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THE
HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE;
WITH
PLAIN DIRECTIONS
OBTAINING A CONSIDERABLE ANNUAL INCOME FROM THIS BRANCH
OF RURAL ECONOMY.
TO WlllCn 13 ADDED,
AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISEASES OF BEES,
WITH T H E I K remedies;
REMARKS AS TO TUEIR ENEMIES, AND THE BEST MODE OF
PROTECTING THE BEES FROM THEIR ATTACKS.
BY
H. D. KICHAEDSON,
AUTHOR OF "DOMESTIC FOWL;" "DOGS:" "HORSES;" "PIGS," ETC.
Seconlr ©Uftton, corrrctrlr,
AND AV 1 T H NL'MEROrS ADDITIONS.
DUBLIN
JAMES M^GLASHAIST^ 21 D'OLIER-STREET.
WM. S. ORR AND CO., 147 STRAND, LONDON.
FRASER AND CO., EDINBURGH.
MDCCCXLIX.
Dublin; Printed by Ed-WARD Bull, C, Bachelor's- walk.
PREFACE,
I FEEL myself called upon, at this period of my
labours, to address a few brief observations to my
readers. I have, in the first place, to return my
grateful acknowledgments for the very large share
of public patronage which my works have hitherto
enjoyed — a patronage which has conferred upon
them success, and which, I trust, may still be
awarded to such future publications of a similar
character as, if permitted the exercise of life and
health, I design further to embark upon the sea
of public opinion. To the kindness with which
the Press have treated my undertaking, I have
also to acknowledge my gratitude, and to express
a hope that, in the future performance of my
pleasing task, I may continue to merit and enjoy
the good opinion of that powerful and important
organ of public sentiment. jL489l'/'
I would now desire permission to speak a few
words of myself, in order to explain, what possibly
might otherwise, on some future occasion, create
6 PREFACE.
question or surprise — I allude to the circumstance
of one individual undertaking to write, and that
practically, upon so many different subjects. I
am induced to advert to this, from a fear lest
any of my readers should be inclined to regard
my little books as mere compilations, in which
case the authority which I could desire them to pos-
sess might be, to a great degree, lost. The facts
of the case are these : From the very earliest period
that I can remember, I was devotedly attached to
animals. In infancy, this, of course, only amounted
to a warm affection for such individual cats, dogs,
or birds, as were inmates of the same house. In
childhood, the sentiment became still further de-
veloped, in cutting out of, or drawing upon,
paper, the forms of such animals as I was ac-
quainted with from personal observation, or through
the medium of prints. As childhood advanced to
boyhood, so did my desires extend and derive
additional gratification from making pets of such
creatures as I could procure, and making all
their little ways and habits my attentive study.
In this pursuit I was greatly aided by a kind
and indulgent mother, herself an ardent student
of nature, whose liberal purse supplied the funds
needful for the attainment of my objects, and
whose instructions laid in my young mind the
foundation of zoological knowledge.
PREFACE, 7
To resume : As boyhood merged into manhood,
so did my zoological predilections acquire additional
strength, and it fortunately happened that at this
period many circumstances combined to afford me
facility for their indulgence. Need I add that I
eagerly availed myself of these ; need I add that
I cultivated poultry, and strove to improve our
domestic varieties by intermixture with foreign
stock ; that successively the Horse, Dog, Cow,
Hog, and other animals, engaged, as opportunity
offered, my close attention ; and when it will be
recollected that I studied the habits and natures
of these animals Avith an interest of a peculiar
nature, is it to be wondered at that I should
have done so with success, or that it should be
now a source of so much gratification to me to
publish, for the benefit of others, the result of
my observations ?
DuBLLN, November, 1848.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Chapter I Introductory 11
Chapter II. — The Honey Bee and its three Classes . . 15
Chapter III. — Ai-chitecture of the Honey Bee, and Economy of the
Hive 23
Chapter IV — Generation of the Honey Bee .... 28
Ch^vpter V Position of the Apiary 34
Chapter VI. — Hives and Boxes ...... 40
Chapter VII. — How your Stock is to be obtained . . .59
Chapter VIII. — Swarming 63
Chapter IX — The Honey Harvest 73
Chapter X Management dming Winter and early Spring . 89
Chapter XI. — The Diseases and Enemies of Bees . . .97
Chapter XII. — How to treat the Produce of your Honey Harvest 104
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
The Queen Bee 16
The Drone 17
The Working Bee 19
Cells 23
Ml. Nutt's Bee-house 47
Capped Hive . 58
A Swarm ........ 64
Fumigator ....... 76
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
The subject of Bee culture is one that should occupy a far
more prominent position than it at present does, in the do-
mestic economy of the farmer or cottier. When successfully
conducted, the management of these interesting insects be-
comes a source, and that by no means an insignificant one, of
pecuniary profit ; and to be a successful cultivator requires
only a very moderate degree of care and attention : let it
be remembered that the first outlay in procuring a swarm,
and providing suitable accommodation in the shape of
hives or bee-boxes, is the only expense to be incurred;
while the return yielded by each honey harvest is very
considerable, and to be regarded as clear gain.
In order to give the reader some idea of the profit which
may accrue from bee-keeping, under favourable circum-
stances, I may mention a statement of the late Mr. Nutt,
relative to the quantity of honey taken by him from one set
of collateral boxes, in a single season.
"Summary of memorandums of the several deprivations
or takings of honey from one set of boxes this season : —
May 27th,
Glass and box
641bs.
June 9 th,
Box
561bs.
June 10 th,
Glass
14ilbs.
June 12 th,
Box
601bs.
June 13th,
Box
521b9.
Collateral box
GOlbs.
D. H. HILL LIBRARY ^'«*"''
North Ca.'^5t!rra^SMe"-^Cdlege
12 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
This statement has surprised many, and its accuracy has
heen doubted by some bee-keepers ; and it certainly does,
at first sight, appear startling ; a few words of explanation,
however, for which I have to acknowledge myself indebted
to Mr. Briggs, of Lincolnshire, a friend of Mr. Nutt, and
one of the most skilful apiarians in England, will dis-
pel all mystery. Mr. Nutt, in the above calculation, gave
the gross weight, including boxes, glasses, thermometer,
&c., &c. The weight of these articles amounted to llSlbs.
3oz., which being deducted from the gross weight given
above, leaves the nett quantity of honey obtained during the
season, 1831bs. 5oz. These facts were communicated to Mr.
Briggs by Mr. Nutt himself. The market price of the best
honey is rarely less than Is. per lb. ; but were the manage-
ment of bees properly conducted, the quality of this article
would be so much improved as to enable us to compete
with foreign honey, and its price would be, of course, con-
siderably enhanced, if not doubled . Let us, however, take
Is. per lb. as the value, and we have, allowing for comb,
waste, &c., about ^8 sterling as the profit accruing from a
single set of boxes, in one single season. Even this sum is
by no means despicable ; and be it recollected that I have
made no mention of waXi which is now becoming so much
used in the manufacture of candles, and, of course, a most
marketable article. A correspondent informed me that he
had last season, and one considered a bad one for bees, taken
102lbs. of honey from two sets of boxes, and that he might
have taken, perhaps, lOlbs. more, without impoverishing
the bees. The writer on Bees in the *' Naturalists' Library,"
details the quantity taken from cottage hives in one season
at about lOlbs. from each hive. This is a very low average,
however, and it has reference to a single deprivation only,
as well as to a very imperfect description of hive. It is
not my intention to exhibit the advantages of keeping bees
on old and erroneous, and, I wish I could add, exploded
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 13
systems of management, but to show what can be done, if
done correctly. I shall say nothing, therefore, as to what
may be done with the common old hives, as I regard keep-
ing bees in them, when more fitting ones may so easily be
procured, as evincing something very like a self-willed de-
termination not to make profit. Yes, I repeat it — bee-
keeping, when conducted on a proper principle, will form
no mean item in the domestic economy of the extensive
agriculturist ; while to the humble cottier it will prove a
little fortune, and furnish the means of effectually and per-
manently bettering his condition. I would say that a single
set of collateral boxes, so simple in its construction, and
composed of such inexpensive materials that any one could
make them, ought to yield a profit of at least j610 per an-
num, and that the yield of two sets of boxes should produce
sufficient to pay the rent of from five to ten acres of land,
by no means a despicable holding, and one which, in its
turn, would become a source of comfort, of independence,
of social, and consequently, of course, of national ameliora-
tion.
The importance of honey, both as an article of food and
a valuable medicament, would appear to have been known
to the ancients from the very earliest times. " The land of
promise," to reach which the Israelites journeyed in pro-
tracted pilgrimage across an arid desert for a period of forty
years, was described as "a land flowing with milk and
honey ;^' while numerous passages throughout the sacred
volume furnish evidence of the attention devoted by the
ancient fathers of the Jewish people to the habits of the
Bee itself, and the degree of acquaintance with that in-
sect at which they had arrived. We are also told that se-
veral of the enlightened sages of ancient Greece deemed this
subject worthy years of diligent investigation. Pliny in-
forms us that Aristomachus made bees his whole study for
a period of fifty-eight years — '' Aristomachum Solensem,
14 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
duodesexagiuta annis nihil aliiid egisse ;^' Rud ** Philiscum
vero Thasium in desertis apes colentem, Agrium cognomi-
natum : qui ambo, scripsere de his."
Philiscus retired into solitude for the purpose of keeping
and contemplating them, for colere implies all this, and not,
as some have translated the same passage, mere contempla-
tion.
Aristotle, also, wrote much concerning bees, proving him-
self intimately acquainted with the subject, and his obser-
vations were subsequently confirmed and enlarged upon by
Pliny. Aristotle's observations appear to have furnished
the Mantuan bard, Virgil, with the groundwork of his
very beautiful, and in many respects faithful descriptions of
these insects, and their management. For Virgil's errors
we must allow poetical licence, and for one of them — viz.,
calling the sovereign of the hive a M?ig instead of cjueen, he
had possibly some political motives. We have since them
Columella and others, and in more modern times an actual
host of writers, amongst whom I may mention Prince Fre-
derick Ceci, Swammerdam, Boerhave, Wildman, Reaumur,
Huber, Huish, Nutt, Cotton, Bevan, Briggs* with a host
of other and eminent names, to many of whom, but to Mr.
Briggs in particular, I have to acknowledge myself indebt-
ed for some of the suggestions conveyed in the course of
these pages, which it is to be hoped may prove as useful as
it is my earnest desire they should, and I sincerely trust
that no obstinate attachment to old usages, or dislike to
encounter the very trifling degree of trouble consequent on
a change of management, will prevent their being, at all
events, taken into consideration.
' Mr. Briggs's invaluable papers in the "Ayrshire Agriculturist."
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 15
CHAPTER II.
THE HONEY-BEE AND ITS THREE CLASSES.
The Honey-bee belongs to the social family of the Apidae
(from Apis, the Latin for bee), to the order, fifth of insec-
TA, termed Hymenoptera, and including all insects possessing
four membranaceous, gauze-like wings, of unequal sizes, fur-
nished also with a sting, or process at the extremity of the
tail, resembling one. The interesting family of bees now
under consideration, is known peculiarly as the Apis Mel-
lifica, Honey-making or Honey-bee — not that this species
alone makes honey, but that it is the one so long known to
man, and which has so long yielded to him its rich store of
sweets — the insect of which Virgil sang —
" Sic vos non vobis mellificatis Apes."
*' Thus ye, not for yourselves, make honey, 0 Bees."
Of the family of the Honey-bee there are two varieties to
be met with in Europe — one inhabiting the north, and the
other the south ; the principal difference, however, would ap-
pear to consist in colour, the southern bee having the rings
encircling his body of a deeper red colour ; the description,
consequently, of the common Hive-bee of the British Islands
will apply, sufficiently for every practical purpose, to both
insects.
The number of bees contained in a hive will, of course,
vary with their condition, and the amount of accomoda-
tion they possess ; whatever, however, be their numbers,
their occupations are alike, and are similarly distributed
amongst the three classes composing the inmates of the
hive. These classes are, first, the Queen-bee, the sovereign
of the community, and literally, the prolific parent of her
subjects. The Queen-bee reigns alone ; but one of her sex
is permitted to exist in a hive at the one time, and to her
16 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
protection and comfort are the
energies of the other bees directed.
The Queen-bee may be recognized
by her greater length of body,
which is of a blackish colour above,
and of a yellowish tint beneath.
She is usually, but not by any
means invariably, of a larger size
than either of the other classes; her abdomen contains
two ovaries, or receptacles for eggs ; and her sting is of a
curved form. The Queen-bee commences depositing her
eggs when about five days old ; during the heat of the sea-
son she lays from 150 to 200 eggs per day, and lays with
little or no intermission from early Spring to the middle of
Autumn. The progress of the eggs from their deposition
to maturity, shall be treated of elsewhere. Virgil, as I
have already stated, mistook, apparently, the sex and func-
tions of the Queen-bee, describing her as a male, and also
as a potentate rather than a parent —
" Alter erit maculis auro squalen tibus ardens ;
(Nam duo suut genera) liic melior insignis et ore,
Et rutulis clarus squamis."
" With ease distinguished is the regal race ;
The monarch bears an honest, open face ;
Of larger size, and god-like to behold,
His royal body shines with specks of gold,
And glittering scales "
^' Nam duo sunt genera.'^ For there are two sorts. This
indicates that Virgil was only acquainted with two classes
of bee in the hive — royalty and her subjects. Aristotle,
however, appears either to have possessed more intimate
acquaintance with the subject, or to have derived benefit in
his descriptions from the circumstance of not being exposed
to the seductions of metre.
The second class of bees are the Drones. These are
bulkier in the body than either the Queen or the Working-
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
bee. Their head is rounder, probos-
cis shorter, eyes fuller, an additional
articulation to the antennae, and no
sting. They also make more noise
in flying than the other bees. The
Drones are the males of the hive ; by
them the royal mother is impreg-
nated, and her eggs fertilized. How or when this inter-
course takes place has long furnished philosophers with a
subject for controversy and inquiry ; and it has not even
yet been set at rest in such a manner as to admit being
proved to a positive demonstration.
Aristotle supposed that no such connexion took place ;
and Virgil has given directions for the production of bees,
by suffocating an ox, from the putrescence of whose intes-
tines a swarm would subsequently be generated ; he also
particularly directs attention to the circumstance of these
insects being utter strangers to the tender passion.
" Quod uec concubitu indulgent, nee corpore segnes
In Venerem solvunt." — [Georgic iv. 1. 187.J
Swammerdam held the same opinion, but imagined that
she required to be in the neighbourhood of the Drones,
from whose bodies there proceeded to her a vivifying aura^
producing fertihzation.
It has been by some supposed that the eggs are fertilized
by the Drones after having been deposited. This cannot
be the case, as many accurately-instituted experiments
satisfactorily prove that eggs once laid will progress to ma-
turity, and prove fertile in the absence of Drones.
M. de Reaumur described passages which occurred be-
tween the Drones and the Queen, which were sufficient to
induce suspicions at least of somewhat more than he ac-
tually witnessed, but farther he never could ascertain. The
passages to which I allude are not very creditable to the
18 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
royal character, from whom De Reaumur states all the ad-
vances came, while the Drones appeared cold, distant, and
to prefer being let alone, destitute of all gallantry, and
thoroughly justifying their name.
The celebrated Huber, whose reiterated experiments and
close observation entitle him to the greatest confidence, is
of opinion that actual intercourse does take place, not, how-
ever, while the parties are in the hive, but during their
flight in the air. The late Mr. Nutt coincided with Mr.
Huber in this opinion, while at the same time he expressed
his conviction that this will ever remain a debateable point.
Mr. Huber likewise was of opinion that the Queen, once
impregnated, remained so during her life ; and that as she
existed for some years, the Drones are called into existence
for the purpose of fecundating the young Queens or supernu-
meraries— insects kept as it were in reserve — lest she which
first comes forth should prove sterile, or meet with any
casualty. During the working season, especially the months
of May, June, and July, when the working bees are con-
tinually absent from the hive, the presence of the Drones
is perhaps requisite for some oflfices they may render the
larvae ; whether they are spared for that purpose, or are,
contrary to Huber's opinion, still requisite for the impreg-
nation of the Queen, I am not prepared to say ; but the
fact remains the same, that at the end of summer they are
ignominiously expelled the hive, and even slain by the
workers, as if they, being no longer of any utility to the
community, should not be fed from the store during
winter, and were killed to avoid this unnecessary waste.
This destruction usually takes place in August, or the
end of July —
" Agmine facto
Ignavum fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent."
' VlKGIL.
" All with united force combine to drive
The lazy Drones from the industrious hive."
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 19
During summer, the Drones remain dispersed through
different parts of the hive, but towards its close they assem-
ble together in companies, as if preparing for their im-
pending fate, which they await in patience, or rather, per-
haps, in motionless lethargy. When the attack, however,
commences, I must do the Drones the justice to mention
that they then resist to their utmost : from the number of
their executioners, however, and their own deficiency, not
being furnished with a sting, they have not a shadow of
chance.
It is, perhaps, unnecessary to observe that the Drones do
not work for the support of the hive, but lead an idle life,
feeding upon the produce of others' labour, justifying the
characteristic line of the poet :
" Immimisque sedens aliena ad pabvila fucus."
" Aiid drones that riot on another's toils."
We now come to the most interesting inmate of the
hive — the Working-bee.
The Working-bee is consider-
ably less than either the Queen-
bee or the Drone. It is about half
an inch in length, of a blackish
brown colour, covered with closely
set hairs all over the body, which
aid it in carrying the farina it
gathers from the flowers ; and on the tibia or forearm, as
it were, of the hind leg, is a cavity of cuplike form, for the re-
ception of the little kneaded ball of pollen. It is the Work-
ing-bee which collects honey and pollen, which forms
the cells, cleans out the hive, protects the Queen, looks
after the condition of the young brood, destroys or expels
the Drones, when these are no longer necessary to the well-
being of the community ; who in short, performs all offices
connected with the hive and its contents, save only those
which have reference to the reproduction of the species.
20 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
The Working-bees are of no sex, and are furnished with a
horny and hollow sting, through which poison is ejected
into the wound they make ; this poison is of an acrid cha-
racter, and of great power in its effects, proving fatal to any
insect, and instances being on record of its proving so to
horses and cattle, nay, even to human beings ; when human
beings, however, are stung (an accident that will happen
very seldom, if they use the precautions, in manipulating
with their bees, that shall be detailed in the course of this
volume), they can instantaneously obtain relief by pressing
upon the point stung with the tube of a key ; this will extract
the sting, and relieve the pain, and the application of aqua
ammonice. (common spirits of hartshorn) will immedi-
ately remove it ; the poison being of an acid nature, and
being thus at once neutralized by the application of this
penetrating and volatile alkali.
I may here describe the structure of the bee. The one
description answering, with some exceptions to be pointed
out as I proceed, for the three classes — Queen — Drone —
and Workers.
The bee is, like insects generally (which derive their
name from two Latin words, signifying cut in partSy or di-
vided), composed of three parts — the head, thorax or
chest, and abdomen. The shape of the head varies some-
what, as also does its size, in the three classes ; it is at-
tached to the thorax by a thin ligament, and the thorax is
attached in a similar manner to the abdomen. In front of
the head are two eyes, which are protected by hairs from
any substances that might otherwise injure them, and on
the top of the head are three smaller eyes. This visual ap-
paratus renders the bee's power of sight a very extended
one. Two feelers, or antennae, spring from between the
front eyes, and curve outwards on each side ; these are en-
dowed with a very acute sense of touch, and doubtless per-
form many of the offices of eyes in the dark recesses of the
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 21
hive. It is probably by the assistance of these deHcate
and highly sensitive organs that these insects form their
combs, fill their cells, and feed the young. I am of opinion
also that they serve as a medium by means of which the
bees convey intelligence to each other.
The mouth of the bee is composed of a pair of mandibles,
or jaws, which open vertically, and act (opening and shut-
ting) to the right and left. These are furnished with teeth
at their extremities. The mouth is also furnished with a
very minute tongue, and with a long, slender instrument,
called a proboscis, or trunk, resembling, in form and use,
that of the elephant ; it is composed of numerous cartilagi-
nous rings, fringed with minute hairs. This instrument
does not, however, act as a tube, but by rolling about and
attaching to the hairs which fringe it, whatever substances
the insect wishes to convey to the mouth ; from about the
base of the proboscis also arise the labial feelers, as they are
called, which are also furnished with a hairy fringe.
The bee possesses three pair of legs, of which the poste-
rior are the longest, and the anterior the shortest. These
are formed and articulated much like the same limbs in
man, and are attached to the thorax ; at their extremities
we find two little hooks, which appear like sickles, or reap-
ing hooks, and have their points opposed to each other.
By means of these the insect suspends itself to the top of
the hive, or in any other position it may desire. I have
already mentioned the basket-like provision on the hinder
thighs of the workers — it is peculiar to, and characteristic
of them.
To the superior portion of the thorax are attached four
wings, consisting of two pair of unequal size. These wings
are hooked together ; in order that they may act simulta-
neously, and not only serve to convey the insects from place
to place, through the air, but by the humming, buzzing noise
their motion produces, to give notice of their departure from.
22 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
aud return to, the hive, as well as possibly to animate their
fellows in their mutual labours.
Interiorly the thorax contains the oesophagus, or gullet,
while traverses its extent on its way into the abdomen,
while it dilates into, first, the honey-bag, which is furnished
with two pouches posteriorly, and a muscular apparatus, by
which it is enabled to give forth its saccharine contents ;
and, secondly, into the true stomach, in which digestion
goes on for the nourishment of the insect, and the secretion
of wax.
Next to the stomach is situated the sting ; this consists
of two darts enclosed in a sheath. The whole apparatus
enters the wound, and the two small darts then enter still
farther : these are barbed, and, on the insect withdraw-
ing them, aid in widening the puncture, and thus afford
greater room for the introduction of the poison. At the
base of the sting, the bag containing the poison is placed ;
this fluid is, as I have already stated, an acid, but further
than that it is so, has not been ascertained. I have also
said that the cure for the wound it makes consists in,
if possible, effecting the extraction of the sting, and the
neutralization of the acid poison by the application of an
alkali.
The bee respires by means of spiracles, or breathing-
holes, situated in the thorax, beneath and behind the wings.
Through these, air is admitted into the thorax, for the pur-
pose of oxygenating the circulating system ; for oxygen
is no less essential to the well being of the bee — nay, to its
very existence — than it is to that of man. Will not this con-
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
23
vince every reader of the necessity which exists for duly
ventilating the hives, or bee-boxes ? — an operation so much
neglected, and yet so important a feature, as I shall show
hereafter, in the proper and remunerative management of
these insects.
CHAPTER III.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE HONEY BEE, AND ECONOMY OF THE HIVE.
When a new swarm of bees establish themselves in a hive,
or other receptacle, whether natural or artificial, their first
proceeding is to cleanse the interior thoroughly, and care-
fully to stop up every chink that might admit the weather :
the substance which they employ for the latter purpose,
and which likewise forms the basis of their comb, is called
propolis, and is quite distinct from wax. Even the ancients
appear to have recognized the distinction between wax and
propolis ; for Virgil particularly describes two sorts of wax,
one of a character adapted for smearmg (this was the true
24 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
wax), the other for cementing or glueing — this was the
substance we now know as propohs. This is a resinous
substance of a greyish-brown colour, and aromatic odour,
and possessed of singular tenacity. Huber first showed
that the bees collect this substance from the alder, birch,
and willow-trees, but especially from the poplar, A small
filmy thread of the viscous produce of the tree is drawn off
by the bee, and carefully kneaded into a ball by the action
of the mandibles, after which it is secured in the basket
which I have described as existing on the hinder legs : so
tenacious is this substance, that on the laden bee's arriving
at the hive, it requires the united efforts of many bees to
disengage the load from the receptacle in which it has been
placed : it also rapidly hardens ; the bees, therefore, use it
at once while it is yet fresh and plastic. It is with this sub-
stance, also, that the hive is attached to the stand on which
it is placed, and with which the bees attach the comb to
the hive : it is, however, of wax that the cells are formed.
To Huber we are indebted for having been the first to
communicate to the v^orld the mode in which the cells are
commenced. He compelled the bees to build upwards, in-
stead of allowing them to begin in the ordinary manner from
above, downwards, and thus avoided the concealment of
their work, attendant on their usual suspension from the
top of the hive. A glass pane in the back of the hive did
the rest.
Mr. Huber's discoveries are astonishing and interesting
in the extreme. The combs formed by the bee, when per-
mitted to follow its natural instinct, are commenced from the
top of the hive, and consist of parallel plates of comb, having
cells on both sides, the one base, therefore, serving for both,
which effects a great saving of material. The form of each
cell is hexagonal, having six equal sides, with the exception
of the uppermost row, the shape of which is an irregular
pentagon.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 86
Here we must pause for a moment to wonder and admire
— to admire the extraordinary instinct the Almighty has
implanted in the bodies of these little insects. The chief
requisites to be looked for in constructing the cells, would
naturally be, economy of materials, of room, of labour, and
the greatest possible quantity of internal space. M. De
Reaumur employed the celebrated mathematician, Koenig,
pupil of the no less celebrated Bernouilli, to ascertain what
the measurement of the angles composing these prisms
should be, in order to obtain the above requisites ; and the
result of his calculations showed the exquisite nicety with
which instinct enabled the bees to work. I shall explain
in the words of Dr. Bevan : —
" The partition which separates the two opposing rows
of cells, and which occupies, of course, the middle distance
between their two surfaces, is not a plane, but a collection
of rhombs, there being three at the bottom of each cell : the
three together form in shape a flattened pyramid, the basis
of which is turned towards the mouth of the cell ; each cell
is in form, therefore, a hexagonal prism, terminated by a
flattened trihedral pyramid, the three sides of which pyra-
mid are rhombs, that meet at the apex by their obtuse
angles.
" The union of the lozenges in one point, in addition to
the support which it is the means of aff'ording to the three
partitions between opposing cells, is also admirably adapted
to receive the little egg, and to concentrate the heat neces-
sary for its incubation. Each obtuse angle of the lozenge
or rhombs forms an angle of 110 degrees, and each acute
one an angle of about 70 degrees. M. Maraldi found, by
mensuration, that the angles of these rhombs, which com-
pose the base of a cell, amounted to 109 degrees and 28
seconds, and 70 degrees and 32 seconds ; and the famous
mathematician, Koenig, pupil of the celebrated Bernouilli,
having been employed for that purpose by M. Reaumur,
26 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
lias clearly shown, by the method of infinitesimals, that the
quantity of these angles, using the least possible wax, in
the cell of the same capacity, should contain 109 degrees
26 seconds, and 70 degrees and 24 seconds. This was
confirmed by the celebrated Mr. Mac Lauren, who very
justly observes, that bees do truly construct their cells of
the best figure, and with the utmost mathematical exact-
ness." It will be seen, then, that, in their architecture,
the bees obtain the requisites which I above enumerated.
Perhaps the following is the most wonderful of Ruber's
discoveries : The design of every comb is sketched out^ and
the rudiments laid by one single bee, who forms a block
from a rough mass of wax, from materials furnished him
by hosts of industrious workmen ; determines the relative
position of the combs, and their distances from each other ;
attaches the blocks to the hives, and then leaves his in-
ferior architects to go to work, and form the cells. One
bee does not complete any cell ; but these insects relieve
each other in succession, to the number of from fifteen to
twenty, until the last finishing polish is given to the work.
The cells designed for the drones are built with due refer-
ence to their superior size, and are usually near the bottom of
the combs. The royal cells are built last, are usually from
five to ten in number, and placed near the centre of the
hive : these are designed as receptacles for the infant
queens. I should not omit observing, that, while one set
of workers are forming the comb and cells, another set are
busy flying to and fro, collecting materials, and bringing
them to the hives. Nor do they furnish their architectural
brethren with materials only ; they supply them with food
also, and with the sweets from which they likewise elabo-
rate wax in their interior.
The royal cells differ in form and dimensions from the
others. They are much larger ; more wax is expended on
their formation ; their form is not hexagonal, but an ob-
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 27
long spheroid ; the mouth, which is at bottom, is left open
until the grub is ready to undergo its transformations,
when it is closed like the rest ; and immediately on a per-
fected queen emerging from her cradle, the latter is de-
stroyed, and its site built upon mth common cells. Nor
are the ro} al cells built in among the other cells, but at-
tached to them externally, suspended perpendicularly, with
their sides parallel to the orifices of the common cells.
The bees occasionally depart from the regular form of
their cells, and in doing so exhibit something so nearly re-
sembling design, that it becomes absolutely startling to the
observer. These deviations appear when, after ha\-ing
formed a number of small cells, the bees wish to form
larger ones — they may be termed cells of transition ; their
bases are composed of two rhombs and tivo hexagons, in-
stead of three. Reaumur and others have regarded this
departure from regularity as a proof of imperfection. Dr.
Bevan justly looks upon it as " determined by a sufficient
motive," and forming " no impeachment of the sagacity of
the bee."
The cells are by no means used indiscriminately for all
the purposes of the hive : there are, on the contrary, as I
have shown, cells peculiar to the royal brood : there are
also cells peculiarly kept for the young workers, and others
for the young drones — these latter are much less numerous
than those of the former : there are likewise cells reserved
for containing honey. It is true, that, when the breeding
season terminates, the cells of the drones and workers are
generally well cleansed out, and these also employed as re-
ceptacles for honey, but the honey preserved in them is
never so pure or fine in quality as that which has been kept
in its own peculiar storehouses : some of the cells are also
kept apart for holding pollen ; these are of large size. Pol-
len is not, as Reaumur erroneously conceived, the sole sub-
stance on which depends the formation of wax — if, indeed.
28 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
it have anything at all to do with that process. It is
eaten by the bees, forms a large portion of the food for the
young, and may possibly thus lend its quota of assistance to
the general elaboration.
To give some idea of the extreme thinness of the walls of
the cells, I may mention that two of them laid together are
not equal in thickness to a leaf of ordinary letter-paper ;
yet not only are they first formed, independent and suffi-
ciently strong, of wax alone, with a basis of propolis, but
are likewise subsequently coated over with a mixture of
propolis and wax. The soldering at the orifice of each cell
is formed with a large proportion of propolis ; according as
each cell is filled with its appropriate contents, it is care-
fully covered in.
CHAPTER IV.
GENERATION OF THE HONEY-BEE.
In a former chapter I spoke of the various suppositions re-
lative to the fertilization of the queen-bee, and showed that
Mr. Ruber's suggestion — viz., of intercourse between her
and the drones taking place in the air during flight — is at
least rational. This also satisfactorily explains the reason
why the number of drones in each hive is so great, viz.,
in order that the queen-bee may have the greater likelihood
of meeting with a consort when on the wing ; it is also
probable that the drones perform some yet unexplained
functions relative to the young or larvae.
As soon as the severity of winter has passed away,
and the genial influences of spring have begun to be
felt, the queen-bee commences laying ; and a hive, how-
ever it may have lost in number during winter, will by
the middle of summer be crowded to excess, and, unless
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 29
properly managed, throw off a swarm. The queen con-
tinues to lay until about September, and as she is calcu-
lated to deposit nearly 200 eggs per day, my readers may
form some idea of the prodigious number she deposits in
an entire season. This has by many authors been calcu-
lated at from 8,000 to 10,000, which I think much under
the mark.
Wherever the queen-bee moves, she is attended by ten
or a dozen workers, who watch her every motion apparently
with the utmost attention. Previous to depositing the egg,
the queen puts her head into the cell for a moment, as if
to ascertain its emptiness and fitness otherwise to receive
its charge. If she find everything satisfactory, she then
turns round, introduces her posterior extremity until it al-
most touches the bottom of the cell, and lays the eggs.
Mr. Wildman says, that while thus occupied, the attend-
ant bees, surrounding her in a circle, perform a sort of
obeisance, and caress her with their feet and trunks. I
am disposed to think this a little fanciful ; I have never
witnessed any such demonstration myself, but it is possible
that my observation may have been defective. When the
queen has deposited one egg, she goes on to another cell,
and so on, and after laying about ten eggs in succession,
she retires for awhile, and then resumes her prolific employ-
ment. The egg remains without undergoing any apparent
change for about four days, when it gradually assumes the
form and aspect of a little maggot, changing in the same
manner as the caterpillar. This little maggot is nourished
by the bees until the eighth day, by which time it has
grown so much as to occupy the whole cell, when they
close up the cell, and imprison its inmate for about twelve
days more, during which time it undergoes gradual trans-
formation until it becomes a nymph or aurelia, presenting
the appearance of a perfect fly, except in being soft and
wliite in colour.
B 2
30 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
The white pellicle which envelopes the nymph now gra-
dually strips off, and about the twentieth day the perfect
fly is ready to attempt extricating itself from its confine-
ment. This object she speedily attains by cutting round
the cover with her mandibles.
On first emerging from the cell, the young bee appears
weak and lethargic, doubtless from the novelty of its situa-
tion and the effects of the new medium by which it is sur-
rounded. It soon, however, acquires vigour, and the very
first day of its entrance into the world it may be seen re-
turning from the fields, emulating its elder born comrades
in the richness and quantity of the sweet burden with
which it is laden.
As soon as the young bee has left the cell, two workers
come to it, one of which draws out and works up the wax
of which it was composed, while the other repairs it, re-
stores its symmetry, and cleans out its interior. Some-
times new eggs are deposited in these cells the same day,
and sometimes they are filled with honey or farina. When
five days old, the young bee, if a queen, is ready to com-
mence the office of a mother.
In the event of the eggs being designed to produce
drones, their changes present precisely the same pheno-
mena as in the case of workers, except that they take more
time, requiring twenty-four days for the change. Huber
states that the eggs of the males require eleven months to
be perfected in the ovaria of the queen, and assigns this as
a reason why the eggs of workers continue to be deposited
for eleven months before the queen commences depositing
those of drones. There are, however, some facts which
at least throw some doubt on this suggestion ; among
others, that if a young queen be not impregnated within
twenty days after her emergence from the cell, all her sub-
sequent progeny will be drones, and drones only. I am
not aware that any naturalist has yet attempted an expla-
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 31
nation of this very remarkable fact. The eggs of the queen
differ in no respects, when laid, from those of workers or
drones, but they are deposited in peculiarly-formed cells,
already described ; but when the larva appears on the
fourth day, and from that time, extraordinary attention is
bestowed upon it, and it is fed upon a peculiar substance,
a sort of rich jelly of an acid character. In five days the
royal larva commences forming her web, and the nurses
close up her cell. In four-and-twenty hours she has com-
pleted her cocoon, in which state she remains for nearly
three days. She is then pu_pa aurelia, or nymph, and after
five or six days more the royal insect is perfect. The
young queen does not, however, like the other bees, begin
at once to extricate herself from her cradle ; her cell
is, on the other hand, now more securely fastened than
ever. But one reigning monarch is permitted to exist in
the hive, and it is only in the event of the old queen dying,
or issuing forth with a sw^rm, that the young aspirant to
the throne is discharged from captivity. So strong is the
instinct which prompts the bees to permit but the presence
of a single sovereign in each hive, that the old queen makes
frequent attempts to get at the royal cells : if she succeed in
doing so, she will rend them open, and furiously destroy
their contents ; and the moment a young queen is suffered
to depart from her cell, her very first act is to destroy her
yet unreleased, and often undeveloped, royal sisters. It oc-
casionally happens that two queens emerge at the same
time ; when this occurs a mortal combat ensues, which
only terminates in the death of one of the combatants —
the workers meanwhile looking quietly on, not only not in-
terfering to put a stop to the conflict, but actually, should
one or both appear anxious to give up the struggle, hem-
ming them round, permitting of no compromise, but com-
pelling the rivals to bring the affair to a deadly issue. It
very rarely happens thatboth queens perish in the encounter.
32 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BP:E.
for such is their instinctive dreadof leaving the community
unprovided with a sovereign, that should they, in the en-
gagement, get into such a position, in reference to each
other, as would admit of mutually plunging their stings
into each other's bellies, the only point where they are vul-
nerable, they hastily disengage, and do not use their stings
unless when one queen can take the other at a disadvantage.
Even, however, should such a casualty occur as the death
of both queens, or should any other accident occasion a
hive to be deprived of its queen, the bees possess a most
wonderful power of supplying the deficiency.
The bees do not always at once discover the loss of their
queen, but when they do, all is tumult and confusion, these
insects humming loudly, and hurrying hither and thither over
the combs in a state of apparent distraction. If there be any
royal nymphs ready to be released, one is at once set free —
if only royal larvae exist, their attention is at once devoted
to them ; but now comes the wonderful portion of the mat-
ter. If the bees possess only the larvae of working hees^
they at once enlarge their cells, converting them into royal
cradles, for which purpose they pull to pieces whatever cells
are in the way, unhesitatingly sacrificing life after life to
the great end they have in view ; these larvae, by peculiar
feeding, become converted into queens. It was that close
observer, Schirach, who first made this singular discovery,
the truth of which was subsequently confirmed by Huber. I
quote his account from a translation of his work published
in Edinburgh, in the year 1818 : — "I put some pieces of
comb, containing workers' eggs in the cells, of the same
kind as those already hatched, into a hive, deprived of the
queen. The same day several cells were enlarged by the
bees, and converted into royal cells, and the worms sup-
plied with a thick bed of jelly. Five were then removed
from these cells, and five common worms, which, forty-
eight hours before, we had seen come from the e^^^ substi-
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 33
tuted for them. The bees did not seem aware of the
change ; they watched over the new worms the same as
over those chosen by themselves ; they continued enlarg-
ing the cells, and closed them at the usual time. When
they had hatched them seven days, we removed the cells
to see the queens that were to be produced. Two were ex-
cluded, almost at the same moment, of the largest size, and
well formed in every respect. The term of the other cells
having elapsed, and no queen appearing, we opened them.
In one was a dead queen, but still a nymph ; the other two
were empty. The worms had spun their silk cocoons, but
died before passing into their nymphine state, and presented
only a dry skin. I can conceive nothing more conclusive
than this experiment. It demonstrates that bees have the
power of converting the worms of workers into queens, since
they succeeded in procuring, queens by operating on the
worms which we ourselves had selected."
Huber likewise proved by experiment that the "Working-
bees occasionally become endued with fertility, this taking
place only in hives which have been deprived of their
queen, and, altogether, he came to the conclusion that a de-
velopment of the ovaries can be given to ahy bees by feeding
them on the royal food^ a wonderful provision, by which
nature has secured the industrious inhabitants of the hive
from the effects of unexpected contingencies, which would
otherwise be attended with disastrous results.
" When bees," says Huber, " give the royal treatment to
certain worms, they, either by accident, or by a peculiar
instinct, the principle of which is unknown to me, drop
some particles of royal jelly into cells contiguous to those
containing the worms destined for queens."
It will occasionally happen, however, that a queen is
lost when no eggs of any kind, in a fit state for transforma-
tion, exist in the hive. When such is the case, the bees
discontinue the collection of honey ; live riotously on
34 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
whatever is left in the hive, while that lasts ; fly about with
no apparent object, and soon either perish or seek a home
elsewhere. If, however, they be supplied with a new queen,
they revive ; but if they appear much reduced in numbers,
it is better to join them to another stock.
It has been suggested that this power possessed by bees
of, as it were, manufacturing queens in cases of necessity,
might be taken advantage of for the purpose of forming
artificial stocks. I do not, however, see either the necessity
or utility of so doing. One strong stock is ever worth three
weak ones ; and union, not scattering — giving the bees
plenty of house-room, according as they may require it,
instead of partitioning them into insignificant and feeble
colonies, is the only line of conduct towards them that may
be expected to keep the hive wealthy, and consequently
bring profit to its humane proprietor.
CHAPTER V.
POSITION OF THE APIARY.
" Principio sedes apibus statioque petenda." — Virgil.
" In the first place we must seek an abode and station for the bees."
The most favourable general aspect for your hives or boxes
is south-westerly ; but if you can so contrive as to reserve
to yourself a power of modifying this aspect with the season,
so much the better, In spring, for instance, the aspect
wouldbe improved by inclining more to the west ; in autumn
the reverse. My reason for this recommendation is, that the
morning sun is prejudicial to the interests of the hive, not
from any inherent bad quality in its rays, but because when
the bees are so placed as to receive the early light, they are
tempted forth too early — an event objectionable on two ac-
counts ; first, that, especially in early spring, the dawn is
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 35
too coldy and will occasion the death of numbers if they are
induced to venture forth ; and secondly, because the bees,
if they commence operations so early, become wearied be-
fore they have performed a good day's work, and the after-
noon is a more advantageous period for their labours. I
shall afterwards treat of ^' shifting^'' — a subject which has
produced considerable controversy among bee-fanciers.
The place where you intend to fix your stand must be a
dry soil — if sandy, so much the better. It should slope
towards the front, in order to carry off the surface water
produced by occasional rains, and should not, on any ac-
count^ be exposed to the droppings from the eaves of houses,
or even hedges. Shelter is essential, especially behind, and
on the east of the hives — a house or high wall is the best
you can procure ; and I am also an advocate for the stand
being placed in a sort of small, open shed, well painted on
the outside to protect it from the weather ; a few shrubs
planted about the stand are also good as additional shelter.
Some recommend high trees for the purpose of keeping the
air calm, lest the bees should be blown down when return-
ing home. High trees are not advisable ; they form an evil
themselves of greater magnitude than that which they may be
designed to remove. Bees are seldom blown to the ground
by mere wind ; but even when they are, they can, in a great
majority of cases, recover themselves. Whereas, if blown
amongst trees, they will be sure to be whipped so violently by
the branches, that they are absolutely hurled to the ground
with such force as to render their recovery hopeless. The
bees also fly loiv on their return to the hive, when they arrive
at the immediate neighbourhood of their stand, and, conse-
quently, high trees would be not only useless, but absolutely
inconvenient. Whatever trees you wish, therefore, to plant
in the immediate vicinity of the hive should be of low size.
Wildman recommends them — and I think very judiciously —
to be '' of the dwarf kind, with bushy heads, in order that
36 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
the swarms which settle on them may be more easily hived."
Now, although by judicious management swarming will ge-
nerally be prevented from taking place, yet despite of our
utmost care it may accidentally occur ; or the bees may quit
their boxes in a body, from various causes — some of which
I shall endeavour hereafter to explain — and under such cir-
cumstances, Mr. Wildman's suggestions will be found valu-
able. The garden, therefore, in which you fix your stands
should be thus planted ; and I further, for the same rea-
sons, recommend wall fruit trees and espaliers.
Avoid a site near mills or other noisy places, or the
neighbourhood of bad smells, as factories and the like ; and
if, as occasionally may happen, your stand be placed against
your garden wall, behind which is the farm-yard, let not a
dunghill be built against the opposite side. I have wit-
nessed this before now, and in one instance found the con-
sequence to be a desertion of the boxes. Do not place your
stand where you see rat or mouse holes, and let your shed be
all oi woody never thatched with straw, as that substance har-
bours mice, moths, and other similar enemies to your stock.
Water is essential to the well-being of your bees ; it
must, however be presented to them judiciously, or it will
prove a greater evil than a good. If you can coax a shallow
rippling brook through your garden, so much the better ;
if not, place near the stand, small, shallow, earthern pans of
water, and put some pebbles in them. This water must
be changed daily. It is highly objectionable to have a
pond or canal in your neighbourhood : you will lose thou-
sands of your bees through their means every season, as
they will be constantly blown into them when returning
heavily laden to the hive, especially in the evening, when
wearied after the toil of an industriously-spent day. The
pebbles in the troughs are for the bees to rest on while
drinking, and are the recommendation of Columella. I have
seen tin plates perforated with holes, and placed over the
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 37
pans, just on the surface of the water, used for drinking-
vessels for bees ; I, however, prefer the pebbles.
It is essential that you have your garden abundantly
planted with such shrubs and flowers as afford honey, in
order, as much as possible, to prevent the necessity of your
bees constantly travelling to an inconvenient distance in
search of food. It will be as well also that you contrive to
have a succession of such food, adapted to the season, a
matter comparatively easily managed and of very great con-
sequence to the well-being of your stock. Among these
plants I may enumerate broom ; furze or gorse ; thyme, espe-
cially lemon thyme ; clover ; crocus ; heaths ; fruit-trees ;
mustard ; mignionette ; sage ; single roses ; radishes ;
primroses ; privet ; parsley ; peas and parsnips ; mari-
golds ; violets ; lily ; lauristinum ; daffodils ; celery ;
cauliflower ; asparagus ; sunflowers, &c. Mr. Nutt has
given a very copious list of bee-flowers in his work on
bees, but I think many of them might be omitted without
any loss. Mr. Briggs, an apiarian of whom I have
had to make mention more than once in the course of
this volume, and a most enthusiastic bee-fancier, mentions
also as good bee-flowers — phacelia tenacitifolia ; salvia
nemorosa ; lithrmn salicaria ; winter aconite ; hepatica
and wall-flowers ; borage, winter vetches, ivy, a few perches
of turnips running to seed in spring, and a succession of
crops of buckwheat during summer and autumn. Mr.
Briggs also mentions a plant so very valuable to bees that
it is only a pity it is not more generally known, viz.,
MELILOTUS LEUCANTHA, which, with BORAGE, he SCCmS
to think the most important of bee-flowers. Mr. Briggs
adds that the former, for bee purposes, " should be sown
in March or the beginning of April, on a deep, rich, and
dry loamy soil, in drills about eighteen inches apart, and
the plants thinned to nine or ten inches' distance from
each other. It will grow from six to eight feet in height
c
38 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
during the first summer, and from ten to twelve during
the second. If some plants of it are cut down to the
ground, when about two feet in height, they will bloom
later in the summer — a succession of them may be had from
June to November, and they will be frequented by thou-
sands of bees during every fine day throughout the season.
Mr. Briggs has, with unusual generosity, distributed quan-
tities of this valuable seed to bee-fanciers in most parts of
England, Ireland, and Scotland, so that there can be no
difficulty in obtaining it. I have observed complaints ad-
dressed by bee-keepers to the '* Farmer's Gazette," of the
inefficacy (!) of the melilotus as a bee-flower. These parties
cannot have sown the genuine "melilotus leucantha," but
an allied shrub, resembling it in appearance^ but objection-
able to the bees, alike from its smell and taste.
While on the subject of the necessity of providing the
bees with suitable plants from which to extract their
sweets, it may prove interesting to inform my readers of
a supposed discovery laid before the public, a number of
years ago, by Abbe Boissier de Sauvages.* The abbe
maintained that the bees were only the collectors of the
honey, and that they had no share in its manufacture.
He also described two sorts of honeij dew, as it was called,
but one of which the abbe stated to be an exudation from
the leaves of the trees on which it was found, and the
other he described as owing its origin to a small insect,
the vine fretter, whose excrement it is. These are the
insects described by some naturahsts as sought after and
retained in their communities by ants, and used by those
insects as cows are by the human race.
That bees may, when they meet with it, make use of
this " honey dew," there can be little doubt ; but that it
forms the basis of all honey is not to be entertained for
* " Observations sur I'Origine du Jliol." A Niines, 17G3-
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 39
a single instant, and one would be disposed to ask the
abbe, were he still living, why he would admit of honey
being thus produced by the vine fretters, and yet not by
bees.
While I recommend the sowing of such seeds as will pro-
duce plants beneficial and grateftd to the bees, I have also
to observe that there are plants which prove noxious to them
or to the consumers of their produce ; sometimes to one,
sometimes to both. Happily, however, we are almost wholly
exempt from such danger in these islands. Xenophon
mentions, in the Anabasis, that soldiers of his army were
poisoned by honeycomb they found near Trebizond ; and
M. Tournefort, a traveller through that country, discovered
a plant called " chamserhododendron, mespili folio," a
plant closely resembling the honeysuckle in smell, which
produced effects identical Vt^ith those described by Xenophon,
namely, intoxication, vertigo, stupor ; the men affected
recovering from their illness in about three or four days.
This plant is also known as the rose laurel, or azalea
pontica.
Recollect also that your hives should on no account be
so placed as to be exposed to the noonday sun — this will
injure the honey and melt it, and will raise the temperature
of the hive, so as to produce unwished-for swarming, besides
otherwise annoying and injuring the bees. A few shrubs,
therefore, should be so placed as to cast their shadow across
your stand during the heat of the day ; you may also let
these shrubs be of such a description as the bees are fond
of — you will thus effect a double object ; and you may also
dispose them tastefully, so as to give your apiary a pleasing
and picturesque appearance.
Finally, I object to bee-houses j whose chief recommenda-
tion is set forward as consisting of their capacity for contain-
ing a great number of hives — these are only fit for keeping
40 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
the bee-boxes in during winter — one, two, or three sets of
collateral boxes are as many as any moderate bee-keeper
will desire, or be able conveniently to attend, and these can
be kept, each in a little shed by itself. Beehives should
never be placed close to each other, as they m.ust necessarily
be in these houses, for bees are naturally very irritable and
pugnacious insects, and if two colonies be kept too near
each other, battles will ensue, and the weaker hive be de-
stroyed. If you persist, therefore, in using hives, at all
events let them be at least three feet apart — but I will show
you in next chapter, how you can make for yourselves col-
lateral boxes, sufficient for success, and for so little money,
if indeed you are called upon for any outlay, that I think I
shall be able to wean you altogether from the old and less
profitable straw skep.
CHAPTER VI.
HIVES AND BOXES.
The old straw, conical-shaped hive is too well known to need
description. I may merely observe, that its mode of manage-
ment was simple enough, consisting only in leaving the bees
to themselves until autumn, then inserting brimstone matches
into the hive, suffocating its miserable inhabitants, and tak-
ing, perhaps, 15 or l61bs. of very bad honey, smelling foully
of sulphureous acid gas, and full of the dead bodies of its ill-
requited producers. When, about midsummer, the tempe-
rature of the hive increased to such a decree as to become
insupportable to the inmates, they swarmed, as it was
called, that is to say, the queen took her departure, accom-
panied by a certain number of her subjects, to seek a more
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 41
roomy residence. ** Swarming" shall be treated of in a se-
parate chapter,
The main objections to this old system of management
are, its inhumanity, its absurdity, and its unprofitableness.
What could be more inhuman than kilhng the poor things
nmieeessnrily, for the sake of their produce ? What would
be said, did we kill the cow for her milk, or calf, or the hen
for her eggs ? Indeed, to nothing can I compare this prac-
tice more aptly than to the man in the old fable, who killed
and cut open his goose, in order to come at her golden
eggs. What can be more absurd than to destroy in mere
wantonness the lives of multitudes of creatures that, if per-
mitted to live, would be ready to resume work for you in
the following spring ? and in what is its absurdity shown so
plainly as in its unprofitableness? What signify ten or
fifteen pounds weight of honey, or even thirty pounds
weight, to be produced by a single stock in a season — and
that, too, when lOOlbs. weight will be furnished, provided only
that you take advice — and that honey, moreover, of superior
quality, pure, crystalline, and limpid ? — very unlike the foul
produce of a dirty straw " skep," copiously clogged with
the bodies of your murdered benefactors. Of the proper
and humane mode of taking from your bees their spare
store, I shall, however, treat in another chapter. At pre-
sent it is my business to describe the most convenient boxes
or hives.
The chief objects to be effected by the use of a suitable
receptacle for your bees are —
First — The power of depriving your bees of their honey
at pleasure, and without injury to them.
Secondly — The obtaining of it in its pure and uncontami-
nated form.
Thirdly — The means of enlarging the accommodation of
your bees, when necessary, and the consequent prevention of
unwished-for swarming.
42 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
These requisites have been recognized for a great many
years back ; and the humane system of management so en-
thusiastically promulgated and insisted upon by the late Mr.
Nutt, is by no means novel, as it is identical in principle with
that described by bee-fanciers who lived more than half a
century before him. Mr. Nutt, however, may not have seen
the books in which the former systems were detailed, in which
case he is undoubtedly entitled to the merits of an inven-
tion, and that the more especially as he has added several in-
disputable improvements. As Mr. Nutt's hive is in more
fashionable repute at present than any other with which I
am acquainted, I shall give it the precedence in order of de-
scription ; and for your better understanding its principles,
you have the accompanying woodcut. I shall quote Mr.
Nutt's own description, from his very interesting work.*
" There has been some difference of opinion as to the
most suitable dimensions for bee-boxes. I approve of and
recommend those which are from eleven to twelve inches
square inside, and nine or ten inches deep in the clear.
*' The best wood for them is, by some, said to be red
cedar ; the chief grounds of preference of which wood are,
its effects in keeping moths out of the boxes, and its being
a bad conductor of heat. But of whatever kind of wood
bee-boxes are made, it should be well seasoned, perfectly
sound, and free from what carpenters term shakes. Good,
sound, red deal answers the purpose very well, and is the
sort of wood of which most of my boxes have been made
hitherto. The sides of the boxes, particularly the front
sides, should be, at the least, an inch and a-half in thick-
ness ; for the ends, top, and back part, good deal, one inch
thick, is sufficiently substantial ; the ends that form the
interior divisions and openings must be of half-inch stuff,
well dressed off, so that, when the boxes and the dividing
* Nutt on Bees, p. 1 8.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 43
tins are closed — that is, when they are all placed together,
the two adjoining ends should not exceed five-eighths of an
inch in thickness. These communication ends, the bars of
which should be exactly parallel with each other, form a
communication or division, as the case may require, which
is very important to the bee, and by which the said boxes
can be immediately divided, without injuring any part of
the combs, or deluging the bees with the liquid honey,
which so frequently annoys them, in extracting their
sweets from the piled or storified boxes. This is not the
only advantage my boxes possess : the receptacles, or frame-
work, for the ventilators, which appear upon each side of
the end boxes — the one with the cover off, the other with it
on — must be four inches square, with a perforated flat
tin, of nearly the same size ; and in the middle of that
tin must be a round hole, to correspond with the hole
through the top of the box, in the centre of the frame-
work just mentioned, an inch in diameter, to admit the
perforated cylinder tin ventilator, nine inches long. This
flat tin must have a smooth piece of wood, well made to
fit it closely, and to cover the frame-work just men-
tioned, so as to carry the wet off ; then placing this cover
over the square perforated tin, your box will be secure from
the action of wind and rain. The perforated cylinder serves
both for a ventilator, and also for a secure and convenient
receptacle for a thermometer, at any time when it is ne-
cessary to ascertain the temperature of the box into which
the cylinder is inserted. Within this frame-work, and so
that the perforated flat tin already described may com-
pletely cover them, at each corner make a hole with a
three-eighths centre-bit, through the top of the box. These
four small holes materially assist the ventilation, and are,
in fact, an essential part of it.
" We next come to the long floor, on which the three
square bee-boxes which constitute a set, stand collate-
44 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
rally. This floor is the strong top of a long, shallow box,
made for the express purpose of supporting the three
bee-boxes, and must of course be superficially of such di-
mensions as those boxes, when placed collaterally, require;
or, if the bee-boxes project the eighth part of an inch over
the ends and back of this floor-box, so much the better ;
because in that case the rain or wet that may at any time
fall upon them will drain oif completely. For ornament, as
much as for use, this floor is made to project about two
inches in front ; but this projection must be sloped, or made
an inclined plane, so as to carry off the wet from the front
of the boxes. To the centre of this projecting front, and
on a plane with the edge of the part cut away for the en-
trance of the bees into the pavilion, is attached the alight-
ing board, which consists of a piece of planed board, six
inches by three, having the two outward corners rounded
off a little. The passage from this alighting board into the
pavilion (not seen in the plate, it being in the centre of the
side not shown), is cut, not out of the edge of the box, hut
out of the floor-hoard, and should be not less than four
inches in length, and about half an inch in depth, or so as
to make a clear half-inch way under the edge of the box for
the bee passage. I recommend this as preferable to a cut
in the edge of the box ; because, being upon an inclined
plane, if at any time the wet should be driven into the pa-
vilion by a stormy wind, it would soon drain out, and the
floor become dry ; whereas, if the entrance passage be cut
out of the box, the rain that may, and at times will be,
drifted in, will be kept in, and the floor be wet for days, and
perhaps for weeks, and be very detrimental to the bees. In
depth, the floor-box, measured from outside to outside,
should be four inches, so that, if made of three-fourth-inch
deal, there may be left for the depth of the box part two
inches and a-half. Internally it is divided into three equal
compartments, being one for each bee- box. Admission to
THE HlYE AND THE HONEY BEE. 45
these compartments, or mider boxes, is by the drawer, or
drawer-fronts, or blocks, which will be described presently.
" The bottom, or open edge of each of the boxes,
should be well planed, and made so even and square, that
they will sit closely and firmly upon the aforesaid floor,
and be as air-tight as a good workman can make them, or,
technically expressed, be a dead fit all round. In the floor-
board are made three small openings, i. e., one near the
back of each box. These openings are of a semilunar shape
(though any other shape would do as well), the straight
side of which should not exceed three inches in length, and
will be most convenient, if made parallel with the back
edge of the box, and about an inch from it. They are
covered by perforated, or by close, tin slides, as the circum-
stances of your apiary may require. The drawer, the
front of which appears under the middle box, is of great
importance, because it aifords one of the greatest accommo-
dations to the bees in the boxes. In this drawer is placed,
if necessity require it, a tin made to fit it, and in that tin
another thin frame, covered with book muslin, or other fine
strainer, which floats on the liquid deposited for the suste-
nance of the bees. Here, then, you have a feeder, contain-
ing the prepared sweet, in the immediate vicinity of the
mother-hive, and without admitting the cold or the robbers
to» annoy the bees. When you close the drawer thus pre-
pared with bee food, you must draw out the tin placed over
the semilunar aperture, which will open to the bees a way
to their food in the drawer beneath. The heat of the hive
follows the bees into the feeding apartment, which soon be-
comes the temperature of their native hive. There the
bees banquet on the proffered boon in the utmost security,
and in the temperature of their native domicile. Under
such favourable circumstances, it is an idle excuse, not to
say a want of humanity, to suffer your bees to die for want
of attention to proper feeding."
46
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
Fearing lest my extract from Mr. Nutt's valuable work
should prove too long, I shall here pause, and describe in
briefer language the use of the remaining portions of his
excellent boxes. The box fronts on each side of the feed-
ing drawer are formed of a bit of talc suspended over a
hole on the outside, thus permitting egress, but precluding
ingress. By means of this contrivance you are enabled to
add to the number of your bees, without alarming or an-
noying them, and they can likewise escape when you are
depriving them of one or other of the collateral boxes.
This contrivance further precludes the intrusion of insect
enemies.
The centre is perforated on the top, and over the hole
a bell-glass is placed, which, when the hive is filled, the
bees fill with honey, and it is unnecessary to add that this
honey is of the very purest description. Wooden fittings
or covers are provided for the protection of these glasses.
Now to explain our engraving.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 47
A. Bell-glasses over collateral boxes.
B. Indicates the bell-glass, and its octagon cover.
C. The centre box, or Pavilion of Nature.
D.D. The collateral boxes.
E.E. Neat mouldings.
F. The feeding drawers.
The bees being placed in the centre box, or pavihon,
soon commence operations, and speedily fill it with honey.
When full, which you may ascertain by looking through
a window fixed in the back of the box, you are to draw the
tin slide which separates it from the bell-glass ; this is best
done on a warm day, and you should previously cut through
the comb with a thin wire. Before taking off the glass, the
operator should pause for a few minutes, to observe whether
there be any unusual stir among the imprisoned bees, for
if they do not appear alarmed, the queen is among them,
and in that case you should withdraw the slide, and post-
pone the operation to another day.
In taking away the glass, envelope it in a silk handker-
chief, and remove it about ten yards from the boxes ; then
place it a little on one side, so as to permit the imprisoned
bees to escape, which they do in. the course of a few
minutes.
When occasion requires, the bees are to be similarly ad-
mitted into the side boxes, by drawing the slides, but in
removing one of these boxes some precautions require to
be used. For instance, open the ventilator the night pre-
vious ; this will, by lowering the temperature of the hive,
and admitting a current of air, induce the bees to leave the
box thus treated, and to congregate in the pavilion. You
may then put down the slide D, and let the bees remain
for ten minutes or so in darkness. If the queen be not in
the box to be taken, any bees that may remain in it will be
restless and in confusion. If she should be there, the
commotion will be in the centre box. If the queen should
be in the box you intend taking, draw up the slide again.
48 THE HIVE AND THE HOXEY BEE.
and she will soon leave it. Having emptied the full hex,
return it to its place. In Mr. Nutt's system it will be per-
ceived that fumigation^ or bee-dress (hereafter to be de-
scribed), are rendered unnecessary, and that even a child
may manage his boxes with ease and safety.
The centre box, called by Mr. Nutt, on account of its
being the breeding place, "The Pavilion of Nature," is
never to be meddled with.
" Weaken not its population, but sapport its inlfluence,
and extend to it those accommodations, which no practice,
except my own, has yet put into operation, or made provi-
sion for."*
" To works of Nature join the works of man,
To show by art improved what Nature can ;
Nature's great efforts can no further tend,
There fixed her pillars, all her labours end." — Dryden.
The value of Mr. Nutt's set of bee-boxes is unquestion-
able, but they are, at the same time, necessarily too costly
to be within the reach of those whom Providence has not
seen fit to bless with " golden store." I have said that
Mr. Nutt's views, although possibly, as far as he himself
is concerned, original, were entertained by bee-keepers
many, many years before him. Among the rest, I may
mention Wildman,'f who not only used collateral boxes,
but even bell-glasses, similar to those of INIr. Nutt ; the
Rev. S. White,:]; and Madame Vicat.§ Mr. White evidently
mismanaged his boxes, for the complaint against their
utility was, that the queen laid her eggs promiscuously in
all of them. This would have been obviated had he thought
of Mr. Nutt's subsequent idea, viz., of reserving one box
as the seat of generation — "the Pavihon of Nature" — and
* Nutt, p. 48. f Wildman's Account of Bees.
J " An Easy and Advantageous Method of Managing Bees."
§ Observations rccucillees par la Societe Q^conomiquc de Berne, 1764.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 49
separating it from the side boxes, until necessity called for
junction, by tin sliders. Not only, however, must I pro-
nounce Nr. Nutt's boxes an evident improvement upon
those I have just mentioned, on the score of utility and
completeness, but actually also on the score of simplicity,
and the comparative facility with which they are conse-
quently susceptible of being worked.
Any person of common ingenuity can form for himself a
set of collateral boxes, by attending to the following direc-
tions : —
Take as a stand a piece of strong wood — deal, obtained
from an old door, or other waste timber, will answer as well
as anything else ; let it be about four feet long and about
two feet wide, as thick as you can procure it ; place it on
four legs, and let the edge project over the legs, in order to
prevent the incursion of insects ; plane the upper surface
smooth.
Make three boxes, each about ten inches square, with, of
course, no bottom, and have the edges of the bottomless
portion planed smooth, so as to lie as close as possible to
the board. Cut away a portion of the bottom of one side
of each box, and in that designed for the centre box do so
on two opposite sides — these are for communication. Get
two sheets of tin, or thin wood — a piece of a broken tea-
chest will do admirably — and place one between each of the
collateral boxes and the centre one, so as to cut off commu-
nication between them, until it is desired to open it, when
of course one of them is withdrawn, and, at the same time,
the side-box, thus opened, will be pushed close to the central
one. Let the standboard be on an inclined plane, sloping
towards the front, so as to throw off wet, and let the said
board project a couple of inches, to serve the bees as a place
on which to alight. You may make fearlessly a small hole,
about half-an-inch, or rather less, in diameter, in front of
this centre box, partly in the box and partly in the board.
50 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
for the ingress and egress of its inhabitants. I say fear-
lessly, for if the board have a proper inclination outward,
there is no fear of any wet either penetrating or lodging.
Paint your boxes externally, but do so a considerable time
before you require to use them, and encompass them with
the best sort of rough shed that you can "knock up ;'' bore
a hole, with a centre-bit, in the top of each box, and place
a glass vessel over it. Glass is now cheap, and the cost of
such a one will be trifling. If you cannot afford it at pre-
sent, however, wait until your first honey harvest shall have
enabled you to do so. When it is necessary to feed your
bees, you can do so by attaching a feeder to the entrance
door, and the holes for the bell-glasses will afford you ample
means of ventilating. In case they should not, however,
you may have a hole at the back of each box, stopped with
a cork, which you can withdraw for the admission of air
when necessary. Take care, however, that you do not push
the cork entirely through the wood of the box, or it will be
so cemented by propolis that you cannot, perhaps, draw it
out without injury or disturbance to the combs. Such a
set of boxes as I describe may be made easily enough, and
for little or no cost, and will answer all purposes of utility —
though, perhaps, deficient in ornament — as well as the most
costly and elaborate.
Through the kindness of Mr. Briggs, I am enabled to
present my readers with the following valuable instructions
for the formation of bee-boxes : —
"They should be chosen, or constructed, of as good qua-
lity as possible, so as to effectually preserve their contents
from either extreme heat or cold, dampness, or any sudden
changes of temperature.
" The size of the centre box should be about ten and one-
half inches cube, inside measure ; and it would be an ad-
vantage to have six bars fixed across the top of it, from
front to back, which should be one and one-eighth inch in
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 51
width, half an inch in thickness, and half an inch apart—
the ends of each of which should be neatly rabbeted into
the front and back of the box. Over the bars should be
laid a piece of thin gauze, and upon it the top or covering
board of the box, which may have a circular hole in the
middle of it, securely stopped by a good cork bung, to be
removed for the purpose of placing a small bell-glass over
the hole as occasion requires.
" The side boxes may be made and used of different sizes
if desired, and to contain from 350 to 1100 cubic inches
each. If the smaller sizes are adopted, the entrance to
them must be along the hollow part of the bottom-board ;
but it would be considered more complete to have the side-
boxes of the same width and depth as the centre one, and
to have them well fitted and secured together during the
honey-gathering season. The entrance from the centre to
the side boxes may then extend along the under edges of
each of them from front to back, and about three-eighths
to one-half an inch in depth : there should also be a per-
pendicular one three inches long, and half an inch wide, up
the centre of the end of each of the boxes, the upper part
of which should reach to within three inches of the top of
the box inside.
'' The use of bars to the top of boxes is frequently
of much service to the apiarian, as he can thereby occa-
sionally remove a few of the old combs from the box, and
can, at any time, have an opportunity of examining the
state of the interior of the boxes. Before using a new
box with bars, as above, a piece of pure and clean brood
comb should be neatly fixed to each, or every alternate
bar, which may be readily accomplished by the assistance
of a long and smooth piece of heated iron— the comb be-
ino- rubbed for a few seconds on the iron, should imme-
diately be apphed to the bar, and will then, in a short time,
firmly adhere to it.
62 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
"The use of hives of straw is by many persons still
continued and approved ; and I have no doubt, that when
they are properly made, and judiciously managed, accord-
ing to the directions previously given, the returns from
them will often equal, or surpass, those from some of
the more fancy-shaped and expensive wooden boxes.
^' The size of straw hives should be from sixteen to seven-
teen inches in diameter, and twelve to thirteen inches in
height ; and they should have a narrow, flat, and thick top
of wood, with a circular hole and cork bung in the centre
of it, similar to that which is recommended for wooden
boxes.
*'The outer box, in which the stock-hive and side-boxes
are inclosed, having been made wider than the interior
hives or boxes, should have a partition from front to back,
on each side of the stock hive, and the interstices round
the centre hive filled up with dry sawdust, powdered char-
coal, or other suitable materials, which will be of service in
preserving the temperature of the hive in a congenial and
uniform state.
I have above stated that the communication from the
straw stock-hive to the side boxes should be along the hol-
low centre of the bottom-board ; and I recommend that
three or more circular holes be made in the bottom-board
on each side, in such manner that each of them may be
covered with a bell-glass, or that one of the larger side
hives or boxes may be placed over them, as may suit the
wishes or convenience of the apiarian.
" Y/'hen glasses are used, they should be well covered
with some soft woollen materials, and a hive or box should
then be placed over them to effectually exclude the light,
and preserve them from accidents of any kind, and sudden
changes of temperature.
" It is advisable to have the outer box well made, with a
neat and substantial roof to carry off the wet, &c. ; and it
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 5S
should be made of such breadth as to leave a space of one
inch and a-half on each side of the stock-hive."
Again, in another number of the same paper, Mr. Briggs
writes : — **I would recommend that if the bees are kept in
a straw hive, which is by many considered best, that it be
of a large size, and well made ; and should be stocked with
a strong swarm at the usual period of the year. It should
then be placed on the centre of a stout bottom-board, made
long enough to hold a small hive or box on each side of it,
and having hollow communications from the centre hive to
the side ones, which can be opened or closed at pleasure.
AVhen the bees require room in the spring or summer
months, the entrance from the centre to one of the side hives
must be opened, and after they have fairly taken possession
of it, it must be properly ventilated by a hole previously
formed on the top, and covered with a piece of perforated
zinc ; keeping the temperature between 65° and 7o° of Fah-
renheit's thermometer.
" The three hives should have a well-made wooden cover-
ing over them, with a span-shaped roof to carry off the wet,
&c., and an opening at the back for the purpose of examin-
ing the progress of the bees ; the outer box should be well
painted and waterproofed ; and will greatly assist in regu-
lating the temperature of the hives, and in protecting them
from extreme cold, dampness, and sunshine.
" I would recommend a set of two or three of the im-
proved collateral boxes, which may be made of well-seasoned
deal, about ten and a-half inches cube, inside measure, and
to be neatly fitted together, with convenience for ventilation
and inspection ; and they must also have a wooden covering
over them, with an opening at the back similar to the one
above-mentioned.
" The outer box should be one inch, or one and a-half
inch wider inside than the outer dimensions of the interior
boxes.
54 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
" By constructing boxes on the above plan, the swarming
of the bees may be, by judicious management, for a time
prevented ; but it is not recommended that that propensity
should be entirely defeated, as a svv^arm may be occasionally
taken from collateral boxes with advantage to the swarm
and to the stock hive.
" By proper attention large quantities of pure honey may
be obtained by the above system of management. Last
year a friend in this vicinity obtained 109, 97, and 89lbs. of
pure honeycomb from three sets of Nutt's collateral boxes,
which was valued at 2s. per lb., making an average of £9
16s. 8d. from each stock of bees in one season."
Mr. Taylor, in his "Beekeeper's Manual," speaks as
follov^'s of bee-boxes : —
** It matters not much of what wood the boxes are
made, provided it is sound, thoroughly seasoned, and well
put together. Different opinions are entertained as to
the best size of bee-boxes, but I think that much must
depend on the number of bees they are to contain, and
on the honey locality ; there must also be a reference to
the proposed mode of working them ; for, where no
swarming is permitted, a larger hive may be advanta-
geously used. A good size is twelve inches square, and
nine inches deep withinside ; the thickness throughout
being not less than an inch. The top of the box ought
to project on all sides nearly three-quarters of an inch,
for better protection and appearance, and as affording
convenience for lifting. On the top a two-inch hole should
be cut in the centre, for placing a bell-glass, and for the
purpose of feeding ; and another hole to receive a ven-
tilator may be made near the back window, that position
being better for inspection, and less in the way of the
bees than the centre of the hive, which is, or ought to
be, the seat of breeding, and should not be disturbed.
A window may be placed at the back and front, five
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 55
inches higli, and six or seven inches wide. The best and
neatest way of securing the windows that I have seen,
is by a sUding shutter of zinc. Round the window there
must be a projecting moulding, mitred at the corners.
On one side the piece of moulding is moveable, and to
the back of this is screwed a plate of sheet zinc. This
passes into a rabbet to receive it, cut, on the remaining
three sides, at the back of the lower edge of the mould-
ing. To prevent any wet from lodging at the bottom
moulding, an opening or two may easily be cut through,
on the under side, to allow its escape. For the sake
of uniformity of appearance, blank windows may be
made opposite to the real ones. Hives of this kind re-
quire to be placed under some cover or shed, as a pro-
tection from wet and a hot sun."
It will not, I am sure, be deemed amiss that I here sup-
ply my readers with an account of the " Leaf Hive," in-
vented by the celebrated Huber, and designed by him to
furnish all the requisites for which Mr. Nutt produced
his collateral boxes : —
"This hive," says Huber, "consists of eight frames, each
eighteen inches high, and ten inches wide inside, having the
uprights and top cross-pieces one and a-halfinch broad, and
one thick, so that the eight frames, when placed close to-
gether, constitute a hive eighteen inches high, twelve inches
between end and end, and ten inches between back and
front, all inside measure. The frames are held together
by a flat sliding-bar on each side, secured by wedges and
pins. To the first and eighth of these frames is attached
a frame with glass, and covered with a shutter. The body
of the hive is protected by a sloping roof, and the entrance
is made through the thickness of the floor-board. We dis-
like the sliding-bars, with their pins and wedges, which are
so far inconvenient, that, in drawing them out, all the
frames are liable to open, and the observer is exposed to
56 THE HIVE AND THE HOXEY BEE.
some hazard of annoyance, from the bees issuing out at
every joint ; and we have substituted for them hinges on
one side, and a hook-and-eye on each frame on the other ;
we can thus open any particular leaf without meddling
with the rest. In taking honey from this hive, the
bee-master has the whole interior completely under
his eye, and at his disposal, and can choose what combs
best suit his purpose, both as to quantity and quahty ;
taking care, however, to do so only at such periods as will
leave the bees time to replenish the vacancy before the
termination of the honey season. It is also well adapted
for artificial swarming. By separating the hive into halves,
the honey, brood combs, and bees will, generally speaking,
be equally divided ; and by supplying each half with four
empty frames, we shall have two hives, one half empty,
equal in number of bees, of brood, and even of stores. One
of the new hives will possess the queen ; and if the ope-
ration has been performed at the proper time — that is to say,
a week or ten days before the period of natural swarming
— the probability is, there will be a royal brood coming for-
ward in the other ; at all events, there will be plenty of eggs
and larvae of the proper age for forming an artificial queen."
Cheapness, and an obstinate adhesion to the customs of
our forefathers, induce straw hives still to be used by many.
Mr. Briggs has already shown how they may, when necessa-
rily or optionally employed, be rendered almost as productive
as boxes. I add the following from Mr. Taylor, who ob-
jects to the use of sticks, or cross-pieces, sometimes employ-
ed for the purpose of supporting the combs : —
" The sticks are only an annoyance to the bees ; and
there is little fear of the combs falling, except in very
deep hives ; at any rate, it may be prevented by contract-
ing the lower part a little. The best way of doing this is,
by working a wooden hoop inside the bottom band of the
hive, as recommended bvDr. Bevan, who says, *It should
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 57
be perforated through its whole course, and the perfora-
tions made in an obhque direction, so distant from each
other, as to cause all the stitches of the hive to range in a
uniform manner.' The hoop gives greater stability to the
hive, preserves the lower edge from decay, and affords
facility in moving it. I advise a circular piece of wood
(turned with a groove at the edge, to retain it in its place)
to be worked into the crown, having through it an inch
and a-half hole. With a little ingenuity, the bees may be
fed through this opening — a better method than the ordi-
nary one at the bottom of a hive. A piece of wood or tin
will commonly cover the hole ; but at times, and especially
in winter, it may be used for the purpose of ventilation,
and allowing escape to the impure air of the hive. In this
case, a bit of perforated tin or zinc should be placed over
it, which, when stopped up by the bees, can be replaced by
a clean one. An earthen pan is a common cover to a straw
hive ; and this may be slightly raised by wedges on the
four sides, to permit a small space underneath. Of what-
ever material the outer covering consists, it must project so
far on all sides, as to protect the hive from the least mois-
ture. This cannot be too much guarded against ; and
whether of wood or straw, all hives ought to be well painted
at the beginning, and periodically afterwards."
I can confidently recommend the following simple and
cheap description of hive to my readers : — Get a common
straw hive, but let it be of somewhat larger dimensions
than are ordinarily used, and cut it across (about one-third
of its length) from the upper or conical end ; fit to this end
a round piece of wood, about an inch in thickness, having
in its centre a hole about an inch and a-half in diameter, fitted
with a cork or bung. Take another hive of ordinary dimen-
sions, and place it over this, as in the annexed cut. This is
called capping. When, during the proper season, the bees
have filled the lower part of the hive^ and show symptoms
68 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
of requiring more room, yoii have only to draw out the
cork, and place the cap over the board. This acts as a
bell-glass ; and the honey you will collect in it will not be
inferior to that procured from the most costly set of bee-
boxes. A coating of Roman cement on the exterior surface
of these hives, will render them almost everlasting.
De Gelieu* states that he took 721bs. weight of fine,
pure honey from a straw hive thus capped, in one season.
Glass, or, as they are called by some, " observatory
hives," are not such as I approve of, unless purely for the
purpose of observation. Bees love darkness, and hate light
or observation. In a state of nature they are in a habit of
seeking some hollow, vacant spot beneath a bank or rock,
the cleft of a tree, or some similarly dark and secluded
situation. The observatory hive is, then, foreign to the
natural habits of the insects, and as such, of course, it is
uot to be recommended.
* " The Bee Preserver." (Translated from the French.)
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 59
CHAPTER VII.
HOW YOUR STOCK IS TO BE OBTAINED.
A STOCK of bees is usually to be obtained by purcbase, al-
though it may, indeed, chance that you get an opportunity
of hiving a " vagabond" swarm which may have settled in
your garden or orchard. In the latter instance, however, I
think your property in the stragglers somewhat question-
able, and, perhaps, scarcely more so than it would be in a
stray ox or sheep, which accident had driven into your pre-
mises.
You may procure stock either in the spring or autumn.
I should prefer the former period, because that is the fitting
time for removal of stocks from the old-fashioned, awkward
hives to the more improved modern receptacles ; but it is
more difficult to ascertain the exact condition of the stock
you are about purchasing in spring than it is in autumn. I
am sorry to say that unless you obtain your stock from a
friend, or from some one, at all events, that you can confi-
dently depend on, you are very likely to be taken in, and
mast, therefore, be upon your guard against imposition : as
some writer — I forget who — quaintly enough remarks, "Let
it be with the bees as with a wife, never take them on the
recommendation of another 'party ^ If you would purchase
a stock in early spring, just after the bees have been re-
moved from their winter quarters, you need not attempt it
unless from a person on whose honour you can positively
depend. If, during the months of May or June, you can
form some judgment for yourself, and if you act cautiously,
may, perhaps, bid defiance to trickery ; in this case you
should visit the garden, or other locahty, in which the hive
60 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
stands that you intend purchasing, about mid-day ; stand
opposite to it, and observe attentively the actions of its in-
habitants. If they crowd busily in and out of the hive,
giving evidence of their industry by the laden appearance of
their legs, and altogether exhibiting a busy earnestness in
their toils, you may safely buy the hive ; and if you obtain
this hive before swarming has taken place, you may look
upon yourself as a fortunate man.
If the object of your intentions be an autumnal hive,
you had better ascertain that the massacre of the drones
has taken place ; an observation of the stand and of the
ground around the hive will tell this. Observe the actions
of these bees — see that they are lively and industrious ;
and if, on your too near approach, one or two bees dash at
your face, do not be alarmed, but rather regard their pug-
nacity as a sign of vigour, and buy the hive. Some writers
speak of the necessity of purchasing only such stocks as
are in nice new hives. This is an advice very necessary to
be attended to, but it would not be so, were you sure that
the interior of the hive were filled only with honey-comb,
and with no old, worn-out comb, the accumulation of years.
If you are in doubt on the subject, you should fumigate
the hive in the evening, in the manner hereafter to be de-
scribed ; then turning up the hive, you can readily ascer-
tain the character of its contents. If the comb be black,
have nothing to do with the stock. The genuine colour of
the comb is white, and, consequently, the lighter it is, the
more the stock is to be esteemed.
Never, unless you can depend on the party, send your
hive to receive a swarm ; for you may, if you do, have a
second swarm imposed upon you for a Jij'st — a compara-
tively valueless stock for just the very thing you desire.
The first swarm begin the formation of the combs at the
middle of the apex of the hive ; the second does so at the
side. These are the only criteria I caii furnish, for neither
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 61
weight nor bulk are to be depended upon. It is to the ob-
stinate use of the old-fashioned hive that these difficulties,
and these opportunities for fraud, are attributable. "Were
the improved system once established, these cautions
would be no longer called for. For old Wildman, I enter-
tain a very high respect, although, in some instances, I am
compelled to differ from him, yet I always investigate
closely the point at issue between us ere doing so, and if I
doubt, I suffer the weight of his authority to act as a " cast-
ing vote." Wildman has given some good advice as to the
purchase of stocks ; and in this advice he speaks like an
oracle.
The person who intends to erect an apiary, should
purchase a proper number of hives at the latter end of the
year, when they are cheapest. The hives should be full of
combs, and well stored with bees. The purchaser should
examine the combs, in order to know the age of the hives.
The combs of that season are ivhite ; those of a former year
are of a darkish yellow ; and when the combs are black, the
hives should be rejected, because old hives are most liable
to vermin and other accidents.
If the number of hives wanted have not been purchased
in the autumn, it will be necessary to remedy this neglect
after the severity of the cold is past in the spring. At this
season, bees which are in good condition will get into the
fields early in the morning, return loaded, enter boldly, and
do not come out of the hive in bad weather, for when they
do, this indicates that they are in great want of provisions.
They are alert on the least disturbance, and by the loudness
of their humming we judge of their strength. They pre-
serve their hives free from all filth, and are ready to defend
it against every enemy that approaches.
The summer is an improper time for buying bees, be-
cause the heat of the weather softens the wax, and thereby
renders the comb liable to break, if they are not very well
D
62 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
secured. The honey, too, bemg then thinner than at other
times, is more apt to run out at the cells, which is attended
with a double disadvantage — viz., the loss of the honey,
and the daubing of the bees — whereby many of them may
be destroyed. A first and strong swarm may indeed be
purchased : and, if leave can be obtained, permitted to stand
in the same garden until the autumn ; but if leave is not
obtained, it may be carried away in the nighty after it has
been hived.
I suppose that in the stocks purchased, the bees are
in the hives of the old construction. The only directions
here necessary are, that the first swarm from these stocks
should be put into one of my hives ; and that another of
my hives should, in a few days, be put under the old stock,
in order to prevent it swarming again.
Nor can I very well leave Wildman, without saying
something of the " Count de la Bourdonnaye," so frequent-
ly quoted by him in his " Account of Bees." M. de la
Bourdonnaye is justly entitled to our gratitude and remem-
brance as the original inventor of the caped or capped hives,
a most useful contrivance, and one which I have already
described. I quote from Wildman, who took his account
of Count de la Bourdonnaye's hives from "Corps d' Ob-
servations de la Societe d' Agriculture, de Commerce, et des
Arts, etablie par les Etats Bretagne, annees 1757 et 1759,"
p. 162:—
" Count de la Bourdonnaye's hives are made of straw,
divided into two parts, which are placed one over the other.
Each of these parts is twelve Paris inches'^ in diameter in
the inside, and eleven inches high ; so that when joined,
they make a hive twenty-two inches in height. They are
nearly flat on the top, and have on the middle of the
top a hole an inch and a quarter square. The upper
* The Paris foot is to our foot as 12 q-^ inches are to 12.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 63
half rests on the lower. They are made of sufficient
thickness to be proof against cold, and not to be heated
by the rays of the sun. When united, their joining is
kited close."*
So then the origin of our modern caps is to be referred
to a period of upwards of ninety years ago ! I may,
however, observe that proper fitting of the upper portion,
or cap, or, as some call it, cape, upon the lower portions
or true hive will quite do away with the necessity of
luting. I may also add that such of my readers as are
not familiar with French measure, may reckon on the
diameter of the hive at thirteen inches in diameter, and a
foot English in height.
CHAPTER VIII.
" SWARMING."
Bees multiply, during the breeding season, with asto-
nishing rapidity ; it is, therefore, not to be wondered at
that the young brood should speedily produce crowding
in the hive, thus becoming not only inconvenienced for
room, but more than agreeably warm : it is also supposed
that the queen becomes alarmed at the number and pro-
gress to maturity of the royal larvae, which indeed she would
fain kill, were she not prevented from doing so by the work-
ers. While swarming is by no means to be forced, yet if
symptoms of a swarm present themselves, early, say in
April or May, you may permit it to take place — provided
the parent stock be still sufficiently strong in numbers-
otherwise it is of course highly disadvantageous to the
* Wildman, p. 106.
64
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
well-being of tlie hive as well as to the emigrants. I
disapprove altogether of late swarms, i. e., allowing them
to come off in July or x\ugust — hence the utility of such
hives as place this circumstance under the control of the
keeper.
The most certain indications of swarming are, the hive
appearing full of bees— clusters of them gathering on the
outside, and sometimes hanging from the ahghting-
board ; they also neglect their daily toil, and refrain from
going abroad in search of sweets, even though the weather
be ever so inviting. Just before they take flight the hive
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 65
is hushed, the bees are silent, and carefully loading them-
selves with provender for their journey. For two or
three nights prior to swarming, you will also hear a pe-
culiar humming noise within the hive ; the second swarm
is announced by a different sort of buzzing, being, accord-
ing to some writers, the result of a contest as to whether
of the two queens shall lead off from the hive. It is the
old queen who leads off the first swarm.
If a swarm be about to quit the hive, the slightest
change of weather will prevent their doing so ; but no-
thing so effectually as a shower of rain : hence an excellent
mode of preventing it, when the bees cluster on the outside
of the hive, by syringing them with water from a common
metallic syringe, but do not so deluge them as to destroy
them. When a swarm leaves the hive, if it do not settle
on some tree or bush, but remains in the air, and you fear
its going off to too great a distance, if not evading yon
altogether, you may bring it down by throwing up sand or
dust, which the bees mistake for rain, or by firing a gun,
which they mistake for thunder ; hence the old fashion of
the countrypeople following a swarm with the noise of fire-
shovels and frying-pans. You must be the more diligent
in at once securing your swarm, for it is a fact* that the
bees send out scouts previous to swarming, whose duty it
is to select a proper habitation for the colony. It is, on
this account, a good plan, when you anticipate a swarm, to
leave an empty hive, previously smeared on the interior
with honey, in some convenient place, but not too near the
old one.
When the swarm settles, the bees collect themselves in a
heap round the queen, hanging to each other by means of
their feet. When thus suspended from a tree, they may be
secured by simply holding an empty hive under them, and
* "Monarchy of Bees," by Dr. Warder.
d2
66 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
tapping the branch from which they are suspended. They
should, in this case, be sprinkled with honey and ale, and
confined for about twelve hours. When a swarm divides
into two or more bands, which settle separately, it is probable
that there are two queens. In this case you must secure
one of them.
If, through your inattention, a second swarm comes off,
you should, as soon as you have hived it, secure the queen,
and return the swarm to the hive ; indeed, a swarm when de-
prived of its queen, will usually immediately return of its
own accord. Swarming is a subject I have reason to believe
it very generally misunderstood in this country, most persons
desiring to promote it, conceiving that the greater number
of swarms, the richer will the hives be in August. The
very reverse of this is the case ; for when a hive is weak in
numbers, a sufficient number of bees cannot be spared to
go forth for honey ; and, hence, they will be scarcely able
to collect enough for their actual support, far less to col-
lect any surplus for their master's benefit. Hear Mr.
Briggs : —
" The swarming of bees is a subject on which much
misconception prevails in many parts of the kingdom.
Most persons who keep their bees on the old straw-hive
plan, and suffocating system, appear to anticipate their
swarming with much anxiety, and to be of opinion that the
greater number of swarms — firsts, seconds, thirds, &c. —
that they obtain from their old hives during the summer,
the more remunerative will they prove to the owner at the
end of the season ; whereas the reverse of the above prac-
tice is much nearer of being the best system to follow,
which I shall endeavour to elucidate to your readers. It
has been proved from observation, during the last ten years,
that the average per centage of swarms in one of the mid-
land counties have been — twenty-four in May, sixty in June,
fourteen in July, and two in August ; from wliich it will
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 67
appear that June is the principal month for swarming, in
ordinary seasons ; and it is in June and July that the
greatest quantities of honey are stored up by the bees, when
managed in a judicious manner.
" When the swarming is assisted and encouraged during
June and July, the old stocks are considerably weakened,
and the swarms are employed in building combs in their
new hives, collecting pollen, and attending to the young
brood, until the best part of the honey-storing season is
over ; so that, at the honey harvest in autumn, it will fre-
quently require the contents of five or six old stocks, or
late swarms, to produce as much pure honey as might have
been obtained from one colony on the system of manage-
ment which is recommended."
In collateral boxes, and in capped hives, swarming may
be prevented by affording the bees additional accommoda-
tion, and reducing the temperature ; and for this end, it is
recommended by most apiarians, that the hive or box should
be furnished with a thermometer as well as ventilator. I
think, however, that even those who do not possess these
accommodations may manage well enough by proper ob-
servation and attention to the symptoms I have detailed.
When these appear in a collateral box-hive, open one of the
partitions, and admit the bees into a new apartment ; if all
be full, take off a box, empty and restore it. In the case
of a capped hive, remove the bung, and admit the bees to
the cap ; if full, remove, empty, and restore it. On this
subject, Mr. Briggs says : — " The most favourable degrees
of heat for the prosperity of the brood are from 7^° to 90°
in the stock hive, and from 65° to 75° in the side boxes.
The heat in a prosperous hive is sometimes upwards of
70° at Christmas, and will, in hot summer weather, some-
times rise to near 120°, at which time the combs are in
great danger of being damaged, and of falling to the floor
of the hive j this may, however, be prevented, by giving
68 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
extra room when required, and by shading the hives from
extreme heat, as previously directed." And again, a most
important piece of advice : — *' It should always be borne
in mind that all operations with bees should be performed
as carefully and as speedily as circumstances will permit.
The late Mr. T. Nutt remarked, in a conversation with him
a few months previous to his decease, * that in removing
boxes, glasses, slides, &c., the apiarian should proceed in a
manner so steady and cautious, that the bees should
scarcely know that their habitation had been meddled with ;'
and with which remarks I fully concur."
After hiving a new swarm, you must also recollect, that
if unfavourable weather follow their departure, you must
feed them, otherwise they will be starved ; indeed it would
be well if each new swarm were always fed for a few days,
as this will assist them in gaining strength in numbers
and in store, before the principal part of the honey season
goes over. In conclusion I would merely say, that the
weight of a good swarm should be from five to seven pounds,
and that all under five pounds in weight should be united
to others, as being too weak in numbers to support them-
selves.
You shall receive instructions for uniting swarms in the
next chapter, as the process is the same as that adopted in
depriving a hive of its honey. In hiving a swarm it is as
well to be protected with a proper bee-dress, as well as to
use such precautions as you will find detailed in a subse-
quent chapter when treating of the honey harvest. Pre-
vention is better than cure, and it is better to be sure than
sorry ; yet bees are certainly less apt to sting at this time
than at any other. Mr. Thorley relates a very singular
fact in confirmation of this.*
" In the year 1717, one of my swarms settling on the
* Thorley on Bee Management, p. 117.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 69
close twisted branches of a codling tree, and not to be got
into a hive without help, my maidservant, being in the
garden, offered her assistance to hold the hive while I dis-
lodged the bees. Having never been acquainted with bees,
she put a linen cloth over her head and shoulders, to guard
and secure her from their swords. A few of the bees fell into
the hive, some upon the ground, but the main body upon
the cloth which covered her upper garments. I took the
hive out of her hands, when she cried out that the bees
were got under the covering, crowding up towards her
breast and waist, which put her into a trembling posture.
When I perceived the veil was of no further service, she gave
me leave to remove it. This done, a most affecting spec-
tacle presented itself to the view of all the company, filling
me with the deepest distress and concern, as I thought my-
self the unhappy instrument of drawing her into so immi-
nent hazard of her life.
" Had she enraged them, all resistance had been in vain,
and nothing less than her life would have atoned for the
offence. I spared not to urge all the arguments I could
think of, and use the most affectionate entreaties, begging
her with all earnestness in my powder to stand her ground,
and keep her present posture ; in order to which I gave
her encouragement to hope for a full discharge from her
disagreeable companions.
"I began to search among them for the queen, now got
in a great body upon her breast, about her neck, and up to
her chin. I immediately seized her, taking her from among
the crowd, with some of the commons in company with
her, and put them together into the hive. There I watched
her for some time, and as I did not observe that she came
out, I conceived an expectation of seeing the whole body
quickly abandon their settlement ; but, instead of that, I
soon observed them gathering closer together without
the least signal for departing. Upon this I immediately
70 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
reflected, that either there must be another sovereign, or
that the same was returned. I directly commenced a
second search, and in a short time, with a most agreeable
surprise, found a second or the same ; she strove, by en-
tering farther into the crowd, to escape me, but I recon-
ducted her, with a great number of the populace, into the
hive. And now the melancholy scene began to change to
one infinitely more agreeable and pleasant.
^'The bees presently, missing their queen, began to dis-
lodge and repair to the hive, crowding into it in multitudes,
and in the greatest hurry imaginable ; and in the space of
two or three minutes the maid had not a single bee about
her, neither had she so much as one sting, a small number
of which would have quickly stopped her breath."
Some persons are particularly unhappy in possessing
those qualities which render them disagreeable to bees.
The main objections are, excessive timidity, and likewise,
with some, an unpleasant odour, in some instances the re-
sult of personal negligence, but frequently of peculiarity of
constitution. The remedies are a bee-dress for the former,
and the use of some strong perfume which the bees like,
and which will effectually conceal whatever is offensive to
them.
"I have gone among them,'* says Mr. Worlidge,* "in
their greatest anger and madness, only with a handful of
sweet herbs in my hand, fanning about my face, as it were
to obscure and defend it. Also, if a bee do by accident
buzz about you, being unprovided, thrust your face amongst
a parcel of boughs or herbs, and he will desert you. But
the most secure way of all, and beyond the completest
harness yet published, is to have a net knit with so small
meshes that a bee cannot pass through, and of fine thread
or silk, large enough to go over your hat, and to lie down
* " Mysteries of Husbandry."
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 71
to the collar of your doublet, through which you may per-
fectly see what you do, without danger, having also on a
pair of gloves, whereof woollen are the best."
Some writers on bee management have suggested other
modes to prevent objectionable swarming, besides the colla-
teral boxes and the capped hive. Among these plans I
may mention storifying or piling^ and eking. The latter is
speedily disposed of; it consists of adding ehes, or addi-
tional bands of straw to the bottom of the common hive, ac-
cording as additional room was required. The objection is,
that although it may thus answer your purpose during one
season, the next finds you in as much perplexity as ever.
Storifying requires some notice, as it is a custom of very
considerable antiquity, a patent having been granted for it
so earlv as about the middle of the seventeenth century to
one John Gedde or Geddes, and also as it is a practice that
has been approved by such eminent bee-masters as Warder,
Thorley, and more recently by Dr. Bevan.
The principal objections to the storified hive are — 1st, Its
occasioning the bees greater trouble and labour, and hence
rendering their labour less productive. 2nd, The absence
of provision for dividing the ordinary cells from the more
sacred and mysterious operations of the queen, and of
course a consequent deterioration of the honey in respect
of purity ; besides much inconvenience and waste of time
to the poor bees, which certainly should be taken into con-
sideration. A laden bee cannot mount up from one box to
another, and through a labyrinth of comb, with anything
like comfort or ease.
3rd. In taking a box of honey, the proprietor cannot be
certain of not taking away a quantity of brood-comb, &c.
This objection, however, may be classed with that which
rests on the impurity of the honey, except with the addi-
tional one, that this also refers to loss of life, which the
bees, both brood and adult, must thus sustain. And,
72 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
4tli. In consequence of these objectionable circumstances,
which are the inevitable consequences of the piling system,
the profit accruing from such management will be far in-
ferior to that obtainable by the system I have already re-
commended.
A very eminent writer on bee management says : — " In
piled boxes bees are subjected to unnecessary labour, which
is so far a waste of time. From piled boxes not nearly the
quantity of honey and wax is procured, that ma}^ be pro-
cured from collateral boxes ; nor is that deficient quantity
of a quality at all comparable with the other. In manag-
ing piled boxes many bees are destroyed. These are my
objections to that system of bee management; and I put it
to every person who has practised storifying to say whether
they are not well founded."* I must confess that the
boxes designed and made by Mr. Kinshella, of Balbriggan,
although on the storifying plan, are not thus objectionable.
It sometimes, but very rarely, happens, that a swarm is
almost wholly, if not altogether, composed of an entirely
new generation of bees, but usually old and young go forth
together. Yon may distinguish the young from the old
by the intensity of their colouring, the latter being of a deep-
er red. The swarm is usually led forth by a young queen ;
but at all events the bees never swarm unless ledby a queen —
" Ducunt examina reges,"
" Kijigs lead the swarms,""}"
and somtiemes by two or even three.X In this case the
supernumerary sovereigns are put to death by the workers. §
Sometimes, indeed, instead of the supernumerary queens
being destroyed, the swarm divides, and a portion follows
each monarch, and sometimes the queens themselves do
battle for the throne. The destruction of the supernume-
raries by the workers is, however, the most common case.
* Nutt on Bees, p. 147.
+ Virgil, Avlio mistook the sex of the queen-bee.
% Wildman. § Wildman.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 73
Battles also will frequently occur in consequence of a
swarm seizing upon a habitation already occupied by other
bees, or two swarms simultaneously selecting a similar place
of abode. The attack is said to be usually begun by the
queens, wdth what truth, however, I am unprepared to say ;
and thus to realise, in their feeble way, that line of Horace —
" Delirant reges ; plectantiir Achivi."
" The kings go mad, and Greeks their madness mourn."
Having now suggested all that occurs to me interesting,
or profitable for you to know, on the subject of swarming,
we shall leave the bees at work, and in the next chapter
presume matters ripe and ready for the " honey harvest."
CHAPTER IX.
THE HONEY HARVEST.
Those who possess collateral boxes may begin taking a box
or a bell-glass very early in the season, indeed even so early
as May or June; this must be, of course, dependent on the
state of affairs, and on their own discretion. Those who
keep their bees in the capped hive, may also get a cap full
of honey in or about the middle of June — I do not call this
the "honey harvest." I allude to the grand deprivation
that should take place in the beginning or middle of
August, ere commencing other operations still to be
explained.
I may observe with reference to the collateral hives, that
no instructions of mine are necessary further than those
already given when describing the mechanism of Mr.
£
74 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
Nutt's boxes. You who possess these admirable con-
triTances will have little or no trouble — a child could
manage them, and long ere this (iVugust) you have
already begun to gather your delicious harvest. You
have, of course, had more than one bell-glass full, and
possibly a box of pure honey removed in May. You
have certainly obtained, at least, one box in June ; but
I should rather imagine that you have, during that
month, obtained both the side boxes full of honey. You
must now, however, act with caution, and recollect that
wet, damp weather is unfavourable to the operations of
the bees ; they cannot go abroad to collect their treasure,
and you must avoid trespassing too much upon their stores
in such weather.
The old mode of obtaining the honey was, by the suffo-
cation of the inmates of the hive. I fear I need scarcely
tell the majority of my bee-keeping readers, but sincerely
hope I am wrong, that this used to be effected by digging
a hole in the ground, placing therein a bundle of matches,
or scraps of tow dipped in sulphur, igniting these, and
setting the hive, covered with a thick cloth, over it, in the
latter part of the evening. The fumes of the sulphur soon
caused death, and the honey was removed afterwards at
pleasure. "Whatever others may think or write, I must
assert as my own opinion that this is a most barbarous
practice ; and that it is as silly as it is cruel. You,
if you act thus, effectually prevent the fulfilment of what
should be your chief object, viz., the increase of your
stock, you also impregnate your honey with filthy va-
pours, and seriously injure its quality by the dead bodies
which you thus cause to be intermingled with the
combs.
Mr. Huish recommended dried rags, or leaves, to be
employed instead of sulphur, the smoke from these only
producing partial stupefaction from which the bees sub-
THE HIVE A^B THE HONEY BEE. 76
sequently recovered, when the surviving stock was united
to some other iveak hive in the apiary.
It is a long time, indeed, since Wildman, White, and
others, whom I have already quoted more than once,
showed that the honey could be taken, even from a com-
mon straw hive, without injury to the inmates. Without,
however, wearying my readers with an investigation of
the several approved methods of doing this, I shall briefly
direct them as to the manner in which I, myself, recom-
mend this very simple process to be performed.
" Fumigation" is a word employed by bee-keepers to
express the process in which, by the aid of certain intoxi-
cating smoke, the insects become temporarily stupified, in
which state they are perfectly harmless, and may be de-
prived of their honey without any risk or trouble. They
subsequently soon recover from their stupefaction, and are
nothing the worse for it. Indeed, as Mr. Cotton quaintly
observes, this intoxication proves, contrary to its effects in
the case of man, rather salutary than otherwise. The dried
Fungus Pulvurulentus, or fuzz ball ; the Bovista gigantea^
or frog-cheese, will be found best for that purpose : but, in
their absence, rags steeped in a solution of saltpetre, or a
few tobacco leaves, wrapped in brown paper, will do nearly
as well. If tobacco be used, care is necessary, lest the
fumigation be carried to too great an extent, so as to cause
the death of some or all of your interesting stock. Persons
not accustomed to deal with bees, should wear an overall
of thin gauze over the head and breast, and gloves on their
hands. With this, and a little bottle in their waistcoat-
pocket, containing aqua ammonise, or aqua potassse, to be
used in case of accident, they need have no cause for trepi-
dation, but can go to work with coolness and deliberation.
There should be provided, for the purpose of fumiga-
tion, a small tin box, with a tube extending from each of
two opposite ends ; one end of this tube being so fashioned
76 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
that it can readily be inserted into the hive, and the other
so formed, that it can readily be attached to the tube of an
ordinary bellows. The box should be so formed that it can
be opened at pleasure.
In this box the matter to be employed in fumigation is
first placed, having, of course, been previously ignited, and
the proper end of the tube having been inserted into the
hive at the lower part, ply the bellows very gently. The
bees begin at once to feel the effects of the smoke. At
first, you will hear an unusual humming and commotion,
but in less than ten minutes all will be still. The bees will
fall upon the board under the hive, and lie quite still, as if
dead. The hive may then be removed, and a fresh hive —
the interior well smeared with honey — may be placed over
them, or they may be united to another stock, which should
also be previously fumigated, one queen being removed.
Sulphuric ether ^ as likewise chloroform^ will also be found
to answer admirably for the above purpose ; in order to em-
ploy either of these agents, it is only necessary to attach a
pipe to a bladder, open at the other end like a clyster-bag,
and affording the same faciUties for being secured. In the
bladder you place a bit of sponge saturated with the fluid
employed ; secure the open end ; insert the pipe into the
hive, and compress the bladder with your hand, so as to
force the vapour of the ether to enter.
Some persons may conceive it to be a difficult matter
to come at the queen. When fumigation is resorted to,
she is, of course, easily discovered ; but even when it is
dispensed with, and the practice adopted which I have yet
to describe, she is not so very difficult to come at ; for,
on a hive being turned up and tappedy the queen is among
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 77
the first, if not indeed the very first, who makes her
appearance, as if to discover the occasion of the unwonted
disturbance : and recollect that although the dusk of an au-
tumnal evening answers best for this purpose, I say nothing
indicative of my disapprobation of the use of a lantern.
The queen usually lodges near the crown of the hive, and is,
when fumigation is resorted to, one of the last to fall ; she
will, consequently, in this case, be found amongst the upper-
most bees. In practising fumigation, two persons should
act in concert, each taking a hive, and operating upon it, in
order that both stocks should be simultaneously in a similar
condition. I may add, that in fumigation, the hive must
be well covered with a cloth, to prevent the escape of
the stupifying vapour. When you have united the two
stocks in the manner I have described, it is advisable to
confine the insects to their hive for that night and the fol-
lowing day. Do not, however, wholly deprive them of air
in doing so, or you may smother them. On the evening of
the following day, about dusk, uncover the hive, and open
the entrance. The bees will probably at first tumultuously
issue forth, but finding the lateness of the hour, will as has-
tily return. Let me here forewarn my readers to be more
cautious on this than perhaps any other occasion, as the
bees will doubtless be very indignant at the manner in which
they have been treated. They are naturally a very irritable
insect, and if they find you near them and unprotected when
they sally forth, they will be apt to attack you in a body,
which will, let me tell you, prove anything but a joke ; and
here let me advise my readers, that they need not be sur-
prised at the many precautious I recommend in order to
prevent their being stung. The sting of a bee is not only
very painful, but even sometimes seriously dangerous.
The most suitable period of the year for uniting weak with
strong stocks is from the middle of August to the latter part
of September. This, however, is not a proper time to remove
78 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
stocks from straw hives to boxes, for the season is too far
advanced. When taken from their warm hive, and removed
into a cold box, bees rarely recover from the effects of the
fumigation sufficiently to resume business. May or June
is the best time for this removal, or perhaps still earlier,
say the beginning of April, before the eggs of the queen-
bee have attained the stage of larvse. If the operation be
performed in cold or even cool weather, it is recommended
by Nutt to do so "in a room where the temperature is
about 60 degrees." Twelve hours or thereabouts suffice for
the recovery of the bees, and they may then be removed
with safety to their ordinary stand.
Various other precautions besides outer clothing are re-
commended by writers on bee management — such, for in-
stance, as taking a short pipe in the mouth, and smoking
during the operation : everyone does not, however, smoke.
Others recommend taking a drink of ale previous to com-
mencing : this is by no means a disagreeable precautionary
measure ; but what are teetotallers to do ? Others again
recommend rubbing the face and hands with ale or beer ;
for my own part I do not see any absolute necessity for the
adoption of any of these measures, if the protecting overall
be used ; but if I were to recommend any, it would be that
spoken of by Mr. Briggs — viz., water to which a small
quantity of creosote has been added. Mr. Briggs adds,
*'The juice of the Black ocymuniy or Indian bazil, is also
strongly recommended for the same purpose ; and it is said
that the bees will not go near to a person whose skin has
been recently rubbed with it." I am glad to find also that
Mr. Briggs agrees with me in recommending aqim ammoni(B
as the best known remedy for the sting of a bee. It is, I
suppose, unnecessary to observe, that aqua potassce will
answer the same purpose, and fully as well. These reme-
dies will likewise be found equally efficacious for the sting
of that wolf of insects — the ferocious and formidable wasp.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 79
It may be as well that I wind up my observations on
fumigation with a few directions for the preparation of the
fuzz balls for that purpose. For their substance, I am
indebted to Thorley's "Treatise on Bees," — a work con-
taining much valuable information.
Put the ball into a piece of stout paper, and compress
it as tightly as you can ; tie it closely up in this condition,
and put it in a moderately cool oven, about as cool as that
from which bread has just been withdrawn — let it remain
there until it will serve as tinder. I believe, indeed, it is
thus the far-famed "German tinder," so well known to
cigar smokers, is prepared. The quantity of the pre-
pared fungus necessary for the fumigation of a hive is a
piece of about the size of a hen's e^^ — less may, in some
instances, answer ; but it is unquestionably better to have
too much than too little. Where, however, ether or chlo-
roform can be obtained, they are to be preferred. I should
have observed that, prior to union, even where fumigation
has been employed, the sprinkling with ale and liquid
honey should not, on any account, be omitted.
The system which dispenses altogether with fumigation,
called tapping or " Driving," is spoken of favourably by
many writers ; it is practised as follows : —
When daylight has died away, and twilight appears, you
will find the bees all quietly reposing, and unsuspecting,
in the hive j let whoever is in the habit of tending the
bees be the agent in the process ; no assistance is neces-
sary ; let him or her take an old chair from which the
bottom has been either worn or cut away — but a worn
one is best, as it best fits the reversed hive ; turn up the
hive on the chair, and place over it an empty one, which
you have previously smeared interiorly with honey, or
sugar dissolved in beer ; wrap a cloth round the point of
junction for the first few minutes, and, with a stick, tap
the reversed hive round the sides, beginning near the hot-
80 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
torn, and gradually ascending in your strokes towards the
top ; let your strokes be not too rough, lest you loosen the
combs ; still, however, these are far more firmly attached
than non-practical w riters are aware of.
Ere you have been long thus employed, you will hear
a humming noise, and presently the disturbed bees, more
than half asleep, will mount into the upper hive. If the
ascent of the bees appear checked ere all have left the
lower hive, remove the cloth, which, by the way, is, once
the ascent has commenced, no longer necessary, and raise
the upper hive an inch or so above the lower. This will be
found to facilitate the emigration, and will be unattended
with danger. The lower hive being fully deserted, place
that containing the bees on the stand. Some like to close
the aperture for a short time ; but I conceive such proce-
dure to be useless, as, at that hour, the insects are too
sleepy, too stupid, to have any desire to stir abroad ; and
on the morrow will proceed to their ordinary avocations, as
if nothing had occurred. This resumption, however, of
the insects' ordinary avocations, will not take place unless
the above operation be performed early in the season.
The most secure mode of procedure, and the most ap-
proved is, to unite these exiled bees with those of another
hive. You must always, be it remembered, leave your
bees a sufficient store of honey as food. This is usually
done by setting apart what is called a stock-hive — a hive
well filled with honey, and capable of containing and sup-
porting more bees. Turn up this stock-hive ; sprinkle its
drowsy inmates, or rather drench them, but not too heavily,
with sugar or honey, dissolved in ale. Do the same with
your exiles ; and once again invert the abode of the latter
over the mouth of your inverted stock-hive. Proceed in
other respects as you did before ; and by tapping drive
them down. The two famihes speedily recover from their
surprise, and the agreeable employment afforded to all
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 81
their individual members, of licking the results of your
sprinkling from each other's bodies, will soon produce
friendUness, while meanwhile the odour of the liquid with
which you have saturated them, will prevent their distin-
guishing betwixt stranger and comrade. Of course you
have previously taken the precaution of removing the queen
of the swarm to be united to the stock-hive. Some re-
commend permitting the rival queens to " fight it out."
This is too apt to occasion a general affray, which can
readily be avoided by the plan I mention. The whole pro-
cedure will not occupy above half an hour, if indeed so
much. You need be under no apprehension of being
stung. The bees are too sleepy, too lethargic, too much
fatigued after their day's toil, to care for you. In order to
inspire you with confidence, let me call to your recollection
the lethargic condition of common house-flies on a ceiling,
in a summer or autumn evening. The bees are similarly
disposed ; and unless you clumsily crush some of them in
your hand, they will not take the trouble of hurting you.
If you be so very clumsy as to do so, you have only your-
self to blame. All this trouble is, however, saved by the
use of any of the boxes already recommended.
This is your first harvest : you may, by adopting the
following approved system of management, obtain even a
second, ere placing your bees in their winter quarters.
This latter operation is termed " shifting."
Many writers on bee management have been in favour
of shifting the hives at certain periods of the year, in order
to secure a succession of food, according as it fails in one
place, or proves more abundant in another. One of the
earhest advocates of this system was Columella, an autho-
rity frequently referred to by me in my work on Poultry.
He founds his advice on the observation, that scarcely any
one district can afford an equally adequate supply of pas-
ture both in spring and autumn. Celsus and Pliny hold
E 2
82 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
the same opinion. Later writers have also recommended
this removal, as A. de Montfort, Maillet (" Description of
Egypt"), in which they are followed by Wildman and
others. This practice is still extensively followed, and
there is still living on the Pentland hills, near Edinburgh,
a shepherd, who takes charge of upwards of a hundred
hives annually for bee-keepers living at a distance.
From the middle of August to the end of September is
the usual time when we perceive the food of bees begin-
ning to fail them. This is the period for removing them
to the heather, which is then in bloom. Before moving,
ascertain the condition of your hives ; for these which are
well stocked with honey should be deprived by the pro-
cess already detailed ; and this should be done some days
prior to removal, for the combs containing the young may
have been loosened in the operation, and the bees should
be allowed time to fasten them once again securely in
their places.
Water carriage, when procurable, is the best, as it
shakes the hives least ; but when land carriage must be
resorted to, the hives should be carried on poles, slung on
men's shoulders. The journey should be performed at night
only, and the bees suffered to go forth and feed during the
day. Such is their instinct, that they will readily find
their way back ; but they should not be suffered to go
forth until at the distance of upwards of ten or eleven
miles from their original home, otherwise they will be lost
in endeavouring to regain it — a moderate distance induces
them to abandon the idea, and to become reconciled to
their temporary quarters. If travelling by canal, the hives
should be removed from the boat, and placed on stands, at
some distance from the bank, ere the insects are let out,
otherwise they will be lost in thousands, by falling into
the water on their return. The charge made by shepherds
for taking care of the hives during a season, is from one
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 83
shilling to eighteen pence each. It is better to pay a
trifle over and above the usual fee, in order to prevent
your hives being placed too near to each other, or to those
of other parties ; for if your weak stocks happen to be
placed near the strong ones of some one else, you will
stand a fair chance of having them all killed in encounters
with their more powerful neighbours. It would be well
also to see that your hives are placed in a situation where
they will be safe from the attacks of cattle or other foes.
Before fetching the hives home again from the heath, it will
not be amiss to ascertain their condition and weight, and to
take from them what honey they can spare. I must here
inform you how to ascertain the state or wealth of a hive.
About the middle of August or September examine your
hives : at all events do not, whatever be the aspect of the
season, neglect this necessary operation until October ; but
if the season appear likely to turn out to be a severe one,
set about it even earlier than I have indicated. But do not
mistake me — I do not mean that you can deprive your
bees of any honey so late as this ; if I said so, I should
be only instructing you in the best and most expeditious
method of destroying your stocks. I only mean, that
under certain circumstances, and in peculiarly favourable
weather, you may postpone, until the periods I have
named, ^o\xx final examination of your stocks, in order to
ascertain which can, and which cannot, support itself,
unaided by you, during the dreary winter months.
In observatory hives, and such as are formed on the col-
lateral box, or 'piled box principle, there are usually such
contrivances as will admit of inspection of the hive and
its contents without the necessity of handhng it. In the
ordinary hive, however, we cannot avoid manually ascer-
taining the weight and condition of our stock. In order
to do so, you must previously have been acquainted with
the weight of your hive, and of the probable number of
84 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
bees which it contains ; and I may also add, that it would
be as well if you had your stands so contrived as to admit
of their being raised with the hive for the purpose of
weighing, as, if you forcibly separate the latter from the
former, you break the cement of propolis, which unites the
hive to its position on the stand, and puts the bees to
much unnecessary trouble and annoyance.
A hive should contain twenty pounds of honey for its
support during winter ; but it is a mistake to suppose that
an increase of number in the hive, produced by union^ wiU
require an increase of food. In fact, precisely the contrary
is the case ; and the more abundant the stock of the bees
in autumn, the richer and the better able to work will they
be in spring — the more forward, therefore, will they be in
summer, and the greater will be your profit.
I have said that there should be twenty pounds of honey
left in a hive for winter consumption. I mean that to be
exclusive of the weight of both hive and bees. Of course
I cannot give you any assistance in ascertaining the weight
of the former, as that feature must depend upon its struc-
ture, &c., and the materials of which it is composed.
But the weight of the bees themselves is quite a different
matter. In lib. avoirdupois, or 16oz., there are about
five thousand bees — from fifteen to twenty thousand bees
constitute a strong hive, that is, from four to jive pounds
in weight.
If you find, after making these calculations and deduc-
tions, that your stocks are under weight, you may either
supply them with food, or unite two or more together.
I am in favour of union ; and I recollect that I am now
only speaking with reference to such persons as have
reaped a second, or perhaps a tliird harvest from their
bees. Had they omitted their last visitation, no such
artificial care as I am describing would have been called
for.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE 85
On the subject of removing bees to the heather in
August, ]Mr. Briggs makes the following useful and prac-
tical remarks : —
" In the vicinity of extensive heaths, the bees are removed
to them about the beginning or middle of August, accord-
ing to the season. The usual practice is, to raise each hive
with small wedges in the evening, to induce the bees to
congregate together at the top of the hive. The hives are
then firmly fixed to the bottom boards, or tied up in cloths,
and conveyed in the night, or very early in the morning,
to the garden of a shepherd or other person whose resi-
dence adjoins the heath. All hives and swarms are taken,
including old and young ones, and the persons who receive
them usually charge a shilling for each hive during the
season. The hives are thus very frequently crammed to-
gether as close as they can stand, and the consequences are,
that much fighting and loss of life is often caused, and the
weak stocks of one person are frequently partly destroyed
and robbed of their stores and killed by the stronger ones
belonging to other persons. When the blooming of the
heath is over, the old stocks are, in general, suffocated
on the spot, to obtain possession of the fruits of their
labours, and those intended for winter stocks are conveyed
home by their respective owners.
*'The above system of managing bees at the heather is
susceptible of material alterations and improvements. I
would suggest that it would be of great advantage to the
owners of bees residing within twenty miles' distance, if
the proprietors or occupiers of residences adjoining the
heath were to extend the accommodation by enclosing a
larger extent of ground which is suitable for the purposes
desired. It might be cheaply and expeditiously performed
by hiring a few dozen of stout flakes, &c., from the neigh-
bouring fanners, for the season, and having the bars of
them full of coarse thorns, briars, furze, or other conve-
86 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
nient and suitable materials, to prevent the inroads of cattle
and other depredators.
"I would recommend that none but strong stocks be
taken to the heath, until arrangements are made for their
convenience and accommodation ; and that the collateral
system of side hives, &c., be practised with them whilst
they are at the heath, as well as on other occasions."
Before bringing your bees home from the heath, examine
your hives, and take what honey they can spare, and do
not mix this with that taken at the former harvest. Re-
collect that " Heather-honey" is far more valuable than
any other, and should, of course, fetch a proportionately
higher price in the market. The celebrated honey of Mount
Hymettus and Mount Hybla was made from this plant.
Of the proper mode of treating the honeycomb, which
you have cut away, I shall speak in a subsequent chapter.
A few words meanwhile as to SLntumiial feedi7iff, the pro-
per sort of food to be given, and the best mode of doing^o.
I mentioned that the hives should be weighed and brought
back to their original quarters before October — the pre-
cise part of September for so doing depending altogether
on the character of the weather — but I omitted observing
further, that a(/e will cause hives to weigh heavier than their
legitimate contents would call for ; this is occasioned by an
accumulation of bee-bread and the cast sloughs which had
formerly served as envelopes to the young. In the case of
old hives, you must, therefore, allow from two to five
pounds, according to age, for these matters. The substances
of which I speak require also to be occasionally removed
from the hive, as otherwise they will accumulate to such an
extent as to render the hive too small for breeding, and your
stock will thus soon become extinct. Spring is the proper
season for removing these substances ; the process is very
simple, consisting merely in fumigating the hives, and thus
rendering the bees for the time insensible, then, while they
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 87
are in this state, turning up the hive and cutting out a por-
tion of the old comb ; you should only cut away half at a
time. The following spring, perform the same process ; you
will find the gap your knife had made the previous year
completely restored, and you may now remove the remain-
ino- portion of old comb. By this system of constantly
inducing a renovation of the combs, you will preserve your
stock in a state of perpetual youth. Your hive, even if
made of straw, will last for an indefinite length of time if
protected externally by a thick coat of whitewash, or, which
is better, Roman cement ; do not let any one persuade you
to employ paint for this purpose ; if you do, you may pro-
bably lose your bees. This cutting away of the combs may
also be resorted to in cases where your hives are infested
with moths ; under such circumstances you may cut away
all the combs that contain the larvae of those insects.
I have said that all hives under the clear nett weight
(bees and honey, the hive and stand properly deducted) of
20lbs. avoirdupois, must receive an allowance of food ; the
examination to take place at the close of September. It is
right that I should direct you as to the description of food
most proper for the purpose : Honey, when you have it,
and can spare it, is, of course, the best food you can give
your bees, and will not, as Mr. Huish has so very strangely
asserted, give bees the dysentery ; but if you cannot give
honey, you may form an excellent substitute by boiling
ale and' sugar together gently in a clean and well-tinned
vessel, over a clear fire, for about five minutes. One pound
and a-half of sugar may be added to each quart of ale, and
the mixture is to be skimmed, according as the scum rises
to the surface during boihng ; when the syrup is taken from
the fire, add to it about a teaspoonful of common table-salt
for each quart of syrup.
It is bad to be compelled to feed bees in the winter, as,
by descending to the bottom of the hive in order to get
SS THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
at the food, they expose themselves to cold, and many
perish ; by early examination in autumn, and uniting weak
hives, together with judicious feeding at that season, if
necessary, the winter management will be simplified. It
may not be amiss here to remark that many persons have
written to me, from various parts of Ireland, during the
past season, complaining of disease among their bees, and,
in some instances, of the utter annihilation of their stocks ;
where too frequent swarming is encouraged, and the old
erroneous mode of keeping bees is persevered in, the stocks
cannot be expected to thrive. Indeed, bee-keeping can
scarcely be said to exist at all in Ireland — at least it onli/
exists.
Bees kept in boxes are also as liable as any others to the
attacks of insects, mice, weasels, and other foes ; and in
one instance, where, the complainant being a personal
friend, I visited the spot, I found the boxes all deserted,
and several rat and mouse holes gaping in the bank imme-
diately behind them ! In such case the stand should have
been removed, and traps or poison used to banish the
vermin. You will sometimes find the bees strong in num-
bers, yet poor in stores. This may also be a result of the
presence of moths, &c., in the hive ; that should, there-
fore, be examined, and the intruders removed. I shall,
however, devote a subsequent chapter exclusively to the
consideration of the enemies of bees. Do not, on any ac-
count, fumigate a hive with tobacco or sulphur for the pur-
pose of expelling or destroying moths ; for, if you fail of
destroying your bees along with them, you may safely cal-
culate on, at all events, rendering the honey injurious to
them ; and, in some cases, especially when tobacco has been
used, absolutely poisonous. Doubtless, it was honey, im-
pregnated with these deleterious fumes, that Mr. Huish
found to give his bees the dysentery. When bees are found
to be thus rich in numbers and poor in store, it frequently
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 89
happens that the cause is the loss of the queen ; for if any-
thing happen to the sovereign, the community speedily
decay away. The remedy in this instance is, of course,
union to another stock. If this occur in winter, I should
recommend you to unite, and feed abundantly. Mr. Nutt,
however, says, that when this occurs in winter, all your
feeding will be thrown away, and your bees perish, despite
your care. Some people also defer feeding until the bees
are absolutely in want. This is very wrong ; the assistance
should be rendered several weeks before the hive is in a
state of positive destitution, otherwise, when you do feed,
the bees will be too weak to avail themselves of your
bounty. The best mode of feeding is, to put the honey,
or syrup, as the case may be, in a shallow box ; lay over
the sweet liquid a sheet of strong paper, perforated with
holes, through which the bees can suck the syrup without
falling into the mess, or becoming clogged by it ; attach
the box to the mouth of the hive — -the bees will soon make
it out, enter, and remove the store to their cells.
It is bad to lift up the hive for the purpose of feeding,
as, by so doing, you lower the temperature of the interior,
and often destroy your stock ; besides putting the bees to
the labour of renewing i\\Q propolis by which it had been
cemented to the board. When the feeder is attached to the
entrance of the hive, all this is obviated.
CHAPTER X.
MANAGEMENT DUKING WINTER AND EARLY SPRING.
One of the most important particulars connected with bee
management, is taking care that they are abundantly
supplied with food in autumn, and also taking care at that
season to ascertain whether or not they are sufficiently
90 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
strong in numbers, and if not, to unite your weak stocks, so
as to form strong ones. It is by such treatment as this that
you may expect to preserve your bees in health and strength
through the winter, and to have them in a condition to
attend properly to their brood in the early spring.
In a large straw hive, there should be left, at your
autumnal honey harvest, from twenty to twenty-five, or
even, according to the size of the hive, thirty pounds
weight of honey, exclusive, be it remembered, of the
weight of hive, stand, and bees. If you should, from any
accident, find your hive deficient in weight, you must make
up the deficiency by artificial feeding, either with honey —
if you have it to spare, it is, of course, the best — or with
the mixture of ale and sugar I have already described in
the preceding chapter.
I may here observe, however, that I would not be dis-
posed to entertain a very high opinion of the apiarian skill
of any one who is compelled to feed his bees in autumn ;
and indeed few should be obliged to do so, but those who
use too small a hive, and whose swarms are consequently
too iceah, too feeble in point of number, to acquire sufiicient
wealth during the proper season for so doing, or from
whom there has been injudiciously taken too much store,
at a period too late in the season to admit of the bees re-
plenishing the hive.
Having ascertained that you have supplied your stocks
with a sufficiently ample quantity of food for their support
during winter, or that they already possess enough, you
should next narrow the entrance of the hive so that it will
scarcely admit of the passage of more than a single bee at
a time ; and towards the middle of this month (November)
the entrance should be closed nearly altogether. The
hives should be covered up with matting, fern, or otber
similar substance, in order to preserve them from rain,
frost, or, the most dangerous of all, the sun's rays of a fine
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 91
winter's day. These deceptive rays would afford a tempta-
tion to the bees to sally forth, and the result would be,
that they would become chilled by the cold. Few would
survive the flight so as to return to the hive : its tempera-
ture would fall, and you would lose your stock. Your
hives should remain thus carefully covered and closed until
the beginning of March.
I must here mention a mode of protecting your hives,
and rendering them in point of warmth in winter, coolness
in summer, imperviousness to wet, inaccessibility to moths,
and other foes, at least unless through the entrance ; and
also in durability equal to wooden boxes, viz., a coating of
Roman cement on the exterior. For this suggestion I am
indebted to M. Nugent, Esq., of Rathgar, county Dubhn,
who adopted this system, and pursued it with success for
many years. I need scarcely add that Roman cement is
both cheap and easily procured. I must not omit to re-
commend, that, when there is snow upon the ground, the
entrances of your hives should be entirely closed, and that
a screen or shade should be placed before the hive in case
of an accidental sunny day occurring, in order to prevent
the bees from encountering even a single deceptive ray.
Another danger from which you are imperatively called
upon to protect your bees during winter is dampness. It
is to this cause that the loss of many a stock is to be attri-
buted, and that also, I dare say, in many instances con-
trary to the opinion of the proprietor, whose suspicions
have fallen upon any and every possible cause save the
true and simple one. I am not now alluding merely to
external damjiness, its effects are too well known to require
comment ; but to an internal dampness^ generated within
the hive itself, and no less fatal than the former. This is
best remedied by careful ventilation, placing a bell-glass,
well covered with flannel, over the aperture on the top of
your hive or box, removing it from time to time, and care-
92 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
fully wiping away from its interior the damp formed by
condensed vapour ; this remedy is at once simple and
efficacious.
It will, perhaps, appear to some of my readers a sin-
gular experiment, resorted to by some bee-keepers — viz.,
burying the hives. When this is to be attempted, the
hive should be buried in a cool, dry, shady place, among
leaves, about a foot deep, and the interment should be
performed during the first or second week of November.
I feel, however, that I should be cautious in recommending
the repetition of an experiment that I myself have not
only never tried, but have never seen tried ; nor have I
even ever conversed with any bee-keeper, who could speak
of the results of the operation otherwise than from hear-
say. I shall, however, quote again from Mr. Briggs, and
leave my readers to judge for themselves, premising that I
consider any opinion on the subject of his interesting
favourites, advanced by that gentleman, to be deserving of
the highest respect, and eminently calculated to call for
our deepest attention : —
A friend, in the vicinity of Hitchin, buried a hive of
bees in the first week of November, about a foot deep,
amongst dry leaves, &c., and disinterred it in the last week
of February, when it was just 2 lbs. lighter than it was in
November, and the bees in a lively and healthy state.
Another person, residing in Leicester, immured a hive of
bees in the earth, four feet deep, in the second week of
November, and at the end of January it was removed,
and weighed 07ily 3 oz. less than it did before it was
buried.
The above experiments are worthy of further attention;
and I would recommend that a shed, having a northern
aspect, and which is as dry as possible, would be a suitable
place for further trials. The principal points by which
there might be cause for fear of failure, would, as in other
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 93
cases, be from dampness, disease for want of fresh air, and
attacks from vermin, &c. To prevent the former, I would
recommend that the hives be placed on a long frame of
wood, covered by a web of closely-worked wire, and raised
a few inches from the ground, the ends of which should
communicate with, and be occasionally opened to, the fresh
air. A long tube should also be placed from the hole at
the top of each hive to the open air of the shed, from the
upper end of which any dampness might be condensed by
bell-glasses, and conveyed awa}^ as already directed.
The materials with which the hives are covered and
surrounded, should consist of dry leaves pressed closely
together, or dry and powdered charcoal or cinders, and may
be several feet in thickness, to preserve the bees in a cool
and torpid state, and at a regular temperature, in which
state they should be kept as dry^ dark^ and quiet as cir-
cumstances will permit.
It is the opinion of many experienced apiarians, that a
cold winter is not injurious to bees, provided they are suffi-
ciently prepared for withstanding it, in the manner above
detailed ; and which, I trust, comprises several facts, hints,
and suggestions, which are not generally known, and may
be of service to bee-keepers of the present day.
I, however, incline to think, that bee-keeping and ma-
nagement are, in common with agriculture, yet in their
infancy ; and hope, ere long, to see the day, when hundreds
of colonies will be kept on improved systems in many dis-
tricts where dozens of them cannot at present be found.
It is considered that those localities which are suited
to the cultivation of good barley and Dutch clover, are also
suited to the production of honey, and that where a rose
will prosper, a bee will prosper also ; consequently there
are but few situations in the inland and highland parts of
the kingdom in which the keeping of bees might not be
profitably extended.
94 THE HIVE AND THE HOKEY BEE.
In all plans and operations with bees, the laws of na-
ture should be attentively observed and assisted, by which
much may be experienced and acquired from attention and
perseverance, and the results aimed at obtained at less
trouble and expense than if an opposite course were pur-
sued.
As the spring approaches, the winter coverings should
be gradually removed, and those hives which have been
buried placed in their summer situations. Small quanti-
ties of food should then be supplied as occasion requires,
until the gooseberry and currant bushes are in bloom, at
which time, it may, in general, be considered that the
winter is past. Warm weather, accompanied by mode-
rate showers, is most agreeable to them at that period ;
and it is considered that flowers yield the greatest amount
of melliferous juices when the weather is calm and suitable
as above, and with the wind blowing from any point of the
compass, from south to west inclusive.
It must always be borne in mind that seasons, situa-
tions, and the laws of nature, present influences which may
be guarded against, or assisted, but cannot be completely
controlled. Thus, the aspect for the entrances of the hives
may require to be varied a few points between the eastern
and western sides of the kingdom ; and there may also re-
quire to be, on some occasions, an advance or delay of a
few weeks in some operations with bees between the north-
ern and southern parts of the United Kingdom.
Such of my apiarian readers as may adopt Mr. Briggs'
proposed system of management, would confer a great favour
upon me, and also, I think, materially promote the advance-
ment of this department of knowledge, by communicating
the results of their experience, not forgetting to weigh the
hives, ^c, accurately y both before interment and imme-
diately on raising the hive in March.
It will be seen that many of the preceding directions, in
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 96
which the reader will have found that Mr. Briggs's views
and opinions are, in all respects, coincident with my own,
differ materially from those of many who have recently
written upon this subject. Among other obvious mistakes,
I may mention the recommendation to give the bees an
opportunity of leaving the hive, and going abroad every
fine day. My reasons for objecting to this system are
already detailed ; and I would only further inquire, cui
bono ? — what advantage is expected to be derived from thus
permitting the insects to go forth ? They may be supposed
to want exercise. This is a mistake ; for the bees naturally
crowd together, and remain in a sort of torpor during
winter, and everything that could tend to interfere with, or
arouse them from it, must, of course, prove contrary to
their natural instincts, and consequently, prejudicial. Dur-
ing winter, the bees are, as Virgil says —
" Contracto frigore pigrae."
" With cold benumbed, inactive they remain."
It seems generally recommended that the hives should
be removed to a northern aspect durhig winter. If the
bees are to be set at liberty, this very removal, otherwise
so necessary, will cause their destruction ; for they will, on
being permitted to issue from the hive, of a certainty fly
back to their old quarters, where they will remain until
benumbed by the cold that, despite of a few gleams of trea-
cherous sunshine, pervades the air, and will, of course,
soon fall to the ground, and miserably perish — all owing
to your bad management. Independent of these considera-
tions, I may also, and I think most reasonably, adduce the
very considerable, and at the same time, most unnecessary
waste of food consequent on the adoption of the liberty
system.
Wildman puts the query (Wildman on Bees, p. 259) as
96 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
to why bees can endure the extreme cold of a Russian
winter with impunity, while the far inferior degree of cold
of an English one proves so fatal ; and he suggests, as an
explanation, that the severe cold freezes the bees so that
their juices cannot putrefy or corrupt ; whereas our climate
is only sufficient to chill them, leaving their juices liquid,
and still capable of putrefaction. I would be far more
disposed to suggest, that the true cause of the phenomenon
alluded to is the greater dryness of the Russian climate,
and that to dampness it is that we are to ascribe our failure.
Let it, then, be carefully guarded against.
An old French work (" La Maison Rustique," Tom. i.
Part 1, Liv. v. c. 1, p. 441) suggests a mode of preserving
bees by interment during winter, which, I think, sufficiently
plausible to deserve being recorded. It consists of laying
some very dry, powdered earth upon the bottom of an old
cask, to the depth of about half a foot, pressed down very
hard, and setting on this the stool with the hive ; then pre-
serving a communication with the air, by cutting a hole in
the cask, opposite to the mouth of the hive, and placing a
piece of reed from the mouth of the hive to the hole in the
cask ; then covering the hive up with a quantity of dry
earth similar to that on which it stands. This mode of
treatment is particularly deserving of attention, in conse-
quence of the close analogy it presents to Mr. Briggs' pro-
posed burying plan, which would consequently appear to be
little more than a revival of a practice approved of nearly
a century ago.
In spring, it is only necessary to remove the winter co-
verings gradually and with caution ; to examine also the
state of the bees' provisions, and, if necessary, feed them.
Be cautious in at once giving them liberty, or in doing so
too early, or in unsettled weather. Many bees lose their
lives from neglect of these precautions, simple as they are,
and obvious as their necessity must be to every reflecting
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 97
bee-keeper. It is well, for these reasons, that the mouth
of the hive should be kept facing due west until all these
dangers have passed away : of course, when the working
season arrives, all restraint must be removed — the aspect of
the hive moved southward, and the insects left entirely to
themselves. When spring-feeding is necessary, it is usu-
ally in April, for then the demands of the young brood
call for a greater consumption of honey than ordinary, and
from want of attending to this circumstance, hives have
been lost even so late in the season as the month of May.
Spring also, say about the beginning of the month of
March, is the proper time for transferring stocks from hives
to boxes, remembering that the latter should be previously
well cleaned out, their interior smeared, and supplied with
a portion of honey, in a proper feeder.
As the warm weather approaches, do not forget to shade
your hives from the sun. If the bees be induced by the
heat to attempt injudicious or ill-timed swarming, and hang
in clusters about the entrance of the hive, you can, if ad-
visable, check it by sprinkling them with some water from
the rose of a watering-pot or syringe ; they will mistake
this for rain, and retire within the hive to resume their
w^ork. Be careful, however, not to deluge the bees, as I
have known some to do, thus injuring their stock, and
afterwards blaming me, while they alone were in fault.
CHAPTER XI.
THE DISEASES AND ENEMIES OF BEES.
Bees, when properly attended to, and managed on the im-
proved modern system, are neither very subject to disease,
nor very liable to suffer from the attacks of enemies ; still,
however, as accidents of these kinds will occur, once in a
while, despite of our most anxious care, it is right that I
98 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
should not let this httle volume go before the public without
its furnishing them with advice as to the remedies to be
employed on such occasions. I shall first speak of the
diseases to which bees are occasionally subject ; and shall
detail, not only the mode of cure, but the propable proxi-
mate cause, and consequently, suggest the best mode of
'prevention^ which my readers are aware is so justly de-
scribed in the old proverb, as " better than cure."
The diseases of bees are not numerous, so that a length-
ened detail will be unnecessary ; in point of fact, we are
acquainted with but two, viz. : —
Diarrhoea. Dysentery.
The latter is probably only produced by neglect of the for-
mer: at all events, we may regard these two affections as
springing from the one cause, and certainly they can only
be combated by the same remedies.
My old friend, Columella, speaks of diarrhoea as a
*' purging which seizes bees annually, in the spring ;" and
conceives it to be occasioned by the bees surfeiting them-
selses on the young flowers in their first repast. He
recommends a remedy, still earlier proposed by Hyginus,
viz., covering the bees with the warm ashes of the fig-tree.
On his own part. Columella recommends giving them rose-
mary and honey diluted with water.
In my opinion this looseness is occasioned by the bees
feeding on what is called " candied honey" — a substance,
the deleterious effects of which were well known to Aristotle,
and subsequently to Virgil, who, following his great and
philosophic predecessor, gives, in his account of bees, ex-
press directions for preventing honey from candying. He
regarded the cause of its doing so to be, cold. He says —
" Nam frigore Mella,
Cogit hyems, eaclem que calor liquefacta remittit,
Utraque vis Apibus pariter raetuenda."
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 99
I cannot very positively account for the formation of
candied honey, unless, as is very probable, Wildman's
opinion be correct, viz., that it becomes so by being too
long in the hive, too stale, and hence sour and unfit for
use. The mode of prevention is obvious : — A periodical
examination of the hives or boxes, and a removal of a por-
tion, on each occasion, of the old or mouldy combs. The
presence of candied honey in a hive is so obnoxious to
bees, that it frequently induces them to desert it.
The candied honey proves fatal to bees in another way
beside their being poisoned by it. When the bees find
candied honey in the combs, they, knowing its prejudicial
qualities, if they have other and wholesome store, throw it
out of the combs, and it of course falls on the bottom board
of the hive. In doing this the bees, as Wildman emphati-
cally says, prepare their own graves. They can neither
enter nor leave the hive, without bedaubing themselves,
and their endeavours to free themselves and their compa-
nions from the incum.brance only make matters worse.
When bees are found in this state, it is difficult to relieve
them ; but if anything will do so, it is immersion in tepid
water; for this purpose you can sweep them into a tub with
the wing of a fowl, leave them in the water until insensible,
and nnite them, when they survive a little, to the bees of
another hive, taking care to serve these latter similarly.
Though I recommend this treatment, recollect that I can
by no means pronounce it infallible ; but I must say that
I have known it to succeed in more than one instance.
In the French treatise before referred to (" La Maison
Rustique," Tom. i. Part 1, Liv. v. c. 1, p. 454, 7th ed. 4to)
we find purging and dysentery attributed to the bees feed-
ing on too pure honey, which is there said not to be suffi-
cientlv substantial for them bv itself. The cure recora-
mended is, to give them, from another hive, combs well
supplied with bee-bread or crude wax.
100 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
ENEMIES OF BEES.
These are far more numerous than their diseases, and
are as follow : —
Poultry,
Moths,
Mice,
Millipedes,
Lizards,
Woodlice,
Toads,
Ants,
Frogs,
Lice,
Snails,
Spiders,
Slugs,
Wasps,
Caterpillars,
Hornets.
** Fowls should not be permitted in any apiary." So
writes Nutt, and most judiciously. They will kill and eat
the bees, and such as they do not destroy they will annoy
and disturb — besides, your bees will probably occupy a
stand in your garden, a quarter whence other reasons
should necessarily exclude poultry.
Mice. — While the bees are vigorous, the field-mouse
does not dare attack the hive ; but as the cold approaches,
and the bees become less active, he enters, and commenc-
ing with the lower combs, ascends by degrees, as the bees
become torpid, until he either clears all away, or by the
smell of the honey he has wasted on the board, induces
other bees to come and plunder. As soon as the warm
weather returns, the surviving bees will also leave the hive
in disgust. The remedy is easy. By having your straw
hives, if you use such, coated on the exterior with Roman
cement, you will prevent mice from nestling in the straw,,
whence otherwise they would speedily eat their way into
the interior, and by narrowing the entrance of the hive in
the manner already described, you will effectually keep out
these little intruders. If your stands be placed on a single
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 101
foot, or if the feet are so placed under the foot board, as to
leave a wide, projecting ledgCy no mice can arrive at the
hive.
Lizards. — Columella speaks of lizards as among the
bee's enemies. In his country they were so ; but the
beautiful little lizard of England is too feeble to do them
any mischief. In Ireland, no true lizard exists.*
Toads will kill bees occasionally, but not in sufficient
numbers to excite our alarm. In Ireland no true toad is
to be found. An allied species, the Nater-jack, is found
in Killarney ; but it is too small to take a bee upon his
tongue, and is rather to be regarded as a friend to the bees,
one of their enemies, the spider, being his favourite food.
Frogs may be classed with Toads.
Snails and Slugs. — These creatures are not absolutely
enemies of bees, as they have no design upon them or their
honey in entering the hive, but merely do so from acci-
dent. The mischief done by them consists in the alarm
and confusion they occasion. The bees first attack the un-
fortunate intruder, and kill him with their stings, after
which they carefully encase him in propolis, effectually pre-
venting putrefaction or the production of maggots.
Caterpillars. — The most dreaded is the caterpillar
of the Wax-moth, so called from the ravages it makes
amongst the combs as soon as it obtains entrance. By
having the legs of the stand placed as I have already de-
scribed, no caterpillar can climb up to the hive ; but this
will not prevent the Moth herself entering and depositing
eggs in the hive ; and so prolific are these moths, that a
single brood would suffice to destroy a whole stock. Peri-
odical fumigation, and cutting away such combs as contain
the grubs, is the remedy to be adopted. Moths are only
* The Newt, or, as the vnlgar call it, " Maneater" (in Irish, ' Dorroch-
luachar," or Rush pig) is excluded from the lizard tribe, by its mode of
respiration during the earlier stages of its existence.
f2
102 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
nocturmd enemies. During the day you have nothing to
fear from their attacks. Let the entrance to the hive,
therefore, be nearly closed in the evening, and you will pro-
tect your bees from their ravages. Columella recommends,
as a trap for moths, a bottle, or other vessel, with a long
and narrow neck increasing gradually to a wide mouth, and
having a light in the neck, to be placed under the hive in
the evening. I can vouch for the efficacy of this trap — it
will destroy numbers. Another particular to be attended
to is to have your stocks sufficiently strong ; and for this
purpose, if the hive attacked be weak, unite to it the bees
of another hive, in the manner already described. The
bees are themselves, if sufficiently strong in numbers, both
willing and able to destroy the intruders. If weak, they will
necessarily fall victims. It is for you to look to this.
Millipedes, or Woodlice, are often produced by the
stand being made of decayed wood, or the hive being
placed too near an old hedge. Let the stand be of new
wood, and strew soot on the ground under and about the
hive. This will also serve in part as a protection against
the attacks of
Ants. — You should always destroy such ants' nests as
you find in the neighbourhood of a hive. In the West
Indies glass feet are used to prevent these insects from
getting into furniture, &c. Might not such be used with
advantage for bee-hives 1
Lice. — These are small parasitical insects of a red colour,
which adhere to the body of the bee, and derive their
nourishment from her juices. They are about the size of
a grain of mustard seed, or rather smaller.
Reaumur and others tried many remedies for these trou-
blesome insects, but in vain, till at length Madam Vicat*
discovered that Morocco tobacco will kill the lice without
injuring the bees.
* " Memoirs of tlie Society of Bt>mp." a.d., 1764, p. 130.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 103
Spiders. — Brush away their webs wherever you meet
with them near your stand.
Wasps and Hornets. — These insects are most noxious
to bees. Dig up and destroy their nests wherever you
meet with them ; but you will most effectually get rid of
them by offering a reward for every queen wasp brought to
you in spring. The destruction of each queen is tanta-
mount to that of an entire nest ; and if this plan were ge-
nerally adopted, wasps would eventually be extirpated.
Birds. — Among those which are the greatest enemies to
bees, I may mention sparrows and swallows; also the
house-larky a little dun-coloured bird, with a black beak.
Set traps near the hives, baited with dead bees ; shoot the
birds ; employ boys to rob their nests ; and hang up a few
of such birds as you kill, on trees near the stands. Per-
severance for a time in this will rid you of the annoyance.
Bees. — Yes, bees are amongst the most dangerous foes
of their own kind, being bold and resolute plunderers. It
is only weak stocks, however, which suffer, so that union is
the easy and obvious cure. Avoid also placing your hives
too close together ; and also avoid at any time placing a
weak stock near a strong one. This is particularly to be
attended to in sending to the heather^ as already treated of.
I have now enumerated the principal foes you have to
apprehend, and you will find, if you follow my directions,
they will not prove so very formidable, but be much more
easily got rid of, or guarded against, than you imagined.
On the other hand, if you neglect proper precautions, and
suffer the enemy to remain unmolested, you will be equally
astonished at the incredible amount of mischief they will
do, and the rapidity with which they will do it.
By adopting the precaution of having the stand-board to
project some distance over the leg or legs on which it is
supported, your hives will be safe from all enemies not fur-
nished mth wings.
104 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
CHAPTER XII.
HOW TO TREAT THE PRODUCE OF TOUR HONEY HARVEST.
In the first place, you must remove your store to some room
without a fire-place, for the bees have been known to make
use of even that mode of access in order to come at the
honey, which they are able to scent from a considerable
distance. Close all the doors and windows. You should
previously have in the room whatever implements you want
— viz., some large glazed earthen vessels, clean, new, horse-
hair sieves, a strainer, some clean linen cloths, and abun-
dance of water to wash your hands. Wildman recommends
burning cowdung, or rotten hay, at the doors and windows
of the room in which you are at work, in order to keep
away the bees, and experience has shown that this recom-
mendation should be attended to.
Your first care should be to examine the combs, and
free them from all dirt, grubs, young bees, or other foreign
matters — remembering, of course, to have previously well
and thoroughly washed your hands. You then cut the
combs horizontally into pieces of an inch wide, and lay
them on the sieve over the glazed earthen vessels : when
they have dropped all the honey that they will yield with-
out squeezing, put them in the cloth already mentioned,
and wring it over another crock ; this will furnish the se-
cond class honey — that spontaneously yielded is called virgin
honey, and is equal in purity to that obtained from the
bell-glass.
Some have recommended heating the combs in order to
procure an inferior, a third, description of honey ; but this
is bad. When you have obtained all that you can squeeze
through the cloth or bag, carefully cover up the two sorts,
put the comb, also well covered, mto a vessel by itself, and
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 105
remove all the cloths, vessels, and other utensils, to the
apiary^ that the hees may lick them clean.
Your next object is to obtain the wax ; for this purpose,
put the combs into a clean vessel, and add as much soft
water as they will float in — distilled water would be best —
but rai?i will answer nearly as well. Place the vessel on
a clear and not too hot fire, and watch it, stirring occasion-
ally, until the combs be completely liquefied. You then
strain this through a fine canvas bag, into a tub of cold
water. The water first flows through, and then the bag
requires p?'esswe to make it yield the wax. The simplest
2)ress is that recommended in Mr. Nutt's book : — " Have
ready, then, a piece of smooth board, of such a length
that, when one end of it is placed in the tub of cold water,
the other end may be conveniently rested against, and
securely stayed, by your breast. Upon this inclined plane
lay your dripping, reeking strainer, and keep it from
slipping into the cold water by bringing its upper part
over the top of the board, so as to be held firmly between
it and your breast. If the strainer be made with a broad
hem round its top, a piece of strong tape or cord passed
through such hem will draw it close, and should be long
enough to form a stirrup for the foot, by which an addi-
tional power will be gained of keeping the scalding hot
strainer in its proper place on the board ; then, by com-
pressing the bag, or rather its contents, with any convenient
roller, the wax will ooze through and run down the board
into the cold water, on the surface of which it will set in
thin flakes. When this part of the operation is finished,
collect the wax, put it into a clean saucepan, in which is
a little water, to keep the wax from being burned to the
bottom ; melt it carefully, for should it be neglected, and
sufl'ered to boil over, serious mischief might ensue, liquid
wax being of a very inflammable nature ; therefore, melt
it carefully over a slow fire, and skim ofi* the dross as it
106 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
rises to the top ; then pour it into such moulds or shapes
as your fancy may direct, having first well rinsed them, in
order that you may be able to get the wax, when cold and
solid, out of them, without breaking either the moulds or
the wax ; place them, covered over with cloths or with
pieces of board, where the wax will cool slowly ; because
the more sloivly it cools the tnore solid it will he, and free
from flaws and cracks."
" You may bleach your wax by re-melting it, and running
it several times into very thin cakes, suffered to cool, and
exposed to the influence of the air and sun. This will
render the wax perfectly white.
You will find the separation of the honey from the wax,
and the sale of these substances separately, much more
profitable than the sale of the honey in the comb. The
larger the cakes of wax are, and the purer, the higher
price it brings. The same may be said as to the purity
of the honey. Honey may be clarified by placing the
vessel containing it in hot water, and continuing to skim
as long as any scum arises. In order to preserve honey
it should be stored in jars, well bladdered, and otherwise
secured. It should also be kept in a dry place.
Mead. — Some persons may feel desirous of making for
themselves this once famous drink, and I shall accordingly
furnish them with simple directions for so doing. Com-
mon mead is formed by mixing two parts of water
wdth one of honey, boiling them together, and taking off
the scum.
Fermented mead is formed of three parts of water to one
of honey, boiled as before, skimmed, and casked. The cask
is to be left unbunged and exposed to the sun, or in a warm
room, until it ceases to work. It is then bunged, and in
about three months is fit for use. The addition of a fer-
ment is of course necessary, taking care that it be sounds
sweet, and good.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE. 107
Hops are an improvement to mead, taking from its
extreme sweetness ; and so is the addition of chopped
raisons boiled with it, at the rate of six pounds of honey-
to each half pound of raisins ; also some lemon peel ; a few
glasses of brandy, &c.
Metheglin is only another name for mead, altered by
the addition of various ingredients, according to the taste
of its preparers. These liquors may be r ached ^ fined ^ &c.,
like other wines, and will, if properly managed, keep for
years.
Honey is used in medicine, not merely with a view
to the obtaining of its own virtues, but as an agreeable
vehicle through which to administer other articles of the
pharmacopeia. It is supposed to be useful in asthma, and
general difficulty of breathing. It is known to be decidedly
so in irritation of the urinary organs, obstructions of their
passages, as also in gravel.
When combined with vinegar it forms a compound called
oxymel ; and the relief afforded by oxymel of squills, in
some cases, is well known. With borax it forms a valuable
remedy for the thrush {aphtha) of children ; and I need
scarcely advert to the use of honeij of roses, as a disguise
for medicines, the nauseating taste of which would other-
wise cause their immediate rejection from the stomach.
It now only remains for me to conclude my account of
the hive and the honey-bee with a few parting directions,
forming a sort of summary of the instructions I have
already endeavoured to convey : —
I. — Never suffocate your bees.
II. — Do not take too much honey from them at the
honey harvest.
III. — Keep them in such receptacles as will admit of
extending their accommodation when desirable, and thus
preventing the necessity of unwished-for swarming.
IV. — Unite weak hives in autumn, and leave the bees a
108 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE.
sufficiency of food for the winter, so shall they be strong
in store and in numbers in the spring.
V. — During winter keep them confined^ cool^ dry, and
quiet ; and in spring again examine and feed liberally such
stocks as require it ; and
VI. — If you, by attending to the advice I have endea-
voured, through the medium of this little volume, to convey
to you, succeed in bee-culture, and discover how profitable
as well as how interesting a pursuit it is, when judiciously
conducted, communicate your experience to your neighbours.
Abjure selfishness, and so may you prosper ; and in after
years you will, perhaps, congratulate yourself on having be-
stowed your attention on the Hive and the Honey-bee.
THE END.
Dublin: Printed by EnWAiiD Bull, 6, Bachelor's-walk.
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