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BEES AND BEE-KEEPING:
A PLAIN, PRACTICAL WORK;
RESOLTING TROM TEARS OF EXTKRIENCE AND CLOSE OBSERVATION IN EXTEN3IVR
APIARIES, BOTH IN FENNSTLVANIA AND CALIFORNIA.
WITH DIBECTI0K8
HOW TO MARE BEEKEEPING A DESIRABLE AND LDCRATIVE BUSINESS,
AND FOa
SHIPPING BEES TO CALIFORNIA.
w. c. j:aiibison,
FBACTICAL AFLARIAN.
NEW YORK:
C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & CO.
AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHERS, No. 25 PARK ROW.
1860.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S60, by
W. C. HARBISON,
In tho Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Western District
of the State of Pennsylvania.
«. 1. BAvzy, pBivTss Aim srEBZOTTrEB, rirrsBDBau, ta.
PREFACE.
The author of this treatise, having been taught from youth
to work with Bees, ever admiring their great sagacity, industry
and perseverance, and desiring to turn their industry to ac-
count as a matter of profit, directed all his efforts to acquire
a correct knowledge of their habits, wants and requirements
necessary to continued prosperity and profit.
He observed, years ago, that when the seasons were fa-
vorable for producing abundance of honey, bees invariably
flourished and increased rapidly, yielding large returns in the
shape of surplus honey, bidding defiance to worms and all
other enemies, being evidently prosperous and happy; but
when scarcity prevailed, the very reverse of this condition of
things was true; adversity took the place of prosperity — some
would starve, others would fall a prey to their enemies. The
succession of honey-producing flowers has been materially
influenced by the clearing up and bringing under cultivation
of our lands, essentially changing the condition of things,
affecting the prosperity of bees at certain seasons of the
year, in about the same ratio that it has cattle or other stock
which was permitted to run in the woods, as it was called
(when their pasture grounds were fenced in, then supplies
IV PREFACE.
were cut ofiQ; with this difference, that for all other stock
provision has been made to suit the change of circumstances,
but tor bees no care has been manifested, hence they have been
steadily decreasing in numbers in the older settled parts of
our country, until the fact becomes apparent, that without a
change of policy in this direction they will eventually become
extinct; or at least prevent bee-keeping from assuming any
importance, because of its uncertainty.
This state of facts led me to inquire, what could be done to
render bee-keeping as reliable and certain in its results as
other rural pursuits. Having examined all the works on bee
culture that I could procure (some of which were verj- valu-
able), all failed to point out a practical plan to feed bees, or
supply them with a uniform succession of flowers, or pasturage,
suflBcient to keep them as prosperous as when wild flowers
abounded. We are told, it is true, to feed them a little in the
field to keep them from starving through the winter or early
spring; but they rather discountenance feeding for any other
purpose or providing pasturage with a view to keep them con-
stantly advancing from spring to fall. Being well assured that
it would pay better to keep bees employed from early spring
until fall, than to let them remain idle for want of something
to do, I adopted the plan of either feeding, as directed in the
chapter on feeding, or cultivated such crops as would furnish
them with abundant supplies. This plan I have practiced for
some time past both in Pennsylvania and California, to which
latter State, in connection with J. S. Harbison, of Sacramento,
I made two large and successful shipments of bees.
PREFACE. V
The results of my practice, and the success that has invari-
ably crowned my eft'orts in the management of bees, has been
favorably and extensively noticed by the press, and has
induced persons from various parts of the United States to
write letters of inquiry respecting my mode of managing
bees, leading to such satisfactory results; these letters have
accumulated to such an extent, that it is impossible to answer
each personally and satisfactorily; hence I concluded to give to
the public a synopsis of my experience, with such hints and
suggestions as may possibly benefit some bee-keepers and ad-
vance the general interest.
It is with pleasure that I acknowledge my indebtedness to
Mr. Quinby, for extracts from his valuable work entitled "The
Mysteries of Bee-Keeping Explained," and also for other valu-
able matter kindly furnished by him. Although we may diflfer
upon some minor points in practice, there is but little differ-
ence as regards the general and leading features of bee-keeping.
I am also indebted to Bevan's work on bees for valuable ex-
tracts.
I would here tender my thanks to the Rev. J. Lewis Shuck,
of Sacramento, California, for an article on bees and bee-keep-
ing in China.
In presenting this work to the public, I disclaim any pre-
tensions to literary attainments; ray only object has been to
impart to others a knowledge of my experience.
1*
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOaY OF THE HONEY BEE.
The que«n, - - • - - 11
Description of the queen, - - 12
Does the queen govern the colony, - 13
No sovereignty exercised by the queen
over the colony, - - - 15
The economy of the colony directed by
workers, - - - - - 19
The only necessity for the queen in to
provide eggs, - - - - 23
No *ggs are deposited by the queen in
queen cells, - - - - 26
Do worker bees accord royal honors to
queens, . . . .
Mode of rearing queens.
Impregnation of queens, -
Ijingstroth's theory,
The worker bee, . . .
Description of the working bee,
The drone, . . . .
Drone-laying queens.
Fertile workers, . . .
Roaring brood,
Mode of commencing, -
Mode of laying eggs described.
Description of the eggs.
SPRING.
CHAPTER II.
BREEDING OF BEES.
- 67 Young bees reared without water.
71
68 When and how brood is reared up and
69 perfected, '
69 Quantity of egga laid by a queen.
CHAPTER III.
WAX.
Analysis of wax,
Bee braad, or pollen.
Comb, or architecture of bees,
Economy of materials.
CHAPTER IV.
BEE-BREAD, OR POLLEN.
88 How pollen is stored.
(Vii)
75
90
Vlll
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V .
IIONKY.
Different qualities of honey, - - 93 Propolis, or bee-glue,
CHAPTER VI.
No danger of bees roturnini
a milo or moro, -
Kind of stands,
Another method,
Still another plan.
Proper height, -
Distance between hives,
Bee houses,
THE APIARY,
if removed A simple shed preferred, • • 105
Another method of corerlng, • - 100
Procuring bees to commence an apiary ,106
Kind of stocks to buy, - - - 107
Proper size and kind of hives, - 108
Transporting boes short distances, - 109
Best time for transporting bees, • 110
- 100
101
- 102
102
- 103
104
- 104
CHAPTER VII.
BEE UIVE9.
Improved movable comb hives, - 115 Specifications,
Langstroth's hive, ... hq
Harbison's improved movable comb
hive, 118
Bill of lumber, - - .
Prames,
Phelps' movable comb hive,
CHAPTER VIII.
HONEY BOXES.
Qlasa boxes, 129 The sectional honey box, •
CHAPTER IX.
BEE PASTURAGE.
Best kind of early pasturage, - - 133 Mustard and mignonette.
The next pasturage, - - - 134 Cephalanthus, or button-bueh,
Early summer fl.xvers, • - - 136 Buckwheat, - - - .
SUMMER.
CHAPTER X.
.MANAGEMENT OF BEES.
143 How to transfer,
How to conquer bees,
Protection,
144
CHAPTER XI.
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS
To rear queens to supply artificial
swarms, 14S
Making artificial swarms, - - 149
Another method, - . . . 153
122
126
127
128
130
138
140
141
146
8tlll another plan of dividing and
making nrtiflclal swarms, - - 155
How to strengthen artificial swarms, 158
Plan to prevent bees leaving new col-
onies and returning to the old one,160
CONTENTS.
IX
CHAPTER XII.
PKEDING.
How to feed boes, ... - 162 Effects of feeding, versiis non-feeding, 176
The importanoo of feeding bees con- A case where bees were not fed, • 177
sidered, 164 How to manage bees in common box
Kind of feed used, .... iiig hives, 181
bevau on feeding, - - - - 171
CHAPTER XIII.
NATURAL SWARMING.
Time to exi>ect first swarms, - - 186 IIow to prevent swarms from leaving
Ciiuse of swarming, - - - 190 tlioir hives, .... 201
Condition of things necessary for swar- What bees compose the new swarm, 202
ming 190 Cultivate fruit trees in or near tlie
Requisites before preparation of queen apiary, 204
cells, 191 Swarms clustering, ... - 205
State of queen cells when used, - 192 Do swarms send spies to seek a now
The state when swarms issue, - 193 home, ...--- 206
OtluT symptoms immediately preced- Places generally selected by swarms, 207
ing the issuing of a swarm, - 194 To prevent more than one swarm
The vuxlus operandi of swarming, - 195 starting at one time, • - 209
Alighting and hiving swarms, - 19S After-swarms, 212
CHAPTER XIV.
HOW TO MAKE BEES PROFITABLE.
How to make boos profitable without a rapid increase of colonies, ... - 217
CHAPTER XV.
LOSS OF QUEENS.
Cause of their loss, - - - -222 The result, 225
■ Indication of the loss, - - - 224
CHAPTER XVI.
MANAGEMENT OF HONEY.
Putting on honey boxes, - - 226 How to kill worms in honey boxes, - 230
Tailing <rtf surplus honey, ... 226 Packing honey boxes for carrying to
Keeping and marketing honey, - 228 market, 231
CHAPTER XVII.
ENEMIES OF BEES.
Enemies of bees, . - - - 232 Irritability of bee«, - - - - 233
CHAPTER XVIII.
OVERSTOCKING.
Can the country bo overstocked with bees, ' 234
X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
WATKRING BEES.
Wateriug bees, .... no Mr. Quinby's letter on watering bees, 243
CHAPTER XX.
SHIPPING BEES TO CALIFORNIA.
Shipping bees to California, - - 246 Other shipments, .... 262
No bees in California prior to its con- How our first shipment was prepared, 254
quest by the Americans, - - 249 Second shipment — how prepared, - 266
The first sto^k of boos in California, 252 Peculiarities of bees in California, 269
AUTUMN.
CHAPTER XXI.
ROBBING.
Robbing, 261 How to detect robbing, - - • 268
Cause of robbing, - - - - 262 Remedy, 26S
How to prevent robbing, • - - 262
CHAPTER XXII.
UNITING SWARMS.
Uniting weak swarms in the fall, • 2C5 To unite swarms in box hives, - • 266
WINTER.
CHAPTER XXIII.
WINTERING BEES.
Protection, 268 Mr. Quinby's opinion of the value of
The invention of winter mats, - 273 these winter mats, ... 273
Another method of making winter Patent applied for, - . .273
mats, 275 How bees winter if left to themselves, 279
Mode of applying them, - - -275 Bcstshapedhivefor wintering bees in, 281
Wintering bees in dark rooms, • 282
CHAPTER XXIV.
PROFITS OP BEK KEEPING, 288
CHAPTER XXV.
HONEY BEE IN CHINA, 284
WHEKK RIGHT3 MAY BE OBTAINED, 288
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY BEE.
The Bee is considered by naturalists as belonging
to what are called perfect societies of insects, and in
entomological arrangements is placed in the order
of Hjmenoptera, genus Apis. Every association or
colony of bees comprises three descriptions of indi-
viduals, and each description is distinguished by an
appearance and cast of character peculiar to itself —
(Bevan.)
THE QUEEN.
The queen, as she is now generally called (the
mother bee would be a much more appropriate name
to designate the functions which properly belong to
her in the economy of the hive), is without doubt
the most important personage in the association, or
colony ; not from any useful labor which she per-
forms in building combs, storing honey, or anything
of this kind, nor yet for enacting laws and dictating
(11)
D. K HILL LIBRARY
North Carolina State College
12 BEES AND HKK-KEEPING.
to the rest of the colony what they shall and what
they shall not do, with that pomp and dignity sup-
posed to he the prerogative of earthly potentates gen-
erally; hut for the Immhlc position and for the sim-
ple purpose of laying eggs from which the young are
reared, and thus becomes the means of extending and
perpetuating her species.
In discussing this part of my subject, my expe-
rience will necessarily lead me to difter, on some
points, from writere whose ipse dixit is generally re-
ceived as orthodox.
DESCRIPTION OF THE QUEEN.
The queen, or mother bee, is easily
distinguished from all other bees in the
colony, by a more measured, sedate
movement; the greater length of her
body, which tapers gradually to a point;
the proportionate shortness of her
THE QDEF..V. wings, which reach but little beyond
her middle, ending about the third ring of her ab-
domen, but are very strong and sinewy; her head is
rounder, her trunk or thorax more slender and but
little more than half the length of that of the com-
mon worker bee; her legs, though longer, have nei-
ther brushes nor baskets for collecting pollen ; she
differs in color from all other bees in the colony, as
much as in shape — the upper part of her body is of a
much brighter black, the under surface and the legs
are of a dark orange or copper color, the hind legs
being rather darker than the rest.
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 13
DOES THE QtJEEN GOVERN THE COLONY ?
My experience upon this point is, that she does
not, or if she does exercise any controlling power, it
is to a very limited extent indeed ; but on the con-
trary, I firmly believe her to be a creature of the col-
ony, or worker bees, and subject to their power and
control, from the time the egg is deposited from
which she is reared, up to the perfect queen, and
from that time to the day of her death. It is gen-
erally conceded that the worker bees possess the pow-
er to rear a queen from any egg deposited in a worker
cell, and it is generally supposed that the change is
caused by the quantity and quality of food given them
whilst in the larva state, producing a fully developed
insect instead of one but partially developed, as in
the case of the common workers, and in this opin-
ion I fully concur. Now if food can be varied to
produce such striking results as this, may it not pro-
duce very important results in another direction ? (as
I will have occasion to refer to hereafter.) Thus we
find the common bees can rear a queen at pleasure,
when they have eggs. Kow suppose the old queen
is removed from a colony when in possession of eggs,
what is the result ? Do they scatter o% hither and
thither, having lost their governor or sovereign ; or
do they become lazy, indolent or reckless, not caring
now to protect their stores, as would most unques-
tionably be the case were they dependent upon the
queen to direct them in their duty, allotting to each
their task ? Nay, every observing apiarian can tes-
tify to the reverse of all this.
2
14 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINa.
When the quecu is removed they very soon miss
her, and immediately make a diligent search for her
in and about the hive, apparently manifesting a great
anxiety for her safety. If she is not found in a short
time, they settle down and go to work quietly, as if
nothing unusual had happened. To replace their
lost queen now seems to be their greatest concern.
It would be very difficult for the most skillful and
careful observer to detect any thing difterent in their
movements from those in possession of a queen ; the
only difference, perhaps, is, that if any comb is built
it is pretty certain to be drone cells. Honey and
pollen will be gathered and stored, and every thing
carried on with the same order and precision that it
could be if a queen was present. Now if the queen
rules a colony and directs its movements, laying out
all the plans, &c. as most writers would have us be-
lieve, where is the directing or governing power
vested, in the absence of a queen ? Are the various
manipulations of the hive carried on at random? I
think not. Every bee, when it is born into the world,
is most unquestionably endowed by nature with that
instinct which prompts it to enter upon the discharge
of its appropriate duties, and also with the knowledge
and mechanical skill necessary to perform those du-
ties; no apprenticeship under skilled architects is
necessary to enable the young bee to build the most
beautiful comb, complete in all its relations, which
has been a problem to the most profound philoso-
phers and geometricians for centuries (the mode of
testing the truth of this position will be given in
HISTORY AND PHYSIO LOGY. 15
another place) ; hence I think facts will justify me in
believing,
First. That no sovereignty is exercised by the
queen over the other bees in the colony.
Second. That the entire economy of the colony is
directed and executed by the worker bees, including,
to a very considerable extent, the actions of the
queen.
Third. The only necessity for the presence of the
queen is to supply the colony with eggs.
Fourth. That the time of laying eggs, and the
number required at au}^ given period, is controlled
by the workers, and not by the queen.
Fifth. That no eggs are deposited in the queen
cells by queens.
Sixth. That no homage or filial affection is ren-
dered or manifested for the queen by the workers,
other than fi'om the instinct of self-preservation.
NO SOVEREIGNTY EXERCISED BY THE QUEEN UPON THE
COLONY.
No doubt I will be pronounced heterodox by many,
and especially by cotemporary authors and their ad-
herents, who have made the sovereignty of the
queen and the homage and filial affection rendered
her by her loving subjects, a theme over which they
have become very eloquent, and even romantic.
This course on the part of authors tends, in my opin-
ion, to continue and perpetuate in a modified form
that mystery which has for ages surrounded and ob-
scured bees and bee-keeping, and no doubt in many
16 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
cases prevents persons from engaging in apiarian
pursuits (which are both pleasing and profitable),
from a dread of being unable to understand and
manage properly such a complicated kind of stock,
and one so uncertain and so difficult to compfehend.
I apprehend that when the facts connected with
this subject are fully known, and a true knowledge of
the internal economy of the society of bees is simpli-
fied and presented truthfully, without being inter-
mixed with the remains of superstition, it will then be
demonstrated that bees can be understood and man-
aged by the community at large upon the same gen-
eral principles, and with similar assurances of suc-
cess, as any. other domestic stock. Any thing which
I may present will be for the purpose of simplifying
and removing objections which have by many been
considered insurmountable to bee-keeping, and not
with any desire to provoke controvers}- upon the part
of any wnth whom I may chance to dili'er.
In connection with my first proposition, that no
sovereignty is exercised by the queen, I have already
given my reasons for this conclusion to a considera-
ble extent, but will give some experiments to show
that each individual bee fully understands its own
duty from instinct, without any instruction. Just as
soon as they were able to commence the performance
thereof, I took a number of frames, (being full of
combs, brood, &c.) shook the bees down on a sheet
in front of the hive ; all the old bees, or nearly so,
would within a few minutes take wing and return to
their hive. I should remark, however, that a hive
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 17
was selected in ^vhich a large amount of brood had
been emerging for a day or t^vo previous, and was
still emerging. With a little patience and care, al-
most every bee that is old enough to fly can be re-
moved or separated from those that are yet unable to
fly; in this manner enough of these young bees can
be obtained to make a small swarm, sufficient to
keep two brood combs warm, if other combs are
placed on each side, and the whole covered or closed
around, giving the colony space just in proportion to
its size. Combs were selected from which brood was
rapidly emerging ; and an embryo queen was set in
one of the combs, in a central position. This exper-
iment was made in very warm weather; the entrance
was contracted so that robbers were not likely to at-
tack it. ISTow for the result. The first day, not a
single bee could be seen to enter or depart; the sec-
ond day, a bee might be seen coming out and appa-
rently making very short excursions, and again re-
turning; this only occurred at long intervals. On
examining the interior, the numbers seemed to be
very much increased by those that had emerged from
the comb ; many bees could now be observed pretty
well developed, apparently capable of going abroad
to the fields and engaging in their daily avocations.
On the third day a few more could be seen at the
entrance. Fourth day, the number still increased ;
one could be seen occasionally carrying pollen ;
young queen emerged evening of this day ; colony
quite lively. Fifth day, began to work quite regu-
larly, evidently carrying both honey and pollen.
2*
18 lirE>? AND BEE-KREPTNa.
Sixth day, still increasing in strength. Seventh day,
working quite briskly, considering the size of the
colony. Eighth and ninth days, working as strong,
apparently, in proportion to their numbers, as any
stock in the apiary. On the evening of the ninth
day (five days from the time the queen emerged from
her cell), a few eggs were observed in one of the
combs. Tenth day, the number of eggs was greatly
increased; the queen was now fertile, and the exper-
iment of making a colony of bees, composed entirely
of young ones, without a single exception, was a
perfect success, tlie bees continuing to thrive and do
well.
We have instituted similar experiments with the
same result. Can it be supposed, with any degree
of plausibility, that those young bees were governed
by a queen, or other royal dignitary, four days having
elapsed without any queen being in the colony, ex-
cept the one yet sealed up in the cell ; nor were there
any old bees to instruct them in the aftairs of the
colony. I forgot to mention that three queen cells
were commenced before the queen emerged from her
cell, but of course Avere then discontinued. In one or
two cases, we have had thorn to rear and perfect
queens in this manner.
But I find, upon examination, that I am not the
first to suppose that the queen exercised no authority
over the other bees. Bonner, an eminent Scotch
writer of the last century, uses the following lan-
guage :
"But as it is also now unanimously admitted that
IIISTOBY AND FHYSTOLOrJY. 19
she (the qiieeii ) lays every egg in tbe hive, she
ought rather be called the mother bee, for indeed
from the best observation that ever I could make,
she possesses and exerts no sovereignty over the
other bees ; she evidences the greatest anxiety for the
good of the commonwealth with which she is con-
nected, and indeed every member of it shows an
equal regard for her welfare ; but I never could ob-
serve that she issues any positive orders to be punctu-
ally obeyed by the other bees. The truth seems to
be, that she and the other bees are all equally ac-
quainted with their duty l\y instinct, and have an
equal pleasure in performing it, without waiting for
orders from each other. That there is, nevertheless,
the greatest order and regularity among them, is cer-
tain, for they lay their plans and execute them in the
best possible manner, by the influence of the above
powerful substitute for reason."
THE ECONOMY OF THE COLONY DIRECTED BY THE WORKERS.
It seems evident that in the creation and organi-
zation of societies or colonies of honey bees, as in
other things, the sexes are, to a certain extent, depend-
ent on each other for the propagation and perpetua-
tion of their species; l)ut here we have the strange
anomaly of the neuter gender, or rather of the unde-
veloped sex (of which the colony is mainly composed),
feeding and nursing the young, and caring for them
with as much parental devotion and solicitude as
though they were actually their own ofl:spring, the
queen simply depositing the eggs in their appro-
20 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
priate place. It seems they also have the knowledge
and ability to rear the brood in such manner as
would seem best for the welfare of the colony, either
by rearing it all as undeveloped females (common
workers), or fully developing a portion thereof and
making queens.
I refer to eggs deposited in worker cells; those in
drone cells are drones, and nothing else. When a
swarm issues from a colony, the workers are the first
to go forth ; a considerable portion of the swarm
generally emerges before the queen takes wing.
This rule is deviated from in many instances in after
swarms, but I never knew an instance with first
swarms. The workers are also the first to select a
place to cluster ; and in many cases I have carefully
observed to see if the queen was first, or even among
the first, to alight ; but as a general thing a consid-
erable portion of the swarm would cluster, when her
ladyship might be seen alighting in their midst.
I have known swarms to cluster, and in some cases
remain until put into the hive, and then return to
the parent stock, when I knew the queen had not
left at all, having seen her running round on the
alighting board and return into the hive, apparently
unable to fly, or unwilling to risk herself on the
wing; the bees evidently having done their part,
expected the queen to do hers. It is true, however,
that in a very few cases I have known the queen to
get down in the weeds or grass, being unable to arise
and fly again; the w^orker bees after some time
would discover her, and would then cluster upon and
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 21
around her. But this is not their natural way of
doing; it is the exception, and not the rule. Hence
I conclude the worker bees lead oft' in swarming and
in clustering, the queen following instead of leading.
Her presence is absolutely necessary to the welfare
of the swarm, simply for the purpose of supplying
the means of replenishing the stock; of this they
seem perfectly aware. They prefer returning to the
parent stock to setting up without her.
"When a swarm is hived, the workers lay the foun-
dation of the combs, and carry on the work until
finished ; the queen depositing eggs in the cells as
they are progressing, not waiting for their comple-
tion. They also collect the food necessary for the
sustenance of the entire colony. But some one is
ready to say, perhaps the queen directs all this. Just
take her away, and see how quickly a change will
take place. i!^ow let us see what the change will be.
Suppose the queen has laid a few eggs in the first
comb built, and we remove her from the hive en-
tirely ; the bees will set to work to rear queens from
those eggs, and the other business of the hive will
go on as if nothing unusual had happened; honey
and pollen will be gathered and stored ; whatever
eggs or brood may be in the hive are properly cared
for ; and all progress finely so long as they have the
means of supplying themselves with a queen. In-
deed it is next to impossible even for the experienced
apiarian to detect anything wrong from outside ap-
pearances ; and yet there is no queen to direct them
or instruct them in their duty ; every member of the
22 BEES AND BEE-KEEPTNQ.
colony, as has already been remarked, knows its
duty, and discharges that duty with alacrity, not wait-
ing for orders from the queen or from each other.
When the yield of honey abroad is good, an in-
creased amount of brood is reared ; but when it ia
cut off suddenly by frost, or any other casualty, I
have seen them drag the brood, both woi'ker and
drones, in all stages, from tlie combs, at the same
time killing and driving out the mature drones, as if
a famine was just at hand. Is it the queen that di-
rects this destruction of her offspring ? To test the
matter to the satisfaction of any one, just remove the
queen, when such a case occurs, from some strong
stock, and the only perceptible difference will be, that
the one having no queen will retain a portion of
the drones, for the purpose, doubtless, of impregnat-
ing the young queen, should they be successful in
rearing one from eggs in the combs when the queen
is taken away.
The preparation for swarming is, I believe, made
entirely by the workei's. The fact is stated by sev-
eral authors, in which I concur, that a guard of
worker bees are placed over the queen colls during
their progress, to prevent tlie old (iueeu from de-
stroying them, which she would most certainly do if
left to the freedom of her own will, and effectually
prevent any swarm from going forth in a state of
nature, the result of which would be to bring the
whole race to an end ere long.
Here we have positive evidence of the workers
governing the queen, and oontrolline: her actiojis.
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 23
When a top swarm has gone forth, the old queen
accompanying them, leaving embryo queens in the
hive, the guard is continued to prevent the first one
out from rushing to and destroying all her sister
queens, thereby preventing the possibility of any after
swarms going forth. In some instances the young
queens are imprisoned in their cells for days, being
fed through an opening at the end of the cell, b^' the
workers, until circumstances change so as to make
it proper to release them.
Experiments can easily be instituted by amateurs,
or any one doubting the truth of this, to test it, by
constructing observatory hives, with glass sides, ex-
posing to view the combs and all the workings of
the colony. Directions will be found on another
page for constructing such hives.
Thus we find the worker bees capable of carrying
on all the aftliirs of the hive, rearing a queen when
destitute (providing they have eggs), controlling the
queen, and preventing her from destroying the em-
bryo queens ; and I will venture the opinion, that they
(the workers) cause her to leave the old hive with the
top swarm ; if left to herself, she would not emigrate
from her old home. This is but an opinion, the truth
of which time and observation will demonstrate.
THE ONLY NECESSITY FOR THE QUEEN IS TO PROVIDE EGGS
FOR THE COLONY.
That the colony is entirely dependent on the queeu
for a supply of eggs, few will doubt; but the idea
has generally prevailed that this is not her only
24 BEES AND BEE-KEEHNG. •
duty. Curiosity lias prompted me to scrutinize thiii
matter pretty closely, but I have failed to discovei
that she perfonuvS any other otHce in the colony ex-
cept the one just indicated. I never could observe
that she had any care for her offspring, either feed-
ing them or manifesting any parental anxiety what-
ever for their welfare ; in fact, the workers, as a gen-
eral thing, supply her ladyship with her food, from
time to time, as she requires it.
Mr. Quinby, in referring to the duties of the
queen, says, " the queen is the mother of the entire
family ; her duty appears to be only to deposit eggs
in the cells. I am also led to believe that the time
for the queen to lay eggs, and the requisite quantity,
is in a measure indicated by the workers — the kind
of food which they give her, or the quantity of it, as
the case may be. This, I feel quite sure, promotes
the rapid production and depositing of eggs in the
one case, and in the reverse of that a diminution,
even to the entire cessation thereof." I have already
noticed that the workers have the facult}^ or power
of rearing a queen from an egg laid in a worker cell,
by giving them a liberal supply of food of a peculiar
land, the effect of which seems to be the full devel-
opment of the sex, which, if permitted to have re-
mained in the w^orker cell, and been fed on the com-
mon or ordinary food, it had been a worker, or a
partially developed female. Here we see the pow-
erful effects of stimulating food, for such it doubtless
is. Would it be unreasonable to suppose that food
of a similar kind, given to the perfect queen, would
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGV. 25
greatly affect the production of eggs, cither to in-
crease or diminish the quantity?
That the food consumed by the queen, as a gen-
eral thing, is given to her in a prepared form by the
workers, I have no doubt. The large amount con-
sumed by her, and no doubt necessary for her support
during the time of her greatest activity in depositing
eggs, has been noticed by authors.
It is well known that in a few days after honey be-
comes plenty in the fields, after a scarcity, the queen
invariably becomes very prolific; a sufficient time
apparently elapsing for an increased amount of food
to effect this change. The effect of an increased
amount of honey abroad is about the same on colo-
nies that have a large surplus of honey in store, as it
is on those that have a small supply. Thus we see
it is not caused by actual scarcity or want of honey,
but simply because the workers, in the exercise of
their instinct (knowing the scarcity of honey abroad),
withhold from the queen the amount of food neces-
sary to stimulate her to greater fertilitj'. A proper
knowledge of this peculiarity will enable the apiarian
to stimulate his bees to breed to their full capacity,
by feeding when it is desirable to increase the num-
ber of his stocks, or for the purpose of making those
he may have strong and vigorous.
It is well known to apiarians that the quantity of
eggs is regulated in some way or other; but no one,
to my knowledge, has attempted to give the modus
operandi. Mr. Langstroth brvs, " some apiarians be-
lieve that she (the queen) can regulate their devclop-
3
26 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
meat (eggs), so that few or many are produced, accord-
ing to the necessities of the colony." That this is
true to a certain extent, seems liigbly probable ; for
if a queen is taken from a feeble colony, her abdo-
men seldom appears greatly distended; and yet, if
put in a strong one, she speedily becomes prolific.
He continues: "I conceive that she has the power
of regulating or repressing the development of her
eggs, so that gradually she can diminish the number
maturing and finally cease laying, and remain inac-
tive as long as circumstances require."
The old queen appears to qualify herself for ac-
companying a first swarm, by repressing the devel-
opment of eggs; and as this is done at the most
genial season of the year, it does not seem to be the
result of atmospheric influence. The only diflerence
upon this point between Mr. Langstroth and myself
is, that he ascribes entirely to the queen the ability
to produce a greater or less amount of eggs, whilst I
believe this matter is regulated entirely by the com-
mon worker bees, by the quantity or quality of food
they give her; or in other words, she is an instru-
ment which they use as they see fit, to supply them
with eggs from which to replenish the hive with
young workers.
NO EGGS ARE DEPOSITED BY THE QUEEN IN QUEEN CELLS.
This may seem paradoxical to some, yet I think
facts will fully confirm this opinion. The inveterate
hostility that exists between queens is well known by
all observing bee-keepers. So fearful are they of a
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 27
rival iu the family, that I have known them fro
quently to rush to the queen cells, and if permitted
by the bees, destroy the contents of every one, from
the larva of a day or two old up to those in an ad-
vanced stage ; and they are just as ready to do this,
and will do it, if permitted, as certainly, at the
swarming time, as at any other. This I have tested,
by removing the queen from a strong stock, and im-
prisoning her in a queen cage, keeping her in another
hive for a few days, until several queen cells were
commenced, then placing the cage containing her
back in her own hive, where she remained until the
queen cells were advanced to the desired point. I
once kept a queen in a cage in a hive having a fer-
tile queen, for over three weeks, the bees feeding her
all the time. If any one doubts that they (the work-
ers) feed the queen, try this experiment; then set
lier at liberty in the hive, when she will immediately
hunt out every cell and destroy it, thus taking the
workers by surprise, as it were, they supposing, per-
haps, that she is still in her prison, and not being
prepared to guard the embryo queens, which they
doubtless intend in part to use for the purpose of
supplying swarms that might go forth, if circum-
stances are favorable. This is on the supposition that
the experiment is instituted in the swarming season.
Bevan relates a circumstance just in point here.
"In July, when the hive (one of Dunbar's mirror
hives) had become filled with comb and bees and well
stored with honey, and when the queen was very
28 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
fertile, I opened the hive and took her majesty away ;
on the next day I observed that they had founded
five royal cells in the usual way, under such circum-
stances; and in the course of the afternoon four more
were founded on parts of the comb where there were
eggs only a day or two old. Two of the royal cells
advanced more rapidly than the rest, probably from
the larva being of an egg the fittest for the purpose ;
four came on more slowly, and three made no pro-
gress after the third day. On the seventh, the two
first were sealed, two more were nearly so. On the
morning of the fourteenth day from the old queen's
removal, a young queen, differing in no respect from
one produced in the natural way, emerged from her
cell, and proceeded toward the other royal cell, evi-
dently with a murderous intent. She was immedi-
ately pulled back by the workers with violence, and
this conduct was repeated on their part as often as
the queen renewed her destructive purpose; at every
repulse she appeared sulky, and cried 'peep,' 'peep;'
the unhatched queen responding, but in a somewhat
hoarser tone, owing to her confined situation. This
parley, as Butler calls it, continued for several hours
together, with intervals of about a minute. In the
evening of the same day the second queen was hatch-
ed, or emerged from her cell. I saw her, says Mr. B.,
come forth in majest}^ finely and delicately formed,
but smaller than the other."
In this case it is very evident that they designed
one of these queens to go off" with a swarm. I
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 29
should perhaps remark, that this experiment was
made in an observatory hive, glass sides — what Bevan
calls a mirror hive.
Suddenly alarm a colony that has its preparations
for swarming nearly completed, i. e. young queens
in an advanced condition, such as are found previous
to the first swarm going forth, so as to withdraw the
attention of the guard of workers from the royal
cells for a time, as a general thing the old queen will
destroy all the embryo queens ; she will most cer-
tainly do so, if not prevented by the workers. Does
not this prove very conclusively that the queen of
a colony does not desire any other queen raised
in her domains, for any purpose, and consequently
does not deposit any eggs in the ro^'al cells ?
The workers, when they find it necessary to rear
queens, either for the purpose of supplying the place
of one just taken from them, or for swarming pur-
poses, remove eggs from the worker cells and place
them in the prepared queen cells. I have known
them to do this frequently, when I have removed the
queen. Several cells would be built from three-
eighths to half an inch deep, within twenty-four to
forty hours. I have looked into these very fre-
quently, when no egg was to be seen, and noted such
cells carefully, having examined again and again.
Perhaps in a few hours, or daring that day or the
next, an egg could be distinctly seen attached to the
top of the cell, nothing else being in the cell ; a few
hours afterward a very small quantity of a whitish
substance could be seen surrounding the egg: this
3*
30 BKK.s AND ci:i:-Ki:Ki'fxa.
was greatly increased after tiie og(j; was luitclied out
and became larva.
This experiment 1 have tried time and again, with
the same result. There being no queen in the hive,
how came the egg in the queen cell, unless the work-
ers removed it thither? That they did this, I have
no reason to doubt. If thoy are capable of doing so
in the absence of a queen, is it not reasonable to
suppose that they can do so when preparing to swarm,
while the queen still remains in the hive; and fur-
ther, that this is the metliod generally practiced.
Sometimes the partitions between two or three cells
were pierced out and formed into a queen cell.
Where there is young larva two or three days old,
sncli are uot removed. Colls constructed in this way
are generally but a few degrees from a horizontal
position ; whilst queens raised from the egg almost
invariably occupy a perpendicular position. Query.
Does not this offer a solution to the mystery of drone
laying queens, they having been but imperfectly de-
veloped ?
DO THE WORKER BEES ACCORD ROYi^ L HONORS TO THE
QUEEN.
I have failed thus far to discover or observe that
any homage was done the queen, unless feeding her
may be considered as such ; this I apprehend has
been mistaken for that fond caressing which some
authors laud so highly. When the true state of the
case is uriderst<")od, it will strip the queen of much of
rovalty with which she has been invested. The g'uard
HISTORY AND PIIYSIOLUGY. 31
of honor which some authors have accorded her, is
likely to be reduced to a few menials, whose business
it is to prepare her meals and serve them up to her.
When she is passing over the brood-comb, apparently
searching for the proper cells in which to deposit her
eggs, the workers step aside and give her room to
proceed with her work ; just as a man who was stand-
ing idle would step aside to give room to another to
proceed with his work, no homage being done in
either case, nor yet any filial affection shown.
When I have observed the queen in any other posi-
tion than on the brood comb, she would pass over or
amongst the workers just as any humble worker
might do ; very seldom, indeed, do they get out of
her wa}'. She has her peculiar stately, or rather
ambling motion, which serves to distinguish her from
any other in the hive ; this is doubtless caused by th(5
vast amount of food consumed, and the immense
number of eggs elaborated by her when in her great-
est fertility, and not from a knowledge of royal blood
flowing ill her veins.
The motions of the young queen before she becomes
fertile, arc but little different from the v»-orkers ; she
is quite brisk and active, either on foot or on the
wing. No notice apparently is taken of her until
she becomes fertile (by the workers); this fact has
been related by several authors. AVhen she becomes
fertile, and enters upon her duties — as I have stated,
passing over the brood combs, depositing eggs — the
workers simply stepping out of the wiiy, permitting
her to proceed with her labors without hindrance;
32 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
add to this the fact that a few bees prepare and sup-
ply her with food, in connection with the knowledge
or instinct which teaches the bees the necessity for
the presence of the queen, merely for the purpose of
supplying the hive with eggs — and we have all of
royalty or filial affection for the queen by the work-
ers which I have been able to discover. Whenever
she ceases to jDerform this duty to the satisfaction of
the workers — when from age or accident she becomes
less prolific, ceasing to fhrnish sufficient eggs to sup-
ply the wants of the colony — how do the workers
proceed? Arc they prompted by their filial affection
for their mother, so to speak, to permit her to remain
mistress of the hive, doing the best service her age
or infirmities would permit her to render ? Nay ;
when this occurs, they rear one or more young queens
(we might suppose, in opposition to her remon-
strances, or perhaps entreaties). When one is in a
fit condition to take her place, she is ignominiously
sacrificed, apparently for the good of the society for
which she is unable longer to furnish the means of
perpetuation. Just as soon as she fails to perform
her appropriate duties, she is dealt with as remorse-
lessly and as promptly by the workers as the drones
are when they cease to be useful to promote the
welfare of the colony ; hence the old adage is true,
that in a hive not a single useless idle bee is permitted
to remain.
My object has been to get at facts ; I have no
disposition to attempt to underrate the value and the
well known and absolute necessity of the queen ; no
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 33
colony can possibly exist more than a few weeks, or
at most a few mouths, without her; but I deem it
necessary to explain things as experience has taught
me.
MODE OP REARING QUEENS,
It has been hinted already, that the worker bees
could rear a queen at will from any egg laid in a
worker cell ; this they do when left to take their own
course, or when in a state of nature, in order to pro-
vide queens for swarms that may issue. They also
do this when their queen is removed from the hive
for the purpose of making artificial swarms, or by
any accident, provided they have or are supplied
with brood-comb, containing eggs, or larva not more
than four days old. These are what, for the sake of
distinction, are called artificial queens, but I never
could discover any difi'erence between them and
those raised naturally (or when they are preparing to
swarm — the other queen still remaining in the hive),
when in both cases they commenced with the un-
hatched egg and not w^ith larva.
"When the queen is taken from a colony, instinct or
reason, if I may be permitted so to term it, teaches
the workers the importance of having her place
supplied, at the very earliest possible moment, with
another fertile queen. They are also aware, no doubt,
that this desirable object may be attained a few daj's
sooner, by taking a larva that has been hatched three
or four days, and fed on food only designed to de-
velope it as a common worker up to that time. The
cell is now greatly enlarged, by cutting out the par-
34 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
titions between that and adjoining cells, and rearing
a cell in proper form. The forcing process, so to
speak, is now commenced, by supplying the larva
with a large quantity of royal jelly, instead of the ple-
beian food on which it fed for the first few days of its
existence. Cells constructed for larva of this kind
differ from those constructed for eggs, in two partic-
ulars ; in the first place, they are less in size and
nearly horizontal, while those constructed for eggs
are almost invariably perpendicular, so much so that
the embryo queen stands on her head, whilst in the
other case she lies almost flat on her back, similar to
the workers in the embryo state. When queens
raised from larva have emerged, which I have known
them to do on the twelfth day from the removal of
the old queen, and indeed in one or two instances on
the eleventh day, they are less in size, shorter in the
body, and of a darker color, being of a greenish
brown, very similar to the worker, but destitute of
that rich copper brown which so distinctly marks
the perfect queen raised direct from the egg. I think
it highly probable that to this cause ma}^ bo traced
the anomaly that has puzzled apiarians for ages past,
i. e. drone-laying queens and fertile workers, each of
which will be noticed elsewhere; and I have no
doubt this peculiarity has misled Mr. Quinby and
many others in their experiments in rearing artificial
queens, as they are generally called.
In all cases where it is desirable to have bees rear
queens other thaji those they rear of their own ac-
cord, comb should be selected having unhatched eggs
HISTORY AND PIIYSIOLOaY. 35
in, and it should invariably be placed in a central
position in the colony, where the highest degree of
temperature is found; in very full, strong stocks,
almost any well covered position with bees will do.
I have generally found that the most perfect and vig-
orous queens are raised in colonies that were capable
of maintaining a uniform temperature in the hive,
above eighty degrees Fahrenheit. According to Be-
van, it requires the temperature to be seventy degrees
and upward to hatch the egg. The influence of tem-
perature is very great in developing all varieties of
the bee, but particularly so with queens. It is quite
easy to place a comb in any movable comb hive
containing eggs, from which several queen cells are
generally suspended, being about an inch long, and
three-eighths of an inch in diameter. When these
cells are built about one-third of their length, being
similar to the cup of an acorn, the egg is placed in
it (as I believe, by the workers), when it hatches and
becomes a worm; it is supplied with royal jelly, lu
very small particles at first, and increased as the
worm or larva seems to require it ; there is generally
more given or put into the cell than is consumed.
This kind of food is peculiar to the queen cells, and
is not found in any other place in or about the hive.
Royal larva construct only imperfect cocoons, open
behind, and enveloping only the head, thorax and
first ring of the abdomen. A curious circumstance
occurs with respect to the hatching of the queen
bee. When the pupa, or nymph, is about to change
into the perfect insect, the bees render the cover of
36 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
the cell thinner b}^ gnawing away part of the wax,
scooping it out in waved circles at its edges; and
with so much nicety do they perform this operation,
that the cover at last becomes pellucid, owing to its
extreme thinness, thus facilitating the exit of the
queen.
After the transformation is thus completed, the
young queens would generally immediately emerge
from their cells, as workers and drones do ; but the
former frequently keep the royal infants prisoners
for some days, supplying them in the mean time with
food through a small opening in the bottom of the
cell, through which the confined queen thrusts her
proboscis to receive it.
In rearing queens to supply queenless hives, or to
supply artificial swarms, I would recommend the apia-
rian to examine carefully, about the seventh or eighth
day from the time eggs were given to the colony,
and one or two cells will usually be found considera-
bly in advance of all the rest. These should be re-
moved. If there are still others left in the hive, they
may be given to colonies; but I do not regard them
as very reliable, sometimes not being fully developed,
having been reared from larva that were too far
advanced as workers. Those reared directly from
the eggs I regard as being superior in point of devel-
opment, and consequently more reliable as prolific
queens. This will be discussed at greater length in
another place. I should remark, however, that the
young queen goes forth from the hive about the
second or third day after she emerges from the cell,
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. S7
to meet the drone or male bee in the air, where
coition takes place.
I have already noticed that queens reared from
larva three or four days old, would emerge from their
cells as early as the eleventh or twelfth day from
the time of removing the old queen ; whilst those
reared directly from eggs would lack three or four
days of being sufhciently matured to emerge from
the cell, consequently they would be consigned to
certain destruction by the perhaps immature queen
that came out first, unless it should happen in the
swarming season, and the colony designed to swarm.
If later in the season than this, the result would be
about this : the first queen to emerge from her cell,
whether fully developed or not, would destroy all
those yet in their cells within a few hours, and cer-
tainly before she went abroad to meet the drones to
become fertilized ; so that she would be the only
dependence of the colony, there being now no eggs
in the hive from which to rear another queen, whether
sufliciently developed to become a mother or not.
But suppose she is not sufliciently developed, as a
queen or female, to have connection with the drone,
and thus become fertilized, but enough so to attempt
the desired object, what would be the probable re-
sult ? She would either repeat her excursions abroad,
to meet the drones, day after da}', for a considerable
length of time, until she met with some accident that
would terminate her existence ; or after a certain time,
as some think, she would commence layiilg drone
eggs, being incapable of furnishing any other kind.
4
38 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
In one instance, during the past season, I Icnew a
queen of this kind ; she was quite small, being but
little larger than a common worker, and very nearly
of the same color ; she emerged from her cell on the
eleventh day from the removal of the queen, and
consequently must have been reared from larva. I
was careful to watch her, and saw her about one
o'clock on the second day, issue from the hive.
I continued my observations, and saw her go forth
live or six different days ; she remained in the hive
until about the sixteenth day from the time she
emerged from her cell. ]^o eggs could be found in
any of the combs, neither drone nor worker cells, and
I could not discover any difference in her size or
appearance, as is always the case when queens be-
come fertile. I then removed her and gave another
queen to the colony. I feel pretty confident that she
was not sufiiciently developed to become a prolific
queen, or even to become a mother at all, unless,
indeed, the theory of an unimpregnated queen pro-
ducing only drones, is true. I think it quite reason-
able to suppose that various points of development
may and are occasionally attained, between the com-
mon worker bee and the perfect queen, arising either
from the fact of the larva being too far advanced,
before feeding royal jelly, to be fully developed, or
from being reared in a cool situation or imperfectly
fed.
It is of great importance to place brood-comb con-
taining eggs from which to rear queens, in a central
position in the colony ; if put in a hive that has sent
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 39
ofi" a swarm or two, it will not do to put it near the
lower ends of the combs, as there is not likely to be
a sufficient quantity of bees to keep up the heat to
the proper temperature ; and to put combs on the top
of the hive is nonsense. Whoever expects to rear
queens in either way, will be disappointed.
Mr. Quinby has doubtless fallen into one or all of
these errors, which is common to first experiments.
His mode of managing bees, prior to writing his
work, had been such, I apprehend, as not to make
the rearing of artificial queens of much importance
to him as a matter of profit ; hence I conclude he has
not given this subject as much stud}' and careful
experiment as some others, whose object has been to
increase their number of stocks in the most rapid
manner possible.
Mr. Quinby says : " Obtain a piece of brood-comb
containing workers' eggs, or larva very young. You
will generally find it without much trouble, in a
young swarm that is making combs ; the lower ends
usually contain eggs ; take a piece from one of the
middle sheets, two or three inches long ; ( you will
probably use smoke by this time, without telling.)
Invert the hive that is to receive it, put the piece
edgewise between the combs, if you can spread them
apart enough for the purpose ; they will hold it there^
and then there will be ample room to make the cells.
They will nearly always rear several queens. I have
counted nine several times, which were all they had
room for. But yet I have very little confidence in
such queens, they are almost certain to be lost."
40 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
Again he says: "I have put such piece of brood-
comb in a small glass box on the top of the hive
instead of the bottom, because it was less trouble ;
but in this case the eggs were all removed in a short
time ; whether a queen was reared in the hive or
not, I cannot say ; but this I know, I never obtained
a prolific queen, after repeated experiments in this
way." lie continues : " It would appear that I have
been more unfortunate with queens reared in this
way than most experimenters. I have no difficulty
to get them formed, to all appearance perfect, but
lose them afterward. Now whether this arose from
some lack of physical development, by taking grubs
too far advanced to make a perfect change, or
whether they were reared so late in the season, that
most of the drones were destroyed, and the queen to
meet one had to repeat her excursions till lost, I am
yet unable to /tt% determine." . . . " Yet occasion-
ally prolific queens have been reared when I could
account for their origin in no other way but from
worker eggs."
These are just the results I would anticipate from
the manner of conducting these experiments ; I
should have expected them to be instituted in a more
workman-like manner, at least more in accordance
with the habits of tlie bee. Mr. Quinby seems rather
in doubt whether bees can and do raise prolific queens
from worker eggs. However, this question is now so
well understood, having been clearly demonstrated
by such authors as Schirach, Februier, Swammerdam,
Huber, Bonner, Bevan, Langstroth and others, that I
HISTORY AXL PHYSIOLOGY. 41
apprehend no reasonable doubt can exist of the truth
of \vorker bees raising perfect prolific queens from any
eggs that ^vould have produced workers, or of rear-
ing Avorkers from any eggs that would have produced
a queen ; for I am fully satisfied that but two kinds
of eggs are ever found in a hive of bees, moth eggs
excepted. The one may be found iu drone cells,
which will produce only drones ; the other may be
found in the worker cells, and will produce only
females, either partially or fully developed, as circum-
stances may seem to suggest to the instinct of the
bees.
I have adverted to Mr. Quinby's experiments, and
his position with reference to the rearing of queens
from eggs laid in worker cells, or artificial queens, if
you please, from no unkind motives, or with a view
to detract from his merits as an author, but to ex-
plain, if possible, the cause of his failure, and thereby
prevent others from falling into the same error.
Bcvau says : "Bees, when deprived of their queen,
have the power of selecting one or more worker
eggs, or grubs, and converting them into queens ;
thus showing that there is no inherent difterence in
female ova to effect this. Each of the promoted
eggs or grubs has a royal cell or cradle formed for
it, and it is liberally supplied with royal jelly; this
royal jelly is a pungent food, prepared by the work-
ing bees exclusively for the purpose of feeding such
of the larva as are destined to become candidates for
the honors of royalty, whether it be their lot to assume
them or not : it is more stin.ulating than the food of
4*
42 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
ordinary bees, luis not the same mawkish taste, and
is evidently acescent, or acid. From the first, the
royal larva are supplied with it rather profusely, and
there is always some left in the cell after their trans-
formation. It becomes reddish or brown after re-
maining for a time. Schirach, who was secretary
to the Apiarian Society in Upper Lusatia, and vicar
of Little Bautzen, may be regarded as the discoverer
or rather as the promulgator of this fact; and his
experiments, which were also frequently repeated by
other members of the Lusatian society, have been
amply confirmed by those of Huber, Bonner, Dunbar,
Golding, and myself (Bevan). Keys w^as a violent
skeptic upon this subject, so likewise was John Hun-
ter. But notwithstanding the criticisms and ridicule
of the former, and the sarcastic strictures of the lat-
ter, the sex of workers is now established beyond all
doubt.
"The fact is said to have been known long before
Schirach wrote. M. Vogel, and Signor Monticelli,
a Neapolitan professor, have both asserted this. The
former states it to have been known upward of fifty
years, the latter a much longer period, lie says that
the Greeks and Turks in the Ionian islands, are well
acquainted with it, and that in the little Sicilian island
of Favignana, the art of producing queens has been
known from very remote antiquity ; he even thinks
it was no secret to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
"Swammerdam was acquainted with the power of
making artificial swarms. But the result of Schi-
rach's experiments was, that all workers were origin-
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 43
ally females, but that their organs of generation were
obliterated, merely because the germs of them were
not developed, their being fed and treated in a par-
ticular manner in their infancy, in their worm state,
being necessary, in his opinion, to effect that devel-
opment. Subsequent experiments have shown, how-
ever, that the organs are not entirely obliterated;
they seem to be merely restrained from unfolding
themselves by the size of their cradle and the quality
of their food.
" The most incomprehensible part of the process
is, that increasing the size and changing the direc-
tion of the cell, and feeding the larva with a more
pungent food, should not only allow the sexual or-
gans of the insect to be fully developed, but should
alter the shape of her tongue, her jaws, and her
sting, deprive her of the power to secrete wax, and
obliterate the baskets which, but for the changes
just referred to, would have been formed upon her
thighs."
Thus we find that this matter was well understood
many 3'ears, if not many centuries ago. Any writer
who doubts that bees can and do raise perfect queens
from eggs laid in worker cells, has certainly failed
to acquaint himself with the standard writers of the
last century, or the first half of the present, or has
failed to test the matter by properly instituted experi-
ments.
I have dwelt at considerable leugth on this subject,
as I consider it one of the most important connected
with ]ice-keeping.
44 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
IMPREGNATION OF QUEKNS.
Having traced this wonderful insect from the egg
to the perfectly formed virgin queen, giving an ac-
count of various experiments, and the views of differ-
ent authors in regard to the rearing of queens, &c.
I shall now advert to the more intricate and seem-
ingly mysterious process of the impregnation of the
queen.
This is a subject, (as Bevan remarks,) which was
long involved in obscurity, and which indeed is still
clouded by some uncertaint3\ Schirach and Bon-
ner denied the necessity of sexual intercourse be-
tween the queen and drones, considering the former
a mother and yet a virgin. Swammerdam held the
same opinion ; he ascribes the impregnation to a
vivifying seminal aura, which is exhaled from the
drones and penetrates the body of the queen. Reau-
mur successfully combated this fanciful doctrine, and
lliiber refuted it by experiment. Keaumur supposed
that there was a sexual intercourse, though his ex-
periments left that question undecided.
Arthur Dobbs, Esq. has given it as his opinion,
that the queen's eggs were impregnated by coition
with the drones, and that a renewal of the inter-
course was unnecessary; he, however, thought that
she had intercourse with several, in order that there
might be a sufficient deposition of sperm to impreg-
nate all her eggs.
The experiments of Iluber were made upon virgin
queens, with whose history he was acquainted from
the moment they left their cells. In the course of his
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 45
experiments he found that the queens were never im-
pregnated as long as they remained in the hive ; but
that impregnation always takes place in the open air,
whilst on the wing, at a time when the heat and
brightness of the day have induced the drones in
large quantities to issue from the hives, on which oc-
casion the queen soars high in the air, love being the
motive for the only distant journey she ever takes.
"The rencontre and copulation of the queen with
the drone takes place exterior to the hive," says
Lombard, " and whilst they are on the wing. They
are constituted in a similar manner with the family
of flies. The dragon flies copulate as they fly through
the aif, in which state they have the appearance of
a double insect."
Bevan saj^s : "I was myself an eye witness of the
following circumstances of the humble bee. A con-
joined pair descended obliquely and rapidly through
the air, making a loud buzz, and alighted near me. I
placed a tumbler glass over them, and observed their
proceedings for about twenty minutes, when they
became disunited, but wuth considerable difficulty,
and not without an angry scuffle. Having kept them
together for two days, feeding them occasionally, I
could not perceive any further advances on either
side, but rather aversion. At the end of this time
the drone, or male, died, but the queen, or female,
lived, and appeared lively for many days ; when I
finally gave her her liberty, she flew gaily away."
This occurrence of Bevan's proves very clearly that
the humble bee is impregnated on the wing. It is
46 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
well kuown, also, that the nest is begun in the spring
by a single bee, which is fertile and capable of laying
eggs, from which a brood is raised, and ere long
quite a colony is found. The same phenomenon
occurs with hornets, yellow jackets and wasps, all of
which are closely allied to the honey bee. It is quite
evident that the queen, or the female, which starts
the nest and deposits the first eggs, has been im-
pregnated the fall previous, and when once fertile it
serves for life.
But to return to the honey bee. If the queen
should be confined to the hive, even amidst a seraglio
of drones, she would continue barren ; but she usually
takes her flight about the second or third day after
leaving the cell, commonly from twelve to two
o'clock, generally preceded by the drones. After
traversing the alighting board for a few moments,
she flies back and forth in front of the hive, until
reaching the top of tlie covering or slied, when she
describes small circles at first, gradually enlarging ;
after thus surveying her locality, and noting carefully
the surrounding objects (apparently for the purpose
of enabling her to reach home when she would make
her final excursion), she returns to the hive, again
alighting and traversing the alighting board, passing
into the hive and out again in front, when finally she
rises aloft in the air, describing in her flight hori-
zontal circles of considerable and gradually increasing
diameter, and soars at last to such a height as to
render it impossible to follow her movements. She
generally returns from her aerial excursion in about
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 47
half an hour, with the unmistakable marks of her
amours upon her. Excursions are sometimes made
for a shorter period, but she seldom exhibits signs of
being impregnated after these.
According to Huber, one impregnation is sufficient
to fertilize all the eggs that are laid for two years
afterward, and perhaps sufficient to fertilize all that
she lays during her whole life. This may seem in-
credible to many; but need not, when we consider
that in the common spider, according to Audibert,
the fertilizing effects continue for many years.
Impregnation in insects appears to take place
whilst the eggs pass a reservoir containing sperm,
situated near the termination of the oviduct in the
valve. "In dissecting the female parts in the silk
moth," says Mr. Hunter, "I discovered a bag lying-
in what maybe called the vagina or common oviduct,
whose mouth or opening was external, but it had a
canal of communication between it and the oviduct.
In dissecting these parts before copulation, I found
this bag empty; and when I dissected them after-
ward, I found it full." By the most decisive ex-
periments, such as covering the ova of the unimpreg-
nated moth after exclusion, with the liquor taken
from this bag, found in those which were known to
have had sexual connection, rendering them fertile,
he demonstrated that this bag was a reservoir for the
spermatic fluid, to impregnate the eggs as they were
ready for exclusion, and that coition and impreg-
nation were not simultaneous.
Linnaeus thought there was a sexual intercourse
48 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINQ.
between the queens and the drones ; and he even
suspected that it proved fatal to the latter. Swam-
merdam gives, in his "Researches in Entomology,"
during the latter part of the seventeenth century, a
minute drawing of the ovaries of the queen, greatly
magnified, which shows a small bag or sac lying in
the vagina or common oviduct, very similar to that
found by Mr. Hunter in the silk moth. I think it
reasonable to suppose that this sac is the receptacle
for the male sperm, which serves to fertilize all the
eggs which the queen may produce for life.
Thus far, I believe this theory to be correct ; but
the process by which this is brouglit in contact and
incorporated with the rudiments of the eggs as pro-
duced in the ovaries of the queen, is yet, I apprehend,
considerably in the dark.
Before entering upon this point, I will relate what
occurred under my own observation, in regard to the
impregnation of the queen. On the 25th of May,
1859, I observed a youjig queen (on the third day
after she emerged from her cell,) leave the liive about
half past twelve o'clock; the drones were abroad in
advance of her, buzzing around in every direction
through the air. I watched carefully for her return,
contracting the entrance a little to prevent her pass-
ing directly in. In about twenty-five minutes she
returned, with the unmistakable marks of coition ;
lier appearance was similar to that presented by a
■worker bee when pressed between the thumb and
fingers, until the intestines, or the whitish substance
w^hich surrounds and is connected with the sting, pro-
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 49
trades a little beyoud the surrounding surface, pro-
ducing an enlargement of the parts, giving her the
appearance of being wounded or pressed sufficient to
cause the protrusion. On the second day, about three
o'clock, I examined the combs, and found eggs in
one comb (worker cells), in a circle, the diameter of
which was about four inches; they were on both
sides of the comb. "With a little more care I could
have ascertained nearly the exact time that elapsed
between the coition of the queen and depositing of
eggs.
I would suggest this method to m}- fi-iend, Mr.
Quinby, as a solution of the questions he would like
to ask, on page 251 of his work.
Since that time, I have seen three other queens
return from their excursions, with the same peculiar
appearance, and in every case eggs could be found in
the combs within two or three days. On other occa-
sions, I have seen queens return to the hive as trim
and nice as when they went forth, without any change
in their appearance, being unsuccessful, no doubt, in
their amours; no eggs could be found, as in the for-
mer cases. From these and other observations, I
feel assured that the queen has connection with the
drone on the wing, and that by close observation on
her return to the hive, her success or failure can be
very easily detected, and the time of her laying eggs
predicted with groat certainty by the apiarian.
This part of the business can be more readily seen
and comprehended, than h(nv the egg?> yet unformed
are aftected by thi« impregnation.
5
50 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
I have already stated that the queeu is provided
with a small receptacle to receive and contain the
vivifying sperm obtained from the drone by coition.
The great mystery to be solved is, how does the queen
draw upon this store of fluid, from time to time, to
fertilize the eggs which are generated in her ovaries?
Does this fluid come in contact and become incor-
porated and combined with the juices or fluids pecu-
liar to the queen, and of which doubtless the egga
are composed in a great measure ? Is it in this man-
ner that the future sex of her ofispring is deter-
mined ? Or is it only necessary for the egg (after it
is complete in all its parts,) to come in contact with
the mouth or opening of this sperm receptacle, and
thereby receive a sufiicient portion to cause them to
procreate ? And is it true that the female, or queen,
is of herself, without being impregnated by the
drone, capable of depositing eggs that will produce
only drones or males, perfect in all respects, and yet
impregnation is absolutely required to produce the
female ?
That this is true, permit me at present to doubt;
its assumptions are too extravagant, and so far from
harmonizing with all animated nature with which I
am in any way conversant, that I am led to believe
further observation and closer investigation will be
necessary to fully demonstrate the true state of facts,
and solve the mystery that yet surrounds this ques-
tion. It is true, there are strong arguments in favor
of this theory as well as against it, and further ex-
periments may prove it to be correct ; yet there are
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 51
some serious difficulties in the way, that to me, at
least, seem hard to reconcile.
Langstroth has elucidated this mystery, and no
doubt made it very plain and satisfactory to himself,
at least; but a very few stubborn facts sometimes de-
stroy the most beautifully drawn theories.
Dzierzon asserts that all impregnated eggs produce
females, either workers or queens ; and all unim-
pregnated ones, males or drones. He also states,
that in several of his hives he found drone-laying
queens, whose wings were so imperfect that they
were unable to fly, and which on examination, prov-
ed to be uufecundated. [Query. How did he ascer-
tain that fact?) Hence he concludes that the eggs laid
by the queen bee and fertile worker had from the
previous impregnation of the Qgg from which they
sprung, sufficient vitality to produce the drone, which
is a less highly organized insect than the queen or
worker.
This argument is far fetched, and not well found-
ed. Impregnation is, I think, essential to produce
either male or female. He continues : " It had long
been known that the queen deposits drone eggs in
the large or drone cells, and worker eggs in the small
or worker cells, and that she makes no mistakes."
And he infers, therefore, that there was some way in
which she was able to decide the sex of the Qgg^ be-
fore it was laid, and that she must have such a con-
trol over the mouth of the seminal sac as to be able
to extrude her eggs, allowing them at will to receive
or not- a portion of its fertilizing contents. In this
52 KKES AND BEE-KEEPING.
way lie thought she cletcrniiued their sex according
to the size of the cells in which she laid them.
I think it highly probable that the queen under-
stands quite well, that when she deposits an egg in
a drone cell it will bring forth a drone, and if in a
worker cell it will bring forth a worker. That she
does know when it is proper to deposit eggs in drone
cells preparatory to swarming in the spring, is at
tested by all ol)serving apiarians. Who ever saw
eggs laid in drone cells in midwinter, or early in the
spring, until nearly the time for swarming? Yet it
is well known that all strong stocks commence to
breed early in January (if, indeed, they ever cease
entirely); and as the cold weather recedes the quan-
tity is increased. In the latter part of March and
through April, a very considerable quantity of brood
may be found in all strong stocks in this latitude,
42 degrees (of course this will vary with difierent
latitudes); and yet not a single drone can be found
in any condition, from tlie Qgg to the perfect insect.
I have cut holes in a worker brood-comb, and in-
serted corresponding pieces of drone-comb, which
they (the workers) would fasten and adjust very
nicely, giving the appearance of drone cells inter-
mixed with worker cells, and had all the worker
cells around these drone cells filled with brood, but
they remained empty; sometimes a little honey
might be seen in them, as if stored there for imme-
diate use. Again I have seen combs that wore built
irregular or in detached pieces ; of these perhaps a
piece of drone comb would be in a central posirion,
HlSTuHY ANb PHYSIOLOGY. ij'6
and toward the hitter part of April woukl be isur-
rounded on three sides by young worker brood, yet
not a sino'le eo-o- or voiino; drone could be found in
the drone cells.
Some of my readers will perhaps say that the
queen laid eggs in all the cells in the comb indis-
criminately, in drone as well as worker cells ; but that
the workers would remove them from drone cells. To
those who hold this opinion I would say, try the ex-
periment, by preparing an observatory hive, and
watch the queen when depositing eggs ; and if you
see her depositing a single egg in drone cells, al-
though you may have them interspersed all through
and amongst the worker cells, prior to the time of
the general, and I might say simultaneous laying of
drone eggs, preparatory to swarming, I will present
you with a copy of this work, gratis.
If it is true that the workers remove eggs from
the drone cells and destro}' them, as some may sup-
pose, until the proper time arrives for rearing drones,
it is another strong fact in support of the worker
bees controlling the entire economy of the hive. But
when the proper season arrives for the great laying
of drone eggs, as Bevan calls it, which is generally
the last of April or first of May, drone eggs may be
found simultaneously in all strong stocks that are or
have been similarly situated; tliis will be varied by
the weather and by the yield of honey. That the
queen understands when the proper time arrives for
rearing drones, and that no drone eggs are laid prior
5*
54 BEES AND KEK-KEEPIXy.
to that time, I have not the slightest doubt; whether
this is caused by tlie peculiarity of the food given
her, or from some other cause, I am yet undecided.
But that she can fully control the producing and the
laying of eggs to generate workers, when it is best
so to do, withholding for a time, and when the proper
time arrives, laying eggs to produce drones or males,
is quite certain. Hence I conclude that if she can
control the laying of drone eggs in the spring of the
year, she can control it in the summer, or at any
season ; in short, that the queen knows the sex be-
fore depositing the egg in the cell, and never makes
any mistakes.
If the theory is correct that the sex of the future
bee is decided simply by a mechanical operation,
caused by the pressure upon the abdomen of the
queen, in the act of depositing an egg in a worker
cell, thereby forcing a sufficient portion of the male
sperm out upon the egg during its passage to fertil-
ize it, and cause it to be a female or a worker ; and
in depositing an egg in a drone cell, it being so much
larger, no pressure occurs, and consequently it will
be a drone, the queen having no special knowledge
or will on the subject ; how does it happen that no
drone eggs are found prior to a certain time in the
season? If this speculation is correct, then the
queen would deposit eggs at any season of the year
in drone cells, where, intermixed with worker cells
in the same comb presenting an unbroken surface,
drones would be reared at all seasons, if any brood
IIISTORV AND PHYSIOLOGY.
was reared at all ; but this not being the case, is
very strong evidence that the theory is at fault, in
fact, that it is not true in any sense.
LANGSTROTH S THEORY.
Langstroth says : " My friend, Mr. Samuel Wag-
oner, has advanced a highly ingenious theory, which
accounts for all the facts, without admitting that the
queen has any special knowledge or will on the sub-
ject. He supposes that when she deposits her eggs
in the worker cells, her body is slightly compressed
by their size, thus causing the eggs, as they pass the
spermatheca, to receive its vivifying influence. On
the contrary, when she is laying in drone cells, as
this compression cannot take place, the mouth of the
spermatheca is kept closed, and the eggs are neces-
sarily unfecundated, producing only drones, &c."
This is a very plausible theory, indeed, and in the
absence of positive evidence pro or cow, it might as
well be received (for Buncomb). Yet I must say, I
have no faith in it. Facts, and further experience and
observation, will, I apprehend, demonstrate its fallacy.
The seminal sac, as shown by the drawing of the
ovaries of the queen, highly magnified, in Lang-
stroth's work, is near the terminus or outer end of
the oviduct, consequently very near the hinder part
of the queen ; now compare the size of this part of
the bod}^ of the queen with the size of the worker
cells, and we find that the particular part where this
sac is located could be thrust to the bottom of the cell
without coming in contact with its sides. No pressure
50 bEKS AND BEE-KEEPING.
could occur until about two-thirds oi' the abdomen,
or the parts behind the thorax, were thrust in ; thus
whatever pressure mi<jht occur, would be at a point
some distance from where this sac is located, and
would not necessarily influence it in any respect ; in
fact no pressure could occur b}' this process on the
part where this seminal sac is located, if the anat-
omy of the queen is properly illustrated by Lang-
stroth's microscopic view.
There is another fact, however, in the practice of
the queen, which, I presume, has been noticed by all
apiarians, and is sufficient to show this theory to be
incorrect. When a top-swarm, that has the old queen
with them, is put in a hive, they immediately com-
mence building combs, generally worker cells ; the
queen follows them and deposits eggs in the cells,
when the foundation is laid and the side walls of the
cells are not more than one-sixteenth, and certainly
not more than one-eighth of an inch high. Is it
possible that the abdomen of the queen receives any
pressure from the sides of the cells whilst in the act
of thrusting her ovipositor into the cell to deposit the
egg'i Is it probable she w^ould receive any greater
pressure, in any possible contingency, in depositing
eggs in worker cells than in drone cells, when neither
of them is more than one-eighth of an inch deep?
Eggs are frequently thus deposited, both in worker
and drone cells, the bees continuing to rear the cells
until of the proper length. Such a theory is, in my
opinion, simply absurd, but well calculated to amuse
the ignorant and unobserving.
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 57
At present I shall content myself with believing,
that a sufficient portion of the seminal fluid to cause
the egg to generate is incorporated with it in its for-
mation. The eggs to produce drones or males, are
generated in or produced from the one side or branch
of the ovaries, and those producing females from the
other side. AVe lind that the ovaries are separated
into two equal parts (according to Swammerdam,
after whom Langstroth copies), having no connec-
tion whatever, except that the contents of each
branch is discharged through the common oviduct
or passage. Over the outlets of the passages or ovi-
ducts opening from each of these divisions into the
main channel or common oviduct, the queen has full
control, and fully understands that eggs from the one
division will produce drones and from the other,
workers ; and the anomaly of drone-laying queens
arises from the imperfect development of that part
of the ovaries which produce eggs for workers. This
hypothesis may be incorrect, but I trust careful ex-
periment wull be instituted by various apiarians, that
the truth may be fully and fairly demonstrated.
THE WORKER BEE.
The working or common bees are so
often seen, and have become so familiar
to almost every one, that a particular de-
scription may almost appear unneces-
sary ; yet for the sake of uniformity, I
They are less in size than either the queen or
68 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
drones, and the name they have so justly obtained,
of working bees, clearly denotes their superior in-
dustry in laboring for the whole colony. It is now
generally admitted that they are females, whose ova-
ries are not suificiently developed to enable them to
become mothers ; yet thej^ most undoubtedly possess
all the maternal atfectiou and care for the young
of the colony, nursing them, so to speak, and sup-
plying all their wants ; in time of threatened Sanger
they will cling to them, and risk their lives to protect
them, as devotedly as any mother could do for her
own offspring.
I have never ascertained how many bees are re-
quired to constitute what is generally called a good
swarm, but authors estimate the number at from
fifteen to thirty thousand workers ; this, of course,
will be varied very much by the season and other cir-
cumstances. This estimate would, perhaps, apply to
top-swarms from good sized hives. Bonner says that
about five thousand workers weigh a pound ; if this
estimate is correct, it would be easy, on hiving a
swarm, to ascertain its numbers, b}- first weighing
the hive and afterward both hive and swarm.
DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKER.
The common worker bee, as well as the other two
varieties of that valuable insect, consists of three
parts. The head, which is attached to the thorax by
a slender kind pf neck; there are two eyes placed
in the head, of an oblong figure, dark brown or
nearly black, transparent and immovable ; the mouth
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 50
or jaws, like those of some species of fish, open to
the right and left, and serve instead of hands to carry
out of the hive whatever incumbers or oiFends them ;
thej' are also provided with a proboscis or trunk, with
which they suck up honey or any other desired sub-
stance, and again deposit it in the combs; it is used
at times as a trowel in building combs, placing with
it the minute scales of wax in their appropriate
places, and giving the desired polish to the cells. The
thorax, or middle part between the head and the ab-
domen, which is nearly separated from the latter by
an insection or division, connected by a very narrow
neck or junction; to this four wings, a pair on each
side, are attached, by which they are not only enabled
to fly with heavy loads, but also to make those well
known sounds by which they doubtless communicate
with each other, serving as a kind of speech. They
have also six legs, three on each side ; the foremost
pair of these is the shortest— with these they unload
the little pellets from the baskets on their thighs ;
the middle pair is somewhat longer, and the hind-
most pair longest of all ; on the outside of the
middle joint of these last there is a small cavity, in
the form of what a Scotchman would call a marrow
spoon, by some it is called a basket, in which they
collect those loads of pollen which are frequently
seen going into the hive, and by many supposed to
be wax. This basket or hollow groove in the thigh
is peculiar to the worker; neither queen nor drone
has any thing of the kind. The belly is composed
of six rings or folds, and contains, besides the intes-
60 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
tines of the insect, the honey sac or bladder, the
poison sac and the sting. The honey sac is a reser-
voir into which is deposited the honey the bee sips
from the flowers, passing it through the proboscis
and the narrow pipes leading directly to the honey
sac ; when full it is the size of a small pea, and so
transparent that the color of the honey can be dis-
tinguished through it ; this sac is provided with a
set of muscles, by which it is compressed at will,
enabling the bee to empty it into the cells. When
they get honey in large quantities, and are engaged
filling this sac, the rings of the abdomen have a vibra-
tor}' motion, similar to pumping ; the sac is entirely
separate from the stomach.
Every w^orker is armed and equipped for war, both
offensive and defensive ; their sting is a small but
very effective weapon. Many men would flee fro-m
an attack by such weapons, who would scorn to turn
their backs upon the bristling bayonet or the death-
dealing cannon's mouth. The sting is provided with
minute but very powerful muscles, by means of which
the bee can dart it out with force sufficient to pene-
trate through the thick skin of a man's hand. In
length it is about the sixth part of an inch, largest at
the root, tapering gradually toward the point, which
is extremel}' small and sharp. When examined with
a microscope, it appears to be polished extremely
smooth, being composed of a horny substance. It is
hollow within, like a tube, through which the poison
flows when a wound is inflicted. The point of the
sting is barbed, so that it is quite impossible for the
HISTORY AND PUYSIOLOGY. 61
bee to withdraw it from the wound, but the act of
stinging any animal is generally fatal to itself, tearing
out, as it were, a part of the entrails with the sting.
These workers may be said to compose the whole
community, except in the season of the drones, which
hardly lasts four months ; during the rest of the year
there are no others found in the hive than workers
and the queen. The whole labor of the hive is per-
formed by them ; they build the combs, collect the
honey, bring it home, and store it up in their waxen
magazines ; they take charge of the eggs deposited
by the queen, and rear therefrom queens, worker
bees and drones ; they remove all incumbrances from
the hives, and defend the community against the
attack and encroachments of enemies ; they also kill
or drive out the drones when their services are no
longer necessary : in short, the workers undertake
and accomplish everything that is necessary to the
welfare of the entire colony, except furnishing eggs
to replenish the hive with a succession of young ones
to take the place of the superannuated.
THE DRONE.
The drones are a species of bees
well known ; in fact so distinctive is
the name, that it is frequently applied
to designate a certain class of man-
kind. The drone can easily be dis-
tinguished from the worker bee by
its greater bulk and clumsy, uncouth
appearance; it is both thicker and longer; its head
6
TIIS DRONE.
62 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
is round, eggs full, and tongue or proboscis short;
the form of the abdomen or belly is quite different
from both queen and worker, the organs of generation
being located in the drone where the sting is found
in the worker. It makes a much coarser and more
boisterous noise when flying, a peculiarity of itself
sufficient to recognize it.
The drone is now admitted by all writers to be the
male bee. A careful examination of their physical
organization shows. this clearly; they have no sting
to defend themselves with ; in short, they are physic-
ally disqualified for the performance of any needful
work in the colony ; the only necessity for their pre-
sence seems to be to impregnate the young queens.
When this is accomplished, or circumstances change
so that they are no longer wanted for this purpose,
the workers either kill them or drive them out of
the hive, and there permit them to starve. If a hive
has by any accident lost its queen, the drones are per-
mitted to live, with the hope, no doubt, that a young
queen may yet be raised, and their services needed.
The drones generally make their appearance in
this latitude, in the latter part of April or first of
May; in the Sacramento Valley, California, about
the middle to latter part of March. Tliis is also
varied by locality and circumstances. They generally
appear in very strong stocks, a little earlier than
others ; but there is a strange unanimity in the ap-
pearance of drones in the spring. In very weak
stocks, few if any appear until perhaps the latter part
of the clover, or beginning of the buckwheat, season.
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 63
The number iu a hive is sometimes very large,
amounting to hundreds and even thousands. In
apiaries where a considerable number of colonies are
kept, but few drones should be raised in one hive;
these will suflS.ce for all practical purposes, as the num-
ber in the aggregate is large. Any more than are
necessary to impregnate all the young queens is a
detriment to the welfare of the colony, being large
consumers of honey without producing any ; hence
it is important to regulate the number. This can be
done very readily, in the movable comb hives, by
removing drone combs and cutting out drone-brood,
when there is an excess in any one hive. AVhere
only one or two hives are kept, a greater proportion
is necessary, to insure the meeting of the queen in
the air by a drone, without subjecting her to the risk
of being lost by roaming lOO long in search of one.
DRONE-LAYING QUEENS.
Occasionally a queen is found whose eggs bring
only drones, even if deposited in worker cells. We
have had several cases of this kind during the last
few years ; two cases occurred the past summer. In
one case I imprisoned the queen iu a cage, and kept
her in a hive that had a fertile queen ; the workers
fed her and treated her kindly for a period of three
weeks. I then put her into a small artificial swarm,
that was destitute of a queen, but she very soon
began again to lay drone eggs, when I destroyed her.
She seemed perfect to all app.earance, no deformity
could be discovered, and she could fly with ease. It
64 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
is argued by Langstroth and others, that all queens
that fail to become impregnated within a certain
period after maturity, invariably lay drone eggs, and
consequently it is not necessary to have connection
with the drone to produce males, it only being so in
order to produce females. Although there are strong
arguments in favor of this theor}-, yet I am not pre-
pared to fully indorse it ; as already stated, I think
the true cause may be found in a defect in the phy-
sical structure of the queen, which causes her to
produce only males. A careful microscopic exami-
nation would, I think, disclose the fact to be a
deficiency in the ovaries where the female eggs are
generated. I will experiment further upon this
point, and satisfy myself, at least, of the truth, and
trust others will do the same.
FERTILE WORKERS.
I have seen some three or four cases of fertile
workers, or a bee differing so little from the most of
workers as not to be distinguished from them, even
by a very careful examination, but yet is capable
of laying eggs. Two cases of this kind occurred in
the last lot of bees shipped by me to California, in
the fall of 1858. On opening them, one colony was
observed that had no queen, yet eggs were found in
drone cells, gcnerall}^ two or three, and in some as
many as four in one cell ; a space of throe or four
inches square of comb was thus occupied ; a few
were hatched in the larva state. I made a very
thorough search, but no queen, nor anything re-
HISTORY AND PIIYSIOLOm'. C5
sembling one, could be found ; the colouy bad united
with another that had a fertile queen. A few weeks
after arriving*, another colony was, observed in the
same condition ; a few drones were capped, others
in the larva state, but I think they did not possess
sufficient vitality to mature.
Some writers account for their ability to lay eggs,
by supposing that the workers accidentally dropped
a portion of royal jelly in cells where young workers
were advancing, which developed their ovaries suffi-
ciently to produce eggs ; but I think facts will dis-
prove this theory, when we consider that bees are so
skillful and perfect in all their operations, doing
nothing at random, and nothing by accident; and
when we observe that the queen cells are constructed
in a perpendicular form, and isolated, as it were,
from the common worker cells, it seems very improb-
able, indeed, that it can be so. As I have already
intimated, I believe all stages of development, be-
tween the worker and the perfect queen, are occa-
sionally found in the hive, and the fertile is so
little different in appearance from the worker as not
to be detected. That such exist 'there is abundant
proof, although Mr. Quinby affiscts to disbelieve it.
This, however, is easily accounted for, when we take
into consideration that, when he wrote his work, he
used only the square box hive, in which it would be
very difficult, indeed almost impossible, to make ob-
servations with sufficient care to ascertain the true
state of the case, until the bees would dwindle away;
and iinally, it would be [)ronounced a case of lost
66 tJEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
queen, (wliich would be true in a certain sense,) witli-
out even suspecting the abortive attempts to till her
place by a fertile worker.
The existence of fertile workers has long been
known to eminent writers, and this fact is brought
forward to prove conclusively that the common
workers are females. Bevan says : That the working
bees are females, is clear, from the circumstance of
their being known to lay eggs ; this fact was first
noticed by Riem, and was afterward confirmed by
Huber, whose assistant on one occasion seized a fer-
tile worker in the very act of laying.
It is a remarkable fact that these fertile workers
never lay any but drone eggs. This uninterrupted
laying of drone eggs was noticed by the Lusatian
observers, as well as by those of the Palatinate.
Bonnet, on referring to this fact, supposes there must
have been small queens mixed with the workers
upon which the experiments were made, whose ofRce
it was to lay male eggs in all hives. Fertile workers
appear smaller in the belly and more slender in the
body than sterile workers, and this is the only exter-
nal difterence between them, says Bevan.
If any further proof to establish the fact of work-
el's being fertile is needed, we have it in the dissec-
tions of Miss Jurine, daughter of a distinguished
naturalist of Geneva. By adopting a peculiar meth-
od of preparing the subject, she brought into view
the rudiments of the ovaria of the common worker
bee ; her examination was repeated several times,
always with the same resuTts.
SPRING.
CHAPTER II.
BREEDING.
REARING BROOD.
In this latitude all strong, stocks begin to rear
brood in January ; indeed, in many cases they do not
entirely cease ; and I believe this is their natural
habit in climes most congenial to them. They begin
by depositing eggs in a circle on each side of a comb,
exactly opposite each other, and thus the heat is
economized and concentrated to the best possible ad-
vantage. I have frequently seen this circle not more
than an inch and a half in diameter, but the amount
is gradually increased toward spring ; and when the
weather becomes warm and the fruit tree flowers
expand, the quantity of brood is greatly augmented.
Here, again, we are constrained to believe that the
bee possesses almost reasoning power. The colony is
being constantly reduced by the number dying off
during the winter, and in many cases if no young
ones were reared to supply tlieir places, the colony
would become extinct before warm weather arrived ;
if but a small number is being constantly reared, it
Berves to keep up the colony. It requires, says
Bevan, 70 degrees Fahrenheit to hatch the eggs, con-
yequently weak stocks can make but little progress
(67)
68 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
until warm weather; hence it is that strong stocks
outstrip them so far, and are so much more prof-
itable.
MODE OF COMMEXCINO.
I quote from Mr. Quiuby : " The first eggs are
deposited in the centre of the chister of bees, in a
small family ; it may not be in the centre of the hive
in all cases ; but the middle of the cluster is the
warmest place, wherever located. Here the queen
will first commence ; a few cells, or a space not
larger than a dollar, is first used, those exactly oppo-
site on the same comb are next occupied. If the
warmth of the hive will allow, whether mild weather
produces it or the famil}^ be large enough to generate
that which is artificial, appears to make no difier-
ence ; she will then take the next comb exactly
corresponding with the first commencement, but not
quite so large a place is used as in the first comb.
The circle of eggs is then enlarged, and more are
added in the next, &c. continuing to spread to the
next combs, keeping the distance to the outside of the
circle of eggs, to the centre or place of beginning,
about equal on all sides, until they occupy the outside
comb. Long before the outside comb is occupied,
the first eggs deposited are matured, and the queen
will return to the centre and use these cells again,
but'is not so particular this time to fill so many in
such exact order as at first. This is the general pro-
cess of small or medium families. I have removed
the bees from such in all stages of breeding, and
always found their proceedings as described,"
BREEDING. 69
MODE OF LAYING EGGS DESCRIBED.
Mr. Dunbar, an eminent Scotch apiarian, in a
communication to the Edinburgh Philosophical Mag-
azine, gives an account of the queen's manner of
depositing eggs, which agrees so nearly with my
own observations, that I give it in his own words.
Pie states that when the queen is about to lay, she
first puts her head into the cell (apparently to assure
herself that it is in proper condition to receive the
Ggg), and remains in that position for a second or
two ; she then withdraws her head, and curving her
body downward inserts her tail into the cell ; in a
few seconds she turns half round upon herself and
withdraws, leaving an egg behind her, sticking to
the bottom of the cell by a kind of glue or sticky
substance, with which she seems to be provided for
the purpose of holding it in its proper place until
hatched. When she lays a considerable number she
does it equally on each side of the comb, those on
one side being exactly opposite to those on the other,
as the relative position of the cells will admit ; the
effect of this is to produce a concentration and econ-
omy of heat for de-veloping the various changes of
the brood.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EGGS.
The eggs of bees are of an oblong or oval shape,
with a slight curvature, and of a bluish white color,
about the size of those which are laid by the butter-
fly upon cabbage leaves, and are composed of a thin
membrane, filled with a whitish liquor. They remain
unchanged in figure or situation in the cell for four
70 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
days, when they are hatched, the bottom of each cell
presenting to view a white worm or maggot, of very
small size, with several ventral rings. Immediately
upon its hatching, or just previous to it, the workers
supply it with a very minute portion of food of a
whitish color, which is increased daily until the worm
seems to float on a kind of white liquid substance,
which is without doubt their food, and so nicely do
they gauge the necessary amount, that all is con-,
sumed, no surplus ever being found in the cell after
the insect is matured and emerges.
When the worm grows so large as to touch the
opposite angle of the cell, it coils itself up in a semi-
circle, and gradually increases its dimensions until
the two ends touch each other, forming a ring;
whilst in these preliminary stages of existence it is
called by various names, such as worm, larva, maggot
and grub. Apiarians are not decided as to the exact
composition of the food given them ; some suppose
that pollen or bee-bread is the principal food required,
whilst others think it is a mixture of pollen, honey
and water, partly digested in the stomach of the
nursing bees, the relative proportions of honey and
pollen varying according to the age of the young.
According to Be van, the compound at first is nearly
insipid, but gradually receives an accession of sweet-
ness and acescency, which increases as the insects
approach maturity.
BREEDING. 71
YOUNG BEES REARED WITHOUT AVATEH.
That a large proportion of pollen or bee-bread is
used to feed the young bees, is, I think, very evident.
I have almost invariably found, that when breeding
i-s commenced, pollen is stored immediately adjoin-
ing or very near the brood; a strip of three or more
cells in width generally surrounds it. If at a season
when they are gathering and storing it, and fre-
quently before they get any from abroad, they will
remove it from some other part of the combs, so as
to have it convenient, apparently for immediate use.
This is also noticed by Bevan and Quinby.
Pollen and honey are, I think, all that is necessary
or used in rearing brood, Langstroth to the contrary,
notwithstanding.
I have had bees contined for a period of forty-
eight days, about one-third of which time they were
in a warm latitude, in transit to California; not a
single drop of water did they get during all that
time, and yet they reared and matured brood on the
way; and it was found in some strong colonies, in all
stages from the egg to those just emerging from the
cells, on their arrival at Sacramento. In this case I
am quite certain that nothing but honey and pollen
were used to feed the young, or indeed to supply the
wants of the old or mature bees of the colony;
hence I conclude that these two ingredients form the
food of the young bees. In this my experience ac-
cords exactly with Mr. Quinby.
He says : " Some think it (water) is necessary iu
72 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
rearing brood ; it may be needed for that, but yet 1
have doubts if a particle is given to the young bee
besides what the honey contains. I have known
stocks (he continues,) repeatedly to mature brood
from the egg to the perfect bee, when shut in a dark
room for months, where it was impossible to obtain
a drop; also stocks that stand in the cold, if good,
will mature some brood, w^hether the bees can leave
the hive or not." These facts prove that some are
reared without water.
WHEN AND HOW BROOD IS SEALED UP IN THE CELLS AND
PERFECTED.
The larva, deriving its sustenance from the food, as
has been intimated, continues to increase in size rap-
idly until it occupies the whole breadth and very nearly
the length of the cell, which generally occurs about
the sixth day from the time the egg is hatched, or
from eight to ten days from the time it was laid;
and this time is varied by the weather, the tempera-
ture in the hive, amount of honey being collected,
&c. I find authors differing on this point, and con-
demning each other for an apparent discrepancy in
their statements, thereby insinuating that they were
not to be relied on. Time was, when I might have
been led into this error, before I had an opportunity
of observing the eifects of climate and other circum-
stances upon the development of brood. Circum-
stances make as great, or perhaps a greater, differ-
ence in the time of brood maturing as exists in the
BREEDING. 73
Statements of difterent authors ; hence I conclude
that no writer can tell, from a single stand-point,
what time it requires for brood to mature.
The nursing bees now seal up the cell with a light
brown cover, more or less convex. The cap of the
drone cells is more convex than that of the worker,
and thus differing from the honey cells, which are
composed of pure wax, and are whiter and somewhat
concave. The larva is no sooner perfectly inclosed
than it begins to labor, alternately extending and
shortening its body, whilst it lines the cell by spin-
ning around itself, after the manner of the silk
worm, a whitish silky film or cocoon, which adheres
firmly to the walls of the cell, remaining there after
the bee emerges. It may appear somewhat extraor-
dinary that a creature that takes its food so vora-
ciously prior to assuming the pupa state, should live
so long without any ; but it seems when it has at-
tained to the pupa state it has reached its full growth,
and probably the nutriment taken so greedily is to
serve as a store for developing the perfect insect.
When in the pupa or chrysalis state, it presents no ap-
pearance of external members, and retains no very
marked indications of life ; but within its case its
organs are gradually and fully developing, and its
integuments hardening and consolidating.
The working bee nymph spins its cocoons in thirty-
six hours. After passing about three daj^s in this
state of preparation for a new existence, it gradually
undergoes so great a change as not to retain a vestige
of its previous form, but becomes armed with scales
7
74 ^££S Aiit) fcEE-KEEPlSTG.
of i\ dark brown color on its belly ; six rings become
visible, which by slipping one over another enables
the bee to shorten its body. When it has reached
about the twentieth day of its existence from the
time the egg was laid, it comes forth a perfect bee J
veiy weak and feeble at iirst, and is usually roughly
treated by the workers of a more advanced age.
The lining or cocoon is left in the cell in which it
was spun, causing the breeding cells to become
smaller and the partitions thicker, as often as they
change their tenants, until finally, after several years,
they become too small to rear brood in to advantage,
when they should be changed.
The drone passes three days in the egg, six and a
half as a worm, and comes forth a perfect insect
about the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth day from
the time the egg is laid.
The queen passes three days iii the egg, and is five
a worm ; the workers then close her cell ; she imme-
diately begins to spin her cocoon, which occupies
her twenty-four hours. On the tenth and eleventh
days, and even sixteen hours of the twelfth, she
remains in complete repose, as if exhausted by her
labors ; she then passes four days and one-third as
a nymph. It is on the sixteenth day, therefore, that
the perfect state of the queen is attained.
I am indebted to Bevan for this description. My
own experience corresponds veiy nearly with it, in
this latitude ; but a very considerable difference ex-
ists as to time between this and Sacramento, Cali-
fornia, where I spent the last season, propagating
BREEDlNa. 75
bees. There the average time for queens to mature
from the egg is fourteen cla3-s, two days less thau the
average here ; and about the same difference exists
with the workers and drones.
QUANTITY OF EGGS LAID BY A QUEEX.
The quantity of eggs laid by a fully developed
healthy queen, in a strong colony, with plenty of
honey, is truly astonishing to those unacquainted
with their habits ; the number is variousl}^ estimated
by authors at from 30,000 to 100,000 during the
season. This depends entirely upon the strength of
the colony in the spring, the climate or temperature
of the weather, the quantity of honey, and the mode
of managing the colony.
During the past season I worked a number of
queens to their full capacity for producing eggs, in
strong colonies, by frequently changing combs from
which brood had just emerged in artificial swarms,
where the queen had not yet become fertile, for
combs stocked with eggs and larva, giving them
empty combs for full ones; stimulating them con-
stantly by keeping them well supplied with food,
when honey abroad became scarce. I put two of
these combs, being about twelve inches wide by
fifteen or sixteen deep, into a strong colony, where
the queen was very prolific ; over two-thirds of the
cells were empty when put in, and within four or
five days they were all stocked with eggs, except a
few that were stored with pollen. This was by no
means a single occurrence, but was repeated again
76 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
and again, with about the same results. These two
combs would make about 360 square inches. Mr.
Quinby estimates fifty cells to the square inch, inclu-
ding both sides of the comb ; this would give about
18,000 cells in all ; deduct one-third for honey, pol-
len and a few cells unoccupied A\ith brood, and we
still have 12,000 cells to be filled. A few of these
around the edges would perhaps remain empty, but
at least 10,000 eggs were laid during the four or five
days, or about 2,000 per day. This, I find, is but
little higher tha)i Mr. Quinby's estimate, but not
greater than they can fully attain to, under favorable
circumstances, marvelous as it may seem.
CHAPTER III.
WAX.
It is generally supposed that bees gather the wax
from the flowers which they visit daily in the fields ;
in fact, before Huber's time, it was believed that wax
was made from bee-bread, either as it was gathered
from the flowers in a crude state, or in a prepared
form, after going through a digesting process in the
stomach of the bee. Iluber demonstrated by experi-
ment, that the wax, of which all comb is built, is a
secretion of the bee, a stibstance which a wise Creator
has provided them with for the purpose of construct-
ing proper receptacles to contain their stores of pro-
visions, and suitable cradles for rearing their young
in. Bonner savs : "I believe the wax to be an
WAX. 77
excrescence, exudation or production of the body of
the bee ; and that as the queen bee can lay egga
when she pleases, if need requires, so the working
bees can produce wax fi'om the substance of their
own bodies."
The truth of this can be easily demonstrated by
any one who is curious to examine for himself, by
putting a small swarm of bees into an observatory
hive, destitute of combs ; confine them in this, and
give them them a liberal supply of strained honey,
if you please, or a nice syrup made from refined
sugar; in the course of twenty-four hours combs will
be commenced. If the weather is warm, and the
swarm contains a quart or more of bees, liberall}"
fed, in two or three days time they will construct
several square inches of beautiful white comb ; the
color, however, is varied a little by the kind of honey
or syrup on which the bees are feed ; if very dark,
the comb will be rather of a brownish cast ; if white,
or light colored honey or syrup, the wax produced
will be very white. This experiment may be tried
again and again, by removing the swarm from this
hive into an empty one ; feed them only with syrup
or honey, without a particle of bee-bread, and confine
them so that none are permitted to go abroad to pro-
cure it. The result will be the same ; wax will be
produced and comb built. Iluber tried this experi-
ment with the same swarm, b}' removing it thus
seven times, with the same results.
I have frequently seen the wax in very thin flakes
or scales exuding from the rings or folds of the ab-
78 BEES AND BKE-KEEPINa.
doraen or bell}' of the worker ; this seems to be where
the wax pouch or laboratory is located ; from this
the scales arc taken and inuucdiately put in the ap-
propriate place in the comb by the architect. The
bees which elaborate or produce the wax consume an
increased amount of food, and apparently remain in
a state of repose for some hours afterward, before the
wax is produced. In this they somewhat resemble
the silk worm, which, after consuming a large quan-
tity of food, remains in a state of repose for a time,
and then commences to spin its web or cocoon. In
this case the bee takes a certain portion of food into
its stomach, from which it produces wax, and in the
other, the silk worm takes a certain portion of food
of a different kind, from which it produces silk. In
neither case is any thing added to the body or phys-
ical condition of the insect, either as muscle or fat,
as some authors describe it ; but the insect seems to
be simply a manufactory, receiving into it the raw
material, and after passing through the necessary
process it comes forth a perfect article of wax. It is
said that from fifteen to twenty pounds of food are
consumed to elaborate one pound of wax. I never
experimented to ascertain the truth or falsity of this
statement, but a very large amount is consumed. It
requires about two and a half or three pounds of
wax to fill an ordinary sized hive with comb. Bevan
gives the following analysis of beeswax :
ANALYSIS OF WAX.
Carbon, ----.--- 81.79
Oxygen, 5.54
Hydrogen, 12,07
WAX.
79
Beeswax forms a very cdiisiderable article of com-
merce ill various parts of the world. Large qviantities
are used in religious ceremonies, both in Pagau and
Christian lands ; especially by the Chinese in their
idol worship, as I am informed by my friend. Rev,
Mr. Shuck, of Sacramento City, who was long a
missionary in China. It is said over eighty thousand
pounds are exported annually from the island of Cuba
alone.
COMB, OR ARCHITECTURE OP BEES.
The combs of a bee hive consist of a cono^eries of
80 BEES AND BEE-KEEPTNG.
hexagonal cells. A honeycomb is certainly one of
the most profound achievements of architecture ; it
has been the admiration of both sage and philosopher
for centuries past, and has awakened speculation not
only in the naturalist, but also in the mathematician.
So regular and so perfect is the structure of the cells,
that it satisfies every condition of a refined problem
in geometry.
Before the time of Hubcr, we have no account of
any naturalist having seen the laying of the founda-
tion or making the commencement of a comb, nor
traced the several steps of its progress to completion.
After many attempts, he at length succeeded in
attaining the desired object, preventing the bees from
forming their usual impenetrable cluster or curtain
by suspending themselves from the top of the hive ;
in short, he obliged them to build upward, and was
thereby enabled, by means of a glass window, to
watch every variation and progressive step in the
formation of a comb.
Each comb is composed of two ranges of cells,
backed against each other ; at first sight they present
the appearance of having one common base, yet on
careful examination w^e find that no cell is directly
opposite another, but the base or partition between
the double row of cells is so arranged as to form a
pyramidal cavity at the bottom of each. The cells
open into a space (or as Bevan calls it, a street),
which is always found between the combs ; the
spaces are about three-eighths of an inch in width,
being a convenient passage for the bees, and sufiicient
WAX. 81
to permit them to enter the cells readily ; openings
are generall}^ left through different parts of the combs
to connect these spaces, forming cross roads, or near
cuts, from one comb to another, whereby much val-
uable time is saved to the bees in passing from one
side of the hive to the other. The cells, as I have
already observed, are six-sided, forming a hexagon,
the very best shape that could be adopted by whicli
all the space can be occupied and no interstices left;
it is doubtless the only shape, except round, that
would suit to rear young bees in, as either square or
triangular would be entirely unsuited for that [)ur-
pose. These three, the hexagon, the triangle and
the square, are the only possible shapes that would
occupy all the given space.
Here we have both economy of room and material ;
there are no useless partitions in a honeycomb ; each
of the six lateral panels of one cell forms one of the
panels of the adjoining cell, and of the three rhombs
which form the pyramidal base of a cell, each con-
tributes one third toward the formation of the bases
of three opposing cells, the bottom or centre of every
cell resting against the point of union of three panels
at the back of it.
ECONOMY OP MATERIALS.
Economy of materials produces economy of labor
(says Bevan), and in addition to these advantages,
the cells are constructed in the strongest manner
possible from the amount of materials used. The
walls of the sides and bases of the cells are so
82 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINQ.
very thin when first built and in their virgin purit}',
that four or five placed on each other would not be
thicker than common writing paper ; each cell, taken
separately, is weak, but is increased in strength by its
connection with other cells. The mouth or entrance
of each cell is greatly strengthened and fortified by
a border of wax, making the outer edge of the par-
tition wall more than double strength. This, indeed,
seems quite necessary to prevent it from bursting or
being injured by the struggles of the young bee, or
from the ingress and egress of the workers in their
varied avocations. This border is much thicker at
the angles than elsewhere, which prevents the mouth
of the cell from being regularly hexagonal, though
the interior is perfectly so.
Several combs are generally commenced and pro-
gressing at the same time. First, one is founded and
progresses until it is two or three cells deep, then
another and still another is commenced on each side
of the first, at the space of about one and a half
inches from centre to centre, for worker cells; it is a
little more for a drone cell, as the comb is thicker.
These combs are generally parallel with each other;
occasionally, however, they run in different directions.
I would remark, in this connection, that to secure
the building of straight and regular combs in mova-
ble frames, it is absolutely necessarj' to so adjust them
as to have the exact spaces from centre to centre of
the comb guides; the least deviation from this is
almost certain to cause the bees to run the combs
across from frame to frame, thus enabling them to
secure their desired spaces, but so thoroughly con-
tiecting them as to render it impossible to remove
any one frame, which entirely defeats the object of
the frame, and renders it useless. This has caused
more objections to their use than all other reasons
combined, but may easily be remedied j by so adjust-
ing the frames as to give the exact space which they
require ; and it is necessary to do this by measure-
ment, and not by guess work, as has usually been done.
The first comb begun is always kept in advance of
the others, and is the first completed ; the one on
each side finished next, and so on, giving the mass
or bunch of comb an oval or oblong appearance (be-
fore any has reached the bottom), very much the
shape of a swarm when clustered in a bunch.
The cells for drones are larger and more substan-
tial than those for worker bees, constituting two sizes
of comb in each hive. " The drone cells," says Be-
van, "are three and one-third lines in diameter, and
those of the worker cells two and three-fifth lines,
(the line is the twelfth part of an inch); these, says
Reaumur, are the invariable diameters of all the cells
that ever were or ever will be made." From this
uniform, unvarying diameter of the brood cells when
completed, their use has been suggested as a univer-
sal standard of measurement, which would be un-
derstood in all countries to the end of time. There
are particular circumstances, however, which induce
a departure from this exactness ; for instance, when
bees have begun a comb with worker cells, and after-
ward wish to change it to drone cells, as they occa-
84 SUES AND BEE-KEEPING.
sionally do. This is done b}' interposing from one
to three courses of cells, which may very appropri-
ately be called transition cells, the bottoms of which
are composed of two rhombs and two hexagons, in-
stead of three rhombs ; the rhombs and hexagons
gradually varying in form and relative proportion,
till the requisite size, namely, that of the cells which
they are approaching, has been attained^ The same
rule is observed when returning to small cells ; every
apparent regularity is therefore determined by a
suflicient motive, and forms no impeachment of the
sagacity of the bee. These deviations from the usual
regularity which is observed, should serve to increase
our admiration of the architectural powers possessed
by the bee.
Toward the latter part of the season, when honey
is very abundant, and indeed earlier in the season,
in time of white clover, when there are surplus honey
boxes placed on top of the hive, or when there
is room yet unoccupied inside of the hive, par-
ticularly next the sides, they build what is called
store combs, in which honey alone is stored; and
when honey is abundant and the weather warm,
these cells are built to a great length, making the
combs very thick and irregular. Still, however, their
diameter, with the exception of transition cells, is
uniformly that of drone or worker cells ; but the
texture of their walls is thinner, and they have
more dip or upward inclination, which, doubtless, is
for the purpose of preventing the honey from run-
ning out. which it is likely to do when it is being
WAX. 85
gathered and stored very rapidly ; no time elapsing
for the water to evaporate, the honey is consequently
thin. When the cells are filled and the water has
had time to evaporate, leaving the honey of a proper
consistency, they are capped over with waxen lids,
which are formed by first constructing a ring of wax
within the verge of the cell, to which another and
another ring is added, until the aperture is finally
closed with a lid composed of concentric circles.
This operation may very easily and readily be ob-
served in all its stages, from the time they commence
until the cell is closed. Caps of honey cells are con-
cave, whilst young brood cells, when capped, are
convex,
I cannot leave this part of my subject without
again professing ray profound admiration for the
achitectural instincts of the honey bee; and am una-
ble better to express it, than by quoting Mr. Quinby's
remarks upon this point. He sajs : " The exact and
uniform size of their cells is perhaps as great a mys-
tery as an}' thing pertaining to them; yet, we find
the second wonder before we are done with the first.
In comb building, they have no square or compass
as a guide; no master mechanic takes the lead,
measuring and marking for the workmen ; each in-
dividual among them is a finished mechanic ! No
time is lost as an apprentice, no service given in re-
turn for instruction ! Each is accomplished from
birth! All are alike; what one begins, a dozen may
help to finish ! A specimen of their work shows itself
to be from the hands of master workmeuj and may be
8
86 Bees and fiEE-KfiEPtNG.
takeu as a model of perfection ! He who arranged
the universe, was their instructor. Yes, a profound
geometrician planned the first cell, and knowing
what Would be their wants, implanted in the senso-
rium of the first bee all things pertaining to their
welfare ; the impress then given, is yet retained un-
impaired !"
How little does the epicure heed, when feasting
on the fruits of their industry, that each morsel tasted
must destroy the most perfect specimens of work-
manship ; that in a moment he can demolish what
it has taken hours, yea, days and perhaps weeks of
assiduous toil for the bees to accomplish.
CHAPTER IV.
POLLEN, OR BEE-BREAD.
Pollen, in common parlance, has been very gen-
erally called bee-bread; this is what almost every
person who has seen bees w^orking on a fine day, in
summer, has observed them carrying into the hive, in
the shape of little pellets, on the hindmost pair of legs.
These yellow pellets have been, and are yet, looked
upon as being wax, to build combs with. Very few
careless observers, perhaps, ever noticed that just as
many of these little loads are carried into a hive that is
already full of combs as into one in which a swarm has
been recently put, and in which combs are being rap-
idly built. If these pellets were examined, and their
POLLEN. 87
texture compared with wax, it would suffice to con-
vince the most skeptical that not even a trace of
similarity exists between the two.
Pollen, or farina, in the language of botanists, are
terms applied to the powdery particles discharged by
the anthers of flowers. The color, as well as the
structure of pollen, varies in different plants. Its use
in fecundating the germs of flowers is well known,
and is pretty well understood by naturalists and bot-
anists. The honey bee renders very essential aid in
accomplishing this purpose, by passing from flower
to flower, never visiting any but one variety of
flowers at a time, thus disseminating this fructifying
substance amongst the flowers in a manner scarcely
possible to be attained in any other way.
Huber was probably the first to demonstrate that
the principal purpose for which bees collect pollen, is
to feed and nourish the embryo bees ; which accords
well with what we find in the animal kingdom, where
the food of the young is quite different from that
consumed by adults. Dr. Hunter made a careful
dissection and examination of the stomachs of young
bees when in a maggot state, and found farina, or
pollen, in all, but not a particle of honey in any of
them. Huber believes the pollen undergoes a pecu-
liar elaboration in the stomachs of the nursing bees,
to prepare it properly for the nourishment of the
larva.
Huber shut up a swarm of bees with some young
brood, but without any pollen at all, supplying them
liberally with honey ; they very soon manifested un-
88 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
easiness and rage at their imprisonment. Fearing
the consequence of this tumult being prolonged, he
allowed them to fly out in the evening, when too
late to collect any pollen. At the end of five days
from the time the experiment was first instituted,
the hive was examined, when it was found that the
larva or young .bees had all perished; the jell}'^ or
food which had surrounded them on the first intro-
duction to the hive, was all removed or consumed.
The same bees were then supplied with fresh brood,
together with some comb containing pollen ; very
diiferent, indeed, was their behavior with this outfit ;
the}'- eagerly seized the pollen and conveyed it to the
young, order was restored in the colony, and pros-
perity and happiness again reigned.
I have tried experiments very similar to those just
related (with results that accord exactly with Huber's),
until pretty well satisfied, indeed I am quite certain,
that mature bees can live and elaborate wax without
any pollen ; and I feel equally certain that not a
single young bee can be raised from the egg with-
out it.
The little balls or pellets are invariably of the same
color of the anthers dust of the flower from which
they are gathered, yellow, pale green, or orange,
being the most prevalent. In California there are
flowers as blue as indigo, from which it is gathered ;
in fact, the greatest assortment of colors conceivable
may there be seen, at certain seasons of the yenr, in
a sheet of comb that is well stored with pollen. It
is a little curious, and yet a feet, that bees will cease
POLLEN. 89
to gather pollen when the honey fails; for instance,
toward noon the honey is mostly all gathered or
evaporated for that day, and but little more can be
procured; after that time they will also cease to
gather pollen, although it might be obtained in great
quantities. When this occurs, put out plenty of honey
or feed, (if they know the w^ay, having been fed) ;
in less than an hour's time they will be vigorously
carrying in pollen, as well as the honey or feed. I
tried this very frequently in California, where we
fed promiscuously and largely. In the afternoon
when the honey would get scarce, I put out a few
gallons of syrup, when the effect was truly aston-
ishing; all were on the qui vive in a few^ minutes,
carrying in pollen as well as the feed, and ranging
the fields, examiniug carefully every flower, to see if
any honey had previously escaped their observation.
Langstroth says that rye flour, if fed in the spring
of the year, will serve as a substitute for pollen. I
have not tested this sufficiently to say whether it will
or will not be of any practical advantage ; at. present,
I attach but little value to it. It may be of some im-
portance in localities where fiowers producing pollen
are rare, or for late swarms, that come off" after
pollen gets scarce, and whose supplies are conse-
quently limited ; but all strong, vigorous stocks, in
any localitj^ that I am conversant with, will lay in a
supply of pollen just in proportion to the quantity of
honey gathered.
To feed bees liberally with honey or syrup during a
scarcity of honey, and to pursue this course through-
90 BEES AND BEE-KEEPTNG.
out the entire season, if in movable frames, take
out and store away some of the combs when there
are no young bees in them, and I believe the quan-
tity of pollen can be vastly increased, perhaps doubled.
The quantity of flowers that yield pollen is much
greater than those producing honey, and all flowers
that produce honey yield more or less pollen; but
there are many that produce pollen, but no honey.
now POLLEN IS STORED.
When the bee arrives in the hive with her freight
of pollen, she seeks a suitable cell ; she then fixes
her two middle and two hind legs, which she thrusts
into the mouth of the cell ; she now curves her body
downward and seizes the little pellets with her two
forelegs, presses or rubs them off into the mouth of
the cell, and pushes them inward a little. When she
is thus freed from her load, she is ready again to de-
part for another, leaving the one just deposited ap-
parently to the care of other bees. Presently a bee
comes along, it peeps into the cell and then proceeds
to pack the pollen away, which it does apparently
with its head, by first pushing it to the bottom of the
cell ; and moistening it a little with honey or water,
presses it firmly to its proper place In this way
they fill the cells about two-thirds their capacity,
frequently filling it out with honey, and sometimes
seal it over. It is a singular fact, that bees store
pollen in worker cells only; none is ever found in
drone cells. This discovery my fi-iend, Mr. Quin-
by, claims to have made. He says: "Here is one
HONEY. ' 91
circumstance I do uot remember to have seen
mentioned, and that ia, bee-bread is generally packed
exclusively in worker cells ; I would say always, but
I find my bees doing things so differently from some
others."
But I find an older claim made to this discovery
by Bevan, who says (page 126) : " The bees store
pollen in worker cells only. I am not aware of this
fact ever having been publicly stated before ; I am
indebted for a knowledge of it to the attentive obser-
vation of Mr. Humphrey. This discrimination of
the bee may arise from an instinctive knowledge that
pollen may be best preserved when stored in small
quantities." This peculiarity has been observed by
many apiarians ; I noticed it before reading either *Nf
the above works.
CHAPTER V.
HONEY.
Honey is a well known production of flowers, gen-
erated in the great laboratory of nature. A sweet
that has been renowned from the earliest period of
history, it has been used as a figure emblematic of a
fertile and fruitful land, "a land flowing with milk and
honey." What a beautiful figure ! how appropriate !
Pollen, or bee-bread, is used only by the bee, but
is of no value to the bee-keeper for any other pur-
pose; whilst honey is desirable food for both man
and bee, a great luxury to the former and an indis-
pensable article to the latter.
92 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINU.
Honey, says Bevan, is the nectaries of flowers,
which in fine weather is continually forming or
secreting from certain vesicles or glands, situated
near the base of every petal, from whence it is collect-
ed by the busy buzzing honey bee. They consume
a portion whilst gathering it, as indeed they are con-
tinually doing; but the greater part gathered during
the honey harvest is carried home in their honey sacs,
and regurgitated or emptied into the cells, for the
use of the community during a scarcity of honey
in summer and for their winter stores ; and so abun-
dant are these collections of honey in favorable sea-
sons, as to afford to the careful apiarian a very liberal
profit, sufficient to compensate him for his invest-
ment. The amount, however, is varied very much
by different localities and the mode of management.
In some situations twice the amount of honey is pro-
duced during the season that there is in others ; in
such places there is a fair succession of honey-pro-
ducing flowers from early spring till late in the fall,
which induces and enables bees to increase in swarms
and store more surplus honey, nothing occurring to
discourage them to go forward breeding rapidly and
constantly accumulating honey. In such localities
bees will live and thrive much better, with but indif-
ferent or careless attention, than they would where
honey is more precarious, or where it is not so evenly
distributed through the season. In others there is a
short season of honey early in the spring, from fruit
trees, maple trees, &c. ; this lasts but a short time;
then an interval occurs of from two to four weeks,
HONEY. 93
until the clover blooms, duriDg which time little or
no honey is obtained, either to store or for the cur-
rent use of the colony ; and another interval occurs
between the clover and buckwheat. Unless bees are
fed during these intervals, as is directed on another
page, the colon}^ will not be in a fit condition to store
large quantities of honey when it becomes plenty,
and consequently the amount of surplus honey ob-
tained is generally much less than it might otherwise
be. This will be more fully discussed in another
place.
DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF HONEY.
Honey is varied by the different kinds of flowers
from which it is gathered, each having some property
peculiar to itself. That gathered from the white
clover, in this region, is much the whitest and most
beautiful, sometimes almost rivaling the driven snow;
at other times it is not so fair, much depending upon
the season. Its flavor is excellent, and it is a general
favorite in the market. The season for clover honey
is from about the fifth of June until about the middle
of July, varied by* the season and latitude. The
yield from clover is usually pretty large where it
abounds.
Buckwheat is largely cultivated as a field crop in
many places ; it yields a very large quantity of honey,
and is the second in importance as a honey harvest.
In most, if not all the Middle States, buckwheat
honey is of a rich coppery color, having a reddish
cast, and generally thick and fine, possessing a pecu-
liarity of taste and smell not to be found elsewhere,
94 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
that renders it an especial favorite with many epi-
cures ; but will not sell quite so readily in market as
the clover honey, to those unacquainted with it,
owing to its color.
Large quantities of honey are also gathered from
the tuHp or poplar, where it abounds. This is a very
white and good honey. The linden, or bass-wood,
is also very productive in honey, which is of a light
yellow, inclining to straw color. Many other kinds
of flowers produce honey, but not generally in such
quantities as to enter largely into market in this
region.
In California, we find the cephalanthus, or button
bush, yields the largest quantity and finest quality
of honey (particularly in the Sacramento and Tulare
Valleys), which is very excellent, thick and of the
finest flavor; in color it is very slightly reddish, or
between that and straw color. This variety of
honey commands the highest price in the California
markets. Honey gathered from the common black
mustard is the next in importanc(i, botli in quantity
and quality. In some parts of Ciilifornia, this is the
main dependence for market honey. This is true of
the San Jose and some other valleys, where the
cephalanthus is scarce. Honey gatliered from mus-
tard is of a light color, between white and straw
color; its flavor is not so agreeable as some other
varieties, being slightly pungent, yet it is a very fair
marketable article, of rather light texture.
It is said that honey gathered from poisonous
plants or trees, which abound in some places, has a
Honey. 95
deleterious effect when eaten, causing sickness; but
these kinds of flowers are very rare.
PROPOLIS, OR BEE-GLUE.
Besides the honey and pollen which are gathered
by beeSj they also collect a resinous substance that is
very tenacious and serai-trans]3arent, giving out a
balsamic odor, somewhat resembling that of storax;
It is of a reddish brown color, and when broken its
color resembles wax. Dissolved in spirits of wine ot
oil of turpentine, it imparts as varnish a golden color'
to silver, tin and other bright metals. Being sup-
posed to possess medicinal properties, it was formerly
kept in the shop of the apothecary. It consists of
one part of wax and four of pure resin. — -[Bevaii^)
Propolis is used to stop crevices that may exist in
and about the hives, fasten them to the floors, to
make the honey boxes secure, and also to fasten the
frames ; it is sometimes used as side attachments to
strengthen the comb fastenings, to cover any uneven
or objectionable places iti the hive, or hide any insect
that may chance to find a lodgment in the hive,
which the bees are Unable to remove.
Propolis is gathered from resinous buds of trees and
shrubs, and from some species of weeds. I have seen
the bees working on the balm of Gilead trees. But
a few could be observed at one time, and the trees
were too high to see exactly what they were doing ;
but no doubt they were gathering propolis from the
buds, as they seemed to be the only points visited ;
nothing else existed on or about the trees at the time.
96 BEES AND Bfifi-KEEMNG.
from which anything could be gathered. Whilst in
California, last summer, I discovered the bees work-
ing on a species of wild wormwood, which grows
very abundant along the Sacramento river, attaining
the height of five or six feet. About the foot stalks
of the young leaves, and even on the expanding
leaves and near the joints of the stem or stalk, there
is a covering of an adhesive quality, very much re-
sembling the propolis found about hives elsewhere,
but of a very crudCj rough appearance, and just as
bitter as the wormwood itself — in fact, it seems to be
the very essence of it; this substance I have seen the
bees gathering. It is used very abundantly in and
about the hive during summer, and is about the only
kind of propolis that I observed the bees using in our
apiary. It retains its green color just as when first
gathered, that of a year old was not changed in this
particular ; it also retained the peculiar smell of the
wormwood, and its bitter taste ; there is no mistak-
ing its origin.
From these and other observations I have made, I
conclude that propolis is a vegetable substance, col-
lected but not generated by the bees ; and that it
partakes very much of the nature of the tree, shrub
or weed from which it is gathered. I have failed to
discover a trace of beeswax in it, as Bevan and some
others intimate. I apprehend they have been misled
by particles of wax or combs being covered or sur-
rounded by propolis, and consequently in analyzing
it, it was supposed to have been a part of the original
composition.
HONEY. 97
I have failed to discover our bees attaching their
corabs to the top and sides of the hives, as others
have described ; ours have stuck the wax of which
the combs were built directly on the top and sides.
I think I am safe in saying, that combs are invariably
stuck to the top and sides with wax, and not propolis ;
and as a general thing, if combs get broken a little,
they are again united with wax. Sometimes, how-
ever, I have seen propolis used at the sides or top
when the comb would be loosened a little, and even
when no sign of this existed. I have also seen the
fastenings strengthened by layers of pollen, laid on
nicely where the comb and top or side of the hive
met, seemingly as a precaution to prevent the weight
of the comb or dampness of the wood from breaking
it loose.
Propolis gathered from some sources becomes
hard, and has something of the appearance of a wax
made by adding a little tallow to rosin (of commerce),
say one eighth part; this composition when warm,
say blood heat, becomes pliable like shoemaker's
wax, but when cold is brittle, and will break and fly
like rosin itself. In fact, propolis is so diversified in
quality and texture, that it requires a considerable
stretch of the imagination to suppose it to bo a pro-
duction of the bee, in the same sense that the wax is
produced. Quinby seems to hold the opinion of its
being a vegetable production. Several old writers
suppose the bees use a portion of propolis diluted,
forming a kind of varnish or sizing, and with this
they varnish the cells of the combs. Langstroth fol-
9
98
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
lows suit (supposing, doubtless, that they are cor-
rect), and indorses the statement; but I find him led
astray so often by the assertions of others, that I dis-
trust his statements, without testing them for myself.
My views and experience in this matter, are ex-
actly parallel with Mr. Quinby's; he says: "I have
made examinations when comb was first made, when
it contained eggs, and when it contained larva, and
have never been able to find anything other than
pure wax composing it. After a young bee has ma-
tured in a cell, the coating or cocoon that it leaves,
somewhat resembles it, and may have given rise to
the supposition."
CHAPTER VI
THE APIARY.
The most important consider-
j^ ation in selecting a site for a
J large apiary, is to secure a place
where the surrounding neighbor-
hood yields a bountiful supply of
honey through the greater part
of the season ; all other things
arc of minor importance, especially where it is in-
tended to keep large quantities. A few hives may
be kept to advantage any place where the habitation
of man can be found. A vast diflference exists in
the quantity of honey produced in different locali-
ties; bees may be starving in one place, whilst a few
miles o& there is great abundance.
THE APIARY, 99
lu locating aii apiarj, it is important to select a situ-
ation near the dwelling or place of business, that the
bees may be easily seen, and with but little trouble, or
the swarms be heard when they rise, else they are
liable to be neglected, and permitted to fly off to the
woods, if allowed to swarm in the natural way. It
is very important that they be well sheltered from
winds and storms, which are a serious disadvantage
in the spring and summer, as well as in winter.
When returning home heavy laden, and the air is
cold and chilly, the bees frequently drop down near
their hives, unable to reach it unless sheltered from
the wind. When no natural break-wind exists, I
would advise the construction of a high, broad fence,
made tight and close, so as to effectually screen them
from high winds ; it will repay the cost of construc-
tion, in the economizing of animal heat in winter, and
in the number of bees saved in spring and summer.
The greatest and most serious loss, however, is iu
the spring time, when cool winds and dark clouds
rapidly succeed warm sunny mornings; the return-
ing bees get chilled, and drop down in great num-
bers, when they make a descent to their hives, but
if protected from winds, the majority will be able to
reach home in safety. At this season, it is of the
utmost importance that every bee should be saved, as
one in the spring is worth ten in midsummer.
If the apiary is properly protected from driving
winds, the hive may be set to face any desired direc-
tion, though I would prefer them fronting the south,
varied to the east or west, as would best suit the
100 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
locality ; it should be at some distance from ponds
or lakes, or large streams of water, as heavy chilling
Avinds fatigue the bees on their return from the fields,
and if they once alight on the water they will never
rise again, whilst if they should settle on any other
substance they still have an opportunity to reach
home. If the water is a few rods distant, this diffi-
culty will be obviated to some extent.
li' a new position should be selected near the old
one, and it is decided to remove the bees thereto, it
should be done as early in the spring as possible, be-
fore they have marked their location, and got their
course well established; otherwise many will return
to the old stand and be lost.
NO DANGER IF BEES ARE MOVED A DISTANCE OF A MILE,
If bees are moved to the distance of a mile or
more, it can be done safely at any time most con-
venient. I prefer moving bees in the spring, soon
after they have begun to work, and before they be-
come very strong; at this time they have but little
honey, and the combs are less liable to break down.
Bees should never be moved but a few rods, or even
a few feet, after they have marked their location in
the spring. When they first go forth, or when they
have been removed from a distance and set down in
a new place, they will fly out, but instead of going
directly away from the hive they will keep their
heads toward it, until they rise above, and first de-
scribe small and then larger circles, until every ob-
ject near at hand is noted; after this they pass out
THE APIARY. 101
in straight lines ; hence, if they are moved but a
short distance, they pass out witliout any precau-
tion, and the surrounding objects being familiar, they
almost invariably return to the old stand. If they
find their hive gone, they will fly about in a disconso-
late manner, until they perish, unless attracted by the
sound of some other stock of bees close at hand.
KIND OF STANDS.
I have used several kinds of stands, at different
times, and at various heights from the ground. In
California I used stands made as follows: procure a
board twenty inches long and from sixteen to eight-
een inches wide; get four pieces of scantling, one
foot long and two inches square ; cut two pieces in
lengths to correspond with the width of the board,
two inches wide, one inch thick ; nail each of these
strips on two of the pieces of scantling intended for
the feet of the stool, so that the edge or side of the
strip is flush with the top, the board resting on it
and at the same time on the tops of the scantling ;
nail it firmly. The end of the board should be flush
with the side of this cross strip, which brings a leg
directly under each corner of the board, and makes
a very nice stool. The ground should be made level,
so that the hives will stand plumb. This kind of
stool will do very well here ; the only objection would
be where bees are wintered in them, the frost would
heave them up ; and when a thaw occurs, the stool
will settle down farther on one side than on the
other, which might cause the hive to tip over ; this
9*
102 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
may be obviated, l)y putting straw around and in
front of them, to prevent the ground from thawing
on the front or south side oi^ the row. It also serves
a good purpose for the bees to alight on when they
first fly out in the spring, \\hen tlie air is cool and
chilly. The snow melts otf the straw the first few
hours that are warm, and it is the warmest substance
for the weak and feeble bees to alight on and re-
cover themselves.
AXOTHKR MKTHOD.
Set posts of some durable kind of wood into the
ground, or in stone, so that the frost will not heave
them up ; let them project a few inches above the
ground ; on these lay scantling or small timbers of
any convenient size. There should be two lines of
scantling parallel to each other, and about fourteen
inches from centre to centre. Cut bottom boards
twenty inches long and fifteen inches or upward wide,
nail them slightly across and on top of these timbers,
observing the proper spaces between the hives. This
stand may be made higher or lower, at the option of
the apiarian, and is a very convenient arrangement.
STILL ANOTHER PLAN.
Take joists, two inches by six, about fifteen inches
long, two pieces for a stand ; cut a board about
twenty inches long and fifteen inches or more in
width, nail this on the edge of the joists, one of them
supporting each end. This makes a very cheap and
convenient stand.
THE APIARY. 103
THE PROrER HEIGHT.
I have known bees to do well at all heights, from
three inches to one hundred feet from the earth ; in
fact, from the thickness of an inch board laid flat on
the ground, to that of a hollow limb of a tree high up
in the air; but these are the extremes. I find, from
experience, that there is less difference in the distance
they are from the earth than many suppose, and less
than what arises from other circumstances. If the
apiary is protected from winds, and there is consid-
erable surface of board immediately in front of the
hive, on which they can readily alight when they
return heavy laden, and a piece of board set up in
front, so that any stragglers may crawl up, it matters
but little whether they are six inches or two feet
from the ground. I prefer, for convenience, stands
from nine to twelve inches high, which is about the
proper distance to protect them from grass, weeds,
spider webs, and things of that kind, and also to keep
them clean and tidy, and free from the splashing of
heavy rains or dampness of any kind. Mr. Quinby
uses and recommends stands but two inches from the
ground. I have tried that height, and have recently
visited Mr. Quinby's apiary, but am not favorably
impressed with stands so near the ground, for all
purposes, yet he succeeds very well with them.
This may be a matter of choice or convenience
with each individual, with the foregoing requisites.
DISTANCE BETWEEN HIVES.
I have kept them at various distances apart, from
104 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
u very few inches up to several feet. The only time
any serious difficulty occurs is early in the spring,
when they first fly out, and have not yet fairly marked
their locality; and before their nationality is fairly
established, they are liable to get into the wrong
hive. Some hives will be found destitute, if too close.
Then again, when young queens go abroad to meet
the drones, they are likely to get into the wrong hive
on their return, and thus be lost. This may be
averted by putting a distinctive mark on the front of
each hive that is known to be maturing a young
queen, or by having the front of each hive to diffijr
from the adjoining ones; in fact, it is better to do
this even when they are some distance apart, but in
a straight row. I would advise all who can do so,
to keep their hives from one and a half to three feet
apart.
BEE HOUSES.
I very much doubt the utility of bee houses, as
they are generally' constructed. I have seen one or
two in which bees seemed to do pretty well, but am
well satisfied they will not pay, for general use. I
agree exactly with Mr. Quinby on this point, who
says they are objectionable on account of preventing
a free circulation of air. It is difficult to construct
them so that the sun may strike the hives both in
the morning and afternoon, which, in spring time, is
very essential. K they front south, the middle of
the day is the only time when the sun can reach all
the hives at once; this is just when they need it
least, and in hot weather is sometimes injurious, by
THE APIARY. 105
melting the combs. It is better to dispense with
them entirely, simply constructing sheds to keep the
sun off the hives in very hot weather, and protect
them from rain.
A SIMPLE SHED PREFERRED.
Since the invention and introduction of our im-
proved movable comb hives, the door of which opens
in the rear, and the bed or top is hinged to open or
turn up from rear to front, requiring a space of about
sixteen inches in the clear above the lid of the hive
Avhen shut down, we have constructed and used
sheds made in the following manner, which we find
to do well and give general satisfaction. Get posts
of some durable kind of wood, about eight feet long,
set them two and a half or three feet deep in the
ground, very solid, about seven feet apart, and in line
with the front of the row of hives ; tack a strip of
board, about four feet long, on the post at each end
of the row ; giving them the pitch you wish the roof
to have sloping toward the front of the hives. Ad-
just a third strip to range exactly with the other two ;
take still another strip and a scribe awl, and when
you get the proper range and slope of the others,
mark the tops of the posts, and saw them off. Cut
pieces of scantling, two by four (other sizes will do),
about four feet long, or the width you wish the roof
to be ; spike one of these pieces on the top of each
post, dividing it so as to project over the hives to
protect them from the sun and rain. Take pieces
two inches wide by one thick, n^^il them on the side
106 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
of the post, about two feet from the top, and up to
the end of the piece spiked on top of post, forming a
brace ; wide boards may be used lengthwise, one edge
overlapping the one below it, if desired, or joists may
be put on and short boards, or even shingles, used to
cover with. In this way the whole shed stands on
one row of posts, which saves both labor, material
and space. This kind of shed suits as well for any
style of hive in use, as it does for my own.
ANOTHER METHOD OF COVERING.
Take any sound boards that may be convenient,
those one-half inch thick are as good as any ; cut two
pieces, twenty inches long and fourteen inches wide ;
take two pieces, about seventeen inches long and four
or five inches wide, and slope them each way from the
centre ; on these nail the boards like the roof of a
house, which may be set on and taken off at pleasure,
or simply nail cleats on the underside of the boards,
one being wider than the other, so as to give a proper
slope, set this on the top, and it will do very well.
It is necessary, in all cases, to have a current of air
between the top of the hive and the roof, to prevent
the hot sun in summer from melting the combs.
PROCURING BEES TO COMMENCE AN APIARY.
[t is now pretty well understood, at least by the in-
ciligent portion of the communitj'^, that bees may be
bought and sold, and trafficked with, just as any other
kind of stock, without materially affecting the luck
(as it was formerly called). Luck depends entirely
TfiE APIARY. lot
on the knowledge of the apiarian, and the mode of
managing the bees. I never lost a hive of bees, but
it could be traced to a natural cause, which was
generally neglect or carelessness, that could have
been easily obviated with proper care and attention ;
hence I have long since been satisfied that there is
no danger of selling luck or of buying luck in bees,
only as it is bought in acquiring knowledge of their
habits and requirements, and practicing it carefully.
Any one in possession of this knowledge may com-
mence bee-keeping with the same assurance of suc-
cess that he would have to enter upon any other
pursuit.
KIND OF STOCKS TO BUY.
In buying bees, as in most other kinds of stock,
get the very best and strongest you can, even if you
have to pay a higher price for them ; they generally
prove to be cheapest in the end. Select such as have
straight, nice combs, with as little drone-comb as
possible ; this you can tell by the cells being larger
than the worker cells. If in the fail, the hive should
be well stored with honey, the combs pretty well
filled, and covered with bees, and the spaces between
the combs clustered full down to bottom. If in the
spring, see that they have a supply of honey sufficient
to last them until more can be obtained in the fields
abroad, and that there is a strong colony of bees.
At this season they will not be so strong, of course,
as in the fall ; however, select those having the most
bees and greatest quantity of honey. Stocks of
three, four, five, or even more years old, if the combs
108 BEES AND BEEKEEPIXO.
are nice and healthy, strong and vigorous, are as
profitable as any. There are about as many colonies
lost when but one year old, as at any other age, up
to ten or twelve.
PROPER SIZE AND KIND OF HIVES.
In selecting bees to begin with, the size and kind of
hives is of the utmost importance. First, in regard
to size. Mr. Quinby says, that 2,000 cubic inches is
the proper size for this latitude, but I would prefer a
little larger, say about 2,200 cubic inches. When
the improved movable comb hives are used, the
frames and spaces occupy 400 cubic inches, hence
they should contain about 2,600 cubic inches inside
the case. These sizes should be exclusive of the
chamber or cap on top for spare honey receptacles.
In southern latitudes, hives of a less size would do,
perhaps, equally as well, the winters being shorter
and honey more abundant.
The kind of hive is also important in buying bees,
if the object is to work them on tlie improved plan,
having full control of them. It is quite important
to get those, if possible, that are ah'eady in sucli
hives, as it saves the trouble and expense of buying
new hives and transferring them.
But if the object is to let them take their chances
on the old plan, then buy good, sound, well made
box hives ; in any case, they should be well made and
well painted, to keep them from swelling and shrink-
ing by the changes of the weather, which loosens the
combs from the sides and top where they are attached.
THE APIARY. 109
They are unsightly, and much less durable, than if
planed and neatly painted.
TRANSPORTING BEES SHORT DISTANCES.
When bees are removed but a few miles, and re-
quire to be confined but for a day or two, smoke
them a little. Invert the hive, take a square piece of
coarse brown sheeting muslin, spread it over the
mouth of the hive, if an open one ; lay strips of
shingles on the cloth, and tack it firmly to the hive ,
these strips will keep the bees from forcing out under
the edges of the cloth, and require less tacks. For
very strong colonies in warm weather, there should
be openings on each side of the hive, of about three
or four square inches, covered with wire cloth, to
admit air and prevent the bees from escaping while
in transitu.
The improved movable comb hive (having a sta-
tionary bottom board and adjustable slide in front,
which can be closed instantly, being also provided
with proper ventilation in the rear from the graduated
air chamber below, admitting the air freely but ex-
cluding the light, which prevents them from inces-
santly fighting to get out), is a very convenient hive
in which to transport bees safely in any direction.
Great care should invariably be taken to ventilate
well.
Having them prepared for loading, be careful to
see the direction of the combs in each hive, and mark
it with chalk or pencil, if they are to be hauled in a
wagon of any kind (one with elliptic springs is best
10
110 BEES AND BBE-ItEEPlNG.
when it can be had) ; set the hive so that the edges of
the combs will be at the sides of the wagon, as the
stroke or jolt of the wheel, in passing over a stone
or other obstruction, is from the centre to the sides ;
the combs being edgewise to it, are much less liable
to break than if the broad side was in that direction.
When hauling bees on a sled in winter, reverse
them ; set the hives so that the combs stand forward
and aft, as the stroke of a sled, when it strikes any
obstruction, is from front to rear. The object is to
always have the edge of the comb toward the stroke
or jolt.
Hives should always be packed, either in wagons
or sleds, in such a manner as to be held firmly in
their place, and not be permitted to strike against
each other, nor against the sides of the box in which
they are packed. With careful driving, bees may
be safely hauled for many miles over very rough
roads, even in a wagon without springs, with the
above precaution, in mild weather.
BEST TIME FOR TRANSPORTING BEES.
Moderate or mild weather is the best time for
moving bees, yet, when necessary, they can be moved
safely at any time. In very hot weather tlie combs
are tender, and the bees, when confiued in the hive,
greatly increase the heat, and consequently there is
great danger of the combs breaking down and
drowning or crushing the bees. The best and only
safe plan to adopt, in ver}- hot weather, is to give
the bees access to an empty space. A hive made
THE APIARY. Ill
with a chamber for houey boxes does very well, or
when made with a cap ; fasten it on tight, and leave
the holes open ; the bees will withdraw from the
comb into any vacant space, whether above or below,
or at the side. They seem to suspect the danger of
their combs melting and breaking down,
I owe much of my success in shipping bees to
California (through the hot latitudes of the Isthmus),
to giving them a vacant chamber where they could
withdraw from their combs when danger threatened
them. They should always be shaded from the sun,
and have a free circulation of air around them.
In extreme cold weather the combs are brittle;
but the greatest difficulty is, the bees get excited,
and filling their sacs with honey, they worry and fret
to get at liberty until they become unhealthy. If
moved far, and should the cold continue for several
days after they are landed in their new home, so as
to be unable to fly out, they become greatly distended
with fteces, and perish. When they can be put in a
warm room until a cliange of weather occurs and
then set them out, there is less danger in this direc-
tion ; but in mild weather they can be opened out
on their arrival, when they will fly out, and void
their filth and clean out any ofiensive matter, when
all is right again.
112 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINQ.
CHAPTER VII.
BEE HIVES.
Much has been said and written on this subject;
many humbugs have been gotten up (whether with
honest intentions or not), and pahned off on bee-
keepers, who, as a general thing, were profoundly
ignorant of what constituted a practical and at the
same time a hive suited to the natural habits of their
faithful little servants, and consequently they were
easily imposed on. One patent bee hive has followed
another in rapid succession, many of which have
proved to be worthless, and some persons have lost
in these speculations, yet notwithstanding all this,
the great mass of the people have been benefited ;
not by these losses, it is true ; but these enterprises,
together with other things, have .set the people to
investigating the subject of bee-keeping, and to ac-
quire a more correct knowledge of their nature and
habits, and having learned something reliable in this
direction, they are better able to appreciate their
value and the profits that might be derived from
them, if properly managed, and also to understand
the requisites of a good hive. Years ago, the only
method practiced of getting honey was by digging a
pit, setting a brimstone match in this, over which a
hive of devoted bees was placed, and the fumes of
the burning match would soon kill the entire colony.
But this barbarous practice, I am happy to say, has
HIVES. 113
very nigh disappeared, and will ere long be number-
ed amongst the things that were.
We might here inquire, what has brought about
this great and important change? The invention
and introduction of surplus honey boxes, or small
boxes (with glass arranged to view the contents,) to
put on the top of the hive, either in a chamber hive
or covered with a cap. In these boxes the bees would
store the most beautiful honey, in nice shape for mar-
ket. This was, perhaps, the leading feature in a
majority of hives invented and introduced to the
public for several years, though in various forms and
combinations. But still there was a difficulty in
managing bees properly, not being able to get full
control over them ; having no facilities for examin-
ing the interior of the hive or of applying a remedy
for any defect that might exist there, and no know-
ledge of the mode practiced centuries before for divid-
ing and increasing them.
It was vi'ell known by the Greeks in ancient times,
that bees would start and build their combs very
readily from slats or strips put across the top of the
hives at proper spaces, which, together with the
combs, could be lifted out by simply cutting loose
the combs when fastened to the sides of the hive.
A knowledge of these facts led Huber, a celebrated
naturalist and one of the most renowned apiarians
of either ancient or modern times, to invent a hive
composed of frames, each frame capable of holding
a single comb, eight of these frames . being put to-
gether side by side, fastened by hooks, and closed
10*
114 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
around by shutters, thus forming the first movable
frames and the first movable comb hive that was
known to the world as such ; consequently Francis
Huber, of Genoa, about the beginning of the pres-
ent century, was the inventor of the first movable
comb hive ! He is justly entitled to receive the honor
of founding what is now known as the movable
comb system, which is destined to revolutionize the
whole business of bee-keeping.
About the year 1820, Mr. Dunbar, a Scotch apia-
rian of considerable note, improved the Huber frame
and hive. A few years later, it was still further im-
proved by Mr. Golding, an Engish apiarian, and co-
temporary of the celebrated Dr. E. Bevan, who wrote
a valuable book on bees. This style of hives has
been used to some extent in England from that time
up to the present. We also learn, that in Germany
the slat hives, or movable bar hives, were in use at a
very early period ; and that a German apiarian,
named Dzierzon, invented and used a frame suspended
in a hive or box, many years ago. Last fall I saw
some of these frames and a hive that were brought
directly from Germany, with a colony of Italian bees.
In shape and construction they are almost identical
with those known as the Langstroth frames.
Strange as it may appear, but little effort was
made to introduce either the system or the movable
comb hive (or rather leaf hive, as it was then called),
into the United States until within the last ten years.
Mr. Langstroth claims to be the original inventor
of movable frames for managing and controlling
HIVES. 115
combs and bees. In the year 1852 he obtained a
patent for an improvement in bee hives, since which
time public attention has been directed to the mova-
ble comb principle, the result of which is, that it is
now used in several forms or styles of hives.
The necessity of having the full control of every
part of the hive, combs and bees, when desired by
the apiarian, is becoming so well understood and
appreciated by a majority of intelligent bee-keepers,
that the movable comb hive, in some shape, is now
almost unanimously adopted, and will, no doubt, ere
long entirely supersede all other classes of hives,
however good they may hare been in their day. Im-
provement in bee hives has been advancing steadily,
keeping pace with other implements of husbandry.
The value of bees, and the necessity and importance
of managing them scientifically, as we sometimes
sa}^ is now becoming clearly apparent, hence the im-
portance of selecting and adopting the best form of
movable comb hives.
IMPROVED MOVABLE COMB HIVES.
In treating on this part of my subject, I will point
out some of the most prominent features of the
movable comb hives which have been presented to
the public, and endeavor to contrast some of their
advantages and disadvantages, letting the reader
judge of their respective merits or demerits. I dis-
claim any desire to disparage any hive, further than
truth and an experimental knowledge of the facts in
the premises' require at my hands.
116
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
These cuts illustrate the various improvements in movable frames, from
the time of their invention. No. 1 is the Huber Frame, which was invented
and used by Francis Ilabor, of Genoa, as earlj- as 1795. This is unques-
tionably the original movable frame. No. 2 is the Frame as improved by the
Rev. L. L. Langstroth. The principal difference is in the mode of using it,
being suspended by a projection of the top piece. No. 3 is the Sectional or
Adjustable Frame, as patented by J. S. Harbison. It differs from those that
preceded it, in its construction and adjustment to preserve the proper spaces,
and retain them firmlv in theii place.
LANGSTROTH S HIVE.
The hives known as Langstrotli's Movable Comb
Hive, and HaAison's Improved Movable and Ad-
justable Comb Hive, are perhaps better known to
the public than any others of a similar kind, whilst
HIVES. 117
we have Phelps', Kidder's, and some others on the
same principle, and the leaf hive, recently brought
to notice by Underhill, of I^ew York, which very
closely resembles the original Huber hive. Of these,
the Langstroth hive was the first introduced ; having
been before the public nearly eight years, it is there-
fore better known than any others. It was, no
doubt, an improvement in some particulars over the
Huber hive, as improved by Dunbar and Golding
(as I have already stated), and Mr. Langstroth is
justly entitled to the gratitude and well wishes
of the community for his efforts to improve and
bring to the knowledge of the people of the United
States what had been commenced in Europe by other
apiariaus, and might very appropriately be called the
Huber hive and the Huber system.
But it is not in man to attain to perfection in any
thing; so with the Langstroth hive. Although an
important improvement, yet it was found to have
difficulties in practice, which have caused other par-
ties to experiment for the purpose of overcoming
these, and not to injure or detract from the merits
of his hive.
In the first place, it was found that bees would
not winter so well in broad, flat hives (in the open
air,) as in hives that afforded a greater depth of
combs. Another and a serious drawback was, the
great difficulty in cleaning out the dead bees and
other filth that is ever accumulating on the bottom
of the hive ; the length of the hive, from front to
rear, being from eighteen to twenty-two inches, the
118 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
bottom stationary, and the space between the bottoms
of the frames and the bottom of the hive only about
half an inch, rendered it quite impossible to clean
them without lifting out all the combs, which is
neither convenient nor yet proper to do at all times
when they should be cleaned ; hence it was an im-
portant consideration and a serious objection. The
construction and adjustment of the frames was not
satisfactory. The facilities for transferring combs
from other hives of irregular sizes, and the mode of
so adjusting the frames as to fix them permanent and
stationary, preserving the proper spaces between
them, was defective, frequently causing the bees to
build their combs across and join them together, thus
destroying their efficiency.
Harbison's improved movable comb hive.
The hive known as the California Hive, or Har-
bison's Improved Movable Comb Hive, patented
January 4th, 1859, has been in use two summers,
and so far as I am informed, has given satisfaction.
The depth of comb is about sixteen inches (nine
frames to the hive), which is a good shape for win-
tering bees in. Another important feature in this
hive is the great ease with vshich it can be kept clean,
by simply removing a slide in front, and if necessary,
one in the rear, and brushing out any filth that may
be found on the bottom board, with the feather end
of a goose quill or any other small brush convenient.
The bottom board being an inclined plane, enables
the bees to throw out dead bees and filth with greater
filVES.
119
Figure 1.
ease than if flat ; it also prevents rain from running
into the hive, or moisture from accumulating. It
requires but four pieces to make the frame ; the top
piece serves as a comb-guide and a rest for the hone}''-
board, thus economizing both room and heat: the
adjustable bar or centre piece can be moved either up
or down, by pins or small nails, to suit the size of
any piece of comb, while being transferred. The
120 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
frame is also provided witli metallic fastenings, to
hold the combs firmly in their place until properly
secured by the bees ; and are so adjusted as to secure
the proper space between the combs at all times,
fixing them in a perpendicular position, and retain-
ing them firmly and immovably in their place, yet
being easily removed when desired.
The mode of ventilating this hive is new and
novel. In cold weather the air is admitted into the
graduated chamber below, from which it passes up
into the hive, and escapes through an opening above,
carrying off the foul air. This is very essential in
wintering bees; cold winds are thus excluded and
plenty of air supplied. Another important feature
is the case with which admittance can be had to
the interior of the hive, by the peculiar manner in
which the door and lid are arranged, giving free ac-
cess to every part of the hive ; and Avhen closed it
is free from water running into and standing in the
joints, as often occurs where a cap is set in a rabbet
or groove.
The general construction of this hive is pleasing
to the eye, as well as being in conformity with the
natural wants of the bee ; it is also cheap and easily
constructed. Any one or more combs can be taken
out with ease and dispatch, when necessary to ex-
amine the condition of the colony; to make artificial
swarms to supply queenless colonies with embryo
queens, or combs which contain eggs or young larva,
from which they will rear queens ; and mIicu it be-
comes requisite to equalize the stores of honey and
HIVES. 121
pollen by taking combs from those hives that have
more than is actually necessary for their support,
and exchanging with those that lack, enabling all to
live and prosper.
A feature peculiar to this hive is the honey-board,
or hoard which divides the main breeding depart-
ment from the hone}' boxes. It is so arranged as to
prevent the queen ascending to the honey boxes,
w^hich she frequently does, depositing eggs in combs
intended only for a pure article of honey for mai'ket.
This is more apt to occur in hives that have but a
small amount of drone-combs below ; that being the
kind of comb very commonly built in the boxes,
seems to be an inducement for them to go up and
deposit eggs, where openings arc left immediately
over the central part of the hive. Instead of getting
boxes of delicious honey, there Avill occasionally be
a box of nice young drone brood. A queen is fre-
quently lost hy being taken oif when these boxes
are removed, she being unable or unwilling to return
to the hive from whence she was removed; if late
in the season, the stock will most likely be lost in
consequence. This ditiiculty is entirely overcome
in the construction of this hive, the openings being
at the sides and near the front, consequently out of
the range of her majesty. I have never known a
single instance of the queen going into the honey
boxes when thus arranged.
This hive affords ample facilities to assist the bees
in eradicating the moth and worms. I have no faith
in moth-proof hives; if there are any such. I have
11
122 BEES AND BEE-KEEPTNG.
failed to sec them. The moth will go wherever bees
can ; the best that can be done is to assist the bees
to remove them when they have made a lodgment;
I have thus noticed some of the principal advan-
tages pertaining to this hive, and which renders it
worthy the notice of all bee-keepers who favor the
march of improvement in apiarian pursuits. It is
true, that a person who is too ignorant or careless to
manage bees properly, need not expect splendid re-
sults from this or any other hive. Bee-keeping, to
be either successful or profitable, must first be under-
stood, and if then proceeded with, with care and
perseverance, success is certain to follow. The pecu-
liarities of this hive are such as have suggested them-
selves, from time to time, through a long series of
years of practical and successful bee-keeping, both
on a small and large scale, in the Atlantic States and
in California; no part of it is founded on theory, but
a test has been applied to prove every point, and it is
submitted to the public, believing that it will give
full satisfaction.
SPECIFICATIONS.
By the peculiar arrangement of this hive, air, with-
out light, is admitted into the hive, so that the bees
are well supplied with the necessary material for
respiration ; and by being kept in the dark, they are
continually in repose, and require less food for their
sustenance than if they were in a state of activity.
This economizes their winter's store, and saves the
lives of many bees who would otherwise die of star-
vation, and prevents the ravages of the neighboring
HIVES.
123
bees. Fig. 1, in our illustrations, is a perspective
view, and Fig. 2, a section of this hive ; and by refer-
ence to them the construction will be understood.
A is the inclined bottom-board of the fifth chamber.
It is elevated above the bottom of the hive, so as to
form a chamber, by means of which the admission
of air and light is graduated according to the require-
ment of the bees at different seasons of the year.
B is the graduating chamber for the admission of
124* BEES AND BEE-KEEPINQ.
air and lig-lit into the hive. C is a curtain, which can
be raised to admit more or less light, as may be
required, and, when lowered, serves for throwing a
shade about the air space, thereby preventing the
entrance of light into the working-chamber without
interfering with the ventilation of the same, and
which serves to keep the bees in a state of repose a
greater part of the time when unable to collect honey,
or during windy and cold weather at any season. J)
is the cross-piece to which the curtain is attached. It
is secured to the inclined bottom-board. A, at such a
distance from the door as to allow a space for the
admission of air and light to the hive. E is the pas-
sage for the admission of air and light to the hive,
and F is a movable cross-piece, provided Avith two
wire screens, G, for the purpose of admitting the air
and light, which ascend through the passage, E. H
is an adjustable slide, which tits loosely in grooves on
the sides of the hive, and provided with a wedge, I,
for the purpose of tightening or loosening the same,
said slide, H, being removed to admit the discharge
of any impurities which may have collected on the
inclined bottom-board, A. J is a cross-piece, mor-
tised to admit the lower end of the sectional comb-
frames, K, which has a tenon cut on its lower end,
and which fits into the mortise cut in the cross-piece,
J, and also has a projection on its upper part which
fits into a slot, a, cut on the inner part of the front
of the hive ; by this means it is secured in its right
position in the hive, the lower part of the sectional
comb-frame, K, being adjustable up and down, by
HIVES, 125
means of holes and pins, for adjusting it to the dif-
ferent sized combs. By removing the honey boxes,
and bearing on the upper part of the sectional comb-
frame, K, it can be elevated out of the slot, «, and the
apiarian is thus enabled to remove or replace it with
ease and facility without molesting the other bees, or
in any way injuring the combs in the adjoining
frames.
The sectional comb-frame, K, is provided with six
or more flexible metal clamps, h b, secured to its
upper and lower ends, which serve to retain the comb
in the sectional comb-frame ; and by raising the
flexible metal clamps, h b, on one side of the frame,
the apiarian can remove or replace a comb with
facility and dispatch.
L is the platform supporting the honey-boxes, and
resting on the tops of the sectional comb-frames, K,
of such a width as to allow a passage for the bees to
the honey box. The platform, L, is provided with a
flexible back-angular clamp and a flexible front-
angular hinged clamp, both of which serve to brace
the honey boxes ; e e e are the honey-boxes resting
on the platform, L ; / is the upper coupling strap,
fitting under the angles of the flexible angular-clamps,
which completes the bracing of the honey-boxes.
By removing the coupling-strap, /, and folding
down the flexible angular hinged clamps on L, the
honey boxes may be removed separately ; and, by
folding the flexible angular hinged clamp to its for-
mer position, and replacing the coupling strap,/, the
honey boxes may all be removed at once, thus afibrd-
11*
126 BEES AND BEE-KEEPIN<J.
ing great ease and facility for reaching the sectional
comb-frames, K; g are apertures provided with wire
screens, >h, and movable covers, for the admission of
air and light to the graduating chamber, 13. These
openings are provided with movable covers for the in-
gress and egress of the bees ; i is the door of the hive,
provided with an opening, y, which is furnished with
a wire screen, p^ and movable cover, q, that serves to
admit air and light to the upper part of the hive. K
is a glass frame, resting on the cross-piece, J, and
inclosing the sectional comb-frarne, K, and / is a glass
frame resting on the glass frame, k, and inclosing the
honey boxes, e e e.
BILL OF LUMBER, WITH DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING HIVES.
Two sides, 2 ft. 5 in. long, 13^ in. wide. One
door (for the rear or back of the hive), 2 ft. long;
strips 1\ in. nailed iirmly on each end to keep it
from warping, making its entire length 2 ft. 2\ in.
and 15|- in. wide. One front, 20| in. long, with a
strip on top 1^ in. making entire length 21f in.
15| in. wide. One bottom board, 13| in. wide, 14^
in. long; this is set 3 in. higher at the rear than in
front, making an inclined plane. One lid, 17 in.
square ; 1 in. strip nailed firmly with clout nails
under each end, 15 in. apart, leaving room to shut
down nicely over the hive. One piece for adjustable
slide in front, 5| in. wide, 13 in. long, leveled to
suit the bottom, and adjusted with wedges, as shown
in engraving.
Nail the sides to the bottom, giving the proper
(Page 126.
A view of the hive wheu arranged for storing surplus honey, e e
are the sectional honey boxes. L is the honey board, which is mov-
able, and rests directly on the tops of the frames. K, the movable
frames of the principal chamber or breeding department of the hive.
.J is the cross-bar in which gains or notches are cut to receive the
lower end of the frame. F is a cross piece, with wire cloth for ven-
tilation. Y is the door or shutter, m is an opening, covered with
wire cloth, for foul air to escape through. Z, the lid thrown back-
ward.
HIVES. 127
bevel to form the inclined plane, as seen in engrav-
ing; put on the front, which should previously be
bored or mortised to receive the ends of the top
piece of the frames ; place a strip 2| in. under the
bottom, at the back part of the hive, under the
door; now hang the door, with 2 in. butt; hang the
lid, also, with butts, to the front of the hive, so that
it will open from rear to front; put a strip 1^ in.
across the front of the hive, 17 in. from the lid; just
above this bore two holes, 1 in. diameter, which
serve as convenient entrances for the bees ; place a
strip under the front end of the bottom board to fall
down square with the bottom, and a small piece to
fill out from tliis strip to the front piece. The case
is now complete. The cross-bar (in which gains are
cut for the feet of the frames to stand in,) is set in,
gains cut in the sides of the hive, 19J in. from the
lid to its upper edge ; cross-bar is IJ in. square, gains
cut in this are | in. wide, leaving spaces between of
f in. making the spaces between the frames If in.;
a piece 2 in. wide is set between this and the bottom
board, through which holes are made, and covered
with wire cloth, to ventilate from the graduated
chamber below, a recess of J inch being left betw.een
the end of the bottom and the door for an air passage.
FRAMES.
Height of frames, 13| in.; top piece of the frame,
13| in. the front end projecting | in. which enters
the hole or mortise in front board ; tenon on the foot
on the opposite angle of the frame, 1| in. long, f in.
128 BEES ANb BEE-KEEPING,
wide ; the centre piece or adjustable bar is triangular,
I in. on either piece, and shonld be set from the
centre to the lower end of frame, or can be set np or
down, to suit the width of comb when transferring.
Nine of these frames are used in each hive. Combs
wdll project below the ends to the bottom board.
The top piece of the frame is f in. square. Set
with one edge down, to form a comb-guide, the
opposite one up, on which the honey-board rests;, the
sides are | in. wide, f in. thick.
A sash for 10 by 12 glass is put in the rear. Put a
honey-board on top of the frames, resting directly on
them and on the sash. The honey-board is 13 in.
wide and 11|- in. long, with a strip on each end f in.
wide, to keep it from warping. Openings are made
at the sides and front for bees to ascend to the honey
boxes, the chamber for which should be about G| in.
high by 13 in. square.
PHELPs' MOVABLE COMB HIVE.
This hive is constructed somewhat similar to
Langstroth's, but is of greater depth and nearly
square. The principal diiference is in the frames.
Phelps' frame is composed of five frames : first, one
about a foot square, in which are four frames six
inches square, each of them fitting neatly into the
larger one ; in each of these there are comb-guides.
The principal advantage claimed for this arrange-
ment is, that the two upper frames can be removed
when full, and replaced with empty ones, thus obvi-
ating the necessity of using surplus honej^ boxes
HONEY BOXES, 129
above. The bees are permitted to occupy the two
lower frames for brood and stores.
I have not had the opportunity of testing the
merits of this hive, but it strikes me that the frame
is too complicated and detached, so much space being
taken up by tlie divisions or partitions in the frames,
which is more difficult to keep warm than if comb.
Of other hives on the movable comb priuciple, but
little is yet known.
CHAPTER YIII.
HONEY BOXES.
The style of spare honey receptacles is an impor-
tant feature in bee-keeping. As in most places the
surplus honey is the chief reliance for revenue, con-
sequently it is highly important that it be got up for
market in the best shape. I have used various kinds
of boxes for some years, among others the wooden
boxes made of boards | thick, box 12| inches long,
6 inches square, with glass in one end ; holes were
bored in these to correspond with holes in the honey-
board.. For home use, and for a number of custom-
ers, these boxes served a very good purpose ; they
are cheap, and easily made.
GLASS BOXES.
I also make boxes with glass sides, the top, bottom
and ends of wood. These I get out 6 inches wide,
bottoms and tops 12f in length, and ends 5^. I used
130
BEES AND BEE-KEEPINQ.
a I inch beediug plane, the bit so formed as to work
a nice beed on the corner of the board, and at the
same time cut a channel ^ inch deep, and of proper
width, to receive the glass, which should be cut 5|
by 12| to fit nicely in the groove. Boxes made in
this manner are both neat, convenient and cheap,
and will sell readily in any market, without any de-
duction for tare.
This style of boxes, to suit a retail trade, maj'^ be
made 6 inches square, or half size, weighing from six
to seven pounds, when well filled. Many customers
will buy one of these small boxes, when it would not
be desirable to buy one of larger size.
THE SECTIONAL HONEY BOX.
• This is a view of the sectional honey box. No. 1 is a ring or single sec-
tion, partly detached. It is made of stuff § in. thick by IJ in. wide; when
finished each ring is 6J in. square on the outside ; eight of these sections
compose a box 6^ in. by 12 in. A small triangular comb-guide is put in the
centre of the top piece of the section. If the proper space is observed, bees
will build a comb in each with groat regularity.
The sectional honey box was recently patented by
John S. Harbison (of the firm of W. 0. & J. S. Har-
bison). It is composed of eight rings, or frames,
(Page 131.)
The above cut shows the pieces in detail, which being put to-
gether constitute a single ring or section of the sectional honey box.
HONEY BOXES. 131
provided with comb-guides, eacli of which is the
proper size to contain a single comb. The edges of
these frames fit up closely together, and are fastened
by clamps or strips let into rabbets on the sides,
tacked at each end, forming a perfect box, which if
desired for retailing in market, or for private use,
can be easily subdivided into small parcels, of from
one pound upward, to suit the wants of purchasers,
without cutting or in any way breaking a single cell
of honey, thereby saving loss from leakage, and obvi-
ating the difficulty of smearing everything it comes
in contact with. This box greatly economizes the
animal heat generated by the bees. It is well known
that it is a disadvantage to have them build in small
boxes ; this is really a large box, and yet possesses all
the conveniences of small ones.
The rings or sections are made of soft wood, top
pieces 1| in. wide, 6| in. long, f in. thick ; sides 5|
in. long, same width and thickness as the top ; bottom
is a piece f in. square, set with one edge up, the
opposite one downward, the edge flush with the end
pieces. A triangular comb-guide should be put in
the centre of the top piece, and all nailed together
with I finishing nails.
Jars and tumblers are put on to be filled with
honey, more for ornament than utility ; they are only
nice to exhibit. Pieces of white comb should be
stuck to the bottom to serve as guide-combs.
132 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
CHAPTER IX.
BEE PASTURAGE.
It is of the utmost importance, for the success of
an apiary, that it should be located in a neighborhood
where the bees can readily find an abundant supply
of good pasturage. The success of bee-keeping de-
pends greatly upon this. As well might a stock
grower expect to make his cfittle profitable, without
supplying them properly with food, as to suppose
bees will live, thrive and be of benefit to their owners
without obtaining constant supplies of pollen and
honej^, in some way, from spring to fall, with but
little if any intermission.
The inquiry is frequently made, Why is it that
bees at the present daj^ do not swarm so much, nor
make as much honey, as they did years ago, during
the early settlement of the country ? With the same
propriety it might be inquired, Why it is that cattle,
horses and other stock that run at large without being
cared for, do not thrive and be as profitable to their
owners now as formerly?
I presume that any school boy of ten years old
could very readily answer the latter question, whilst
the first has puzzled many older heads, and would-be
wise bee-keepers ; yet the answer to the second
question applies with equal force to the first.
Tlic country, in its wild state, produced in the
greatest abundance an unvarying succession of flow-
ers, from early spring until frost came, yielding for
BEt; PASTURAGE. 133
the bees unlimited supplies of bee-bread and honey,
enabling them to propagate very rapidly, and to store
up immense quantities of honey, bidding delianceto
the moth, unless, perhaps, some disorganized colony
would fall a prey to their depredations. As the for'
ests were felled, and the country cleared and brought
into a state of cultivation, this source of pasturage
was in many places almost entirely cut off, until
their sole dependence was on the clover and buck-
wheat, which lasts but about two months of the
3'ear ; the remainder of the season they cannot gather
sufficient honey to supply their immediate wants.
In such cases, men have provided pasture and made
suitable provision for all other kinds of domestic
stock, but the bee, the most faithful and productive
of all servants, is left to provide for itself; the in-
evitable result of which will be their total extinction
in old settled countries, unless a change is made in
this direction, and pasturage supplied for them,
which can be done with profit.
BEST KINDS OP EARLY I>ASTURAQE,
The alders, hazel and willows, some of which
yield honey and others pollen (most species of flow-
ers yield both. My observations lead me to believe
that the male flower yields pollen, and the female
honey ; I have frequently seen bees gathering both
honey and pollen from the same kind of flowers at
the same time. It can be tested by examining both
the honey sac and the baskets on the thigh,) are the
first to afford the bees pro\'ision in the spring ;
12
134 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
where these abound the bees advance earlier than
elsewhere. The soft maple {aeer rubrum) yields a
considerable quantity of honey very early, if the
weather is fine; the golden or j^ellow willow also
yields supplies quite early ; peach, cherry and pear
trees put forth early ; gooseberries, strawberries, cur-
rants, &c. all aftbrd rich supplies. To close this list
of early flowers, the dandelion and apple come forth
in rich- profusion, all of which are of the utmost
importance for the prosperity of the bees during the
season. K this early pasturage fails, or if the
weather should be so unfavorable as to prevent the
bees from gathering a supply of provisions, they will
fail to rear a sufficient quantity of brood to swarm
early or to harvest the clover honey to advantage.
"When such a condition of things exists, feed care-
fully as directed in the chapter on feeding. It is but
seldom, if ever, that a sufficient quantity of honey is
gathered from these early flowers to cause the bees
to store it in surplus boxes, yet enough is frequently
obtained to fill up a large portion of the combs from
which the honey has been consumed during the win-
ter, and serves to supply their immediate wants until
clover blooms.
Let me here caution all bee-keepers to see well to
this matter, and be sure that your little servants are
well supplied with provisions from the opening of
spring until the white clover blooms.
THE NEXT PASTURAGE.
Turnips, cabbage and the hard maple (acer mc-
BEE PASTURAGE. 135
charinus) yield a considerable quantity of honey, but
later than the soft maple. Turnips produce a very
copious supply of both honey and pollen, and if left
standing in the ground over winter, they bloom just
at a time to fill the recess between the fruit tree
ilowers and the clover. This is also the case with
the cabbage family, all of which yield large quanti-
ties of honey. A field of either turnips or cabbage
at this early season, is of greater value to the bees
than the same quantity of either clover or buckwlieat.
I would here impress upon the minds of all bee-
keepers the importance of cultivating a field in tur-
nips each year. In the fall gather in all the large, fine
ones, either for marketing or for feeding sheep
and cattle during winter, for which they are very
valuable, and will well repay the expense of raising
them ; enough small ones will be left standing in the
ground over winter to make a rich field of pasturage
for the bees in the spring, leaving the ground in fine
condition for a crop of buckwheat, or to sow down in
wheat in autumn, or to again put down in turnips.
The various kinds of blackberries, and the wild or
bird cherry {cerasus seratina), yield honey, and serve
to supply to some extent the recess above referred to.
We have also a species of kale, or wild turnip,
which if sowed very early in the spring will com-
mence to bloom toward the latter part of May, and
is very valuable. I can supply seed of this plant at
any time to persons desiring it.
Raspberries of all kinds yield an immense amount
of honey, and continue blooming, giving a succession
136 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
of fresh flowers, for about three weeks. But few if
auy flowers produce such quantities of honey as the
raspbeny, in proportion to the number of flowers.
Bees work on them from early dawn until dewy eve,
singing a cheerful song all the while ; even a shower
of rain will not drive them from it. The honey is
of the finest quality. These facts should be turned
to good account, when we consider the value of the
raspberry (being a certain crop,) as a market fruit,
and also for flimily use, and the ease with which it
can be cultivated. In the country, large plats of
ground, even fields, should be devoted to its culture,
and in towns and cities plats in every garden should
be set aside for its cultivation, as well for its fruit as
for the honey it produces.
Catnip, motherwort, hoarhound, honeysuckles and
various other kinds of flowers, put forth about the
same time ; each would be of great value, if in sufli-
cient quantities.
EARLY SUMMER FLOWERS.
At the head of this list preeminently stands white
clover {trifolium repens), which is found along the
roadsides in meadows, grain fields, gardens, pasture
fields, in fact it may be seen every where. The seed,
which are very abundant and very small, are driven
in every direction by the winds ; this has been over-
looked by previous writers. The heads, which contain
the seed, are quite small and very light; the stalks
stand erect until winter sets in and the ground is
frozen, by which time the stalk of it has become
BEE PASTURAGE. 137
brittle, and every wind breaks off and rolls along the
ground a portion of these little seed-pods, until they
meet some obstruction ; here they will germinate.
Thus they are scattered in every direction. I have
frequently seen them driven furiously on the crust
of a shallow snow, through which the heads would
project. The value of this clover is entirely under-
rated as a pasture for cattle or horses, as well as
bees ; it is always selected by stock in preference to
the red clover. The honey gathered from it is of
the highest excellence, both in beauty and flavor;
and I believe in good seasons all the bees, in any
neighborhood where it abounds, could not gather
the fourth part, so great is the quantity produced.
The tulip tree {liriodendron\ or poplar, as it is
called by some, by others white-wood, is a great pro-
ducer of honey. Nothing of the tree kind that I
have ever seen, exceeds it ; the flowers expand in
succession, are of a bell-like shape, mouth upward.
In dry, warm weather, I have seen a teaspoonful of
pure honey or saccharine matter, in a single cup or
flower. Bees work upon it with the same vigor they
manifest when carrying honey from some other hive,
or when fed to them. I have frequently seen our
bees carrying in this honey from the first peep of
day until long after the sun had set, on warm, moon-
light nights. Where this timber abounds, bees reap
a rich harvest from it.
The yellow and black locust tree yield large
quantities of honey. It is a tree every farmer should
cultivate for posts: it will ere long be in great de-
12*
138 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
mimd for that purpose. The linden, or bass-wood
[tilia Americana)^ produces honey to a large amount.
All of these varieties of trees should be extensively
cultivated, both as shade and ornamental trees, as
well as for their timber and the vast quantities of
honey they yield. Sumach also produces honey
bountifully ; the difficulty, however, is, that there are
but few places where these are found in sufficient
quantities to be of importance. I trust they will be
extensively cultivated.
MUSTARD AND MIGNONETTE.
The common black mustard is one of the most
valuable plants to cultivate as a pasture for bees ; it
is easily raised, by simply sowing it on ground when
well plowed and pulverized by harrowing smooth,
and then brushing it in with a light brush or very
light harrow. It should be sown early in the spring,
on good ground. The seed is now worth from eight
to fourteen cents per pound in Pittsburgh and other
cities, for grinding and preparing for table use ; at
these prices it will pay well as a field crop, being
worth more per bushel than clover seed. I was told
recently by a man largely engaged in grinding and
preparing spices, that it is quite difficult to get a
supply of good mustard ; so scarce is it, that it be-
comes necessary to import it from Europe. He also
informed me that this black mustard is of greater
value than the white. Those interested in bee-keep-
ing should give the cultivation of mustard some
attention. As a bee pasture it has few superiors,
BEE PASTURAGE. 139
yielding both pollen and honey in great abundance ;
it begins to open its flowers when quite young and
continues as the bush expands, until it becomes very
large ; each day brings forth new blossoms. A field
of mustard in full bloom is a most magnificent sight ;
it is like a vast pile of golden flowers ; the plants are
completely enveloped with flowers, from the ground
up as high as a man's head. There is no other plant
that I ever noticed that produces so many flowers to
any given quantity of ground, nor yields so much
honey. Last summer we raised a field of it in Cali-
fornia, expressly for our bees, and found it to pay
largely, as it filled a recess that occurred between
other flowers. In almost any of the Atlantic States it
serves to fill the recess that occurs between the closing
of the white clover and the opening of the buck-
wheat flowers, a period of about four weeks, which
is the very best part of the year for gathering honey,
as the weather is generally warm and calm ; hence
the propriety of raising this crop to employ the bees
profitably.
In the San Jose valley, California, mustard is
almost the entire dependence of the bee-keepers for
their surplus honey; it grows spontaneously there,
and can be seen in its purity. The honey produced
from it resembles that yielded from the linden, both in
color and taste.
Mignonette, a modest, unpresuming little flower,
found in all well assorted collections, is one of the
greatest value as a bee pasture, if grown in suffi-
cient quantities to be an object. It is low growing
140 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
and spreading in its habits, similar to wliiLe clover,
and 3'ields both honey and pollen ; it will bloom con-
tinually, from the middle of June until killed by
frosts in the fall. It is easily raised in large quantities
if the ground is clear of weed seed, plowed and well
pulverized by harrowing before sowing. Sow thinly
and brush it in with a light brush ; all that is required
after this is to pull out ajiy large-growing weeds that
may chance to make their appearance before the
mignonette spreads over the ground ; when it takes
possession of the ground, it needs no further care.
A bed of these flowers will perfume the air for quite
a distance around, so rich is it. Bees will work on
it from dajdight until dark ; two or three may be
seen at once on a single head or flower.
CEPHALANTHUS, OR BUTTON-BUSH.
The cephalanthus Canadensis, or button-bush, which
grows in swamps and low, wet, marshy grounds in
almost every part of the United States, preserving
the same appearance wherever found, produces honey
of the highest excellence. The honey gathered from
this shrub is of a very light straw color, of a thick,
heavy body and very excellent flavor. Bees thrive
and store honey very rapidly when they have access
to large quantities of these flowers. The time of
blooming varies with diflerent localities, but it. gen-
erally begins to put forth flowers about the first of
July, and continues for three or four weeks.
In the Sacramento and some other valleys in Cali
foruia, the cephalanthus abounds along streams of
BEE PASTURAGE. 141
water or in the edges of the Tule lands, where it
grows very large and yields immense quantities of
honey, of the best quality in the State, and scarcely
inferior to any in the world.
BUCKWHEAT.
In all places where this valuable grain is raised, it
becomes an important accession to bee pasturage.
A field of buckwheat yields an incredible quantity
of honey, which perfumes the air for a considerable
distance around. When the weather is favorable,
the bees store honey from it very rapidly, faster at
times than they can build combs to receive it. I
have seen them fill pieces of old combs laid close to
the entrance of the hive, with honey, and have
known colonies to fill four boxes of honey, or about
fifty pounds, during the continuance of buckwheat.
This is by no means a common occurrence, and goes
to show that this honey harvest is one of great im-
portance to the bee-keeper. Buckwheat may be
sown about a month earlier than usual, to furnish
pasturage to come in about the close of clover, to
great advantage.
I have thus shown that various kinds of flowers may
be cultivated to produce abundant pasturage to supply
the bees bountifully with stores, from early spring
until autumn. If bees are still permitted to starve,
it will be the fault of their keepers in neglecting to
provide for them ; and they will consequently reap
the reward of their negligence in the loss of their
bees. Only the most important kinds of flowers
142 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
that produce houey and pollen have been mentioned.
A great many others of value have not been named,
that in some localities yield the greatest abundance
of honey. My object is to call special attention to
such kinds as can and ought to be cultivated for
other purposes, as well as for bee pasture. Until
care is taken to supply flowers for bees on the same
principle that pasture is provided for cattle, bee-
keeping will not rest on a solid foundation, but will
be precarious and uncertain. To cultivate such
flowers as I have suggested, simply keeping the
supply uniform throughout the season ; or in other
words, to return to first principles, to restore by cul-
tivation an amount of pasturage equivalent to what
has been destroyed, will render bee-keeping as reli-
able as any other business.
SUMMER.
CHAPTER X.
MANAGEMENT OF BEES.
HOW TO CONQUER BEES AND PREVENT THEM FROM STINGING.
When bees are alarmed for the safety of their
stores, they immediately rush to the cells and fill
their sacs with honey, apparently to provide against
any contingency that might arise. When in this
condition, they are perfectly harmless, never volun-
teering an attack; consequently, to tame bees or
render them docile and easily driven or handled,
simply take advantage of this peculiar instinct. Con-
fine them closely to their hive, and rap repeatedly
on its sides for a few minutes, they vnll become
alarmed, and gorge themselves with honey, when
they can be handled and controlled at pleasure.
We have adopted the following plan, which wc
find best adapted to our hive, and recommend it to
others, with the assurance that it will give satisfac-
tion. Take clean cotton or linen rags, such as are
used in the manufacture of paper ; make a nice roll
of these, about an inch in diameter and from six to
twelve inches long ; wrap it pretty tight, either with
narrow strips or shreds torn from pieces of cloth, or
wrapping yarn of any kind ; prepare a number of
such rolls, and keep on hand in a box or any dry
(143)
144 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
place in or near the apiary, together with some
matches. When you wish to open a hive or perform
any operation, set fire to one end of a roll of rags — it
makes quite a smoke without any blaze ; upon open-
ing the hive, blow the smoke vigorously among the.
bees for a moment or two, which terrifies them
without doing any permanent injury; they immedi-
ately rush to the cells and fill their sacs with honey,
when you can proceed to lift out one comb after
another, and perform any operation with perfect
impunity, without any fear of being stung, unless by
those from other hives near at hand. Should there
be some, however, that show signs of battle, blow a
little more smoke upon them, and repeat it from
time to time until the close of the operation.
Toward the end of the honey season, when they
are rich and increased in stores, they are harder to
control than at any other season of the year. When
this occurs, put a small portion of tobacco or a few
grains of sulphur in your roll of rags, which renders
the smoke more pungent, and will drive them with
perfect ease.
PROTECTION.
It is said, an ounce of prevention is better than a
pound of cure. All persons are liable to be stung in
hot weather, when passing near their bees, when
cleaning filth from the bottom of the hive, removing
worms, changing honey boxes, or any thing of this
kind. This causes many to neglect their bees, and
thereby consign them to the tender mercies of the
moth. The fear of being stung deters many persons
(Page 145.)
The above illustrates the protector, or veil — an indispensable ar
tide to many bee-keepers, and one that should be found in ever;
apiary.
MANAGEMENT. 145
from keeping bees ; this can easily be prevented, and
one of the greatest objections to bee-keeping removed,
by simply using a veil or screen to protect the face
and neck, and gum elastic or buckskin gloves to
protect the hands. Take a piece of silkbobbinet,
(green, if it can be obtained), about two feet in width
by four and a half in length, gather the edge or side
of this into a band that will slip over the crown of
the hat down to the brim, suspending it over the
edge of the brim all around the face and neck ; attach
a tape or string at the back part, near the lower
edge; pass this around so as to confine the veil to
the coat or vest collar, and fasten beneath the chin.
By wearing a broad brim summer hat, it keeps the
veil from coming in contact with any part of the
face, and effectually protects it. This veil can be
easily carried in the coat pocket, or kept in some
convenient place for instant use ; when used it ob-
structs the view but little, and does not injure the
eyes by continued use. Other kinds of bobbinet, or
even such stuff as is commonly used for mosquito
bars, may be used in the same manner; the cost of
which would be less than silk. We have used hats
made of fine wire cloth, but have discarded them for
two reasons: first, to wear one of these and be ex-
posed to a hot sun, is disagreeable, and even danger-
ous, as they afford but little protection fix)m its rays;
but the greatest objection is the injurious effect upon
the eyes, produced by the frequent use of the wire,
the reflection of the rays of the sun from the wire
soon producing an aching or painful sensation, and
13
146 BEES AXD BEE-KEEPI^•G.
affecting the sight, hence I prefer the veil. I would
recommend all persons to provide several, by getting
cheap summer hats and trimming them with veils;
keep them in some convenient, dry place near the
entrance of the apiary. If a visitor who is fearful
of being stnng, wishes to look into the apiary, he
can don a screen or veil, and examine all the curiosi-
ties without any fear. A sense of perfect security
against the attacks of the bee renders the most timid
very courageous; in fact, if it was generally under-
stood that there is no positive necessity for being
stung in the management of bees, ten would engage
in it for one that does so at present.
now TO TRANSFER.
should you wish to transfer a colony from an or-
dinary hive, proceed as follows: invert your hive,
place a box on the mouth of it, close up any aper-
tures with a cloth, or anything convenient, to prevent
the bees from getting out, then rap gently but repeat-
edly' on the hive, continue this for some time ; the
bees will gorge themselves with honey and ascend to
the box, when you can gently remove it and let it
stand until the combs are transferred to the new hive,
the few bees that remain will give but little trouble.
Having all things in readiness, the frames provided
with strips of tin I in. wide and 2^ long, proceed to
remove one side of the old hive to admit of cutting
out the comb full size, without breaking or mutilat-
ing them; adjust the centre bar of the frame to suit
the depth of the comb, cutting off any points or in-
(Page 146.)
B shows the hive inverted. A. the box placet! on the top or mouth
of the hive.
(Page 147.]
This cut illustrates the manner of cutting and fitting combs in the
frames. D represents a comb taken from the old hive and laid on a
table. K is a frame laid on it. A knife is now used (as seen in the
engraving) to cut the comb to the proper size and shape.
MANAGEMKNT. 147
equalities that exist in the comb; pkice the frame in
a perpendicular position, put the comb iu it, in a
position similar to that it occupied in the old hive,
bond the braces down on both sides and press them
gentlj against the sides of the combs; now place it
in the new hive. Proceed in the same manner until
all the combs are removed, carefully brushing off
into the new hive any bees that may adhere to the
combs. Be careful to place all the combs containing
either eggs or brood together, side by side, as near
the centre as possible, placing the store combs at the
sides. "When all is completed put in the sash, take
the box containing the bees, brush or shake them
down among the combs, brush them gently until
all are below the tops of the frames, then insert the
chamber floor or honey-board to prevent them from
ascending, shut down the lid and close the door,
raise the slide or shutter in the front about a half
inch, place the hive where the stragglers will be
attracted by the sound of those in their new home;
in the morning set the new hive where fhe colony
originally stood, otherwise many bees will be lost.
We prefer to transfer at night in a shop or room
of mild or warm temperature, to prevent the brood
from getting chilled during the operation ; the bees
will immediately proceed to clean up the dripping
honey and fasten the combs, and by morning all
smell of broken combs and fresh honey will be re-
moved, thereby obviating the danger of inciting
others to rob them. With proper care they can be
transferred at any time of day. Care should be
148 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING,
taken in transferring when there is a limited supply
of honey, as the elaboration of wax necessary to
fasten the combs, causes the bees to consume a
much larger amount of honey than would otherwise
be required, hence the necessity of feeding them
under such circumstances.
CHAPTER XI.
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS.
TO REAR QUEENS TO SUPPY ARTIFICIAL SWARMS.
It is a well attested fact, that if a queen is removed
from a colony of bees when they are in possession of
eggs recently deposited in worker cells, or if they
have larva not more than three or fonr days old, they
will proceed to rear young queens as soon as they
discover the loss of their old one. To guard against
accident, they will usually rear from two to ten, and
occasionally as many as fifteen or twenty young
queens.
The queen cells are usually suspended from the
edge of a comb or some projecting point. They com-
mence by cutting out the partitions between two or
three worker cells, and form a cup similar in size
and shape to that of an acorn ; in this they deposit
a substance similar to jelly, at first of a light or
whitish color, but afterward turning to a brown or
roddifth. This i^ called roval jellv. On this thev
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 14^
deposit a worker egg or young larva, and continue
to increase the length of the cell until it is about an
inch long, and about the sixth day seal it up, when
it resembles a pea nut, both in shape, size and color.
After remaining sealed up from eight to twelve days,
or from fourteen to eighteen days from the removal
of the old queen (the time is varied by the temper-
ature of the weather ; in California they usually
emerge from the cell about the fourteenth day, whilst
in Pennsylvania about the sixteenth or eighteenth),
the first one to come forth will soon find her way to
the cells containing her sister queens and destroy
them, by cutting into the sides of the cells and in-
flicting a death wound on her unsuspecting sister, by
stinging her.
When queens are wanted to supply artificial swarms
or queenless colonies, the royal cell should be re-
moved from the queen nursery three or four days
before any emerge, and placed in the colony where
wanted. Providing queens in this manner renders
the propagation of bees by division or artificial
swarms easy, and the result certain.
MAKING ARTIFICIAL SWARMS.
In the spring, when stocks have become strong
and a few drones have made their appearance, there
being a plentiful supply of honey abroad, is a proper
time to commence dividing. Three plans present
themselves, either of which may be adopted and
practiced successfully, the first of which is as follows :
A few days before you wish to make any consider-
13*
150 BEEr^ AN'i> uki:-ki:i:pixu.
uble nuuibcr ol" urtiticial swarms, divide oue of your
strong colonies, make an equal division of bees,
combs, honey and brood ; this we call a preliminary
division. Place an empty frame t>r two next to those
containing the comb; take a piece of clean cloth
(common brown sheeting muslin is as good as any),
and cut or tear it in pieces thirteen inches wide by
about twenty-seven long, put this over the top of the
frames, and suspend it over or down outside of the
empty frame until it reaches the bottom board; this
preserves the heat, which is very essential, and con-
denses the space to correspond with the size of the
colony. Care should be taken in all cases to put the
combs containing eggs or brood together in the
centre of the colony, to prevent its getting chilled.
Let the bees adhere to the combs just as they are
lifted from the hive. When the division is com-
pleted, if convenient, close up one of the new colonies
and take it half a mile or a mile distant to a neie-h-
bor's house, or some suitable place ; by so doing, all
the old worker bees remain in each colony, just as
when first divided. The one destitute of a queen
will soon set to work to rear queens to supply their
loss, as has been described. So long as they have the
means of supplying themselves with a queen, they
will work away, apparently as contented and happy as
if they were in possession of one ; but during the
time they are destitute they invariably build drone
comb, if they build any.
When it is not convenient to remove one of the
colonies to a distance, as has just been Btated, shift
(Page 150.)
This illustration shows the mode of arranging an artificial swarm.
Figures 2, 3, 4, are frames containing both stores, brood and bees,
just removed from the parent stock. An empty frame is seen next
to figure 2 ; over this the cloth is spread. L is the honey board.
e p are the honey boxes, set on one side of the hive.
(Page 151.)
The above engraving represents a parent hive from which an arti-
ficial hive has just been taken. Figures 1. 5, C, 7, 8, 0, are frames
containing stores, brood, bees, &c. that remain in the hive. The
spaces should be filled with empty frames.
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 151
the old hive sideways iibout the width of itself, and
place the new one on the opposite side of the old
stand, so that each will occupy about the same rela-
tive position to it. If you have observed in which
hive the queen was put, close the entrance entirely
to prevent those from the other hive finding her, or
most of the old workers that had been abroad and
had their course established, will return to her,
and thus endanger the success of the other col-
ony. If too many leave it and return to the one
containing the queen, the brood will be chilled and
destroyed ; but when they find they are entirely cut
off from their queen mother and thrown entirely on
their own resources, they set to work to construct
queen cells, and in twenty-four hours time they Avill
have their course to and from the new hive as well
established as from the old one. When it can be
opened, it is well to set up a board a little in front
and between the hives, for a few days. Great care
must be taken at all times to ventilate well, when a
hive is closed up.
In about ten or twelve days after the division is
made, open the hive which contains the young, or
or rather embryo queens ; lift out the combs careful-
ly, commencing at one side, for there is danger
of bruising or destroying the queen cells, which fre-
quently project beyond the sides of the comb; take
a sharp, thin-bladed knife, cut out a small piece of
comb, say an inch square, from which the queen
cell was suspended, replace the comb again in the
hive, and proceed immediately to divide another
152 BEKS AND BKE-KEEPINC.
colony in the manner just described for making a
preliminary division, being careful to observe in
which hive the queen is placed. Now take the queen
cell or embryo queen, cut a square hole in a central
position in one of the combs, to correspond in size
with the square piece to which the queen cell is
attached, and insert it gently, being careful not to
press or bruise it ; press the wax of the surrounding
comb down at the edges, to prevent it from falling
out. The bees will soon fasten it permanently.
Care should be taken to place the embryo queen in
a position similar to that in which it was built ; place
the comb in the centre of the colony, close it up,
covering the frames with a cloth, as has been di-
rected. Either remove the new colony a half mile
or more distant, or place it at one side of the old
stand, as recommended in the preliminary division.
Great care is necessary to prevent the embryo
queen from getting chilled during the process ; she
should not be exposed to a temperature below 70
degrees, and that for a short time only.
An expert apiarian will perform all this operation
in a very few minutes. "When one division is thus
completed, proceed as before, taking out another
embryo queen and make another division, and still
another, until all the embryo queens have been used
except one, which it is necessary to leave to supply
the colony, which we may with great propriety call
a queen nursery. We will suppose this colony reared
I six queen cells, five are removed and used to supply
as many new colonies and one left ; thus six new
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 153
colonies are made, with a fair prospect of having fer-
tile queens in from twenty to twenty-six days from
the date of the first division. The time should be
noted carefully, and if at the end of twentj^-two to
twenty-five days no eggs are found in the cells, the
presumption is that some accident has happened the
queen. Now open a hive which you know has a fer-
tile queen, take out a comb containing brood just
emerging from the cells, and also having some eggs
or young larva ; the young bees will serve to strength-
en up the colony, and the eggs Avill enable them
to rear a queen in case the previous one is lost.
All new colonies should be carefully examined every
few da3'S, until they have a fertile queen ; this is
known by the eggs found in the combs. In making
divisions, empty frames should be put in the hive
from time to time, as the building of combs pro-
gresses, until the hives are full.
ANOTHER METHOD OF MAKING ARTIFICIAL SWARMS.
When stocks of bees are not so strong and vigor-
ous as to be divided in equal parts in the manner
before described, and the apiarian is still desirous to
increase his stocks without reducing any one to a
weak condition, it may be done very safely in the
following manner : Have a supply of embryo
queens, as already described; have your hive in
readiness ; take one or two frames of comb from
each hive containing a proportion of honey, pollen,
brood, &c. examining each comb very carefully lest
the queen should bo removed. In this way a new
154 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
colony is made up from two or three old ones.
Remove the bees that adhere to the combs, place an
embryo queen or royal cell in one of the combs.
Combs containing brood should in all cases be
placed as near the centre as possible ; blow a little
smoke among the bees, close up the hive, covering
the frames and bees as before described with a cloth,
and remove them to a distance, if possible ; if the
older workers return to their respective hives to any
great extent, few will be left to carry on the affairs
of the new colony, and sometimes they will almost
cease to work for three or four days, until the num-
l)er is increased by those emerging from the cells, or
by taking bees from some other hive to strengthen
it. To remove new colonies of this kind to the dis-
tance of a mile, is the most certain and least trouble.
Let them remain until the queen becomes fertile,
when thc}^ can be returned to the apiary. Bees unite
very easily at the season of the year proper for
making swarms.
I would again caution bee-keepers, who make new
colonies from two or more hives, to examine each
comb with the greatest care, scrutinizing every beo
closely to see that the old queen is left in her own
hive. By careless handling, the queen might be
removed from each of the old hives and placed to-
gether in the new one, which would be a serious loss.
It is necessary in making artificial swarms, to
secure enough mature worker bees to protect the
brood from the cold, and attend to all the domestic
affairs of the colony.
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 155
STILL ANOTHER PLAN OF DIVIDING AND MAKING
NEW COLONIES.
Form a nucleus, or, in plain English, a small cluster,
and when their queen has become fertile increase
them from a very small to a very strong colony by
the following process, which we have found to be
very successful, and recommend to the favorable con-
sideration of all bee-keepers who wish to increase
their stocks by division of artificial swarms.
Have young queens or embryo queens ready in a
queen nursery, as directed on another page. Select
a strong colony that is breeding rapidly, having
brood eo far advanced as to be emerging daily from
their cells. Spread a sheet on the ground close by
the hive you wish to operate upon ; have new hives,
frames, &c. in readiness; when the hive is opened
blow a little smoke among the bees, lift out one frame
after another, which contain the combs, shake them
down on the cloth by a quick, perpendicular motion,
or what is safer, perhaps, for a new beginner, brush
them off with the feather side of a goose quill or
other soft brush, being careful at all times to hold
the comb in a perpendicular position, otherwise the
weight of the comb may loosen the fastenings and
let it fall to the ground.
When the bees have been thus dislodged from the
combs, select those well stored with young brood in
an advanced stage, which are about to emerge from
their cells; they can be distinguished by the brown
appearance of the caps or the sealing which incloses
them in the cells. It will be safe to remove from
156 BElilS AND BEE-KEEHNG.
two to four combs from one hive, provided it is
strong, and a fair proportion of brood-combs are left
in the old hive, which should now be replaced, the
vacancies filled with empty frames, or what is better^
with frames containing empty combs, if they can be
obtained ; close it up as usual. Take the combs
selected to form the nucleus, and having a royal cell
or embryo queen at hand, fit it into one of the brood-
combs, as has been directed, and place it in a central
position in the colony, to insure its hai-ing heat
sufficient to fully develope it. For a bee-keeper hav-
ing but little experience, it is best to put two frames
together to form the nucleus ; place them at one side
of the hive, take an empty frame with cloth tacked on
it and set it in the space next to the outside brood-
comb, or in an empty frame, and cover the side and
top by suspending a cloth from the top, so as to
inclose the nucleus in a small space, and retain their
heat as before directed.
Whilst performing this operation, the bees that
were shaken on the cloth will, to some extent, sepa-
rate, most of the older ones taking wing and returning
to the old hive, which should remain on the stand all
the while. A majority of the younger bees will
cluster on the sheet, where the queen*is most likely
to be found. A careful examination should be made
for her ; when found, she should be carefully returned
to her old home. Put a sufficient quantity of the
bees into each hive (if more than one nucleus has been
made), to cover and protect the brood-combs, either
by placing them at the entrance of the new hive
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 157
and brushing them gently until they entei') which they
will do readily, or you can shake them directly on
the combs from the top ; brush them gently until all
have descended and clustered among the combs, then
cover with a cloth or honey-board.
Enough combs and bees may be obtained from one
strong, vigorous colony, to make two good nuclei,
and leave sufficient to keep it in fair condition ; but
should there not be enough bees to supply the nuclei,
they can be taken from some other hive in a similar
manner. There is no difficulty in uniting bees from
diffi3rent hives to form nuclei, at this season of the
year.
The new colon}-, or nucleus, may now be set at any
desired place in the apiary. The entrance to the hive
should be partially closed to admit of but two or
three bees passing at a time ; this will exclude the
cool air, and guard against robbers.
In making colonies by this method, nearly all the
bees that have been abroad and had their course
established, will return to the old hive, very few re-
maining for the nucleus, except those that are quite
young; consequently they will work but very little,
if at all, for a few days. It is well, during this time,
to look in quietly and see if they are properly clus-
tered on the brood-combs. Should many leave and
not enough remain to keep the brood warm, replenish
it from some strong hive, as at first. Should there
be more bees in the nucleus than are necessary to
cover the two combs, others should be added, as
follows : select a hive that has a fertile queen and
14
168 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
well filled with combs, take out one or two combs
containing eggs and unsealed brood or larva, replacing
them with empty frames; place these combs in the
nucleus, first removing the frame covered with cloth,
as before directed, and place it in the space next to
the comb. This should only be done when there are
enough bees in the nucleus to cherish and mature the
brood. They frequently become quite strong within
a few days after being formed, by a large amount of
young bees maturing and emerging from the combs.
If the embryo queen first given to the nucleus when
formed, should fail, they will have a fresh supply of
eggs from which to rear another.
When artificial swarms, or nuclei, are made in any
manner, care should always be taken to have a fair
supply of honey and bee-bread, or pollen, in each
one ; without it, they Avill certainly fail to meet the
expectations of the apiarian.
HOW TO STRENGTHEN ARTIFICIAL SWARMS.
When the brood has emerged from any one comb
in the nucleus, or artificial swarm, or any hive destitute
of a fertile queen, take it out, carefully brushing off
all the bees into the hive ; open a hive that has a
fertile queen, take out one or more combs containing
brood and eggs, brushing off all the bees into their
own hive. Exchange the combs, putting those con-
taining eggs and brood into the young colony, which
will augment their numbers rapidly, by the young
bees emerging soon after the exchange of combs;
thus a colony from being very small and weak, can
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 159
soon be made strong and powerful. Put the empty
combs taken from the artificial swarm into the hive,
in exchange for those taken out that were full of
eggs and brood; the queen will immediately com-
mence depositing eggs in these combs, and in a few
days they will again be full of brood. In this way
I worked many of my queens the past season to their
full capacity of laying eggs, which is truly astonish-
ing during the time when honey is abundant, or
when receiving a bountiful supply of feed, which
stimulates her to greater activity in the performance
of her maternal duties.
This plan of changing combs is decidedly safer
and much better than Mr. Langstroth'a mode of
changing the fertile queen from hive to hive, as it is
well known that if a strange queen is placed in a
colony, although they may have been destitute for
some time, they are apt to fall on her and kill her,
unless she is first put into a queen cage and kept in
the hive for some hours, until she has obtained the
same scent, before releasing her, when they will gen-
erally receive her. This process is attended with
much trouble and loss of valuable time, as well as
uncertainty and even danger of losing the queen.
When a nucleus comprises four or five full sized
combs, well stored with brood, and a proportion of
honey and pollen well covered with bees, having a
fertile queen, they require but little further attention,
except to remove the frame covered with cloth and
give them one or two empty frames at a time.
When these are partially supplied with combs, add
160 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
others until the hive is full ; they will soon be filled
with combs and honey, unless the yield of honey
should fail.
It would be well to remark, before leaving this
subject, that the only proper time for making artifi-
cial swarms, by any of the plans described, is when
they are breeding rapidly and storing honey plenti-
fully, the weather being warm and pleasant. Should
the hone}'^ season fail, however, before the hives are
all filled, which frequently occurs in some localities,
it will pay a good interest on the cost of getting
sugar to feed them with. From a gill to a pint of
syrup per day to the colony, will keep them build-
ing comb, rearing brood, gathering pollen, &c. It
is a singular fact, that bees will gather little if any
pollen when no honey can be obtained abroad, al-
though a good supply may be in the hive at the same
time. As an evidence of this, give a strong colony
a few combs of honey, or a dish of syrup, in the
afternoon of a clear, warm day, say about three
o'clock, when they have ceased to carry in either
honey or pollen, and in an incredibly short time they
will commence to carry pollen very rapidly, showing
that it can be obtained after the supply of honey for
the day is exhausted.
A PLAN TO PREVENT BEES LEAVING THE NEW COLONY
AND RETURNING TO THE OLD ONE.
When a new colony is made in either way de-
scribed, close the hive to prevent any bees from
escaping, being careful to ventilate properly, lest
c
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. Itjl
they smother; take them to a dry cellar, or some
cool out-house, let them stand quietly for from
twenty-four to thirty-six hours, when they can be
taken and set on the stand you wish them to occup3%
Open them invariably in the evening, a few minutes
before sunset, when but few bees are flying in the
apiarj-, when they will rush out of the hive ; finding
themselves in a new place, they will take their
reckoning, noting carefully the objects surrounding
their new habitation, and settle down quietly and go
to work, very few returning to the old stand. This
plan is convenient, easily understood, and I have
found it to succeed very well ; yet in making artificial
colonies, in all cases and under all circumstances,
the older workers, that have their course to the
parent stand well established, are likely to return ;
and should there not be enough younger bees to con-
tinue the operations of the new colony it would be a
failure ; hence the necessity of looking in upon them
every day, disturbing them as little as possible. If
there are not bees enough to cover the brood, open a
strong hive, take out one or more combs, after ex-
amining carefully that the queen is not on them,
brush the bees into the deserted colony until you
have enough to cover the combs, returning the
combs from which you have brushed them to their
own hive; close up the new colon}', and remove it
away a mile or so. This will make a sure thing of it.
14*
162 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
CHAPTER XII.
FEEDING.
HOW TO FEED BEES.
In thickly settled localities, where bee-keepers
reside near each other, it is necessary to feed in the
chamber or upper part of the hive, in small pans or
feed boxes. Get tin pans made, about 6 in. wide
by 10 in length, sides 1^ in. high, perpendicular;
if you have pieces of refuse comb, put enough in
to cover the bottom of the pan, to serve as a float,
keeping on the top of the syrup ; this will prevent
the bees from getting mired or drowned in the
tempting liquid.
When dry comb cannot be obtained for this pur-
pose, take a piece of any soft wood, about f in. thick,
cut it to fit into the pan, leaving a space around the
edges of about ^ in.; tack a strip across the centre
of this board | in. wide and f in. thick, this will
keep it from capping or warping; slit it from each
end with a rip saw, leaving spaces between the saw
carps of J in. extending to the strip nailed across
the centre. This answers a good purpose as a float,
and is cheap and easily made.
When your pans are thus prepared with floats, set
them in the chamber, either directly on top of the
frames, or what perhaps is better, place the honey-
board in its proper place, leaving free access to the
chamber through the openings ; set the pan near one
FEEDING. 163
side, the end near the front, leaving a space between
the sides of the pan and hive of abont f inch, whicli
will give the bees free access to the feed. Care
must always be taken to keep the float loose, so as to
rise to the surface of the syrup ; sometimes when the
syrup is exhausted the bees stick it (the float) last.
The most convenient vessel to use in the apiary for
holding syrup for feeding, is a can made in the form
of a watering pot, with a long spout, minus the
strainer; the size of this can be regulated by the
number of bees to be fed. When feeding in this
manner, if the bees are troublesome on opening the
door, a little smoke should be blown amongst them,
which will drive them back, when you can proceed
to pour in the syrup, and again close up the hive.
No fear need be apprehended of robbers from feed-
ing in this manner. All well organized colonies, if
fed with regularity, will effectually guard their hive
from the encroachments of their marauding neigh-
bors ; it imparts to them an astonishing degree of
vigor and activity.
In localities where few bees are kept, and the
space of a mile or more intervenes between apiaries,
the best mode of feeding is in large feed boxes ;
this, however, should be varied to suit the number
of colonies to be fed. For an apiary of ten colonies,
a box 4 ft. long, 1 ft. wide, and sides 3 in. high, or 2
in. deep inside. Get out stuff for box as follows:
bottom, 1 ft. wide, 4 ft. long, cut square and joint up
singly; side pieces, 4 ft. long, 3 in. wide; ends, 14
in. long, 3 in. wide ; these should be planed up to
164 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
make good joists. Nail firmly together; take some
melted beeswax and rosin, give it a good coating
inside, being careful to run all the joists full ; which
will prevent it from leaking, and emits no unpleasant
odor or taste to the syrup. This should be supplied
with a float similar to the one described for using in
the pans, only in size it should correspond with the
box. The box should be set on blocks or stools, a
few rods from the apiary, and covered to protect it
from hot sun and rain, but open all around, so the
bees can have free access to it from every side. The
syrup can be poured into this daily, as required.
The only safe and proper manner of feeding bees,
is to commence when there is but little honey abroad.
Feed but little at first, increasing daily until you
have reached the amount you wish to feed per day,
then continue to feed with the same certainty and
regularity that you observe in taking your meals.
Always feed at the same hour of the day, if possible,
and continue to do so until you find there is a supply
of honey in the flowers abroad, when the feed
should be slacked oft* by degrees, and finally stopped.
THE IMrORTANOE OF FEEDING BEES CONSIDERED.
Very few even of our most skillful apiarians seem
to be aware of the advantages to be derived from
judicious feeding, when the weather is warm and
favorable for bees to build comb and rear brood. I
apprehend that few have fairly tested it, hence, some
of our best writers rather discourage bee-keepers
from feeding to any great extent.
FEEDING. 165
I differ from all apiarians who entertain such
views, and am bold to affirm, that feeding in a
proper manner, at certain seasons of the year (and
this varies in different localities), is the key to suc-
cessful and profitable bee-keeping in all sections of
the country, except where there is a continued suc-
cession and an abundant supply of honey-producing
flowers from early spring until frosts come in the
autumn. In making this statement, I do not confine
myself entirely to the mode of feeding just des-
cribed, but would feed by cultivating large quantities
of grain, plants or vegetables, to bloom at a time
when little, if any, honey is accessible to the bees.
This can be done very readily and profitably. The
matter is discussed at length under the head of bee-
pasturage, Chap. IX.
I do not wish it to be understood that I am in
favor of feeding bees with syrup, or even an inferior
article of honey, in such large quantities as to cause
them to store it in the honey boxes as spare honey
for market; this course would be simply perpetrating
a fraud on the purchaser, as it is well known that
bees merely gather honey and store it without in any
wa}^ changing its qualitiy ; whatever substance is fed,
remains the same, although it may be stored in the
very whitest waxen cells. My plan is to feed them
from the close of honey gathering from the fruit tree
flowers (which in this latitude, 42 degrees North,
occurs from the tenth to the twentieth of May),
until the white clover comes in bloom, which is
generally about the tenth of June; in proportion to
16f BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
the quantity of comb (if any) necessary to fill up the
hive, and the amount of brood they are rearing. In
this matter they are governed by the quantity of
lioney or feed they get ; if but little, but few young
bees are raised, and no comb built, even if the hive
is not full ; and when the clover blooms, which in a
very large extent of country constitutes the great
honey harvest, they are not much stronger or in but
little better condition than at the close of the fruit
tree flowers, although this period is the most im-
portant of any during the season, as regards the in-
crease of colonies either by nature or artificial
swarms, or the amount of surplus honey obtained.
By feeding as directed, it stimulates them to rear
an increased amount of brood, and fill all vacancies
with comb. AYhen the clover blooms they are ready
to make the best of it, having the strongest possible
force at a time when their labors are the most
eflicient and profitable, the combs being well stored
with brood advancing to maturity, which will be cast
oflT by natural swarming, or may be used for making
artificial swarms. The combs not occupied with
brood are likely to be well stored with honey and
pollen. In short, by judicious feeding early in the
season, all the stocks in the apiary may be in as
prosperous and vigorous a condition at the begin-
ning of the clover season as they usually are at its
close.
I apprehend there are but few observing apiarians
but will admit, if this can be accomplished, the profits
of the year would be greatly increased. Some one,
fEEDlNG. 16'T
perhaps, is ready to ask, Won't it cost more tlian it
comes to ? I answer this objection by asking, Is a
prime article of clover honey not more valuable than
either West India honey or refined sugar ? It requires
a certain amount of honey or saccharine matter for the
consumption of the bees in the varied manipulations
necessary to advance the colony to the desirable condi-
tion previously referred to ; hence, is it not better and
more profitable to supply them with a cheaper article
at the time indicated (which will serve their purpose
quite as well as clover honey, as we have fully at-
tested), which is simply exchanging a cheap for a
dear article of honey, besides saving much valuable
time, thereby securing an increase of colonies and a
greater yield of the best quality of surplus honey.
All writers on bees agree upon this one point, that
to be successful you must keep all your colonies
strong; but they fail to give us satisfactory directions
how to do this. I have experimented to find the
solution of this enigma, and have succeeded to my
own satisfaction, at least. It may be stated in few
words : Feed judiciously, and you can not only keep
your stocks strong, but if you have any weak colonies
you can also make them strong.
Mr. Langstroth says (3d edition, p. 177): "Bee-
keeping, with colonies which are feeble in the spring,
except in extraordinary seasons and localities, is
emphatically nothing but folly and vexation of spirit,"
&c. I admit the truth of this, if left to themselves.
But suppose we take just such a colony as he con-
templates in this extract ; we will imagine it has a
168 BEES AND BEE-KEEMJJd. ^
fertile queen, a small colony of workers, with a
limited amount of comb and honey to commence
with. The first of May, begin to feed it with four
cents worth of refined sugar (in the form of a nice
syrup,) per day, for a period of forty days, or until
clover is fairly in bloom, say the tenth of June. This
will cost one dollar and sixty cents, which will insure
their filling up the hive during the clover season)
and perhaps make enougli surplus honey during the
buckwheat season to repay the cost of feeding, and
leave the stock in good condition to live during the
succeeding winter. Where stocks are strong and
have a large quantity of honey, in the spring, take
out one or more combs which contain only honey and
pollen, and either give to those that are scarce or set
by in a box, or in the honey room, until wanted
when making artificial swarms, when they can be
used to great advantage. They should be replaced
immediatel}' with empty frames. Should the weather
be mild, the remaining combs may be shifted to put
an empty frame in a central position, where, if they
are fed properly, they will build a new comb in a
very short time, the queen depositing eggs in the
cells very soon after they are formed.
We have often had a new comb built in this way,
full of brood from top to bottom, containing almost
enough to make a fair sized swarm, in eight or ten
days; in this manner all the difiicultics, if any exist,
of a colony having too much honey in the spring,
can be easily and very profitably removed in our
hives.
FEEDING. 169
An interval occurs in many places between the
clover season, which with us ends about the tenth of
J Lily, until the buckwheat comes in bloom, a period
of about a month, during which there is a very lim-
ited supply of honey-producing flowers, consequently
the bees make but little progress, although it is
the best mouth in the year for gathering honey or
tilling up young swafms. Tliey should be fed during
this period, either with sugar or by artificial pas-
turage.
KIND Oi' i'KKD USED.
When Cuba or Southern honey can be obtained
at moderate prices, without being adulterated, it
serves a very good purpose for feeding ; but we pre-
fer white sugar, or refined yellow cofl:ee sugar, either
of which is to a considerable extent free from acid ;
therefore no danger need be apprehended of it sour-
ing or fermenting, even if considerable quantities
should be stored. Where large quantities are wanted,
it can be bought at prices ranging from eight to
twelve cents per pound. Dissolve this sugar in soft
water; there is no necessity for boiling it, if the
sugar has been properly refined ; make it about the
consistency of thin honey, so that by dipping the
finger in, it will drop clear without roping. This
should be prepared in quantities to correspond wnth
the number of stocks to be fed. In a large apiary,
it should be prepared by the barrel for convenience,
and kept closely covered to prevent the bees from
getting in and being drowned, which they will do if
access can be had to it. In preparing this syrup, it
15
170 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
ebould be stirred until the sugar is thoroughly dis-
solved, -when it is ready to feed in the pans or boxes,
as has been directed on another page. Some colonies
are slow to lind their way to it ; by dropping a little
on or among the bees, and extending a train to the
pan, will give them a clew to it, which they are not
slow to follow. When feeding in a box some dis-
tance from the apiary, it is some times necessary to
expose a little hone}'^, which will attract them, it
having a greater scent than the syrup ; when they
have once found the way there is no further trouble.
Feed them their allowance regularly every day, until
there is a good supply of honey abroad, when the
quantity should be reduced daily and finally discon-
tinued, to be resumed again when the honey season
fails. Feeding should cease entirely b}'^ the fifteenth
of October. If bees have been properly cared for thus
far, all stocks will be strong and vigorous, with plenty
of honey for the coming winter.
The great importance of feeding bees has been
noticed by several authors, but it seems the advan-
tages to be derived from feeding largely in the
manner and for the purposes for which we recom-
mend it, have been entirely overlooked. We find
most writers on this subject suggest the feeding
of weak swarms in the fall, the general result of
which is only to prolong their existence a little time,
as they are very apt to die before spring. If the
embryo queens have been removed soon after the
first swarm issued, as has been directed, thereby pre-
venting any after-swarms, the stocks having been
TEEDING. 171
properly fed during the interval in the honey harvest,
there is no necessity of having feeble stocks in the
foil from those permitted to swarm in the natural
wav ; and when propagated by artificial swarms, if
the directions given under the head of "how to
strengthen artificial swarms" are followed, there
should be no weak colonies from this source, either;
hence, there is but little necessity for feeding late in
the fall, but early in the spring and during every
interval in the honey harvest throughout the entire
season, until nature ceases to produce flowers, keep-
ing them constantly advancing and improving, until
the change of the season admonishes them to cease
rearing brood and prepare for winter. As the stock
raiser keeps his stock thriving and constantly im-
proving, well knowing that if they cease to advance
or are permitted to retrograde, a serious loss is in-
evitably incun-ed ; so is it with bees. If they are
permitted to go backward, or even come to a stand-
still, at any period from the opening of spring until
the middle of September, a serious loss is the inevi-
table result.
BEVAN ON FEEDING.
The celebrated Dr. Bevan seems to have under-
stood, to some extent, the advantages of feeding. I
quote from his work, page 67 : " Toward the middle
of February, or as soon as the bees come freely forth,
it will be advantageous to treat them with one of the
above compounds (feed), which as I have already
observed, will tend to promote early breeding, and
may sometimes obviate the death of the first brood ;
172 13EES AND BEE-KEEPING.
iind for tlic sake of early swarming this is the most
important. This bounty should be continued, to the
amount of about a tablospoonful a day, till the bees
disregard it, which will be as soon as the flowers
aftbrd a supply of honey." This is a much less
amount than I recommend, yet its eftects seem to
have been very perceptible.
The same author continues : " I have spoken of the
different extent to which food should be administered
in spring and autumn ; but circumstances may occur
in which the treatment of bees in spring should be
assimilated to that of autumn. Feburier gives some
striking instances of this. The weather in February,
1810, having been very mild, the bees about Ver-
sailles, in reliance upon its continuance, were in a
state of great forwardness with their brood ; but the
temperature afterward became cold, and continued
so, till the store of honey in some hives was exhausted,
and nearly so in all. Two neighbors of his adopted
opposite lines of conduct on this occasion : one fed
his bees liberally, the other not at all; whilst Feb-
urier himself, with an ill-judged economy, adopted a
middle course. The result was remarkable and
highly instructive. The neighbor who fed not at
all lost three-fourths of his families : out of twenty-
two stocks Feburier lost two, the remainder swarmed
very late, and some of the swarms were ver}^ feeble,
insomuch that in the autumn he lost two more from
the ravages of the wax moth ; whilst the liberal feeder
saved all his old stocks, and his first swarms issued
so earlv as to be succeeded bv several strone- after-
FEEDING. 173
swarms ; and tlie bees througliout his apiary were so
vigorous that they defended themselves successfully
against the wax moths, by which three of his hives
v.ere attacked."
Mr. Quiuby seems to think feeding should be a
last resort, and if fed at all, it should only be for the
purpose of preventing starvation. I think it quite
possible that further experience on this point, and his
better judgment, will ere long cause him to review
the chapter on feeding bees in his valuable work, and
very materially change it.
There is, in my estimation, quite as much propriety
in permitting ahorse or a cow to go without feed for
a time previous to the coming of grass in the spring,
to ascertain how near it would come to starving to
death, without actually doing so, as it would be to
permit a colony of bees to arrive so near the point of
starvation ; and although it may be true, that many
bee-keepers, perhaps a majority, are too careless or
too indolent to avail themselves of the advantages of
feeding, it argues nothing against the system. There
are those, and the number will rapidly increase, who
can and will feed judiciously, and make it profitable.
The experience I have had during the last two
years, in feeding bees, in California, has been of
great importance to me, and ma}- be to others here-
after. But perhaps some one is ready to exclaim:
Why do you feed bees in California ? I have heard a
great deal about the immense quantities of honey-
producing flowers, the copious honey dews that fall
there, the large yields of surplus hone}^ from stocks
15*
174 BEES AND BEE-KKKPI}.-(i.
of bees, the vast increase of su'arms, &c. and yet you
say you feed your bees even in California, in the
midst of all this profusion of honey from natural
sources.
Yes, this is all true of California. It is one of the
finest honey-producing States on this continent, and
one of the most salubrious climes for the profitable
culture of the honey bee. The seasons are long,
the winters mild, and there is a good succession of
honey-producing fiowers throughout the season ; and
yet, notwithstanding all these favorable circum-
stances, intervals in the honey harvest are of fre-
quent occurrence. Sometimes for a few days only,
at other times for weeks, but little if any honey can
be obtained from the fiowers ; the bees will cease to
build any combs, and rear but little if any more
brood than was under way when the supply of honey
failed, and even a portion of this is sometimes
abandoned. Thus they not only cease to advance but
actually retrograde, for as soon as the honey fails
abroad they consume of that stored for winter use,
besides losing much valuable time. I made it a
point to feed liberally at all times, when there was
any scarcity of honey abroad. The mode was, to
feed promiscuousl}', by putting the syrup into large
feed boxes, as has been described, set a few rods
from the apiary. Feeding will always excite bees
to greater activity ; but it gave us no trouble from
quarreling or robbing, which some authore seem so
much to fear.
The strong and the weak partook just in propor-
FEEDING. 175
tion to the number of bees vvliich each colony con-
tained. I would mention, that our principal apiary
was about a mile from where any other bees were
kept. The result was highly gratifying-. From each
imported colony, which in the spring was both small
in quantity of combs, and weak in bees, we had an
average increase of over live swarms during the past
summer, all in good condition for wintering. It
would have been quite impossible to have obtained
such results in one season by any other system, from
such small stocks. A majority of the imported col-
onies did not average over a quart of bees on the first
of March, with an average of about 525 square inches
of comb, or enough to till the hives one-third. The
most that could have been realized from such stocks
in one season, without feeding, would have been to
double the stock, and have them all in fair condition
for wintering.
First class stocks, that stood over winter full of
combs well stored with honey and pollen, having a
strong, healthy and vigorous swarm of bees, say the
first of March, can be increased in California to five or
six during the season, without feeding; but if fed
properly they can be augmented quite as easily to ten
or twelve; so that the difiierence is very considerable
in favor of feeding, even in one of the very best honey
growing districts in America; and it would be much
more so in all districts of country where the honey
harvest is reduced to but a few weeks, as is the case
in most of the Eastern and Middle States.
176 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
EFFECTS OF FEEDING CONTRASTED WITH NON-FEEDING.
I had an opportunity of witnessing the effects of
feeding as contrasted with non-feeding, in a very
striking manner the past season in California. Two
gentlemen, whom I shall call H. and R., in the city
of Sacramento, bought twenty-five hives of bees from
us in December, 1858 ; in April following they be-
gan to divide them, or make artificial swarms ; and
having had but little experience as bee-keepers, they
fell into the error common to the inexperienced ; they
spread them out too thin, or in other words, attempted
to increase them faster than the condition of the
stocks and the amount of honey being gathered at
the time would justify. As a natural consequence,
they nearly ruined many of their colonies. When
the bees found the supply of honey failing in the
fields, and the stores at home reduced by being
divided into small nuclei, they apparently became
discouraged, many deserted their brood, wdiich after-
ward had to be removed, and all the stocks in the
apiary came to a dead stand-still. Whilst in this
dilemma, Messrs. H. and R. applied to us for advice.
The difficulty was easily understood, and the remedy
at once suggested itself; simply to get refined sugar,
reduce it to a syrup, and feed. Other bees were
kept near them, and not being disposed to feed their
neighbors' stocks, we suggested that they get pans
or boxes made in the manner we have described in
another place, and feed in the chamber or upper part
of the hive. They at once acted upon these sug-
gestions, and commenced feeding iiiside the hive,
FEEDING. 177
from lialf a pint to Ji pint of syrup per day to each
colony, in proportion to the size of the colony. The
effect was magical ; confidence seemed to be restored ;
they were encouraged to proceed with the various
manipulations necessary for the development of
strong, vigorous colonies; feeding was continued
whenever a scarcity of honey occurred. The result
was very satisfactory, having a large increase of col-
onies during the season, all in good condition for
wintering.
ANOTHER CASE WHERE BEES WERE NOT FED, UNDER
SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES.
Two bee-keepers in Yuba county, California, in
the spring of 1859, had a pretty large stock of bees
in partnership; they began increasing the number
by division, or artificial swarms, and continued doing
so rapidly. All went well so long as the honey
harvest continued ; when that failed, the bees, having
but a small amount in store, which was soon con-
sumed, abandoned their brood, which perished, and
was pronounced foul brood, resulting in a heavj'
loss to the owners, before the return of a honey
harvest. Those that survived seemed much less vig-
orous than those that were fed. The difference in
the final result of the year's operation, as compared
with those fed properly, was more than one-half.
Some one may be ready to suggest at this point,
that if they had not been divided, the difficulty re-
ferred to had not occurred. Well, perhaps it would
not. But let us see how those in the common box
178 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
hive progressed during this time, and compare the
increase during the season. I have a case at point.
A man in Sacramento City, in the autumn or
winter of 1858, bought ten common box or chamber
hives of bees, for which he paid one thousand dollars.
The following spring, one of his neighbors advised
him to transfer them into our movable comb liive ; his
reply was, jSTo, sir ; I will try no experiments until I
get my money back. I expect each one of my hives
to swarm at least three times, making thirty young
swarms, or forty in all. Had this expectation been
realized, it would have been a pretty good year's
work; but a change of weather at a critical period
spoiled all this nice calculation. The weather, up to
about the middle of April, continued very fine ; a few
swarms came off at different points. One hive, per-
haps, in fifteen or twenty having swarmed, it was
thoaght the swarming season had fairly set in; the
hopes and anticipations of bee-keepers who were
depending on natural swarms to increase their stock,
ran very high. An examination of the hives dis-
closed the fact, that all strong stocks had, or were
busily engaged making the necessary preparations for
swarming, by rearing young queens; drones were
plenty ; many of the strong stocks had a pretty good
sized swarm clustered outside of the hive ; honey
was being stored plentifully ; every thing seemed
prosperous. But a change came over their dreams.
The weather, from being warm and fine, changed to
cold, with very high winds, common to California,
and continued for a period of eight or ten days. The
FEEDINGf. 179
constant diying winds seemed to exhaust the honey
IVom the flowers as fast as it Avas generated, or par-
tially blighted them, so that but little was produced
during this time for the bees to gather, even when
they were able to go abroad for a few hours. The
bees, true to their instinct, finding the yield of
honey cut ofi' and the weather so cold, windy and
unfavorable, commenced killing their drones, and
destroyed indiscriminately all the embryo queens
that were in transitu from the egg to the perfect
insect. This prett}^ effectually closed the swarming
for the season. The lot of bees to which I refer,
although they did better than many others, shared
the same fate. The result was an increase of six or
seven swarms up to the latter part of July, past the
usual swarming season (his bees continued to cluster
on the outside of the hive), when, as I have since
learned, he had them transferred into movable frame
hives, and divided.
Thus we find the same cause operated to the seri-
ous injury of the bees in both cases, with this
difference ; in the case of dividing, if the old hive
was reduced too much, there was danger of losing
all ; in the other, the old stock was still strong
and vigorous, and would probably store considerable
supplies of honey in the latter part of the season ;
but in either or in both cases, a few days careful
feeding would have obviated all this trouble and loss,
keeping them encouraged until the return of good
weather and a supply of honey from the fields.
Some of my readers may argue, that it may pay to
180 BEES AND BEE-KEEPTKii
feed bees in California, where they are worth a hun-
dred dollars a hive, but it won't pay here, where the
price of bees and honey is so much less. To this
objection I would say, try it in any place where bees
are kept. During a scarcity of honey, don't feed for
two or three days and then quit, but feed a portion
every day when no honey is ol^tained abroad, for one
season, and if the results are not highly favorable
(the cost being but trifling), cease to feed forever
after.
Langstroth says, give him but plenty of good dry bee
combs, and he has found the very philosopher's stone
in bee keeping. I confess they are very valuable. I
would change this a little, however, and say, give
me plenty of honey, or saccharine matter of suitable
quality to feed with, and I will have a charm worth
two of his. With it I can make both bees and combs
in abundance; without it, he may have the combs
but no bees, which would not be so very valuable.
I trust my readers will bear with me for devoting
so much space to this one point in bee-keeping, and
in concluding this part of my subject, I venture
the prediction that time will fully demonstrate the
fact, that to make bee-keeping profitable in well
settled countries, it will be quite as necessary to pro-
vide them with food, in the manner described, or by
raising flowers to fill those intervals in the honey
harvest to which I have referred, as it is to provide
feed during a certain portion of the year for our
cattle.
The prominent points in this chapter are original,
Il-KDIXG. 181
being the result of ray experience and observation ■
therefore they are open for criticism. If any apia-
rian who may chance to read it, doubts the utility of
the position taken in regard to feeding, I would be
glad to have him refute it; not by words or theories,
but by experiment, for not less than two seasons, in
such a manner as to fully test it ; not for the purpose
of keeping the bees from starving, but to keep them
constantly advancing and improving from the early
spring until the close of the buckwheat season,
which with us is about the middle of September. I
am well aware that other authors have recommended
feeding, but apparently for other purposes, and at
other times than those I suggest and recommend.
Dr. Bevan is, I believe, the only one that has hinted
at the propriety of feeding in this way, and I trust
this may at least serve to call attention to this im-
portant point, and prompt to careful experiments in
this direction.
HOW TO MANAGE BEES IN COMMON BOX HIVES.
As it is quite improbable that all bee-keepers whc
may chance to read this treatise will adopt the use-
of our hive, or indeed avail themselves of the advan-
tages of any movable comb hive, however great the
facilities they may present for the skillful and profit-
able management of their bees, preferring the old
box hive, either with or without boxes, to obtain
surplus honey ; it may not be amiss to give some sug-
gestions in regard to their proper care.
The same general management of bees will hold
16
182 BEES AND BEE-KEEI>ING.
good with all kinds of hives, with this exception :
in movable comb hives, and all that class of hives
used for increasing bees by dividing or artificial
swarms, a condition of things is brought about quite
different from that naturally existing in the common
hive, where bees are left to take their own course,
being permitted to swarm in the natural way, when
the season and surrounding circumstances are favor-
able for this important event. It not unfrequently
happens, during some seasons, that although bees
swarm but little, if any, yet in the latter part of the
season they store a very large amount of surplus
honey, thereby realizing a handsome income to the
bee-keeper upon his investment, although his stocks
may not be increased.
Early in the spring, examine your stocks carefully,
remove all the dead bees and lilth of all kinds from
the bottom-board of the hive, or the board on wdiich
they stand, if open at the bottom ; repeat this clean-
ing operation every few days, until the bees become
so numerous as to occupy all the spaces between and
around the lower edges of the combs, when they will
generally keep themselves free from any further ac-
cumulation of filth. They should be fed in the
chamber or upper part of the hive, as directed in
another chapter, being careful to feed with great
regularity. If the hives are strong and reasonably
heavy, but a small amount need be fed each day.
Toward the latter part of April it would be well to
blow a little smoke under the hives, and turn them
upside down and examine the combs ; if any of them
FEEDING 183
are found to be thick and black, a small portion
should be cut oft". Few if any hives need pruning
until the fifth or sixth ^-ear from the time the swarm
was put into the hive (those who advocate the renew-
ing or new comb system, to the contrary notwith-
standing), and then it is only necessary to cut say
five or six inches off the lower ends of the combs in
which the greatest number of young bees have been
raised. The store combs, and even a part of the
brood combs, may be used a much longer time, par-
ticularly the upper part. I have seldom found it
necessary to prune off more than one-third of the
combs at once, the first time we prune a hive, say six
inches in height. Combs thus renewed will do very
well for four or five years longer, when they should
be cut off up to the point where the honey and brood
meet. The upper part of the combs, for two or three
inches in depth from the top, if the hive is twelve or
fifteen inches in height in the clear, is generally kept
full of honey, unless in a season of greAt scarcity.
Combs so used will do very well for a long time for
the purposes required. I know of several hives
having such combs in, but little less than twenty
years old, that have been and now are good, thrifty
and productive stocks ; the combs principally used
for breeding in have been pruned in the manner
described perhaps three times during that period. It
is a great error to suppose that combs should be cut
out and renewed every year, or even every three or
four years. If the hives are kept well covered and
shaded from the sun during hot weather, bees will
184 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
live and do well for a much longer time than many
writers would have us believe.
To prune in the manner I have described, early in
the spring, be careful to feed, which will induce the
bees to build new combs to fill up the vacancy ; in a
short time all will be full again.
I fi.nd, in choosing the time for pruning, my expe-
rience differs from Mr. Quinby's. Perhaps this arises
from the fact of his wintering bees in the house,
which I cannot approve of or recommend, for general
practice, for reasons given in another place. As cold
weather approaches, bees cluster pretty near the
lower end of the brood combs ; this is generally
where the last brood emerges, where the empty cells
are found, if there are an}" in the hive. As winter
advances the bees ascend higher and higher, just in
proportion as thej^ consume the honey from the upper
edge of their cluster. When spring opens, we gen-
erally find the main body of the cluster over two-
thirds of the distance from bottom to top of the
combs. This is when they commence to rear
brood largely,' although they may have had some for
weeks or months previously, yet as it emerges the
cluster moves steadily upward ; hence, on the appear-
ance of warm weather, in the spring, quite enough
combs are empty in the lower part of the hive to
permit pruning without interfering with the brood
or eggs. Probably it would l)e otherwise with bees
wintered in a warm room.
But little now renniins to be done until the swarm-
ing season arrives, except to put on the honey boxes
on the approach of the clover season.
NATURAL SWARMING. 185
CHAPTER XIII.
NATURAL SWARMING.
The swarming- season, wlien bees are in a flourish-
ing condition, as they invariably should be, having
obtained sufficient food, either naturally or artificially
to make them so, is one of great excitement and of
peculiar interest to the bee-keepers, both naturally
and pecuniarily.
Now that the mode of propagating and increasing
bees rapidly by division, or b}' making artificial
swarms in the manner heretofore described, is be-
coming so well understood, and I have no doubt will
be generally practiced by all who cultivate bees
either for pleasure or profit, as by this means they
can secure an increase of stocks in such numbers
and at such times as may best suit them, by exercis-
ing proper judgment and taking due care to feed
wdien a scarcity of honey occurs ; I conclude that
this mode will very materially lessen the interest of
natural swarming.
The habits and instincts of the honey bee, their
peculiar wants and requirements, are becoming so
well known, dispelling the m3-3tery and superstition
that has been so closely associated with and obscured
bees and bee-keeping for so many ages past, that as
the morning suu dispels the mist and fogs of the
valley, thus ere long will it be freed from these
deleterious influences, and stand forth as the noblest
of the insect creation, silently teaching mankind
16*
186 BEES ANt> BEE-KEEPINQ.
lessons of harmony, industry and perseverance.
The cultivation of honey bees is destined ere long to
be one of the most important and profitable branches
of rural economy.
TIME TO EXPECT FIRST SWARMS.
In this latitude (42 degrees IST.) some years ago,
when there was a good supply of wild honey-pro-
ducing flowers blooming early in May, making a
continuous supply of honey from the opening of the
first fruit tree flowers until the closing of the clover
season, swarming began as early as the twentieth
of May, and continued in good seasons until July, or
near the close of the clover season.
The value that was attached to swarms issuing at
the diflerent periods, may be illustrated by a little
rhyme, which an old Scotch friend of our family
taught me, when a very small boy ; it ran as follows :
A swarm of bees in May, is worth a stack of haj' ;
But one in July is scarcely worth a butterfly.
As the countiy has been improved, and the for-
ests cut down, the quantity of wild flowers has been
reduced each year, until there is now a period of
from two to four weeks, from the close of honey
gathering from the fruit trees until the white clover
comes in bloom, during which time a very small
amount of houey can be obtained, although this is
the most critical part of tlie year. More bees starve
during this time than all the rest of the year, at
least in this region of conntiy. This may seem
strange to some of my readers, nevertheless it is a
NATURAL SWARMING. 187
fact. I account for it in this way : many stocks that
are tolerably strong, with but a moderate quantity
of honey from the previous year, when the fruit
trees expand their flowers, finding a copious supply
of honey, are induced to commence rearing a large
amount of brood. A change of weather may soon
occur, such as to prevent the bees from getting the
full benefit of the honey from this source, which is
of very common occurrence at this season of the
year ; the supply on hand is soon exhausted by the
greatly increased demand to supply the brood. If
they are not relieved at this stage, they either die
miserably at their post, or some warm day swarm
out, abandoning their brood, and attempt to unite
with some other stock that seems to have provision
still in store. Sometimes they are kindly received,
at others massacred without pity.
Even the colonies that have a fair supply of honey
in store, become discouraged by the unfavorable con-
dition of the weather, and have notliing to stimulate
them ; large quantities are lost in cool, windy days,
when abroad vainly attempting to secure a portion
of honey whilst the fruit trees are in bloom. The
loss of bees in this way is about equal to the gain of
young ones emerging from the cells, so that we find
them at the beginning of the clover season in but
little if any better condition than they were at the
close of fruit tree flowers. These difliculties may be
easily overcome, to a ver}' great extent at least, by
supplying them with feed, or providing a supply of
flowers to fill this interval ; consequently, swarms
188 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
now seldom come forth Ijeforc the twentieth of June,
in this region of country, unless in some fiivorablc
locality Avhere a supply of wild honey-producing
flowers still exists. There are one or two such
places a few miles distant from ray residence, where
the bees keep up the good old practice of swarming
in the latter part of May or first of June, notwith-
standing the advent of the bee or wax moth, and
the change of times and things elsewhere. This, I
conceive, is pretty strong evidence of the great ad-
vantage to be derived from an abundant supply of
food, naturall}^ or artificially, from early spring until
the clover season.
The time of swarming is varied in proportion to
the latitude and circumstances, such as have just
been referred to. In California the swarming season
usually commences early in April ; some seasons a
few swarms come off in the latter part of March, but
this is the exception, not the rule. First swarms
frequently fill up their hive and send off one or
more swarrjis the same season ; but even there they
are governed by the yield of hone}', kind of weather,
&c. the same as here.
All the principal bee-keepers in California have
adopted artificial swarming, and seem to prefer it
to natural swarming for increasing their stocks, as
being more certain and profitable in its results. It
is to the interest of bee-keepers to investigate the
matter closel}', and compare the results of the two
systems, in order to adopt the best. Where bees sell
readily at one hundred dollars per hive (as has been
NATURAL SWARMING. 189
the case ever since bees were introduced into Cali-
fornia), the difference of a liive or two, more or less,
is quite an important item ; hence the decision and
the experience of the California apiarians upon this
point is worthy of serious and careful consideration
by all who are or expect to be engaged in bee-keep-
ing. Where dollars and cents in such large quan-
tities are so temptingly arrayed before the skillful
importers, propagators and dealers in bees, it is very
safe to conclude that the shortest road to w^ealth wnll
be adopted by the majority; the most certain and
expeditious method of increasing bees, and keeping
them in the most flourishing condition, will be sought
out and practiced ; and all prejudice and fanciful
ideas will be laid aside for the purpose of acquiring
the mighty dollar.
I think facts justify me in supposing that greater
advances have been made by the California bee-
keepers, within the last three years, to acquire and
perfect a thoroughly practical and reliable system for
the management of bees, to obtain the greatest in-
crease of stocks and the largest yield of surplus honey
in any given period of time, than has been made in
all the other States of the Union during the last half
century. This may seem somewhat paradoxical; if
so, just reflect for a moment that bees at one hundred
dollars per colony, and honey at one dollar per pound,
is a great temptation to seek for knowledge in bee-
keeping; in fact, it has been sought with greater
assiduity than the world has ever before seen in
apiarian science.
190 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
CAUSE OF SWARMING.
Authors do r.ot agree as to the cause of bees
swarmiug. Some suppose it to be for waut of room,
others think they swarm to avoid the coufliets of
the queen, whilst yet others advocate still different
theories ; but all such theories, I apprehend, are at
fault. I have ever believed swarming to be in strict
accordance with the fiat of the Almighty maker of
the universe, who said, " Go forth and multiply, and
replenish the earth." I am far from supposing it to
be the result of any forced or unnatural cause, but as
simply the instinct given them as a means of extend-
ing and perpetuating their species ; in fact, in a state
of nature it could not possibly be dispensed with ;
without this means of reproduction the species would
soon become extinct.
CONDITION OP THINGS NECESSARY FOR SWARMING.
When stocks arc strong, the bees cluster to the
bottom of the combs, and sometimes on the outside.
It is necessary there should be a good supply of honey
abroad in the fields. A top swarm need never be
expected when there is a scarcity of honey. ISTature
has taught them the danger and folly of attempting
to emigrate, and set up house-keeping in a new place,
without the assurance of obtaining a fair supply of
provision; indeed, so generally do the}' observe this
precautions, that it almost amounts to the power of
reasoning. Warm weather is also necessary for their
coming forth. I have frequently know^n them to
swarm when the sun was partially obscured by clouds.
NATURAL SWARMING. 191
the atmosphere being warm aud fine ; in fact, I have
thono-ht that a warm day with occasional showers,
the Sim sliining briglitly at intervals, is a favorite
time for s^^•arms to come oif. They seldom attempt
to swarm Avhen it is cool and windy,
Bonner, who is a very reliable aiitlior, remarks on
this point : " Some swarms will lie out long before
they swarm, though they will swarm at last ; others,
although they lie out equally long, will not swarm at
all ; a third class will swarm without the smallest
previous appearance, and a fourth will make a bustle
about their doors for three or four days before they
swarm ; and therefore, from such a variety of chances,
it is scarcely possible to determine the precise time
of swarming, especially by young beginners in bee-
husbandry. A constant attendance is necessary in
swarming time, from eight o'clock in the morning
until about three or four in the afternoon ; and this
needs only to be done in tine warm days, as the bees
seldom send out a colony in cold or chilly weather."
But this is not all that is necessary. Embryo
queens are always in a state of forwardness to supply
the old hive, as the old queen invariably leaves with
the first swarm, and to provide queens for any after-
swarms. I cannot better describe the process than
by quoting frona the "Mysteries of Bee-keeping," by
Mr. Quinby, who is good authority on this point:
REQUISITES BEFORE PREPARATIONS OF QUEEN CELLS.
" I have found the process for all regular swarma
something like this : Before they commence, two oi
192 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
three things are requisite. The combs must bo
crowded with bees: they must contain a numerous
brood advancing from the egg to maturity ; the bees
must be obtaining lioncy, either by being fed or from
flowers. Beino; crowded with bees in a scarce time
of honey is insuflicient to bring out the swarm,
neither is an abundance suthcient, without the bees
and the brood. The period that all these requisites
happen together, and remain long enough, will vary
with different stocks, and man}^ times do not happen
at all through the season, with some.
"These causes then appear to produce a few queen
cells, generally begun before the hive is tilled."
STATE OP QUEEN CELLS WHEN USED.
"They are about half finished, when they receive
the eggs ; as these eggs hatch into larva, others are
begun, and receive eggs at different periods for sev-
eral days later. The number of such cells seem to
be governed by the prosperity of the bees ; when the
family is numerous and the yield of 'honey abundant,
they may amount to twenty, at other times perhaps
not more than two or three ; although several such
cells may remain empty. I have already said that a
failure (or even a partial one,) in the yield of honey
at any time from the depositing of the royal eggs till
the sealing of the cells (which is about ten days),
would be likely to bring about their destruction.
Even after being scaled, I have found a few instances
where they were destroyed."
NATLllAL SWARMlNd. 193
STATE WHEN S\VARM3 ISSUE.
*' But when there is nothing precarious about the
honey, the sealing of these cells is the time to expect
the first swarm, which will generally issue the first
fair day after one or more are finished. I never
missed a prediction for a swarm forty-eight hours,
when I have judged from these signs, in a prosperous
season. When there is a partial failure of honey,
the swarm sometimes will wait several days after
finishing them."
The surest plan is to occasionally examine the con-
dition of the queen cells, about the time swarms are
expected. This is readily accomplished in our im-
proved movable comb hives, by simply lifting out
the frames containing the combs ; but it can be done
in any kind of box hive or gum, by first blowing
smoke under the hive; when the bees are driven,
back a little, invert it, repeating the smoking opera-
tion occasionally, to drive the bees from the lower
ends of the combs, where the queen cells are usually
found. These cells are of an oblong circular form,
of considerable thickness, and in appearance rathel'
clumsy; when half made they are not unlike the
lower part of an acorn turned upside down ; they are
gradually lengthened as the royal larva increases in
size, and when finished and sealed up, which, as Mr.
Quinby states, is about ten days from the egg, are
about an inch in length and resemble the end of
one's little finger, minus the nail, and are generally
suspended in a perpendicular form from the comb.
When queen cells are thus prepared watch your bees
17
194 BEES AND BEE-KEEPIKG.
carefully, as without a change of weather a swarm
will issue ere long.
OTHER SYMPTOMS IMMEDIATEAY PRECEDING THE
ISSUING OF A SWARM.
If, when the foregoing preparations are made, in
the morning of a warm, calm day, you observe one
or more strong stocks in the apiary, from which few
bees are going forth to the fields in search of honey,
whilst other colonies are busily at work, it is a pretty
strong symptom of swarming during the day. Ob-
servations I have made lead me to think, that the
cause of this seeming inactivity is, that they are en-
gaged in the interior of the hive taking in provisions,
simply packing their trunks for the voyage ; as most
authors agree that they fill their sacs with honey
before the swarm issues. Here, again, their instinct
amounts almost to the point of reasoning, for in case
of a delay in finding a suitable home to shelter them,
or if a sudden change in the weather should occur
soon after it was safely lodged in its new home, so
as to prevent them from going forth to gather the
needed supplies from the flowers, starvation and the
utter destruction of the swarm would be the result ;
hence the importance of taking a supply of provi-
sions before emigrating.
Another indication is the generally excited appear-
ance of the bees about the entrance of the hive,
running to and fro in every direction ; some reeling
around in small circles in front and above the hive,
apparently anxious for the important event to take
NATURAL SWAKMING. 19o
place, when suddenly the advance guard rushes forth
with hurried steps, immediately taking wing and
mounting into the air, making a sharp, shrill sound,
which can easily be distinguished from those engaged
in their usual labor; when, hark! the joyful crj' is
raised by those on watch : The bees are swarming !
which generally produces as much excitement in the
bee-keeper's family as I have described as occurring
in the bee family.
THE MODUS OPERANDI OF SWARMING.
It has already been remarked, that a column or
stream of bees rushes forth with the utmost precipi-
tation. I have on several occasions carefully observed
during this process, to see if the queen leads the
swarm, or is the first to leave the hive, as many
authors have led us to believe, but am satisfied this
is not correct. At various times I observed her
majesty come out of the hive greatly excited, and run
around on the alighting board, or on the side of the
hive, and again pass into the hive, apparently bewil-
dered, or being fearful of taking wing; in a few
moments she would again make her appearance out-
side of the hive. During all this time the bees were
rushing out and taking wing with the greatest fury,
until the air for a considerable space around and
above the hive was completel}'^ filled with bees, cir-
cling around in every direction. This operation was
repeated several times before she took wing, by which
time most of the swarm had left, and instead of the
queen being the first to leave, she was almost the
196 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
last. Ou one or two occasions I saw her drop down
to the ground, on weeds or grass in front of the hive,
seemingly unable to mount up into the air, where,
if left to herself, she would most likely have perished,
had the returning swarm not discovered her, when
they immediately commenced clustering around her.
In the year 1855, one of our stocks sent forth a
swarm, which, after circling around for some time,
returned again to the hive from whence it came. It
repeated this operation the next day. I happened to
be some distance from the apiary each time the
swarm was rapidly returning. When I arrived, I ex-
amined carefully in front of the hive until I felt
pretty certain the queen had not dropt down on her
first attempt to fly ; hence I concluded she remained
in the hive, and suspected that from some cause she
was unable to fly. To satisfy myself upon this point,
I determined to watch the next day about the time
they were likely to make the third attempt. I had
■but a short time to wait until the swarm again began
rushing out. After watching for a few moments, a
large portion of the swarm having gone forth, the
queen came rushing out, first running up the side ol"
the hive, then down and around on the alighting
board, in front of the hive, to and fro, very much
excited, but made no attempt to fly. I at once
discovered one of her wings was deficient. Mean-
while the bees kept rushing out as though their very
lives depended on their speed, apparently unconscious
of the presence of the queen; in fact, in their hurry
they passed over and around her with the same indif-
NATURAL SWARMING. li>7
fereuce they would if she had been any other object
of a simihir size, I now lifted the hive from its
stand, set it a little to one side, and put the new
hive in which I designed putting the swarm, in its
place, still keeping my eye on the motions of the
queen, who was running around on the alighting
board, where a number of bees remained. In a few
minutes the swarm began to return to their old home,
as they supposed, having discovered, no doubt, that
their queen was not with them ; they immediately
commenced entering the new hive, in company with
the queen, rejoicing at finding her and a new home
at the same time. In a few minutes the swarm
had nearly all entered the hive, when I removed
it to a new stand and set the old hive back in its
place again, when all seemed prosperous and happy.
Since that time I have twice had occasion to repeat
this experiment, with similar results. From these
and other facts which will be noticed in their proper
place, I conclude that the queen, although absolutely
necessary to the welfare of the swarm, is very far
from leading and directing it with that pomp and
queenly authority that has been so graphically de-
scribed and dwelt upon by some authors ; but on the
contrary, facts justify me in believing that in swarm-
ing, as in many other things, the queen is governed
or prompted to do or not to do certain things, by the
common worker bees. This, I am aware, is assuming
new ground, and contrary to the opinion of all authors
I have consulted; hence I ask a careful examination
upon this point.
17*
198 hKKS AN1> BEE-KEEPINtt.
Bonner, in describing the process of swarming,
says : " JS'othing can surely be more delightful to the
bee-master than to behold the young emigrants flying
in the air and darkening the sky with a thousand
varying lines, passing hither and thither in every
direction." It is, indeed, surprising to see the young
colony leaving their mother hive, deserting it in the
utmost hurry and precipitation, insomuch that they
can hardly clear the way for each other. A stranger
to the nature of these wonderful insects would be apt
to conclude that there was some formidable enemy
within, who was murdering them by wholesale, and
from whom they were flying for their lives ; or else
they were leaving a disagreeable habitation, where
there was nothing but war and poverty, and emigrating
to some happier spot, where they would enjoy peace
and plenty. But the reverse of all this is the truth,
for they are going away of their own accord, cheer-
fully parting with their dearest friends, and leaving
a warm habitation and well stored granary to seek
their fortunes in a new situation, where they will
have every thing to provide for themselves, and all
the varieties and inconstancy of weather and climate
to struggle against. Such is nature.
ALIGHTING AND HIVING SWARMS,
Swarms generally commence to cluster, within five
or ten minutes after issuing, sometimes upon a
fence or post, but most commonly on the limb of
some green tree, if near at hand. In my experience,
there has not been more than one swarm in fifty, and
NATURAL SWAR.MIXvJ. 199
perhaps not more than one in a hundred, tliat has
attempted to go off without first clustering. The
custom of tanging, ringing bells, or making some
hideous noise, has prevailed from time immemorial,
and still does in some places. I discarded it many
years ago, finding it entirely unnecessary, and have
discovered no difference in the swarms clustering.
When the place is selected, and the greater part
of the swarm clustered, they should be hived imme-
diately, as they soon become impatient, and other
swarms may come off in the mean time and unite
with them. A hivins: stool should be in readiness
and kept in the apiary for instant use ; one about two
feet six inches square, with posts or legs at each cor-
ner, making the stool from twelve to eighteen inches
high. This is cheap and simple in its construction,
and answers the purpose very well.
Hives should always be in readiness before swarms
are expected. Set your stool in a level position, as
near as convenient to where the cluster hangs; set
the hive upon it. If open entirely at the lower end,
put a stick or block under one side, to raise it an
inch or so from the bench ; if it has a stationary bot-
tom board, with the entrance at one side, it should
be left open at least one inch. If the swarm has clus-
tered on a limb that can be cut off conveniently, cut
it off and lay it gently down, or rather hold it against
the opening left for them to go into the hive ; brush
the bees which are next to the opening gently with
some kind of brush (the feather end of a goose quill
is the best thing for this purpose) ; when a few are
200 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
thus induced to enter they will very soou set up a
call, as much as to say, "Eureka," or, We've found
it, when all will very soon enter and take possession
of it. Sometimes, however, they will cluster about
the entrance, appearing unwilling to enter, when
they should be pushed or brushed with a quill or
bunch of leaves, or some water sprinkled over them
— a very little is sufficient. This should only be used
when they are obstinate. A small box should be at
hand, into which they may be brushed, if they alight
on a fence or a post, or any such thing, and then put
down gently at the entrance of the hive. Should
they take wing very rapidly to escape from the box,
a cloth thrown over it will prevent them from leav-
ing.
When they cluster on the limb of a high tree, a
long ladder should always be in readiness, and also a
rope, such as is used for a clothes-line. A person
should ascend the ladder, with a iine-toothed saw and
one end of the rope ; if the limb is too heavy to
carry down in the hand, pass the rope over a limb, if
possible, occupying a higher position than the one on
which the bees are clustered, make it fast to the
branch occupied by the bees, an attendant holding
the lower end of the rope ; proceed to saw off the
limb, being careful to jar it as little as possible. The
attendant below can now lower it gradually until it
reaches the ground, when the bees can be put in, as
has been directed. Should they, however, cluster in
a position where it would not be desirable to cut off
a limb, a box or basket should be used to brusli them
NATURAL SWARMING. 201
into, and then covered to prevent their escape until
carried down to the hive.
In putting swarms into our improved movable
comb hive, the quickest and easiest plan is simply to
open the lid, take out the honey board, and shake
the cluster right down among the frames; brush
down any that run up the sides, slip in the honey
board gently, to keep all below ; keep the entrances
in front of the hive open. Those flying around will
soon be attracted by the sound of those within, and
will enter. When all except a very few, perhaps, have
entered the hive, it should be immediately removed
and placed upon the stand where it is to remain per-
manentl3\ The few bees flying about will soon
return to the old hive from whence they came, so
there will be no loss. Care should be taken to keep
the swarm and the hive in which they are put, shaded
from the sun, during the time that elapses from their
clustering until hived and removed to their stand, as
the hesft annoys them very much.
HOW TO PREVENT SWARMS FROM LEAVING THEIR HIVES.
Just as soon as the swarm is put in and set on the
bench, if in a movable comb hive, go immediately to
any hive convenient and take out a frame, carefully
brushing oif all the bees into the hive, being cautious
that the queen or queen cells are not removed with
it. Place this in the hive containing the new swarm ;
it don't matter whether it contains honey and brood,
or honey alone. If your hives are just the common
chamber or box hive, at swarming time there should
202 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINO.
be more or less liouey in the boxes. Take a box
from the hive from which the swarm issued, and
immediately put it into the hive occupied by the new
swarm.
It is now more than fifteen years since I adopted
this plan ; my neighbor bee-keepers were taught it,
and have been practicing it for years, and out of
hundreds of swarms I have never known one to aban-
don its hive, when a frame of honey was put in or a
box of honey put on top, so that they could have
access to it. A knowledge of this alone is worth
many times the price of this book to any bee-keeper
who depends on natural swarming to increase his
stock ; without it, sw^arms very frequently leave the
hive, even after remaining a day or two. I have
heard of them leaving when they had combs built
several inches long. In California they seem to have
a much greater propensity to leave in this manner
than here ; hence the great importance of this dis-
covery, if such it is — at least I never heard of it
or seen it mentioned by any author, previous to
discovering it ourselves (J. S. Harbison was, I be-
lieve, the first to suggest it), nor has it been noticed
since by any writer, to my knowledge.
WHAT BEES COMPOSE THE SWARM.
The opinion has prevailed to a very great extent,
among those who have not investigated this matter
very carefully, that in the spring or early part of the
season a litter or brood is raised by the bees, expressly
for the purpose of being sent off as a swarm, some-
NATtTRAL SWARMING. 203
thing after the manner of raising a brood or flock of
chickens, and with these a king, as many persist in
calling the queen, was raised to lead them forth, and
to reign over them, &c. and that the old bees,
together with their queen, remained quietlj at home
to enjoy the fruits of their labors in the old home-
stead, while the young folks went forth to find a new
habitation in which to lay up stores to keep them,
in turn, when old age should advance upon them.
But here, as in many other things, such opinions are
at fault. The fact of the old queen going forth with
the first swarm, has been so fully demonstrated by
all reliable authors, and so fully attested by all intel-
ligent and observing apiarians whom I have had
the pleasure of consulting upon this point, that I
will content mj-self with simply stating the fact, that
the old queen invariably goes out with the first sw^arm
that issues from the hive in the spring, being replaced
with a young one, which is yet in an embryo state,
when the swarm leaves, and in due time comes forth ;
if no accident occurs, it becomes fertile, supplying
the colony with eggs and remaining until the next
swarming season arrives, when, if the weather and
other circumstances are favorable, she in turn leads
forth the first swarm.
Instead of the swarm being composed entirely of
young bees, it is made np of all kinds and conditions,
from the old, with ragged wings (becoming so, doubt-
less, from the effects of continued hard labor), to the
young bee that had emerged from the cell but a few
hours previous and scarcely able to fly. Those that
204 BEKS AND BEE-KEEPING.
have just returned from the fields with pollen on
their thighs, may also be seen in considerable num-
bers. One of the mysteries that is 3'et unexplained,
to me at least, is, where the line of demarcation
exists between those that go and those remaining in
the hive.
CULTIVATE FRUIT TREES IN OR NEAR THE APIARY.
It is very important to have low trees growing in
and about the apiary, to furnish suitable places for
swarms to cluster, and for convenience in hiving
them. For this purpose I would urge the planting
and cultivation of fruit trees, which serve for this
purpose and will also produce abundantly. It is but
little more trouble to plant a fruit tree than to make
a hole and set in a bush ; the additional cost would
be but a few cents ; the fruit produced would pay a
generous interest on the investment, besides adding
to the appearance of the apiary. Such trees should
be selected as are of slow growth, or will stand fre-
quent cutting or pruning. The apple, quince, pear,
morello cherry, or peach, may be shortened in severely
every year. Dwarf trees would perhaps be preferable ;
even currant bushes would do very well. All the
cultivation any of these require is to dig or spade
around them occasionally during the summer, and
give them a few shovelfuls of manure. Where tall
trees are already growing near the apiar}^, the tops
should be cut off so as to render them more conve-
nient for taking down swarms, should they cluster
on them ; or else cut them down entirely, and plant
others in their places.
NATURAL SWARMING. 205
SWARMS CLUSTERING.
When the queeu goes forth with the swarm, they
almost invariably cluster on some bush or other con^
venient place, within five or at most ten minutes
after leaving. Mr. Quinby says, perhaps one swarm
in three hundred will depart for the woods without
first clustering. My experience differs but little from
this. About the year 1840 we had a top swarm to
issue, and before they were half out they struck off
in a line or stream in the direction of a dead hollow
tree, which stood in a field at the distance of perhaps
forty rods from the apiary ; a strong current of bees
seemed to extend almost from the hive to the tree.
All the efibrts we could make to confuse or change
their course, by throwing dirt, water, &c. in the faces
and eyes of the advancing column, proved to be
unavailing; they kept moving onward, perfectly re-
gardless of all obstacles thrown in their way. When
they arrived at the tree they immediately began to
alight, and enter at a small opening or knot hole,
some forty or fifty feet from the ground. Soon after
all had thus entered, we cut the tree down, made an
opening in the cavity in the trunk, and put the bees
into a hive, removing them to the apiary from whence
they emigrated. They went to work without further
trouble and did well. Since that time I have known
of two or three instances exactly similar to this,
occurring with neighboring bee-keepers.
We have had a swarm occasionally that evidently
designed leaving without clustering; but several
assistants being at hand, through their combined
18
206 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
eiForts in keeping in advance of the column, vigor-
ously throwing fresh plowed dirt and water amongst
them, they became confused, and finally, after going
a considerable distance, clustered. This plan we
have found the most efficient to confuse bees and
induce them to cluster; yet I believe that a shrill,
sharp sound in their immediate vicinity will prevent
them from communicating with each other by sound
when upon the wing, which, I think, they invariably
do; they become confused, and in order to under-
stand each other they will cluster. It is safe to con-
clude that not more than one swarm in a hundred,
or perhaps in two hundred, will leave without iirst
clustering.
DO BEES SEND SPIES TO SEEK A NEW HOME?
I think there is little doubt that bees, either before
or immediately after swarming and clustering, send
out spies to find a suitable place for the swarm to
lodge in ; and yet I much doubt whether or not any
uniform practice is observed by them in this matter.
In some cases they undoubtedly send out spies before
the swarm issues, as in the case mentioned of the
swarm proceeding to the tree without clustering ; in
other cases it is equally certain that spies are sent
after clustering. Indeed, I am pretty well satisfied
the latter course is the one generally practiced. In
some cases, however, it is quite probable that neither
plan has been observed.
When a swarm sets out, eithur direct from the hive
or from where it lia^ been clustered, and goes in a
NATURAL SWARMING. 207
direct line, making a bee line, as it may very appro-
priately be called, to and immediately enter the only
tree for acres around, perhaps, in which there is an
opening, and a sufficient cavit}^ to contain the swarm,
and afford them shelter, it proves very conclusively,
to me, at least, that spies had visited it before, and
now serve as pilots to conduct the swarm thither.
PLACES GENERALLY SELECTED BY SWARMS.
Bees have sometimes pitched upon very singular
places for their residence, as in the carcass of the lion
slain by Samson, recorded in the fourteenth chapter
of Judges. The probability is the entrails had been
removed when it was slain, and owing to the peculiar
state of the atmosphere which prevails in that and
many other countries during the dry season, the car-
cass of an animal thus emboweled would become firm
and solid, without putrefaction taking place.
In the year 1842, a swarm of bees took up their
abode in a frame church near my residence, entering
at a crack just above one of the windows, occupjnng
the space between the weatherboards and plastering.
This made a very commodious place, being about
three or four feet high by two feet wide, between the
shedding, and four inches deep.
In 1858, a swarm entered a flue or chimney of a
brick house in Sacramento City, California, where it
remained and built a large amount of combs. The
owner of the house sold it the following spring for
fifty dollars, conditioned that the purchaser should
repair all damage done to the house by removing the
208 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
swarm. I learned it was transferred into a hive and
did well.
I have heard of them being found in caves and
clefts in rocks, but of this I have no accurate infor-
mation.
Mr. Hose, a very intelligent and reliable man (now
a bee-keeper and neighbor of mine), who spent some
years in hunting and trapping for a St. Louis fur
company, mostly on the Missouri and tributary rivers,
and near the Rocky mountains, informs me that in
those vast prairies through which he frequently had
occasion to pass, he repeatedly found bees upon the
ground, apparently having attempted to cross to some
belt of timber, but becoming exhausted they settled
down upon the grass and built up combs in a conical
shape, in some cases quite a large quantity. In such
instances it is not probable that spies had been sent
out in advance. Where timber abounds, the place
generally selected is a hollow tree, which of all others
seems the most natural to the bee in a wild state, or
when permitted to look out for themselves in any
case. In Scotland, in Bonner's time (1795), it was a
common occurrence for swarms to go into empty
hives that might chance to be standing in the apiary,
and sometimes they would take possession of a hive
in some neighbor's bee yard, from which difficulties
were of frequent occurrence. Cases of this kind are
very rare in this country; yet it is likely to occur
when the land becomes thickly settled and hollow
trees are scarce.
NATURAL SWARMING. 209
TO PREVENT MORE THAN ONE SWARM STARTING AT A TIME.
In an apiary of auj size, two or more frequently
oome off" about the same time and unite. If top-
swarms, tbis is a loss; if after-swarms, so much the
better. A good strong swarm is better than three or
four weak ones. This may be prevented, by sprink-
ling them with water, which I found to answer the
purpose very well. I frequently had occasion to use
it years before Mr. Quinby's work was published, yet
I will here give his method of applying it, which is
as good as any. "But should you discover the bees
running to and fro in great commotion, although
there may be but few about the entrance, you should
lose no time in sprinkling those outside with water
from a watering pot, or other means. They will
immediately enter the hive to avoid the supposed
shower. In half an hour they will be ready to start
again, in which time the other may be secured. I
have had, in one apiary, twelve hives all ready in one
day, and did actually swarm ; several of which would
have started at once, had they not been kept back
wdth water, allowing only one at a time, thus keeping
them separate. They had been kept back by the
clouds, which broke away about noon."
I have sometimes used smoke for the same pur-
pose. By blowing it under or into the entrance, it
alarms them and disconcerts their arrangements for
a short time. Where many bees are kept, two or
more persons should be^ in attendance ; one should
keep a sharp look out to see if any, after the first
one started, show symptoms of issuing out soon ; if
18*
210 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINa.
SO, either water them or blow smoke into the en-
trance for a minute or two, thus keeping them in
check whilst the one out is being hived. Should a
second one come out when the first is partially hived,
a large cloth or sheet should be spread over it for a
few minutes, until they cluster elsewhere; or what is
better, when our hives are used (the entrance being
easily closed,) close up the entrance entirely before
there is any possibility of the queen of the second
swarm entering, being careful to turn the tin caps
from the holes intended for ventilation. Should they,
persist in clustering upon or near the hive, get
another hive and put them in at once, the first one
being still closed up. When the majority of the bees
have entered, the other may be opened. In this way
the stragglers will be divided. When all, or nearly
so, have entered the hive, remove them at once to
the stand.
The greatest possible dispatch is necessary in
hiving swarms, when others are expected to come
ofif every minute. Should two or more swarms, how-
ever, come ofif together, it is important to divide
them, getting a queen with each, if possible. This
is not very difficult, if an expert attendant is at hand
to assist. Take your watering pot (openings for
water to pass through should be very small), after
shaking all down upon a sheet or table, sprinkle
them pretty well ; this will prevent them from moving
so rapidly, and gives a good chance to see the queen
as she passes along. Now set a hive at each side, if
two swarms ; if more, a hive for each. Take a quill
NATURAL SWARMING. 211
or brush, and start them into the hives, having sev-
eral inches to travel from the main cluster to the
hive. In this way an expert apiarian can certainly
see the queen, if one should pass into the hive.
Watch carefully that no other enters ; should one
make her appearance, catch her and put her into the
other hive ; then divide the bees as nearly equal as
possible. Should you find but one queen, mark the
hive in which she was put; and if either swarm
comes off a movable comb hive, examine it imme-
diately to obtain a comb containing a queen cell
(care must be taken to leave one still in the hive) ;
put this into the swarm where no queen was observed,
if it still contains enough bees for a good sized swarm,
if not, take some from the other, making them run
the gauntlet to see that no queen passes. Shut up
the hive, being careful to ventilate ; set it on the
stand, let it remain until a few minutes before sun-
set, give them their liberty, when they will note their
locality, and by morning will go to work. With box
hives this is not so easily accomplished ; however, it
may be done by inverting the hive which sent forth
a swarm, where queen cells will, or ought to, be
found; cut one of these out, with a small piece of
comb attached. If the swarm is put in a box hive,
this queen cell may be suspended from one of the
holes in the top where bees ascend to the honey box;
the piece of comb should be cut to fit the hole nicely,
the cell projecting below into the hive. This embryo
queen will very soon emerge and supply the swarm,
if neither of the old queens were put in the hive ;
212 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
but if they had been properly divided, the only loss
■would be the embrj-o queen.
To sprinkle bees with water in the manner de-
scribed renders it quite easy to tiud the queen ; in
fact, their motions can be entirely controlled thereby.
Permit me again to caution all who hive swarms to
keep both the hive and cluster well shaded from the
sun. Hives, before being used, should be kept in a
cool, shady place, else they may be too hot. Be
careful to ventilate the hive well when the swarm
is put in. Should there be any necessary delay after
the swarm clusters before it can be hived, sprinkle it
well with cold water, which will keep them quiet for
some time.
AFTEll-SWARMS.
Piping (peep ! peep !j — a sound emitted by young
queens, similar to that made by a very young chicken,
only in a much liner key — usualh- commences about
the ninth day from the issuing of the first swarm,
and continues at short intervals until the twelfth or
thirteenth day. Within this period of four days, if
the weather is favorable, a swarm is likely to issue ;
in line weather most probably on the tenth or
eleventh day. After the third night's warning, a
swarm is likely to emerge even should the weather
be indifferent, and such as would prevent a top-
swarm from leaving the hive.
Bevan says : " Unless the royal voice can be heard
about the period above stated, no after-swarm will
issue. From an extensive observation made by my-
self and friends, in our respective apiaries, I may
NATURAL SWARMING. 213
confidently state, therefore, that this sign may be
regarded as the invariable precursor of an after-swarm,
and that its absence, in any stock from which a swarm
has issued, infallibly denotes that its swarming is over
for the season.
"I have said that the period at which piping usu-
ally takes place is the ninth day after the departure
of a first swarm ; in this there is, however, a degree
of uncertainty, depending in some measure upon the
state of the weather, and perhaps on other circum-
stances. It may take place a few days earlier and
several days later than the average time. It has been
known to occur within a day or two of the issue of
the first sw^arms, and it is by no means an uncom-
mon thing for it to happen as early as the seventh or
eighth day after it; piping is also now and then
delayed to the fifteenth or sixteenth day; whether
late or early, it generally continues the usual time,
namely, three or four days, so that when deferred to
the latest period I have named, the second swarm will
not come forth till the eighteenth or twentieth day
after the issue of the first. Both these extremes,
however, may be regarded as very rare occurrences.
" In order to understand the rationale of what I have
said, it is necessary to advert to the period at which a
young queen begins piping, namely, as soon as she
arrives at maturity, and to compare this with the
average periods of first and second swarming. A
first swarm generally issues soon after the cells of
the embryo queens have been sealed over, therefore
when the latter are about eight daj-'s old : in about
214 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINa.
eight more they are mature" (in this latitude, but in
California the average time from the egg to the ma-
ture queen is fourteen days) ; " either then or on the
morrow piping usually commences, and between this
(which constitutes the ninth day of the queenless
stock) and the thirteenth day, the second swarm
generally takes its departure. AYlien the weather,
however, and other circumstances have proved pecu-
liarly favorable, a first swarm, as I have already
observed, has been known to issue almost imme-
diately after the tenanting of the royal cells. Several
instances of this early departure of first swarms
occurred under Mr. Golding's observation, in 1829,
in which year piping did not commence in any one
of his stocks, earlier than the thirteenth day after
the departure of the first swarm.
" This will account satisfactorily for the apparently
late issue of some second swarms, or more properly
speaking, for the time which intervenes between a
first and second swarm. It likewise illustrates the
cause of the occasional variations in that period, and
also accounts for a first swarm being so much more
particular than a second or third, respecting the state
of the weather at the time it issues. It has the whole
period, from the time of securing a royal succession
to that of the maturing of the royal brood, from
which to choose, which may under peculiar circum-
stances be extended to nearly three weeks ; whilst in
the case of after-swarms, the embryo queens, in their
progress to maturity', advance so closely upon the
heels of each other, as to compel the bees to issue.
NATUKAL SWARMINGl. 215
though the weather be but indifferent, or to have the
senior queen engaged in mortal combat with her
rapidly maturing rivals."
Bevan again remarks : "In 1830, the rapidity with
which second swarms succeeded the first was as re-
markable as their tardiness in 1829^ Mr. Golding in
the former year had two colonies in which piping
commenced on the third day, and in one of them the
second swarm issued on the fourth. The weather
had proved so very unfavorable, that the old queens
deferred emigrating as long as they well could;"
being nearly up to the time of maturity of the young
queens.
In some peculiarly favorable localities, and in very
propitious seasons, a prime top-swarm v/ill send off
another swarm the same season. This is of frequent
occurrence in California, and perhaps in many of the
Southern States, but rarely happens here.
"In this case," says Mr. Bevan, "it usually occurs
between the twenty-eighth and thirtieth days of its
establishment, and the only indication of the approach
of such an issue, besides those already enumerated,
is the worker combs, with which first swarms gen-
erally store their hives, becoming edged with a few
drone cells," in which drone brood may be found.
The apiary should be carefully watched when after-
swarms are expected, as the outside indications are
not such as to attract the attention of the casual
observer. Sometimes they issue early in the morn-
ing or late in the evening. Should two or more
second or third swarms issue on the same day, it is
216 Bees a^d bee-keehnq.
well to unite them. Simply hive them together and
blow a few whiffs of smoke among them. They
seldom quarrel at this season of the year.
But unless in localities where the yield of honey is
abundant, and such as to keep the swarms building
combs and constantly advancing, with but little if
any intermission, from the time it is hived until the
close of honey gathering from the buckwheat, I
would strongly urge the removal of all the queen
cells from the hive soon after the first swarms left,
except one to supply the old hive ; and all hives that
sent ofi* a swarm should be examined carefully, from
time to time, to see if the young queen becomes
fertile. This may be told by the eggs in the brood-
combs, which is more fully discussed in another
place. The proper and most profitable course to
adopt for the management of after-swarms, depends
entirely upon situation and circumstances. What
would be best in one place would not suit another;
hence, it is necessary for each apiarian to judge of
what is best adapted to his particular locality.
In California, in most localities, a swarm issuing
at almost any time is likely to live over winter,
although it may not entirely fill its hive. The win-
ters being short and mild, it is comparatively easy to
keep late swarms during cold weather, and they will
fill up and make good stocks the next spring. This
doubtless applies very appropriately to most of our
Southern States. Such swarms w^ould be compara-
tively worthless for wintering in the Northern and
Middle States, hence it is quite impossible for any
TO MAKE BEES PROFITABLE. 217
writer, from any given stand-point, to undertake to
give specific directions that will apply with equal
propriety to all climates and circumstances, where
bees are kept, although their nature and habits remain
the same.
CHAPTER XIV.
now TO MAKE BEES PROFITABLE WITHOUT RAPID INCREASE
OF COLONIES.
To THOSE who wish to secure a large yield of honey
rather than an increase of colonies, we recommend
the following plan ; but to operate with ease and
certainty, it is necessary to have the bees in our im-
proved movable comb hives.
"When the bees begin to work busily in the spring,
carefully examine all your stocks, some fine, warm
day, by lifting out each comb. Should you find one
scarce of honey and another having a good supply,
exchange combs, being careful to brush ofi" all the
bees, each into their own hive ; thus you will give a
full comb of honey to the one that lacks, and replace
it in the other hive with the empty comb. In this
manner all the stocks in the apiary may be equalized.
The strong, heav}^ stocks may be benefited by re-
moving one or two combs that contain onl}' honey,
provided they are fed as directed, but not otherwise.
I here protest against taking honey from the hives
at this season of the year, under the false apprehen-
sion that they have too much,
19
218 IJKES AND BEi: KEEPlSCf.
When the lower part of the hive is full, and combs
well covered with bees, put the boxes to contain
surplus honey into the chamber, to which they will
soon ascend and commence building, if there is a
plentiful supply of honey. If they have been prop-
erly fed, and are strong and vigorous to commence
the honey harvest, thoy will fill from one to two sets
of honey boxes during its continuance, which will be
from twenty-five to fifty pounds of surplus honey;
and may, perhaps, the season being favorable, cast
off a swarm, if permitted. In this latitude all after-
swarms should be prevented, by opening the old hive
immediately after the first swarm issues, and removing
all the young queens but one. This is much easier
done, and more effectual, than returning after-swarms
to the parent hive. The young queen, thus left to
supply the old hive, is liable to accident. When she
takes her excursions abroad to meet the drones in the
air, she may be caught by a bird, or may miss her
way to her own hive on her return. I have on sev-
eral occasions rescued young queens, with marks of
their amours upon them, at the entrance of hives I
knew had fertile queens, where she would have been
dispatched in a short time, but for my timely aid.
By a prompt and careful examination I have gen-
erally succeeded in finding the hive where she
belonged. Hence, it is of great importance to guard
against the loss of a queen. The old colony should
be examined about ten days after the swarm issues,
and every two or three days from that time, and if
no eggs are found by the eighteenth day, take a comb
TO MAKE BEES PROFITABLE. 219
out of some hive having a fertile queeu, with cgga
and 3'oung hirva in it, and give it in exchange for
one of their empty brood-combs. This will place the
means in their reach to rear another queen, in case
the previous one failed. It can only be done success-
fully in a movable comb hive.
If bees swarm naturally, and the hive has been
examined and the surplus embryo queens removed
to prevent after-swarming, as directed on another
page, let them stand for a period of from twelve to
eighteen days from the casting of the swarm, and
then examine. Most of the brood will have matured
and left the cells, the old queen having led (she inva-
riably does) the first swarm. The young one left to
supply her place not yet being fertile, the combs will
be found empty, or nearly so. A considerable time
may and generally does elapse before the young queen
becomes fertile, and is able to replenish the combs
with eggs; hence much valuable time is lost. To
remedy this and keep all rearing brood to the best
advantage, adopt the plan as directed under the head
of "How to strengthen artificial swarms." Simply
change those combs from which the brood has
emerged, where the colony is destitute of a queen,
with a colony that has a fertile queen, and the
combs well stored with brood, eggs, &c. being very
careful to brush oft' all the eggs from each before
making the change, lest both the queens should be
put in the same hive. Care should also be observed
that no colony has more brood than they can keep
warm and rear properly.
220 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINO.
Permit me again to impress upon the minds of
all bee-keepers who make artificial swarms, or even
change combs, as hasjust been described, the import-
ance of keeping enough bees upon the brood-combs
to keep the brood warm, and to nurse and bring it to
maturity ; otherwise the brood will inevitably perish,
and ere long become a putrid mass, entailing loss and
disappointment upon the owner. With a reasonable
degree of caution, however, no danger need be appre-
hended.
CHAPTER XV.
LOSS OF QUEENS.
A GREAT many stocks of bees are lost every year,
originating in the loss of a queen when the colony
was perhaps pretty strong, but destitute of eggs from
which to rear another; the inevitable result of which
is, that in a few weeks, or at most a few months,
they will be wasted away by death and lost by acci-
dent. It is astonishing how soon even a strong,
populous colony will dwindle down to the last dozen
bees, when there is no queen to replenish the hive.
Quinby says: "I doubt whether the largest and best
family could be made to exist six months without a
queen for their renewal, except perhaps through the
winter." I doubt if they could exist even three
months, in the summer, without a queen. So fast do
they waste away when they become weak and unable
to protect the combs from moths, or to destroy the
LOSS OF QUEENS. 221
worms, when just hatched out and before they fortify
themselves, that they very soon fall a prey to their
ravages ; or if they escape the worms, tlieir weak
and defenseless situation will ere long be discovered
by other bees in the apiary, some fine, warm da}',
when they will immediately commence to plunder
the hive of its honey, accomplishing it in a very short
time, exciting them to such a degree that they will
attack almost any hive in the apiar3^ I have known
them in one or two instances, when greatly excited
by having carried off the honey from a defenseless
hive, concentrate on a very strong and vigorous stock,
and subduing them in a very few minutes, carry off
the honey ; hence the loss of a queen sometimes leads
to very serious results, entailing heavy loss on the
owner. Sometimes it extends to neighboring bee-
keepers, and not unfrequently whole neighborhoods,
when they get excited to robbing, carrying death and
destruction wherever they go, and are only arrested
in their plundering by a change of weather.
It is of the utmost importance that bee-keepers
should fully understand this matter, and be prepared
to guard against such disasters, which occur to a
greater or less extent every year, few suspecting the
real cause.
I have very frequently heard such statements as
the following : " I lost one of my best hives of bees.
It sent off two or three swarms" (as the case may be)
" this summer, and made two boxes of honey. It
was my very best stock in the spring and forepart of
the summer ; but a few days ago I noticed other bees
19*
222 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINO.
robbing it. When I came to examine closely, there
was only a mere handful of bees in it; there was
plenty of honey and bee-bread in it, but I can't con-
ceive what became of the bees." This is but one
of many such inquiries I have been called upon to
answer; indeed there is scarcely a yard where bees
are kept, however few, but lose one or more queens
annually from this cause alone.
CAUSE OF THEIR LOSS.
I have found that a serious loss of queens occurs
during their excursions abroad to meet the drones in
the air for impregnation, when they are caught by
birds or blown down by high winds ; but the greatest
loss arises from mistaking their own hive, and alight-
ing and attempting to enter some hive near it, in their
return from their amours, Avhere certain destruction
awaits them, if not observed and rescued by the
apiarian, which is seldom done. I rescued several
during the past summer, and with a little care found
where they belonged, and j*eturned them safely.
When the first swarm loaves a hive, the old queen
accompanies it, leaving a sealed or embryo queen to
fill her place, and others to lead any subsequent
swarms that may issue ; hence, the old hive, and all
after-swarms, will have young queens that must
necessarily go forth to meet the drones, and con-
sequently are liable to be lost. It is very important
to examine all hives that have cast a swarm, about
ten days from the time the first swarm left, and if no
eggs are found in the combs, examine again and
LOSS OF QUEENS. 223
again, at periods of two or three days; if none are
found by tlie sixteenth day, the probability is that
the queen has been lost. The remedy is, to either
supply them with an embr^-o queen, if you have a
queen nursery, when one can be had ; but when none
can be obtained, take out a frame of comb from a
hive that has a fertile queen, see that there are plenty
of eggs in it, and exchange it for an empty comb in
the hive which you suspect has lost its queen. From
these eggs they will rear queens ; but the same diffi-
culty will exist as in the first case of their getting
lost. The plan I have suggested for strengthening
artificial swarms, i. e. exchanging the combs that are
destitute of eggs and brood for those that are supplied
with both, is one of the best for safety and utility.
Such examinations and exchanges can only be made
successfully in movable comb hives ; yet in common
box hives, by inverting them and smoking the bees
off, and cutting or breaking out some of the combs,
its condition can be ascertained, and combs contain-
ing eggs inserted. "When this is done, the eggs
should be placed in a central position in the hive, as
the colony is likely to be reduced in numbers and
unable to maintain sufficient heat to develop the
young queens, if otherwise situated.
The superiority of the now movable comb hive
over all other plans is clearly manifested in this par-
ticular, as there are more bees lost annually by first
losing their queens than would pay the difference in
the cost of the hive, with the patent right included.
In this hive the bee-keeper can, with very little care,
224 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
prevent any loss. Queens are sometimes lost early
in the season, but there is no difficulty in supplying
them with eggs or young queens, and they become
fertile at any time when there are plenty of drones
in the apiary.
INDICATIONS OP THE LOSS.
But few bee-keepers will detect the symptoms that
follow the loss of the queen, and even when they do
they are liable to be mistaken. The only certain and
reliable method of ascertaining, is by an examination
of tlie combs in the interior of the hive. I give Mr.
Quinby's description of those symptoms, as it corres-
ponds with my experience ; he says : " The next
morning after a loss of this kind has occurred, and
occasionally at evening, the bees may be seen running
about in the greatest consternation, outside, to and fro,
on the sides. Some will fly off a short distance and
return ; one will run to another, and then to another,
still in hopes, no doubt, of finding their lost sovereign.
A neighboring hive close b}' , on the same bench, will
probably receive a portion, which will seldom resist
an accession under such circumstances. All this will
be going on while other hives are quiet. Toward
the middle of the day, this confusion will be less
marked ; but the next morning it will be exhibited
again, though not so plainly, and cease after the third
day, when they become apparently reconciled to their
fate.
"They will continue their labors as usual, bringing
in pollen and honey. Here T am obliged to differ
LOSS OF QUEENS. 225
with writers who tell vis that all labor will now
cease. I hope the reader will not be deceived by sup-
posing that because the bees are bringing in pollen,
that they must have a queen ; I can assure you it is
not always the case."
THE RESULT.
"The number of bees will gradually decrease, and
be all gone by the early part of winter, leaving a
good supply of honey, and an extra quantity of bee-
bread, because there has been no young bees to
consume it. This is the case when a large family
was left at the time of the loss. When but few bees
are left, it is very different ; the combs are unpro-
tected by a covering of bees ; the moth deposits her
eggs on them, and the workers soon finish up the
whole. Yet the bees from the other stocks will
generally first remove the honey."
To this I would add, as a preventive, place upon
or immediately before each hive that has cast a
swarm, or is likely to have a young, unimpregnated
queen, something that will make a distinctive mark,
to enable her to distinguish her own hive. This
precaution is highly necessary, especially where hives
stand close together in the apairy. Care should be
taken in removing honey boxes, when the openings
are above the main breeding department, as the queen
frequently ascends into them, and is often taken ofi"
in this manner and lost. Each box should be marked
before removing, so it can be returned to the same
place. If the bees refuse to leave it within twenty-four
hours after it is taken ofi^, which is a sure indication
226 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
that the queen is there, and they will not leave her,
the box should then be returned, when she will
usually descend into the hive in a few hours.
CHAPTER XYI.
MANAGEMENT OF HONEY.
PUTTING ON HONEY BOXES.
I HAVE found the best plan is to defer putting the
surplus honey boxes in until the hive is full of bees,
the combs well covered with bees, and the spaces
between the combs well filled clear down to the
bottom of the hive ; also be careful to see that they
are gathering honey plentifully. They will fill the
lower or main part of the hive before ascending to
the boxes; and should they remain in long before
they are wanted, they become foul from the moisture
generated by the breath of the bees. We generally
put our boxes on a few days after the white clover
blooms; on the strong hives first, and on others as
they seem to require them, until all are supplied.
When full boxes are removed empty ones should be
put in their places, if they are obtaining honey plen-
tifully ; but if a small quantity only is being gathered,
it is best to defer putting any boxes in until it again
becomes plenty.
TAKING OFF SURPLUS HONEY.
As soon as boxes are full, and the honey nicely
capped, they should be taken oft". Every day they
MANAGEMENT OE HONElf. 227
are permitted to remain, serves to darken the honey ;
and if the honey harvest continues it is a serious loss,
as a day or two is quite important to them at such a
time. Sometimes they will fill boxes in from twelve
to fifteen days, at others twice that time is required.
The proper way is to peep in through the glass and
watch their progress.
In taking ofi" boxes I prefer using smoke to drive
the bees back. Raise your box a little with a strong
knife or chisel, blow smoke under for a few minutes,
to alarm the bees and drive them below ; then remove
the box, and if desirable, replace it with an empty
one.
I prefer taking boxes ofi" in the evening, and set-
ting them close together, inverted, in our honey room.
Place an empty box, say a foot square, or any other
size, over some of the openings in a central part of
your lot of boxes ; the bees will generally collect and
cluster in this before morning, w^hen you can remove
it to the apiary and invert it. Each bee will return
to its own hive, except, perhaps, a few young ones.
Occasionally a box will have the queen in it when
taken off. If so, she will attract bees from other
boxes, and it will be quite impossible to drive them
out. When this is likely to occur, it would be well
to mark each box as taken off, so it could be returned
with the queen. Many hives are lost by taking the
queen away in this manner, and the cause of the loss
never suspected by the owner. When boxes are
taken into the honey room, the windows and doors
should be kept open in the morning, to permit all the
S28 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
Stragglers to return to their hives; but care must be
taken to prevent bees from carrying ojff the honey,
which they are very certain to do if permitted.
KEEPING AND MARKETING HONEY.
When honey is thus removed from the care of the
bees and set by in a hone3'-room, where it will be
kept warm, as is generally the case at that season,
in a few daj's it will be found to have worms in it,
although it may have been closed so as to effectually
exclude the miller ; and unless these worms are
destroyed, they will very soon render the honey unfit
for market.
The question very naturally arises, Hovs^ did the
worms get there? Mr. Quinby gives it as his opin-
ion, that the egg is carried there by the bees, either on
their feet or body, having been deposited near the
entrance ; he says, it is not at all probable that the
moth passed through the hive, and deposited eggs in
the jars or boxes.
My experience leads me a little further in this
direction. I have seen, on several occasions, the
moth alight near the entrance of the hives a little
after sunset, when the bees were standing guard, and
clustered around the entrance, pass right amongst the
bees, and go into the hive unmolested, the bees
getting out of its track, apparently dreading its touch,
as though it was a coal of fire, not daring to attack
it! On one or two occasions I immediately opened
the hive (a movable comb one) on seeing the miller
enter, and found it passing over the combs unmo
MANAGEMENT OP HONEY. 229
lested, just as I had seen her pass among the bees on
the alighting board. From this and other observa-
tions, I think there is but little doubt that the moth
or miller deposits her eggs directly in the combs at
any point in the hive she sees proper, passing in and
out at pleasure; and the only means of defense
possessed by the bees, is to destroy the worm very
soon after it is hatched and begins to feed upon the
comb, and before it has encased itself in a web or
cocoon.
I am aware that the opinion prevails amongst bee-
keepers (and it is but an opinion), and is also asserted
by most of our authors, that the bees of strong colo-
nies prevent the miller from entering the hive, and
consequently all the eggs found in the hive were
carried there accidentally by the bees. Although I
always doubted this, yet in the absence of proof to
the contrary, I received it as being possible ; but
thought it very strange that the bees should be so
careless as to carry destruction into their own hive.
Consequently, I have observed pretty closely to learn
the true state of the case, which has led to the dis-
covery as stated. As a further proof, take a comb, or
piece of one, from any part of the strongest colony,
in July or August, and inclose it so carefully that it
is quite impossible for any insect to reach it ; keep it
warm, and in a few days it will be found to be pol-
luted by worms, just as we find them in honey boxes.
Now it requires a great stretch of the imagination
to suppose that all the eggs from which these worms
are produced are carried by the bees, and deposited
20
230 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
80 nicely in every part of the combs, even in the ab-
sence of positive proof.
It is true, I have very frequently seen the miller
in the evening alight near the entrance of hives
without apparently designing to- enter, and the bees
would run after it around the stool, or on the sides
of the hive ; but it was generally like a sheep running
after a dog, whenever it would turn, the bees would
give way and get out of its track.
HOW TO KILL WORMS IN HONEY.
I here give Mr. Quinby's method of killing worms
in honey boxes. I had practiced it to some extent
prior to seeing his work, but cannot'describe it better
than by giving his own language. He says : " Per-
haps you may find one box in ten that will have no
worms about it, others may contain from one to
twenty when they have been oiF a week or more.
All the eggs should have a chance to hatch, which
in cool weather may be three weeks." (In warm
weather all will hatch in ten days or less.) " They
should be watched, that no worms get large enough
to injure the combs much, before they are destroyed.
Get a close barrel or box that will exclude the air as
much as possible ; in this put the boxes with the
holes or bottom open," turned downward. Arrange
them nicely, leaving a space in one corner to set " a
cup or dish of some kind, to hold sulphur matches
while burning. (They are made by dipping rags or
paper into melted sulphur.) AVlien all is ready,
ignite the raatxjhes, and cover close for several hours.
MANAGEMENT OF HONEY. 231
A little cai'O is required to have it just right: if too
little is used, the worms are not killed ; if too much,
it gives the combs a green color. A little experience
will soon enable you to judge. If the worms are not
killed on the first trial, another dose must be adminis-
tered," which will effectually destroy all the worms.
JS^ow keep the millers out.
PACKING HONEY BOXES TO CARRY TO MARKET.
I have used pack boxes 13 inches deep by 14 wide,
and about 2 feet 7 inches long; lids put on with 2
inch butts, and a common chest lock ; a cleat or strip
nailed on each side, projecting beyond the box about
4 inches, to form handles, securely nailed about 4
inches from the top. A man at each end could
handle these boxes very conveniently and safely.
They will contain ten boxes of honey, 6 by 6 inches
square and 13 inches long, (which is about the com-
mon size), or twenty boxes 6 inches square, leaving
room at the sides and ends to secure the boxes firmly
in their places, by putting slips of board or shingles
down at the ends of the boxes and at the end of the
pack box. IsTo hammering should be done, as it will
loosen the combs. When thus packed they will
weigh from 120 to 140 lbs. They may be taken to
any desired distance, either in spring wagons, rail
road cars or boats, if carefully handled when loading
or unloading. Be careful to have them returned,
and they will serve for several years.
If honey is kept on hand for any length of time, it
should never be in a cellar or damp place, but invari-
232 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINO.
ably in a perfectly dry, well ventilated room. The
boxes should be kept closed perfectly tight to prevent
flies, roaches or moths from entering.
CHAPTER XVII.
ENEMIES OF BEES.
The two greatest enemies of bees are, first, the
general ignorance of mankind of their natural habits,
requirements and proper mode of management to
render them assistance when needful, and supply their
wants when required ; in keeping them in hives un-
suited to their natural wants, and in an unprotected
manner both from the weather and from insects ; and
in taking honey from them and permitting them to
starve the next spring for want of it. On these points
man (although not intending it), becomes a great
enemy to bees. The moth and worm have been and
are great pests to bee-keepers, and great enemies of
bees; yet since Ave have been using our improved
movable comb-hives, and found the efficacy of feed-
ing bees, thereby keeping them strong and vigorous,
we experience but little loss or trouble from the
worms. So long as a colony is properly organized
and has plenty of honey, they will protect themselves.
But should the worms make a lodgment in any of
our hives, lift out each comb separately, and destroy
all that can be found; then feed the colony with a
little syrup or honey, to stimulate the bees to greater
ENEMIES OF BEES. 233
activit}'. If they have a queen, they will generally
keep the worms from making further inroads upon
them. The great majority of hives of bees that arc
eaten up or destroyed by the worms, as is generally
supposed, is either from the loss of the queen, and
consequently the disorganization of the colony, or
else the bees have become discouraged from lack of
provisions, starvation staring them in the face. In
either case, they will permit the worms to work
away unmolested, until they will finally take pos-
session of the entire hive. Yet it is simply the
efiect of another cause, and not the cause itself, al-
though generally blamed on the worms. High, cold
winds arising suddenly when bees are abroad, destroy
large quantities of them. Birds also catch and de-
vour some ; toads, mice and rats destroy a portion,
and spiders spread their nets to annoy and catch them.
IRRITABILITY OP BEES.
Bees should be kept a little retired from the walks
frequented by persons or beasts of any kind, as they
sometimes become annoying. The scent of a person
perspiring freely is very offensive to them. It is also
dangerous to bring a horse wet with sweat very near
to bees in warm weather, as it annoys them exceed-
ingl}', and there is great danger of the horse being
stung to death. The season of their greatest irrita-
bility is July and August, when the weather is
warmest and they have plenty of honey to guard.
If the directions given in the chapters on conquer-
ing bees and protection against being stung, are
20*
234 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
observed, all needful operations can be performed
with but little danger. In regard to remedies to al-
lay the pain or to prevent swelling when stung, I
never use any, and know of nothing that will always
give relief. Sometimes saleratus or soda, applied
immediately, will alleviate the pain, but it as often
fails. The poison is generally inserted so deep that
it is hard to reach with any remedy in time to give
relief.
CHAPTER XVIII.
OVERSTOCKING.
CAN THE COUNTRY BE OVERSTOCKED WITH BEES ?
I ANSWER emphatically. Yes, it can ! and permit me
here to say, that whoever argues to the contrary is
either attempting to mislead and deceive the people
or is himself deceived. Whilst I am willing to ad-
mit that in almost any region of country where bees
are kept, more honey is produced at certain times
during the season than there are bees to gather and
store it, yet if there were enough bees to fully gather
at such times, they would starve and perish at other
periods when but little is produced.
But let us see how the matter stands. From the
opening of spring until about the tenth of June,
there is but a limited amount of honey-producing
flowers, enough, perhaps, to supply thirty or forty
colonies to the square mile, and enable them to ad-
vance reasonably well until the clover season, when
OVERSTOCKING. 235
there would be more honey than they could gather.
Now suppose there were four times that number to
the square mile, what would be the result ? I think
my experience will justify me in assuming that one
out of every eight would die from starvation, and
one-third of those surviving would be in a feeble
condition when the clover harvest arrived, and con-
sequently it would require several weeks to recruit
their numbers and store the hive with honey, without
yielding any profit either in swarms or surplus honey
during the clover season, and probably none within
the year.
This is not a fancy sketch. I have had just such
experience, and know well what I say. It is true,
that by feeding bees properly during this period with
syrup, or by cultivating flowers, very large quantities
of bees may be kept ; but I think it must be apparent
to every reflecting mind, that bees, like any other
stock, requires a certain quantity of food simply to
enable them to live without making any improve-
ment, and that it requires a certain amount more
to make them improve and be profitable. It is also
evident that any given district of country produces a
certain amount of honey each year, and if a due pro-
portion of bees is kept in that district, they will do
well ; but if the proper bounds are exceeded, loss and
disappointment will inevitably be the result.
Any district can be overstocked with bees, on the
same general principle that it may be overstocked
with cattle or sheep. But this applies more directly
to extensive apiaries. Where but a few colonies are
236 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
kept by a family, there is little danger of getting
too many in any district. Those who design estab-
lishing large apiaries Avonld do well to seek locations
where tliey would have a wide range, and not keep
more than one hundred colonies in any one place,
nor less than three miles between such apiaries.
It may seem presumptuous in me to assume a
position so different on this question to that arroga-
ted by Rev. Mr. Langstroth in his work, but upon
examining it carefully, I have failed to find a single
word of his own experience related in this matter.
Ilis whole argument to show that this country cannot
be overstocked with bees, is founded on statements
made by certain German authors, of the vast quanti-
ties kept in Germany, giving the number in each
apiary at from two hundred up as high as five thou-
sand colonies, and those but a short distance apart;
and in some parts of Holland as many as two thou-
sand colonies are kept to the square mile.
Had Mr. Langstroth given us a reliable statement
of the resources of those districts for producing
honey, the kinds of flowers that abound there ; if
there is a uniform succession of flowers sufficient to
supply all the wants of the bees from early spring
until late in the fall, it would have greatly aided
American bee-keepers in arriving at the truth in
this matter, and tended to correct error, if such
exists. However true those statements may be as
regards Germany, I think they cannot with propriety
be applied to any part of the United States, at least
any portion I have seen, and T have visited manv of
OVERSTOCKINe. 237
the States from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I fear
such statemeuts will lead many to incur loss and dis-
appointment.
One of two things is, I think, very evident : either
that those countries are cultivated in such a manner
as to produce immense quantities of honey-producing
flowers, greatly exceeding any thing in this country,
or else these statements are overdrawn and exagge-
rated.
I take the liberty of making some extracts from an
article which appeared in the Ohio Farmer, written
by Mr. Quinby, in reply to an article by E. J. Stur-
tevant. Mr. Quinby says : " I was much interested
in the article of E. J. Sturtevant, that appeared some
months since in the Farmer, and very much regret
that I could not be fully satisfied with his reasoning.
The subject is one in which I am deeply interested.
Myself and partner have bees in ten different apiaries,
that are distant from each other some two or three
miles. In spring they average about seventy stocks
in each. Each of these yards requires the attention
of a man constantly during the middle of the day,
through the swarming season, some five or six weeks.
There is also much travel, cartage of hives, boxes of
honey, &c. Now if we could bring all these bees
into two or three yards, there would then be a much
less number to the square mile than is said to be
kept in many places in Europe, and we could save a
hundred or two (dollars, I suppose,) by the change.
"I will offer some reasons why I dare not do so,
notwithstanding the strong authorities against me. I
238 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
am aware that Mr. S. is supported by Langstroth,
Wagner and others, and I fear relies too much on
their support. Notwitlistanding their testimony may
be, as he says, perfectly reliable, it may not be appli-
cable to this country, or at least our section of it.
There are, according to Mr. Wagner, the gentleman
who furnished much matter for Mr. Langstroth, trans-
lated from the German, in the honej'^-raising countries
of Europe, many crops cultivated that produce great
quantities of honey, which are unknown here. In
this country three principal sources of honey are
clover, bass-wood and buckwheat; where all three
abound there must be a good district for bees, yet
but few places produce all in abundance. The yield
from bass-wood is of the shortest duration, and that
from white clover the most valuable. Without one
of these sources at hand as a dependence, it would
be a useless effort to try to keep more than a very few
stocks. There are many other honey -yielding flowers
that are particular favorites with bees. The red rasp-
berry, motherwort, catnip, and a few others, alone
would be visited to the entire neglect of clover, if
they were in sufficient abundance ; yet I never saw
enough of them in anyone locality for large apiaries.
It is evident to all, that however much honey these
flowers may furnish, there is a limit to the suppl}' ;
and when there are bees enough to take all that is
secreted, if any more is introduced into the same
field each bee must obtain a less quantity. Twenty
hives might prosper greatly and store a surplus ; yet
one hundred might starve in the same place."
OVERSTOCKING. 239
Mr. Quiuby continues to say: "I would advise a
little caution in this matter. First, the ability of
your district to support its hundreds, gradually and
safely, or some unfavorable season may bring about
very disastrous results. Now, if b}' expressing these
views I should discourage any from attempting bee-
culture, I can only regret it ; it is my experience,
and may be of service to some that are disposed to
rashness. All the experience and knowledge that
can be had, ought to be clearly set forth for the benefit
of the new beginner.
"If we in this country cannot keep one hundred
and forty stocks to the square mile, we can keep a
less number ; enough, at least, in most places, to pay
better for money invested and labor bestowed, than
with any other kind of stock. I say this after an
experience of over thirty years. 'The half-loaf is
better than no bread.' Do not refuse one thousand
dollars because it is not two. Obtain the requisite
instruction for the proper management of bees, and
success will follow as a matter of course."
To this I would add, when you find jonv bees are
not advancing and thriving as they should do, take
it for granted that it is for want of suitable pasturage
or food. Proceed at once to supply them, either by
feeding in the manner I have directed, or by flowers
raised for their especial benefit. It is much easier to
cultivate and produce enough pasturage in addition
to that from natural sources, to supply one hundred
hives of bees, than it is to provide pasturage for one
hundred head of sheep, and the profit on bees will
more than double that of sheep.
940 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINQ.
CHAPTER XIX.
WATERING BEES.
When bees are building combs rapidly, they seem
to require a considerable amount of water. They
may be seen in large quantities about watering
troughs, pumps, springs or streams of water, collect-
ing it. When a supply is not convenient to the
apiar}^ it will pay to make a shallow trough, as
described for feeding bees in ; put in a lot of gravel,
sand, &c. and renew the water daily, leaving the
gravel, stones and dirt partly exposed. This enables
the bees to get the water without fear of being
drowned.
It is supposed by some writers that bees use the
water entirely for the young brood, as well as for
themselves ; others think it is used principally in
comb building. It may be used for both, yet I know
that they can and do rear brood without a drop of
water ! I have also known bees to live for forty-
eight days (part of the time in a very warm latitude
and part where it was moderately cold, but not suffi-
cient to condense moisture,) without having a single
drop of water, yet they were healthy and in good
conditio!). Another fact is, that during the month
of May and the early part of June, there is quite as
much brood raised as at any other part of the season ;
but as a general thing very little comb is built ; yet
there is not one bee collecting water during this time
for every ten that may be seen a little later in the
WATERING BEES. 241
season, say the last of June, July and August, when
the largest amount of comb is built.
I have failed to discover bees collecting water in
warm days in winter and early in the spring, with
that avidity and eagerness described by Mr. Lang-
stroth. Whatever his bees may or may not do, I am
quite well satisfied that our bees do nothing of the
kind. When they fly out on warm days in winter,
and early in the spring, they are weak and feeble,
and will alight on any object around, such as boards,
fences, grass, or on the ground, and many on the
snow, if any still lies on the ground. Now will any
observing apiarian pretend to say that the object of
these bees is to collect water ? If they do make such
assertions, all that is necessary to expose its fallacy,
is to simply observe the actions of such bees. Any
man of common sense and ordinary judgment, with-
out any practical knowledge as a bee-man, can detect
the error of such statements. They alight apparent-
ly because they are unable to fly any farther until
they void their fseces and recover strength to resume
their flight. Thousands get chilled if the wind is
cool, and never rise to return to the hive.
Bees may frequently be seen collecting something
on the ground, and even in moist places, on warm
days in spring. I have observed them closely, the
result of which is very accurately described by Mr.
Quinby, as follows : " During warm days, while wait-
ing for the flowers, the bees are anxious to do some-
thing. It is then interesting to watch them and see
what will be used as substitutes for pollen and honey.
21
242 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
At such times I have seen hundreds engaged on a
heap of saw-dust, gathering the minute particles into
little pellets on their legs, seeming quite pleased with
the acquisition." Thus we iind that water is not the
object of their search at this season of the year.
In regard to giving bees water in winter, or that
they suffer for want of it, I think it a mistake. I
have, in common with some other apiarians, been
endeavoring to discover some sure method of absorb-
ing and carrying off the moisture that is generated
by the breath of the bees during cold weather, and
condenses on the sides and top of all hives made of
wood (when wintered in the open air), in hard freez-
ing weather. "When it moderates, this frost or ice
melts and runs down over the bees and combs, wet-
ting them ; and if it suddenly becomes cold again
whilst thus damp or wet, the bees are certain to per-
ish. My experience has been that this wet or
moisture is, and has ever been, the most serious dif-
ficulty to contend with in wintering bees in the open
air. Hundreds and thousands of colonies are lost
yearly from this cause alone.
Mr. Quinby, and various other eminent apiarians,
have been striving for many years to devise some
plan to free the bees from the effects of this accumu-
lation of water, some in one way and some in an-
other. Mr. Q. has succeeded by keeping his bees in
a warm room. I have succeeded by applying straw
in the form of mats to absorb this water, that it may
be carried off, as described in the chapter on winter-
ing bees. Yet whilst this has been going on, we are
WATERING BEES. 24B
gravely told by Mr. Langstroth, seemingly upon the
authority of certain German authors, and perhaps a
few superficial observers for perhaps one or two
years, and without experimenting himself to prove
the truth or fallacy of the theory, that bees suffer
much for want of water during winter, and he urges
the necessity of giving them water; which I fear
will lead many inexperienced bee-keepers into diffi-
culty, and result in loss and disappointment.
After reading Mr. Langstroth's articles on the ne-
cessity of giving bees water in the winter, I thought
it possible I was mistaken, and that under some pe-
culiar circumstances water might be necessary. With
a view of ascertaining the opinions of others that I
knew had experimented fo7' themselves, and also to ar-
rive at the facts in the case, I wrote to Mr. Quinby,
to know what his experience and views were respect-
ing it, and find they coincide exactly with my own.
I herewith give his letter in fall in reply to my inter-
rogatories :
MR. QUINBY's letter ON WATERING BEES.
St. Johnsvillk, N. Y., Jan. 4th, 1860.
Mr. Harbison : Bear Sir — In regard to the neces-
sity of giving bees water during winter, I cannot say
at present that m}' views are in accordance with those
set forth by Mr. Langstroth on pages 342, 343 and
346 of his last edition. I fear his remarks, and the
translation from tlie German, by Mr. Wagner, will
give very many inexperienced bee-keepers much un-
necessary trouble. A constant supervision is indi-
244 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
cated as necessary to safely take the bees through the
wiuter. I do not remember as any plan was given
to keep up a supply without attention. As a dearth
of water is represented as the cause of much loss, of
course those who take this theory for fact, and ex-
pect success, must have some trouble to provide for
these wants.
Not dreaming that water was essential to the health
of the bees in winter, I have for the last twentj'-live
years used my utmost endeavors to get rid of all
moisture about the hive, and I have succeeded as ef-
fectually as any one. When put in the house, I open
the holes in the top of the hive and then invert it on
sticks ; a constant circulation of air through the hive
carries with it all the moisture generated — the combs
remaining perfectly dry, and as far as I can discover,
the bees are perfectly healthy. Instead of its being
a general loss with this method, I have wintered hun-
dreds of stocks with a loss of less than two per cent.
Why others, who take no pains, comparatively, to
ventilate, should suffer so much more in losses than I
do, I cannot comprehend ; that is, with this theory.
Many years ago I became fulli/ satisfied that nine-
tenths of all the ffood colonies lost in winter, was in
direct consequence of confining this moisture to the
hive. The experience of every subsequent year,
gives additional proof to the idea.
Respecting the particles of candied haney found on
the bottom board, as indicating suffering for water —
mentioned by Mr. L. — I have been unable to arrive
at a similar conclusion ; because, whenever the room
WATERING BEES. '240
in which they were wintered, was cold enough to
candy the honey, I have invariably found the greater
part of it, after the bees were set out, and when they
had abundant opportunity to get water. These par-
ticles may l)e seen at any time during spring, when
the bees do not obtain sufficient honey from the
flowers for themselves and brood, and are necessitated
to draw on their old stores. This seems very plain
without the theory of wanting water, as may be read-
ily seen. In each cell only a part of the honey can-
dies ; the bees can swallow only the liquid por-
tion, and must reject the other; this may be the case,
although they fly out daily. When the temperature
of the hive becomes sufficiently warm to liquefy this,
it is no longer to be found.
I rather suspect that Mr. L. has depended very
much on the testimony of others, in this matter of
wintering bees. In his first edition of the "Hive
and IIoney-Bee," in 1853, he recommended what he
called a "protector," asvert/ important. In his second
edition, he abandoned that plan, as not likely to pay,
and suggested "special depositories." To show the
advantages of this method, he quoted Dzierzon, and
several pages from me, explaining the manner of
ffettinff rid of this water. And now two or three
years later, he supposes water is absolutely essential.
In all our rural aflfairs there is no branch where
there are more conflicting theories than in bee-
culture, especially wintering them. ISTo one can be
sure till he makes a few experiments of his own.
Yours, truly,
21* M. QUINBY.
246 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
CIIArTER XX.
SHIPPING BEES TO CALIFORNIA.
To SHIP bees successfully to so great a distance,
and through such a diversity of climate as is experi-
enced on the steam ship route to California, via the
Isthmus of Darien, at Panama, required a pretty
correct knowledge of the habits and peculiarities of
the bee, combined with untiring care and watchful-
ness on the part of those who made the first successful
shipments of bees to California, when the experiment
was a hazardous one, the expenses being so exorbi-
tant at that time, and the undertaking fraught with
such serious obstacles. The experience that has been
had for the last three years, with the present low
rates of passage and freights, renders their shipment
now comparatively easy, and many are engaged in it.
Bees have been sold at high rates in California, and
doubtless will continue to sell at very remunerative
prices for years to come, from the fact that the climate
is highly favorable, as well as that of Oregon and
Washington Territories, Carson's Valley, Utah, &c.
All of this vast extent of country abounds with an
endless variety of flowers, producing immense quan-
tities of honey. An enterprising people is pouring
in and settling up this domain of the United States,
developing its vast mineral, agricultural and pastoral
resources. It has been proved by actual experiment,
that bees increase very rapidly there, and yield large
quantities of surplus honey, from seventy-five to one
SHIPPING BEES TO CALIFORNIA. 247
hundred pounds to the hive during one season, Avhich
has sold at retail very readily for one dollar per
pound. Good hives of bees have been disposed of
for one hundred dollars each. As the number in-
creases and the country becomes supplied, prices will
doubtless recede ; yet so great is the extent of country
to be supplied, that I apprehend that prices for first-
class stocks will not fall below fifty dollars for the
next three or four years. At this price, or as low as
twenty-five dollars per hive, bee-keeping on the
Pacific coast would be one of the very best invest-
ments and employments that a man could be en-
gaged in.
The immense quantities of honey that will be
required to supply the vast mining population of
California and the fleets of steamers, clipper ships,
whalers and other vessels that obtain their supplies
of provisions at San Francisco and other ports on the
Pacific coast, will absorb all that can possibly be pro-
duced and find its way to market, and demand high
prices, although bees may be increased b}^ importa-
tions and swarming as rapidly as possible, for several
years yet to come.
I am also informed that a demand for bees is
springing up in the Sandwich Islands. Premiums
have been oflfered to those who would first introduce
these valuable insects into those salubrious and pro-
ductive islands, which are quite accessable from the
Pacific coast, being but twelve to fifteen days voyage
from San Francisco, by sailing vessels, and much less
by steamers; hence, I believe that the bee trade of
248 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
the Pacilic will continue, and increase in value and
importance until it exceeds any other enterprise of a
similar kind in the world. In fact, if we consider
the great difticulties of first introducing bees to Cal-
ifornia, the immense amount of capital that has been
and now is invested in the various departments of
the business, the energy and enterprise manifested
by those engaged in it, together with the highly
favorable results attending it in the shape of profits,
it is, I apprehend, without a parallel in the history
of bees in any age of the world. Those engaged in
it that have been most successful, first divested them-
selves of all preconceived notions and traditions,
scattered broadcast over the land, and availed them-
selves of every improvement and suggestion that
gave promise of advancement in the science of
bee-keeping; hence we find many men in California,
of comparatively short experience as apiarians, that
are now able to teach nineteen-twentieths of our bee-
keepers in the Atlantic States how to keep and
manage bees to make them yield the greatest profits.
My observations lead me to believe that but com-
paratively few persons who keep bees in the Atlantic
States, are fully aware of the profits that may and
ought to be realized from their bees, if properly
managed. This will apply to almost every locality
east of the Rocky mountains. Adopt the same
measures here that have been practiced by bee-keep-
ers in California ; go at it with the same zeal, energy
and perseverance there exhibited, and it will become
one of the most productive sources of wealth which
SHIPPING BEES TO CALIFORNIA. 249
our couutiy affords. Whilst our politicians and
statesmen are wrangling about slavery and protective
tariffs, this source of national wealth, which in the
aggregate is scarcely of secondary importance to
either of them, is neglected or overlooked by the
great mass of the people.
NO liEES IN CALIFORNIA PRIOR TO ITS CONQUEST AND
SETTLEMENT BY THE AMERICANS.
Many persons have inquired of me if there were
honey bees in California prior to its conquest and
settlement by the Americans, and the discovery of
gold. It is pretty well known to have been settled
under the direction of Franciscan monks ; large
missionary establishments were organized at many
of the most prominent points in Upper California,
nearly one hundred years ago ; yet the discovery of
gold and the introduction of bees was reserved for
the Americans in the nineteenth century.
I can only conjecture what are the reasons why
uo bees were found there until recently. In the first
place, the honey bee is not indigenous to the Amer-
ican continent, but was imported from Europe by the
colonists who settled near the Atlantic coasts, at an
early period in the history of America. Those early
imported colonies increased very rapidly. Many
swarms would doubtless fly off and locate in some
hollow tree in the forest ; these in turn would send
out swarms, and thus they would increase in geome-
trical progression, spreading over the country in every
direction, generally keeping in advance of civiliza-
250 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
tiou, being called by the Indians, the white mau's fly.
Whilst the country remained in a wild state, nature
furnished vast quantities of honey-producing flowers,
one variety succeeding another in great profusion,
from early spring until late in the fall, which enabled
bees to multiply and spread over the country very
rapidly. Their motto it seems partakes somewhat
of the spirit of Young America in their migratory
wanderings. "Westward, ho !" is their watchword.
I will here mention a circumstance that I believe
is not noticed by any other writer. I have never yet
observed a swarm of bees flying past me (and I have
seen many), apparently in search of a home, nor
indeed have I heard of one, but that was going either
westward or southward ; although the country where
I have made these observations is a timber one, with
no perceptible difference in any direction. This fact is
significant. I have no doubt they have spread both
to the north and east, yet the great tide of emigra-
tion is to the west and south, until they have reached
the last outskirts or belts of timber found between
the Missouri river and the Rocky mountains. Here
their progress westward seems to have been effectu-
ally checked by those vast prairies and deserts, to-
gether with the Ilocky and Sierra Nevada mountains,
which intervene. It would seem, and no doubt has
been, quite impossible for them to pass those gigan-
tic barriers and reach (unaided by man) the flowery
plains of California. That they have made the at-
tempt I have no doubt. The Mr. Rose spoken of in
another part of this work, informs me that many
gUIPflNG BEES TO CALIFORNIA. 25J
miles westward of any timber, on those vast prairies
between the Missouri and Rockj mountains^ he has
found swarms of bees that had evidently iiown until
exhausted, and settled down in the grass, and there
built a pyramid of combs during summer ; but being
in so unprotected a condition, they would doubtless
be destroyed by the rains and storms of winter, or
by the bears, who are fond of honey ; if indeed they
should escape destruction by the autumnal fires that
annually sweep over those plains.
It is related by Col. Fremont, that when he was
on one of the highest peaks of the Rocky moun-
tains a bee came to him and flew around, apparently
as an omen of good; but it was what is called
(improperly so,) a humble bee, and not one of our
domestic honey bees.
Natural obstructions are equally great to prevent
bees from reaching California from the south (from
Mexico,) by way of the Colorado river. The greater
portion of the country in that direction is sterile, and
of such a character that bees could not exist in it or
pass over it. Hence I conclude that it was quite
impossible for bees of themselves to reach California.
The time required to make the voyage from an}'
Atlantic port, either in Europe or America, via Cape
Horn, was so great, that bees would certainly perish
before their arrival, if indeed the effort was ever
made by those early missionaries. The difliculty of
transporting them across the Isthmus of Darien, and
thence by sea to California, would involve a greater
amount of labor and difficulty than Spaniards in
252 BEES AND BEE-KEEPtNG.
those early times were willing to undertake. This
would also apply to taking them by land from the
Mexican States to California*
One of two things is certain, either that the effort
was never made by those early Spanish settlers to
import bees to California, or if it was made, it proved
to be a failure; for none were found when the Amer-
icans took possession of California, nor in fact for
some years afterward.
THE FIRST STOCK OF BEES IN CALIFORNIA.
In February, 1853, Mr. C. A. Shelton, formerly of
Galveston, Texas, sailed from New York with twelve
hives of bees (in which it is said Commodore Stock-
ton and G. W. Aspinwall were interested) ; he arrived
at San Francisco in March, with but one living col-
ony, eleven having died whilst in transit. This was
the pioneer hive of bees on the Pacific coast. Mr.
Shelton, with his hive of bees, took passage on a little
steamer from San Francisco to Alviso ; on the trip
she burst her boiler, killing several persons, Mr.
Shelton being of the lamented number; but his bees
escaped unhurt, and were taken to San Jose, where
they did well.
OTHER SHIPMENTS.
Some time during the autumn or winter of 1864,
Messrs. Buck and Appleton, of San Jose, received
the next swarm of bees that arrived in California.
In the fall of 1855, my brother and partner in busi-
ness, J. S. Harbison, sent east by a friend who was
making a visit, for a hive of bees, which he received
SHIPPING BEES TO CALIFORNIA. 253
in Sacramento the first of February, 1856. But a
very small colony, with the queen, survived the long
voyage, and with proper care they increased and did
well. The result of this experiment clearly demon-
strated the fact, that if properly prepared and carefully
handled, bees could be successfully imported in large
quantities, and if once therCj that they would increase
rapidly and produce large quantities of honey. With
this assurance, he returned home in June, 1857.
Being advised by letter, we had commenced to pre-
pare stocks in a suitable manner for shipment. He
completed the preparation after his arrival, and again
started for the land of gold, sailing from New York
on the fifth of E"ovember, with sixty-seven colonies.
On arriving at Aspinwall, circumstances being favor-
able, he opened the boxes and permitted the bees to
fly out and clean themselves, which no doubt greatly
assisted in preserving their health during the rest of
the voyage. He arrived safely at Sacramento on the
first of December, having lost but five colonies on the
way ; others had been reduced in numbers until quite
weak. By uniting all such together, making strong
stocks at the expense of numbers, they were reduced
to fifty ; sixteen of these were sold, leaving but thirty-
four, which were increased during the ensuing sum-
mer to one hundred and twenty, all of which were
sold during the fall and winter, except six, yielding a
handsome profit on the investment.
This was the first large and successful shipment
of bees made to California. Others were made about
the same time, but with very indifferent success ;
22
254 BEES AND BEE-KEEtlNG.
which was owing, to a great extent, to the want of
practical knowledge on the part of those having them
in cliarge.
HOW OUR FIRST SHIPMENT WAS PREPARED.
Boxes were made of boards fths thick, one foot
square and six inches high. Into these the combs,
bees and all, were transferred in June, when honey
was plenty and young queens matured readily. The
combs were cut to fit neatly into these boxes, leaving
proper spaces between, and braced with strips of
wood, being careful to have combs in each box that
had eggs in. The bees were now divided and a por-
tion put in each box, there being enough comb and
bees in an ordinary sized hive to fill two or three of
these boxes. Those that were without queens sup-
plied themselves from eggs found in the combs. In
this way we found no difiiculty in making nearly an
average of three well organized little colonies from
one old stock. Any spaces left for want of combs
were filled in by the bees themselves; they also
fastened up the old combs thus transferred from the
old hive, very nicely and securely. Being permitted
to work in these boxes from June until the close of
the season, they were well stored with honey and
pollen for their long journey, and in a compact, port-
able shape
To these boxes we added another box at the side
(when packing them up to ship), three inches by six,
and one foot long, having first made a large opening
in the side, and securing these boxes by tacking
SHIPPING BEES TO CALIFORNIA. 256
strips ou either side. This served as a vacant cham-
ber for the bees to occupy when suffering from
extreme heat in hot latitudes. Proper openings were
made on each side, and covered with wire cloth, to
give a current of air through the box, which, with
the addition of the vacant air chamber, is twelve by
fifteen inches long and six inches in height. Two
of these formed one package,^ one set on top of the
other, being covered with oiled cloth to keep out wet,
and securely fastened with heavy twine, forming a
loop at the top, which served as a handle to carry
them by. A package of this kind, consisting of two
colonies, measures less than one and a half cubic
feet, being a great saving over ordinary sized hives,
as freight and charges arc estimated by the foot from
New York to San Francisco, and at such high rates
that every foot saved in size is important.
Our improved movable comb hive being perfected
by J. S. Harbison, of the firm of W. C. & J. S. Har-
bison, soon after arriving with the bees they were
transferred, and worked in them very successfully and
satisfactorily.
SECOND SHIPMENT, HOW PREPARED.
Our first shipment of bees to California being
successful and profitable, we resolved to prepare a
larger lot, and ship them the following year, but in
a little different form from the first lot, retaining the
same general principles in a more convenient and
practical shape ; in short, we determined to transfer
bees, with their combs, &c. from common box hives
256 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
into the improved movable frames of the proper size
to fit the hives, thirteen inches in height by twelve
in width.
Havino- received a model of the frame and suitable
box for shipping, I had boxes made of boards fths
thick, fourteen inches square and twenty inches long,
with a partition in the centre, making a convenient
receptacle for two colonies with six frames in each,
having a cross-bar -with gains cut in it for the projec-
tion of the upper part of the frame to rest in, leaving
a vacant space or chamber at front edge of the frames
of one and one-half by ten inches wide, and four-
teen deep. At the foot or opposite angle of the frame
a cross-bar, with gains cut in it to receive the tenon of
the frame, was nailed in the bottom, which held the
frames firmly in their place. Openings for the bees
to pass in and out were made for one colony in front
and one in the rear. The lid was left movable.
Having boxes and frames thus prepared, I com-
menced, in the last week of May, to transfer bees
from box hives into these frames, fastening the combs
with metallic braces, dividing the combs, bees, &c.
so as to make two colonies from one. Those des-
titute of a queen would supply themselves (in the
manner described in the chapter on rearing queens).
Some of these I again divided during the season,
making three and in some cases four colonies from
one old stock, dry combs being supplied to some
extent from other sources. They continued to work
in these small boxes during the remainder of the sea-
son, storing them well with provision for the winter.
SHIPPING BEES TO CALIFORNIA. 257
A part of the shipment I thus prepared here and
the balance was prepared in the same manner at
Ceutralia, Illinois, by A. Harbison, and shipped from
thence to New York. Preparatory to shipping, the
lids were nailed down ; wire cloth was tacked over
the openings to ventilate properly ; oiled muslin was
put over the top to protect them from being injured
by rain or spray ; heavy twine was rove around the
box, about the middle of each division, and again
lengthwise, forming a loop or top for convenient
handling. Two colonies thus prepared were but
little larger than one ordinary sized hive, and of con-
venient portable shape.
I decided to accompany this shipment, and spend
a few months in California, for the purpose of ob-
serving the elfects of so great a change of climate and
circumstances, and increasing my knowledge of the
habits and peculiarity of the honey bee. Accord-
ingly, on the loth of November, 1858, in company
with my brother, J. S. Harbison^ we started in charge
of our bees to New York, en route for California.
On reaching New York we found the steamship
Moses Taylor was to sail. Being quite small, and not
aftbrding suitable deck room for the safety of bees,
we concluded to remain until the departure of the
next steamer, causing a delay of two weeks On the
6th of December, however, we sailed, and after a
pleasant voyage arrived at Aspinwall on the 13th.
Whilst in the Caribbean sea, the bees suffered con-
siderabl}^ from the extreme heat. We kept an awn-
ing suspended over them, to protect them from the
22*
258 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
hot sun, and had them arranged in tiers on the
hurricane deck, so that a current of fresh air was
constantly passing between and around them. At
Aspinwall we had them placed in an express car to
cross the Isthmus, and obtained permission to remain
in the car with them, for the purpose of keeping the
side doors open to give a free circulation of air. Ar-
rived at Panama, they were placed in an open boat or
lighter, which was taken in tow b}' a steam tug and
run alongside the steamship, which lay at anchor
some three miles from the dock. We had them care-
fully handled, and kept them shaded from the sun ;
but so intense was the heat, that they suffered very
much. Had they been exposed to the direct rays of
the sun, the combs would have melted in a few min-
utes. We sailed from Panama on the morning of
the 15th, and arrived off Cape St. Lucas on the 24th,
where we met cold, chilly winds, making it necessary
to close up our bees a little, and shelter them from
the weather; without this precaution they would
have been seriously affected by the sudden change
from extreme heat to cold. Arriving at San Fran-
cisco on the evening of the 29th, we shipped on
steam boat for Sacramento, and reached there on the
morning of the 31st.
The bees had remained in close confinement all this
time, forty-seven days. "We found but eleven dead
out of one hundred and fourteen, one hundred and
three having survived the long and tedious voyage.
This number we reduced by uniting those that had
become weak, making one strong stock from two or
SHIPPING BEES TO CALIFORNIA. . 259
more weak ones. We lifted each comb out of the
boxes, and after cleaning them carefully, transferred
bees and all into hives that were prepared to receive
them ; the frames fitting nicely, it required but a few
minutes to transfer a colony. Thus in a short time
we had them working in clean new hives. We fed
them syrup daily whilst a scarcity of honey existed
(in the manner described in the chapter on feeding),
which caused them to breed very rapidly.
After the close of our sales of bees, we had, on the
fifteenth of March, 1859, sixty-eight colonies, which
we reserved as stock to propagate from ; this stock
was increased during the summer to four hundred
and twenty-two, by dividing, or artificial swarms,
without a single natural swarm in the whole lot!
being an increase of five and one-fifth from each col-
ony, all of which, with a very few exceptions, were
strong, well filled, vigorous stocks for wintering. Of
this number two hundred and eighty-four were sold
at one hundred dollars each. The remaining one
hundred and thirty-four colonies we retained to prop-
agate from during the present summer of 1860.
PECULIARITIES OF BEES IN CALIFORNIA.
Whilst in California, I visited all the principal
bee-keepers in the State, although scattered over a
great district of country. I found bees every where
prospering and increasing beyond any thing I had
ever before seen in any of the Atlantic States. The
moth or worms appear harmless, aficcting the bees
but little, although they seem sufficiently numerous
260 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
to levy contributions on them there as extensively as
in the older States. The reason I assign for the
difference is, the nights are quite cool, when the
days are hot, sufficiently so to chill the miller and
retard her in her nocturnal excursions for depositing
eggs, as night is the time she selects for this purpose.
Another reason is, there is a continuous succession
of honey-producing flowers, keeping the bees en-
couraged, vigorous and healthy during the season
when most infested by worms, and consequently they
will defend themselves more warmly against their
attacks.
I noticed two peculiarities in the natural history
and habits of the bee in California. The first is, that
all young bees come to maturit}'' from two to four
daj^s sooner than they do in Pennsylvania. The
other, that the swarms have a much greater propen-
sity for flying away and seeking homes for themselves
than in the Atlantic States. These are problems for
naturalists to solve ; I merely state the facts, leaving
my readers to judge of the cause.
AUTUMN.
CHAPTER XXI.
ROBBING.
At any time of year, from the first warm days in
spring until the close of warm weather in the autumn,
when little if any honey can be obtained abroad in
the fields, bees are apt to rob. The times when most
danger is to be apprehended, is early in the spring
and late in the autumn ; the most serious losses in
this region of country have been after the close of
the buckwheat season. The prime moving cause has
been, as far as my observation extends, the loss of
queens, in the manner described in the chapter on
loss of queens. Bees from other hives, when honey
becomes scarce abroad, and they are yet anxious to
add to their supplies, find out those disorganized and
feeble colonies, destitute of queens, well knowing
that they will make but little resistance, and com-
mence to carry off their honey. When they get
fairly started, all the bees in the apiary will take
part, and in a few hours become so much excited
(and this excitement often extends to neighboring
apiaries), as to attack even very strong hives, conquer
them and carry off" their honey. In this case a furious
battle generally ensues, before a well organized col-
ony will submit to be thus plundered.
(261)
262 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
CAUSE OF ROBBING.
The principal cause of robbing, is the desire to
increase their stores of honey, so strongly implanted
in the nature of the bee. Like the miser and dis-
honest man, so long as their treasures are being filled,
all is well, no matter from whence it comes or how
unjustly it may be acquired.
When the flowers cease to supply honey, and the
weather is warm, bees are constantly out searching
in every direction for it, and hence they are easily
attracted by a hive standing in the apiary with honey,
the bees of which are unable to protect it. This is
the most common cause of fatal robberies. A dish
of honey, or even a box or comb, exposed carelessly
until they find it, and thus become excited, often
starts them to robbing ; or carelessly feeding a weak
colony with either honey or syrup, readily attracts
them. Colonies thus fed should be kept closed up,
so that not more than one or two bees could pass at
one time. In fact, when feeding bees, it is well to
do it in the evening, when it will generally be taken
up during the night and stored away, obviating any
danger from this source.
HOAV TO PREVENT ROBBING.
But little danger need be apprehended from rob-
bing, if all the stocks in the apiary are properly cared
for and examined, upon the least suspicion of the
loss of the queen, or of having become weak from
any other cause, and applying the proper remedy in
time. In short, if bee-keepers will give their bees
ROBBING. 26S
pi'Opef care and attention, such as has been indicated
and directed in this treatise, there is very little dan-
ger of loss from this cause.
HOW TO DETECT ROBBING.
"When bees get fairly started robbing, there is no
mistaking the fact. They will be gathered thick
around the hive, seeking an entrance at every crack
or joint, and will be seen in considerable quantities
in an excited manner at the first onset, fighting even
after the bees of the hive have ceased to make re-
sistance. They sometimes engage in combat, as I sup-
pose, when bees from other hives make their appear-
ance to claim a part of the prey which those first
in possession rightly claim as their own. When
robbers are carrying ofi" honey, it can be detected by
watching those that pass out. If they fly as if heavy
laden, you ma}^ take it for granted that they are
robbing ; but if they leave the hive in a straight line,
nimble and light, which they generally do whilst in
legitimate pursuits, it is good evidence that all is welL
Robbers may be known by their buzzing around in a
thieving manner, and peeping in at the cracks of the
hive, as if spying out the condition of their neighbors.
REMEDY.
When you first discover a propensity to robbing,
be careful to close up the entrance of all weak stocks,
so that not more than one or two bees can pass at
one time. If the robbers collect in numbers at any
one hive, sprinkle flour over them, and then watch
S64 BEES AND BEE-KEEMNG.
carefully and find the hives to which they belong.
It is generally strong stocks that commence first. If
the proper hives can be found, shut them up closely,
to prevent their ingress or egress, being always care-
ful to ventilate the hive to admit plenty of air, lest
they be smothered. Let them stand shut up thus
until near sunset, when those that are abroad will
enter; in the mean time they will be on the alighting
board and around the hive, seeking to enter, but no
danger or loss will ensue from this cause.
When they have got fairly started to rob, and the
whole apiary is in an uproar, the only reliable and
sure remedy I have ever found, is to proceed imme-
diately and close up every hive, both weak and strong,
in the apiary (being always careful to ventilate prop-
erly); keep them thus until near sunset, then open
all at once, when all that are outside will return
into the hive. Then close them up again, either
about dark or early next morning before any goes
abroad ; keep them closed until evening, and again
open them. This course will completely nonplus
the robbers. If those principally engaged in it are
stocks in the apiary, shutting them up thus discomfits
them completely for the time being ; and should they
be from a neighboring apiary, they will soon get dis-
couraged, when they find all doors closed against
them, and give it up. But in any case they are likely
to renew their attack at some future time.
Our hives are peculiarly well adapted to close up
to prevent robbing, being thoroughly ventilated from
the graduated air chamber below. The front slide
UNITING SWARMS. 266
and tin caps are so couvenieutly arranged as to be
closed or opened in a few moments, if necessary. A
large number of stocks can thus be closed up in a
short time.
CHAPTER XXIL
UNITING SAVARMS.
UNITING WEAK STOCKS IN THE FALL.
All small or weak swarms, in autumn, that may
be in movable comb hives, should be united, putting
two or more together, sufficient at least to form a
strong colony, and have an abundance of honey to
keep them over winter. Proceed as follows, in the
evening is the best time : Open the hives, blow smoke
freely into each of them, which serves to scent all
alike, to prevent fighting, as well as to render them
docile whilst operating upon ; then proceed to put
the combs, bees and all, into one hive, by lifting out
the combs with the bees adhering to them, setting
aside such as contain the least honey. Should the
combs be new, and the frames but partially filled, it
is well to exchange some of them for frames con-
taining older and larger combs, from some strong
colony that can best spare them. It would be ad-
visable to take but one, or at most two combs from
any one hive. Bees should always be brushed off
these combs into their own hive, before removing
them. When the operation is completed, and the
23
266 BEES ANC BEE-KEErtNG*
union thus formed, and all the straggling bees col-
lected into one hive, shut it up, ventilating properly.
Keep it thus closed until sunset the next day, then
open it and again shut it up next morning, before
they begin to fly; open again in the evening, per-
mitting them to fly. Early next morning blow a
little smoke into the hive, or rap on it; by this
means when they fly out, supposing they have been
removed, they will be careful to take a new reckon-
ing, and all return to the hive; othenvise those
moved from another stand, and united in the new
stand, will return and be lost.
TO UNITE SWARMS IN BOX HIVES.
It is more diflicult to unite weak stocks that are
in box hives, yet it can be done as follows: Blow
smoke freely into each stock you wish to operate
upon; invert both hives; with a thin-bladed knife
cut the points of the combs square, in the hive that
has the straightest combs ; pry off the side of the
other hive with a chisel or hatchet; now cut the
fastenings of the combs at the sides and top, set
these in crosswise of those already in the hive, first,
however, boring two holes in each side of the hive
f ths of an inch ; provide two sticks to tit, point them
nicely, and push them through each comb from the
one side as they are put in, until all are in — these
sticks penetrate the holes on the opposite side.
Take lumps of wax, or pieces of combs, and put
between the combs, bridging them clear across to
keep them the proper distance apart. The bees
UNITING SWARMS. 2(37
should be'*all put in just as they adhere to the combs.
Now close the hive by tacking a thin cloth over it,
and let it stand inverted in a shop or other conve-
nient place, for three or four days, or until the beea
have time to attach these combs firmly, when they
can be set out again.
I prefer to perform all these operations at night in
the shop ; then all the straggling bees will collect in.
the hive, when they can be closed up early in the
morning.
WINTER.
CHAPTER XXIII.
WINTERING BEES.
PROTECTION.
This is a part of my subject which leads directly
upon controverted ground. Nothing, perhaps, has
given rise to a wider range of opinions and theories
than wintering bees in cold latitudes. To get a cor-
rect knowledge of the nature of bees, and to fully
comprehend their wants and requirements, divests
the subject of much of that mystery and darkness
that has long enveloped the wintering of bees. I
have not time at present to dwell at length on this
subject, and therefore will confine m3'self principally
to the mode of wintering bees that has proved the
most successful and satisfactory with us, and which
appears to be the most in accordance with the nat-
ural habits of the bee, and which I can recommend
for general practice by all classes of bee-keepers,
embracing every degree of latitude, from the warmest
to the coldest.
There are really but two modes of wintering bees
in cold latitudes that are worthy of any notice; the
first of these is (and I believe the most natural) win-
tering them in the open air, being properly protected.
The second, is to winter them in close, dark rooms.
•^ (208)
WINTERING BEES. 269
Each of these plans has its advocates, its advantages
and disadvantages.
My object has been to ascertain the best practical
method of wintering bees ; one best calculated to
suit the circumstances of the greatest number of
bee-keepers. I have tried all the diiFerent plans sug-
gested that gave promise of success, and have found
the most uniform success in M'intering our bees in
the open air, having them properl}" protected from
wind and snow, lining the sides and tops of the hives
with straw mats (removing a comb from each side in
movable comb hives), and ventilating properly to
promote the escape of vapor and moisture. By this
arrangement we combine all the advantages possessed
by the straw hive (and all apiarians agree that they
are a superior kind of hives for wintering bees in,)
with the wooden hives, which are more easily con-
structed.
In the first place, our hives are constructed so that
of themselves they afford the bees a very considerable
degree of protection from the effects of winds and
snows in winter. The bottom board is an inclined
plane, and stationary, the openings being condensed
for wintering, having no openings on the back part of
the hive, and consequently no current of wind passing
through or under the hive, as is the case where hives
are open and raised up from the bench, giving the
wind a clear sweep between it and the stool, and
often drifting the snow up between the combs and
constantly carrying off the heat generated by the
bees. Our hives are so constructed, that a current of
23*
270 hYAZS AND BEK-KEEPING,
fresh air is constantly passing from the graUnating air
chamber below, to supply the bees. The wind can
be entirely cxckulecl from penetrating in front when
desired. Thus much for protection afforded by the
hive itself.
In addition to this, we surround our apiary with a
close board fence about seven feet higli, making a
very effectual breakwind, shielding the bees very
much from the fierce blasts and driving storms of
winter. Whilst the cold winds are roaring around
and above the apiary, the air is comparatively calm
down near the bees, and consequently the effects of
the cold are very materially lessened. This break-
wind is of great value in the spring and early part of
the summer, as well as winter. In cool, windy days
bees will return home heavy laden, being somewhat
chilled by the cold, and in their descent to the hive
drop down on the ground, where they would prob-
ably perish if the cold wind continued to reach
them ; but when protected from it, especially when
the sun is sliining, they will recover and take wing
again, if too far to crawl, and still reach home in
safety.
Where but few bees are kept, they should be thus
protected by an inclosure of proportionate size ; but
where it cannot be done conveniently, take long
straw, inclose the top end tightly in a band, forming
a cap or hudder, and set it over the hive. It should
be two or three inches thick, and project below the
bench or stool, and be firmly bound to the hive by
passing one or more bands around, enveloping the
WINTERINa BEES. ll71
straw. The straw, for the space of five or six inches,
should be cut off' with a sharp k,uife, a little above
the front entrance, leaving the bees a clear open pas-
sage. This cap of straw should be put on, on the
approach of cold weather in the fall, and may be
permitted to remain until the opening of spring. It
forms no obstruction to the free ingress and egress
of the bees during warm days in winter and early
spring. K properly ventilated, and the mice keep
out, bees will winter safely in this way. It is but
little trouble, and suits careless bee-keepers very well.
But the great difficulty has been, in wintering bees
in the open air in all kinds of hives made of wood,
to get rid of the moisture generated in the hive
by the breath of the bees, which condenses on the
sides and top of the hive in very cold weather, ac-
cumulating, at times, until the bees are completely
enveloped in a sheet of frost and ice to the thickness
of over half an inch. This frost and ice will melt
the first warm day, and trickle down over the bees,
where they are clustered on or between the combs,
wetting them ; and frequently the weather will
suddenly change and freeze very hard the following
night. Under such circumstances I have seen colo-
nies frequently frozen to death, Avhich, if they had
been perfectly dry, would have survived the winter
without any difficulty.
Then again, if hard freezing w^eather continues for
several weeks without intermission, which frequently
occurs in this latitude, this moisture will be con-
stantly thrown off" by the bees, filling the pores of
272 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
the wood and every thing in the hive tliat will absorb
it, until completely- saturated (when condensed form-
ing the envelope of frost and ice already described),
and the atmosphere becomes humid and incapable
of taking up any more, and it gradually settles
around the bees. Being thus unable to throw off"
this moisture, their bodies become distended with
faeces, causing many to leave the cluster and crawl
toward the entrance to void their tilth, when they
become chilled and are unable to return again, and
thus miserably perish. Thousands are lost in this
way, and those that survive until the weather mod-
erates, and enables them to fly out, are found to be
in a very unhealthy condition ; unable to fly any
distance, dropping on the ground or on any object
around, seemingly unable to void their faeces. Vast
quantities perish thus, being unable to return to the
hive. I have seen manj' colonies thus depopulated.
The healthy bees that would remain being too few in
number to maintain sufiicient heat to mature brood,
although the queen was apparentlj' all right, the
number would gradually decrease, and finally, queen
and all, die. Bees from other hives would discover
its defenseless condition, and carry ofi" the honey,
some warm day, if not removed or closed up. I have
frequently seen hives lost in this manner. I exam-
ined several during the last year, and found the
queen and a dozen or two workers only remaining,
with honey and pollen in abundance. Many hives
of bees are lost annually all over the country, the
true cause of which is not even suspected by the
WINTERING BEES. 273
owner ; and in many cases the loss is not observed
until bees from other hives are carrying out the
honey. Then it is supposed to have been attacked
and robbed by them.
This difficulty is not peculiar to any one form of
liives (most fatal in broad tiat hives), but is common
to all hives composed of wood, unless the proper
remedy is applied to absorb and carry oft' this mois-
ture. It never occurs in straw hives, from the fact
that the straw of which the hive is composed absorbs
all the moisture from the bees as fast as it is gen-
erated, and passes it oft" to the surrounding atmos-
phere, thereby freeing the bees from its injurious
eft'ects.
THE INVENTION OF WINTER MATS.
Being well aware of the superiority of straw hives
over wooden ones for wintering bees in, and the
difficulty of constructing them in a neat and practi-
cal shape being much greater than wood, I resolved
to apply straw in the form of mats inside the mov-
able comb hives, to act as an absorbent to take up and
carry off the moisture, and thus combine the superior
qualities of the straw hives for wintering bees with
the more conveniently constructed and substantial
hives made of wood.
With this object in view, I set to work to invent
some plan to construct straw mats in a cheap and
simple form, combining neatness and durability, and
in such manner as to be easily adjusted to any style
of movable comb hive. In this I have succeeded, at
least to my own satisfaction, in the following manner:
274 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
I get out for each mat two strips of soft wood, one-
half inch wide, fths thick, the length to suit the
depth of the mat required ; two strips of leather,
duck, drilling, or any strong cloth, one-half or one
inch, and double it. Take clean, straight straw of
any kind most convenient (either rj'e or wheat is
best), cut it in lengths to suit the width of the hive ;
ours is thirteen inches inside. Lay down the strips
of wood (on iron, bars, if possible,) about nine inches
apart. Place your straw across them to the depth of
one and a half or two inches, and put the strips of
leather or cloth immediately above the strips of
wood; tack them through the wood with six ounce
tacks, very near the ends. Draw the strips tight and
tack them in the same manner near the other end.
Be careful to adjust the straw square across the
strips, and of an equal thickness from one end to the
other. Take twenty ounce tacks, drive one through
the centre of each strip, clinching on the iron under-
neath the strip of wood. Divide the spaces again
about in the centres, and tack through, clinching
every time until there is a tack to about every one
and a fourth inches in each strip. Cut the ends of
the straw square with large shears, or with a hatchet
on a block ; trim off any loose straws. In this way
you can make a mat almost as stiff" as a board, and
one that will stand almost any amount of knocking
about; being so firm they are not objectionable to
the bees. I prefer this mode of making mats, but
there are other ways quite as convenient.
WINTERING BBESi 275
Another method of making straw mats.
1 sometimea made them in the following manner,
which is also very simple, and answers the purpose
very well 2 Take four strips of wood, the length to
suit the depth of the mat; they may either be round
or have the corners rounded off, and about fths
diameter. Prepare straw same as in the first in-
stance. Place two of these strips about nine or ten
inches apart; across these put straw about two inches
deep, on top of which place the other strips imme-
diately above the first. Bind the ends of these
together with twine, to hold all the parts to their
places. Now take a collar needle and twine, and
sew it through, passing the twine each time around
these strips, binding them as firmly together as pos-
sible, thus making a very nice mat.
The strips of wood may be dispensed with entirely,
and simply pass the twine around and sew through
the straw, passing the twine each time over the one
in the opposite direction. In this way very nice
mats can be made. Other plans may be adopted for
making them. The point I claim is applying mats
of straw inside the hive to absorb moisture. They
should be made about from one to one and a half
inches thick, just right to fill the spaces of the combs
that were removed.
3I0DE OP APPLYING THEM.
On the approach of winter, take the frames or combs
next to the sides of the hive out, and put a mat in
the place they occupied. If a sash with glass is
276
BEES ANb BEE-KEEPINd.'
The above engraving illustrates tbo mode of arranging the straw mats in
tbe hive for wintering bees. Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are winter mats. No. 1
shows the strips of leather on the one side, through which the tacks are
driven, the heads of which are shown. No, 2 show^5 the strips of wood on
the upper side of the mat through which the tack is driven and clenched.
To arrange these mats, on the approach of winter, remove a comb or frame
from each side of the hive, and in their place insert a mat, as shown hy
figures 3 and 4. Remove the honey -board from the top of the frames, and
put a mat in its place, as seen in figure 2. Remove the glass from the rear
of the frame, and insert a mat, as represented by figure 1, which will, when
Wintering bees. 277
properly aJjusted, cover the entire space from figure 3 to figure 4, thus in-
closing the whole colony with these mats.
The combs which are thus removed, together with the glass and houey-
board, should be carefully preserved) to be returned to their appropriate
places on the opening of spring. The door and lid oi" the hive should now be
closed, leaving the hole near the toji of the door open for the vapor and foul
air to pass off, thus forming a current of air (constantly during winter), pass-
ing in at the entrance and from the graduated air chamber and up through
the hive, carrying off all moisture which is absorbed by the mats as fast as
generated by the bees, and entirely removing the difiiculty that has hith-
erto existed in wintering bees in the open air.
Used, as in our hive, remove it and put a mat iu its
place. Remove the honey-board and place a mat on
top of the frames, immediately over the bees, thus
surrounding them with winter mats on three sides
and over the top. If the hive is provided with about
two hich holes above this top mat, all the moisture
generated by the bees will be taken up by the mats
and passed off in the form of vapor, keeping the hive
and bees perfectly dry, as well as affording much
greater warmth to the bees.
Combs thus removed to give place to the mats,
should be placed carefully in a honey-room or in a
suitable box ; and in the spring remove the mats and
return the combs to the hives. In spring the mats
should be strung on twine, and hung up in some dry,
clean room, where they will be kept free from dust
and filth. With proper care they will last for many
years.
A short time ago I wrote to Mr. Quinby, to ascer-
tain his views respecting the efficiency and value of
these winter mats. I give his reply verbatim :
24
S78 SEES AND BEE-kEEPl^a.
St. Johnsville, N. Y., February, 1860.
Mr. W. C. Harbison : Dear Sir — Yours of Jan
Uary 27th is at hand. For winteruig bees out-doors,
I thiuk your straw mats must be valuable. Although
I never tried them, I can easily comprehend some of
their advantages. When bees are wintered in the
open air, the moisture generated by them forming
frost, ice, &c. is the cause of much mischief, when
the air passages are closed, or nearly so. When the
hive is properly ventilated to get rid of this moisture,
so much of the animal heat escapes with it, that
the bees suffer with cold, and many small colonies
actually freeze to death. Now it appears to me, that
by surrounding the combs with straw mats so much
of the moisture will be absorbed as to be in no dan-
ger of checking the air passages with frost, conse-
quently less ventilation will be necessary, and the
bees will be warmer on this account, as well as the
warmth afforded by the mats otherwise.
I winter my bees in the house usually ; but should
I have occasion to leave some out, I shall certainly
want to try them.
M. QUINBY.
PATENT AVPLIEB FOR FOR THE INVENTION OF WINTER MATS.
So important and so valuable has the invention
and application of these winter mats proved, now
that movable comb hives of various kinds arc being
generally adopted by bee-keepers, that I have applied
to the Commissioner of Patents for letters patent
securing to me the benefits of the invention. TIiogo
WINTERING BEES. 279
wiuter mats are equally applicable to any kind or
style of movable comb or leaf bee hives ; or in
common chamber or box hives, a mat may be put in
the chamber with great advantage, simply removing
the honey boxes and leaving the holes open imme-
diately above the bees. A very considerable amount
of moisture will be thus absorbed, which would pass
up through the openings, particularly if large.
HOW BEES AVINTER WHEN LEFT TO THEMSELVES,
A warm climate seems to be the natural place for
bees, yet like many other kinds of domestic stock,
they will live and thrive in almost any climate where
flowers abound to produce honey and pollen, and
there is sufficient warm weather to permit them to
lay up supplies for winter use, providing they are
properly protected from the rains and storms, to-
gether with incidental protection from extreme cold.
Bees in this climate, when left to themselves to
seek a location, usually select a cavity or hollow in
the trunk or limb of a tree in the forest, which is
generally oblong in shape ; here they build their
combs, having a much greater depth than width.
When the bees clustet for winter, they will assume a
neat compact shape, commencing at the bottom of
the combs and extending upward to a height in
proportion to the size of the colony. Thus clustered
they are similar to a sugar loaf, with the large end
up. This form secures the greatest economy of ani-
mal heat, w^hich, by a law of nature, always ascends,
and serves to warm the combs and honey a little
280 BEES AND BEE-KEEPINQ.
above and in advance of the bees, who invariably
cluster on the approach of winter upon the empty
portion of the combs at the bottom, the upper end
of the cluster overlapping that part filled with honey,
thus keeping a sufficient amount for immediate use
always warm, from which they draw their daily sup-
port during the continuance of cold weather, and as
the honey is consumed, necessity requires the bees to
ascend higher and higher to keep near their supplies.
Hhould the depth of comb immediately above them
be sufficient to aiibrd this, they will winter finely;
but if they should reach the top during very cold
weather, although there may be plenty of honey in
other parts of the hive, they will starve to death. If
they leave the cluster to pass over or around inter-
vening combs, they get chilled, and will never re-
turn. I have seen many such cases.
But perhaps some one is ready to ask. How do you
know bees are thus found in hollow trees? it would
be difficult to climb up and look in. To this I
would say, I have examined several that were cut
and lowered down by ropes and taken to the apiary,
and kept there for years and finally dissected, and
the bees transferred to a hive. I have seen a great
many bee trees dissected after felling them with the
axe. I have also examined quite a number of gums
or hives made by sawing off" a section of a hollow
gum tree when filled with bees and combs, the
diameter of which was quite small in proportion to
the length, thereby following nature as closely as
possible. I have made these observations at all sea-
WINTERING BEES. 281
sons of tlie year, and have found the facts as stated.
Hence, I conclude that the fact of bees selectino- and
occupying such cavities, is strong evidence that they
are better suited to their natural habits and better
adapted to the wants peculiar to a cold climate. In
short, in this condition and shape they are nearer a
state of nature than any other.
BEST SHAPED HIVES FOR WINTERING BEES IN.
I have found in managing bees, as in most other
things, the closer we adhere to the known rules and
laws of nature the better success will attend our ef-
forts; hence, I have striven to keep this in view in
practice as well as theory.
Taking it for granted that bees themselves under-
stand best the shape of the cavity adapted to winter
in, in a cold climate, and in pursuance of which they
make such selections as have been described, it
should admonish us to construct all hives intended
for wintering in the open air, of an oblong shape,
giving the bees a good depth of comb, to enable
them to pass safely through the extreme and often
long continued inclement weather, without danger
of starving amidst plenty. Having a good depth of
comb also very much facilitates breeding in the early
spring, as the animal heat is better economized than
in any other shape. Broad, flat hives are very ob-
jectionable, both for wintering bees in and for rearing
brood, as the bees frequently consume all the honey
immediately above them during a cold spell, and
perish, being unable to reach any other part of the
24*
282 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
hive. There are but two points gained in the broad
flat hives, that I ever could discover: the first, is a
greater surface to put honey boxes in to obtain the
surphis honey ; the second, they are not so apt to be
blown over by high winds.
To the first of these I would say, bees will store
just as much honey in a hive thirteen inches square
as they will in a hive twice that size. This can easily
be tested. To the second point I reply, that all those
who merit success in bee-keeping will so protect their
bees as to suffer no inconvenience from using oblong
hives. But the advantages derived from such hives
in wintering bees in the open air, exceeds tenfold
their disadvantages.
Broad flat hives are perhaps better adapted to win-
tering bees in, when kept in warm, dark rooms; and
they are more convenient for storing away on shelves.
When thus kept during winter, the shape of the hive
is of less importance, so far as wintering is concerned.
WINTERING BEES IN DARK ROOMS.
I can say but little about this mode of wintering
bees. That they can be thus kept through the winter
does not admit of a doubt, and that they are thus
kept by some apiarians, is equally true ; but that it
is the best plan for the majority of bee-keepers to
adopt, permit me at present to doubt.
To winter them successfully in a room, requires a
degree of care and watchfulness that but few are
willing to give them, in order to keep all right during
the sudden changes of weather to which our climate
PROFITS OP BEE-KEEPINa. 283
is subject. There are but few bee-keepers who have
suitable rooms in which to winter their bees; and
where but few are kept, it is more difficult to pre-
serve them in this manner than if there is a sufficient
quantity to keep the room warm. It is just as natu-
ral for bees to want their liberty, and fly out on warm
days, as it is for sparks to fly upward ; hence, I con-
clude that to confine them is contrary to their nature,
and consequently injurious to their future health and
prosperity.
I have thus wintered bees, and on setting them out
in spring found their condition similar to those we
shipped to California, on opening them out after
landing.
CHAPTER XXIV.
PROFITS OF BEE-KEEPING.
This, after all, is the great point at issue. Many
persons would become bee-keepers, if they knew it
would be very profitable.
It is difficult to estimate correctly what profit may
be derived from average stocks of bees per annum.
The usual price per hive here, is about nine or ten
dollars, in good hives. The average product from
each good stock per year, if managed in the manner
I have suggested in this treatise, in swarms and
honey, should be about equal to the first cost of the
stocks. From this should be deducted the price of
284 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING.
whatever feed they may get, hives, &c. for swarms.
Very much, however, depends on the season and
yield of honey, and also upon the fact of feeding
them early in the season.
In California, a good hive of bees will cost one
hundred dollars ; and if fed and skillfully managed,
can be increased to ten in one year, at a cost of per-
haps one hundred and fifty dollars for hives and feed;
which in turn can be sold for one hundred dollars
each, yielding, say seven hundred and fifty dollars on
the investment, less time and labor. If permitted
to make honey and swarm naturally, it will perhaps
cast off from two to four swarms, and make at least
one hundred pounds of surplus honey, which will
still be a nice profit. Such profits are too enormous
to continue long, yet the rearing of bees will pay
for years to come.
In short, bee-keeping, with the requisite know-
ledge, can be made very profitable, almost any place
in the United States.
CHAPTER XXV.
HONEY BEE IN CHINA.
Sacramento, Cal. June 15, 1859.
W. C. Harbison, Esq : Bear Sir — At your request,
I have much pleasure in sending you a few items in
reference to the honey bee in China. I onh' regret
that my information on the subject is so meagre,
for, although I resided in different parts of China for
HONEY BEE IN CHINA. 285
eighteen or twenty years, my attention was never
very specially drawn to this matter. I have seen the
bees there at work, and have been acquainted with
natives who owned them, and I have often there
purchased honey for family use.
The honey bee has long attracted the attention of
the Chinese people, and Chinese authors have written
of its nature and habits, while the most of these
writers have evidently never closely studied the pecu-
liarities of this wonderful little insect.
In the southern part of the empire is a splendid
range of mountains, called by the natives Meiling, the
Flowery Mountains, because of the exuberance of
wild flowers every where to be found. Here the
honey bee finds delicious pasturage and flourishes in
abundance. The people along the southern base of
the Meiling are in the habit of collecting the young
bees in the cells before their heads and legs are per-
fect, and frying them with oil, enjoy them as a great
luxury of the table. The young silk worm they
prepare and eat in like manner.
The Chinese writers say there are three kinds of
bees, but I have no doubt they draw^ more largely
on their imagination than on facts for the differences
which they detail. They say the first kind is the
wild bee, which builds and works in forest trees and
in underground caverns ; the second kind is the
house bee, which is domesticated in hives, making
delicious honey, and is small and yellowish ; the
third kind makes its nest among high crags and
rocky places — it makes jvhat is called the rock
286 BBES AND BEE-KEEPING.
honey, which is of a blackish color, the bee itself
resembling an ox-fly. You can form your own es-
timate of these descriptions.
The Chinese are fully aware that the bees only
live in swarms, and they say that they go out of the
hive twice a day, similar to the rise and fall of the
tide. They say the females have forked tails, but the
males have not, and that whenever a bee gathers
honey, it enwraps the "flower with its thighs. The
Chinese are aware that each swarm is governed by
one royal head, which is larger than the others ; but
they make the egregious blunder in holding that
this royal head is a king, belonging to the male
gender, instead of being a female, a queen.
In the cold regions of the north of China, the hives
are said to be protected in the winter by putting
them into holes dug in the ground, and the bees are
sustained by introducing quantities of prepared syrup.
There is one particular which I must not omit to
mention, although you will find it, like myself, hard
to believe, but it seems to be a pretty well authenti-
cated fact, to wit : In some places north, when they
are preparing the hives ready for depositing them in
the ground, for the winter, there is introduced into
each hive a whole dried chicken, and on opening the
hives in the spring, nothing is found but the cleanly
picked bones of the fowl. This may seem incredible,
because feeding on dead flesh being so contrary to
the supposed habits of the honey bee; but you will
remember that in the instance of the beautiful riddle
of Samson, a swarm of bees were found actively at
fiOls^Et fiEE IN CitlNA. 28?
Work within the dead carcass of the lion which
Samson by his strong arm had slain.
The Chinese require immense qnantities of wax,
very much of which is used for a coating to the vast
numbers of candles which they burn in their temples.
Tens of thousands of pounds of wax are imported
annually into China from the islands of Sumatra,
Borneo, Java, &c. The bees on these islands are
said to be of very small size^ make very little honey^
and are only hunted for their wax*
I have recently met with a Chinese who was the
owner of bees in the south of China, and he seems
much interested in the matter. He says that he did
not feed his bees ; that each swarm would, on an
average, produce three new swarms annually. The
price of a strong swarm would be about twent}'*
five dollars, and the honey about thirteen cents a
pound. He says there were a great many persons in
his district who reared bees, and all generally found
the business quite profitable.
I shall not fail to give this matter still more atten-
tion, and you may hear from me again. Meantime,
believe me.
Yours, faithfully,
J. Lewis Shuck.
WHEREl RIGHTS MAY BE OBTAINED.
For Hives, individual, township, county or State
Rights, for Harbison's Improved Movable Comb
Bee Hive, apply to John S. Harbison, Sacramento
City, California, for all territory on the Pacilic coast.
In the State of Iowa, to J. H. Dickey, Bellevue,
Jackson county, Iowa.
In the States of Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky,
to A. F, Moon, Paw-Paw, Van Buren county,
Michigan.
In New Jersey or adjoining territory^ to George
Henry, Hammonton, Atlantic count}-, N. J.
In Ashtabula county, Ohio, to O. B. Sparry, Ash-
tabula, Ohio.
In Butler county, Pa. to A. B. Tinker, Butler, Pa.
In Mercer, Lawrence, Beaver, Allegheny, Wash-
ington, Westmoreland, and the four townships in
the south-west corner of Butler county, Pa. and
Columbiana and Jefferson counties in Ohio, and the
Pan-handle of Virginia, to A. Stewart & Co. New
Brighton, Beaver county. Pa.
For all other territory, apply to W. C. Harbison,
Chenango, Lawrence county, Pa. or to A. Stewart,
Fallston, Beaver county. Pa.
(288)
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