the fertilisation of our fruit. Seeds
or fruits that are thus dependent on insects for reproduction are
termed entomophilus. It is a true and wise saying, ‘‘No bees,
no fruit.’’ Nothing can be more fallacious than the idea that bees
injure crops. ‘There is no more widely entertained opinion among
fruit-growers and florists than this. Let a fruit differ somewhat
in form, tint, flavour, or general appearance from that of the same
crop on the same tree, the innocent bee is accredited with having
“Gnnoculated” that particular member of the fruit of that tree. I
have heard it said, when examining the fruit on a navel orange
tree, where the characteristic mark in some of the fruit was very
prominent and in others almost inconspicuous, that the latter
was caused by bees; and this, too, from men of prominent positions
in the agricultural world. If an ornamental flowering plant pro-
‘duce a bloom differing somewhat from the rest of its kind, or
sport, the bee is said to be the culprit.

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS. 259

Jam-makers, during preserving seasons, very frequently, when
the bees come to clean up the waste syrup, and perhaps steal .a
little from that not found in the waste tub, cause, by. means of
boiling water, the destruction of millions of these tiny and indus-
rious workers. Men do not understand that if they were to carry
out this slaughter of the innocents with too high a hand, they would
have little or no fruit to preserve. It may be interjected that
butterflies, moths, beetles, and other members of the insect world
fertilise our fruit crops as well as the bee family. True; but they
leave behind them whole armies-—well-drilled armies—of cater-
pillars, grubs, or maggots. These destroy the very fruit their
parents fertilised, defoliate the trees, cause sickness inducing
disease, and ulitmately the destruction of the orchard. This can-
not be said of the bee. Butterflies, &c., fly from tree to tree and
orchard to orchard, laying a few eggs here and a few there. It
is difficult to confine or introduce them to a district, and when once
there it is a greater difficulty still to exterminate them. Insect
fertilisers, other than bees, are nearly all solitary and houseless
wanderers, and it is a work of patience and labour to mitigate their
ravages, and the little good they may. do as fertilisers is greatly
counterbalanced by the great mischief wrought by their offspring.
On the other hand, bees are social, are domestic, are under control,
can be increased or diminished according to requirements.

The advent of a bee-keeper in a fruit-growing district is not
a blessing in disguise, but a blessing so prominent that a traveller
passing through a fruit district by express train during fruit harvest
can always see the handiwork of the bee. The orchardist cultivates
the trees from which the bees get their pollen and the bee-keeper
his honey harvest, and the fruit-grower in his turn is almost entire-
ly dependent on the bee-keeper for his harvest of fruit. between
bee-keepers, fruit-growers, florists, &c., there is a mutual provident
association so strongly united that to repress the former is to de-
stroy the profits of the latter.

Another interjection : ‘‘Have not the bees been the chief agents
in the destruction of some of the best varieties of melons, pump-
kins, cucumbers, and other members of Cucurbitacee or gourd order
that have been introduced into the State?” If by this it is meant
that certain varieties of these very useful vegetables have entirely
disappeared, and have-been replaced by inferior ones, the result of
cross-pollenisation, the bee for a while must plead guilty, because the
whole of the order Cucurbitacee is entomophilous, and the bee
plays the chief part in the cross-pollenisation. The fertilisatior

260 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

of the whole of the gourd order is so easily controlled, that the
bee must be acquitted, although he has pleaded guilty, on the
ground that the growers have wholly contributed to the result
by their indolence, carelessness, or ignorance. A little ignorance
in these matters is far more dangerous than the proverbial little
knowledge.

The essential organs of plant-life—that is to say, those organs
wholly contributing to reproduction—are so prominent in the
larger tpye of blossoms, such as pumpkins, fuchsias, the flowers
of most fruit-trees, maize, &c., they can be seen with the naked
eye and their functions easily demonstrated by or to anyone having
the ‘‘observing eye.’’ There is no necessity for a costly set of
microscopic appliances, nor scientifically fitted-up laboratories, nor
years of apprenticeship ‘‘to boot,’’ to become an expert in the use
Nature makes of the essential organs of flowers. The primary
function of flowers, and, indeed, the only use flowers or blossoms
are to the trees that bear them, is that of reproducing or perpetuat-
ing its species. The most essential parts of a flower are the stamens
and pistil. These essential organs are most vigorous, healthy, and
free from blemish in the earlier parts of the day. Just after the
corolla bursts, these unfurl, the anthers become distributive—.e.,
the pollen they contain is sufficiently matured to be wafted by the
wind, or gathered by insects or other agencies for fertilising pur-
poses—and later the stigma becomes receptive. The atmosphere
during these early hours, in spring time, as a rule, ig characterised
by a dead calmness, or at the most by gentle breezes. This calm-
ness is most beneficial, and is a highly necessary agent in ensuring
successfully the fructification of entomophilous fruits. The more
frequently the bees trip to and fro from home to orchard and
orchard to home, the greater and better are the results that follow
their labours.

I have used the terms bloom, flower, and blossom indiscri-
minately. They are synonymous. The two former are generally
applied to the flowers on ornamental plants, and the last to fruit-
trees.

To understand how the all-important work of fertilisation is
carried on by bees and other insects, it will be necessary to glance
over the accompanying diagram, and have a slight knowledge ot
the functions each portion of a bloom has to perform.

The pistil (3), Diagram I, is divided into ovary (4), style (2),
and stigma (1). The stigma is the end of the style turned inside
out. It has four very peculiar characteristics: First, it is skinless ;

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS. 261

-
.

secondly, it is adhesive—if it be applied to down or a light feather
it will adhere to it; thirdly, it is porous; and in the fourth place,
jt is covered with a lot of hair-like hooklets. These peculiarities
in the stigma form important parts in the economy of fertilisatior,
taken in conjunction with the offices performed by bees in relation
to fruit and the reproduction of plant-life. The style is traversed
internally by a canal forming a tube, which is the connecting link
between the stigma with the ovary.

I.1, Stigma. 2, Style, 4,Ovary. 1, 2and4
combined from 3, Pistil, or the female
portion of the flower. 5, Anther. 6, Fila-
ment. 5and 6 combined form 7, Stamens,
or the male portion of the flower. 8 Co-
rolla, 9, Calyx. 8 and 9 are the floral
envelopes, and are for the protection of
the Pistil and Stamens.

In this diagram the ovary (4) is said to be
supertor—that is, above or within the parts 8
or9. Whilst the blossom is in bud-form it is
enveloped by the corolla and calyx, and can-
ck be seen until these parts are mature or
all.

The stamens are the masculine reproductive organs, and, like
the pistil, different portions of it receive different. terms—the
anthers (5) and filaments (6). The filaments are thread-like ap-
pendages, and are generally attached to the base of the corolla,
and not to the ovary, as in the case of the style; neither is it
tubular. Their office is to support the anthers, and to keep them
in their proper position. The anthers, generally two in number,
are situated at the summit of each filament. They are of different
forms, according to the class of fruit. borne by the tree—round,
angular, elongated, or sometimes twisted. When the blossom first
opens, the anther is usually of a bright colour, generally yellow.
Its supper surface is a flat, smooth disc. As the day advances,
and the anther matures, each one opens with a longitudinal slit
its entire length. It can then be seen that each anther is a pocket
or sack filled with pollen—a very fine dust-like flour. Pollen is of
a variety of colours—white, red, pea-green, &c., are of frequent
occurrence—but the predominating colour is some shade of orange.
By watching at the entrance of a bee-hive, different bees will be
seen to enter with pollen of various shades, although they prefer
to work on those blooms that are yielding the greatest quantity.
By taking a piece of honeycomb containing bee-bread, and cutting
a cell filled with it longitudinally, strata of various colours are
-always to be seen. In flowers that are fertilised by insects, tne
pollen is usually of a sticky nature. This property is availed of by
the bees. By this they knead it into small pellets, and neatly

>

262 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

pack it in the pollen baskets on their hinder legs. The pollen of
pumpkins and other members of that family, on account of its
non-adhesive quality, they cannot so treat, but carry home in the
hairs of their bodies. The pollen of blossoms fertilised by the wind
is also non-adhesive. Pollen grains are of various forms, according
to the class of plant it is taken from.

The essential organs of a flower are somewhat akin to one
another, and a cursory glance by a casual observer is more than
likely to regard the stigma and anther as similar organs and of
equal value in the economy of plant-life. Well, in one sense, they
are, just as the sexes in animal life are dependent on one another
for the continuance of the species of variety. The dissimilarity
in the essential organs in a flower is very marked, and their func-
tions wholly distinct. The anthers are the pollen bearers, and
the stigma is the receiver. It is highly important that the dis-
tinctions should be studied, by all engaged in plant culture; and
now, as agriculture and horticulture is so spread over the schools
curriculum, the attention of all should be drawn to it.

II, The numbers, or parts, are the same as
in Diagram I. but the ovary appears to
occupy a different position. In_ such
flowers the ovary is said to be imferior—
that is, below or without the parts 8 and 9,
and whilst the blossom is in bud is not
enclosed by the floral envelopes, In the
early stages of the development of the bud
the ovary is always visible. I.and II. are
bisexual.

The corolla in many entomophilus plants, 7.e., plants pollen-
ised by insects, is frequently of an attractive colour, although some
are very inconspicuous in that respect. Its office is, while the
flower is in bud, protective, guarding the developing essential organs
from injury—acting as a blanket. The corolla is composed of
petals; these are frequently detached the one from the other;
sometimes they are united at the base, the tips only remaining free.

The calyx is the outer protective envelope. If the corolla
acts as a blanket, then the calyx is the macintosh. Like the
corolla, it is frequently formed of more than one part. Each
separate portion is termed a sepal. It is generally green, but not
always.

The beneficial influence of bees on certain crops, and the im-
perative necessity for their location within a near radius of fruit-
trees, demands more than the usual passing glance. The nearer
the home of the bee is to the orchard or fruit garden, the more

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS. 263

frequently can they visit the blossoming fruit-trees. The earlier
in the morning the bees visit .a fruit-tree when in bloom the more
certain will be the act of pollenisation and the resultant fertilisa-
tion the more effectual. Bees have been seen on their foraging
ground beyond the radius of 3 miles, but these long journeys must
be undertaken at the exponse of the number of trips made during
the day.

Blossoms open at various hours both in the day-time and in
the night—the majority in the early morning just after sunrise,

- Maize.—A is the parts 5
and 6 or 7, the male or
staminate flower shown
in Diagram 1; and B is
the parts 1, 2, and 3,and
forms the female or
pistillate flower.

some at noon, others in the twilight, and a few species after dark.
Some species of flowers are very sensitive to light and darkness,
and will only open when the sun shines brightly. Those that open
in the earlier portion of the day generally close towards sundown
and re-open the following morning, especially if they have not been
visited by an insect; those that open at twilight or after dark close
at dawn. The blossoms of fruit-trees generally remain open the
whole day. During a heavy flow of honey, bees will work for some

264 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

time after sunset and well on towards darkness. On warm, calm
evenings I have more than once seen bees returning home by the
light of the moon, when the latter has been shining brightly. Of
course, diurnal flowers are visited by diurnal insects. Flowers that
open in the twilight or after are visited chiefly by moths.

Anemophilus flowers (those that are fertilised by the wind)
do not close after they have once opened. The anthers being at-
tached to the filament so tenderly, the slightest movement caused
by a passing breeze is sufficient to shake the pollen to the stigma.
It is the soft, gentle breeze that is efficacious in the fertilisation
of cereal crops—wind just sufficiently strong to carry the pollen a
few feet from the anther that produced it. At the time wheat
and other cereal crops are in flower, when the pollen is mature
and hanging loosely in the anthers, heavy wind storms are as
destructive as late frosts. Many a crop that has appeared promis-
ing enough when in blade, has failed to give a heavy yield, owing
to strong winds catching up the pollen and wafting it away into
the bush, or elsewhere, where its influence is lost.

The arrangement of the reproductive organs in blossoms vary
very considerably in different classes of plant life, and the most
casual observer must have noticed the many forms of insect life.
Those insects that subsist on the honey they extract from flowers
are, in many instances, so constructed as to appear to fit the
flowers they visit. Again, the construction of certain flowers is
only adaptable to the wants of certain insects. The nectary is so
situated in different classes of flowers that the honey it contains
can only be obtained by the insect desegned to fertilise them. The
length of tongue in moths, butterflies, and bees is well-known,
and its length plays no inconsiderable part in perpetuating variet-
ies and species of the vegtable kingdom. In Darwin’s work, ‘‘Fer-
tilisation of Orchids’’— a book everyone interested in the subject
should read—-he mentions one flower as having a spur-like form,
from 10 to 11 inches long, with the nectary situated at its base,
and for the purpose of obtaining the honey contained therein
there must be an insect with a tongue of an equal length. It
appears that this particular orchid is a native of Madagascar.
Some orchid hunters, in searching that island for specimens, came
across a moth with a tongue of corresponding length—evidently
the agent employed by Nature to fertilise this particular plant.
Some plants are only met with in particular localities; in other
localities, having the same conditions of soil, warmth, moisture, etc.,

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS. 265

they are entirely absent. Again, in localities where some
species of plants are found, certain species of insects are also to
be met with, and vice versa. Thus, particular plants are dependent
on certain insects, and particular insects on certain plants, for the
propagation of their species.

The pollen-bearing organs are not always to be met with in
the same flower. In the melon, cucumber, and other plants belong-
ing to that tribe, some of the flowers are male—+.e., possess stamens
only, or have no pistil; while others are femjale—z.e., possess a
pistil- but no stamens. The pollen of this tribe of plants is com-
paratively heavy and viscid. It is therefore obvious, as the two
sexual flowers are situated at some distance the one from the other,
a foreign agent must convey the pollen from the stamen to the
stigma of the pistil of the female flower. In some of the Egyptian
palm-trees there are what are termed male and female trees—ze.,
the sexual flowers are on separate and distinct trees. The trees
are often at considerable distances the one from the other, and the
pollen can only be transported by insects. The variegated laurel
{Aucuba japonica) is another of these dicecious sarubs, and of
course, like the palm-trees referred to, the male and female flowers
are on different trees. It was introduced into England many years
ago by the Dutch from Japan. It so happened that the plants
first introduced were female plants, or in other words bore female
flowers only. There were no pollen-bearing flowers, consequently
no seed could be produced, and propagation was carried on by cut-
tings only. Some years afterwards a Mr. Fortune introduced some
male plants. These were planted in close proximity to some of the
old Dutch ones that had been perpetuated by means of cuttings.
The result was that an abundance of fertile seed was produced
the following season.

The pollen of the variegated laurel was an article of commerce
in the London Convent Garden market.

The length of time the pollen of some of the palms and laurels
retain their vitality is remarkable. The pollen in other varieties
of plants must be utilised soon after it is discharged from the
anther or its procreative property is lost.

The quantity of pollen grains discharged from flowers is some-
thing enormous, especially in those plants where the sexual flowers
are on different trees. The flowers on a Chinese laburnum
(Wistaria chinensis) were calculated to contain no less than twenty-
seven billions of pollen grains.

266 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

From these illustrations it will be noted the utter impossibility
for certain plants to be perpetuated from seeds, or to produce
fruit, without aid from an agent outside themselves. Here the
bee comes in to play its important part in our fruit-crops.

What I have said in relation to the distribution of the sexual
flowers in the variegated laurel, palms, &c., is equally true and
holds good in the blossoms of our orchard fruits, with this excep-
tion—that they have not separate sexual flowers, but the sexual
organs are in one and the same flower. Notwithstanding this,
the stamens mature, and the pollen is distributed some time (in
some cases days) before the pistil, or rather the stigma, is suff-
ciently developed to receive it. Thus, while the male organs of
some of the flowers have perfected, maturition in others is still
progressing, and so with the pistil; so that the fertilisation of the
fruit blossom by its own pollen is as impossible as if the repro-
ductive organs were on different plants, or at least on different
flowers on the same tree; therefore a foreign agent is as essential
to transport the pollen from hermaphrodite flowers as from that
of diccious. The oft-quoted aphorism, ‘‘Nature abhors a vacu-
um,” was reconstructed by Darwin into ‘‘Nature abhors perpetual
self-fertilisation’”’ ; and the various ways Nature has arranged the
pollen-bearing organs is Nature's safeguard against what is termed
in-and-in reproduction, and cross-pollenation ensured. Cross-
pollenation has long been recognised in the economy of the repro-
duction of members of the vegetable kingdom. It was known
as far back as the time of Herodotus. He describes the process
of the transference (caprification) of the pollen from the male tree
to that of the female, by which means a crop of dates was ensured
on the Egyptian palms.

Some early-blossoming trees seem to burst forth suddenly,
especially pears. In looking through a truss or a bunch of pear
blossoms on the same stem that have just opened, it will be noted
that the parts perfected are the calyx, the corolla, and the stamen.
The pistils are still undeveloped. After the anthers have dis-
charged their pollen, the ripening of the pistils commences; and
by the time the stigma is receptive, there is no pollen from the
first opening blooms wherewith these early-maturing blossoms can
be fertilised. It is obvious that the all-important pollen must
be obtained from some other flowers, or there will be a failure
in the crops of the tree that has so blossomed. JI shail point out
further on that the pollen from any source, if the bees were to
convey it, will be as great a failure as if the stigma were entirely

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS. 267

deprived of that fertilising influence. Seeds must me fertilised
by pollen from their own species. A newspaper clipping—I think
from a Brisbane paper that I have now in my possession—says :
“Tf one were to plant 20 acres with Stone Pippin apples, or with
Cleopatras, or with Duchess pears, and no other kind of apples
or pears within a half-mile, it is not at all likely that there would
be any fruit. (Uf there were trees within the radius of half a mile,
the experiment would not be « failure; if bees were within two or
three miles they would carry the pollen, but the crop would be light. )
It is necessary to have a few of some other variety of apple or pear,
which bears blossoms at. the same, or about the same time, and then
they will pollenate each other, so that both varieties will bear
fruit. Bartlett’ pears are fertilised by Duchess d’Augouléme,
Easter Beurré, Beurré d’Anjou, and by others. The thing re-
quired is to have the flowers of each variety mature at nearly the
same time. There is at least one instance in this State where a
large block of apples of one kind has been planted for many years,
and has never borne any fruit, although the trees are very strong
and healthy, and bear perfect flowers every year. ‘fhe pollen is
ripe before the pistils are ready to receive it, and by the time the
pistils are mature the pollen is all gone.’’ The étalics in this quo-
tation are mine. I once read in an American paper a similar
failure in connection with cherry orchards, where the .bees had
all been removed because they were accredited with eating holes
in the ripe fruit, and thus reducing their, market value. After
the removal of the bees from the district the trees gave no, or at
the most but a slight, crop of fruit. After about three years, the
bees were returned to that district, and the trees went on bearing
as heretofore. With ignorant men, the poor little bees get the
credit of a host of evils they never do. If all orchardists knew
the value of bees, apart from that of honey producing, no orchard
would be seen without them.

Every grain of seed requires a grain of pollen to fertilise it.
By removing the husks from a corn-cob whilst in a green state,
a fine silken thread will be seen attached to each maturing grain.
It is the organ of reception, and it is absolutely imperative for a
grain of the dust from the anther (the flower on the top of the
corn-stalk) to fall or be conveyed to the point (stigma) of each
silken thread. In a mature cob of corn, misses in the rows of
grain are often observable. This is caused by the pistil not having
received its necessary grain of pollen; and caused either by an
injury to its stigma or an insufficiency of pollen. Deformed fruits

248 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

are of common occurrence, more especially with apples and pears.
This is caused by imperfect pollenisation. It is clearly observable
in the accompanying diagram: a section of an apple showing the
five sections of the ovary, with four of the ovules of seeds, marked
f, perfectly fertilised, and on the sides of the fruit, where the
seeds are so fertilised, it is perfect in form. The unfertilised seed
in the ovary, marked u, has caused thé deformation in the fruit.
If, in four out of the five sections seen in the ovary of apples
and pears, the seeds therein are perfectly fertilised, the fruit is
likely to develop, although it will be a deformity; but if only three
be so fertilised the fruit seldom comes to perfection. The light
seeds, those without kernels, that are frequently met with in pump-
kins and other members of that family, are caused in a similar
way—.e., by the bees being prevented by some cause from supply-
ing a sufficiency of pollen to do the whole work necessary in re-
production.

The matrimonial ceremonies—how they marry and are given
in marriage—is the portion of the subject I here wish to deal
with. The arrangements of the sexual reproductive organs and their
various functions have already been dealt with.

There is nothing more interesting in the life-history of the
vegetable kingdom than the methods and agencies of its repro-
duction. Fascinating as it is, it is too often the stumbling-block
of amateurs, whose love of plant-life carries them to look into the
deeply-hidden mysteries of this absorbing subject. The sexuality
known to exist in blossoms, their matrimonial instincts, their
marriage ceremonies, their domestic ties, their methods of raising
and perpetuating their families and co-relations, the offciating
and conjugating priests, and the agreement between the contract-
ing parties, are all more or less like fairy tales than actual facts.

Let us enter into one of the temples of Nature and have a
look at the matrimonial instincts of plant life. How their cere-
monies are conducted; how species and families of plants live and

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS. 269

perpetuate; who are the conjugating and officiating priests, and
how the contracting parties faithfully carry out their marriage
vow of for better or for worse, only when Nature performs these cere-
monies it is all better and no worse; especially is it so when man
has taken in hand the higher development of certain varieties of
plant life to be more adapted to his wants and needs.

In the higher members of the plant-world there is a very
great difference between pollen cells and the ovules (little eggs)
that are joined to form new individuals. The former of these is
smaller than the latter, and more active—it is the male; and the
latter, of course, is larger than the former, is composed of richer
matter, and is passive—it is the female. From the nature of these
ovules, these passive eggs, they. cannot become seed or plants until
they are united with and fertilised by an active or live pollen
grain. The essential organs in blossoms known as anthers contain
these active cells, the cells of life. The pistillate organs contain
the passive cells, the cells of matter. The pistil in apples, pears,
or other fruit blossoms is the bride, the stamens seen in blooms
of like trees are the bridegrooms, and the honey-bee is the licensed
officiating priest who is to perform the connubial ceremony. Let
us for a, while watch these officials of Nature carry out some of their
highly important duties. Bearing in mind, whilst so watching,
the table of kindred and affinity wherein it is stated a man may
not marry his grandmother or a woman her grandfather, etc., and
note how these insects, without a written law, are never parties
to close or blood relations intermarrying ; neither does their natural
instinct permit them to perform unnatural alliances. They will
not attempt to marry an orange to an apple, or a pea with a pump-
kin, or a pear with a cherry, and so on; neither does Nature per-
mit them to marry the male of a blossom with a femal of the same
bloom. Such alliances in the higher plants are repugnant to all
concerned. Nature’s motto in the vegetable kingdom, as well as
in the animal, is, especially when aided by the intelligent hand
of man, ‘‘upward and onward.” If the pollen of a blossom were
transmitted to the carpels of the same, the result would be degra-
dation, and the loss of some of the choicest varieties of fruit and
vegetables we now raise from seed.

The ovary is composed of one or more carpels. The ovary
of an apple bloom has five such carpels. In the mature fruit these
are termed the core.

In the early spring mornings, when the bees issue forth to go
in quest of stores, the first thing they gather is pollen. It is the

270 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

first product the blossom yields, even before it secretes its nectar
(honey). In their eagerness to be first on the foraging ground,
they leave home at about sunrise. If they have selected an orange
to gather their stores from, they will keep upon orange or some
other member of the citrus tribe during’ the whole of that pere-
grination. Tumbling about in the cup of the flower amongst the
anthers, they gather up in their fur numberless grains of these
life cells, pollen grains. Head, thorax, abdomen are all more or
less dusted with it. Whilst gathering it, and whilst on the wing
from flower to flower, and tree to tree, they are busily engaged
in packing it in the pollen baskets that are situated in the upper
part of the hinder legs. As the day warms, the blossoms unfurl ;
the central whorls develop, and the stigma becomes receptive. The

Bee inthe act of fertilising.

a Anther cell.
ac Aborted Cell.

a@ Connective.
hi Hinge of filament.
ca Calyx.

st Style.

l Labium.
ng Nectar gland.

8 Stiff attachment of fila-

ment.

bee, eager in her duties to supply her home with abundance of
food, both for the young brood and winter storage, commences
her search for honey. In the early morning there is little or no
nectar secreted; but as the warmth increases so the flow of honey
advances. Anxius to fill her honey-sac whilst gathering the pollen
she enters the blossoms where she will find the greatest abundance
of her favourite winter storage, and thrusts her tongue down into
the nectariés of the blooms. To get at the honey more readily
she lies on the top of the essential organs, and brushes to and fro
on the stigma. Whilst thus engaged, the fur on the various parts
of her body retains pollen grain; those on her breast come in con-
tact with the stigmas of the flowers. Having commenced working
on an orange for pollen she will not go to an apple or aught else
for her honey. Citrus fruits supplied the pollen, citrus fruits must
provide the honey. Why? Because Nature has endowed the bee
with that intelligence--there is no other word so applicable—to
know if she were to take the pollen of an orange to the stigma.
of an apple, as far as fructification was concerned, her labour
would be useless. Pollen from one species of the vegetable king-
dom can seldom be used successfully, even by artificial means, to

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS. 271

fertilise that of another species. When it is successful the resu't
is a hybrid, the descendants of which cannot be perpetuated by
seed, but only by cuttings, graftings, é&c. Bearing in mind the
characteristics of the stigma, its adhesiveness, and its hairy hook-
lets, the bee’s breast, coming in contact with the lavwr, it acts
as a comb or brush, and aids in detaching the pollen grains from
the fur of the bee. These grains’fall on the adhesive stigma, and
are retained by its viscidity. When this contact takes place---
sometimes at once, at other times it may be delayed for hours—
the cell of life starts into activity by throwing out a pollen tube,
which at once goes in search of the cell of matter contained in the
passive ovule. To accomplish this the pollen-tube makes its way
‘down the style which connects the stigma to the ovary. The silky
threads that protrude from a-cob of corn, delicate as they are,
are not too fine or too long for these active tubes to penetrate.
The style of the orange, etc., is also easily pierced. The ovule,
‘or young seed in the ovary, contains the embryo of the future plant.
The pollen-tube having found its way to the ovule, the union of
the respective cells takes place. The ovule thus receiving the
“germ of life,” the infantile development of the future orange or
‘other tree, as the case may be, commences.

When the contact of the two cells has been accomplished, the
calyx withers; the corolla, with the dead remains of the stamens
adhering thereto, falls to the ground; and the pistil in most cases
is absorbed in the fruit.

These developments will be better understood by reference to
-a peach or other stone fruit. When the ovule has thus been ferti-
‘lised, the seed, or, as it is generally termed, the kernel, is the first
‘to develop, followed by that of the hard shell surrounding it, the
stone. At first both kernel and the shell of the stone are in em-
bryo; as they advance in age the shell hardens, and, at the same
‘time the flesh increases and matures with the gradual expansion
of the outer skin. We then say it is ripe, 7.e., its flesh has become
useful as food to man, and the seed capable of reproducing its

- species.

Now, it must be obvious to the most casual reader that the
bee has played the imperative part in the production of these
fruits. Nothing else could have accomplished it so effectively and
with such beneficial results as the little busy bee. Other insects
live on honey and pollen, but no other insect is endowed with
the instincts of social bees. Bees work so systematically in cross-
pollenisation. ‘they make no mistakes. They will carry pollen

272 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE...

from variety to variety, and sometimes from species to species,
but not from order to order. After a foraging excursion they are
never seen to return to the hive with different varieties of pollen
on their bodies. In examining a cell of pollen in the hive, each
stratum is seen to belong to distinct species of the vegetable
kingdom (not varieties). With other insects that only feed on
pollen grains, they consume it on the anther whereon they alight.
It is for immediate consumption for each one’s present wants.
Where other insects visit one -blossem, bees- will visit-a hundred.
Watch a butterfly on a flower and compare its actions with the
rapid movements of a bee, and judge for yourself which is the
better worker of the two. You must bear in mind that in early
spring, flowers, and especially fruit blossoms, mature rapidly. Of
the essential organs the anthers in most cases come to perfection
first, and are the first to die. The pollen is distributed in a very
few hours, and its vitality in most instances is short-lived. The
pistil with stigma and its carpels are very delicate organisms, there-
fore liable to all kinds of accidents. When we remember the:
chief characteristics of the stigma, it will be seen that a dust.
storm is capable of clogging it, and thus prevent fructification. A
dust storm in early spring has a deal to answer for in the failure.
of fruit crops; so has heavy rain, wind, or anything else that may
bruise these very delicate portions of the flower. From this will
be seen the imperative necessity for some rapidly-moving agent.
to convey the perishable pollen to the highly-sensitive stigma..
The numerical strength of these agents must be in proportion to
the quantity of work they are expected to do, or the areas under
fruit culture they are to visit. If bee-keepers and their bees were:
banished from Australia there would be fruit, but in what quan-.
tities? I have referred elsewhere to the mischief done by butter-.
flies and some other insects, but no such mischief ever follows in
the wake of the bee. Fertilisation by agents other than bees.
would be sufficient to perpetuate species of fruits, and occasionally
to produce varieties; but to fertilise heavy crops sufficient to feed
mankind they are too inactive, and the mature insects. numerically
too weak. If adult butterflies, &c., were equal in number to adult.
bees a famine would follow in the track of their larve as disastrous.
as that caused by the armies of locusts that have been known to
sweep over the Holy Land in times past. Numerous insectivorous
birds and other animals almost live exclusively on insects, their
eggs and larve, and thus their injurious ravages are somewhat
checked. i

THE INFLUENCE OF BEES ON CROPS. 273

How wonderfully has Nature protected this invaluable insect,
the bee—valuable not as-a honey-storer, but as a fruit-producer.
Practically the adult bee has no enemy, if we except the wood
swallow, and in the egg and larval stages its home is almost im-
pregnable to invaders. Of course, like the human family and
other animals, it is liable to the ‘‘ills that flesh is heir to.” In
a state of nature bee ova and larva have one arch enemy—the
bee moth—and it is as well it should be so. Bees in a state of
nature are a great drawback to bee-keepers. The honey, when
obtained, is a fourth-rate quality owing to the quantity of foreign
matter mixed through it. That same honey, if stored in the frames
of the hives of practical bee-keepers, would be worth four times
as much as when obtained as bush honey. But this is a digression.
To the careful bee-keeper, enemies, not diseases, to the eggs, larva,
and young bees are rarely known. The bee-keeper having his stock
under control can, with the greatest ease, regulate the supply and
demand.

No district can be overstocked with bees, if we regard them
as fruit-fertilisers. only, but as honey-gatherers it is another mat-
ter. The greater*number of bees kept in an orchard or fruit dis-
trict the more rapidly is fertilisation carried on. Once the bee
has carried. the pollen to the pistil, the act of fructification being
successful, the development of the fruit is assured—the fruit has
set. A few days after the bloom of the trees has disappeared the
infant fruit can be seen in the early stages of growth. Standing
near an apple, orange, or other tree, when the fruit is in its
earliest stage, and a gentle wind shakes the branches, you will
sometimes hear the fruit falling in hundreds, or if the tree is shaken
the same results will follow. In walking through an orchard in
spring-time young fruit just formed are always seen in greater or
less numbers scattered on the ground. The premature falling. of
these fruits is, generally, the result of imperfect fertilisation,
caused either by slight injuries to the stigma or an insufficient
number of bees to discharge the duties Nature requires of them,
i.e., fructification. The same results will follow if the blossoms
after pollenisation are frost-bitten, or cutting winds, or the con-
ditions of the growth or its development checked. All these and
others will prevent the young fruit progressing to maturity. Some-
times the crop of fruit will be too heavy for the tree to carry, 1.€.,
the sap is insufficient te supply the young with. the nourishment

required.

274 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION.

‘(What man has done man can do,” is a very wise old saw,
‘or a truism that cannot be disputed ; and what insects have done,
in many instances man can do to his advantage and the advantage
of his race. These tiny workers are accredited with unfolding and
throwing light upon many a discovery, and man is said to have
received some valuable and useful hints by noting the methods or
the results of some of their habits and constructions. Science ‘*s
said to have taught us that insects have played no inconsiderable
art in the development of the plant world; how the ocean was
the birthplace and cradle of vegetable life, or how the early aqua-
tic forms of it developed their terrestrial representatives, and these
again from the lower forms of fruit and grain to the highest tpyes
‘we now enjoy. Whether it was by those disputable points ‘‘spon-
taneous generation’’ or evolution from ‘‘mere specks of green
jelly” seen floating in the sea, and the variations, ensuing from their
battling and struggling for life, and the ‘‘survival of the fittest,’
or the ones naturally selected and taken by man under his care
and guardianship, matters not, as far as the power we now have
in producing variations in the vegetable kingdom, and from these
selecting the ones that will administer most to our medicinal and
dietary wants, or those having ornamental colours and forms to
please the eye and decorate our surroundings, making life worth
living, is immaterial to this portion of our subject.

That the bee is, by the part she plays in fertilisation, our
greatest fruit-producer, must be conceded by those who have looked
into the subject, and she is such an absolute adjunct to the or-
chardist and others, that to interfere with the bee-keeper would
be suicidal to all who are engaged in the reproduction of vegetable
life.

I have mentioned that bees have been accredited with the
destruction of some of our choicest annual vegtables by inoculation,
and that, to a certain extent, they are guilty; but the want of
knowledge in men who are engaged in the work of supplying or
cultivating such vegetables is the true cause of the disappearance
or injury to the varieties referred to. I have said the inoculation
of annuals, for it is immaterial how the fruits and seeds of trees
and such-like that are reproduced by grafting, budding, cuttings,
offsets, &c., ate inoculated or cross-pollenised, because the im-
mediate fruit or flower is in no way improved or injured by it.

ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. 275

Cross-pollenisation does not show itself in the fruit or flower that
has been so fertilised, but in the plant that is produced from that
cross-pollenisation. You may discern an egg that has been laid
by a Cochin hen that is running in a yard of mixed fowls by its.
colour, but from the egg you cannot tell what the cross-bred chick
will be; that will only show itself in the progeny resulting from
the crossing. So it is in cross-pollenisation—the blossom or fruit
does nat show it, but the crossing is seen in the succeeding genera-
tion.

The way bees transfer the pollen grains from the anther to
the stigma has been already described, and the simplicity of the
method must be apparent to all.

The action of conveying pollen from place to place is in no way
injurious, neither does the instrument used interfere with its:
vitality. An artificial instrument is as useful to convey it from
flower to flower as a natural one, and the action would produce
the same result. We have seen that pollen removed from tne male.
flower and placed on the receptive organ of a female flower produce
fertile fruit. In members of the pumpkin-family the sexual flowers.
are situated on different parts of the same plant, and the sexuality
of the blossom is.very readily distinguished. Taking that class.
of plant for our model, let us see how easily artificial fertilisation.
can be accomplished. The first step will be to secure in both.
sexual flowers immunity from visits of bees and other insects. To.
do this, if the same strain of pumpkin, &c., is to be retained, select.
two blossoms (male and female) on the same vine whilst in bud.
form—that is, some days before the flower opens. Enclose them
with fine mosquito netting. Gauze-wire is better, because it can-
not come into close contact with the opening flower. Care must.
be taken that the netting is sufficiently large to permit the full
expansion of the flower. When the essential organs are mature—
that is, in the case of the male flower, when the pollen comes.
away. freely with the instrument used in its removal; and in the
female when the central organ has a viscid appearance—remove.
the net covering from the male bloom first, and with a soft downy
feather, or, better still, a small camel-hair pencil (brush), gently
brush over the essential organ. If the instrument used be dark.
in colour it will be noted that a quantity of yellow dust (pollen).
is adhering to it. Carry the brush gently to the the female flower,
remove its covering also, and softly apply the brush with its pollen.
to its-eentral organ. As soon as the operation is cumpleted . be
sure to re-cover the bloom that has been artificially fertilised. To:

276 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

onsure male and female bloom maturing at the same time it is
necessary that male buds in various stages of development be
selected and treated as above described.

The imperative necessity of artificially fertilising cucumbers,
&c., or fruits that are grown under glass or indoor gardens, has
long been recognised. In colder latitudes, where early cucumbers,
melons, &c., are at a premium, the first morning duty of the man
in charge is, as soon as the sun is sufficiently high, to go the rounds
of his forcing-pits to overhaul the vines therein, note every female
blossom, and taking a male flower in his hand, dust the pollen
from it to the stigma of the receptive bloom. Every stigma so
‘treated is morally certain to produce a fruit. But every one
neglected is certain to be a failure as far as the production of a
fruit is concerned. :

What has been said in relation to pumpkin-fertilisation holds
‘good with every other flower that is fertilised by insect agency,
only the smaller the flower the greater care must be cxercised,
and the more patience necessary to ensure successful results. Onc
fact must always be remembered—every seed requires a grain of
pollen to ensure a plant from the seed sown; therefore be not par-
-simonious in the application of pollen, and also remember ‘‘enough
is as good as a feast.’’ The care necessary is to apply the brush
with its pollen to the receptive organ with as soft and gentle touch
.as possible.

When hybridisation or cross-fertilisation is required, the same
methods must be followed as in the case of pollenising from one
variety to that of the same ; only whatever species or varieties it is
proposed to cross for the reproduction of something new, the selection
of the sexes, 7.e., the stameniferous and pistiliferous, must be free
from disease, vegetable blights, or parasites of every kind. The pollen
from the anther must be removed from the one species or variety to
the stigmatic portion. of the one it is desired to hybridise, and rire
versa, Nevertheless the results form these crossings are often more
.successful than where this interchange is not used. The consti-
tution in the sexes of two plants greatly differ; the pollen-bearing
essential organs in one plant being far more vigerous than in that
-of another; and the same differences are met with in the receptive
-organs of distinct species or varieties.

If hermaphrodite or bisexual blooms are to receive cross-
pollenisation, they too must be guarded from the action of insects
The operation is a very delicate one. The flower-buds selected
-from which to transfer the pollen must be carefully watched, and

ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. 277

as the anthers develop they-must be lightly removed -without, in-
juring the stigma in the slightest degree, a finely-pointed pair of
scissors being used for the purpose. Stamens, as a rule, develop
earlier than the pistil.

‘ he pollenisation of double flowers or blossoms is another
delicate work, and needs extra patience. The extra number of
petals in these is the result of abnormal treatment, which causes
the stamens or pistil, and sometimes both, to fall back to flattened
leaves. z

Botanically speaking, all flowers are modified leaves. When
the stamens only have undergone this transformation it is possible
to obtain seeds from double blossoms. The petals are removed
in the same manner as the anthers from bisexual flowers, and the
result is often effective, z.e., fertile seeds are produced. Of course,
the anthers from a single or semi-double flower supply the pollen;
but where both stamens and pistil have undergone the transforma-
tion to pétals, perpetuation by seeds is altogether out of the
question. The reason is very patent—there are no organs of re-
production.

It will need a deal of patience and experience to be successful
in the more delicate operations named, and the results will be very
disappointing, for, as a rule, not one seed in a thousand or more
will be an improvement on the original. Now-a-days the plant
world has a tendency to go back to some earlier form.

These final remarks do not apply to the cultivation of pump-
kins, melons, cucurfbers, &c. The method of artificial fertilisation
described will always ensure the best strains of them pure for
years to come. To keep any choice strain in health and good
heart, a pollen-bearing bloom of the same strain should occa-
sionally be introduced from another district ; a plant or seed would
be better if the desired strain had also been secured by artificial
means. Such plants should be grown away from the main crop,
and the anthers and pistils used for reproductive purposes care-
fully guarded from any chance of the pollen from an undesirable
strain being conveyed to the stigma of the plants to be used for
seed purposes. ;

The pollen in all cases contains the cells of life, and ovaries.
in the pistillate blooms contain the cells of matter. It is the union
of these two cells, that of life and that of matter, which produces
fertile seeds.

Remember, in selecting for cross-pollenisation purposes,
natural orders cannot be used to produce new or fresh orders; nor

278 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

genus with genus to produce new genera. Species with species
will sometimes produce hybrids, but the result is that these mules
are seldom capable of being reproduced from seeds, and when such
is the case, they die out after one or two generations ‘of sickly
vitality. Nevertheless, hybrids so. produced can be perpetuated
by grafting, budding, &c. Hybrid annual seedlings seldom last
for more than one season. Nature has always a tendency to revert
to the original form from whence it sprung. In the ages gone by,
whatever may have been the natural law.as it regards the ‘‘de-
velopment of species,’’ the law now, in these later times, appears
to have been repealed, not only in that of species, but even largely
in that of varieties. Hybrids-and varieties, both in the vegetable
and animal kingdom, when removed from the fostering care of
man, degenerate gradually but surely to the prototypes from whence
they came.

I notice that I have used the terms “‘natural orders’’ to pro-
duce new orders, ‘‘genus’” to produce genera, &c.; this may not
be equally clear to all readers. But let us take an illustration
from every-day poultry-yard life. Everyone engaged in it knows
it is utterly impossible to obtain a hybrid between a duck and a
fowl; while a hybrid between a Muscovy and an Aylesbury, or
a Pekin duck, are of frequent occurrence, but these mules so pro-
duced are never reproductive amongst themselves, because the
Aylesbury is a different species to that of the Muscovy. Again,
if an Aylesbury duck be crossed with a Rouen, the cross-bred
descendants are as reproductive among themselves as their parents
would be among members of their own family because they are
varieties of the same species. These same rules,apply equally well
to members of the plant world.

Pollen is the vital agent in the reproduction of all fruit crops,
and also the life-cell in the reproduction and perpetuation of all
phanerogamic plants, 7.¢., plants having conspicuous flowers, has
already been shown. In this division of the vegetable kingdom
it has been pointed out that reproduction is the result of a union
between ovules and pollen grains, the former being the cells of
matter, and the latter the life-cells. The methods or agents em-
ployed by Nature to bring about this union in plant-life are various.
In nearly all of them, excepting that. of the union that is produced
by insects, it is extremely haphazard. Indeed, the’ union ‘that is
brought about by other insects than: bees is almost as fluctuating
as that of other agencies, such as wind, &c., if we except the bee
family; and this family must be gradually narrowed ‘down to the

~

ae ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. 279

hive bee as the one par ercellence in the art of fertilisation in the
production of crops that are useful for food or otherwise to. man.
In the majority of entomophilous plants it is almost impossible
for fructification to take place but by contact with an outside
‘agent, and the only agents designed by Nature by their construc-
tion, instinct, and their domestic requirements, are members of
the bee family. In all parts of the world there are many thousands
of species and varieties of insects. Yet out of this vast army of
unique and, in some instances, grotesque forms. having peculiarities
adaptable for the life they have to lead, and for obscuring them-
selves from enemies by resembling the plants, etc., upon which they
live. the only ones that collect and store pollen are bees. When other
insects carry pollen it is entirely accidental. Bees cannot live with-
out it. It is their bread of life. Their young cannot be nurstd
to maturity so as to perform the active duties they have to follow
without it. In the insect world there are artisans in paper-making,
in spinning. in weaving, in basket-making, in house-building, in
masonry, in sawing, in carpentry, in upholstering, &c., each of
them having tools or instruments specially suited for carrying out
the work Nature has intended them to perform; but the only ones
having- instruments and appliances for gathering, carrying and
storing pollen are bees. Pollen is removed from the anthers and
conveyed to the receptive organs of flowers by every variety of insect
that alights on them during the time the pollen is distributive.
By reason of the viscid nature of the pollen grains of most entomo-
philous flowers it adheres to the body or legs of any insect that
may by chance walk over it, and is conveyed by them elsewhere.
If it were brought in contact with the pistil of a flower of its own
variety, the act of fertilisation would: be as efficacious as if it were
carried by bees; but these cases are purely accidental, and the
succesz¢s aro only ‘‘few and far between.’’ Not so with the bee.
Every movement of the bee in the direction of fertilisation is a
studied one designed purely by Nature to accomplish the perpetua-
tion of the plant it is at work upon. The anthers of some flowers
are so situated as to discharge the pollen only on some very par-
ticular spot of the external anatomy of the bee—her head, upper
surface of the thorax, chest, tongue-sheath, etc., and the stigma
is so placed in the flower that only that portion of the bee that
has received the pollen would be capable to effect the purpose. ;

I have used the term bees (Apide) frequently to indicate any
member of that extensive family; but all or every variety of beé
although both honey and pollen gatherers, are not capable of gene-

280 AUSTRALIAN LEE LORE AND LEE CULTURE.

ral fertilisation. It is only the most highly developed bees (humble
bees and honey bees) that .are furnished with apparatus suitable
for collecting and carrying pollen from flowers of all forms or
designs. Mason bees and leaf cutters (Osmia and Megachile) have
the ventral surfaee of the abdomen furnished with long stiff re-
troverted hairs, These hairs by pointing the ‘‘wrong” way brush
the pollen from the anthers as the insects pass in and out of the
bloom. Grains of pollen become entangled among them, and by
this means they are transported elsewhere; the hairs on the
abdomen of such insects are beautifully adapted for the fertilisa-
tion of flowers having a broad and flat corolla, and the reproductive
organs being protuberant or conspicuous. If the female organ be
hidden low down in the long narrow tube that some blossoms pos-
sess, such as clover, etc., they are utterly incapable of performing
the uniting ceremony required to produce a fertile seed.

If the hinder legs of one of the hairy bees, a young one es-
pecially, because they are more furry than the older ones, be closely
examined when returning home, it will be noted that they are
thickly bespangled with grains of pollen, to be afterwards trans-
ferred to the pollen baskets; it is these stray grains of pollen
attached to the hairs that are utilised in pollinating the receptive
organs of blossoms. The hairs on the hinder legs of one of the
humble bees (Bombus terrestris), the arrangement of the pollen-
gathering hairs, are carried out with greater perfection, but the
hairs are distributed in the same regular manner as in the hairy
bee already referred to. In the ordinary honey bee (Apis mellifica),
the pollen-collecting hairs are much better adapted to their de-
signed use than is the case with the two former. The hairs on
the tarsus of the legs are arranged, not in the irregular way as is
the case in that of the humble bee, but in eight or nine regular
rows. This regularity of the arrangement of the hairs of the pollen-
brush enables our domesticated bee to brush the grains of pollen
from the anthers far more effectively than is the case with any
member of the whole species. Whilst she is at work on the flowers,
and also in mid-air, she is constantly transferring those grains to
the pollen baskets, but adi are not stored therein; some escape,
and? it is these escapees that do the work of fertilisation.

I think I have poined out clearly that there is no insect so
highly developed for carrying the imperatively essential pollen
from flower to flower as the hive-bees. Their intelligence, their
energy, their social habits, and the ease with which they are kept
under control stamp them at once as no mean. ally to the tiller ‘of

ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. 281

the soil. The practiga] bee-keeper in any district is a confederate
that should be welcoi é to all. The indiscriminate destruction of
native honey-producing flora should be carefully avoided, because
most of the plants that I have referred to in these articles are
exotics, and these as a rule bloom in the early spring, and the pollen
and honey obtained therefrom is used in the spring and summer
for the raising of young brood. The stores gathered from indi-
geneus summer and autumn flowers are to carry them over the
severity of the winter. If there be not sufficient storage when the
‘cold and wet season sets in to carry them through till springtime
it will cause an insufficiency of bees to do the work Nature has
assigned for them, and the result will be a lesser ingathering of
the. fruits: of: the tillers’ labours. Landowners and others cannot
have the remotest idea of the mischief they are doing to the vege-
table kingdom, and therefore to mankind, by the wholesale ‘de-
‘struction of our native flora, If these are wholly, or nearly wholly,
cleared fromthe land to the extent of giving insufficient winter
storage for our bees so ‘as to decimate them to the extent of their-
numerical inability to carry on the necessary work of fertilisation,
the result will be more disastrous than droughts or floods to our
fruit trees, because these would cease to yield their crops.

The sons of our agriculturists and others engaged on the land
are instructed in pruning, grafting, budding, and other con-
comitant adjuncts for obtaining a living from the soil, but none
of these are more necessary than an acquaintance with bee-manage-
ment—the practical part of it at least. Apart from the profits
from the sale of the honey, or that used in the home (there is no
food more healthy and invigorating), the presence of bees. on a
homestead are.as necessary as the implements of husbandry, nay
‘indeed more so.

There is yet another phase of this subject I intend to deal
with. I have confined myself to the influence of bees on fruits:
here I intend dealing with them as florists.

It has been advocated by the very highest scientific authorities
for the Darwinian theory of the development of species in the
vegetable kingdom, that colours and perfume of flowers have been
produced chiefly, if not entirely, by the visitation of bees and
other insects—that our. brightest coloured flowers have been de-
veloped from progenitors of inconspicuous tints, and the highly
attractive shades of the blooms of to-day are the result of the
showy character of, as regards colour, a less-favoured earlier race.
The same is also said to be the reason of our highly-perfumed

282 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

blossoms; and these two qualities of flowers—colour and perfume
—remain dominant as attractive agents to insects. It is further
said that the development of colour and perfume has had the effect
of educating the visual and olfactory nerves of these insects (bees)
in their search for flowers of particular colour or perfume to supply
them with their daily bread, whilst they pass over those of a less
gaudy colouring unheeding. Again, that the markings in the
throat or tube of other flowers act as finger-posts or guide-marks
to point the bees in the direction they should take to discover
where the nectar is situated that contains their food supply. (See
“The Story of the Plants,” by Grant Allen; ‘“‘Cross and Self-
Fertilisation,” by Darwin and others.)

I am not going to attempt to prove that bees have not had
an influence on the plant world; I have already acknowledge it
elsewhere. Neither am I going to try to disprove that they are
not cognisant of both colour and perfume; but that some colours
and some perfumes are more attractive to bees than certain others
does not in any way accord with my experience and years of ob-
servation.

I know that highly intellectual scientists of undoubted veracity
have applied numerous tests, and given the results of their ob-
servations to the world, to prove that colours and perfumes are
the chief signs that act, like the Southern Cross to the mariner,
as indicators for bees to steer by in their peregrinations for the
discovery of both pollen and honey. It has been conceded again
and again that the tests and their results were unfailing proofs:
of the correctness of these suppositions, 7.e., that flowers of very
inconspicuous colours, markings, and shapes have developed into
the bright and showy colours and forms they now possess that are-
so attractive to the cultivated eye of lovers of the plant world.

Sir John Lubbock, in ‘Bees, Ants, and Wasps,’’ referring to
the colour sense of bees, says: ‘‘The consideration of the causes.
which have led to the structure and colouring of flowers is one
of the most fascinating ‘parts of natural history. Most. botanists.
are now agreed that insects, and especially bees, have played a.
very important part in the development of flowers. While in
many plants, almost invariably with the inconspicuous blossoms,
the pollen is carried from flower to flower by the wind; in cases.
of almost all large and brightly- -coloured flowers this is effected
by the agency of insects. In such flowers, the colours, scents, and
honey , serve to attract insects, while the size and form are arranged

ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. ‘983

in such a manner that the insects fertilise them with pollen brought
from another plant. ” The stalics are mine. x

Whilst I am writing I have before me in the garden the white
Arum lily (Arum africanus). A few weeks ago its white pollen
was eagerly scught for by bees. At the same time the broad beans
were in full bloom. These, too, were an attractive foraging-ground
for the same insects. Since then the peach-trees have burst into
flower, with the result that the first-named is entirely forsaken,
and the second receiving only an occasional visit. Have the bees
gone to the peach-trees because of their attractive colours? Not
a bit of it. . While the peaches are in flower so are the willows
(Salix babylonica) just throwing out their catkins. The bees are
now bringing in pollen of two colours, one creamy white and the
other somewhat of an orange tint. I note that in this (Stanmore)
district there are roses, marigolds, Arum liliés, and other attrac-
tive flowers in full bloom, but few bees are visiting them. The
pollen is coming from the willows and peach-trees. There is also
honey from the latter. The flowers (catkins) on the willow
are so inconspicuous that a large number of people are ignorant
of the fact that they are phanerogamic; yet they are as attractive
to the bees as the gaudy peach blooms. A few days ago I visited
the Sydney Botanic Gardens. At the time of my visit the most
attractive beds of flowers were daisies, pansies, anemones, and the
turban ranunculus. Nothing in the Gardens was more showy than
these latter, yet no bee visited them. Near was a shrub (Burus
‘sempervirens) in which there was a constant hum. What was the
cause? Hidden among the foliage there were some small greenish
flowers, supplying abundance of bee food. If colour had been
their guiding star they would never have found it in the shrub—
they would have searched the ranunculus beds; and there they
would have searched in vain. But who will say the attractive
colour was not there?

When I found the bees had forsaken the Arum lilies and
broad-beans for the peach and willow trees, I tried to induce them
ta return to the first-named by offering them large bribes. I
covered the essential organs of the lily with pure honey; but no
bee visited them, and finally the bribe was carried away by ants.

It is nfore than doubtful if bees are attracted to flowers by
their colours. Bees can distinguish colours and objects. ‘Ihe tests
supplied by Sir John Lubbock on this point are interesting, but
do not go to show that the bees are attracted by the colours iu
flowers. He says ‘‘bees have played a very important part in the

284 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

development of flowers.’’ (Read the whole: quotation on prertous
page.) “T thought,” he says, ‘‘it would be desirable to prove
this, if possible, by actual fact. . . . I brought a bee to some:
honey which I placed on blue paper, and about 3 feet off I placed
a similar quantity of honey on orange paper.’ [Wote, his experi-
‘ments were carried out with paper covered with honey, not with
flowers.] ‘‘The bee carried away a load of honey and returned
to the same blue paper twice.’”’ He then transposed the papers,
and she made three more visits to the same coloured paper. On
the following day he again transposed the colours. The bee ‘‘re-
turned to the old place, and was just going to alight, but observ-
ing the change of colours, without a moment's hesitation darted
off to the blue. No one who saw. her at that moment could have
entertained the slightest doubt about her perceiving the difference
between the two colours.’”’ Yes; because she had learned it was.
the blue paper that gave her food. The bee was working by sight.
exactly upon the same lines as the highly intellectual man acts.
If there be two cupboards or safes of two different colours in a.
room—a blue one containing his food, and an orange one his
papers—if their positions are frequently changed he goes into the
room and looks for the one, by its colour,: that contains the food.
or papers he may require; but if he had been accustomed to find
the blue safe in the room in the same position, he would enter
the room and would be about to open it, ‘‘but observing the change
of colours, without a moment’s hesitation,’ he too would ‘‘dart
off to the blue,” and ‘‘no one who saw him at that moment could
entertain the slightest doubt about his perceiving the difference
between the two colours” of the safes. It was not the colour that.
attracted the bee; it was the food. Notwithstanding the trans-
positions of colour, as soon as all the honey had been used up, the-
orange or other colour would have been just as attractive if bee
food were placed on it.

On one occasion I saw a bunch of flowers that had been
brought from a distance thrown out on a rubbish heap. It was
early spring, and at. the time bee food was very scarce, especially
pollen. There was a good store of honey within the hives; there
was also young brood; therefore, pollen was needed. As soon
as the bees saw these discarded. blooms many of them were “‘just
going to alight,’ but observing there was no food they hastened
off to the inconspicuous flowers. of the couch grass, upon which
they had been at work for several days, because there was nothing
else at that time supplying them with pollen that. was so essential
for the young brood.

ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. ; 985

In ‘‘The Story of the Plants,” Grant Allen says, ‘‘The use of
the’ corolla with its brilliant petals, is to attract insects to the
flowers and induce them to carry pollen from plant to plant. That
is why they are painted red and blue and yellow; they are there
as advertisements to tell the bee or butterfly, “Here you can get
get good honey’! Jf the brilliant coloured petal of flowers are so
attractive to bees, how is it the single blooms are more attractive ta
them than double ones of the same variety and species having the
same colour? Here-is’the answer: The single ones -produce pollen
which is the all-essential food supply for the young bees, but truly
double blooms produce no anthers, therefore they produce no pollen.
Where bees can get the greatest supply of food in the shortest
space of time is the place where they will go. They do not ‘care
what colour the corolla is, it may be ‘‘painted red, blue, or yellow,”
the pollen and honey are the advertisements. Neither do they
care what colour the pollen is, because they carry home white,
.yellow, and red pollen indiscriminately, but only one cofour at
the same time. The cells in the combs that are packed with pollen

_ contain any colour they.can»get..-Food~is the advertisement, and.

not the colour in the corolla or the petals.

In some of our most ornamental plants the flowers are so
inconspicuous were it not for their foliage they would be treated
as weeds and rooted out. The brilliant foliage is their only re-
commendation. The carpet beds in our Botanical Gardens during
summer are one of the chief attractions to the grounds. They are
nothing but leaves. There is no denying their brilliancy. Watch
as long as your patience will permit, you will never see pollen or
honey-feeding insects alight on them for the purpose of obtaining
food. If the clipping or trimming of these carpet beds be neglect-
ed, and the tiny flowers be permitted to expand, you will at once
see bees and other insects alighting for grains of pollen and sips
of honey.

The caladium and the coleus have foliage far more showy than
the blooms of scores of plants that are constantly visited by bees,
but bright as the foliage may be, the bees are not attracted thereby.
When the coleus throws up its spike of pale blue flowers then it
becomes attractive to insects, and they are drawn to it, not -by
the colour of the flower or the leaf, but by the food contained in
the former.

In the month of September. the peach-trees are in full bicom,
go are the bougainvilleas. The brilliant crimson bracts of tae

’

286 AUSTRALIAN CEE, LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

latter, with their small creamy-white flowers, are equally as attrac-
tive in colour as the peach-trees, yet where one bee visits the latter
a thousand will visit the former.

The manufacturing of artificial flowers has become so perfect
of late, and the imitations are so much like natural flowers that
when placed amongst natural foliage, the experienced eye of the
florist frequently fails to detect the fraud.. Even if it be a honey
or pollen bearing imitation bees are not deceived thereby. If the
colour of the flowers or their forms are the advertisements telling
them where they could get honey, how is it that bees and other
insects are not swarming on the head-dresses of the fashionably
attired ladies of to-day? No one can deny that these artificial
flowers are as perfect both in form and colour to the sight as the
natural ones they are meant to represent, only their essentials of
reproduction are absent. The food bees require is wanting, and
food, and food alone, is the only advertisement that will induce
the bee to search for sustenance even in natural blooms. Their
natural intelligence and generations of education have taught them
the true sources of wealth. Bees will no more search colours in
the expectation of getting food than a gold-miner would go fos-
sicking in a coal-pit for gold.

Botanists and entomologists speak of bees as one of the highest

types of insects, and Grant Allen, in ‘‘The Story of the Plant,”
speaks of them thus:—‘‘These higher insects . . are the
safest fertilisers because they have legs and a proboscis exactly
adapted to the work they are meant for; and they have also, as
ae rule, a taste of red, blue, and purple flowers, rather than for
simple white or yellow ones. Hence, the blossoms that especially
lay themselves out for the higher insects are almost always blue
or purple.”

Darwin, in ‘‘Self-fertilisation of Plants,’ says :—‘‘Not only
do the bright colours of flowers serve to attract insects, but dark-
coloured streaks and marks are often present, which Sprengel long
‘ago maintained serve as guides to the nectary,” and ‘‘that the
‘coloured corolla is the chief guide cannot be doubted.” The
native daphne (Pittosporum undulatum) flower has a creamy corolla
hidden amongst its deep green foliage. These trees, both in the
Botanic and in private gardens, were in bloom at the same time
as the double-flowered peach. In the furmer the bees were in
swarms busily at work, and only an odd bee occasionally visited
‘the latter, and the flowers visited were those containing a few

scattered anthers from whence they could scrape together a few
‘

‘
ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. 287

grains of pollen. The bright blooms of the double-flowered peach
could be seen hundreds of yards away, but to discover the flowers
on the pittosporum you need stand underneath the tree. There
is no flower in this State more frequently visited by bees than the
simple white or creamy yellow eucalyptus bloom. It is the bee-
keeper’s most important source of profit.

Again, we are told that markings on certain flowers are finger-
posts. ‘‘The lines or spots so often found on the petals of highly-
developed flowers,” says the author of ‘‘The Story of the Plants,”
‘‘act as honey-guides to lead the bee or other fertilising insect
direct to the nectary’’; he then goes on to describe the ‘‘so-called
nasturtium.’’ The upper pair (of petals) are broad and deep-lined
with dark veins which all converge about the mouth of the spur,
and so show the inquiring insect exactly where to go in search
of honey. The lower three on the other hand, have no lines or
markings, but possess a curious sort of fence running right across
the face, intended to prevent other flying insects from alighting
and rifling the flower without fertilising it.” The nasturtium is
bi-sexual (one of those whose stamens develop before the pistil),
which is said to be the reason the nectary is situated so far down
the spur. In most. bi-sexual flowers, in those where the stamens
are first to develop, and also in those where the pistil first comes
to maturity, the nectary is not situated low down, and so far as
we know bees find no difficulty in fertilising them. Such flowers,
2.e., those whose nectaries are easily accessible, however, produce
plenty of seed. How bees must be baffled when they visit unicolour
flowers ?

What a waste of time it must be for insects to discover the
nectary where Nature has been so remiss as not to put up guide
posts. In the wild nasturtium of India the two upper petals have
these ‘‘guide posts,’’ but the three lower ones have not. The
cultivated descendants of these have altered wonderfully in their
Shades of colours and markings. Now before me, I have some
blooms that are like the originals, only the three lower petals
have markings. The markings on the two upper ones are brick-
colour, and in form like the broad-arrow, the apex pointing to-
wards the nectary. The marking on the lower petals are somewhat
Similar, only the apex points outwards. In blooms of such character
are bees much perplexed to discover the nectary? I have also
before me a nasturtium unicolour, a pale sulphur-yellow, yet when
in the garden I saw the bees were never at a loss which way to
turn to find the nectary, and this flower was visited as regularly

~

288 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

as those of brighter colours, and most pronounced markings.
George Massee, in ‘‘The Plant World,” says ‘‘that the only use
of colour in the flower is that of an advertisement indicating their
presence to insects.’? When stamens lose their character as such,
and become petals, the intensity of colour increases and it becomes
more attractive to the eye; nevertheless, the more double a flower
becomes the less it is attractive to insects.

Mr. R. T. Baker, Curator, Technical Museum, informs me
that when botanising in the mountainous districts of New South
Wales, near a garden filled with gorgeous-coloured flowers, he ob-
served a specimen of Panax sambucifolius, the small, inconspicuous
flowers of which were literally swarming with bees in quest of
honey and pollen; and those brightly-coloured blooms in the gar-
den were in nearly every case passed over by the bees for the
purpose of visiting the specimen named.

Some of the writers I have referred to have given their ex-
perience of watching bees searching for the nectary, and the in-
sects’ apparent failure to discover it at first sight. When bees
are seen searching about the essential organs of flowers it. is not
the nectary they are in search of, but the gyrations they make
are for the purpose of collecting the grains of poilen. If a bee
is seen at work on a sunflower or other composite bloom, her move-
ments in gathering pollen differ greatly from those in collecting
honey. Every leg is brought into play in the former work, and
her motions are as systematic and various as the figures in a
country dance. How differently she goes to work in collecting
honey. Her head bends towards every expanded flower, and her
tongue is thrust into every nectary. At some she pauses moment-
arily—some insect has been there before her; at others her stay
is longer; she has her reward.

Notwithstanding an insect may have rifled the nectary of its
honey, and when visited by the bee found to be empty, in a few
minutes another or the same bee will revisit it, and this time her
stay may be longer, because between the two visits the nectary
will have secreted another supply. The indecision of the bee at a
flower is no proof that she is looking for the position of the
nectary.

To-day bees may be industriously at work upon a flower of
certain colour, and to-morrow forsake it for one of less conspicuous
shade. ‘‘It would appear,’ says Darwin, ‘‘that either the taste
or the odour of the nectary of certain flowers is unattractive to
hive-bees, or to humble-bees, or to both, for there seems no reason

ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. 289

why certain open flowers which secrete nectar are not visited by
both, The small quantity of nectar secreted by some of these
flowers can hardly be the cause of their neglect, as hive-bees search
eagerly for the minute drops on the glands of the leaves of the
Prunus lawrocerasus.”

‘The small quantity of honey secreted’ is the cause. Within
a near radius there were, undoubtedly, flowers that were secreting
larger quantities of honey, and both humble and hive-bees always
visit flowers where they can gather the greatest quantity in the
shortest space of time. When the hive-bees were searching ‘‘eager-
ly for the minute drops on the glands of the leaves of the Prunus
laurocerasus,”’ the honey flow must have been scarce elsewhere. I
have seen bees in time of a honey famine search the most unlikely
places in the hope of getting something to take home. ‘‘A drown-
ing man will catch at a straw,’ and a bee on short allowance will
search anything and anywhere to keep the cupboard full.

Some years ago, at Cooma, in a dry season, a bed of turnips
ran to flower. They were sown on a sandy, thirsty soil. For
three or four days they were beseiged by bees. Almost suddenly
the bees ceased to visit the turnip blooms, although they were
still expanding. The cause of their forsaking the turnips became
evident. About one-third of a mile away, on the banks of a creek,
a small paddock of lucerne had flowered, and the bees were be-
stowing their attention on it, because it was yielding a greater
supply of food. Their harvest from the lucerne lasted but a day
or so. The scythe stopped the honey flow, and the bees returned
to the turnips. Was it the dark-blue flower of the lucerne that
caused the bees to forsake the creamy yellow flower of the turnip,
or the superior quantity of honey contained in the lucerne? Un-
doubtedly the latter. The whole family of trefoils are well known
to be great) honey-producers.

Whatever may have been the reason for plants to have brightly-
coloured flowers, and to be otherwise decorated so as to attract
insects to aid in the work of the development of the vegetable
world in past ages, it is evident in these latter times the bees at
least have been sufficiently educated to go without leading strings,
and have kicked over the traces, and now work according to their
own sweet will, or a Higher One.

Darwin himself is not quite sure that the colours and markings
of flowers in every case are for the sole purpose of attracting bees.

290 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

I have before remarked that bees do not work indiscriminately
on every species of flower that comes to hand, notwithstanding
they are all honey-producers; but one peregrination is confined
to collecting from one species, and in the next ramble they may
select another, and so on. Whatever species of flower they may
select to gather from, it is not the colour of the bloom that is the
attraction. In watching bees at work on a bed of poppies, the
brightly-coloured flowers are not chosen in preference to white.
Any colour in the bed is as attractive as that of any other.

“Bees repeatedly passed in a direct line from one variety to
another of the same species, although they bore very differently-
coloured flowers. I observed also bees flying in a straight line from
one clump of yellow-flowered Cinthera to every clump of the same
plant in the garden without turning an inch from their course
to plants of Hschscholtzia, and others with yellow flowers, which lay
only a foot or two on either side. In these cases the bees knew
the position of each plant in the garden . . . so that they
were guided by experience and memory.’* The experience they
had gained was that Cinthera contained more food than Esch-
scholtzia, and Nature had taught them that it would be impossible
to impregnate the ovaries of the one with the pollen of the other.

What is our Australian experience as it regards the colour
of flowers that are chiefly visited by bees? There is no denying
that some of our endemic flowers are as brightly coloured as the
exotic; and, before the introduction of foreign plants and the
bee (Apis mellifica), the chief honey-gathering social insect was
the little native bee (L’rigona carbonaria), one of the chief insect
fertilisers in Australia. The chief honey-yielding plants in these
States are the Pittosporum and the tea-tree (Leptospermum family).

The colour of the native flowers named are whitish, with a few
exceptions. The chief exotics that have been introduced are fruit-
bearing and ornamental flowering plants, which nearly in all cases
bear brightly-coloured flowers or blossoms. The exowc, white,
flowering fruit trees in the spring-time are very conspicuous by
the multiplicity of the blooms they bear; yet our little native
bees now as readily find the nectary in them as our introduced
bees, and they cannot have had ages of experience to guide them.

On the other hand, it is very singular that the hive-bee, on
its introduction into Australia, and before it had been sufficiently
colonised, should forsake the highly-coloured garden flowers of

*Darwin, in ‘‘ Cross and Self-Fertilization of Plants.”

ARTIFICIAL FERTILISATION. 291

the Old World that were introduced here at about the same time
as the bee. These highly-coloured flowers and the hive-bee, as
far as Australia is concerned, are coeval. Untold generations of
them had learned to work these blooms, we are informed, and their
experience had greatly aided in the development of species and the
production of showy flowers of the land of our fathers. On the
introduction of the bees and the flowers referred to, the former
appear to have suddenly turned their attention from the latter,
and apprenticed themselves to the work of attending to the whitish
native honey-bearing flowers of the Colony—a colour that the
writers on the subject say the bees studiously avoid for the more
gorgeously-coloured ones their progenitors had been at such pains
to produce by erecting those bright-coloured signs for the benefit
of the bees of to-day, for the purpose of saving them both time
and labour. Nevertheless, the hive bees, when introduced here,
after having been educated to the highest standard in the recogni-
tion of colours they are said to possess in Europe, have started
de novo, and worked upon, not our introduced ornamental flowers,
nor our showy blooms of ‘‘red, blue, and purple,’ but upon
‘simple white or yellow ones”; so unlike the education in colours
they had received in the other side of the world. Question—Will
our eucalypti and acacias, and other white and yellow flora, in
ages to come, develop highly-coloured flowers and of a larger size
than at present, and will the bees then forsake the colours they
now work upon in the same way they are said ‘to have done in the
other parts of the world? It is queer bees should have gone back
in their tastes for colours when they crossed the equator in coming
to this side of the world.

Some years ago a series of questions were submitted by the
Department of Agriculture to the bee-keepers of this State, rela-
tive to what plants were visited by bees as regards size and colour
of blooms.

In the ranks of the bee-keepers are men of keen observation
as to whence honey flow comes. The whole of the answers given
are full of interest. Of course, the imported fruit-trees and other
exotic flowering plants are named as giving the spring supply of
pollen and honey, but the ironbark, grey gum, bloodwood, blue
gums, and the eucalypts generally are by far the most remarkable
as honey-yielding, and all these have white flowers. In the
northern districts, the broad and narrow-leaved tea-tree is stated
“to be the largest honey-yielder we have’’ ; therefore its white

292 AUSTRALIAN PEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

flowers are the attraction. One bee-keeper states that ‘‘one year
he grew a plot of white poppies for experiments with opium, and
found the flowers literally crowded from daylight to dark with
bees.”

The report concludes by saying, ‘‘Regarding the size and colour
of flowers most affected by the bees, much diversity of opinion
exists among apiarists. ; It is, indeed, an open ques-
tion if colour has any effect: in the matter.’? In the report one
observing bee-keeper.quaintly observes, ‘‘The bee is quite indiffer-
ent to the size of a flower, provided he can get what he wants” ;
and, from experience, I can add, quite indifferent as to colour.

Bee Sting in Sections.

Fig. I.—I, Poison sac ;
JK.muscles for moving the
sting ; A, first movement
of sting; B, second move-
ment; D, sting sheath.

Fig. I1.—HH, barbs ; AB,
points of sting; GF, poison
ducts.

Fig. IIT. — (Section) HH,
barbs; AB, points of sting;
CEFG, hollow tubes of sting
for lightness and strength
of sting.

Fig. IV.— Poison after
erystalisation.

THE BEE STING.

COLOUR OF FLOWERS—ITS INFLUENCE ON BEE LIFE. 293

CHAPTER XXXVII.

THE COLOUR OF FLOWERS AND ITS INFLUENCE
ON BEE-LIFE.

(Read before the Australasian Association for the Advancement
of Science, Tuesday, 11 January, 1898.)

THE subject that I have chosen for this paper may not, at
first sight, appear to be one so fraught with interest as those you
have already listened to. That it is in any way directly associated
with agriculture may appear somewhat doubtful. Indeed, the
title itself is not a very happy one. The matter that I intend to
weave into it, both in warp and woof, may not produce a fabric
wholly consistent with the colour of flowers and its influence on
bee-life.

I am dealing somewhat with the essential organs of certain
plants, and the agents employed in their reproduction; and I
think as I proceed I shall be able to show that bee-life and blossoms
are so closely associated the one with the other that to injuriously
interfere with either will at the same time militate against both.
Animal life—our life—cannot exist without the vegetable king-
dom, but some members of. the latter can live and propagate
themselves without the former; whilst there are other forms of
vegetable life which would cease to exist if all animal organisms
were excluded from them—indeed, some forms of insect life are
an absolute necessity in the reproduction of plants. I know that
amongst phanerogamic plants there are those that are anemophilous
and other that are entomophalous. The former can continue to
multiply without insect aid, but with the latter insects are an
imperative necessity. Nearly all insects, more or less, aid in the
fertilising of the vegetable kingdom, but the ravages with the
foliage caused by some classes of insects far more than counter-
balance the good that they may do.

Pollen is the fertilising and vitalising agent in reproducing and
perpetuating all classes of vegetables. It is produced in abun-
dance by all flowering plants, both by those of conspicuous and
also those of inconspicuous flowers or blossoms. As a rule incon-
spicuous flowers are anemophilous, and those of more gaudy tints
are sought after by insects. . It may not be universally understood

294 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

that there are male and female elements in the vegetable organ-
isms Just as in the animal organism. We know that if the sexes
in the latter are always excluded, the one from the other, repro-
duction is an utter impossibility.

We have control over the sexual intercourse of the domesticated
animals. Cattle breeders, sheep farmers, agriculturists, orchardists,
horticulturists, and indeed everyone, whether engaged in the
culture of the soil or not, thoroughly understand this; but we
do not find the same knowledge of the methods of reproduction
in vegetable life amongst farmers and others. But agriculturists
and those engaged in vegetable culture do not as a rule know
that plants are reproduced on precisely similar lines as animals.

Schools of Science are established to unravel the secrets of
Nature in the mineral kingdom, anatomical classes are open to
students who intend to make a living by operating on other than
their own frames, and Veterinary Schools do the same for those
who desire to so work on the lower animals. All engaged in the
breeding of animals know exactly how to mate so as to produce:
certain results. Sires are carefully bred, more carefully selected,
and most carefully reared. All know, if they take the haphazard.
chances of permitting animals to breed according to their own
will, weedy and valueless ones of no market worth are the result.
In cattle they know how to cross-breed their animals so as to
obtain the best results for the butcher or the dairyman; or, if it
be sheep, they know how to breed for wool or meat; or, if it
be horses, they breed for strength or for speed. And all this is
done from the knowledge possessed of the procreative powers in.
both sire and dam. Why is not a similar knowledge applied to
fruit or any other crop? Because not one out of a thousand has
sufficient knowledge of their occupation to understand that there
is a sexuality in plants and that fertilisation is as necessary in
plants as in animals.

I said just now that pollen is the fertiliser, and that this sub-
stance is possessed by all flowering plants. The one great aim of
all vegetable and animal life is to reproduce itself or to perpetuate
its species.

Both sexes in all the higher orders of animals possess locomotive
powers that enable them to come together at certain seasons for
procreative purposes. At other seasons the sexes studiously avoid.
each other, and in some gregarious animals they separate and form.
independent flocks, as amongst yellowhammers, chaffinches, wild
American turkeys, and deer.

COLOUR OF FLOWERS—ITS INFLUENCE ON BEE LIFE. 295

Locomotive powers in plant life are very rare, and where they
possess these powers it is more for the distribution of fertilised
seeds than for the purpose of fertilisation. There are exceptions,
I know—the Vaillisneria spiralis, for instance.

The higher order of animals are unisexual ; occasionally there
are malformations termed hermaphrodites; but in the plant world
the higher orders are unisexual, bisexual, or hermaphrodites—
unisexual when the male and the female blooms or organs are on
separate plants; bisexual when the male and female organs are
in separate flowers but on the same plant, hermaphrodite when
the procreative organs are both in the same bloom (Laurels, Ist;
pumpkins, corn, &c., 2nd; apples, pears, é&c., 3rd). Yet, never-
theless, no true flower is hermaphrodite—7.e., not hermaphrodite
as the term is applied to the animal kingdom. The staminal and
pistiline organs are not abnormal malformations, but both organs
are perfect. and independent of each other, and as a rule in herma-
phrodite plants the anthers become distributive before the stigma.
becomes receptive, or vice versa; or, to make it clearer, the recep-
tive and distributive organs do not mature at one and the same
time in the same flower.

From this it will be seen how utterly impossible it is, in the,
great majority of cases, for the anther, whén distributive, to come
into juxtaposition with the receptive stigma to effect the necessary
discharge of pollen to ensure fructification. I am speaking now
only of entomophalous plants. :

Ofttimes in unisexuals that are entomophalous the staminate
plant when in bloom is at a considerable distance from the pistiline ;
and in bisexuals both genders of flowers mature at the same time
but on different parts of the same plants, while in hermaphrodites
the sexes may be in close proximity; nevertheless the male and
female organs do not mature at one and the same time, then how
can these inert beings become impregnated but by an agent other
than itself—a foreign agent? In nearly every case the pollen of
entomophalous plants is not dry but powdery as in the case with
anemophilous blooms, but heavy and highly adhesive. It is this
property of the pollen gathered by bees that enables them to stow
it away so neatly in their pollen baskets. Its adhesive nature
prevents, its being blown about by winds, and causes an outside
agent necessary to transmit it from the male to the female organs.

Now comes the question, why are bees attracted to blossoms?
I mention bees because they are the only insects that gather and

296 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

store both pollen and honey. Other insects feed on one or the
other or both, but with these it is consumed where gathered—
that is, it is consumed on the premises.

I am not ignorant of the fact that the perceptive organs in
insects are extremely acute, especially in social bees, and that
they can both recognise colour and form. All bee-keepers know
that when young bees take their first flights how cautiously they
survey the landmarks surrounding their habitations, and where
large numbers of colonies are kept, and where every hive is the
same pattern and colour, how necessary it is, when the virgin
queens are taking their nuptial flights, to place distinguishing
marks here and there to ensure the safe return of the young queen
to her home. But that bees are led to flowers by the colour they
possess, and that certain bright colours—red, blue, purple, &c.—
are more attractive to them than paler tints, such as white, yellow,
etc., my experience most certainly contradicts. I know that the
highest authorities on the subject have written and stated that it
is so, and it may appear something like gross presumption on my
part to attempt to refute their statements. No doubt some of
them have given the experience of observation, but by far too
many have been satisfied by stating I was informed by Mr. So-and-
So of certain movements in regard to bees and flowers.

Sir John Lubbock, in his work on ‘‘Bees, Ants, and Wasps,”
says: ‘‘Most botanists are now agreed that insects, and especially
bees, have played a very important part in the development of
flowers.” “In cases of brightly coloured flowers the pollen
is carried by the agency of insects.” ‘I thought,” he writes, ‘‘it
would be desirable to prove this, if possible, by actual fact. I

_ brought a bee to some honey which I placed on blue paper, and
about 3 feet off I placed a similar quantity of honey on orange
paper.’ Why he need to place a similar quantity I cannot tell, and
why he should have brought instead of allowing a bee to find it is a
problem I cannot solve. Now comes the question—was the bee
attracted by the blue paper or the honey food? I have placed honey
in a blue campanula, and many other flowers of both conspicuous
and unconspicuous colours. When food is scarce bees will visit any
colour; but when it is very plentiful they object to take honey
already gathered. Last summer, in my garden, I had a scarlet
dahlia in bloom. When it first flowered there was not a stamen pre-
sent. No bees ever visited it. ‘The plant was afterwards neglected
by me, and this neglect caused the stamens to appear, and the

COLOUR OF FLOWERS—ITS INFLUENCE ON BEE LIFE. 297

anthers to develop and the pollen to mature. With this bee im-
provement in the flower it soon became a foraging ground for them.
Why did they not visit the early blooms? Because there was ‘no
bee-food present. And why did they so visit it when the stamens
appeared? The flowers were not nearly so conspicuous as the earlier
blooms. But in passing over they saw there was a reward for their
labour. Double flowers—I mean flowers in which the whole of the
stamens have become petals—are far more showy and conspicuous
than single ones, both: being of the same variety, and the same
colour, Bees abhor double flowers, no matter of what colour, but
single ones they love; but it is cupboard love, and cupboard love
only.

Fig. 1.
ov Ovary.
ez Calyx tube.
@ Carolla.
» Pistil,
8 Stamen and Anthers:
¢ Calyx.

@ and b combined are
the floral envelopes.

Fig. 2.
st Stigma.
Anthersand Stamens
ea Corolla.
ex*Calyx.
ev Ovary.

Fig. 2.

Early last spring the white Arum lily (Arum africanus) was
in bloom, and its white pollen was eagerly sought for by bees. At
the same time the broad beans were in full flower. These, too, were
an attractive foraging ground for the same insects. A little later
‘the peach trees burst into flower, with the result that the first-
named was entirely forsaken, and the latter receiving only an
occasional visit. Did the bees go to the peach tree on account of
their attractive colours? Not a bit of it. While the peaches were
in flower so were the willows (Salix babylonica) just throwing out*
their catkins. When these two trees, peaches and willows, were in
loom my bees were bringing in pollen of two colours, one vreamy-

298 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

white and the other somewhat of an orange tint. At the same
time, in the district where I live there were roses, marigolds, arum
lilies, and other attractive flowers in full bloom, but few bees were
visiting them. The pollen was coming in from the willows and
peach trees; there was also honey coming in from the latter. The
flowers (catkins) on the willows are so inconspicuous that a large
number of people are ignorant of the fact that they are phanero-
gamic; yet they were as attractive to the bees as the gaudy peach
trees. During the same spring, and at about the same time, I
visited the Botanical Gardens, and the most attractive beds of flow-
ers then in bloom were the English daisies, pansies, anemones, and
the turban ranunculus. Nothing in the Gardens were more showy
than the two latter, yet no bee visited them. Near these was a
shrub (Buzxus sempervirens), in which there was a constant hum
from the bees. What was the cause? Hidden among the dark green
foliage there were hundreds of small greenish flowers, supplying
abundance of food. If colour had been the attractive agent, bees
would never have discovered their food in the shrub, and they
would have sought the showy beds of anemones, &c., in vain; they
were double, and therefore there was no pollen food. But who will
dare to say the attractive colour was absent? A short time after-
wards I saw the bougainvilleas aglow with their showy bracts; they
could be seen hundreds of yards away. At the same time the pitto-
sporums were in flower. These latter were so inconspicuous that
before they could be detected you need stand directly under them.
I visited both—the bougainvilleas and the pittosporum ; in the for-
mer there was not a bee to be seen, notwithstanding their fiery glow,
whilst in the latter there was a sound as if a swarm of bees had
taken possession of it,’’

Mr. Baker, of the Technological Museum, informed me that
he observed a specimen of Panax sambucifolius swarming with bees,
although it bears a small, very inconspicuous flower. A fence
divided it from an enclosure of brightly-coloured garden flowers,
yet these were passed over unheeded. Why did the bees neglect
the garden flowers? Because the yield of food was not equal to that
in the Panaz sambucifolius. In none of the cases I have named
were the bees attracted by the colours, but by what they could get
in the form of food.

Many years ago, when in Cooma, I had a bed of turnips in
flower that from daylight to dark were besieged by bees. Suddenly
the bees forsook them. I found the cause to be that a small pad-

COLOUR OF FLOWERS—ITS INFLUENCE ON BEE LIFE. 299

dock of lucerne near by had been permitted to flower, and the bees
had gone thither. Were they attracted by the purple flowers? Not
a bit of it. Lucerne, like other trefoils, produce an abundance of
bee food, far more than any of the cruciforms, and the bees had
gone where they could get the greatest quantity in the shortest space
of time. In about twenty-four hours afterwards the lucerne was
cut, and the bees returned to the turnips.

Darwin says: ‘It would appear that either the taste or the
odour of the nectary of certain flowers are unattractive to hive-bees
or to humble-bees or to both, for there seems no reason why certain
open flowers which secrete nectar are not visited by both. The small
quantity of nectar secreted by some of these flowers can hardly be
the. cause of their neglect, as hive-bees search eagerly for the minute
drops on the glands of the leaves of the Prunus laurocerasus.’’ The
small quantity was the cause, as was the reason my bees left the
turnips for the lucerne.

Early one spring I saw bees eagerly working the flower-heads
of couch-grass., We all know that the flower of the couch has not
an attractive colour. The endemic or native flowers intermixed
here and there with them were far more showy. Looking into my
bees I found young larve were plentiful; pollen for bee-bread was
needed. The endemic flowers were producing little or none, but
on the couch-grass there was a fairly good supply, and this supply
was the cause of their neglecting the brighter coloured blooms for
the greenish-yellow flowers of the couch-grass.

Watch a large bed of poppies of mixed colours. No one colour
is. neglected by the bees. They are as eager to forage in the white
as in the red. Poppies are great pollen producers.

Again Darwin says: ‘‘Bees repeatedly passed in a direct line
from one variety to another of the same species, although they bore
very differently-coloured flowers. I observed bees also flying in a
straight line from one clump of yellow-flowered Gnthera to every
clump of the same plant in the garden without turning an inch
from their course to plants of Hschscholtza and others with yellow
flowers, which lay a foot or two on either side.” ‘‘In these cases,”
he continues, ‘‘the bees knew the position of each plant in the
garden, so that they were guided by experience and memory.”
Their experience was that the @nthera contained more food, and
Nature had taught them that it would be impossible to fertilise the
ovaries of @nthera with the pollen from Eschscholtza.

300 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

Darwin on ‘‘Self-fertilisation of Plants” says:—‘‘Not only do
the bright colours of flowers serve to attract insects, but dark-
coloured streaks and marks are often present, which Sprengel long
ago maintained served as guides to the nectary.”” If such be the
case, how the poor bees must be troubled to find the nectary in self-
coloured flowers. I think we have more unicolour flowers ’than
striped ones. If Sprengel maintained it was so long ago, then it
may have been so; but I maintain, that now in these latter days
it is not so. ;

Grant Allen, in ‘‘The Story of the Plant,’’ has written some
fanciful pictures on the influence of the markings and colours of
flowers and their attraction for bees. I know the work is not a
text book. He says:—‘‘The lines or spots so often found on the
petals of highly-developed flowers act as honey guides to lead the

ee or other fertilising insect direct to the nectar.” He then goes
on to describe the ‘‘so-called nasturtium.’’ ‘‘The upper pair (of
petals) are broad and deep-lined with dark veins, which all con-
verge about the month of the spur, and so show the inquiring
insect exactly where to go in search of honey. The lower three on
the other hand, have no lines or markings, but possess a curious
sort of fence running right across the face, intended to prevent
other flying insects from alighting and rifling the flower without:
fertilising it.” Now, if any insect, flying, creeping, or crawling,
were to enter the nasturtium and rifle the flower of its pollen and
carry it to one where the stigma was receptive, and the part of the
insect’s body with pollen on it came in contact with the stigma,
fertilisation would be the result. But why do the markings that
converge about the throat of any act as guide-posts to them, while
we have so many unicolour flowers that are destitute of such mark-
ings—to wit, the whole of the pumpkin family, and hundreds of
others. Pumpkins, &c., cannot be fertilised other than by insects,
and the blooms have no finger-post erected saying, ‘“Here you can
get good honey and pollen!”’

Yesterday I was watching the bees working the pumpkin flow-
ers, and none of them were at a loss to find the pollen or the nec-
tary. There was no hesitancy. The only finger-post for bees in
flowers is the food they contain.

Darwin himself says he is not quite sure that in every case the
colour and markings of flowers are for the sole purpose of attracting
insects.

COLOUR OF FLOWERS—ITS INFLUENCE ON BEE LIFE. 301

I have seen questions something like the following rut in agri-
cultural examination papers: ‘‘What is the use of colour and per-
fume in blooms? Such. questions should never be put, when we
consider that a large majority of the blooms in agricultural crops
are anemophilous, and many an observant student can dispute the
fact that colour is the attraction.

What is the experience of bee-keepers this side of the equator
as it regards the colour of flowers that are chiefly visited by bees?
There ig no denying that some of our endemic or native flowers are
as brightly coloured as the exotics or introduced ones. Before the
introduction of our fruit-trees and highly-coloured garden flowers,
the chief honey-gathering social insect was the little native bee
(Trigona carbonaria), and, therefore, it was the chief fertiliser in
Australia. ;

Darwin tells us that it took ages on the other side of the world
for the flowers to develop into what they now are in both colour
and form, and the bees centuries of training to adapt themselves to
the flowers as they developed.

Space will not let me give Darwin’s quotations, but all ento-
mologists and botanists are acquainted with the facts.

The chief honey-yielding plants of this continent are the
eucalyptus, pittosporum, and tea-tree families, and all these bear
whitish flowers. Our introduced fruit-trees and ornamental flower-
ing plants bear brightly-coloured blooms. In spring time our intro-
duced fruit-trees are conspicuous by the multiplicity of their flow-
ers, and our little native bee as readily finds the nectar in them as
our introduced bee, and they cannot have had the ages of exper-
ience to guidé them.

And does it not seem very strange that our hive bee, upon its
introduction here, and before it had been sufficiently colonised,
should have forsaken the bright-coloured flowers of the Old Land
that were introduced here at the same time they were? Our exotics
and our hive bee, as far as Australia is concerned, are coeval.
Untold generations of bees had been trained to work blossoms in the
land of our fathers, and their experience had most, if not all, we
are told, to do with the development of species and the production
_of the showy flowers we now see around us. But when the hive bee
crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific, and came here and found they
were among their old friends of the gardens, they forsook them
and bestowed their attention upon the simple whitish honey-bear-
ing flowers of the State—a colour that the writers on the subject

302 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

say they studiously avoid for the more gorgeously-coloured ones,
their progenitors had been at such pains to produce by erecting
showy flags and sign-boards for the benefit of the bees of to-day,
for the purpose of saving them both time and labour.

The hive bee on its arrival here, after having been educated to
the high standard it is said to have attained in the old world, works
upon, not our introduced flowers of ‘‘red, blue, and purple,’’ so
much as upon our simple white and yellow ones—so unlike what
they ought to have done, according to the education they had re-
ceived at our antipodes. Is it not queer that our bees should have
gone back in their tastes for colours when they crossed over the
equatorial line, and came this side of the world?

Some of the facts in this chapter are used to disprove that
colour attracts bees, and in the previous one to demonstrate an-
other phase of bee-life.

Brood-Comb.
a.—Larval Workers from egg to period of emerging from cell.
b.—Queen cell containing larval queen floating in royal jelly.
c— Queen cell containing queen.

BEE CALENDAR. 303

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
BEE CALENDAR.

January.

With the horticulturist ‘‘there is always something to tie, or
to stick, or to mend”; so with the bee-keeper. Although there
is no delving and digging, still every month brings its allotted
work. The hot days of January are very trying to both bees and
bee-keepers. The latter is wishing he could work under an
umbrella or other sunshade. Well, this autumn, prepare for next
summer, unless you have been sufficiently wise to have followed
the advice given in the chapter on ‘‘Summer and Winter Protection
for Bees,” In some parts of New South Wales undoubtedly the bees
are suffering from the excessive heat—combs are melted, bees suffo-
cated, iand honey running to waste, causing an abundance of rob-
bing to be carried on. During this great heat, if you cannot protect
yourself, you must protect your bees from such accidents as above
recorded. If there be no natural shade, an artificial one must be
at once adopted. A sheet of bark sufficiently large to extend
about a foot over each side of the hive will answer the purpose
splendidly. In the absence of it, a piece of board or an old bag,
can be substituted. Permit the bag to hang down on either side
of the hive. In the first place, put a couple of pieces of stick across
it so as to leave a sufficient space for air to circulate. Weight the
covering, whatever it might be, to prevent the wind from blowing
it off.

Most of the directions for last month will also apply to this.
Prevent swarming, if honey be desired; but if it be intended to
increase colonies it is not too late to do so, as there is plenty of
time for gathering in the winter’s stores. Remove sections as they
become capped, and store them for use. Occasionally overlook
them for the purpose of keeping the bee moth down. If it gets
a footing amongst them great damage will be done. Give all the
ventilation possible at the mouth of the hive. It will be noted that.
all the young brood, perhaps none of them, are sealed over. In
very hot seasons bees make it a rule not to seal brood in a chrysalis
form. A small hole is left for extra ventilation. The bee-keeper

304 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

must aid them as much as possible by removing all obstructions
from the entrances. If the bees are seen hanging idly in clusters
outside the hive, as they do sometimes before swarming, see that
there is plenty room inside for storing.

February.

In some districts gluts of honey will be coming in, and if the
supers be not regularly and systematically removed the bees will
store in the brood-chamber. It is highly essential that there should
be plenty of room, both for brood purposes and for storage. If 1-lb.
sections be desired, and honey cannot be put on the table in a more
attractive form, they should be overhauled at least. once a week,
and all that are capped should be removed and stored out of the
way of ants and other bee vermin. It is not wise to store sections
unless every cell is capped. See that the separators are so placed
that the sections cannot be built out. If the section crates only
hold one tier, it is well the separators should be sufficiently wide
to come to the top of the section and leave only bee space at the
bottom. Metal separators are far preferable to wooden ones.
Keep the sections as close together as possible; by so doing they
are easily removed and are freer from propolis, which is a con-
sideration, because it saves the time of the bees in more ways than
one.

Protect the tops of the hive from the direct rays of the sun,
or you will find the combs give way with the heat.

Give all the ventilation you can. If all the means in the hive
be not sufficient to keep a cool current of air passing through,
prop up the hive a little from the floor-board.

Queen-raising should now be over. Nucleus colonies should
be united under the best queen among them. In uniting place
about eight good frames together and put on a half super. Attend
to the instructions given elsewhere re uniting.

Ventilation, shade, and the storage of all surplus honey are
the important factors for this month.

March.

The order at the close of last month will be the order for the
beginning of this—.e., ventliation, protection from the direct
rays of the sun, the uniting of queenless colonies, and the storage
of honey.

BEE CALENDAR. 305

In the colder districts it will be necessary to prepare for winter-
ing bee stock. If any hive is showing signs of dilapidation, it is
better now to replace it with a new one than later on. Select a
suitable day for the work. Place the new home in close proximity
to the one in occupation. As each frame is removed carefully
examine it for any signs of bee enemies and disease. Well scrape
the outer edges of the frames to remove all accumulations of burr
comb. When replacing the frames slightly increase the inter-
space betweeen the brood combs; this will admit of more bees
clustering between, and thus increase warmth. Where there are
movable floor-boards, and they are always to be preferred to fix-
tures, cleanse them from all debris. Examine all crevices, both
in floor-board and body of the hive. Place the supers in the store-
room. Invert the quilt—i.e., have the glaze side uppermost; the
woolly side will aid in the absorption of moisture caused by con-
densation. All debris that has been removed should be collected
together at once and burnt. The quantity of sealed honey in each
hive should be calculated before the bees are put up for wintering.
A pound of honey occupies about 16 square inches, more or less,
according to its thickness. A fairly strong colony will require
about 30 lb. to carry them through. The more honey is left for
winter purposes the better will be the spring results. Do not
leave any empty or nearly empty storage frames in the hive. The
nearer the storage honey is placed to the brood the better. If bees
and storage do not occupy the whole of the hive, put in the division
or dummy board. Keep all within the hive as compact as possible.
With the outside of the hive always anticipate a wet winter and
prepare for it. Make the top of the hive waterproof. If old
bagging or other absorbent materials are used, and for cold seasons
such things are extremely useful, there must be something placed
on the top to throw off the rain, otherwise the continued dampness
will aid in rotting the hive. Free the suroundings from all
weeds: Clear underneath the hives for ventilating purposes.

In the warmer districts, last month’s calendar may still be
followed.

April.

Winter is close upon us. In the coldest of our districts bees
have already retired to their winter quarters, and before the month
is out the retirement will be general in the southern and mountain-

306 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

ous parts of the Colony. During the warmer portions of the days,
especially if the sun is bright, the bees will still venture out;
but they will not wander far from home if last month’s advice
has been attended to, 7.e., if they are supplied with honey sufficient
to carry them on till spring or the coming breeding season. If
bees are forced to go foraging on bright winter days, the sudden
atmospheric changes prevent the return of many. A good supply
of food in the hive is the only remedy. It also forms one of the
best methods to keep up the warmth of the hive. On every occa-~
sion when the weather is bright and drying remove the wraps, etc.,
from the hives, and spread them out to dry. External dampness
produces internal dampness—which is one of the most prolific
causes of disease. Just before sundown return the protectors to
the hives.

The evenings are long now and outdoor work among the bees
is. little needed; there is, therefore, plenty of time in which hives,
frames, &c., can be put together and foundation fixed ready for
the coming spring.

May.

In our coldest districts both bees and bee-keepers should have
retired into winter quarters. The latter will now have plenty of
time for thought and preparation for the coming spring. The end
of this month will be an excellent time for planting evergreen
shrubs for the protection against the cold winds, or, if necessary,
as shades against the excessive sun rays for summer time. The
long leaf privet (Legustrom longifolia), which is used for ornamental
hedges will be found the best for the purpose. A trench about 8
inches wide and a foot deep should be opened and the soil made
light with the addition of a little sand and manure. In the coming
month cuttings from 6 to 12 inches long should be planted at an
angle of about 45 degrees, or even more, 6 inches apart, and ar-
ranged so that they may overlap one and the other. When suffi-
ciently high they should be kept trimmed to a uniform width of
about 8 inches and the length required. If properly managed they
will form a green wall almost impenetrable. Such hedges will be
found to be both useful and ornamental. Examine all empty
combs that are stored, and fumigate for moth and their larve.
Attend to ventilation to prevent dampness. Do not let the stored
combs become mildewed. Make up hives, supers, and frames for
the coming season. It is a wise motto to have your cage ready for
the bird, and so always have your hives ready for your bees.

BEE CALENDAR. 307

June.

This is the month to commence in earnest to establish live
break-winds and sunshades. Plant them about 4 feet from the
hives, so as to give yourself room to work, and also to take a
wheelbarrow or hand-cart, for these are sometimes very useful
appliances in a bee farm. Last month I gave instructions for
planting, and the best kind of plants for the purpose. As soon
as the plants start into growth attend to the necessary. ‘‘As the
twig is bent so does the tree grow’ is an old proverb that is ap-
plicable to more than the vegetable kingdom.

Continue to make up hives and frames for the coming season.
Fumigate all spare combs that are stowed away. Brush over all
spare hives with a solution of carbolic acid, both inside and out;
let it run well into the joints and angles. When the weather
will permit see that the hives are free from dampness. In the
colder districts of the Colony put on additional mats as protection
against frost. Mats made of plaited straw are most impervious
to cold. If snow is anticipated, cover these with a bit of zinc or
tin, for when the thaw takes place they retain the dampness for
a long while. If the hives have been painted, and they are always
the better for it, the absorbative nature of the wood has been
much mitigated, and aids greatly in keeping the inside of the hives
dry. In some of the coldest parts of America the bees are housed
during the winter, first seeing that they have sufficient stores to
carry them through. This is not advisable here, nor even in our
coldest parts. In the coldest latitudes of N.S.W. during winter
we have frequently bitterly cold nights, but during midday the sun
shines out warm and bright. Such days are always taken advantage
of by bees for the purpose of flying out and discharging their feces.
The very exercise adds warmth on their return.

In all your work keep the idea of the coming spring con-
stantly before you. The stocks that come out strongest and
healthiest in the spring are the ones you will derive your profits
from.

july.

Old Father Winter came in upon us at the close of last month
in all his strength, and is likely to continue so for some weeks
hence. Bee management during winter months differs little ; there-
fore, what was said of last month is also fully applicable to this.

308 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

During the warmest part of the brightest days look into the hives,
and see if it be necessary to contract the hives with division boards.

Look at the under side of the top of the hives, and note if
there be any dampness; find its cause, and cure it. Turn the fluffy
side of the quilt down, and overlay with a few layers of newspaper.
The fluffy side of the quilt will somewhat absorb the moisture
caused by condensation within, and the paper will be an additional
protection against the cold and wet from without.

August.

Northwards already there are indications of returning spring,
if in a climate where everlasting spring abides it does not appear
superfluous to make such a statement. Even here, down south,
leaf-buds are developing and blossom-buds are bursting. Pollen
is coming in from some of the earliest of blossoming fruit-trees
and some of the acacias that are in the more sheltered gullies.
Flower gardens are aglow with spring flowers.

On. fine days overhaul all hives so as to note what conditions
they are in as regards food. If food supply be short, feed as pre-
viously advised. Developing brood must be well supplied with
both honey and pollen. If there is likely to be a shortage in the
latter, supply it artificially; pea meal is a good, perhaps the best,
substitute that can be used. If your hives have loose bottom boards,
and they are always the best to use, see that they are free from
impurities and foreign matter. If the colony has dwindled
much, put in a division board. Remove all empty and mouldy
combs. See that there are no queenless colonies. If one be found,
obtain a queen from a dealer as soon as possible. This paragraph
only applies to our warmer districts. On the north and southern
tablelands, continue the advice given for July.

It is very possible that on the alighting boards and in front
of the hives many dead bees will be seen. Most of these have died
from old age. Bees, as arule, live longer during the winter months
than summer. If you have any doubt in your mind as to the
cause of death, send along some of the dead, accompanied with
some of the symptons exhibited prior to death,

The Department of Agriculture will at-all times gladly give
advice as to bee enemies and bee diseases.

BEE CALENDAR. 309

September.

In view of the range of climate of the Colony, what may be
applicable to apiculture in one district may be quite out of season
in another. It is therefore hoped that readers will understand
that the advice given is general.

It is scarcely necessary to remind bee-keepers that the first
consideration should be to keep the stocks strong. This matter
should have been seen to during the final extraction of honey last
season. During the winter months, damp and mildew within the
hive, cracks and cold draughts, enemies that have been overlooked
when the bees were put up for the winter, and many other causes,
may have weakened the stocks. During the middle of the warmest
days in winter, and more especially as spring advances, dead bees
' may be seen on the alighting-board, and mortality is due chiefly,
but not wholly, to the causes named. If it were possible to keep
a record of vital statistics of bees, old age and starvation would
show the highest score on the death-roll.

Along the coast districts spring foliage is now becoming plenti-
ful, and increasing in quantity as we go northwards. On the
higher tablelands, especially southward, frosts and snow, still pre-
vailing, will retard the spring operations considerably. In our
warmer districts there will be more or less young brood in the hives,
if the queens are up to the required standard ; but not so in colder
districts, where, outside the hives, deaths will be more numerous,
and the stocks will be correspondingly weaker.

If forage be scarce the bees should be sparingly fed, so as to
stimulate the early rearing of brood. Pure honey is by far the
best and most easily procurable. But with pollen it is another
thing. For this necessary article of bee-diet bees do not confine
themselves wholly to the dust of flowers. In the cold district’ of
Monaro I have known them to revel in horse-feed composed of a
mixture of bran left in the feed-box, and go home laden therewith.
This, to my mind, was evidence that there was plenty of honey
in the hive, but a scarcity of pollen wherewith to prepare bee-
bread for the coming brood.

There are many artificial substitutes for pollen—rice-flour,
oatmeal, and pea-flour are amongst the best of them. There is
not the slightest danger to the bees in giving them a fairly good
supply of these during warm bright days. Place it in easy access.
It must be taken indoors before sundown every day, and not put
out in the morning till all dampness is gone. At no time should

310 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

artificial pollen be permitted to become damp; it is sure to become
mildewed. In that condition bees will refuse it, and if used it will
produce dysentery. Treacle must not be used as a substitute for
honey, nor wheat-flour for pollen. They act as a purgative, and
thereby weaken the young brood.

October.

Nearly the whole of last month drones were on the wing, and,
as anticipated, queen-cells were in construction. Indeed, in the
metropolitan district, during the latter part of August, my own
were hatched, and on the 16th of last month my first spring swarm
came out. From the stock they issued, neither in 1895 or 1896,
did I get an increase. It was one of those ne’er do wells. Twice
I had changed the queens, but nothing good followed. Early in
last December I placed in it a strong swarm that half an hour
before had issued from a neighbouring colony. There was no fight-
ing; I had killed the queen of the weak colony. With new blood
it became one of my best, resulting in giving me my first swarm
this season. In the beginning of last month I noticed several
small patches of drone blood. As there are numbers of drones on
the wing, and swarming has begun here, it should be abundant
further north. Speaking of drones, if what I have so often ad-
vocated, 7.e., old queens that were known by their fruits to have
been very prolific and their progeny good workers, have been kept
over from last season as drone breeders, the mating of young queens
with high class drones will be sure to give the best results.

During last month the summer fruit-trees were aglow with
bloom, and pollen stores were plentiful, Before this number of the
Gazette is in circulation, swarming will be in full swing. If it is
the “early bird that gets the first worm,” undoubtedly it is the
early swarm that gives most profit. The bee-keepers in the old
country used to say, ‘A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of
hay; one in June is not much out of tune; but one in July is
never worth a single fly.” The same rule holds good here, in the
corresponding months.

Be careful to see that room in the brood chamber is provided
for giving the queen sufficient unoccupied space for laying purposes
otherwise she will use the empty cells in the supers.

There will not be much trouble in catching the first swarms of
the season. It is the fertile queen that leaves with them; she
cannot fly far; she is heavy with eggs, and will not proceed a

BEE CALENDAR. 311

hundred yards if she can help it from home. As soon as it is
noticed that the swarm is issuing from the hive, watch the entrance,
and pick up the queen as soon as she is outside. If you fail to
find her, look for her in the flying swarm; a pregnant queen never
flies very high. If caught place her in a queen cage, and hang
her up in a convenient place. As soon as the swarm commences
to cluster around her shake a handful or two into a box and liberate
her amongst them ; it saves a lot of trouble.

If it is intended to re-queen, do not be later than this month.
Procure laying and tested queens; it saves a lot of time. Be sure
to get them from a healthy apiary. It is a safe rule, whatever
goes wrong with your bees, to say it is the queen’s fault. Of course
there are exceptions.

The principal work in apiaries now is attending to swarming,
re-queening where necessary, and queen-raising.

November.

The most necessary traits in the character of all bee-keepers
to ensure success are kindness and gentleness, and these powers will
require full exercise this month. Physically a bee-keeper requires
a pair of good eyes that have been trained to keen observation,
and a pair of sensitive ears that are quick to detect the various
changes in the sounds that are emitted by bees. They readily in-
form us of their likes and dislikes. They have a language that
is easily translated by bee-keepers of experience, who act according
to the requirements indicated. ‘‘Watch and listen” is a motto
to be kept constantly in view by all engaged in the bee industry.

This month ‘‘from the centre all around to the sea,’’ bees will
seize every favourable day to swarm if so prepared. Spring food
has been fairly abundant all over the Colony so far, and the pros-
pects for a large honey flow are very encouraging. Act upon the
principle of strong swarms and quick returns. Where it is not
desirable to increase the apiary, check all swarming. There are
several ways of so doing. Examining the frames of brood about
every fourteen days, and removing all queen cells is one of the
best. If the swarms come out, kill one of the queens; of course,
keep the best. Search the hive the swarm issued from, and com-
pare the queen left behind with the one on the wing. The former
may not have emerged from the cell, or she may not have mated,
and in other ways may not be a ‘‘tested queen.” On the other

312 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE.

hand the one on the wing may possess all good qualities; but, if
it be the first swarm of the season it will be an old queen, at the
least a last season’s one, and if her age be not known she should
be superseded by a young tested one. I am presuming there are
are a few tested queens kept in stock at this season of year. As
soon as the swarm has alighted shake them in the usual way, and
when they have fairly settled, place them close to the parent hive.
Having selected your queen, return the swarm from whence it
came, and next morning the combined swarm will set to work
equal to a virgin colony. If you wish to make any alteration in
the position of your hives, now is your chance. Having put in
the new swarm successfully, remove the parent hive to the new
position required. On the following day, when the united bees
issue to work, not 1 per cent. will return to the former position.
The old stock, with the swarm, should be removed to the new
position on the evening of the same day the swarm issued forth.

See that there is plenty of room in the brood-chamber for
increase. Don’t let new swarms hang out in the sun. When hived
see that they are well shaded. Give plenty of ventilation. There
will be honey to extract. As far as possible keep the various
flavoured honeys separate; it will make a deal of difference in the
commercial returns.

December.

In some parts of the Colony, where summer is well advanced,
the bee-keeper’s harvest has fairly begun. On the Northern Rivers
it was later than usual, but indications bid fair for a good honey
yield. In the warmer districts swarming should now be checked and
stocks kept as strong as possible, if honey be the object; if increase
of stocks is still needed, of course, go on swarming. In these dis-
tricts swarms and casts will continue up to the near approach of
winter ; these should be returned to the parent hive. Where honey
is coming in abundantly, extracting should be carried on whenever
about three-fourths of the frames are sealed, even the two outer
frames from the brood chamber may be extracted in the early
season, but don’t be too avaricious, especially towards the end
of the honey flow. There is nothing to be gained by it; the bees
may want the honey, and it will keep in the cells as well as in
bottles, and labour of extracting it and then returning it to the
hive is done away with. It never pays to extract from the brood
chamber except when the honey flow is very good.

BEE CALENDAR. 313

In uncapping for the purpose of extracting, hold the frames

so that the cappings will fall clear of the comb below the knife.
Cut downwards, and take a long-drawn cut; let the action of the
knife be towards the operator. By no means saw the cappings
off. In putting the frames in the extractor, place them so that
the bottom bar of the frame leads in the rotary motion of the
machine; in so doing, the honey leaves the cells much more freely
than if put in the reverse of that advised.

Don’t extract too much unsealed comb, otherwise the honey
will have a tendency to ferment. Honey in bulk should occupy
a warm position, for the purpose of evaporation; this will cause
the honey to ripen and give it a greater density.

Have water in easy access of your bees. The nearer it is to
the apiary the better, as it will save the bee a lot of trips to and
fro. Bees are fond of brackish water; it aids in keeping them in
health. Put some in tins in easy reach. Of course, a little salt
added to fresh water will do it. Place some chips in it for the
bees to alight on.

Go in for queen rearing, or purchase from a dealer of good
repute for healthy bees, for all useless and degenerating queens
should be superseded. Remember like produces like, and good
healthy queens produce good healthy progeny.

The chronological accuracy of these calendars is only relatively
correct, ing the very extensive climatic ranges existing in the
Statesof Australia, almost from tropic to fridgid. The climate of
the extreme north when compared with that of the extreme south
is greatly diversified; so with the mountain ranges; the arid
plains when contrasted with the humid coastal districts. Therefore
amateur beekeepers having had little or no experience must be
guided by the give-and-take principle. The work with bees glides
from one month to another almost imperceptibly. Thus his work
mnst be largely regulated by the climatic changes taking place in
his own district.

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