pe TR At Ried oe * Pi: % ss eh? date, = . b> Rethee aSerepegtve nhagutansie a sTette:, ae or SS ae etc ats ja atse ait Se ae Re es Seog aa tthe: tibet aE, Soavletertiedaee aeRai =~ oy, snwee ' PT eh ey eee 5 eeepc nto uch ay Bane dt) uk ‘, ing « vf LIBRARY OF TRE UNIVERSITY OF iLLINUIS ———— —— == : = OO — <> 2 ———— - 3 — = — = = ——_—__—_——_ — = ———— ~~ = ——SSSS ~ — —=—_— 2 oe as: = $$ ~ SS = ee —S —————S I: A BX DOCS Hh «l! \ 1 p stl} \ HW il i! | y |! aut HT) | | ill IIHS | i nea AUTH Ht HM | i A Wet I | ; Al Wy i ’ al | f ‘ \ y Hepat Thi aa Hy i Nt ii i , Wy ‘iti Ay to, ‘tf A i Hil / ray My lift] | i ! Wy ; ee AN 1h q My Slee mH Sis li Hy } jit | Aft Heat My) HH offi Mii} ff hifi) | ALT TTY wt it | 1h Whi lh \ if ty i\ \ Ota \\ dal \ \ SY t} h\ in| y } Ht} wh : ee TERE 27) TO AN i : ps Un 3 ¥ ———SS—SS= ———SS == Py dd Tes sy Sat S t i} = HUMANITY TO HONEY-BEES: OR, PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS |. FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF HONEY-BEES UPON AN IMPROVED AND HUMANE PLAN, BY WHICH THE LIVES OF BEES MAY BE PRESERVED, AND ABUNDANCE OF HONEY OF A SUPERIOR QUALITY MAY BE OBTAINED. BY THOMAS NUTT. Vos non vobis mellificatis Apes: Sic VIRGIL. SECOND EDITION. WISBECH: PRINTED BY H.AND J. LEACH, FOR THE AUTHOR, OF WHOM IT MAY BE HAD AT MOULTON-CHAPEL, OR AT 131, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON. SOLD ALSO BY LONGMAN AND CO. PATERNOSTER-ROW, LONDON. Price Ten Shillings. 1834. ENTERED AT STATIONERS HALL. Also may be had on application to my agent, Mr. G. _ Neighbour, 131, High Holborn, near Southampton Street, London, honey taken on the principles here specified, with hives stocked with bees, or unstocked. All letters must be post paid to the author. ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL. DEDICATION, 638 ait N96? sy perission, 1834 TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY, OQUBREN ADELAIDE. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY, To pen a dedication skilfully is ‘te generally the most difficult part of an Author’s __task; but a dedication to ROYALTY is so the success of my undertaking—tremble lest a Li24ic 1V DEDICATION. I should fail to express myself dutifully, oratefully, properly; though 1 am not with- out hope that your Majesty’s goodness will graciously extend to the Author that degree of indulgence of which he is sensible he stands so much in need, especially as nothing unbecoming a dutiful subject to write, or improper for a gracions Sovereign to read, is intended to be here expressed. As, however, every colony of Bees, where- ever domiciled, whether in a box, or in a cottage-hive, in the roof of a house, or in the trunk of a hollow-tree, is under an admirable government, the presiding head and Sovereign of which is a QUEEN,—as no colony of Bees, deprived of its QUEEN, ever prospers, or long survives such loss,—as this insect government, or government of insects, DEDICATION, v exhibits to man the most perfect pattern of devoted attachment, and of true allegiance on the part of the subject Bees to their Sovereign, and of industry, ingenuity, pros- perity, and apparently of general happiness in their well-ordered state,—and as these most curious and valuable little creatures have hitherto been most cruelly treated— have been, and still are, annually sacrificed by millions, for the sake of their sweet treasure; I do feel a pleasure, and think there is a sort of analogical propriety, in dedicating #0 your Gracious Majesty this work, the leading feature of which is— Humanity to Honey-Bees. Under your Majesty’s fostering and influential Patronage, I cannot but anticipate that this object will be essentially promoted, and that the man- agement of Bees, in this country at least, a2 vl DEDICATION. will not hereafter reflect disgrace upon their owne!s. In this pleasing hope, | humbly beg to subscribe myself, YOUR MAJESTY’s most dutiful and most grateful Subject and Servant, THOMAS NUTT. Moulton-Chape}, J.incolnshire, Novy,.27th,. 1852. PREFACE. Coup I disarm criticism as easily as I can deprive Bees of their power to sting, this would be the proper place to do so; though I am doubtful whether it would be well-judged in me, or to my advantage, to stay the critics’ pen. But, possessing no such talismanic power, I shall adventure my little book into the world, without any attempt to conciliate the critics’ good-will, or to provoke their animosity, conscious that from fazr criticism I have nothing to fear. That I shall be attacked by those apiarians who are wedded to their own theories and systems, however faulty, is no more than I expect: of them, I trust, | have nowhere spoken disparagingly ; towards none of them do I entertain unkindly feelings—far otherwise. Their number, | am led to believe, is not formidable; and as Vill PREFACE. gentlemen, and fellow-labourers in the same work of humanity, their more extensive learn- ing will hardly be brought to bear against me with rancour and violence. Should any one of them, or of any other class of writers, so far degrade himself, I shall have the advantage of the following preliminary observation, viz. that one set of my collateral-boxes, placed in a favourable situation, and duly and properly attended to, for one season only, will outweigh all the learning and arguments that can be adduced against my Bee-practice,—will be proof positive, visible, tangible, that there is in my pretensions something more than empty boast. Luckily for me, there are plenty of those proofs to be met with in the country,and there are some—several, not far from town; they are at Blackheath, at Kensington, at Clapham, and at other places. As hundreds of the Nobility and Gentry of this country will recollect, there was one of these incon- trovertible proofs of the truth of what I am stating, exhibited for several weeks at the . National Repository last autumn, where it was seen, examined, admired, and, I may without any exaggeration add, universally approved. Practice, which has resulted from more than ten years’ experience in the management of an PREFACE. 1X f apiary, and from innumerable experiments, carried on, and a hundred times repeated, during that period, is what I ground the utility of my discoveries upon. ‘to theory I lay no claim. Born and brought up in the fens of Lincolnshire, where I have spent the ereater part of my life amidst difficulties, misfortunes, and hardships, of which I will not here complain, though I am still smarting under the effects of some of them, my preten- sions to learning are but small: for, though sent to the respectable Grammar School at Horncastle in my boyhood, my education was not, extended beyond writing, arithmetic, and merchants’ accompts. As soon as it was thought that I had acquired a competent knowledge of these useful branches of educa- tion, it was my lot to be bound apprentice to learn the trades and mysteries of grocer, draper, and tallow-chandler. Whilst en- deavouring to gain an honest livelihood asa grocer and draper, at Moulton-Chapel, in 1822, I was afflicted with a severe illness, which, after long-protracted suffering, left me as helpless as a child, the natural use and strength of my limbs being gone; and, though supported by and tottering between my crutches, it was a long time before I was able x PREFACE. to crawl into my garden. Fatigued and exhausted with the exercise of journeying the length of a garden-walk of no great extent, it was my custom to rest my wearied limbs upon a bench placed near my Bees. Seated on that bench, I used to while away the lingering hours as best I could, ruminating now on this subject, now on that, just as my fancy chanced to fix. Among other things my Bees one day caught my attention: I watched their busy movements,—their aetivity pleased me,—their humming noise long-listened to became music to my ears, and I often fancied that I heard it afterwards when I was away from them. In short, I became fond of them and of their company, and visited them as often as the weather and my feebleness would permit. When kept from them a day or two, | felt uneasy,and less comfortable than when I could get to them. The swarming season arrived; and with it ideas took posses- sion of my mind which had not until then possessed it:—I conceived that swarming was an act more of necessity than of choice,— that as such it was an evil; but how to provide a remedy for it—how to prevent it—was a problem that then puzzled me. I studied it for a long time, and to very little purpose. PREFACE. xl The old-fashioned method of eking did not by any means satisfy my mind; it might answer the purpose for one season, but how to proceed the next did not appear. Then the time for taking honey was. approaching: to get at that treasure without destroying my little friends that had collected it, and that had, moreover, so often soothed me in my sorrow and my sufferings, was another problem - thatlong engaged my mind. After some years’ unremitted attention to my Bees, for I had formed a sort of attachment to them during the first stage of my convalescence, which never left me, an accident aided my studies by directing my attention to the effects of ventilation, as will be found related in the body of this work, and I began to make experiments, which being repeated, varied, improved, and then gone through again, have gradually led to the development of my im- proved mode of Bee-management, attempted to be explained in the following pages. At the time I have been speaking of, I had not read one single book on Bees; nor had I then one in my possession. Whatever my practice may be, it has resulted from my own unaided experience and discoveries. To books Jam not indebted for any part of it: nay, had b Xi PREFACE. I begun to attempt to improve the system of Bee-management by books, I verily believe, I never should have improved it at all, nor have made one useful discovery. The Bees them- selves have been my instructors. After I had so far succeeded as to have from my apiary glasses and boxes of honey of a superior quality, to exhibit at the National Repository, where, with grateful thanks to the Managers of that Institution for their kindness to me, I was encouraged to persevere, Bee-books in profusion were presented to me, some of them by friends with names, some by friends whose names I have yet to learn. I have read them all: but nowhere find, im any of them, clear, practical directions, how honey of the very purest quality, and in more considerable quantity than by any of the plans heretofore proposed, may be taken from Bees, without recourse to any suffocation whatever, or any other violent means ;—how all the Bees may be preserved uninjured ;—and how swarming may be prevented. These are the grand features in my plan; and minute directions for the accomplishment of these most desirable objects are laid down in this book. I by no means maintain that my system of Bee-management is incapable of improvement; PREFACE. Xl but I do think that the principles upon which it is founded are right,—that the foundation is here properly laid,—and that every apiarian, who may hereafter conform to, or improve upon, my practice, will be instrumental in contributing a part towards raising the super- structure—namely—an asylum or sanctuary for Honey-Bees. [ cannot close this preface without acknow- ledging myself to be under the greatest obligations to the Rev. T. Clark, of Gedney- Hill, But for his assistance the following work would not have made its appearance in its present form; if indeed it had appeared at all. He has revised, corrected, connected, and arranged the materials of which it is composed; and he has, moreover, gratuitously added much that is original and valuable from his own rich stores of knowledge. To him I am indebted for the selection of the Latin mottos. Asan apiarian he is one of my most improved and skilful pupils, and bids fair to become an ornament to the science of Bee- management. Asa mechanic he is ingenious enough to make his own Bee-hboxes, and has actually made some of the very best I have yet seen. To his knowledge of mechanics it is owing that the description and explanation b2 XiV PREFACE. of each of the different boxes, of all the other parts of my Bee-machinery, and of my obser- vatory-hive, in particular, are more detailed, clearer, and more intelligible than they would have been in my hands. As a scholar there are passages in the following work that afford no mean specimen of his abilities. I have only to regret that the reward for the pains he has taken with it must be my thanks—that it is not in my power to remunerate him for his kind labours more substantially than by this public acknowledgement of the obligations I am under, and of my sense of the debt of gratitude that is due to him. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. ‘‘OuT OF PRINT, though a somewhat laconic, might be a not inappropriate preface to this second edition, and of itself a quaint apology for its appearance. Out of print is certainly exhilarating news to the author anxious for the success of a work inculcating a new system of Bee-management, in which not only is his reputation as an apiarian involved and evolved, but, it may be, the very means of his subsis- tence are bound up in it; the oftener therefore he hears the bibliopolist expression—out of print—the more animating and welcome it becomes; because its reiteration can hardly fail to be considered by him an indication that the demand for his book continues.—that his system is progressing,—or, at any rate, that either curiosity respecting it, or some higher XVl PREFA€E TO THE and more laudable motive, is still existent in the public mind. Thus cheered on, thus, as it were, encored, it has become his duty to the public no less than to himself to proceed forthwith to the publication of a new edition. Previously, however, to stating what altera- tions, emendations, &c. have been introduced in order to render the work, as far as I am yet able to render it, worthy a continuance of public patronage, I consider it to he my duty to record my grateful thanks for the success and encouragement I have already received. To the scientific and literary press, and to the several gentlemen of scientific attainments connected therewith, who, by their influence and kind professional assistance, and promp- titude in the furtherance of my interest, have greatly contributed to my success, my best thanks are due, and are hereby respectfully tendered: amongst these I have sincere pleasure in particularizing Dr, Birsecx—the talented President of the London Mechanics’ Institu- tion,—Dr. Hancocx—Fellow of the Medico- Botanical Society—a veteran of high and esteemed attainments,—and Mr. Bootru— the popular Lecturer on Chemistry—a young man of first-rate abilities. SECOND EDITION. XVil To J. C. Loudon—the erudite editor of the Gardeners’ Magazine,—to EK. J. Robertson, Esq.—the able and ingenious editor of the Mechanics’ Magazine,—to Richard Newcomb —the editor and publisher of the Stamford Mercury,—and to the several editors of the Metropolitan and Provincial Press, who have made favourable mention of my labours, my public thanks are justly due,—and particularly to the editor of the Cambridge Quarterly Review, for a highly commendatory notice of my work, evidently written by a practical aplarian, and with competent knowledge of his subject, which appeared in No. 3 of that Review, published in March 1834. Also to my long-tried, worthy [rvend—George Neigh- bour—it is gratifying to me to have this opportunity of offering my sincere thanks for his valuable services in my behalf;—and to the conductors of those excellent and useful institutions—the National Gallery of Practical Science, Adelaide Street,—and the Museum of National Manufactures, Leicester Square, London, I gratefully acknowledge myself to be under no slight obligations for the advan- tageous opportunities which I have there possessed of extending the knowledge of my XVlll PREFACE TO THE system, and of exhibiting, year after year, to thousands of visitors, the products of my aplary. With the view of making “ The Humane Management of Honey-Bees” more interesting, the dialogue, which formed the introductory chapter in the first edition, has been withdrawn, and in its place have been substituted some valuable remarks of Dr. Birbeck, Dr. Hancock, and Mr. Booth, respecting Bees, honey, wax, &c. of course the first chapter ts new; as is chapter X. giving an account of the apiary of the Most Noble the Marquess of Blandford, at Delabere Park, which can hardly fail of being interesting to every reader: it is principally from the able pen of Mr. Booth. Chapter XVIII. on Apiarian Societies, is new also. And, besides these three entire chapters, not short paragraphs merely, but whole pages of new matter have been introduced interspersedly by my most respected friend—the Rev.T. Clark, of Gedney-Hill, who has revised, corrected, and re-arranged the whole; and who has not only bestowed much time and pains upon the improvement of my work, but in the kindest and most disinterested manner has, in super- intending this and the former edition through SECOND EDITION. X1X the press, actually travelled upwards of e¢ght hundred miles. The friendly performer of services so generous, so laborious, and so per- severingly attended to, without any stipulation for fee or reward, merits from me, and has from me, every expression of my gratitude, and, were it in my power, should have one expression more. fo ales a he il sell haf h N id: . h nal ae 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Chapter | Page l.. Introductory Matters. sos 18) 6 7% 6 90| — 6 76 | — 12 80 11: 904 14. @ 76-| -— © 74 6 88} — 12 78 | — 10 74 12 92; — 6 76 | 20 6 68 3 821 15 6 74) — BR 77 1 80{| — 12 76) — 6 7 6 78} — 6 78 | — 1 7 18’ 8601 16° G6 | QO & & 6 82; — 12 86 | — 12 68 6 80| — 6 8&i— 4 64 795 Summary of memorandums of the several deprivations or takings of honey from one set of boxes this season: May 27. Glass and box.. 54 lbs, June 9. Box...issesecs 56 as M02: Glass a cteveee ek Tt! is —— 12. Box...csccccee 60 oe 13. Ditto.csessccee. 52 os Collateral-box....sccceose 60 «a 2964 lbs. Did I deem it necessary, I could, from the letters of a variety of highly respectable cor- respondents, show that the mode of managing Bees in the way, and upon the principles, now explained, has been adopted, and has succeeded even beyond the most sanguine expectations of many of my worthy friends and patrons; but | will content myself at present with giving the two following letters, which I have just received from a gentleman in this neighbourhood, whose very name, to all who have any knowledge of or acquaintance with him, will be a sufficient guarantee that his statements are facts. Besides, his letters are a condensed, and I must say—clever — H 2 76 epitome of my practical directions for the management of Bees in my boxes, and may be useful on that account; and moreover, I have, as will be seen presently, his unsolicited authority to make them public, and therefore run no risk of being called to order for so doing. “ Gedney-Hill, 13th July, 1832. “¢ Dear Sir, *¢ You will, I am persuaded, excuse me for troubling you with the information that I yesterday took off a fine glass of honey from one of my Bee-colonies. I went to work secundum artem, that is, in one word, scientifically, or in four words, according to your directions; and I have the satisfaction, nay more,—lI have the pleasure to add that I _ succeeded—I had almost said completely, but I must qualify that expression by saying, that I succeeded all but completely ; for one luckless Bee had the misfortune to be caught between the edges of the dividing-tin and the glass, and to be crushed to death in consequence. Excepting that accident, I believe that not one Bee was injured, nor lost. They left the glass, as soon as I gave them the opportunity of leaving it, in the most peaceable manner; in a subdued and plaintive tone they hummed round me,—settled upon me,—crept over me in all directions,—but not one of them stung me; in short, they returned to their home without manifesting the slightest symptoms of resentment, and in less than half an hour from the commencement of the operation, there was not a single Bee left in the glass. In my eye it is a very handsome glass of honey; it weighs exactly 13 lbs. and it has not one brood-cell in it. I intend to close it up,—to label it,—and to keep it, at least until I get another as handsome. It is a rich curiosity to exhibit to one’s friends, especially to those who have never seen such a thing. “On the other side, [ send you a fortnight’s register of the heights and variations of a thermometer, placed in the colony from which I have taken the glass, and also, of one placed in the shade, and apart from all Bees; from which register you will know, in a moment, whether | have managed my Bees properly. I am willing to flatter myself that I have, and that you will say I have been very attentive indeed. 78 Ther. Ther. Ther. Ther. 1832. inthe inthe | 1832. in the in the July Hour Colony Shade | July Hour Colony Shade hou hd 4.0) ORs 5 9 88 64 OS | NE 6 8 88 64 aC OO OT oe 2 88 65 serTOe | G2 GG 9 88. 64 eet cds O20 66 7 8 89 64 pe: Oe: OO. Op 9 88 64 a 0" On. te 8 9° 86 64 poe Se ae 9° BG °64 aay BB) BO") GS 9 7. QQ; ~ 64 0 ert Dies yaaa 2 sch i, Go Pree ome PUNE a 4° .2 GO Ue) ae 8 88 66 SPU AGS HBA oo BOs Be cei! AS ++ 8G.. Bar badd 9 88 66 Pe ne, em 2. Boe: 00 oo ee ee , wo ee Ss ee ee 1 94 66 oer! RO RR rolled 9. 89>. 68 bs t < GOD Aa By ea Da. OD Dp. ov OG ‘In addition to this I could, time and space permitting, tell you from what point the wind blew on each of these days, when it came full in front of my boxes, and when it came upon them in any other direction, when it was high, and when it was otherwise, on what days the Bees were able to get abroad, and also when they were kept at home by rain, or by any 79 other cause. From these observations of the wind and weather, and particularly from the manner in which the wind is directed towards, or into the ventilators in the boxes, in con- junction with the movements of the Bees, I think I can account pretty satisfactorily for what may appear, at first sight, to be a little contradictory, viz. for the rising of the ther- mometer in the boxes sometimes when it was falling in the shade; and vice versa, for its sometimes rising in the shade when it was falling in the boxes. But instead of writing you a dissertation on these subjects, or on any of them, I choose rather to put you into possession of the whole of my Bee-practice, by submitting to your notice a copy, or as nearly as I can make it a copy, of a letter I took the liberty of addressing to the Editor of ‘The Voice of Humanity,’ in October last, after the appearance in No. V. of that publication, of a respresentation and amperfect explanation of your boxes. I was encouraged to write that letter by the following announcement in an article in that No.—‘A due regard of rational humanity towards the Bee, though but an insect, we shall feel a pleasure in promoting in the future as well as the present 30 pages of our publication. This subject has, moreover, a very strong claim, inasmuch as it also exemplifies the grand principle upon which The Voice of Humanity is founded— the true prevention of cruelty to animals, by substituting a practical, an zmproved sysiem, in the place of one which is defective; this, in reference to the present subject, &c. as true prevention of cruelty, not only to units, but to thousands and tens of thousands of ani- mals.’ Notwithstanding this very rational announcement, and the prompt acknowledg- ment of the receipt of my letter, it did not appear in either of the next two numbers, nor am I aware that it is in the last, but I have not yet seen the last No. of that publication, therefore must not be positive. But this is not all: in No. 6, the conductors of that work express ‘sincere pleasure’ in inserting an article which, they say, ‘forms an admirable addition to that on Mr. Nutt’s Bee-hive;’ and that ‘the plan which it developes, in addition to its humanity, has the recommendation of being more simple and practicable than even the excellent improvements of Mr. Nutt.’ Now what do you suppose this admirable addition to your Bee-hive,—this plan recommended on 81 account of its humanity, as well as on other accounts—is? It is no other than that most cruel and destructive one of depriving Bees of their honey and of every thing else, by ‘driving them out of a full hive into an empty one, so early in the season as to afford the Bees sufficient time to provide themselves with another stock of winter food before the bad weather begins.” Very considerate this, cer- tainly! but who can tell how soon the bad weather may begin? Of all the methods ever resorted to of getting their honey from Bees, this, in my humble opinion, is the most cruel and inhuman: suffocating the Bees and destroying them at once is far preferable to this (I had hoped) exploded mode of robbing them. If practised, it will, however, soon cure itself: but is it not a strange practice for ‘The Voice of Humanity’ to revive? Either the utterers of that sweet Voice are unac- quainted with the humane management of Bees upon your plan, or they are unaware of the mischievous and destructive consequences attendant on the driving mode of deprivation, or they have little claim to the title they bear on the score of their humanity to Bees. I believe the former to be the case with them: ; 82 and therefore, in addition to the reason already given for troubling you herewith, and in order to set them right on this vital subject, I give you full power to do what you please with these letters. If they will be of any use to you in your projected publication, give them a place init, and welcome: only do not garble them, give them entire, if you give them at all. I am decidedly opposed to the driving scheme; and I as decidedly approve of yours, which is, if properly attended to, at once simple, practicable, profitable, admirable, and truly humane. Accept me, Dear Sir, Yours very truly, THomas Crark.” ‘¢ Mr. Editor, ‘¢ Since the publication of the last No. of ‘The Voice of Humanity,’ in which you treated your readers with some interesting particulars explanatory of the construction and different parts of Mr. Nutt’s Bee-boxes, and also of the mode of managing the Bees in them, so far at least as regards the taking away a box when stored with the delicious sweet (i. e. with honey), it has been 33 suggested to me, that a plain, simple history of a colony of Bees in my possession, and managed according to Mr. Nutt’s excellent plan, may not be altogether unacceptable to the general readers and friends of ‘The Voice of Humanity,’ and may be even a treat to amateur apiarians, who may be unacquainted with the merits of Mr. Nutt’s plan; or who, if partially acquainted therewith, may have their doubts as to its practicability, or, at least, as to its advantages, 1. e. superiority over other plans. As far, then, as ‘ The Voice of Humanity’ can make them (the merits of Mr. Nutt’s plan) known, I trust it will be as music to that Voice to publish the following facts. ‘¢ Having had a complete set of Mr. Nutt’s boxes presented to me, I, though comparatively a novice in apiarian science, and not at that time particularly attached to it, could not, in compliment to the donor, do less than endeavour to work them, that was—get them stocked. That was done with a swarm on the 18th of May 1830; and the middle-box, or pavilion of nature, as Mr. Nutt calls it, into which the said swarm was taken just in the same way it would have been if put into a 12 84 common straw-hive, was conveyed a distance of nearly four miles and placed in my garden in the evening of the same day. The next day being fine, I observed that the Bees were very busy constructing comb, and had, within twenty-four hours of their being domiciled in their new abode, actually made a progress in that most curious work that astonished me: they were passing and re-passing, and literally all alive; many were visibly loaded with ma- terials for their ingenious work. My curiosity was excited, and so much was I pleased with my multitudinous labourers that I visited them daily, and many times in the course of each day, when the weather was favourable for their getting abroad. Their combs were rapidly advanced; but to my great mortification they very soon obstructed my view of their interior works, by bringing a fine comb quite over the only little window at the back of the pavilion, at the distance of about half an inch from the glass. I was not, however, without the means of ascertaining that they were filling the pa- vilion with their treasures, and consequently that they would soon be in want of more room. I, therefore, at the end of a fortnight admitted them into the large bell-glass by withdrawing 89 the slide, which, when closed, cuts off the communication between the pavilion and the said glass. They (the Bees) immediately re- connoitred it, as it were, and examined it round and round, and presently took possession of it in great numbers; and in the course of the second day afterwards I could perceive that they began to continue their work upwards from and upon the combs in the box. Here I was again inexpressibly gratified by daily observing the progress of their beautiful work, and by the busy thousands in perpetual motion. When they had about half-filled the glass, and before | was aware that there was any occasion for their admission into either of the collateral-boxes, they suddenly threw off a swarm. Thatevent Lattribute partly to my own inexperience in apiarian matters, and partly— principally to the want of a thermometer by which to ascertain and regulate the temperature of the crowded pavilion, so as to keep the Bees at the working, and below the swarming point of heat. Mr. Nutt assures me that a barn would not contain a colony of Bees if its temperature were raised above a certain degree. What that precise degree of heat is I leave to Mr. Nutt to determine and explain: 86 at present it is enough to state that I am convinced it is possible, nay, quite easy, to keep Bees at work, and to prevent their swarming, by giving them plenty of room, and by proper ventilation. After my Bees had thrown off the swarm, as abovementioned, the work in the glass progressed but slowly, indeed it was for some time almost deserted, owing, I presume, to the room made in the pavilion by the absence of the thousands that had left it: for, whenever the weather was such that they could get abroad, they were always busy. The season, however, it is well- known, was so wet as to be very unfavourable for Bees:—the summer of 1830 was not by any means what is called a Bee-year; and early in the autumn I could see that, instead of adding to their store, they were under the necessity of living upon it. They were, how- ever, abundantly provided for the winter, and lived through it almost to a Bee. In the spring of this year (1831) they appeared to be strong and in excellent condition. As early as the middle of May they had replenished the emptied combs in the glass, and, it may be presumed, in the pavilion too. In the first week of June, the glass was completely filled 37 in the most beautiful manner. I therefore opened the communication to one of the end or collateral-boxes, and two or three days afterwards, viz. on the 10th of June, I took off the glass and replaced it with another. So rapidly did those industrious little insects — proceed with their work, that in about six weeks they completely filled the end-box. I then opened the way to the empty box at the other end of the pavilion: and a few days afterwards had the full box taken off by Mr. Nutt himself (who happened to call upon me, and who handsomely volunteered his services on the occasion), without any stifling of any sort—without the destruction, or the loss, of—scarcely a Bee,—as nearly in the manner described in your last No. as circum- stances would permit; for the Queen-Bee being in the box taken off made it necessary for’ Mr. Nutt to vary the operation a little ;— not a person was stung, though ladies, very timid ladies, and children too, were among the admiring lookers on; only, in returning the Queen-Bee, found in the box, to the pavilion, I myself was stung, owing to my over-anxiety to see how she would be received by the Bees in the pavilion. Her majesty’s presence 88 in that box (the box taken off) at that. time might probably have puzzled me; but to Mr. Nutt it presented no difficulty ; and to witness his operation was to me a most imstructive lesson, and would have delighted any friend of humanity. It was performed in the middle of a fine day. That box contained, as nearly as we could estimate, about 36 lbs. of honey, incomparably purer and finer than any I ever saw, except from Mr. Nutt’s boxes. The glass beforementioned contained 12 lbs. —so that I have this year taken forty-seven pounds of the very finest honey from one stock of Bees ;—I have all my Bees alive—and they are at this time abundantly provided for the ensuing winter; nay, without impoverishing them, I believe, I might take 6 or 8 lbs. more; but I have already had enough; and, if my Bees have more than enough for their winter’s consumption, they will not waste it ;—it will be found next year. “The preservation of the Bees unhurt, unin- jured, very many of them undisturbed at all,— the quantity of honey that may be had,—and the very superior quality of that honey, are advantages of Mr. Nutt’s mode of Bee-man- agement, over the barbarous, stifling system, 39 that cannot fail to recommend it to the adoption of every friend of humanity,—to every lover of the delicious sweet,—and to every apiarian who has nothing beyond self- interest in view. ‘¢One word more, and | have done. There are, I observe with pleasure, persons of con- siderable influence among your subscribers, and probably there may be persons of still greater influence among your readers. To such I would most respectfully suggest the propriety of doing something to reward Mr. Nutt for the services he has already rendered the Honey-Bee and the cause of humanity. I— an obscure, country clergyman, know not how to set about procuring it; but a premium was never more richly deserved. “Though longer than I intended, when I sat down to write, | hope you will find no difficulty in giving the foregoing communica- tion a place in your pages; and, in this hope, [ beg to subscribe myself, Your humble servant, Tuomas CLARK. ““Gedney-Hill, near Wisbech, October 20th, 1831.” K CHAPTER V. ON DRIVING BEES. As my reverend correspondent has introduced the subject of driving Bees from their full hive into an empty one, in order that they may be deprived of their honey and wax, and has animadverted upon that practice with some severity, I will take the opportunity of here stating my objections to it. Mr. Huish, in his treatise on Bees, has twice described the manner in which “ driving a hive” may be performed; but nowhere, that I can find, has he once recommended it. In a note (in page 24) he says—that “ by driving a hive may be understood the act of obliging the Bees to leave their own domicil, and take refuge in another. This is performed by placing the full hive under an empty one, (or he might have said, by placing an empty hive 91 upon the full one inverted) and by gently tapping the lower hive the Bees will ascend into the upper, and the lower one then remains vacant for experiments, or the purpose of deprivation.” He afterwards (in page 252) gives a more detailed account of the manner of perferming this operation; and having done so, he presently observes that “by the driving of the Bees a number is unavoidably killed.” I do not find that Mr. Huish himself practises it further than for the purpose of making experiments; and that, havmg made those experiments, he returns the driven Bees to their hives and to their treasures in them. In short, he describes it to his readers because they may wish to be acquainted with it, and not because he approves of it. I mention this because I consider Mr. Huish to be respectable authority on such a subject. Now, were there nothing in a hive but Bees and honey, driving them into an empty hive (were it as easy in practice as it seems to be upon paper, though I presume it is not) in order to rob them of their all, would bea most arbitrary and unjust method of treating them: but, besides Bees and honey, there are other substances in a prosperous hive which ought K 2 92 not to be disturbed. There are the future inhabitants of the colony in every stage of existence, from the egg to the perfect Bee, and these ina driven hive are all totally destroyed —egos, larvee, nymphs, in one word, the brood, in whatever state, is all destroyed,when the Bees are driven from it and not suffered to return. And is it not an unnatural operation that thus destroys many thousands of lives in embryo, over and above the ‘number unavoidably killed” thereby? as painful must it be for the Queen—the mother of the colony, and to all the other Bees, to be forcibly expelled from a hive and home of plenty and prosperity, as it is for an industrious man and his thriving family to be rudely ejected from a comfortable house and home, without the least notice of, or preparation for, so calamitous an event, and forced by lawless marauders to take shelter in an empty house, and left there destitute, to subsist as best they can, or to starve, as probably they may, their spirits being cast down by the violent deprivations and desperate robbery they have experienced, and it may be, the winds, and the weather, and the elements of heaven, are warring, as it were, against them at the same time. And, comparatively 93 speaking, is it not so with driven Bees? They are turned topsy-turvy, and in that strange, unnatural position their fears are operated upon, or excited, by unusual, and to them, no doubt, terrible sounds made by even “ gently tapping” their inverted hive—their house turned upside down. Though no advocate for suffocating Bees, but the contrary—a decided opponent to it, I agree in opinion with my correspondent that suffocation at once is preferable to the very reprehensible practice of “driving a hive,” inasmuch as an instantaneous death is preferable to a lingering and unnatural one by starvation, which, whatever may befal the driven Bees, is the hard, untimely fate of the brood and young larve of a hive when the Queen and commoners are driven from them into a new and empty domicil. They leave, because they are forced to leave behind them, and to perish, thousands of the young brood in a state of helplessness. Their mother and their nurses are driven into banishment and pauperism, while her offspring are doomed to perish for the want of their aid and support. If driving be practised early in the season, that is in June or July, all the brood then in the driven hive must inevitably perish; if later, 94 it is hardly to be expected that the surviving Bees will or can prosper. Can the Bee-master for a moment think that when Bees are so driven from their old hive, they will work in their new one, as if they had swarmed voluntarily and then been put into it: it is some considerable time before Bees thus treated will work vigorously; and during that time of lingering and irresolution the honey-season fast declines,—the Bees’ difficulties multiply, —and they become paupers at a time they should be rich. Nine times out of ten the hive so treated perishes by famine, and like the young brood, dies the worst of deaths,— the whole hive becomes a melancholy wreck, and is absolutely sacrificed to the mistaken notions of the speculating, or experiment- making proprietor. It is a practice of which L disapprove altogether: and I am surprised that any one could so far misunderstand the principles and nature of my practice as to recommend the driving of Bees out of a full hive into an empty one as an admirable addition to my Bee-hive—that is—to my Bee-boxes. I have the satisfaction, however, to state that in the management of Bees in my boxes no driving is necessary, nor even 95 possible: by them driving and suffocation are both superseded, and rendered as useless to operators as they have long been destructive to Bees,—and, I cannot but say—disegraceful to apiarians. What I have already said (in page 48) I will here repeat with as much emphasis as I am able, because that passage comprehends the very essence of my directions relative to the management of Bees in the middle-box,—and because those directions are utterly incompatible with driving. “ I say, then, DISTURB NOT THIS HIVE—THIS PAVILION OF NATURE: WEAKEN NOT ITS POPULATION; BUT SUPPORT ITS IN- FLUENCE, AND EXTEND TO IT THOSE ACCOMMODATIONS WHICH NO PRACTICE, EXCEPT MY OWN, HAS YET PUT INTO OPERATION, OR MADE ANY ADEQUATE PROVISION FOR. ‘‘This humane practice partakes not of the driving, nor of the fumgating, nor of the robbing system. It is a &beral principle of Bee-cultivation, founded on humanity. And it is by such practice that we must succeed, if we hope to be benefited in the culture of Honey-Bees.” CHAPTER VI. INVERTED-HIVE. Many useful discoveries have been made by accident ;—and to some of the greatest and grandest of those discoveries even philosophers and men of science have been led by accidents apparently the most trifling and insignificant. To the playful tricks of some little children that astonishing and most scientific instrument —the telescope, it is said, owes its origin; and it is said also that that great and good man— Sir Isaac Newton was led to investigate the laws of gravitation by accidentally observing an apple topple to the ground from the twig that had borne it. One of the sweetest of our poets, however, informs us—that All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee, All Chance, Direction, which thou canst not see. If, therefore, a beautifully delicate honey-comb 97 suspended from the stool of a hive first led me to discover the utility of ventilation in a colony of Bees, though there may be nothing very surprising, there is, [ trust,—nay, I am convinced, and therefore I assert—there is something very useful in it: and if an accident of another description induced me to endeavour to turn it to advantage, there is nothing to be greatly wondered at. So, however, it happened ; and here follows the account of it. On rising early one morning in July 1827, and walking into my apiary, as my custom then was, and still is, I discovered that some malicious wretch had been there before me, and had overturned a fine colony of Bees. The reader may judge how much my indig- nation was aroused by that dastardly act of outrage against my unoffending Bees. My feelings of vexation soon, however, subsided into those of pity for my poor Bees; and fortunately for them, no less than for me, their overturned domicil, which consisted of a hive eked or enlarged by a square box upon which I had placed it some weeks previously, was so shaded from or towards the east by a thick fence, that the rays of the sun had not reached it ;—this compound-hive, and the i: 98 countless thousands that were clustering around it, were prostrate in the shade. I viewed my distressed Bees for a considerable time, and studied and planned what I might best do to relieve them, and, if possibly I could, rescue them from the deplorable situation into which they had been thrown. At length I determined to reverse the whole, which I effected by first carefully drawime the box as closely as I was able to the edge of the hive, and then placing the hive upon its crown, so that, in fact, the whole domicil was inverted. I shaded, pro- tected, shored-up, and supported the Bees, their exposed works, and their hive, in the best way I could, and afterwards reluctantly left them for the day, being under the necessity of going from home a distance of almost twenty miles, viz. to. Wisbech. On my return in the evening I could discern evident proofs of the willingness of the Bees to repair the sore injury they had sustained; and on the third day afterwards. I was highly pleased to witness the progress their united efforts had made to rescue their dilapidated habitation from the ruin that had threatened it and them too, and which, I confess, I had anticipated. I was particularly attentive to their movements. | 99 assisted them by every means I could devise. They gradually surmounted all the difficulties to which they had been exposed. In short, they prospered; and from that malicious trick of some miscreant or other I first caught the idea of an znverted-hive, which I have since studied and greatly improved. Every Bee-master will have had opportuni- ties of observing—that this curious, I may say—intelligent, little insect—the Bee, is ever alive to the most ready methods of extricating itself from difficulties, and of bettering the condition of the state, whenever accident or misfortune has placed it in jeopardy: and, I will add—that the timely assistance of the Bee-master will frequently save a stock from that ruin, or at least from that trouble and inconvenience, which apparently trivial cir- cumstances, such for instance.as uncleanliness, excessive heat in summer, intense severity of winter, too contracted an entrance at one sea- son, a too extended and open one at another, or wet lodged on and retained: by the: fioor- board, may, and very often do occasion. The subjoined cut is a representation of an INVERTED-HIVE fixed in its frame, trellissed, roofed, completely fitted up, and es 100 . SS _————— oe I ss EW N a } = |< NG Ce pI Ta = é Wry = Hi, i Whi a: Y / —— SN eh Ce eae oe _———— Cae PAZ APTI INVERTED-HIVE. just as it appears when placed in an apiary and stocked with Bees. EXPLANATION OF AN A, is a stout octagon-box, in which is to be placed an inverted cotiage-hive containing the Its diameter within the wood, I mean Bees. its .clear diameter, 1s seventeen inches, and its 161 depth, or rather its height, is fifteen or sixteen inches, or just sufficient to reach to, and be level with, the edge of the inverted cottage- hive, when placed within it: in fact, the octagon-box (A.) is a strong case or cover for the inverted-hive; and, if made an inch or two deeper than the hive to be placed in it, it is an easy matter to pack the bottom, so that the edge of the hive and the top-edge of the octagon-box (A.) may be exactly on a level. Fitted and fastened to this is a top or door, made of three-fourths-inch deal, which top should sit closely upon the edge of the hive allround. ‘The centre of this top is cut out circularly to within an inch and a ha‘f of the inner circumference or edge of the hive upon and over which it is placed. Upon this floor is a box, made of inch or inch-and-quarter deal, seventeen inches square within, and four inches deep. ‘This I call the ventilation-box, because through two of its opposite sides are introduced horizontally two cylinder ventila- ting-tubes, made of tin, thickly perforated, and in all respects similar to those described in page 20. The top of this box is the floor upon which nine glasses are placed for the reception of honey, nemely—a large bell-glass 102 in the centre, and eight smaller ones around it. By a large bell-glass I mean—one capable of containing twelve or fourteen pounds of honey, and by smaller ones—such as will hold about four pounds. The Bees of an inverted hive in a good situation will work well in glasses of these sizes, and soon fill some or all of them: but, if in an unfavourable situation, lesser glasses, down to one-half the abovementioned sizes, will be more suitable. Situation, season, and strength of the stock,—strength, I mean, as respects the number of Bees, must, after all, guide the apiarian in this matter. The floor abovementioned should be made of three- fourths-inch deal. Of course proper apertures must be cut through this floor under each of the glasses to admit the Bees into them from the box beneath. Around and over the glasses is placed another neat box or case, made like the ventilation-box, upon which it rests or stands. The lid of this box is made to open and shut. It is represented in the foregoing cut as opened at B. an inch or two, and may be so retained at pleasure by a proper weight attached to a cord passed over a pulley fixed in the inside of the roof (C.) and fastened to the edge of the lid above B. The depth of 103 the box or cover for the glasses must of course be regulated according to their different sizes. The alighting-board is on the front-side, di- rectly opposite to the latticed doors, and on a level with the upper-side of the first floor; so that the entrance for the Bees must be cut through the lower edge of the ventilation-box; and is made there most conveniently for them to pass either into the inverted pavilion below, or into the glasses above such entrance, as their inclinations may direct. The octagon-cover placed upon the pavilion- hive, as represented in the view of the closed boxes Gin page 29) if inverted, would be a tolerably good model of part A. of the in- verted-hive. I advise that every part be well made—the floors and the boxes particularly so; and that the whole exterior be well painted too, pre- viously to being exposed to the sun and to the weather. This advice has reference to all my boxes and hives, collateral as well as inverted. The stocking of this hive may be effected in the following manner. Having made choice of a good, healthy, well-stocked, cottage-hive, you may, at any time between the beginning of March and the end of October, carefully 104 invert and place it in the octagon below the ventilation-box, that is, in the apartment (A.) then fasten the floor with four short screws to the top of the octagon, taking especial care that this floor sits upon the edge of the inverted-hive all round. It will be necessary to keep the Bees from annoying you whilst adjusting this floor and the other parts of the hive, by putting a sheet of tin over the open circular space in the floor; by which tin every Bee may be kept in the hive below. When the boxes, ventilators, glasses, and all things, are duly adjusted, the dividing-tin may be withdrawn; and the operation of stocking will be then completed. Another method of accomplishing the same object, i.e. of stocking an inverted hive, is this: Take the floor that is to rest upon, and be fastened to, the top of the octagon A. and that is to rest also upon the hive when inverted, and with a sheet of tin cover and securely close the circular space made by cutting out its centre: then invert it, that is—let the tinned side be undermost, and place upon this floor, thus prepared, the hive you intend to be inverted. Return it to, and suffer it to occupy, its usual place in your apiary; and there for 105 two or three weeks let it work; in which time the Bees will have fastened the hive to their new board with propolis. Then, early in the morning, or late in the evening, when all the Bees are in the hive, make up the entrance, and, having two doors made in opposite panels or sides of the octagon (A.) ten inches by six, or sufficiently commodious for the admission of your hands, steadily invert your hive and prepared board upon which it has been stand- ing, and, without sundering from the hive the board that will now be at its top, carefully place them in the octagon; which, with the help of an assistant, and by the facility afforded by the two little doors in the panels of the octagon for staying and properly sup- porting and adjusting the hive and its attached floor, may be performed without the escape of a single Bee. As soon as this, which is properly the inversion of the hive, is completed, proceed with the ventilation-box, glasses, &c. as before directed; and, lastly, be careful to liberate the Bees by withdrawing the tin that has kept them prisoners since the entrance was closed. In imverting a hive by this method an expert apiarian need not confine the Bees five minutes. M 106 The Bees will commence their labour by filling the square box between the pavilion and the glasses; they will then extend their beautiful combs into the glasses above. The appearance of their most curious works in this stage of their labour is highly interesting —nay, gratifying, tothe apiarian observer; and, moreover, proves the extraordinary influence and utility of ventilation in the domicil, or, rather let me say, in the store-house apartment of Bees; for in the pavilion, or breeding and nursing apartment, it is seldom wanted. The method of taking off the glasses, whether large ones or small ones, when stored with honey, is in every respect the same as that of which a particular account has been already given, (in pages 37 and 38): to that account, therefore, I beg to refer the reader, instead of here repeating it. CHAPTER VII. OBSERVATORY=-HIVE. HavinG now given such a description and explanation of my collateral box-hives, and of my mverted-hive, as will, by referring to the plates or cuts that accompany them, make both of those hives, and every thing pertain- ing to them, to be clearly understood; I proceed to explain, in the next place, my OBSERVATORY-HIVE. With the help of the subjoined representative figures or cuts, I hope to succeed in my endeavour to make the reader thoroughly acquainted with every part of it, novel, though it be, and, as faras I know, unlike any hive hitherto invented. At first sight it may probably appear to be a piece of complicate machinery, but upon examination it will be found to be otherwise—I may say— simple and easy. y HY ay eH || Ci ea HT } tat ay a eae ' uni Hi se 1 | : i H Whi | H ae | a il nati Pipe EAE mi Wi , bit Pe Ma Hats || it iB 5 bir aN Ys ae |e ihe Ai) BELEN Pade aa | Ba F \ | eee ||| ne 1138 It] The first three of these Nos. viz. 1, 2, and 3, weighing together 113 lbs. remained during 241 the winter in their summer situation: Nos. 4, 5, and 6, weighing together 111 lbs. were removed to a cold dry place, on the north side of my house. On the 26th of March, 1825, I again weighed those six hives, and found their respective weights to be as follows, viz. Woo). rc. Fodbss? Noses. 22 7A: oe see LO a Bs LG OF Oe osee 1Y— 6. wee. 32 — 50 96 => ee So that the three hives, remaining in their summer quarters during the winter, had de- creased in weight just 631bs. being on an average 2] lbs. each; while the three which had wintered on the north side of my house had decreased only 15 Ibs. being on an average only 5 lbs. each. This gives an average difference of 16 lbs. a hive, between a proper and an improper winter situation and aspect for Bees. It is lamentable to think how many people lose their Bees, either from ignorance, prejudice, or want of attention to this particular point—a proper winter situation. I need scarcely relate to my readers, that the Bees which were placed fronting, or open FF 242 to the north, were the first that swarmed the next spring. They swarmed in the month of May; while those hives that had remained fronting, or open to the south, did not swerm until July; and one hive (No. 2.) never swarmed at all during the season. At the latter end of October, 1825, I again weighed my hives, and found them to be as under:— No. 1...28 lbs. Swarm from ditto 10 lbs. 2..-22— 3.2.30 — Swarm from ditto 14 — 80 24 No. 4..-44 lbs. Swarm: from ditto-32 Ibs. 5...43 — Swarm from ditto 28 — 6...41 — Swarm from ditto 30 — marcescens 128 90 Hence it appears that the three hives (Nos. 1, 2, and 3) that had never been removed from their summer stands, were 33 lbs. lighter than when I first weighed them, that is, on an average, 11 lbs. a hive; and even with the weight of their two swarms added to them, there was a falling off in the year of 9 lbs. 243 or, on an average, of 3 lbs. a hive: whilst Nos. 4, 5, and 6, had gained 17 Ibs. or, on an average, nearly 6 lbs. each; and with the weight of their swarms added to them, they had gained 107 lbs. or, on an average, nearly 36 lbs. a hive in the year. I could carry this subject much further in my explanations, as I did in my experiments, but it requires no facts in addition to those just stated to explain the difference of aspect in the winter-season to Bees. Every cottager must know that the richer his Bees are in spring, the sooner they will swarm. Then, to make them rich, he must not neglect to place his hives out of the influ- ence of the sun during winter,—in a dry, cold, and quiet situation. He will find by this practice, that not more than five or six pounds of honey will be consumed by a geod stock; but if he suffer his Bees to remain fronting the south, they willin a mild winter, if they sur- vive it at all, become paupers before spring. Now what is proper during the winter for stocks in common hives, is equally proper for stocks in collateral-boxes, of which the middle box is the winter-pavilion or stock- hive. Long before winter all the Bees of the FR2 244 most populous stock will draw into the middle box and cluster round: their Queen; and when that is the case, the dividing-tins should be put down, in order that all the Bees may be securely kept in the pavilion; and previously to removing them from their summer situation, the entrance should be carefully closed with a piece of wire-cloth, or perforated tin; which, whilst it admits fresh air into the box, will keep the Bees within and all their enemies without. Itis hardly possible for the smallest enemy to make its way into a box thus se- cured. A perforated tin may also be put over the way down into the drawer. Towards spring this last may be withdrawn, and the Bees, when they begin to revive, will soon rid themselves of those that may have died in the winter, by carrying them down into the drawer. Having made every necessary preparation, remove your stocks to such a situation as that herein before recommended, and there in quietude let them pass the dreary months of winter. Ido not advise that they be taken too early to, nor that they remain too long in, their hibernacula: generally speaking, they may be removed towards the latter end of November, and again in the third or fourth 245 week of February; but the Bees themselves, if duly observed, will be the best directors. This is my practice, and it is also the practice of my apiarian friend at Gedney-Hill, than whose, no stocks in this neighbourhood are more healthy or much more prosperous. CHAPTER XVIIL. APIARIAN SOCIETIES. THE encouragement of any internal branch of industry, which will supersede the necessity for the employment of British capital in spe- culative adventures where no equivalent is returned, is in the mind of every patriot a subject worthy of consideration. And that the prosecution and encouragement of my system of Bee-management, undertaken by those who are qualified by their means, abi- lities, and powers of patronage, to set the example, and thereby influence others, will effect this to a considerable extent, as far as the production of honey and wax is concerned, will, I think, be sufficiently obvious to those who have witnessed, or who hereafter may witness, the successful results—the almost incredible quantity of these productions from 247 my apiary alone; or, leaving my apiary entirely out of the account, I will venture modestly to assert, that from any one set of collateral- boxes, well-stocked and well-managed, the quantity and quality of honey that may be annually taken, without either destroying or ampoverishing the Bees, must be seen to be believed; and being seen, will not be disputed. The exaet amount annually paid to other countries for these two commodities—honey and wax—I have not the means of ascertain- ing with accuracy, but it is probable that it exceeds £350,000.—a sum lost to this country, because, not only have we in the vegetable world a profusion of these productions, that ‘< waste their sweetness on the desert air,” but we have, or might have, if we would but encourage them, the labourers necessary to collect them, and this too without the deteri- oration of any other department of rural economy. Were Bee-colonies multiplied to any thing like the number that the Bee-pasturage of this country would support; were there, for instance, but one set of well-stocked col- lateral-boxes.on every square mile of England, Wales, and Scotland,—or, to compute mode- rately, on every square mile of every rural 248 district of Great Britain, that is fertile in Bee-pasturage,—and were the price of the finest box-honey reduced to a shilling a pound, the annual surplus produce of these colonies would realize a sum far exceeding £350,000. which would be put into the pockets of, gene- rally speaking, an industrious and deserving part of the community—the rural population, and a profitable remuneration given to them for their indulgence and perseverance in a most rational pursuit, requiring but trifling, and this only incidental attention. I know of no time more proper for throwing out these hints than the present, when the subject of rural allotments excites, and that justly, almost universal attention amongst those desirous of securing an industrious, prosperous, and vir- tuous peasantry. I do not presume to imagine that, antiquated as are the practices hitherto so generally adopted, and so pertinaciously adhered to in Bee-management in this country, and charac- terized as are these practices by so many superstitious and irrational usages—I do not presume to imagine that my system will, at once, up-root prejudices, dispel superstitions, and be immediately and heartily adopted by 249 the cottager. The generality of apiarians have yet to be taught that Bee-management is a system;—that it is something more than merely stocking a hive or box with a swarm of Bees, and then leaving it to chance alone to prosper or to perish; and, if to prosper, it is only until the time for its final doom—the reckless destruction of every Bee—arrives. They have yet to learn that the whole, or at least, the greater part of the contingencies, to which Bee-colonies are subject, may be averted; that the casualties of Bees are analogous to those of other descriptions of stock; and that, if they would ensure success, or expect to derive profit from them, it must be by attention to their domicils, to their protection from the variations of climate and atmosphere, and from external enemies,—in short, by proper management. If in many instances, the success of my hives has been so unqualified and extensive, it has been because the necessity for careful management has been impressed and adhered to, and because Bees, in whose welfare their owners had been previously uninterested, have been looked upon with some degree of attention, and their labours facilitated and requited by GG 250 timely administering to their wants and com- forts. In the same way, I believe, that by attention to the observations contained in these pages, the cottagers’ labours may be more amply repaid, and that more honey may be obtained, even by their rough practices; whilst this will be preparing them. for the adoption of my improved plans and gradually pave the way for its general introduction. For this I more particularly refer to the pre- ceding chapter, and to that on Bee-feeding, i.e. chapters XIV. and XVII. It has often been suggested to me, to point out how the culture of Honey-Bees might be more generally extended in this country, and rendered more advantageous. to the cottager than it has been hitherto. As regards the extension of Bee-cultivation, I would observe, that if those gentlemen, especially those gentlemen resident in the country, who possess affluence, influence, and leisure, would under- take to promote it—would set the example and keep Bees, their example alone would go far to induce the cottager to keep them; and that, as other countries boast, and that so usefully, their aplarian societies, the formation of such a society, or societies, could not fail 251 to be attended with beneficial effects. Some feeble attempts, it is true, to establish such a society have been made, but have proved abortive, whilst premiums on the subject have been offered by other societies,* injudiciously, as they have tended to perpetuate mistaken views, and to retard the progress of more correct ones. I am not insensible of the extreme benefit which has resulted to the different branches of industry, and to agricul- ture and horticulture in particular, by well- regulated scales of premiums, emulating to superiority and necessarily promoting a bene- ficial stimulus in the different branches with which they are connected. And, in my opinion, nothing would more_easily tend to the inculcation of sounder views of practice, than, if gentlemen, pursuing my principles, would interest themselves in connecting with the objects of such associations more generally, graduated scales of prizes, regulated by the * A premium was last year (1833) awarded by the Cam- bridgeshire Horticultural Society, to a Mr. Widnal, for his exhibition of a glassof honey. But whether the encourage- ment of Bee-culture be an object of that very respectable society,—or whether the reward given to Mr. Widnal on that occasion was a sort of bye-premium, bestowed for the gratification of seeing a curiosity, it did not appear. Ge? 252 quantity of honey obtained from stocks, the prosperity of the hives afterwards, and the state of the apiary generally, &c. Were they also to countenance the plan of placing colo- nies under the care of labouring cottagers, giving them premiums as an inducement to careful management, they could not fail of conferring a benefit, by initiating them into the plans of the system, as well as by more advantageously dividing the pasture of the district among the different hives, and thereby rendering the labour of their collecting the stores considerably less to the Bees. This would, undoubtedly, effect much, but I know of no means so decidedly calculated to foster and encourage the culture of Honey-Bees among all classes, and more particularly among the population of rural districts, as apiarian societies, formed for the express purpose of extending and improving the cultivation and management of Honey-Bees. CHAPTER XIX. MISCELLANEOUS DIRECTIONS. In undertaking this work, as I originally did, at the pressing solicitations of several of those Noblemenand Gentlemen, whose names graced the list of the subscribers for the first edition, i had two main objects in view; of whicha full and particular explanation of the mode of managing Honey-Bees, in my boxes and upon my principles, was one,—and the other, which I do ardently hope will result from the adop- tion and encouragement of my long-tried plan, is—the prospective improvement, not only of the culture and condition of those ingenious, admired, and most interesting little creatures, but also of honey and wax—the two valuable articles which Bees, and Bees alone, afford us. To prepare the way for the accomplishment of the latter of these objects, I have exerted my 204 best endeavours—lI have spared neither pains nor expense, to give minute, and, I trust, intel- ligible descriptions of all my boxes and hives, of my Bee-machinery, and of every thing thereto pertaining; which descriptions have been accompanied with such practical direc- tions and relations of experiments, as will, af duly attended to, enable my Bee-friends to put their apiaries upon my humane and profitable system of management. Therefore I do not think it is incumbent upon me to proceed farther at present. I might easily double the size of my book, by entering into and giving lengthy details of several matters relative to Bees, which are not here so much as hinted at; such, for instance, as the distance that they sometimes fly from their hives in quest of honey, and the experiments that have been made to determine that distance ;—the nature of honey-dew, and how it is occasioned,—why it abounds on some trees and plants, whilst others are entirely destitute of it,—whether it be a natural exudation of the plants that afford it,—or whether it be produced by the leaf-lice, called aphides ;—why, if the impreg- nation of a Virgin-Queen be retarded beyond a certain number of days after her coming 259 into existence, all the eggs she lays during her whole life, should invariably produce drones ;—the language of Bees, for Bees, it has been held, have their peculiar language, though I profess not to understand it, nor even to have studied it, my business being with their hadbits;—the various diseases or maladies with which skilful men assure us they are occasionally affected ;—their senses, their anatomy, and their instinct ;—their afhi- nity to the wasp ;—exotic Bees from those of Lapland to those of China; and from those of Siberia to those of the Cape of Good Hope ;—the stingless Bees of South America, mentioned by Dr. Hancock, that from the luxuriant ever-blooming, tropical plants and flowers, produce black wax;* what Aristotle hath remarked on one subject,—what Pliny hath said on another,—what classic Virgil hath so delightfully sung of the nature, economy, and management of Bees in Italy,—what Gelieu in modest prose hath said of Bees in Switzer- land,—Huber and Reaumur in France, and a host of writers in Germany, and in our own native England; what opposite opinions have been entertained respecting honey; whether * See page 11, antea. 256 plants and flowers secrete pure honey, or whether the saccharine matter culled from them undergoes any percolating, rectifying, chemical process in the stomach of the Bee.— I might observe, that the illustrious Hunter was of opinion that it undergoes no change; although the no less illustrious naturalist Reaumur, and the entomelogists Kirby and Spence, imagine that some change does take place before the honey is stored in the cells,— that, as the nectarious exudation of plants is not of the same consistence as honey from the hives, it is reasonable to suppose that it undergoes some changezn transitu whilst in the body of the Bee; that, as far as my experience has enabled me to make observations on this subject, I am disposed to lean to the opinion of Reaumur, Kirby, and Spence, and to ascribe the difference between honey in the nectarium of a flower or on the leaf of a tree, and honey in the cells of a comb, to the absorption of the volatile parts of the saccharine of the plants and flowers whilst in the honey-bag; which absorption is aided and accelerated by the natural heat of the Bee, and by which process honey is rendered of uniform consistence. in the graphic language of my chemical 257 friend—Mr. Booth—I might exclaim, ‘‘ How necessarily do the least valued products in the economy of nature, eliminated in the most miniature laboratory of her operations, confirm us in the belief of the existence, wisdom, and power of nature’s God—the Great Chemist— who has not only imbued matter to act upon its fellow matter in the infinity of space, to produce an infinite diversity of changes in the material world; but, within the small compass of a Bee, has provided apparatus for certain changes to take place, which are more elaborate, important, and complicated, than are produced in the largest apparatus of the manufacturer! In this little insect are per- formed all those chemical processes of life, by which nature is kept in the equanimity and beauty of existence—here composition and decomposition, solution and_ precipitation, sublimation, volatilization, distillation, and absorption, through the agency of heat and attraction, take place on the minutest matters, secreted by the plants and collected by the Bees; and in the hive, by the concentration of their individual efforts, is elaborated that immense quantity of those important products, which constitute such useful commodities in the arts and economy of life.” HH 258 The discussion of some of these topics, and dissertations on others, might be made amusing, perhaps interesting, and would, at all events, swell the size of my book; but whether I should thereby enhance its intrinsie merits (if intrinsic merit it possess) is more than I dare venture to affirm. Inshort, these topics come not within my plan,—they are foreign to it, and I gladly leave them to be treated of by others, whose learning is more able to cope with them, and whose taste may direct them to such subjects. IL have withheld nothing that I deem to be essentially necessary to the thorough understanding of my mode of Bee- management ; consequently, I anticipate that my two main objects will eventually be attained —that Bee-culture will become a pleasing and a profitable stud y—a source of instructive amusement and of profit too,—and that our country will, at no great distance of time, be everywhere studded and ornamented with neat, well-ordered apiaries. I will, therefore, now close my present labours with a few mis- cellaneous directions, chiefly recapitulatory, which, on account of their importance, every apiarian should constantly bear in mind. Have your Bee-boxes well made, and of good substantial materials. Strength and 259 durability are of greater consequence than neatness, though that need not be neglected— neatness and strength are not incompatible— they may be combined. Paint your boxes annually, when they are in their winter-situation. Make a clear ground or door-way from the pavilion into each of the end-boxes, by cutting away about two inches from the lower edge of each of the corresponding ends, to the depth of half an inch; and make this way or passage as near the front entrance as it conveniently may be. This convenience has been suggested to me since the directions for making collateral- boxes were printed, and I therefore mention it here as an improvement, because such a way on the floor, and without any climbing, will afford an additional accommodation to Bees on many occasions. Boxes will not work Bees, neither will Bees work boxes to advantage, unless due attention be paid to them—i. e. both to boxes and to Bees. . Situation is of prime importance: for sum- mer it should be clear and open in front of your boxes, and sheltered at their back by a north-wall or by a thick hedge. Hw 260 In summer let their aspect be south-east :— early in spring, and again in autumn, due south is the best point to be in front: therefore, as spring advances turn the front of your boxes . eastward, and as summer declines move them back again to their spring aspect; or, in other words, when there is not more than twelve hours’ sun, let the front of your boxes be due south; and during the time that the sun is more than twelve hours above the horizon, let it be south-east. Always have the cheerful rays of the morn- ing sun fall upon your boxes: but contrive to throw a shade upon their front for a few hours in the middle of the day, when the weather is very hot. Such a shade will be grateful to your Bees. Elevate your boxes twenty inches or two feet above the ground: and always keep the grass or ground, under and near them, neat and clean, and entirely free from all nuisances. A constant supply of water in the immediate vicinity of your apiary is highly desirable; if therefore you have not a natural supply of that element, so necessary for Bees, contrive to let them have it by artificial means—by placing it in or near your apiary, in large, 261 shallow dishes, or in wooden troughs, partially covering the surface with reed or moss, and be careful to replenish them, so that your Bees may always find it there. _ Suffer not ants to burrow near your Bees. Ants are enemies to Bees, and will annoy them, if they get among them. Spiders also are Bee-destroyers; therefore, brush away their entangling webs, whenever and wherever you find them about your boxes. Fowls should not be permitted in an apiary. Farly in spring let the entrance be not more than an inch, and increase it gradually to its full extent, as you find occasion: contract it again towards the fall of the year; and, if the moths be troublesome in summer evenings, nearly close it every evening; but take care to open it again either early next morning, or as soon as the evening flight of the moths is over. This attention is more particularly due to weak stocks, and affords them great pro- tection against the attacks of moths, which are among the boldest, the most persevering, and, when once they have got into a hive, most destructive enemies to Bees. Destroy wasps and wasps’ nests wherever you find them in the vicinity of your apiary. 262 The destruction of queen-wasps in spring is the most effectual method of diminishing the number of these formidable Bee-enemies ; because the destruction of a queen-wasp in spring is tantamount to the destruction of a whole nest afterwards. Light in the domicil of Bees, if not actually prejudicial to them, is, at any rate, displeasing to them; therefore, be careful never to expose your Bees unnecessarily to its glare: never leave the window-doors open, nor suffer careless visitors to do so. My ingenious friend, the Rev. T. Clark, of Gedney-Hill, suggests the propriety of recom- mending that the window-doors be self-shutting doors. This, he says, may be done by fixing upon each door a light, easy spring, similar to thuse made use of to shut doors in good houses; or by a cord attached to each door, and passed through an eye, and over a small _ pulley fixed to the side of each box; from the end of which cord a weight of two or three ounces must be suspended. This weight, acting upon the cord, will draw the little doors to the windows, that is, it will shut them. The cords, eyes, and pulleys, he further says, may be so arranged, that one 263 small weight will keep all the hive doors, in a set of collateral-boxes, closed and safe, and may be made to hang under the floor. I have no hesitation in recommending his suggestion _ as ingenious, practicable, and useful. The best security, however, after all, is that afforded by lock and key, the key being in the constant possession of the owner. Ventilate your collateral-boxes and hell- glasses, when the interior temperature is at, or above, 70 degrees. Never irritate your Bees, nor offer any sort of violence or opposition to them; and should an angry Bee or two at any time attack you, walk quietly away, and leave them to settle into peace again. | On no account drive your Bees; it is a ruin- ous practice. With boxes, however, I trust, it is impracticable, and totally superseded. Never disturb, nor in any way interfere with, the middle-box. On no account destroy any of your Bees: independently of its cruelty, it is an impolitic practice: it is like cutting down a tree to get at its fruit, which may easily be gathered by less laborious and indestructive means. En- courage your Bees,—accommodate_them,— 264 support them,—and by all means preserve them; and, when seasons are favourable, they will richly reward you for your attention to them. Always keep a cottage-hive, or single box or two, in your apiary, for the purpose of having swarms from them, with which to stock empty boxes, or to strengthen such stocks as may stand in need of additional numbers; and proceed with such supplementary swarms as directed in pages 42—45. Never impoverish your Bees by taking from them more honey than they have to spare. Always suffer them to be in possession of a plentiful store. Over-deprivation distresses them, and is no gain to the proprietor. -Among other reasons this is one for my repeated directions—not to touch the middle-box. Honey of the very finest quality may commonly be obtained from collateral-boxes, as early in the season as the months of May and June, without injuring the parent-stock in the slightest degree. The enlargement of their domicil by returning an empty glass, or an empty box, to the place from which a full one has been taken, is at this busy period of their labour an accommodation to Bees, and is one great means of preventing the necessity 265 for their swarming, as it enables them to con- tinue their work at the time that there is the greatest abundance of treasure for them in the fields, and when Bees in cottage-hives cannot profit by it, owing to their want, not of inclination to gather it, but of room in their hive to store it; they therefore swarm once, twice, perhaps three times. What then can be afterwards expected from such exhausted stocks but weakness and poverty? The more numerous the working Bees are in any colony, the more honey they will collect, provided they have room wherein to store it. Accommodate them, then, with convenient store room, and the more workers you have in your boxes the better. Up to the middle of August you may, with safety, that is, without injury to the Bees, take off glasses and boxes, as they become ready. After that tame it is advisable to have, and to leave, in every colony, honey sufficient for the subsis- tence of the Bees until next spring; and should you take off a full box, later in the season than the middle of August, instead of emptying it of all its treasure, be content with a part of it, —take a part, and return a part—share ut with your Bees, and let their share be a liberal one. Lia 266 As has been already enjoined—on no account ampoverish them by over-deprivation, at that precarious season especially. They possibly may collect much honey after that time; if so, share with them again; if not, have them rich from your first bounty. When a box, well-stored with honey, is taken off, itis not an easy matter to extract the first comb or two, without. breaking them and spoiling their beauty, besides shedding more or less of the honey; therefore, be pre- pared with proper knives. Any common knife that has a blade long enough, may serve to sever the combs from the sides of a box: but, to cut them from the top, it is advisable to have an instrument, which may be called a Bee-knife, of the following construction :— a two-edged, lancet-shaped blade, two inches long and three-eighths of an inch broad, having the hole, through which the rivet would pass to fix it ina haft, drilled large enough to admit the end of a steel rod, upon which it is to be well brazed or riveted: the other end of this rod may be finished with a neat handle, leaving its clear length between the contrate blade and the handle eleven inches—that being rather more than the 267 depth of my Bee-boxes. A knife of this description may easily be passed between the combs, and is very convenient for cutting them from the top of a box. Whenever you have occasion to perform any operation among your Bees, be provided with every requisite material, implement, &c. Have not any thing to seek for, much less to get made, at the moment it is wanted: that moment may perhaps be a critical one. In September unite the Bees of poor stocks to rich ones; and now, or in March, transfer stocks from straw-hives into boxes. Previously to withdrawing the tin-divider, for the purpose of opening the communication into an end-box, take off the end-box and dress its inside with a little liquid honey; this will bring the Bees into it, when, but for the honey, they would perhaps refuse to enter it; and at that time close the ventilation. It is wrong to ventilate empty boxes, because it drives the Bees into the pavilion: and it is a fact, that they will swarm from the pavilion, rather than take possession of an empty end-box, if its temperature be, and be kept, disagreeably cold, by having the ventilation open at the very time it should be carefully closed, ‘This will both explain and remedy 268 the difficulty, that some apiarians complain of having experienced, in getting their Bees to take possession of an empty-box; it will also account for swarms sometimes leaving the pavilion when there is no want of room: the fact is—that the temperature of that room is not agreeable to them: but it is owing to the mismanagement of the apiator that it is otherwise than agreeable. Whenever a box is taken off, be careful to open the perforations in the cylinder ventilator, many of which will be found sealed up with propolis. ‘These-perforations may be cleared at any time, by imtroducing a piece of wire with a sharpened point, turned so as to pick out tre eptopwltes ; but they aremost acu opened wien a box is off. Towards the latter end of November, or earlier, if the weather he inclement aid severe, remove your Bee-hoxes to their winter-situa- tion: this should be dry, quiet, cool, and dark, and place your boxes in it so that they may front towards the north or north-east. Guard and close the entrance with a piece of fine wire-cloth, of Lariviere’s patent tin, or of perforated zinc, (which is the best, on account of its not corroding) made fast to the box, either of which will confine the Bees 269 within their domicil, admit plenty of fresh air, and keep out inimical intruders. Thus pre- pared for winter, having every tin and. block in its proper place, disturb your Bees as little as possible, and, come winter as it may, they will pass it in that state of semi-insensibility, or torpor, which nature, or with reverence let me rather say—nature’s God has appointed | for them.. Towards the end of February, or as soon as vegetation begins to make its appearance, take your boxes from their winter to their summer stands, and commence another course of attentions, observations, and humane man- agement, similar to that herein directed and explained. And, though cases may arise, and difficulties occur in the course of your practice, for the remedying of which no specific directions are, or can be, here given, your own experience and progressive improvement in the pleasing science of Bee-management, will lead you to adopt the proper mode of treating the former, and the proper means for surmounting the latter. THE END. He AND J. LEACH, PRINTERS, WISBECIIe uP “abet * ms bee