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Title: Bee Keeping for Profit. A New System of Bee Management (1880): First Edition.
Author: Cotton, Lizzie E.
Language: English
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SYSTEM OF BEE MANAGEMENT (1880) ***
Transcriber Note
Text emphasis denoted as _Italics_ and =Bold.=.
[Illustration: Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton]
BEE KEEPING FOR PROFIT
A NEW SYSTEM
OF
Bee Management,
FIRST EDITION.
BY
Mrs. Lizzie E. Cotton,
WEST GORHAM, MAINE.
=ILLUSTRATED.=
1880.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by
MRS. LIZZIE. E. COTTON,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
CONTENTS.
Chapter. Page
I.--Honey Bees 13
II.--The Controllable Hive and New System of Bee Management 22
III.--Patent and non-Patent Hives 29
IV.--Feeding 32
V.--Boxes for Surplus Honey 40
VI.--Swarming and Hiving 45
VII.--Anger of Bees 55
VIII.--Bee Moth 59
IX.--Robbing 62
X.--Profits of Bee Keeping 66
XI.--Changing Old Queens for Young Ones 74
XII.--Rearing and Introducing Queens 77
XIII.--Sources of Honey 84
XIV.--Location of Hives 89
XV.--Wintering Bees 92
XVI.--Transferring Bees 98
XVII.--Italian Bees 103
XVIII.--Construction of Controllable Hives 107
XIX.--Monthly Duties 113
XX.--Conclusion 120
PREFACE.
In presenting this work I have no apology to make. After an experience
with bees dating almost from childhood, and a careful study of all
works published on the subject of bees, and the journals devoted to
that particular branch of rural affairs, I find _theory, guess-work,
prejudice and selfish motives_ are so prevalent, as to confuse and
discourage the _beginner_, and finally, all who are seeking after
information by which they may make bee keeping a source of profit, and
who wish to adopt a correct and scientific system of bee management.
In my early efforts at bee keeping, I met with many failures and heavy
losses, from being confused by the contradictory teachings of selfish
or ignorant bee keepers, and from a lack of that personal knowledge
which experience, and a close study of the nature and habits of bees
has now placed in my possession. After many unsuccessful experiments,
and careful investigation, and a close study of the natural habits and
instincts of bees, I have succeeded in inventing a hive and new system
of bee management which completely changes the whole process of bee
keeping, and renders the business _safe_, _pleasant_ and _profitable_.
_The hive and system of bee management recommended in these pages is
entirely original with me, and is not patented._ I invented the hive
and plan of management for my own use, as I am engaged in raising
honey for market, and wish every swarm of bees I keep to produce the
greatest possible amount of surplus honey, and in the most convenient
and attractive marketable form. I am induced to place this work before
the public at the earnest and oft repeated requests of friends and
correspondents. The work has been hurriedly written, as I had but
little spare time to devote to this matter, consequently sentences are
not all, perhaps, grammatically arranged. I have made the beautiful of
secondary importance to the useful. I have endeavored, however, to make
my statements so clear as to be readily understood and comprehended by
every person of intelligence, although he may be wholly unacquainted
with bee keeping.
Every person, who has a farm or garden, should keep bees, at least one
or more swarms, to furnish honey for the use of the family. There is no
greater luxury than nice honey in clean snow-white comb in nice glass
boxes, such as is produced by my new system of bee management. This
best of all sweets is now within reach of every one who has a plot of
ground large enough to set a hive of bees upon.
After bees are once located in my hives but very little expense is
required to keep them in proper condition, so that they will give a
good quantity of nice box honey every year.
Under the old methods of bee keeping, bees required a great deal of
care and attention, especially during the summer season. And then the
winters were very destructive to them, many often losing their entire
stock; or if they were not a total loss, they were so damaged by the
winter as to be of no profit, and two severe winters in succession were
quite sure to finish them.
This was very discouraging, and many have abandoned bee keeping,
entirely discouraged.
On my plan a complete revolution is effected in bee management, as will
be shown in this work.
There is in my opinion no pursuit which offers greater inducements
than bee keeping, especially to women. There are _very many_ who are
confined indoors nearly the whole time, excluded from the air and
sunshine, to the great injury of their health; and after this great
sacrifice they barely succeed in obtaining a livelihood. To such,
bee keeping offers great inducements, such as improved health, and
a handsome recompense for all labor performed. I am acquainted with
many who have commenced bee keeping on my plan, who are meeting with
complete success. A lady bought a swarm of Italian bees of me in 1874,
and she writes me that from that _one_ she increased her stock to over
twenty swarms the third season; besides she got over one hundred pounds
of _nice_ honey from the swarm I sent her the _first season_. Here I
wish to be clearly understood; I do not wish to hold out inducements
which will never be realized, for the purpose of causing any one to
commence bee-keeping; yet I believe bee keeping on correct principles
should be encouraged, until bees enough are kept to collect all the
honey now allowed to go to waste, and which if collected by bees and
stored in nice glass boxes, would add millions of dollars to the wealth
of the country.
Since the day I introduced my Controllable Hive and new system of
bee management to the notice of the public, the worthless bee hive
swindlers and their tools have been boiling over with wrath against me,
lying and slandering me through the public journals, and especially
through the Bee Journals, and all because, that I, a woman, had
succeeded in inventing a bee hive and new system of bee management
superior to anything yet produced, and which was fast coming into use
on its merits among bee keepers; consequently the sale of other hives
was _decreasing_ in the same proportion. I first perfected the hive
and system of management for my own use, with no thought of making it
public, but through the kindness of my personal friends, and others
who have visited me to enquire into the new system, it has become known
from Maine to Oregon, and adopted by many of the most intelligent bee
keepers in the United States. And in compliance with that command in
the good book which reads--"_Let your light shine_," I am determined to
spread the truth, regardless of all opposition from the ignorant and
selfish crowd which is constantly attacking me.
Without egotism I claim a thorough knowledge of the habits and
instincts of bees. Consequently I claim a thorough knowledge of the
requisites of a hive, and all fixtures pertaining to it, as well as a
knowledge required to make bee keeping successful and profitable; and
all this has been acquired in the school of _experience_ and _practice_.
Kind reader, I respectfully submit the following pages, and ask for
them a candid and unprejudiced consideration. Read _carefully_ and
_understandingly_, and apply to bee keeping, and I feel certain you
will realize many times the cost of this book in the increased profits
of your bees, managed as here directed.
The statements herein set forth are the result of many years _practical
experience with bees_ with a view of making the raising of honey for
market profitable, and the general management of bees successful.
MRS. LIZZIE E. COTTON.
West Gorham, Maine, Aug. 5th, 1880.
CHAPTER I.
HONEY BEES.
[Illustration: QUEEN BEE.]
A SWARM of bees contains _one_ Queen, thousands of workers and in the
summer season a limited number of drones. The queen is the only fully
developed female in the swarm. She never leaves the hive except on two
occasions--when leading a swarm, and when but a few days old, to meet
the drone, or male bee, in the air, for the purpose of fecundation. It
appears from close observation that only one impregnation is operative
during life, as old queens have never been known to leave the hive for
that purpose.
The natural life of the queen averages from four to six years.
Queens sometimes become entirely barren before death; at other times
the eggs of old queens are found to produce only drones. No matter
whether deposited in drone cells, or worker cells, the progeny will
be drones invariably. When drones are reared in worker cells they
will be very much dwarfed in size, notwithstanding the worker bees'
attempt to overcome the difficulty, by lengthening the worker cells, to
accommodate the monstrosities.
The queen has a sting, yet she may be handled with impunity, for she
will not use it except when in deadly combat with a rival queen. She
receives the most marked attention from all members of her family;
deprive a swarm of their queen, and they will, as soon as the loss is
known, manifest the greatest agitation and alarm, and if the swarm is
one just hived, and only a few hours from the parent stock, they will
all return at once to the old home. They appear to fully realize the
vast importance of a mother, and that with no means to supply her place
they must soon perish; and to avoid their impending fate they return
to the old hive. With old stocks deprived of their queen the result is
different, as will be shown further on. Every one who keeps bees should
strive to become familiar with the appearance of the queen, that they
may be able to recognize her at a glance among thousands of workers,
as it will often be necessary to look her up in my new system of bee
management. In looking for the queen in full hives, she is usually
found on the brood combs, unless in opening the hive she may have been
frightened, and taken refuge in some hiding place, as the corner of the
hive, at the bottom ends of the comb-frames, or some similar hiding
place. After we become familiar with her appearance and movements we
are able to find her quite readily, even when the hive is crowded with
bees.
[Illustration: WORKER BEE.]
The worker bee is much smaller than the queen. On the worker devolves
all the labor of the swarm. They collect honey, pollen or bee bread,
and propolis, or bee glue. The workers produce wax from honey, and from
the wax they build comb, in which to store the honey and bee bread
they collect, for their own use in time of need. Wax is produced from
honey, as butter is produced from milk. Bees do not collect wax, but
they collect honey, which by a natural process in the stomach of the
bee is changed, and exudes from between the rings of the abdomen in
minute scales of wax, which is detached by the bee and moulded into
comb. The worker bee possesses a sting, and is ever ready to make
use of it in defending home and treasure. This is a wise provision
of nature, for were it otherwise, the other insect and animal tribes
would appropriate the treasures of the bee--honey, wax, &c., and this
industrious little insect would soon become extinct.
The worker bee possesses an instinct but little inferior to reason in
the human family. A few examples will show their wonderful instinct:
Twenty hives of bees, placed in a row, but a few inches distant one
from the other, all of like size, shape and color; the bees to our
perception _exactly_ alike, no difference in size, shape, color or
action;--yet every bee of this vast number (which at some seasons of
the year would amount to more than six hundred thousand bees) in these
twenty hives knows its own hive, and if let alone will not enter any
other, except it be for the purpose of securing the honey therein for
its own use, or in other words to plunder and rob its neighbor. There
is no intercourse between swarms--each is a separate colony governed
by a queen. If through mistake the subjects of one enter the domain
of another, a war of extermination is commenced at once. To test
this point, I changed two hives so that they were reversed, the one
occupying the place of the other. This was done while the bees were out
collecting honey in a warm day. The first bees that entered the hive
were instantly killed, and this was kept up until the hives were set in
their proper places. The ground in front of the hives was covered with
hundreds of dead bees. A bee is killed almost _instantly_ by the sting
of another.
The young bee on its first excursion from the hive does not leave its
home without precaution. With a view to a safe return, it turns its
head towards its home, rises slowly on the wing, at first describing a
circle of only a few inches in diameter, as it recedes slowly backward,
seeming to so mark every object surrounding the hive as to enable it to
return and enter, without the slightest danger of entering any other
hive. Bees in Spring, in their first flight, mark their location in
this manner. After the location has been thus marked, the bees leave
the hive in a direct line, and return by their way-marks, with perfect
accuracy and regularity.
[Illustration: DRONE BEE.]
The drone bee is a clumsy fellow. The drones are the male bees. Where
a dozen or more hives are kept, there is no necessity for more drones
than one swarm would naturally rear, yet each one of the twelve swarms
carries out its natural proclivities, and rears a large number of these
useless consumers, not one in a thousand of which is ever of any use.
Swarms should not be permitted to rear a large number of these non
producers. A few are indispensable, yet we should take this matter into
our own hands. Not one drone in five thousand ever fulfils the purpose
for which it was created. Fifty drone cells is enough for one hive, and
when more than this number is constructed (sometimes they will number a
thousand or more in a hive) cut out all but a very few, and fit in a
piece of worker comb in their place--it is more profit to raise workers
than drones. Drones leave the hive, to sport in the sunshine in large
numbers, every fine afternoon in June and July. When on the wing they
make a very loud, coarse buzzing. They have no sting and may be handled
without the least fear.
When the honey season is over, the worker bees drive out the drones,
and a prosperous swarm will not tolerate a drone in the hive through
the winter.
In September I have seen a quart or more of drones clustered together
near the entrance of the hive, from whence they had been driven by the
bees. The workers on guard about the entrance of the hive, would not
let one pass into the hive, though they were constantly making the
attempt. As soon as one would approach the entrance to the hive to
pass in, a half dozen or more workers would seize him, and drag him
struggling to the edge of the platform and pitch him off, at apparent
great danger to his portly and clumsy body.
I wish to impress strongly on the minds of all who adopt my plan of bee
management, the great importance of cutting out all the drone cells,
except a very few in every hive. Don't leave _more than_ fifty, half
that number will do. After you have once cut out the surplus drone comb
and fitted in worker comb, there is no further trouble with an excess
of drones from that hive. It takes a great deal of honey to rear a
large brood of drones, and still more to support them in idleness two
or three months.
[Illustration: HONEY CELL--WORKER CELLS--QUEEN CELLS]
This engraving represents a section of comb in a miniature comb frame,
containing all the different cells found in a hive. At the top are
cells for storing honey. At the extreme right, near the bottom, is a
queen cell complete, as it appears in queen raising, or in one week
after a swarm has been deprived of its queen, in a full stock, or as
it is found in stocks that swarm naturally, at the time the _first_
swarm issues. Though often found in different places on the comb, and
often to the number of a half dozen or more in one stock or hive, yet
its relative position is _always the same_. It will always present the
same appearance, whether at the edges or on other parts of the comb.
Near the queen cell is seen the worker cells, _containing brood_ in all
stages of growth, from the tiny egg just deposited by the queen, to the
full-grown grub, or young bee. Near the worker cells, at the bottom,
are the empty drone cells.
Breeding.
The natural increase of the honey bee is very imperfectly understood
by the great majority of bee keepers. Very many suppose that young
bees are raised only in the warm summer months, and their ideas of the
_modus operandi_ of increase are exceedingly vague. I find that strung
stocks have maturing brood nearly every month in the year--have found
brood in stocks in December and January.
The queen lays all the fertile eggs in the swarm; consequently all
increase is dependent on her. I say the queen lays all the _fertile_
eggs, because occasionally under certain circumstances we find eggs
laid by workers, but under my observation such eggs never mature.
Egg-laying workers are known to be such, by eggs being found in stocks
that have been deprived of their queen, and the means of rearing
another. This is one of the wonders of nature, of which no satisfactory
solution has been given. The points established as to the sex of bees
are these: the queen is a fully developed female; the drones are fully
developed males; the worker,--_what is it?_ The worker is said by
some to be neuter. If this last is true, how are the eggs produced?
Others say the worker is a female with generative organs _not fully
developed!_ A pretty nice point--to credit them with the power to
produce eggs, without imparting vitality sufficient to germinate.
We will leave this knotty question, as it is of no consequence in the
practical management of bees for profit. Suffice it then to say, the
queen is the mother of the entire family, and without a queen no swarm
of bees can long
The time taken to perfect the three different kinds of bees, queen,
worker and drone, varies slightly. The queen will mature in about
sixteen days from the time the egg is deposited in the cell. The drone
and worker each in about twenty days. This time is subject to some
variation, governed by the weather, and number of bees in the hive,
which causes the temperature of the hive to be greater or less. A high
temperature will forward, while a low temperature will retard, the
maturing of the brood.
Swarms with healthy prolific queens increase rapidly through the spring
and summer. The queen at this season will deposit from one thousand to
fifteen hundred eggs per day. Some writers estimate higher. To secure
so large a number of eggs, and consequent increase of bees, we must
have healthy prolific queens to start with, and offer every available
facility to encourage the desired increase. How to do this successfully
is shown further on.
If we wish to secure a good harvest of honey, we must have the bees to
collect it, and we must have them at the proper time, viz: _when the
harvest is ready_. To do this we must encourage breeding to the utmost
in _early spring_.
Early in the spring the queen enlarges the circle containing the brood;
perhaps, if the stock was very strong, and everything favorable, she
laid a few eggs in one or two combs near the center of the cluster of
bees in January. Perhaps the cells occupied at that time were less
than a dozen, all compact together in a circle, occupying less space
than the size of a silver half dollar. As she progresses, this circle
is enlarged, and the cells on the opposite side of this comb is used;
then the next comb and so on, at the same time enlarging the circle,
keeping the brood _compactly together_, so that the bees, by clustering
around it, can keep up the required warmth to forward to maturity the
brood. As the young bees hatch, the queen proceeds with her duties of
laying eggs, until every brood cell is occupied, and as fast as a bee
matures and leaves its cell, she is on hand with an egg to occupy the
vacant place. This is kept up without cessation till swarming time,
when the hive becomes crowded with bees, then, as preparation for
swarming, the queen deposits eggs, from which the bees by a special
course of treatment, rear queens. When they are sealed over, as shown
in the plate, the old queen leaves the hive with the _first_ swarm to
seek a new home. In about ten days the young queens hatch and lead out
after-swarms--second, third, etc. When swarming is over, the strongest
queen destroys the others, and reigns over the old swarm till another
swarming season. This is the process in natural swarming; on my plan we
improve upon the process, as will be shown in the proper place.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER II.
THE CONTROLLABLE BEE HIVE AND
NEW SYSTEM OF BEE MANAGEMENT.
IT is now nearly ten years since I perfected the Controllable Bee Hive
and New System of Bee Management. I commenced bee keeping with the
common box hive, with no knowledge whatever, of the habits of bees. I
was not long in learning that I could not make bee keeping a success
with the box hive, and I also found that the _thousand and one_ patent
hives were no better, and the great majority of such hives, _inferior_
to the simple box hive. I found there was no practical method of
controlling the swarming propensities of bees. All such hives would
swarm or not, as seemed to suit the caprice of the bees, which I found
very perplexing. Stocks under the old plan of management, sometimes
show every indication of swarming, such 'as clustering out, etc., yet
they adhere pertinaciously to the old stock through the entire summer,
a peck or more of them clustering idly on the outside of the hive,
through the season; and if one put on boxes, it is all the same, they
will do nothing. And such swarms often starve early the next winter,
after passing the summer in idleness. Other stocks with apparently not
so many bees will swarm several times; often swarm so much as to reduce
the number of bees so low that the bee moth will effect its destruction
during the summer; there not being bees enough to protect the combs
from the attacks of this destructive little insect. This swarming
problem I found very difficult to solve. There were so many conflicting
theories, I found I could gain no positive, reliable information from
any source, to aid me, and that I must solve the problem by practical
experiment.
Experience is a good teacher, but often a very costly one. Some told
me if I wished to prevent swarming, I must cut out the queen cells,
which the bees constructed preparatory to swarming. This was simply
impossible, with the box hive, sol constructed a hive with movable
frames, so the bees, could build their combs in the frames, and each
comb of the hive could be lifted out separately. But when I attempted
to prevent swarming by cutting out the queen cells, I found if T was
to thwart nature in that way, I had, to say the least, a big job on my
hands. I could cut out the queen cells, but within twenty-four hours
after I had done this, the bees would have others constructed, and be
ready to swarm, and as I kept cutting, they would keep building. They
had the advantage of numbers and position, and when I opened the hive
_every day_ and destroyed such, to them, important work, they were not
long in declaring and proclaiming me to be an enemy to them, and they
would attack me whenever occasion offered. I soon found that if not
_impossible_ it was certainly _impracticable_ to prevent bees swarming
by cutting out the queen cells. It was a surprise to me that this plan
should be recommended by bee keepers claiming to be well skilled in bee
management. After proving this plan of no value, I was told if I would
contract the entrance to my hives so the queen could not pass, I could
thereby successfully prevent swarming, as the swarm would not leave
without the queen. This looked to me like a very _nice_ operation, to
say the least, in fact, _more nice than wise_. However, I determined to
test the plan. I accordingly contracted the entrance to my hives, and
lo! the _drones_ being larger than the queen _they could not pass!_
so they clustered about the entrance, and in their efforts to get out,
completely blocked up the passage, so the workers could not pass. Yet
this plan of contracting the entrance was claimed to be protected by
_letters patent of the U. S._ I found this plan for preventing swarming
of no value whatever. Very many other plans were tendered me and
tested with like results. I was all this time pushing my experiments,
and learning something from experience every day. I was determined to
arrange and construct a hive which would render bee keeping successful
and profitable, and I can say at the present time, my labors have been
rewarded with success.
I ought to go on and write out a description of all the old methods of
bee keeping, and all the patent bee hive humbugs, with the thousand
and one _non_-patent hives and fixtures, got up expressly to swindle
bee keepers out of their hard earnings, by a class of rascals, many of
whom never owned a swarm of bees, and who care not one cent whether
bee keeping is a success or otherwise, if they can pocket a round
sum by their fraud. Were I to write out minutely these points, this
work would become too voluminous and extended; besides it would be of
no _practical_ value to the bee keeper, who wishes to keep bees for
profit. I will not, therefore, give such minute descriptions of all the
old systems, hives, etc., but will confine myself more closely to such
practical information as will be of value to the bee keeper.
Swarming Controlled.
_How to control swarming_ is truly an important question. I believe
that the successful controlling of swarming is the key to success and
profit in bee keeping. Now how shall we do it? I will tell you. But
first a few preliminary words. If swarms are desired, we arrange in
early spring to have them issue in the swarming season, and at such a
time as will best suit our convenience. When no swarms are wanted, we
turn the whole force of bees to storing surplus honey in small glass
boxes, throughout the entire season, and have no swarms, yet have the
same increase of bees that would be gained if they swarmed. Then all
the bees work at storing honey in boxes, instead of swarming out; and
to any one who has not tested the matter it is surprising to see the
amount of honey which a swarm of bees will store when not allowed to
swarm, and _fed judiciously_, ample box room being provided of _easy
access_, so that all the bees have room to work, and by this plan we
are not constantly watching and waiting for swarms with uncertainty
throughout the entire summer, for we know with certainty when and where
to look for swarms. In my plan, the swarming properties of bees are
effectively controlled, without frequently disturbing or overhauling
them, but by observing rules strictly in accordance with the habits and
instincts of bees.[1]
[Footnote 1: Here let me be clearly understood. I admit that bees will
sometimes swarm, with abundant room for work in their boxes. Yet I
claim that on my plan all increase by swarming may be prevented without
great trouble or perplexity, such as has heretofore attended all
attempts to bring about this greatly to be desired object. If a person
commences bee keeping, with a certain number of swarms in controllable
hives, and in early spring gives the bees access to the hive boxes,
and later, after they commence work in them, gives the bees access to
the top boxes, giving them otherwise ordinary care, (except to feed if
desired,) but a small proportion will swarm on the average yearly. Much
the larger portion will work in the boxes without swarming out, and
give a handsome yield of surplus box honey, the yield of course being
governed by the amount of feed given them, and the yield from flowers,
etc. But if increase of stocks is preferred, rather than surplus box
honey--if the bees are not given access to the boxes, but confined in
their labors to the brood section of the hive, being fed as directed,
nearly every one will swarm, and swarm early.]
If you wish your bees in controllable hives to swarm keep the partition
in place at the sides of the brood section, and the honey board over
the top; or in other words, keep the bees confined in their labors to
the central or brood section of the hive. Now, if you wish them to
swarm in any particular week of the swarming season, ten days before,
remove the old queen. (It is well to kill her, and to do so, take with
her about a pint of bees, and put them in a small miniature hive, six
or eight inches square, with movable frames, like those in the central
part of the controllable hive. Keep them shut in, twenty-four hours;
then give them their liberty, and they will work the same as a large
swarm through the summer; but will not winter. If such queens are known
to be _very old_ it is best to destroy them when we take them from
the swarm. _Keep only young, vigorous queens._) The bees in the hive,
from which you have taken the queen, will in nearly every instance,
construct queen cells _immediately_ to replace the loss of their queen.
At the earliest possible moment, they seem to sense fully their loss,
and to know that if they do not get another queen at once, their loss
is irreparable. They usually will construct a number of cells, perhaps
a half dozen or more. These will hatch in about ten days, and then
swarms will issue.[2]
[Footnote 2: Should any stock fail to swarm within two weeks from the
time the queen is removed, at the end of that time, examine such stock,
and if they have no queen they must be furnished with one. About one
stock in twenty, deprived of its queen as directed, will fail to rear
queens.]
If you wish to devote but little time to your bees, and are not
particular as to the time of swarming, and wish to have but _very few
swarms, or perhaps none at all_, early in the spring, as soon as bees
commence their work, put on the boxes (sides and top,) and give the
bees access to them; side boxes first, top boxes later. By this course,
but a very small proportion of your stocks will swarm, (if this plan is
to be practiced each year, it will be necessary to replace the _old_
queens with _young_ ones every three or four years. If this is not
done, queens will die, or become barren from old age, and consequently
loss of stocks follows. Keep this point in your mind: _young healthy,
prolific queens, are essential to success_,) as they will have ample
room in the boxes for their labor. Occasionally a hive treated in
this way will swarm, and, if you wish to have no increase of stocks
whatever, if a swarm comes out, hive it in a light box, and _as soon as
this is done_, go to the hive which they came from and smoke lightly;
if the bees are cross, lift out the comb frames from the brood section
with the bees adhering; examine each and every comb _carefully_ for
queen cells, _and cut off all but one_. Success here depends on _care
and thoroughness_, for if you leave more than one cell, your bees may
swarm out again in a day or two.
After this is done, spread a sheet on the ground; set a light box,
like the one in which you have the bees, near one side; raise the edge
towards where you will shake the bees one inch or a little more, to
give the bees a chance to enter the box. Shake the bees from the hive,
by a quick, jerking motion, upon the sheet, the most of them some two
or three feet from the box. With a large spoon or ladle, put a few up
near the box, so they will enter, and disturb the others gently with a
quill or light brush. When they commence to enter the box, they will
set up a loud and continual humming, or call, and the bees on the
sheet, if lightly disturbed with the quill or brush, will spread out,
and march towards the hive, while those on the wing will alight, and
join them in the march. Now look _closely_ for the queen, and capture
her. If she is not found before the bees get into the box, shake them
out again, and go through the same process, till you find her. As soon
as you have secured the queen, the bees, in a few minutes, finding
themselves destitute of a queen, and not having the means of raising
another to take her place, will rise on the wing, and return to the
old stock from which they came, and will not come out again, but will
work in the boxes throughout the season. I will treat of this subject
of swarming no further in this chapter. The merits of the Controllable
Hive and New System of Bee Management, will be fully shown further on
in this work, and the most explicit instructions given for rearing bees
with profit.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER III.
PATENT AND NON-PATENT HIVES,
BEE JOURNALS, ETC.
I HAVE learned from bitter experience, as has nearly every one, who has
kept bees for any length of time, the dishonesty, and utter disregard
for truth, of a class of speculators who prey upon the unsuspecting
bee-keeper. Patent hives--the great majority of them--are a curse and
a hindrance to successful and profitable bee keeping. I have no time
to describe the multitude of worthless patent hives, and the many
tricks and swindles of the venders of the same, but I advise every bee
keeper to consult his own interests, and have nothing to do with them.
Ninety-nine out of every hundred are a swindle. I have tested their
merits and know whereof I affirm.
The More-patent hives against which I wish to caution the bee-keeper,
and particularly the beginner, are those offered by A. J. Root,
publisher of "Gleanings in Bee Culture." Root makes the "Gleanings" the
medium for advertising and palming off upon the public his wares. Don't
invest in his trash if you wish to keep bees with profit. I am sorry
to find that many of the bee journals and bee-keepers' associations,
are conducted on prejudiced and selfish motives, and in the interest
of some individual, or company of men, for the sole purpose of making
money from the sale of some particular hive or fixture, without regard
to merit, or value to the practical bee-keeper. All honest discussion,
with a view to bring out facts and figures to guide the inexperienced
bee-keeper in his labors, I am sorry to say, is suppressed. The
bee journals should be the disseminators of _useful_ knowledge
among bee-keepers. I am sorry to find the reverse true with many of
them. After a thorough investigation, I feel it my duty to advise
bee-keepers, and those contemplating bee-keeping, _not to take all for
granted that they read in the bee journals_, for if you do, you will be
very likely to soon find yourself robbed of your money, and your bees
ruined.
Very many who write for the bee journals with high sounding words,
claiming to be adepts in bee culture, have really no _practical_
knowledge of the nature and habits of bees. We have supported a host
of speculators in our business, for a long time; the object of this
class has ever been, how best to secure our hard earnings, and with
no desire or effort to aid in rendering bee keeping more profitable
and desirable. The country is full of this class, and they always
combine to crush out real merit in anything pertaining to bee culture,
brought before the public by individual bee-keepers, who are laboring
to advance the cause by giving their experiences, gained from hard
every-day labor among bees.
For many years I have written articles on bee culture, for the leading
agricultural journals and newspaper. I have thus given much of my
experience in detail, with no thought of further reward than the
satisfaction of having contributed to aid bee-keepers in raising bees
with greater profit, believing if all would so contribute of their
practical experience with bees, great mutual benefit might be gained,
and rapid progress made in successful and profitable bee culture. In
consequence of my course in spreading information with a view to aid
the cause, the class referred to in this chapter, and their tools, are
boiling over with wrath towards me, lying and slandering me through
the public press, and by every other means which their depraved natures
can invent. All because I have succeeded by hard study in perfecting
a hive and new system of bee management, which is fast coming into
general use among bee keepers; consequently the sale of their worthless
trash is decreasing rapidly. But I am anxious to get through with
this part of my work, and reach the practical part, where I have the
greatest confidence in my ability to give such information as will
render bee keeping profitable and desirable.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER IV.
FEEDING.
FEEDING bees, when judiciously managed, is the stepping stone to large
profits from them.
Bee-keepers who have heretofore attempted to feed bees have met with
poor success.
A bee-keeper of my acquaintance paid fifty dollars for a patent
apparatus for feeding bees together in the open air. The result was,
soon after being fed, they commenced fighting among themselves. The
weaker stocks first fell prey to the stronger, then the stronger in
turn were attacked, and the final result was, nearly every stock was
ruined, and the plan abandoned in disgust after the first season's
trial.
Now it is plain to every intelligent person, that in order to receive
the greatest possible profit from bees, they must be fed. There can be
no question as to the great benefit to be derived from feeding bees.
The only question is, how, when and what to feed. It is as much a
necessity to feed bees, as to feed our domestic animals, cows, sheep,
&c., or to apply manure to plants, or any crop the farmer cultivates,
to stimulate growth and increase the product, and consequent profit
of the same. We should look upon that farmer as either a fool or a
lunatic, who should furnish his domestic animals no food, except what
they obtained by grazing in the pastures and fields, the year round.
And do you think his cows treated thus, would yield him a large
product of butter, cheese and milk, and consequently a good profit in
dollars and cents? Do you think he would find his cows, managed thus,
so profitable as to induce him to keep cows to any great extent? Let
a farmer manage thus--take his cows to the barn, milk them, then turn
them out the year round to graze and provide for themselves, taking
them up only to milk them, furnishing them with no food except what
they procure by grazing--how long, think you, would such a farmer have
cows to milk? Yet this is a parallel case with the bee-keeper who
furnishes his bees with no feed except what they can procure by their
own industry. And is it surprising that bees treated thus pay no profit?
Again, the farmer who should year after year plant his corn, potatoes,
etc., apply no manure, furnish no cultivation, yet expect to succeed in
farming, harvest large crops, and get a good yearly profit in dollars
and cents, and grumble because he did not, and at last abandon the
business, asserting that there was no profit in farming, furnishes
another parallel case to the bee-keeper who lets his bees shift for
themselves, and then grumbles because they pay no profit, and at last
abandons the business, asserting that there is no money in bee-keeping.
It being self evident that it is profitable to feed bees, it now
remains to show how to do it with the greatest possible profit.
Receipt for Feed.
To eight pounds of coffee crushed sugar, add two quarts of soft water,
and whites of two eggs; bring to the boiling point over a _slow_ fire,
being very careful not to burn it. Skim off carefully all skum or
sediment that rises, so that the feed, when cool, will be perfectly
clear and about the consistency of new honey.
[Illustration: FEEDER.]
To construct the feeder,[3] get a tin-worker to make you a tin dish,
with perpendicular sides, nine inches square inside, three inches deep,
_without a bottom_. Around the lower edge turn the tin out about one
half inch all round, for the dish to rest on when placed on the hive
for feeding the bees. Around the top of this dish put a stout wire
to keep it in shape Get another tin dish made 8 by 8½ inches square
inside, two and one-half inches deep, with a bottom. Place the smaller
dish inside the larger one, the bottom of the inner dish _even and
level with the lower edge of the outer dish_, which brings the top of
the under dish one-half inch lower than the upper edge of the outer
dish; then when the outer dish is covered, (as it will be in feeding,)
there will be a halt inch space between the cover over the outer dish,
and the top of the inner dish.
[Footnote 3: With the aid of the engraving, there can be no mistake in
constructing the feeder, particularly as its position on the hive is
shown under head of Construction of Controllable Hive, Chapter XVIII.]
Place one of the shorter sides of the inner dish against the inside
of the outer dish, in such a position that there will be a half inch
space all round between the outer and inner dish, except at the side
where you fasten them together; across this one side join them firmly
together with solder; at the bottom near the opposite end solder brass
or tin about one inch wide, across the half-inch space from the bottom
of the inner dish to the edge of the outer dish, to hold the dishes
firmly in place. Near the upper edge of the outer dish solder an some
strips of lead about one inch long, by one-half inch wide, to turn
down over the corner when put on, to hold it in place. Now get out two
pieces of half-inch board, eight inches long, and two and one-half
inches wide; with a thick saw, cut channels crosswise of the pieces,
three-eighths of an inch apart and one-fourth inch deep, the whole
length of the pieces, being careful to run your saw _square across the
piece every time_. Next get out pieces to correspond with the number of
channels, eight inches long, two and one-half inches wide, one-eighth
inch thick, (sawed out so the sides will be rough, to enable the bees
the better to hold fast to them, when taking feed). These pieces are to
stand edgewise in the inner dish. With a sharp knife bring the ends of
the pieces to a thin edge, so they will easily slip into the channels
in the half inch pieces. Put the pieces with the channels, one across
each end of the inner dish, the channels of each facing the inside of
the dish, then slip the ends of your pieces that are one-eighth thick
down through the channels, to the bottom of the inner dish. Before you
put them down into the dish, cut out a small notch, in what will be
the lower end of each piece after it is put down into the dish, so the
food when poured in will flow to all parts of the feeder. The pieces or
slats when all put edgewise in the dish will reach to the bottom and be
on a level with the edges of the _inner dish_.
Now for the cover: get out a piece of board a half-inch thick, nine and
one-fourth inches long, four inches wide. In the centre of this piece,
with a sharp bit, make a one-inch hole; cover the hole with fine wire
cloth, bent a little convex. Put this piece of board over the outer
dish, with wire cloth next to the inside of the dish, (put it across
that end where the dishes are soldered together,) hold it in place by
turning up over it the pieces of lead soldered on near the upper edge
of the outer dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with glass, held in
place in the same manner, by the leads.
Your Feeder is now finished. Set it over the brood section on the top,
at the rear, the wood cover next to the back of the hive, the glass
toward the front. Cover that portion of the brood section of the hive,
not covered with the feeder, with a honey board, so no bees can get up
into the cap of the hive.
Now to feed, pour the feed in at the inch hole, in the cover. The
bees pass from the hive up between the sides of the outer and inner
dishes, in the half-inch space, over the sides of the inner dish, in
the half-inch space between the cover of the outer dish and the edges
of the slats that are placed edgewise in the inner dish, and pass down
_between the slats_, after feed in the inner dish. The hole in the
cover should be kept closed with a cork, to confine the heat to the
hive, exclude insects, etc.
When first commencing to feed a stock, scatter some of the feed over
the tops of the frames in the brood section; also on the sides of the
dishes on each side of the half-inch space leading lo the feed, and on
top of the slats of the feeder, so the bees may find the way to the
feed. After they once learn the road, they will need no coaxing to
induce them to take the feed given them. The first warm days in early
spring, as soon as the bees can fly a few hours in the middle of the
day, mix corn meal with rye meal, equal parts, and set out, in pans or
other shoal dishes, near the hives. The bees will carry this to their
hives in considerable quantities. It it used as a substitute for pollen
or bee bread, and is very essential in forwarding the increase of bees
in early spring. The meal should be fed _very early_ in spring, for as
soon as the bees can collect pollen from the natural sources--trees,
shrubs, flowers, etc., they will not take this meal.
Feeding for Early Swarms.
If you wish early swarms, keep the bees confined in their labors to
the brood section of the hive, or in other words, do not give them
access to the boxes, and commence as early in the spring as the bees
begin to fly in the middle of the day, and feed each stock at evening
about one-half pound of the liquid feed. Continue this till your swarms
issue, then discontinue feeding.
Feeding for Surplus Honey.
If you wish surplus honey instead of swarms, put on your side boxes as
early in the spring as the bees commence brisk work on flowers,--as
a general rule, say a few days before fruit blossoms appear. Feed as
directed for swarms until about ten days before white clover blossoms,
then put on the top boxes, leaving room only for feeder. Then for ten
or twelve days feed them all they will take. Feed at evening. They
will at first, perhaps, take from five to ten pounds every night.
_Crowd them hard_, for the object is now to get every part of the brood
section (not occupied by eggs and brood) filled with honey; and if
possible, crowd the bees into the boxes to commence the work of comb
building, so that during the yield of honey from flowers, you can get
every ounce collected, stored in the boxes.
By _early and judicious feeding_, we have encouraged breeding so that
now our hives are filled, almost to overflowing, with bees, ready to
gather the harvest from the flowers as soon as they commence to yield
honey.
Discontinue feeding, while the yield of honey continues in full supply
from the flowers. At the close of the yield, if you have boxes half
filled or more, feed all they will take up for a few days, or until
your boxes are finished.
Feeding for Winter.
The last of September or first of October feed such stocks as are short
of stores, to winter them. Each stock should have twenty pounds of
honey in the brood section to winter safely. If they have less than
that, feed until they have that quantity, or take a frame of honey
from a stock that has some to spare, and exchange with the one that is
short, and so proceed until all have sufficient stores to winter safely.
In no case take out frames at the close of the season, and leave that
space without a frame, or with an _empty_ frame. At the commencement
of winter every hive must (to winter safely) have its full number
of frames _filled_ with comb, no matter if they are not filled with
_honey_ (if the hive has the required number of pounds,) but each frame
must be filled, or _nearly_ filled with comb, or there is great danger
of loss from sudden changes of temperature through the winter.
In feeding for box honey, it often requires more than one pound of feed
to secure a pound in boxes, for the bees consume some while storing
it, and they often find some place in the hive which, like the crowded
omnibus or street car, is not so full but that additions may be made.
The reader will bear in mind this simple fact: _Bees do not make honey,
they simply collect it._ Honey undergoes no chemical change in the
stomach of the bee.
Several years since my bees had access to several molasses hogsheads,
and the result was, I found _pure molasses_ stored in my hives, in the
same comb with nice white honey. I am satisfied that the bee does not
_make honey_, but _collects it_. My feed is prepared and recommended in
view of this fact, and in perfect accord with all points bearing upon
this subject.
The feed is of the same color as the nicest, white clover honey, and
when put in boxes by the bees with the honey collected from flowers, (I
have no doubt in many instances in alternate layers in the same cell
with honey from flowers,) it cannot be distinguished, either in color
or taste, from honey collected _wholly_ from flowers.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER V.
BOXES FOR SURPLUS HONEY.
IN the last chapter directions were given, when to put on boxes, but
it is important to know more about this matter, the kind of boxes to
use, how made, etc. I shall recommend a glass-box; that is, glass sides
with wood corner-posts, top, and bottom,[4] such as I use with the
Controllable Hive. The size and description of box is as follows, viz:
get out a piece of board six and three-sixteenths inches long, by four
and three-sixteenths inches wide; three-sixteenths inch thick for the
top of box; another, same size, for bottom. For the top boxes, that is,
the boxes that are to be placed over the brood section, with a sharp
bit make four one-inch holes in one of the pieces, for the passage of
the bees from the hive to the top boxes; next get out four pieces,
five inches long, five-eighths square, for corner-posts to the boxes.
Rebate two sides of each post about one-fourth inch square, to receive
the glass sides and ends, which are held in place by small tin points.
Get glass for the boxes 5 × 5½ inches square for the sides, and 3½ × 5
inches square for the ends. Nail the bottom and top to the ends of the
posts, having the corner of the post come out even with the corners of
top and bottom. A small (half-inch) finishing brad will hold the posts
in place. While nailing, hold the box perfectly square.
[Footnote 4: These boxes are shown in engravings under head of
Construction of Controllable Hive, Chapter XVIII, which, with the
description here given, cannot fail to be understood.]
For the side boxes, omit the holes in bottom, and leave out the glass
from one end, and in place of the glass put in a piece of wood five
inches long, two inches wide, three-eighths inch thick; place this
piece in the center at the end, leaving an open space next to each
corner post at that end for the passage of the bees from the hive to
the boxes.
These boxes are just wide enough for two combs running the longest
way of the box. Before putting in the glass, if you have any pieces
of white, clean comb, it will be a great advantage to stick two small
pieces of this comb in each box, where you wish the comb built. Place
the pieces in the top of the box two inches apart. Melt the edge of the
comb and apply in place where you want it, while hot; hold it in place
till it cools, and it will remain.
The bees will commence work much sooner in boxes with the comb than
they would without, even if the pieces of comb are not more than an
inch square.
These boxes, when well filled with honey, will each weigh about four
and one-half pounds. Honey in the boxes is very attractive, and is
sought for in the market by customers who have purchased in this form.
Honey put up in these nice glass boxes shows its superior quality at a
glance, and customers prefer to purchase in such boxes, with no tare
deducted for weight of box, to purchasing in the ordinary wood box with
the weight of the box deducted.
In taking these boxes from the hive, when filled with honey, in warm
weather, I recommend the following method: Take the boxes off early
in the morning, and carry them to some out-building, and put them in
a clean, tight box or barrel; place the boxes in such a manner that
the openings in the boxes will be free for the passage of the bees
from them. Spread over the box or barrel, a thin piece of cloth. The
bees will leave the boxes, and collect on the under side of the cloth,
which must be turned every few minutes, until all are out, except a few
drones and very young Lees; these can be taken out with a pencil. To
facilitate the removal of the bees from the boxes, if any are obstinate
about leaving, remove the glass in the sides of the boxes, _if the
cover is not fastened to it_. The greater part of the bees from these
boxes will return to their hives; excepting a very few young ones which
had never before been away from the hive; these will be lost. Thirty
boxes like the ones here recommended fit each controllable hive--ten on
each side, and ten on top over the brood section.[5]
[Footnote 5: When the box frames or partitions are taken out in the
honey season, the bees will often, if the stock is strong, spread out
over the bottom, so that in putting the frame in, a large number will
get crushed. To prevent this, get out two pieces of wood, each about
one and one-half inches wide, and one-fourth inch thick, one eighteen
inches long, the other twenty-two inches long; one edge of the long
piece bevel to a thin edge, about the shape of a carpenter's chisel.
Nail the long piece in the center to the end of the short piece at
right angles with it, with the beveled edge down, so the beveled edge
will be level with the end of the short piece; also bevel the lower end
of the short piece. When the bees are spread over the bottom of the
box section, with this instrument push them gently back to the brood
section. To do this, thrust the instrument down into the box section
with the beveled edge down; taking hold of the end of the short piece,
or handle, work the bees gently back to the brood section, and when
close up to the combs of the hive, let it remain to keep the bees from
spreading over the bottom till you get the box frame down in its place,
then remove it, and push the box frame up close to the brood section,
so the ends of the boxes will be as near the brood combs, as the inside
board of the partition was when the combs were built. If this is not
done, and a large space is left, the bees will either lengthen the
cells in the outer comb of the brood section, or build a new comb,
between the ends of the boxes, and the outer comb of the brood section.
In either case, we would find it very troublesome when we remove the
boxes, and wish to put in the partition for wintering. Be sure to put
the large box frame up close to the combs of the brood section, that
is, leave barely space enough for the bees to pass between the ends of
the boxes, and the outer comb of the brood section.]
When boxes are to be taken off, use tobacco smoke freely, to quiet the
anger of the bees. Puff smoke in at the entrance of the hive, before
you touch it, then start the _top_ boxes from their fastening, giving
the bees a puff or two of smoke at every crevice about the boxes at the
top and sides.
Cake of Honey in Boxes in Warm Weather.
Considerable care is necessary for the preservation of honey in boxes
removed from the hives in warm weather. As soon as the bees are all out
of the boxes, seal up all openings to the boxes, and set them away (in
the same position they occupied in the hive, so the honey will not leak
from the cells) in a _dry, dark, cool room_. We must now guard against
the moth.
As in warm weather the instincts of the fly is directed to the dead
carcase, so is the moth directed to honey-comb left without bees in
the summer season, and by a similar process is each destroyed. When
the bees have been off about ten days, or perhaps a little less if the
weather is very warm, examine closely for the first appearance of the
moth worms on the surface of the combs in the boxes. Their presence may
be known by small, thread-like webs or cocoons on the surface of the
comb, growing larger as the moth worm enlarges in growth. If no remedy
is applied, these worms will completely destroy the beauty of the honey
in the boxes in a very few days. Watch the boxes closely, and on the
_first_ appearance of the least sign of worms in the boxes, fumigate
with burning sulphur, thus: open the passages in the boxes; have ready
a tight, clean box; saturate some _very dry_ pine shavings with melted
sulphur. After placing your boxes of honey in the box, set a saucer or
plate in the box at the bottom, away from the honey boxes, so they will
not take fire. Do not use too many shavings; if you do, it will injure
the honey comb in the boxes, by giving it a green color, and imparting
to it a disagreeable taste; a half-dozen shavings each four inches long
is enough. Place them in the dish and ignite them, and cover closely,
so no fumes can escape; let them remain for a _few minutes_, (not more
than five, less is often sufficient; it depends something on the amount
of sulphur adhering to the shavings, as well as the size of box, number
of boxes to be fumigated, etc.) With a little practice you will manage
correctly and successfully. As soon as the boxes are fumigated, seal up
_every opening carefully_, and set away as before directed, in a _dry,
dark, cool room_. Watch the boxes for a few days, to be sure the worms
are all killed. If you find they are not, give them another dose of the
sulphur. After the worms are all killed, and every opening to the box
sealed up, wrap each box separately in paper, and they will be safe
through the summer.
How the eggs of the moth get into the boxes, has always puzzled
bee-keepers. It is hardly possible for the moth miller to pass through
a hive crowded with bees, to deposit her eggs in the crowded boxes. How
they get there must be guess-work--that they are there, is well known
to many bee keepers. I feel very confident that the eggs are deposited
there after the boxes are taken from the hive, and while we are getting
the bees out of the boxes.
CHAPTER VI.
SWARMING AND HIVING.
UNDER the old systems of bee keeping, swarming was very imperfectly
understood. And even at the present time it is amusing to see how many
old bee-keepers manage their bees. This is a class of old fogies, who
denounce all improvements and progress in bee keeping, and who, year
after year, move in the same tracks in the management of their bees,
asserting that they know all about bees that is worth knowing. It is,
to say the least, amusing, to see how this class of bee-keepers manage
when their bees swarm.
In the middle of some very warm day in June or July, the alarm "_bees
swarming_," is sounded. Immediately the whole household is turned
out, some beating tin pans, some sounding horns, some shaking cow
bells--anything and everything with which to make a terrible din is
caught up in the excitement, and every member of the household works
with the sole aim of making as much noise as possible. This is done to
_make the bees cluster!_ _If this is not done, they will leave for the
woods!_ I should think the poor bees would leave any way, to get rid of
the noise and the foolish whims of their owner. But no, they dislike
to leave the place of their nativity, so in ten minutes or less from
the time they leave the hive, they settle in a cluster on some object,
generally within a half-dozen rods of the hive. And they would have
done so in this case if no noise had been made. _The noise did not
affect them in the least._
Now the bees are to be hived, and we will see how it is done in the old
way.
The bees in this case have clustered on a limb of a valuable pear tree.
"Very sorry they have pitched there," says the man of perfect knowledge
in bee keeping; "I dislike to injure that tree, but there is no help
for it."
But first a hive must be prepared. It is not quite ready. (This is bad
management.) It must be washed out thoroughly on the inside with salt
and water, and rubbed over with some sweet scented herbs. A bottom
board must be got ready etc., etc. At last the hive is ready. Now this
wise bee keeper places a table near where the swarm clustered, sets
his hive on the table, raises one edge four or six inches, takes his
saw--Oh, it is a pity to cut that nice limb full of fruit from the
pear tree; but it must be done, thinks this man of perfection in bee
management.
He grasps the limb firmly near the cluster of bees. They are _very
cross, and uneasy_. They have been clustered an hour or more, while he
has been getting his hive ready. He saws off the limbs on which the
bees are hanging, and places it carefully, with the bees adhering, on
the table, by the side of the hive, covers all _very nicely_ with a
clean sheet, and leaves them alone to enter the hive. At _about sunset_
he will place the hive with the bees in it on the stand it is to occupy.
At the time designated (about sunset) he goes out to his hive on the
table. It has been a very hot afternoon, and the hive was where it
received the full force of the sun's rays. He carefully raises the
sheet. There is the limb on which the bees clustered, but where are
the bees, they are not on the limb? Why, in the hive, of course. That
is where he expected to find them. He peeps carefully under the hive
to see how they are getting along, but astonishment is depicted on his
countenance when he discovers that his hive is empty. His bees have
left for other parts beyond his knowledge. He tries to think of some
reason why the bees have gone, and seeks to lay the blame upon the
hive. "Oh!" he says "I guess they did not like the hive, but I guess I
shall have better luck next time."
To a progressive bee keeper, one who has correct and practical
knowledge of the natural habits of bees, it is very plain why they
left. They were actually driven away by mismanagement. The heat of the
sun pouring down upon them, was enough of itself to drive them off.
Then placing the limb, with the cluster adhering to it, on the table
near the hive, showed lack of knowledge of the natural habits of bees.
The hive might as well have been in the house, as placed where it was.
Then the hour or more taken to get the hive ready, gave the bees time
to send out their scouts, to look up a location of their own, and when
these scouts returned, they left with them for a new home. T contend
every swarm does this, viz: They swarm out of the old parent stock,
led by the old queen. They cluster on some object, as a tree, brush
or vine, near the old home. Then they immediately send out a few bees
or scouts to look up a new home. These scouts may be gone a longer or
shorter time. When they return, if they find the bees clustered where
they were when they left, they soon lead them off to the new quarters,
but if before the scouts are sent out, or before they return, the
swarm is hived and placed on the stand it is to occupy, then the swarm
will not leave, for the scouts know not where to find them, or if they
should find them, the bees would seldom leave a good clean hive, for
a home in the woods. These scouts may often be seen playing about the
place where a swarm has clustered, for several days after the swarm has
been hived.
Had this bee keeper placed his hire on the table, _as soon as the bees
were clustered_, and raised the front edge one inch, instead of four
or six inches, and then, instead of cutting off the limbs, if he had
taken a basket or pan, placed it beneath the cluster of bees, and by a
sudden jar of the limb dislodged them from it into the basket or pan,
then emptied them down in front of the hive, and sprinkled lightly with
a little water, at the same time disturbing them gently with a quill or
light brush so they would not collect around and block up the entrance,
except a very few that may be flying in the air (and these will return
to the old hive,) in this way getting them all into the hive, and
immediately carrying it to the stand it was to occupy, covering it with
a board to shade it from the hot rays of the sun, or placing it in the
shade of a tree, he would have saved his bees, the damage to his pear
tree, and much perplexity.
By the old methods of managing bees, there were no means of knowing
when to expect swarms; consequently the bees were sometimes watched
all summer, in expectation of swarms any pleasant day, as outside
indications were fa vol able for them; yet they would often adhere to
the old hive throughout the entire summer.
With the controllable hive and new system of bee management, as shown
in this work, swarming is brought completely under the control of the
bee keeper. It is well for him to understand _correctly_ what are the
requisites and preparations for natural swarming by the bees, when left
to themselves in a natural state. They are as follows: The bees must
be obtaining honey freely, either from flowers, or from feed supplied
them. The combs must be filled with brood in all stages of growth, from
the egg just deposited in the cell, to the perfect bee just emerging.
(And from this, bee keepers will note what conditions are required
at the time swarms are forced, as recommended in my plan.) When this
condition of affairs is reached, the bees construct queen cells, (that
is, if they deride to swarm; they will do as they like about it, if
left entirely to themselves,) from which in about sixteen days the
queens will hatch, unless the bees should change their intentions, and
decide not to swarm, and destroy all the queen cells. Remember, they
are having it all their own way. When these cells are sealed over and
finished is the time (if everything is favorable), when the first swarm
leaves, led off by the old queen. Some of the most reliable works on
bees have taught that the queen cells _must be half finished before the
queen will deposit the egg that is to produce the queen;_ but this, I
find by close observation, is a mistake; for if you take the queen away
from a stock, _with no queen cells in any stage of formation in the
hive_, the bees will rear a queen _from a worker egg, deposited in an
ordinary worker cell_. And who shall say they do not do this when the
queen is present? I am satisfied they do.
Thus we see in _natural_ swarming, _with the bees left to themselves_,
the old queen leaves with the first swarm, at about the time the queen
cells are sealed over and finished, which is about eight days before
the young queens hatch.
When the young queens hatch, after-swarms (as second and third issues,
or all after the first,) will issue. Second swarms may be expected in
about eight days after the first. This time will sometimes vary, as
the hatching of the queen somewhat depends on the weather, the number
of bees left in the old stock, etc.; a low temperature retards the
hatching, while a high temperature forwards it.
At evening of about the eighth or tenth day after the first swarm, by
putting your ear close to the hive you will hear, very plainly, every
few minutes, several clear and distinct "peeping" sounds, very sharp at
times, then hoarse and dull. This sound proceeds from the young queen
just hatched. When it is heard, look out for a swarm the next day;
though it sometimes happens that one or two days will intervene before
they will issue. But as long as the sound continues, be on the lookout
for swarms. This "peeping" can always be heard before a second swarm
issues, if we will take the trouble to listen. The time between second
and third swarms is invariably from one to four days. It is useless to
look for after-swarms from a stock _after twenty_ days from the first.
They are generally all out within sixteen days from the issue of the
first swarm. I have given in another place, under the head of "Swarming
Controlled," instructions how to manage swarming under my new system.
Some additional information I will give in this connection.
Just before swarms are expected, if there are no trees near your hives,
or if there are large trees from which it would be difficult to take
a swarm of bees were they to cluster on the branches, procure several
evergreen trees, such as spruce or fir, three or four feet high.
Leave the limbs on, excepting about a foot at the bottom. Sharpen the
trunks, so they can be set in the ground and lifted out with ease. With
a bar make large holes, about a foot deep, in front of your hives,
some distant about six feet, others from twelve to thirty feet. Set a
half-dozen or more of these trees in these holes, putting in by the
side of them a small stone or piece of wood, to hold firmly in place
and prevent swaying by the wind. When your swarms issue, they will
be very likely to cluster on some of these trees, when they can be
conveniently gathered in the Controllable Hive.
In hiving, if the bees have clustered on some one of the trees set
for them, place the Controllable Hive on the stand it is to occupy,
allowing the stand to project two feet in front of the hive. Draw back
the bottom board under the brood section ten or fifteen inches, to give
the bees a good chance to enter the hive. _Shade the hive well._ Now
go to the tree on which your swarm is clustered. Remove the stone or
piece of wood that holds it in place; lift the tree, carefully avoiding
any jar, carry it to the hive, and hold the cluster down to the stand
and close up to the hive, _as near the entrance as possible_. Then give
the tree a sudden jar, sufficient to dislodge the cluster of bees.
They will fall directly at the entrance of the hive, and immediately
commence to enter. Sprinkle _lightly_ with water, and _gently_ disturb
those that stop about the entrance, with a quill or brush, till all
are made to enter the hive. Then slide the bottom board forward to its
place and the work is done.
Should the bees cluster on some large tree or other out of the way
place, the manner of hiving must be varied. Set your hive near by with
a wide board in front to keep the bees out of the grass and dirt.
Arrange the hive as before directed. If the bees are clustered on a
small limb, high above your reach, secure a basket to a pole, and raise
it directly beneath the cluster. Dislodge the bees from their position,
when they will fall directly into the basket, which you should take
down quickly and shake the bees from it down to the entrance to the
hive, and proceed as before. Keep the limb on which they were clustered
in motion for a few minutes, to prevent their return. Should they
cluster on the body of a tree, or a large limb, where they cannot be
shaken off, set your hive near by, as before directed, and with a
handled dipper dip them off and turn them down in front of the hive
near the entrance. Dip _very carefully_, so as not to crush any of the
bees. They will not attempt to sting if you treat them well, and prove
to them that you are their friend. After you have dipped off a portion
of the bees, and got them moving into the hive, if the queen is with
them, they will all leave the cluster and join their companions who are
entering their new home. But if the queen remains with the cluster, as
soon as those entering the hive discover that she is not with them,
they will leave the hive and rejoin the cluster. So it is well to
keep dipping as long as you can get any of the bees, or till you are
_certain_ the bees are leaving the cluster and entering the hive of
their own accord.
It sometimes happens in natural swarming, that when a swarm issues, led
by the _old_ queen, which has occupied the hive for a year or more,
that she finds herself unable to fly, and drops down in front of the
hive. In this case, if left to themselves, the bees, after flying about
for perhaps five or ten minutes, will return to the hive from whence
they came, and remain until the young queens hatch, issuing again,
about the time a second swarm would have come out, or perhaps a little
earlier.
If you are on hand you can prevent the swarm returning, but you must
be lively. If you find the bees are flying longer than usual without
clustering, and appear scattered and disorganized in their movements,
look in front of the hive from which they issued, for the queen. You
will probably find her within two or three feet of the hive. Put her
in a tumbler, and cover closely, to prevent her escape. As soon as you
find the bees have commenced to return to the old hive, set it back out
of the way, and throw a sheet or some other covering over it.[6] Then
set your Controllable Hive in its place, with the bottom board drawn
back as directed in hiving a new swarm. Set the tumbler containing the
queen over the brood section, so the confined queen can pass down into
the hive, but leaving no chance for her to escape by any other way. The
bees will then enter the hive readily. And as soon as all are in, which
will be in a few minutes, remove the hive to a new stand and shade as
directed before. Set the old stock back in its former place.
[Footnote 6: If other hives are near, on each side, it will be well to
throw the covering over them also, to prevent the swarm entering any
other than the designed hive, as they might possibly do, if the hives
were only a few feet distant.]
The foregoing circumstance often happens when bees are managed on the
old swarming plan, and queens that are unable to fly are usually very
old. On my plan of management such cases are of rare occurrence.
Natural swarms usually issue between nine o'clock in the forenoon, and
one o'clock in the afternoon. Occasionally one will issue earlier in
the forenoon or later in the afternoon; but as a general rule they make
their appearance between the hours specified.
Very early swarms hived in Controllable Hives should have access to
the boxes on one side only. In about ten days after being hived, and
as soon as the bees are well at work in these, give them access to the
other side. Swarms that are hived late in the season, will not require
boxes, until the next season, as it is necessary to have the brood
section filled, or nearly filled, before the bees have access to the
boxes.
It is important that we have the combs in the brood section built
_straight in the frames_, so as to be easily lifted out _separately_.
To aid in securing this object, when a swarm is first hived in a
controllable hive, raise the rear of the hive four inches, by putting
under it a piece of joist, having the hive perfectly level from side
to side. This gives the frames a pitch forward, and will greatly aid
in securing straight combs. Let the hive remain in this position for a
week or ten days, then set it down level. If you have it to spare, one
frame filled with comb placed in the brood section near the center will
insure straight combs in the balance. If no precaution is taken in this
direction, the bees will _sometimes_ build the comb crosswise of the
brood section, notwithstanding the triangular comb guides in the frames
of each controllable hive. As straight combs in the brood section are
very important, we should employ every available means to aid in
securing them.
It is well to keep on hand a few plain boxes, each with four movable
frames, like those in the controllable hive. If at any time a swarm
comes out at the _very last of the honey season_, hive them in one of
these boxes. They will probably enlarge or quite fill the four frames
with comb, and perhaps store a little honey. Then, in the fall, put
these four frames, with the bees and comb, in a controllable hive, and
add two frames, well filled with honey, from a stock that can spare it.
In this way you will build up a good stock for winter, whereas if you
had hived them in a full sized controllable hive so late in the season,
they would probably have put a little comb in each of the six frames,
but not enough to winter, rendering it necessary for you to feed with
the liquid feed in the fall. It is better to have four frames nearly or
quite filled with comb, than to have six frames with a very little comb
in each.
It sometimes happens that a swarm of bees, which has worked well in
boxes through the entire honey season, will swarm out about the time
the yield of honey ceases. If managed on the old plan, such swarms are
_worthless_, but by hiving them in a box with four movable frames, as
directed, they make valuable stocks. All such swarms may be returned to
the old stock, as directed in another chapter, yet we sometimes wish to
increase the number of our stocks to the utmost, and it is convenient
to know how to make valuable stock of these late issues. Then they can
either be returned or hived, whichever the bee keeper thinks is most
for his or her interest.
CHAPTER VII.
ANGER OF BEES.
THE anger of bees, when once thoroughly aroused, is much to be dreaded,
as the results which follow are often of a very serious nature. In my
own case, I can handle bees with perfect impunity. They rarely make
any attempt to sting, no matter what liberties I take with them. I
always intend to be very careful, and handle them gently, making them
understand that I do not mean to harm them. In my first efforts in
handling bees they were very apt to sting me, for the reason that I did
not understand their nature; consequently they mistook my intentions,
and often forced me to seek shelter from their attacks. Now I seldom
use any protection when working among them. Often, in transferring the
bees and comb from the old box hive to the Controllable Hive, I roll
up my sleeves, and with no protection whatever, for the hands or face,
cut out the comb from the old hive, with the bees adhering to it, and
arrange and fasten it in the new hive, without the bees making any
attempt to sting me.
I would not recommend any one to do this, until they are so well
acquainted with, and accustomed to handling, the bees, as to understand
perfectly their every characteristic, and be quite certain that they
will not make an attack. It is better to protect the hands and face
from their attacks, as you will thus feel greater confidence in
yourself, and can perform all operations without fear of stings. It
is well to understand what will arouse the anger of bees, and cause
them to sting. If we breathe upon them, when they are in or about the
hive or boxes, they deem it an insult, and will dash at and sting
us at once. Any sudden jar of the hive is instantly resented. All
quick, spiteful motions about the hive, such as running, jumping,
etc., is noticed, and quite sure to be followed by a sting. The finger
pointed at them with a quick, spiteful motion when they are standing
as sentinels about the entrance of the hive, often provokes stings.
If they come buzzing around, threatening to sting, perhaps striking
your hat almost like a bullet, and should you return the compliment
by striking at them with your hand, they will be quite sure to sting
you. The better way is, if unprotected, to hold down your head so as to
protect your face, and move away from the hive as quietly as possible.
When the bees find you are retreating, they will not follow you far.
Always remember that if one bee stings you, others are very sure to
_immediately_ follow, unless you retreat. I believe that bees have a
language by which they make known to each other their wants and wishes;
and I feel certain they know those who have the care of them, and
become accustomed to the motions and appearance of those who are seen
by them daily.
The members of my family are seldom stung by the bees, notwithstanding
I sometimes have fifty hives or more where we pass within twenty feet
of them many times a day, while the bees are flying in thousands about
each hive. In the middle of the day, in the honey season, the air for
many rods about the hives is full of bees. I find my bees are much more
likely to attack strangers who come to see them, than members of the
family.
To Subdue the Anger of Bees.
I have tested every means recommended for subduing the anger of bees,
and have found tobacco smoke the thing, when rightly applied.
Have a tin-worker make you a tin tube, one inch in diameter, six inches
long, and fit stoppers of soft wood closely in each end, two and three
inches long respectively, with a hole through each, one-fourth inch
in diameter. Fit one end of the longer stopper to hold in the mouth.
Before placing the shorter piece in the tube, cover the inside end with
wire cloth, bent a little convex, to prevent the ashes and tobacco
filling the quarter-inch orifice. Taper the outer end of the short
piece nearly to a point. Remove the mouth-piece, and fill the tube
nearly full of tobacco (cigars are best, for they burn freely.) Dip
with live embers, replace the mouth-piece and blow the smoke from the
pointed end.
With this instrument smoke may be forced among the bees in any part
of the hive or boxes. _In all operations likely to arouse the anger
of the bees_, as taking off and putting on boxes, lifting out comb
frames, putting on and taking off feeder, removing the honey board,
examining the rearing boxes in queen raising, etc., smoke the hive
well. In-short, use smoke _freely_ when about to perform any operation
upon the bees. Before touching the hive give the bees two or three
smart puffs at each entrance of the hive; then commence your operations
immediately. If the honey board is over the brood section, and your
operations are to be performed in that part of the hive, raise the
board just enough to puff in the smoke, but not enough for the bees to
come out. Give them the smoke here freely for about one minute, before
you remove the board. They will show their submission by a loud humming
throughout the hive. When they set up this humming noise is the time
to proceed with your work. Remove the honey board entirely, keeping
the smoker at hand ready for use, and giving them a puff of smoke
occasionally _to keep them under submission_.
It is best for the inexperienced bee raiser to protect the hands and
face in all operations, at least until he feels perfect confidence in
his ability to avoid irritating the bees sufficiently to cause them
to sting. To protect the hands, wear thick woolen mittens, with very
long wrists, so they will come up over the dress or coat sleeve, thus
protecting the hands and wrists completely from stings. To protect the
face and neck, get coarse black lace, one-half yard wide and a yard and
a quarter in length. Take three-fourths of this piece for the front
breadth, and the balance for the back breadth. Seam together at the
selvedges, and gather the upper edge on an elastic cord so as to fit
closely, and draw around the crown of the hat When putting on the hat
ready for use, leave the longer part in front, to button beneath the
coat or vest of a gentleman or the sack of a lady. At the back the lace
tucks beneath the collar. Thus protected, we are perfectly safe from
stings, and can see as well, and perform all operations nearly as well,
as when uncovered.
The best antidote for stings is the application of water in which
salt has been dissolved--a heaping teaspoonful of salt to a teacupful
of water. Bathe the affected part freely, and in severe cases take
a swallow of the salt and water into the stomach. Avoid rubbing or
irritating the stung part. Be sure to extract the sting immediately, as
the longer it remains the more serious will be the consequences.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BEE MOTH.
IN some localities the bee moth is said to be very destructive, yet I
regard the depredations of this insect as much less to be feared than
some bee-keepers suppose. The bee moth is the agency provided by nature
for returning back to the earth the contents of any hive when left by
the bees, in the same manner that the flesh fly is the means provided
for returning to the earth the carcase of any animal.
I do not believe that a strong, healthy stock of bees was ever attacked
and destroyed by the bee moth. The stock must from some cause become
reduced in numbers, so there are not bees enough to cover all the comb,
before the moth will make an attack. But when the comb is unprotected,
the moth follows the instinct of its nature, and deposits her eggs in
it. The bees from some cause keep decreasing, and the moth continues
depositing her eggs in the vacated comb, until the entire comb of the
hive is a complete mass of vile worms, the progeny of the bee moth.
About this time the bee keeper notices for the first time, (for, if he
is keeping bees on the old plan, he lets them take their own course,
believing if he meddles with them, they will "run out,") that something
is wrong with that hive. So he examines them, and finds the combs a
mass of webs, with hundreds of moth millers among the combs, and the
combs themselves filled with vile worms. "Ah!" he says, "the bee moth
has destroyed that swarm of bees;" when in fact the bee moth had no
more to do with bringing about the loss than the maggots, found in the
carcase of a nice lamb destroyed by dogs, had to do with destroying the
life of the animal. "Oh," says some wise bee keeper, "I know better
than that, for I have seen the bee moth flying about my hives and
trying to get in." Very well; I have seen the flesh fly circling about
live animals, but think you there was any danger from them, as long as
the animal was in health? Not a bit. Neither is there any danger from
the bee moth, if you keep your stocks of bees _strong and healthy_.
But if you have weak or diseased stock, or have honey in boxes in warm
weather _unprotected by the bees_, look out for the bee moth.
Fumigate with sulphur all combs taken from hives in warm weather;
immediately after which, seal up closely in well-made hives or boxes,
to prevent access by the moth miller. All combs taken out _late in the
fall_, and kept through the winter in a place where they will be liable
to freeze, may be sealed up so the moth cannot gain access to them,
and the contents will keep safely through the next summer. Freezing
destroys the vitality of the moth eggs. Fumigating with sulphur, as
directed in "Care of Box Honey in Warm Weather," will destroy the _moth
worms_, and prevent damage to the combs, if they receive attention
within a few days after the eggs are hatched; but if the worms are
suffered to remain for any considerable length of time, the combs
will be badly damaged, if not entirely ruined. In protecting honey or
empty comb from the bee moth in warm weather, every bee keeper should
recollect that eternal vigilance is the price of success! With the
Controllable Hive and new system of bee management, the true condition
of stocks is known at all times. The stocks are very populous in July
and August, which is the time the bee moth is most numerous about the
hives. I never had a stock damaged by the bee moth since I adopted my
present system of bee management.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER IX.
ROBBING.
LOSS of stocks by robbing shows carelessness, or a lack of knowledge
as to the proper care of bees. Not one strong, healthy stock of bees
in a thousand will be robbed, if proper precaution is taken. During a
copious yield of honey there is very little danger of robbing. When
there is a slack in the yield, the bees will search about for plunder,
and if a weak stock is found, they will be very likely to attack it.
It is the duty of every intelligent bee-keeper to know the exact
condition of his stocks at all times, and if from any cause he has a
weak stock, be sure to ascertain the cause of their weakness, and if
they are healthy stocks, contract the entrances, in accordance with the
number of bees to pass. But if they are found to be diseased, remove
them. The bee, like the human race, is much better able to defend
itself against the attacks of an enemy when there is but one avenue of
approach, than if there are several.
No refuse honey should be placed in the open air, accessible to all
the bees alike, as this would be very likely to create a desire for
plunder, and incite robbing.
Never, when a stock is being robbed, change it from one stand to
another a few rods distant, to prevent robbing; for this is a very
great injury to the stock, as all the bees that have marked the
location (at the season when robbing will most likely occur,) will
return to the old stand, and be lost. The best remedy, or rather
preventative against robbing, is to contract the entrances to the
hive. After bees have once commenced robbing, and have been successful
in capturing and plundering one stock, they will, as soon as they
have secured the honey from that one, attack some other with great
impetuosity. Success in plundering renders them very courageous; but if
you have contracted the entrances as directed, they will be very likely
to meet their match, and learn a good lesson. A little punishment is
necessary to teach them their proper place.
I knew one of these old wise-heads--such a one as spoken of in the
chapter on "Swarming and Hiving"--to use his familiar logic: "What he
didn't know about bees wasn't worth knowing. He didn't want any book
larnin' to know how to keep bees; he had allers kept 'em, and his
father before him." Well, this Mr. Wiseman found, or thought he had
found, that his neighbor's bees were robbing his stocks. "Zounds!" says
he, "I'll fix 'em!" So he goes early in the morning, before the bees
are flying, and confines his stock, which he thought was being robbed,
by nailing a piece of board closely over each entrance to the hive, so
no bees could pass in or out. About sunrise; or a little later, the
robber bees begin to collect on the front of his hive, seeking to gain
access. He waits until a quart or more have collected, and then he
takes two or three quarts of boiling water, and dashes it upon them.
This he continues through that day, and the next, at intervals, as
often as there are any bees collected on the front of his hive. During
this time he has killed more than _a half bushel of bees_. The third
day he opens his hive, but to his great surprise, _no bees appear_, and
on examination he finds the bees all dead. They had _suffocated_. Want
of air, and the boiling water upon the hive, had destroyed them. And to
crown all, and make his loss still more severe, he found it was his
own bees that were engaged in plundering his stock, and his neighbor's
bees had nothing to do with it. The vast number of bees slaughtered
with the hot water, so reduced in numbers several of his stocks, that
they never recovered, but fell prey to the moth miller that season.
And that was the way he "fixed 'em." There are so many whims and false
notions about bees, that great care should be exercised in adopting
plans recommended by inexperienced bee keepers, or that class who claim
to know everything about bees, yet by their practice show that they
know very little.
There is one other plan, aside from contracting the entrance, which
will prove successful, but which is a little more trouble to apply. If
you find a stock is being robbed, look them over, and be sure that they
have a fertile, healthy queen. If the queen is found to be all right,
but with few bees, take from this hive two comb frames filled with
comb, _with no eggs or brood_, and go to a populous stock, and exchange
these two combs for two others filled with brood. Select such as have
most of the brood sealed over, as you want that which will hatch the
quickest. Put these two combs in the hive that is being robbed, fasten
up the stock by putting wire cloth over the entrances, giving them air
yet preventing the passage of bees.[7]
[Footnote 7: It is well to confine the bees when a large number of
robbers are inside--a larger number if possible than the swarm itself,
for, being confined a few days, they will make that hive their home,
and aid in defending its stores against other robbers with as much
energy as the bees of the original swarm.]
When you put in the two frames with brood, if you find but little
honey in the hive--not enough to last the bees a month or more--put in
one frame containing honey. Put on the feeder and carry the hive to
a dark and quiet room, and fill the feeder with _pure, soft water_.
Let the bees remain in this room four days; then about one hour before
sunset, set them on the old stand, giving them their liberty, with the
entrances to the hive contracted--the lower entrance closed entirely,
and the upper one half closed. Intelligent bee keepers will readily
understand why this plan should prove a success:--First, the bees
that hatch from the brood comb given the weak stock, will be a great
encouragement to the few bees in the hive; and in a _very few days_
they will aid in defending the hive against the attacks of robbers.
Again--removing the hive from the stand seems to disorganize the
robbers, for after they have visited the stand for several days, and
find no plunder, they will give up the search in that direction.
Before taking the trouble to remove a hive as here directed, care
should be taken to be _certain_ that the bees are being robbed. You
can be sure whether it is your own bees or others that are robbing, by
sprinkling them with flour as they come from the hive which you suspect
is being robbed, and watching your other hives, to see if those you
have marked enter them, being very careful that you are not deceived by
the dust from some species of blossoms, which adheres to the body of
the bee, and might be mistaken for the flour.
Bees when plundering a stock will often keep at their work until dark,
some of them being unable to find their hive by reason of the darkness.
Honest workers are not found abroad at that time, and, by the way, this
is a very good test of robbing. In concluding this chapter, I advise
again: _Know the condition of your stocks at all times._ If any have
too few bees, contract the entrances in accordance with that number of
bees to pass. Preventative is much better than cure in this case.
CHAPTER X.
PROFITS OF BEE KEEPING.
TWENTY-FIVE years ago, and even at the present time, by the ordinary
methods of bee keeping, if a profit of five dollars from one hive of
bees in one season was gained it was considered "good luck." You know
there is no system in the ordinary methods of bee keeping. It is either
"good luck" or "bad luck;"--all "luck" and "chance," anyway.
In one year they get five dollars profit from a stock of bees; the next
honey season they get nothing, and the bees all die in the winter; or
perhaps they will survive that winter, and the next season swarm, and
fly away to the woods; or perhaps refuse to swarm, and remain idly
clustered on the front of the hive throughout the entire honey season,
and die from want of food before the winter is half gone.
Bee keeping by the ordinary methods is a very precarious and uncertain
occupation. The profits are small at best, and losses large and
frequent.
With my Controllable Hive and common sense system of bee management
(as described in this work,) founded on correct and scientific
principles, bee keeping is reduced to a science. There is no "luck,"
no "guess-work," no "chance" about it. There can be no loss in bee
keeping without a cause; there can be no gain without a _full and
correct_ understanding of the natural habits and requirements of bees.
A _correct knowledge_ of the subject insures success.
I will now present a few statements, exhibiting the practical results
which follow the use of my Controllable Hive and new system of bee
management, and showing the great contrast in profits and general
success in the care of bees.
In the season of 1870, one of my hives of native bees yielded two
hundred and fifty-three pounds of surplus honey, in glass boxes, from
the 20th of May to the 1st of July. In 1875 _one hive yielded three
hundred and eighty pounds of surplus honey in glass boxes during the
season_. This was the largest yield I ever had, and shows what is
possible by liberal feeding with a thrifty stock of bees, giving them
every facility, with a view of securing the largest possible amount of
surplus box honey. In this case, I selected, in early spring, the very
best stock I could find, and pushed it as hard as possible throughout
the entire spring, summer and early fall. My success exceeded even my
most sanguine expectations. As it may serve to aid others in producing
large yields of honey, I will describe minutely the method pursued to
secure this large and extraordinary yield.
Very early in the spring I selected the most populous stock in my
possession. It was ruled by a young and exceedingly prolific Hybrid
queen, a mixture of Italian and Native blood. I commenced early in
the spring to feed this stock lightly but _regularly_, every day at
evening. I fed about one-half pound of feed per day, until a few days
before the flowers were in bloom profusely! This was done to encourage
breeding. Very early in the spring they were fed com and rye meal, as
directed in this work.
For a few days before the flowers were blooming profusely, I fed
liberally--in fact, gave them all I could possibly induce them to take
up; the object being to get the store comb in the body of the hive,
not occupied with brood, completely filled with honey. The glass boxes,
twenty-six in number (with the Feeder,) each holding about four and
one-half pounds of honey, were arranged in connection with the hive
(sides and top,) several weeks prior to the appearance of the flowers,
that the bees might become accustomed to them, and the more readily
enter them, and commence work. When I ceased feeding (which was on the
appearance of the flowers yielding a good supply of honey,) the boxes
were filled with bees, and comb-building had commenced. The hive was at
this time filled to overflowing with bees, and the combs had brood in
all stages of growth, from the egg to the perfect bee. I had taken the
precaution to cut out nearly all the drone comb, and fit in its place
worker comb, so I had but very few drones to consume the honey. I had
also arranged so as to have no increase by swarming, but to have all
the bees employed storing surplus honey in the boxes throughout the
season.
As fast as the boxes were filled, they were removed, and empty ones
substituted in their place. I never saw bees work with such determined
industry, early and late, and in all kinds of weather. When honey
failed at the end of the season, there was a set of boxes on the hive
partially filled. I immediately gave the bees feed until these too were
finished. I found, on weighing the product of this hive in the fall,
that they had given me a fraction over three hundred and eighty pounds
of surplus honey in boxes. This honey I sold at thirty-five cents a
pound, a little over one hundred and thirty-three dollars, for surplus
honey sold from this one stock. Reader, go thou and do likewise.
I had one stock of bees which occupied the same stand, winter and
summer, for six years, and during that time they swarmed but once, and
from it I sold every year over fifty dollars' worth of surplus honey
in glass boxes. A neighbor several times offered me fifty dollars for
this stock, early in the spring before the bees commenced their labors.
In 1874 I purchased a swarm of bees in an old box hive. They had not
paid their owner a dollar in profit for years. Some seasons they would
swarm and fly away to the woods; in other seasons they would remain
clustered on the front of the hive through the entire season, refusing
to swarm, or enter the two small boxes covered with a cap on top of the
hive. I transferred the bees from this hive to the Controllable Hive,
and they gave me a profit of over forty dollars the first year.
I sold my honey in 1874 for from thirty-three to thirty-five dollars
per hundred gross weight--that is, no tare deducted for weight of the
box. The boxes weigh each about one pound, empty, and when well filled
with honey about four and one-half pounds, gross.
The present season (1880.) one stock in a Controllable Hive, in
the month of June, without being fed or having extra care, yielded
seventy-two pounds of surplus honey in glass boxes. Another, treated
in the same manner, yielded over eighty pounds surplus, in the same
time. Another new swarm, since the first week in June, filled the brood
frames with honey, and produced thirty-eight pounds of surplus in glass
boxes, (filling eight boxes as full as they could be crowded,) and gave
me a large swarm the last week in June.
When box honey brings from thirty-three to thirty-five cents a pound,
_gross weight_, my usual yearly average is a little over fifty dollars
clean profit from the sale of box honey, from each stock of bees I
keep. I intend to keep about twelve stocks each season. I sometimes
have a much greater number; yet it is my purpose to keep only this
number each season, for the production of surplus honey, swarms, etc.
My average yield of surplus box honey is about two hundred pounds
(perhaps a trifle less) from each hive of bees that I keep, during each
season, _when swarming is prevented and each stock liberally fed_.
I will here give the testimony of a few of the many, who have adopted
the plan of bee management recommended in this work. I should give
the name and post-office address of each, were it not for the fact
that they would receive so many letters of inquiry, as to make it very
disagreeable to them. _I have the original and complete letters in my
possession, and such letters I am prepared to show at any time._ My
object in presenting this testimony here, is to show that the system of
bee management recommended herein is not only successful with me, but
with all intelligent bee keepers, as well.
A gentleman from Vermont writes me, under date of September 15, 1879,
as follows: "I take this opportunity of informing you of the experience
I have had with the bee hive received from you. About the 10th of May I
transferred a swarm of bees from a box hive to the Controllable Hive.
I transferred all the brood combs, and about eight or ten pounds of
honey. I fed them until flowers were plenty, which encouraged them to
build rapidly. About the 25th of May I put in surplus boxes on the
sides, which they soon entered, and went to work. The middle of June I
put boxes on top, as the bees showed symptoms of swarming. By the 10th
of July the side boxes were nearly all filled, and the bees were at
work in the top boxes. July 15th I took off sixteen of the twenty side
boxes, well filled and capped, and placed empty ones in their places.
August 5th, I took six of the ten boxes off the top, well filled. Then
the dry weather set in, and the bees came to a stand-still (thinking
the honey season over,) but the basswood revived it for a short time,
enabling them to fill up the boxes pretty full. I obtained in all from
this swarm twenty-eight boxes, weighing one hundred and ten pounds. I
shall have ten hives made this winter for use the coming spring."
A gentleman writes from New York, under date of April 2d, 1879: "I have
received your hive, which meets my ideas of what a bee hive should be.
It contains all that is required in a bee hive, or in other words it
is just the thing I have been wanting. I have been using the Quinby
hive, so called, but I am now going to keep bees in earnest on your
plan. I have the fullest confidence of success with your hive and plan
of management. Your plan for wintering is a good one, on scientific
principles, and the arrangement for feeding, and surplus honey, can't
be beat."
A gentleman writes from New Hampshire, under date of April 26th, 1879:
"I have tested your hive, and my bees have done first-rate. I believe
the hive is just what it is represented. One strong reason why I think
so much of your hive is, there were not a dozen bees died in the
hive last winter, while three of my first swarms in other hives all
died--some of them with fifty pounds of honey in the hive. I have lost
some winters as many as fifteen or twenty swarms. I have now tested
your hive to my satisfaction, and I do not believe bees will die in it,
if your instructions for wintering are carried out. I think your hive
is what every bee keeper should have to make a success of bee keeping."
A gentleman writes from Missouri, under date of May 1st, 1879: "Your
bee hive I like very much. I put in the swarm last season. They did
much better than any swarm I had in the American hive. I took away
more surplus honey than from any of the others. I can recommend the
Controllable Hive to all bee keepers. This spring I have put up
fourteen more Controllable Hives, and shall use no other hive in
future."
A lady bought a swarm of Italian bees of me in 1874, and from that one
stock she increased to over twenty the third season, besides obtaining
over one hundred pounds of nice surplus honey from the swarm I sent
her in the first season.
Here I desire to be clearly understood. I do not wish to hold out
inducements which will never be realized, for the purpose of causing
any one to commence bee keeping with unreasonable expectations of
profit. There is labor and care required to bring success in any
enterprise; and usually the greater the care and labor bestowed on any
business, the greater the reward in profits. Bees give ample return for
each little care and attention bestowed upon them; and if neglected and
permitted to go uncared for, there is corresponding loss. I believe
that bee keeping on correct and scientific principles should be
encouraged, until bees enough are kept to collect the honey now allowed
to go to waste, and which, if collected, would add millions of dollars
to the wealth of the country.
The statements of large yields of honey here presented, show what it
is possible to do; yet no reasonable person would commence bee keeping
with the expectation of realizing, on each of a dozen or more stocks
kept, the large yields above specified. Some stocks will pay a much
greater profit than others. And it is only under the most favorable
circumstances, with our very best stocks, that we secure the results
here named, such as three hundred and eighty pounds of box honey from
one stock in a season This serves to illustrate what may be derived
(but not what we may reasonably expect) from each stock, where a dozen
or more stocks are kept. Two hundred pounds from each stock on the
average is about right. And this last is only secured with good care
and attention, perseverance and labor, judiciously applied to the work.
The question is often asked: "How many stocks of bees can be kept in
one place on your plan?" This depends on the number of honey-yielding
plants and flowers. Some localities furnish a much greater number than
others. In some localities, fifty stocks would do well, and pay yearly
a handsome profit; in others, it would not be profitable to keep half
as many. I am in a place said to be very unfavorable to bee keeping. I
find twelve stocks about the right number for me to maintain. Bees will
go seven miles or more to collect honey, but the shorter the distance,
the more honey will be collected, in a season; consequently the greater
profit will follow.
It can only be learned by practical test how many stocks of bees may be
profitably kept in any locality. Commence with a few, and increase the
number moderately, until you find you have as many as you wish to keep,
or as many as the locality will support, with good profit, when managed
judiciously.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XI.
CHANGING OLD QUEENS FOR YOUNG ONES.
ON my plan of bee management, if a stock does not change its queen
for three years in succession, the fourth season the old queen should
be taken away, if she shows the least sign of failing, and a young,
laying queen substituted in her place It often happens, if the queen
in a stock dies or becomes seriously injured, that the bees will, of
their own accord, rear another to take her place. But if her failure
has been gradual, the bees may not have the means to do so, when she
at last fails entirely, for the reason that she may cease laying, for
several days or weeks previous to her death, in which case it would
be impossible for the bees, without assistance, to rear another queen
to take her place. They must have an egg not over five days old, from
which to rear a queen. The great necessity of close observation, in
order to keep each stock always supplied with a healthy, prolific
queen, cannot be impressed too strongly on the mind of every bee
keeper. Be sure not to neglect this very important point in successful
and profitable bee keeping.
But very few seem to know the average duration of life of the honey
bee. The average term of life of the worker is only a few months--not
more than from two to four--a great many do not live out half that
time. So it will be seen that it is only by keeping healthy and
prolific queens in each stock, that we can have populous stocks, such
as will pay a good profit.
In my experiments I have in several instances taken from a vigorous and
very populous stock their queen, and at the same time deprived them
of the means of rearing another. This was done in the honey season.
In such cases the bees kept on with their labor, though with visible
reluctance and an appearance of discouragement, the number of bees
decreasing very rapidly, and in from two to three months nearly all had
disappeared, not more than two or three hundred remaining, where there
had been from thirty thousand to fifty thousand all in a prosperous
condition.
Other instances have come under my observation, clearly showing that
the life of the worker honey bee is only of few months duration. One
case in fact will show: I removed the native queen from a very strong
stock of native or black bees, in the honey season, and introduced an
Italian queen, in order to change the stock from native to Italian. The
reader will readily understand that every egg deposited by the Italian
queen, after her introduction, will produce the Italian variety, the
workers of which are entirely distinct in color from the natives. In
a few days after the introduction of the Italian queen I found the
natives were disappearing, and soon after the Italians began to appear.
The change was very rapid. In about two months not a native or black
bee could be found about the hive--all were Italians. The natives had
gradually decreased, until all had disappeared, showing conclusively
that they had died in the same ratio that they would have passed away
from a stock naturally. During the winter season, as the bee is in a
dormant state for the greater part of the time, they are given a longer
lease of life.
When it is discovered that a stock has a barren queen or has lost
its queen, or from any cause she has ceased to be prolific (and in
consequence the bees are dwindling away,) take means immediately to
substitute a prolific and healthy queen in her place, and at the
same time re-enforce the stock, by taking one or more frames filled
with hatching brood from a populous stock, and exchanging for those
destitute of brood. In this manner the bees will be increased so as
to insure safety for a few days, after which the stock, having been
furnished with a prolific, healthy queen, will regain their former
prosperity and vigor.
The queen being the mother of the entire swarm, and consequently all
increase being dependent on her, every intelligent bee keeper will
readily understand that in order to succeed, he must be sure that each
stock has a prolific queen.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XII.
REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS.
IN commencing to rear queens, you will first want some small rearing
boxes, or miniature hives, about four and one-half inches wide, by
eight inches long, and five inches deep, inside measurement. Use inch
board for the hives. Make for each hive three movable comb frames,[8]
suspended the same as in the brood section of the Controllable Hive.
Make the under side of the top bar, flat, instead of triangular, as
in the large comb frames. Take a piece of old comb, and cut to fill
each one of these small frames. Take from a pint to a quart of bees
from a populous stock (in the height of the breeding season this will
do no harm) without the queen-. Confine these bees in a light box, in
the top of which there is an inch hole, closed, to confine them to the
box, for if not confined they would return to the old stock, as the
queen is not with them. Having secured your bees in the box, go to a
stock, and lift out a comb containing eggs, just deposited. They may be
known by their appearance. They are but a tiny speck at the bottom of
the cell, about one-sixteenth of an inch in length, slightly curved,
and perfectly white in color. They remain in this form from two to
three days, at the end of which time they change to the form of a grub
or maggot. After this change it is a risk to depend on them for queen
raising, so be sure to secure for your purpose eggs. Cut from the brood
comb a piece about two inches long and one-half inch wide, using a very
sharp, thin knife, so not to mutilate the comb. Cut out a piece from
the center comb of the miniature hive, and fit in its place the piece
containing the eggs. The middle of a warm day is the best time to do
this work. It is best to have one of the comb frames of the miniature
hive filled with honey, to furnish food for the bees for a few days.
[Footnote 8: This frame is shown in the engraving representing the
different kinds of cells, in Chapter I.]
As soon as you have fitted the piece containing the eggs in its place
in the miniature hive, put on a close-fitting cover. Do not nail it,
as you will want to look at it every few days. Close the entrances to
the miniature hive, so no bees can escape. Now open the hole in the top
of the box in which the bees are confined, and set the miniature hive
containing the eggs over it quickly, allowing no bees to escape. The
bees will then pass from the box up into the miniature hive, cluster
on the comb containing the eggs, and immediately commence the rearing
of queens from the eggs thus furnished them. Keep the bees confined to
the miniature hive for about thirty-six hours. Give them their liberty
at first about one hour before sunset. If you do not confine them for
the time stated, they will return to the hive from which you took them,
but if so confined, they will forget their old home, and adhere to the
miniature hive, the same as an ordinary swarm hived in the usual way.
They will rear queens from the eggs given them by constructing queen
cells, so arranged as to take in one of the eggs in the piece of comb
furnished them, often constructing three or more cells. In about six
days, open the miniature hive, and you will find these cells nearly
or quite finished. Occasionally a case occurs where they do not rear
queens when thus furnished with the means, but such cases are rare.
If you find each one made separate, you can, if you choose, with a
sharp, thin knife cut out all the cells but one, and give them to
other rearing boxes not supplied with eggs, or which have failed to
rear queens from the eggs furnished them. If you leave all the cells
in the miniature hive as constructed, the first queen that hatches
will destroy all the others. She will visit each cell, gnaw an opening
in the side, curve her abdomen and insert her sting into the opening,
and sting the rival queen to death while yet in her cradle. The worker
bees will then enlarge the opening, and drag out the lifeless body. The
victorious queen now reigns over the little colony, the same as in a
large and natural swarm.
In from three to five days after hatching, if the weather is fine,
the young queen will leave the miniature hive, and take a flight in
the open air, to meet the drone for the purpose of fecundation. If
successful, she will commence to lay in about two days. She may then be
introduced to a full stock at any time desired. Recollect, it will be
useless to rear queens where there are no drones.
When stocks are liberally fed early in the season, drones will appear
correspondingly early. And if from a stock well supplied with drones,
you remove the queen, the workers will not destroy the drones in that
hive until they have obtained another fertile laying queen. With this
idea in view, viz:--early and liberal feeding to produce drones early,
and depriving a populous stock (well supplied with drones) of its queen
the last of the season, we can have drones sufficient for our purpose
from early spring until late in the fall.
I have in several instances, for the purpose of securing drones
very early in the spring, deprived a populous stock, containing a
large number of drones, of its queen, very late in the fall, and
wintered them queenless. In this manner the drones were permitted by
the bees to remain and winter with the swarm. Early in the spring
they were re-enforced with hatching brood from populous stocks, but
were permitted to rear no queens, in order that the drones might be
preserved. As soon as drones appeared in the other stocks, this stock
was furnished with a laying queen, and it was as prosperous as the best.
By this plan drones may be kept through the winter, if their services
are required very early in the spring, before we can raise them from
the best stocks by judicious feeding, which very rarely can be done.
The bees for rearing queens are usually obtained from populous hives,
such as will hardly miss a pint or a quart from their numbers, great
care being exercised not to remove the queen. The best time to get
the bees is in the middle of the day. Go to a stock and first find
the queen. Set the comb she is on, to one side. Put your light box
(prepared as before described with a hole in the top) on a sheet near
by, with one edge raised an inch. Take one or more combs from the hive
(being careful not to get the one with the queen,) and shake the bees
from them, down beside the box, which they will readily enter. When you
have bees enough in the box, close it so none can escape. You now have
the bees ready to put in the miniature hive, as before directed.
I think I have given such instruction as will enable any one, after a
little practice, to rear queens successfully.[9] I will follow it with
such information as will insure success in introducing queens into full
stocks of bees.
[Footnote 9: By taking brood for rearing queens only from such stocks
as exhibit the greatest industry, mildness of disposition, vigor in
withstanding the cold, etc., I find lam able to greatly improve the
desirable qualities of my bees from year to year. This systematic
course of treatment has produced swarms possessing very valuable
characteristics. It is surprising to note the difference in profits and
ease of management, between bees that have always been left to take
their own course, and such as have had their most desirable traits
cultivated and improved to the greatest possible extent for a term of
years. The difference is almost as marked as between the savage in his
native wilds, and the most intelligent and highly educated member of
society.]
Here let me caution bee keepers never to attempt to introduce a queen
into a full stock of bees, until she has begun to lay. A young queen,
not fecundated, will be destroyed in nine cases out of ten, in spite
of every precaution. Before introducing a queen, the old queen in the
stock, if any exists, must be taken away. Make your search for her in
the middle of the day, as at that time most of the workers are away.
Use but very little smoke, and that only at the entrance, as the bees
should remain spread over the combs as evenly as possible. If you use
much smoke they will rush to the bottom and the corners of the hive,
and it is very likely the queen might seek a hiding-place with the
others, where you could not find her. If not disturbed, the queen will
be found in the comb among the bees. When ready to proceed, having
smoked them lightly at the entrances (a puff at each entrance is
sufficient,) lift out the comb carefully, avoiding any jar, and look
them over for the queen. It is said the Italian queens are more readily
found than the natives, but I could never see any difference. Hold the
frame up in front of your face, so as to have a good view, and look
each comb over carefully till you find the queen. When found, remove
her. Always return the combs so they will occupy the same position as
before.
As soon as the queen is removed, and the bees are aware of their loss,
they will usually commence to rear another queen from the worker eggs
to take her place. To make a sure thing of it, they often start to
produce a half-dozen or more.
In six days after removing the queen, smoke the bees well, to get the
combs as clear of them as possible. Do this in the middle of the
day. When you have driven the most of the bees from the comb to the
bottom and into the corners of the hives, lift out the combs, and look
sharply for queen cells, (success depends on thorough work here.) With
a sharp knife cut out and destroy every such cell that is finished
or commenced. Don't leave any part of a queen cell in the hive, for
the bees will not accept a strange queen if they have the means of
raising one of their own. Having destroyed every queen cell, finished
or unfinished, return the combs to the hive; but before putting the
honey board over the brood section, cut a hole in it a little smaller
than the top of a tumbler. Cover this hole with a light piece of board,
simply laid on, (not nailed, for you will need to remove it without
jar.) Then put the honey board in its place over the brood section.
Let the hive remain until near sunset, for the bees to get quiet, and
to learn that they are without a queen and without the means of rearing
another. Just before sunset, take the queen you propose to introduce,
and with her a score or more of workers, and put them in a tumbler
with a piece of wire cloth over the top to keep them in. (To get her
from the miniature hive, where she was reared, to the tumbler, take it
to a close room, before a window, so if she takes wing she may alight
there.) Go to the hive into which she is to be introduced, and remove
the cap, avoiding any jar that may irritate the bees. Take off the
board over the hole in the honey board, and turn the tumbler containing
the queen bottom up over it, keeping the wire cloth between the queen
in the tumbler and the bees in the hive. Replace the cap to the hive,
and let the queen and her attendant bees remain in the tumbler, in
communication with the bees in the hive through the wire cloth, until
the next day, near sunset. Then take a teaspoonful of honey, go to the
hive, and remove the cap, this time with the greatest possible care, as
the slightest jar will endanger success. Raise the tumbler carefully
from off the queen, and with the honey smear her completely over, then
turn the wire cloth over carefully, and let the queen and her attendant
bees down through the hole in the honey board, among the bees of the
hive. Replace the cap as quietly as possible, and the work is done. In
about one week examine the combs of this hive for eggs, and if they are
found, you can consider your work crowned with success. If no eggs are
discovered, you must go over the ground again. But be sure there are no
eggs in the combs before you repeat the work.
This plan of introducing queens is the most successful of any I have
ever tested. It rarely fails. When a laying queen is removed from one
of the miniature hives, the bees will usually rear queens from the eggs
left when the queen is removed.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XIII.
SOURCES OF HONEY.
THE sources from which bees collect honey are various and almost
innumerable. Almost every flower, tree, plant, shrub and vine, in
field, forest, pasture and garden yield honey to some extent. White
clover, is, perhaps, the greatest source of honey in the New England
and Middle States, it being found to a greater or less extent in almost
every field and pasture. South and west there is, in many localities, a
profusion of wild flowers, producing considerable quantities of honey.
In some sections buckwheat affords a rich harvest. Basswood yields a
very nice quality of honey, and in sections where it abounds, great
quantities are collected from it. Fruit blossoms--apple, pear, peach,
and all the different varieties of plums, cherries, etc., are very
important sources of honey.
Pollen is the first material gathered by the bees in early spring.
Several varieties of alder, willow, red maple, etc., produce pollen
in great abundance. Raspberry, blackberry, catnip, dandelion, etc.,
all contribute largely of honey in their season. Corn, and most kinds
of grain, furnish pollen in abundance late in the season. Mustard and
sweet clover are great favorites with the busy bee, yielding the most
beautiful honey, clear as crystal and white as snow. The sugar maple
produces honey of excellent quality, and where forests of this tree
abound, large quantities of honey are stored, while it is in blossom
in early spring.[10] Locust, whitewood, mignonette, golden rod, sumach,
etc., all produce honey. When we take into consideration the fact that
the bee will go seven miles or more to collect his sweets, it is easy
to understand that a certain number of swarms will succeed in almost
any locality, even without feeding. To make this still more clear,
we have only to take into account the vast number of honey yielding
flowers, trees, plants, shrubs, etc., within a circle of fourteen miles
in diameter, the hives occupying the center, and the bees flying to
collect honey seven miles in every direction from the hive. Those who
have not tested the matter, will be likely to dispute the statement,
that a bee will go seven miles to gather honey. But on this point
I am able to offer ample proof, to establish, beyond a reasonable
doubt, the fact that the Italian bee will go that distance. The proof
I offer is this: The first Italian bees brought into the New England
States, I had the honor of receiving. The Italian bees being entirely
distinct from the native or black bees in color and size, I determined
to avail myself of the opportunity offered to satisfy myself on the
long-disputed question--"How far a bee will go to collect honey." I
therefore made close and repeated examinations, at different times
during the honey season, and it was no uncommon occurrence, to find
the Italian workers seven miles from their hives. As there were no
Italian bees except mine within hundreds of miles, I considered this
positive proof that that variety will travel seven miles from its hive
in its search for honey-producing flowers. As the native or black bee
is, to some extent, found in all parts of the country, it is impossible
to prove conclusively the distance they will go from the hive; yet my
observations give very strong evidence that they journey five miles or
more after honey.
[Footnote 10: Climate and soil are so variable, it is impossible to
give the sources of honey so as to apply minutely to every locality. I
shall strive to designate the principal sources. The bee keeper will
very soon learn from experience and observation, what are the principal
sources of honey in that particular locality. Many different flowers,
trees and shrubs are found in one section yielding honey profusely
which do not exist in another.]
When the distance a bee will go for honey is so well established, and
having found from repeated tests that the flowers, when yielding honey,
may be visited many times each day by the bee, and yield at each visit
a bountiful supply, we can form some idea of the vast amount of honey
now permitted to go to waste, which might be collected by bees and
stored in nice boxes, and thus add wealth and enjoyment to the human
family.
The bee keeper sometimes finds his bees idle, when the flowers are in
bloom in profusion, the sun shining brightly, and, to the superficial
observer, everything indicating honey in abundance. And yet the bees
are dormant, and scarcely a one flying about the hives, notwithstanding
the hives and boxes are full of them. The truth of the matter is, there
is no honey in the flowers, although they are in full bloom. The air
is dry and clear. Suddenly there is a change, the atmosphere becomes
moist and charged with electricity, with occasionally light showers.
Immediately all is activity about the hives. The greatest show of
industry is manifested; scores of workers, and in some cases a hundred,
coming into each hive every minute, loaded with honey, many of them so
heavily weighted that they fall to the ground before they reach the
hive, where they rest a moment, and then try again, usually succeeding
in entering with their load. I have seen a change, as here described,
brought about in a half-hour's time in the middle of the day, viz: The
bees pass from an idle, almost entirely dormant state, to the greatest
activity and industry. And all because a change in the atmosphere had
caused the flowers to secrete honey. The question arises. How did the
bees know at that particular hour there was a change, and that the
flowers, which a few minutes before were destitute of honey, were now
bountifully supplied? I answer, the bee was aware of the change almost
the moment it took place. The bee is very sensitive to all atmospheric
changes. A case in point will show this: The bees are collecting honey
abroad in the fields. The day is warm and balmy. Suddenly there is
the appearance of a shower, and distant thunder is heard. Immediately
the bees came rushing in from the fields, in clouds. They cover the
entire front of their hives, in their eagerness to gain a shelter from
the approaching rain. Again, if the morning is cloudy and dark, with
every appearance of rain, and you find the bees leaving their hives
for the fields, you may be quite certain that rain is not near, and
may expect soon to see the sun break forth and the clouds disperse.
If, on the other hand there is an appearance of rain, and the bees are
quiet in their hives, it is quite sure to rain in a very short time.
How wonderful are the workings of nature. How great the sagacity of the
little, busy bee. Who dares say that this wonderful little insect does
not possess the power of reasons? But I am digressing from the subject.
Bees, in their journeys to collect honey, seldom visit more than one
species of flower, plant or shrub, at one excursion; and this is a wise
provision of nature, for were it otherwise, and any and all species
visited promiscuously, the vegetable world would be thrown into chaos,
by the fertilizing dust of one species being imparted to another,
through the medium of the bee.
Pollen as fast as collected is deposited in little basket-like cavities
on the inside of the bee's posterior legs. It is packed in little
pellets, varying in size from that of a pin's head to a small pea. In
color it is usually yellow, but sometimes green or red. Hundreds of
bees may be seen entering the hives with pollen at almost any time in
the honey season, particularly in the morning before the dew is off
the grass. It is easier for the bees to collect it at this time, as
the moisture causes it the more readily to adhere to the cavities of
the legs. Honey when collected is deposited in the stomach of the bee,
in which it is borne to the hive, and there deposited in cells in the
comb. The bee has the power of raising this honey from its stomach, in
the same manner that all ruminating animals raise the cud.
Some have contended that bees cause an injury to all kinds of fruit,
such as apples, peaches, plums, etc., by taking away the substance and
sweetness, in the form of honey, which otherwise would be absorbed, and
eaten with the fruit. This is a great mistake. The provisions of nature
are wise in this respect as in all others. There is the strongest
evidence to prove that honey, once secreted in the cups of the tiny
blossoms, never returns to the flower or fruit, but evaporates and
passes into the air. Who, in passing an apple or peach orchard in full
bloom, has not noticed the delicious fragrance; which is undoubtedly
honey which has evaporated from the myriads of blossoms. It is very
plain to the close observer that nature has placed in the cups of
flowers this honey, expressly as food for the honey bee, and that it is
in harmony with all her great and wonderful works.
CHAPTER XIV.
LOCATION OF HIVES.
IN locating your hives, place them on the south side of buildings, or a
close board fence facing south, south-east or south-west. If possible,
locate in the shade of some trees, where they Will be shaded from the
sun from nine o'clock in the forenoon until one in the afternoon, or a
little later. If no trees afford shade, arrange a roof over each hive,
which shall shade the entire hive, and especially the front, in the
summer season. But in spring and fall it is better to let the bees have
the full benefit of the sun's rays, shining directly upon the hive.
Construct a separate stand for each hive, as follows: Cut boards about
three feet long, and joists three by six inches square (two pieces of
the latter two feet long;) nail the ends of the boards to these pieces,
so as to form a stand, when placed on the ground, three feet long, two
feet wide and six inches high. This gives a free circulation of air
beneath the stand. Set your hive on this stand, the rear of the hive
even with the rear of the stand, which leaves the stand projecting a
foot or more in front, making an admirable place for the bees to alight
before entering the hive. Set your stands three feet apart, and make
them perfectly level before placing your hive upon them.
Place an alighting board in front of each hive. Get a board about
eighteen inches wide and two feet long. Nail on some cleats at each
end, to prevent warping. Rest one edge of this board on the ground,
the other edge on the end of the platform in front of the hive. By
this arrangement many bees will be saved in early spring which would
otherwise be lost. By the old plan of setting the hives two or three
feet high, with no alighting board, and a free draught of wind beneath,
the loss of bees was very great, especially in the early spring
months, on chilly afternoons following a very warm forenoon. The bees,
returning loaded with pollen, are unable to reach a hive placed so
high, and are blown to the earth by the hundreds, and becoming chilled,
die. The death of a few bees is a great loss in early spring, for they
are required in keeping up the animal heat in the hive to forward
breeding.
The location of bees as here recommended will be found greatly superior
to any other, for other reasons than those mentioned, and which are too
numerous to herein specify.
Every one who commences bee keeping should ever remember, that bees
always mark the location of their hives. The young bee the first time
it leaves the hive invariably does this. The same is true with all
swarms, in the first flight in early spring, after being dormant in the
hive through the winter months.
In marking the location, the bee comes from the hive, and at the
entrance rises on the wing. Turning its head toward the hive, it
recedes in circles, backward, at first describing a circle so small
as to be scarcely perceptible, but enlarging as the distance from the
hive is increased. They thus take into view all objects surrounding
the hive, so that they are able to return to their own hives without
difficulty. After one or two excursions begun in this manner, the
bee leaves the hive in a direct line for the fields, without taking
any further precaution whatever, and returns by its knowledge of the
objects in the vicinity of the hives, without difficulty.
Notwithstanding there might be a hundred hives standing in a line,
with only a few inches space between each, and all of the same color
and appearance, if left to itself no bee would enter the hive of its
neighbor, although there might be hundreds of thousands of the busy
workers, from all the hives, dying promiscuously about in the air.
Each bee knows its own hive perfectly, and if from any accident it
enters its neighbor's house, immediate death is usually the result;
or possibly it may escape, after being roughly handled, and made to
understand that it is trespassing on forbidden ground.
Some bee keepers, with little knowledge of their occupation, often
remove a hive of bees several rods, in the working season. The result
is, all the bees that had marked the location (and all the old bees
had done this) are lost. They would continue to leave the hive in a
direct line, after its removal, not taking the precaution to mark the
location, as they were unaware of the change, and when they were ready
to return, they would return to the former place.
Bees may be safely moved a dozen miles or more, at any time, as this
takes them beyond their knowledge of country; but in such cases set
the hives six feet apart at least. If this precaution is not taken and
the hives are set close together, the bees will rush from the hives
on being let out, not knowing the location has been changed, and when
they return, many will enter the wrong hive, and be slaughtered without
mercy.
Therefore, let stocks be placed, early in the spring, before they have
marked the situation of the stands they are to occupy for the summer,
and not change them after the bees have commenced their labors--at
least change them no less distance than twelve miles.
CHAPTER XV.
WINTERING BEES.
THE subject of wintering bees is of the greatest importance, and one
which is generally very imperfectly understood, if we may judge from
the large number of swarms lost every winter and spring. There are many
methods recommended as "the best" for wintering bees. One will tell
you to keep them cold; another to keep them warm. One will say, put
them in the cellar; another, bury them in the ground; another put them
in the attic. Is it any wonder that the beginner becomes confused and
disgusted at so much conflicting advice? That bees have been wintered
safely by any and all of these old plans I shall not dispute. But I am
certain that neither plan will, alone, prove successful in the majority
of cases.
By all the methods heretofore recommended, a large number of bees die
from each stock, during the winter; so reducing them in numbers that it
takes nearly the entire summer for them to regain in numbers what they
have lost; while a very large number of stocks are lost entirely.
It will be readily understood that the greater the number of bees in a
hive in early spring, the more warmth will be generated; consequently
the more rapidly will the brood mature and the bees increase in
numbers. It is of the greatest importance to have strong stocks in
early spring This is one of the strong points of the new system of
management, taught in this book.
In nearly all the hives now in use, there is no proper ventilation,
consequently the honey in such hives becomes sour, the comb mouldy,
and the bees diseased. It is impossible, in our variable climate, to
winter bees successfully, for any number of years, with any degree of
certainty, in the great majority of the ordinary hives.
Some, who have met with heavy losses in winter, have taken the ground
that the loss was caused by a poor quality of honey, stored by the bees
in a wet season, or a large yield late in the fall. But this is a great
mistake. Bees will not collect and store honey not suited to their use
as food; they make no mistakes on this point.
I might discuss in detail all the different methods of wintering bees,
and show the great losses attending each, with causes, etc., but by so
doing I should consume more space than I can give in this work. I shall
therefore confine my remarks to ordinary conditions of bees in winter,
and the requisites to insure uniform success in wintering.
In the winter bees cluster as closely together as circumstances admit,
and the severity of the cold demands. The more severe the cold, the
closer they cluster together, in order the better to keep up the animal
heat necessary to maintain life.
By all the old methods, the cluster of bees is divided by the sheets of
comb, which is a great hindrance to successful wintering. In such cases
the bees cannot cluster compactly together, but are spread out between
the different sheets of comb. In the Controllable Hive, and on the plan
of wintering here recommended, the bees in very cold weather cluster
in the space between the wire cloth of the ventilator and the top of
the frames of the brood section. They are here able to keep up the
required amount of animal heat, as they can cluster compactly, without
anything to separate them.
By the ordinary plan, in sudden turns of very cold weather, the bees
between the outer combs are often frozen to death. "Oh!" says some
one, "that's all humbug; you can't freeze a bee." Certainly you can.
To satisfy yourself of this, after a very cold turn of weather, look
under your box hives, if you have them, or any patent hive having a
loose bottom board to admit of an examination, and see if you do not
find hundreds of bees which have fallen dead from the outside combs.
I have examined hundreds of stocks, and found them as here described.
If you don't believe a bee will freeze, take out a dozen from a hive,
in a severely cold spell of weather in mid-winter, confine them in a
box, and set them out doors, letting them remain only one night. See if
they are not dead beyond resuscitation, the next morning. This notion
that bees will not freeze is a great mistake, and has led to some very
foolish experiments in wintering them.
A swarm of bees of average size, put in proper condition for winter,
will not freeze; but from this it does not follow that a bee is
proof against the greatest possible degree of cold. When bees are
prepared for winter, as herein directed, they will, as before stated,
cluster compactly together. And as the cold increases the cluster
will contract, in accordance with the increasing of the cold, and
consequently no loss of bees occur.
Another great cause of loss in winter is in proper ventilation, or
no ventilation at all. Every swarm of bees throws off a considerable
amount of moisture from their bodies. In very cold weather, if the
hive is not properly ventilated, this moisture collects on the combs
at the sides and top of the hives, in the form of frost and ice. In
moderate weather this frost and ice melts, and runs down into the
hive, completing saturating the bees, and then, if a sudden change to
extremely cold weather takes place, all are destroyed by freezing; or
if they chance to survive the winter, the moisture causes the combs
to mould, the honey becomes sour, and thin like water, rendering it
unsuitable food for the bee, and bringing on diseases--dysentery,
bee cholera, foul brood, etc., and in a short time the bees are all
destroyed. Thousands of good swarms are lost every winter by improper
management, and from being kept in hives not suitable for wintering. I
give directions for wintering on my plan, in Controllable Hives, and I
feel confident, if directions are carefully followed, that many stocks
will be saved annually, which otherwise would have perished.
How to Winter Bees in Controllable Hives.
Bees are wintered in Controllable Hives on their summer stands, by my
plan, without loss, by maintaining an even temperature in the brood
section, and disposing of all moisture or perspiration thrown off
by the bees in cold weather. I have never lost a swarm of bees in
Controllable Hives in the winter. I attempt to winter none, except
strong, healthy stocks. I have no mouldy combs, no sour honey. The
combs are kept perfectly dry, and the hives in a healthy condition. I
do not lose a teacupful of bees, on the average, from each of my hives
during the winter.
To winter in Controllable Hives, prepare as follows: At the
commencement of steady cold weather, which, in the New England States,
is usually near the close of November, put the bees in condition to
winter by entirely closing the upper entrance to the hive, and the
lower one shut up about one-half.[11] Take out the box frames at the
sides of the brood section, and put the movable partitions in place.
Remove the boxes and feeder, or honey board, (whichever is in place)
from over the brood section. Place the ventilator (described elsewhere)
over the brood section, so the lower edge of the ventilator, at the
sides, will rest on the upper edges of the movable partitions, on
each side of the brood section. Pack the sides of the hive (that part
occupied by the side boxes in summer,) closely with very line hay or
straw. Pack the cap as full of the same matter as it can be crowded.
Then put the thickness of one or two inches over the ventilator,
filling up evenly, so when the cap is placed ever the upper part, the
cap and sides will be compactly filled. There must be no spaces left
unfilled, the object being to secure an even temperature in the brood
section, and absorb all moisture thrown off by the bees; and to do this
successfully, the cap and sides must be closely packed throughout.
When you have the cap and sides well packed, replace the cap, and the
work is done. Shade the front of the hives during the winter months.
No matter if the snow drifts over the hive so as to completely bury it
from sight, let it remain;--your bees are safe.
[Footnote 11: To secure a slight upward draught of air, to carry off
the moisture arising from the bees, make a hole a half-inch in diameter
in front and rear of the cap, in the center, close to the top or roof
boards. (And here let me say, the roof boards, or boards covering the
cap, should project about an inch, as they can be more firmly nailed,
and make better joints; for driving rains must not be allowed to
penetrate to the inside of the hive.) The inside of each hole should be
covered with wire cloth, to keep out insects, etc.]
A neighbor of mine had fifteen stocks in Controllable Hives completely
buried in snow over six feet deep, and the crust formed over them
so it would bear a horse. They remained under the snow from January
until April, when they thawed out, and every stock was found to be in
first-class order.
When there is only a small quantity of snow about the hive, say only
enough to cover the lower entrance, and there should come a very warm
spell of weather, which would bring the bees out, be sure to clear
away the snow so they need not be kept back by it. But it will take an
exceedingly warm day in winter to rouse the bees from their dormant
state in the Controllable Hive, and bring them out for a turn in the
open air. If the air is warm enough to induce them to come out, it
is always warm enough for them to fly briskly. In this respect there
is a great contrast between my hive and others. With other hives, an
hour's warm sun will bring out the bees in winter, when the air is
cold, and the consequence is, they fall into the snow and perish by
hundreds. In this way stocks are often reduced in numbers until all
are lost. The dysentery generally attacks such stocks (brought on by
the sudden changes in temperature in the hive.) and hastens their
destruction, by causing them to leave the hive, when they would not
do so if in a healthy condition. Bees, when wintered in Controllable
Hives as directed, will come out in the spring, strong in numbers, and
in a healthy condition--in great contrast to the weak and diseased
stocks which have been wintered in the ordinary manner. I have perfect
confidence in the method of wintering here recommended, for I have
had it in practical use for many years, and have never lost a stock,
notwithstanding some winters have been very destructive to bees in
this section, some, who practice the old methods, losing their entire
stocks. I learn from my correspondents in all parts of the United
States that there is great loss of bees in winter; so great in fact as
to discourage many from attempting to engage in apiculture.
My plan of wintering is very simple, and commends itself to every
intelligent person. In a few words it may be expressed thus: The
brood section is secured against the effects of sudden changes in the
weather, (this keeps the bees dormant throughout the winter season,
which is as nature designed,) and provides for the absorption of all
moisture and perspiration arising from the bees, white in a dormant
slate. These two points are the foundation of successful wintering.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XVI.
TRANSFERRING BEES.
AS some of my readers may have bees in ordinary hives, which they would
like to transfer to the Controllable Hive, I will devote a chapter to
Transferring.
If you have bees in a box or patent hive, or any of the thousand and
one bee hive humbugs, which are of little or no profit, and cause you
much trouble and perplexity in swarming time, and frequent and heavy
losses in winter, you can move them into Controllable Hives--comb,
honey and bees together--and manage them on the plan here recommended,
and they will winter well, come out strong and healthy in the spring,
and cause comparatively no trouble in swarming time, yielding you a
good profit yearly.
The best time to transfer is as early in spring as the weather becomes
warm enough to keep the bees active every day, which, in the New
England States, is usually in April. It is a good time to transfer
about twenty-four days after the first swarm issues from a stock, as at
that time there is but little brood, and usually but few bees. October
is a very good time to transfer, but not as good as either of the times
before mentioned. Great care is required to prevent robbing, and also
to have the comb frames all filled with combs, and in good position for
the bees to winter. As cold weather is so close at hand, the bees will
have but little time to arrange for winter.
In transferring, construct the Controllable Hive as directed, with
exception of the comb frames, from which leave off the triangular
piece, as the comb can be better fitted to a flat surface. Make several
holes one-fourth inch in diameter through the top, bottom and ends of
frames, and a like number of sharp wooden pins about two inches long to
fit these holes.
Early in the morning, before the bees begin to fly, prepare your
smoker, go to the hive you propose to transfer, and before you touch
it, smoke the bees at the entrances moderately, giving them two or
three puffs, waiting about a minute and giving them two or three
more. Then stop the entrances, so no bees can escape. Take the hive
from the stand and carry it to some out-building, so the bees from
the other hives will not trouble you, and get a taste of the honey,
thereby inciting them to robbery. Turn the hive bottom up, and with
two sticks, each about a half-inch in diameter and twelve inches
long, strike the hive lightly half a dozen times, and then wait for
two or three minutes. Then with the sticks on each side of the hive
drum briskly (but lightly, so not to break the comb,) for about five
minutes. Then puff smoke under the bottom board on all sides. Much
of this preliminary work is for the purpose of confusing the bees,
and inducing them to fill themselves with honey from the cells of the
hive, as a bee gorged with honey will never volunteer an attack for
the purpose of stinging. The bees are now ready to be transferred. You
will need some one to assist you, and it will be necessary for you to
put on your articles of protection, and keep your smoker in readiness
for use, as occasionally a swarm is bard to subdue, though the great
majority of them are perfectly docile after the treatment recommended.
But we are to "beard the lion in his den," and to be forewarned is to
be forearmed.
The bees usually manifest their submission by a loud humming noise.
If after you commence operations (before you get the side of the hive
off) they show a disposition to be cross, replace the bottom board,
close the entrances, if open, and give the insects a good smoking, at
the entrances, and by raising the bottom board enough to introduce
the smoke; give them the smoke freely for several minutes. Then again
remove the bottom board. (These directions apply to the common box
hive. If hives of a different pattern are operated upon, vary the
operation to conform to the requirements of the case, applying the same
principles.) Then with a chisel and hammer remove one side of the hive
(the side to which the bees have attached the least comb,) and with a
thin, sharp table-knife, cut the edges of the comb from the sides of
the hive. It is well to have a table or stand near by, with a cloth
folded in several thicknesses, on which to lay the sheets of comb with
the bees adhering, if necessary. The cloth prevents crushing. Cut out
a comb from the hive with the bees adhering, and cut off the edges, if
required, so it will fit the new frame closely at the top and bottom.
No matter if it does not go the whole length of the frame from front
to rear, as the bees will finish it.[12] Have the comb occupy the same
position, relatively, in the new hive, that it did in the old. When the
comb is in place in the frame, secure it by putting the wooden pins
through the holes in the frames into the combs, and having fastened it
firmly in place by means of the pins, place it in the Controllable Hive
in its proper position.
[Footnote 12: But very few hives are large enough for their combs to
fill the movable comb frames of the Controllable Hive.]
Tims proceed, till all the frames of the Controllable Hive are filled,
or the comb in the old hive is exhausted. In transferring, very old,
black combs should be discarded even if you do not have your new hive
more than half full. Get all the bees, it possible, in the new hive,
and when you set it on the stand, close the lower entrance entirely,
and let the upper one remain only one-half open, for a few days, until
the bees get well located in their new home. Be careful not to crush
any of the bees, and take special care not to injure the queen.
As you will probably complete the operation of transferring at about
the time that bees will be flying briskly about the other hives, it
will be better to put wire cloth over the entrances, to confine the
bees you have transferred, and let them remain in the out-building
until about an hour before sunset; then set them on the stand and give
them their liberty. Keeping them shut up for the time named, gives them
a chance to take up the honey which runs from the transferred combs,
and which might, if the bees were carried immediately to the stand,
incite robbing.
Transferring is by no means so formidable an operation as at first
appears. I have transferred a very large number of swarms from the old
box hives, without any protection for hands or face, and now the bees
seldom show any disposition to sting. Yet I would advise beginners
to protect themselves, until by practice they become familiar with
the work. "Practice makes perfect" is an old and true saying, and it
applies to all operations with bees, I assure you. In my first attempts
at this work I thought I must be protected, and I would not for the
world proceed without a protector, and that of the most invulnerable
kind. Now, having had much practice, I feel no necessity for any
covering whatever. I trust I have made my method of transferring
perfectly plain, so that every one who wishes may avail themselves of
its advantages.
CHAPTER XVII.
ITALIAN BEES.
THE Italian Bee is a native of the Alps, and was first imported to this
country about the year 1860. The Italian being a native of mountainous
regions and a high latitude, they were reported to be extremely hardy
and vigorous. Those who were first to obtain them, were unanimous in
their praise of the Italian bee, and fully agreed that it was superior
to our native or black bee in very many respects. The good reputation
which preceded the introduction of the bee to this country, by time and
experience in their care, has been fully vindicated.
The pure Italian bees are superior to the natives in the following
characteristics: They are more hardy and vigorous, withstanding our
severe winters, with ordinary care, better than the natives; they are
more industrious than the native bee, being very active in storing
honey in cool, windy, or cloudy weather, such as keeps the native bees
quiet in the hives.
The pure Italian, being larger and more vigorous than the natives, go
greater distances to collect honey, and as they are larger, they carry
more at a time, and being swifter of flight than the natives, they go
the same distance in much quicker time. Then, too, the pure Italian bee
is very beautiful, nearly the entire body being of a golden color, so
that some of its admirers have given it the name of "golden bee." It is
very mild in disposition, seldom offering to sting unless unreasonably
irritated. They show great activity in protecting their hives from the
bee moth, even when weak in numbers. They also show the same trait in
defending their stores from the attacks of robber bees. When the native
bees have come buzzing around a hive of Italians in search of plunder,
I have seen an Italian dart from the hive like a bullet, and seizing a
native, while on the wing, bear him to earth and dispatch him with a
sting. This feat I never saw a native bee accomplish. Being larger than
the natives they are able to reach the honey in the red clover, and
many other flowers not accessible to our common bees, which makes an
essential difference in the amount of honey collected.
Rev. L. L. Langstroth says of the Italian bees: "They gather more than
twice as much honey in the same localities, in the same time, as the
swarms of native bees."
I consider the pure Italian Bee a valuable and very desirable
acquisition. I have furnished several of my lady friends with full
colonies of them in Controllable Hives, and they have expressed
themselves as very much pleased with their gentle disposition and great
beauty.
I think the points of superiority here designated will be found in the
pure Italian bee. Very many, who have purchased bees purporting to be
Italians, have been grossly deceived, having received simply a native
swarm of bees, the queen of which, a pure native, had been impregnated
by a drone having a slight tinge of Italian blood; such stock was but
very little, if any, better than a pure native swarm.
I find I can make an improvement, even in the pure Italian stock, by
selecting queens for rearing to supply my full stocks and with eggs
and drones, from such stocks as show the superior characteristics in
the fullest degree. This course persevered in for a term of years will
show marked results in the improvement of the desirable points of
superiority found in the Italian bee.
I take great pride in my Italian bees. I believe they are as beautiful
specimens of this variety as it is possible to produce, and possessing
the characteristics of superiority of the Italians in the fullest
degree. The points which I strive to cultivate and develop fully,
are: Industry, mildness of disposition, beauty of color, vigor of
constitution, etc.
I have here given in brief my views of the Italian bee, as I receive
many letters of enquiry in regard to them. I base my statements on
practical experience. I would advise all who wish to procure the
Italian bees, to exercise great care in selecting them, and purchase
only of those who are known to have pure stocks, for the best is the
cheapest in the end, no matter if the first cost seems high. If the
worth of the money is in the bees, the higher the price paid, the
better you will be satisfied. But do not pay even a low price for
inferior stock, for you will not be satisfied.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Controllable Hive. Fig. I.]
CHAPTER XVIII.
CONSTRUCTION OF CONTROLLABLE HIVES.
ON the opposite page is given Figure I. of a perspective view of the
Controllable Bee Hive, with the measurements of its exterior parts.
The body of the hive is made in two parts, A and B. The lower edges of
the upper part B rest upon the cleats C, attached to the outside of
the lower part of A, near its upper edge--as will be seen by reference
to Figures I. and II. The middle board D of the bottom is loose, and
is held in place by hooks E. The middle board F, at the sides of the
lower part A, are loose, hinged at their lower edges, and are held in
place when closed by the buttons G. In front of the lower part A, near
both its lower and upper edges, are formed slots, or bee passages, H.
The lower part A is divided longitudinally into three compartments by
two movable partitions. The side compartments are designed to receive
the honey boxes J; and the center compartment forms the brood section.
To the inner surfaces of the front and rear walls of the brood section
are attached boards, forming a double thickness, to secure a more even
temperature, keeping out the heat in summer and the cold in winter.
The grain of the inner board runs crosswise of the outer one to
prevent warping. The upper edges of the inner boards are rebated out
five-eighths inch square inside, to receive the ends of the comb frames
of the brood section.
[Illustration: Controllable Hive. Fig. II.]
Figure II. is a perspective view of the Controllable Hive, with the
upper part of the case removed, showing the position of the glass honey
boxes at the top, with the feeder T in the rear, and also showing the
position of the side boxes J, in the large frame O. as shown more
clearly in Figure III. The inner ends of the side boxes J, next to the
brood section, are formed of boards C, narrower than the boxes, leaving
side spaces, to allow the bees to pass in and out freely from the brood
section to the side boxes. When top boxes and feeder are not on, a
board called a honey board is placed over the brood section, fitting
very closely, so as to confine the heat, generated by the bees, to the
brood section. In winter the brood section is covered by a ventilator
made as follows: Take a piece of fine board one-half inch thick. Get
out two pieces, each one inch wide and twenty-two and three-eighths
inches long, and two pieces of same width each ten inches long. Nail
the short pieces on to the ends of the long pieces, forming a frame
nine inches wide by twenty-two and three-eighths inches long, inside
measurement. Over this frame tack a piece of wire cloth twenty-three
and three-eighths inches long, by ten inches wide, of a very fine mesh.
This frame will just fit over the brood section, and give a space
between the wire cloth and the top of the comb frames of about one and
three-eighths inches. Tack the wire cloth on closely, so no bees can
escape when the ventilator is in place. This ventilator is to be used
only in winter, as directed under the chapter on Wintering.
Figure III., on next page, is a perspective view of a set of side
surplus honey boxes and their inclosing frame, with measurements of the
different parts.
[Illustration: Side Surplus Honey Boxes. Fig. III.]
The brood section of the hive is twenty and one-half inches long, nine
inches wide and twelve inches deep, inside measurement. The brood
section contains six movable comb frames, resting on rebatings, and
held at the proper distance apart at the bottom by a brace. The only
plate where these frames touch the hive, is where the top bar of the
comb frames rests on the rebating at the ends. To the top bar of each
comb frame (on the under side) is nailed a triangular comb guide to aid
in securing straight combs. Each side of the triangle is one inch wide.
A piece of board one inch wide and three-eighths inch thick is laid on
top of the comb frames lengthwise in the centre on this piece. The ends
of the top boxes rest in the center where they come together. Notches
are cut on the underside, crosswise, to admit of the passage of the
bees.[13]
[Footnote 13: I have exercised great care, and incurred considerable
expense, in giving drawings with measurements and directions for
constructing Controllable Hives, glass boxes, etc., that such of my
readers as wish may be able to construct the hives and manage bees
according to the new system as taught in this work. I have no time or
desire to establish a business in the manufacture of hives, but if any
of my readers want a full sized Controllable Hive, ready for a swarm
of bees, the better to enable them to make the Controllable Hive, I
will furnish them. Price eight dollars. In no case will I furnish more
than one to the same address. The hive is not patent, so any one can
manufacture and use as many as they wish. They can make them at their
home, especially in the winter season, much cheaper than I can furnish
them.]
In the construction of hives use the best dry pine lumber, free from
Haws or cracks, and put on a good coat of paint to protect from the
weather. As the hives are to remain in the open air the year round, the
best of lumber is required, and that to be well protected with a heavy
coat of the most durable paint. Make close-fitting joints and nail
thoroughly.
These hives, if properly constructed of sound lumber, will last many
years. I have had the same hive on one stand incessantly for six years,
and at the end of that time it is as good, to all appearances, as when
first put there.
All who desire to construct Controllable Hives, and adopt the plan of
bee management recommended in this book, can do so freely, as there is
no patent on the hive, or any of its parts or fixtures.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER XIX.
MONTHLY DUTIES.
THE successful management and care of bees requires forethought and
preparation for all labor and care bestowed upon them, if we desire to
bestow it at the proper time, and in the most judicious manner. I have
in this chapter given only brief hints as to the work to be performed.
Such of my readers as are located in a climate essentially differing
from that of the New England States, will perceive the necessity of
varying their management to correspond with the difference in climate,
etc.
I shall repeat some of the statements already made, in order to impress
them more thoroughly upon the bee keeper. The object of this chapter
is to bring to the mind of the bee keeper the more important duties
required in the successful use of the system recommended in this work.
JANUARY.
We will commence with January as it is the first month in the year.
In this month construct hives, glass honey boxes, etc. Give the new
hives a good coat of paint. They will last longer, and as they are to
remain out of doors the year around, it is very essential that they be
preserved against the weather. A good, heavy coat of paint, spread over
good lumber, will prevent cracking and warping. Employ the time, in
this month of comparative leisure, in getting everything in readiness
for the approaching honey season.
FEBRUARY.
February like January is not a busy month with bees in the Northern
States, neither do they require much care. If not finished last month,
continue the work of January by making hives, glass honey boxes, and
all fixtures required in the management of the bees in the coming
season. In some sections bees will fly briskly the last of the month.
Clear away the snow from the foot of the hives at that time. Set out
meal feed for the bees, provided they fly briskly.
MARCH.
At the commencement of this month, clear the snow away from the front
of hives; raise the hives up on blocks at the corners, remove the
bottom board under the brood section, and brush out all accumulations,
which might invite the bee moth to deposit her eggs, if suffered to
remain through the summer. This accomplished, set the hive back in its
place. The first day that the bees fly, set out the meal as heretofore
directed. Commence to feed liquid feed as early as the bees will take
it. Feed regularly every day, or every other day, at evening. When you
commence to feed, remove the packing from the cap, and also take off
the ventilator. The space over the comb frames not covered with the
feeder, cover with a small honey board. Let the packing remain at the
sides until you have put on the side boxes, or until some time in May,
as it keeps the brood chamber warm, which is essential in forwarding
breeding. Open a small portion of the upper entrance (about one-third)
and keep the passage open at the bottom, the same as during the winter.
APRIL.
Early in April--the first warm, sunny day--examine your stocks, and
see if they have fertile, laying queens. If the queen is all right,
there will be eggs and brood in the brood cells. Don't keep the hives
open any longer than is necessary, as the cold air might chill the
brood. At this time, if some stocks have a large amount of honey in
the combs of the brood section, exchange such with some stock that
has but little; as it is a disadvantage to have too-much sealed honey
in the brood combs in the spring. It sometimes happens that all the
brood combs will be filled with sealed honey nearly down to the bottom,
leaving but a very small place en two or three combs near the bottom
for breeding purposes. In such cases, take out two or three combs, and
exchange with other stocks having empty combs, leaving in each such as
have brood and eggs, in every stock. Don't take out any bees. In this
manner equalize your stocks, and all will be benefited. If any stocks
are found queenless, or with diseased or worthless queens, take means
to furnish them with a fertile, laying queen, as soon as possible. In
the meantime, keep the entrances to such hives contracted very small,
so but very few bees can pass at one time, to prevent attacks from
robbers. Queenless stocks, or those which have diseased or drone-laying
queens, will not resist an attack from robber bees with as much vigor
as a stock having a fertile and prolific queen.
MAY.
If surplus honey is your object the coming season, early in this month
put on the boxes at the sides, and the last of the month, or as soon as
the bees commence work in the side boxes, remove the small honey board
over the brood section, and put on the top boxes, except at the place
occupied by the feeder. It may be well to feed liberally for about ten
days before fruit blossoms appear, in order to get the bees at work
in the boxes. You can judge what is best. If the stocks are backward
in breeding, the comb not filled with eggs and brood in nearly every
part, it will be best to defer liberal feeding until a little later.
You should have had the brood combs filled with brood and eggs, before
liberal feeding is begun, else the bees will fill with honey what
should be filled with eggs and brood; and thus the number of bees will
be reduced from what there would be if the queen deposited eggs in all
the cells. You want all the bees possible to gather the honey harvest
of June, July, August and September.
If you want swarms, don't put on any boxes.
About the time fruit blossoms appear, or a little before, open both
entrances to their full extent, in all strong and healthy stocks.
JUNE.
This is the month for swarms. It is also the month, in most localities,
when the best quality of box honey is, collected. If you have arranged
for swarms to appear this month, have everything in readiness for
them. If you are arranging for surplus honey, remove the boxes as fast
as filled, and replace with empty ones. Hive the swarms as soon as
clustered. Be sure not to let them remain in the hot sun for any length
of time. Have your hives all ready. This month is a good time to rear
queens in the miniature hives. Keep the grass and weeds about the hives
cut down. They harbor the moth miller, when suffered to grow about the
hives.
JULY.
Continue to take off boxes as fast as filled. Keep a sharp lookout
that the moth worms do not get in and injure the honey in the boxes
which you have removed. If the supply of honey fails when the boxes are
only partially filled, feed the bees liberally, until the boxes are
finished. Do this as soon as honey fails, as the bees will store faster
in boxes if fed as soon as the natural supply of honey ceases. It will
be well to put on a few boxes--say, one side to each new swarm which
has been hived early; and also on old stocks that swarmed early. Put
the boxes on one side first; then if the bees go to work in them, put
in the other side.
AUGUST.
If you have a market near home, the surplus honey in glass boxes will
sell very well the last of this month, before honey is brought from
away; but if you are to ship a great distance, the weather will be too
warm in this month. Keep a close watch that the boxes you have taken
off do rot get wormy. Eternal vigilance is the price of success.
Keep boxes on your hives through this month and next, for surplus
honey. Keep down the grass and weeds about the hives.
SEPTEMBER.
In some localities September gives a very good yield of honey. I
recollect one season in particular, since I adopted my present system
of bee management, when the yield of box honey in September was very
remarkable. Some of my hives of bees filled their full set of boxes
almost entirely in a few days. I think that it was in considerably less
than two weeks, that they finished them up, and they had only a light
start--a few small pieces of comb in some of the boxes, and in the
others none at all.
Feed at the last of this month, to complete all partially filled boxes,
and at the very last of the month, or first of October, feed such
swarms as may be deficient of stores for winter, if you prefer to do
this rather than to equalize by exchange of comb frames, as directed
in another place. If you decide to thus equalize, do it the last of
October or the first of November.
OCTOBER.
At the commencement of this month, continue to feed such stocks, if
any, as are short of honey, yet are supplied with a good amount of comb
in which to store honey. As the yield of honey from flowers closes
this month, at its end remove all boxes from the hives. Such as are
partially filled with comb or honey may be set in a cold, dry place,
and remain for use another year. If placed where they will freeze, and
then sealed up carefully, so the moth miller cannot get in, they will
be in good condition when wanted next season. Boxes that have comb
about a third full or even less, are finished very quickly by the bees.
Be sure to keep all such boxes for the next season. You probably have
a few queens in your miniature hives. Look over your stocks, and if
any are found queenless, or with diseased queens, give them a new and
prolific one.
NOVEMBER.
The first of November, if not already done, exchange comb frames, from
stocks deficient in stores to winter, with such as can spare a frame
of honey. Do this until all have stores sufficient for winter. Twenty
pounds of honey will render them safe until you begin to feed in the
spring. From the middle to the last of November is usually the time to
prepare the hives for winter, by packing with hay or straw, as directed
in another place. This should not be done until a few days before
steady cold weather sets in. Care should be exercised not to put it off
until it is too cold; neither should it be done too early. Be sure to
pack thoroughly. Success in wintering depends in a great degree upon
thorough work in packing the hives.
DECEMBER.
In this month procure your lumber and all material for making hives,
boxes, etc., to be worked up during the winter. If there are small
villages or large cities near by, you will find this month a good time
to market your honey, if you have any on hand. With a little effort,
you can have ready customers for your goods, or at least a portion of
it. Honey in glass boxes is in such nice shape, that any one who likes
a fine article, will pay a liberal price for it, after they have once
tested its quality. In a few years you will have established a trade
with ready customers, near home, at remunerative prices.
CHAPTER XX.
CONCLUSION.
WE often hear this question asked: "Are bees Profitable?" and the
replies given are various, contradictory and amusing, varying in
accordance with the honesty, experience, skill and success of the bee
keeper. Such as have attempted bee keeping with the old fashioned
square box hives, under the old system of management based on fire and
brimstone, will say there is no profit in bees, and that you must not
molest them at all; if you do, "they will run out, and you will loose
your luck."
There is another class, who have adopted all the extravagant fancies of
the patent bee hive venders, paying large sums of money for hives worse
than useless, with what are claimed to be patent fixtures--expecting
a sudden fortune as the result, and found the whole thing a fraud.
Perhaps they have been duped in this way a half-dozen times or more,
and always with the same result. This class will tell you emphatically,
that everything pertaining to bees is a humbug and a cheat--no money in
them, etc.
In presenting the statements made in this work, I am not blinded nor
influenced by any selfish motive, in condemning or recommending any one
system of bee management or hive. I only wish to present facts, and
do what little I can to make bee keeping safe and profitable to all
who engage in it. There is much written on the subject of bees--their
habits and management, construction of hives, etc., which is mere
guess-work. A great deal is written, too, for no other than selfish
or prejudiced motives. What is wanted is practical instruction on the
subject--such instruction and statements as are based on experience,
and will stand the test of application, when brought into active,
every-day use.
The real, practical experience of the bee keeper, who has devoted
many years to the work, and will tell what has come under his or her
personal observation, is worth much more than the finest spun theory
of the most learned and talented theorist; or in other words, mere
conjecture is a poor and uncertain guide in bee keeping. It is an old
but true saying that "Practice makes Perfect." In no business will this
saying apply more closely or with greater force than to bee keeping.
That bees are profitable when rightly managed, I think I have shown in
this little work; and that they can be of no profit, as often managed,
I think is equally made clear.
The natural habits of bees have not been sufficiently understood, by
the majority of bee keepers. This has rendered them an easy prey to
the many speculators in bee hives of peculiar shape and construction,
who are constantly urging their claims to possessing great knowledge
of bees, when perhaps they never saw a bee; and care not one straw
for the advancement of successful bee culture. I find, with the great
majority of hives now in use, there are many obstacles to successful
and profitable bee keeping. There is too little room for storing box
honey in them. Boxes are often difficult of access to the bees, so that
they manifest much reluctance about entering them, often clustering
on the outside of the hive through the honey season, when they should
be at work in the boxes. Then, too, the boxes are usually too large,
which renders the honey unsalable. Honey in large boxes often contains
cells of brood, and bee bread, or pollen, interspersed among the honey
cells, which are a great damage to it, rendering it very unsalable.
Glass boxes, each holding about four and one-half pounds, is the proper
size. A swarm of bees in a hive with thirty of these boxes, judiciously
arranged, will fill them nearly as quickly as they would half the
number, as the bees have ample room to work without crowding.
There are a vast number of bee keepers who now have bees which are of
no profit to them, but instead are only a perplexity and trouble. If
such would manage their bees on correct and scientific principles, in
accordance with their natural habits and instincts, with judicious care
and attention bestowed at the right time, and in the proper manner,
using a hive constructed in accordance with those principles, they
would be surprised at the results which would follow.
To succeed with bees, we should recollect that personal experience is
the best guide; and next to this is the instruction of those engaged in
the business, who prove by the results which follow their management,
that they make bee culture profitable. In commencing bee keeping, if
you purchase bees, use great care in doing so. Buy none but strong,
healthy stocks. If you purchase in box hives or patent hives, you will
be very likely, if not acquainted with bees, or unless purchasing of
some reliable person, to get diseased stocks; and again, a person who
keeps bees by the ordinary methods, is very likely to have diseased
stocks which he thinks are all right. So, great care is necessary in
buying your outfit to commence bee keeping. Diseased stocks are dear at
any price. You want the very best to start with, if you can possibly
get them. Be sure to get such stocks as have young queens, for if the
stock has a queen four years old or more, (and they are likely to be
that old in box or patent hives, under ordinary management,) such a
queen is liable to fail at any time, and loss of the stock follows.
In commencing to keep bees, if possible start with good, strong,
healthy stocks, in the right kind of a hive; then you will have no
difficulty in changing them. But if this cannot possibly be done,
be sure to start with strong, healthy stocks. If you must take
second-class hives, of this class the plain movable comb and box hives
are best. But be sure to let the patent hives entirely alone; they are
a curse to the bee-keeper. If you get your bees in second-class hives,
transfer them to Controllable Hives, or as fast as they swarm put them
in Controllable Hives. In this way you will soon have your bees in
shape to pay you a good profit.
When you begin keeping bees, study closely their natural habits and
requirements. Give them such care and attention as your judgement and
present knowledge teaches they require. Persevere, and ultimate success
is certain.
Every one who attains success with bees, will find that there is
something more to be done, than simply to stand with folded hands,
with the expectation that a fortune must inevitably follow. Know the
precise condition of your bees at all times--whether they are weak or
strong, whether they are without a queen, or whether the queen has
become so old as to have passed her usefulness. After a period of
years, queens become barren, and unless they are removed, and a young
queen substituted, the bees will rapidly decline in numbers, and all
disappear from the hive in a few weeks or months.
It cannot be too strongly urged upon the beginner, this great necessity
of securing strong, healthy stocks to begin with; and if possible, get
them in the Controllable Hives. All who do not fully understand the
management and nature of bees would save themselves much trouble and
perplexity, by procuring, to begin with, one or more healthy colonics
in the Controllable Hive. Your chances of success in the end, and your
profits of the first season, are greater from one swarm in this hive,
than from six in second-class hives. If you purchase bees in inferior
hives, you will need to exercise great care that they are not diseased.
There is not one box or patent hive in fifty (as ordinarily managed)
but that is deceased. They are either badly infested with the bee moth,
have old, mouldy black combs, an old and diseased queen, or are in some
way diseased. No matter how low the price paid for such stocks, they
will be found expensive. Be sure to get none but the best to commence
with; they are the cheapest in the end.
I might illustrate this with many cases that have come under my
observation. One or two I will mention: A gentlemen in Connecticut
ordered of me a swarm of Italian bees in the Controllable Hive, in the
spring of 1880, for which he paid me twenty dollars. He wrote me in
June that they were doing finely, and that he never saw bees work so
well--they were at work in all the boxes, some of them being nearly
filled with honey, and all the combs being filled with bees at work
storing; and from appearances he should get a large amount of surplus
box honey from them.
Another gentleman wrote me, almost the same time, asking my price for a
swarm of Italian bees, and when informed that it was twenty dollars, he
wrote me that as he could get the Italian bees nearer his home for ten
dollars, he would not order of me, but would invest his twenty dollars
and get two swarms instead of one. He has since written me that one of
the swarms for which he paid ten dollars he has lost outright, leaving
him only a mass of moth worms in old and mouldy black combs. The other
has proved to be queenless, and has caused him more trouble and
perplexity than it is worth, to say the least. There is now not over a
pint of bees in the hive, but he has put in a queen and hopes to save
them from total loss.
I know of another case where a gentleman bought six swarms of bees in
box hives. They were very heavy and he thought of course they were all
right. He knew nothing of the diseases of bees, and supposed if they
were heavy, and had honey enough, that was all that was necessary.
He bought them in the fall at a very low price, and was much elated
over his purchase. Five of the six swarms died during the winter, and
the remaining one came out in the spring so weak as to be no profit
whatever the next season; and the next winter that also died.
It is an established fact that to succeed well with bees they must be
kept in hives suited to their habits and requirements, and with the
view of rendering them profitable. Such is the Controllable Hive. And
they must be managed on principles in accordance with nature's laws,
and the instincts and habits of the honey bee. Such is the new system
recommended in this book--Bee Keeping Reduced to a Science; no "luck,"
no "guess-work," no "chance" about it.
Trusting that this little work may be the means of greatly increasing
the profits of bees, I bring it to a close.
[Illustration]
* * * * *
Transcriber Note
Minor typos have been corrected. The upper corner of pages 85 and 86
(back-to-back pages) was torn off. The missing text was obtained from
another copy of the publication. The cover images were compiled from
images made available by the Internet Archive and placed in the Public
Domain.
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