fn-23 SLES hPa on i ita addy Putas ae bop we bra lat [A Mae bus sete rane ~ ae BSN eee sth a | ene ie PLEELEEEEE: FLL LE SPOTS TOTS ts 7 LEG EELS LAGS * : si Riad i re iit me iit HNN Se a sa Ns ae i s ‘ a x aN it, t iy \ Nts is Gaya) me RAGIN 4 a uhh pete NM aNSTaly mth iy ANRC, i i! a Nar sh } A ny \ a teh Nh 4 ay Wha) AY ASS * i ayia Aa a Ra ust ‘ ‘i ah an nth uN att : cat Ra — RS th Ka SLIGL LISSA PEI ELLE, Ze atethe ta ethest toe sed i beret oh paayaaats i vee ERAN ts ts i ; Siig — as i patna eases! Re ae at eth Gea SOL Rusa i ah forslenviopararnc aes sored Ay RY ht tet Se as iH Chaba Rat i lel : ai peagee Se cies rn oe earned as RagHE iesahetrtetitas amick Meatateas esis is et beety, ues See ear auido Rat teaeset ‘ saat areas ae i iM aa ais iS ooh 7 se es Bt fee dine Ce Reedaee i aieuacdes ob. Seletisisttnes easel 5 ia ihe eae as ee DEERE op orbs on cote ra Se oe se os is sf O36 at oe eh Seases se te 1 > > RS » » 7 » > ae * at en? Cee Seen ee Aiur re aa Hisetays ee ey “ ac a os A Pes red i i ce ¢ Rec ee end SAAC ey i i‘ ire Serdic! RAC tea tae BOP Sasah ae oe oy 1 ls eee es Bee As - ee 5 Se D Hy a ‘f $44 a5 ee Ae Be aie Rec te a a A i i Kae ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New YorK STATE COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY EVERETT FRANKLIN PHILLIPS BEEKEEPING LIBRARY 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/cu81924003426545 lah i Te s i (i i BURWOOD APIARY, MATAMATA. 9 Lal: Ir a le i iG hil ie | i i i il ml ieee THE ILLUSTRATED AUSTRALASIAN Bee MANUAL AND COMPLETE GUIDE TO MODERN BEE CULTURE IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. . By ISAAC HOPKINS, MatamMaTa, AUCKLAND, N.Z. \* WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE “NEW ZEALAND BEE MANUAL” GREATLY ENLARGED, REVISED, AND MOSTLY RE-WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR, ASSISTED BY T. J. MULVANY, Bay View Apiary, Katixati. THIRD EDITION—FOURTH THOUSAND. 143 ILLUSTRATIONS. Published by the Author. H. H. HAYR & Co., Agents, High Street, Auckland, N.Z. MDCCCLXEXVI, : ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, PREFACE. TuE first edition of ‘‘The New Zealand Bee Manual,” published in September, 1881, was a small book of some 150 pages, and was intended to convey, in a popular form, such information with regard to the modern system of bee-culture as might tend to awaken an interest in that pursuit among the settlers in these colonies, enable those who should desire to make a beginning to do so in the proper manner, and iuduce others, who were already working in the dark with candle-boxes and gin-cases, to discard such appliances and adopt a more rational method of bee-keeping. The best proof that the subject was beginning to attract attention will be found in the fact that the first edition was disposed of in thirteen months, and a second thousand had to be issued in October, 1882. That edition being also exhausted and a new one required, I felt bound to consider the greatly altered circumstances under which it would have to be pub- lished, and to endeavour to make it, as far as possible, suitable to those new conditions and to the advances made in the art of bee- culture up to the present day. In the interval since the issue of the first edition, bee-culture has taken an established footing in New Zealand and the Australian colo- nies, the suitability of the climate and the flora being no longer a matter of speculation but one of experience. My duties as Editor of “The New Zealand and Australian Bee Journal ” during the two years of its circulation, brought me into very agreeable communication with bee-keepers in all parts of these colonies, and the consequent inter- change of views and experiences has enabled me to obtain an amount of information with regard to the condition and prospects of the industry in this part of the world which was previously entirely want- ing. I came to the conclusion that there is a rapidly increasing class of people who are turning their attention to apiculture in Australasia, and who, whether as professed apiarists or as amateurs, would require a manual of bee-culture which, while giving in a general but not . vi. PREFACE. merely superficial way an epitome of our present knowledge upon all apicultural matters, scientific and theoretical, should also enter into full details upon all the practical points necessary for the guidance of a beginner in the art, and which should be specially prepared with reference to the seasons of the southern hemisphere, and to the flora and other local peculiarities of the Australasian colonies. A revision and enlargement of the original manual to meet these views has led to the re-casting and re-writing of all the chapters, and the intro- duction of so much new matter and additional illustrations as to constitute it in point of fact an entirely new work. In carrying out this programme I have availed myself of the able co-operation of Mr. T. J. Mutvany, of Bay View Apiary, Katikati, to whom I tender my sincere thanks for his valuable aid, without which, with the limited time at my disposal, I could not have under- taken the task. The share taken by Mr. Munvany in the new matter to be found in many of the following chapters will be recognised by the readers of “The New Zealand and Australian Bee Journal,” to the columns of which he so ably contributed, during the two years of its existence ; condensed extracts from several of his papers are here ‘given in places where their introduction seemed to work in with the present plan. T have also to acknowledge my indebtedness and tender my thanks to Mr. C. Futiwoov, of Brisbane, Queensland ; Mr. Tros. E. Wixx1s, of Sydney, N.S.W.; Mr. Davip Grass, of Ballarat, Victoria; Mr. A. E. Bonney, of Adelaide, South Australia ; and Mr. Tuos, Lioyp Hoop, of Hobart, Tasmania, who so willingly and ably acceded to my request to furnish me with facts connected with apiculture in their respective colonies, and so aided me in giving much local information valuable to beginners in all parts of Australasia, and which must also prove interesting to apiarists working under very different circum- stances in other parts of the world. In endeavouring to ‘place before the novice (whose necessities have been kept constantly in view in the preparation of this work) a clear picture of the rise, progress, and present condition of the art of bce- culture, I have made free ase of all the standard works already pub- PREPACE, vii. lished in England, America, and Germany, as well as the bee journals and technical periodicals of the same countries, extracting from each what appeared to me to be the most essential to be impressed upon the mind of the reader. In every case I have been careful not only to specify the sources from which such extracts have been taken, but also to give the quotations accurately in the words of the respective authors, I feel convinced that no reader of this volume can fall into the mistake of supposing that the quotations given from such writers as Huser, Dzirrzon, LANGsrroru, Qvinsy, Cook, Root, CHESHIRE, Lussock, MiinLeR, and many others are meant to supersede the necessity of studying the original works from which those quotations are taken ; on the contrary, they cannot fail to excite the desire to do so on the part of all who, after the general view here given, shall wish seriously to pursue the study. On all practical points of working detail I have given the practice followed by myself, and with special regard to the experience of myself and others in the peculiar circumstances of the Australasian colonies. On many of these points the beginners in these countries could find no reliable guide in any of the European or American works, for although there are in both of those continents some honey-pro- ducing districts similarly situated, at least in point of climate, to the semi-tropical parts of Australasia, yet it happens that all the standard works on apiculture have had their origin in places situate in com- paratively high latitudes, where the severe winters and the absence of an evergreen flora tend to place the practice of bee-keeping upon essentially different principles in many respects. Many subjects indirectly connected with practical apiculture are also introduced in this volume which I have not seen touched upon in any other work. Among these I would direct special attention to Chapter XIX. In order not to confuse the novice I have given, in all ordinary matters, full details of such methods as I have adopted and consider the best; but in special cases, where there is some divergence of opinion, I have also described the plans recommended by some of the leading apiarists of the day, and in every case I have sought to bring the accounts of improvements in the art down to the latest date. viii. PREFACE, I have spared no trouble or expense in procuring the numerous illustrations which appeared to mo to be necessary for the complete- ness of the work; and notwithstanding the necessary difference in price of the book as compared with the former editions, I trust it may be considered in that respect, as well as in regard to the style of bring- ing it out, as creditable to the publishing trade of New Zealand. I. HOPKINS, Maramata, Auckuanp, N.Z., JANUARY, 1886, ERRATA. Page 27 line 15—For fasciaca, read fasciata. » 72 ,, 1—After the word ‘‘ which” insert “the eggs of.” » 86 ,, 11—For execeted, read excreted. » 117 ,, 1—For fig. 39, read fig. 37. » 131 ,, 2 (from bottom)—For Qin. read 1#in. and in a a ee | + For 1#ia., read 2in. a 157 4 8 ‘3 For “1,8001lbs. ” read 1,4501bs. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL. Antiquity of the Use of Honey—Origin of the Art of Bee-keeping— Modern Art of Bee-keeping—Bee-keeping in New Zealand and Australia--Introduction of the Black or German Bee into New Zealand—Introduction of Italian Bees—Imrroved System of Bee- keeping in New Zcaland—Introduction of Bees and Bee Culture into Australia and Tasmania—Italian Bees in Queensland, in New South Wales, in Victoria, in South Australia, in Tasmania —Suitability of New Zealand and Australia for Apiculture— Climate—Native Flora—Importance of Apiculture as an Industry —Protits of Bee-keeping—Adaptation to Women—Advice to Be- ginners—State Aid to Apiculture—Bee Publications ..._ 1—24 CHAPTER II. THE HONEY BEE, ITS VARIETIES AND DISTRIBUTION. Apis Mellifica—Geographical Distribution of its Varieties—German or Black Bee—Italian or Ligurian Bee —Markings of pure Italian Bees— Hy brids— German, Italian, Cyprian, Syrian and Palestine Bees—Carniolans, Herzegovian, Dalmatian, Koumelian, and Hy- mettus Bees—Other Races of Bees—Native Bees of New Zealand and Australia aa “i oe is 25—39 CHAPTER III. INMATES OF THE HIVE, THEIR NATURAL HISTORY. General Description—The Queen—The Drone—The Worker— Physiology and Anatomy of the Honey. Bee—Classification of Species—General Characteristics of Structure—Nervous System x. CONTENTS, —Respiratory Organs—Air-Sacs of Bees—The Head—The Eyes —The Mouth—The Antennze—Senses of Hearing and Smelling— The Wings—The Legs—The Honey Sac—The Sting—Repro- ductive Organs of Queen—Parthenogenesis—Dzierzon Theory — Development from Egg to the Bee—Fertile Workers—Relation of Bees to Flowers oe wes wh 40—79 CHAPTER IV. WHAT BRES COLLECT, AND WHAT THEY PRODUCE. Honey—Nectar of Blossoms—Adulteration of Honey—Honey - Dew— Wax—Bees Wasting Wax—Extravagant Waste of Wax—Method of rendering Wax — Comb, how constructed—Advantages of the hexagonal form of Cells—Pollen and Bee-Bread—Artificial Pollen—Propolis 0s sai wih os 80—98 CHAPTER V. THE APIARY. Location—General Arrangement—Shade—Water—Area of Ground— Arrangement of Hives—Extracting House and Honey Store— Workshop and Hive Store —Fumigating House — Stocking ti.e Apiary—Moving Hives—House Apiary ... aa 99—110 CHAPTER VI. HIVES, FRAMES, AND SECTION BOXES. Movable Comb Hives—Choice of a Hive—An ideal Hive—Various forms now in use—The Langstroth Hive—General Description —-Instructions for making—Body of Hive—Bottom Board— Alighting Board — Cover — Half-Story Hives— Hive Cramp— Nucleus Hive—Observatory Hive—Timber for Hive-making— Painting Hives—Frames--Narrow or brood Frames—Broad, or Section Frames—Half-story Frames—Frame Form—Number of Frames to a Hive—Mats for covering Frames—Section Boxes— Requisites of good Sections—To Make sections—One Piece Sections—Putting dovetailed Sections together—Clinching the Dovetails— Separators — Dispensing with Separators — Section Racks and Cases—The Bedien Section Case—Honey Boards — How to construct Honey Boards and Section Cases ~111—144 CONTENTS. xi. CHAPTER VII. THE HONEY EXTRACTOR, AND MANIPULATION OF EXTRACTED HONEY. Strained or pressed and melted Honey—Invention of the Centrifugal Extractor — Two-comb Extractor— Single-comb Extractor — Six- comb Extractor—Preparing Combs for _extracting—Uncapping Knife—Uneapping Can—Broken-Comb Basket—Manipulation of extracted Honey—Arrangement of Extracting House ; 145—15 CHAPTER VIII. COMB-FOUNDATION. History of the Invention—Advantages derived from its Use—Principal Points of good Foundation—Comb Foundation Machines—Drone Cell Foundation—Progress of Manufacture—To fasten Foundation in Frames—To Fasten Foundation in Sections—Wired Foundation —Wiring the Frames—-Imbedding the Foundation — To secure straight Combs ss 8 as fa 158-170 CHAPTER IX. MANIPULATION OF BEES, AND FEEDING. Handling Bees—Bee Veil—Bee Gloves—Quieting Bees—Smokers— Fuel for Smokers—How to open a Hive—Comb Holders—Cures for Stings—Feeding—Feeding for Winter—Stimulative Feeding— What and When to feed—How to feed Syrup _.... 171—182 CHAPTER X. TRANSFERRING. Implements Required—Wires and Clasps--Transferring Board — Driving—Fixing Combs in Frames—Mr. Heddon’s new Practice, —Open Driving si ing ; ~ 183—187 CHAPTER XI. INCREASE OF STOCKS, NATURAL SWARMING, DIVIDING. What Rate of Increase is desirable ?—Circumstances which affect a Decision— Mode of attaining the Object—Natural Swarming— xii,” CONTENTS, Causes of Swarming—The ule) Season— Symptoms of Swarming—Issue of the Swarm—Objections raised against Natural Swarming—Preparing for Swarms—Swarm Box—Taking and Hiving Swarms—Absconding Swarms—Clipping the Queen’s Wing —Process of clipping — After-Swarms— Prevention of Swarming—Prevention of After-Swarming—Supplying the old Stock with Fertile Queen—Preventing Increase of Colonies— Dividing ss aie ies ie iis 188 —207 CHAPTER XII. QUEEN REARING. Necessity of the Practice—A Word concerning Drones—Entrance Guarés—How to secure choice Queen Cells—Forming Nuclei—How to insert Queen Cells—My Method of forming Nucleiand inserting Queen Cells—Mating Young Queens—Necessary Distance apart of different Races to insure pure Mating—Queen Nurseries— Introducing Queens —Direct Introduction of Queens—Introducing Virgin Queens—‘“ Shipping ” Queens—Shipping whole Colonies 208—230 CHAPTER XIII. SURPLUS HONEY, MODE OF SECURING AND MARKETING. Spring Management—Division Boards ~Spreading Brood—Putting on surplus Boxes—Reversing Frames—Heddon’s reversible Frames -— Queen Excluder Honey Board—Taking surplus Honey— Ripening Honey—Comb Baskets—Marketing Honey—Extracted Honey—Comb Honey—Benefits of co-operation ... 231—243 CHAPTER XIV. WINTERING, UNITING. Difference in Character of Winter Seasons—Australasian Winters— Precautions for Wintering—Reducing interior Room in Hive.— Providing Food—Inner Covering of Frames—Reducing Entrance —Securing Covers— Providing Winter Forage —Ventilation— Chaff Hives—To make a Chaff Hive—Providing Space above Frames in Winter—Uniting weak and queenless Colonies— Uniting Swarms , a fe : 244—251 CHAPTER XV. ROBBER BEES. Causes of Robbing—How to know Robber Bees—Precautions to be observed—Bee Tents—How to stop Robbing .. 252—255 CONTENTS. xiii. CHAPTER XVI. DISEASES OF BEES. Dysentery and its Prevention—Bacillus alvei (foul brood)—Symptoms of Bacillus alvei—Investigations of Mr. Frank Cheshire—Bacillus alvei under the Microscope—Tho Cheshire Cure—The Salicylic Acid Remedy—Bacillus Gaytoni—Other Diseases of Bees—Ar- renotokia—Spray Diffuser bis a4 a8 256—268 CHAPTER XVII. ENEMIES OF BEES. Australasian Exemptions—Spiders —Mice---Ants—-Bee-hawk (bellula) +The Bee or Wax-moth—Tinea cereana—Damage to Combs— Remedies—Bee-mite—A Caution to Importers of Bees—Fumi- gating Combs... si si) es 269—277 CHAPTER XVIII. BEE FORAGE. Ordinary Sources—Native Flora of New Zealand—Native Flora of Australia --New South Wales—South Australia — Victoria — Queensland—Tasmania—Eucaly pti and Acaciasin New Zealand— European Plants and Tiees—American Plants and Trees—Bass- wood—Sages — Horse Mint—Figwort—Golden Rods — Asters— Spider Plant—Mellilot Clover—Giant Mignonette—Duration of the Honey Season—Flight of Bees—Over-stocking ... 278—296 CHAPTER XIX. APICULTURE IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE. Are Bees Trespassers ?—Beneficial Influence of Bees on Agriculture— Can bees harm the Soil or the Crops ?—Saccharine Matter of Plants not derived from the Soil—Derived from the Atmosphere and Rain Water—Nectar of Plants intended to attract Insects— Sometimes thrown off as superfluous—Superfluous Nectar eva- porated if not taken by Insects—Question as to grazing Stock— Quantity of Honey furnished by pasture Lands—Proportion yossibly consumed by Stock—Bee-keeping as a Branch of Tacimine ae a 297—307 CHAPTER XX. USES OF HONEY FOR FOOD, DRINKS, MANUFACTURES AND MEDICINE, Honey as Food—For Domestic Cookery—For Preserves—Moderation in Use—Deleterious Honey —Fermented Drinks —Manufactures — Honey as Medicine—Recipes—Honey Cakes—-Mead —Metheglin— Miodomel — Fruit Wine with Honey —Light Beverages — Medicinal “ wh see ‘ 308—319 CHAPTER XXI. CALENDAR, BEEKEEPERS AXIOMS. Variability of Seasons—Use of Meteorological Observations—Calendar, adapted to Auckland, New Zealand—Bee-keepers’ Axioms 320—321 GLOSSARY... pe bap si aes sts 326—330 INDEX... Sn ae ade os se 331—335 29. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FRONTISPIECE : Burwood Apiary, Matamata. Jones’ wax extractor ; PAGE . German or Black Queen 28 . Italian Queen .. 29 . Abdomen of Italian Worker 32 . The Queen Bee 41 The Drone 42 The Worker 42 . Wings of a bee 46 . Nervous system of the bee.. 47 Trachea, magnified . 48 . Respiratory organs of the bee 49 Airsacsandovariesof queen 50 . Air sacs of worker 50 Head of worker bee .. 51 Hooklets of wings 56 Hind leg of bee, showing pollen basket... 57 . Anterior leg of worker, magnified 58 . Bee sting, magnified 60 . Ovaries of queen ate - 63 . Queen’s egg under the mi- croscope é .. 69 . From the egg to ‘the bee 70 . Worker nymph and larva, in comb a “i 71 Worker larvee and queen cells z 72 . Queen cells puiltover worker cells ‘ ae TE Salvia officinalis, young fluwer visited by a bee i7 Ditto, stamens and anthers 78 . Ditto, older flower, with pis- til developed .. 78 Under side of abdomen of worker bee, showing wax pockets and wax scales 838 . The Gerster wax extractor 91 30. 31. 32, 33. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61, PAGE Worker cells‘and drone-cells Hexagonal cells Circular cells a Pollen grains under the mi- ceroscope . Water bottle ‘ . Arrangement of hives House apiary for 20 hives .. Movable comb-hive .. . Two-storied Langstroth hive . End of hive (inside view) .. . Ditto (outside view) ., on . Side of hive (inside view) .. . Showing how the different parts of the hive go to- gether .. ‘ Bottom board .. Alighting board 5. End of cover (inside view).. Side of cover, ditto Ridge board of cover . Roof board of cover .. . Cover complete . Hive cramp 5 . Nucleus hive, with | cover and mat . Observatory hive . Narrow or brood frame Broad or section frame, with sections and tin separators . Half-story frame, with sec- tions and tin separator .. Frame form or gauge One-pound section box, with starter of comb-foundation One piece section Section cramp and form Prize section rack The Heddon section case .. 93 of 94 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xvi. FIG. PAGE 62. Heddon’s honey board 142 63. Honey extractor 147 64. Framework for two- comb extractor ' vs « 148 65. ‘* Little Wonder” .. 149 66. Reversible six-comb honey- extyactor, with one basket detached. 150 67. Cowan’s automatic basket... 151 68. Root’s uncapping knife 152 69. Bingham and Hetherington knife, with cap-catcher .. 152 70. Dadant’s uncapping can 153 71. Broken-comb basket.. 154 72. Cross-section of extracting house, with view of ex- tractor, strainer,andtanks 155 73. Ground plan of ditto... 156 74. Comb foundation... .. 158 75. A. I. Root’s 10in. roller machine 161 76. The Given press y 162 77. Gauge for trimming founda- tion 6 164 78. Comb- foundation board 165 79. Mode of fastening in frame 165 80. Wax-smelter : 166 81. Parker’s comb-lever .. 167 82. Wired frame 168 83. Wiring board , 169 84. Easterday’s wire imbedder. 169 844. Device for securing straight combs 170 85. Wire-cloth bec-veil .. 172 86. Tarlatan bee-veil . 172 87. Clark’s cold-blast smoker .. 174 88. Bingham’s_ direct-draught smoker ae . 7st 89. Comb-holder 176 90. ‘Simplicity’ comb- holder... 177 91. “Simplicity” feeder .. 181 92. Grey’s entrance feeder 182 93. Transferring wiresandclaps 183 94. Transterring board 184 95. Pieces of comb transferred to frame 185 96. Jones’ entrance guard . 210 97. Alley’s drone excluder, drone and queen trap 210 . Comb containing eggs Frame for raising queen cells on . ca . Frame of queen cells . Comb stand sa . Inserted queen cell, from which queen has emerged . Alley’s queen nursery . Alley’s queen nursery cage . Alley’s introducing cage . Queen shipping cage ‘ . Benton’s shipping cage for two queens . Division board . . Hive with division boards. . . Heddon’s reversible frame. . - Queen excluder . Bliss’ sun evaporator.. . Comb basket ‘ . Shipping crate and show case for comb-honey . Brickell’s chaff-hive .. . Hill’s device . Bee tent .. » Bacilli a . Bacillispores .. . . Healthy juices of larva . B. alvei (last stage) . B, alvei (early stage).. . B. alvei (late stage) .. . Spray diffuser .. oe . Bee-hawk (LibelZula) . Bee-moth.. ‘ . Male and fomale beo-moth . Silken tube of bee-moth larva . Silken tube in comb . . Larvee of bee-moth . Combdestroyed es moth larvee .. . American linden or bass- wood . Horse-mint of Texnaie, . Figwort .. é f Three varietiosof golden rods . Aster . Spider plant . Mellilot clover . Giant mignonette CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY AND HISTORICAL. In the whole range of created objects presented to our con- templation in the study of what we familiarly call Naturg, from the inconceivably great systems of inanimate matter rolling in infinite space to the inconceivably small but animated forms revealed by the microscope, there is probably no class more calculated to excite our wonder and admiration than that of Insects ; and of all the different kinds of insects there is none more interesting as an object of study, and none that can be made more useful and profitable to man, than the Honey Bee. Its history is as old as that of the human race ; its product, honey, was recognised in the earliest ages as a most desirable, almost an indispensable, addition to the food of man: and yet it is only now, some 3400 years after its first authentic historical mention, that we are beginning to realise the full economic importance of that product and to avail our- selves fully of the bounty of Providence, evidenced not only in its production, but also in the endowment of the bee with those wonderful instincts which render its collection so easy. ANTIQUITY OF THE USE OF HONEY. A certain proportion of saccharine matter in the food of man appears to be essential for his sustenance in a healthy condition, and previous to the comparatively modern invention of preparing sugar from vegetable juices, the only form in which such saccharine matter was attainable in a concentrated: state was that of honey. The temperate or semi-tropical climate of that part of the globe which formed “ the cradle of the human race” was most favourable to the spontaneous spreading of the honey-bee and the collection of surplus honey in its natural hives or nests. These would be built in the hollows of trees, in the clefts and under the ledges of rucks, as they are at the present day in such climates, and their stores B 2 AUSTRALASIAN would soon be discovered by men engaged in the grazing of flocks and herds in a very thinly populated land. It is not, therefore, surprising that in the Scriptures of the Old Testa- ment, the earliest written records of the human race, we find frequent reference made to honey as a thing universally known and intimately connected with the comforts of man. The name is said to be ghoneg in the original Hebrew, signifying “delight,” evidently the root of the German word “ honig,” which easily becomes ‘‘ honey” in English. The name is used generally in the ancient Scriptures in combination with that of milk, the most universal of all foods, to form the Oriental metaphor denoting abundance—“ a land flowing with milk and honey” being the words used in nearly twenty passages of those writers, from Moses down to the prophet Ezekiel, to describe the country promised to the descendants of Jacob. In the non-historical parts of Scripture, the Prophecies, the Psalms of David, the Song of Solomon, Proverbs, and the book of Sirach, the words “honey” and “ honey-comb” are always used as the types of everything good and wholesome as well as sweet; in the last mentioned book (which, though its canonical value is a matter of dispute, may be safely quoted in this respect) it is distinctly mentioned as one of the necessaries of life. In the historical portions it is first mentioned as one of the choice articles sent as a present by Jacob to the tuler of the Egyptians when his sons went to that people to obtain a supply of corn during a time of scarcity, about 3600 years ago. Some 700 years later King Jeroboam sent a “ cruse of honey” with other presents to propitiate the prophet Ahijah. A curious case is mentioned about Samson (in the twelfth century before our Christian era) finding “a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion” which he had killed some time before. In explanation of this strange sort of bee- hive, we are told that in the climate of Palestine, in some hot seasons, dead bodies are often so quickly dried up that they become like mummies and remain a long time undecayed, so that a swarm of bees might well select the inside of a dricd-up lion’s body (supposing it to have been disembowelled) to build in.* Somewhat later in date a circumstance is related of * Possibly some such case may have given rise to the extraordinary thi i ane by Virgil that bees were generated in the decaying énttails of 6 BEE MANUAL. 3 Jonathan, with a part of Saul’s army, entering a wood and finding “honey on the ground.” ‘When the people came into the wood, behold the honey dropped,” and Jonathan refreshed himself by “ putting forth the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipping it in a honey-comb and putting his hand to his mouth.” This is very interesting as showing so clearly how honey was then commonly obtained. About the year 1023 B.c. honey is mentioned as one of the things supplied by friendly hands for the refreshment of David and his followers when “they were hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness ;” and three centuries later it is enumerated amongst the things of which tithes were to be paid to the Levite priests by order of King Hezekiah. Finally, it is men- tioned in the Prophecy of Ezekiel, when describing the ancient commerce of Tyre, as an article of commerce sent to that port from Palestine. ORIGIN OF THE ART OF BEE-KEEPING. Those passages relating to honey in the writings of the Old Testament are quite sufficient to prove the great antiquity of its use, but they give us no grounds for looking upon the patriarchs and the early inhabitants of the earth as bee-keepers ; on the contrary, there is ample evidence afforded that, at the time referred to, honey was obtained from the natural haunts of the bees—in the forests and rocky pasture lands—just as it may be obtained at the present day in the bush districts of warm climates, and especially in parts of India, where the bees build not so much in the hollows of trees as in the open air in the branches, and under ledges of rock on the sides of hills. The climate of Palestine, Assyria, and Egypt is quite suited to the natural propagation of bees in the woodsand “‘wildernesses” on the borders of the Arabian desert, and the nomadic life of the shepherds and cattle-herds afforded the best opportunities for tracing the bees to their haunts and collecting the wild honey. We may then fairly conclude that such were the sources from which honey was ordinarily obtained by the inhabitants of those Kastern countries, and we have no reason to suppose that they practised any art of bee-keeping, or knew anything abcut a system of providing bees with artificial dwellings and inducing them to gather honey and to store it in a manner more convenient to man. We must suppose that the “4 AUSTRALASIAN ‘haunts of the wild bees, when found, had to be pillaged with the aid of smoke or sulphur fumes, and that the operation ‘was not always an agreeable one we may conclude from the way in which bees are mentioned in the few passages of ‘Scripture where they are incidentally alluded to, as in Deut. i. 44, where Moses, recapitulating all that had happened to the Israelites during their migration, tells them, ‘The Amorites came out against you and chased you as bees do.” And in Psalm exviii. 13, “They (the heathens) encompassed me about like bees.” Amongst the Western nations the civilised Greeks had un- questionably practised the art of bee-keeping at a very early period. The laws of Solon, 600 years B.c., contain regulations as to the distances apart at which bee-hives may be kept ; and ‘both Greéks and Romans wrote ana sang about bees and bee- keeping from the times of Homer down to those of Aristotle, Virgil, Palladius, Pliny, and Columella. It is very probable that the Romans first introduced the practice into Palestine. The term “wild” honey is never met with in the ancient ‘Scriptures, simply because ail’ honey deserved that name in those times;*but the Evangelists Matthew and Mark, who wrote when Palestine had been for nearly a century virtually ‘a Roman: Province, both use the term “locusts and wild honey.” We may conclude that at that time the people were accustomed to keep bees in artificial hives, and they would naturally make a distinction between honey so obtained and that gathered by “wild ” bees in the “ wildernesses ” or unfrequented places. When Alexander carried his conquests into India, in the fourth century B.v., he found honey so plentiful there that he imposed a tribute payable in honey and ‘wax. The Romans, at a much later period, levied a tribute of 200,000 lbs. of wax yearly upon Corsica, and the countries of the “barbarians ” outside the limits of the Roman Empirein Europe were known to produce (and certainly without any art of bee-keepiug) large quantities of both honey and wax. Inthe early part of the third century, when the Goths were gradually migrating towards the Roman Provinces, Gibbon ‘mentions that when they took possession of the present Russian district of the Ukraine,* “ The plenty of game'and fish; the innumerable bee- * This is the part of Russia from which the largest quantiti f obtained at the present day. Bere a ca BEE MANUAL, 5. hives deposited in the hollows of old trees and in the cavities of rocks, and forming, even in that rude age, a valuable branch of commerce, . . . all displayed the liberality of nature and tempted the industry of man.” The same writer tells us that in the time of Constantine the Great (A.D. 306 to 337) the people of Chersonesus (the present, Crimea) were supplied from the Roman Provinces of the East, with corn and manu- factures “ which they purchased with their only productions, salt, wax and hides.” The ambassadors of Theodosius II. to Attila, king of the Huns, when travelling through part of the country now called Hungary (about a.p. 450) “received from the con- tiguous villages a plentiful supply of provisions,” amongst which is noted “mead instead of wine.” But however primitive may have been the mode of obtaining honey in those unsettled countries, great progress, both in the art of bee-keeping and in mercantile dealings in honey and wax, must have been made in the civilised provinces, as it is mentioned, on the authority of a writer named Synesius, that when the Goths, under Alaric, sacked the city of Athens, A.D. 396, that city “was at that time less famous for its schools of philosophy than for its trade in honey.” In the seventh century the Emperor Heraclius raised a sort of forced loan from the churches at Constantinople to meet some war expenses, and on that occasion it is related that barrels of honey (ostensibly) packed away among the church stores were found. to be really filled with gold. This anecdote serves to indicate how extensively honey was used, and how it was kept in those times. About the same time, when Persia was overrun by the Saracen Caliph, after the great battle of Nehavend, the fugitive general of the Persians was stopped and overtaken ‘in a crowd of camels and mules laden with honey,” an incident which, as Gibbon remarks, “ however slight or singular, will denote the luxurious impedimenta of an Oriental army.” It is also related that Mahomet, who was very temperate and sparing in his diet, ‘“ delighted in the taste of milk and honey ;” and that this taste was general among the Arabs we may conclude from the circumstance mentioned by Gibbon, that with them “the perfection of language out-stripped the refinements of manners, and their speech could diversify the fourscore names of honey.” 6 AUSTRALASIAN In the earliest history of the Russian people, in the ninth and tenth centuries, we find mentioned among the chief articles of their trade, “the spoils of their bee-hives and the hides of their cattle,” and “their native commodities of furs, wax, and hydromel ;” and a Greek historian, describing the state of Britain at the time of the visit of the Greek Emperor Manuel (about 1400), says: “The land is overspread with towns and villages ; though destitute of vines, and not abounding in fruit trees, it is fertile in wheat and barley, in honey and wool.” The true history of the rise and progress of the art of bee- keeping amongst the Greeks and Romans, and its extension over Europe during the middle ages, is as yet unwritten, but there can be no doubt that amongst the Northern nations the use of honey became with time more and more a matter of necessity, much of their fermented liquors being prepared from it, and the more northern the positions, and the more severe the winter seasons, the more essential it became to domesticate the bees, or use artificial means for preserving them during the winter months. The primitive system of bee-keeping adopted in the earliest period of Greek civilisation seems to have been followed with little change or improvement by the Romans and the nations which rose upon the ruins of that empire, and to have been handed down from father to son almost unaltered until the close of the last century. In the first half of the present century some important improvements were introduced into England, especially by Thomas Nutt, a self-instructed apiarist, who was one of the first to condemn and abolish the barbarous custom of destroying the bees with sulphur, and to invent and practice a more rational and humane method of taking the surplus honey in separate boxes and bell-glasses. Since the middle of the seventeenth century much attention had been paid to the natural history of the bee and other insects by Von Swammerdam in Holland, Maraldi in Italy, Réaumur, Lepeletier and Latreille in France, Bonnet in Switzerland, Linnzus in Sweden, and by Dr. John Hunter and Dr. Bevan in England; but it is to the researches and discoveries of Huber and Dzierzon that we are indebted for that knowledge of the physiology of the honey-bee which has led to those great practical improvements which may be said to constitute the BEE MANUAL. 7 MODERN ART OF BEE-KEEPING. This may be considered to have commenced with the second half of the present century, although the most important strides in the progress of the honey industry have only taken place within the last twenty years. In the year 1845, the results of Dzierzon’s investigations were first made known in the Eichstadt Bienen-Zeitung, and in 1848 his book on the “Theory and Practice of Bee Culture” was published at the instance of the Prussian Government. Not many years afterwards, Lang- stroth’s work on “The Hive and Honey Bee,” and Quinby’s “Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained,” appeared almost simul- taneously in America. All these men had been working inde- pendently for some twenty years, studying the habits of the bee, and inventing a hive and a system which should enable the apiarist to control the working of his bees, and to obtain the largest amount of surplus honey without injury to them. They all attained a very high degree of success, and they bestowed the knowledge of their successful labours upon the public nearly at the same time. All their works have great and independent merits, and must always remain as classics in bee literature. To Dzierzon must be allowed the merit of having so completely worked out and supplemented Huber’s theory with regard to the physiology of the bee, and also the priority at least in the publication of his system of bar-hives. Lang- stroth and Quinby both produced frame-hives, simpler and more practical than that of Dzierzon, and each of them have their advocates to the present day. Subsequently the inven- tion of the honey extractor, of comb-foundation, and a number of ingenious implements and appliances, have led to a complete revolution in the practice of bee-keeping, and helped to raise it to the rank of an important national industry which can no longer be neglected in any country possessing the natural capa- bilities for its establishment. BEE-KEEPING IN NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA. None of the countries of the New World, of North or South America, or of Australasia, were found, when first dis- covered, to possess any variety of the true honey-bee (Apis mellifica) ; a necessary preliminary, therefore, to the practice of bee-culture in any of those regions was the introduction of bees 8 AUSTRALASIAN from the old country, an operation which was attended with .far greater difficulties even forty or fifty years ago than in these days of rapid steam navigation. INTRODUCTION OF THE BLACK OR GERMAN BEE INTO NEW ZEALAND. The first bees introduced into New Zealand are said to have arrived in the ship Westminster, in the early part of 1840. These bees belonged to Lady Hobson, wife of the first Governor. and were watehed over on board the vessel by Mr. McElwaine, the Governor’s gardener. They were landed at the Bay of Islands. Mr. William Mason, who was, at the period above mentioned, Government Architect and Inspector of Public Works, told me that he distinctly recollected seeing the bees on board the ship, and that they were in straw hives, which were wrapped in blankets. He believed they remained at the Bay when the Government party left to establish the seat of government on the Waitemata, now the city of Auckland. Dieffenbach, in his “Travels in New Zealand,” mentions having seen (in December, 1840) a hive of bees, thriving remarkably well, with the Rev. Richard Taylor at Waimate, but says “the bees had been introduced into New Zealand from New South Wales.” This may be an error. It is not improbable that the hives referred to may have been stocked with some of Lady Hobson’s bees, but it is also quite possible that they may have been brought from New South Wales where they had been first introduced in 1822. For the introduction of bees into this colony we are also indebted to the late Rev. William Charles Cotton, and to Mrs. Allom, mother of our respected and esteemed fellow- citizen, A. J. Allom, Esq., of Parawai. With regard to Mr. Cotton’s success, I quote the following from the British Bee Journal of January 1st, 1880 :— ‘In 1841 Mr. Cotton became chaplain to the late Bishop of New Zealand, Dr. Selwyn, with whom he embarked on board the Tomatin at Plymouth, on the 30th December of that year. On the voyage out, and subsequently, Mr. Cotton rendered the Bishop much assistance in transluting the Bible into the native tongue. “Mr. Cotton took with him four stocks of bees; and many marvellous stories are told of his mastery over his favourites on ship board. He was very successful in the introduction of the cultivation BEE MANUAL, 9 of bee-keeping in his adopted country, and in 1848 he produced his ‘Manual for New Zealand Bee-keepers,’ published at Wellington, New Zealand. Before the introduction of the honey bee intu New Zealand, they had to send over to England every year for the white clover seed (7'r/folium repens), as it did not seed freely there, but b the agency of the bees they are now able to export it. New Zealan is such a good country for bees, that Mr. Cotton told me, one stock had increased to twenty-six in one year. The natives call the bee the white man’s fly.” Mrs. Allom, the lady before referred to, some time in 1842 (as Iam informed by Mr. Allom), serit some colonies of bees to Nelson and Wellington ; those sent to Nelson were con- signed to Captain Wakefield, the then head of that settlement, and reached their destination safely, while those forwarded to Wellington died before arrival. This lady’s claim has never before, as far as I know or can ascertain, been recognised except by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Adelphi, London. That Society awarded her the Silver Isis Medal in 1845, for her “communication respecting her successful introduction of bees to New Zealand.” From the bees thus introduced in the years 1840 to 1842 have sprung the whole of the black stock of New Zealand. INTRODUCTION OF ITALIAN BEES INTO NEW ZEALAND. Previous to the year 1880 several unsuccessful attempts were made to introduce Ligurian bees into this colony. I believe the Honourable Thomas Russell, C.M.G., spent a large sum of money to secure this object, but in vain. The hot weather encountered in the passage from America to this country, and also the imperfect knowledge as to the best mode of packing bees to travel long distances, acted as almost in- superable barriers to their introduction. By these repeated failures, however, apiarists gained knowledge, and as a result, in September, 1880, two splendid colonies of Ligurians were landed in Auckland—one consigned to the Acclimatisation Society, Christchurch, the other to Mr. J. H. Harrison, Coro- mandel. Too much praise cannot be given to Captain Cargill, who took charge of the little creatures from the moment they were shipped and personally attended to all their wants on the passage across. These hives came from Los Angelos County, California, and were procured by Mr. R. J. Creighton, the 10 AUSTRALASIAN New Zealand Government representative, to whom much praise is due. This consignment, owing to the method of packing, having been so successful, Messrs. Hopkins and Clark, of the Parawai Apiary, took steps to procure some colonies, and two were received in due course from Ventura County, California. These, too, were received in splendid condition, thanks again to the care taken of them by Captain Cargill. Following upon this I obtained from America two other con- signments, in all twenty nuclei and two full colonies. An event of considerable importance in the history of bee-keeping in New Zealand was the first successful importation of queens direct from Italy. After some correspondence with Mr. Full- wood, of Brisbane, I decided to give the matter a trial, and the result was that four out of eight queens shipped at Naples by Mr. Chas. Bianconcini on 10th of November, 1883, arrived in good condition at the Matamata Apiary on the 11th of January, 1884. Another shipment was made later in the same year, when six out of twelve queens arrived alive. Since the first importations numbers of Italian queens have been reared and distributed over the colony ; fresh importations have been made by other parties, and the greater number of New Zealand apiaries are now being Italianised. These bees flourish splen- didly in this country, and will, Iam quite sure, eventually replace with profit the German or common black bee. A full account of the Ligurian bee is given in another chapter. IMPROVED SYSTEM OF BEE-KEEPING IN NEW ZEALAND. Till within the last five or six years bee-keeping here was, with a few exceptions, in a very backward state. The hives in general use were composed of old gin cases, candle boxes, and in fact any wooden material in the shape of a case that was handy to the bee-keeper when his colonies happened to swarm. Asa rule, no preparations were made for the swarm- ing season, and it was not until the swarm was in the air that the need of a spare hive was realised. These boxes in some cases have been so neglected that they have actually fallen to pieces through age, and the bees left exposed to the weather. The sulphur pit has, I am sorry to say, not been unknown here, and it is in use even at the present day. In a German work on bees the following epitaph is given, which, as Langstroth remarks, might be properly placed over every pit BEE MANUAL. ll of brimstoned bees, as a brand of disgrace to those who practise this horrid system :— HERE RESTS, CUT OFF FROM USEFUL LABOUR, A COLONY oF INDUSTRIOUS BEES, BaSELY MURDERED BY ITS UNGRATEFUL AND IGNORANT OWNER. But this most barbarous and cruel practice is fast passing away, through the efforts of more enlightened and humane bee-keepers. Amongst those who have done good service in this direction is Dr. Irving, of Canterbury, who, soon after his arrival there in 1879, took steps to put bee-culture in the South Island on a proper footing. To do this, he placed a modern hive, con- taining a colony of bees, in the Public Gardens at Christchurch, and occasionally delivered lectures, with experiments, to those interested in bee-keeping. He has also written many interest- ing and valuable articles on bee-culture in the Canterbury Times. He was elected first president of the Christchurch Bee- keepers’ Association, which he was mainly instrumental in founding. About the same time, with the object of giving information to our bee-keeping settlers, I wrote a series of articles upon bee-culture, which appeared in our local papers, and which created such a large amount of interest and produced so many requisitions to me to publish them in book form, that I was induced, in the year 1881, to publish the first edition of this Maaoual. The extent of the newly-awakened interest in the improved system of culture was shown by the fact that a new edition of the work was required within thirteen months ; and that being now exhausted, I am led to lay before the public the third edition in its present revised and greatly enlarged form. In July, 1883, the New Zealand and Australian Bee Journal was started by Mr. J. C. Firth, under my editorship, I having in the meantime entered into arrangements with that gentleman for the establishment aud working of extensive 12 AUSTRALASIAN apiaries on the Matamata estate. The Journal was, for two years, widely circulated and ably supported by. the literary contributions of enthusiastic and successful apiarists in New Zealand and the Australian colonies. It was, for reasons given at the time, incorporated with the New Zealand Farmer, Bee and Poultry Journal, in June, 1885. Attractive displays of honey and of apiarian appliances have been made at the last two annual shows of the Auckland Horticultural Society. The New Zealand Bee-keepers’ Asso- ciation was formally constituted on the 7th of August, 1884, and held its first annual meeting this year. It forms an admi- rable centre point for the combined action of all New Zealand bee-keepers in their endeavours to promote the general interests of the industry in the colony. The Auckland Provincial Bee- keepers’ Association has been in operation since February, 1884, and its proceedings are likely to help effectively in ad- -vancing the new industry, especially in the Waikato district. Other local associations are about being formed, and it is hoped that the example will be followed wherever there is a sufficient number of apiarists living within such a distance of each other, or of their common centre, as may render their regular peri- odical meetings practicable. A great many persons in different parts of the country have already taken up bee-keeping with the intention of making it their sole or principal occupation ; many others have commenced to practise the improved system. of culture on a small scale, for their own gratification and. the supply of honey for their own households. The numbers of both these descriptions of apiarists are increasing every, day. The production of honey in ‘the Auckland province alone is. calculated to have exceeded eighty tons last season. As a further proof of the progress of the industry, we may take the number of hives and other implements sent out by that well-known firm of hive-makers, Messrs. Bagnall Bros. & Co., of Turua, Auckland, since 1879. In the year mentioned, I arranged with them to cut my hives, etc., at their saw-mill, and in 1882 they took over my supply business. Since then the firm has sent hives and all other apiarian implements to every part of, Aus- tralasia, and they are fairly entitled to be called the premier hive-makers of these colonies. In response to some inquiries. I made concerning the number of hives, etc., they had supplied since first commencing the business, Messrs. Bagnall Bros. & Co, BEE MANUAL. 13 kindly sent me the following :—‘ The following figures are as near correct as possible of the number of hives, extractors, and smokers we have supplied: Hives, 4,500; extractors (single and double), 300; smokers, 750. These are the principal items : sections are a very large item ; last season we sent out about 100,000.” Of comb-foundation, since I first commenced making it, I have supplied nearly eight tons. I think we shall not be very far out. if we allow a like number of hives and half as much comb-foundation as being home-made and supplied from other sources. Presuming this to be correct, we have, then, about 9,000 hives and twelve tons of comb-foundation distributed through Australasia—not at all a bad showing for so young an industry. On the whole, there is the gratifying prospect that New Zealand and Australia, before many years have elapsed, shall have taken an important station among honey-producing countries. INTRODUCTION OF BEES AND BEE CULTURE INTO AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA. The black or German bee was introduced into New South Wales in 1822. The following extract is from Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, for which I am indebted to the kindness of a correspondent in Sydney :— “« Bees were first imported by Captain Wallis, in the ship Isabella, into Sydney, in April, 1822, and from these original hives the stocks were propagated into the interior by the colonists.” Mr. Thos. Lloyd Hood, of Hobart, has very kindly furnished me with the following information concerning the introduction of bees and state of apiculture in Tasmania. He says :— “« Bees were first introduced into Tasmania by Dr. Wilson, R.N., in the ship Catherine Stewart Forbes, in the year 1831. Great interest was taken in their arrival, and there was a general expression of gratitudé to Dr. Wilson for the disinterested benefit he had conferred on the coiony at considerable trouble and cost to himself. ‘« Bee-keeping here is carried on on the most primitive principles, frame hives and other appliances are only known by repute. Bees are generally kept in some handy sized’ boxes (gin cases, etc.), and at the end of summer these boxes are lifted, and the heavy ones mercilessly put over the ‘sulphur pit ;’ or by the more merciful bee-keepers, the bees are driven into another box, and so on from year to year. Very great interest is now being taken in the improved system and modern appliances since I introduced them last year, and I hear of many'who intend taking up bee-culture as a commercial industry.” 14 AUSTRALASIAN I have not been able to obtain any information as to the introduction of the German bee into South Australia, Victoria, or Queensland. Probably the importation may have been made from New South Wales or Tasmania, and nct direct from Europe. To Mr. C. Fullwood, of Brisbane, I am indebted for much information as to the progress of bee-culture in Queensland. The following extract from a communication of his in the first number of the New Zealand and Australian Bee Journal gives a graphic description of bee-culture uader the old regime :— ‘‘Some years ago large quantities of bees were kept by farmers and others in a very primitive fashion, and the bush resounded with the hum of the ‘ busy bee.’ Timber getters, wood carters, and aborigines frequently secured large quantities of honey from hollow trees; both the black bee and stingless bee, peculiar to Australia, were found almost everywhere. Gin cases, tea, or any kind of rough boxes were appropriated to bee use, and such is the climate, and the yield of honey so regular, that bees appeared to thrive everywhere, and in any kind of hive, so long as they had a cover under which to build their comb and rear their brood. No skill was demanded in their manage- ment. Given a swarm—put it in a box, on a stand, under a‘sheet of bark ; then look out for swarms in a few weeks; and, after a while, turn up the box, cut out some honey, or drive the bees into another box to go through the process of building and storing, to be again despoiled in like manner. “No thought about the destruction of brood, waste of honey and wax; no care about the queens. Would not know a queen from a drone, or their value in the hive. What matter if a few boxes (stock) perish? Such was the natural increase by swarming that a few losses were of no consequence. ‘* Anybody could keep bees who had courage enough to rob them. The aborigines knew how to doit. With a tomahawk and fire-stick they would attack the ‘ white-fellow sugar bag,’ and driving the bees with smoke, deprived them of their honey. ‘ Pettigrew’s old Irishman’ was not required here to teach the Australian aborigines how to rob the bees by means of smoke. “A few years ago, however, a great. change cameover the land. A moth, unknown previously, commenced its ravages. The bees suc- cumbed before it, and were rapidly swept away. Farmers owning from fifty to two hundred stocks lost all. The bees in the bush gave way also before the terrible onslaught, leaving the invader all but master of the field. Only a very few individuals, by dint of determined persevering watchfulness and care, managed to save « few stockr amid the general devastation. “*Bee-keeping naturally came to be viewed as a very precarious, risky, and unprofitable business ; and, although it has its charms for many, there are but two or three persons in the colony who have any number of stocks, or who attempt bee-keeping as a means of obtaining an income.’ BEE MANUAL, 15 ITALIAN BEES IN QUEENSLAND. In order to remedy this state of things Mr. Fullwood very properly determined to introduce Italian bees, which are known to defend themselves more effectually than the German bee against the inroads of moths, ants, and other enemies. In the year 1880 he brought five queens with himself from Liverpool to Melbourne, and thence to Brisbane. In 1882 he got twelve queens sent direct from Charles Bianconcini of Bologna, and of these five arrived alive ; and again in 1883 he got a second consignment of twelve, of which seven arrived safely. These spirited effoits appear to have been crowned with the success they deserve. The Italian bees seem to be quite able for the moths, and honey in abundance can be gathered by them in Queensland. Owing to Mr. Fullwood’s enterprise and example, a number of people are now turning their attention to bee- keeping, and I have no doubt that in a comparatively short time, Queensland will show to the front as a honey-producing country. ITALIAN BEES IN NEW SOUTH WALES. It is stated by Dr. Gerstaecker, that four stocks of Ligurian bees were shipped in England by Mr. I. W. Woodbury, in Sep- tember, 1862, and that they arrived safely in Australia, after a passage of seventy-nine days. It does not appear, however, that these stocks succeeded and propagated their race, any more than a colony which Mr. Angus Mackay, the present editor of the Town and Country Journal in Sydney, subsequently brought with him to Brisbane, at great expense, from America, Mr. 8. McDonnell, of Sydney, imported two colonies from America in 1880, and succeeded in raising stock from them ; and later Mr. Abrams, a German bee-master, brought some colonies with him from Italy in 1883, settled in Paramatta, and having succeeded in rearing a pure race from his queens, started an apiary for the Italian Bee-Farming Company, of which he is the manager, and Mr. McDonnell secretary. ITALIAN BEES IN VICTORIA. In Victoria, we are told that the late Mr. Edward Wilson had a stock of Ligurians sent out to him in 1862, by Messrs. Neighbour and Sons; but I am informed that no successful attempt had been made to establish the race there until quite 16 AUSTRALASIAN recently, when, in the latter part of 1884, Mr. Herman Naveau, -of Hamilton, obtained some of those.bees from Queensland, and has had great success with them. ITALIAN BEES IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. In South Australia, as Mr. Bonney informs me, the Chamber of Manufactures imported a colony of Italian bees from Mr. Fullwood, of Brisbane, in December, 1883, and succeeded in establishing them on Kangaroo Island, where they are doing remarkably wéll. Mr. Bonney himself has since successfully imported queens direct from Italy, a parcel of twelve from Bologna, to his order, having arrived safely in September, 1884, at Adelaide. ‘He states that “around Adelaide, bee-keeping is now all the rage, very many persons taking it up as an amuse- ment, while « few are making it a means of livelihood.” Much credit is due to this gentleman for the trouble he has taken to place apiculture on a proper footing in South Australia. ITALIAN BEES IN TASMANIA. To Mr. Thos. Lloyd Hood, of Hobart, the gentleman already referred to, belongs the credit of being the first person to introduce Italian bees into Tasmania. They arrived at Hobart from New South Wales in the s.s. Flora, Captain Bennison, on the 4th October, 1884. Mr. Hood, writing in May, 1885, informs me that he has had great success with them. “ Though kept in the city they increased the first season to five strong colonies and two rather weak ones. Most of the young queens are hybrids.” SUITABILITY OF NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA FOR APICULTURE. Any person who had a practical knowledge of apiculture, who had witnessed the results obtained from its improved scientific practice in Europe and America, and who afterwards visited the New-Zealand and Australian colonies, could not fail to be struck with the advantages they offer for the prose- cution of the honey industry. First, as regards BEE MANUAL. 17 CLIMATE. The influence of climate upon the operations of the bee- keeper is of a two-fold nature : first, as it affects the bee itself, especially the condition of the insect during the winter season ; and, secondly, as it is favourable or otherwise to that class of vegetation which affords forage for the bee and a flow of nectar in the honey season. Looking to the old country, we shall find that all those portions of Southern Europe, Asia Minor, and Pheenicia which constitute the ancient home of the honey- bee lie between the isothermal lines of 41° and 59° mean winter temperature, the medium line of 50° passing through or close to all the localities most celebrated both in ancient and modern times for the quality of its honey. The same places lie between the summer isothermals of 68° and 77°. California in North America and Chili in South America, both rich honey-pro- ducing countries, have a mean winter temperature of 50° to 51° and a summer temperature of 67° to 68°. The colony of Victoria in Australia and the province of Auckland in New Zealand have exactly the same mean temperature as these last mentioned countries, both in winter and summer; and the whole of the New Zealand islands, as well as nearly all the Australian colonies south of Queensland, lie between the lines of 41° and 59° mean winter temperature, exactly as in the case of the most favoured honey countries in the northern hemi- sphere. Queensland and some northern portions of New South Wales and South Australia have a winter temperature several degrees warmer than, and a tropical summer nearly equal to, that of Egypt and Syria. The rainfall in most of these colonies is amply sufficient for a luxuriant vegetation. In the most southern parts of New Zealand and Tasmania bees can fly about and even gather some honey and pollen all through the winter; and in some of the Australian colonies they can even gather surplus honey all the year round. When we remember the trouble, risk, and expense that has to be incurred in wintering bees in many parts of Europe and America, where they have to be confined in cellars for three or even for five or six months of the year in a state of semi or complete torpor, we can appreciate the advantages for the purposes of bee-keeping of a climate such as we enjoy in these colonies. Cc 18 AUSTRALASIAN NATIVE FLORA, This is a matter to be dealt with more fully in the chapter on bee forage; it is only necessary to mention here, in elucidation of this part of our subject, that the indigenous trees are nearly all honey bearers. ‘This is abundantly proved by the amount of honey sometimes taken from colonies wild in the bush. It is quite a frequent occurrence to take from 100 to 200 Ibs. and very often more from these hives. This honey could not, in many cases, have been gathered from any other source than the bush, for as the colonies are sometimes found eight or ten miles from any cultivation, and as the bee does not usually exceed from one mile and a half to two miles’ radius in its flight, it follows that honey obtained from the hives mentioned must have come exclusively from the indigenous flora. If further proof be required, may we not find it in the fact that the bee has so quickly and universally spread over New Zealand and other parts of Australasia from a few colonies ? The apiarist has not only the benefit of a splendid native flora, but the climate being so well adapted for the growth of all honey-producing plants of the old world, he is especially favoured in this country. In Australia the native acacias and eucalypti are especially valuable for bee forage, varying as they do in their times of blossoming, so that some of them are available at almost any season of the year. These trees also grow rapidly and thrive well when introduced into New Zealand. IMPORTANCE OF APICULTURE AS AN INDUSTRY. The degree to which the production of honey may be de- veloped in a comparatively short time will be best illustrated by the case of the United States of America. Professor Cook, in the last edition of his Manual of the Apiary, gives the following picture of the present state of the industry :—“ An excellent authority places the number of colonies of bees in the United States in 1881 at 3,000,000, and the honey production of the year at more than 200,000,000Ibs ; the production for that year was not up to the average, and yet the cash value of the year’s honey crop exceeds thirty millions of dollars.” G. W. Mead and Co., of San Francisco, in their annual review issued BEE MANUAL. 19 afew months ago, state that the total output of California honey, comb and extracted, for 1884, aggregated nearly the enormous total of 9,000,000 Ibs. It has no parallel in any part of the world. These appear to be enormous results, and yet the apiarists of America still speak and act as men convinced that their industry is scarcely out of its infancy as yet, and who see no prospect of a sudden or early check to the progressive increase either of production or consumption. The use of manufactured sugar has now for many generations almost entirely supplanted that of honey, which could not be, under the old system, produced in sufficient quantities or at a sufficiently low cost to compete with the new sweet. But sugar, although so nearly the same in chemical constitution, is not honey, and never can take the place of that delicious product as an agreeable and wholesome addition to the food of man. Modern apiculture, which renders possible an enormously in- creased production of honey at a greatly reduced cost, cannot fail to lead to its general use again, not of course to the ex- clusion of sugar, but upon a scale which would have been quite impossible in former times. PROFITS OF BEE-KEEPING. This is a question with reference to which it is necessary to guard against false or exaggerated views. It must be recollected that all industries require the combination in certain propor- tions of three elements—capital, labour, and skill. Some afford aready and safe investment for the first ; others require an immense quantity of the second; and others again are chiefly dependent upon the exercise of the third. The honey industry especially may be reckoned of the latter sort. An apiary cannot, it is true, be established without a certain expenditure of capital, nor worked without some labour ;_ but both these factors are small as compared with the value of the personal care and attention of the skilled apiarist, upon which the question of profit or loss mainly depends, and the profits of a successful apiary are rarely indeed more than sufficient to fairly remunerate the time and skill so applied. Bee-keeping is therefore not to be looked upon as a profitable investment for large capital, or as a large employer of labour, but as a fair field, and certainly a fairly remunerative one, for the industry, 20 AUSTRALASIAN skill and perseverance of him who lays himself out to be not only a bee-keeper but a bee master. The question is continually asked—‘‘ What is the average yearly production of honey, and what the average profit from each hive?” The answer must be, the former depends practically upon the skill of the apiarist (within certain limits of course), and the latter mainly upon his commercial intelli- gence. It is easy to show what results are attained in some eases, but it is dangerous to apply these results as a measure of success or failure in our own case. Such results as 300, 400, or even 500 Ibs. of extracted honey from one hive in a good season are not unknown nor even very rare. An average of 200 lbs. per hive may be often attained under favourable circumstances and good management ; but 100 lbs. of extracted, or 60 lbs. of comb honey per hive may be nearer to the mark of what a prudent apiarist will look forward to obtaining, and any one who can show such results as the average of a number of successive seasons, may fairly count him- self a successful bee-keeper, and his location a favoured one. It must, however, be understood that it is a rule, with perhaps no exceptions, that the larger the apiary the lower the average production per hive; so that supposing 100 lbs. of extracted honey to be a fair average through an apiary of 100 hives I would consider 75lbs. a good one per hive for 250 hives under the same conditions. ADAPTATION TO WOMEN. There is a feature in this industry which, I think, especially recommends it to notice, viz. its adaptation to women. In both England and America, at the present time, some of the most successful apiarists are ladies, and several of the most extensive bee-keepers in America are assisted by their wives and daughters. Professor Cook states that Mrs. L. B. Baker, of Landsing, Michigan, who has kept bees very successfully for four years, read. an admirable paper before the Michigan con- vention of bee-keepers, in which she said :— “But I can say, having tried both (referring to boarding-house- keeping and bee culture), I give bee-keeping the preference, as more profitable, healthful, independent, and enjoyable. I find the labours of the apiary more endurable than working over a stove, and more BEE MANUAL. 21 pleasant and conducive to health. I believe that many of our delicate and invalid ladies would find renewed vigour in body and mind in the labours and recreation of the apiary. My own experience of the apiary is that it is a source of interest and enjoyment far exceeding my anticipations.” Although apiculture offers as good an opening to people of either sex as can be found amongst ordinary industries, I do net mean to say that it is a “royal road” to wealth, or that it is suitable to every person who thinks proper to engage in it; but we have ample proof that it has been the means of many people of both sexes regaining their health and strength, and so enabling them to earn a respectable livelihood when they were almost incapable of undertaking any other employment. One notable instance in this respect I can quote in the person of Mrs. L. Harrison, of Illinois, now one of the most successful lady apiarists and writers on bee matters known. This lady was at one time told by her physician that she could not live ; but, as she herself states, “apiculture did for her what the physicians could not do—restored her to health, and gave her such vigour that she has been able to work a large apiary for years.” ADVICE TO- BEGINNERS. Let me impress upon the minds of those about to embark in the culture of bees the fact that success in this industry, as in all others, can only be obtained by tact, patience, and perseverance. As the Rev. L. L. Langstroth says :—“ There is no royal road to profitable bee-keeping ; and while large profits can be realised by careful and experienced bee-keepers, those who are otherwise will be almost sure to find their outlay result only in vexatious losses. An apiary neglected or mis- managed is worse than a farm overgrown by weeds or exhausted by ignorant tillage ; for the land, by prudent management, may again be made fertile, but the bees when once destroyed are a total loss.” It would be injudicious for an inexperienced person to start with a large number of colonies, not more than four or five, for under modern management these could be increased very rapidly after he had acquired skill and experience. I would recommend beginners to procure good stocks or early swarms to start with, from some reliable person in his immediate neighbourhood if possible. For the sake of economy get black bees, and after 22 AUSTRALASIAN gaining some little experience procure either an Italian queen or a nucleus colony of Italian bees, and Italianise the black stocks, according to directions given in another chapter. By adopting this plan much expense and risk will be saved at the commencement. The beginner should of course adopt all the latest improvements in bee-culture, and, if possible, visit an apiary where the modern system of management has been introduced. Let me also impress on him the necessity and advantage of only having one kind and size of hive throughout the apiary. The reason of this is so obvious that it needs no further comment. Let him also remember that “ practice makes perfect ;” that no matter how fully any book may enter on a given subject, yet without experience the reader, practi- cally, will be like a ship without a rudder, for itis only by practical experience that we gain lasting knowledge and success. He should become a member of the nearest bee-keepers’ asso- ciation and a subscriber to a local bee journal, which will keep him posted up in everything relating to the progress of the industry in these colonies, and serve as a means of communi- cation between him and his fellow bee-keepers. He should follow the simple instructions given in this Manual, and avoid trying new experiments until he feels that he is master of the rudi- ments of the art; he may afterwards with advantage study all that has been written on the subject of apiculture, and form his own judgment on points (not a few) where he finds that “the doctors differ.” STATE AID TO APICULTURE. Germany and other continental states have long felt it to be one of the duties of a paternal government to promote the diffusion of a knowledge of the principles of bee-culture by means of suitable publications and by placing at the disposal of agricultural societies an annual contribution in aid of their objects. The United Sates of America have, at their Agricul- tural Colleges, professors of entomology and of bee-culture, who give both theoretical and practical instruction to the students ; and in England a movement has been for some time in progress, which has now received the sanction of the Education Depart- ment, to place among the “ extra subjects,” the optional study of which is provided for by the Education Act, the branch BEE MANUAL, 23 of “ practical scientific bee-keeping, the natural history of the honey-bee, and the fertilization of tlowers by insects generally.” This is a step which might well be followed by our own Edu- cation Boards. Itis to he hoped that our Colonial Governments will show themselves alive to the importance of encouraging the study of scientific bee-culturé. The industry itself is not one which calls for state aid in the shape of subsidies or of protective duties, and it is therefore all the more deserving of all the indirect assistance which an enlightened Government may find opportunities of extending to it. BEE PUBLICATIONS. The following are some of the best works on modern apiculture :— ‘*LANGSTROTH ON THE Hive anp Honry Bes.”—This work is con- sidered by some to be the best bee book in the English language. I can, from my own knowledge, bear testimony to its excellence and usefulness. “©Coox’s MANUAL OF THE ApIARY.”—This is unquestionably a first- class work, and is fully up with the times as far as regards apiculture and the physiology of the honey-bee. “Tur ABC. or Bee-Cutture.”—This work 1s in the form of an Encyclopedia, containing all the latest information relative to this matter, and is both plain and practical. By A. J. Root. **Quinsy’s New Beze-Keerine.”’—This is a very useful work, written by one of America’s most practical bee-keepers. “Kine’s New Bexe-Keeprers’ Text Boox.”—A capital work, kept well up with the times. Has had an enormous sale. “Brees anD Honey,” by T. G. Newman.—This is a sprightly little book, well illustrated, and contains a large amount of practical information. “¢ AniEY’s Hanp-Boox.”—‘ New method of queen-rearing,’ by one of the most experienced queen-breeders living. “BuesseD Brees” and ‘“ Purn’s DicrioNaRy oF PracticaL API- CULTURE” are well worthy of a place in every bee-keeper’s library. The foregoing are all American publications ; the following are some by English authors :— ‘¢ BevAN ON THE Honey-BEz.”— This book is especially devoted to the natural history, anatomy, and physiology of the honey-bee, and would be very valuable to the student. ‘Hunter’s Manvau,”—A good work ; specially written for British bee-keepers. 24 AUSTRALASIAN ‘*Tur APIARY, OR Bers, BEE Hives, AND BEE Cutrure,” by Alfred Neighbour.—This is, I believe, the best work now published in England—quite up with the times. “‘Cowan’s British BEE-KEEPERS’ GuIpE Boox.”—Written by a thoroughly practical beekeeper. Cheap, and first-class. PERIODICALS (Weeklies). — ‘‘ AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL,” ‘KANSAS BEEKEEPER,” and ‘CANADIAN BEE JouRNAL.” (Bi-Monthlies)— ‘‘ British Bex JOURNAL,” and “‘GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE.” (Monthlies)\—“ AmERicaAN BEE JOURNAL,” ‘‘ BEEKEEPERS’ Maca- ZINE,” ‘‘AMERICAN APICULTURIST,” THE BEE-KEEPER’S GUIDE,” and ‘“‘New ZEALAND FARMER, BEE AND PouLTRY JOURNAL.” jprxiom., ‘* BEES GORGED WITH HONEY NEVER VOLUNTEER AN ATTACK,” Langstroth. BEE MANUAL. 25 CHAPTER Il, THE HONEY BEE: ITS VARIETIES AND DISTRIBUTION. THERE are many species of the genus Apis, or Bee, but only one which stores honey in such a manner as to be practically useful to man, and which Linnzus distinguished by the name APIS MELLIFICA. The particular variety of this species known to Linnzus was the Black, or German bee. Since the beginning of the present century, other varieties were observed and described by Spinola and others, and were classed at first as distinct species. In the year 1862, Dr. A. Gerstaecker, of Berlin, first published the results of his investigations upon the “GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE HONEY-BEE AND ITS VARIETIES,” from which I take the following condensed extracts. He says that up to within some ten years of the time when he was writing, bee-keepers knew only one sort of honey-bee—that which had been reared for ages—the Apis mellijica of Linnzeus ; but they then (in 1862) distinguished the German from the Italian bee. The latter had, in fact, been noticed in the beginning of this century, by Spinola and by Latreille, as a separate species of the genus Apis, and was named by the for- mer zoologist, Apis ligustica ; nevertheless it proved to be only a coloured variety of the same species ; the size, as well as the structural peculiarities of the insect, being the same in every respect, and the two sorts admitting of 'cross-breeding to any extent whereas, if they belonged to different species, the off- spring would, in all probability, consist of unprolific hybrids. The knowledge of the practical apiarist was, at all events, then confined to these two varieties of the honey-bee, and they were supposed to be indigenous almost exclusively to Europe, the 26 AUSTRALASIAN northern coast of Africa being their supposed boundary on the south, and the coast of Asia Minor on the east. When Dr. Gerstaecker, however, undertook his investigations, he obtained samples of a large number of varieties mentioned in the works of Fabricius, Latreille, Lepeletier, and others, as being found in various parts of Africa and of Asia, north of the Himalayas, ‘and subjected them to a minute examination, comparatively, with each other, and with the two varieties already known in Europe. He soon satisfied himself beyond all doubt that they were all merely varieties of the one species, the Apis mellifica, differing only in colour and size—all capable of being cross-bred, and of being utilised by the apiarist. He also found that this one species, represented by many different varieties, was spread over a vastly larger area than had been supposed, comprising nearly the whole of Europe (up to 60° or even 64° north lati- tude in some places), the whole continent of Africa, and the whole of Asia Minor, Syria, Persia, and other portions of Asia north of the Himalayan range, up to eastern Siberia and China. Out of the numerous varieties brought under review, six have been selected as being of sufficient importance to be sepa- rately dealt with. These, with their distinguishing marks and the regions to which they seem particularly to belong, are classified and described as follows :— 1. The single coloured, dark, northern, or German bee (Apis mellifica of Linnzeus), found in the whole of north and middle Europe, and also in the south of France, south of Spain, Por- tugal, a few parts of Italy, in Dalmatia, Greece, at the Crimea, and along the coast of Asia Minor, including the adjacent islands. It is also found on the African continent, at Algiers, Guinea, and at the Cape of Good Hope, to which latter place, however, it was probably introduced direct from Europe. As a very slight sub-variety of the same may be noted the Hymettus bee (Apis cecropia), differing only in being slightly smaller and more hairy, often also showing reddish spots on the sides of the second abdominal ring. This bee is found in the south of Spain, as well as in Greece, and even, in some isolated cases, in Germany. 2. The Italian bee (Apis ligustica of Spinola), of equal size with the German bee, but with golden yellow colour on the first three abdominal rings, whilst the back plate (of the BEE MANUAL. 27 thorax) is of a dark colour. It was first noticed by Spinola as being peculiar to all parts of Liguria. Its first or original habitat was difficult to be ascertained in 1862, as during the previous ten years it had been artificially distributed to many new places. Although to be found in various parts of Italy, it is by no means general in that country. Besides the pro- vince of Liguria, the southern slopes of the Tyrolese and Swiss Alps would appear to have been its original home. 3. The Italian bee, with yellow back plate—otherwise of the same size and colour as the last. It is found in southern France, Dalmatia, Banat, at Sicily, and in the Crimea, in the islands and on the coast of Asia Minor, and in the Caucasus, and in many of those places in common, partly with the Italian (No. 2), and partly with the German bee. 4, The Egyptian bee (Apis fasciaca of Latreille). It is nearly one-third smaller than the German or Italian bee, its body coloured like the latter, and the back plate also yellow ; the hair of the chest and body whitish. Its proper habitat is Egypt, Arabia, and Syria, but it is found, with scarcely any observable difference, on the northern slopes of the Himalayas and in China. It was introduced into Germany in 1863, by the Acclimatisation Society of Berlin, and thence into England in 1865. 5. The specific African bee (Apis Adansonii of Latreille) is of the same size and colour as the last, but differs in the greyish- yellow colour of the hair on the chest and body. It is spread over the whole African continent, with the exception of Algiers and Egypt, from Abyssinia and Senegambia to the Cape of Good Hope. 6. The remarkable black Madagascar bee (Apis unicolor of Latreille) is something smaller than the German bee, all dark coloured, and its hairs black. It is confined to Madagascar and the Mauritius. With reference to the countries of the New World, North and South America, and Australasia, Dr. Gerstaecker asserts that in none of them were any species of the genus Apis found until they had been imported from Europe. He gives the dates of importation into Florida, North America, as 1763; thence to Kentucky in 1780, and to New York in 1793; into Brazil, South America, in 1845, Rio Grande in 1853, and to Buenos Ayres (from Chili) in 1852. Into Mexico and central America 28 AUSTRALASIAN generally, the bee appears to have been introduced at an early period by the Spaniards, and probably spread itself thence to the districts of Venezuela, Peru, and Chili, in South America. Its introduction into Australia and New Zealand has been noticed in the preceding chapter. With regard to its first importation into North America, Dr. J. P. H. Brown, an emi- nent American apiarist, in a paper read by him at the National Convention in 1881, says, “The Black or German bee was introduced, it is believed, into Pennsylvania from Germany, about the year 1627.” It certainly appears very probable that William Penn’s followers would have endeavoured to introduce bees from England, if not from Germany, as soon as they began to settle down ‘in their new home; nevertheless it is very likely that in the severe winter climate of Pennsylvania and New York the bees would not spontaneously wander far from the human settlements, and that it was only when they got fairly established in the favourable climate of Florida, as mentioned by Dr. Gerstaecker, that they began to spread themselves westwards in advance of the new settlements. GERMAN, OR BLACK BEE. Fig. 1.—_BLACK QUEEN, Neither of the names, German or Black, is a correct designa- tion of this variety ; for, as Dr. Gerstaecker has shown, it was by no means confined originally to Germany, and its prevailing colour is more brown than black ; but these are the names by which it is now universally known. BEE MANUAL. 29 This variety has held undisputed sway in the north and west of Europe for a couple of thousand years at least, and has been the pioneer in culling the sweets of all the countries of the New World. Wherever Europeans have colonised, there may be found this little insect. It is now being rapidly super- seded by the Italian race, but it has still some faithful admirers, and in more than one respect it is admitted by all to hold the advantage over its Italian rival. I shall compare its qualities with those of the Italian further on. However we may admit the superior beauty, as well as the more useful qualities, of the new races, we cannot avoid feeling a sort of regret for the extinction of our old favourites. ITALIAN, OR LIGURIAN BEE. Fig. 2,_ITALIAN QUEEN, The Italian bee was evidently known to Aristotle and Virgil. The latter writer refers to it in the following lines :— ‘These gaily bright their radiant scales unfold, Spangled with equal spots, and dropped with gold ” Although known so well to these ancient writers, very little notice appears to have been taken of this variety till quite modern times, when, in the beginning of the present century, the Marquis de Spinola described it as being distinct from the common bee, and gave it the name of “ Ligurian,” after a pro- vince in Northern Italy, where it was first discovered. This district being very mountainous, and the Alps intervening between it and Northern Europe, it is in a manner isolated, which will no doubt account in some measure for so little 30 AUSTRALASIAN having been known of this bee, and, as some think, has helped to develop a distinct variety. It was introduced into Germany in 1853, by Dr. Dzierzon, who, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its introduction, pub- lished in a German bee paper a very interesting account of it, speaking in very high terms of its superior quality. It was introduced into England in 1859, by Mr. Neighbour, and into America by Messrs. Wagner and Colvin the same year. Wherever it has been introduced, its superiority over the common bee in many respects has been always acknow- ledged. In America it has become so universal, that it is said to be impossible to find a pure black bee in some of the States ; and I have no doubt, now it has become established in Austra- lasia, that, notwithstanding the fears of a few individuals, it will be found to deserve all that has been said regarding its superiority over the black bee. With regard to the many excellent qualities it is said to possess, I will first quote Cook; he being a professor of ento- mology, as well as an apiarist, his opinion should be doubly valuable. He says :— ‘* The Italians certainly possess the following points of superiority :-— ‘1. They possess longer tongues, and so can gather from flowers that are useless to the black bee. How much value hangs upon this structural peculiarity Iam unable to state. I have frequently seen Italians working on red clover. Inever saw a black bee thus employed. It is easy to see that this might be at certain times and seasons a very material aid. How much of the superior storing qualities of the Italians is due to this lengthened ligula, 1 am unable to say. “2. They are more active, and with the same opportunities will collect a good deal more honey. This isa matter of observation, which I have tested over and over again; yet I will give the figures of another. Mr. Doolittle secured from two colonies 309 Ib. and 301 lb. respectively of box honey during one season. These surprising figures, the best he could give, were from his best Italian stocks. Similar testimony comes from Klien and Dzierzon, over the sea, and from most of our apiarists. ‘3. They work earlier and later. This is not only true of the day, but of the season, On cool days in spring I have seen the dande- lions swarming with Italians, while not a black bee was to be seen. On May 7th, 1877, I walked less than half a mile, and counted sixty- eight bees eeenes: from dandelions, yet only two were black bees, This might be considered an undesirable feature, as tending to spring dwindling ; yet, with proper management, I consider this no objection, but a great aly Ue “4, They are far better to protect their hives against robbers. Rob- bers who attempt to plunder Italians of their hard-earned stores soon BEE MANUAL. 31 find that they have dared to ‘beard the lion in his den.’ This is so patent, that even the advocates of black bees are ready to concede it. “5, They are almost proof against the ravages of the bee moth’s larva. This is almost universally conceded. “¢6. The queens are decidedly more prolific. This is probably in art due to the greater and more constant activity of the workers. his is observable at all seasons, but more especially when building up in the spring. No one who will take the pains tv note the increase of brood will long remain in doubt on this point. ‘7, They are less apt to breed in winter, when it is desirable to have the bees very quiet. This refers to cold climates. *©§8. The queen is more readily found, which is a great advantage. In fthe various manipulations of the apiary, it is frequently found desirable to find the queen. In full colonies, I would rather find three Italian queens than one black one. Where time is money this becomes a matter of much importance. “<9, The bees are more disposed to adhere to the comb while bein: handled, which some might regard as a doubtful compliment, thoug I consider it a desirable quality. ‘©10. They are, in my judgment, less liable to rob other bees. They will find honey when the blacks ees none, and the time for robbing is when there is no gathering. This may explain the above peculiarity. “11. And, in my estimation, a sufficient ground for preference, did it stand alone, the Italian bees are far more amiable. Years ago I got rid of my black bees because they were so cross. Two years agoI got two or three colonies, that my students might see the difference, but to my regret; for, as we removed the honey in the autumn, they seemed perfectly furious, like demons seeking whom they might devour, and this, too, despite the smoker, while the far more numerous Italians were safely handled without smoke. The experiment at least satisfied a large class of students as to superiority. Mr. Quinby speaks in his book of their being cross, and Captain Hetherington tells me that if not much handled they are more cross than the blacks. From my own experience I cannot understand this. Hybrids are even more cross than the pure blacks, but otherwise are nearly as desirable as the pure Italians. I have kept these two races side by side for years, I have studied them most carefully, and I feel sure that none of the above eleven points of excellence is too strongly stated.” Having now had over four years’ experience of Italian bees, I can fully endorse nearly all that Professor Cook says of them, though I am not convinced as regards his third point. I have often seen black bees out in the morning, when not an Italian was stirring; at other times they were about equal in this respect. Neither can I admit that black bees never work on red clover, as I have frequently myself of late seen them do so. And although it is quite true, and a decided advantage, that Italians and hybrids defend their hives better than black bees 32 AUSTRALASIAN against the attacks of robbers, I cannot acquit them of a pro- pensity to act as robbers themselves. I have found hybrids, at least, as bad as the black bees in this respect. MARKINGS OF PURE ITALIA N BEES. In describing the markings of pure Italian bees, all writers agree that the workers should have three yellow bands on the abdomen. Fig. 8\—ABDOMEN OF ITALIAN WORKER ‘BEE. ABO, Fig. 3, represent the three yellow semi-transparent bands ; D E, and the shaded parts of A B CG, are rows of greyish hairs. A strain of Italian bees having these rows of hair unusually developed have been sold in America under the name of Albinos. Now, with some of the worker bees bred from queens which I have imported direct from Italy, although they have the three bands, the first next to the thorax (A, Fig. 3) is so narrow that it cannot be seen unless closely inspected, while others show all three bands plainly. In a personal con- versation with Mr. Fullwood, of Brisbane, on this subject, he told me he had frequently noticed the same difference in the markings of his imported bees. I mention this the more particularly, because some persons, after reading the description of pure Italian bees in other works, where they are stated to be of a bright colour, with the three yellow bands plainly BEE MANUAL. 33 visible, are apt to think their bees are not pure unless they answer that description. The bees from the queens I imported from America were, as a rule, much lighter and handsomer than those that came direct from Italy, and I account for this by their having been bred for lightness of colour rather than for honey-gathering qualities, though I have no doubt the two objects may be attained in the same bee. It is worthy of note that some of the most experienced bee keepers of America prefer a strain of dark leather-coloured bees to the lighter ones. My own opinion is that the test of purity is uniformity of the markings on the whole of the worker-bees of a colony, whether the three bands be plaiuly visible or not. The lightest coloured and most handsome variety of the Italian bee is to be found in the Swiss-Alpine districts, from which place the most of the English importers now obtain their supplies. HYBRIDS—GERMAN-ITALIAN. Much has been said for and against the cultivation of hybrids. My own experience leads me to believe that, as honey-gatherers and for hardiness, they are far superior to either the German or Italian race pure, but as regards docility they would be nowhere in a comparison. The first cross between an Italian queen and a black drone produces, I believe, the best workers. Should, however, any person prefer a greater degree of gentleness in his bees to a larger production of honey, I would advise him not to keep hybrids longer than he can possibly help. In briefly stating what I consider to be the superior qualities of each sort, Germans, Italians, and hybrids, as compared with each other, I shall first take the Germans, or black bees. Without a doubt, for raising comb-honey they beat both Italians and hybrids. First, they will take to the section boxes sooner than the others; second, they leave a slight air space between the honey and the capping of the cells, which preserves the brightness of the cappings and gives to comb-honey that nice white appearance which is so much admired. On the contrary, the Italians, and in a less degree the hybrids, allow little or no air space, consequently the comb has a dark, damp look, on account of the proximity of the honey to the cappings. Italians are superior to the Germans— D 34 AUSTRALASIAN first, in being better honey-gatherers ; second, in possessing longer tongues; third, in being more prolific; and fourth, in being more gentle, though, if once aroused, I believe them to be as vicious as hybrids. Hybrids I have found best of all for honey-gathering and for hardiness. As to prolificness, I think they are about equal to Italians. To sum up, I would place the three sorts in the following order for the different qualities required :—As honey-gatherers—Hybrids, Italians, Germans ; for gentleness, Italians, Germans, Hybrids ; for prolificness, Italians and Hybrids equal, Germans; for hardiness, Hybrids, Italians and Germans I have seen little difference between ; for protecting their hives against robbers, Italians, Hybrids, Germans ; for comb-honey raising, Germans, Hybrids, Italians. CYPRIAN, SYRIAN, AND PALESTINE BEES. The first of these varieties is a native of the Island of Cyprus. The name “Syrian” is now confined to a race of bees coming from the part of Syria north of the mountain range which extends from the Mediterranean at Mount Carmel eastward to the Jordan, while those coming from the south of that range, although still in Syria, are called ‘“ Palestine” or “ Holy Land” bees. The first two differ very little from each other; they have the yellow bands of the Italian, with which race they are probably nearly related, but have also more or less yellow on the thorax. They are evidently those comprised by Dr. Ger- staecker under one head, No. 3, which he mentions as being found on the coast of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands, as well as in other places. The third sort, or “ Palestine bee,” is as evidently the No. 4, or Egyptian bee of Gerstaecker, which he says inhabits Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. Mr. D. A. Jones, of Ontario, Canada, one of the most ex- tensive and enterprising apiarists in the world, paid a visit to Europe and the Kast in 1879, in search of a superior race of bees, believing that such existed somewhere in those parts. He was accompanied by an experienced entomologist and bee master, Mr. Benton. ‘These gentlemen, after visiting Cyprus, established a queen-rearing apiary there, consisting of about 100 colonies. Mr. Jones also procured some bees from Syria and Palestine ; ‘shortly after which he returned to Canada with a number of these bees, leaving Mr. Benton in charge of the Cyprus apiary. BEE MANUAL. 35 The connection between these gentlemen has since been severed, and Mr. Benton has established apiaries at Beyrout, Syria; Larnaca, Cyprus ; and Munich, Germany, where he at present resides. Opinions are still much divided as to the positive and relative value of the different races of Eastern bees. Mr. Benton, in a circular he is now (July, 1885) issuing, says : “ After five years’ experience I am of opinion that the first rank should be given to Cyprian bees as the best bees, all things considered, yet cultivated.” He gives them credit for all the good qualities of the Italian bees, but in a much greater degree, and with regard to their stinging propensities, which has been the principal objection urged against their general cultivation, he says: “The claim that the Cyprian bees are possessed of such great stinging propensities as to make them nearly unmanageable I have not found well based ; indeed, in common with many others who have carefully tested them, I prefer to manipulate Cyprians rather than Italians, and find that, while getting no more stings from them, I can get on much faster with the work.” Syrian bees Mr. Benton considers nearly equal in every respect to Cyprians. The former vary slightly more in their markings, and are not quite so active as the latter, but in other respects they are about equal. He says, “Syrian bees are never to be confounded with Palestine bees.” Of the latter race he does not speak very assuringly, and remarks, “ Though Palestine bees possess some valuable qualities common to Cyprians and Syrians, still, on account of their bad temper and poor wintering qualities, I cannot recommend them for general introduction.” He concludes that for the experienced—above all, for the professional—beekeeper either of the two sorts, Cyprians or Syrians, is rost to be recommended. For those who suffer much from bee stings, or who “haven't steady enough nerves to manipulate Cyprians or Syrian bees,” the variety most to be recommended is the CARNIOLAN. These bees take their name from the Austrian province of Carniola, a part of the ancient Illyria, to the east of the Carnic Alps, and on the upper part of the river Save, the great 36 AUSTRALASIAN southern tributary of the Danube. Attention was first called to the qualities of this race, as we are informed by the British Bee Journal, by Mr. Edouard Cori, of ‘Bohemia, who calls it the Carniolan or the Ukraine bee. Now the Ukraine is a Russian province on the Dnieper River, more than a thousand miles east of Carniola, with the whole of Hungary, Roumania, etc., lying between. It appears strange, then, that the two names should be connected in this way; but it will be found that Dr. Gerstaecker has described the German bee as being found also at Dalmatia (a little south of Carniola), and at the Crimea (a little south of the Ukraine) ; and it is evident from all accounts that the Carniolan is only a very slight variety of the German bee, although Mr. Benton implies that it is not. A writer in the British Bee Journal describes it so, and says that “great difficulty is experienced in keeping the Carniolan bee pure, from its resemblance to the common black bee, which renders it difficult to distinguish an hybrid of the two.” They are greatly praised for their gentleness and other good qualities. Mr. Benton says they are “the gentlest of bees,” that “their gentleness casts that of the gentlest Italians all in the shade ;” that they are even more prolific than the Italians, and are equal to them in honey-gatheriny qualities and in sticking to their combs and defending their hives (when not queenless) ; while they ‘are equal to the black bees in comb-building, disposition to enter boxes,” etc. Their faults are, considerable disposition to swarm, the same tendency to rob which the black bees show, and that, when queenless, they do not defend their hives as well as the other Eastern bees. Mr. Marshall, the manager of Mr. Neighbour’s apiary, says he prefers them to Ligurians, that— “They are hardier, and therefore more suitable to our changeable climate. They breed as quickly, are very quiet, and a practised bee- keeper can handle them without smoke or veil, and he very rarely gets asting. Some of our bee-masters give them the character of bein much given to swarming, but I have not found them more diposad than Ligurians or blacks in that respect. If you want a business bee, get a good English queen mated with a Carniolan drone ; the combi- nation of the two races makes a really useful bee. They are the silver bees, as the Ligurians are called the golden bees.” The description of this bee given by a writer in the British Bee Journal is as follows :— “In outward appearance the Carniolan bee is slightly larger than BEE MANUAL. 37 the Italian, and not so slender in shape. It is, in fact, a larger bee— probaly the largest domesticated bee. The entire body is of a rich ark brown, almost approaching to black. The golden rings of the Italian are wanting, but each rim of the abdomen is clearly marked by whitish-grey hairs, which render it distinct from any other known race ; and these hairs being longer and brighter than those of the Italian, give the bee ahilvary butik appearance which is very pleasing to the eye. . . . The Carniolan queen is a larger bee, broader in the thorax, and especially in the upper part of (he abdomen, than the Italian or black queen.” HERZEGOVIAN, DALMATIAN, ROUMELIAN, AND HYMETTUS BEES Mr. Benton has lately introduced queens under these four names. The three first mentioned would seem to be, like the Cyprians and Syrians, only slight varieties of the sort comprised by Gerstaecker under head No. 3. The Hymettus bee is, how- ever, specially mentioned by him as a slight variety of the German or black bee, and already known by the name of Apis cecropia. This bee has, at all events, the advantage of a classic reputation. Gibbon mentions, on the authority of Geoponica, that ‘‘the ancients, or at least the Athenians, believed that all the bees in the world had been propagated from Mount Hy- mettus.” The qualities of all these four varieties (if they are such) have yet to be tried. Mr. Benton wrote of them in November, 1883— ‘*Of the four races mentioned last, I have only tried practically the Hymettus, or Greek bees (also called Cecropian or Attic bees). They are prolific, good honey-gatherers, quite cross, but can be managed with plenty of smoke. Herzegovian and Dalmatian bees I know by reputation, and am thus safe in calling them superior to common bees and to Italians. Of Roumelian bees I know nothing ; but as I have an opportunity to get some of them next spring, and having reason to hope they may have good qualities, I shall try them.” OTHER RACES OF BEES. There are three sorts of bees mentioned by Dr. Gerstaecker as being “indigenous to India and the adjacent islands,” Apis dorsata, A. indica, and A. sirialis of Fabricius ; all, no doubt, being varieties of the 4. mellifica. The Indian Government lately published the results of some inquiries they had insti- tuted concerning the “ popular treatment of bees in India,” from which it would appear that there are plenty of bees and 38 AUSTRALASIAN honey in the hilly districts both in the north and south of India. Mr. Morgan, Deputy Conservator of Forests, reports that “only one kind of bee, the Apis indica, is capable of domestication, and that only in hilly districts, not in the plains.” The larger sort of bees, which they call “large cliff bees ” (building in cliffs, under projecting ledges of rock) are represented as so ferocious in habit, and furnished with such formidable stings, as to be dangerous to both men and beasts coming within their neighbourhood. A circumstantial account of a bad case of stinging by these bees appeared in a recent issue of the American Bee Journal, taken from the London Lancet, which called forth the following editorial remarks : “We do not think we want any of these bees in America. The Cyprians are bad enough; but for these bees of India (Apis indica), as well as their more irascible cousins (Apis dorsata), we have no use. Let them stay where they are.” Mr. John Douglas, of the Indian Telegraph Department, says, “A swarm of these bees has been known to put a regiment of cavalry to flight, and innumerable are the instances in which man and beast have fallen victims to their unrelenting animosity;” yet he proposes the domestication of this “ great tiger honey fly” (as it is called in parts of the country) as the “first question for Indian apiculturists !” Mr. Benton has been making efforts to import the Apis dorsata from Ceylon; but if they are not very different in disposition from the Apis indica, we in Aus- tralasia may echo the words of the American Bee Journal, “ Let them stay where they are!” NATIVE BEES OF NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA. Notwithstanding the assertion of Dr. Gerstaecker, there are indigenous bees both in New Zealand and Australia. The small bees indigenous to New Zealand, I believe, belong to the species Apis tregona. It makes its nest in the ground, by boring a small hole from the surface, about two inches in depth; holes then branch off in different directions: these branch holes ex- tend two or three inches, and at the bottom of each is deposited a mixture of honey and pollen, in which the eggs are laid. I dug up several nests last season, and found brood in different stages, but there only appeared to have been one ege deposited in each compartment. It is of no service to the apiarist. BEE MANUAL, 39 Mr. F. A. Joyner, of North Adelaide, 8. A., at the suggestion of Mr. Bonney, very kindly sent me lately some specimens of native bees, accompanied by the following remarks :— “‘T have observed them pretty closely for some time past, and find that they gather honey and pollen, are very swift in their movements, have particularly long stings and proboscis, and as late as last evening (April 16th, 1885), for the first time discovered that they exist in swarms, I was unfortunately unable to take the swarm, as the bees were disturbed before I reached them, and I was afterwards unable to find their new alighting place. It appeared an average-sized swarm, and moved similarly to our black bees, with the exception of moving much swifter.”” : I submitted the bees, which had been very much broken to Mr. T. J. Mulvany, for microscopical examination, and’he very kindly supplied me with the following information con- cerning their structure :— “The rings on the abdomen, which are alternately black and silver- grey, are very handsome, and the three ‘subcostal cells’ in the front wings, as well as the hooklets in the under wings, beautifully deve- loped. The wings, compared with those of a common bee, measure as 16 to 19, and as 11 to 13, which shows them to be 0°84 of the length; from this, and from appearance of head, legs, and abdomen, I take the live insect to be more than four-fifths of the size of the black bee and therefore larger than the Egyptian or the Palestine bee. The hind legs have the pollen basket and the long hairs on the ‘basal tar- sus,’ the front legs the peculiar spur at the knee joints, and both have a coating of silver-white hair on the outer side of the ‘tibia.’ The head is very handsome ; the compound eyes wide apart, with golden hairy forehead between. The mouth organs appear to me to be re- markable ; the mandibles are horny, with sharp double points like teeth. I should think this bee could bite as well as sting. The max- ille are also stiff, and, at least in the dry state, look like the beak of a bird. Icould also see the ‘labial palpi,’ but not the tongue itself. Altogether, to my unpractised eye, it looks more like a variety of the Apis mellifica than a different species. It would be very desirable to get some more specimens in a better state of preservation, and, if pos- sible, to take a swarm and try them in a hive.” From what I have heard of the wild or native bees in other parts of Australia, I take them all to be the same as those described. 40 AUSTRALASIAN CHAPTER IL, INMATES OF THE HIVE--THEIR NATURAL HISTORY. THE honey-bee is, above all things, gregarious in its habits. As Langstroth remarks, “It can flourish only when associated in large numbers as a colony. In’a solitary state a single bee is almost as helpless as a new-born child, being paralysed by the chill of a cold summer's night.” This is true; but it is not alone for the sake of mutual warmth that bees aggregate ; their nature compels them to form a sort of republic (or, if rather a monarchy, then certainly a very limited one), which presents the peculiar feature that all the active citizens are, as we shall see further on, females, who are doomed to a life of celibacy as well as of toil, while the head of the community is, in the strictest sense of the word, the mother of her whole people; and although they support, for a time, a “pampered aris- tocracy ” of idle males, they use very little ceremony in getting rid of them as soon as there appears to be no further chance of their presence being required. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. Every hive in a normal working condition, during the swarm- ing season, will be found to contain bees of the three different kinds, the characteristics and relative sizes of which are shown in the illustrations which follow. First, one bee only of the peculiar form which denotes the queen or mother bee ; secondly, a few hundreds (sometimes more than a thousand) of large bees, called drones ; and thirdly, many thousands of the smaller kind, called workers, which are the common bees to be seen on blossoms, as neither the queen bee nor the drones gather honey or work outside the hive. BEE MANUAL. 41 The queen is indispensable to the prosperity of the hive. She is the only perfectly developed female, and lays all the eggs, of which she can, on occasions, produce two to three thousand in twenty-four hours. Without her the colony would soon dwindle down and die out, or be attacked and killed for the sake of its stores, as, after being deprived of their queen, the workers generally (unless they are in a position to rear a new one, as will be seen further on) lose the disposition to defend themselves and their home. The queen is not provided with the special organisation which enables the workers to gather honey and pollen and to secrete wax. She is furnished with a sting, which, however, she very rarely uses, except in a struggle with arival queen. When she has been once impreg- nated, and has taken her place in a hive, she never leaves it except to accompany a swarm. Her term of life may extend Fig. 4.--THE QUEEN, to four years at least, and during that time she may lay many hundreds of thousands of eggs; but she is considered to be in her prime in the second year, and is seldom very prolific after the third. She can be easily distinguished from the other bees, and be recognised even by the most inexperienced from the following description :—Her body is not so bulky as that of a drone, though longer; it is considerably more tapering than that of either drone or worker; her wings are much shorter in proportion than those of the other bees; the under part of her body is of a lighter and the upper of a darker colour than the worker’s; her movements are 49 AUSTRALASIAN generally slow and matronly, and indeed she looks every inch a queen. The drones, or male bees, are much stouter than’ either the queen or workers, although their bodies are not so long as that of the queen. They are neither furnished with a sting nor a suitable proboscis for gathering honey, no baskets on their legs for carrying pollen, and no pouches on their Fig 5.,-THE DRONE. abdomens for secreting wax, so that they are physically incapable of doing the ordinary work of the hive. Their office is to impregnate the young queens, but very few have the chance of doing so; those that have, die immediately afterwards, and the rest are usually destroyed by the workers at the end of the swarming season, having by this time become an incumbrance only. : Fig. 6 THE WORKER. The worker bees, the smallest in size, constitute the bulk of the population of the hive. A good-sized swarm should contain at least twenty thousand,* and a well-stocked hive, during the * About 4000 ordinary bees weigh one pound, so that a 5 1b. swarm contains about 20,000. Good swarms, however, sometimes weigh 7 lb. to 10 lb. BEE MANUAL. 43 full working season, will have twice, and sometimes three times, that number of workers. ‘They are all females, but not fully developed as regards their sexual organization—they are incapa- ble of being impregnated by the drones ; but in some rare cases their ovaries are sufficiently developed to admit of their laying eggs, which, however, as will be shown later, are unfertilised, and produce only drones. On the other hand, these workers are specially provided with the means of successfully prosecut- ing their useful labours. They have a wonderfully constructed tongue, or proboscis, which enables them to suck or lap up the liquid sweet from the nectaries of blossoms, and to store it in a “honey sac,” which is, in fact, a first or extra stomach, from which they can again disgorge it at will into the cells of their combs. Their hinder legs are provided with a hollow, or “basket,” for carrying pollen, which they are enabled, by the use of their front legs and their proboscis, to work up into little pellets, and pack in these receptacles. They have the power of secreting wax in small scales under the folds of the abdominal rings of their body, and they are furnished with a sting to protect themselves and their stores, and of which they make effective use when provoked. They perform all the work both inside and outside the hive; collect the materials for honey, beebread, and propolis; carry water, secrete the wax, build the combs, nurse and feed the young brood, ventilate the hive, and stand guard at the entrance when it is necessary to keep out intruders. Although division of labour is beautifully exemplified in the economy of the hive, still there are not separate classes of worker bees (as was at one time supposed) to perform the different sorts of work; on the contrary, every worker bee is capable of doing all these things, and they take their turns accordingly. ‘ One dee in her time plays many parts.” The young bees are employed on “home duty” for the first week or two; they then take their turn of outdoor work, and are gradually worn out in the service. Their term of life is short, varying from only six or seven weeks in the busiest working season to nearly as many months after that busy time is past. PHYSIOLOGY AND ANATOMY OF THE HONEY-BEE. T shall now devote some space in the endeavour to place before the reader, as concisely as practicable, and with the 44 AUSTRALASIAN aid of illustrations, a clear view of the more important facts relating to the physical structure and functional peculiarities of these wonderful insects. For the present advanced state of our knowledge on these points we are mainly indebted to the investigations of Huber and Dzierzon, which have been successfully followed up by the skilful dissections and micro- scopic examinations more recently made by Professor Cook in America, and by Mr. F. R. Cheshire in England. A familiar acquaintance with these facts may be said to be indispensable to all earnest apiarists, not only because the system of modern scientific bee-keeping is based upon the knowledge so obtained, but also because the close observation of the habits of the bee, and of the operations performed in the hive, which constitute the great charm of the bee-keeper’s occupation, can only be really effective and satisfactory when guided by the light of those brilliant discoveries. A writer upon the fine arts, when pointing out the necessity of a knowledge of anatomy to the draughtsman of the human form, has remarked that ‘“ no one can see things as they are, unless he knows how they ought to be.” This is perfectly true with all of us in our observation of the works of nature. As long as we are uninstructed, we “have eyes and cannot see.” The bee-keeper who shall have acquired some knowledge of the physiological peculiarities of the honey-bee, and its “relation to flowers,” will ever after- wards view its every movement and all the phenomena of the hive with new eyes; he will take an entirely new interest in the various structural features of the honey-bearing plants and their blossoms ; he will have obtained at least some inkling of the Divine intention in these varieties of form, and in the simple act of watching a bee’s visit to a flower, he will perceive, what would otherwise have escaped his notice, how beautifully in the different cases the instinct of the insect and the structure of the flower combine to attain the object of the former—the collection of the nectar and the pollen—and the intended beneficial effect upon the latter—its cross fertilization. CLASSIFICATION OF SPECIES. All the different races of the honey-bee with which we are as yet well acquainted are (as mentioned in Chapter IT.) only varieties of the one species, the Apis mellifica ; that is to say, BEE MANUAL. 45 they differ only in size, colour, and perhaps in the greater or less development of some organs; but none of them present any marked distinction in structure or in habits ; they therefore admit of cross-breeding, producing fertile crosses or hybrids which may be continued as a new variety, or re-crossed with other varieties. This would not be the case if they belonged to different species. They belong further to the genus Apis, the family Apide, the order Hymenoptera, sub-class Hexapoda, and class Insecta. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STRUCTURE. As characteristic of their class and sub-class, the body of these insects is divided into three parts—the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, which are connected by small and hollow ligaments; they have six legs, attached to the thorax, and they breathe air through a system of tubes to be described further on. As belonging to the order Hymenoptera, they have four membranous wings attached to the thorax, of which the two foremost cover the hinder ones when at rest; also a proboscis or tongue by which they can suck or lap, and strong jaws for biting. The family Apide, according to Professor Cook, *‘Includes not only the hive-bee but all insects which feed their helpless young or larve entirely on pollen, or honey and pollen. The larve of all insects of this family are maggot-like—wrinkled, foot- less, tapering at both ends. . . . They are helpless, and thus, all during their babyhood—the larve state—the time when all insects are most ravenous, and the only time when many insects take food, the time when all growth in size, except such enlargement as is required by egg-development occurs, these infant bees have to be fed by their mothers or elder sisters. They havea mouth with soft lips and weak jaws, yet it is doubtful if all or much of their food is taken in at that opening. There is some reason to believe that they, like many maggots, such as the Hessian fly larve, absorb much of their food through the body walls. From the mouth leads the intestine, which has no anal opening, so there are no excreta other than gas and vapour. What commendation for their food, ald capable of nourish- ment, and thus all assimilated ! ” The genus Apis, to which the species 4. meilifica belongs, is characterised chiefly by slight peculiarities in the legs and wings. All bees of this genus have no tibial spurs (stiff spines 46 AUSTRALASIAN at the end of the tibia or long joint of the Jeg) on their posterior legs, and as to their wings, “they have three cubital or sub- costal cells—the second row from the costal or anterior edge— on the front or primary wings.” Here we cannot help remarking how wonderful are those minute rules of organic structure. Who that examined for the first time the wing of a bee, and compared it with that of any other insect of the same order, would imagine that the differences in the sub- divisions of the membrane, which have all the appearances of chance formation, and which are probably not precisely the same in any two examples, are yet so characteristic in their arrangement as to afford an easy means of distinguishing the Fig. 7._WINGS OF A BEE, genus to which the insect belongs! Professor Cook gives the following further details as marks of this whole genus :— “Qn the inner side of the posterior basal tarsus, opposite the pollen baskets, in the neuters or workers, are rows of hair (Fig. 15) which are probably used in collecting pollen. In the males, which do no work except to fertilise the queens, the large compound eyes meet above, crowding the three simple eyes below, while in the workers and queens the simple eyes, called ocelli, are above, and the compound eyes wide apart. The drones and queens have weak jaws, with a rudimentary tooth, short tongues, cat no pollen baskets, though they have the broad tibia and wide basal tarsus.” NERVOUS SYSTEM. Coming now to the special anatomy and physiology of the Apis mellifica, it may be well, in the first place, to show the general arrangement of the nervous system as depicted by Mr. F. R. Cheshire in his admirable “‘ Diagrams on the Anatomy and BEE MANUAL. 47 Physiology of the Honey-Bee,” of which I shall present a few examples for the benefit of the reader, as an incentive to a more thorough study of the whole subject. This illustration speaks for itself, the black spots representing the ganglia or nerve-centres, from which issue the minor systems of nerves appropriated to particular uses, ‘‘ the great masses positioning NG) Fig, 8.—NERVOUS SYSTEM OF THE BEE, themselves,” as expressed by Mr. Cheshire, “at the roots of the wings and articulations of the legs, to supply stimulus to the organs of locomotion. The ganglia energising the compound eyes are also large.” 48 AUSTRALASIAN RESPIRATORY ORGANS. It has been already mentioned, as one of the main charac- teristics of the class Jnsecta, that they breathe air through a peculiar system of tubes. These tubes are called trachea, and are of a very beautiful formation. They are thus illustrated and described by Mr. Cheshire :— Fig. 9 TRACHEA, MAGNIFIED. b. Elastic Spiral of Trachea. “The tubes consist of two membranes, between which lies the elastic spiral thread, which prevents the closing of the tube through movement. In the same intervening space the fluids of the insect become aerated, so that the purpose of the lungs of the higher animals is answered.” The outer openings of these tubes, in the sides of the insect, are called spiracles. The bee has fourteen of these spiracles, two on each side of the thorax, and five on each side of the abdomen. The trachea expand into large lung-like sacs in the abdomen of the bee, as shown in the following illustration, where a represents one of the air sacs, b b 6 the spiracles, and c ¢ some of the trachea. BEE MANUAL. 49 In this engraving details of only one side are shown, and only one air sac on that side. Fig. 10.—RESPIRATORY ORGANS OF THE BEE, AIR SACS OF BEE. There are however, in the worker bee, two sacs on each side a large and a small one; and, what is very remarkable, the larger sac is in fact the undeveloped ovary of the insect, and in the queen bee is replaced by the ovary proper, so that she possesses only one small air sac on each side. The large air sac of the worker is only distended during the time of flight, and we may notice in this substitution of a valuable auxiliary to the flight and carrying power of the worker bee, in place of an organ not required by her, a beautiful adaptation of means to the end. The queen we know is not required to fly far or often, and then not to carry any loads of honey or pollen—indeed it is a well-known fact that she cannot fly far, when her ovaries are filled with eggs, and the smaller air sacs therefore are sufficient for her purpose. The following diagrams show (in Fig. 12) the arrangement of the large and small air E 50 AUSTRALASIAN sacs in the case of the worker, and it will be seen at a glance that they take the places of the smaller air sacs a, and of the ovary 0, in the case of the queen (Fig. 11). Fig. 11,- AIR SACS AND OVARIES Fig, 12,—AIR SAOS OF THE OF QUEEN, WORKER, a, Air sack; b. Ovary. Every person accustomed to bees must frequently have observed that some of the workers, when returning from the field, remain for some time on the alighting-board before entering the hive, and that during that time the rings of the abdomen are in constant motion. These bees are simply breathing themselves after along and tiresome flight. Mr. Cheshire remarks :— “The constant elongation and contraction of the abdomen of the bee’s body has for its object the ejection of air which has become car- bonised and the drawing in of fresh supplies. The spiracles admit of being closed voluntarily. When the bee is in flight with the air sacs filled, if the spiracle be closed and the abdomen contracted, the faces are extruded. This explains why bees never soil their hives, except BEE MANUAL. 51 when in a dysenteric condition, and why mating only occurs on the wing.” From this sketch of the general features of the bee’s struc- ture I shall now proceed to notice the separate parts more particularly appertaining to the Apis mellifica, commencing wit THE HEAD, Within the small limits of a bee’s head there are contained several important organs, some of them of a very complex nature. These are—the compound eyes; the simple eyes, or stemmata; the mouth and its appendages ; and the antenne. The following engraving shows a front view (on a greatly magnified scale) of a worker bee’s head :— Fig. 13,_HEAD OF WORKER BEE. a, Antenne; b. Compound eyes; c. Jaws; d. Maxille; e. Lateral palpi; f. Ligula, or tongue ; g. Stemmata. 52 AUSTRALASIAN THE EYES. In this illustration the compound eyes are shown on the right and left hand side, at b 6, and the simple eyes between, on the top of the forehead, in a triangular position, at g. In the drone the compound eyes meet together at top, and the simple eyes are forced down to near the middle of the fore- head. The compound eyes occupy a great portion of the head ; they form on each side an oval lube, convexly rounded, with a brown, horny surface, which is divided into an immense number of hexagonal facets, looking, when magnified, very like a honeycomb, and each of which facets is in fact the surface of a separate eye. There are supposed to be about 3,500 in each compound eye of a bee. These are immovable, and each has a very limited range of vision, but from the way in which they are placed the bee must be able to see with them in a great range without turning its head. These eyes are not supposed to be capable of adjustment for different distances, but to be chiefly useful for distant vision, while the small simple eyes, or stemmata, in front of the head, are most probably intended for seeing objects near at hand. Our knowledge about the bee’s sense of vision, as well as its other senses of hearing, taste, and smelling, is still very imperfect. Sir John Lubbock, after making very careful experiments, is clearly of opinion that bees can distinguish different colours easily, and that they have a partiality for blue. It has been frequently remarked that they seem to discern objects better at a great distance than when near at hand. They fly homewards from any distant point in very direct lines, apparently guided by remote land- marks, but they frequently knock against persons or things, as if they had not perceived them at a little distance ; and if they happen to alight ever so little to one side of the entrance to their hive, they are just as likely to go to the wrong side as to the right one in looking for it. THE MOUTH. The mouth consists of an upper lip (Zabrum) and under lip (labium), and of two pairs of jaws, the upper pair short and horny, called the mandibles, shown atc in the figure, and the lower pair long and more membranous, called the maxilla, and BEE MANUAL. 53 shown at dd. The under-lip, or labium (not seen in the figure) has a broad base, called the mentum, which forms the floor of the mouth, and at the same time the root of the tongue, or ligula, f, and of the labial palpi, ¢e. The ligula itself is some- times called a proboscis, a name which is, in most minds, asso- ciated with the trunk of the elephant, which is a hollow tubular prolongation of the nasal organ. This is no ways analogous with the proboscis of insects in general, and of the honey-bee in particular; the latter is a prolongation of the labium, as above mentioned, which organ is capable of being pushed forward and drawn back into the under cavity of the head, carrying the ligula of course with it. The labial palpi, together with the maxille, appear to be brought into use to assist the ligula, or tongue, in conveying nectar from the flowers to the honey sac of the bee. The end of the tongue is furnished with a spoon- shaped hollow on the under side, which opens into a capillary tube on the upper side, covered with whorls of hair, as is also the end of the ligula. When the bee is sipping, the liquid enters the capillary tube, and the tongue is drawn back by muscles at the base into what Herman Muller terms a suctorial apparatus formed by the labial palpi and maxille. In his valuable work on “ The Fertilisation uf Flowers,” he beauti-. fully describes the above process as follows :— ** When the bee is sucking honey which is only just within her reach, all the movable joints of its suction apparatus, cardines, the chitinous retractors at the base of the mentum, lamine (maxill), labial palpi, and tongue, are fully extended, except that the two proximal Joints of the labial palpi are closely applied to the tongue below, and the laminz to the mentum and hinder part of the tongue above. But as soon as the whorls of hair at the point of the tongue are wet with honey, the bees, by rotating the retractors, draw back the mentum, and with it the tongue, so far that the laminz now reach as far for- ward as the labial palpi; and now labial palpi and lamine together, lying close upon the tongue, and overlapping at their sides, form a tube, out of which only a part of the tongue protrudes. But almost simultaneously with these movements, the bee draws back the basal part of its tongue into the hollow end of the mentum, and so draws the tip of the tongue, moist with honey, into the tube, where the honey is sucked in by an enlargement of the foregut, known as the sucking stomach, whose action is signified externally by a swelling of the abdomen.” Doubts have been expressed as to whether the bee empties the contents of its honey sac into the cells through its proboscis 54 AUSTRALASIAN or simply through its mouth; but the statement of Muller, that when gathering pollen from some kinds of flowers the bee ejects a little honey on the anthers through its suction tube— which in another part of his work he calls the “ proboscis” for shortness—would incline us to suppose that the honey may be ejected into the cells in the same manner. The maxille, or so-called lower jaws, form the under sheath of the ligula and palpi when at rest, and the whole organ is then folded under the lower part of the head. THE ANTENN. The antenne, or “ feelers,” as they are commonly and not inappropriately called, are very sensitive organs of touch-sen- sations, and, beyond all donbt, of vital importance to the insect. Huber tried experiments with queens deprived of the antenne, and found that the loss of one was not very injurious ; but when both were gone, the bee became apparently delirious, avoided the worker bees, dropped her eggs at random about the hive, and rushed towards the opening, as if to escape. Having introduced a second queen, similarly mutilated, it was found that they had both lost their natural instinct for a com- bat, and met several times without exhibiting the smallest resentment. The worker bees did not seem to distinguish their own mutilated queen from the strange one, and both were left to do as they liked ; but when Huber introduced a third unmutilated queen, the workers seized her, bit her, and confined her so closely that she could hardly move. When he removed this last and one of the others, and left one fertile but muti- lated queen in charge of the hive, she left it, and tried to fly away, but being unable, she fell and died on the ground. Mr. Harris mentions also that worker bees, if deprived of the antenna, and allowed to fly, become incapable of recognising their own hive again, and are hopelessly lost as to their where- abouts. Huber tried other experiments hy dividing the bees of one stock by two fine wire gratings placed so far apart that the antennz of the bees on each side could not meet, and after- wards removing one of the gratings, so that they could touch each other ; and from the results of these experiments he drew the conclusion that they could actually communicate intelligence to each other by means of their autenne. There is, at all BEE MANUAL. 55 events, much yet to be learned with regard to the tiue nature of these organs. SENSES OF HEARING AND SMELLING, Closely connected with the conjectures as to the uses of the antenne are those which many naturalists have made as to the organs of hearing and smelling in the honey-bee. That they are possessed of a keen sense of smell, as well as of taste is indisputable ; and that they are capable of hearing seems very probable, though still doubtful ; but through what organ these senses may be worked upon is only matter of conjecture. Huber suggested that the antenne might be organs of smell as well as touch ; Leltmann and Cuvier considered that the spiracles used for the purposes of respiration were also the means by which the sense of smell was exercised; while Kirby and Spence incline to the belief that the organ lies somewhere in or near the mouth. We can only assert with certainty that bees have a very keen sense of smell, that they are attracted by the odour of flowers, honey, ete., and rendered furious by disagreeable odours, especially by the smell of their own sting-poison. As to their sense of hearing, it seems hard to believe that they are unconscious of such sounds as their own humming, so varied according to circumstances, or to the calls so distinctly made by young queens, and which appear to us to exercise such an influence on their conduct; still it is true that Sir J. Lubbock, who has tried so many experiments on the hearing of bees, with musical instruments, dog whistles, shrill pipes, etc., seems to have satisfied himself that no noise he could make, either harmonious or discordant, was capable of making any impression on them, or of disturbing them in the least. THE WINGS. It has been already stated that the honey-bee, like all insects of the order Hymenoptera, is provided with four membranous wings, springing from the thorax, of which the foremost, or primary wings, slide over and cover the hinder ones when at rest. This arrangement is of importance, as enabling the bee to enter without difficulty the narrow cells of the comb in order to stow honey and bee-bread, to feed the larve, etc., as well as to 56 AUSTRALASIAN work its way into the small corolla-tubes of some flowers and so reach the nectaries at bottom. A pair of these wings has been shown in Fig. 7 to illustrate the arrangement of the cells or subdivisions of the membrane, upon referring to which it will be seen that the two wings, fully expanded, look asif they were stitched together for a certain length. This apparent stitching is a line of about twenty hooklets upon the front edge of the under wing, of which a greatly magnified view is given below :— Fig. 14.—HOOKLETS OF WINGS. Nine of the hooklets are shown in the lower diagram, while the upper one shows, on a still larger scale, the last hooklet of the row, and a line of strong bristly hairs, which furnishes the margin of the wing where the hooklets cease. Mr. Cheshire explains that “These four wings, though individually small, collectively présent sufficient surface for a rapid flight, which is greatly aided by a beautiful arrangement for locking the two pairs into one. The front wing is folded under at its posterior edge, and as the wing is advanced to bring it into position for flying this fold catches into a line of hooks from twenty to twenty-three in number, which turn upwards from the front edge of the back wing.” Can anything more admirable than this arrangement be imagined ? THE LEGS. The legs, six in number, spring, like the wings, from the thorax, which is the chief seat of muscular power. It is, indeed, one mass of muscles, with the exception of the narrow BEE MANUAL. 57 passage of the oesophagus or gullet connecting the mouth with the honey sac and stomach. Lach leg has four principal joints, the coxa, trochanter, femur, and tibia, and five smaller joints, called tarsi, terminating in a two-hooked claw. The coxa and trochanter are short and broad joints, the former working with a ball and socket movement in the so-called coxal cavity in the body ring; the femur represents the thigh, the tibia the leg, and the tarsi the foot joints of the higher animals. In the honey-bee the first of the tarsi is nearly as large as the tibia, to which it is attached ; it is called the basal tarsus, and in the posterior legs of the worker bee it and the tibia are widened out and hollowed on the under side so as to form the “pollen basket” already mentioned at page 42, and as shown in the following engraving :— Fig. 15,-HIND LEG OF BEE, SHOWING POLLEN BASKET, The front legs of the workers have also a very peculiar formation, shown in the next engraving. Under what may be termed the knee joint there is a cavity, c, in the tibia, and a spur or finger, 6, on the femur joint, which can be pressed over the cavity or opened at the will of the bee. Most modern Writers* describe this apparatus as performing an important part in the gathering of pollen, as follows :— When a bee is about to transfer the pollen she has gathered to her pollen baskets, she places her tongue in the cavities of both legs, closes the blades, and then withdraws it, leaving the pollen adhering to the sides of her knees. It is then worked * Especially Mr. A. I. Root, in his ‘‘A BC of Bee Culture ” it is not men- tioned by Langstroth or Quinby. 58 AUSTRALASIAN up into a small pellet by her tongue and feet, and placed by the second pair in the spoon-shaped hollows, or baskets, on the third or last pair of legs, and neatly patted down. Fig. 16.—ANTERIOR LEG OF WORKER, MAGNIFIED. It must, however, be observed that Professor Cook, one of the best authorities, writes very cautiously on this point. He says :— : ‘* For several years this has caused speculation among my students, and has attracted the attention of observing apiarists. Some have supposed that it aided bees in reaching deeper down into tubular flowers ; others, that it was used in scraping off pollen, and still others, that it enabled bees to hold on when clustering. The first two suggestions may be correct, though other honey and pollen-gathering bees do not possess it. The latter function is performed by the claws at the end of the tarsi.” This throws a doubt upon the matter, and we must be cautious not to assert asa fact anything that is not already universally admitted to be such, or that we cannot decisively prove by our own investigation. I have often watched bees gathering pollen, and thought I could observe the process of scraping the tongue, or something very like it. But it must be admitted that the movements of the bee on such occasions are so amazingly rapid that it would be difficult to say there could be no mistake as to the operation performed. Muller says :— “In collecting pollen, hive-bees and humble-bees use ~ their mouth-parts in two different ways to moisten it, according as it is the fixed pollen of entomophilous flowers, or the loose, easily- scattered pollen of anemophilous flowers. In the former case (e.g., when Apis mellifica collects pollen on Salix) the bee has its suctonal apparatus completely folded down, bringing the mouth opening, which lies between the mandibles and the labrum, close over the pollen. The bee ejects a little honey on the pollen, and then takes it up by means of its tarsal brushes and places it in the baskets on the tibie of its BEE MANUAL. 59 hind legs ; it often makes use of its mandibles to free the pollen before moistening it with honey. In the latter case, which I have observed in Plantago lanceolata . . . the bee, hovering over the flower, ejects a little honey upon the anthers from its suction-tube which is fully extended, but completely sheaths the tongue. . . . Since hive-bees and humble-bees on entomophilous flowers suck honey with outstretched proboscis, and collect pollen with it folded up, and on anemophilous flowers collect pollen only, it follows that they can never suck honey and gather pollen simultaneously ; they must always do first one and then the other, and since the pollen has to be moistened with honey, the act of sucking must always be first.” THE HONEY SAC. This is merely a widening of the cesophagus, forming a first stomach, in the anterior part of the abdomen, a sort of ante- chamber to the true stomach, which is very different in shape, and which is followed by the intestines leading to the anus, or vent. Everything passing from the mouth to the stomach must go through the honey sac, but the bee has the power of retaining the nectar in this sac, and afterwards disgorging it through the mouth, without letting it enter the true stomach at all. Connected with the cesophagus, in front of the honey sac, there are important glands in the head and in the front part of the abdomen, which secrete the so-called salivary juice, which, as Professor Cook states, “aids in kneading wax, etc., as already described. It also probably aids in modifying the sugar while the nectar is in the bee’s stomach.” This would account partly for the difference observable between honey and other merely saccharine matter. THE STING. The sting of the worker bee is a very complicated organ, as will be seen by a study of the following engraving, taken from Root’s “A BC of Bee Culture.” In the general view of the sting, 1, is the double gland which secretes the poison ; A, the cylindrical reservoir in which the poison is collected from the glands, and from which it is trans- mitted through hollows in the spears or lancets to the wound ; B, the two barbed lancets; and p, the third spear or awl, usually styled the sheath, in which the other two partly slide when at work. In the cross section (greatly enlarged) of the 60 AUSTRALASIAN lancets, at the point D, it will be seen how the two hollow lancets, A and B, slide on ribs or guides in the concave side of the so-called sheath, D. They have tubes, F and G, through which, as well as through the tube E, formed between the three parts of the sting, the poisonous fluid is transmitted. There is a hollow, ©, in the awl or sheath, D, but it is only for strength and lightness, and is not open either above or below. In the Fig..17,—-THE BEE STING, I. Bee sting, magnified. II. One of the barbed lancets. III. Cross section of lancets at v. IV, Drop of the poison, crystallised. barbed lancets, the end of one of which is shown, greatly mag- nified, there are grooves, G, to fit on the ribs of the sheath, and BEE MANUAL. 61 the poison, which is conveyed down the hollow tube inside of each, finds vent by small side openings to the barbs at Hu. It appears that when the wound is first pierced by the smooth and highly polished point of the awl D, a sliding motion is com- municated to the barbed lancets by the muscles shown at J and kK, and the poison is pumped into the wound through the centre cavity E; the barbed lancets are then driven in by alternate motions, and at the same time the centre cavity is closed by valves at the root of the sting, and the poison is forced through the tubes in the hollow lancets, and through the side openings near the barbs. The barbs having once penetrated any tough material, such as the human skin, cannot be withdrawn by a direct pull. The bee, if left to itself, will gradually work round and round until it screws out the sting, but if it be abruptly shaken or brushed off, the whole sting is torn out of its body and left behind. In that case the muscles will continue to work and to force poison into the wound for some time, if the sting be not carefully extracted, which should be done without squeezing the poison reservoirs at its base. The body of a bee that had been dead for hours has been known to sting in that way. The injury occasioned to a bee by the tearing out of its sting must be very severe, and it has been generally supposed that they must die immediately afterwards. Sir John Lubbock, however, in his work on “ Ants, Bees, and Wasps,” says: “Though bees that have stung and lost their sting always perish, they do not die immediately, and in the meantime they show little sign of suffering from the terrible injury.” He mentions having seen a bee after losing its sting, remain twenty minutes on the floor-board, enter the hive, return in an hour, feed quietly on some honey, and again return to the hive. Mr. A. I. Root says he has kept bees some time in confinement after being so injured, “and could not see but they flew off just as well as bees that had not lost their sting.” He even inclines to think they may live and gather honey afterwards. Recent researches by the French naturalist, M. G. Carlet, show that the two glands secrete two different sorts of liquids, the combined action of which makes the poison so virulent. In the translation of M. Carlet’s paper, given in the American Apiculturist of December, 1884, it is stated that although the stinging of a fly by a bee causes the instantaneous death of 62 AUSTRALASIAN the former, yet if a fly be inoculated with the product of one of the two venomous glands of the bee, it will not die for a long time ; the successive inoculations of the same fly with the products of the two glands causes death in a very short time after the second inoculation. The conclusions come to are— “1, The poison of the hymenoptera is always acid. 2. It is composed of a mixture of two liquids, one strongly acid, the other feebly alkaline, and acts only when both liquids are present, 3. These are produced by two special glands that may be called the acid gland and the alkaline gland. 4. These two glands both expel their contents at the base of the throat from which the sting darts out.” REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS OF THE QUEEN. The most important organs of the queen-bee—themselves forming perhaps one of the most wonderful objects of nature, and~of which the very accurate knowledge which we now possess, owing to the patient researches of many naturalists, has done more than aught else for the progress of scientific bee-culture—are her ovaries and the parts attached thereto, which are illustrated in the following engraving. The two fig-shaped bodies are the ovaries, which are multi- tubular, there being more than a hundred tubes (called the ovigian tubes) in the two ovaries of a queen bee. In these tubes the eggs grow and develop themselves until they are fit to be deposited. Each ovary has a separate oviduct at bottom, through, which the eggs pass for some distance, until the two join in one common oviduct leading to the vulva, or vent, through which the eggs are ultimately deposited. A little below the junction of the passages from the two ovaries, and on the outside of the common oviduct, is a small globular body, shown on the right hand side in the engraving. This is a hollow vessel, called the spermatheca, of which much has to be said. More than two hundred years ago Swammerdam published an excellent illustration of the ovaries of a queen bee, showing the spermatheca, but he conjectured that it secreted a fluid for sticking the eggs to the bottom of the cells in the comb. In his time but little was known of what went on within the hive. Tt was no doubt assumed by many that every single egg laid by the queen required to be fertilised by a separate act of the drone, while Swammerdam himself conceived the idea that no BEE MANUAL. 63 copulation was necessary, but that some gaseous emanations from the body of the drone produced fecundation by pene- trating the body of the queen. About a hundred years later great advances were made in the knowledge of the physiology of the bee. It is said that Jansha, apiarist to the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, discovered the fact that young queens have to leave the hive to meet the drones ; but it is to the labours of Huber in 1787 and following years, and com- sid iy i i) y Fig. 18.—OVARIES OF QUEEN. municated in his letters addressed to Bonnet in the years 1789 to 1791, that we owe the first knowledge of the following main facts:—1. That the queen bee is truly oviparous; that what she deposits is a true egg, which takes three days to produce a living maggot or larva—(even the great Bonnet was inclined up to that time to believe that a minute worm, and not an egg, was produced by the queen). 2. That the queen must be impregnated by the drone in order to become fertile. 3, That 64 AUSTRALASIAN copulation is accomplished outside the hive and while on the wing high in the air. 4. That one impregnation was sufficient to fertilise all the eggs laid by the queens subsequently for two years at least, perhaps for life. 5. But that if the act of impregnation was delayed beyond the twenty-first day of the queen’s life, her eggs would afterwards produce only drones. Huber also proved that queens could be reared from the larva of worker eggs, and also that in some rare cases workers were able to lay eggs, which, however, could only produce drones. He investigated other matters of the greatest importance to the science of bee-culture, and has been gratefully designated THE PRINCE oF APICULTURISTS by Langstroth. He failed, however, to discover the secrets of the spermatheca, and re- mained under the false impression that the fertilisation of the eggs took place in the ovaries and that there were two sorts of eggs, one sort to produce workers and queens, the other to produce drones, and that they occupied separate portions of the ovaries. His cotemporary, Schirach, who also contributed much to apiarian science, supposed that one branch of the ovaries contained the one sort and the second branch the other sort of fertilised eggs. In this state the science remained for some sixty years. Langstroth says it is now ascertained that Posel, in a work published at Munich in 1784—therefore previous to the experiments of Huber-—“ describes the sperma- theca and its contents and the use of the latter in impregnating the passing egg;” and also that ‘years ago the celebrated Dr. John Hunter and others supposed that there must be a permanent receptacle for the male sperm opening into the oviduct.” Nothing certain was known, however, until 1845, when the brilliant discoveries of Dzierzon led to the promul- gation of the THEORY which bears his name, and especially to the doctrine of PARTHENOGENESIS. On this point Professor Cook says :— “This strange nee pe peehiae ee of the eggs without impreg- nation—was discovered and proved by Dzierzon in 1845. Dr. Dzierzon, who as a student of Grsetiol and scientific apiculture must rank with the great Huber, is a Roman Catholic priest of Carlsmarkt, Germany. This doctrine—called Parthenogenesis, which means produced from a virgin—is still doubted by some quite able bee-keepers, though the proofs are irrefragable.” BEE MANUAL. 65 No wonder that people were slow to accept this wonderful doctrine. Von Berlepsch, in his exposition of the Dzierzon Theory, says :— “From time immemorial naturalists have regarded as universally true the doctrine that no living creature can be developed from the egg of a female without male impregnation. And whee occasionally exceptional cases were addwcad the men of science treated the state- ments with contempt, or endeavoured to impugn their force or validity by assuming that the observers were either incompetent or careless.” Dr. Dzierzon’s discoveries accordingly were received with incredulity and sometimes with derision ; but magna est veritas, et prevalebit / Dr. Dzierzon was assisted in proving his case by such scientists as Professors Leuckart and Von Siebold of Munich, and by the Baron von Berlepsch, the author of the celebrated “ Apistical Letters.” Von Siebold ‘‘demonstrated clearly, that not only do living larve occasionally issue from a portion of the unimpregnated eggs of the silkworm, and develop as moths—some male, others female ; but that in various species of butterflies the virgin females regularly lay eggs which, not partially only and occasionally, but uniformly and without exception, produce females.” Prof. Leuckart subsequently noticed a still greater number of exceptions, and says :— “‘ There can be no doubt that parthenogenesis exists far more exten- sively among insects than is now known or anticipated.” And Von Berlepsch adds :— “This exception is found also among bees; with this difference, however, that among them al/ the eggs which remain unimpregnated invariably develop as males, and those which are impregnated invaria- bly develop as females, and that the impregnation of the egg determines its feminine sexuality. Consequently, in the case of bees, not only is every egg susceptible of development, though unimpregnated, but masculinity pre-exists therein, which (marvellous indeed !) is trans- formed into feminity by impregnation with the male sperm.” THE DZIERZON THEORY. Space will not admit of going into the details of observations and experiments by which the case has been proved. I shall only add the thirteen “ propositions” of the Dzierzon theory, F 66 AUSTRALASIAN which are now accepted as correct in almost every particular, and each one of which is fully discussed in the excellent work of the Baron von Berlepsch :— “1, A colony of bees, in its normal condition, consists of three cha- racteristically different kinds of individuals—the queen, the workers, and (at certain periods) the drones. “2. In the normal condition of a colony, the queen is the only perfect female present in the hive, and lays all the eggs found therein, These eggs are male and female. From the former proceed the drones; from the latter, if laid in narrow cells, proceed the workers, or undeveloped females; and from them also, if laid in wider, acorn-shaped, and vertically suspended, so-called royal cells, lavishly supplied with a peculiar pabulum or jelly, proceed the queens. ‘*3, The queen possesses the ability to lay male or female eggs at pleasure, as the particular cells she is at the time supplying may require. “4, In order to become qualified to lay both male and female eggs, the queen must be fecundated by a drone, or male bee. ‘5. The fecundation of the queen is always effected outside of the hive, in the open air, and while on the wing. Consequently, in order to become fully fertile, that is, capable of laying both male and female eggs, the queen must leave her hive at least once, “6, In the act of copulation, the genitalia of the drone enter the ee of the queen, are there retained, and the drone simultaneously erishes. e “7, The fecundation of the queen, once accomplished, is effica cious during her life, or so long as she remains healthy and vigorous; and when once become fertile, she never afterwards Ibaved her hive, except when accompanying a swarm. ‘*8, The ovaries of the queen are not impregnated in copulation ; but a small vesicle, or sac, which is situated near the termination of the oviduct, and communicating therewith, becomes charged with the semen of the drone. “*9, All eggs germinated in the ovary of the queen develop as males, unless impregnated by the male sperm while passing the mouth of the seminal sac or spermatheca when descending the oviduct. If they be thus impregnated in their downward passage (which impregr- nation the queen can effect or omit at her pleasure) they develop as females. 10. If a queen remain unfecundated she ordinarily does not lay eggs. Still exceptional cases do sometimes occur, and the eggs then laid produce drones only. ‘11. If, in consequence of superannuation, the contents of the spermatheca of a fecundated queen become exhausted; or, if from enervation or accident, she lose the power of using the muscles connected with that organ, so as to be unable to im regnate the passing egg, she will thenceforward lay drone eggs only, if she lay at all. * BEE MANUAL, 67 ‘©12, As some unfecundated queens occasionally lay drone eggs, so also in queenless colonies, no longer having the requisite means of: securing a queen, common workers are sometimes found that lay eggs, from which drones only proceed. These workers are likewise unfecundated, and the eggs are uniformly laid by some individual bee, regarded and ircoted more or less by her companions as their queen. ‘13. So long as a fertile queen is present in the hive, the bees do not tolerate a fertile worker. Nor do they tolerate one while cherish- ing the hope of being able to rear a queen. In rare instances, however, exceptional cases occur. Fertile workers are sometimes found in the hive immediately after the death or removal of the queen, and even in the presence of a young queen, so long as she has not herself become fertile.” . The foregoing enunciation of the Dzierzon theory is now generally accepted, with scarcely any modification, as the basis of the modern science of Apiculture. As regards Proposition 5, some doubts are still entertained as to whether it may not be possible that fecundation may be, in some rare instances, accomplished within the hive. Professor Cuok indeed states a case as having come under his own observation, where a “queen whose wing was clipped just as she came from the cell, and the entrance to whose hive was guarded by per- forated zinc so that she could not get out, was impregnated, and proved an excellent queen.” He adds, ‘‘so it seems more than possible that mating in confinement may yet become practicable.” Certainly it has not been found practicable as yet, and many additional authentic cases must be recorded before it can even be admitted that there was no possibility of a mistake in the isolated case referred to. Attempts have also recently been made to effect artificial fecundation of the queen larva, and thus produce a queen capable, when she first issues from the cells, of laying both male and female eggs. Some cases of success in this delicate operation have even been asserted, but no satisfactory practical results have been as yet attained. It is the opinion of some who are well qualified to judge, that ultimate success in this direction may be possible, and no doubt the most searching investigation and the most careful experiments will be made until certainty shall be attained on the point. Should it ever be found really practicable to regulate cross-breeding in such a certain manner, it would undoubtedly open quite a new era in queen rearing and in the propagation of peculiar races of bees. 68 AUSTRALASIAN The statement in Propositions 3 and 9, that the queen “can effect or omit at pleasure” the impregnation of the egg when passing the spermatheca, has also been open to much doubt until the recent investigations made by Mr. F. R. Cheshire, which were published in the British Bee Journal in the months of November and December, 1884, and which seem to decide that question in the most satisfactory way, and beyond all doubt. Referring to fig. 18, the reader will bear in mind that it is now ascertained, as set forth in Proposition 8, that the result of the act of fecundation by the drone is simply to fill the spermatheca with a glandular secretion containing the infinitely small spermatozoa, one of which must be intro- duced into the egg through a small opening at its lower end, called the micropyle, in order to change its nature from male to female. The eggs so developed in the ovaries are now understood to be all male eggs ; if they pass through the ovi- duct unaltered, they will produce drones; if they receive a spermatozoon into the micropyle while passing the spermatheca on the downward passage, they develop into workers or queens, z.¢., into worker eggs. The question heretofore has been, how can the queen control the fecundation of the egg? It was for a long time supposed that when the queen inserted her abdomen into the narrow worker cells, in order to deposit her egg, the pressure from the sides of the cell was sufficient to open the passage from the spermatheca, and lead to the impregnation of the passing egg, whereas in a drone cell there was supposed to be no pressure on the body, and that therefore an unimpreg- nated ege was laid init. With regard to the queen cells, in order to support this theory, it had to be assumed that the queen did not lay direct in them, but that the workers supplied these cells with impregnated eggs from the worker cells. Mr. Cheshire, on the contrary, proves that the queen does lay eggs in the queen cells, and further, that no outside pressure, even if leading to the death of the insect, could force open the sperma- theca; that, on the other hand, she has perfect control over the impregnation of the eggs, and can lay male or female egos ‘when and where she pleases. He has discovered and described the beautiful valves by which the passage from the spermatheca into the oviduct are guarded, the muscles by which the queen can open and close them at will, and the manner in which the egg passing down from the ovary is allowed to receive one of BEE MANUAL. 69 the spermatozoa through the opening of the micropyle; and this leads him to the very natural reflection— ‘* What children we must feel ourselves, how utterly baffled and confounded by the reflection that this tiny spermatozoon, eight or ten millions of which the queen may carry in her microscopic spermatheca, has about it—somehow and somewhere—that which shall determine, not sex merely, but all distinctions of species, such as the external form of the body, the length and modelling of the tongue, the arrange- ment of the pigment cells, the colour of the covering plates, the tint of every hair, and the general temper and disposition of the resulting insect, besides a thousand other peculiarities! We speak of what the microscope has revealed, and without gainsaying it is surpassingly pee ; but how little have we found, compared with what lies ehind!” And in another place he has a beautifully expressed passage which we gladly copy as an appropriate conclusion to our slight survey of the anatomy and physiology of the bee. ** Our bees,” he concludes, ‘‘ are miracles of creative skill, which to a better insight but thinly veils the Worker whose understanding is infinite ; and we are not in our weakest moments when He, ‘ clearly seen by the things that are made,’ draws us to bow the head and worship.” DEVELOPMENT FROM THE EGG TO THE BEE, Having now come to understand the manner in which the egg, whether male or female, comes to be laid, we may examine the egg itself, and the way in which the germ it contains becomes developed into the full-grown insect. Fig, 19.-QUEEN’S EGG UNDER THE MICROSCOPE. The egg, when laid in the cell, requires a tolerably sharp sight to distinguish it as it lies at the bottom, attached by one end to the comb by means of some glutinous fluid with which 70 AUSTRALASIAN it is coated. It is very small, and not round or oval likea bird’s egg, but long, like a small worm or maggot. It is, how- ever, a true egg, and presents, when greatly magnified, the appearance shown. Sites Tt appears covered with a sort of delicate network, which is, in fact, its shell, and it has a yolk and surrounding white, or albumen, like all eggs of birds or reptiles. When deposited in a worker cell, it remains unchanged in outward appearance for three days, when the larva first appears as a minute worm, and goes through the stages of development shown in the following figure ; the numbers underneath denoting the age, in days, from the laying of the egg. woul it a8. te til, = AT) ¥ a _ 18 1 38 4 #5 Fig, 20,_FROM THE EGG TO THE BEE. The larva, when it emerges from the egg, is fed by the workers, which act as nurses, with a mixture of bee-bread, honey, and water, the two first-mentioned materials having undergone a partial digestion in the stomachs of the bees, and. been converted into a species of chyle. Whether the water is mixed with the food so prepared, or is required for the process of digestion to prepare it, certain it is that during the breeding time great: numbers of bees are to be seen imbibing water, and bringing it to the hive. This process of feeding the larve continues five days for the workers and six and a half days for the drones, and the cells are then capped with a mixture of wax and pollen, which forms a safe covering for the cells, but is sufficiently porous to admit the air necessary for the life of the larva and pupa, or nymph, during its period of metamor- phosis. As soon as the cell is closed, the grub begins to spin a web or cocoon round itself ; this spinning goes on for thirty-six hours, when the cocoon is complete, and then ensues a period of rest, or apparent rest, and subsequent metamorphosis, during which time a wonderful transformation is going on from hour BEE MANUAL. 71 to hour. This includes the pupa or nymph period, and lasts altogether thirteen days for workers and fourteen and a half for drones ; and at length, on the twenty-second day from the laying of the egg in the former, or on the twenty-fifth day in the latter case, the fully formed bee cuts through the capping of the cell with its mandibles, and emerges complete in every respect, and ready, without any previous training, education, or experience, to fulfil its functions, to execute all the delicate operations, and to observe those rules of conduct which appear to us (and justly) to be such marvels of intelligence, ingenuity, dexterity, and even foresight. Itis true that the actions of these insects, from the moment they break through the cover- ing of their cells, are evidently prompted and guided by such intelligence and foresight—so indeed was the action of the grub in spinning its own cocoon ;—but is it not absurd to attribute the consequent results to any exercise of a reasoning faculty in Fig. 21_—-WORKER NYMPH AND LARVA, IN COMB. the insect? Even if we suppose it endowed at once with the reasoning powers of man himself, would it not require a long period of experience, or education, or both, before it could be capable of building a cell or seeking for and bringing home a load of honey or of pollen? It is therefore a mistake to talk of the intelligence or ingenuity of the bee; we have here to deal evidently with instinct, which is simply the exercise, on the part of the insect, of an intelligence not its own, and which, to make use again of Mr. Cheshire’s most appropriate words, “but thinly veils the Worker whose understanding is infinite.” The foregoing illustration (Fig. 21) shows very clearly, at about three times the natural size, the larva when just closed in its cell, and before spinning its cocoon, and the pupa, or nymph, when nearly developed, with the exception of the wings. 72 AUSTRALASIAN The cells in which queen, or perfect female bees are laid and developed differ widely from those of the workers and drones : in the natural state, they are only built in the swarming season, or in cases where the colony has become queenless ; in the former case the cells are laid out for the purpose on the under side or on the edges of the comb, as shown in the following engraving, which exhibits, on an enlarged scale, the top view of a number of worker cells, with the egg and larva in the dif- ferent stages of development up to the time of capping the cells (in the line marked a); a section of a queen cell (0), showing the larva and a supply of the royal jelly, and a similar one completed and closed (at c). Fig. 22.—WORKER LARVE AND QUEEN CELLS, Langstroth, in describing the queen cells, says :— ‘These cells somewhat resemble a small pea-nut, and are about an inch deep and one-third of an inch in diameter. Being very thick, they require much wax for their construction. They are seldom seen in a perfect state after the swarming season, as the bees, after the queen has hatched, cut them down to the shape of a small acorn cup.” The material of which these cells are composed is not pure wax; there is much pollen mixed with it. The outside surface is uneven and indented like the sides of a thimble. The num- ber built at one time varies much, according to circumstances— sometimes only two or three, but ordinarily not less than five, BEE MANUAL. 73 and sometimes more than a dozen. They are built to hang as nearly vertical as possible, the broader end uppermost, and gradually narrowing towards the point below. The queen lays her egg in the cell when it is about half built; after three days, as in the case of workers and drones, the larva is hatched ; the workers then feed the larva for five days with an abundance of so-called “royal jelly,” which appears to be much the same as that fed to worker larvee, only perhaps more carefully prepared. Mr. Root says on this point :— «Tt has also been said that the queens receive the very finest, most perfectly digested, and concentrated food that they (the workers) can prepare. This I can readily believe, for the royal jelly has a very rich taste—something between cream, quince jelly, and honey, with a slightly tart and rank, strong milky taste, that is quite sickening if much of it be taken. Iam inclined to think that the same food that is given the young larve at tirst will form royal jelly, if left exposed to the air, as it is in the broad open queen cells,” This food is deposited in a considerable quantity in the quecn cell before it is closed (see 6 in last figure). The queen larva takes only one day to spin its cocoon, as it only covers the upper half of the body. This fact was observed by Huber, and commented upon in the following manner :— ‘ Fig. 50.-HIVE CRAMP. It is made by taking four pieces of timber 6in. x 2in. three feet long for uprights, and two 4in. x 3in. five feet six inches long for horizontal pieces to form the platform and to bolt the uprights to. Two uprights are halved into each horizontal piece two feet ten inches apart, and sixteen inches from the upper ends of uprights. The uprights are let in to the hori- zontal pieces on the inside, as shown. A scarf four inches wide by three-quarters of an inch deep is made in each up- right. Another scarf six inches wide by one and a-quarter inch deep is made in each horizontal piece ; so that when the pieces are put in position they are flush with each other. All parts go together on their flat. Two 4in. x 3in. four feet six inches long are fastened in a similar manner to the lower ends of 126 AUSTRALASIAN uprights. The two parts of the framework are held parallel to each other six inches apart by two spreaders eight inches long of 6in. by lin. stuff let in flush in the upper horizontal pieces between the uprights, as shown in engraving; these spreaders form part of the platform. Similar spreaders can be nailed across the lower horizontal pieces. Two fin. iron bolts run through the double part of horizontal and upright pieces with a nut and screw hold all firmly together. The uprights and horizontal pieces should be exactly at right angles to each other. If made correctly, when the frame is standing erect, the platform formed by the 4in. by 3in. pieces should be exactly the width of a hive (16in.) below the upper end of uprights. The next things required are the two jaws, one stationary and the other movable. To make the stationary jaw, one pair of the uprights is made use of. To these are screwed two pieces of 1din. square, one at the top and one close down to the platform. If thought necessary a stay may extend from the back of each upright to the ends of the horizontal pieces. For the movable jaw a piece of 9in. by 2in. sixteen inches long is required. A carpenter’s wooden bench screw is made to work between the other pair of uprights by fastening the screw-block between them. The end of the screw is now fastened to the movable jaw in the usual manner. To steady the jaw when screwing up, a short piece of inch board is nailed on the bottom of it, which slides between fillets nailed on each horizontal piece ; this forms the cramp. When working it, one side of the hive is placed on the platform between the jaws; the two ends are then put in their proper position, and the remaining side; we have now only to give the screw a turn and all the parts of the hive are cramped together close and held firm and square while nailing them. When one side is nailed the screw is loosened, the hive turned over, and the other side is nailed in the same manner. The cramp is also useful for putting the ends and sides of the covers together, and for many other purposes; in fact it is one of the most convenient appliances a bee-keeper can have in his workshop. It is easily constructed, and if made by a carpenter should not cost more than 30s, : '-A simple form of cramp may be made of timber 2in. square. Cut two pieces 244in. long and two pieces 204in. BEE MANUAL. 127 Halve them together at the ends, and nail firmly, taking care that the pieces are nailed squarely to each other. To make the frame more secure, a broad piece of hoop iron should be nailed across each corner. Two such frames are required, and a few thin hardwood wedges. The inside measurement of the frames will be tin. longer aud iin. wider than the outside dimensions of the hive. This extra space allows them to slip over the parts easily, and gives room for wedging. NUCLEUS HIVE. This hive is used both for the purpose of rearing queens and keeping spare ones in till required. Fig, 51._NUCLEUS HIVE, WITH COVER AND MAT. It is the same length and depth as the ordinary hive, but is usually made to contain three frames only. It may be made out of light material and in a more simple manner than the ordinary hive. The bottom board can be nailed on, and the entrance cut out of one end of hive; the figure does not show the bottom board. The width inside should be 43in. or 5in. to take three frames. A full explanation of the use of it is given in the chapter on queen rearing. OBSERVATORY HIVES. There is no branch of entomology so interesting to the ordinary individual as the natural history and habits of bees. To the majority of people there is not a more pleasing sight than the interior of a beehive during the busy season, if the working of the bees can be observed leisurely without danger of receiving a sting. To watch the queen surrounded by some of her subjects as she moves in a stately manner from cell to cell depositing her eggs; to view the worker bees building comb, bringing in and storing honey and pollen ; to see the young bees gnawing their way out of the cells and first catch- 128 AUSTRALASIAN ing sight of their future surroundings, is indeed interesting. Hives for observatory purposes can be so constructed as to allow of the interior being examined at pleasure by the most timid person without disturbing or exciting the bees. The most simple form of this hive may be made to hold one frame only, but for several reasons I prefer one that will take Ca art ton oN ep oy RES = FE OES * 3 ay = - aw = ro \ Fig. 52.—OBSERVATORY HIVES, three. The engraving represents the one I have in use. This, as will be seen, has three leaves (cases), each of which holds an ordinary Langstroth frame. The centre one is a fixture, while the two outside leaves may be opened to allow of both sides of each comb being inspected. The woodwork of the cases is made of battens 2in. wide by lin. thick; a narrow groove to take the glass sides is run along each inner edge, so that the sides may be just 13in. apart, the length and height of each case inside being the same as a Langstroth hive. A one-inch hole should be bored out of the bottom of the front end of each face to form an entrance for the bees. Next cut an entrance Zin. deep in the bottom board, somewhat like an ordinary entrance ; then over the back part of this tack a flat piece on tin having two tubes, lin. in diameter and lin. high, soldered on BEE MANUAL. 129 in the right position, so that when the tin is on, the outside cases will fit over these tubes, that is, the tin tubes will fit in the holes bored in the bottom of each case. Now if the centre case is nailed to the bottom board, and the side cases fitted over the tubes and hinged on top to the centre one, it will be pretty near complete. It must, of course, be seen that the entrances to each case through the tubes are clear, and that there is no place the bees can get out but through the entrance in the bottom board. We have now only to make a cap to fit over the cases when closed, to darken the interior when not in use, and the hive is complete. Every bee-keeper should possess an observatory hive, as it will not only be interesting and instructive to himself, but a source of amusement to his family and friends. To stock it, take an ordinary frame of brood, with the adhering bees and the queen, from a hive and place it in the centre compartment; a frame of honey and an empty comb or frame of foundation can be put in the outside cases ; close the entrance with perforated zinc or wire cloth; put on the cap, keep the hive in a cool place, and let it remain closed for 48 hours, when it may be put on its stand and the entrance opened at dusk in the evening. In a week the queen may be removed if it be desired, and the process of queen-rearing be observed. TIMBER FOR HIVE-MAKING. Soft porous timber is usually recommended as being the best for hives, though it should at the same time be of a tough lasting nature. Wood that is soft and porous is a better non- conductor of heat than hard close-grained wood ; hence hives made of the former give better protection to the bees both in winter and summer than would hives made of the latter kind of wood. It is also preferable to use straight grained timber. more especially for the frames, as being most easily worked and not so likely to twist.- The bottom boards and stands may be made of a harder timber in order the better to with- stand any dampness that may arise from the ground, as these would be the parts of the hive that would be most affected by it. PALSTING HIVES. Hives should never be used until they have been painted. They ought to receive three coats to start with. The first coat K 130 AUSTRALASIAN should be very thin, and may consist principally of red lead and linseed oil—I believe equal parts of raw and boiled oil to be the best. The heads of the nails should be punched in before applying the first coat, and the holes be puttied as well as the joints before giving the second. The colour of the second and third coats ought to be white or nearly so ; on no account should hives that are to be exposed to the sun’s rays be of a dark colour. The whiter the hives are the cooler will the interior be in hot weather. White paint, made even of the very best lead, does not last long when exposed to the sun ; but if a little black be mixed with it, just sufficient to give it a very slight slate tint, it will last much longer, Rubber paint for the last coat answers very well indeed, and is more lasting than white lead. The under side of the bottom boards and stands may be painted with a cheaper paint; I find hematite paint to answer the purpose, but the part exposed on the upper side and the alighting board should be white. FRAMES. From what has already been stated at the beginning of this chapter, the reader will understand that the frames of a hive are those movable structures, suspended within the body, in which the combs are built. There are two kinds generally used, each adapted for a different purpose, viz., the narrow or brood frame and the broad or section frame. The narrow frame is invariably used in the lower or breeding part of the hive as being most suitable for the brood combs, and is also used in the super when working for extracted honey. The broad frame is specially adapted for holding section boxes when raising comb-honey, and is rarely used for any other purpose. NARROW OR BROOD FRAMES. It is of great importance that the timber used for making frames as well as the hives should be thoroughly seasoned, and that the different parts of the frames be cut exact in size. It is frequently necessary to shift one or more frames from one hive to another, so that if all hives and frames are not the. exact counterpart of each other, there will be no end of vexa- tion and trouble. The width of the timber out of which the BEE MANUAL. 131 narrow frame stuff is to be cut should be Zths of an inch. The top and end bars (A and BB Fig. 53) should be 3ths of an inch thick, and the bottom bar (c) + of an inch. The length of the top bar is 184in.; end bars, 8}in.; and bottom bar, 173in. When the end bars are nailed ths of an inch from each end of the top bar, as shown in the engraving, and the bottom bar nailed on, the inside dimensions of the frame will Liisa le eld A Z Z Fig. 53,\—_NARROW OR BROOD FRAME. be 17in. long and 8iin. deep, the exact size required for the Langstroth hive. Before, however, nailing them together, a groove must be cut along the centre of the top bar 2th of an inch wide, and of the same depth, for fastening a sheet of comb-foundation in. It would be better to do this before cutting the stuff into short lengths. BROAD OR SECTION FRAMES. The top, bottom, and end bars of these frames are exactly the same in length as the narrow frames, and with regard to thickness, should be made out of similar material. Tig, 54,—SECTION FRAME WITH SECTIONS AND TIN SEPARATORS, The top and bottom bars should be th less than 2in. wide, and the end bars ;;th less than 13in. Sometimes 132 AUSTRALASIAN these frames are made too wide, the ends afull 2 inches. ‘The consequence is that with the separators on there is barely room in the hive for the seven frames, and the last one has to be jammed in, a state of things that should not be tolerated. Everything about a hive should work with the greatest of ease. The top and bottom bars being a quarter of an inch narrower than the ends, they should be nailed on in such a way as to allow an equal projection of the end bars on each side of them, so that when the frames are pushed close together in the hive there will be sufficient space between the tops and bottoms of each two frames for the bees to pass to and fro. HALF-STORY FRAMES. For raising comb-honey I very much prefer using two half- story supers in place of one full story. My reasons are fully Fig. 55.HALF STORY FRAME WITH SECTIONS AND TIN SEPARATOR. explained in another chapter. The section frames for a half- story hive—with the exception of the depth which is only four and a-quarter inches inside—are exactly similar to the larger ones. FRAME FORM. To aid us in putting the different parts of the frames to- gether true and square, it is absolutely necessary that* we should have a gauge or form for holding the pieces in their proper places while nailing them. The engraving on page 133 represents a useful kind of frame form :— It is made as follows :—Take an inch board a, 1ft. 82in. long x 8{in. wide, and plane both edges true. Next cut two battens BB, 1Zin. thick x 2in. wide x 84in. long. Out of one end of each cut a shoulder Zin. deep x 3in. on, as shown, and nail them on edgewise on the ends of the board a. The length between the battens should be the same as the outside length of frame, viz., 173in. The block c may be an inch or BEE MANUAL. 133 more in thickness, 2in. wide, and 1ft.in length, and should be securely nailed to the board a. On the underside of this block screw a piece of steel band 2 inches wide bent to the required form, as shown in the engraving. Three or four inches of the ends of the band should press tightly against the battens BB, to hold the end bars of the frames in their places. When making the frames, the end bars are to be pressed down between the ends of the band and the battens B B, close up to the board a. The top bar, groove down, is next placed on top, resting on the shoulders of the battens, and nailed to the end bars with two thin wire nails, an inch long, at each end. Now turn the form upside down and nail on the bottom bar ; by lifting the frame top bar first, it will come off the form square and true. A narrow strip of thin steel stretched between and riveted to the lower ends of the band DD, will be found a handy contrivance by which the pressure on the end Fig, 56._FRAME FORM OR GAUGE, bars may be removed. A slight pull on this will draw the ends of the band towards the centre, when the frame may be taken off without trouble. Both brood and section frames may be made on this form, but it will save time when putting the latter together if a thin strip of wood an eighth of an inch thick is tacked on the upper part of the board A, just where the top bar touches; this will guide the bar into its proper position on the end bars. For half-story frames a shallow form suitable to their depth will be required. NUMBER OF FRAMES TO A HIVE. The hive I have described and given instructions for making will take ten narrow frames or seven broad ones. There are 134 AUSTRALASIAN a few bee-keepers in America who have adopted an eight- frame Langstroth, but I feel safe in saying that the brood chamber of such a hive would be too small for the climate of any of the Australasian colonies. The inside of the hive is 144 inches wide, which allows each of the ten frames to be three-eighths of an inch apart—the right distance. They may be spaced very quickly by standing on one side of the hive and moving the farthest frame along the rabbets with a forefinger and thumb at each end, till your fingers touch the side of the hive. Now move the next till your fingers touch the first frame, and so on with the whole of them ; after a little practice a person can become quite expert at it. When working for extracted honey the same kind of frames are used in the super as in the lower hive, but for comb-honey the broad frames and sections are used in the super, seven of which, when placed close together as already explained, nearly fill the body, just leaving sufficient space for moving the first one on the rabbets a little to facilitate its removal. Cases, or racks as they are sometimes termed, for holding the sections on the hive instead of frames, are often used. I shall have more to say concerning these in another place. : MATS FOR COVERING FRAMES. Mats answer two purposes—for keeping the bees below the tops of the frames, and preventing a chillmg draught through the hive. No perfectly satisfactory material has yet been introduced that will answer the purpose of a good mat that the bees will not gnaw holes in after a time or propolize fast to the frames. No material should be used that is not porous or that will not absorb the moisture given off by the bees. I have used different kinds of mats, but the cheapest, and I be- lieve the best I have made, was from coarse packing stuff to be obtained at most general merchants. I have had some of these mats in use for the last three years without being gnawed through. I cut them a trifle larger than the space above the frames and leave them with the raw edges. SECTION BOXES. There is no way in which comb-honey can be raised equal to the section box system. Not many years ago comb-honey BEE MANUAL. 135 was raised and exposed for sale in large slabs weighing several pounds each, but owing to the messy job of retailing it and the flies attracted by it, very few respectable shopkeepers would have anything to do with comb-honey. In contrast to this, section boxes full of nice white comb-honey may now be seen in nearly every grocer’s window in districts where the advanced system of bee-culture has been introduced. They were first brought into use in America some thirteen years ago and have since been adopted in England and many parts of the European continent by progressive bee-keepers ; they were introduced into these colonies in 1878. Fig. 57.,—ONE-POUND SECTION BOX WITH STARTER OF COMB-FOUNDATION, There appears to have been almost as many different sizes and forms of section boxes adopted by different bee-keepers since they were first brought into use as there have been different hives, but the most popular at the present day is the one-pound section box, Fig. 57. The two-pound section makes a very nice package but is not nearly so handy nor saleable. Half-pound sections have lately been adopted by some bee- keepers in America, but Iam inclined to think they will never become very popular either with bee-keepers or consumers. REQUISITES OF GOOD SECTIONS. They should be made of the cleanest and lightest coloured wood obtainable. The material should not exceed one-eighth of an inch in thickness and should be cut smooth. They should be capable of being put together quickly and without nails or glue. And last though not least, they should not cost much. TO MAKE SECTIONS. I feel quite satisfied that it will never pay any person not provided with suitable machinery to attempt to make section 136 AUSTRALASIAN boxes. Nothing destroys the nice appearance of comb-honey more than a clumsily-made section box. Before the neat dove- tailed sections now made by Messrs. Bagnall Brothers were obtainable in these colonies I used to get my material cut by a cabinet-maker who had a very fine-toothed circular saw, but as the different parts of the boxes had to be nailed together stouter material was required for the sides to hold the nails, The size of the one-pound section—outside measurement— is 4tin. by 4}in. The width of the top, bottom, and sides should be the same as the section frame, viz., top and bottom a sixteenth less than one and three-quarter inches, and the sides a sixteenth less than two inches. When cut for nailing, the sides should be four inches long by three-sixteenths of an inch thick, and the top and bottom four and a quarter inches long by an eighth of an inch thick. A small form on the principle of the frame form should be used when nailing them. Half-inch brads I found best for driving, not being so liable to split the wood as a larger nail. For two-peund sections, suit- able for the Langstroth frame, the tops and bottoms require to be 84 inches long, but the sides are the same as for the one-pound box, ONE PIECE SECTIONS. Section boxes made out of one piece of timber are now very largely used in England and America, and I think might be p F—j [3 Fig, 58.—-ONE PIECE SECTION, introduced by manufacturers into these colonies with advantage. The pieces, after being ripped from a block of wood that has been previously shaped to the required form and dovetailed at the ends, are run across three saws placed the proper distance apart. The saw cuts run nearly through the pieces, leaving sufficient wood, however, to hold the joints when they are folded up. PUTTING DOVETAILED SECTIONS TOGETHER. When first using dovetailed sections I found something more than hand pressure was required to put them together firm and strong; I therefore made a small lever cramp, shown in Fig. 59 BEE MANUAL. 137 (No. 1), for this purpose, which answered very well indeed. The base board of the cramp is 5in. wide, 18in. long, and lin. thick. On one end of this a block, 3in. wide, 4}in. high, and 2in. thick, is securely nailed. A lever, 2ft. long and 3in, wide, tapered to form a handle, is hinged to the block with a strong strap hinge. Another block, similar to the one on the base board, tapered on the back, is nailed to the lever a bare 44in. from the stationary block. If the cramp is made correctly a one-pound section box will barely go between the blocks when the lever is down. Fig, 59.—SECTION CRAMP AND FORM. The sections should be put together by hand and then placed between the blocks ; by pressing the lever down the pieces are forced into their places. CLINCHING THE DOVETAILS, To make a good finish of them the dovetails should be clinched. For this purpose I use the form, Fig. 59 (No. 2), made by nailing two blocks, similar to those on the lever-cramp, on a Short base board, just far enough apart to allow a section box to slide between them. The form is to steady the section 138 AUSTRALASIAN while tapping down the ends of the dovetails at each corner. Complaints are sometimes made that the joints of dovetailed sections are not firm enough to keep the boxes from twisting out of the square, even when carefully handled, but I find that when put together as I have described they are equally as firm for all purposes required as when nailed. SEPARATORS. In raising comb-honey it is most desirable to have the section boxes uniformly filled, the combs of an even thickness through- out, built with perfectly flat faces, and not projecting beyond the edges of the sections. To this end temporary partitions or separators are generally placed between each two rows of section boxes while in the hive. Were the bees not confined to each particular box by these divisions or walls we should be likely to find the comhs built very irregular and bits of wax stuck about the edges of them. Separators are usually made of tin, but sometimes of very thin wood ; tin appears to be the best, as the bees are not so likely to attach comb to it as to wood. They should be made of very light tin, cut three-quarters of an inch longer than the outside dimensions of the frames and 34in. wide; the ends should be bent at right angles, to hook, as it were, round the end bars, and be lightly tacked to keep them in place. Care should be taken to put them on perfectly flat, and to leave an equal space of a quarter of an inch at the upper and lower parts of the sections to allow the bees to pass in and out and from one box to the others (see Fig. 54). DISPENSING WITH SEPARATORS, Much thought has been given lately by some leading bee- keepers to the question of dispensing with separators alto- gether. No doubt it would be very desirable to do so could we have our comb-honey raised in as good form without them. Not to speak of a saving of expense, there are other objections to their use. For instance, the sections being divided off from each other, and thus to a large extent cutting off continuous communication through the super, tends in a very great mea- sure to prevent the bees entering the boxes as readily as they otherwise would, hence the greater tendency for a colony to BEE MANUAL. 139 swarm when supered for comb-honey. Then, again, there is the space occupied by these separators which might be more profitably filled with honey. The only method which appears practicable at present to attain this end is to use narrower sections. Nearly all who have experimented conclude that with the two-inch sections separators are indispensable, but with sections running seven to the foot, ora width of slightly under 1 jin. to each box, they have obtained satisfactory results without separators. With only one bee space between the combs, instead of two, as there must be with separators, the narrower sections when well filled are said to weigh about the same as the two-inch ones. A Langstroth hive would take eight rows of the smaller size in the place of seven of the larger boxes. Opinions are very much divided upon the matter at present ; I would therefore advise those who might wish to give the system a trial not to go to much expense or trouble at first in making the necessary alterations in their present appliances. SECTION RACKS AND CASES. Hitherto I have only mentioned the broad frame system in connection with sections, but there is another method of Fig. 60.—PRIZE SECTION RACK. A. A wedge fer jamming the sections together. BB. Tin separators. co. Glass in outside boxes. placing section boxes on a hive which dispenses with the frames. What is termed a rack is formed, consisting of a light framework of wood, across which thin laths are nailed three- eighths of an inch from the bottom at equal distance apart ; on the edges of these the sections rest. The rack is set on top of the frames, and takes the place of an ordinary super, a deep cover fits over all, and rests on the hive. Fig. 60 shows 140 AUSTRALASIAN a rack filled with prize-sections, that was at one time thought a great deal of in America. The rack and case system for sections has been adopted by a great many bee-keepers in the United States, but there are a few leading men who still adhere to the frames. Some five years ago I gave the above kind of rack a fair trial through one season. At that time I was raising large quantities of comb-honey by the frame method. I soon discarded the racks, and have never used them since. The objections I had to them were :—Ist. I could not tier them up, a fatal objection, in my opinion, to any system for raising comb-honey. 2nd. The trouble and expense of blocking up the outside sections with glass or wood to pre- vent bees getting out. 3rd. When removing some of the boxes the bees would crowd outside, and so get in the way when the cover was to be put on; and 4th. I could not examine one of the central boxes without disturbing nearly all the others. THE HEDDON SECTION CASE. Improvements are continually being made in racks as well as other appliances connected with bee-culture, consequently Fig. 61.—THE HEDDON SECTION CASE. there are more convenient ones in use now, but no rack, in my opinion, is equal to the Heddon case for sections (Fig. 61). It is much easier to make than a rack, and to my mind very much handier to use. It will be seen by the engraving that the case is very similar to the body of a half-story hive, divided by partitions crosswise into four compartments, each wide enough to take a one-pound section box. Mr. Heddon, who has raised comb-honey on an extensive scale, was, as he says, “one of the pioneer opposers of wide frames and separators,” but having been persuaded to give them another trial, he says :— “I did so by making 350 wide frame supers (one story or tier of sections high), and used these side by side and over and under 300 of BEE MANUAL. 141 our cases, all worked on the tiering up plan. I used separators of both tin and wood, about 1,800 of wood and 300 of tin.” In his report of the trial to Gleanings of May 15th, 1885, he sums up the results as follows :— “*1, My case is the best style of surplus receptacle I know of to ase without separators, and admits of no improvement by me. 2. I would rather abandon separators altogether than use them in two-story supers. 3. I do not think there is any system of using separators equal to the wide frame when used one story high. 4. I would use no system of surplusage (either for comb or extracted honey) that did not give me the nivatitage of tiering up. 5. I prefer tin to wooden separators. 6. There are many advantages in the use of separators, and many in the non-use of them, and each person must be governed by his own special circumstances. 7. Their use or non-use need not affect the quantity of surplus secured. I mean to continue the use of separators, and I am now perfecting a different style of super, which I think will aid us greatly in their quick and easy manipulation as well as their usefulness.” Mr. Heddon’s opinions, as above quoted, are worth noting, and with the exception of the seventh clause I quite agree with them. JI feel convinced that separators are a hindrance to the bees entering the supers in the early part of the season, and also to the rapid filling of the sections at all times. I see no reason to doubt that the Heddon section case is better than frames for use with narrow sections without separators. Pro- fessor Cook and others speak very highly of it. I will first give some explanation regarding an appliance used with the section case, and then show how this and a case may be made adaptable to the Langstroth hive. HONEY-BOARDS, These are appliances to be placed on top of the frames of the lower hive when putting on a super, and between every two supers when more than one are required on a hive. They are used for the purpose of preventing the building of comb between the upper and lower frames. Every bee-keeper who has had frame hives in use even for a short time will have experienced the nuisance of having the lower part of the frames of a super fastened to the upper part of those in the lower hive ; I have tried several means to prevent it, such as greasing the frames, and allowing but the smallest bee-space between 142 AUSTRALASIAN them, but to no purpose. It appears, however, that with the use of a properly constructed honey-board the desired result is obtained. It is curious to note how various appliances that have been discarded come into favour again. Honey-boards were in common use at one time with frame hives, but until quite recently a person known to be using them after they dropped out of general favour would have been looked upon as non-progressive ; now it has been decided that we cannot well do without them. The principle on which the most improved honey-boards are made to act, is to divide the bee-space between the upper and lower frames; in other words, there is a greater space left between them, and this is divided into two equal parts by the board, so that there are two bee-spaces between the frames in place of one. It does not prevent the bees fastening the board No.1 Fig. 62._HEDDON’S HONEY-BOARD. No. 1. Slatted board complete. No. 3. Section of same. to the lower frames with bits of comb, but it is claimed by those who have used them that the upper bee-space is left entirely clear, so that the frames can be lifted out or the whole super taken off at any time without trouble. Although honey-boards would no doubt be useful on all hives, still, I have felt the most need of some such appliance on hives supered for comb- honey. I find broad frames more frequently “ bridged ” than narrow ones, perhaps for the reason that the latter are shifted oftener during the extracting season. HOW TO CONSTRUCT HONEY-BOARDS AND SECTION CASES. The above engraving of Heddon’s honey-board is taken from Gleanings for January 15th, 1885. This board (No. 1, Fig. 62) consists of an outside frame, with thin slats running from end to end, tacked on ths of an inch apart (No. 3, Fig. 62). BEE MANUAL. 143 The slats are 3ths of an inch below the upper edge to give the top bee-space, but there is no allowance made in the board itself for a bee-space below. This is secured by making the frame large enough to rest on the outside edges of the hive, the tops of the frames being about bee-space below the edge. With the hive in general use here (already described) we could not very well, nor wisely, I think, break the junction between the hive and its super with the frame of a honey- board, unless the frame could be made to fit in a similar manner. I see nothing to prevent the honey-board resting on the frames themselves ; we could then make the section cases to fit the lower hive, or each other, the same as our hive bodies do at present. For strength I would make the frame #in. deep by Sin. wide, of the exact dimensions of inside of hive, viz., 184in. by 14}in. Before nailing it together, run a groove din. wide by Hn. deep, along the centre of the depth of the end pieces. Next cut nine slats, tin. by fin. wide, in. longer than the inside dimensions of the frame. Nail the two ends (grooves inwards) and one side together, slip the ends of the slats into the grooves, and nail on the other side of frame. Space the nine slats in. apart and fasten them with small nails at each end ; cut six slats, 3in. square, to nail on (three on each side) across the others at equal distances apart, to keep them firm and prevent them twisting. The sides of the frame might be bevelled on their inner edges, to give room for the bees to get up into the sections at the sides of the case. The honey-board is now com- plete, and may be placed on the frames either side up, as there is 2ths of an inch bee-space on both sides below the long slats. A half-story body, used with the Langstroth hive, can be converted into a Heddon section case for use with the above honey-board by merely putting in the divisions, its measure- ments for this purpose being correct. The length of the inside is 18}in., and as this space is to take four 4}in. sections and three division boards (see Fig. 61), we must make the latter of half-inch material, or rather less, so that the sections may slip into their places readily. The divisions should be cut 44in. wide and 14}in. long (the width of the case), and nailed in the body, so that they will divide the length into four compart- ments of a full 44in. each. The upper edge of each division 144 AUSTRALASIAN board should be a din. below the top edge of the case. Three strips of stout tin, or, what would be better, thin galvanised iron, 14}in. long by lin. wide, are now required ; down the centre of each punch a few holes, and nail them along the bottom edges of the divisions, allowing the strips to project a quarter of an inch on each side ; these projections are to rest the sections on. Two more strips are required for the ends of the case, which must be bent along their length, so that they may be tacked on in their proper places, allowing only jin. to stand out as a support for the sections. The case is now com- lete. : Each compartment will take eight 1Zin. sections or seven | 2in. ones, and just leave sufficient space for blocking them off with a thin piece of wood. If separators are to be used one will be required for each section. When the honey-board is placed on the lower frames, and the case or half-story put on in the usual way, there will be the requisite space, 3ths of an inch, from the frames to the board, and the same from the board to the bottom of sections. The #in. pieces across the honey-board might be put on so as to come directly under the divisions of the case ; or, instead of the wood, strips of tin could be tacked across the slats; this would leave free com- munication all over the honey-board. To use honey-boards with our extracting hives we would have to make the boards larger, so that the outside frame could rest on the edges of the hive and support the super to give the necessary bee-spaces. jpxiom, ‘‘ BEES MAY ALWAYS BE MADE PEACEABLE BY INDUCING THEM 10 ACCEPT OF LIQUID SWEETS.” Langstroth, BRE MANUAL. 145 CHAPTER VIL. THE HONEY-EXTRACTOR AND MANIPULATION OF EXTRACTED HONEY. NEXT in importance to the movable comb-hive itself, as an api- arian appliance, ranks undoubtedly the honey-extractor. By its means we are enabled to obtain the liquid honey in perfect purity from the comb, in the form best suited for storing and for transport, and without injury to the combs themselves. These can in this way be made to do duty over and over again, a matter which has an important effect upon the quantity and the cost of the honey produced each season by one colony of bees. Without the extractor the improved form of hive could not have developed half its real advantages. It would, of course, have enabled us, as it does now, to raise comb-honey in the best condition, but the importance of honey as an article of general consumption and of commerce could never have been anything like what it is at present if we had been obliged to follow the old system of obtaining it in a liquid state from the combs. STRAINED OR PRESSED AND MELTED HONEY. Formerly, when it was required to separate the honey from the comb, the bee-keeper had his choice of two methods—the one consisting in squeezing or pressing the honey out of the comb in its cold state, the other in melting or boiling down the honey and comb together and separating the wax, etc., which would settle on the surface, as soon as the mass cooled. By both these processes the comb must of course be sacrificed or reduced to the state of melted wax, and it will easily be under- stood that by either process the original delicate flavour of the honey would be partially or wholly destroyed. Those who have had any experience in separating honey from the combs L 146 AUSTRALASIAN in any other way than by using the “extractor” will know what a disagreeable business it is, and will not wonder that no one should have been found formerly to undertake that portion of a bee-keeper’s duties as a matter of choice. Those who still adhere to the box hive and sulphur pit, as well as those who obtain honey from bush hives, are obliged to strain or melt the honey in that way. Such people, it may be supposed, will not be over nice as to whether or not a little more or less of bee-bread, brood, dead bees, and other rubbish may be squeezed or boiled with the comb ; and, indeed, if they should be ever so particular they cannot prevent some such mixture taking place. I venture to say that no one who has had the oppor- tunity of tasting honey taken with the “ extractor” would care to eat the old sort of strained honey again. INVENTION OF THE CENTRIFUGAL EXTRACTOR, To the Austrian Major von Hruschka, of Dolo, near Venice, we are indebted for the invention of the honey-extractor in the year 1868. Like many other important inventions, the ‘idea seems to have been suggested in a very simple manner. It is said that Herr von Hruschka’s son was amusing himself twirling a small tin pail, tied to the end of a string after the manner of a sling, while his father was engaged taking some honey, and happened to give him a piece of unsealed honey- comb. This the boy put in his pail, and afterwards continued to twirl it round. The father subsequently chanced to notice that one side of the piece of comb was quite clear of its honey. He turned it in the pail, swung the latter round as the boy had done, and found the other side of the comb emptied of its store. He grasped the idea at once, set to work, and gave the world the first honey-extractor. Although many improvements have been made in the details of construction, the principle of the extractor remains the same as in the first one made by Von Hruschka : the honey is thrown from the combs by centrifugal force. There are several kinds made and sold at present, differing only in trifling details. The engraving on the next page shows the form, taken from an American pattern, now generally used in these colonies. This is called a “ double” or ‘ two-comb” extractor, because it receives two comb frames at atime. It consists of a strong BEE MANUAL. 147 metal (usually tin) cylinder, about 17in. in diameter by 24in. in height. It contains a square basket of tin work, with wire cloth covering on two opposite sides, sufficiently large to take two frames of the Langstroth hive, one ou each side, placed on end, and resting against the wire cloth. A spindle, to which the basket is attached, passes down the centre, the lower end working in a bearing raised some height above the bottom of the cylinder, so that there is a space for honey to accumu- late below the bottom of the basket. The upper end of the spindle works through a bearing exactly in the centre of the iT Ay rN Fig. 63.-_HONEY EXTRACTOR. INSIDE BASKET. cylinder and attached to the inside of its rim by a light casting ; to the top of the spindle is attached a handle with gearing to multiply the motion, so that by turning rather slowly with the hand a considerable velocity is got up on the outsides of the basket. When combs are to be extracted, the capping of the cells having been removed with the uncapping knife hereafter to be described, one frame is placed against each wire cloth side of the basket and made to revolve uutil the honey from the outer side of each comb is thrown out, through the wire cloth, and, striking against the inside of the cylinder, trickles down to the bottom, to be withdrawn by the tap or honey-gate 148 AUSTRALASIAN shown in the figure. The frames are then lifted out and turned in the basket until the second side is emptied like the first. In placing the frames in the baskets care should be taken that the bottom bar shall be going foremost when the basket is set revolving, as the honey cells are generally built by the bees with a greater or less slant upwards, and they are more easily emptied by the centrifugal force when the mouth of the cell is turned away from the direction of motion. As there is a considerable strain on the machine when two heavy combs are made to revolve at a high speed, both the Fig. 64,-FRAMEWORK FOR TW0-COMB EXTRACTOR, cylinder and the interior basket require to be strongly con- structed, and combs of nearly equal weight should be operated upon at the same time in order to equalise the strain on the central gear. If it be desired to extract from only one comb upon any occasion, a piece of board or some such counterpoise should be placed in the opposite side of the basket. To make the extractor firm and steady, and to raise ita sufficient height off the floor (if it should he so placed) so that a vessel can be put under the tap to draw off the honey, it should be encased in a framework of wood placed upon feet, as shown in the above figure engraved from a photograph. No regular apiary should be without one of these machines, unless a still larger and more expeditious one (described further BRE MANUAL. 149 on). be considered necessary. But people who keep only very few hives, and do not care for a little more trouble with the comparatively few combs they may require to extract in the season, may find it convenient to use a SINGLE-COMB EXTRACTOR. A simple and cheap implement of this sort was introduced in 1875 by Mr. Abbott in England, where it is extensively used by cottagers and others cultivating bees on a small scale. It is known by the name of the “ Little Wonder ;” can be had for about one-third of the price of a two- comb extractor, and is of the con- struction shown in Fig. 65. The can, or body, is made of tin, two broad straps of the same material are soldered to it and screwed to the handle. A frame of wire netting (a, b) is made to fit inside, against which the comb is placed after being uncapped. Theiron pin at the lower end of the upright rod being firmly fixed in the floor, a circular motion is given to the machine by a Fig, sway of the hand which grasps the loose portion of the handle on the top. As the revo- lutions increase in rapidity the honey is thrown out of the comb into the can, from which it may be drawn off by the opening on top. SIX-COMB EXTRAC- TOR. In order to faci- litate the work in large apiaries ex- tractors have been madeto take three, four, six, or even eight combs at a time. The engrav- ing onnextpagere- presents one that I have had made for use at the Mata- mata Apiary. The following description of this 65," LITTLE WONDER.” Machine wasgiven 150 AUSTRALASIAN in the New Zealand and Australian Bee Journal in November, 1883:—The case or cylinder inside of which the framework supporting the comb baskets revolves, is made of 1}in. timber, lined with stout tin. It is hexagonal in shape, 44in. in diameter at its widest parts; each of its six sides measuring 22in., making its circumference 132in.; height, 33in.. The above are outside measurements. Wood is the most suitable material for the case, as it keeps the machine firm while at work. The outer part of the framework upon which the baskets. hang is cast metal; cast in pieces to form each of the six sides. Fig. 66.—REVERSIBLE SIX-COMB HONEY-EXTRACTOR WITH ONE BASKET DETACHED. These pieces are shaped thus II, the top and bottom bars being 164in. long, and the depth of the frame 19}in. The bars are lin. in width, by -3,in. thick. At the corners, where the sides join each other, socket-pieces are riveted in the angles at top and bottom. These pieces, as well as securing all the sides together, answer as parts of the hinges for the comb baskets. The comb baskets, which are made of tinned wire cloth, are 2in. wide by 19in. deep, secured at top and bottom by two bands of metal, like the bars of the framework. At one end of each BEE MANUAL. 151 of the bands arms project two inches; each being furnished with. a pintle, which is made to fit in the socket-pieces, and so form hinges like those of a field gate. These hinges allow of the baskets being turned so as to take each other's place, and thus bring the opposite side of the comb to the front, after one side has been extracted. The baskets turn towards the centre. The spindle, or journal, is a in. round iron bar, 37in. long. A short distance from the top and bottom ends are two six- sided nuts. From each of the six sides of each nut the sup- porting arms of the framework project; these are made of #in. round iron, their ends being screwed on to the framework. The lower part of the spindle works in a socket fastened on to the bottom of the case, while the top passes through a curved bar of iron which is screwed on to opposite sides of the case. Fig. 67,COWAN’S AUTOMATIC BASKET. A handle 10in. long fits on to the spindle above the bar of iron, and is made secure by a screw-nut. At one side of the bottom a honey-tap is fastened in, and the extractor is complete. The only alteration I found necessary to make, after some trial of the machine, was to attach a gearing with multiplying power, having the driving handle at the side instead of working direct from the spindle, as in the figure. This enables the operator better to regulate the speed and keep the basket revolving at an uniform rate. With this machine one man can do nearly three times as much work as with a two-comb extractor, and with but little more labour. Mr. T. W. Cowan, who has done much to improve apiculture in England, has invented an arrangement, shown above, by which the baskets of the extractor are made to turn automati- 152 AUSTRALASIAN cally by simply reversing the motion of the gearing. A sort of rachet movement is fixed in the upper arms, by which the reversiny is effected. PREPARING COMBS FOR EXTRACTING. _As a rule the combs intended for extracting are left in the hives until the cells are sealed or capped. This is a sure indi- cation that the honey is in good condition, as the bees will not seal up any which has not been properly “ripened.” In cool Fig. 68.—ROOT’S UNCAPPING KNIFE. and moist weather, when the nectar brought in by the bees is very thin, it is hardly safe to extract the honey before it is sealed, as it may, if not artificially ripened afterwards by evaporation, show a tendency to ferment. In hot weather, however, when the honey is pretty thick, it may safely be extracted as soon as the cells are filled and before the bees have had time to seal them over. When this can be done it saves much valuable time, some labour, and some injury to the combs, inseparable from the process called “uncapping.” In most cases, however, some portion, if not all the surface of the Fig. 69,_BINGHAM AND HETHERINGTON KNIFE, WITH CAP-CATCHER, comb, will require to be uncapped before being put into the extractor, and for this purpose an uncapping knife is necessary. pee are made of various forms, two of which are shown above. The blade of the knife is of steel, thin, and sharpened on both sides. The Bingham and Hetherington knife takes more of the form of a trowel, except that it is much thicker in the blade and has bevelled edges. After using both kinds I much BEE MANUAL. 153 prefer the latter. The cap-catcher can be fixed on the knife to prevent the cappings, after they are shaved off, falling on the comb, but I have not found the need of using it, for by giving the comb a slight inclination forward the cappings drop clear. With the aid of one of these knives the operator, after a little practice, can shave off the cappings very easily and cleanly, with the least possible injury to the tops of the cells. While this is being done the comb must be held on end over an un- capping box or can, so formed as to retain the wax cappings, to be afterwards melted down, and to allow the honey, which is sometimes unavoidably cut off with the cappings or which may trickle from the comb during the operation, tv pass through a strainer into a receptacle provided for it. Various contri- vanccs are adopted for this purpose. The following (Fig. 70) is one I have generally used, and can recommend :— ; a a ca “illu | i es zl Fig. 70.—DADANT’S UNCAPPING CAN. It is somewhat like the cylinder of a honey-extractor, but made in two parts—-the upper one, to the bottom of which the strainer is attached, slipping a short distance into the lower one. The cone rising from the bottom of the can gives sup- port to the strainer. Those I have in use are made of galvanised iron, are 20 inches diameter, and 30 inches high. 154 AUSTRALASIAN A flange 2 inches from bottom of upper can forms a support for it by resting on upper edge of lower one. The strainers are made of stout wire-cloth ten meshes to the lineal inch, and permanently fixed to upper can. A tap at bottom and two strong handles to each can make them complete; cost, 30s. A light wood framework is made to hook on upper rim, as in the figure, on which to rest the frames of combs while uncap- ping them. Sometimes it is advisable to extract the honey out of a piece of broken comb, or a whole comb not built in aframe. For this purpose a so-called broken-comb basket of the form shown below (Fig. 71) is convenient. The two pieces of wirecloth are joined by hinges atcc. A wire, with two bent ends, B B passes through the tin frame of one piece, and can be easily turned to hook into the other Fig. 71.—BROKEN-COMB BASKET. frame at A when the comb to be extratted has been placed between the two; the whole is then suspended on the top bar of the extractor-basket by means of the hooks A A. MANIPULATION OF EXTRACTED HONEY. The honey as it flows out of the extractor is by no means in a fit condition to be filled into the vessels in which it is to be stored or sent to market; no matter what care is taken with the uncapping and extracting, there will be some pieces of wax mixed with the honey, and perhaps some larve or dead bees. If it be passed through a suitable strainer, all these foreign substances may be removed, or if it be collected in a tank and allowed to settle long enough, until they, being lighter than honey, accumulate on the surface, the clean honey may then be BEE MANUAL. 155 drawn off from the bottom of the tank, through a tap or honey- gate. To obtain the honey in the best possible condition, it is desirable that both these processes—the straining and the settling in the tank—should be gone through. The most convenient form of fitting up the extracting house has been a subject of many inquiries and much thought amongst bee-keepers ; but of all the plans I have seen suggested, that of Mr. T. J. Mulvany, in the New Zealand and Australian Bee Journal of October, 1884, is the most simple, least expensive, and best. The idea of the double tank is an excellent one. I have adopted it myself, and find it most convenient. The following description is in nearly his own words. ARRANGEMENT OF EXTRACTING-HOUSE. Much may be done to save time and labour by a proper arrangement of the extractor, strainer, and tanks in the extract- ak |e LA n= Fig. 72,—CROSS-SECTION OF EXTRACTING HOUSE WITH VIEW OF EXTRACTOR. STRAINER, AND TANKS. ing house. The two sketches, Figures 72 and 73, show, in elevation and in plan, the arrangement above referred to, by 156 AUSTRALASIAN means of which the honey is allowed to flow direct from the extractor into a strainer, and thence into a tank, the whole process being automatic, so that the pure honey can ultimately be drawn off from the tank without further trouble, direct into the packing tins or other vessels. In both figures, a represents an ordinary two-comb extractor, fixed on a platform about 2ft. 7in. above the level of the floor at one end of the extracting-house ; B, the strainer; CC, a double tank; p, the position of a 60 lb. tin or other vessel ready to be filled from the tank ; and 5, the uncapping can. The strainer is a vessel of strong tin, stretching across the double tank, on the outer edges of which it rests by means of I i CT TIT | B _ F] ic Cc > io i=} Zz a3 oe = = i pp] e |_| r a ae oil a Fig. 73.—GROUND PLAN, flanges attached to its ends. The bottom, for one half its length, is close, the other half having a fine wire gauze (sixteen wires to the lineal inch) let in and soldered like a milk strainer. By simply turning the strainer end for end, it can be made to work into either of the two divisions of the tank. The honey, as it flows from the extractor, passes first through a rough strainer, consisting of a frame of wood, two inches deep and BEE MANUAL. 157 half an inch thick, the bottom covered with perforated zinc, fitting loosely in the top of the deep tin strainer, on the sides of which it hangs by means of bent lugs. This coarse strainer catches all dead bees, larvae, and large pieces of wax, and is easily lifted out and cleaned without disturbing the fine strainer, through which the honey passes more slowly into the tank. The tanks can, of course, be made of any size that may be considered desirable. That shown in the sketches was consi- dered large enough for an apiary of a hundred hives. It was only 4ft. 2in. long, by 2ft. 6in. wide, and lft. 4in. deep (outside measure), made of inch boards, with a division board in the centre; each division lined with strong sheet tin, soldered so as to be quite water-tight. Each division holds upwards of 500Ib. of honey. The tank is made in two divi- sions in order to admit of the honey of any one day’s extracting remaining to settle all the next day, even if extracting be going on every day. If more than 500Ib. of honey be likely to be extracted in any one day, the tank should be made larger. The process of double straining and settling in the tank tends materially to ensure the complete “ripening” of the honey ; and being, as already observed, automatic, it saves all manual labour, all waste of honey, and ensures perfect cleanliness. I have two double tanks at Matamata, of the following dimensions (inside measure): 6ft. x 4ft. x 18in. deep; each division will hold over 1,800lb. when level full of honey of the specific gravity of 1-488. Fora short time last season I found I required both in use at one time, and had over 5,800lb. in the two tanks. If the extracting house is large enough, two such tanks can easily be placed across the room, with the extractor stage between them ; so that when one tank is full, the extractor will only require turning round to the other. They are made of l}in. timber, lined with stout tin. (OLDEN fruce. . ‘* KEEP YOUR COLONIES STRONG.” Oettl. 158 AUSTRALASIAN CHAPTER VIII. COMB FOUNDATION. Tue third great improvement introduced of late years, taking rank only after the inventions of the movable frame-hive and the honey-extractor, is that of furnishing the bees with the foundation or septum of the combs which we wish them to build. By this means we are now enabled to dictate to the busy little workers exactly where a comb is to be built, and whether it shall contain worker or drone cells ; to secure its CSAS Fig. '74.-COMB FOUNDATION. being built quite straight, and with an even surface; and to save the bees a great deal of time in the secretion of wax just at the period when their labour can be best employed in the storing of honey. HISTORY OF THE INVENTION. There would be no use.in fitting up a hive with movable bars or frames, unless we could secure the building of the combs along the line of the bars or within the frames. The bees, if left to themselves, would be just as likely to build their combs across such lines, connecting all the bars or frames together, and thus rendering them quite useless. It was BEE MANUAL, 159 necessary to give them a fair start, at all events, and the early practice was to attach a strip of old comb to the bottom of the bar or the under side of the top bar of the frame. These pieces of comb were called “ starters,’ and it was no doubt with the idea of furnishing such starters in a convenient manner that apiarists first commenced experiments in order to produce strips of manufactured comb-foundation. As soon as any success had been achieved in that direction, it could not long escape the notice of intelligent apiarists, that great advantages would ensue if the bees could be furnished with an unerring guide for the whole extent of the comb, and with a considerable portion of the wax required for its construction. It was not, however, until numerous experiments had been made, and a considerable time had elapsed after the first successful attempt to make narrow strips of comb-foundation, that the beautiful sheets, with which most bee-keepers are now familiar, were produced. It appears that so early as the year 1840 or 1842 a German, named. Kretchmer, used strips of linen coated with wax and passed between engraved rollers to give them the impressions of the bottom of the cells. His son, E. Kretchmer, of Iowa, writing to the American Bee Journal of December, 1878, says: “Comb-foundations were made by my father in Germany in 1842; they were made by a pair of engraved rollers, and starch was used to prevent the wax from adhering to the rollers.” This sort of foundation does not seem to have been a success, and it was not until the year 1857 that another German, Herr Mehring, of Frankinthal, introduced impressed sheets of wax, instead of waxed linen. These wax sheets were four or five times as thick as the partition in the natural comb, which is, as Prof. Cook informs us, only 4, of an inch in thickness ; they were pressed between metal plates, which gave them impressions corresponding to the rhomboidal bases of the natural cells ; and this foundation soon found a very general use in Germany. In 1874, a poor German, named Friedrich Weiss, residing in America, invented the machine which brought the foundation to something nearly like what is now made. Professor Cook gives to him the whole credit of the invention, and to Mr. A. I. Root the no less laudable merit of having, by his energy and enthusiasm, brought both the roller machine and the foundation into general use. 160 AUSTRALASIAN ADVANTAGES DERIVED FROM ITS USE. It has already been stated (in Chapter III.) that bees require to consume a large quantity of honey—taking the mean of experiments, about fourteen pounds— in order to secrete one pound of wax. Assuming the honey to be worth only fivepence per pound, each pound of wax thus secreted represents a value of nearly six shillings. By supplying wax foundation, which costs less than half that price, we save more than half the cost of the material. A still greater advantage is the saving of time to the bees, and the opportunities thus given them to store a much greater quantity of honey. Not only can they store, instead of making into wax, upwards of twenty pounds of honey, represented by some pound and a half of foundation supplied to the ten frames of a hive, but they can have the ten combs fully built out in one-fourth of the time that should be devoted to the building of entirely new comb ; and all the bees that would be so employed are set free to store honey instead. We may reckon that in an ordinary season a fair swarm will work out the ten sheets of foundation in a Langstroth hive in one week; without the aid of the foundation it would take them four or five weeks. I have had swarms that worked out and filled with honey and brood all the sheets in a ¢wo-story hive, and threw off a good new swarm, within three weeks from the date of hiving. The time thus gained may make all the difference between profit and loss in a short honey season. Besides this saving of ‘time and gain in honey, we secure straight and even combs, such as are rarely, if ever, built without the aid of foundation ; we can control the building of drone-comb, and consequently the breeding of drones within such limits as may be deemed advisable; and it will be found that, even without the precaution of wiring, the combs so built will be much stronger and will withstand the strain of extracting much better than those built without foundation. It is also of very great value in the case of swarms hived late in the season, which are thereby enabled to build their comb in a short time, and put themselves in a better condition for the winter. PRINCIPAL POINTS OF GOOD FOUNDATION. Good comb-foundation must, in the first place, be made of nothing but pure beeswax; various substitutes have been BEE MANUAL. 161 tried, but they have all failed. The nearer it approaches nature in the size and shape of the cells the better. The cells should have a thin base, with high and soft rudiments of the side walls. I have hitherto advised the use of foundation running about six square feet to the pound ; but I now think, after further experience, that for brood and extracting combs, where wire is not used, a little heavier, say five square feet to the pound, is better. The lighter kind will do where wire is used. COMB-FOUNDATION MACHINES, There are two methods for impressing the wax sheets—one by passing them between engraved rollers, as shown in Fig. 75; the second by heavy pressure between flat plates in a Fig. 75.—A. I, ROOT’S 10in. ROLLER MACHINE, machine like a small hand printing press. There are many who prefer the pressed to the rolled foundation; but after making both kinds, I cannot see any superiority in either. Of the roller machines there are five different sorts made, known as the Root, the Dunham, the Vandervort, the Pelham, and the Van Deusen machines. The first four make the natural based foundation, while the last impresses the sheet with a flat-bottomed cell. This latter also has its admirers. M 162 AUSTRALASIAN I have nsed both the Root and the Vandervort, and have seen samples of foundation made in the other machines ; but I prefer that made in the first-mentioned to any other. The flat-bottomed foundation is used mostly, I believe, for section- boxes. With the given press the sheet.of wax is placed ‘between two copper .plates, which are made to close dike a book. The Fig. 764.—THE GIVEN PRESS. plates are then put under the press,-and with the aid of a compound lever are subjected to a tremendous pressure, which gives the sheet the desired impressions. This press has one advantage over the roller machines: it can imbed wires in the BEE MANUAL. 163 sheets of foundation while they are being impressed. A frame already wired is placed over the lower plate and a sheet of wax on the wires; the plates are put through the usual process, and the sheet comes out wired and fastened in'the ‘frame. The Given press numbers among its friends many of the leading bee-keepers of America. ! DRONE CELL FOUNDATION. All the machines now manufactured, whether of the roller or press description, are made to impress worker-sized eells, unless specially ordered for drone cells. It was at first thought that the larger cells would be advantagecus in the surplus boxes, and a number of drone comb machines were sold ; but it was found that the use of such foundation encouraged the breeding of too many drones and the consequent occupation-of the surplus boxes by the queen—two things which it is im- portant to guard against. I had given this matter some thought when ordering my first machine in 1878, and decided not to order a second one for drone cells, as I anticipated: that the use of drone comb would result, as it has proved to do, in a disadvantage. I find no difficulty in obtaining as much good drone comb as I desire by the following method. During the height of the honey season place a few frames, with only starters of foundation, in the top boxes ; the bees will, at that time, work them out at once with drone comb and fill them with honey before the queen has an opportunity to take charge of them for the purpose of egg laying. PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE. The wax used for this purpose must be not only pure beeswax, _ as already stated, but must also’be-as clean as possible; any dirt mixed with the wax tends to:make the foundation brittle. When melting the wax a double boiler should always be used, the inner one for the wax and the outer one for water, in order to prevent the wax from burning; burnt wax is of no use for foundation. To make rapid work two such double ‘boilers should be used, one in which the wax is melted from its cold state, the other to be kept supplied with melted wax at the proper temperature and used as a dipping boiler. The next things needed are a tub of cold water, two or more dipping 164 AUSTRALASIAN boards the length of the sheets required, and a thin knife. The boards should be made of very thin wond—or stout galvanised iron will answer—and made so that they can be reversed when dipping. Wax melts at a temperature of about 145° Fahr., and the contents of the dipping boiler should be kept at very little over that temperature. The boards, after being soaked in the cold water and drained, are at first just slightly touched over with soapy water to give them a start ; care should be taken to use no more soap than is absolutely necessary, as it is said the bees dislike it. Take a board and dip it overhead in the wax ; lift it out and let it drip; as soon as it has ceased to drip, quickly reverse the board and dip it overhead again; and repeat the process until the sheet is of the desired thickness. Two or three times is sufficient for stout foundation, and once or twice for thin. After the last dip plunge the board into the cold water, and if everything is right the sheets will peel off without trouble. If the wax is too hot the sheets will break, if too cold they will stick to the board. ‘ According as the wax in the dipping boiler is used up it should be replenished from the melting boiler, which must be kept on a good fire. For the Given press the dipping boards are made about the size of the inside dimensions of the frames, and are used in the same manner as the others. Fig. 77,_GAUGE FOR TRIMMING FOUNDATION. After all the sheets are dipped it is better to leave them until next day before putting them through the machine. They should be nice and pliable, or else they will bieak when pressed. or rolled. If the sheets are placed in warm water it will soften them. A little thin starch is a very good thing to put on the rollers in order to prevent the wax from sticking to them ; tins for holding the starch are supplied with the machines. For the Given press it is better to brush the plates over occasionally with concentrated lye. As the sheets require trimming to fit the frames after coming from the machine, a gauge should be made for that purpose as shown above. BEE MANUAL, 165 By laying five or six sheets squarely together, and the gauge on the top, so many can be trimmed at once with the aid of a sharp butcher’s knife. The sheets of foundation, when not to be used in wired frames, should be cut a quarter inch shorter and half an inch shallower than the inside dimensions of the frames, but for wired frames they should be made to fill them as nearly as possible. TO FASTEN FOUNDATION IN FRAMES. For this purpose a board is required, three-eighths of an inch in thickness, to fit easily inside the frames. Two thin battens should be nailed on the back, projecting a little at the ends, as shown below. | a Fig. 78._COMB-FOUNDATION BOARD. This board is to steady the sheet of foundation while it is being fastened in the groove of the frame. The following engraving and explanation will make the operation clear to the reader :— In cold weather slightly warm the sheets before handling. Cut one edge perfectly straight with a sharp knife and straight 166 AUSTRALASIAN edge. Hold the board, A, in the left-hand; lay, the frame, c inverted), against the projections B; the board itself. will then e within the frame. Lay the sheet. of comb, D, against the board:and. press into groove in frame. Now, by elevating one end of the frame : (as shown in the figure) and pouring a little melted wax in groove.at upper corner, it will run down to E, and fasten the sheet securely. As soon as firmly set; support the sheet while reversing the frame, and do the same on the other side. When done, hang in an empty hive for safety. Use stoutest sheets in lower hive. For melting the wax required for fastening the sheets the most convenient appliance we can possibly. have is a wax-smelter, made. upon the principle shown in the following sketch :— ae Fig. 80.—WAX-SMELTER, It is double jacketted, the space between the two containing hot water, and the wax thus kept from cooling in the inner vessel. These smelters are generally made of tin, but are better (though of course more expensive) if made of copper. A lamp or slow fire can be used to rest:the-smelter upon and keep up the temperature during the intervals of using it. TO FASTEN FOUNDATION IN SECTIONS. The Parker comb lever is an indispensable appliance for fastening either starters or small sheets of foundation in section boxes. The lever is fastened at the sides to the block in such a way that it can be pushed forward or drawn back. A stop is nailed to the block, against which the edge of the top piece of the section box is placed ; the front edge of the lever is now pushed forward to the centre of the section top, the edge of the starter or sheet of foundation placed under it ; the end of the handle BEE MANUAL. 167 being then raised, the front of the lever presses upon the edge of the foundation, the rest of which is at the same time to be bent upwards to: its proper position in the box; the end of the: lever is then drawn backwards, with pressure, and the foundation: remains fastened in its place. The machine should Fig. 81_-_PARKER’S COMB-LEVER. be screwed to a table or bench, and the under edge of the lever moistened with a little honey, to keep it from sticking to the wax. WIRED FOUNDATION. In order to prevent sagging or bulging of the foundation, owing to undue heat and the weight to which it is sometimes exposed during the operation ef comb building, and especially to prevent breakage of the comb when thick honey is being extracted, it has been found desirable to strengthen the septum in some manner. Different substances, such as wood, vegetable parchment, strong paper, linen, vulcanite, and wire, have been tried as a base for foundation, but none of these, except the last, have been found to answer the purpose. Capt. Hether- ington, of Cherry Valley, New York, was, I believe, the first to use wired foundation some few years ago, and already it is coming into very general use. Very thin wire is first secured in. the frames, and afterwards imbedded in the foundation, either by hand or by the Given press. The.following answer to a correspondent, in the New Zealand and Australian Bee Journal, expresses nearly all I have to say as to a choice hetween hand and machine wiring :—“ As soon as a demand sprang up for wired foundation in America a Mr. Given invented a 168 AUSTRALASIAN machine by which sheets of wax are pressed into frames already: wired for the purpose, and at the same time giving the sheets the ordinary impressions of the base of the cells. Several manufacturers at once commenced making and selling frames of wire foundation, but it was soon discovered by purchasers that this method of obtaining it was too expensive, as, in packing, one frame of comb would occupy nearly as much space as l4lbs. of ordinary foundation, consequently the freight on a few sheets of the wired article came very heavy. It was also found that many of the sheets broke away from the wires in transit through rough handling. The method now generally adopted by bee-keepers is to purchase the ordinary foundation and wire it themselves. This is by far the cheapest and best plan, and the one I would advise those who desire to use wired foundation to adopt.” Professor Cook says also, “Some, even with the Given press, prefer to put the foundation into the wires by hand.” The following instructions will enable any one to fix the wiring in his frames : - Pierce the top and bottom bars-of the WIRING THE FRAMES. Fig. 82.-_WIRED FRAME. frames, before putting them together, with holes two inches apart, commencing a half inch inside the end bar. The holes should be exactly along the centre of the bars, the number required being nine to each. A small lever press, with a set of short steel awls firmly fixed in it, could be made to pierce the nine holes at one stroke. The wiring is done after the frames are put together, No. 30 tinned wire being best for the purpose. When imbedding the wires by hand, fasten one end of the wire to a tack driven in near one end of the top bar, and pass the other end through the holes (as in figure), fastening it in the same manner at the other end of the frame. Care should be taken, when tightening the wires, not to draw the frame out of the square. BEE MANUAL. 169 IMBEDDING THE FOUNDATION. Cut an inch board (A in the figure) a little larger than the size of the frame ; on this screw another piece, B, three-eighths of an inch thick, cut slightly smaller than the inside of the frame, letting the grain of each board cross that of the other, A Fig. 83.—WIRING BOARD. which will prevent twisting. Lay a sheet of foundation on the board 8B, and a wired frame over it, resting upon the lower board a. One edge of the sheet should be close against the top bar of the frame. The wires can now be imbedded in the centre of the sheet by passing over each a button-hook in which a shallow groove has been filed. The sheets should be slightly warmed. A still better implement for imbedding the wires is shown here (Fig. 84). The lower curved part, upon Fig, 84. -EASTERDAY’S WIRE IMBEDDER, which the points are fastened, is just long enough to reach from the top to the bottom bar of the frame. It is grasped by the upper part in the hand, is used on the wires with a rocking motion, and imbeds them very rapidly. Mr. Root says he considers it does the work ‘‘ quicker and easier than any other plan hitherto tried.” 170 AUSTRALASIAN TO SECURE STRAIGHT COMBS. _It is of very great importance to have the combs built perfectly straight, and within the frames. To secure this the hives should stand Jevel, as already explained, so that the frames may hang plumb. When wires are not used and the frames are not hanging vertically the lower parts of the sheets will project beyond them, and if much out, they are very likely to be fastened by the bees to the next frame. There is a very simple device, however—shown in the following engraving— which will prevent the sheet getting out of place and help to support it while being worked out. Fig. 84a,—DEVICE FOR SECURING STRAIGHT COMBS. No. 1 represents a frame of comb-foundation. No. 2 is a section of No. 1. About 1}in. from the bottom of the sheet a thin piece of twine is passed round one end bar of the frame, then crossed (as shown) and one part taken along each side of the sheet, crossed again, and tied at the back of the other end bar. The twine need only be tied sufficiently tight to prevent it slipping down the end bars. There is another method of fixing the twine, z.¢., by boring a small hole in each end bar and passing the double part of the twine through one, putting a small toggle in the bight, and fastening the two ends after passing them through the other hole. This simple arrange- ment will be found of great value in securing straight combs. The twine may be removed after the combs are fastened to the end bars. BEE MANUAL. 171 CHAPTER IX. MANIPULATION OF BEES AND FEEDING. THE common, but erroneous, idea prevailing amongst those who have paid little or no attention to the nature and habits of the honey-bee, that to go near one is to run a risk of being attacked. by it, may, I think, be attributed to the fact that they have had instilled into their minds while young an idea that the bee is an enemy they have to fear. It is not an uncommon occurrence for a mother, on seeing her infant near flowers on which there are bees flitting about, to say, “ Oh! come away, my child ; there’s a bee, it will sting you,” and she imme- diately takes the child away from the supposed danger. This. lesson, to dread the bee,-thus early inculcated, is never forgotten. Again there are many people who believe that bees have a special aversion to them, that they cannot go within fifty yards of one, as they will sometimes tell you, without its making for them and “ declaring war ;” and no amount of persuasion will convince them that they may be mistaken. A person who has this idea firmly fixed in his mind is likely to act in such a way when a bee is near him as to invite its attack, and so condemn the bee for what he has himself, unconsciously perhaps, been the cause of. It is my opinion that if there are any such people that bees attack without apparent provocation they are very few indeed, and that no one, as far as my experience teaches me, is more liable to be stung than another provided they both act ina like manner. People of a nervous temperament as a rule make very poor manipulators. HANDLING BEES. There are certain fixed rules to be observed when handling bees if freedom from stings is to be secured. The most important are: Ist, to avoid jarring the hive; 2nd, to avoid 172 AUSTRALASIAN breathing into the hive or upon the bees ; 3rd, to avoid making any quick movements about the hive; 4th, to be careful not to stand in the line of flight to the hive; 5th, let all manipula- tion, as far as possible, be conducted during fine weather and while the bees are flying; 6th, the operator should act in a fearless but gentle manner ; and 7th, never strike at a bee, but when one gives warning of stinging bow the head slightly, if unprotected with a veil, and walk slowly away. Bees are more irritable during cloudy or showery weather, owing, perhaps, as it is said, to the peculiar electrical condi- tions of the atmosphere. Queenless colonies are more easily provoked to anger than when in their normal condition. So marked is this as a rule that I can often detect them on first opening the hives. The scent of the poison from their stings will excite bees, and the crushing of one while manipulating will usually make the rest very angry. For the protection of the face the manipulator can wear a BEE-VEIL. This should be made of some light material, such as leno or tarlatan, long enough to hang from the brim of a hat to the Fig. 85,_WIRE-CLOTH BEE-VEIL. Fig. 86.—TARLATAN BEE-VEIL, lower part of the chest, when there will be ample to tuck under the collar of the vest or coat (Fig. 86). A piece of strong BEE MANUAL. 173 elastic run through a hem round the top will keep it tight and close round the hat, which is the better for having a broad brim. Some bee-keepers prefer having a piece of wire cloth sewed into the veil (Fig. 85), on account of the wire being less obstruction to the sight and not confining the breath so much as the other material. A bee-veil should always be worn by a beginner ; it gives him a sense of security, and therefore more confidence. My first veil was made about three years ago. I never felt the need of one till I commenced to handle hybrids pretty extensively. BEE-GLOVES. These I have never worn, therefore I cannot say whether they are useful or not, but as it seems to me that I require the most perfect freedom with my fingers for handling the frames, I should think gloves of any kind on the hands are an encum- brance. Indiarubber gloves are usually sold for this purpose, but a pair of thin woollen gloves covered with cotton ones, and the whole dipped in a strong solution of soda and water, have been highly recommended. I should think that if gloves be worn at all the extreme joints at least of the fingers and thumbs ought to be left free. QUIETING BEES. During the season, when honey is being gathered rapidly, bees as a rule can be handled without showing any signs of displeasure, but at other times it may be necessary to proceed with caution, and have at hand some means of quieting them should they resent our interference. Smoke is one of the best bee quieters we have; afew puffs will generally cause them to gorge themselves with honey, in which condition of super- abundant fulness they may be handled with impunity. SMOKERS. One old-fashioned method of applying smoke to bees was to make a tight roll of cotton rags, which, being lighted at one end, was held in the hand while the smoke was blown by the mouth into the hive, but now we have a more pleasant and convenient method. A tube or fire-box of tin is attached to a small bellows worked with a spring (Figs. 87 and 88) ; a few live embers are first placed in the tube, then the material for 174 AUSTRALASIAN ‘burning, which may consist of cotton rags, dry: rotten .wood, dried cow-dung, or any other material that :will burn and produce .a dense smoke, when a few puffs of the: bellows will set. the smoker in working order. Fig. 87. CLARK’S COLD-BLAST SMOKER, ‘Two of the best smokers now in use are made on different principles. In one the blast of air fromthe bellows is blown through the fire; in the other the draught enters the tube between the fire and the mouth of the tube. By this arrangement cold air is mixed with the smoke as it leaves the tube. The latter is termed a “cold-blast” smoker (Fig. 87) and the former a “ direct-draught ” smoker (Fig. 88). Each has special Fig. 88.-BINGHAM’S DIRECT-DRAUGHT SMOKER, advantages not possessed by the other. The smoke blown from the “ cold-blast ” smoker being mixed with cold air instead of hot is an advantage I have no doubt appreciated by the bees ; BEE MANUAL. 175 but with the “direct draught,” the air going through the fire must necessarily be hot when it leaves the smoker, and after using it steadily for some little time the smoke is apt to be very hot ; herein I prefer the “cold blast.” On the other hand, the advantage of the Bingham direct-draught smoker over all others in use, with perhaps the exception of King’s (which I have not seen), is that it can be set down without the fire going out immediately ; in fact, it will burn away for hours, or until the fuel is exhausted. Those who have been troubled with their smoker going out every now and then as soon as they laid it down fora minute will be able to appreciate this advantage. I don’t know anything more annoying than while manipulating bees, especially if they happen to be hybrids, to find your smoker out that you only a minute before laid out of your hand. The peculiar feature about the Bingham (patented in America) which insures the constant burning of the fire is the non-attachment of the small tube directing the blast from the bellows to the fire-box itself. There is about a quarter of an inch space left between the end of the air tube and the fire- box, so that a current of air is always rushing through this opening into the fire. I have both the above smokers in use at Matamata, and although I like the principle of the “cold blast” I prefer the Bingham for the reasons given. Could the prindiples of the two be combined in one I think it would make a perfect smoker. FUEL FOR SMOKERS. For the cold-blast smoker I find very dry half-rotten wood or dry cow-dung as good as anything I have used ; but for the Bingham it is better to use good dry sound wood, cut into lengths of about four inches by one-half inch square. To set the smoker going, drop in first a few live embers and cover them with small fuel, give a few puffs to start the fire, and fill up with the larger pieces. A correspondent to the Mew Zealand and Aus- tralian Bee Journal recommended soaking the fuel in a solution of saltpetre (an ounce to the pint of water) and drying it care- fully before using it ; a match will then be sufficient to light it. As it would be difficult to explain clearly how to make a smoker without a number of illustrations, and more difficult still for an ordinary bee-keeper to make one even were instruc- 176 AUSTRALASIAN tions given, it will be sufficient to mention that they can be purchased of Messrs. Bagnall Bros. and Co., or their agents, at the following prices: Clark’s cold blast, 3s., by post, 4s. 6d. ; Bingham’s direct draught, 4s. 6d., by post, 6s. At these prices it would not pay any bee-keeper to make one or two for his own use. HOW TO OPEN A HIVE. During the honey season it is usually only necessary to be careful when removing the cover and mat, and if the bees “oil up” over the top of the frames to give them a puff or two of smoke. But at other times, or with bees inclined to be vicious, it is better to blow a little smoke in at the entrance half a minute or so before removing the cover ; this will give the bees time to begin filling themselves with honey. After the cover is removed a few more puffs on top will make them quiet. When removing any of the frames it is better first to move two or three of the side frames a little to make room for taking out the first one, when any of the others can be taken out without trouble. COMB-HOLDERS. A small comb-holder, similar to the one shown in Fig. 89, to hook on the side of the hive, is very handy for hanging a Fig. 89..COMB-HOLDER. frame on when taken from the hive. It is made of stout folded tin. Another kind, easily made, is shown in Fig. 90. This is very much like the body of a hive cut in half lengthwise, with a bottom nailed on. A double one can be made by extending the ends and putting the division in the centre of them; a hand-hole cut in the top of the division is necessary for carry- ing it. BEE MANUAL. 177 CURES FOR STINGS. I am inclined to believe that there are as many “ infallible cures” for stings as there are for rheumatism—every person seems to have one. The first thing to be done is to remove the sting—-not, however, as most people would do, with the thumb and finger, but by a scraping process with the thumb or finger- nail. If the former plan were adopted the contents of the poison bag would be squeezed into the wound, but by the latter method the sting is more easily and quickly removed without expressing any poison. I must here plead ignorance of the best or even a good remedy to stop the irritation caused by a sting. I have tried a few on myself, but I cannot say whether they had any effect or not; certain it is that they did not stop the irritation at once, as they were supposed to do. The poison being an acid, Fig, 90._SIMPLICITY COMB-HOLDER. we naturally expect that an alkali will neutralise its effects, therefore ammonia should be about the best remedy if it is applied immediately. A writer in a recent number of the British Bee Journal recommends the use of strong carbolic acid, such as is used for disinfecting drains. His method of applying it is as follows :— ‘ = 37 the mouth in feeding the larve, and then turning foragers, leave a germ or germs in the nectary of a flower, which, visited by another bee, becomes the means of infection to it; the malady is thus carried by adult bees into other and perhaps somewhat distant apiaries. Balancing all the probabilities, it would appear that most generally the adult bee takes the disease, and then carries it directly or indirectly to the brood.” THE CHESHIRE CURE. As to the method of cure, Mr. Cheshire is entirely opposed to the use of salicylic acid and of borax. He considers the spraying does more harm than good ; that any beneficial results from the acid can only be obtained by its use mixed with food ; that even in that way it requires to be used with great discri- mination as to the dose, because salicylic acid is likely to act as a cumulative poison, and that borax, itself a drug nauseous BEE MANUAL. 263 to the bees, is only of use as a solvent for the salicylic acid, if used for spraying ; and when mixed with it in the food, only reduces its curative effect, and renders the treatment somewhat dangerous. Mr. Cheshire’s principle is, that as the disease originates with the adult bee, and is conveyed by it to the larve, so the fungi- cide intended to cure it must be administered in food to the adult bee, and be transmitted in the same way to the larve. On the suggestion, as he informs us, of Mr. Robert Sproule, he tried experiments with phenol as a fungicide, and has come to the conclusion that when used in the proper manner, which he has taken great pains to arrive at, it is a thoroughly effective cure for bacillus alvet. Phenol is generally known as “ pure carbolic acid,” but care must be taken to obtain the really pure article—absolute phenol, sold as Calvert’s phenol No. 1. Mr. Cheshire warns us to be cautious about this. ‘“Carbolic acid is an impure phenol, and is useless. It contains creosote and creosols, and bees abhor it.” Having obtained the pure article, the next point is te know how to administer it. Mixed with syrup or honey, in the pro- portion of one part in two hundred, it will be refused by the bees altogether. In the proportion of 1 to 400 it might be administered to a sound stock without any injurious conse- quences; but Mr. Cheshire found that “1 to 500 dissipated foul brood quickly, even while honey was coming in,” and that “1 in 750 appeared enough when it was not being gathered.” These, then, are established as the correct quantities under the circumstances mentioned. If honey be coming in, it will be useless to place the medicated syrup in a food bottle in the hive, as the bees will not touch it; but he recommends to “Take out the brood combs, and to pour from a bottle having a drop- ping-tube loosely placed in its neck the medicated syrup into those cells immediately around and over the brood, anc the bees will use a curative quantity of phenol. The syrup is best poured in by holding the comb at an inclination of ordinary writing, not by placing it on its side.” By pursuing this course of treatment for some time, the adult bees should become all sound, the diseased larve be removed by them from the cells, and all the new brood be 264 AUSTRALASIAN brought out in a healthy condition. Mr. Cheshire says at the conclusion of his paper : “I could take an apiary at the beginning of March with every stock diseased, and by May Ist, with but very little labour, deliver it up clean and strong, as strong as though the disease had never appeared.” After the reading of the paper the late editor of the British Bee Journal, in company with many prominent bee-keepers, examined a stock that had been treated by Mr. Cheshire for the cure of bacillus alvei, and which had been placed in the Health Exhibition. This stock had been sent to Mr. Cheshire five weeks before, with seven of its combs “ affected with foul brood in its most virulent form, being a mass of corruption.” These seven combs, with two others, when examined, were perfectly clean and had “literally not one single cell affected. Whole sheets of brood in all stages were to be seen quite healthy ; young bees hatching out and eggs being laid in the vacated cells. This wonderful change had been effected by the bees alone, aided simply by the administration of the medicated food.” The simple manner of prepariny a syrup of the strength 1 to 500 is to take one ounce of the phenol with three ounces of warm water, to thoroughly dissolve it, and then mix with thirty-one pounds of sugar syrup or of diluted honey. Writing later in the year, Mr. Cheshire announced that he found the plan of pouring the medicated syrup into the combs to answer admirably in spring and summer; but if the cure has to be effected in autumn, he recommends to give the phenol in a cake made of sugar and pea-flour, placed on the top of the frames, under the mat, as the bees are not disposed at that season to clean out the combs, as they would in spring and summer, and the use of the liquid syrup is likely-to start rob- bing. The cakes he prepares “in the usual way; but after removal from the fire, during the stirring and cooling process, painstakingly mix with it one-fifth ounce of phenol to each seven pounds of sugar.” THE SALICYLIC ACID REMEDY. Notwithstanding what has been said against the use of salicylic acid in cases of bacillus alvei, many reports of cures BEE MANUAL, 265 having been effected by it have from time to time reached the bee journals. Mr, A. E. Bonney, who has been very successful in eradicating the disease from his apiary by Muth’s method, described the plan in a very able paper read by him before the South Australian Bee Keepers’ Association, on January 5th, 1885, in the following words :— “Remove from its stand the hive containing the diseased colony, and put in its place a clean hive with starters of foundation in all the frames. Brush the bees into the clean hive, and feed them with honey or sugar syrup, adding to every quart of food an ounce of the following mixture, namely, sixteen grains salicylic acid, sixteen grains soda borax, one ounce water. This feeding should be kept up for about ten days. The diseased combs should be cut from the frames and burned up, and the hive and frames scraped and well scrubbed with carbolic soap and water. Calvert’s medical soap, containing 20 per cent. of acid, is most effective for this purpose. That is the whole opera- tion; but when there are more hives than one, certain precautions must be taken, or else the bee-keeper will discover that in curing this one he has spread the disease into others. The best time for this work is the early morning, and everything should be prepared the previous evening. The entrances to all adjacent hives should be closed with perforated zinc, which must not be removed until after the operation is completed. Before removing the zinc, the alighting-boards and fronts of the hives should be washed over with a solution of 1 of phenol in 200 of water. While the disease exists in the apiary the apiarist should make a practice of always washing his hands, smoker, etc., with the above solution before going from one hive to another. A small piece of sponge is convenient for this purpose. After treating a bad case Ihave my clothes washed before wearing them again amongst healthy hives. Carbolic acid No. 5, well mixed with water, in the pro- portion of one ounce of acid to two quarts of water, should be sprinkled on the ground where the diseased hive stood. This will destroy the germs in any foul broody matter which may have been carried out of the hive. All honey extracted from diseased combs should be tho- roughly boiled with one-fourth of its quantity of water before being fed back to the bees. . . . . Thirteen of my hives have been cured by Mr. Muth’s method, and it isto mea source of much pleasure to go from hive to hive and see large sheets of healthy brood in all stages, knowing that not long ago some of these colonies were dying out in rottenness..... Mr. Stevens, of Goodwood, by the persistent use of this cure got rid of foul brood last year, and has not since been troubled with it.” Writing in June, 1885, he says : “It is quite possible that in many places in Australia, where the honey supply is intermittent, or in the more rigorous climate of New Zealand, the Cheshire cure may be the best to adopt, but it certainly is not in this locality (Adelaide).” 266 AUSTRALASIAN Mr. R. Harding, of Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, also reported favourably of Muth’s remedy, and it seems quite possible that it may be the most suitable one for districts like that around Adelaide, where more or less honey is gathered throughout the greater part of the year. I believe it to be a good plan to give all spare hives, frames, and bottom-boards a brush over with a solution of carbolic acid at the end of the season, before putting them away for winter ; it can do no harm, but may do a great deal of good. BACILLUS GAYTONI. In the further pursuance of his investigations, Mr. Cheshire has discovered that there are other species of bacilli which affect bees with diseases different altogether in their symptoms from those of foul brood. Through the close observation of Miss Gayton, a well-known successful bee-keeper, who for- warded to him for examination some bees of the glossy black and hairless appearance which has heretofore been very gene- rally supposed to indicate “old robbers,” he found them filled with a bacillus altogether different from the bacillus alvei, and to which he has given the name of bacillus Gaytoni. He says “it is a very mild offender beside the bacillus alvei, but it will be very interesting to note whether it succumbs to the same treatment.” OTHER DISEASES OF BEES. It is probable, as I previously intimated, that we may be still further indebted to Mr. Cheshire for a knowledge of other diseases which have heretofore puzzled the bee-keeper. There is one sort of symptom which has attracted attention of late in America and here, generally alluded to as that of “trembling bees,” about which we are still in the dark. Mr. Cheshire says, in a paper which appeared in the British Bee Journal of September, 1884: ‘During the last two months I have been able to make out no less than five, or possibly six, distinct disorders arising from that number of specifically different germs, all of which will require prolonged attention, if anything very definite is to be arrived at respecting them. In addition I suspect strongly that true dysentery will also turn out to be an infectious disorder; but since specimens fail me, the question must remain, as far as Iam concerned at least, till another season.” Then, after describing the bacillus Gaytont, he adds: ‘‘ With regard BEE MANUAL. 267 to the other germs found, my knowledge is at present so slender, that I must advance nothing beyond the discovery of an enormously large bacillus which takes what is called the zooglea form—two, or tee ly three, very minute kinds of bacilli and a micrococcus. The micrococ- cus will most probably turn out to be a putrefactive kind accidentally present.” ARRENOTOKIA. This name is given to a certain defective condition of queens: Mr. Cheshire, in carrying out his investigations, required a number of queens, which have been furnished him by different bee-keepers. Amongst them he discovered two drone-breeders, each with its spermatheca “ furnished completely with sperma- tozoa.” In explanation he says: “The name ‘arrenotokia,’ applied by Leuckart in 1857 to a case similar to the one we are considering, indicates that the queen, as dis- tinguished from a normal drone breeder, is fully furnished with sper- matozoa, and is yet incapable of fertilising her eggs. ' The possible causes are various, since the mechanism, so wondrously delicate and complex, which pays out the spermatozoa as they may be required, and which I explained a few months since, may fail in its muscles or nerves, or even the spermatozoa themselves may be defective, as actually appears to be the case in this instance.” In speculating upon the probable cause of defective sper- matozoa, he asks : ‘Can the lateness of the season at which this queen was hatched in any way explain the matter? Drones, at the date given (October), are normally gone ; but the progeny of fertile workers are then discover- able in the prime of youth, as well as old drones permitted to live in queenless stocks. Speculation is easy, and the possibility suggests itself, that the defective spermatozoa owe their faults to the fact that old or abnormal drones yielded them.” The first case he examined he thinks ‘‘ was probably due to paralysis of some of the muscles attached to the spermathecal valve ;” and further says: ‘‘ This production of drones only has been artificially produced by pinching the extremity of the abdomen, so that the last ganglion is injured.” I have myself known young queens—to all appearance per- fectly healthy—after laying worker eggs for a time, suddenly turn to drone-breeders in some unaccountable manner. It cer- tainly would be interesting to know the cause of such a change ; —injury to the abdomen would be almost certain to cause it. 268 AUSTRALASIAN SPRAY DIFFUSER. A very handy appliance is shown in the following engraving ; it is useful for spraying combs, when necessary, and is some- Fig. 124,_SPRAY DIFFUSER, times used for sprinkling bees with scented syrup to prevent fighting when uniting two or more colonies. There are some of a different construction to that shown, any of which can be purchased for a few shillings at most chemists. RULE. PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING DEPENDS UPON STRONG COLONIES. No BEES NO HONEY. BEE MANUAL. 269 CHAPTER AVIL ENEMIES OF BEES. THE Australasian colonies are certainly favoured with an exemption from many of the natural enemies of the bee, which are very troublesome in some of the older bee-keeping countries. AUSTRALASIAN EXEMPTIONS. There is here a total absence of wasps, hornets, and toads ; and I can answer for it that in New Zealand at least the ants are harmless, and the wax-moth not of a very formidable character. The principal enemies here are spiders, mice, the bee-hawk (libellula), and the bee or wax moth. There are also other insects which occasionally enter weak hives, viz., wood- lice, earwigs, ants, and beetles; but it is thought these latter only enter the hives for shelter rather than plunder. Iam not aware that there are any birds here that attack bees, although I have been keeping a sharp look-out, and I have come to the conclusion that we have little to fear from that quarter. SPIDERS. These insects, if opportunity offers, spread their webs in front and around the hives to capture unwary bees; therefore the fewer corners or angles about them the better. Porches to hives, so much admired by some amateur bee-keepers, are not only useless, but make a very convenient place for spiders to carry on their work of destruction. The same may be said of bee-sheds and other unnecessary fixings.* * In the American Bee Journal for August, 1885, there is an interesting communication from the Rev. L. Langstroth, showing that in his experience he has found “spiders one of the bee-keeper’s best friends, to preserve empty combs from the ravages of the bee-moth.” He even recommends rear- ing spiders; that is, to place the so-called ‘“‘spider bags,” or webs, full of eggs, in the boxes in which the empty combs are kept over winter. This 270 AUSTRALASIAN MICE. These little pests are sometimes as great a nuisance in the apiary as they are in domestic dwellings. They destroy the combs, create disgusting smells, and when they gain a footing in a hive it usually ends in the destruction of the colony. It is a good plan to keep a cat or two about the apiary, especially if it should be some distance from the dwelling-house. If the hives, however, are made in accordance with the instructions given in Chapter VL., it will be almost impossible for these little wretches to enter, as the entrance will not be large enough to admit them. ANTS. In some countries ants are the cause of much annoyance to bees and bee-keepers. In the warmer parts of the Australian colonies some of the larger species are numerous, and there they become very troublesome. In South Australia Mr. Bonney says, “In some districts the hives must be protected from them (the ants), otherwise they would destroy the bees. I find Italians protect themselves against ants much better than the blacks.” In New South Wales I am informed that “ants are sometimes troublesome ;” and Mr. David Gloss, writing from Victoria, says he never found or heard of ants being trouble- some in the cool districts (Kyneton and Ballarat), but they may be in the warm districts. The smaller species, such as I have seen in New Zealand, do but little damage; and as it is a rare occurrence to find them in hives that are properly man- aged, they are scarcely worth taking into consideration. But where the larger kinds exist, I would advise the bee-keeper to keep a sharp look-out for their nests, and destroy them. When in the hive, they usually congregate above the mat in the upper part, where they may be swept off and destroyed. Some writers recommend placing poisoned saccharine matter or meat in vessels well protected from the bees by a covering of wire-cloth, and putting these near the hives where the ants are numerous. Large numbers may be trapped in this way. A narrow strip of fur tacked completely round the under edge hint, like everything coming from the same source, is worthy of all attention. But though in this way we may indeed convert the spider into a friend or ally of the bce-keeper, we must continue to class it amongst the “ enemies of bees, and to banish itfrom the vicinity of working hives. BEE MANUAL. 271 of the bottom-board—hairy side down—affords a good protec- tion against these insects entering the hive. If this practice is to be followed, the cross-pieces or stands below the bottom- board would need to be cut shorter to allow room for the strip of fur to pass them, and nothing in the shape of grass or weeds must be allowed to touch the hives, or the fur would be useless, BEE-HAWK (LIBELLULA). This is a handsome four-winged insect (Fig. 125), commonly known as the dragon-fly. It captures the bees while on the wing, swooping down on them with great swiftness, and no Fig. 125,-BEE-HAWK (Libellula). doubt it is from this circumstance it derives its name. I once caught a splendid specimen, measuring fully three inches in length ; it had just caught a bee in its formidable jaws and settled close to where I was standing. It is easily scared or frightened away, and maybe killed on the wing by using a whip. It is found in greatest numbers near still water, in which it lays its eggs and the larve are reared. THE BEE OR WAX MOTH. I believe there will be found to be many separate species or varieties amongst the moths which infest beehives in different 272 AUSTRALASIAN countries. Langstroth, following Linneus and Réaumur, speaks of the tinea cereana and tinea mellonelia; Cook, following Fabri- cius, calls the bee-moth galleria cereana, and says it belongs to the family of snout-moths, Pyralide, and that “its members are very readily recognised by their usually long palpi, the so-called snouts.” The moth has been found a serious evil in some of the Australian colonies, at least previous to the introduction of the Italian bee. Mr. Fullwood states that the race of black bees was nearly exterminated in Queensland by the moths, but that when Ligurians were imported they soon defended themselves, and obtained the mastery ; and Mr. E. Palmer, of New South Wales, says, ‘‘The bee-moth is the great scourge of the wild and cultivated bees, and the only serious obstacle to successful bee farming of which I have, during a series of years, had any experience.” I believe the Australian moth to be identical with the American one. In New Zealand, the moth found in hives is of a smaller species, and is not likely to give much trouble in well-kept hives. TINEA CEREANA- The following description of this moth in America is taken from Dr. Harris's report on the insects of Massachusetts, as quoted in Langstroth’s work :— Fig. 126,—BEE-MOTH (Tinew cereana). “Very few of the tinew exceed or even equal it in size. In its adult state it is a winged moth, or miller, measuring, from the head to the tip of the closed wing, from five-eighths to three-quarters of an inch in length, and its wings expand from an inch and one-tenth to one inch and four-tenths. The four wings shut together flatly on the top of the back, slope steeply downwards at the sides, and are turned up at the ends somewhat like the tail of a fowl. The female is much larger than the male, and dark coloured. There are two broods of this insect in the course of a year. Some winged moths of the first BEE MANUAL. 273 brood begin to appear towards the end of April or early in May— earlier or later, according to climate and season. Those of the second brood are most abundant in August ; but some may be found between these periods, and even much later.” The bee-moth I have seen here in New Zealand does not exceed a quarter of an inch in length, and, as far as my expe- rience teaches me, is identical with the clothes moth, and will be easily recognised by most of my readers. Fig. 127,—MALE AND FEMALE BEE-MOTH. The engravings shown in this chapter represent the bee-moth and its ravages described by Langstroth ; but as its habits are the same as those in Australasia, they convey all the informa- tion necessary to put the apiarist on his guard. DAMAGE TO COMBS. In warm evenings the female moth may be often seen about the hives, seeking for a place to deposit eggs, which she usually does in any cracks or crevices about it. These eggs are white, round, and very small. Ina short time they hatch into dirty grey-looking caterpillars, and it is in this stage they commit their ravages by destroying the combs. Fig. 128,-SILKEN TUBE OF BEE-MOTH LARVA. As a defence from the attacks of the bees, each of the larve envelopes itself in a silken tube (Fig. 128), which they extend Lk, 274 AUSTRALASIAN through the combs as they advance, often detaching them and and causing them to fall together. These tubes will, in time, extend through the whole of the combs, killing the larve of the bees, and ultimately destroy the whole colony. Fig, 129.—SILEEN TUBE IN COMB, Cook says : “In three or four weeks the larve are full grown (Fig. 130). .... They now spin their cocoons, either in some crevice about the hive, or, if very numerous, singly (a, Fig. 131), or in clusters (b, Fig. 131), or on Fig. 180.—LARVZ OF BEE-MOTH the comb, or even in the drone cells (c, Fig. 131), in which they become pupz ; and in two weeks—even less sometimes—during the extreme heat of summer, the moths again appear. In winter they may remain as pupe for months.” And Bevan remarks : ‘‘ Wax moths are remarkably active in their movements. ‘They are,’ says Réaumur, ‘the most nimble-footed creatures I know.’ And if the approach to the apiary be observed on a moonlight evening, the moths will be found flying or running round the hives, watching an opportunity to enter; whilst the bees that have to guard the entrances against their intrusion will be seen acting as vigilant sentinels, per- forming continual rounds near this important post, extending their BEE MANUAL. 275 \ antenne to the utmost, and moving them to the right and to the left alternately. Woe to the unfortunate moth that comes within their teach! ‘It is curious,’ says Huber, ‘ to observe how artfully the moth knows how to profit by the disadvantage of the bees (who require Fig, 131__COMB DESTROYED BY BEE-MOTH LARVE, much light for seeing objects), and the precautions taken by the latter in reconnoitring and expelling so dangerous an enemy.’ ” REMEDIES. The most effectual remedies against all attacks of insects, including the moth, is to keep all the colonies strong, and by using movable frame hives an enemy can be easily dislodged. The bottom-board of a suspected hive should be occasionally exa- mined ; for if the bee-moth has gained a footing in the hive, the eggs and larve may be often found upon it, when of course they must be at once removed and destroyed. If, however, any colony should have become, through neglect, hopelessly injured by these moths, then the bees should be transferred to another hive, and the old one, with its combs, fumigated with sulphur. It is now an established fact, that wherever Italian bees are introduced, there this terrible scourge ceases to exist, and there- fore this one feature alone is enough to justify the introduction of Italian bees in the place of blacks. BEE-MITE, My attention was called last May (1885), by Mr. A. Bow, of Hokianga, to an insect he had found in his hiyeg.in great num- 276 AUSTRALASIAN bers, which, he said, resembled cheese-mites. In a foot-note to his letter, which was published in the late Journal, I suggested the probability of their having been bred in the pollen, but could not say what insects they were. Since then I have examined under a microscope several lots of pollen taken from combs that had been stowed away for winter, and in each case I discovered these mites. On describing their appearance to Mr. T. F. Cheeseman, curator of the Auckland Museum, he said he had no doubt they were mites, but whether parasitical or not he could not say. Professor Cook says: “The bee-mite is very small, hardly more than five milimeters (one-fiftieth of an inch) long. The female is slightly larger than the male, and somewhat transparent. The colour is black, though the legs and more transparent areas of the females appear yellow- ish.” Those I examined were of a greyish colour, and semi- transparent ; the full-grown insects possessing eight legs, and some having long bristly-looking hairs scattered over their bodies. I have no doubt that where very numerous they might become very troublesome, and do considerable injury to the bees, though I doubt much whether they would be able to gain a fuvoting in strong colonies. I would suggest as a remedy making an examination of the pollen in the hives where they are found, and removing all that is infested by them ; also to shift the bees into clean hives, and wash the bottom-boards with a solution of carbolic acid. Probably spraying the infested combs with a solution of phenol would rid them of the pest. A CAUTION TO IMPORTERS OF BEES. I have it from good authority that the bee-moth mentioned by Mr. Fullwood as having worked such sad havoc amongst the black bees in Queensland was accidentally introduced into that country in the following manner :—In one of the earlier attempts to introduce Italian bees (previous to the one made by Mr. Fullwood in 1880) an imported hive with bees had been landed at the apiary of a bee-keeper in the vicinity of Brisbane. This hive, it appears, not only contained bees, but also their greatest enemy, the wax moth peculiar to the country from whence the bees had come, in all stages of growth, from BEE MANUAL. 277 the larva to the perfect insect. The bee-keeper, in blissful ignorance of the fact, opened the hive, and before he could prevent it some of the moths took flight, and thus it was that this terrible enemy came to be introduced into Queensland. It is easy to understand that in so favourable a climate it would take but a very short time for the country to be over- run with the pest, and it is quite likely that ere this the moth has spread over the greater part of the warm districts of Australia. Such a circumstance nearly occurred to myself. Some of the boxes containing queens imported direct from Italy, that came to Matamata in the latter part of 1884, were crowded with eggs and larve of an enormous bee-moth, as well as the perfect insect. Some of the larve measured over an inch in length. As soon as I made the discovery that the boxes con- tained such unwelcome intruders, I opened them very cau- tiously, shifted the queens and bees to clean boxes, and burnt the others, with their combs, without delay. The boxes were opened in a room, so that if any moths had flown, they could have been easily captured. I would therefore warn all who may hereafter import bees to be very cautious in opening hives or boxes, and to see that no insects escape, and to examine the combs, or what is better, put the bees into a clean hive, on clean combs, and make a fire with those they came in. FUMIGATING COMBS. I have previously referred to fumigating combs to destroy the bee-moth larve, or any other insects that. may have har- boured in them. The following is the method :—Hang them in a small close room (or if only a few, a large close box will do as well), burn one pound of sulphur to every one hundred cubic feet contained in the room or box. To burn it, get an iron pot, put some ashes in the bottom, with hot embers, and pour on the sulphur ; shut the door of the room, or close up the box, for two or three days. When combs are stowed away during the winter months, they should be looked over occasionally, and if necessary fumi- gated again as above described. Combs containing honey stowed away should also be fumigated, if eggs or worms of ‘bee-moth are detected in them. 978 AUSTRALASIAN CHAPTER XVIII. BEE FORAGE. THE vegetable origin of both honey and pollen being under- stood, and the facts being botne in mind, that bees can only collect the substances they require from plants and trees that are in blossom, and that the quality, colour, and flavour of the honey vary very considerably according to the source from which it is obtained, it will be easily seen how necessary it is for the bee-keeper to make himself acquainted with the resources within his reach; and not only with the names of the different plants and trees, but with the character of the honey or pollen afforded by each, and with the usual periods of their coming into and remaining in blossom. These circum- stances, as well as their bearing upon the practical operations of the apiary, vary very importantly in different countries and climates. In high latitudes, where the witters are severe, and the bees confined to their hives for four or five months of the year, it is clear that even if there were plants which blossomed in winter, they would be useless to the bees, and the bees equally useless to them. In temperate climates, how- ever, where the bees can work more or less freely all through the winter, though only producing surplus honey in summer, it becomes a matter of great importance that there shall be a variety of nectar and pollen-bearing plants coming into blossom at different periods of the year, even in the depths of winter, in order to afford forage at all times, and keep up the health and strength of the bees without artificial feeding. And iu more tropical climates, where the bees can rot only work, but also breed, swarm, and store surplus honey, more or less, all the year round, such a variety in the habits of the plants and trees as will afford a succession of bloom at all seasons becomes essential to the prosperity of the apiary. An_ intelligent BEE MANUAL. 279 apiarist will therefore carefully study the peculiar circumstances of his immediate neighbourhood, see what he has to expect from the natural or existing flora of his district, and consider whether he can improve his position by raising any varieties of plants or trees suited to supply the wants of his bees at times when the existing resources would be likely to fail. ORDINARY SOURCES. Some of the best and most generally known sorts of bee forage are of a character which plainly invites the establishment of apiaries in their neighbourhoods, wherever they are found extensively, such as clover, heather, wild thyme or wild sage, large orchards with their abundance of fruit blossoms, or forest trees of some particular descriptions. The heaths of Scotland and Ireland, the wild thyme of Greece and the wild sage of California, are not to be sought for in New Zealand or Aus- tralia ; but, on the other hand, the clovers and the fruit trees of all kinds flourish so well in all parts of these countries as to hold out the strongest inducements for their cultivation, and the great majority of the bush or forest trees are peculiarly valuable, not only on account of their honey-bearing qualities, but also because they vary so much in their times of blossom- ing, that some of them are available at almost every season of the year. NATIVE FLORA OF NEW ZEALAND. Most of the forest trees indigenous to New Zealand are honey-bearing, some of them remarkably so. The following are the native, English, and botanical names of the principal ones :— 1. Rewa-rewa .. Honeysuckle, Knightia excelsa. 2. Pohutukawa ... Christmas tree, Metrosideros tomentosa. 3. Rata... ... Oak-elm, Metrosideros robusta. 4, Hinau ... a Elaeocarpus hinau. 5. Kahikatea ... White pine, Podocarpus dacrydioides. 6. Matai ... ... Black pine, Podocarpus spicata. 7. Miro... wee Podocarpus ferruginea. 8. Puriri .. ... New Zealand oak, or teak, Vitex littoralis. 9. Kohekohe .. Cedar, Hartighsea spectabilis. 10. Tawai ... 328 Leiospermum racemosum. 11. Kowai ... ee Edwardsia microphylla. 12. Nikau ... ... Native palm, Areca sapida. 280 AUSTRALASIAN In the bush are also generally found the native fuchsia, wild clematis, rata creeper (white and red), karaka (laurel, corino- carpus), koromiko (veronica), and many other flowering shrubs or creepers ; in the open, both on hillsides and swampy places, cabbage trees (Cordyline Australis and Dracena Australis), and the New Zealand flax (Phormium tenaz), and in the fern-lands generally, manuka (tea-tree, Leptospermum sccparium), rawiri, (Leptospermum ericoides), and tutu (Coriaria sarmentosa). Most of the forest trees, especially the first five in the fore- going list, afford, in seasons when they blossom freely, not only excellent quality, but also a great quantity of honey. They do not, however, blossom equally well every year ; some of them even do not blossom at all in some seasons. The same may be said of the flax, which, however, in favourable seasons, exudes such quantities of nectar, or honey-dew, that it may be collected by hand. Dieffenbach observed, when examining the Taranaki district in 1840, large patches of land covered with Phormium tenaz of great size. “The leaves in many instances were twelve, and the flower-stalks twenty, feet long; their flowers contain a kind of sweet liquid in considerable quantities, the extraction of which forms a favourite occupation among the New Zealand children.” The honey obtained from it is generally so thick as to be difficult to extract. The periods of blossoming of all these trees and plants varies considerably with their geographi- cal situation ; and it is very desirable that the particulars of their habits in that respect, as well as the character of the honey afforded by each, should be carefully noted by bee- keepers in all the different parts of the country. Mr. J. Blair, of the Great Barrier Island, about fifty miles north of Auckland, reports as follows with regard to the native flora of his dis- trict :— “Here the cabbage tree blooms in October—Novemher; flax, Novem- ber—December. Tea-tree, it is possible to get a specimen of bloom all the year, but for practical purposes it blooms from the last week in March to the end of December, and the bees work on it all the time. My bees have been working on it now a fortnight, but it only gives honey in quantity from the beginning of October to the end of Decem- ber, and during that time they gather honey only. From March to October they gather both honey and pollen. From October to Decem- ber any one can both taste and see the honey in the blossom. Rewa rewa blossoms from September 20th to December 20th: any one can lick the thick honey off it with the tongue. When the bees get pro- perly started on these, they don’t take notice of any honey lying about. BEE MANUAL. 281 “In the middle of November the tree rata and pohutukawa begins, and lasts to the middle of February. The white rata (creeper) begins in December, and lasts till April; red rata (creeper) begins in January, and lasts till May; koromiko begins in January, and lasts till June ; nikau begins in February; puriri begins in March, and lasts till No- vember, although it is easy to get a specimen all the year; hohere (it has a thick stringy bark), kohekohe cedar, mangeo, and another I do not know the name of, all bloom in April, May, and June. These are the principai trees we get honey from here. There are plenty of other trees that bees work upon, but they either give honey in small quan- tities, or we have not got them in sufficient number for the bees to store honey from.” In the Thames district, about as far south of Auckland as the Barrier Island is north of it, my own experience is as follows: Kowai commences to blossom in September, as also tauro and mahoi—the first lasts four weeks, the second sixteen, and the last eight ; hinau in November, lasting four weeks ; rata and flax commence in December, and blossom four or five weeks; cabbage-palm, beginning of December, lasting four weeks. Besides those enumerated, there are other native trees and shrubs which blossom between October and March ; amongst the best for honey are pohutukawa, kahikatea, puriri, matai, tawai, tariri, miro, karaka, native fuchsia, and nikau. Tea-tree blossoms in September, but yields no honey in the Thames district. The honey from most of the native flora of New Zealand is of a first-class quality, though not equal to that obtained from white clover. Some of it granulates very slowly ; I have kept samples nearly all through the winter without granulating. NATIVE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. All the species of those two great families of trees so peculiar to Australia, EUCALYPTUS and ACACIA, are good for bee forage, yielding both nectar and pollen in abundance, and, what is of especial importance in a climate like that of most of the Aus- tralasian colonies, where the bees can gather surplus honey nearly all the year round, they seem as if specially designed to supplement each other; the eucalypti blooming, as a rule, in the summer half, and the acacias in the winter half of the year. 989 AUSTRALASIAN NEW SOUTH WALES. Mr. Thomas E. Willis, to whose kindness I am indebted for much information with reference to bee culture in New Sotith Wales, reports on the bee forage of that colony as follows :— “¢ The honey season on tke coast takes place in spring, whilst inland the sumnier is the best season; this is owing in a great measure to the vast forests of gum trees being then in full bloom, whilst on the coast there is a profusion of winter and spring flowers and golden wittles, the latter being a favourite with the bees. The principal bush trees about Sydney are, spotted gum,* black butt,t iron bark,+ woolly butt, and honeysuckle: from all these the bees derive susten- ance I have also noticed them on the large flowers of the dogwood, a kind of dwarf gum. In Baron Miiller’s Botanic Teachings, he meéntions the honey eucalyptus (Z. melliodora) as a favourite with bees, as its blossom= exude much nectar, and also the Cape honeysuckle, or Protea mellifera. The Wigandea caracasana, which keeps in flower from August till November, is an espécial favourite with the bees ; it has large leaves, about eighteen inches by twelve, and bears numerous spikes of blue flowers ; it is an ornamental shrub, and thrives well in gardens about Sydney. It isa native of America, tropical and sub- tropical.” SOUTH AUSTRALIA. With reference to the district immediately around Adelaide, Mr. A. E. Bonney informs me that the chief sources of the honey crop are the blossoms of the Eucalypti :— “* These trees, of which there is a great variety, flower on the plains from December to the end of March, and on the hills from October to March. The quality of the honey is very fine. Perhaps the most valuable is #. rostrata (red gum), which produces a copious flow of honey during January and February. In spring the dandelions, or Cape marigold, yield a large harvest, but the honey is of poor quality. In favoured localities, such as Mount Barker, the honey season lasts all the year round ; but as arule, from January Ist to February 28th may be called the honey season. At Mount Barker, Mr. Justice Bou- cant has been getting surplus honey during the past eighteen months; also one of my colonies has been filling section boxes for eleven months, only stopping for four weeks whilst I was treating them for foul-brood.” Acacias, or wattles, are also plentiful here as elsewhere in Australia. The black wattle (4. decurrens) and the coast wattle are described as furnishing very good bee forage on the south- east coast. Mr. Bonney, in writing to the Mew Zealand and * E. goniocalyz. t E. pilularis. t E. leucoxylon. BEE MANUAL. 983 Australian Bee Journal, about one species known here in New Zealand as common wattle, says: “‘The botanical name of the acacia referred to by T. J. M., in ‘Notes about Bee Forage’ (Part I.), is Acacia lophantha. I can fully endorse all he says about the usefulness of this tree as a honey pro- ducer ; but in South Australia it is objectionable, because of its rank growth and very unpleasant smell. At the end of the second part of his ‘ Notes on Bee Forage,’ T. J. M. remarks that none of the red or blue gums in his neighbourhood are more than seven or eight years old, and scarcely any have as yet commenced to bear blossoms. This is an objection to most of the eucalypti; it is so long before they flower, and when they do, little honey appears to be secreted until the trees attain a large size. Mucalyptus carophylla (the red gum of Western Australia) is an exception, and is a tree that I would like to bring under the notice of all bee-keepers throughout Australia and New Zealand. According to Miiller, this tree, in its native land, grows to a height of 150 feet, with stems occasionally ten feet in dia- meter. It is the most ornamental gum I have seen; the foliage is denser and more horizontal than that of any other species we know of, and the tree is readily distinguished by its large seed-pods. Around Adelaide it does very well, comes into flower a few years after planting, and offers a fine pasturage for bees. In some instances the foliage is almost hidden by the large masses of beautiful white blossom. The tree remains in bloom several months, and during that time it is always crowded with bees. I have never known a season when this gum did not flower.” VICTORIA. As regards this colony, Mr. David Gloss informs me that the chief sources of honey supply in the cool districts are white clover and thistles, and in the hot districts eucalypti, or gum trees ; and that in several hot districts, which are also treeless, bees have generally died out when introduced. Another cor- respondent praises the acacias, black wattle and coast wattle, as invaluable for bee forage. QUEENSLAND. Mr. Chas. Fullwood says, with regard to Queensland : ‘Our principal source of honey is the various species of eucalypti, which afford supplies the greater portion of the year, as they bloom during all the months from August to April and May, and, in’ fact, some bloom during the winter menths, when the bees gather, through the warmer hours of the day, a small amount of honey. What is most popularly known as ‘tea tree’ here is just now (June) going out of blossom ; this supplies a large amount of honey of rather high colour and rank sweet flavour, which it to a large extent loses while ripening, but which is easily detected when first gathered. 284 AUSTRALASIAN ‘‘There are many tropical and European trees, shrubs, plants, etc., cultivated here, that yield good supplies of excellent honey, blooming at various periods during the warm months, yet, as a rule, not culti- vated in sufficiently large numbers in any localities to supply any number of stocks with a particular kind of honey. Clover is not much cultivated ; so we do not obtain ‘clover honey.’ Lucerne is largely grown in localities near town ; and where it is allowed to bloom and mature, I believe the bees work on it well, In the neighbourhood of orange orchards bees gather very fine honey from thence; still our principal source is eucalypti, which affords a very sweet article, ranging in colour from amber to dark orange; wild flowers and grasses, too, yield nectar. Iam not able to state if any of the latter bees in suffi- cient numbers to grade honey as from such sources, or detect by the flavour from whence it is secured. ‘* As the industry progresses, and keener observation is awakened, we shall be able to glean much more retiable information, of which we may avail ourselves in the future.” TASMANIA, This island, as the native place of the #. globulus, or Tasma- nian blue gum, is well supplied with that and other varieties, as well as with acacias. Mr. Hood informs me that amongst the native trees, ‘the different varieties of the eucalyptus, box, and lightwood are splendid honey producers. When the box is in bloom, a friend tells me, ‘ you would think there must be a swarm of bees in each tree.’ Immense quantities of honey are got from the bush. One friend tells me he felled a tree in which there were three large colonies of bees, and secured 630 Ib. of honey.” There are also large quantities of a native heath which affords good forage for bees. Its splendid native flora, fruit orchards, and beautiful climate must altogether make Tasmania a grand country for apiculture. EUCALYPTI AND ACACIAS IN NEW ZEALAND. Von Hochstetter, when comparing the native flora of New Zealand with that of Australia, mentions as a very remarkable fact, “that under the families of Myrtacee and Leguminose, exactly those genera which are most numerously represented in Australia, the eucalypti and acacias, are entirely wanting in New Zealand, although when introduced there they flourish with extraordinary luxuriance.” The latter observation is so true, that the different varieties of gum trees and wattles which have been already introduced here are likely, in course of time, to become as general as in Australia, if we except the great natural forests, and confine ourselves to the plantations in BEE MANUAL. 285 settled districts. The eucalypti heretofore generally planted in New Zealand are £. globulus (blue gum) and &. rostrata (red gum). Of the acacias a greater variety have been already cultivated ; amongst the rest, the following :— —~ 1. A. lophantha, common wattle. 2. A. decurrens. black wattle. 3. A. dealbata, silver wattle. 4, A. pycnantha, golden or broad leaf wattle. _. we 5. A. longifolia, long-leaf wattle. 6. A. melanoxylon, lightwood or blackwood. ~~ 7, A, undulata, Kangaroo Island prickly acacia. Of these, the most valuable as bee forage in this country is the first (notwithstanding the objections referred to by Mr. Bonney), as it blooms luxuriantly from May to August, both months inclusive, and sometimes also in Apri] and in September, and during all that time affords ample stores of both nectar and pollen ; so that where these trees are convenient, bees cannot know what want is during the late autumn and the whole of winter. Nos. 2, 3, and 4 are the sorts valuable as producing tanners’ bark ; they are all great nectar and pollen producers in July and August. No. 5 is an evergreen shrub, with long lancet-shaped leaves, which blossoms luxuriantly from July to September, but which also exudes nectar from a pore in the upper edge of the leaf, near the stalk, and furnishes food for the bees in that way for a couple of months before the blossom- ing time. It is thus available for bee forage (and is a great favourite with the bees) from early in May until the end of September. No. 6 is somewhat similar to the last as regards its leaves and blossoms, but is a tree, not a shrub, and one of the largest of the acacias. No. 7 is used as a hedge plant, and flowers from the beginning of August to the middle of October; it is therefore available as bee forage when all the other acacias are out of bloom, but at a time when there is generally abundance of other spring forage. EUROPEAN PLANTS AND TREES. The climate of New Zealand and of most parts of the Aus- tralasian colonies is so favourable to the growth of many European plants, that we already enjoy the advantages of most of the old-world bee forage. The clovers (and especially white clover), which are the sources of probably the finest quality of honey, not only grow well when sown in pasture or meadow 286 AUSTRALASIAN lands, but spread rapidly over the still uncultivated lands in the neighbourhood. Dandelion, or capeweed (something differ- ent from the British dandelion, but equally good as bee forage), is very abundant, and thistles, which furnish a very good honey, spring up everywhere, for a time, in newly laid down lands, and spread themselves along the roadsides and into the waste or fern lands, wherever these have been for a while used as cattle runs ; they thus become a very considerable source of the honey supply in some parts of the country. The white thorn, sweet- briar, and furze, or gorse, are all more or less used in different districts as hedge plants; and whatever objections there may be to the two latter sorts on the score of their spreading over the lands and being troublesome to eradicate, wherever they do occur they can only be welcome to the bee-keeper. Fruit blossoms of all sorts are valuable in spring, and the willow, which is here a widely spread tree, is one of the earliest sorts of spring bee forage. It may be interesting here, before proceeding to notice some particular sorts of honey-bearing plants and flowers, to copy an alphabetical list given in the work of Thomas Nutt, an English apiarist, who wrote in 1832, as a catalogue of British “trees, plants, and flowers most frequented by bees,” and all of which either are already or may easily be cultivated here. ‘Alder, almond, Althea fontex, alyssum, amaranthus, apple, apricot, arbutus (alpine), ash, asparagus, aspin, balm, bean, beech, betony, blackberry, black currant, borage, box, bramble, broom, bugloss (viper’s), buckwheat, burnet, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cherry, chestnut, chickweed, clover, cole (or coleseed), coltsfoot, coriander, crocus, crowfoot, crown imperial, cucumber, currants, cypress, daffo- dil, dandelion, dogberry, elder, elm, endive, fennel, furze, golden-rod, gooseberry, gourd, hawthorn, hazel, heath, holly, hollyhock (trumpet), honeysuckle, honey-wort (cerinthe), hyacinth, hyssop, ivy, jonquil, kidney-bean, laurel, laurustinus, lavender, leek, lemon, lily (water), lily (white), lime, liquid amber, liriodendron, lucerne, mallow (marsh), marigold (French), marigold(single), maple, marjoram (sweet), millelot, melon, mezereon, mignonette, mustard, nasturtium, nectarine, nettle (white), oak, onion, orange, ozier, parsley, parsnip, pea, peach, pear, peppermint, plane, plum, poplar, poppy, primrose, privet, radish, ragweed, raspberry, rosemary (wild), roses (single), rudebchiz, saffron, sage, saintfoin, St. John’s-wort, savory (winter), snowdrop, snowberry, stock (single), strawberry, sunflower, sycamore, tamarisk, tansy (wild), tare, teazel, thistle (common), thistle (sow), thyme (lemon), thyme (wild), trefoil, turnip, vetch, violet (single), wallflower (single), woad, willow-herb, willow tree, yellow weasel-snout.” ; BEE MANUAL. 287 In many parts of continental Europe the chief honey harvest is derived from the linden (Tilia Europea) and the acacia (robinia or pseudacaci«), trees which are easily grown in these countries also. Buckwheat, which is also much grown in America, affords a late harvest of honey of dark colour and inferior quality. AMERICAN PLANTS AND TREES. The American species of linden, the basswood (Tilia Ameri- cana) stands at the head of the honey producers in the Northern and Eastern States; the honey locust, named by Quinby robinia or pseudacacia, but to which Professor Cook gives the botanical name of Glidischia triacanthus, the latter being the correct one, according to Johnson’s ‘‘ Gardener’s Dictionary.” The liriodendron, or tulip-tree, the Judas-tree, or red-bud, the magnolia, and the sugar maples, are all prized, in various parts of the States, as bee forage. Speaking of the basswood (Fig. 132) in his “A BC of Bee Culture,” A. I. Root says of it: “‘With perhaps the single exception of white clover, the basswood, or linden, as it is often called, furnishes more honey than any other one plant or tree known.” Comparing it with clover, he says: “ The best yield of honey we have ever had from a single hive in one day was from the basswood bloom: the amount was 43 lb. in three days. The best we ever recorded from clover in one day was 10 lb.” Fully ripened basswood honey is noted for its delicious flavour. It blossoms in July in the United States, and in many parts it is the chief dependence of the apiarists. It does well in New Zealand. The sages (salvia) of California are perhaps amongst the most wonderful honey plants known at the present time. There are different varieties growing wild on the mouttains and in the cafions of this State, but I believe most of the honey is gathered from what are commonly known as the white, black, and button sages. The estimated crop of honey last season (1884), for California, was about 4,500 tons. This plant would thrive well north of Auckland, and in the warmer parts of Australia. I grew some from seed sent me by Mr. Wilkin, of San Buenaventura, when I was living at the Thames, and they flourished splendidly ; but on taking the plants to 288 AUSTRALASIAN Matamata, I lost them the first winter, as they could not with- stand the frosts there. Ae if i ih H Fig. 132.—AMERICAN LINDEN, or BASSWOOD (Tilia Americana). The horse-mint (Fig. 133) is another plant (allied to the salvias) from which enormous crops of honey have been taken in the State of Texas, though it does not appear to yield honey BEE MANUAL. 289 in quantity every season. Mr. B. F. Carroll, of Dresden, Texas, reported a yield of nearly 1000 Ib. from one colony, gathered principally from this shrub. I have now some young plants growing, which have withstood the frosts remarkably well. They would do well in most parts of Australasia. The United States can boast of a number of what may be termed fine honey-bearing weeds, among which figwort (Fig. 134) stands high. I have grown this plant myself for several years, and can speak well for its honey-yielding qualities. As soon as the first little pitcher-like flowers open, the bees are constantly visiting the plants till they are out of blossom. They 4 Yd Fig. 133,—HORSE-MINT OF TEXAS (Mouarda punctata). flower for about two months, commencing at the end of No- vember. Being tuberous-rooted plants, and dying down every winter, frost does not affect them. The honey, as far as 1 can judge of it, is very fine. The golden-rods (Fig. 135) are members of a very numerous family to be found growing nearly all over the United States. They must be very valuable honey plants; for A. I. Root states that “in some localities they furnish the bulk of the great yield of fall honey.” These and the asters (Fig. 136), U 290 AUSTRALASIAN which are also autumn-blooming plants, and allied to each other, would be of great value on that account in these colo- nies, more especially in New Zealand, where there is rather a Fig. 134,—FIGWORT (Scrofularia nodosa). scarcity of honey in the fall of the year. With regard to the quality of the honey from these’ plants, Mr. Root, when speak- ing of the golden-rods, says: “The honey is very thick, and of africh golden colour, much like the blossoms. When first BEE MANUAL. 291 gathered, it has, like the honey of most other fall flowers, a rather rank, weedy taste; but after it has thoroughly ripened it is very rich. Spider plant (Cleome pungens) (Fig. 137) is another common weed in some parts of the United States, which yields a good quantity of nectar ; it is allied to, and very much like, the Rocky Mountain bee plant (Cleome integrifolia). The peculiarity about this plant is that it only yields nectar at night, commencing late in the evening, at which time and very early morning the bees Fig. 185.—THREE VARIETIES OF GOLDEN-RODS (Solidago). visit it. I have had some very good reports of this plant from those I have supplied with seeds. It lasts a long time in blos- som, and is rather handsome when in flower. Mr. Root speaks very highly of both the plant and the quality of the nectar it yields. The seeds of the foregoing plants—that is, figwort, horse-mint, golden-rods, asters, and spider plant—together with any of the herbs, such as horehound, catnip, etc, might be scattered about in waste places and odd corners, without doing any harm, and with profit to bee-keepers. 292 AUSTRALASIAN The next two plants, mellilot clover and giant mignonette, are not natives of America. I obtained some seeds of them from that country, have grown them both, and am therefore acquainted with their honey-yielding qualities, and believe, where there is ground to spare, they will pay to grow for honey, though I do not at present advocate growing special crops for honey, unless these crops are profitable in some other direction. Mellilot, or sweet clover (Fig. 138), is a great favourite with bees, though I think of little use for anything else than its Fig. 136.—ASTER (Starwort). honey, of which it yields a large quantity. It has a delightful perfume when in flower, and scents the air for a long distance. It blooms for nearly four months, lasting right up to near the commencement of winter. It will grow aimost anywhere, but does best on fairly good land. It is a biennial, and blossoms the second year; but it can be made to perpetuate itself by sowing the same land two years in succession. I have had it _ growing to the height of seven feet. 293 BEE MANUAL. ‘stadaay-90q [Te Aq UOTYBAT}TNO Jo AGIIOA [JOA SI PUB ‘SyYZUOUT Ce.1Y) IO OMY OJ WOSSOTG 07 sonUTzUOD 4. ‘feu yore quede yoo} 90143 pojuetd oq prnoys Asyy, ‘e_puey oy ysnouo aBive] usyM smor ul yno pexord sjae[d Sunod eq} pue ‘speq Ul uMos eq UBd Sposs egy, ‘Aep jo daad ys1y oy} 9% Wey} uO Uses oq Avut soaq 94} pue 4qSru 4e syoraMog og} UT pozor00s st AouOY oT, ey ay} ore YOLYA Jo spus oy} uo ‘saqouesq jo Jaquinu & yno Surpuss “y90} eay ynoqe Jo IqSIey oY} 0 o10yY sMois pue ‘TenuUe Ue st yueid s9piIds oY, ‘queyd jo yea] ‘Of spegod jo oseq ye Surpysxeds Aouoy YT qortemoy ‘gq {queid yore 0} eu Io UsZop e O18 TTEy} Ory jo ‘x[V}s JOMOG v sl W—'KEOOIT 10 NOIVNVIaxg *(suaHund 30379) INVId UACIAS—“LEl “StL 294 - AUSTRALASIAN Giant mignonette (Fig. 139) is another grand bee plant. All the mignonettes are good for bees, and handsome as garden plants. The giant variety has not the sweet scent of the smaller and common kind, but the flowers are exactly similar in appearance. I have had it in blossom for seven successive months, and during the whole of this time it was continually visited by bees, even when clover was at its best. DURATION OF THE HONEY SEASON. From what has been already said under the heads of “Climate” and of “Native Flora,” both in this and in the Fig. 188.—MELLILOT CLOVER (Melilotus). first chapter, it will readily be seen that within the range of New Zealand and Australia there must be considerable dif- ferences in the time of commencement, and in the duration of the so-called honey season, or that in which the apiarist expects to take his crop of surplus honey. This is one of the points deserving of the most particular consideration, as the judicious bee-keeper will have to regulate many of his operations in accordance with the peculiar circumstances of his district in this respect, in order to obtain the best general results, and to grade his honey according to the sources of supply which pre- dominate during different portions of the honey season. I shall here add only a few observations with reference to my BEE MANUAL. 295 own experience in the Thames and Waikato districts, some thirty miles south of Auckland. Here the dawn of the honey season opens with the willows and early flowering peaches. These blossom about the beginning of September, and enable the bees very quickly to replenish the stores of honey, at this time nearly exhausted. Then follow other fruit trees, dandelions, daisies, hawthorn, wild rose, some native trees, &c., and the honey season may be said to have fully commenced in October, when clover begins to blossom, and lasts without cessation, in a fairly good season, f w y & 9 7 eo Wy A Ly Ms 4 f YY ( wy) it Ay " i) a y NF Ve W Ww, Y Ny a \ Ww Fig, 139.—GIANT MIGNONETTE.(Reseda gigantea). till near the latter end of February, when the hot dry weather causes a break, which lasts till the rains commence again (usually in the latter part of March); when, if the weather is showery, a considerable amount of honey will be gathered from different sources through the latter part of March, April, and a part of May. 296 AUSTRALASIAN The time of commencement and duration of the autumn crop entirely depends upon the rains ; if these should be late it will of course affect the crop in the same manner, and also shorten the honey season. The autumn gathering is very valuable ; it enables the bees to fill up empty brood combs with honey, thus putting the colony in good condition for wintering, and renders feeding unnecessary, a very important matter, especially to beginners. In this district it is seldom that any surplus honey can be obtained from the autumn crop ; but I have no doubt in more favourable situations a considerable amount might sometimes be taken. FLIGHT OF BEES. lt is generally understood that the usual range of a worker bee’s flight is from 14 to 2 miles in all directions from the apiary, although bees are known to go much further when pasturage is scarce within that distance. Of course the greater the flight the less honey is stored ; so that the apiarist will understand how necessary it is, where practicable, to have good and abundant pasturage near the apiary. It is Mr. Langstroth’s opinion that “although bees will fly in search of food over three miles still if it is not within a circle of two in every direction from the apiary they will be able to store but little surplus honey.” OVER-STOCKING. On the question of over-stocking many different opinions exist, some thinking it almost impossible to over-stock a good district, while others, again, believe it may be done. The for- mer argue in support of their opinion that each day’s secretion of honey in the flowers will, if not gathered the same day, dry up or be wasted before evening. This being so it would take an enormous number of bees to visit all the honey-producing flowers every day, and until this is done, there can be no fear of the district being over-stocked. This appears to me to be a very reasonable way of looking at the matter. My own idea is, that in most districts of New Zealand, and the settled districts of Australia, a very large number of colo- nies might be profitably supported in every square mile, and the possibility of such districts ever being over-stocked is very remote. BEE MANUAL. 297 CHAPTER XIX. APICULTURE IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURE.* THE benefits derived by both agriculturists and horticulturists from the labours of the bee are now very generally understood and acknowledged ; but still cases do sometimes occur, though rarely, of farmers objecting to the vicinity of an apiary, and complaining of bees as “trespassers,” instead of welcoming them as benefactors. ARE BEES TRESPASSERS ? It is not, perhaps, surprising that at first aman should ima- gine he was being injured in consequence of bees gathering honey on his lund, to be stored up elsewhere, and for the use of other parties ; he might argue that the honey belonged by right to him, and even jump at the conclusion that there was so much of the substance of the soil taken away every year, and that his land must therefore become impoverished. It is true that if he possessed such an amount of knowledge as might be expected to belong to an intelligent agriculturist, working upon A paper, from which the matter of this chapter is abridged, appeared in the three numbers of the New Zealand and Australian Bee Journal for the months of August, September, and October, 1884, and has since been partially reprinted in more than one of the American bee papers. Since it was first written, the subject of which it treats has been brought prominently forward in consequence of the action taken by a farmer in one of the United States to claim damages from a neighbouring bee-keeper for supposed injury done to his grazing sheep by trespassing (?) bees. Just now, whilst these sheets are passing through the press, the American Bee Journals are full of communi- cations from bee-keepers, pointing out the absurdity of such claims, and calling for united action in opposing all such attempts that may be made to check the progress of bee culture. However unfounded and unreasonable such claims really are and must appear to those who understand the nature and habits of both bees and grazing animals, the mere fact of their being seriously advanced is sufficient to show the necessity of bee-keepers adducing such facts and arguments as are calculated to prove satisfactorily the ground- lessness of all assertions to the effect that bees occasion any injury to the farmer, either as regards the fertility of his soil, the condition of his crops, or the safety and comfort of his grazing stock. [Since the above was in type the lawsuit—Sheep v. Bees—has been dismissed by the Judges.] 298 AUSTRALASIAN rational principles, he should be able, upon reflection, to see that such ideas were entirely groundless. Nevertheless the complaint is sometimes made, in a more or less vague manner, by persons who ought to know better ; and even bee-keepers appear occasionally to adopt an apologetic tone, arguing that “bees do more good than harm,” instead of taking the much higher and only true stand by asserting that bees, while con- ferring great benefits on agriculture, do no harm whatever, and that the presence of an apiary on or close to his land can be nothing but an advantage to the agriculturist. BENEFICIAL INFLUENCE OF BEES ON AGRICULTURE. We have already, in Chapter III., dwelt upon the value of the intervention of bees in the cross-fertilisation of plants, and can here only refer the reader for further information to the works of Sir J. Lubbock and of Darwin. The latter, in his work on “Cross and Self-Fertilisation of Plants,” gives the strongest evidence as to the beneficial influence of bees upon clover crops. At page 169, when speaking of the natural order of leguminous plants to which the clovers belong, he says, “The cross-seedlings have an enormous advantage over the self fertilised ones, when grown together in close competi- tion ;” and in Chapter X., page 361, he gives the following details of some experiments, which show the importance of the part played by bees in the process of cross-fertilisation :— “Trifolium repens (white clover).—Several plants were protected from insects, and the seeds from ten flower-heads on these plants and from ten heads on other plants growing outside the net (which I saw visited by bees) were counted, and the seeds from the latter plants were very nearly ten times as numerous as those from the protected plants. The experiment was repeated in the following year, and twenty protected heads now yielded only a single abortive seed, whilst twenty heads on the plants outside the net (which I saw visited by bees) yielded 2,290 seeds, as calculated by weighing all the seeds and counting the number in a weight of two grains. Trifolium pratense (purple clover).—One hundred flower-heads on plants protected by a net did not produce a single seed, whilst one hundred on plants growing outside, which were visited by bees, yielded sixty-eight grains weight of seeds; and as eighty seeds weighed two grains, the hundred heads must have yielded 2,720 seeds.” Here we have satisfactory proof that the effect of cross- fertilization, brought about by bees, upon the clovers and other BEE MANUAL. 299 plants growing in meadows and pasture lands, is the certain production of a large number of vigorous seeds, as compared with the chance only of a few and weak seeds if self-fertilization were to be depended upon. In the case of meadow cultivation it enables the farmer to raise seed for his own use or for sale instead of having to purchase it; while, at the same time, the nutritious quality of the hay is, as we shall see further on, improved during the process of ripening the seed. In the case of pasture lands, such of those vigorous seeds as are allowed to come to maturity and to fall in the field will send up plants of a stronger growth to take the place of others that may have died out, or to fill up hitherto unoccupied spaces, thus tending to cause a constant renewal and strengthening of the pasture. The agriculturist himself should be the best judge of the value of such effects. The beneficial effect of the bees’ visits to fruit trees has been well illustrated by Mr. Cheshire, in the pages of the British Bee Journal, and by Prof. Cook, in his article upon “ Honey Bees and Horticulture,” in the 4merican Apiculturist. In fact, even those who complain of bees cannot deny the services they render ; what they contest is the assertion that bees do no harm. CAN BEES HARM THE SOIL, OR THE CROPS ? Is then the question to be considered. The agriculturist may say, “ Granting that the visits of bees may be serviceable to me in the fertilisation of my fruit or my clover, how will you prove that I am not obliged to pay too high a price for such services?” For the answer to such a question one must fall back upon the researches of the agricultural chemist, which will furnish satisfactory evidence to establish the two following facts :—First, that saccharine matter, even when assimilated and retained within the body of a plant, is not one of the secretions of vegetable life which can in any way tend to exhaust the soil, being made up of constituents which are fur- nished everywhere in superabundance by the atmosphere and rain water, and not containing any of the mineral or organic substances supplied by the soil or by the manures used in agriculture; and secondly, that in the form in which it is appropriated by bees, either from the nectaries of flowers or as honeydew from the leaves, it no longer constitutes a part of 300 AUSTRALASIAN the plant, but isin fact an excrement, thrown off as superfluous, which, if not collected by the bee and by its means made available for the use of man, would either be devoured by other insects, which do not store honey, or be resolved into its original elements and dissipated in the air. The foregoing statements can be supported by reference to authorities which can leave no doubt as to their correctness, namely, Sir Humphrey Davy in his “ Elements of Agricultural Chemistry,” written more than fifty years ago, and Professor Liebig in his “ Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology,” written some ten years later, and the English version of which is edited by Dr. Lyon Playfair and Professor Gregory. These works, which may be said to form the foun- dation of a rational system of agriculture, were written with that object alone in view, and the passages about to be quoted were not intended to support any theory in favour of bee culture or otherwise ; they deal simply with scientific truths which the layman can safely follow and accept as true upon such unde- niable authority, although he may be incapable himself of following up the processes which have led to their discovery or which prove their correctness. SACCHARINE MATTER OF PLANTS NOT DERIVED FROM THE SOIL, Liebig, when describing the chemical processes connected with the nutrition of plants, informs us (at page 4*) that— ‘There are two great classes into which all vegetable products may be arranged. The first of these contain nitrogen; in the last this element is absent. The compounds destitute of nitrogen may be divided into those in which oxygen form a constituent (starch, lig- nine, &c.), and those into which it does not enter (oils of turpentine and lemon, &c.).” And at page 141 that “‘ Sugar and starch do not contain nitrogen ; they exist in the plants in a free state, and are never combined with salts or with alkaline bases They are compounds formed from the carbon of the carbonic acid and the elements of water (oxygen and hydrogen).” * The edition to which reference is made is the fourth, published 1847. BEE MANUAL. 301 Sir Humphrey Davy had already stated that, ‘ according to the latest experiments of Guy Lussac and Thenard, sugar consists of 42°47 per cent. of carbon and 57:23 per cent. of water and its constituents.” Now Liebig, in several parts of his work, shows that the carbon in sugar and all vegetable products is obtained from carbonic acid in the atmosphere ; and that “ plants do not ex- haust the carbon of the soil in the normal condition of their growth ; on the contrary, they add to its quantity.” DERIVED FROM THE ATMOSPHERE AND RAIN WATER. The same authority shows (as we have already stated in Chap. IV.) that the oxygen and hydrogen in these products are derived from the atmosphere and from rain water; and that it is only the products containing nitrogen (such as gluten or albumen in the seeds or grains), and those containing mineral matter (silex, lime, aluminium, &c.), which take away from the soil those substances that are required to be returned to itin the shape of manures. The saccharine matter, once it is secreted by the plant and separated from it, is even useless asa manure. Liebig says on this head, page 21 :— “‘The most important function in the life of plants, or, in other words in their assimilation of carbon, is the separation, we might almost say the generation of oxygen. No matter can be considered as nutritious, or as necessary to the growth of plants, which possesses a composition either similar to or identical with theirs; because the assimilation of such a substance could be effected without the exercise of this function. The reverse is the case in the nutrition of animals. Hence such sub- stances as sugar, starch, and gum, themselves the products of plants, cannot be adapted for assimilation; and this is rendered certain by the experiments of vegetable physiologists, who have shown that aqueous solutions of these bodies are imbibed by the roots of plants, and carried to all parts of their structure, but are not assimilated ; they cannot, therefore, be employed in their nutrition.” NECTAR OF PLANTS INTENDED TO ATTRACT INSECTS. The secretion of saccharine matter in the nectaries of flowers is shown to be one of the normal functions of the plant, taking place at the season when it is desirable to attract the visits of insects for the purposes of its fertilisation. It may then be fairly asserted, that the insect, when it carries off the honey from any blossom it has visited, is merely taking with it the fee or reward provided by nature for that special service. 302 AUSTRALASIAN SOMETIMES THROWN OFF AS SUPERFLUOUS. There are, however, occasions when considerable quantities of such matter are thrown off, or exuded by the leaves, which effect is taken to indicate an abnormal or unhealthy condition of the plant. At pages 106 and 107 of Liebig’s book (speaking of an experiment made to induce the rising sap of a maple tree to dissolve raw sugar applied through a hole cut in the bark) he shows (in a passage already quoted at page 86) that, ‘‘ When a sufficient quantity of nitrogen is not present to aid in the assimilation of the substances destitute of it, these substances will be separated as excrements from the bark, roots, leaves, and branches.” In a note to this last paragraph we are told that “ Langlois has lately observed, during the dry summer of 1842, that the leaves of the linden tree became covered with a thick and sweet: liquid in such quantities that for several hours of the day it ran off the leaves like drops of rain. Many kilogrammes might have been collected from a moderate-sized linden tree.” And further on, at page 141, he says :— ‘‘In a hot summer, when the deficiency of moisture prevents the absorption of alkalies, we observe the leaves of the lime tree, and of other trees, covered with a thick liquid containing a large quantity of sugar ; the carbon of the sugar must, without doubt, be obtained from the carbonic acid of the air. The generation of the sugar takes place in the leaves ; and all the constituents of the leaves, including the alkalies and alkaline earths, must participate in effecting its formation. Sugar does not exude from the leaves-in moist seasons ; and this leads us to conjecture that the carbon which appeared as sugar in the former case would have been applied in the formation of other constituents of the tree, in the event of its having had a free and unimpeded circulation.” These quotations will probably be considered sufficient to justify the assertion that the gathering of the honey from plants can in no possible way tend to exhaust the soil, or affect its fertility. There is no difference of opinion amongst scien- tific men as to the sources from which the saccharine matter of plants is derived. Since Liebig first put forward his views on that subject, as well as with regard to the sources from which the plants derive their nitrogen, the principles of agricultural BEE MANUAL. 303 chemistry have been studied by the most eminent chemists, some of whom combatted the views of Liebig on this latter point (the source of nitrogen and its compounds), and Liebig himself seems to have modified his views on that point ; but there has been no difference of opinion about the saccharine matter, as to which Liebig’s doctrine will be found given unaltered in the latest colonial work on the subject, Maclvor’s “Chemistry of Agriculture,” published at Melbourne a few years ago. SUPERFLUOUS NECTAR EVAPORATED IF NOT TAKEN BY INSECTS. That the nutritive quality of the plants in any growing crop is not diminished by the abstraction of honey from their blos- soms would appear to be evident from the fact already referred to, that those plants have actually thrown off the honey from the superfluity of their saccharine juices, as a matter which they could no longer assimilate. There would appear, on the other hand, to be good reason to believe that the plants them- selves become daily more nutritive during the period of their giving off honey, that is, from the time of flowering to that of ripening their seeds. This is a point upon which, I believe, all agricultural chemists are not quite agreed, but the testimony of Sir H. Davy is very strong in favour of it. In the appendix to his work already quoted, he gives the results of experiments made conjointly by himself and Mr Sinclair, the gardener to the Duke of Bedford, upon nearly one hundred different varieties of grasses and clovers. These were grown carefully in small plots of ground as nearly as possible equal in size and quality ; equal weights of the dried produce of each, cut at different periods, especially at the time of flowering and at that of ripened seeds, were “acted upon by hot water till all their soluble parts were dissolved; the solution was then evaporated to dryness by a gentle heat in a proper stove, and the matter obtained carefully weighed, and the dry extract, supposed to contain the nutritive matter of the plants, were sent for chemical analysis.” Sir H. Davy adds his opinion that this “ mode of determining the nutritive power of grasses, is sufficiently accurate for all the purposes of agricultural in- vestigation.” Further on he reports, “In comparing the com- 304 AUSTRALASIAN positions of the soluble products afforded by different crops from the same grass, I found in all the trials I made, the largest quantity of truly nutritive matter in the crop cut when the seed was ripe, and the least bitter extract and saline matter, and the most saccharine matter, in proportion to the other ingredients, in the crop cut at the time of flowering.” In the instance which he then gives, as au example, the crop cut when the seed had ripened showed nine per cent. less of sugar, but eighteen per cent. more of mucilage and what he terms “truly nutritive matter” than the crop cut at the time of flowering. From this it would follow, that during the time a plant is in blossom and throwing off a superfiuity of saccharine matter in the shape of honey, the assimilation of true nutritive matter in the plant itself is progressing most favourably. In any case it is clear that the honey, being once exuded, may be taken away by bees or any other insects (as it is evidently intended to be taken) without any injury to the plant, by which it certainly cannot be again taken up, but must be evaporated if left ex- posed to the sun’s heat. QUESTION AS TO GRAZING STOCK. There is, however, a plea put in by the agriculturist on behalf of his grazing stock, and one which he generally seems to consider unanswerable. He says, ‘“‘ Even if it be admitted that the removal of the honey from my farm is neither exhaust- ing to the soil nor injurious to the plants of the standing crops, still it is so much fattening matter, which might be consumed by my stock, if it had not been pilfered by the bees.” Now it may at once be admitted that honey consists, to a great extent, of fattening matter, though it may be allowable to doubt whether, in that particular form, it is exactly suitable as food for grazing cattle. Although it is quite true that the saccharine matter assimilated in the body of a plant tends to the formation of fat in the animal which eats and digests that plant, still one may question the propriety of feeding the same animal on pure honey or sugar. We may, however, waive that view of the subject, as we shall shortly see that itis only a question of such homceopathically small doses as would not be likely to interfere with the digestion of the most delicate grazing animal, any more than they would considerably increase its BEE MANUAL. 305 weight. Admitting, therefore, that every pound of honey of which the grazing stock are deprived by bees is a loss to the farmer, and therefore to be looked upon as a set-off, to that extent, against the benefits conferred by the bees in other ways, it will be necessary to consider to what extent it is possible that such loss may be occasioned. QUANTITY OF HONEY FURNISHED BY PASTURE LANDS, In the first plave it must be recollected that a large propor- tion—in some cases the great bulk—of the honey gathered by bees is obtained from trees, as, for instance, the linden in Europe, the basswood and maple in America, and in this coun- try the forest trees, nearly all of which supply rich forage for the bee, and everywhere from fruit trees in orchards. A large quantity is gathered from flowers and flowering shrubs reared in gardens—from clover and other plants grown for hay, and not for pasture ; and even in the field there are many shrubs and flowering plants which yield honey, but which are never eaten by cattle. Pastures therefore form but a small part of the sources from which honey is obtained ; and in dealing with this grazing question we have to confine our inquiries to clovers and other flowering plants grown in open pastures, and such as constitute the ordinary food of grazing stock. In order to meet the question in the most direct manner, however, let us assume the extreme case of a large apiary being placed in a district where there is nothing else but such open pastures, and grow- ing only such flowering plants as are generally eaten by stock. Now, the ordinary working range of the bee may be taken at a mile and a half from the apiary on all sides, which gives an area of about 4,500 acres for the supply of the apiary; and if the latter consists of a hundred hives, producing an average of a hundred pounds of honey, there would be a little more than two pounds of honey collected off each acre in the year ; or if we suppose so many as two hundred hives to be kept at one place, and to produce so much as ten tons of honey in the season, the quantity collected from each acre would be four to five pounds. PROPORTION POSSIBLY CONSUMED BY STOCK. Let us next consider what proportion of those few pounds of honey could have found its way into the stomachs of the Vv 306 AUSTRALASIAN grazing stock if it had not been for the bees. It is known that during the whole time the clover or other plants remain in blossom, if the weather be favourable, there is a daily secretion of fresh honey, which, if not taken at the proper time by bees or other insects, is evaporated during the mid-day heat of tle sun. It has been calculated that a head of clover consists of 50 or 60 separate flowers, each of which contains a quantity not exceeding 1-500th part of a grain in weight, so that the whole head may be taken to contain one-tenth of a grain of honey at any one time. If this head of clover is allowed to stand until the seeds are ripened it may be visited on ten or even twenty different days by bees, and they may gather on the whole one, or even two grains of honey from the same head, whereas it is plain that the grazing animal can only eat the head once, au consequently can only eat one-tenth of a grain of honey with it. Whether he gets that one-tenth grain or not depends simply on the fact, whether or not the bees have ex- hausted that particular head on the same day just before it was eaten Now, cattle and sheep graze during the night and early morning, long before the bees make their appearance some time after sunrise ; all the flowering plants they happen to, eat during that time will contain the honey secreted in the evening and night time ; during some hours of the afternoon the flowers will contain no honey, whether they may have been visited by bees or not ; and even during the forenoon, when the bees are most busy, it is by no means certain that they will forestall the stock in visiting any particular flower. If a field were so overstocked that every head of clover should be devoured as- soon as it blossomed, then, of course, there would be nothing left for the bees, but if, on the other hand, as is generally the case, there are always blossoms left standing in the pasture, some of them even till they wither and shed their seeds, then it must often happen that after bees shall have visited such blossoms ten or even twenty times, and thus ccllected one or even two grains of honey from one head, the grazing animal may, after all, eat that particular plant and enjoy his one-tenth of a grain of honey just as well as if there had never been any bees in the field. _If all these chances be taken into account, it will he evident that out of the four or five pounds of honey assumed to be collected ty bees from one acre of pasturage, probably not one-tenth, and possibly not even one-twentieth, BEE MANUAL, 307 part could, under any circumstances, have been consumed by the grazing animals—so that it becomes a question of a few ounces of fattening matter, more or less, for all the stock fed upon an acre during the whole season ; a matter so ridiculously trivial in itself, and so ous of all proportion to the services rendered to the pasture by the bees, that it may safely be left out of consideration altogether, BEE-KEEPING AS A BRANCH OF FARMING. There is still one point which may possibly be raised by the agriculturist or land-owner: “If the working of bees is so beneficial to my crops, and if such a large quantity of valuable matter may be taken, in addition to the ordinary crops, without impoverishing my land, why should I not take it instead of another person who has by right no interest in my crop or my land?” The answer to this is obvious. It is, of course, quite open to the agriculturist to keep any number of bees he may think fit; only he must consider well in how far it will pay him to add the care of an apiary to his other duties. No doubt every one farming land may, with advantage, keep a few stands of hives to supply his own wants in honey; the care of them will not take up too much of his time, or interfere much with his other labours; but if he starts a large apiary with the expectation that it shall pay for itself, he must either give up the greater portion of his own time to it, or employ skilled labour for that special purpose; and he must recollect that the profits of bee-keeping are not generally so large as to afford more than a fair remuneration for the capital, skill, and time required to be devoted to the pursuit. In any case, he cannot confine the bees to work exclusively on his own pro- perty, unless the latter is very extensive. When such is the case, he may find it greatly to his advantage to establish one or more apiaries to be worked under proper management, as a separate branch of his undertaking ; but in every case, whether he may incur or share the risks of profit and loss in working an apiary or not, the thing itself can only be a source of unmixed advantage to his agricultural operations, and con- sequently, if he does not ocucpy the ground in that way himself, he should only be glad to see it done by any other person. 308 AUSTRALASIAN CHAPTER XX. USES OF HONEY IN FOOD—DRINKS—MANUFAC- TURES—MEDICINE. In Chapter I. the great antiquity and universality of the use of honey has been dwelt upon with a view to impress upon the reader its importance as one of those gifts of nature so evidently intended by a bountiful Providence for the use and benefit of man; in this chapter it is proposed to glance at the variety of uses to which it is, or may be, applied at the present day, with the object of turning the attention of the bee-keeper to the practical question of developing a market for his produce. HONEY AS FOOD. Of the ordinary use of honey as a condiment for the break- fast or tea table it is unnecessary to say much; every one knows, and has known since his childhood, the enticing ap- pearance of the luscious sweet in its delicate white comb—the aroma and the delicious flavour, so different from most other sweets; and of late years people are becoming accustomed to appreciate also tle pure honey, separated from its comb (with- out any unappetising process of squeezing through cloths), and served either in its clear liquid state or in a thick granulated condition which is now gradually gaining favour with hone eaters. It is probable that the greater portion of all the honey now produced is consumed in this way— either as comb honey or in its extracted state, but still it has not reached the tables of the hundredth part of those who could afford to use it as a cheap luxury, if it were as generally produced as it might easily be, and brought within easy reach of all consumers at reasonable prices. It is capable of being made not only a cheap luxury, but a really economical article of food, for those to whom strict economy is a necessity. Under proper arrangements it BEE MANUAL. 309 can be placed on the table, as extracted honey, at half or less than half the price, weight for weight, of ordinary butter, and might with decided advantage be used as a substitute for some portions of that admittedly desirable and wholesome article of consumption. Dr. W. G Phelps, writing lately in an Ameri- can paper (the Practical Farmer) says on this point :— ‘Honey can really no longer be considered one of the mere luxuries of life. For the poor it has become a cheap and wholesome sub- stitute for the too frequently impure butter. Millions of pounds are to-day consumed by rich and poor alike, where ten or fifteen years since but a few thousands were used. The severe stab which the manufacturer of the miserable glucose has received is due to a great extent to this production of extracted honey. This being the pure article, and produced even at a profit for ten cents (five pence) per pound, has virtually gained the mastery in competition with the above ‘falsely so-named cheap sweet.’” FOR DOMESTIC COOKERY. But in addition to this well-known use of honey it can be used with the greatest advantage in a hundred different ways in domestic cookery. Mr. Newman, in his “ Bees and Honey,” remarks: “The use of honey instead of sugar for almost every kind of cooking is as pleasant for the palate as it is healthy for the stomach.” And again: “In fact, honey may replace sugar as an ingredient in the cooking of almost any article of food, and at the same time greatly add to its relish.” At the end of this chapter will be found a few of the recipes usually given for honey-cakes of different kinds. FOR PRESERVING FRUIT. Honey is an excellent medium for stewing peaches or other fresh fruits for table use, or for fruit pies; and it is also strongly recommended for preserving fruits of all kinds. Dr. Phelps, already quoted above, says :— “Used instead of sugar for preserving raspberries and other fruits, I know of nothing its equal, as to many such compounds it imparts a peculiarly delicious flavour.” And Mr. Newman observes :— ‘Well purified honey has the quality of preserving, for a long time in a fresh state, anything that may be laid in it or mixed with it, 310 AUSTRALASIAN and preventing its corrupting in a far superior manner to sugar ; thus many species of fruit may be preserved by being laid in honey, and by this means will obtain a pleasant taste, and give to the stomach a healthy tone. One who has once tried it will not use sugar for pre- serving fruit.” MODERATION IN USE, There is no doubt honey, like everything else, may be abused as well as used. Dr. Phelps remarks :— ‘‘ Honey in its purity is a God-given sweet, and in its proper use is conducive to health and strength. Indulged in immoderately, and only then at rare intervals, it may, like many other excellent articles of food, provoke an attack of colic or indigestion. Used however fre- quently, and in connection with other food, it has a tendency to produce pure blood and give tone to the human system.” This is no more than might be expected, and something of the same sort has been said a Icng time ago. Solomon, though describing honey as something which is “sweet to the soul, and health to the bones,” does not omit to warn against its excessive use, as in Proverbs xxv. 16, ‘‘ Hast thou found honey, eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled there- with and vomit it.” And again in verse 27, “It is not good to eat much honey, etc.” There are besides some people of exceptional constitutions who cannot with impunity eat even in moderation any of the purest honey, but such cases are very rare. Referring to them, Dr. Phelps says: “To the rare individual for whom the temperate use of honey may produce functional disorders, I would say try heating honey before using it, and see if all such trouble is not remedied.” Perhaps however it would be wiser for such persons to abstain altogether from the use of honey.’ DELETERIOUS HONEY. As to some particular kinds of honey which are found to be deleterious, if not absolutely poisonous, and which have been referred to in Chapter IV., it is of course the duty of every beekeeper to see that no such article finds its way into the market from his apiary. His braud should be a guarantee for purity in this respect as well as in all others. ‘The cases are indeed exceedingly rare in which it can be truly asserted that the pure honey itself is in any degree deleterious. When dis- BEE MANUAL. 311 agreeable results sometimes arise from partaking of such honey, it is much more likely to be caused by some portion of pollen or bee bread, or even propolis taken perhaps in old parts of the comb, and it is quite possible that even in such cases, if the honey could be cleanly extracted, it would be found by itself to be quite harmless. ‘The only instance at present known of honey gathered in New Zealand being suspected of injuring either bee or man, is that obtained from the Wharangi shrub —and even in that case it is by no means proved that the evil lies in the honey itselfi—and as that shrub only blossoms in a few places where it is well known, and only for a short time, and not in the season of the regular honey harvest, there is very little chance of its becoming even mixed with the surplus honey of an apiary. At all events it can scarcely be stored without attracting the attention of the beekeeper, as its first effects are shuwn upon the bees themselves, who are to be seen lying stupefied, as it were, about their hive, though they seem mostly to recover soon from these attacks. Heretofsre I have only referred to what may be termed the domestic consumption of honey. It is used besides in the pre- paration of certain articles of human consumption, upon so large a scale as to be more properly noticed further on under the head of manufactures. FERMENTED DRINKS. Mead and metheglin are two names meaning nearly the same thing, and derived, no doubt, from the same root, which may be traced through a great number of the most ancient languages, thus showing the antiquity and the general use of the article designated, which is simply a fermented drink, made chiefly from honey. Methw is wine in the Greek, as is medo in the Zend, or ancient Persian, and madia in Sanscrit. When we come to the less ancient nations of the north and west of Europe, who did not enjoy originally the juice of the grape, but made their first fermented drink from honey, we find the Teutons called that liquor meth; the Saxons, medo or medu, the Gaels in Wales, mez, and in Ireland and Scotland, miodh or meadh. These words were evidently all intended to mean a “wine,” or strong drink, made from honey. The Russians seem to have adopted the name for honey itself, which with 312 AUSTRALASIAN them is med or meda. The name metheglin seems to be pecu- liarly Welsh ; mezyglin, derived, according to Owen, “from mezyg, a physician, and Ulyn, water,—a medicinal liquor.” But we must recollect that mead in the same language is Bez. Mr. Harris, the author of “The Honey Bee,” who seems to have turned his attention to the history of honey drinks in Britain, says, “Properly speaking, the word Betheglin was applied to the superior sorts of mead, the two beverages being related much in the same way as effervescing cider and the ordinary draught cider.” He tells us that the manufacture of mead was considered of such importance, that the brewer of that beverage for former princes of Wales was the physician of the household, and ranked eleventh in point of dignity; that Athelstan, when king of Kent, is recorded to have expressed his satisfaction that “ there was no stint of mead” when he paid a visit to his relative Aethelfleda; and that, ‘according to an antique rule of the Welsh court, there were ‘three things which must be communicated to the king before they were imparted to any other person : first, every sentence of the judge ; second, every new song; and third, every cask of mead.’” Mr. Harris also gives us the recipe according to which the mead was made every year for Queen Elizabeth, who was, it appears, very fond of that beverage. It will be found amongst the recipes at the end of this chapter. There appears to be no sufficient reason why the making of mead should have been given up, except that the great increase of population, without a corresponding increase in the produc- tion of honey, rendered it impossible to supply the requisite quantity of such drinks, and brought into fashion the use of beer and ale, which can be manufactured in any quantities from malted grain. It is nevertheless indisputable that mead continued in great favour, as Mr. Harris remarks, long after the introduction of malt liquors, and it is probable that it only ultimately gave way to foreign wines and to more potent, but less wholesome, distilled snirits. Considering the increased supply and reduced price of ex- tracted honey at the present day, there is no reason why the taste should not be revived, and some portion at least of the beverages now in common use be replaced, probably with ad- vantage in a sanitary point of view, by drinks prepared from honey. For home use in country places where bees are kept, BEE MANUAL. 313 or where honey can be cheaply obtained in the immediate neighbourhood, such drinks are sure to come into favour. Annexed will be found several recipes for the preparation of a variety of beverages, varying in strength from a light summer drink, like ginger-beer, to the potent miodomel of the monks of Tokal. MANUFACTURES. The chief purposes for which honey is used in such large quantities as may be considered to bring the operations under the head of manufacturing industry, are beer brewing, liqueur and vinegar making, confectionery, biscuit making, and fancy soap making. As regards the use of honey in beer breweries, an American writer, Mr. G. W. House, says :— ‘*Grape sugar is now largely used in the manufacture of beer. Ina conversation with a prominent brewer of Brooklyn, who is now using dark extracted honey in place of grape-sugar, he said ‘that the honey could be used at eleven cents (fivepence-halfpenny) per pound, and be cheaper than grape-sugar, besides making a beer that could not be excelled in purity and healthfulness.’ If bee-keepers will go to a little trouble, they can establish a trade in this line that would demand more honey than is now produced.” There can be little doubt that brewers in all parts of the world, where they find they can get a sufficient supply of honey at a reasonable rate, will be glad to follow the advice of their American colleague, or at least to give the system of manufac- ture a fair trial. Great quantities of honey are required for the manufacture of liqueurs, vinegar, and for confections of various sorts. Some fancy confectioners, or sugar bakers’ establishments, use up as much as ten to twenty tons of honey each in a year. A large demand has lately arisen for fine honey to be employed in the manufacture of biscuits. In May, 1884, it was announced in the British Bee Jowrnal that Messrs. Huntley and Palmer, the well-known firm of biscuit manufacturers, of Reading, were prepared to contract for a supply of twou tons of honey per week, or one hundred tons at the end of the season, for the manufacture of honey biscuits. There are other extensive biscuit makers who may be expected to follow this example, though, probable, not upon so large a scale. Honey 314 AUSTRALASIAN is also used in the preparation of honey soap, and probably in some other branches of manufactures. HONEY AS MEDICINE. Gibbon, the historian, remarks of the ancient Greeks, and especially the Athenians, “ They taught that health might be preserved, and life prolonged, by the external use of oil, and internal use of honey.” Physicians have continued to use honey, more or less, in all ages up to the present time, both as a medicine and as a medium for administering some drugs. Mr. Newman, who has collected much information with regard to the uses of honey in his work, ‘‘ Bees and Honey,” gives the following quotation from a pamphlet by Herr Karl Gatter, a German teacher, and editor of the Bienenvater, at Vienna, who considers that his own life was saved by the use of honey for the cure of diseased throat and lungs :— ‘*Tn medicine, and especially in the healing of wounds, was honey, already in early times, used as a universal remedy ; it yet constitutes the principal ingredient of several medical preparations, is used with the best results in many internal and external diseases, serves as a means for taking powders, for the preparation of salves, and the sweetening of medicine. ‘*Honey mollifies ; promotes festering; causes gentle purging, divides and dissolves, warms, nourishes, stops pains, strengthens the tone of the stomach, carries away all superfluous moisture, aids diges- tion, thins and purifies the blood, and animates and strengthens the breast, nerves and lungs. Honey is therefore to be used when suffering from cough, hoarseness, stoppage of the lungs, shortness of breath, and especially with the best results in all affections of the chest. ‘* Many persons afflicted with various species of consumption, thank the use of good honey, either for their entire restoration to health, or for the mitigation of their often painful condition of body and mind. ‘¢ Honey is also an excellent remedy for the occasional inactivity of the abdominal organs, and a means of strengthening weak nerves. For severe coughing, barley-water mixed with honey and the juice of lemons, drank warm, is a pleasant relief. It appeases and mitigates fevers, and owing to its taste and its soothing qualities, it is used as a gargle. : “ Honey can also be used with advantage in asthma, in constipation, in sore throat ; promotes perspiration, lessens phlegm, and is very healing to the chest, sore from coughing. ‘‘With old persons the use of honey is very useful, since it produces warmth and a certain activity of the skin. For persons leading a sedentary life, and suffering from costiveness, and especially from piles, pure unadulterated honey, either mixed in their drink, used alone, or on bread, is the best and healthiest means of relief. BEE MANUAL. 315 ‘‘Honey has also great value as a medicine for children, and is readily partaken of by thom as a choice dainty dish. It is especially useful to children attlicted with scrofula or rickets. In difficult teething, rub the gums with a mixture of honey and an emulsion of quinces. For the removing of worms, lioney has often been beneticially used, and it is often used in diseases of the mouth and throat. ‘* Honey mixed with flour and spread on linen or leather is a simple remedy for bringing to head, or to maturity, boils, &e. Also, honey mixed with flour or fried onions, serves an excellent purpose as a covering for any hard swelling or callosity or abscess; and for ulcers it is often mixed with turpentine, tar, and tincture of myrrh. A plaster made of unslaked lime and honey has sometimes relieved most obstinate sciatica. ‘Tf good honey is applied to inflamed wounds or boils, it lessens the drawing, quiets the pain and produces a good festering or suppuration. Undoubtedly, for all wounds, pustulous inflammations, bruisesand bad festerings, honey is the best and most reliable remedy, and affords quicker and safer help than all other known plasters ; all that is needed is to spread it rather thick on a piece of linen, place it upon the fresh wound, bind it fast, and renew the plaster every four or five hours. Of course, if bones are broken, surgical aid must be had. ‘‘ Honey-dough—arto mele—a plaster made out of honey and rye flour or rye bread, into which henbane or other narcotic substances is mixed, is an excellent means of irritation ; which should be used in festering and bringing the sore to a head, and assuage the drawing and pain. It should be warmed, spread on a piece of linen and placed upon the sore part. ‘« For persons who are weakened through fast living, honey is, of all helps, the best nourishment, since it not only removes the poisons in the system, but also through its virtues strengthens the system ; hence it has made itself so necessary to the inhabitants of the Urient.” a onan RECIPES. HONEY CAKES. In Germany “Honig Kuchen” or honey cake, is quite an institution. The booths exhibiting this article in all its varieties form one of the most characteristic features of the German Kirmesses or Fairs, which are -held periodically in most of the towns, as well as at the Schutsen Fests and all similar public festivities. Some of the following recipes taken from Mr. Newman’s book no doubt represent the articles ex- posed for sale on such occasions :— Hampure Honey Caxz.-— The flour intended for this cake should be well dried and sifted before being weighed; then take twelve pounds of flour and twelve pounds of honey; bring the honey toa 316 AUSTRALASIAN boiling heat, pour it in the flour, and mix thoroughly. Dissolve two and a half ounces of pearlash in two gills of rose-water, the evening before ; take one pound of butter or lard, two tablespoonsful of West India rum, the grated rind of two lemons, the candied or sugar-coated rind of two oranges, and.a very small quantity of pounded cloves. The solution of pearlash is to be added when the dough has become cool, and the mass must be thoroughly kneaded. The dough may be prepared several days in advance of the baking. Howry Brown Caxu.—To four pounds of flour take four pounds of honey, one half pound of pulverized loaf or lump sugar, one-half ounce of Canella, three ounces of lard, a small quantity of cloves, one ounce of pearlash, one gill of rose-water, and two spoonsful of rum or French brandy. The honey and lard are to be incorporated by boiling, and when again cooled off, add the pearlash previously dissolved in the rose water. Knead the mass well, let it stand for several days, and then work it over again very thoroughly. Some persons prefer to omit the cloves, and substitute for them pounded cardamon seeds, grated lemon peel, or sugar-coated orange peel. Honey Appie Caxes.—Soak three cups of dried apples over night ; chop slightly, and simmer in two coffee cups of honey for two hours, then add one-and-a-half coffee cups of honey, one-half coffee cup of © sugar, one coffee cup of melted butter, three eggs, two teaspoonsful of saleratus ; cloves, cinnamon, powdered lemon or orange peel, and ginger syrup, if you have it. Mix all together, add the apples and then flour enough for a stiff batter. Bake in aslow oven. This will make two good-sized cakes. Honey Fruit Caxz.—Four egge, 5 cups of flour, 2 cups of honey, 1 teacupful butter, 1 cup sweet milk, 2 teaspoonsful cream of tartar, 1 teaspoonful soda, llb. raisins, 1llb. currants, 4$lb. citron, 1 tea- spoonful each cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg ; bake in a large loaf in a of oven. This will be nice months after baking as well as when resh, MEAD, METHEGLIN, MIODOMEL, Merap—QUEEN ExizaBEetTH’s Recire.—Take of sweetbriar leaves and thyme each one bushel, rosemary half a bushel, bay leaves one peck. Seethe these ingredients in a furnace full of water (containing probably not less than 120 gallons), boil for half an hour ; pour the whole into a vat, and when cooled to a proper temperature (about 75° Fahr.), strain. Add to every six gallons of the strained liquor a gallon of fine honey, and work the mixture together for half an hour. Repeat the stirring occasionally for two days; then boil the liquor afresh, skim it till it becomes clear, and return it to the vat to cool. When reduced again toa proper temperature (about 80° Fahr.) pour it into a vessel from which fresh ale or beer has just been emptied ; let it work for three days, and then barrel it. When fit (after fermentation) to be stopped down, tie up a bag of beaten cloves and mace (half an ounce of each), and suspend it in the liquor from the bunghole. When it has stood for half a year, it will be fit for use.—Harris’s Honey Bee. BEE MANUAL. 317 METHEGLIN.—Mix honey and water strong enough to carry an egg ; let it stand three or four weeks in a warm place to ferment; then strain through a cloth and add some spices to suit the taste. [Nors. In working on this recipe we find 3lb to 4lb of honey to the gallon of water is sufficient. About a teaspoonful of powdered ginger and half as much allspice to each gallon. The bottles require to be well corked as the liquor is as effervescent as champagne. ] Sack Mrap.—To each gallon of water add 6lbs. of honey, and also the white of an egg, and the shell broken up. Boil this mixture until the scum has all been cleared off, then add one ounce of hops to the gallon, and boil slowly for one hour. Strain away the hops, and when new-milk warm add a small quantity of yeast on a toast ; let it stand a couple of days, and then put it into a barrel, which should only have been used previously, if at all, for white wine. Skim off any yeast that rises before being put into the barrel. Let the mead stand two years before bottling, and then when bottled it will keep for any length of time, and the colour will deepen with age. MrovomeE.. —The following recipe is from the prior of the celebrated stronghold of Tokal, situated on the banks of the Bug, built in the thirteenth century, asa security against the invasion of the Tartars and Muscovites. This monastery enjoys a widely spread fame, through its miraculous Holy Virgin, and still more through its excellent miodomel. To twenty-four gallons of water put twelve gallons of honey, and 12lbs. Lops ; boil them together over a very slow fire, till the whole is reduced one-third. Care must be taken that the fire be not too strong, yet the heat must increase gradually ; from a sudden and excessive heat, a burnt taste will be communicated to it. From the boiler empty it into a large tub or barrel, which must be deposited ina warm place during eight days to undergo fermentation, afterward filter through a wooden filter into a barrel, and place in a cellar for use; the older it is the better and stronger it becomes. After twelve months it may be bottled and kept for years. The peasantry gene- rally keep it in barrels, where it is preserved as well as in bottles. Half a pint of good old miodomel taken every second night before going to bed, improves—and even restores to the stomach—the power of digestion ; but if the miodomel be very old, say from ten years upwards, a wine-glassful is quite sufficient and more effective. It is also good in cases of gout and rheumatism. Fruit Wine with Honry.—Take ten pints and a half of ripe fruit, which may be either gooseberries, currants, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, cherries, plums, or sloes ; pound them in twenty-one pints of water, let them steep for four days, and then pour off the liquid. Press the skins between the hands and add twenty-one pints of water ; let it stand six hours, squeeze the skins hard, pour off the liquid and throw away the refuse. Mix the two liquids together ; add 9lbs. of honey, mix well, put into a cask, which must be entirely filled, and place it where the temperature is from 59° to 68° Fahr. The liquid will soon ferment and work out of the bunghole, which should be left open. The cask should be constantly filled up with some of the diluted juice reserved for that purpose, and when fermentation has nearly ceased 318 AUSTRALASIAN the cask may be securely bunged up. It has a particular aroma, be- coming better as it grows older, and is more valuable as a drink than most wines sold by merchants. Wine Mrap.—To make mead, not inferior to the best foreign wines, put 3lbs. of the finest honey to two gallons of water, two lemon peels to each gallon ; boil it one half hour, and skim well. Put in the lemon peel while boiling. Work this mixture with yeast, and then put it in a vessel to stand five or six months; then bottle for use. If you choose to keep it several years, add 4lbs of honey to a gallon of water, LIGHT BEVERAGES. Cursar Harvest Drinx.—To those engaged in harvesting and other occupations tending to create thirst, we recommend the following preparation, which makes a very palatable: and healthful drink in hot weather :—Take 12 gallons of water, 20lbs. of honey, and 6 eggs, using the whites only. Let these boil one hour ; then add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, mace, and a little rosemary. When cold, add one spoonful of yeast from the brewer. Stir it well, and in 24 hours it will be good, Honrty Mrav.—Take three gallons of water of blood warmth, three half-pints of honey, two-thirds of a tablespoonful of ginger; one-third of a tablespoonful of allspice, and mix well together with a gill of yeast; let it stand over night, and bottle next morning. It will be in good condition to drink in 24 hours, Hyprome..—This is a very nice drink and easily made. For Illbs, of honey take from 26 to 52 pints of water, according to the strength you wish to give the drink ; boil in a copper saucepan for an hour or two on a moderate fire ; take off the scum assoon as it forms. Remove from the fire, let it cool, and pour it into a clean barrel, which must be quite filled, and place it with the bung-hole open in a dry, wholesome place, having a temperature from 60° to 66° Fahr. At the end of two or three days fermentation takes place. If long in fermenting adda little yeast ; it will be active enough in afew days. Take care to fill the cask out of a bottle previously filled forthat purpose. In a month or six weeks the cask may be closed and putin a cellar. The liquid clears and is soon fit to drink. : MEDICINAL. Honey Garcie (Consumptive Hospital recipe for sore throat),— Borax, 1 drachm ; honey, 2 drachms; water, 4 ounces. Mix, Honey Paste (pate au miel), for chaps, etc.—Clarified honey and cold cream, equal parts, rubbed smooth together. Honey anpD Borax, for sores in children’s mouths. — Dissolve 1 ounce of borax in 1 ounce of glycerine, and then add 6 ounces clarified honey. To CLarntiry Honry.—Melt in a water bath (z.e., place a vessel con- taining honey in a saucepan of water and heat), and strain while hot through flannel previously moistened with warm water. BEE MANUAL. 319 For Astuma honey is an excellent remedy. Mix 1 ounce of castor oil with 4 ounces of honey. Take one tablespoonful night and morn- ing. A simple and beneficial remedy. One of the best uses that honey can be put to medicinally is in cases of sore and inflamed eyes. There are numerous reports of late in the bee journals from people who, after suffering for some time with these complaints, and trying many remedies without getting relief, have been cured by using honey wash. Honey Eye Wasi, for sore or inflamed eyes.—One part of honey to five parts of water. Mix, and bathe the lids, putting a few drops into the eye two or three times a day until well. Honey also makes excellent vinegar. The washings of the extractor, cappings, or vessels that are used for honey, that otherwise would be wasted, will do for this purpose. About 3 or 4 poundsare sufficient for 5 gallons. Putin acask and stand in the sun. Makes splendid pickling vinegar. These recipes have been taken from various sources and may be relied upon, many of them having been tried by myself. PROVERB. ‘¢ PLEASANT WORDS ARE AS AN HONEY-COMB, SWEET TO THE SOUL, AND HEALTH TO THE BONES.” Prov. xvi, 24. 320 AUSTRALASIAN CHAPTER XXII. CALENDAR AND BEE KEEPERS’ AXIOMS. VARIABILITY OF SEASONS. No invariable rules can be laid down for the work to be done in an apiary each month, which can be strictly followed in every place, nor even in the same place in every year. The whole plan of operations must be suited in the first place to the normal climate of the district in which the apiary is situated, the nature of the bee forage available both in the spring and the honey season, and to the natural habits of the bees as influenced by their local peculiarities. If these circumstances be properly taken into account, a set of general rules may be established suitable to the average of seasons ; but even these must be liable to modifications at the judgment of the apiarist, according to the variations, or the more or less abnormal features, of different seasons. USE OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. To any one at all acquainted with the subject it will be apparent how much depends upon the manner in which the bees get through the winter months, upon their condition in early spring, upon the period at which they commence to rear brood extensively and to prepare for swarming, and upon the time when those trees or flowers which are to furnish the chief crop of honey come into bloom; and it must be equally apparent that all these things depend mainly upon the meteo- rological character of the winter, the spring, and the summer, especially upon the rates of temperature and of moisture which vary a good deal occasionally in each season, even in the best climates. We are all accustomed to speak in a vague manner about mild or severe winters, early or late springs, and wet or BEE MANUAL. 321 dry seasons, but without attaching any very exact value to these different terms. To the bee-keeper it may be strongly recommended to avail himself constantly of the records of the nearest meteorological observatory—to make himself acquainted with the normal mean temperature and rainfall of each month and each season of the year—that is, with the average results of observations continued over a large number of years, and then to watch, note, and compare with this normal standard, the mean temperature and the rainfall of each passing month. He will thus, at least, impress upon his mind some definite idea of how far the seasons of the current year correspond with or differs from the average of years, and this will considerably assist him in anticipating the probable course of events in the approaching honey season, and will suggest to him the most suitable mode of treatment for getting his bees into a condition to make the best use of the harvest season when it arrives. The system of recording such observations as those alluded to above in a graphic form upon a diagram prepared for the purpose is now so universally used in similar cases that it is only necessary here to suggest its adoption to any one who wishes to keep before his eyes a clear picture of the few simple facts bearing upon the character of the months and seasons. ee CALENDAR. IN arranging the apiary work for the different months I have chosen the dates of the bee-seasons for the latitude of Auck- land, New Zealand, as being nearest to those in the majority of places in Australasia. Where they differ much the dates can be altered to suit by carefully noting the time when willows and early flowering peaches blossom, which in the latitude of Auckland is at the latter end of August and beginning of Sep- tember. JANUARY. In average seasons a good quantity of honey is gathered during this month, and in late seasons the bulk of the crop is often secured. Late swarms should be expected, but unless w 322 AUSTRALASIAN increase is required all precautions should be taken to prevent swarming at thistime. Remove sections as soon as completely sealed, and place them in the honey house for a few days to ripen before packing them for market; take care that there are no bee moths in the house. Extract as often as necessary the surplus honey in frames. FEBRUARY. This is sometimes a hot dry month with a scarcity of bee forage toward the latter part. Beware of robber bees as soon as honey gathering slackens. The first month or six weeks after the close of the honey season is the worst time for robbing. If necessary to open a hive while robbers are about use a bee tent to cover it. Keep down weeds and tall grass around the hives. MARCH. Breeding will now begin to diminish, and a gocd look-out should be kept for queenless stocks. AIl poor queens should be superseded. With occasional showers the autumn flowers now coming into blossom will yield some nectar which will provide winter stores. Timber should now be stacked under cover to season for making into hives and frames during the winter. Look out for robbers ; contract entrances if necessary. Rape and mustard seeds may now be sown for early spring forage. APRIL. ‘ Any colonies likely to be short of food for winter stores should be supplied with sufficient towards the end of the month. There should be from 25lbs. to 35lbs. in each hive at the commencement of winter. All implements in the honey- house and apiary, for which there is no further use, should be cleaned and stowed snugly away till required again. MAY, Now will be the time to prepare the hives for winter by removing all boxes not occupied by bees. Unite all weak and queenless colonies, also queen-rearing nuclei, and see that all are well supplied with food. Contract entrances and cover the frames with an extra mat as the weather becomes cooler. BEE MANUAL. 323 Stow all spare combs in the fumigating room, and give the spare hives and boxes a brush over with a solution of carbolic acid before putting them away for the winter. JUNE, If the instructions given for last month have been attended to, the bees will need but little attention this month, and the less they are meddled with during cold weather the better. The planting of evergreens or other plants for shelter or bee- forage may now be commenced. This is the best time for shifting evergreens. The timber for hives and frames will now be ready to make up as opportunities offer. See that the hives are sufficiently ventilated to prevent dampness. JULY. Look out for leaky covers, and remove damp mats, re- placing them with dry ones. Contract hives with division boards where necessary, and confine the bees to as few frames as possible. Select a warm day when the sun is shining to examine the hives, and get through the work quickly. Examine the combs in the fumigating room, and if moths or their larvee are seen fumigate with sulphur. AUGUST. All hives should be well overhauled on the first fine days this month and the condition of each noted. See to the food supply, and feed where short, as a larger quantity will now be required for feeding the brood. Clean the bottom boards, and put in division boards where required. As breeding will have commenced, care should be taken to keep the interior of the hives warm. Remove any combs that are mouldy. Place the hive on a stand alongside while cleaning the bottom board. Unite weak and queenless colonies, and stimulate those re- quired for queen-rearing purposes. Make up hives, frames, etc., and send orders to the manufacturers for material required for the coming season. Willows and early-flowering peach- trees blossom at the end of the month. Sow seeds of honey plants as soon as frosts are passed. 324 AUSTRALASIAN SEPTEMBER. Where spring forage is scarce, the bees should be fed sparingly to stimulate brood rearing. As more room is required in the brood nest, shift the division boards and place a clean empty comb in the centre. Early in the month place a clean drone comb in the centre of the brood chamber of the colony chosen for raising drones. About the middle of the month, if the season promises to be favourable, start cell- building for queen rearing. Finish uniting, and beware of robbing. Give frames of emerging brood from the strongest to the weaker colonies. Sow seeds of honey plants for suc- cessional blossoms. OCTOBER. Hives for the expected increase should now be ready to set out before the swarming season commences, which will begin in ordinary seasons about the third week in this.month. Cut out queen cells as soon as ready, and form nuclei. Transfer in the early part of the month. If increase is not desired, put on surplus boxes before the bees prepare for swarming. Pre- vent after-swarming. Enlarge entrances as the weather gets warmer, and keep the apiary clear of weeds and long grass. NOVEMBER. As the surplus honey is secured, keep each kind as far as possible by itself, more especially white clover honey. Extract when necessary, and remove sections when filled and sealed. Provide plenty of room in the brood chamber for breeding purposes by extracting the honey from the combs carefully, if necessary. Keep some spare queens on hand in nucleus hives. Shade all newly-hived swarms, and give plenty of ventilation. Buckwheat and mustard may now be sown for autumn flower- ing. DECEMBER. The instructions given for last month will apply to this. Keep down swarming by giving plenty of storage and breeding space, and deprive before the hives get too full. Supersede all poor and feeble queens. The main crop of buckwheat should now be sown. BEE MANUAL. 325 BEE-KEEPERS’ AXIOMS. Mr. Langstroth, in his invaluable work so often alluded to in these pages, has given the following axioms as “a few of the Jirst. principles in bee-keeping,” which ought to be as familiar to the apiarian “as the letters of his alphabet.” They are so true, that they are still, and must continue to be, as important to all bee-keepers, whether novices or experts, as they were when first penned. I have already given each a prominent position at the close of some of the preceding chapters, in order the better to impress them on the mind of the reader :— 1. Bees gorged with honey never volunteer an attack. 2. Bees may always be made peacable by inducing them to accept of liquid sweets. 3. Bees, when frightened by smoke or by drumming on their hives, fill themselves with honey, and lose all disposition to sting, unless they are hurt. 4. Bees dislike any quict movements about their hives, especially any quick movement which jars their combs. 5. Bees dislike the offensive odour of sweaty animals, and will not endure impure air from human lungs. 6. The bee-keeper will ordinarily derive all his profits from stocks strong and healthy in early spring. 7. In districts where forage is abundant only for a short period, the largest yield of honey will be secured by a very moderate increase of stocks. 8. A moderate increase of colonies in any one season will, in the long run, prove the easiest, safest, and cheapest mode of managing bees. 9. Queenless colonies, unless supplied with a queen, will inevitably dwindle away, or be destroyed by the bee moth, or by robber bees. 10. The formation of new colonies should ordinarily be confined to the season when bees are accumulating honey ; and if this, or any other operation, must be performed when forage is scarce, the greatest precautions should be used to prevent robbing. The essence of all profitable bee-keeping is contained in Oetil’s golden rule—Keep your stocks strong. If you cannot succeed in doing this, the more money you invest in bees the heavier will be your losses ; while if your stocks are strong, you will show that you are a bee-master as well as a bee-keeper, and may safely calculate on a generous return from your industrious subjects. Finis. GLOSSARY OF SOME OF THE TECHNICAL .AND SCIENTIFIC WORDS MOST COMMONLY USED IN WORKS UPON APICULTURE. ABNORMAL.—Not according to a gene- ral rule. ABSCONDING SwaRM.—A swarm of bees which goesaway tosome distant place, either before or after first settling ina cluster, or even after being hived. ANTHER.—In botany, the top of the stamen of a flower, containing the pollen or fecundating dust of the plant. APIARY.—A place where bees are kept in hives. APIARIST, APIATOR.—A person who keeps an apiary ; a bee-keeper. The second word not much used. APICULTURE. — Bee-culture ; the art of cultivating bees for practical pur- poses. APIARIAN, APISTICAL (adjectives).— Relating toan apiary ortoapiculture in general. APIDZ.—The family of insects to which bees belong. APis.—Latin for bee; the name of the genus of insects of the family « idee, to which all species of bees belong. APIS MELLIFICA.—The species of the genus apis, to which all varieties of the honey-bee belong. ARRENOTOKIA.—The name applied by Leuchart to denote a certain defec- tive condition of queens. ARTIFICIAL FECUNDATION, ARTIFI- CIAL FERTILISATION. — Impregna- tion of queens under the control of the apiarist, said to have been ac- complished, but not generally ad- mitted to be practicable. The former term is most correct. BAcILLUS ALVEI.—Thescientificname of the disease known as “foul brood,” and also the name of the germ which is the cause of the dis- ease. BACILLUSGAYTONI.—A germ disease, causing the bees it attacks to become hairless. .These hairless bees were formerly thought to be old robbers. (See page 266.) BALLING A QUEEN.—Bees surround- ing a queen in a small compact ball or cluster, usually ‘done for the pur- pose of injuring or killing her. BEE-BREAD.—Pollen of flowers pre- pared by the bees-as food for their arvee. In cold climates wheat, rye. and pea flour are often provide as a substitute for pple in early spring. (See page 96.) BEE CULTURE.—(See APICULTURE,) Bux Foracu.—Trees, flowersorplants of every description which furnish the materials usually collected and stored by bees. (See Chaps. IV. and XVIII.) BEE PasTURAGE.—Used in the same sense as bee forage, but not s0 cor- rectly, as pasture infers, strictly ‘speaking, an act of grazing. Buiacks, BLack BrEES.—Terms gene- rally, though epiaty O applied to the common brown or German bee. Broop.—Young bees, in all stages of the change they undergo from the egg until they emerge from the cell. Broop CHAMBER, BRooD NEst. — * The whole or part of the lower hive occupied by the queen for breeding purposes. CaPpPED BRoop, CAPPED HoNeEy.- Brood.or honey when covered up in the cells of the comb with a cap made bF the bees of wax, or a mix- ture of ‘wax and propolis; also termed SEALED. - CAPPINGS.—The caps which are re- moved from the -cells when the honey is to be extracted. : Cocoon.—The silky web which the larva of the bee (or other insect)spins round itself previous to its change to the pupa state. CoLony.—An established stock or col- lection of bees, consisting of a queen and workers,sometimes with drones, settled in ahive. (See STock.) Comsp.—A. double set of waxen cells tocontain honey, bee bread or brood, built by the bees, one set on each GLOSSARY. side of a division called the septum, which serves as bottom to the cells on both sides—the whole forming a sheet of comb. CoMB-FOUNDATION.—A sheet of wax, go stamped on each side as to form the bases of two sets of cells, consti- tuting an artificial septum,which the bees can quickly build into a com- plete comb ComB GUIDE.—(See STARTER.) Comps Honey.—Honey in the comb, specially raised for table use. DEPRIVATION. — Removing from hives. DiaRRHa@A, Dysentery.—For this disease of bees—generally called by the latter name, although the first is peneee the more suitable—see Chap. XVI. Drivine BeEs.—Forcing bees to leave one box orhive and to enter another. (See Chap. X.) Drone Ece.—An egg that will pro- duce a drone only; an egg unfer- tilised by the male germ; may be laid by an impregnated queen, a virgin queen, or fertile worker. DRUMMING.—Rapping on the sides of a hive when driving bees. DzIERZON (pronounced Tseertsone) THEORY. — The theory of Pastor Dzierzon, formulated into thirteen per and which forms the asis of modern scientific apiculture. (See pages 65 to 67.) EMBRYO QUEENS.—Queens in their rudimentary or undeveloped state, ae arriving at maturity in their cells. EMERGING BROOD, EMERGING BEES, —Young bees which have under- gone all the changes from the egg to the perfect insect and then cut their a through the cappings of the cells. Farinacreous Foop.—Of a mealy or floury nature, such as the pollen of flowers. FECUNDATE.—To impregnate. The queen after her ‘‘ wedding flight” is properly said to be fecundated, though the term fertilised is more generally but not so correctly used. FERTILISE.—To render fruitful. Ap plied by botanists correctly to the effect produced by the pollen on the ovules of the flowers; not so cor- rectly applied to the fecundation of the queen bee, as she is, ina certain sense, fertile of herself. (See Par- THENOGENESIS.) FERTILE WORKER.—A worker bee whose ovaries have been partly de- veloped, and which is able to lay honey 327 eggs in cases where a colony be- comes queenless; but not having been fecundated by a drone, such eggs can only produce drones, like those of an unfecundated queen. Fpn.* oR fdn.—An abbreviation of the compound word “ comb-founda- tion” (which see). Fiieut (Wedding or Marriage).—The excursion which a young queen usually makes from the hive a few days after she emerges from the cell, for the purpose of meeting the ee in the air and becoming fecun- ated. FiieuHtT (Cleansing).—The first issue of bees from the hive after a lon; confinement, for the purpose 0 voiding their foeces. ForaGE.—(See BEE FORAGE.) Fou. Broop.—A disease of bees, now called bacillus alvei. (See Chap. XVI) FouUNDATION.—Sometimes expressed. Sdn. (See COMB FOUNDATION.) FUNGIcIDE.—Any chemical substance which destroys the vitality of fun- Ne sperms, which in a microscopic ‘orm are the causes of disease, such as bacillus alvei, etc. GLucosE.—One of the chemical forms of sugar, known also as grape sugar and fruit sugar; a cheap and in- ferior sort of syrup sometimes used. to adulterate honey. . GRANULATED Honey. — Crystallised honey. Nearly all pure liquid honey will granulate and become opaque after a while, unless heated to a high degree and then hermetically sealed while hot. Adulterated honey rarely granulates. On the other hand, there are rare cases of pure honey remaining in a clear liquid state. GRAPE SuGAR.—(See GLUCOSE.) HatcHine.—This term is only cor- rectly applied tothe production of the larva from the egg of the bee, which happens three days after the egg is laid. The changes from the larva to the complete insect do not pro- pey come under the designation of atching. Hexacon.—A figure having six sides and six angles. If the sides and angles are all equal the figure is a regular hexagon. The cells of honeycomb are, as a rule, of this form. (See page 94.) HeExapopa.—Six-footed. The sub- class of Insecta, which includes the order Hymenoptera. 328 Hive Cramp.—A machine for press- ing the four parts of a hive firmly together while nailing them. Honey Boarp.—A board or frame- work placed between the frames of the lower hive and super to prevent the bees building comb from the lower to the upper frames and so fastening them together. (See pages 141 to 144.) Hypriv.—A mule or mongrel pro- duced by parents of different species or varieties. In the latter case, where both parents belong to the same species, the progeny is more correctly termed a cross; but it is the custom of apiarists to call all crosses between varieties of the Apis mellifica hybrids. HYMENOPTERA.—The order of insects with four membranous wings, to which the family Apidee and the genus Apis belong. IMaGo.—The last form assumed by insects in their transformation from the larva before emerging as a com- plete insect. Insecta.—Insects. The class of arti- culated animals which includes the sub-class Hexapoda, the order Hy- menoptera, family Apidee, and the genus Apis. INTRODUCING A QUEEN. — Giving a strange queen to a colony of bees which has become queenless. INTRODUCING CaGE.—A small cage in which the queen is placed for pro- tection when introducing her. (See page 223 ) JELLY, Roya, -The food prepared by bees for the larves which are in- tended to be developed into queens. (See page 73.) Larva (pl. Larv).—The maggot or grub hatched from the egg, which is afterwards developed into the pupa or nymph, and ultimately into the imago and perfect insect. MANIPULATION. — Handling. In a more general sense, the process of treating or dealing with things even where actual manual contact is avoided. Bees and honey may be manipulated without being touched by the hand. MaRRIsGE FLIGHT, OR WEDDING FiicHt.—(See FLIGHT.) METAL SUPPORTS. — Uusually, but wrongly, termed tin rabbets; strips of metal (generally tin), about an inch wide, tacked on each end of the hive inside for the purpose of Veporing the frames, (See Chap, GLOSSARY. METAMORPHOSIS. — Transformation, as from the larva to the complete insect. 7 vanes MIcRoPYLE.—The minute opening in the egg of the bee through which the spermetozoon is introduced. (See page 69.) ; NeEcTsr.—The liquid saccharine mat- ter secreted and exuded by plants in their blossoms or flowers. NEcTAaRyY.—That portion of the flower in which the nectar is exuded for the purpose of attracting insects. NORMAL. — Acco: g to a general tule. | NUCLEUS (pl., NUCLE).—Literally, the kernel of a nut; figuratively, the source from which something is to be developed. Used by apiarists to ee a small colony of bees in- tended for queen rearing. Nursine BeEs.—Those which attend to the feeding of the larve; gene- rally young bees so employed for about two weeks before leaving the hive to gather honey. NymMpu (alsocalled Pupa or Chrysalis): —The second form in the transform” ation of insects, between the larva and imago stages. OBSERVATORY Hive.—A hive con- structed so that the operations in progress within it may be observed. (See page 128.) Ovary.—The organ of a female insect or other animal in which the eggs are formed and developed. Ovipuct.—The passage which con- veys the cag from the ovary when about to be deposited. OvuLE.—In botany, the “egg” or rudimentary seed. Pasutum.—Fod, or aliment. PaRENT STock.— The stock from which a swarm issues. PARTHENOGENESIS.—The production of young by a virgin. (See page 64. PASTURAGE, BEE.— (See BEE ForRsGE. PistIL.—In botany, the central organ of a female flower which receives the pollen and contains the ovules from which the seeds are developed. PoLLEN.—The fecundating dust of male plants, obtained from the an- thers of flowers, and_used by the bees to make bee bread. PROPOLIS.—A resinous matter used by bees for fastening movable parts of a hive, stopping fissures, and sometimes in covering foreign sub- stances found in their hives. (See page 98.) Pupa.—(See NYMPH.) GLOSSARY QUEEN CELL.—A a cell of peculiar form, specially built for the purpose of developing a queen from a worker egg or larva. (See page 72.) QUEENLEsS. — Applied to a colon when from any cause it is deprive of its queen. QuIncuNx.—A term used in garden- ing with reference to the position of plants or trees—meaning five in a parallelogram, one in each corner, and one in the centre. Applied to the position of hives in an apiary. (See page 103.) ABBET.—A corruption of the word rebate; a rectangular longitudinal recess made in the edge of any- ening. as when one part of the edge of a board is planed or cut out lower an the rest. Race.—In apiculture this word is used to designate a variety of the single species A. mellifica which has ac- quired some peculiarities of colour or qualities in course of time from natural or climatic causes. Racx.—A name given to the frame or tray made to hold section boxes for the production of comb honey. (See page 139.) REVERSIBLE FRAME.—A comb frame so made that the bottom can be turned to the top, and vice versa, at the option of the apiarist. (See page 237.) RiPENING Honry.—The process by which superfluous moisture is eva- porated and the honey rendered safe to keep without fermenting. Rospgine.—Bees from one hive or colony entering another and taking the honey from it. . Roya CELL.—(See QUEEN CELL.) Roya. JELLY. —(See JELLY.) SEALED (Brood or Honey). — (See CAPPED. SECTION Box, OR SECTION.—A small frame in which surplus honey is stored and sent to market without being extracted from the comb, usually made to hold from one to two pounds. i SEcTION CasE.—A shallow case with- out frames for holding section boxes on a hive; used as a super. SECTION, OR BROAD FramMeE.—Ajframe made to hold one or two tiers of sec- tion boxes while suspended in a hive. SEcTion Rackx.—(See Rack.) SEPARATOR.—A piece of wood or metal placed between two boxes to con- fine the bees to build their comb me an even surface. (See page 138, Hs 329 Seprum.—A partition. In apiculture generally applied to the vertical ivision between the two series of cells in a comb, which forms the bottoms of all the cells. SHIPPING CAaGE.—A small cage, usu- ally made of wire-cloth and wood, used for sending queens through the post. (See page 227.) SHIPPING CRATE.—A case used for packing comb honey in to send to market. (See page 243.) SKep, Sxip.—Literally, a basket. The name given in Scotland and other laces to the old form of straw bee- ve. SMOKER.—An implement constructed to burn rags, rotten wood, or other fuel, and furnished with a bellows for blowing the smoke where re- uired. Used to quiet bees when about to be manipulated. Sprecirs.—In natural history, a sub- division of a genus or family of . animals or plants, which may again be divided into varieties or races possessing some peculiarities but no important structural differences. SPERMATHECA.—A small vessel at” tached to the oviduct of the queen bee, and containing, when fecun- dated, the spermatozoa for impreg- nating the eggs on their passage from the ovary. (See page 62.) SPERMATOZOON (pl., ZoA).--A minute spore or germ, of which many mil- lions may be contained in the sper- matheca, itself scarcely visible to the naked eye. One of these sper- matozoa must be introduced into the egg, through the opening called the micropyle, in order to make it capable of producing a worker bee or a queen, SPRING DWINDLING.—Colonies which pase through the winter strong may ecome weak in the spring, in con- sequence of the old bees dying off before young ones are bred in the same proportion. This result, from whatever cause brought about, is termed spring dwindling. STraMEN.—In botany, the male organ of fructification in plants, carrying the anther and the pollen. STARTER.—A narrow strip of comb or of foundation put in a frame or sec- tion box to give the bees a “start” in the right direction in building the new comb. Stiem4.—In botany, the top of the belie which receives the pollen or ecundating dust of the male plant. 330 ‘STocK.-—A complete collection af bees, consisting of a queen and workers (with sometimes drones), settled in a hive, and capable of propagating their race. (See CoLony.) SUPER.—Amn additional box or hive set over another to increase the ‘space for the bees to work and store surplus honey in. SUPERING.—Putting on supers. SwaRM.—A portion of the bees of an old stock which leave the hive with either the old ee or a young one just emerged from the cell, to form anew colony. The latter is called an after-swarm. Swarm Box.—A box for taking swarms in. TIERING-UP. — Placing additional stories, one over the other, on a hive, to induce increased production of either frame or section honey. TIN RABBETS. — (See MertTaL Sup- ports.) "TRANSFERRING.—Changing the combs and stock of bees from one box or hive to another. Generally applied ‘to cases of changing comb and bees from a straw or box hive to a movable comb hive. ‘Uncarpine.— Removing the wax eoverings from cells of capped or sealed honey preparatory to extract- ing. UnITIne. — Making one colony out of two or more stocks or swarms. UnriPr Honry.—Honey which has not been long enough stored by the. bees to get rid of all superfluous moisture and become fit to be capped or sealed, GLOSSARY. VaRrI“etTy.—As applied to bees, a sub- division of the single species having some peculiarity of colour or quali- ties. (See Rach-and SPEcrIEs.) VESICLE.—A little bladder or sac. VIRGIN ComB.—Comb which has only been used once for storing honey and never for brood. VIRGIN HonrEY.— Honey stored in virgin comb only. Note.—The two latter terms are now obsolete, but were formerly common among box-hive bee- keepers. Wax.—This word, when used without any addition or qualification, is taken to mean bee’s wax—the sub- stance secreted by bees, and of which they build their comb. (See pages 87 to 89.) Wax Pockxets.—The overlapping of the abdominal rings of the worker bee, in which the seales of wax are secreted. (See fig. 27, page 88.) WINTERING.— Passing colonies of bees safely through the winter months. (See Chap. WIRED FouNnpDATION.—Comb founda- tion strengthened by the introduc- tion of wires in the wax sheet. WORKER EoG.—An eagle by an impregnated queen which has been fertilised by receiving the male sperm as it passed the spermatheca on its passage from the ovary; will develop into a queen or worker. WORKER, FERTILE—WORKER, LaAyY- InG.—(See FERTILE WORKER.) ote . PAGE PAGE Absconding swarms . .. 200 | Atmosphere and _ rainwater, Acacias in New Zealand .. 284 sources of saccharine matter 301 Adaptation to women of bee- Australia, Native flora of . keeping .. ha ‘Australasian exemptions from bee Adulterntion’ of honey if enemies .. «» 269 Advantages of hexagonal form: Automatic basket, Cowan’ S -. 1a ofcells . ; Axioms, Bee-keepers’ 6 325 Advice to begi 21 | Bacillus alvei (foul brood).. .. 257 After-swarming, Prevention of .. 204 Salicylic acid vesaeny Ne .. 264 After-swarms . * 202 euece OF ive 261, 262 Agriculture in ‘relation to api- es of és a -» 257 culture .. a . 297 e Cheshire cure for.. .» 262 Aid (State) to apiculture a ne 22 Under the microscope. . .» 260 Air sacs (of honey bee) .. 49 | Bacillus Gaytoni : . 266 Alighting board (of hive) : ‘) 192 | Bees, Beneficial influence of, on Alley’s drone and queen trap .. 210 agriculture troducing cage .» 223 Can they harm the soil or the American linden or basswood |. 287 crops? .. . 299 Plants and trees . -- 287 Diseases of es 256 Analysis of bee-bread a om OT Enemies of. . ae .. 269 Of wax an 89 Flight of aA é on 8 Anatomy of the honey bee .. 43 | Bee-bread én Pe «= 96 Antenne of honey bee .. 54 Analysis of os OF Ants .. 270 | Bee hank (libellula).. . « 271 Antiquity of the use of honey .. 1 | Bee-keepers’ axioms. 325 Apiary, Area of ground for .. 103 | Bee-keeping, adaptationto’ women 20 Arrangement of hivesin ., 103 As a branch of farming é aif General SneESEtient of .. 99 Improved system of .. House = . .. 109 In New Zealand and Australia 4 Location of | ~~ .. 99 Profits of 19 Shade for .. wa ca .. 100 | Bee-mite.. ws sis . 2) 279 Stocking Bee-moth « 271 Apiculture, as an industry, Impor- Larve, silken tube of | .. 273 portance of . ma Male and female. . oi . 293 In relation to agriculture |. 297 | Bee forage (see Forage). State aid to 21 Gloves... -. 173 Suitability of, for New Zea Publications ae we .. 28 land and Australia . 16 Tents. . cee BM Apis Adansonii a ae 27 Veils.. i 4 .- 172 Dorsata .. oe ee '. 37 | Beginners, Advice to si ap al Fasciata .. >I—__ AGENTS FOR MATAMATA APIARY AND MESSRS, BAGNALL BROS. & CO. Apinrian Requisties ALWAYS IN STOCK. a AGENTS FOR SALE OF THE AUSTRALASIAN BEE MANUAL. supplied by the Navunanieta PostaL BooKsHor GEORGE Mc COARTNEY, ¥.R.E.S8., SCOTLAND ADVERTISEMENTS. 1, i Hobson Nursery & Seed Warehouse (Established iu Auckland and Suburbs a quarter of a century.) The Stocks embrace almost everything required from a General Nursery and Seed Establishment, including Fruit Trees, Ornamental and Shelter Trees and Shrubs, Hedge Plants, Climbers, Flowering Plants, and Plants and Sets of all kinds. Choice Ferns and New Zealand Plants packed in Wardian Cases for all parts of the world. Agricultural, Vegetable, Flower, and Tree Seeds in choice and extensive variety. Seeds of Economic Plants and Novel- ties. Seed Potatoes, embracing the cream of the kinds exhibited at the late ‘“‘ European” International Potato Exhi- bition. Appliances and Materials for the Destruction of Insect Pests. Galvanised Wire Seed Guards and Garden Bordering. Garden Pottery and Glassware, Bee-hives and Appliances, and other articles too numerous to mention. SPECIALITY IN BEE PASTURAGE.—“ Erica ARBOREA,” or Tree Heath, a hardy, white, very floriferous evergreen shrub, 6 to 10 feet high in this climate, and can be cut or pruned to any form or purpose, as hedges, etc. This sweet-scented ornamental winter and spring flowering plant, at least fully equal to its congener—the heather of the British Isles—literally swarms with bees every fine half-hour in its season, and is invaluable to bee-keepers, coming at a season when flowers are scarce, and generally producing but little bee-feed. Safe balled plants are being produced in quantity at low rates—at present, 12 to 18 in. high, including package and shipment, 5s. per doz., 27s. 6d. per 100, £10 per 1,000, for cash on receipt of order. Nursery and Seed Catalogue forwarded free with pleasure on receipt of address. In connection with Auckland Telephone system—Telephone, No. 209. Busses pass the Nursery fre- quently during the day, starting from the Greyhound Hotel, Queen Street, Auckland. The Nursery and Seed Warehouse are within 15 minutes’ walk of either Newmarket or Remuera Railway Stations. POSTAL ADDRESS— C. T. WREN, Remuera, Auckland, N.Z. Telegraph Address—‘‘ NEWMARKET.” ADVERTISEMENTS, ITALIAN BEE CO. <0 Bee Farm at Parramatta, near Sydney, In charge of W. ABRAM, Manager. Office, 312 George Street, Sydney. S. MACDONNELL, Honorary Secretary. =” = under the late Dathe, the celebrated German naturalist, and, till his death lately, the greatest living authority on bee culture. Before leaving his mother country, Mr. Abram secured a number of splendid Italian queens which took prizes at various exhibitions in Europe. In addition, the Company, through Messrs. Newman, of Chicago (publishers of the American Bee Journal) had several colonies of specially selected Italian bees sent from America. Under the skilled care of Mr. Abram, the Company has established the finest strains of Italians. No hybrids nor black bees are kept. All queens are carefully tested in every case for their worker progeny, and, when time allows, for their queen progeny. Ne W ABRAM, Manager of this Company, served his time Price Lists of Bees, Hives, Queens, etc., posted on application to the Manager or the under- signed, at above addresses. §, MACDONNELL, Hon. Sec. ADVERTISEMENTS. TT. ROOT, Lt MEDINA, OHIO, MANUFACTURER OF AND DEALER IN Apiarian Implements and Supplies AND JOBBER IN HOUSEHOLD CONVENIENCES. t A 40-PAGE PRICE LIST FREE ON APPLICATION, Our Customers now number about 200,000, and goods are shipped to all parts of the world. To keep pace with late improvements and new inven- tions, our price list is kept constantly standing in type, and new editions are printed in the busy season, frequently as often as once a month. Our ABC OF BEE CULTURE, a book of 318 pages and 162 illustrations, is also kept standing in type in the same way. Our journal, GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE, gives reports semi-monthly of the state of bee culture in almos all regions of the globe where civilization extends. Q:EE-KEEPER’S GUIDE i = MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 13,000 Sold since 1876. The fourteenth thousand just out. Tenth thousand sold in just four months; 2,000 sold the past year. More than 50 pages and more than 50 costly illustrations were added in the eighth addition. It has been thoroughly revised, and contains the very latest in respect to Bee-keeping. Price by mail, $1.25- Liberal discount: made to dealers and to clubs. A. J. COOK, AUTHOR & PUBLISHER AGRICULTURAL ‘COLLEGE, MICH., U.S. ADVERTISEMENTS. BRANSTON & FORSTER AUCKLAND. MAKERS OF 6-Comb Honey Extractors, &c. 0+ First Prize and specially commended at Wellington Exhibition. ADVERTISEMENTS. BESSEStERsS din! AVOUUUOUCUUEULAU USUAL ET MASAeeX=: A Monthly Magazine devoted exclusively to the interests of bee-keepers. You cannot do without it, because the articles it contains are written by the most ex- perienced bee-keepers in the country. Subscription Price, 5s. per year. POSTAGE PREPAID, —_—_>e—1__ Abb HINDS GP QUREREPERY SUPPLIRG SEND FOR CATALOGUE AND EXPORT PRICES, a ADDRESS— KING, ASPINWALL & CO. 16 THOMAS STREET, NEW YORK, U.S.A. ADVERTISEMENTS. THE NEW a-E000R6 (0? a BEGINNERS. + The best book printed in the English language for beginners in bee-keeping, because written in a plain, simple style, and because every fact relating to bee- culture and honey producing is fully described. PRICE - FOUR SHILLINGS. POSTAGE, 2d. KING, ASPINWALL & CO. 16 Thomas Street, New York, USA. ADVERTISEMENTS. GEO. MC AU L WELLESLEY STREET EAST, GALVANIZED IRON WORKS COLONIAL OVEN MANUFACTORY. LUMBERS, Builders, Contractors, and Storekeepers are informed that GEO. McCAUL, of Thames, has taken over the business lately carried on by J. L. KEAN, and being a direct importer and purchaser for cash, is prepared to supply all business material at lowest rates. AWARDED THREE FIRST PRIZES FOR Colonial Nvens, Corrugated Tanks, Lead-headed Nails and Washers, Spouting, and Lead-edge Ridging. GEO. MCCAUL, > MANUFAGTURER & IMPORTER Wellesley Street East, Auckland, AND BROWN AND DAVY STREETS, THAMES. ADVERTISEMENTS. DALY & PERRETT, WOODSIDE APIARY, HAUTAPU, WAIKATO, N.Z., HAVE ON SALE :— HONEY (retail and in bulk), in 2lb., 5lb., 10lb., 25lb., and 64lb. tins’ also, 14 lb. glass pails with screw tops. ITALIAN QUEENS SELECT TESTED (for queen rearing) .. £100 PURELY MATED (not specially selected) , a 017 6 YOUNG QUEENS from pure mother and laying, but with no guarantee as to purity of mating és si 050 Either of the above in three-frame nucleus, ten shillings extra. Safe arrival guaranteed to any address in New Zealand. .B.—Orders for Queens will be filled in rotation as soon as may be possible after receipt, but it is, of course, not at all times possible to fill them immediately. COMB FOUNDATION Made on the Given press, either wired or plain. Customers can have their ‘own wax made up, or we ‘will give best market price for all clean beeswax sent to us, or send cash on receipt. Also, Bingham Honey Knives. Jones’ Glass Pails, with screw tops, holding .1Ibs. Jones's Bee Entrance Guards, for excluding drones Alley’s Drone Excluder, queen and drone trap combined, Wire Cloth for making Queen Cages and other Apiarian requisites. FOR PRICES, ETC., APPLY AS ABOVE. ADVERTISEMENTS, YATES’ RELIABLE SEEDS Yates’ Choice Garden speag jeunynowdy pue May be procured from his Warehouse, 46 Victoria Street, or from his Agents. throughout New Zealand. Vegetable Seeds, 6d. per packet. Flower Seeds, ordinary, 3d. per packet. Flower Seeds, extra choice, 6d. to 2s. 6d. per packet. Yates’ Seeds are carefully saved from the BesT and purest Stocks only, and their growing powers are all thoroughly tested, They are now generally acknowledged to be the best and most reliable seeds ever offered in the colonies, his largely increasing business and numerous testimonials being ample proof of this. USE THEM AND A GOOD GARDEN IS ASSURED. IMPORTANT,—We guarantee none genuine without name and address on packet. A. Y. nas always alarge stock of Agricultural Seeds on hand, including Grasses, Glovers, Turnip and other Root Seeds. These are all of the finest quality. Samples and prices post free on application, ARTHUR YATES, Seedsman, 46 VICTORIA ST., AUCKLAND, N.Z. HEAD ESTABLISHMENT: 16 & 18 OLD MILLGATE, & 97 Shudehill, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND. Estab, 1826. YATES’ GARDEN ANNUAL FREE ON APPLICATION. ADVERTISEMENTS. TO POULTRY KEEPERS. THE BEST BOOK On the subject for the Colonies is OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS A practical Poultry Book for England and New Zealand by ALFRED SAUNDERS, an Englishman, many years resident in New Zealand. PRICE 6s., or Post Free in N.Z. for 6s. |Od. in Stamps, from N. G. LENNOX, BOOKSELLER, AUCKLAND. THE NURSERY, NEWMAREET, AUCKLAND C. S. MDONALD Has for sale, a choice and comprehensive general Nursery Stock, which includes first-class varieties of Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Flowering Shrubs, etc., etc. Descriptive Catalogues will be published in April, 1886, and will be- forwarded post free on application. Opposite Railway Workshops, NEWMARKET. ADVERTISEMENTS. ODLUM & SMITH, COPPERSMITHS, GASFITTERS, CSE & SHIP PLUMBERS TIN, ZINC, & IRON-PLATE WORKERS, LICENSED WATERWORKS PLUMBERS. SPECIALTY. DTS CL ee OO Having imported Machinery for making all kinds of HONEY and JAM TINS, we are prepared to supply these articles at the LOWEST PRICE in any quantity. TOOK FIRST PRIZE AT THE EXHIBITION FOR HONEY TINS. NEAR THE DOCK, LOWER ALBERT STREET, AUCKLAND. ADVERTISEMENTS. POTTIE’S HORSE & CATTLE MEDICINES POTTIE’S REMEDIES.—To Squatters, Breeders, Contractors Farmers, Farriers, and others, These Medicines have the Largest Sale of any in New South Wales Victoria, and Queensland, and have been proved very rapid and safe in Curing all known Diseases. Books on Treatment forwarded Post Free on application to the Agents. LIST OF REMEDIES. Human } Lily Hair Oil Hoof Ointment Use § Highland Oil MS Litzart Ointment Glencairn Oil = Healing Ointment Black Oils oO Tumour Ointment Physic Balls n Gall and Shoulder Salve Embrocation ht Condition Powders Green Healing Lotion ° Worm Powders Black Healing Lotion a Urine Powders Mange Liniment © Mange Powders Sweating Blister = Stomach Powders White Oils 2 Gripe Mixture Cooling Oils o. Cough Drink Golden Blister ize Fever Drink Worm Balls eo Blood Tonic Fly Blister - SOLE AGENTS FOR AUCKLAND, GISBORNE, NAPIER, NEW PLYMOUTH, & WANGANUI, HARRY H. HAYR & CO., HIGH STREET, AUCKLAND. TELEPHONE No. 285. ADVERTISEMENTS. PUBLISHED MONTHLY.) [PUBLISHED MONTHLY. TH New ZEALAND FARMER BEE AND POULTRY JOURNAL IS THE ONLY lllustrated Farmer's & Country Settler's Journal PUBLISHED IN THE COLONY. The following are extracts from a few unsolicited testimonals to the practical worth of THz Farmer :— “Thank you most heartily for the mass of useful and interesting informa- tion the NEw ZEALAND FARMER offers to me with regard to nearly every- thing in connection with the farming interests of this flourishing colony of ours. . . I feelin duty bound to acknowledge freely and unsolicited the great delight and benefit I have derived from the study of this genuine farmers’ friend,—ERNEST ENGSTER, Kaikoura Island.” “T think it calculated to do much good, and it should be liberally patronized by the farmers and evens interested in the development of our resources.— J. CHURCH, Secretary North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association.” “* Without exception the best journal of its class that I have seen in these colonies.—PHILIP PERRY, Manager Apple Farm Co., Auckland.” ROBERT A. WIGHT, of the Thames, a farmer of 35 years’ practical experience in these colonies, writes :—‘‘I am convinced that THE FARMER is a most useful journal, and contains just the information and advice required by farmers.” I. Hopkins, Manager Matamata Apiary, writes :—‘‘ Really a first-clas§ journal-—the best of the kind, I think, in Australasia.” Constant READER, be from Maungatawhiri, says :—‘‘ What I like about some of your writers is that they go so into every detail, and give their reasons so plainly, that the merest beginner can follow them. Iam sure it is well worth the money.” _ Mr. A. MOLINEUX, proprietor of “Garden and Field,” an Australian rural journal, writes :—“‘ THz NEW ZEALAND FARMER is a credit to agricultura journalism, and I can honestly say, without the slightest attempt to flatter, that it is the best colonial journal of the kind that I have ever had the pleasure to read.” INCLUDING POSTAGE. SINGLE COPIES ONE SHILLING. Printed and Published by H. BRETT, Shortland and Fort Streets, Auckland. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION ADVERTISEMENTS. The Huckland Star 1S THE MOST WIDELY CIRCULATED PAPER IN NEW ZEALAND. OVER 10,600 DAILY. The audit for the last six months of 1885, just completed, shows that the circulation is still steadily increasing, and the nightly issue—the number actually published in the town and cOuntry, after deducting returns— reaches the extraordinary total of 10,600 copies daily, certified to by Messrs. JOHN MILNE and J. WaymouTn, Public Accountants of the highest repute. ‘Brett's Fuckland Flmanac PROVINCIAL HANDBOOK, Published annually, is a complete Compendium of Statistical and Descrip- tive Information about New Zealand. PRICE ONE SHILLING. Published at the Star Office, Shortland Street, Auckland. Star Steam Printing LITHOGRAPHING WORKS, SHORTLAND & FORT STS. Every description of General, Mercantile, and Colour Printing and Lithography. Orders executed at a few hours’ notice. Proprietors of the only Bill Hoardings in Auckland, City and Suburbs. Brett's Colonists’ Guide AND CYCLOPADIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDCE, Being a Compendium of information by Practical Colonists upon Farming, Horti- culture, and all subjects of interest to New Zealand Colonists; edited by Thomson W. Leys. The above work, which contains 830 pages, is profusely illustrated with engravings. Lt is the largest book ever published in Australasia, is handsomely bound in cloth, and published at an exceedingly low price for a Cyclopedia of this description, viz., 20s. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY H. BRETT, SHORTLAND ST., AUCKLAND. ADVERTISEMENTS. WATAILATA APIARY WAIKATO, AUCKLAND, N.Z. J. C. FIRTH, Proprietor. l HOPKINS, Manager. Italian Bees, Queens, and Comb Foundation. Price List Free. +oo H. H. HAYR & CO., AUCKLAND AGENTS, High Street, or P.O. Box 186. AUCKLAND, N.Z. PRINTED BY H. BRETT, EVENING STAR OFFICE. SHORTLAND AND FORT STREETS. x GRISNISOMES ORS ass Sea = be eee Sai we Sotto Bs Bees be Beast BF ae oe us ae Me fee Bore Ms ‘ — ' sega pak — ase Ae Rt mt a t - iH TIES sss SSP oR EMEP ORY oh eM Bn Raa tatas tits a % ys Y oe eas Bac Sale ihe * an a eek Be pitas hes fae eect ea Sey 4 sie Seen ae . ae 6 a facets me es aan te Aiea eee 5 a yp saat Bah esas giat fa ci Oe) ha Sst nae i ee) v see ects se Be ¢, eS site %5 4 ee Pe Se sy ahasteas is 4 4 4, is geaiaies eaiete Necadee ete bre Me ae é ae eds i eeatatides ete Sear) Base a oo fe oS Sie a ou fm) oe oe alee eat — eae 4. mn s oo ss Shani ie uf as i oe asa lle ny} t P < < ¢ ey 4 ¢ ah eehesatd hccdedte oad eae aigt eS estesets ca a eis RM " ah a oS cet we oS se sats iss aa PP aealey a ae Set os oe Soe * . 5 hy aes Mena egteea, ee ioe ee Se oy es Obstet! stats Dees ae DES clasts os zs « a Oth ORC a ‘ ee ene oisats fete ae Sahe sacs eis See Booty aa mets tacit rr ee sae et iieteate Bs SATS ota vv fe aS es. i eos Soe ee pipers eres aie reaeasad Sa y ae ae att LOPS RE OT Zi one is BSS Seats ah ua a eeiedes ce ay nis as ye cera POT oe = pesca Z2 a wy So is a ve ass aS Q . SS ateetas se set St « Pr) ase RN RRR Sa mi asi a yan PANS SSS ,) He ELE: oe y SESS we Ofog SEL AT LMA S, Hry oer , acts a Sy SASS SRE 2 “ ‘ CE Cee SLE ae Ge GEL ISIS LILY ELE ES fe a i iP LEE Tg ae tb RV SI LED ee te et igs IFS oe bie hb op rr ee Pps z PLL LEE