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Title: The Apiary; or, Bees, bee-hives, and bee culture (1878): being a familiar account of the habits of bees, and the most improved methods of management, with full directions, adapted for the cottager, farmer, or scientific apiarian
Author: Neighbor, Alfred
Language: English
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BEE-HIVES, AND BEE CULTURE (1878) ***
Transcriber Note
Text emphasis denoted by _Italics_ and =Bold=.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
_From_ The Journal of Horticulture, February 28, 1865.
Mr. Neighbour says in his preface: "We are so frequently applied to
for advice oil matters connected with bees and bee-hives, that it
seemed likely to prove a great advantage to our correspondents and
ourselves if we could point to a 'handy book' of our own which should
contain full and detailed replies sufficient to meet all ordinary
inquiries." Keeping this object steadily in view, the writer describes
the various hive's and apiarian apparatus manufactured by his firm,
pointing out the various advantages claimed for them, and giving ample
directions for their use. When we add that the author expresses his
acknowledgments to Mr. Woodbury, Mr. Taylor, the illustrious Huber and
Mr. Langstroth, it may readily be imagined that the information derived
from such sources must in the main be correct, and that Mr. Neighbour,
in addition to the strictly business portion of his work, has been
enabled to impart to his readers a very considerable amount of sound
instruction on most points of Apiarian management.
_From_ The Journal of Horticulture, May 29, 1866.
Mr. Neighbour's book, the first edition of which was noticed by us
in February 1865, now makes its appearance in a new guise, being
reduced from demy 8vo. to crown 8vo., whilst the number of its pages
is increased from 134 to 274, with but a slight increase in price. In
addition to a description of the various hives and apiarian apparatus
sold by the well-known firm of which the author is a member, it
contains a considerable amount of generally accurate information
compiled from the best authorities; Mr. Woodbury's contributions to our
pages being in particular heavily drawn upon.
A new feature in this edition is a couple of steel plates illustrative
of the anatomy of the bee, engraved by Mr. E. W. Robinson with his
customary ability; embracing also coloured delineations of the three
sexes of the Ligurian or Italian variety of honey-bee. . . .
Mr. Neighbour possesses a very great advantage over a mere compiler,
in that he himself is a practical bee-keeper, and divers anecdotes of
his experiences are related by him in a light and amusing manner. For
this reason also the information conveyed in his pages is, as we have
already stated, very generally correct.
Athenæum, August 19, 1865.
Emanating from a house so well known and so extensively patronized by
the cultivators of bees, it will readily be concluded that the object
of the present work is primarily commercial. The author, a member
of the firm, in giving the reason for the publication of his book,
speaks in the name of the company. "We are," he says, "so frequently
applied to for advice on matters connected with bees and bee-hives,
that it seemed likely to prove a great advantage, alike to our
correspondents and _ourselves_, if we could point to a 'handy-book' of
our own, which should contain full and detailed replies sufficient to
meet all reasonable inquiries." This is candid and open, and stands
in favourable contrast to the ordinary puffing books which aim to
conceal under the aspect often of a scientific treatise the boasting
advertisement of their own wares. It is but justice to the respectable
house from which the present little treatise issues to say that it
fulfils its public object, presenting one of the most useful practical
treatises on this most interesting pursuit which we have met with. It
does not profess to enter deeply into the physiological marvels of
the habits of bees; it is, in fact, meagre in the scientific phase of
the subject. The various theories concerning the propagation of bees
are nowhere discussed,[1] and the hypothesis of Siebold is not even
alluded to.[1] But for those persons who desire to know how to procure
good honey with certainty, and how to watch in safety the working of
these little untaught but unerring mathematicians, the work of Mr.
Neighbour will be found very useful. It also informs us where the best
hives of every kind and form are to be obtained--of course, of "Messrs.
Neighbour & Sons."
[Footnote 1: Will be found in third edition.]
The Reader, 26 August, 1865.
The Apiary; or, Bees, Beehives, and Bee Culture. By Alfred Neighbour.
(Kent & Co.)
This valuable manual is, what it professes to be, a familiar account
of the habits of bees, and the most improved methods of management,
with full directions adapted for the cottager, farmer, or scientific
apiarian. The writer is a regular enthusiast, but an enthusiast whose
practical knowledge of the subject is made all the more available to
the reader from the very enthusiasm which, as in Virgil, leaves not the
most minute instruction untold. Nobody can write about bees without
quoting poetry, and Mr. Neighbour does this largely, yet most aptly.
THE APIARY.
[Illustration: GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS' BEE FARM, WEST END,
HAMPSTEAD.--_See page 330._]
THE APIARY;
OR,
BEES, BEEHIVES. AND BEE
CULTURE.
BEING A FAMILIAR ACCOUNT OF THE HABITS OF BEES AND THE
MOST IMPROVED METHODS OF MANAGEMENT.
BY
ALFRED NEIGHBOUR.
_THIRD EDITION._
GREATLY ENLARGED, REVISED, AND REMODELLED.
"Beaucoup de gens aiment les abeilles; je n'ai vu personne qui les
aima médiocrement: on se passionne pour elles."--Gelieu.
LONDON;
KENT AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW;
GEO. NEIGHBOUR AND SONS,
149, REGENT STREET, and 127, HIGH HOLBORN,
AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.
1878.
Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury.
[Illustration]
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
THE present issue of our handbook may be fairly said'
to be really a new work. Not that the greater portion of it has
been consecutively rewritten, nor yet that the larger half of the
former matter has wholly disappeared; but the additions of entirely
new sections and half-sections, the transpositions with a view to
facilitating reference, the erasures of what is either out of date or
only repetition--in short, the thorough overhauling of the text from
beginning to end--are such as to render the form in which it is now
presented a new book rather than an ordinary fresh edition.
First as to our own department, the practical appliances. The
descriptions of several hives and apparatus that have gone out of use
have been removed to make room for the much larger number of new and
improved inventions. Of the eighteen hives now described, no less than
a half are new introductions, and the same is the case in greater or
less degree with the supers, the covers, and the bee contrivances of
every kind.
The chapter on "Manipulation" has been equally enlarged, having
throughout been collated with the chapters on that branch in Mr.
Langstroth's "Honey Bee." For very many valuable additions, both large
and small, we are therefore indebted to that source, and we have
also some obligations to acknowledge to Mr. Cheshire's "Practical
Bee-keeping."
It is in reference chiefly to this department that so many
transpositions have been made from the arrangement of the matter in
former editions. Finding that by giving extensive practical directions
under nearly every individual hive we were losing much greatly needed
space by repetition, and at the same time giving less complete
instructions to each, we have endeavoured when possible to comprise all
this in articles of a general character, and to retain under special
hives or appliances such only as was strictly peculiar to themselves.
The system of references now carried out, together with the numbering
of sections and displaying the numbers in the head-lines of every page,
will we trust remove even that small apparent inconvenience which is
the accompaniment of a large and substantial gain.
But perhaps more than all has the earlier part of our work been
enlarged and emended--that which treats on the insect itself, its
natural history, its reproductive economy, its habits, and its
structure. For this course of improvement we are largely indebted to
the very masterly and exhaustive treatise of Baron von Berlepsch, "Die
Biene und ihre Zucht in beweglichen Waben" ("The Bee and its Culture in
Movable Combs"); after this to Dr. Dzierzon's latest work, "Rationelle
Bienenzucht;" to Schmid and Kleine's "Leitfaden;" to Samuelson and
Hicks's "Honey Bee;" to Mr. John Hunter's very comprehensive and
readable "Manual of Bee-keeping;" and to the _British_ and _American
Bee Journals_, the former for letters from correspondents, and the
latter also for the very able articles by which that remarkably
well-conducted periodical is distinguished. To Mr. Frederick Smith,
of the Entomological Department at the British Museum, we have also
to acknowledge our indebtedness for courteous personal communications
rendered more than once.
Reference should also be made to aid in the translations from the
German Treatises before mentioned, as well as to some other literary
assistance which we hope has added to the interest of this work.
149, Regent Street, London,
_August 1877_.
[Illustration]
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
OUR apology for preparing a bee-book is a very simple
one. We are so frequently applied to for advice on matters connected
with bees and beehives, that it seemed likely to prove a great
advantage, alike to our correspondents and ourselves, if we could
point to a "handy book" of our own which should contain full and
detailed replies sufficient to meet all ordinary enquiries. Most of the
apiarian manuals possess some special excellence or other, and we have
no wish to disparage any of them; yet in all we have found a want of
explanations relating to several of the more recent improvements.
It has more especially been our aim to give explicit and detailed
directions on most subjects connected with the hiving and removing of
bees, and also to show how, by judicious application of the "depriving"
system, the productive powers of the bees may be enormously increased.
We need say little here as to the interest that attaches to the apiary
as a source of perennial pleasure for the amateur naturalist. Many
of the hives and methods of management are described with a direct
reference to this class of bee-keepers, so that, besides plain and
simple directions suitable for cottagers with their ordinary hives,
this work will be found to include instructions useful for the
scientific apiarian, or at least valuable for those who desire to gain
a much wider acquaintance with the secrets of bee-keeping than is now
usually possessed. We would lay stress on the term "acquaintance,"
for there is nothing in the management of the various bar-and-frame
hives which is at all difficult when frequent practice has rendered
the bee-keeper familiar with them. Such explicit directions are herein
given as to how the right operations may be performed at the right
times, that a novice may at once commence to use the modern hives.
The word "new-fangled" has done good service for the indolent and
prejudiced, but we trust that our readers will be of a very different
class. Let them give a fair trial to the modern appliances for the
humane and depriving system of bee-keeping, and they will find offered
to them an entirely new field of interest and observation. At present
our continental neighbours far surpass us as bee-masters; but we trust
that the following season, if the summer be fine, will prove a turning
point in the course of English bee-keeping. There is little doubt
that a greater number of intelligent and influential persons in this
country will become bee-keepers than has ever been the case before.
Our task would have lost half its interest did we not hope that it
would result in something beyond the encouragement of a refined and
interesting amusement for the leisurely classes. The social importance
of bee-keeping, as a source of pecuniary profit for small farmers and
agricultural labourers, has never been appreciated as it deserves.
Yet these persons will not, of themselves, lay aside the bungling
and wasteful plan of destroying the bees, or learn without being
taught the only proper method, that of deprivation. Their educated
neighbours, when once interested in the pursuit, will be the persons to
introduce the more profitable system of humane bee-keeping. The clergy
especially, as permanent residents in the country, may have great
influence in this respect. There is not a rural or suburban parish
in the kingdom in which bee-keeping might not be largely extended,
and the well-being of all but the very poorest inhabitants would be
greatly promoted. Not only would the general practice of bee-keeping
add largely to the national resources, but that addition would chiefly
fall to the share of those classes to whom it would be of most value.
Moreover, in the course of thus adding to their income, the uneducated
classes would become interested in an elevating and instructive pursuit.
It is curious to observe that honey, whether regarded as a
manufactured article or as an agricultural product, is obtained under
economical conditions of exceptional advantage. If regarded as a
manufactured article, we notice that there is no outlay required for
"labour," nor any expense for "raw material." The industrious labourers
are eager to utilise all their strength; they never "combine" except
for the benefit of their master, they never "strike" for wages, and
they provide their own subsistence. All that the master-manufacturer
of honey has to do financially is, to make a little outlay for "fixed
capital" in the needful "plant" of hives and utensils; no "floating
capital" is needed. Then, on the other hand, if we regard honey as
an agricultural product, it presents as such a still more striking
contrast to the economists' theory of what are the "requisites of
production." Not only is there no outlay needed for wages, and none for
raw material, but there is nothing to be paid for "use of a natural
agent." Every square yard of land in the United Kingdom may come to be
cultivated, as in China, but no proprietor will ever be able to claim
"rent" for those "waste products" of the flowers and leaves which none
but the winged workers of the hive can ever utilise.
The recent domestication in England of the Ligurian or Italian Alp
bee adds a new and additional source of interest to bee-culture. We
have therefore gone pretty fully into this part of the subject; and
believe that what is here published with regard to their introduction
embodies the most recent and reliable information respecting them that
is possessed by English apiarians.[2]
[Footnote 2: Some of our apiarian friends may be inclined to be
discouraged from cultivating the Ligurian bees in consequence of the
liability of their becoming hybridised when located in proximity to
the black bees. We can dispel these fears by stating that we have not
unfrequently found that hybrid queens possess the surprising fecundity
of the genuine Italian ones, whilst the English stocks in course of
time become strengthened by the infusion of foreign blood.]
We are under many obligations for the advice and assistance that we
have on many occasions received from Mr. T. W. Woodbury, of Exeter,
whose apiarian skill is unrivalled in this country. Our acknowledgments
are also due to Mr. Henry Taylor, author of an excellent "Bee-keeper's
Manual," for his help and counsel during the earlier years of our
apiarian experience. Both these gentlemen have frequently communicated
to us their contrivances and suggestions, without thought of fee or
reward for them. In common with most recent writers on bee-culture,
we are necessarily largely indebted to the standard works of Huber
and succeeding apiarians. From the more recent volume of the Rev.
L. L. Langstroth we have also obtained useful information. But
having ourselves, of later years, had considerable experience in the
manipulation and practical management of bees, we are enabled to
confirm or qualify the statements of others, as well as to summarise
information gleaned from various sources.
Let it be understood that we have no patented devices to push; we are
free to choose out of the many apiarian contrivances that have been
offered of late years, and we feel perfectly at liberty to praise
or blame as our experience warrants us in doing. It does not follow
that we necessarily disparage hives which are not described herein;
we have sought as much as possible to indicate the _principles_ on
which _good hives_ must be constructed, whatever their outward size or
shape. All through the work, we have endeavoured to adopt the golden
rule of "submission to Nature" by reference to which all the fancied
difficulties of bee-keeping may be easily overcome. In none of the
attempts of men to hold sway over natural objects is the truth of
Bacon's leading doctrine more beautifully illustrated than in the power
that the apiarian exercises in the little world of bees.
Some persons may consider we have used too many poetical quotations in
a book dealing wholly with matters of fact. We trust, however, that
the examination of the extracts will at once remove that feeling of
objection.
We venture to hope that the following pages contain many valuable hints
and interesting statements which may tend to excite increased and
renewed attention to the most useful and industrious of all insects.
Although bees have neither reason nor religion for their guide, yet
from them man may learn many a lesson of virtue and industry, and may
even draw from them thoughts suggestive of trust and faith in God.
We beg leave to conclude our preface, and introduce the subject, by the
following extract from Shakespeare, who, without doubt, kept bees in
that garden at Stratford wherein he used to meditate:--
"So work the honey-bees;
Creatures that, by a rule in Nature, teach
The art of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king and officers of sorts;
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home;
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds;
Which pillage they, with merry march, bring home
To the tent royal of their emperor:
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing masons building roofs of gold;
The civil citizens kneading up the honey;
The poor mechanic porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate;
The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum,
Delivering o'er to executors pale
The lazy, yawning drone."
Shakespeare's _Henry V._, Act i. Scene 2.
[Illustration]
CONTENTS
_INTRODUCTION._
PAGE
Literature of Bee-keeping 1
_CHAPTER I._
The Bee as an Insect.
SEC.
I. Classification 7
II. The Queen 8
III. The Drone 19
IV. The Worker 27
V. The Italian or Ligurian Bee 34
VI. Other Foreign Varieties 45
VII. Faculties and Functions 54
VIII. Eggs and Transformations 59
IX. Reproductive Economy 62
X. Relation of Sex to Cells 67
XI. The Rationale of Swarming 72
XII. Increase of Bees 82
_CHAPTER II._
Anatomy and Physiology.
I. Preliminary Remarks 86
II. The Head and Organs of Sensation 88
III. The Thorax and Organs of Motion 97
IV. The Abdomen and Secretive Organs 102
_CHAPTER III._
_Modern Beehives._
I. Common Cottager's Hive 108
II. Neighbours' Crystal Palace Skep 109
III. The Cottager's Hive 110
IV. An Improved Cottager's Hive 112
V. Neighbours' Improved Cottager's Hive 113
VI. The Ladies' Observatory Hive 120
VII. Nutt's Collateral Hive 123
VIII. Huber's Hive 127
IX. The Woodbury Frame Hive 134
X. Neighbours' New Frame Hive 139
XI. Neighbours' Cottager's Frame Hive 142
XII. The Philadelphia Frame Hive 143
XIII. Cheshire's Frame Hive 145
XIV. Abbott's New Frame Hive 146
XV. The Stewarton Hive 146
XVI. The Lanarkshire Hive 155
XVII. Neighbours' Unicomb Observatory Hive--Outdoor 157
XVIII. Neighbours' Unicomb Observatory Hive--Indoor 162
_CHAPTER IV._
Fittings and Apparatus.
I. Bee-Houses 166
II. Zinc Covers 171
III. Wood Covers 172
IV. Quilts 180
V. Bell Glasses 180
VI. Bar Supers 183
VII. Ekes and Nadirs 186
VIII. Impressed Wax Sheets 187
IX. Comb Foundations 190
X. Cheshire's Guide-Maker 191
XI. Bar-Frame Holder 192
XII. Cheshire's Transferring Board 192
XIII. Honey Cutters 193
XIV. The Honey Extractor 193
XV. Cheshire's Nucleus Hive 197
XVI. Queen-Cages 198
XVII. Queen and Drone Preventer 200
XVIII. Bee-Traps 201
XIX. Drone-Traps 201
XX. Bee-Feeders 202
XXI. Fumigators 206
XXII. Bee-Dress or Protector 208
_CHAPTER V._
Bee Manipulation.
I. Hiving Swarms 212
II. Transferring Swarms 218
III. Transferring Old Stocks 222
IV. Driving 226
V. Uniting Colonies 229
VI. Artificial Swarming 233
VII. Queen-Rearing 243
VIII. Introducing New Queens 247
IX. Italianising 251
X. General Hints on Frame Hives 254
XI. Removing Bees 259
XII. Supplying Natural Comb 261
XIII. Applying Supers 264
XIV. Removing Supers 266
XV. Removing Frames 268
XVI. Extracting Honey 274
XVII. Melting Combs down 275
XVIII. Weighing Hives 276
XIX. Feeding 279
XX. Winter Precautions 283
_CHAPTER VI._
Miscellaneous Information.
I. Stings: their Prevention and Cure 286
II. Position of Hives 292
III. Pasturage for Bees 293
IV. Honey 296
V. Pollen, or Bee-Bread 298
VI. Propolis, or Bees' Cement 300
VII. Secretion of Wax 302
VIII. Robbing 305
IX. Diseases of Bees 306
X. Bee Enemies 315
XI. Bee-keeping in London 322
XII. General Remarks 332
_APPENDIX._
International Exhibition of 1862 347
Cases of Acclimatising Bees 349
Philadelphia Exhibition 350
Caledonian Apiarian Society 351
[Illustration]
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
PLATE I. (Page 34).
1. Queen bee.
1_a_. Antenna of ditto.
1_b_. Hind leg of ditto.
1_c_. Front view of head of ditto.
1_d_. Mandible of ditto.
2. Worker, or imperfect female.
2_a_. Antenna of ditto.
2_b_. Hind leg of ditto, inner side showing the pollen-brushes.
2_b_* Ditto, outer side showing the pollen-basket.
2_c_* Side view of head.
2_c_. Back view of ditto, showing the junction of the gullet with the
thorax, and position of the tongue and its appendages.
2_d_. Mandible.
3. Male, or drone.
3_a_. Antenna of ditto.
3_b_. Hind leg of ditto.
3_c_. Front view of head of ditto.
3_d_. Mandible of ditto.
A. Enlarged view of the wing. B. Hind edge of fore wing,
showing the thickened margin, and fore edge of hind
wing, showing the hooks, which hold on to the thickened
margin of the fore wing, and keep them together during
flight.
PLATE II. (Page 86).
1. Body of a bee divested of antennæ, legs, and wings, showing
the anatomy of the thorax and natural position of the
stomach.
5*. The eyes.
_a_. The stemmata.
_bbb_. The muscles that move the wings.
_c_. The external covering of the thorax.
_ee_. The bases of the wings.
_d_. The honey-bag, or first stomach.
_f_. The ventricle, or true stomach, distended with food.
_g_. The rectum.
_h_. The biliary vessels.
_i_. Portion of the membranous tissue lining the inner
surface of the segments, and enclosing the stomach
and intestines.
2. The stomach emptied of its contents, to show the muscular
contraction of the ventricle.
_d_. The honey-bag.
_f_. The ventricle.
_g_. The rectum.
_h_. The biliary vessels.
3. The ligula, or tongue, and its appendages.
_l_. The base of the ligula.
_m_. The paraglossæ.
_n_. The maxillæ.
_o_. The labial palpi.
_p_. The tongue.
4. The sting and its muscles.
_s_. Curved base of the outer sheath enclosing the sting.
_r_. Muscles that move the sting.
_q_. The attachment of the muscles to the outer covering
of the abdomen.
_t_. Poison-bag.
_u_. Glands connected with the poison-bag.
_V_. Honey-plates covering the muscles _r_, and to which
the sheaths of the sting are attached at _s_.
** Base of sting connecting with the poison-bag _t_.
* Tip of the same
4* Magnified view of point of sting, showing the serrations on
each side.
5. Three hexagonal prisms of a bee's eye (Swammerdam).
6. Abdominal plates of the bee, detached to show the wax cells.
7. Eggs of bee, natural size, and magnified (from Réaumur).
8. Helminthomorphous or apodal larva of a bee (Réaumur).
[Illustration]
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Frontispiece.--Coloured view of Geo. Neighbour and Sons'
Apiary.
Plate I.--Italian Alp Queen, Drone and Worker Bees, with
Anatomical Drawings _Facing page_ 34
Plate II.--Dissected Bee, with Illustrations of various
Members _Facing page_ 86
Common Cottager's Hive 108
Neighbours' Crystal Palace Skep 109
The Cottager's Hive 110
Improved Cottager's Hive 112
Improved Cottage Hive (No. 5) 113
Improved Cottage Hive (No. 6), no windows 119
The Ladies' Observatory Hive 120
Nutt's Collateral Hive 123
Woodbury's Bar-frame Hive (wood) 135
Woodbury's Single Bar Frame as taken from hive 135
Woodbury's Bar-frame Hive (straw) 136
Woodbury's Bar-frame Hive (glass) 138
Neighbours' New Frame Hive (wood) 139
Neighbours' New Frame Hive (straw), with Frame Super 142
Neighbours' Cottager's Frame Hive (wood) 143
Neighbours' Philadelphia Frame Hive 144
Stewarton or Ayrshire Hive 147
Neighbours' Outdoor Unicomb Hive 158
Neighbours' Indoor Unicomb Hive 162
Bee House for two Hives--Front view 166
Bee House for two Hives--Back view 167
Bee House for twelve Hives--Front view 169
Bee House for twelve Hives--Back view 170
Ornamented Zinc Cover 171
Zinc Cover for Cottager's Hive 172
Wooden Cover for Frame Hive 174
Neighbours' New Frame Hive, with Cover, Stand, and Pair of
Divisional Supers--Back view 175
Neighbours' New Frame Hive, ditto--Closed front view 176
Neighbours' New Frame Hive and Frame Super (glass), with
large Cover and on Stand--Front view 178
Neighbours' New Frame Hive--Front view, closed 178
Neighbours' New Frame Hive (No. 81). Wood with Straw
Crown, and Large Window in close-fitting Cover and
Stand 179
Bell and Flat-shaped Glasses (5 varieties) 181
Payne's Glasses 182
Flap-topped Glass, with Cover for Table 182
Woodbury Glass-sided Bar Super 183
Bar-frame Super--Glass Sides and Top, with Shutters 184
Neighbours' New Divisional Super 184
Neighbours' New Sectional Super 185
Neighbours' New Bar-frame Holder 192
Honey Cutters 193
Honey Extractor 194
Neighbours' Queen and Drone Preventer 200
Neighbours' Bottle Feeder 203
Neighbours' New Can Feeders 204
Neighbours' Round Feeders 205
New Wood Feeder 206
Fumigators (2 illustrations) 207
Bee Dress or Protector 209
Bee Veil 210
Contrivance for protecting Queen Cell 244
Guide Comb Glasses 263
Weighing Hives 277
Bees at Exhibition of 1862 348
Exterior of an Apiary 352
Interior of an Apiary 353
[Illustration]
INTRODUCTION.
LITERATURE OF BEE-KEEPING.
JUST a few words at starting on the history of the bee
in ancient and modern literature. Our work is not a critical survey,
and still less an exhaustive treatise; but even that popular outline
which it is our aim to produce seems defective without some mention
of the great bee-students of the past. We find the first definitive
description of the insect in Aristotle's "History of Animals," written
about the middle of the fourth century before Christ, and combining
much sound scientific information on our subject with other statements
which better information has had to reject. A little before him
lived Aristomachus, of Cilicia, who wrote works on agriculture and
domestic economy which are lost to us except in a few quotations,
but of whom we are told that he devoted some fifty-eight years to a
continual observance of the habits of bees. One Philiscus, of Thasos,
is mentioned as another of their votaries, who betook himself to a
forest life in order uninterruptedly to pursue their study. Then just
after the Christian era came Pliny the Elder, from whom we learn
these few particulars of the two just named, and whose celebrated
"Natural History," which is the work rather of a student than of a
master, honours the bee with an elaborate and interesting description.
Shortly after him Columella, in his work "On Rustic Matters," gave
copious instructions on bee-keeping, which, though reproducing some
older errors, are greatly in advance of any that had appeared, and
place him, for the accuracy that they display, at the head of the
apiarians of antiquity. Theophrastus, Celsus, and Varro must also be
ranked among the ancient writers whose attention was drawn to this
industrious insect. But perhaps the most renowned of classic works upon
the subject is the fourth book of the "Georgics" of Virgil, in which we
are presented with a minute treatise upon bees and their culture, with
all the sense as well as nonsense that then passed current thereupon,
together with that most beautiful passage in the poet's writings, the
story of the visit of Orpheus to the shades, which is appended by one
of those incidental connecting-links of which ancient poets were wont
to avail themselves.
In more modern times the principal writers have been Swammerdam.
The Dutch naturalist; Maraldi, an Italian mathematician; Schirach,
a Saxon clergyman; Réaumur, well known for his thermometer; Bonnet,
a Swiss entomologist and jurist; the famous Dr. John Hunter; and
above all Francis Huber, of Geneva. The last of these, though totally
blind, contrived, principally by the aid of his very intelligent and
painstaking assistant, Burnens to accumulate a long series of minute
observations which have brought about an entire revolution in the
science. In connection with Huber must be mentioned Mlle. Jurine,
who, by her delicate microscopic examinations, rendered him the most
important services, and gave more than one valuable discovery to the
world. At the same period lived Dr. John Evans, who may be fitly styled
the poet-laureate of the bee. His poem, "The Bees," from which we shall
make numerous quotations, is written with great taste, and combines,
with rare felicity, scientific accuracy of detail with a poetic spirit
which never flags.[3] A little later than these, though in part their
contemporary, came Dr. Bevan, whose name is still cited as among the
highest authorities on the subject, and whose work, "The Honey Bee,"
was regarded as its great text-book in our language, till superseded,
with the progress of discoveries, by one under the same title from
the pen of the Rev. L. L. Langstroth. This last gentleman, who is a
Presbyterian minister in Ohio, stands undoubtedly at the present day
as the foremost apiarian of the English-speaking race. But we are
forced to admit that the Germans bear the palm above us, for _all_ the
great advances in our knowledge of the bee which have been made for a
generation have come from them. To Dr. Dzierzon,[4] therefore, a Roman
Catholic priest of Carlsmarkt in Silesia, to whose acute investigations
the great mass of these are to be ascribed, must be conceded a rank
scarcely second to that of Huber; while Baron von Berlepsch, of Coburg,
who is ever ready to follow up and improve upon the researches of the
"great, master," has beyond question earned for himself a position
inferior to that of the master alone. Of famous Scotch writers we
should allude to Bonner, of Glasgow, who lived in the latter part of
the last century, and the Rev. Dr. Dunbar, who dates at the beginning
of this.
[Footnote 3: Dr. Evans's poem consisted of four parts, of which only
three were ever published. We possess an author's presentation copy
in which is a written memorandum that the manuscript of the remainder
had been prepared for the press, and was still in the keeping of the
family. We have written numerous letters with a view to tracking
it out for publication; but very recently we have learnt that the
only survivor of nine children is unable at present to discover the
whereabouts of the document. Dr. Evans was some time a physician at
Shrewsbury, but removed into and died in Wales.]
[Footnote 4: Pronounced _Dzeert-sohn_. Some of the above names, it may
not be amiss to add, are not always spelt correctly by bee-writers. In
particular, nearly all of them, copying each other, omit the accent in
"Réaumur" (_Ray-oh-mewr_), which we find French biographers unanimous
in inserting. We have also seen "Miraldi" in a recent popular work,
while one author had a fancy to write "Hüber," which is evidently a
pure mistake.]
Of the mass of other names that press in upon us it will be impossible
in such narrow limits to supply any details. The literature of the
subject is truly enormous, and all that we can do is to furnish a list
in rough chronological order of the more noteworthy of those who have
in some way rendered service to our acquaintance with the bee. Besides
the great naturalists Linnæus and Cuvier we therefore select the
following:--
Sixteenth century.--Hill, Nikol Jacob. "De Proprietatibus Apum"
(anon.) published about 1510.
Seventeenth century.--Butler, Purchas, Goedart, Swammerdam, Sir
C. Wren, Hartlib, Gedde. Rusden, Ray (with Willughby and Dr. M.
Lister), Dr. Martin John (of Germany).
Eighteenth century.--Maraldi, Mme. Merian, Dr. Warder, Dr. Derham,
Réaumur, Thorley, Lyonnet, Vanière (poet, of Holland), Dobbs, Rev.
Stephen White, Schirach, Janscha, Bonner, Debraw, Thos. and Danl.
Wildman, Gilb. White, Mme. Vicat, Pösl, Abbé Della Rocca, Hubbard,
Keys, Bonnet, Riem, Dr. Jno. Hunter.
Nineteenth Century.--François Huber (with his son Pierre, and
Burnens), Latreille, Mlle. Jurine, Spitzner, T. A. Knight, Rev.
Dr. Dunbar, Huish, Dr. Evans (poet), Feburier, Kirby and Spence,
Humphrey, Baron von Ehrenfels, Newport, Dr. Bevan, Gundelach, Lord
Brougham, Pastor Oettl, Capt. von Baldenstein, Nutt, Payne, Taylor,
Golding, Maj. Munn, Woodbury, Quinby (of America), Wagner (ditto).
Of contemporary writers in our own language, we may, in addition to
Langstroth, refer to Rev. W. C. Cotton, Samuelson (with Dr. Hicks),
Hunter, Cheshire, and Pettigrew; while to the German names already
given may be added those of Professors Leuckart and Von Siebold, Drs.
Dönhoff and Küchenmeister, Pastors Kleine and Schönfeld, Vogel, Dathe,
Rothe, Count von Stosch, and Schmid, the editor of the _Bienenzeitung_.
It is worth noting how large is the number of apiarians of different
lands to whom the title of "reverend" is prefixed.
But while conceding to Germany an unquestioned first position in
the theoretical department, we do _not_ admit the accuracy of Von
Berlepsch's assertion that "in all other countries bee-keeping is
almost throughout a mere plaything and amusement." If the Baron would
honour our island with a visit, we could show him, from one end of it
to the other, a goodly number of very different cases; and though we
have much to learn, and have not long gone systematically to work to
learn it, there are not wanting clear and increasing signs that the
right course is entered, upon, and must in time secure corresponding
results. In the year 1874 was established the British Bee-keepers'
Association, with one of the first entomologists of the day, Sir John
Lubbock, at its head; and under its auspices there have since been
held annual shows at the Crystal and Alexandra Palaces, at which bees
themselves, their dwellings and paraphernalia, and their products,
have been submitted to the awards of judges as well as to the popular
inspection. Several periodicals are either wholly or in part devoted to
apiculture, and altogether appearances are healthy and hopeful. While
therefore we still do look for amusement from our bees, we claim to
experience a more solid satisfaction as well.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
THE BEE AS AN INSECT.
§ I. CLASSIFICATION.
THERE is a self-complacency in commencing a subject
scientifically, so let us devote our first half-page to defining the
place of the bee in the animal kingdom. The common English honey
bee, sometimes called the black bee, is known by the name of _Apis
mellifica_; while the new favourite, the Italian or Ligurian bee, has
obtained the specific name of _ligustica_, though naturalists are
now satisfied that the two are only varieties of a single species.
The genus Apis belongs to the order Hymenoptera, or membrane-winged
insects, which some entomologists have subdivided into families and
sections: of these, one family will comprise the honey bees, humble
bees, etc.; another the wasps, of which the hornet is one; and others
respectively the ants, the gall insects, the saw-flies, and certain
parasites and other winged creatures of little familiarity. The entire
order belongs to the class Insecta, and that to the grand division
Articulata, or conjointed animals. In England alone there are 250
native species of bee.
Turning now to the particular insect with which we intend to interest
ourselves, we observe that every hive or bee colony comprises in
summer three distinct classes of bees, each class having functions
peculiar to itself, and essential to the maintenance and well-being
of the community. As each bee knows its own proper duties, they
all work harmoniously and zealously together for the common weal.
Certain apparent exceptions to the good-fellowship of the bees will
be hereafter noticed, but these arise out of essential conditions in
the social economy of the bee community. That _honey bees_ should live
in society, as they do in hives, is absolutely needful. A bee in an
isolated condition is a very helpless delicate little creature, soon
susceptible of cold, and paralysed thereby unless able to join her
companions before night comes on. By congregating in large numbers bees
maintain warmth, whatever the external temperature may be.
The three classes of bees are--the queen bee, or perfect female; the
working bees, or undeveloped females; and the drones, or male bees.
§ II. THE QUEEN,
appropriately styled, by German bee-keepers, the mother bee, is the
only perfectly developed female among the whole population of each
separate colony. Thus her majesty indisputably sways her sceptre by
a divine right, because she lives and reigns in the hearts of loving
children and subjects.
The queen may very readily be distinguished from the rest of the bees
by the greater length of her body and the comparative shortness of her
wings; her legs are longer, and are not furnished with either brushes
or baskets as those of the working bee, for, being constantly fed by
the latter, she does not need these implements; the upper surface of
her body is of a brighter black than the other bees', whilst her colour
underneath is a yellowish brown;[5] her wings, which do not extend
more than half the length of her body, are sinewy and strong; her long
abdomen tapers nearly to a point; her head is rounder, her tongue
more slender, and much shorter, than that of the working bee, and her
sting is curved. Her movements in the hive are measured and majestic,
though when out of her proper sphere, as at swarming time, she is
distinguished, on the contrary, by the rapidity of her steps. She has
a peculiar scent, which is so attractive to workers, that Mr. Mahan,
of Philadelphia, states he has several times had them alight upon his
fingers, a mile away from his apiary, after he had been handling the
royal mother.
[Footnote 5: Yellow Italian queens form an exception in point of
colour. See Plate I. Fig. I.]
It is the chief function of the queen to lay the eggs from which all
future bees originate, the multiplication of the species being the
purpose of her existence; and she follows it up with an assiduity
similar to that with which the workers construct combs or collect
honey. A queen will lay in the breeding season from 1,000 to 3,000 eggs
a day. Both Langstroth and Von Berlepsch have seen queens lay at the
rate of six per minute, or more; and the latter observer, on supplying
his queen with some new empty comb, found at the end of twenty-four
hours that she had laid 3,021 eggs, which at her observed speed she
would accomplish in eight hours, and thus have sixteen for rest. She
kept up to nearly this rate for twenty days, in which she filled 57,000
cells; and, what is still more surprising, she went on in like style
for _five years_, during which, at the lowest reckoning, she laid.
1,300,000 eggs, or 300,000 per year. But with ordinary queens, says
the Baron, 1,200 a day is excellently good work, and this rate from
February to September, with allowance for slacker periods, will produce
more than 150,000 bees in a year. "_Most_ queens," says Dzierzon, "in
spacious hives and at a favourable season, lay 60,000 in a month,
... and a specially fertile queen, in the four years which she on an
average lives, lays over a million eggs." This is indeed a vast number;
but when there is taken into consideration the multitudes required for
swarms, the constant lessening of their strength by death in various
ways, and the many casualties attending them in their distant travels
in search of the luscious store, it does not seem that the case is
overstated.
To keep up these heavy productive duties the queen requires to eat in
corresponding proportions, and these she varies, or the bees vary them
for her, in the same ratio with the laying itself. She sucks honey from
the cells direct, or has it supplied to her by the workers; and, as an
important additional fact, the latter regularly nourish her with pollen
already partially digested in their own stomachs.
In a glass unicomb hive--which we shall hereafter describe--all the
movements of the queen bee may be traced. She may be seen thrusting
her head into a cell to discover whether it is occupied with an egg
or honey, and, if empty, she turns round in a dignified manner and
inserts her long body--so long that she is able to deposit the egg at
the bottom of the cell; she then passes on to another, and so continues
industriously multiplying her laborious subjects. It not unfrequently
happens when the queen is prolific, and if it is an early season, that
many eggs are wasted for want of unoccupied cells; for in that case the
queen leaves them exposed at the bottom of the hive, where they are
greedily devoured by the bees.
The queen bee, unlike the great majority of her subjects, is a stayer
at home. On the second or third day of her princess life she usually
sets out on the all-important concern of her marriage, and when once
this is satisfactorily accomplished she never afterwards leaves the
hive, except to lead off an emigrating swarm. Evans, with proper
loyalty, has duly furnished a glowing epithalamium for the queen bee,
thus:--
"But now, when noontide Sirius glares on high,
With him young love ascends the glowing sky,
From vein to vein swift shoots prolific fire,
And thrills each insect fibril with desire.
Thence, Nature, to fulfil thy prime decree,
Wheels round in wanton rings the courtier bee;
Now shyly distant, now with bolder air,
He woos and wins the all-complying fair;
Through fields of ether, veiled in vapoury gloom,
They seek with amorous haste the nuptial room,
As erst the immortal pair on Ida's height
Wreathed round their noon of joy ambrosial night."
The loyalty and attachment of bees to their queen is one of their
most remarkable characteristics; they constantly supply her with
food, and fawn upon and caress her, softly touching her with their
antennæ--a favour which she occasionally returns. When she moves about
the hive all the bees through whom she successively passes pay her
the same homage; she experiences no inconvenience from overcrowding,
for though the part of the hive to which she is journeying may be the
most populous, way is immediately made, the common bees tumbling over
each other to get out of her path, so great is their anxiety not to
interfere with the royal progress. A number of them often form a circle
round her, none venturing to turn their backs upon her, but all anxious
to show that respect and attention due to her rank and station.
The majestic deportment of the queen bee, and the homage paid to her,
are, with a little poetic licence, thus described by Evans:--
"But mark, of regal port and awful mien,
Where moves with measured pace the insect queen!
Twelve chosen guards, with slow and solemn gait,
Bend at her nod, and round her person wait.
Not eastern despots, of their splendour vain,
Can boast, in all their pomp, a brighter train
Of fear-bound satraps; not in bonds of love
Can loyal Britons more obedient move."
Some modification has to be made, however, in the old ideas on this
head, though, so long as it is understood that the reverence of the
bees for their queen is an official and not a personal reverence, it
may be allowed, except as to the existence of a regular guard, to be
for the most part true enough. But the government is a limited and not
an absolute monarchy, for the workers often impose their own will upon
the sovereign. This homage, moreover, is paid only to matron queens,
as Dr. Dunbar noted whilst experimenting on the combative qualities of
the queen bee. "So long," says he, "as the queen which survived the
rencontre with her rival remained a virgin, not the slightest degree
of respect or attention was paid her; not a single bee gave her food;
she was obliged, as often as she required it, to help herself; and, in
crossing the honey cells for that purpose, she had to scramble, often
with difficulty, over the crowd, not an individual of which got out of
her way, or seemed to care whether she fed or starved. But no sooner
did she become a mother than the scene was changed," and all treated
her with due attention.
The sting of the queen bee is utilised in depositing her eggs, and
she does not use it for hostile purposes except in combat with her
sister queens. Mr. Langstroth remarks that this forbearance apparently
arises from the knowledge that the use of the sting might prove fatal
to herself, and thus seriously jeopardise the whole hive. He adds that
she will carry it to the extent of allowing herself to be torn limb
from limb without an attempt at stinging, though if closely held in the
hand she will sometimes use her jaws, which, being more powerful than
those of other bees, may occasion some discomfort. But she admits of
no rival to her throne; almost her first act, on coming forth from the
cell, is an attempt to tear open and destroy the cells containing the
pupæ of princesses likely to become competitors. Should it so happen
that another queen of similar age does exist in the hive at the same
time, then, if one be not promptly destroyed by the workers, as is now
considered to be the rule, the two are usually brought into contact
with each other, in order to fight it out, and decide by a struggle,
mortal to one of them, which is to be the ruler; the stronger of course
is victorious, and remains supreme, while her rival either falls dead
or is left to die.[6] Either of these, it must be admitted, is a wiser
method of settling the affair than it would be to range the whole
hive under two distinct banners, and so create a civil war, in which
the members of the rival bands would kill and destroy each other for
matters they individually had little or no concern about. The bees
care not which queen it is, so long as they are certain of having one
to rule over them and perpetuate the community; indeed, they have been
known in some cases to form rings round the respective combatants, and
even to force them to the conflict if unaware of each other's presence.
But Dr. Bevan tells us that there do exist queens which _will not_
fight. The workers do not always decide: the matter in such case; it
is, indeed, nothing uncommon, says Vogel, for two fruitful queens to be
allowed to live together; and we have had instances of the same kind
ourselves, without being able to give a reason other than that "the
exceptions prove the rule." An Italian queen, it is said, is _usually_
assisted in her third year by a younger mother born in her own hive.
[Footnote 6: Dr. Bevan mentions examples both of instant fatality and
of survival for twenty-four hours. The sting of the queen is evidently
less powerful than that of workers, as her poison-bag is smaller; and
we learn from Von Gindly that he once succeeded in inducing a queen
to sting him, when the effect was like little more than the prick of
a needle. Kleine also, after persevering attempts, was once stung by
a queen, and so was Hoffnann of Vienna--the queen in this last case
losing thereby the faculty of laying.]
These royal duels, though no longer regarded as the invariable routine,
have been abundantly testified to by undoubted witnesses, and some of
these have deduced a singular law as governing the combatants. Neither
queen, it is said, will sting her rival unless she has her at an
advantage, and can thrust her body beneath the other's, and inflict the
fatal thrust without fear either of receiving another simultaneously,
or of being unable to withdraw her own sting. If on the contrary each
has grappled the other in readiness for mutual slaughter, they will at
once separate and commence the battle anew.
After perusing the description given above of the attachment of bees
to their queen, it may be easy to imagine the consternation a hive
is thrown into when deprived of her presence. The bees first make a
diligent search for their monarch in the hive, and then afterwards
rush forth in immense numbers to seek her. If the search is unavailing
they will return to the hive and commence what Langstroth calls
"a succession of wailings in the minor key," which no experienced
bee-master can mistake. When such a commotion is observed in an apiary
the competent apiarian will repair the loss by giving a queen. The bees
have generally their own remedy for such a calamity, in their power
of raising a new queen from amongst their larvæ; but if neither this
nor the former means is available, the whole colony gradually dwindles
and in time dies off. The following is the method by which working
bees provide a successor to the throne when deprived of their queen by
accident, or in anticipation of the first swarm, which is always led by
the old queen:--
They select, when not more than three days old, an egg previously
intended for a worker bee--but a larva will serve, so it be not grown
to its full size--and then they enlarge the cell so selected by
destroying the surrounding partitions; they thus form a royal cradle,
in shape very much like an acorn-cup inverted. The chosen embryo is
then fed liberally with a peculiar description of nurture, called
by naturalists "royal jelly"--a pungent food composed of honey and
digested pollen, and prepared by the worker bees exclusively for those
of the larvæ that are destined to become candidates for the honour
of royalty. The effect of this is both to perfect and to hasten the
development of the future insect, so that instead of a worker being
produced at the end of twenty-one days, a queen emerges in the reduced
term of sixteen.
But should the deprivation happen at a time when, either from the
season or from abnormal circumstances, there is no worker brood in the
hive, the bees will then often exhibit a series of curious and even
ludicrous struggles, which Von Berlepsch has aptly compared to the
clutchings at straws made by a drowning man. Themselves individually
are no sufferers; but bees look beyond themselves, and posterity they
must have. Their sole preoccupation, therefore, is to raise drones and
a queen. Some of them often develop a capacity to lay drone eggs (as
explained under § ix.), and most of these they will carefully cherish
for their natural purpose, but others they will surround with royal
cells and feed with royal jelly, so that the poor things on hatching
are soon dosed to death in a frantic effort to change their sex! And if
drone eggs are not to hand they will even try to hatch a queen out of a
lump of pollen! In more senses than one then we see that when bees have
lost their queen they have lost their head.
As curiously dissimilar, though not discordant, instances of the effect
of removing the queen from a hive, we may mention that Mr. Langstroth
once tried the experiment for only two or three minutes, when he had
all in confusion immediately, and found two days after that royal cells
had been prepared; while Dr. Bevan once effected the removal so quietly
that for eighteen hours all went on as usual, and then on a sudden
the fact became known, and everything was changed into agitation and
distraction. Should a queen so separated be detained from her subjects,
she resents the interference, refuses food, pines, and dies.
The observations upon the queen bee needful to verify the
above-mentioned facts can only be made in hives constructed for the
purpose, of which the "Unicomb Observatory Hive" is the best. In
ordinary hives the queen is scarcely ever to be seen; where there
are several rows of comb she invariably keeps between them, both for
warmth and for greater security from danger. The writer has frequently
observed in stocks which have unfortunately died, that the queen was
one of the last to expire; and she is always more difficult to gain
possession of than other bees, being by instinct taught that she is
indispensable to the welfare of the colony.
The queen enjoys a far longer life than any of her subjects, her age
very often extending to four or even five years; her fertility will,
however, except in rare cases, have left her long before that term, or
she will lay only drone eggs, so that as a general rule a substitute
is better found for her when she has entered her third year. Under the
next section, and those on "Reproductive Economy" and "Relation of Sex
to Cells," as well as in Chapter IV. under "Queen Cages," will be found
other information connected with the queen.
§ III. THE DRONE.
The drones are the male bees; they possess no sting, are larger and
more hairy than the workers, and may be easily distinguished by their
heavy motion, thick-set form, and louder humming. They have a strong
odour, which becomes very noticeable if several of them are confined in
a box. Evans thus describes the drones:--
"But now, when April smiles through many a tear,
And the bright Bull receives the rolling year,
Another tribe, to different fates assigned,
In ampler cells their giant limbs confined,
Burst through the yielding wax, and wheel around
On heavier wing, and hum a deeper sound.
No sharpened sting they boast; yet, buzzing loud,
Before the hive, in threatening circles, crowd
The unwieldy drones. Their short proboscis sips
No luscious nectar from the wild thyme's lips;
From the lime's leaf no amber drops they steal,
Nor bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal;
On others' toils, in pampered leisure, thrive
The lazy fathers of the industrious hive.
Yet oft, we're told, these seeming idlers share
The pleasing duties of parental care,
With fond attention guard each genial cell,
And watch the embryo, bursting from its shell."
But Dr. Evans had been "told" what was not correct when
he sought to dignify drones with the office of "nursing fathers"
("brood bees" as the Germans used to call them), for that task is
undertaken by the younger of the working bees. Nor are they even
utilised in maintaining warmth, for they are expelled just at a time
when warmth is most required. No occupation falls to the lot of the
drones in gathering honey, nor have they the means provided them
by Nature for assisting in the labours of the hive. They are the
progenitors of working bees, and nothing more; so far as is known, that
is the only purpose of their short existence.
In a well-populated hive the number of drones is computed at from
one to two thousand. "Naturalists," says Huber, "have been extremely
embarrassed to account for the number of males in most hives, which
seem only a burden to the community, since they appear to fulfil
no function. But we now begin to discern the object of Nature
in multiplying them to such an extent. As fecundation cannot be
accomplished within the hive, and as the queen is obliged to traverse
the expanse of the atmosphere, it is requisite that the males should
be numerous, that she may have the chance of meeting some one of them
in her flight. Were only two or three in each hive there would be
little probability of their departure at the same instant with the
queen, or that they would meet her in their excursions; and most of the
females might thus remain sterile." It is important for the safety of
the queen bee that her stay in the air should be as brief as possible,
as her large size and slowness of flight render her an easy prey to
birds. It is not now thought that the queen always pairs with a drone
of the _same_ hive, as Huber seems to have supposed. On the contrary,
it would appear that with bees, as with so many other animals, there is
a provision against such interbreeding. Mr. John Hunter, in his "Manual
of Bee-keeping," speaks of this as amounting to a _law_, and thus
represents the fact as diametrically opposite to Huber's conclusion.
But we believe the question to be complicated by another--whether the
drones that inhabit a particular hive at any given time are regularly
born of the same family with that hive, or whether they are not very
often to be viewed as "strangers within the gates." At all events, it
appears established that the queen and drones within a hive do watch
each other's movements when the former is about taking her nuptial
flight, and that the union is sometimes consummated close at hand,
though certainly never attempted within the precincts of the hive
itself. This last circumstance, which by all accounts is absolutely
invariable, would seem to be the extent of the provision, and it is
one that in ordinary circumstances would preclude the recurrence of
in-and-in breeding. A confirmation of these views is afforded from the
interesting experience of Captain von Baldenstein with his one Italian
stock maintained by itself for seven years, who found that all this
time, _with one exception_, the young queens produced bastard workers,
clearly proving that all but that one were impregnated by the drones of
other colonies.
The drone that happens to be the selected husband is by no means so
favoured as at first sight might appear, for it is a law of Nature
that the bridegroom does not survive the wedding-day. His death,
however, is doubtless generally instantaneous, whereas in other case
it would probably have been one of torture or starvation. In 1867
the German apiarian Von Klipstein was witness of an instance of the
wedding ceremony, when a young queen, who was leading a swarm, became
detached from it and settled upon a currant bush, where she was joined
by a drone; after a few seconds the two flew away together for three
yards and then fell to the ground, when the queen disengaged herself,
and the drone was found to be dead. But we learn from the _American
Bee Journal_, of March 1861, that two similar cases were observed in
the United States some years earlier than this. The latter of these
two agreed with the above in showing the immediate death of the male
bee, the rule as to which is also confirmed by a fact noticed by Mr.
Langstroth, that if a drone is taken between the fingers and squeezed,
as one would squeeze a wasp to cause protrusion of the sting, it
will give a crack and shrivel up dead as if struck by lightning. The
instance in point was also communicated to the _Bee Journal_ through
this gentleman, it having been noticed, on a July afternoon in 1860,
by his friend Mr. W. W. Gary, of Coleraine, Massachusetts. The queen
was returning from a presumably unsuccessful flight, when a drone met
her at about three feet from the hive entrance; a sharp snap was heard
almost directly, and the male fell to the ground perfectly dead. The
other case was witnessed by the Rev. Mr. Millette, of Whitemarsh,
Pennsylvania, and occurred in June 1859, during the process of hiving.
A young queen--there were four in the swarm--"was observed on the wing,
and in a moment after was seized by a drone. After flying about a rod
they both came to the ground in close contact; ... the drone was about
departing (having broken loose) ... but after crawling about ... in a
very few minutes it expired"--the circumstance being probably quite
exceptional in this lapse of minutes, and it is unfortunate that we
have no information as to the immediate or subsequent effect upon the
queen.
As a general rule the royal lady, not meeting drones straightway upon
her issue from the hive, spends a little time in reconnoitring her
home, and then, often not till her second day's exit, sails away high
into the air, and sometimes to a considerable distance horizontally as
well. "A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper" states in the _British Bee Journal_,
of May 1877, that an undoubted instance had come to his knowledge in
which a common queen, located five miles distant in a bee-line measured
upon the Ordnance map, had become impregnated by one of his own Italian
drones--these being positively the only Italians in the entire district.
On the queen's return--that is, supposing her object to have been
achieved--she will exhibit the male organ adhering to her extremity,
and sometimes she is unable to free herself of it, nor can the
bee-keeper give her any assistance without the risk of effects as fatal
to herself as they were to her spouse. The explanation of this series
of phenomena lies in the structure of the organ itself. It is simply
the expanded prolongation of the seminal duct, and is attached to
the orifice like the sleeve of a coat to the shoulder, but is wholly
internal. To be protruded it must therefore be turned literally inside
out, and to effect this a powerful inflation is required, in which act
the forces of the system are in some way fatally ruptured; while, as
Professor Leuckart very rationally deduces--thus clearing up another
mystery--it is only when the breathing vessels are filled by motion
in the air that the drone is able to accomplish it at all. Then the
singular scales and protuberances with which the organ is beset render
it when once inserted very difficult of withdrawal, even if its owner
were not already dead. Mr. Langstroth remarks as to the design of
this seemingly harsh provision that in default of it the queen would
be compelled to remain with the drone much longer in the air, thus
incurring far greater danger of falling a prey to some passing bird.
After all it is undoubtedly one of those instances as to which it may
be said of Nature, in Tennyson's words:--
"So careful of the type she seems, So careless of the single life."
Her majesty, although thus left a widowed, is by no means a sorrowful
bride, for in from two to three days she becomes the happy mother of a
large family. Such at least is the normal rule, but should the season
be late in the autumn she may not commence laying till the following
spring. It cannot be said that she pays no respect to the memory of her
departed lord, for she never marries again. Once impregnated--as is the
case with most insects--the queen bee continues productive during the
remainder of her existence.
The swarming season being over--that is about the end of July, when
the gathering has materially slackened--a general massacre of the
"lazy fathers" shortly follows. Dr. Bevan observes that now their work
is completed, "they are regarded as useless consumers of the fruits
of others' labour: love is at once converted into hate, and a general
proscription takes place." For it _was_ love, the drones having
previously been petted and fed with prepared pollen in the same way
as the queen herself. Von Berlepsch describes the work of destruction
as commencing with the casting forth of the drone brood just issuing
from the cells, after which the larvæ and nymphs are similarly treated.
Then the drones themselves are chased from the honey stores, and a
watch is kept to prevent their access thereto. On finding it hopeless
they crouch away together in corners, till, when thoroughly exhausted
by hunger, the workers drive them out one by one, and they die with
cold and hunger: very few of them are stung. This work goes on night
and day, and occasionally they collect to die in such a heap before
the flight-hole that there is a danger of their suffocating the hive.
Disabled or useless workers are dealt with in an equally summary
fashion; but in the case of a super-annuated queen, the best opinions
are that she is allowed to take her own quietus.
Supposing the drones come forth in April or May, which is the usual
period, then, as their destruction takes place somewhere about the
commencement of August, three or four months will be the ordinary
extent of their existence; but should it so happen that the development
of the queen has been retarded, or that the hive has by chance been
deprived of her, the massacre of the drones is deferred. On the other
hand, in case of the cutting short of the gathering season by bad
weather, it occasionally happens at an earlier date--even so soon
as May. Now and then a drone or two escape, and prolong their lives
through the winter.
§ IV. THE WORKER.
The working bees form by far the most numerous of the three classes
contained in the hive. They are the smallest of the bees; in colour
they are dark brown or nearly black (except the Italians and other
foreign varieties), and they are distinguished by their activity upon
the wing. As to their numbers in a colony, "an ordinary first swarm
from a straw hive," says Von Berlepsch, "contains from twelve to twenty
thousand, but I have had large wood hives in which, at a moderate
computation, there were living at the end of June about a hundred
thousand bees:" from thirty to fifty thousand, however, will better
represent the strength of an average stock in an English hive. The
worker, though formerly spoken of under the term "neuter," is of the
same sex as the queen, but is only partially developed, and thus, with
some exceptions (see § ix.), it is incapable of laying eggs. But any
egg which would ordinarily produce a worker bee may, by the cell being
enlarged and the "royal jelly" supplied to the larva, be hatched into
a mature and perfect queen. This most curious fact may be verified in
any apiary by most interesting experiments, which are capable of being
turned to important use.
The lives of the worker bees vary very greatly, and are much more
prolonged during the repose of winter than in the wear and tear of
the gathering season. Von Berlepsch describes three careful sets of
experiments which he carried out for the purpose of attaining more
exact knowledge on this point. In one of these he introduced an Italian
queen into an ordinary stock at the beginning of October when all the
old brood was hatched; he then found as a result that the last of the
common bees had disappeared at the end of May, so that some of them for
a certainty lived eight months, and possibly more, though it seems most
probable that the last to die were also the latest born. In another
case, the queen having died at the commencement of winter, he strictly
isolated the hive, and, the season being exceptionally mild, he found
that some of the bees continued alive for _ten and a half months_. His
remaining experiment bore upon the summer term of existence, and it
resulted in exhibiting _six weeks_ as the _average_, and three months
as the outside possible period of lifetime. Dzierzon points out the
difference produced by the character of a bee's employment. To have
to fly a long distance to its pasturage will soon wear it out, and so
will knocking its wings against sharp leaves, as is the case with the
bluebottle, the thick corn amid which this plant grows rendering the
effect very much worse. But if, he adds, they pass the summer in entire
repose, as a hive without a queen may do, then, if well fed, their
lives may be prolonged for _a year or even more_.
The population of a hive is very small during the winter in comparison
with the vast numbers gathering produce in the summer--produce which
they themselves live to enjoy but for a short period. So that not only,
as of old, may lessons of industry be learned from bees, but they also
teach self-denial to mankind, since they labour for the community
rather than for themselves. Dr. Bevan, in describing the age of bees,
thus adapts the well-known lines of Homer in allusion to the fleeting
generations of men:--
"Like leaves on trees the race of bees is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the spring or fall supplies,
They droop successive, and successive rise."
With regard to the functions of worker bees, Huber supposed that
there were two distinct classes, one acting as gatherers of store
and the other as nurses of brood. This however has been demonstrated
to be a mistake, for the distinction is not one of class, but simply
of age, the younger workers, for the first two or three weeks
of their existence,[7] assuming the whole of the inner or home
occupations--viz., those of feeding the larvæ, the queen, and the
drones, and of making wax, building comb, and closing the cells, as
well as keeping the hive in a state of cleanliness--and these duties
they retain until themselves sufficiently vigorous to range the
fields in quest of supplies. After this term of apprenticeship they
enter upon the labours of adult bees, and collect honey, pollen, and
propolis--particulars as to which functions, and that of wax secretion,
will be found in the third and fourth sections of our next chapter, and
in the sections devoted to these four items in Chapter VI. Water and
salt are also brought in to aid in the sustenance of the young brood.
The older bees perform the duties of the younger when there are none
or insufficient of the latter in the hive; but they will hang about
perfectly idle if kept at home by weather when there is a full staff
of their younger sisters. These last, on the contrary, cannot possibly
supply the places of the older until at the very least they have
attained their eleventh or twelfth day.
[Footnote 7: German observations cited by Von Berlepsch give from ten
to nineteen days. The Baron gives provisionally the sixteenth day as
the rule. The first sporting before the hive is given at from the
fourth to the tenth day.]
Another of the varied duties performed by the younger worker bees is
that of ventilating the hive by fanning with their wings. On a warm day
a number of them may be seen located outside on the alighting-board
working these appendages at the utmost velocity so as to drive a
current of pure air within; while inside, but not exactly opposite to
their comrades, are another troop, who by the same process are engaged
in driving the foul air out. Other detachments are in the hottest
weather posted in different parts of the interior, and the whole
relieve each other in pickets. Huber ascertained that the inside air
of a hive is thus preserved nearly as pure as that without.
In older works on the subject we are told of the sentinels of bees,
but this idea is now abandoned as a fiction. It arose naturally enough
out of the above office of fanners, as well as from the fact that if
a rap be given upon the alighting-board a bee will immediately appear
without. So too if danger appears, and if any bees are outside either
as fanners or for their own relief from the heat, these will promptly
perform the _duties_ of sentinels. But as to any of them being posted
specially for that purpose, it is sufficient to say that at the season
when enemies are most to be feared there are no guards at the gates to
be found.
It has been much queried whether bees ever go to sleep during the
working season, as it is known that at night, when not gathering
abroad, they are engaged in ceaseless activity at home. Huber, however,
observed frequent instances of bees placing their heads' in empty cells
and remaining perfectly motionless in that position for from fifteen
to twenty-five minutes, in his opinion evidently asleep. Von Berlepsch
has repeatedly observed similar occurrences both with workers and
queens--not with drones, but then, says he, what is the whole life of
these but sleep?--and he considers that there can exist upon the point
no doubt whatever. "The more active the bees are," he remarks, "the
more will they sleep, like every creature."
The following passage from Dzierzon describes in a popular way the
round of the bees' concerns as they vary with the seasons: "In spring,
when all Nature has awakened to a new life, the activity of the hive
is especially directed to the increasing of the stock, the laying of
eggs; at first, indeed, none but worker eggs are laid, and at the
outset only a few hundred cells in a day, but afterwards thousands,
as every hive seeks in the first place to make its own continuance
secure. When gradually the number of bees has through the daily
augmentation become perceptibly increased, when the pastures have more
fully unfolded themselves, and the warmth in the hive has reached a
higher degree, then, in the confidence of strength and of a sort of
maturity, and having regard to the remoter object of increase through
connubial relations, drone brood is also laid. Finally, although not
in every case, in greater or less number queen cells are prepared. As
soon as one or other of these is sealed over, the old queen feels no
longer safe in the hive, and leaves it on a fine day at noon with the
so-called 'fore-swarm.'... In most years and most districts the bee
store has passed its climax and entered upon its decline after the
swarming period. The activity of the bees now takes another direction.
In order to leave over as much honey as possible for the provisionless
season that stands before them, a system of saving is now pursued. To
compensate for the unavoidable loss of population from the journeys
abroad, a certain quantity of worker brood is still continually set
on, but to a limited extent, while the breeding of drones is not only
given up, but the already deposited drone brood is usually thrown out,
and the drones themselves, as no longer of any use, are expelled from
the hive. Comb-building too, which the bees so eagerly carried on in
the spring, now rests entirely, as it would consume honey, and at the
first autumn gathering the bees in fact fill all cells to hand with
honey, though previously these may for the most part have served for
brood-rearing. Their activity is now bent to securing their future
position by accumulating the largest possible store of honey, and
preserving themselves against draughts and cold by stopping up the
holes in their dwelling with propolis, and narrowing the too wide
flight-holes; and these cares generally occupy them so long as the
temperature is of such a degree that they can still make their flights,
which is up to about 13 degrees Réaumur [say 60 Fahr.].... When there
is nothing more to gather, the bees, in order to save strength as well
as honey, fly out no longer, even on the finest days, but preserve
themselves in complete repose, and only undertake, after several days,
an occasional sport before the hive on some warm noonday, so as to
cleanse themselves once more before the winter."
Dr. Evans addresses and describes the worker bee in two passages of
such real beauty that we cannot refrain from giving them a place
here:--
"Ye light-winged labourers! hail the auspicious sign,
When the twin stars in rival splendour shine!
Cheered by their beams, your quickening numbers swell,
And pant your nations in the crowded cell.
Blithe Maia calls, and bids her jocund train
Breathe the warm gale, or softly falling rain;
Inhaled at every pore, the dewy flood
Spreads the young leaf, and wakes the sleeping bud.
* * * * *
Yes, light-winged labourers! still unwearied range
From flower to flower, your only love of change!
Still be your envied lot, communion rare,
To wreathe contentment round the brow of care!
No nice distinctions, or of rich or great,
Shade the clear sunshine of your peaceful state;
Nor Avarice there unfolds her dragon wing,
Nor racked Ambition feels the scorpion sting;
Your tempered wants an easy wealth dispense,
The public store your only affluence:
For all alike the busy fervour glows.
Alike ye labour, and alike repose;[8]
Free as the air, yet in strict order joined,
Unnumbered bodies with a single mind.
One royal head, with ever-watchful eye,
Reins and directs your restless industry.
Builds on your love her firm-cemented throne,
And with her people's safety seals her own."
[Footnote 8:
"Omnibus una quies operum, labor omnibus unus."
Virgil, G. iv. 184.
]
[Illustration: Plate I.
E. W. Robinson, Delt. et Scp. 1865.]
§ V. THE ITALIAN OR LIGURIAN BEE.
A new, or rather a re-discovered, variety of bee has recently been
brought into practical use amongst apiarians in Germany and America,
as well as in this country. It has been called "the Yellow Italian Alp
Bee," and was also named "the Ligurian Bee" by the Marquis de Spinola,
who found it in Piedmont in 1805; and he considered it to be the
principal species known to the Greeks. "There can exist no doubt," says
Kleine, in his handbook, "The Italian Bee and its Culture," "that both
kinds were known side by side from the earliest times. Even mythology
relates that Jupiter, out of gratitude for their having fed him with
honey when a new-born god, afterwards made the bee 'brass-coloured' or
'golden-coloured.' Aristotle also noticed the coloured as different
from the black bee, and Virgil adduces the same distinction." The
latter speaks of the "best kind" of bee as being of a golden colour
with ruddy scales. It is stated that it is found also in Spain. Leading
apiarians are all but unanimous in pronouncing these bees justly
entitled to the high character given them. The special advantages
claimed for them are--greater fecundity of the queens, more industry
and productiveness, less irascibility, and a more handsome appearance;
for, being of a golden colour, they are prettier than our black bees.
(See coloured engraving, Plate I. Figs. 1, 2, 3.)
The Italian varies but little from the common bee in its physical
characteristics. The difference in appearance consists in the first
three rings of the abdomen being of an orange colour instead of a deep
brown, except the posterior edge and under portion of the third, which
are black: some individuals, however, have less colour about them than
others--the younger bees far the most. These orange-coloured parts are
transparent when closely examined with the sun shining on them. The
drones are more darkly ringed than the workers, and are light-yellow
beneath, which is an infallible mark of distinction from the English
drones, which are nearly white in that part; many are also a fourth
part smaller than the English. The queens vary greatly: "The finest
and rarest," says Von Berlepsch, "are bright yellow _varying into a
bluish_. Others rather resemble the workers, exhibiting only yellow
rings; and a few are very difficult or impossible to distinguish from
our own. From this we see that the Italian is not a _constant_ race,
like, _e.g._, our own or the Egyptian."
It is now over thirty years since attention was recalled to this
variety by Captain von Baldenstein, who, when stationed in Italy during
a part of the Napoleonic wars, had observed that the bees about Lake
Como were of a different colour from ordinary ones. In later years,
after his retirement from military life, he became a student of natural
history, and, remembering these bees, he procured a colony of them
in 1843. This he preserved, through constant disappointments, for
seven years, and in 1848 he communicated to the _Bienenzeitung_ the
deductions of his experience. From this Dr. Dzierzon was induced to
pursue the experiment, and from him the variety became introduced in
Germany.
The introduction of this new variety of bee into England was through
our agency. M. Hermann, a bee-cultivator at Tamins-by-Chur, Canton
Grison, Switzerland, wrote to us on the 5th of July, 1859, offering to
supply us with Italian queen bees. The date should be specially noted,
because this was the commencement of a new era in bee-keeping in this
country. We were always in friendly intercourse with the late Mr. H.
Taylor, author of "The Bee-keeper's Manual," and then correspondent on
Bee Culture to the _Cottage Gardener_ (since called the _Journal of
Horticulture_); and, being in the practice of frequently discussing
apiarian subjects with him, we told him of the offer made us of a
new kind of bee. He said he knew nothing about it himself, but asked
permission to publish the intelligence in the journal he was connected
with, and we assented, entirely for public interest and to gratify him.
The letter, or an extract from it, appeared accordingly in the current
number of the journal referred to. Prior to this the Italian, or, as
many have called it, the "Ligurian" bee, was UNKNOWN IN THIS COUNTRY,
except to a few naturalists. The same letter attracted the attention
of that intelligent apiarian, the late T. W. Woodbury, Esq., so well
known as the "Devonshire Bee-keeper." On the 19th of July, that is,
a fortnight after M. Hermann's offer, we received a consignment of
Italian bees--the first imported into England. With these Mr. Woodbury
also received one queen bee and a few workers, which he introduced
into a hive of English bees from which the queen had been removed.
His efforts were very successful, and "the spring of 1860 found him in
possession of four Ligurianised stocks." His subsequent experience with
this new variety he fully described in a communication to the _Bath and
West of England Agricultural Journal_.
Subsequently M. Hermann sent us a copy of his pamphlet entitled "The
Italian Alp Bee; or, the Gold-Mine of Husbandry," with the request that
we should have it translated from the German, and that copies of it
should be printed in the English language. It was speedily published by
us accordingly, and, although singular as a literary production, it may
be useful for the advanced apiarian.
Certainly the bees are partially of an orange or golden colour, and if
one could believe the golden anticipations indulged in by M. Hermann
respecting them, these would be sufficient to identify the Italian bee
as the species described by Hood in "Miss Kilmansegg"--those which
dwelt in
"A golden hive, on a golden bank,
Where golden bees, by alchemical prank,
Gather gold instead of honey."
In the pamphlet referred to, M. Hermann gives the following description
of what he insists on designating as _Apis helvetica_: "The Yellow
Italian Alp bee is a mountain insect; it is found between two mountain
chains to the right and left of Lombardy and the Rhetian Alps, and
comprises the whole territory of Ticino, Val Tellina, and the
southern Grisons.[9] It thrives up to the height of 4,500 feet above
the level of the sea, and appears to prefer the northern clime to the
warmer, for in the south of Italy it is not found. The Alps are their
native country, therefore they are called Yellow Alp or tame house
bees, in contradistinction to the black European bees, which we might
call common forest bees, and which, on the slightest touch, fly like
lightning into your face.[?]
[Footnote 9: Otherwise _Tessin_, _Veltlin_ (French _Valteline_), and
the southern _Graubünden_. Von Berlepsch names the localities they
inhabit as Genoa, Venetia, Lombardy, and the southern valleys of the
Grisons bordering upon Italy.]
"As all good and noble things in the world are more scarce than common
ones, so there are more common black bees than of the noble yellow
race, which latter inhabit only a very small piece of country, while
the black ones are at home everywhere in Europe, and even in America."
Our own experience with the Italian bee enables us to corroborate the
statements which have been made in its favour. We find the queens more
prolific than those of the common kind, and the quantity of honey
produced is greater. These two facts stand as cause and effect: the
bees being multiplied more quickly, the store of honey is accumulated
more rapidly, and the Italian bees consume, if anything, less food
than the common kind. When of pure Italian blood these bees are, by
some apiarians, thought to be hardier than our own. That they forage
for stores with greater eagerness, and have little hesitation in
paying visits to other hives, we can testify from our own observation.
The following anecdote will illustrate their intrusive propensities;
Another bee-keeper, who lived in the same neighbourhood, was once
inspecting our hives, when, on observing the yellow bees, he exclaimed,
"Now I have found out where those strange-looking bees come from; for,"
said he, "these yellow-jackets are incessant visitors to my hives. I
thought they were a species of wasp that had come to rob, and until
now I have been unable to account for their appearance at the entrance
of my hive, so that I have killed them by hundreds." This was not at
all pleasing intelligence for us, and we trust that our neighbour
has been more lenient to "the yellow-jackets" since his visit, for
such summary capital punishment was wholly unmerited, because when a
bee is peaceably received (see page 169) it becomes naturalised, and
works side by side with the others in its fresh abode. We are inclined
to believe that more visiting takes place amongst bees of different
hives than bee-keepers have been accustomed to suppose; but where
the Italian and black bees are kept near each other, the foreigners
being conspicuous by their lighter colour, there is less difficulty in
identifying them when at the entrance of other hives. Von Berlepsch, we
find, remarks that there exists during the gathering season a species
of "communism of dwellings" between the bees of neighbouring hives.
The Italian bees are more active than common bees when on the wing.
They are also observed to work longer hours than other bees both early
and late, as well as in seasons when the latter will not stir abroad.
Thus altogether they are much more productive. In many seasons we have
had more honey from an Italian stock than from any one of our colonies
of black bees. From this hive we have taken a glass super containing
forty pounds nett of honey, besides having drawn from it an artificial
swarm; and after all it remained the strongest hive in our apiary.
In a private letter received from Mr. Langstroth he informed us that
in the season of 1865 he bred over 300 Italian queens; these he
disseminated to various' bee-masters on the American continent, and the
united opinion of apiarians in that country was increasingly in favour
of the decided advantage of the cultivation of the Italian bee. At the
present date it is literally "all the rage" with bee-keepers there.
With ourselves there is a quieter but not less genuine welcome accorded
to it. In the _British Bee Journal_ for May 1877, the distinguished
apiarian "A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper" writes: "After careful study
and comparison of both I found the Italian superior for beauty,
prolificness, power, and activity, and (to my view the greatest value
of all) for _fresh blood_."
To the testimonies already cited we will now add that of the late Mr.
Woodbury. The following is extracted from the paper contributed by
him to the _Bath and West of England Agricultural Journal_: "From my
strongest Ligurian stock I took eight artificial swarms in the spring,
besides depriving it of numerous brood-combs. Finding, in June, that
the bees were collecting honey so fast that the queen could not find an
empty cell in which to lay an egg, I was reluctantly compelled to put
on a super. When this had been filled with thirty-eight pounds of the
finest honeycomb,[10] I removed it, and as the stock hive (a very large
one) could not contain the multitude of bees which issued from it, I
formed them into another very large artificial swarm. The foregoing
facts speak for themselves; but as information on this point has been
very generally asked, I have no hesitation in saying that I believe the
Ligurian honey bee infinitely superior in every respect to the only
species that we have hitherto been acquainted with."
[Footnote 10: This super was exhibited at our stand in the
International Exhibition of 1862.]
The chorus of praise is not however universal. Most noticeable is
the broad divergence of views between the two greatest apiarians of
Germany--Dr. Dzierzon and Baron von Berlepsch. The former pronounces
this bee less given to stinging, less sensitive of cold, more
prolific, earlier in brood-raising and swarming, forwarder also in
comb-building, more industrious and honey-yielding, more courageous
in defence of its stores, and prompter in expelling the drones. The
Baron examines these and other assertions one by one, and declares
emphatically that, after a long course of experience, he has not
found them true in a single particular. He calls the bee "the Italian
humbug," and sums up as follows: "While it may perhaps be distinguished
from our own by a somewhat slighter disposition to sting, but, on the
other hand, it begins building drone comb and raising numbers of drones
in the first year, and its queens grow unfertile so early, and that
mostly at so inopportune a time, it stands manifestly _inferior to our
own_ in a relation of economic utility, and has therefore for us no
practical value at all."[11]
[Footnote 11: In our previous editions Von Berlepsch's views were cited
as strongly _favourable_ to the Italian bee. The change is his own, and
he now makes full recantation of his "error."]
Though we are unshaken in our adhesion to the Italian bee by
these opposite views, it is impossible to treat them as beneath
consideration. They are not a mere prejudice, for the Baron was at
first as much prepossessed in the strangers' favour as any one. But
it would be still less possible to set aside on their account the
united testimony of Dzierzon, Langstroth, and a host of others who are
above delusion on such a point. How then can we account for this one
notable divergence? In the first place, much of Von Berlepsch's data
are negative only, and negative evidence can never set aside positive;
thus when he tells us that he "has not observed" earlier activity or
greater courage or less sensitiveness, while others of unquestioned
judgment _have_ observed these points, we cannot hesitate to decide
in the favour of the latter. As to less disposition to sting, the
positive evidence should be on the Baron's side when he says that they
_do_ sting; but in this case, as we have seen, he partly concedes the
point. As to productiveness and fecundity, there may be some undetected
peculiarity about this bee to which something in the Seebach apiary or
neighbourhood is not so congenial as in other parts. At all events. Dr.
Dzierzon is unmoved from his faith, for we find him in the present year
giving as the result of twenty-five years experience that this bee is
"as gentle, diligent, and prolific as it is beautiful;" that it "bears
our German climate well, and that its preservation in purity is with
some care quite possible."
Still some persons are sure to be disappointed with a foreign bee,
just as some will be with a foreign country. Some have had their
expectations raised too highly, and expect wonderful results to follow
without effort; others, on the contrary, are so wrapt up in the new
treasure that they cherish it with vastly greater pains than their
other bees, and thus attribute to the bee itself what is partly to be
credited to their own superior care. In particular, with regard to
the greater fecundity of the queens, we think some allowance ought to
be made for the circumstance that in order to meet the demand for
Italian queens they are being continuously bred, so that when united to
English stocks they are always young and in the prime as to fertility;
whilst the common black queens are allowed to exist in the hives their
appointed time, as there is nothing to call for encouraging their
special propagation. In making comparisons we think this fact has been
a little overlooked; but though too much may have been thus credited to
the Italians, we think there is a clear balance on this point in their
favour, and they retain altogether our most decided preference.
§ VI. OTHER FOREIGN VARIETIES.
1. _Carniolan Bees._--In appearance this variety is very much like
our English bee. The difference is that the rings on the abdomen are
whiter; otherwise (except by a close observer) one would not be known
from the other.
Eight years ago the Rev. W. C. Cotton (brother of Lord Justice Cotton
and author of "My Bee Book") had a stock of these bees from Austria,
where they are largely cultivated, and he left them under our charge.
We placed them in our own apiary at Hampstead, where they did very
well, working a capital super in the first year, as well as parting
with a fine swarm. The second year Mr. Cotton had the swarm sent to
his own apiary, near Chester, because he wanted the original queen,
which of course this had with it. This swarm had rather a remarkable
adventure, and was nearly lost, as related at page 78. The Carniolans
have been praised as possessing similar good qualities with the
Italians, and though Von Berlepsch laughs at them and calls them "a new
grand swindle," yet, as he declares them to be "closely allied, if not
altogether identical," with the following variety, for which he has
only good reports, his denunciations of these seem reasonably open to
qualification.
2. Lower Austrian Bees.--Baron von Berlepsch mentions these as a
variety which he found, to his surprise, in the neighbourhood of
Vienna, but which must have been the same that Von Ehrenfels had
cultivated and described. They scarcely differ from the Carniolan, but
about one in fifty is rather strongly marked with red upon the first
ring of the back. The Baron speaks of their habitat as "the El Dorado
of the Bee," and he declares them wholly free from the vices of the
next sort, and thinks they raise fewer drones than ordinary bees. He
recommends, as likely to be a profitable breed, a cross of these with
our own variety.
3. Heath Bees.--This is a race of a very different character, deriving
its name from the district known as Luneburg Heath, and found also
about Oldenburg, Schleswig, and Holstein. In form and appearance Heath
bees are wholly identical with our own, but they seem like bees in a
lower state of civilisation, perpetually swarming without occasion and
with unmanageable impulse, and producing principally drones and drone
comb even with a queen of the first year. "Undoubtedly," says Von
Berlepsch, "this is by far the worst kind of bee existing in Germany."
4. Greek or Cecropian Bees.--In some particulars these are like a
cross between the Italian and common bees. The queen is dark bronze on
the abdomen as far as the second scale, but the common colour above.
Most of the workers have a ring and a half of bronze or a reddish
rust-colour; some have two entire rings of this hue. They are stated to
be more industrious and productive than common bees, and the drones to
be smaller.
This and the two previous varieties we thus briefly notice on the
basis of the remarks of Von Berlepsch. We are not aware that either
of them has been introduced into this country, nor do they appear to
have attained much success in Germany. Thus humorously does our author
dismiss this last: "Since 1864, when Deumer sounded his trumpet with
distended cheeks, we have heard not so much as a last dying speech from
the Cecropian bee, and she seems already in Germany to have gone the
way of all flesh. May the earth lie lightly on her!"
5 and 6. Cyprian and Smyrnæan Bees.--"A Country Doctor" writes in the
_British Bee Journal_ that he had prepared a translation from the
_Bienenzeitung_ of an article by Herr Corri, in which he speaks most
highly of the good qualities of the Cyprian bees, and considers them
in advance of any other bee that he has cultivated. In this opinion he
is borne out by Count Rudolph Kolowrat of Tabor.
"It so frequently happens," proceeds the correspondent, "that the
last pet receives the highest honours, and we are so apt to believe
that that must have special value which has cost considerable pains
to obtain, that a certain amount of caution is advisable in receiving
these enthusiastic statements. Herr Corri's opinion, however, is
deserving of the highest respect; for both he and the Count have
been most perseveringly engaged for many years past in importing
various races of bees from their native lands, and making comparative
observations as to their merits, and this without being biased by the
expectation of commercial gain.
"The bees got from Smyrna (1864) seem to stand next in their
estimation. Both the originally imported stocks, and those subsequently
raised from them, presented, however, a certain number of black bees,
and after the most painstaking attempts to breed them pure the results
remained the same. The conclusion come to was that they were of a mixed
race."
Our own experience tallies very much with this opinion. We imported
from Germany stocks of both the Cyprian and Smyrnæan bees, and
exhibited them at the bee shows of the British Bee Association.
Previous to doing so we submitted specimens to Mr. F. Smith of the
British Museum, and he reported favourably of them--that although
resembling the Italian (_Apis ligustica_), the Cyprian were clearly
of a different species, but more nearly approaching the Egyptian
(_A. fasciata_): they certainly possessed the irascible qualities so
distinctive of the Egyptians, and used their stilettoes unmercifully
on some of the gentlemen connected with the show. We have not been
sufficiently enamoured of them to pursue their cultivation further. The
resemblance is so close to those bees already domiciled here that we
see no special advantage to be gained by doing so.
7. Asiatic Bees.--This bee (_Apis dorsata_) is a distinct species;
it is larger than our own, and exists in a wild state in the woods
of India. Mr. Woodbury made considerable exertions to have a colony
brought to England, but without success. The stings of these bees,
are more formidable than those of the varieties possessed here, and
except as a matter of curiosity we can see nothing to recommend their
introduction.
8. Egyptian Bees.--These bees, though called _Apis fasciata_, are
considered by many as a variety of the same species as ordinary bees.
They are rather smaller and slenderer than our own and the Italian,
though closely resembling the latter in appearance. They have white
hairs all about them, and the first two and a half rings of the abdomen
are of a reddish yellow. The drones are also well marked with similar
rings, and the queen is even more beautiful than the Italian. Baron
von Berlepsch recommends crossing the handsomest Italian queens with
Egyptian drones, with a view solely to the æsthetic purpose of raising
the most beautiful breed of bees to be obtained.
The German apiarian Herr Vogel has given special attention to this
variety, and has discovered in it some interesting peculiarities. It
never gathers propolis, but uses wax in its place; and it seems almost
proof against the cold. But the most singular fact that has come to
his knowledge is that there exist regularly in an Egyptian colony some
twelve or so small drone-laying queens, which would be called fertile
workers but that they have a distinctive appearance, consisting in the
waxen yellow of their breasts--a feature which is possessed also by
the drones of their progeny. This is assuredly one of the most curious
discoveries that have ever been made in relation even to this most
curious of insects.
The late Mr. Woodbury imported some of these bees, but found them
exceedingly vicious, and really to possess no superiority over our
English bees. Some years since Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, the naturalist,
bought a stock of Mr. Woodbury, and brought them with him in order
to place in the Horticultural Gardens at South Kensington. Being
unacquainted with the placing of bees, he asked our aid in doing so.
From the experience of them thereby acquired our own idea would be that
no one could ever desire such bees; they came out with a rush, and
stung everybody within reach, right and left, who was not provided
with a veil.[12] This is the kind of bee found in Palestine, and
therefore the one which Samson found in the carcase of the lion.
[Footnote 12: Vogel says, that this bee never stings unless incensed,
"but then quite maliciously;" also that it is only more irritated
by tobacco smoke, but is effectually subdued by that from willow
touchwood.]
In connection with this species, the Rev. H. B. Tristram, in his
valuable book, "The Land of Israel," has an interesting account of the
bees in that country. In Palestine bee-keeping is an important item of
industry, and every house has a pile of beehives in its yard. Their
bee, he says, "is amazingly abundant, both in hives, in rocks, and in
old hollow trees. It is smaller than our ordinary bees, with brighter
yellow bands on the thorax and abdomen, which is rather wasp like in
shape, and with very long antennæ. In its habits, and especially in
the immense population of neuters in each community, and in the drones
cast forth in autumn, it resembles the other species. Its sting also is
quite as sharp. The hives are very simple, consisting of large tubes
of sun-dried mud, like gas-pipes, about four feet long, and closed
with mud at each end, leaving only an aperture in the centre large
enough for two or three bees to pass at a time. The insects appear to
frequent both doors equally. The tubes are laid in rows horizontally,
and piled in a pyramid. I counted one of these colonies, consisting of
seventy-eight tubes, each a distinct hive. Coolness being the great
object, the whole is thickly plastered over with mud and covered with
boughs, white a branch is stuck in the ground at each end to assist the
bees in alighting. At first we took these singular structures for ovens
or hen-houses. _The barbarous practice of destroying the swarms for
their honey is unknown._ When the hives are full the clay is removed
from the ends of the pipes, and the honey extracted with an iron hook;
those pieces of comb which contain young bees being carefully replaced,
and the hives then closed up again. Everywhere during our journey we
found honey was always to be purchased; and it is used by the natives
for many culinary purposes, and especially for the preparation of sweet
cakes. It has the delicate aromatic flavour of the thyme-scented honey
of Hybla or Hymettus.
"But, however extensive are the bee colonies of the villages, the
number of wild bees of the same species is far greater. The innumerable
fissures and clefts of the limestone rocks, which everywhere flank
the valleys, afford in their recesses secure shelter for any number
of swarms; and many of the Bedouin, particularly in the wilderness
of Judæa, obtain their subsistence by bee-hunting, bringing into
Jerusalem jars of that wild honey on which John the Baptist fed in the
wilderness, and which Jonathan had long before unwittingly tasted,
when the comb had dropped on the ground from the hollow tree in which
it was suspended. The visitor to the Wady Kurn, when he sees the busy
multitudes of bees about its cliffs, cannot but recall to mind the
promise, 'With honey out of the stony rock would I have satisfied
thee.' There is no epithet of the Land of Promise more true to the
letter, even to the present day, than this, that it was 'a land flowing
with milk and honey.'"
* * * * *
The question as to the worth or worthlessness of the above respective
varieties is not yet so decided a matter as it is with the Italians.
Those interested in the sale of a particular race will praise it up,
while those who have had a single disappointment with it will run it
down--and that is nearly the sum of the experience to be gathered from
current literature. Thus we find Dathe announcing, "I have discontinued
the rearing of Cyprian, Egyptian, and Carniolan bees." That is
intelligible; but in the same paper we read, "Between the German and
_Heath_ bees there is no particular difference"--which so staggers us
after Von Berlepsch's vituperations of the latter that we do not know
how much confidence we ought to place in the rest of the sentence,
which is given as the summing up of a discussion in that famous bee
country, Silesia: "The Egyptian bee ranks after the German and Italian;
the Carniolan, at the expense of honey, produces many bees; the
Cyprians are diligent, but quite inclined to sting. The Herzegovinian
bee is praised. Bees obtained by judicious crossing have the preference
over the pure races."
Numbers of other varieties may be expected to crop up from time to
time, as for instance the one last named. Della Rocca in the last
century spoke of a "dawn-coloured" bee that was brought from Holland
and Belgium, and which is probably one of the races included with
the Italian. Dr. Gerstäcker thus classifies the varieties: The North
European (now spread all over the world), the Italian with black
breasts, the Italian with yellow breasts, the Egyptian, the African,
and the Madagascar. Three South Asiatic bees he regards as specifically
distinct--_Apis dorsata_, _indica_, and _florea_. Mr. F. Smith
adds _zonata_ and _nigrocincta_, and inclines to make a species of
_fasciata_ (the Egyptians).
§ VII. FACULTIES AND FUNCTIONS.
It would be trenching too much upon our limits if we were to venture
into the inviting field to which this heading might introduce us. Still
the extreme interest of the subject renders it perhaps desirable that
some succinct allusion should be made to it, even if it be for little
more than to remark that the information we have to give is scattered
through other sections and chapters. Especially as some might be
disposed to skip the unattractive portion on "Anatomy and Physiology,"
it may be well to state here that in the second section of that chapter
will be found a brief account of the sight and other senses of bees,
and of the uses of their antennæ, by which they seem to feel, hear,
smell, and communicate. A remark upon their power of distinguishing
colours, and its practical value, will be found in connection with our
description of bee-houses for twelve hives (Chap. IV. § i.). On the
senses of taste and smell we have some further observations in the
sections of Chapter VI. upon "Stings," "Robbing," and "Bee-keeping in
London."
For the functions and habits of bees we must also refer to the passages
already instanced, as well as to the sections above on the "The Queen,"
etc., that on "The Rationale of Swarming" (page 72), and to those in
Chapter VI. on the four substances which bees collect or secrete, as
well as (though in a less degree) to those headed "Pasturage" and
"General Remarks." Those who will favour our book with a consecutive
reading will, we trust, find at the conclusion that all the more
important and interesting facts of this class are in one or other of
these places tolerably though briefly described.
The service that bees perform to flowers is a subject that has
attracted much attention of late years. As every one knows, or should
know, a flower has its stamens and pistils, which are respectively
its male and female organs, and the pollen contained in the anthers,
or little knobs on the summits of the stamens, must be conveyed to
the pistils, or no seed will be produced. When the anthers burst; the
pollen might happen to fall partly on the pistils, or it might not;
but the visits of bees (though they do not roll about in the flower,
in the manner that some have stated) are found by experience to be
efficacious in conveying this dust to the right spot. Owners of fruit
trees have noticed, in a season generally unfavourable to the orchard,
that if during only one fine forenoon the bees had spread freely
amongst the blossoms of a particular tree, that tree would prove more
fruitful than its fellows. On this account the orchard is a good place
for the apiary, for it seems that the more abundant the honey the
better will be the crop of fruit. The whole subject is scientifically
treated in Mr. Darwin's remarkable book, "The Fertilisation of
Orchids," but we must add to the foregoing how much more urgent are the
services of bees in the case of what are termed monœcious and diœcious
plants, the former of which have the stamens and pistils _in different
flowers_, and the latter have these flowers _upon different roots_. A
familiar example of the former is found in the nut tree, whose long
catkins, hanging like caterpillars in the early spring, are assemblages
of male flowers; while the females, from which the nuts develop, may be
detected by their crimson pistil-tips (stigmas), and grow in stalkless
clusters of two or three in the openings of remote scaly buds. But for
the visits or bees, our autumn nutting rambles would thus have but
little prospect of success. In the second case, often very considerable
distances intervene between the two flowers; for instance, with the
common dog mercury (_Mercurialis perennis_), a botanist may find
plantation after plantation containing male flowers by thousands, but
not a single female; and at length in some far-off spot he may succeed
in finding the females, equally by themselves, yet in full seed. In
these cases there is nothing but the visits of pollen-gathering insects
which can convey the fertilising dust to the flower for which it is
designed. And according to Mr. Darwin _all_ plants are practically
diœcious, for he states that the pollen, to have a fertilising effect,
must be brought to the pistils of one flower from the stamens of one
on another root. Whether this be considered established or not, there
remains the fact of the existence of diœcious plants as explaining
the admirable design of the provision that a bee in the course of
one flight shall gather pollen solely from _one species_. As far as
honey-gathering is concerned the bee is not governed by this rule;
but for this other important function it becomes absolutely essential
that the right pollen, and that only, should be conveyed to the right
flower. The careful observer may note how the dust on the bodies of
bees varies from yellow to red and brown according to the kind of
flowers from which it has been gathered, and the "socks," as the
Germans call them, on the two hind legs will be found always of the
same colour.
To no scientific man are we probably more indebted for observations
and deductions upon this branch than to Sir John Lubbock. Whilst this
edition was in course of preparation it was the writer's privilege to
listen to a lecture upon "Relations of Plants and Insects" delivered
by this able investigator before the Society of Arts; and the lecture
has since been published as a paper in the _Fortnightly Review_
of April 1877. In the course of his remarks Sir John cited many
interesting particulars of the ways in which flowers are protected
from the incursions of ants, whose visits would be harmful, both from
their rifling the stores from the bees, by whom alone they are likely
to be fertilised, and from the liability of the latter to desert
any species in which their tender probosces were in danger of being
seized by ants--it being the nature of an ant to grapple any pointed
thing directed towards her. Kerner was referred to as having observed
some of the modes by which such results are obviated. In some cases
there are _chevaux de frise_ around the flower, in the form of hairs
pointing downwards, or other barriers which the ant cannot penetrate
or surmount: notably in the corn bluebottle, which is smooth all over
except just beneath the flower, and in the thicket heads of some
thistles. In others there are glutinous parts which the ant cannot
traverse, as was noticed in the _Polygonum amphibium_, which, when it
grows on land, has sticky glands at the extremities of certain hairs,
while when in the water, where it is safe already, it is perfectly
smooth. Again, there are pendulous flowers, like the snowdrop, which
are so slippery on the surface that an ant would immediately slide
off, as was humorously illustrated by a sketch prepared with several
others by the lecturer's daughter. Facts were also stated showing how
the pollen is sometimes preserved by the closing of certain flowers
at times when winged insects were not on the move, and the exclusion
thereby of such as would not aid in the work of fructification. "It is
not too much to say," as Sir John elsewhere expresses himself ("British
Wild Flowers in Relation to Insects "), "that if on the one hand
flowers are in many cases necessary to insects, insects on the other
hand are still more necessary to the very existence of flowers; that
if insects have been in many cases modified and adapted with a view to
obtain honey and pollen from flowers, flowers in their turn owe their
scent and colour, their honey, and even their distinctive forms, to the
action of insects."
"And plains sad Chloris how these spoilers steal
From her ripe crests the vivifying meal,
Pare the thin films that shield her anthered reign,
And all her nectared cells insatiate drain?
No! kind intruders; all reserved for you
She pours through honeyed horn her luscious dew,
While, grateful for the rich repast, ye shed
Fresh showers prolific round her genial bed."
Evans.
§ VIII. EGGS AND TRANSFORMATIONS.
It is necessary that some explanation should be given, as to the
existence of the bee before it emerges from the cell.
The eggs (Plate II. Fig. 7) of all the three kinds of bees, when
first deposited, are of an oval shape, slightly curved, and of a
bluish-white colour. They are glutinous on the surface when laid,
which causes them to adhere to the bases of the cells where the queen
deposits them. In three or four days the egg changes to a small white
worm, and in this stage is known by the names of larva or grub (Plate
II. Fig. 8), in which state it remains four to six days more--a drone
six and a half; its dimensions enlarge during this period till it
appears as a ring at the base of the cell. While in this stage it is
fed by the nurse bees with a mixture of farina and honey, a transparent
white fluid in which the larva floats, and the supply of which is
so exactly apportioned that not a drop remains on its ceasing to be
required.
The next transformation is to the nymph or pupa form. The nurse bees
now seal up the cells with a preparation similar to wax, leaving them
with coverings which, by their greater convexity and darker colour,
distinguish them readily from honey cells. The pupa then spins round
itself a film or cocoon, just as a silkworm does in its chrysalis
state: workers and drones occupy thirty-six hours with this process;
princesses, which spin only half-cocoons, finish them in twenty-four.
The microscope shows that this cradle-curtain is perforated with very
minute holes, through which the baby bee is duly supplied with air. No
farther attention on the part of the bees is now requisite, except a
proper degree of heat, which they take care to keep up--a position for
the breeding cells being selected in the centre of the hive, where
the temperature is likely to be most congenial. The cells destined
for the rearing of drones are larger than those from which workers
will proceed, the former standing nineteen to the square inch against
twenty-seven of the latter: the former are also one-third as deep again
as the latter, and are made slightly more convex when sealed over. But
between the eggs themselves there is externally no difference whatever.
In from nineteen to twenty-one days after the egg is first laid (unless
cold weather should have retarded it) the bee quits the pupa state,
and, nibbling its way through the waxen covering that has enclosed it,
comes forth a winged insect. The eggs of drones require twenty-four
or twenty-five days, and those of queens sixteen or seventeen, to
arrive at maturity. In the unicomb observatory hives the young bees
may distinctly be seen as they literally fight their way into the
world, for the other bees do not take the slightest notice, nor afford
them any assistance. We have frequently been amused in watching the
eager little new comer, now obtruding its head, and anon compelled to
withdraw into the cell to escape being trampled on by the apparently
unfeeling throng, until at last it has succeeded in making its exit.
The little grey creature, after brushing and shaking itself, enters
upon its duties in the hive, and after a while issues forth to the
more laborious occupation of gathering honey in the fields--thus early
illustrating that character for industry which has been proverbial
at least since the days of Aristotle, and which has in our day been
rendered familiar even to infant minds through the nursery rhymes of
Dr. Watts.
§ IX. REPRODUCTIVE ECONOMY.
The fertilisation of the queen and the determination of the sexes of
her progeny are two subjects of so much interest that we must make room
for some exposition of the discoveries of the past thirty years in
relation thereto. What has been already stated on the former of these
under the section on "The Drone" consists of facts which were mainly
established by Huber; but within the present generation the great
German apiarians have returned to the question, and Dzierzon has set
forth some most marvellous deductions, which Baron von Berlepsch has
followed up with amplification and further proof. It was found that
the queen while in a virgin condition was often capable of depositing
eggs, and that these eggs, unlike those of poultry laid under somewhat
similar conditions, would hatch equally with others, but they _all
produced drones_. From this arose the question. Whence come the
drones _after_ the queen has been fertilised? A fact known from the
days of Huber and Riem was by some supposed to settle the difficulty.
In many hives there exist what are called "fertile workers"--bees
having the female organs sufficiently developed to deposit eggs, but
not sufficiently so to receive fecundation; and as it was found that
the eggs of these fulfilled the conditions required, and invariably
produced drone bees, the theory was erected that these fertile workers
were the regular producers of that sex. But this plausible solution
of the problem did not stand examination. Every fertile queen does
habitually lay eggs in drone cells, and from those eggs drones are
uniformly developed. Dissection and microscopic analysis had therefore
to be resorted to, and the course of investigation commenced by
Swammerdam and pursued by Mlle. Jurine was now pushed to a much further
extent.
Proceeding from the two ovaries of the queen there are two canals,
called oviducts, which presently unite, and immediately beyond their
point of juncture is a small globular receptacle which is called the
spermatheca. With fertile queens it was found that this appendage is
permanently occupied by a fluid identical with that in the reproductive
organs of the drones, and that as such it abounds in spermatozoa; while
with a virgin queen the fluid is totally destitute of these, and is
wholly different in appearance, being thin and transparent. From this
discovery the conclusion followed that each egg, as it passes down
the oviduct and over the mouth of the spermatheca, may either receive
fecundation or not, according as the queen's own will or some other
circumstance shall determine. Dzierzon accordingly propounded as the
apparent, though still only hypothetical, solution of the enigma, what
is known as the doctrine of parthenogenesis or virgin breeding--the
law that life is imparted by the mother independently, and that every
egg as originally developed in her ovaries is of the male sex, but that
whenever fertilised with the male fluid it becomes transformed into a
female!
To convert this hypothesis into a demonstration, Von Berlepsch invited
to his apiary in succession the two great comparative anatomists
Professors Leuckart and Von Siebold, and furnished each with a number
of both drone and worker eggs for microscopic examination. Leuckart
examined the surfaces of the eggs; Von Siebold, who followed him,
tried the interiors, and the latter by this means was triumphantly
successful, for, after the most careful preparation of his subjects,
he detected in thirty out of forty worker eggs from one to four
spermatozoa apiece, while in his twenty-four drone eggs he found not a
single one. The exceptions were insufficient to invalidate the results,
for the ten worker eggs in which no signs of impregnation were found
were only the failures of observation to be naturally expected in so
delicate a scrutiny. Thus the fact was established that eggs which
produce male bees are descended from the female only--in other words,
that _drones have no fathers!_
Most strikingly has this law been corroborated by a discovery which we
owe to the introduction of the Italian bee--a discovery, too, which any
bee-keeper can make for himself. If an Italian queen is crossed with
an English drone, or _vice versa_, the _workers only_ of her progeny
will be mongrels--the drones will invariably retain the pure blood of
the queen, thus proving to demonstration that they owe their origin to
her alone. Should a mongrel drone be then observed, it will be a sure
sign that a fertile worker is in the hive: the queen will not be its
mother. Dr. Dönhoff, we are told, confirmed the same law by a converse
method, having in 1855 obtained a worker bee from a drone egg which he
had artificially impregnated with the male fluid.
The queen, as we have observed, is capable before fertilisation of
becoming the mother of drones, but it is believed by some that if she
has once commenced drone-laying it is impossible for her to become
subsequently fertilised. Mr. Langstroth, however, mentions an instance
to the contrary, where a queen of his, after persistently laying
drone eggs for a week or two, became after that the happy mother of a
thriving colony of workers. Von Berlepsch alludes to this case (with
others like it), but is unconvinced, being suspicious that here again
it was a fertile worker and not the queen who laid the drone eggs. But
looking to the fact that many _permanently_ unfertile queens lay drone
eggs, while others lay no eggs at all, does it not seem reasonable that
a similar difference may subsist _previous_ to fecundation? Thus, while
the Baron is on firm ground as to the general rule, we incline to a
belief that as to the exception the American observer is quite correct.
Dzierzon thus writes: "In general, so long as the young queen
continues her wedding flights--which in the warm summer she does at
the very most for four weeks, but in the cool spring or autumn, when
life and development are slower in the hive, she still pursues for
even five or six weeks--she is capable of becoming properly fertile."
But some queens continue to fly long after it is hopeless, cases
being recorded in which they have gone on for ten or twelve weeks.
The same observer speaks of having had several young queens which
were either lame in their wings or born in a continued cold season,
so that they were prevented from leaving the hive, and thus developed
into confirmed drone-breeders. The queen leaves the hive _every_ fine
day till her purpose is accomplished, and this led Bevan and others
to surmise that she met successively with several drones till one
Of them lost his life in consequence; but we do not find in later
authorities any confirmation nor even mention of this conjecture, and
it may be set down as entirely improbable. In the case observed by
Von Klipstein, and referred to above (page 22), as the queen met with
her death shortly after, he sent her to Leuckart, who found that from
this obviously first impregnation her organs were so completely filled
as to imply no need for a second. Leuckart has elsewhere stated that
a queen's spermatheca is capable of containing twenty-five millions
of spermatozoa, so that there need be no wonder at the fact of a
single fecundation being sufficient to answer for her entire term of
existence.
The fertile workers, which by their course of adding to the drone stock
may prove a terrible nuisance in a hive, were ascertained by Huber to
be always hatched in close proximity to the queen cells, whence he
conjectured that they obtained by accident a portion of the royal jelly
designed for the rearing of princesses. Von Berlepsch and Langstroth
prefer the theory that such jelly was purposely given them, and the
conversion of their own cells into royal ones commenced, but that the
intention was afterwards abandoned, as it is known that bees often,
start more of such cells than they ultimately proceed with. They are of
only exceptional occurrence in hives in a normal condition, but in a
queenless stock they very often appear, sometimes even in considerable
numbers, having been probably fostered with the jelly, but at too late
a period to convert them into queens. They usually deposit their eggs
correctly in drone cells, though drone-breeding queens lay in those of
workers and even in royal cells--thus evincing a presence of the will
though an absence of the power. To get rid of a fertile worker it has
been recommended by Mr. Rorl to "drive" the bees (Chap. V. § iv.) to an
empty hive, and place this in a near spot; all will return to their old
home except the one to be got rid of, she having probably never flown
before, and therefore not knowing her way.
§ X. RELATION OF SEX TO CELLS.
There remains the very interesting question of the connection between
sex and cells, which, if it be not paradoxical to say so, is as a
general rule invariable; that is to say, when both the queen and the
hive are in a normal condition, the eggs laid in each class of cells
produce respectively workers and drones without failure or exception.
But in abnormal circumstances, as with a drone-breeding queen, the law
does not hold, and drones of a diminished size are hatched from worker
cells, though the bees, on discovering the state of things, do their
best by subsequent elongation to adapt the cradles to their unexpected
occupants. Such is the explanation of the existence of "small drones;"
but workers hatched in drone cells do not appear to be in any way
peculiar. In regard then to the main fact we are confronted with the
question, Has the queen a knowledge, at the moment of laying, of the
gender of each particular egg? Rather, it would seem, she has the power
of making it what gender she pleases by compressing her spermatheca or
not at the instant of its passing down her oviduct. We must however
refer to an ingenious theory to the contrary, quoted by Langstroth as
started by his friend the late Mr. Wagner of Philadelphia, and which
has been approved by many in this country and Germany also. It is to
the effect that not the queen's own will, but the narrow limits of
the worker cells, administer the above compression, while the more
spacious drone cells allow her body to be inserted without such effect.
Von Berlepsch however, it is safe to say, has absolutely demolished
this mechanical explanation; and as some recent writers have quoted
the "Wagner theory" with approval, it may be best to give the German
observer's principal objections in his own words:--
"This explanation is thoroughly untenable; for--(_a_) perfectly new
worker cells are fully as wide as very old drone cells in which
breeding has taken place many times, and yet, as found by experience,
female bees come from the former and males from the latter, (_b_) Many
queens are of a strikingly slender form, some of them occasionally so
small that they can scarcely be distinguished from workers, and yet
they have no proclivity to drone-laying--which must however have been
the case if the narrow cell effected the fertilisation of the egg by
pressure.... (_c_) A queen lays even in cells that are scarcely begun,
with which, therefore, the proportion of the diameter to the thickness
of her body can exercise no influence at all, and yet drones come
forth from the drone cells and workers from the worker cells. (_d_)
If there are no drone cells at her command, and the stock is in want
of drones, the queen lays male eggs in worker cells, and drones hatch
from them.... (_i_) A fertile queen, if introduced with her colony
into a hive containing nothing but drone comb, would naturally [on
such hypothesis] furnish the drone cells with eggs as she would worker
cells, and make no difficulty about it. But she does make a very great
difficulty--for a long time she lays no eggs in the cells at all, but
lets them drop, or tries to escape abroad with her entire colony. But
at last she does lay in the drone cells, and what ensues? _Ordinary
worker bees come forth._" Instances follow of experiments decisively
proving this. It is only fair, however, to add that Mr. Wagner's
theory does not necessarily degrade the monarch of the hive into "a
mere egg-laying machine," as Von Berlepsch regards it in some of his
arguments, for she might still exhibit intelligence in deciding which
cells to lay in, even if the determination of the sex of the egg rested
finally with the cell which she had chosen.
The queen then exercises a personal control over each egg as she
deposits it, but, unless interfered with by irregular circumstances,
she _adapts_ her will to the cells and _chooses_ the cells according to
the requirements of the hive. But when both drones and workers are in
requisition she lays her eggs in each class of cells just as she comes
to them, as to which fact the Baron gives abundant evidence, having in
one instance observed a queen make no fewer than five changes in a day
from worker to drone cells or _vice versa_ without any intermission.
Inconsistent as it may appear, she also herself deposits in royal cells
the eggs which are to hatch into her rivals--that is, when these cells
have been prepared with a view to swarming;--for the preponderance of
argument goes against the belief that eggs are ever removed into these
by the workers.[13] In addition to determining the sex she is further
capable of regulating to a large extent the total number of eggs she
lays, and thus of modifying the growth of the population with the
character of the season and the condition of the colony; thus a queen
that has been transferred from a weak to a strong hive has been know to
vary in two or three days from no eggs at all to two thousand a day.
She lays during some ten months of the year, suspending the process in
November and December. For her first season she lays almost exclusively
worker eggs.
[Footnote 13: The eggs when once deposited adhere to the cells and
could not be removed without ruining them; but occasionally when
fresh laid they stick to the body of the queen, or even of a worker.
Queenless stocks sometimes in their temporary insanity start new queen
cells without thinking where the eggs are to come from; but these will
remain empty unless some fertile worker' tries her skill.]
We are told of the occasional occurrence of hermaphrodite bees, half
workers and half drones, and the explanation of their existence is
given by Von Berlepsch as an incomplete penetration of the shell of the
egg, in the act of fertilising, by the spermatozoa. Yet another order
of individuals has been supposed to exist by some, and they have termed
them "black bees,"[14] also "drone mothers;" they are not, however,
the veritable "fertile workers" named above, but owe their distinction
solely to misconception. They are blacker than the rest, and often
with fewer and shorter hairs: but the above author, after ascertaining
from Leuckart that there was no anatomical difference, proved by
experiments that their colour was caused simply by smearing with
honey, or else was the effect of stifling or of fright, and that the
loss of hairs was owing to nothing more than having crept repeatedly
through confined entrance-holes! Similarly Dzierzon: "The black colour
is one purely accidental, produced through heating, rubbing against
sides, biting, smearing, licking, and the like. As a rule, the glossy
black bees are _robbers_ which have been pursuing their trade for some
considerable time."
[Footnote 14: This term is also sometimes applied to English bees
generally in distinction from the Italians.]
§ XI. THE RATIONALE OF SWARMING.
Under this heading we purpose to describe such matters as belong
chiefly to the natural history of the bee, thus reserving for its
proper position at the beginning of our fifth chapter all which
strictly belongs to the subject of "Manipulation," and which it is to
the convenience of the inexperienced bee-keeper to find brief and ready
to his hand at any moment of emergency. A leisurely digesting of the
interesting facts stated in the present section will, however, greatly
assist him in the intelligent following of his pursuit.
In May, when the preceding part of the spring has been fine, the queen
bee is very active in the deposition of eggs, and the increase in a
strong healthy hive is so prodigious that emigration is necessary, or
work would soon cease. The bees, on arriving at a conviction of this
fact, commence preparations by the building of royal cells, thus
putting matters straight for the after government and progress of the
hive. The queen, _nolens volens_, falls in with the general resolution,
and makes off with the swarm on the first pleasant day after one of
these cells has been sealed over, that is to say, some six or seven
days before her first rival is likely to emerge. If delayed by the
weather till within two days of the hatching of this, the bees usually
destroy all the princesses, and either start fresh cells or give up
swarming altogether for the season. It is now a well-established fact
that the old queen goes forth with the first swarm, and thus the
sovereignty of the old hive devolves upon a young queen. Dzierzon,
however, once met with a case in which the old queen refused to stir,
and three strong swarms were led forth by young princesses in the
course of five days. By the bye, it should be added that swarms are
never "led" forth except by young queens, in the sense of having these
at their head; fruitful mothers usually follow in the midst.
As soon as the swarm builds combs in its new abode, the emigrant queen
begins laying eggs in the cells, and thereby speedily multiplies the
labourers of the new colony. Although there is now amongst apiarians
no doubt that the old queen quits her home, there is no rule as to
the composition of the swarm: old and young alike depart. Some show
unmistakable signs of age by their ragged wings, others their extreme
youth by their lighter colour. We do not, however, use the term
"young" in reference to those youngest inhabitants of the hive whose
engagements are solely within doors, for these cannot go till their
proper time for flying has arrived. Von Berlepsch says that all the
adult bees which are at home at the time of starting go with the swarm;
and sometimes this results in none but the brood bees being left--or
only one-fourth of the population. In preparation for flight, bees
commence filling their honey-bags, taking sufficient, it is said, for
three days' sustenance. This store is needful, not only for food, but
to enable them to commence the secretion of wax and the building of
combs in their new domicile.
On the day of emigration the weather must be fine, warm, and clear,
with but little wind stirring; for the old queen, like a prudent
matron, will not venture out unless the day is in every way favourable.
Whilst her majesty hesitates, either for the reasons we have mentioned
or because the internal arrangements are not sufficiently matured, the
bees will often fly about or hang in clusters at the entrance of the
hive for two or three days and nights together, all labour meanwhile
being apparently suspended. When this cluster is formed in the morning
hours, and grows constantly larger in spite of the sun, it may be taken
as the sign of a very speedy start. The busy flitting of other bees
around this cluster, or their sporting in numbers before the hive, are
also reliable signs, and some have included the appearance of drones
at ten in the morning. At the last, when the time is quite fixed, the
bees in the cluster suddenly return to the hive to fill themselves
with honey for the flight. The agitation of the little folk is well
described by Evans:--
"See where, with hurried step, the impassioned throng
Pace o'er the hive, and seem, with plaintive song,
To invite their loitering queen; now range the floor,
And hang in clustered columns from the door;
Or now in restless rings around they fly,
Nor spoil they sip, nor load the hollowed thigh;
E'en the dull drone his wonted ease gives o'er,
Flaps the unwieldy wing, and longs to soar."
But when all is ready, a scene of the most violent agitation takes
place; the bees rush out in vast numbers, forming quite a dark cloud as
they traverse the air.
The time selected for the departure of the emigrants is generally
between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.; most swarms come off within an hour of
noon. In very sultry weather they have been known to be as early as
7 a.m., and on the other hand as late as 5 p.m., though this last
probably only occurs when a _young_ queen leads the detachment. As
a rule, says Von Berlepsch, first swarms start in the morning and
after-swarms in the afternoon. It is a very general remark that bees
choose a Sunday for swarming, and probably this is because then greater
stillness reigns around. It will not be difficult to imagine that the
careful bee-keeper is anxious to keep a strict watch, lest he should
lose such a treasure when once it takes wing. The exciting scene at a
bee-swarming has been well described by the apiarian laureate:--
"Mounts the glad chief! and, to the cheated eye,
Ten thousand shuttles dart along the sky,
As swift through ether rise the rushing swarms,
Gay dancing to the beam their sun-bright forms,
And each thin form, still lingering on the sight,
Trails, as it shoots, a line of silver light.
* * * * *
High poised on buoyant wing, the thoughtful queen
In gaze attentive views the varied scene,
And soon her far-stretched ken discerns below
The light laburnum lift her polished brow,
Wave her green leafy ringlets o'er the glade,
And seem to beckon to her friendly shade.
Swift as the falcon's sweep, the monarch bends
Her flight abrupt: the following host descends;
Round the fine twig, like clustered grapes, they close
In thickening wreaths, and court a short repose."
As it often happens with after-swarms that more than one young queen
is hatched before the start is made, the presence of these may cause
irregular and puzzling behaviour in the bees. Langstroth mentions
a case in which no less than eight queens must have started thus
together, and Von Berlepsch once met with the same number; while
Spitzner found a swarm with so many as twenty-one, but this happened
fourteen days after the return to the hive of the first swarm, which
had lost its queen. As mentioned in the section on "The Queen," it is
not altogether a rare occurrence, though certainly the exception, for
more than one monarch to settle down together. In one American case no
fewer than five colonies once took up their quarters in a single large
box, and remained there through a season "united yet divided."
If, on the contrary, the queen is not in the swarm at all, the bees
sometimes return at once to the hive, and sometimes they first
institute a search for her majesty. In the famous but cruel experiment
of Dr. Warder a whole swarm was starved to death by alternate
deprivations and restorations of their queen repeated at intervals
during five days. Of course in his day this devotion was attributed to
personal regard.
Exceptional cases of another kind are also not uncommon, in which
a colony has made no preparation for swarming (by the formation
of royal cells), but on the sudden arrival of warm weather it is
enticed--Dzierzon says by the heat itself. Von Berlepsch by the
contagious example of neighbouring hives--to carry out in a hurry that
which ought to have received some ten days' preliminary care. "An
internal revolution is made," says the Baron, "and they rush forth for
the swarm. The queen, as becomes the pseudo-sovereign of a democratic
monarchy, hastens to prove to her people their most obedient servant,
and there the swarm is, hanging on the first convenient tree." On the
following morning it will in such case be found that worker cells have
been transformed into royal ones.
An instance illustrating the way in which bees sometimes make provision
beforehand of a place to fly to when about to swarm came under our own
notice a few years since. A lady who lived about a quarter of a mile
from our apiary sent to us to say that a swarm had gone in at a hole
over her stable, and to ask us to come and hive them. On our going to
do so her gardener told us that he had seen three days previous two or
three bees as if reconnoitring; next day several came, and about eleven
o'clock on the third day the whole swarm went in and took up their
position between the rafters under the flooring. The difficulty was now
to get at them. A carpenter was sent for, the boards were taken up, a
hive was set over, with a brood comb placed in it to attract them, and
by dint of smoke and brushing with a feather, the queen and her retinue
were coaxed to ascend into the hive. Some of the bees had already gone
out to forage, and there were many flying about that had not settled;
so to secure these and make it easy for them, we brought the hive out,
and erected a sort of platform on a pair of steps close to the hole,
which we stopped. By nighttime all the out-flying bees had joined the
swarm and were easily removed.
We ought to mention that we recognised this swarm from the appearance
of the bees as those from the Carniolan hive left under our care by the
Rev. W. C. Cotton (page 45), and as the queen with the swarm was the
original, we had to ask that we might be allowed to take the bees back
if we provided a swarm of the ordinary English bees, which offer was
accepted. Mr. Cotton eventually took this colony to his residence at
Frodsham near Chester, and we kept the stock, which of course had a new
queen. The bees did not long retain their distinctive features.
A swarm of bees, in a natural state, contains from 10,000 to 20,000
insects. "On an average," says Dzierzon, "we may call 20,000 a strong
swarm, 12,000 to 15,000 a moderate one, and 6,000 to 8,000 a weak one."
Von Berlepsch by a very careful experiment estimated that there were
5,600 unloaded bees in a pound, so that when loaded for swarming there
would certainly not be more than 4,000. A good swarm will therefore
weigh from three to five pounds. We have known swarms not heavier
than two pounds and a half that were in very excellent condition in
August as regards store for the winter; though the Baron's experiments
showed with remarkable conformity that for a new swarm _six_ pounds
was proportionally more profitable than any other weight, larger or
smaller. For a fully furnished hive, he states, there seems really no
limit but that of space--the more bees the better.
Hitherto our remarks have had reference to first or "prime" swarms;
these are the best, and when a swarm is purchased, such should be
bargained for. But there are also second swarms, known amongst cottage
bee-keepers as "casts," one of which is often found to issue from the
hive nine or ten days after the first has departed; in very rare cases
such has been known as early as the third or as late as the seventeenth
day. It is not always that a second swarm issues, as so much depends
on the strength of the stock, the weather, and other causes; but should
the bees determine to throw out another, the first hatched queen in the
stock hive is prevented by her subjects from destroying the other royal
princesses, as she would do if left to her own will. She in consequence
becomes highly indignant; and, when thwarted in her purpose, utters,
in quick succession, shrill angry sounds, much resembling _Peep,
peep_,[15] commonly called "piping," but which more courtly apiarians
have styled the _vox regalis_. The princesses answer her in a somewhat
different note--these being, it must be understood, by this time
perfectly developed queens, but afraid to quit their cells, where
accordingly the brood bees feed them.
[Footnote 15: So all English writers. Bees in Germany evidently speak
a different language, for there the reigning queen cries, _Tüh, tüh_,
while her imprisoned rival answers, _Quah, quah_.]
This royal wailing continues during the evening, and is sometimes so
loud as to be distinctly audible many yards from the hive. When this
is the case, a swarm may usually be expected either on the next day
or at latest within three days, unless the weather causes a longer
postponement. This sound, when persevered in, is a sure sign of the
issuing of an after-swarm, but it is in such case almost the _only_
sign, and it must be noted that even when the bees do not intend to
swarm it may sometimes be heard a day or two after a second swarm has
left. If not heard it may be concluded that swarming is at an end. The
second swarm is not quite so chary of weather as the first; it was
the _old_ lady who exercised so much caution, disliking to leave home
except in the best of summer weather.
In some instances, owing to favourable breeding sea sons and prolific
queens, a third swarm issues from the hive (usually after intervals
of two or three days), which is termed a "colt;" and in remarkable
instances even a fourth (after another day's interval), which in rustic
phrase is designated a "filly." Mr. Langstroth says that he once had a
fifth, and all five in the course of a fortnight. A swarm from a swarm
is called a "maiden" swarm, and, according to bee theory, will again
have the old queen for its leader: if such does occur it will probably
be at about a month after the hiving. The original colony, of one or
more years' duration, is known as a "stock."
When swarming is over for the season any princesses remaining in cells
are torn out and destroyed as before stated, or else left to the tender
mercies of the reigning sovereign. But now and then one of them slips
past her assailants, "and then," says Von Berlepsch, "there ensues a
regular hunt, which I have several times observed through the hive
window. The queen, well knowing the fate that is in store for her,
rushes away, and the bees pursue; when seized by the feet or the wings
she cries out pitiably, and one queen so moved my compassion that I
liberated her, put her in a queen cage, supplied her with workers and
comb on a following day, and, as she became successfully fertilised,
brought her through the winter."
§ XII. INCREASE OF BEES.
In the section upon "The Queen" we have given (page 10) some
particulars as to the rate of breeding with bees. The needful expansion
for this rapid development is found in the above process of "swarming,"
by which they provide themselves with fresh space, and plant new
colonies. But the object of the bee-master is to train and educate his
bees, and in so doing he avoids much of the risk and trouble which is
incurred by allowing the busy folk to follow their own devices. The
various methods for this end adopted by apiarians all come under the
term of the "depriving" system, and they form part of the great object
of humane and economical bee-keeping, which is to save the bees alive
instead of slaughtering them as under the old clumsy _régime_. A very
natural question is often asked: How is it that, upon the depriving
system, where our object is to prevent swarming, the increase of
numbers is not so great as upon the old plan? It will be seen that
the laying of eggs is performed by the queen only, and that there is
but one queen to each hive; so that where swarming is prevented there
remains only one hive or stock, as the superfluous princesses are not
allowed to come to maturity. If all those princesses were to become
monarchs, or mother bees, and to emigrate with a proportionate number
of workers, increase would be going on more rapidly; but the old stock
would be so impoverished thereby as possibly to yield no surplus
honey, whilst the swarms might come off too late for them to collect
sufficient store whereon to grow populous enough to withstand the
winter.
With bees, as with men, "union is strength;" and it is often better
to induce them to remain as one family, rather than to part numbers
at a late period of the honey-gathering season, without a prospect
of supporting themselves, and so perish from cold and hunger during
the ordeal of the winter season. This is one of the great secrets of
successful bee-keeping. Mr. Langstroth's recommendation is that none
"but the most experienced apiarians" should attempt "at the furthest to
do more than treble their stocks in one year." Even doubling them, he
says, is often too rapid an increase for obtaining spare honey.
Our plan of giving additional storage-room will, generally speaking,
prevent swarming. This stay-at-home policy, we contend, is an
advantage; for instead of the loss of time consequent upon a swarm
hanging out preparatory to flight, all the bees are engaged in
collecting honey, and that at a time when the weather is most
favourable and the food most abundant. Upon the old system the swarm
leaves the hive simply because the dwelling has not been enlarged at
the time when the bees are increasing. Upon the antiquated and inhuman
plan where so great a destruction takes place by the brimstone match,
breeding must, of course, be allowed to go on to its full extent to
make up for such sacrifices. Our chief object under the new system is
to obtain honey free from all extraneous matter. _No one can depend
upon gathering pure honey from combs where storing and breeding are
performed in the same compartment._ For fuller explanations on this
point we refer to the various descriptions of our improved hives in a
subsequent chapter of this work.
We often receive from Scotland magnificent boxes of honey; and
though the fine quality is no doubt to be in part attributed to good
pasturage, it is largely owing to keeping the stocks strong, and thus
having hives well stored and well populated early in the season. A
weakly hive will take some weeks, if not months, to grow populous; and
as soon as the strength of the hive has recovered, the honey season
will have advanced, if not ended, whilst the strong stocks have been
able to take full advantage of the supplies, having an abundance of
labourers to collect the honey and store it in supers for their master.
There can now be scarcely two opinions as to the uselessness of the
rustic plan of immolating the poor bees after they have striven through
the summer so to "improve each shining hour." The ancients in Greece
and Italy took the surplus honey and spared the bees, and now for
every intelligent bee-keeper there are ample appliances wherewith to
attain the same results. Mr. Langstroth quotes from the German the
following epitaph, which, he says, "might be properly placed over every
pit of brimstoned bees:"--
Here Rests,
CUT OFF FROM USEFUL LABOUR,
A COLONY OF
INDUSTRIOUS BEES,
BASELY MURDERED
BY ITS
=UNGRATEFUL AND IGNORANT OWNER=.
And Thomson, the poet of "The Seasons," has recorded an
eloquent poetic protest against the barbarous practice, for which,
however, in his day there was no alternative:--
"Ah! see, where, robbed and murdered, in that pit
Lies the still-heaving hive! at evening snatched,
Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night,
And fixed o'er sulphur; while, not dreaming ill,
The happy people, in their waxen cells,
Sat tending public cares, and planning schemes
Of temperance, for winter poor; rejoiced
To mark, full flowing round, their copious stores.
Sudden, the dark, oppressive steam ascends;
And, used to milder scents, the tender race
By thousands tumble from their honeyed domes,
Convolved and agonising in the dust."
It will be our pleasing task, in subsequent chapters; to show "a more
excellent way."
[Illustration]
CHAPTER II.
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
§ I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
ALTHOUGH the principal object in compiling the present
work has been to induct our readers into the way of keeping bees
according to the most recent and approved methods, it requires little
apology for thus apparently deviating from such prescribed course by
devoting a small portion of our space to a description of the anatomy
of the wonderful little creatures whose labours all our contrivances
are intended to assist, especially since a knowledge of their habits is
not only interesting to the bee-keeper, but enables him to conduct his
apiary in accordance therewith.
In a treatise of this kind, intended to be of a popular character, we
shall endeavour to place these details before our readers in a concise
and simple manner, avoiding as much as may be technical terms, and
referring those who wish to go more deeply into this branch of the
subject to the works of Kirby and Spence, Samuelson, etc. In the
course of our descriptions we shall frequently refer to the steel
engravings, Plates I. and II., drawn by Mr. E. W. Robinson, artist to
the Entomological Society of London, who has most carefully dissected
bees we sent him for the purpose, subjected these dissections to the
microscope, and skilfully produced the accompanying illustrations,
which will so much assist the purpose we have in view. These
delineations are so clear that a little explanation will suffice to
impart a full understanding of the various parts of the bee.
Because the bee is so small an insect we are not to neglect
investigating its organisation. "The bee is little among such as
fly, but her fruit is the chief of sweet things." The enlightened
Boyle, when contemplating the wonders of Nature, declared that his
astonishment had been more excited by the mite than by the elephant;
and that his admiration dwelt "not so much on the docks as on the
_watches_ of creation."[16]
[Footnote 16: Dr. Bevan.]
The Figures i, 2, and 3, in Plate L, respectively represent the
exterior forms of the queen, the worker, and the drone. They are
thus coloured for the purpose of illustrating the Yellow Italian
Alp, or Ligurian bee, now deservedly held in such high estimation by
bee-keepers, and of whose good qualities we have already remarked. All
the bees constituting a stock may not be of quite so bright a colour
as those represented: the old bees differ in appearance from the
younger ones--darkened bodies and ragged wings, not grey hairs and
wrinkled faces, are the signs of old age--so that with bees (especially
Italians), as with the gentler sex of the human race, there is
appointed a period both of youth and beauty.
The anatomical structure of our English bee is the same in kind as that
of the Italian;[17] a description of the one will therefore serve for
the other. The most apparent difference consists in the colour. The
English bee is of a blackish brown; both varieties have their bodies
wholly covered with close-set hairs. These hairs deserve particular
attention, because, although so small, each hair is _feather-shaped_,
consisting of a stem and branches somewhat analogous to the feathers of
birds. This form is extremely serviceable to the insect, when revelling
in the corolla of flowers, to collect the farina, and, besides being
thus useful, is peculiarly adapted for retaining animal heat.[18]
[Footnote 17: Naturalists consider the Italian bee a Very superior
race, and that the various organs are stronger and of greater capacity;
it is however not easy to define the precise anatomical superiority.]
[Footnote 18: "Naturalist's Library."]
The insect is divided into three parts--the _head_, the _thorax_ or
_chest_, and the _abdomen_.
[Illustration: Plate II.
E. W. Robinson, Delt. et Scp. 1865.]
§ II. THE HEAD AND ORGANS OF SENSATION.
The head of the queen (Plate I. Fig. 1 _c_), as also that of the drone
(Fig. 3 _c_), is rounder than that of the worker bee. This last (Fig. 2
_c_) is of a triangular shape, and much flattened, as in Fig. 2 _c*_,
which shows the side view. In common with other creatures, the head
contains the inlet for nutrition, and is the seat of the principal
organs of sensation.
In the figures before alluded to may be seen the double visual
apparatus with which bees are provided. The oval lobes on each side
of the head represent the two eyes, the secondary organs of vision
being the three small eyes on the top of the head, called "stemmata."
We shall first describe the two larger eyes, which, as seems to be
the case with all insects, are immovable, and have neither irides nor
pupils, nor yet eyelids to cover them, but are protected from the dust
or pollen of flowers by a number of small hairs, as well as by a horny
tunicle, which defends and secures them from injury. The multitude of
hexagonal lenses, called "ocelli," which make up the eye of a bee, give
it, when viewed through a microscope, the appearance of honeycomb; or
we might compare it to a multiplying-glass with hexahedral facets, each
facet representing the surface of one ocellus. But when we look also to
the inner structure, it resembles rather some thousands of telescopes
all converging towards one point. It has been computed that in each
eye there are 3,500 of these collateral lenses. Fig. 5 in Plate II.
represents three of these prisms or lenses magnified. Each of them is
wonderfully intricate in structure, comprising, first two plano-convex
lenses of different densities, fitted together on the flat sides on
the principle of an achromatic object-glass; next an empty space
surrounded with dark pigment, which is convex within like the neck of
a vase, so as to narrow the passage for the rays to about one-half the
diameter, or one-fourth the superficial space; and lastly a longer
conical lens, convex at each end and communicating with the optic
nerve. The simple eyes, or stemmata, on the contrary, are as strictly
simple as their name implies, consisting of one nearly globular lens
apiece.
The construction of the eye for seeing objects best at a moderate
distance will account for the fact that bees mount high up into the air
after collecting their store of food, and then, having determined the
point, no matter how far off, they fly homewards with the directness
of a cannon-ball, and alight at the door of their own habitation,
though the country around may be crowded with hives; but on reaching
the entrance their vision appears defective, for they then feel their
way with the antennæ as if totally blind, and should the hive have
been moved a little they will rise again into the air to obtain a more
distant view, suited to the lengthened focus of their sight. When a
stock or swarm is brought from a distance the bees do not take their
departure at once, but reconnoitre awhile, visiting surrounding objects
so as to well know the spot again in order to return thereto.
The distinct purposes of the two different kinds of eyes may not
perhaps be yet determined with certainty, but Pastor Schönfeld (whom
Von Berlepsch employs to write those sections of his own work that
relate to the senses of bees, as being "beyond doubt the best-informed
of apiarians on these subjects") gives a decided opinion that the
stemmata serve only for the most distant objects, while the compound
eyes, which are much more highly refractive, become available when
closer at hand. Thus these eyes, which we compared to telescopes, are
credited with the _least_ of telescopic power, and serve for nearer
observation after all. How much nearer, however, we are not yet in a
position to say, and nothing need be withdrawn of what is stated above
as to the far-sightedness of bees. The compound eyes are assumed to be
also serviceable in the twilight, and thus to afford some vision in
the interior of a hive. It is worth mentioning, as a rare compliment
from a German to an English apiarian, that Schönfeld declares the
best anatomical description of the eyes of our insect to be given by
Samuelson in his work, "The Honey Bee."[19]
[Footnote 19: The compliment belongs doubtless to Dr. Hicks, to whom
the anatomical portion of that work is presumably due.]
The mouth of the bee is a most complex structure, marvellously adapted
for its duties, and consists of the labrum, or upper lip, with the
mandibles, or upper gills, and of the labium, or lower lip, which
is made up of the ligula or tongue, also called the proboscis, the
labial palpi, and the paraglossæ, together with the maxillæ, or lower
gills--we adopt this word "gills" from the German for want of a better.
The jaws open vertically, but the mandibles, maxillæ, and palpi work
horizontally, and serve as pincers or scissors. The mandibles are the
two side pieces which constitute the working portion of the upper jaw.
Fig. 1 _d_ in Plate I. shows the mandible of the queen, which, like
that of the drone (Fig. 3 _d_), is provided with two teeth, whilst the
mandible of the worker (Fig. 2 _d_) is without teeth. This last having
to manipulate the wax with smoothness, the teeth would doubtless be
objectionable. These mandibles are strong, horny, and sharp-pointed,
to assist in breaking down food, and in other respects constitute
serviceable tools for seizing their enemies, ejecting the drones, etc.
The tongue (Plate II. Fig. 3), or proboscis, is a long slender
projection, flattish in form, and about the thickness of a bristle.
It has about forty cartilaginous rings, each of which is fringed with
minute hairs, having also a small tuft of hair at its extremity,
where it is somewhat serrated. In movement it is like the trunk of an
elephant, and is susceptible of extension and contraction, bending
and twisting in all directions; and by rolling about, it sweeps or
laps up, by means of the fringes around it, everything to which it is
applied. Thus, when a bee alights upon a flower, it pierces the petals
and stamens, where the nectar is secreted, and deposits its collection
on the tongue, from whence it passes into the gullet (Plate I. Fig. 2
_c_) at its base. At times, in building combs, the tongue is used as
a trowel, with which the minute scales of wax are deposited in their
appropriate places, and the desired finish is given to the cells. This
organ has been denied by some to be a hollow tube, but this is not the
view generally held, and it certainly does not act wholly by _handing_
up the food, for there is a furrow or gutter running along the whole
length of its under side. Thus, when a bee is imbibing honey the rings
of the abdomen have a vibratory motion similar to pumping, showing to
the casual observer that suction is rapidly going on. Dr. Bevan tells
us that the true tongue is an extremely minute object at the base of
the maxillæ; but this appears to have been a mistake of his own.
The labial palpi (Plate II. Fig. 3 _o_) rise from the base of each
side of this lapping instrument, and are also ciliated exteriorly.
They appear to serve as feelers to the mouth. Between these and the
tongue are the two small sheaths or membranes called the paraglossæ;
and outside of the same are the working portions of the lower jaw, or
the maxillæ (Fig. 3 _n_), which are also provided with hairs and with
two feelers midway known as maxillary palpi. When the jaws close on the
tongue they form a sheath or defence thereto.
With the mandibles of the upper jaw opening right and left, and the
maxillæ of the lower, which serve to hold the object laboured upon, the
insect prepares its work for the sweeping-up apparatus of the lower
parts. Thus, when combs become mouldy, or in any way unfit receptacles
for brood or honey, these tools provided by Nature serve the place of
hands, and the bees are able to chop up in small pieces, and remove
from their dwelling, whatever lumber of this kind may be offensive to
them. They are applied also for opening the anthers of flowers. The
whole of this apparatus, while perfect in action in an expanded state,
can be folded or coiled together when not in use, so as to form one
strong and well-protected instrument.
The antennæ (Plate I. Figs. 1 _a_, 2 _a_, 3 _a_) are most important
instruments, and are planted between or below the eyes and a little
below the stemmata, one on each side; they consist of a number of
tubular joints, each having a separate motion, and, being thus jointed
throughout their whole length, they are capable of every variety of
flexure, and their extremities are exquisitely sensitive. With the
antennæ these insects recognise their queen, and appear to communicate
to each other their joys and sorrows. For instance, if a colony be
deprived of its queen, bees may be seen rushing about the hive, and,
with a nervous twinge, crossing their antennæ or violently striking
them together, and conveying the intelligence of their forlorn state.
The sense of touch is here most acute. Huber performed an interesting
experiment which definitely proved that it was by means of these organs
that they communicated with each other. Dividing a hive by a grating
which kept the two portions too widely apart for the antennæ to meet,
he soon had the queenless half in a state of commotion and upset; but
when he allowed these feelers the means of access, though nothing
else could be passed through, he saw them by hundreds making their
enquiries, and receiving answers, which resulted in the whole remaining
tranquil. The same observer tried the experiment of depriving two
queens of their antennæ and introducing both to the same hive, when the
bees did not appear to know their own from the stranger; but the moment
he added a third, still in possession of these organs, they fell upon
her with murderous intent. Huber further points out that a moonlight
night is the best time for observing the use of the antennæ as feelers.
The bees, if it is warm, circumambulate their doors, to all appearance
as vigilant sentinels, with these appendages stretched right before
them; and woe to the moth that comes within reach--the instant it is
felt its death follows.
The sense of hearing has been denied bees by some, but against
all evidence; others contend that the seat of this power is also
situate in their antennæ. The sounds which bees emit, particularly
at swarming time, are conclusive that they possess this faculty; the
only reasons for arriving at an opposite conclusion seem to be, that
they are indifferent to most sounds, even the loudest, not emitted by
themselves--but even to this there is the notable exception of the
fright they evince at drumming on their hives--and that no precise
organ of hearing can be found. Naturalists are now more united in the
opinion that the seat of hearing is here located. The antennæ are said
to have also another office, viz., that they act as a barometer, by
which bees know the stale of the weather and are premonished of storms;
the darkening of the sky seems, however, to be frequently the cause of
their trooping homeward, though they care not for the loudest thunder,
so long as the sun continues to shine. In the dark recesses of the hive
the feelers are exceedingly serviceable, and may truly be denominated
"eyes to the blind."
Bees possess acutely the sense of smell, and, attracted by the
fragrance of flowers, they may be seen winging their way a considerable
distance in an undeviating course, even sometimes in the face of
weather which one might have thought they would not have braved. The
precise seat of this sense, however, is another doubtful point. Dr.
Dönhoff ascribes this also to the antennæ, stating that if these
are cut off the bees lose the faculty, but regain it after a time.
Schönfeld takes this as proving the case the other way; but are we not
familiar with analogies in which on the loss of some organ its function
has been developed elsewhere--especially when as here the rudiments of
the lost part must have remained? Schönfeld's own surmise is that the
faculty resides in the surfaces of the inner respiratory organs; Dr.
Hicks (the assistant author of Samuelson's "Honey Bee") places it in a
number of vesicles at the roots of the wings; others again attribute
it to two depressions in the lower portion of the face. But Dönhoff's
reference to the antennæ has experiment, to our view, in its favour,
though of course not decisively so. But whether this is correct or not,
this pair of horns play an important part with the useful faculties
which they combine.
With their extraordinary devotion to sweets, bees can hardly but be
possessed of a strong sense of taste, though in consequence of their
being detected occasionally lapping the impure liquids from stable or
other fœtid drains, Huber considered it the least perfect of their
senses. But it is now ascertained that bees, like most animals, are
fond of salt, and they therefore resort to dunghills and stagnant
marshes, from which they are doubtless able to extract saline draughts.
It cannot be denied, however, that, according to our ideas, their taste
is otherwise at fault; thus it sometimes happens that, where onions
and leeks abound and are allowed to run to seed, bees are so anxious
to complete their winter stores, that, from feeding on these plants,
a disagreeable flavour is communicated to the honey (see Chap. VI. §
iii.).
§ III. THE THORAX AND ORGANS OF MOTION.
The thorax or chest approaches in figure to a sphere, and is united to
the head by a thread-like ligament. This is the centre of the organs
of motion. Here are attached both the muscles that move the legs and
wings, and the legs and wings themselves.
In Fig. 1 of Plate II., _b, b, b_ show the muscles that move the wings;
_e, e_, the bases of the wings. These appendages consist of two pairs
of unequal size, which are arranged to hook together. In Plate I. Fig.
A will be seen the margins of the two wings. In Fig. B are the eighteen
or twenty hooks placed on the anterior margin of the hinder wing,
whilst the posterior margin of the fore wing is beautifully folded over
to receive them, so that, when employed in fanning for ventilation, the
two wings on each side act as one, and present an unbroken surface to
the air. The wings of workers are larger than those of the queen, but
those of drones are much larger still.
The bee has six legs, three on each side. Each leg is composed of
several joints, having articulations like a man's arm, for the thigh,
the leg, and the foot. The foremost pair of these are the shortest;
the middle pair are somewhat longer, and with them the bee unloads
the little pellets from the baskets on her thighs; the hindmost are
the longest of all. On the outside of the middle joint of these last
there is, in each leg, a small cavity, in the form of a marrow-spoon,
called the "pollen basket." The pollen is conveyed from the front to
the second pair of legs, and from these to the receptacles in the hind
ones. Fig. 2 _b_ in Plate I. shows the inner side of the hind leg and
pollen brush; 2 _b*_, the outer side and pollen basket. On entering a
flower a bee often covers itself with pollen, and hence the need for
the brash apparatus on reaching home.
The legs are covered with hairs, more particularly the edges of the
cavity mentioned, in which the kneaded pollen requires to be maintained
securely. In this they convey those coloured loads which are so
constantly seen carried into a hive. This basket, or pollen groove,
in the thigh is peculiar to the worker; neither queen nor drone has
anything of the kind.
Another provision of the bee's limbs consists in a pair of hook's
attached to each foot, with their points opposite to each other, by
means of which the bees suspend themselves from the roof or sides of
hives, and cling to each other as they do at swarming time or prior to
and during the formation of new comb, thus forming a living curtain.
In these circumstances each bee, with its two fore claws, takes hold
of the two hinder legs of the one next above. This mode of suspension
seems agreeable to them, although the uppermost in the festoon appear
to be dragged by the weight below. Wildman supposed that bees had a
power of distending themselves with air to acquire buoyancy, and thus
lessen the burden of those at the top. They find no difficulty in
extricating themselves from the mass; the most central of the group
can make its way without endangering the stability of the grape-like
cluster.
Bees are able to walk freely in an inverted position, either on
glass or other slippery substances. The peculiar mechanism of their
feet, which enables them to do so, consists in their having in the
middle of each hook a thin membranous little cup or sucker that is
alternately exhausted and filled with air. Flies have the same
beautiful apparatus--hence a fly commonly selects the ceiling for a
resting-place. These little air-cups, or exhausted receivers, may be
seen by applying a strong magnifying-glass to a window that has a
bee traversing the reverse side. The edges of these little suckers
are serrated, so as to close against any kind of surface to which
their legs may be applied. This apparatus may be also serviceable for
gathering the pollen before transmitting it to the baskets on the hind
legs. Besides these appendages and apparatus of the thorax, that region
is traversed by the œsophagus or gullet (the opening to which will be
found in Plate I. Fig. 2 _c_), on its way to the digestive and other
organs, situate in the third part of the insect--viz., the abdomen.
The covering of the thorax, with the external covering of the gullet,
may be seen in the drawing of the magnified dissected body of the bee
(Plate II. Fig. 1).
The breathing apparatus of bees is a very remarkable feature: they have
no lungs, but, instead, air-vessels, or tubes and bladders ramifying
through every part of the frame. The external openings of these, which
are called "spiracles," are found in the sides of their bodies behind
the wings. Two pairs of them are located in the thorax, and one pair on
each side of the scales of the abdomen. They would be difficult to show
in a drawing, as the multitude of hairs which protect them are in the
way of getting at a very distinct delineation. The writer has traced
their oval form by the aid of Messrs. R. and J. Beck's "Binocular
Microscope," and exceedingly interesting objects they appeared. From
the circumstance of bees breathing through these orifices in their
bodies, it will not be difficult to understand how sadly the little
creatures must be inconvenienced when by accident they fall on loose
mould, and thus have their breathing pores choked with dust; it also
shows how needful it is to prevent bees being besmeared with honey
(by using bad appliances for feeding), which is still more injurious
to them. The air-vessels are all that they possess of a circulating
system, as bees have neither lungs, heart, liver, nor blood. It
appears, however, that a white fluid matter, called "chyle," which in
degree answers the purpose of blood, is produced in the intestines,
nourishes the body, receives the oxygen from the air-vessels,
and generates that animal warmth so necessary for the insect's
well-being--warmth which, as a matter of course, say Schmid and Kleine
in their "Leading Threads," settles that it is incorrect to call the
insect a cold-blooded animal. Bees have the power of counteracting
superabundant heat by perspiration. Not unfrequently, on a hot summer's
morning, a good deal of moisture may be noticed at the entrance of a
crowded hive, which the inmates have been enabled to throw off. This is
a healthy sign, because a sign of great numerical strength. The humming
sound always to be heard in a beehive is produced by breathing.
§ IV. THE ABDOMEN AND SECRETIVE ORGANS.
The abdomen, attached to the posterior part of the thorax by a slender
ligament, has, for an outer covering; six folds or scales of unequal
breadth, overlapping each other, and contains the honey-bag, or first
stomach, the ventricle, or true stomach (Plate II. Figs. 1 and 2 _f_),
with other intestines, to be hereafter referred to.
The honey-bag (Figs. 1 and 2 _d_) is an enlargement of the gullet, and,
although called the first stomach, no digestion takes place here. In
shape it is like a taper oil-flask; when full it is about the size of
a small pea, and so transparent that the colour of the honey may be
seen through it. This sac, as it is sometimes called, is susceptible of
contraction, and so organised as to enable the bee to disgorge a part
of its contents at will, to fill the honey-cells of the hive. It has
been much controverted whether any or what change takes place in the
nectar of flowers whilst in the bee's stomach (Chap. VI. § iii.).
A short passage leads to the ventricle or true stomach (Figs. 1 and
2 _f_), which is somewhat larger. This receives the food from the
honey-bag, for the nourishment of the bee and the secretion of wax.
The stomach, like the honey-bag, has a considerable number of muscles,
which are brought into play to help the digestive and other organs.
The biliary vessels (Figs. 1 and 2 _h, h_) receive the chyle from the
digested food in the stomach, which from thence is conveyed to all
parts of the body for its support. "A bee," says Dzierzon, "with
the honey which she can take into her stomach, is able to subsist
abundantly under some circumstances for longer than a week, while under
others she will die of hunger within twenty-four hours. If we regard
life as a process of combustion, then with the bee it resembles at one
time the spark just glimmering in the ashes, at another the bright
up-bursting flame that in a few minutes consumes the fuel, which to the
barely glimmering fire would have ensured nutrition for a much longer
time."
Wax is the animal fat of the bees, and to produce it requires a
considerable consumption of honey to supply the drain upon the system.
To be capable of passing through the pores of the abdomen, the wax
must no doubt be a liquid oily matter, which, on making its appearance
outside the abdominal rings, thickens, and exudes from under the four
medial ones, in flakes like fish-scales, one on each side; so that
there are eight of these secreting cavities, which are peculiar to the
worker, not being found either in the queen or drone. The shape of
these cavities is that of an irregular pentagon, and the plates of wax,
being moulded in them, exhibit accordingly the same form (see Plate II.
Fig. 6 _w_). No direct channel of communication between the stomach
and these receptacles, or wax-pockets, has as yet been discovered;
but Huber conjectures that the secreting vessels are contained in the
membrane which lines them, and which is covered with a reticulation of
hexagonal meshes, analogous to the inner coat of the second stomach of
ruminant quadrupeds.
The last important organ of the abdomen is the sting. This small but
effective weapon is situate close to the stomach, and is found in the
queen and worker, but is absent in the drone. Our engraving (Plate
II. Fig. 4) exhibits the sting of the worker bee with its muscles and
attachments: _r_ shows the muscles that move the sting, and _q_ the
curved base of the outer sheath by which it is enclosed. Much beautiful
mechanism is observed on a microscopic examination of this weapon, so
wonderfully powerful in comparison with its bulk. The sting is composed
of three separate portions, each of which is double--the dart, and the
inner and outer sheaths. Very confusing accounts are given of this
organ in different works, owing probably to the term "sheath" being
applied by some to the outer and by others to the inner covering. The
outer one consists of two fleshy curved claspers (_q_ in the figure),
inside of which is the linear sheath, which forms an essential portion
of the sting, and consists of two horny scales closely adherent to
the darts. These last are composed of stiff filaments, which at the
outer end are each barbed with from five to ten teeth on one side; and
they slide within the inner sheath, and that within the outer, on the
principle of the tubes of a telescope. As represented in our engraving,
the inner sheath clasps the darts to a level with the tips of the outer
one.
The darts are first protruded in the act of stinging, and, by aid of
the powerful muscles on each side at _s_, are buried in the flesh to
the depth of one-twelfth of an inch; the inner sheath then follows,
and at the same time, by a muscular contraction, the poison is forced
along the groove in which the darts work, causing the well-known
painful effects which arise from the sting of a bee. These darts are
of slightly unequal length, so that the teeth on each side are not
opposite to each other. From this arrangement it is easier for them
to penetrate the flesh, and alternately deepen the wound, while the
teeth successively hold each firm as it makes its way, until the poison
has been ejected. If the sufferer could only command himself so as
to remain perfectly passive, the bee might be able to draw in these
darts which protrude beyond the sheath, and would then have a chance
of withdrawing the sting; the little insect would consequently inflict
less pain, and might perhaps escape paying the penalty of her life. It
generally happens, however, that the excitement of both parties is so
great, that the poor bee leaves behind the whole apparatus, and even
part of her intestines, so that her death is the result, and the wound
is more severe. The sting is about the sixth part of an inch long, and
is largest at the base. Here are situated the glands or ducts (Fig. 4
_u_). By these the poison is secreted and passed into the poison-bag
(Fig. 4 _t_), which acts as a reservoir for retaining it till required.
On the subject of the sting Paley remarks: "The action of the sting
affords a beautiful example of the union of chemistry and mechanism:
of chemistry, in respect to the venom, which in so small a quantity
can produce such powerful effects; of mechanism, as the sting is not
a simple but a compound instrument. The machinery would have been
comparatively useless had it not been for the chemical process, by
which, in the insect's body, honey is converted into poison; and, on
the other hand, the poison would have been ineffectual without an
instrument to wound and a syringe to inject the fluid." As before
stated the drone has no sting, but, in place thereof, the organs of
reproduction, on which, as on the corresponding organs of the queen,
sufficient has been remarked above (pages 24 and 63).
And now, in concluding this section, we would remark the wonderful
contrivance and finish which all the works of the Great Master
Artificer unfold. In the works of man we see, perhaps, a piece of
mechanism of unquestioned beauty and excellence, yet there is a bolt
here or a screw there that might have been dispensed with, and does
not possess any definite use. But in the works of Nature everything
has a place; we may not at once comprehend the exact purpose of some
intricate parts, but that only implies that we have not made a thorough
investigation. The most minute hair serves its required end. Some
reflections of Dr. Evans, though chiefly referring to the cells of
bees, may not inappropriately finish this chapter:--
"On books deep poring, ye pale sons of toil,
Who waste in studious trance the midnight oil,
Say, can ye emulate, with all your rules,
Drawn or from Grecian or from Gothic schools.
This artless frame? Instinct her simple guide,
A heaven-taught insect baffles all your pride.
Or ye on theory's wild wave that roam,
And skim from science but its froth and foam,
Who wield 'gainst Truth the sharp yet shivery lance,
Devoted bending to your idol, Chance;
Oh! say, could Chance her lawless atoms bind,
And weave the tissued woof of sense and mind,
Or her blind impulse in yon mansions trace
The firmest fabric with the amplest space?
No! while ye boast to bow at Reason's shrine,
That Reason bids you hail the Power Divine.
Not huge Behemoth, not the whale's vast form,
That spouts a torrent and that breathes a storm,
Transcends in organs apt the puny fly,
Her fine-strung feelers, and her glanceful eye
Set with ten thousand lenses. Not the pile
By fabled giant raised in Erin's isle,
Not Staffa's crystalled shore, where now, Fingal,
Roar the hoarse surges through thy columned hall,
Nor all yon marshalled orbs that ride so high,
Proclaim more loud a present Deity,
Than the nice symmetry of these small cells,
Where on each angle genuine Science dwells,
And joys to mark through wide creation's reign
How close the lessening links of her continued chain."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER III.
MODERN BEEHIVES.
§ I. COMMON COTTAGER'S HIVE.
[Illustration]
WE will commence our list of hives with this, the
very simplest form of adaptation to the depriving system. The upper
hive is intended for a super and the lower one is the "stock" for the
bees' settled habitation. The directions for applying this, as well as
for stocking the hive and taking the honey, will however be obtained
under the head "Neighbours' Improved Cottage Hive" (page 116), and in
the sections referred to there on "Hiving Swarms," "Applying Supers,"
etc. The hive is well suited for those who are desirous of leading
their poorer neighbours into the humane system of bee-keeping. See the
remark at the end of the next section respecting the hole for giving
admittance to the super.
§ II. NEIGHBOURS' CRYSTAL PALACE SKEP.
[Illustration]
This hive (so styled from its obtaining a prize at the Crystal Palace
Show in 1875) differs from the foregoing in being larger, and in having
a thicker floor-board, a hooped fitting at the base, a window in the
super, and a movable cap as a finish to either super or stock hive,
according as the former is in use or not. The outside dimensions of the
lower hive are seventeen inches diameter by nine in depth, and of the
super thirteen inches by five.
When there is a hole in the centre on top of the stock hive, as is the
case here, there is a possibility of the queen ascending and depositing
eggs in the super. To check such a mishap, a queen and drone preventer
can be applied, which is a contrivance so arranged as to admit the
passage of nothing larger than a worker (Chap. IV. § xvii.).
§ III. THE COTTAGER'S HIVE.
[Illustration]
This is our more complete form of a cottager's hive, composed entirely
of straw. A very prevalent opinion exists that bees do better in hives
of that material than of any other. Another opinion prevails, that
the old-fashioned straw hive is the least expensive, the most simple,
and the most productive. Although we cannot go so far as this, we are
willing to admit that a simplified adaptation of the humane system to
the old common straw hive is the most suitable to put into the hands
of that large class of bee-keepers--_cottagers_. By these the more
fanciful hives will be instantly condemned; besides, the expense puts
them quite beyond the reach of the poorer class. The object aimed at
in planning this structure has been to furnish a depriving hive that
should be at once easy of management, inexpensive, and convenient. The
stock hive, in which the bees are first deposited, is round, and has
a flat top with a hole in the centre. The size of this lower hive is
nine inches deep outside, and fifteen inches across the bottom; it is
finished with a wooden hoop, which adds very much to its firmness and
durability. The floor-board is one inch and a quarter thick, with a
way sunk therein for the entrance. A small round mat of straw closes
the hole in the top; this mat may be fixed by wooden pegs. We have
now described what is termed the _stock hive_, which is, in fact, an
old-fashioned straw hive, adapted, modernised, and improved to the more
humane, viz., the depriving system. The weight of the stock hive, with
its floor-board, is about seven pounds.
The super is five inches deep outside and twelve or so in diameter,
and, when filled, contains about twelve pounds of honey and comb.
Its purpose is exactly identical with that of the three bell glasses
described on page 117: the lower hive is for the breeding compartment
and for the storage of honey for the bees' own consumption, while the
upper is to receive the surplus of their treasure which the owner
intends to appropriate pure for himself. A glass window, which is
placed at the side of the super, is useful for inspecting the progress
made in filling it. An adapting-board to facilitate removal is added
underneath it by some.
A common straw hive, sufficiently deep to cover, drops over the super,
keeping the window dark, and fitting close on to the stock hive. This
cover hive may be made fast by driving in two skewers, one on each
side, to keep the whole firm. Unless placed in a bee-house or under
a shed, the outside should be painted; or a piece of oilcloth, or
water-proof covering of any kind, shaped so as to shoot off the rain,
will save the trouble of paint, and answer the purpose (see Chap. IV. §
iii.).
The mode of stocking this hive, and of taking the honey, will be
clearly gathered from the directions under § v. below, and from the
general instructions in the sections therein referred to. After two or
three weeks the straw mat may be removed to give the bees access to the
super.
§ IV. AN IMPROVED COTTAGER'S HIVE.
[Illustration]
This hive is very superior to the one described just above, as
it possesses a Taylor's glass in lieu of a straw super, and an
adapting-board and a window in the lower portion. Its principle is also
exactly the same as that of the succeeding, which is simply a more
elaborate development of this hive. Our illustration places the window
over the entrance, being so drawn in order to exhibit back and front at
one view, whereas in reality it is on the opposite side at the back, so
as to allow of an inspection free from the liability of annoyance from
the bees. For directions see the next section.
[Illustration]
§ V. NEIGHBOURS' IMPROVED COTTAGE HIVE.
Our improved cottage hive (shown page 113), is neatly made of straw
bound with cane, and therefore very durable.[20] The lower hive is
covered with a wooden top, having in it three holes, through which
the bees convey their honey into three middle-sized bell glasses with
ventilators, which, when filled, hold about six pounds each. There
is a hoop at the bottom, another round the top of the lower hive;
to this the wooden crown-board is fastened. These hoops are a great
improvement, and are less liable to harbour insects than if straw
alone were used. The floor-board, as its name implies, is a wooden
board one inch and a quarter thick, with a projection of three or four
inches under the entrance to form an alighting-place. This entrance
is cut out of, or sunk in, the board. There are three windows in the
lower hive, each closed with a shutter; these are very useful and
interesting for inspecting the progress made. Across the centre window
is a thermometer, enclosed at the sides by slips of glass. The window
shutters, being of oak colour, add very much to the appearance. The
upper hive, which is merely a cover for the glasses, is made like the
lower; a hoop is worked into the straw, and is sufficiently large to
allow the cover to drop over the crown-board, keeping the whole close,
and preventing wet from drifting in. A zinc ventilator, ornamentally
painted, forms the apex; this is useful in letting the confined hot air
pass away in warm weather. The ventilator is opened by raising it. The
lower or stock hive is fifteen inches in diameter and nine and a half
in depth outside; its weight, when empty, is seven pounds and a half.
The cover, or top hive, is twelve inches deep and fifteen inches in
diameter; the ornamental zinc top being four inches deep. The whole is
about twenty-four inches high. The weight of a hive packed, including
glasses, is about eighteen pounds.
[Footnote 20: This is the hive referred to by the "Bee-Master" of the
Times (Dr. Gumming) when he says: "The second kind of hive I alluded to
is made of straw, and may be purchased at Neighbours', in Holborn....
It is so well made that it will last very long. I have had one in
constant use during ten years, and it is still as good as when it was
bought."]
These hives have a tasteful appearance in the garden, but they require
some further protection from the weather in the form of a cover or of a
bee-house--contrivances that have yet to be described. In extreme cold
weather a little additional protection, by having matting folded round
them, will be advisable.
One of the advantages of this and the preceding hives over the ordinary
cottage hive is that they afford ready opportunity for the humane
management of bees. The bell glasses also give the owner the power of
taking honeycomb of pure quality, free from the extraneous matter known
as "bee-bread," instead of combs that are darkened by having brood
hatched in them. By this system we have combs newly made and used only
for depositing the honey first put into them: hence the name "virgin
honey." These glasses have a very pretty appearance, and, when nicely
filled, are very convenient for home use or for making presents. The
lower hive is the receptacle for the bees; when a swarm is placed
in this hive they immediately proceed to fill it with combs for the
storage of honey for their own use, and for cells to breed in. This
hive remains undisturbed.
The best mode of tenanting a hive of this description is by placing
an early and strong swarm in it, which may be generally procured of
a neighbouring bee-keeper; if from a distance, considerable care is
necessary to admit plenty of air (Chap. V. § xi.). For the purpose
of ventilation, remove the slides and substitute perforated zinc,
wrapping the hive up in a coarse cloth of open texture (dispensing
with the floor-board during transit when the distance is great and the
temperature warm). It is necessary only to send the lower or stock hive
to the party furnishing the swarm, taking the precaution to fix the
slides at top with tacks, as the hive has to be inverted to receive
the bees. Some older bee-keepers prefer to give it a little dressing
with syrup, beer, or herbs; there can be no objection to the first,
but other scents may not be pleasant to the insects and are far better
avoided, as also are the sticks so often inserted, they being almost
certain to cause crooked combs. The bees, if swarming, are shaken into
the hive, as described in Chap. V. § i.; if transferred from another
hive, the directions will be found in a following section of the same
chapter. Towards evening close the entrance, and remove them to the
exact position they are intended permanently to occupy. Success depends
on this, and also on their careful removal on the evening of hiving.
The following morning they will labour in their new location, marking
well their habitation before they take flight, and not failing to
return to it loaded with luscious store.
The general directions must be observed in applying the supers (Chap.
V. § xiii.). When the time arrives the thermometer will rise rapidly
to 100 degrees or upwards. To prevent swarming the zinc slides on the
wooden top must now be withdrawn, and the bell glasses put on, covered
and protected by the upper hive; a day or two after which all signs
of swarming will at once disappear, the bees now having increased
storage-room, which they will readily fill with comb. The ventilator
should always remain open during the day, to allow the hot air to pass
away from the interior, thereby contributing to the whiteness and
beauty of the work; the bees enjoy the refreshment of coolness thereby
afforded, and they work the faster for it. At evening all ventilation
should be stopped, and the glasses wrapped round with some warm
material. We now supply flannel-lined baize bags to each glass sent out
with the hive.
The directions for taking honey are much the same as usual (Chap. V.
§ xiv.). A slide seven inches and a half square is furnished with
the hive, and is useful to remove the glass upon. The holes in the
wooden top of this hive are of a peaked shape, to act as a preventive
against slaughtering any bees whilst pushing the slide in for the
purpose of removing the glass when full. The tacks before alluded to
should be removed from the slides when the hive is fixed in its place.
The entrance slide is very serviceable during the winter months to
lessen the passage-way, thereby preventing the admission of too much
cold air; it is also occasionally useful on a summer evening to lessen
the entrance when moths are troublesome, for if there be only a small
opening the bees can guard it and easily repulse intruders. During the
time of gathering they require the whole width to remain open.
The pedestal, shown on the right in the next figure, as originally sent
out, has a hole through each of its feet, and must be firmly fixed in
the ground by means of the four iron pegs supplied with it for the
purpose; to prevent rotting, it is well also to place a brick under
each foot. The hive must then be made fast to the stand as a precaution
against high winds. The latter is about twenty-two inches in height.
The simplicity and easy management of this hive have rendered it
an especial favourite, combining as it does real utility with many
conveniences to satisfy the curious. Not a few bee-keepers desire to
unite the two qualifications, and no hives combine these advantages in
a greater degree than the one we are now describing.
[Illustration]
A cheaper form of this hive is here represented, of precisely the same
size and construction, with the exception that it has no windows or
thermometer. The apiarian with this hive will therefore have to trust
more to his own judgment as regards the likelihood of swarming, and
must watch the appearance the bees present at the entrance. When it is
time to put on supers in order to prevent swarming, premonition will be
given by the unusual numbers crowding about the entrance, as well as by
the heat of the weather, making it evident that more room is required
for the increasing population. At Michaelmas the directions as to
weighing must be attended to (see Chap. V. § xviii.).
§ VI. THE LADIES' OBSERVATORY HIVE.
[Illustration]
The following illustration shows the construction of this hive. The
stock hive is of stout glass, and cylindrical, with a flat top and a
hole in the centre; it is thirteen inches in inside diameter and eight
inches and a half deep. A support, composed of even wooden bars fixed
on a pedestal from the floor-board, is very useful for the bees to
cling to and secure their combs, instead of resting wholly against the
glass.
The floor-board is of mahogany, the border being French-polished. A
middle-sized bell glass, for deprivation, is placed over the hole; this
hole may be closed by a zinc slide. A cover of straw, eighteen inches
deep and fifteen inches wide, with a zinc ventilating top similar
to that affixed to the cottage hive, completes the arrangements.
The weight of the stock hive and board is about sixteen pounds. In
the figure the cover is shown lifted to display the interior. In a
thoroughly warm room it may be kept entirely off.
This hive is well adapted for those persons who are desirous of having
the opportunity of making a closer examination of the workmanship
of these industrious and interesting insects, as the whole of the
interior may be exposed to view; it is particularly suitable for a
window or an indoor apiary, and will also be found a valuable addition
to the greenhouse. Under these circumstances the entrance-way should
be covered with a flat piece of glass, and an aperture cut in the sash
corresponding with the entrance to the hive; through the glazed passage
the bees may then find egress and ingress without being able to gain
access to the apartment. An alighting-board, four inches wide, must be
fixed outside on a level with the entrance.
We had a hive of this kind in operation at the Great Exhibitions of
1851 and 1862, fixed after the manner above described. It answered
admirably, and excited much interest and curiosity, though placed there
under many disadvantages.
When a hive of this kind is to be stocked, proceed in the main as
with ordinary transfers (Chap. V. § ii.), but place the floor-board
and support of the hive in the middle of the sheet or swarming-board,
and precipitate the bees as much as possible _on to the support_;
cover them with the glass, propping it up with bricks or other rests
sufficiently high to prevent the bees being squeezed. They will collect
under the bars and on the pedestal, and in about one hour's time the
whole will have settled quietly, and all the stragglers on the board
will have collected together, the swarm hanging pear-shaped from the
bar support; the bricks can now be removed, and the glass put in its
right place on the floor-board. The straw cover can now be set down
over all, and the hive can be removed to the place it is destined
permanently to occupy.
The light should not be admitted for some days after hiving; if
undisturbed, the bees will speedily build comb, working from the wooden
bars, which are placed there for their assistance and support. In ten
days or a fortnight, if the weather continue fine and warm, they will
prepare to swarm again; the opening at the top must now be unstopped,
and the bell glass put on, guide-comb having been previously fixed.
The directions given as to these matters for the preceding hive apply
equally to this one.
It is advisable in winter to furnish the glass stock hive with more
protection from cold than is afforded by the straw cover alone; some
thick baize, or wrapper of wadding, for which there is space between
the glass hive and the cover, will prevent so much moisture condensing
on the sides of the glass. As remarked under "Winter Precautions"
(Chap. V. § xx.), it is only by the very greatest care that bees can be
brought through that season in a glass hive.
The hole at top is used for supplying food, should the apiarian fear
the stock of honey is in danger of running short; either feeder may be
used for the purpose (Chap. IV. § XX.).
§ VII. NUTT'S COLLATERAL HIVE.
The late Mr. Nutt, author of "Humanity to Honey Bees," may be
regarded as a pioneer of modern apiarians; and though his hive is now
comparatively little used it is still worthy of description from the
part it has played in the history of bee-keeping.
[Illustration]
It consists of three boxes placed side by side (C, A, C), with an
octagonal box (B) on the top, which covers a bell glass. Each of the
three boxes is nine inches high, the same wide, and eleven inches from
back to front. Thin wooden partitions, in which six or seven openings
corresponding with each other are made, divide these compartments, so
that free access from one box to the other is afforded to the bees;
this communication is stopped, when necessary, by a zinc slide passing
down between. The octagonal cover b is about ten inches in diameter and
twenty high, including the sloping octagonal roof, surmounted with an
acorn as a finish. There are two large windows in each of the end boxes
and one in the centre box. Across the latter is a thermometer, scaled
and marked, so as to be an easy guide to the bee-master, showing him,
by the rise in temperature, the increased accommodation required; this
thermometer is a fixture, the indicating part being protected by two
pieces of glass, to prevent the bees from coming between it and the
window, and thereby obstructing the view.
D D are ventilators. In the centre of each of the end boxes is a double
zinc tube, reaching down a little below the middle: the outer tube is
a casing of plain zinc, with holes, about a quarter of an inch wide,
dispersed over it; the inside one is of perforated zinc, with openings
so small as to prevent the escape of the bees; a flange or rim keeps
the tubes suspended through a hole made to receive it. The object in
having double tubing is to allow the inner one to be drawn up, and
the perforations to be opened by pricking out the wax, or rather the
propolis, with which bees close all openings in their hives. These
tubes admit of a thermometer, enclosed in a cylindrical glass, being
occasionally inserted during the gathering season; it requires to be
left in the tube for about a quarter of an hour, and on its withdrawal,
if found indicating ninety degrees or more, ventilation must be
adopted to lower the temperature. "The grand object," as Mr. Nutt
expresses it, "is to keep the end boxes and the bell glass cooler than
the pavilion or middle box, so as to induce the queen to propagate her
species there and there only, and not in the depriving part of the
hive; by this means the side and upper combs are in no way discoloured
by brood. The queen requires a considerable degree of warmth; the
middle box does not require more ventilation than the additional
openings afford. The bees enjoy coolness in the side boxes, and thereby
the whiteness and purity of the luscious store are increased." The
ornamental zinc top D must be left raised, and is easily kept in that
position by putting the perforated part a little on one side.
The boxes before described are placed on a raised double floor-board,
extending the whole length--viz., about thirty-six inches. The
floor-board projects a few inches in front. In the centre is the
entrance (as our illustration only shows the back of the hive we must
imagine it on the other side); it is made by cutting a sunken way, of
about half an inch deep and three inches wide, in the floor-board,
communicating only with the middle box; it is through this entrance
alone that the bees find their way into the hive, access to the end
boxes and the super being obtained from the inside. An alighting-board
is fitted close under the entrance, for the bees to settle upon when
returning laden with honey. This alighting-board is removable for the
convenience of packing. The centre, or stock box, A, called by Mr.
Nutt the _Pavilion of Nature_, is the receptacle for the swarm, E E are
two block fronts, which open with a hinge. A semicircular hole, three
inches long and two wide in the middle, is cut in the upper floor-board
immediately under the window of each box; these apertures are closed
by separate perforated zinc slides. The blocks, when opened, afford a
ready means of reducing the temperature of the side boxes, and they are
also useful for allowing the bees to throw out any refuse.
[Illustration]
The centre F is a drawer, in which is a feeding-trough, so constructed
that the bees can descend through the openings just mentioned on to a
false bottom of perforated zinc. Liquid food is easily poured in by
pulling out the drawer a little way; the bees readily come down on to
the perforated zinc, and take the food by inserting their probosces
through the perforations, with no danger of being drowned. Care must be
exercised that the food is not given in such quantity as to come above
the holes; by this means each hive has a supply of food accessible
only to the inmates, with no possibility, when closely shut in, of
attracting robber bees from other hives.
The exterior of these hives is well painted with two coats of lead
colour, covered with two coats of green, and varnished: Notwithstanding
this preservation it is absolutely essential to place such a hive
under a shed or cover of some sort, as the action of the sun and rain
is likely to decay the wood, whilst the extreme summer heat might
cause the combs to fall from their foundations. Neat and tasteful
sheds may be erected, consisting either of zinc or thatched roofs
supported by iron or wooden rods, and they will form a pretty addition
to the flower-garden. It will be well to make the covering a foot or
two longer, so as to allow of a cottage hive on each side, as the
appearance of the whole is much improved by such an arrangement.
The super will be almost sure to be filled first, having been first
opened to the bees. This will be removed according to the general
instructions. The removal of the end boxes is a somewhat similar
process, but they should on no account be taken away at the same
time as the glass, or, indeed, at a time when any other hive is
being--_robbed_ we were going to say, for it is robbery to the bees:
they intended the honey for their winter food, and are much enraged at
being deprived of it. First shut down the dividing tin; the bees in the
end box are now prisoners separated from the hive; keep them so half an
hour, and then take away the box bodily to another part of the garden,
or into a dark outhouse.
§ VIII. HUBER'S HIVE.
To Francis Huber--not improperly styled "the prince of apiarians"--we
are indebted for more extensive and accurate observations on the habits
of the bee than have been contributed by all other observers since the
time of Aristotle. We have here introduced a description of Huber's
leaf hive (and should be glad to exhibit one) for the sake of its
historic interest in connection with apiarian science. Though entirely
gone out of use it was invaluable for Huber himself, and it suggested
to other apiarians the adoption of the present plan of vertical bars
and frames.
In connection with this last point of interest it seems fitting to
introduce here some very brief account of the development of the
movable-frame hive. From "time immemorial" there have existed bar
hives--indeed, they have been traced to the ribbed carcase of Samson's
lion. But in most cases the bars were not movable ones--they were
simply designed to aid the purpose of keeping an upper story in some
degree clear of the queen's inter-meddling. And even when they were
capable of removal they added but a slight step in advance, and the
credit of the inventions of Golding in England and Dzierzon in Germany
is due not to the bars themselves but to their mode of affixing, and
especially to the guide-comb attached beneath. At about the same date
with these there appeared a Russian hive known as the Propokovitsch,
which consisted in an arrangement of several stories of frames inserted
endways and resting on cross pieces below them. Thus one invention
supplied bars without frames, while the other offered frames without
bars. But the right idea had now been caught, and it is not surprising
that several apiarians, independently and simultaneously, were engaged
at this period in working it out.
Briefly summarised the sequel is as follows. In 1841 our own countryman
Major Munn obtained a patent in France for his movable bar-and-frame
hive, of which he published a description in England in 1844;[21] in
America in 1851 Mr. Langstroth completed the invention of his movable
bar-frames; and in Germany in 1853 Baron von Berlepsch by a distinct
inventive process added the frames to Dzierzon's bars. Thus England
appears after all to possess the honour of the contrivance, although
we certainly proved the last to make of it any general or extensive
use. Major Munn's original hive opened at the back, and when in 1851 he
reappeared in print with a hive opening at the top, he had altered the
frames (and hive too) from oblong to triangular. Probably one reason of
the invention's failure was the expensiveness of the Major's fittings,
which are such as to make the hive appear in his engravings more like
some astronomical instrument than a box for bees and honey. Be this as
it may, there was practically no such thing as a frame hive in use in
England till 1860, when Mr. Tegetmeier was the means of reintroducing
it--whether from Germany or America we are not quite sure. The German
hives, however, open at the end, while Mr. Langstroth's are like our
own; so that, whoever was the inventor of bar-frame hives, the hive of
English apiarians comes nearer to this gentleman's than to that of any
one else. Mr. Woodbury it was who afterwards brought out the frame hive
which met with the first general acceptance in this country.
[Footnote 21: "A Description of the Bar-and-Frame Hive invented by W.
A. Munn, Esq.:" London, Van Voorst, 1844; 2nd ed. 1851. In his edition
of Bevan's "Honey Bee," brought out in 1870, the Major tells us that he
had been for some years engaged in connection with this distinguished
author (and we presume Mr. Golding) in, the preparation of the above
hive.]
Having made allusion to the construction of the German hives it may be
acceptable to some if we append a few additional particulars. According
to Von Berlepsch, the depth should be about sixteen inches, the length
twenty-eight, and the breadth only nine, so that the receptacle is
high and narrow, and reaches a long way back. The frames, which fit
crossways, are consequently much like our own turned up on end, or
perhaps more frequently two frames are used, one as a story above the
other. With the most approved hive (the "Lagerbeute") instead of supers
the further end of the long box is partitioned off and goes by the name
of the "honey-room." Then, as the only practical opening is at this
end, not only must this "room" be cleared away equally with our supers
before the brood frames can be got at, but none of these can be reached
without taking out all the others that are in front of them. When
supers _are_ used the frames can be extracted without interfering with
these, so that some advantage might then result from such arrangement;
but generally speaking this operation of removal is a rare necessity
while the supers are on. In some cases extraction at the top may be
the more convenient, and in others at the end; and we have therefore in
our Philadelphia hive (§ xii.) endeavoured to unite the two advantages
by supplying an opening both at the side and the top.
To return, however, to the subject of our present section. During the
early period of Huber's investigations he prosecuted them by means of
single-comb hives, which allow of each side of the comb being examined.
He found, however, that there was one important defect. The bees could
not in these hives cluster together, which is their natural method of
withstanding the effects of a reduced temperature. Huber hit upon the
ingenious expedient of combining a number of single-comb frames, so as
to form one complete hive, which could be opened, in order to expose
any particular comb, without disturbing the rest. From the manner of
the opening and closing of this hive it has generally been called the
"Leaf or Book Hive." The division separating each comb is joined both
back and front with "butt hinges," fastened with a movable pin, on
withdrawing which, at both sides, each comb and the bees on it may be
inspected as easily as if in a single-comb hive. Huber's leaf hive
is thus in appearance as if several ordinary "History of England"
chess-boards were set up on end together; but each single portion is
distinct, instead of there being any coupling of twos. The floor-board
on which the hive stands is larger than the hive when closed, so as
to allow of its being opened freely at any particular "volume." An
entrance-way for the bees is hollowed out of the floor-board as in
other hives. There is a glass window in each end of the hive, which is
provided with a shutter.
There is, however, one serious objection to Huber's hive, which, though
not noticed by him or his careful assistant, has prevented its general
use--that is, the difficulty there is in closing it without crushing
some of the bees--a catastrophe which, by exasperating their comrades,
is certain to interfere with any experiments. There is no such risk
in the bar-and-frame hive, whilst in it every facility possessed by
Huber's is retained.
The character of Huber and the circumstances under which he pursued
his observations are so remarkable that we need scarcely apologise for
stating a few particulars respecting him here. He was born at Geneva,
in July 1750, his family being in honourable station and noted for
talent. Just as he attained to manhood he lost his sight, and remained
blind to the end of his days. This apparently insuperable obstacle
in the way of scientific observation was overcome by the remarkable
fidelity with which Burnens, his assistant, watched the bees and
reported their movements to Huber. Madame Huber also, who, betrothed
to him before his calamity, had remained constant in her affection,
assisted in the investigations with great assiduity during their
long and happy wedded life. Huber, fortunately for science, was in a
position to devote both means and leisure to these observations; and
Burnens, though only a peasant, was a superior man, and rose by his
worth to become chief magistrate of his native village. In later years
Huber's son Pierre rendered important aid. We quote the following from
"Memoirs of Huber" by Professor de Candolle:--
"We have seen the blind shine as poets, and distinguish themselves as
philosophers, musicians, and calculators; but it was reserved for Huber
to give a lustre to his class in the sciences of observation, and on
objects so minute that the most clear-sighted observer can scarcely
perceive them. The reading of the works of Réaumur and Bonnet, and
the conversation of the latter, directed his curiosity to the history
of bees. His habitual residence in the country inspired him with the
desire, first of verifying some facts, then of filling some blanks in
their history; but this kind of observation required not only the use
of such an instrument as the optician must furnish, but an intelligent
assistant, who alone could adjust it to its use. He had then a servant
named Francis Burnens, remarkable for his sagacity and for the devotion
he bore his master. Huber practised him in the art of observation,
directed him to his researches by questions adroitly combined, and,
aided by the recollections of his youth and by the testimonies of his
wife and friends, he rectified the assertions of his assistant, and
became enabled to form in his own mind a true and perfect image of
the manifest facts. 'I am much more certain,' said he, smiling, to a
scientific friend, 'of what I state than you are, for you publish
what your own eyes only have seen, while I take the mean among many
witnesses.' This is doubtless very plausible reasoning, but very few
persons will by it be rendered distrustful of their own eyesight."
The results of Huber's observations were published in 1792, in the
form of letters to Bonnet, under the title of "Nouvelles Observations
sur les Abeilles." This work made a strong impression upon many
naturalists, not only because of the novelty of the facts stated and
the excellent inductive reasoning employed, but also on account of the
rigorous accuracy of the observations recorded, when it was considered
with what an extraordinary difficulty the author had to struggle.
Huber retained the clear faculties of his observant mind until his
death, which took place on the 22nd of December, 1831. Most of the
facts relating to the impregnation of the queen, the formation of
cells, and the whole economy of the bee community, as discovered
and described by Huber, have received full confirmation from the
investigations of succeeding naturalists.
§ IX. THE WOODBURY FRAME HIVE.
[Illustration]
I. Wood.--The late Mr. Woodbury's "Bar-and-Frame Hive," as originally
made, consists of a wooden box, fourteen inches and a half square
inside, and nine inches deep. The actual habitable space inside is
lessened by the room occupied by the frames, of which there are
ten; these rest on a rabbet a little below the surface, leaving
a space of three-eighths of an inch between the upper side of the
bars and the crown-board. This allows a free passage on the top for
the bees, entirely obviating the necessity of making excavations in
the crown-board, as has hitherto been recommended. The frames are
nearly an inch wide, and rest in notches, with spaces of half an inch
between them; they extend to within three-eighths of an inch of the
floor-board, so as to hang without touching any part, leaving about
the same distance from the sides. It will be seen that there is thus
a free passage for the bees on every side, so that they are kept from
coming in contact with the sides of the hive. Our illustration shows
the hive open, and exposes to view the top of the ten bars and frames,
as they range front and back. A window is also shown; this is placed
in the figure over the entrance, but the proper position would be just
opposite. The drawing is made so as to show back and front at once.
[Illustration]
As before mentioned, the stock hive has ten frames--each thirteen
inches long by seven and a quarter high (inside measurement), with a
five-eighths of an inch projecting piece at each upper end, which
rests in the notches at back and front. We have placed this hive first
in our list of modern frame hives in accordance with the part it has
played in rendering them popular in this country as explained in the
preceding section.
[Illustration]
2. Straw.--Subsequently to the introduction of the above wood hive
Mr. Woodbury recommended that the stock hive should be made of straw,
of exactly the same dimensions; this material being warmer in winter,
cooler in summer, more equable in temperature at all times, slightly
ventilating, and allowing of absorption. Bees, during, cold weather,
cluster together to generate the requisite degree of heat; the
temperature of the interior of the hive being thus so much higher than
the external atmosphere, a good deal of moisture condenses at the top
and on the sides of the hive. The straw, as before stated, prevents
this dampness hanging about within, and tends to keep the inmates more
healthy.
The square straw hives, and a machine for making them, exhibited
in the Austrian department of the International Exhibition of 1862,
suggested the idea of employing that material for English frame hives.
We have had a machine made resembling the one exhibited, and suited to
the size in use by us, by which our hive-maker is able to manufacture
neat square hives in straw. These have a wood frame at top, an inch
deep, with the requisite notches to allow the ten comb-frames to hang.
A similar frame forms the base, the straw being worked between. An inch
projection is left on all sides of the floor-board beyond the exterior
of the hive, from which it is slightly chamfered down. An entrance,
four inches wide, is cut out of the substance of the board, beginning
at the edge, and continuing on the same level until inside the hive,
where it slopes upwards. This entrance is about three-eighths of an
inch high where the hive crosses it.
These straw hives have been generally made without windows, as Mr.
Woodbury and other scientific apiarians have so preferred them. They
have considered glass windows unsuitable for winter, because then
moisture condenses on the glass. There is no doubt that the having a
peephole or two in a hive adds very agreeably to its value for amateur
bee-keepers, and, to meet the wishes of such, we have had straw hives
constructed with windows. It is not every one who would like to lift
out the frames as often as is necessary for an inspection of the state
of the colony, nor perhaps is it advisable to be often thus meddling.
The windows have also a very neat appearance. We have hives with one,
and some with two and three windows; of course a little extra expense
is incurred where these are made, but that is not objected to by those
who approve of the additional convenience. The crown-board (if a straw
top can be called by that name) has, like the hive, a frame of wood all
round, and a square piece of wood in the centre, with a two-inch hole;
this hole is for the purpose of administering food, in a mode to be
explained hereafter. A circular block of wood, four inches in diameter,
closes the opening.
[Illustration]
3. Glass.--Some bee-keepers like to be able to make a full and daily
inspection of the hive; we have therefore prepared a few hives,
constructed of wooden frames enclosed on all sides and on the top
with window-glass. The dimensions are precisely the same as those
before mentioned, and allow the same number of bars and frames (ten).
The crown has a round hole cut in the glass to admit of feeding. The
four sides are constructed of double glass, to preserve the bees from
variations of temperature. We cannot, however, recommend this hive
for a winter residence for the bees; we should prefer lifting the
combs out and placing them in a straw hive of similar construction, to
pass through the ordeal of the winter season (Chap. V. § xx.). Such a
hive is an object of much interest, as in it the whole commonwealth of
bees is exposed to view; and it need not be obscured from daylight,
provided it be protected from sun and rain. All the external woodwork
can be stained, varnished, or made of polished mahogany; so that the
appearance of the glass frame hive is extremely neat, and much approved
of.
§ X. NEIGHBOURS' NEW FRAME HIVE.
[Illustration]
I. Wood.--Since the former editions of this work were published,
several alterations and improvements have been made. We find, in the
first place, that a deeper hive than the Woodbury is desirable for the
better concentration of heat, and also to admit of more honey being
stored above the brood, so that the food shall be easier of access to
the bees in winter. Our new frame hive measures accordingly twenty-one
inches from front to back, sixteen inches in width, and twelve in
height, thus allowing the sides to be constructed of the original
breadth of the planks, viz., eleven inches (the other inch being made
up by the thickness of the floor-board). The frames, of which there
are nine, are ten inches deep and thirteen wide; they rest on strips
of zinc, which prevent the bees from propolising them down so firmly,
and, as the outsides of the hive are so enlarged as to leave galleries
from side to side beyond the ends of the bars, there is easy access
allowed to the fingers in removing. Another noteworthy improvement is
the addition of a "dummy frame," which is merely a thin piece of board
of the same size as a frame, and whose use is either to contract the
dimensions of the hive according to the population, or to make room, by
its removal for the extraction of the first comb.
The frames are held firm and kept at their correct distances apart
by means of small staples, and a slit is formed lengthways for the
insertion of impressed wax sheets or guide-strips cut from these. The
crown-board rests on the thin edge of zinc, in order that it may be
replaced more quickly, with less danger of crushing a bee than on a
broader surface. There is a feeding-hole in the centre of the board,
which in some hives is closed by a zinc slide running in an opening
cut out of the wood, and in others is covered by a wooden block. In
the more highly finished hives two long openings are cut for admitting
bees to the super. Two slides for each opening are supplied--one
pair being of plain zinc for closing them entirely, the other with
slits cut of three-sixteenths of an inch in width for the purpose of
queen-preventers (see Chap. IV. § xvii.). The supers are similar, but
not so deep, and have eight frames instead of nine; they are, however,
_frames_, and not mere bars as ordinarily. The sides and top are of
_glass_, with baize-lined shutters.
A hive intermediate between this and the Philadelphia (§ xii.), and
which may be called "The Cottager's Improved Frame Hive," is shown
inside the opened cover on page 179. It has a straw crown-board
and a larger window, and is designed to admit a zinc adapter with
queen-preventing perforations; in other respects it is identical with
the above hive.
2. Straw.--The figure overleaf exhibits "Neighbours' New Straw Frame
Hive," with super attached. It is of exactly the same size and
construction as the foregoing. There is a straw crown-board with
feeding-hole in the centre, and two slits of zinc with queen-preventing
openings as above. The supers of the straw hive are made of its own
material, but have three windows instead of one. The advantages of
straw for hives are described under the Woodbury straw hive, above.
[Illustration]
3. Glass.--A representation of this same hive in glass, with its super,
is given inside the opened cover figured on page 177. Nothing need be
added here, as the construction is the same with that of the wood hive.
See the description of the Woodbury glass hive in the previous section
for general remarks upon hives of that material.
§ XI. NEIGHBOURS' COTTAGER'S FRAME HIVE.
[Illustration]
This is a simpler and less expensive hive than the one just described,
being without windows or a dummy, and with wooden crown and floor
boards. In other respects it is the same, and is thus suitable for
persons with small means, or who may wish to purchase in large numbers.
Almost any kind of super may be adjusted to this hive, but those
specially adapted are the frame super and our divisional and sectional
supers, for all of which see the article on "Supers" (Chap. IV. § vi.).
To admit of their addition the crown-board must be removed, and a zinc
adapter with queen-preventing openings substituted.
§ XII. THE PHILADELPHIA FRAME HIVE.
Our frame hives hitherto described have facilities for extracting the
movable combs at the roof of the hive; with the present one the frames
are drawn out at the sides as well as above. This is manifestly a
great convenience, as it obviates the necessity of removing the supers
when an examination of the combs is required to be made in the midst
of the working season. The hive, cover, and stand are all in one, and
the side-flap falls down, as it does in the cover shown on page 175,
and the loose glazed side, by removal, serves as a dummy, allowing
each comb to be withdrawn without risk of scraping the next. The
cover, it will be seen, opens at one side, as does the stock hive. The
floor-board draws out on the plan adopted by Mr. Cheshire.
[Illustration]
There is a straw crown-board with a feeding-hole, which in summer is
replaced by a queen-preventing zinc adapter perforated all over with
circular holes too narrow to admit the queen or drones. The whole
space over the frames is then covered with our small sectional supers
(Chap. IV. § vi.), which, by means of the numerous perforations, are
completely seasoned to the bees' taste with the same scent as the
hive itself. The hive with its cover is complete without any further
protection from the weather, and it carries its own stand. It was very
highly commended at the Alexandra Palace Bee Show.
§ XIII. CHESHIRE'S FRAME HIVE.
In its general principles and inner structure this hive differs very
little from the one last described, with which in outward appearance
it is still more closely identical; but the walls of the stock hive,
when made of wood (for they can also be had in straw, if the apiarian
so prefers) are constructed double, with an airspace between, with a
view to modifying the variations of temperature. The upper part of the
outer woodwork is a cover to the supers, and opens on a hinge at one
side. Within are two of Lee's bar supers, placed one upon the other,
the upper of which is to be first supplied, and the other added from
beneath when the first is partly filled.
The stock hive usually contains eleven of the regular-sized Woodbury
frames, besides the dummy. Admission is given to the super by means
of slits in the sides of two of the five planks constituting the
crown-board, and when the super is away these two can be shifted to
the ends, when the slits will come outside the hive. The entrance-hole
is ten inches in length, but is provided with shutters for narrowing or
closing it. The alighting-board in front of the entrance is grooved in
order to let off wet or moisture. The entire floor-board draws out to
allow of cleaning.
§ XIV. ABBOTT'S NEW FRAME HIVE.
Mr. Abbott's new hive is distinguished for the large size of its
frames, which are sixteen inches long by ten deep. There are eight
of them, besides two dummies. The honey-board is in three portions,
with a round hole in the centre for feeding, and two slits for giving
admission to the supers, which are Lee's. This divided crown-board
rests close upon the bars of the frames, and a quilt should be placed
over it in winter. The stock hive is of straw, and carries its own
cover and stand. Its dimensions are two feet wide and three high.
Mr. Abbott has previously constructed some cheaper hives, but cheapness
was made too exclusively their object to allow of their becoming
sufficiently serviceable to be recommended.
§ XV. THE STEWARTON HIVE.
[Illustration]
The Stewarton hive (also called the Ayrshire hive) is so often spoken
of, and in such favourable terms, by bee-keepers, that we deem it
necessary to give it a place here, and to supply some explanation of
its construction and management. We consider this especially needful,
as some of the principles of its management are so imperfectly
understood that many mistakes are made, and also because, for the
convenience of bee-keepers, we keep a supply of these hives on hand.
The name is derived from their having been first brought out at
Stewarton, in Scotland; and they are still made so well, and at so
moderate a price, in that country, that London workmen are unable to
compete in their manufacture. Our supply is therefore from that source;
so that, with a little addition for carriage, the price approximates
that of the makers themselves, affording a convenience to many of our
apiarian friends in being able to obtain these hives in London.
Our illustration shows the four boxes set up when the hive is complete.
We will suppose that the beginner has just received the four octagonal
boxes detached, with the bundles of grooved slides. About one-half of
these are short pieces, or pegs, termed sectional slides, but similarly
cut to the longer ones; these are to fill up the openings where
the full slides are not put in, or are required to be withdrawn, as
hereafter explained. He will find himself in possession of four boxes
so neatly dovetailed on the bevel, that, if he be of a mechanical
turn, he will not only be surprised at the way in which they are put
together, but also at the price for which they are offered. Three of
the boxes, A, B, C, technically called "body boxes," are precisely
similar, each being fourteen inches in diameter and five inches and
a half deep inside. Nine bars range along the top of each box. These
are not movable, but are designed to induce the regular building of
the combs. Between these and beyond the outer ones are ten narrow
slides, the slides and bars being grooved to fit into each other, so
that the top is completely covered as if with a crown-board. In the
figure the slides are shown as partly withdrawn. The fourth box, D, is
the depriving box or super; it is only four inches deep, but the same
in diameter as the others. This being the honey-box, it is furnished
with seven wide fixed bars instead of nine, because, as stated at page
183, bees construct deeper receptacles to contain the honey than for
breeding in: thus, should the queen go up into this compartment, she
may find the cells are too much elongated to enable her to reach the
base when her body is inserted for the purpose of depositing an egg.
The honey is thus kept pure, and the thick comb has a more massive,
richer appearance, and that which not unfrequently mars the quality
of a super--viz., cells that either contain brood or have been bred
in--is prevented. Each box is furnished with two small windows, back
and front, closed by sliding shutters, by which opportunity is afforded
for inspecting the progress made, and also for ascertaining when the
cells are filled and the box may be taken away.
Each of the boxes A, B, C, is furnished with an entrance-way four
inches wide and half an inch high, a wooden slide either wholly or
partially closing it as required. When at work the bees need only one
entrance open, and that at the lowest box. The long slides before
mentioned are pushed into their respective receptacles from the back
of the hive to close the openings between the bars; those of them
that are shorter will be seen to belong to the sides of the octagon,
and their ends are cut angular to suit the form of the box. A little
examination will suffice to show the right allotment of the slides, the
appropriation of which may be said somewhat to resemble the putting
together of a child's puzzle.
The box B must be left open at the interstices that correspond with the
box A, placed above, the little openings being closed by the insertion
of the ten sections of slides, thus leaving free communication inside
with the upper box A, and admitting of no outlet for the bees except
at the entrance. When the four boxes are placed above each other, the
structure measures twenty-two inches high.
The Scotch carpenters send no floor-board, and no covering or roof for
the top to shoot off the rain; they evidently expect that the purchaser
is provided with a shed or bee-house of some kind, and also with a
floor-board. Should the apiarian, however, not have these necessaries,
we can supply the deficiency.
The sides of the boxes are furnished with wooden buttons, which, when
turned round, keep each box exactly in its place one above the other;
there are also projecting irons or screw heads for tying the two boxes
A and B together preparatory to hiving the swarm, also for weighing;
or if the boxes stand out exposed, all may be thus secured, to prevent
their being blown over by high winds.
In putting the hive into use, take the two boxes A and B, made one by
the junction before mentioned, with complete access from one to the
other inside by the free communication afforded. Shake the swarm in
just as with a common cottage hive.
If the weather be favourable these two boxes will be nearly filled
in ten days. To get the full advantage of the Stewarton hive the
first year, put two swarms into two body boxes, A and B. Allow the
bees to remain there till they have nearly filled the body boxes with
comb, which (with this increased number of workers, and in favourable
weather) should be from five to ten days. Two swarms are seldom
procurable the same day so as then to be joined together, and even if
they were there is a doubt whether greater progress may not be attained
by hiving one swarm a week or so earlier than the other, so as to build
comb and raise brood ready for the reception of the new comers.
The second swarm should be hived in the third body box, C, and placed
close to the boxes A, B, and at dusk these last are placed on the top
of the box C. The entrance being open in the lowest box, that of the
central box, B, should now be closed with the slide. The top slides of
box C must be withdrawn and the interstices pegged with the sectional
slides. In the course of the night the second swarm will ascend and
join the other, thus becoming one family. In the morning one of the
queens will probably be found thrown out in front.
The box C is then to be removed, and the entrance slide of box B
withdrawn. Should all the bees not have ascended, the removal may
be deferred until later in the day when many of them are dispersed
gathering honey. The object of removing the box C is to restrict the
room so that the work of comb-building may be carried on more rapidly,
and the bees be sooner ready to work in the super box D, placed
above. They may be allured into this by fixing small pieces of worker
guide-comb, of pure white colour, on the centre of each side bar. If,
however, a box of honey with neatly made, straight, and quite regular
comb be desired, a piece of this guide-comb must be fixed to the centre
of each bar of the seven. If guide-comb be unobtainable, strips of the
impressed wax sheets or artificial comb (hereafter described) will be
found excellent substitutes.[22]
[Footnote 22: The body boxes may be prepared in a similar manner.]
Having satisfied yourself, by peeping in at the windows, and from
symptoms at the entrance, that the original boxes are well filled,
place your prepared honey-box on the top, draw a slide at each side
of the middle box to afford communication, and insert the little
pegs. It is not well to withdraw the slides in the middle, because
the queen is then far more likely to ascend. Bees may more readily
be induced to work in the supers if the junctures are covered with
gummed paper to preserve warmth. When you notice that the bees have
fairly commenced work in the honey-box, and are likely to keep to it,
a second and afterwards other supers may still be added, the new one
being always placed uppermost; in all cases the remaining box C must be
added below the stock, which will afford additional room and prevent
swarming, exchanging the entrance to the newly-furnished box and
sliding in pieces of wood to close the aperture of that above. Supers
and nadirs may in fact be added--in fine seasons and with first-rate
management--till there are eight or ten boxes in the pile.
Should the bees begin making comb in the bottom box, draw two more
slides for freer access into the super, as there will then be little
risk of the queen ascending, having so much range for egg-laying in the
three lower boxes.
In very fine weather a good swarm or stock will fill a honey-box in the
space of two weeks; but a much longer time is usually occupied. The
process of taking the honey differs very little from that ordinarily
followed in removing supers (Chap. V. § xiv.). The super box is
disconnected with a spatula and twine; then drawing out one or two top
slides, the bees are smoked or blown with bellows to cause them to make
their exit.
Before winter sets in, the box C, if in use, may be removed, and the
comb it contains (if well filled) be used for consumption; if the comb
be empty, let it remain carefully guarded from moth and other insects,
as it will be invaluable next season. Empty comb may be thus preserved
by tying or pasting a piece of stout newspaper closely round the
bottom, and keeping the box in a dry place. Feeding, when required, may
be liberally pursued by withdrawing two slides and supplying a bottle
or other feeder.
The chief value of the Stewarton supers consists in the boxes being
shallow, so that the combs are more likely to be well filled down
to the base; the bees will also commence work more readily in such
than in loftier compartments. This is a great advantage with supers,
particularly when required to be sent to a distance, as there is less
likelihood of the combs breaking down. For the same reason, when the
weather is hot and the rays of the sun fall on the hive, the combs
might part from their foundations if there were no intermediate bars,
which is now the case in the stock hive, composed as it is of two
boxes. If these two boxes were in one, the depth of each comb would be
twelve inches; and, when filled with brood and honey, would probably
weigh ten pounds. This is a great weight to be supported in hot summer
weather, when the wax is softened by the heat. Another distinguishing
feature that the Stewarton hive possesses is the use of the box C,
which, by giving increased room as the season advances, prevents what
is often an annoyance to the apiarian, viz., a late swarm--too late
to be of any value, and impoverishing the stock by a division of
its numbers, thereby perhaps impeding the completion of the super.
A further advantage of the box C is that it induces the bees (who
frequently hang in clusters about the entrance) to carry on their work
instead of remaining in enforced idleness.
An accomplished apiarian who writes much in the _Horticultural_ and
_Bee Journals_ under the title of "A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper," and
whose descriptions and management of the Stewarton hive render him
an authority on this mode of bee-keeping as well as on the subject
generally, says the only fault he has to find with the Stewarton hive
is the fixity of the bars. With a modified hive used by him they are
held in position with half-inch brass screws; thus all are movable,
instead of being fastened with nails as in the original Stewarton. In
each of the three body boxes are four bar-frames from end to end of the
parallel sides; the two combs on either side of these are attached to
movable bars, but these have no frames, as there would be a difficulty
in making them to suit the angle. If it is requisite to withdraw the
bars, they may be easily disconnected from the sides by passing down
a knife. These boxes are one inch deeper than those of the ordinary
Stewarton. We must say we do not consider that there is quite the
same facility for extracting combs as with other movable comb hives
described in these pages, but this may be an element of success--it
possesses the opportunity without the facility. Many indiscreet
bee-keepers are tempted to disturb their bees a great deal too much.
The writer had the pleasure of paying this gentleman a visit when in
Scotland last autumn, and saw his apiary, also some remnants of the
store of wonderful supers he took from his hives last summer--specimens
indeed of good bee-keeping, and of the golden maxim worthy of all
imitation, "Keep your stocks strong."
§ XVI. THE LANARKSHIRE HIVE.
In outward form this hive is much like the first bar-frame hive
introduced to English apiarians by Mr. Tegetmeier, who about eighteen
years ago was secretary to a now defunct apiarian society the
head-quarters of which were just outside London at Muswell Hill. This
gentleman adapted the Stewarton slides to a square bar-frame hive,
so that no crown-board was needed, just as is here provided by the
ingenious Lanarkshire bee-keeper. One of Mr. Tegetmeier's hives may be
seen at the Bethnal Green Museum of Science and Art. From some cause it
did not come into very general use.
The stock hive we are now describing measures sixteen inches and
three-quarters from front to rear, and seventeen and a quarter from
side to side, within; the height is nine inches and a half, and it
contains eleven frames and one division board or dummy. Each of the
frames is fitted with a false bar, which is intended to be under the
bar proper: by taking a frame and pressing this bar out, an arrangement
will be found for enclosing and holding tightly fixed the impressed
sheets of wax for guides. The ends of the frames rest in the front and
back of the hive; the top edges of the latter being deeply grooved
along their centres to reduce the bearing surfaces, so that there
may be less danger of crushing a bee when the frames are placed in
position. These are now kept apart, and the spaces between are closed
by wooden slides as in the octagon Stewarton hive; thus the advantages
claimed by Scotch apiarians are here to be found in a square bar-frame
hive. The sides and lower ends of the frames have projections which
touch and keep each other steady, so that the combs are not so liable
to be pressed together.
The super is four inches deep and equal in diameter to the stock hive,
and is furnished, like it, with false bars, which have slits for
inserting those infallible guides, the impressed waxen sheets. These
are surmounted with another row of movable bars with the Stewarton
slides between as before explained.
The back of the hive has a circular revolving disc of wood of half
thickness let into it, in which are three three-quarter inch holes
covered with perforated zinc, so that ventilation may be given or not.
The alighting-board is made to slide in and out in grooves beneath the
floor-board, which arrangement is convenient for transit of the hive to
the moors or anywhere else. The entrance is opened or closed by means
of sliding shutters, one on each side.
Outside covering from the weather is needed, and this we are also in a
position to provide. This is beyond doubt an ingenious useful hive, and
how so much labour can be bestowed and yet the hive cost so little is a
marvel.
§ XVII. NEIGHBOURS' UNICOMB OBSERVATORY HIVE--OUTDOOR.
The unicomb hive here represented has many advantages over similar
hives as previously constructed. The illustration shows the interior
divided into six compartments; these are six Woodbury frames. The inner
sash opens, to admit of hanging up the frames on the notches prepared
for them. The width of the hive between the glasses of the sashes is
just sufficient to admit of one thickness of comb, with space on each
side for the bees to pass and repass between the glass and the comb.
Any one possessing a Woodbury box or straw frame hive can readily
commence a unicomb, and as readily put the combs and bees back into the
square hive again.
[Illustration]
The outside shutters on each side are composed of Venetian blinds,
admitting daylight, but obscuring the rays of the sun. There are two
iron wheels, the one fixed to the bottom of the hive, the other to
a stout board running along its entire length; on these two wheels
the whole structure turns. In the centre of the floor-board there is
an opening, with a passage-way running underneath, so that the bees'
entrance is in no way affected by the position of the hive, which
revolves to suit the convenience of visitors inspecting it. Should the
queen, with her attendants, not be visible on one side, the other side
of the comb can be brought into full view, and examined with the same
facility as a picture, or as articles are inspected in a shop window.
Thus the sovereign mother, the drones with their aimless movements,
and the crowd of ever-busy workers, either building their combs or
storing honey, may be always seen, as presenting a veritable _tableau
vivant_.
Another improvement that we have made upon Mr. Woodbury's pattern is
that of adapting to admit the frames and this has necessitated an
increase in size. The outside dimensions are nearly three feet square
and seven inches deep from back to front. Provision is made at top for
feeding, and for working two small flat-top glasses for deprivation,
which are protected by the weather-board. An alighting-board is placed
at the centre, close under the entrance. The hive can, however, be
placed indoors, when it must be adjusted to the window-sash like the
indoor unicomb in the next section.
In the summer of 1863 we had ample proof of the success of this
hive during its exhibition at the annual show of the Bath and West
of England Agricultural Society at Exeter. We selected six combs,
and packed them in one of the square box Woodbury frame hives, and,
on arrival at Exeter, placed them in the unicomb. That being fixed
against the boarded side of a shed, we found the covered way a great
convenience, and it answered remarkably well; the bees did not seem
to be inconvenienced by having to travel through so long a passage. A
glass covering admitted a full view of the little labourers as they
crowded in, and the sight of them very much enhanced the interest of
visitors examining the hive.
Since the time before mentioned we have exhibited bees at the meetings
of the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society at Bristol, and of
the Royal Agricultural Society at Newcastle in 1864. On both occasions
further proof was given that this hive admirably answers the purpose
intended, and it afforded pleasure to many thousands of visitors. We
also exhibited one of these hives in our collection at the Philadelphia
Exhibition of 1876, and in their certificate of award the jurors direct
special attention to the unicomb hive with Venetian blinds as allowing
the admission of light to the bees whilst the sun's direct rays are
excluded.
The unicomb hive may be stocked in two ways. The bee-keeper may either
select the comb upon which the queen is found, and put it into the
hive, and so form an artificial swarm as directed under that heading
(Chap. V. § vi.), or he may take six brood combs, and by that means
stock the unicomb at once. The former plan is, perhaps, the more
advisable, because new comb has to be built within the five frames;
for in this case five empty frames must be put in. It is a better plan
still if artificial combs are placed in each frame, so as to afford an
interesting opportunity of watching the formation of the cells therein.
The' combs are sure to be dark in colour when taken from a stock hive,
and new combs, being whiter, have a better appearance in the hive. The
comb upon which the queen was introduced may be taken away after the
artificial swarm has made combs within some of the other five frames;
when the queen is on one of the new combs, opportunity may easily be
taken for opening the hive and removing the old dark comb, which, with
the unhatched brood, may be deposited in any square hive that needs
strengthening.
If the possessor of a square Woodbury frame hive wishes to start a
strong unicomb colony, and does not object to appropriating the stock,
he must take out of the Woodbury hive any six combs on the frames, and
put the unicomb in its place so as to receive all the returning bees
that happen to be abroad; the remaining combs can be inserted in any
other frame hives in which there may be room. We have had this hive in
operation, stocked in such manner, and found it to answer remarkably
well. On a lawn, placed on a suitable ornamental stand, it formed a
pleasing and instructive object.
In unicomb hives there is considerable difficulty in keeping the bees
alive through the winter, but where the combs are removable, this can
be avoided by the transfer recommended in Chap. V. § xx. In some degree
to moderate the variations of temperature we have used treble glass
with a space between each square; greater warmth is thus obtained, and
the view is not intercepted. Opportunity should be taken for cleaning
the unicomb hive when empty.
§ XVIII. NEIGHBOURS' UNICOMB OBSERVATORY HIVE--INDOOR.
[Illustration]
This hive is well adapted for those persons who are desirous of having
the opportunity of closely examining the workmanship of the industrious
and interesting inmates. It is particularly intended for a window
recess or an indoor apiary, and will also be found an interesting
addition to the greenhouse. Bees cease to appear disturbed when
exposure to the light is continuous, and this discovery enables the
bee-keeper to obtain a full inspection. The hive should be screened
from the direct rays of the sun, which would worry the inmates, and
be otherwise prejudicial. An aperture should be cut in the sash
corresponding with the entrance to the hive, through which the bees
may find egress and ingress, without being able to gain access to the
apartment, as described under the "Ladies' Observatory Hive" (page
120). As the hive is now made to revolve on a wheel like the preceding,
this passage must extend eighteen inches within the room to enable the
revolution to be made clear of the window. The passage may be glazed
over. The process of stocking is identical with that in the last
section.
Although this hive is constructed of double glass, to keep up a more
uniform degree of warmth, still, from the cold nature of that material,
and the close contact into which the bees are brought with it, it is
advisable to place flannel against it on the outside. Such precaution
is found essential if the bees remain in this hive during winter, and
very much adds to their comfort on cold nights at most periods of the
year. In the daytime, in summer months, the hive being of double glass,
the whole may be fully exposed to view, and if the temperature of the
apartment in which it stands be kept up to 60 degrees, this extra care
will not be needed.
At the annual International Exhibition of 1873, at South Kensington,
we had two of these hives in full operation, an opening being made so
that the bees had full access to the pasturage of the Horticultural
and other gardens of the neighbourhood. Among the many visitors whose
delight it was to watch the hidden working of the hives thus laid
bare for inspection was His Grace the Duke of Sutherland, and he
commissioned us to place one of these unicomb hives at the window of
an anteroom adjoining his library at Stafford House, St. James's, which
we accordingly did, the bees having an open flight over his own garden
and St. James's Park, as the entrance faced that way. For a time this
was an unfailing source of interest and gratification to His Grace and
his visitors; but unfortunately a reverse came over the spirit of our
dream. The hive was without the Venetian blinds, thus depending on the
window-blind being carefully drawn down when the sun was shining. An
oversight prevented this being attended to one day as usual: it was
on the occasion of the visit of the Shah of Persia to Stafford House,
when the servants were so much occupied that the secluded room which
the bees were in was wholly neglected. The, consequence was that the
rays of the burning June sun so distressed the bees that they hung out
in clusters, the queen among them, at the outside entrance; the combs
were at the same time melted, and fell from their foundations, and the
brood was all ruined by heat '; in fact, the whole hive became a wreck.
We managed after some trouble to save the bees, but His Grace was so
disheartened by the catastrophe that, for fear of its repetition,
though much to our disappointment, he declined re-stocking the hive.
At the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1855 we also exhibited a hive
of this description in full working order. The bees left London on
the 5th of July of that year, and were placed in the Exposition on
the following morning. An entrance was made for them through the
side of the building, as before explained. Our bees had no national
antipathies, and they immediately sallied forth to their "fresh fields
and pastures new" in the Champs Elysées, the gardens of the Tuileries,
the Luxembourg, etc., whence they soon returned laden with luscious
store from French flowers.
The Jurors of the Exposition awarded us a prize medal for beehives.
A prize was also adjudged to us for the hive here described at
the Crystal Palace Show in 1874; while a variation that we have
made--consisting of four half-unicombs fixed cross-way like the sails
of a windmill--obtained a like award at the Alexandra Palace Bee Show
in 1876.
The unicomb observatory hive is one which might have been suggested by
the lines of Evans:--
"By this blest art our ravished eyes behold
'The singing masons build their roofs of gold,'
And mingling multitudes perplex the view,
Yet all in order apt their tasks pursue.
Still happier they whose favoured ken hath seen
Pace slow and silent round, the state's fair queen."
[Illustration]
CHAPTER IV.
FITTINGS AND APPARATUS.
§ I. BEE-HOUSES.
[Illustration]
WHERE is no contrivance for protecting hives from the
weather so complete as a bee-house; one which also admits of an easy
inspection of the hives ranged therein is especially convenient for
lady bee-keepers. We here present a front view of one designed for only
two hives.
The folding doors behind the bee-house have only to be opened, and the
hives are at once exposed to full view; then, by raising the upper hive
or cover, the glasses may be deliberately inspected without molestation
from the bees, and the progress made by the busy multitude may be
watched from day to day. Under the roof on each side are openings to
act as ventilators, to allow the heated air to escape. With the sun
shining on the house, and no escape of this kind, the temperature would
become that of an oven.
[Illustration]
Here our illustration shows the back view of the bee-house, the
interior being furnished with two of our improved cottage hives. Two
suspended weights balance the top hives which cover the glasses; the
cord for each runs on pulleys, so that the covers can be easily raised
and as easily shut down again when the inspection is finished. We may
here remark that it is not well to keep the glasses long exposed to
full light and view.
The front of the bee-house being closely boarded, a passage-way is
contrived for the bees, by which they have egress and ingress to the
hives without being able to gain access to the house. The hives must be
kept close to the front boarding of the house, to prevent the opening
of any crevices which the bees might mistake for the entrance to their
hives, and so find their way into the house. The front view of this
bee-house shows the ordinary contrivance for giving admission; the
sliding zinc entrances may also be advantageously fixed, as shown in
the woodcut of the bee-house to contain twelve hives. The bee-houses we
furnish have a lock and key.
Care must be taken to keep the bee-houses free from spiders and other
insects. In some districts ants are numerous and troublesome. The plan
we recommend for excluding them is to put some pitch round the four
supports of the bee-house, or, better still, strips of loose flannel or
other woollen material that is absorbent, which have previously been
soaked in lamp oil. We use sperm oil, as being the slowest-drying oil
we know of A piece of string will keep the flannel close to the wood,
and then neither ant nor other insect will pass up; so that by this
simple means the hives may, so to speak, be insulated and placed beyond
their reach. As the oil dries up it can easily be renewed. We have
found this an effectual remedy against these insidious enemies of bees.
[Illustration]
Where economy of room is a consideration we fit up bee-houses with
a double row of hives, one above the other. Our illustrations show
respectively the front and back of a house of this kind for twelve
hives, having an ornamental zinc gutter to prevent the wet from
dripping on to the alighting-board. When a number of hives are thus
together we colour the alighting-boards differently, so as to provide
the bees with a distinctive mark by which each may know its own home,
and not wander into its neighbour's house. Bees readily enough receive
a honey-laden labourer into a hive; but if the wanderer be poor and
empty it will be promptly repulsed, and may have to forfeit its life
for the mistake. Queens returning from their wedding trip are liable
to mistake their hive if there is not a noticeable difference between
the entrances. A queen entering a hive already possessed of a fruitful
sovereign would be certain to be killed, and the loss to her own hive
is a serious one. Hives are often made queenless from this cause, and
thereby reduced to utter ruin, the bee-master perhaps attributing his
failure to something altogether different.
[Illustration]
In lieu of houses an economical stand can be provided by driving two
rows of posts into the ground, one row about twelve inches behind the
other, and nailing upon them rails two inches wide and thick. The hives
may stand upon these, with eighteen inches between them for space for
performing operations. But there is less fear of jarring the other
hives when the stands are separate.
§ II. ZINC COVERS.
[Illustration]
The annexed illustration shows the ornamental zinc cover, and renders
but little description necessary. It represents one of our improved
cottage hives upon a stand. Three clumps of wood must be driven into
the ground, and the three iron rods supporting the covering made fast
to them with screws; there are screw holes in the feet of the iron rods
for the purpose. When thus secured but little fear need be entertained
of its being blown over by high winds.
In the roof two pulleys are fixed, so that, by attaching a cord, the
upper hive covering the bell-glass supers may be raised with facility
for the purpose of observing the progress made by the bees. Directions
as to the mode of fixing the pedestal will be found above (page 118).
The ornamental zinc cover will form a pleasing object in the
flower-garden when placed in a suitable position on the grass plot. It
is painted green; the iron rods are of such a length as to support the
roof at a convenient height from the ground.
[Illustration]
Our next figure is that of a simple and inexpensive covering for any
cottage straw hive when exposed in the garden. It fits close on to the
upper hive, coming sufficiently low to protect it from sun and rain,
without obscuring the whole hive.
These covers are painted green--a colour that is generally preferred.
§ III. WOOD COVERS.
A loose outer case completely enveloping the hive is found very useful.
Such covers are made in various forms, some to drop over the hive in
detached portions, some in a single piece, and others hinged; some,
as we saw in the last chapter (§§ xii., xiii., xiv.), constitute a
part of the hive itself. Ample room must be allowed for opening these,
both at the side and behind, remembering that from the latter position
all operations must be conducted. The cover and stand will require
painting, or else staining and varnishing, which looks perhaps better;
the hive itself, if not exposed to the weather, will not need this.
When removing or replacing the covers, care must be taken not to
enrage the bees. Covers formed with opening shutters will obviate the
necessity of frequent removal.
The accompanying figure shows a simple form of cover for dropping over
a hive. Its width is twenty-six inches, depth twenty-two, and height in
middle nineteen.
[Illustration]
Cottagers often use straight stiff thatching straw, sewed together;
this contrivance is termed a "hackle," and has a pretty appearance,
particularly if a number of hives are in a row. Care has however to be
exercised that mice do not make the cover a resting-place. Mortar is
often used for fastening round the hive at the bottom, but this is a
bad plan, as it forms a harbour for insects; the wooden hoop fits so
close as to leave little necessity for anything of the kind. The wooden
cover just described is more especially constructed for our frame hive
(page 142), but it may be used for any hive that it will fit over.
[Illustration]
Our next cut represents the Woodbury cover, which is formed in three
portions (the roof, the super-cover, and the stock-hive cover). It has
an upper and a lower door, or rather shutter, behind. The whole can
be placed on a pedestal as here shown. As this cover requires to be
lifted off in pieces, and is liable to be blown over by the wind, it is
not so convenient as those figured below, which open on hinges and are
self-supporting.
We next give two representations of one of our more elaborate covers,
showing it respectively from behind as opened and in front as closed.
The former exhibits the cover with one of our new frame hives (Chap.
III. § x.) within it, and two divisional supers upon the hive, the roof
being formed sufficiently high to accommodate these. The cover is thus
made to open near its vertical centre, and is held back by a chain. The
flap behind falls down on opening the top to allow of inspecting the
stock hive without drawing it out of the cover. In the front there is a
portico for protection to the entrance, and wood slides work in grooves
to narrow the opening in winter or other bad weather. The total height
of the cover and stand is forty-five inches, the width twenty-two,
and the depth twenty-six. The outside of the whole is grained and
varnished. In the figure following it will be observed that the hinges
are placed in the front; while underneath these the portico, slides,
and alighting-board are clearly shown, as well as the sloping roof--in
short, the general appearance of the whole structure as it actually
stands in the apiary.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The next pair of views represent another very useful cover, but it has
the objection of being bulky and more costly. The open figure exhibits,
within the cover, our new glass frame hive and super (page 142). The
hinges are formed with movable pins to enable the cover to be totally
removed from the stand. An opening from the outside communicates with
the super, so that the bees can find exit without passing through the
stock hive. The flight-hole can be narrowed as in the previous instance.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The annexed cut shows a new cover of simple and inexpensive
construction. In it any of our frame hives can be placed. The stock
hive here exhibited is the one referred to on page 141, as "The
Cottager's Improved Frame Hive." The advantage in having the stock hive
independent of the cover and stand, and on its own floor-board, is that
the hive is more easily stocked and more manageable in other respects
than those that have hive, stand, and cover all in one, as is the case
with the Philadelphia, Cheshire's, and Abbott's hives.
The drawing shows the outward construction so well that little further
explanation is needful.
§ IV. QUILTS.
Some American apiarians recommend the use of a quilt in place of a
crown board, as admitting of ventilation to the hive and thus allowing
the moisture to pass off. Quilts are made of some soft woollen material
or a piece of carpet. Care must be exercised that the maggots of other
insects do not find a home underneath, or a hotbed will by that means
be provided for bees' worst enemies.
§ V. BELL GLASSES.
In describing the stock hives of wood, straw, and glass, allusion
has frequently been made to the depriving hives technically called
"supers." The simplest form of these consists of the straw caps,
represented at pages 108-110, and next to these will come those to
which the above heading applies. Of the stricter bell-form, rounded at
the top, we have three sizes:--
[Illustration]
To contain 10lb., 10 inches high, 7 inches wide.
To contain 6lb., 7 inches high, 5½ inches wide.
To contain 3lb., 5 inches high, 4 inches wide.
These bell glasses are used in the hives before described. The largest
is for Nutt's hive; the middle-sized is for our improved cottage hive;
the smallest glass is so very small that it is not often used, and we
do not recommend it. Bees will generally fill a middle-sized glass
quite as soon as one so small as this.
[Illustration]
The next figures exhibit what are known as "Taylor's Glasses." They
were introduced by Mr. Taylor, and are recommended as preferable to
deep narrow glasses. The drawings will show that they are straight at
the sides, flat at the top inside, with a knob above to take hold
by, through which is a half-inch opening to admit a ventilating tube.
The larger, to contain perhaps twenty pounds, is six inches deep and
thirteen inches wide; the smaller, five inches deep and nine and a half
inches wide.
[Illustration]
The late Mr. J. H. Payne, of Bury St. Edmunds, author of the
"Bee-keeper's Guide," introduced another glass, called "Payne's Glass"
accordingly. It has a three-inch hole in the centre, the purpose of
which is to tempt bees to produce additional and larger stores of
honey. It is to be used as follows: When a bell glass (which must be
smaller in diameter than Payne's) is half or quite filled, raise it,
and place Payne's glass over the hole of the stock hive, with the
filled glass on it, over the three-inch hole. The bees will bring their
combs through, and thus Mr. Payne found that they would store more
honey than if the bell glass were removed and another empty one put in
its place.
[Illustration]
The "Flat-topped Glass" is a super to be placed on the hive in a
similar way to the bell glasses already alluded to. It has the
advantages of being straight at the sides, flat at top, and without a
knob; so that when filled it may be brought on to the breakfast table,
_inverted_, on a plate. The glass lid shown in the figure forms a
cover, and fits over outside so as not to interfere with the combs
within. There is a ventilating tube as above. Dimensions, six and
three-quarter inches in diameter, and five in height.
§ VI. BAR SUPERS.
[Illustration]
To these we have already made considerable allusion under the various
hives to which they are applied. They are often made of glass, but many
are of wood or even straw. It is desirable that the combs in supers
should be made thicker than those for breeding--the bees will in fact
deepen their honey cells to almost any extent--and therefore the bars
are placed somewhat, further apart than in stock hives, thus allowing
of one or two bars less. By _gradually_ widening the spaces between the
combs these can be brought up, Von Berlepsch tells us, to four inches
in thickness. With the shallower form of all the older supers the bars
are without frames. The cut exhibits the "Woodbury Super," which is
of glass thirteen inches square and six deep, with eight bars to the
ten of the hive. These can be either the Woodbury ribbed bars, or
flat ones with guide-comb attached. Lee's supers are similar, but they
contain seven bars with four Stewarton slides for giving admission from
one to the other when more than one super is used.
The next figure shows our "Frame Super," already sufficiently described
on page 141. It can be had as below, in glass with wooden framework, or
in straw with three windows, as shown with the hive on page 142.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Next in order we give our "Divisional Super," to which a prize was
awarded at the Crystal Palace Bee Show in 1875. It is composed of seven
divisions or frames, which are kept together by lateral strips of wood.
Each division is intended to have one comb worked in it, rendering the
contents of the super divisible without cutting the combs. As shown in
the figure on page 175, this super is now made with whole-glass ends.
From the same figure it will be observed that these supers are adapted
for placing one above the other, passages being cut out of the top bar
of the lower of the pair. Slits are cut for the insertion of strips of
wax sheets.
Both in this super and the next it is desirable to provide against the
admission of cold through the numerous interstices by keeping a warm
woollen covering on the top and pasting paper over the divisions, which
can easily be cut through when the super is filled.
[Illustration]
Neighbours' "Sectional Super" is the last of our series. The attention
of apiarians has been so much turned of late years towards a cheap and
compact receptacle for honeycombs intended for deprivation, that we
have introduced this last invention, which is very much on the same
plan as the preceding, but the longitudinal divisions are again divided
across, forming boxes, as shown in the figure. Each section is about
two inches wide, seven long, and four and a half to five deep; it will
contain about two pounds of honey in the comb. This is a convenient
quantity for placing on the table or for purposes of presentation. The
fourteen sections occupy the same space as the seven divisions of the
preceding. Any number can however be used according to the size of the
hive: the Philadelphia hive, for instance, has space for eighteen.
Again, any single section can be removed when full, and another
substituted.
Each section has a saw-cut in the crown for the insertion of wax
strips. The queen-preventing zinc adapter can also be used. Observe
the caution given in the second paragraph of the description of the
divisional super, just above.
§ VII. EKES AND NADIRS.
We allude to these for the sake of explaining the terms, and as they
are adjuncts sometimes recommended for temporary enlargement. They are
further contrivances for the prevention of swarming, but they differ
from supers in being added below instead of above the stock hive.
Briefly, an eke is a half-hive so added, and a nadir an entire one.
An example of an eke is sometimes met with when a common skep is cut
horizontally in half, and the lower portion placed beneath an entire
skep hive. For an instance of a nadir we have only to refer to the
Stewarton hive. Ekes and nadirs give increased room to the bees, but
they of course do not answer the purpose of supers in providing honey
free from the admixture of brood.
§ VIII. IMPRESSED WAX SHEETS.
These artificial partition walls for combs are sheets of genuine
wax, about the substance of thin cardboard. They receive rhomboidal
impressions by being pressed between two metal plates, carefully and
mathematically prepared and cast so that the impressions are exactly
the same size as the base of the cells of a honeycomb. An inspection of
a piece of comb will show that the division of the opposite cells is
made by a thin partition-wall, common to both. The substance of this is
said to be only the one hundred and eightieth part of an inch, whilst
the artificial ones we are recommending are between the thirtieth and
fortieth part of an inch, or more than four times the thickness of
the handiwork of the bees themselves. It would, indeed, be vain to
attempt to furnish them with sheets of wax at all approaching their
own delicate fabric, and our sheets are quite as thin as they can be
to bear the handling requisite for fixing them in the hives. We find,
however, that the thickness is no disadvantage; the bees speedily
excavate and _pare the artificial sheet_ so as to suit their own
notions of the substance required; then, with admirable economy, they
use the surplus thus obtained for the construction of the cells. After
a sheet has been partly worked at by the bees, it is interesting to
hold it up to the light and observe the beautiful transparency of that
part of it, contrasted with the opaqueness of the part not yet laboured
upon.
This invention renders us independent of _guide-comb_, which is not
always obtainable. It comes to us from Germany, where it has attained
many years of success. At the International Exhibition of 1862 we
purchased the metal plates or castings, so as to manufacture the
impressed sheets with which we are now able to supply our customers;
and after the careful trials we have made we have great confidence in
recommending them. As will be seen below, however, we no longer advise
insertion of entire sheets.
In the season of 1863 we furnished a Woodbury glass super with the wax
sheets fixed to the bars in the way hereafter to be explained, and it
was truly astonishing to mark the rapidity with which these sheets of
wax were converted into comb. Receptacles were quickly made ready for
the storing of honey, and the new combs soon became beautifully white;
for, although the artificial wax has a yellow tinge, yet, after being
worked at and made thinner, it is as good in colour as ordinary combs.
If whole sheets are used--or, in the case of supers, half ones--perhaps
the simplest plan for fastening them is to fix a strip of wood with
brads to the under side of the top frame or bar; place the wax sheet
against this, then wedge another strip close to it, and thus hold
the wax sheet firmly in the centre of the frame, taking care also to
make the second strip of wood fast with brads. This has however the
objection that it slightly diminishes the space. The wax plates must
not extend to the bottom of the frame; a space of at least one inch
should be left for expansion, because the bees, in working the plate,
stretch it down lower. We also use a few pins firmly pressed into the
frames, and long enough to reach the edge of the plate; for by fixing
three or four pins on each side, both at the sides and at the bottom,
the plate may be held in an exactly central position within the frame.
We are now disposed to make a great modification in the above
directions, and, instead of using entire sheets of wax, we cut strips
from them of about an inch in width, and place these in the bars as
before, when they form an edged projection of half or three-quarters of
an inch. We have found an objection to the entire sheets in the fact
that they sometimes curl and break with the weight of the bees--so
eagerly does a new swarm apply itself to work upon them--and thus
become an obstruction instead of a help.
Strips of cardboard or wood shaving, dipped in hot wax or well
besmeared therewith, may be substituted for the wax strips themselves.
Where no slit is made for the insertion of either, the shaving running
down the lower edge of the bar may be simply rubbed with hot wax, and
the same purpose will be served.
§ IX. COMB FOUNDATIONS.
This is an American attempt to improve on our impressed wax sheets. In
the proffered assistance to the bees there is here some advance, for
not only are the lozenge-shaped plates at the base of each cell more
clearly stamped and defined, but the sides of the cells are slightly
begun--so deep are the impressions that the foundations of the walls
are actually laid.
Being quite a new invention, there has not been much time for fully
testing it, but we find from American bee-keepers that when used-in
large sheets there is the same difficulty as with our impressed
wax--the bees will twist them. As specimens of work these comb
foundations are certainly very commendable for appearance. The white
ones seem too white to be of pure wax, and any substitute offered
to bees has hitherto proved a failure. Mr. Baldridge, a frequent
correspondent of the _American Bee Journal_, speaks of the yellow
sheets as far preferable to the pure white, but some that are made
partly of paraffin he considers of little worth. Possibly the material
of which they are manufactured may be made to suit the delicate senses
of the bees. Until this is the case, hindrance rather than help in
comb-building will be the result of placing them in the frames and
sectional or other supers. The mode of fixing is the same as described
for impressed wax sheets.
§ X. CHESHIRE'S GUIDE-MAKER.
At the Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1875, Mr. Cheshire exhibited
and obtained a prize for a wax guide-maker, which is an ingenious
contrivance. It consists of a plaster of Paris cast, with impressions
taken from the metal plates before referred to (page 187). This cast is
two inches in width, about the same in thickness, and eleven or twelve
inches long. It rests in a shallow zinc or tin trough containing water
to keep the plaster damp by capillary attraction. The plaster cast
may first be soaked in water; then place against its side the top bar
of the frame, reversed so that the centre of the under side lies even
with the edge of the embossed cast. The wax (which must be genuine)
is melted in an ordinary glue-pot; then with a clean paintbrush it is
applied to the top of the plaster cast and exposed part of the bar. The
wax immediately hardens on the damp cast and does not adhere, whilst
the under side of the bar carries an embossed guide of sufficient depth
to be an unfailing means of direction to the swarm in the building of
straight combs.
When a large number of frames have to be prepared, this ingenious
apparatus is a convenience; but for the ordinary apiarian we should
advise procuring a few of the impressed wax sheets, cutting them in
strips, and fixing without the mess and trouble which Mr. Cheshire's
apparatus involves.
§ XI. BAR-FRAME HOLDER.
[Illustration]
It is often a great convenience to have a rest at hand to lodge frames
of comb on. The illustration shows one that we have contrived, and
which will accommodate twelve frames of almost any size. The two broad
rests on the top may be set closer or further apart by loosening the
screws which keep them firm. They are easily shifted and secured again
by screwing up.
This stand is light in weight, so that it can easily be carried about
as required. The frames of comb, with bees on them just as they are,
are temporarily placed on the holder when an inspection of the interior
of the hive is needful, and the combs can be returned to the hive in
the same order.
§ XII. CHESHIRE'S TRANSFERRING BOARD.
This is a contrivance which will be found specially serviceable in
transferring old stocks from one hive to another (Chap. V. § iii.). It
consists of an inclined rest for the combs, composed of laths, of wood
arranged like the teeth of a comb, so as to allow the honey to drain
into the zinc receiving-frame underneath; it also admits the ready
introduction of the tape or whatever is used for tying and fixing the
combs in the new frame. The operator should place the board upon a
table so that its front, or the upper edges of the inclined laths, face
him as he stands.
§ XIII. HONEY-CUTTERS.
[Illustration]
Honey-cutters are used for removing comb from boxes and glasses without
damaging it. The flat-bladed knife is for disconnecting the combs
from the sides; the hook-shaped one is to be applied to the top or
horizontal part of the box or glass. We have recently introduced a
knife with both these blades, one respectively at each end.
§ XIV. THE HONEY-EXTRACTOR.
The first notion of extracting honey from the combs by centrifugal
motion was the result of an accident. A son of Major von Hruschka, a
bee-keeper in Germany, tied a piece of honeycomb to a string, and in
play whirled it round the inside of a pail. Finding that the honey was
ejected and the cells of the comb left dry, the idea was suggested to
Herr von Hruschka of constructing a machine for the purpose, and this
he soon afterwards did. The first honey-extractor was a wooden vessel
with something like a broomstick working on a pivot in the centre; to
this axle, provision was made for attaching a framework to carry the
combs, and the centrifugal motion was obtained by winding coils of
string round the upper part of the revolving shaft, which was thus put
in motion by pulling the string sharply in the way a boy's humming-top
is made to spin round.
[Illustration]
This answered for a beginning; but with the opportunity of employing
machinery it was soon found that many improvements in the construction
might be made. For instance, it was apparent that the extractor should
be constructed of metal, because the wood absorbs so much honey that
it will soon become sour in warm weather, however carefully attended
to and cleansed. The honey-extractor shown here consists of a metal
reservoir with a treacle tap at its base to draw off the liquid honey.
In the middle of this reservoir is a cast-iron spindle, with arms or
projections to receive two metal wire cases, one on each side; in
these cases the combs are placed, whether in frames or not. Motion is
given by turning the handle, which with the aid of a cog-wheel causes
the spindle to revolve at great speed. The machine is mostly used for
frames of combs taken from stock hives whilst the honey-gathering is at
its height.
When the frame is removed from the hive whilst at full work, the bees
have to be shaken or brushed off with a feather, and those cells that
are sealed have to be uncapped by shaving the waxen lids off with
knives, of which there should be two, one to be kept immersed in a
vessel of hot water, whilst the other is used until it becomes cold,
and so alternately until the required work is accomplished. The knife
being warm very much aids in slicing through the wax as near the
top as possible, and prevents tearing the tender comb. This must be
done carefully so as to disturb the form of the cells as little as
possible, and not to touch the brood cells, from which honey cells are
easily distinguished. The frame is placed in one of the wire cases,
and a second may be treated in the same manner and dropped into the
extractor. A few turns of the handle eject the honey by centrifugal
force, and a little practice will inform the operator of the requisite
degree of speed, though some honey is more tenacious and takes a few
more turns than other. When on examination it is found that the honey
is gone out of one side, the cases will then have to be reversed, and
a few more turns will clear the cells on the other side. The frames
should now be returned to the hive for the bees to refill, and two
other frames of comb may take their places in the extractor, and so on
until all the combs in that hive suitable for extraction have been
operated upon according to the wish and judgment of the manipulator.
Prior to commencing this operation, a little smoke should be blown into
the hive and an examination made lest the queen should be too summarily
shaken off the comb; she must be quietly transferred to another if the
one she may be on is required to be placed in the extractor.
During the gathering season it is astonishing how quickly these
emptied cells will be refilled with honey, and not unfrequently the
queen finds in some of these unoccupied receptacles timely provision
for her otherwise contracted accommodation for depositing eggs; thus
breeding goes forward at an astonishing rate. Much is written about
the value of comb, and by this contrivance the labour of the bees in
building it is saved. There is no doubt but that this instrument is
of great service to the bee-keeper when judiciously applied,[23] and
since the introduction of the movable combs it has formed an important
adjunct thereto. For no invention has the apiarian cause to be more
deeply indebted than for the "Mel Extractor" of Germany, improved upon
as it has been both in America and in this country. Even if there
were less sale for extracted honey, the extractor would be found at
certain times of great value to every bee-keeper. In the award at the
Philadelphia Exhibition, special notice of commendation is recorded of
our honey-extractor.
[Footnote 23: This, machine is not of much service for extracting honey
from combs made in supers, the cells of which are mostly too soft to
bear operating upon.]
§ XV. CHESHIRE'S NUCLEUS HIVE.
The object of nucleus hives is explained below in the section on
"Queen Rearing" (Chap. V. § vii.), and they render services in the
process of artificial swarming, in maintaining a supply of young
mothers, or in Italianising an apiary. Mr. Cheshire's contrivance is
as follows; Certain frames in a regular hive are made to consist of
two half-frames, each complete, but joined together in the top bar by
a tongue in the one portion which fits firmly into an opening in the
other, thus forming an ordinary frame except for the division down the
middle. When a royal cell has been formed upon one of these compound
frames, such frame is taken out of the hive, and the twin portions are
then placed side by side in the nucleus, which measures only three and
three-quarter inches wide inside, nine inches deep, and seven and a
half from front to back. Its sides are constructed double in the same
way as those of the Cheshire frame hive (page 145). In the nucleus
hive it is necessary for the frames to be well covered up. Care must
be taken that the queen was not upon either of the nucleus frames, but
the other bees may be retained upon it. The older ones, however, will
be sure to return to the stock hive, and their place must be supplied
by shaking young ones off other frames on to a board in front of the
nucleus.
The royal cells may be obtained from any source, and artificially
transferred to the divided frames, after which the frames must be
placed in a stock hive for twenty-four hours for the bees to fix and
repair the cells. Or, if more convenient, three or four such frames may
be placed in the middle of a hive, and all stocked with eggs; the queen
may be removed for a few hours, at the end of which a larger or smaller
number of royal cells will be found to have been formed, and these in
the middle frames, which should be the ones desired. The transferring
process may still be needful, unless only one or two queens are wished
for. The royal cells should be placed inside when the two parts of the
frame are put together in the nucleus; there must however be only one
such cell on each of these, as the first queen that is hatched will be
certain to destroy the cells of the rest.
Further mention of the subject of nucleus hives will be found under
"Queen-Rearing." They should be constructed with narrow entrances so as
to lessen the facilities to robber bees.
§ XVI. QUEEN-CAGES.
These are small receptacles made of close wire or perforated zinc,
just large enough to contain the queen with a few of her acknowledged
subjects, and their use is on the occasion of her introduction to a
new hive. The new queen is by this means protected from the primal
hostility of the bees, but at the same time so much communication is
permitted as suffices to familiarise them gradually with her presence.
It is one of the characteristics of the bee nature that, however
distressed they may be at the loss of their old queen, and however
eagerly at work to produce a successor, they will not usually receive
such at once from an artificial source. They will, however, supply her
with food even when longing to transfix her with their stings.
We have two kinds of cage for this purpose. One of them is a wire
dome to be placed over the queen, when with a card carefully slipped
underneath she can be kept secure until the hive is prepared to receive
her favourably. It is nearly the same as Kleine's cage for protecting
royal cells, as described under "Queen-Rearing" (Chap. V. § vii.).
Another cage, devised and strongly recommended by "A Renfrewshire
Bee-keeper," is flat in form and neatly made of wire net; it is two
inches deep, one and a quarter wide, and three-eighths of an inch
thick; the top is of the same material, and projects one-eighth of an
inch all round as a flange to prevent slipping too far between the
combs. The door consists of stronger wires reaching across the bottom
of the cage; these are fixed at one end, and have two more wires
fastened to them at the other, which wires pass up at the corners and
are brought out at the top, where a push with the thumb will cause
the bottom to project open. Into this cage we consider there is more
difficulty in introducing the queen than into the other, as she has to
be taken hold of with the thumb and finger and passed within the narrow
opening; and though some of the cages are made with an entry-valve
at the top, the risk of injuring the queen remains, in our opinion,
greater than with the domed cage. The mode of procedure with each of
these will be found described under "Introducing New Queens" (Chap. V.
§ viii.).
§ XVII. QUEEN AND DRONE PREVENTER.
[Illustration]
Much disappointment is often felt, when removing a super that appears
well filled with honey, at finding that brood, and not honey, is in
many of the cells. In such a case the super should be replaced on the
hive until such time as the brood has hatched out. The comb will be
found to be discoloured, but there is no help for that. The fact of
there being even a few cells so occupied is a great deterioration. This
little contrivance, however, excludes both the queen and the drones,
the wires or strips of zinc being fixed too close together to admit of
their passage, though wide enough for the worker bees. It is adapted
for any hole that it will cover, but more especially for the openings
in the tops of straw hives communicating with the supers. Some of our
better-class hives are fitted with slides pierced in like manner, or
else with sheets of perforated zinc to ensure the same end.
The queen-preventer also serves a useful purpose in preventing pollen
being carried into the supers, as the edges of the wires or bars act as
scrapers upon the legs of the bees.
§ XVIII. BEE-TRAPS.
The object of these is to clear supers of bees previous to taking the
honey. There are several of them in use, but the principle of most is
the same. Clutton's bee-trap resembles one of the common round-holed
mouse-traps, but the bees have to pass out instead of in. Over the
little circular hole a pin is hung perpendicularly, and permitted by
wire staples to open far enough to allow the escape of the bee, after
which it falls back and denies readmission. The super having been
removed from the hive and inverted, the trap may be fitted into one of
the sides of a box, which, without its lid, is then inverted upon the
super, every opening being closed which could admit a bee from outside.
The super is then darkened, when the bees within will make for the
light through the trap. Mr. Cheshire and Mr. Aston have also invented
traps. Mr. Aston's has talc falls in place of pins.
§ XIX. DRONE-TRAPS.
If the increase of drones grows into an intolerable nuisance a trap
may be applied for their partial extermination. Aston's drone-trap
is an ingenious contrivance, though we recommend its use only under
limitations. It consists of a box to affix to the hive entrance,
with an opening from the inside, but no means of exit except through
perforations which admit only the workers; the bees are attracted into
it by the light, while their proper flight-hole is darkened by a ridge
over which they can just make their way into the hive. The drones are
thus left in the box to perish. The objections which we have to the
trap are--first, that the surmounting of the ridge must surely prove an
impediment to the work of the bees; secondly, that the ridge obstructs
ventilation; and thirdly, that should the queen stray into the trap,
she will, unless promptly discovered, soon share the same fate with
the drones. But if the trap be applied only for an hour or so at the
part of the day when the drones are leaving the hive in the greatest
numbers, it may then perhaps sufficiently effect its purpose and be
free from any serious drawback.
§ XX. BEE-FEEDERS.
It has long been acknowledged that the best mode of feeding bees is
through an opening at the top of the stock hive, as bees can thus
take the food without coming abroad. Another important feature is
the cleanliness with which liberal feeding can be accomplished; and
few operations require more care than this does. If liquid sweet is
left hanging about the hive it tempts robber bees, and when once the
bees of an apiary have had a taste, there is no knowing where their
depredations will stop. Even if no hives be completely destroyed,
weakness from loss of numbers will be the portion of most, if not of
all, the hives in the garden. The morals of our favourites are here
a good deal at fault, for the stronger hives, when their inordinate
passion is thus stirred up by the carelessness or want of knowledge of
the bee-keeper, attack and prey upon the weaker ones. "To be forewarned
is to be forearmed"--and "prevention is better than cure."
[Illustration]
The "Bottle Feeder," as shown in the annexed figure, consists of a
round or flat bottle placed in an inverted position over the feed-hole
of the stock hive, and resting in a circular block, below which is a
piece of perforated zinc. The following directions will show how it
is to be employed: Fill the bottle with liquid food; apply the net,
affixed by an india-rubber band, over the mouth; place the block over
the hole of the stock hive, and invert the bottle, the neck resting
within the hole in the block: the bees will put their tongues through
the perforations, and imbibe the food, thus causing the bottle to act
on the principle of a fountain. The bottle being glass, it is easy
to see when the food is consumed. The piece of perforated zinc is
for the purpose of preventing the bees from clinging to the net, or
escaping from the hive when the bottle is taken away for the purpose of
refilling.
Specially prepared pieces of vulcanite plate, pierced with holes in
such manner as to give complete regulation to the supply of food, are
much recommended by some apiarians. No net is then required, but as
the plate is to be a fixture on the crown-board, the bottle should
be inverted over a small shovel or some thin metal plate, which may
then be withdrawn, leaving it standing upon the vulcanite. Occasional
examination of the plate is however requisite, as the bees will
sometimes stop up the holes with their propolis. We strongly recommend
closely covering up this feeder with one of the middle-sized bell
glasses, should the regular hive cover not be sufficiently tight. When
bees are not kept in a bee-house this is particularly needful.
[Illustration]
The "Can Feeder" is our next form of an apparatus for this purpose.
Much has been said about stimulating feeding--that is, administering
food in such a way that there shall always be liquid sweets within the
reach of the bees, and that they shall continuously be able to imbibe
a little. In order to meet this requirement we have constructed a new
feeder, which consists of a tin bottle or can, six inches wide by six
high, with five small holes at the bottom, and closed by a sliding
valve and a screw top. The can is filled from the top, with the valve
closed, and when the screw top is made firm this valve is drawn back
by moving the pin in front. The can is placed over the feeding-hole
at the top of the stock hive, and the bees have access to it by small
holes. This can is on the principle of a fountain: the screw top
rendering it air-tight, the liquid only escapes as drawn down by the
probosces of the bees. A glass side is let in to show when the feeder
is empty. It need not be removed for refilling. The capacity of the
vessel is over a quart. Its difference in form from the above renders
it less liable to attack from robber bees.
[Illustration]
Our "Round Feeder" is made of zinc or earthenware, eight inches across
and three deep. The projection outside is a receptacle for pouring in
the food. The bees gain access to the feeder through a round hole,
which is placed either at the centre or nearer one side, whichever
may best suit the openings on the top of the stock hive; it is in
fact a tube which fits over the feed-hole in the crown-board, thus
allowing the bees to rise through it above the surface of the liquid.
A circular piece of glass, cut so as to fit into a groove, covers the
feeder all over and prevents the bees escaping, whilst it retains the
warmth within the hive, and affords opportunity for inspecting the
bees when feeding. The feeders were originally made only of zinc; but
some bee-keepers advised the use of earthenware, and a few have been
thus made to meet the wishes of those who give the preference to that
material.
When the bees are fed from above in this manner, the feeder is kept at
a warm temperature by the heat of the hive. In common hives cottagers
feed the bees by pushing under the hive thin slips of wood scooped
out, into which the food is poured. This plan of feeding can only be
had recourse to at night, and the pieces of wood must be removed in
the morning. By feeding at the top of the stock hive any interruption
of the bees is avoided. For further instructions on this head, see
the directions given for using the bottle feeder. Round feeders are
of course entirely safe from robber attacks, being protected by the
regular hive cover.
[Illustration]
A variation upon this is "The New Round Feeder," which obtained a prize
at the 1875 Crystal Palace Bee Show. It is made of wood, and holds
more than two pounds of liquid food, which must be poured into the
outer trough. The bees ascend through the centre as in the last case,
and passing over the innermost ridge, which is rounded, they reach the
inner trough, at which they imbibe the food without risk of drowning,
as the sides are too contracted. A piece of window glass covers the
top. The feeder is nearly ten inches in diameter.
§ XXI. FUMIGATORS.
[Illustration]
The "Box Fumigator" is a tin case, somewhat like a pepper-box upon a
foot. It is a simple adaptation of the fumigating apparatus described
by Mr. Nutt, and is used in the following manner: Have a straw hive
or other vessel ready that will match in circumference the hive
intended to be fumigated. If the empty hive have a conical top it will
not remain crown downwards without a rest; in this case it will be
convenient to invert it on a pail. Having ascertained that the hive
to be operated upon and the empty one in its reversed position nearly
match in size, take half a packet of the prepared fungus, fire it well,
and place it in the box or fumigator; place this in the centre of
the empty hive, then bring the occupied hive directly over, so as to
receive the fumes of smoke. To keep all close, put a wet cloth round
the junctures of the two hives. After a minute or two the bees may
be heard dropping heavily into the lower empty hive, where they lie
stupefied. After a little while the old hive may be gently tapped upon
to make them fall more quickly. On removing the upper hive the bees
from it will be found lying quiet at the bottom of the lower one, when
the intended operation--of uniting different colonies, searching for
the queen, or whatever else it may be--must be promptly performed.
[Illustration]
The "Tube Fumigator," which will be found to possess many advantages
over the above, is useful for several purposes. When a frame hive has
to be disturbed it is requisite to raise the lid and blow a little
smoke into the hive, so as to check the angry passions of the bees. If
it be desirable to stupefy the bees, ignited fungus must be placed in
the box and the flattened end applied to the entrance of the hive; the
smoke is then blown in, either with bellows or by applying the mouth of
the operator, taking care to close all openings through which it can
escape. The bees fall down stupefied, generally in about ten minutes;
but the effect varies according to the populousness of the hive and the
quantity of comb in it. The projected operation must now be performed
speedily, as activity will soon be regained. See preceding directions.
Another and quite a different means of subjugation has recently been
introduced in the form of _carbolic acid_. The odour of this drug is so
abominated by bees that the most refractory hive will be immediately
subdued by sprinkling a few drops of it on the tops of the frames. But
a feeling of humanity should suffice to prevent the frequent resort to
so harsh a measure. We have in other places (Chap. V. § ii. and VI.
§ viii.) made allusion to the applications of the same fluid to the
operation of transferring swarms and to the repelling of robber bees.
§ XXII. BEE DRESS OR PROTECTOR.
[Illustration]
All operations connected with the removal or the hiving of bees should
be conducted with calmness and circumspection. Bees, although the
busiest of creatures, entertain a great dislike to fussiness in their
masters, and become irritable at once if the apiarian allows them to
see that he is in a hurry. Hence there is great advantage in having
the face and hands covered whilst at work amongst the bees; for when
the operator knows he cannot possibly be stung, he can open his hives,
take out the combs, gather in his swarms, or take the honey, with all
the deliberation of a philosopher. Various kinds of bee dresses have
been contrived; one that we keep ready in stock is of a very simple
construction. It is made of strong _black net_, which is manufactured
for us specially for this purpose, and in shape is like an inverted
bag, large enough to allow of a gentleman's wideawake or a lady's hat
being worn underneath. The projection of the hat or cap causes the
dress to stand off from the face, and the meshes of the net, though
much too small for a bee to penetrate, are wide enough to allow of
clear vision for the operator. An elastic band secures the dress round
the waist; the sleeves also, made of durable black calico, are secured
at the wrists by a similar method. The hands of the bee-master may be
effectually protected with a pair of india-rubber gloves, which should
be put on before the dress is fastened round the wrists. This kind
of glove is regularly used by photographers, and allows of greater
ease in manipulation than any other description. Some persons also tie
strings round the ankles of their trousers, or use elastic bands for
the same purpose. Those who wear Wellington boots will be able to tuck
the trousers within them.
[Illustration]
The annexed figure represents a cheaper form of bee veil which we have
more recently introduced. It is provided with an elastic band which
fits round the hat, the lower portion being folded under the coat.
There is however no protection to the arms. It is made of the same
specially constructed material as the preceding--a strong black net,
with large meshes.
Thus a very simple and inexpensive means of protection will enable
even a novice in bee-keeping to make his observations and conduct his
experiments under a sense of perfect security. There are, of course,
those who scorn all such artificial modes of protection, and having
inured themselves to stinging take it as a thing of course, only to
be restrained within some manner of limit by means of the persistent
smoking of cigars or pipes (non-smokers such as Dzierzon use a sort of
mouth-fumigator). But it does not follow that none but these stoics
are to be permitted to manipulate with bees, otherwise the number of
beginners would be likely to be but few. And even he who is protected
need not be careless as to the feelings of his bees; his success and
their comfort will be promoted by his "handling them gently, and as if
he loved them." "Familiarity" between bees and their master breeds not
"contempt," but affection.[24] See further under "Stings" (Chap. VI. §
vi.).
[Footnote 24: Von Berlepsch denies that bees come really to know their
master so as to be able to distinguish him from any one else. We retain
the remark in our text as true to the extent that they do become used
to his manipulations.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER V.
BEE MANIPULATION.
§ I. HIVING SWARMS.
THE spring is the best period at which to commence
an apiary, and swarming time is a good starting-point for the new
bee-keeper. The period known as the swarming season is during the
months of May and June. With a very forward stock, and in exceedingly
fine weather, bees do occasionally swarm in April. The earlier the
swarm the greater is its value. If bees swarm in July they seldom
gather sufficient to sustain themselves through the winter, though by
careful feeding they may easily be kept alive if hived early in the
month.
The cause of a swarm leaving the stock hive is that the population
has grown too large for it. Swarming is a provision, of Nature for
remedying the inconvenience of overcrowding, and is the method whereby
the bees seek for space in which to increase their stores. By putting
on "super hives" the required relief may, in many cases, be given
to them; but should the multiplication of stocks be desired, the
bee-keeper will defer increasing the space until the swarm has issued
forth.
In many country districts it is a time-honoured custom for the good
folks of the village to commence on such occasions a terrible noise
of tanging and ringing with frying-pan and key. This is done with
the absurd notion that the bees are charmed with the clangorous din,
and may by it be induced to settle as near as possible to the source
of such sweet sounds. This is, however, quite a mistake: there are
other and better means for the purpose. The practice of ringing was
originally adopted for a different and far more sensible object--viz.,
for the purpose of giving notice that a swarm had issued forth, and
that the owner was anxious to claim the right of following, even
though it should alight on a neighbour's premises. It would be curious
to trace how this ancient ceremony has thus got corrupted from the
original design.
In case the bees do not speedily after swarming manifest signs of
settling, a few handfuls of sand or loose mould may be thrown up into
the air so as to fall among the winged throng; they mistake this for
rain, and then very quickly determine upon settling. Some persons
squirt a little water from a garden engine with the same object. There
are, indeed, many ingenious devices used by apiarians for decoying the
swarms. Mr. Langstroth mentions a plan of stringing dead bees together,
and tying a bunch of them on any shrub or low tree upon which it is
desirable that they should alight; another plan is to hang some black
woven material near the hive, so that the swarming bees may be led to
suppose they see another colony, to which they will hasten to attach
themselves. Swarms have a great affinity for each other when they are
adrift in the air; but, of course, when the union has been effected,
one of the rival queens has to be disposed of. A more ingenious device
than any of the above is by means of a mirror to flash a reflection of
the sun's rays amongst a swarm, which bewilders the bees and checks
their flight. It is manifestly often desirable to use some of these
endeavours to induce early settlement, and to prevent, if possible, the
bees from clustering in high trees or under the eaves of houses, where
it may be difficult to hive them.
Should prompt measures not be taken to hive the bees as soon as the
cluster is well formed, there is danger that within one or two hours
they may start on a second flight; and this is what the apiarian has so
much to dread. If the bees set off a second time it is generally for
a long flight, often for miles, so that in such a case it is usually
impossible to follow them, and consequently a valuable colony may be
irretrievably lost.
Too much care cannot be exercised to keep off the sun from a swarm when
it has once settled. If exposed to heat in this way, bees are very
likely to decamp. We have frequently stretched matting or sheeting on
poles so as to intercept the glare, and thus render their temporary
position cool and comfortable. For the same reason the hive used to
take them in should not have been standing in the sun.
Two swarms sometimes depart at the same time, and join together; in
such a case we recommend that they be treated as one, by putting them
into a hive as before described, taking care to give abundant room and
not to delay affording access to the super hive or glasses. They will
settle their own notions of sovereignty by one queen being destroyed.
There are means of separating two swarms, but the operation is a
formidable one, and does not always repay even those most accustomed
to such manipulation. If after one swarm has started there are signs
of another setting out which might mix with it, means may be taken for
securing the queen of the second, or sheets may be thrown over the hive.
With regard to preparations for taking a swarm, our advice to the
bee-keeper must be the reverse of Mrs. Glass's notable injunction as
to the cooking of a hare. Some time before you expect to take a swarm,
be sure to have a suitable hive in which to take it, and also every
other requisite properly ready. A bee veil or dress will preserve the
most sensitive from the possibility of being stung. This article is
fully described on page 209. But bees when swarming are in an eminently
peaceful frame of mind; having dined sumptuously, they require to be
strongly provoked before they will sting. Yet there may be one or two
foolish bees who, having neglected to fill their honey-bags, are
inclined to vent their ill-humour on the apiarian; or, what is far more
likely, the bees of neighbouring hives may be incensed if they see him
manifesting unusual excitement. When all is ready the new hive (a straw
skep is the most convenient in the first instance, but if that is not
at hand a box or anything else will serve as a substitute) is held or
placed in an inverted position under the cluster of bees, which the
operator detaches from their perch with one or two quick shakes; the
floor-board is next placed on the hive, which is then slowly turned up
on to its base, and it is well to leave it a short time in the same
place, in order to allow of stragglers joining their companions. The
operator should make sure that he has not left the queen behind on the
branch, as in that case the bees would return to her.
Sometimes swarms alight on trunks of trees or on walls, where it may be
difficult to shake or brush them off. The late Mr. Woodbury mentioned
an instance of this kind. A swarm clustered among the large branches
of a pear tree, just at their point of union with the trunk. In this
case he merely supported a straw hive just over the swarm with the left
hand, whilst he struck the trunk of the tree with the open palm of the
right. The vibration thus produced sent the bees up into the hive with
great rapidity, and the entire swarm was speedily hived in the most
satisfactory manner. Mr. Langstroth in a similar case fastened a leafy
branch above the bees with a gimlet, and then smoked them upwards
till clustered upon it. It should be borne in mind that they have
always a readier tendency to ascend than to descend. A feather dipped
in carbolic acid will very promptly move them, and as they can readily
escape from its fumes there is no objection in this case to its use.
Another case of settling in an awkward spot is mentioned above (page
78).
If the new swarm is intended for transportation to a distance, it is
as well for it to be left at the same spot until evening, provided the
sun is shaded from it; but if the hive is meant to stand in or near
the same garden, it is better to remove it within half an hour to its
permanent position, because so eager are newly swarmed bees for pushing
forward the work of furnishing their empty house that they sally forth
at once in search of materials. If the removal has been made after they
have gone forth they will be unable to find their home in its altered
position, in which case they will circle about for hours till they fall
and die from exhaustion. But by prompt transference, only the first
despatch of scouts will be lost, and these are a good loss, as they
might entice the whole colony to desert.
The bee-master should always seek to prevent his labourers from
swarming more than once; his policy is rather to encourage the
industrious gathering of honey, by keeping a sufficient supply of
supers on the hives. Sometimes, however, he may err in putting on the
supers too early or unduly late, and the bees will then swarm a second
time, instead of making use of the storerooms thus provided. In such a
case the clever apiarian, having spread the swarm on the ground, will
select the queen, and cause the bees to go back to the hive from whence
they came. But this operation requires an amount of apiarian skill
which, though it may easily be attained, is greater than is usually
possessed.
For a description of the theory and phenomena of swarming, with
the signs by which its imminence may be gathered, and a variety of
information referring chiefly to the habits and life of the insect, the
reader is referred to an earlier article in this work (Chap. I. § xi.).
§ II. TRANSFERRING SWARMS.
Where the permanent hive is of the skep description the swarm may of
course be hived into it at once. But with many of the hives now in
approved use a process of transference will be necessary. To effect
this, place the straw hive, into which we will suppose the bees have
been shaken, on the ground, propped up on one side with a brick or
a flower-pot, or anything of the sort that may be handy, in order
that straggler bees may join the swarm. The spot selected for this
should be as shady a one as can be found, near to the place where the
swarm settled; or it may be shaded from the rays of the sun by fixing
matting on two poles, so as to prevent the heat falling on the hive.
Spread a sheet or cloth on the ground where an even surface can be
obtained; stake this sheet down at the four corners, to prevent ruts
and inequalities, which are great hindrances to the bees going into the
hive (Mr. Cheshire's swarming-board, which is simply a large square
board to rest on the hive-stand, has its advantages); place the frame
hive upon the sheet, without its floor-board, having its front raised
on blocks or sticks rather more than an inch long--not more, otherwise
the bees will cluster, and attach themselves to the lower part of the
frames, instead of going up between. These preparations will perhaps
occupy ten minutes, by which time the swarm will have become settled
and tolerably quiet. Then, with a sharp rap, precipitate the bees out
of the straw hive on to the sheet immediately in front of the frame
hive; give the straw hive another knock, so as to dislodge all the
bees, and then take it quite away, otherwise they may, if it be left
near, perversely choose to go into that, instead of the one desired. In
an hour or so, more or less, the whole swarm will have clustered within
the frames.
In some cases, as when the swarm has to be brought from a distance
and procured from a cottager about whose skill in carrying out these
directions there may be misgivings, it is best to give instructions
that the swarm be brought home after sunset, and then the foregoing
directions for inducing the bees to tenant the frame hive may be better
carried out. For ourselves, we much prefer the evening for the purpose.
Not after dusk however--in fact no operation of the kind ought to be
attempted when it is so dark that the bees, if they should fly, are
unable to see where to fly to, for in that case they will be sure to
settle upon the operator. A little water sprinkled over them from a
watering-pot is likely to induce them to quit the ground and go up
into the hive more quickly; a little smoke, or a touch with a twig or
feather, may answer the same purpose, and if the feather be dipped
in diluted carbolic acid it will more speedily do its work. With a
goose wing they may conveniently be swept up. The operator should be
protected with the bee dress and other precautions described on page
209.
Mr. Langstroth writes: "If they seem at all reluctant to enter [the
new hive], gently scoop up a few of them with a large spoon and shake
them close to its entrance. As they go in with fanning wings, they
will raise a peculiar note, which communicates to their companions the
joyful news that they have found a home; and in a short time the whole
swarm will enter, without injury to a single bee." On catching the note
the queen speedily follows, and, being longer in limb, she outstrips
the others in the race.
In the _Journal of Horticulture_, Mr. Woodbury says: "If combs be fixed
in the frames, the crown-board may be removed and the cluster knocked
out of the straw hive on to the top of the exposed frames. The bees
will disappear between them with the utmost alacrity, delighted to have
met with a ready-furnished dwelling, and the top, or crown-board,
having been replaced, the hive should at once be removed to the
position it is intended to permanently occupy."
Bees occasionally manifest a dislike to their new hive. The operator
will, however, in a very short time be able to ascertain their
intentions. If on putting his ear to the hive he catches sounds like
gnawing or rubbing, he may be sure that they have commenced work; but
if all is still, or they go listlessly about, and hang, as Langstroth
puts, it, "with a sort of dogged or supercilious air," it may be
gathered that they intend to be off at the first opportunity. In such
case, either catch the queen and put her in a cage (page 198), or keep
the whole hive in darkness for three days, supplying food, water, and
ventilation the while.
If the weather be wet the next day or so after hiving, it will be well
to give a little assistance to the new colony in the shape of food, for
although, when a swarm leaves a hive, almost every bee composing it
has filled itself with honey, we have known not a few instances, in
case of very wet weather, in which the whole swarm has been starved for
the want of this small but most timely help. A little should be given
the first night even in fine weather. Of course, the first work of the
bees is to build themselves combs, and these combs being produced by
the secretion of wax from honey, a great drain upon their resources
immediately begins, and any little outlay at this juncture is therefore
abundantly compensated.
§ III. TRANSFERRING OLD STOCKS.
We frequently find that the possessor of a stock of bees in a
cottager's _common_ straw hive is desirous of removing the whole stock,
with brood and comb, into one of our improved hives, in which the
honey may be obtained without the destruction of the bees. We mostly
discourage such a transfer, attended as it is with much labour, and
requiring a considerable amount of apiarian skill. An old-fashioned
hive may very readily be turned into a humane one, simply by cutting
out the middle of the top of the hive with a sharp-pointed knife; a
piece may thus easily be taken out, so as to leave a round hole two or
three inches in diameter, taking care that the knife does not penetrate
much below the straw, lest it reach the comb or the bees. There should
be ready a round adapting-board, with a corresponding hole, which
may be secured on the top by putting four long nails through the
same number of holes in the board; then a cap-hive or a glass may be
placed on the top, for the purpose of admitting the bees, who will
soon crowd therein to work. This hive or glass will form a super or
depriving-hive, and can be worked as profitably as most of the improved
hives. For the sake of more sightly appearance, an outside case, either
of zinc, straw, or wood, may now be dropped over all, and then, if well
painted, the whole will form no disfigurement to any flower-garden.
This is, beyond doubt, the easiest way of overcoming the difficulty,
but as it may not satisfy all, we will now proceed to describe how a
complete transfer of colonies may be effected. No hive offers such
facilities for the placing of the combs in a perfectly upright position
as does the frame hive. As before remarked, we should be slow to
recommend any one to attempt the operation who is not already pretty
well accustomed to the handling of bees and acquainted with their
habits; but by carefully carrying out the following directions an apt
bee-keeper may successfully perform the feat. The first thing is to get
the bees away from the combs: there are two ways of doing this--one
is by fumigation (see page 207), the other by driving (page 226).
Whichever plan may be resorted to, place the bees in the temporary
hive on their old stand until you are quite ready to admit them into
the frame hive. Have in readiness all the necessary appliances. These
consist of a large knife for cutting the hive, a good-sized table on
which to lay the brood combs, a basin of water--for washing off honey
which may besmear the hands--tape or string to fasten the combs in
their frames, a pair of honey-cutters (page 193) for cutting out the
combs, jars to hold the honey that runs out, and a feather for brushing
off any bees that may remain. It is necessary that the operator should
have on his bee dress and india-rubber gloves. If the old skep is
not valued the operation will be facilitated by cutting it in half
vertically between the two middle combs; but the honey-cutters will
accomplish the object without this destruction if it is not desired.
Mr. Cheshire's transferring board (page 192) comes in useful here. If
one is possessed the frames may be laid upon it, and the combs, which
should be cut as large as possible, must then be placed within these.
Of course they will not exactly fit, but they must be adjusted, piece
by piece, till they bind each other together; the few interstices the
bees will soon fill up. If in any of the frames there is not sufficient
comb, supply empty comb if it is to hand, and in default of such,
fix an additional bottom bar inside the frame--a false bottom as it
may be called--at whatever height the supply of comb requires. Drone
comb, however, should be used very sparingly, and this only for the
outside frames, in which it is not likely to be selected by the queen
for breeding purposes, but left for storage of honey. Both filled and
partly filled frames must now be made secure by tying pieces of tape
or pliable wire (even string will answer) round the whole from top bar
to bottom or false bottom; there should be two of these to a frame, or
perhaps three if the pieces of comb are small. In two days or so the
bees will have made all firm enough for the tape to be dispensed with,
which should accordingly be done, as it is in the bees' way. To effect
this, dismember first the cells from the tape by means of a sharp
knife, and then cut the tape and draw it out. Care should be taken that
the combs occupy the same position in the frames as in the hive from
which they were extracted, for the cells are not exactly horizontal,
but inclined slightly upwards. Supply guide-comb or wax strips to any
frames that are wholly unoccupied.
The frames now filled are placed in the hive, when the bees may be
let into it in the manner Mr. Woodbury recommends for a swarm (see
page 220). It may be as well to keep them confined a few hours, giving
them water at the top, by means of a soaked sponge laid on perforated
zinc, until they make the combs secure; the object of this being to
exclude the bees from other hives, who, if feloniously inclined, might
come to rob. For the same reason the operation of adjusting the combs
should not be performed in the open air, or the bees from surrounding
hives will be sure to come in great numbers to obtain a share of the
honey necessarily exposed. It should be done inside a room with the
temperature at about 70 degrees--not cold enough to chill the brood,
nor yet hot enough to soften the combs. An expert apiarian could
perform the operation in less than three-quarters of an hour, and
with little loss. A week or so after a swarm has left the old stock
is perhaps the very best time for such a removal. In some instances a
routing of this kind has a beneficial effect; old stocks of hives that
have previously appeared to be dwindling are often aroused to activity
by their removal into a fresh domicile. After the winter's doze this is
especially the case, say if done on a warm day early in April. We have
ourselves frequently shifted the stock from a well-occupied frame hive
to a fresh one, in which the bees find a clean floor-board and walls,
as well as freedom from insects that may have harboured in crevices
during the winter.
§ IV. DRIVING.
Driving is an operation by which bees are induced to vacate an, old
settled hive and to enter an empty one. Many apiarians prefer this mode
of effecting an exchange of hives to the plan of fumigating the bees.
The greatest success attending such a transfer will be in the case of
hives well filled with combs that are worked nearly to the floor-board;
and it may be remarked that bees are generally so far provident that
they leave an open space in which to pass underneath their combs over
all the floor of the hive. When the old hive is inverted the bees crawl
up the combs, and thus more easily pass up into the new hive, which the
operator places over the old one with the intent that they should enter
it.
The best time for performing this operation is about the middle of
the day, and when the weather is warm: It is essential that the
operator be protected with a bee dress and gloves, as before described;
and previous to commencing his task he must provide all necessary
implements. These are--a couple of hives, both of which should
correspond in shape and size with the hive from which the bees are to
be driven; a cloth to tie round at the juncture when the new hive is
placed on the old one; some string to keep the cloth in its place;
an empty pail to receive the top of the old hive, if one of the old
conical shape, but if the stock of bees is in a square box-hive with
a flat top, a firm stool will be the best; and a tube fumigator with
some fungus, which will complete the material of war. The bucket or
stool must be placed securely on the ground, about a yard from the
place where the full hive stands; then a few puffs of smoke, blown in
amongst the bees, will cause them to retreat up amongst the combs. The
bee-master must now turn the hive[25] upside down very gently, letting
it rest in the pail or on the stool; he then quickly places the empty
hive over the full one, and ties the cloth round it, to prevent any
escape of the bees. If the cloth be damped it will cling the closer to
the hives. The third hive, which should resemble the old one even in
colour, is intended to be placed on the stand formerly occupied by the
stock, so as to retain the few returning bees which had been absent
in the fields. Care must be taken that all crevices through which it
is possible for the bees to escape from the united hives should be
effectually closed. When the two are fairly united, the operator will
proceed by rapping the full hive gently with the hands or a couple of
sticks, more particularly on that side where the combs are the most
thickly placed--that is, if the hive be not equally filled on all
sides. A stock is in the best condition for driving twenty-one days, or
thereabouts, after a first swarm has issued; the brood will then have
hatched out, the bees will quit more readily, and there will be no loss
of larvæ in the cells.
[Footnote 25: Care should be exercised in turning the hive over to keep
the combs vertical by turning it in the direction in which they hang,
and not crossways, or they are likely to break from their foundations.]
It generally happens that in ten or fifteen minutes the bees regularly
commence the ascent; their exodus will be known by the distinct rushing
sound which is always noticed when a colony of bees is on the move.
The first thing bees do when disturbed is to fill their honey-bags, as
they invariably do at swarming time; consequently, after the first rush
into the new hive is over, as in the case of a swarm, the "flitting"
bees are not much disposed to take wing. When the noise made by the
ascending bees has been heard, and has in a great degree subsided, the
cloth may be removed, and the old hive, now deserted, may be taken
indoors; and if a few bees yet remain they may be brushed off with a
feather. An experienced apiarian, on first hearing the rushing noise
before mentioned, will not hesitate to tilt the top hive over a little
on one side, so that he may watch the bees during the ascent; the queen
maybe seen passing up, and if the operator desires to take her away he
can secure her by gently taking her between thumb and finger. Those
who have become experienced in this operation find that it can safely
be performed with the hives fixed open from the first. This is called
"open driving," and can be effected with increased facility by sticking
two skewers through the ruin of the lower hive in such manner that
they shall act as props to keep the upper in a fixed position. Mr.
Hunter has, however, devised an improvement upon this, consisting in a
wire hinge to connect the two hives, and wire rods to prop them open.
The operator thus has both his hands at liberty for other parts of the
work.
If the taking of the honey be, the object of the bee-master, then
"driving" is manifestly a better plan than resorting to the fumes of
sulphur for the purpose; for the bees from whom the store is taken
can be joined to stocks that are weak in numbers, with considerable
advantage to the future prosperity of the apiary (see next section).
§ V. UNITING COLONIES.
A weak colony may frequently with advantage be added to another, or
three may be made into two. And not only may this be done with new
swarms, but in autumn, when there is no brood in the combs, it may be
carried out also with stocks, the combs that are extracted being taken
care of for use when required. After working hours is the best time
for this operation. It is not, however, altogether a simple one, as
strange bees will not intermix unless measures are taken to overcome
their natural hostility to each other. Whatever be the number of hives
in an apiary, the bees of each know the smell of their own companions.
A single bee that enters the wrong hive will be stung to death, unless
possessed of a good booty wherewith to disarm animosity. Similarly on
the admixture of entire colonies, if one has some distinct ground of
advantage over the other, there must be a method hit upon to deprive
it of this or else to purchase its goodwill, for otherwise there
will ensue a ferocious and disastrous slaughter. If both are alike
frightened all will go well, and the same if both are upon the wing
in search of a home; but quite otherwise if one is self-possessed and
active in its own abode, while the others are frightened strangers and
gorged, and it may be still further demoralised by having lived under
an unfertile queen, or with none at all. But if both are cowed alike by
a good drumming on the hives, they may be sprinkled so as to possess
the same scent, and then taken to a third position and shaken out on to
a sheet together, when they will enter the offered hive in harmony. If
each colony has a queen, one of them may be searched for and removed.
A slight variation upon this method consists in driving the bees of
the one hive (see last section) straightway into the other, having
first terrified the bees of the latter by drumming until by their
changed note they may be concluded to be thoroughly subdued, and as
a consequence gorged with honey; then, before their equanimity is
recovered, the others must be joined to them. A third plan is the
one usually practised with the Stewarton hive (page 151), and which
can be imitated with other hives, by means of ekes or nadirs; this
is usually carried out in the evening, when the quietude appears
efficacious in settling all differences without the necessity of any
other precautions. A fourth is as follows: At dusk, dislodge the bees
on to a cloth, sprinkle them with sweet syrup scented with essence of
peppermint (as a means of bribing their new hosts to receive them), and
place the hive to which it is intended to join them over the mass; they
will gradually ascend into the hive placed for them, and early next
morning the hive, with its slender stock thus augmented, may be removed
to its stand. Should the operator not have been successful in gaining
possession of the queen, he may leave it to the bees themselves to
decide which queen they will have.
Many persons feel more secure from stinging if they first stupefy the
bees by fumigation. These should proceed as follows: Having used the
fumigator upon the bees in one hive, as described under that article
(page 207), place a sheet on the ground and spread the bees on it;
then, with a feather, sort them over, in order to pick out the queen.
As soon as she is found, pour the rest of the lethargic swarm from
off the sheet back into the inverted hive again. The stupefied bees
must now be sprinkled freely with a syrup made of honey and water, or
sugar and ale boiled together. Some apiarians recommend a few drops of
peppermint to be mixed with the syrup, in order to drown the peculiar
odour which is special to each hive of bees; this is more necessary
when both hives are fumigated, and whilst under the influence of
smoke are well mixed together upon the sheet or board. Such course can
be adopted if preferred, and no further instructions will be needed
than what are here given; but we will suppose as before that only one
is thus operated upon. The hive containing the non-stupefied bees
must now be placed on the top of the inverted one, just as the hive
was from which the bees in the latter have come. A wet cloth must be
fastened round the two hives, so as to prevent any of the bees from
escaping. The hives in this position must be placed where they are not
likely to be knocked down or meddled with. The fresh bees in the upper
hive, attracted by the scent of the bees besmeared with honey, go down
and commence licking off the sweets from the sleepy ones. The latter
gradually revive, when all get mingled together and ascend in company
to the upper hive, where they live as if they had not been separate
families. The two hives should be left undisturbed for twenty-four
hours, when the upper hive may be removed and placed immediately on the
spot from whence it was brought.
The removed queen should be kept alive and fed as long as she will
live, in case any harm should befall the sovereign of the other
community. If three hives are to be incorporated in two, the only
difference will be that the stupefied colony upon the sheet is divided
into _two_ empty skeps, the one being covered securely over till the
other is adjusted.
§ VI. ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.
Every bee-keeper knows the anxiety he feels in watching and expecting a
swarm to come forth, fearful lest his favourites should, "like riches,
take wing and fly away"--a mischance that it is desirable to prevent.
In our description of natural swarming this will be found fully treated
of; we propose here merely to point out how, especially with movable
frames, this work of Nature may be assisted. We call it assisted,
because artificial swarming should, as nearly as possible, resemble
natural swarming; that is, it should be performed at the same time of
the year, and when the populous state of the hive makes a division
desirable. This is easily known to be the case when bees hang out in
clusters at the entrance, wasting their time in enforced idleness
instead of being abroad gathering honey. It is also necessary that
there should be drones about at the date chosen.
When such is the state of the hive, the advantages of movable-frame
hives are strikingly manifested. With the others the bees will often
persist in wasting their time as just stated when a swarm would put
all to rights; while they are often just as awkward the other way and
will send out swarm after swarm which the strength of the hive cannot
spare and which in themselves are unable to form colonies capable of
self-support and of repelling robber bees. The great expenditure of
time and labour by the bee-keeper, with the fear that after all the
swarm may come off at a time when he is absent, and thus be perhaps
lost, are additional objections to depending upon the natural process.
An apiarian may if he pleases give the bees their chance, and then if
they do not swarm readily he may resort to artificial means. But if he
wishes to dispense with the former altogether he will have to adopt
measures of prevention against it, as his forced colony must not be
procured till the proper time of natural swarming. Some clip the wings
of the queen, which seems a clumsy proceeding at the best--though
recommended by high authorities from Virgil to Langstroth--as the royal
mother may still wander forth and thus fall to the ground and be lost.
Others block the entrance of the hive with some obstruction which only
workers can pass, by which means the drones will also be kept at home.
If this be the method pursued care must be taken that the obstructions
are removed both after sunset and before sunrise to permit of the
dragging out of the bodies of such as have fallen among the hourly
victims of the gathering season.
The best time for performing the operation is about ten o'clock in
the morning of a fine summer's day. The following directions should
be carried out: Place ready a counter or bench that is firm and
strong, and which has space on it for the inhabited--or, rather, the
over-inhabited--frame hive, and the empty one, which is about to be
made the receptacle of a separate stock. The operator, attired in
his bee dress, and having the other appliances ready, may now open
the hive[26] (as described at page 270), and proceed to take out
the frames, carefully examining both sides of each comb to find the
queen:[27] she is generally in the centre of the hive, so that it is
not always needful to take out every one of the frames. As these are
examined they may be put into the empty hive, and when the object of
the bee-master's search is found he must carefully remove the frame
containing her majesty, and may place it temporarily in the empty hive,
at one end by itself, or he may make use of the bar-frame holder (Chap.
IV. § xi.). Next he must proceed to put the frames back into the old
hive, closing up the vacancy caused by the removal of the comb with
the queen on it, and leave the empty frame at the end. Then he may
place the frame containing the queen, with the few bees that may be
upon it, in the centre of the empty hive; and, finally, putting all the
other empty frames in, and replacing the lid, he will place this hive
in the exact position occupied by the old stock. The bees that are on
the' wing will go to the old spot, and, finding the queen there, they
will rally round her, and if a time is chosen when a large number are
abroad, they will on their return very soon form a sufficient number
to constitute a swarm; comb-building will at once begin, the frames
will, in a week or so, be filled, and a satisfactory stock will thus be
established.
[Footnote 26: Bees are apt to take the interference more quietly if the
stock is moved a little distance from its accustomed Stand; in such
case, put an empty hive in its place, to amuse returning bees. These
can be shaken out when the hive it is desired they should inhabit is
restored. If this is kept in a closed bee-house the entrance should be
shut down until the hive is replaced, when the clustered bees may be at
once admitted.]
[Footnote 27: Italian queens are more easily detected, being of a
brighter colour, and, generally, larger than English queens.]
This operation we once performed--exactly as described above except
that there was no frame-extracting--with one of our improved cottage
hives. Whilst inspecting our bees we caught sight of the queen on the
comb in one of the bell glasses. This was a chance not to be missed,
and we immediately resolved to form an artificial swarm, for the hive
was very full of bees. Besides, being obliged to be away from the
apiary most of the week, we were glad of the opportunity of so easily
establishing a colony without the uncertainty and trouble of hiving a
natural swarm. In the first place we slid a tin under the bell glass,
and, removing the stock hive from underneath, we took it a few feet
away; then we placed an empty improved cottage hive where the old
stock had stood, and put the glass of comb containing the queen and a
few bees over one of the holes in the crown of this new empty hive.
The bees that were left abroad belonging to the old stock returned
as usual to their old entrance as they supposed; soon a sufficient
number formed a large cluster in the hive and began comb-building, the
queen remaining in the glass until the cells below were sufficiently
numerous for her to deposit her eggs in them. The experiment answered
exceedingly well. Both hives prospered: the old hive either had some
princesses coming forward to supply the loss of the queen, or the bees
used the power that they possess of raising a queen from worker brood
in the manner we have previously described (page 16).
The foregoing account illustrates the successful formation of an
artificial swarm; but, with a cottage hive, gaining possession of the
queen is on this method quite a matter of chance. With a movable-frame
hive she can at any suitable time be found.
Precisely the same plan is to be adopted with the old stock in the
frame hive as we have described in the case of the cottage, that is,
to remove it some few paces off: when the hives are in a bee-house a
similar result may be obtained by placing the new swarm for a day or
two so as to be reached by the same entrance as the old stock, and the
latter may be removed to one close by. Some apiarians recommend that
a space be left between the two hives, by arranging them on the right
and left of the old entrance, in order that too large a proportion
of bees should not enter the new hive at the old position, to the
impoverishment of the other. But we have found the mode adopted with
the cottage hive answer so well that we see no reason for recommending
any different plan.
It is the office of the bee-master to assist, not in the least degree
to oppose, Nature. We know that when a natural swarm issues forth it
has its queen, and when located in a new abode it commences building
worker combs, leaving the building of the few requisite drone combs
to a later period. But if a division of the hive should be made, by
putting _half the combs_ in one hive and half in another, the hive that
is either queenless or contains an embryo queen will busy itself with
building only drone comb (see page 17); thus a number of receptacles
for useless bees are provided, while all the time the colony is rapidly
dying off from the wear-and-tear of the working season.
In the plan we have recommended for forming two separate families we
nearly follow the natural course of things; the comb that the queen
is upon is the only one that is taken from the hive, and this vacancy
should be filled in by moving the frames together, so as to leave
the empty frame at the end. The swarm under the government of the
queen construct the combs, and furnish their new abode, as before
stated, with worker cells. By adopting the plan above described,
the movable-frame hive will prove far superior to any of the
dividing-hives, which provide for equal division of the combs.
There are, however, quite a host of other modes of procedure more or
less varied from the above, and their number is doubtless capable of
almost unlimited extension. Mr. Langstroth, in the tenth chapter of his
"Honey Bee," describes a considerable variety of them, nearly all of
which are accomplished wholly or in part by the process of driving.
The following he particularly recommends as approaching nearest of any
to natural swarming. Two hives exactly alike are placed one above the
other with their entrances different ways; they have holes made through
their floor-boards to allow of communication from the crown-board of
whichever for the time occupies the lower position. Free passage being
thus given from one to the other, a number of the young bees will use
the upper entrance. After some ten days a swarm is driven from the
lower and received into the upper, upon which the positions of the
hives are reversed, the forced swarm being put below. Most of the
mature bees will unite with the swarm from association with the lower
entrance; but the young ones which have habituated themselves to the
upper one will now cling to the parent stock and form a sufficient
strength to keep it properly going. In the course of a few days the
upper hive may be placed by the side of the lower, and then, by
successive short steps, removed to any other part of the apiary. If it
was found that either hive was too weak the positions should be again
reversed.
When driving is the method resorted to, it becomes absolutely
essential, in forcing a swarm, that the queen should go with the
new colony; but on the other hand it is not in this case the object
to drive _all_ the bees from the parent stock, but to leave, say, a
quarter to preserve warmth for the brood and to raise a new queen. If
therefore the queen is not observed in the ascent of the bees after
the drumming, those in the swarm must be turned and shaken over in
the skep in order to find her (they will not attempt to fly, but only
crawl). An inexperienced eye may still fail to detect her, and in
that case it will be best to set both hives upon stands for a short
time--the new one on the old stand and the old on some other--when
within half an hour the one which is fairly quiet may be judged to be
possessed of the royal presence. Should this be the old hive it must
be again drummed, or the swarm may be returned to it and the operation
renewed on a following day. It is, however, only with skep hives that
any difficulty of this kind need be apprehended--there is always the
power of capturing and transferring the queen from movable frames. When
at last she is in the desired hive the swarm is secured, and the after
measures depend on the number of bees that have accompanied her. If
the stock retains one-half it may be moved to a new position and the
swarm take its place upon the old stand. Whichever occupies this latter
post will detach largely from the strength of the other, so that the
reduction undergone by the parent stock will not be more than it will
probably be able to sustain.
As detailed in the above article on "Driving" (page 226), there is
a third hive made use of in this case, which has received the bees
that returned home during the operation, and these are now added to
whichever hive may most require them. Should too many have gone over
with the swarm, this latter may be taken away and set in a cool airy
place, while the old hive is carefully restored to its old stand, when
the bees which were distractedly flitting in and out of the third
hive will at once rush into it, and the impression made upon them by
the occurrence will be such that they will now cling to it wherever
it is placed. It must be forthwith removed to its intended permanent
position, but if still short of bees this must be close at hand, so
that if the forced swarm is kept where it is for a day or two a good
number may desert to the old stock; its entrance should be closed
until sunset as a precaution against robbers, but not so as to stop
ventilation. The forced swarm, if not in their permanent hive, must now
be treated as an ordinary transfer, and their fixed abode be brought in
the evening to the old stand. Some additional covering may be needed at
first, and in very cool weather the operation should not be attempted
at all. There is no fear of all the bees deserting in the arrangement
just suggested, and if inconvenient to complete the operation at once
the swarm may be so left, even if there appears no need on account of
the old stock.
The process of driving is the only method of obtaining artificial
swarms from cottage hives, except in such rare cases of good fortune
as the one mentioned on page 236; but even with frame hives it is
often practised for the sake of its rapidity. But with an experienced
operator the same result can be achieved by simply taking out the
frames one by one and jerking off the bees on to the sheet in front
of the new permanent hive; that on which the queen is found will be
inserted therein just as it is--queen, brood, and workers. If the swarm
is being collected in a skep the queen must be taken with the fingers
and deposited therein, while the bees from as many frames as are
needful must be shaken in after her.
There is sometimes a doubt whether a hive is strong enough to yield
a swarm, though apparently overstocked. In such cases there is an
excellent plan, devised by Mr. Langstroth and strongly approved by Mr.
Cheshire, for obtaining a single swarm out of two hives. On a suitable
morning, when large numbers are upon the wing, drum a strong stock till
every bee has left it. Place the forced swarm on the old stand: this
of course consists of bees in an unfurnished hive, while the old hive
has lost _all_ its bees, but retains its brood. Remove this hive to
the stand of another strong stock, the hive of which goes to a third
spot with the bees inside it at the time. Those of this last which were
upon the wing will enter and remain with the first hive and raise a
new queen; while sufficient will be transferred with the second stock
hive to protect its brood also. Thus the first stock gives no bees to
the swarm, but the whole of its brood; the second gives the larger half
of its bees. If frame hives are the ones used, the shaking process
of the last paragraph may be substituted for drumming; but as it may
not be possible to shake off every bee without damaging the combs, a
goose wing should be employed to brush off the more tenacious of the
occupants.
Other modifications consist in either obtaining one swarm out of four
or five hives, or else one less than their own number out of the same.
For the former (frame hives) two combs may be taken from each and
placed in a new hive, which is then set upon the stand of some strong
stock. For the latter, a swarm is forced, after or before working
hours, from each of these hives, while another swarm, that has been
procured from some bee-keeper a mile or two off, and has been kept in
a cool place, is now shaken on to a sheet, sprinkled to keep it from
taking wing, and softly scooped up with a saucer and divided equally or
as required among the hives that have yielded the swarms. The distance
that these bees have come will prevent them from returning to their own
home.
§ VII. QUEEN-REARING.
Perhaps the greatest advantage the movable-frame hive possesses is,
that a full knowledge, can be attained of its exact state as regards
the queen, the population, and the quantity of food in stock. During
weather of a genial temperature the combs may on any fine day be
inspected, and thus, a knowledge being gained of the deficiency
existing in a hive, the necessary means may be adopted for supplying
the want. Sometimes such an examination will verify the fears of the
bee-keeper, when, having observed that his bees have ceased to carry
in pollen, he has thereby received warning that the queen has been lost
at some juncture when no successor to the throne could be provided.
Such a hive has entered on a downward course and will dwindle away
entirely, unless a queen should be given to it, or else some combs
containing young brood not many days old (see page 16). By the latter
method the bee-keeper will gain an opportunity of seeing the bees set
about their wonderful process of raising a queen from the brood thus
provided for them. If neither means is practicable the colony must be
united to some other hive.
[Illustration]
An ingenious little contrivance has been brought into use by
continental bee-keepers, especially by Herr Kleine, a German pastor, to
prevent the destruction alluded to. It consists of a small wire cage
(in fact, a pipe cover), as represented in the annexed illustration,
placed over a queen cell to protect it from the mother bee's animosity.
It also serves to prevent the young queen, when hatched, from
escaping; for she will have the same jealous feeling towards her sister
princesses, should there be more in the hive. The bee-master may thus
carefully remove and appropriate her.
Particular attention will have to be exercised to affix the cage into
the comb by pressure, as far as the middle wall, but at no point must
it touch the royal cell itself. As the cage will probably project so as
to touch the adjoining comb, a little incision and removal of a portion
may be necessary to allow space for it.
This covering need not be put over the cell until the egg is a little
more than a week old. The animosity of the reigning queen does not
generally manifest itself until the royal brood approaches maturity.
These cells are unmolested on the tenth day, but on the eleventh day
they may be found tenantless. Notwithstanding the apiarian's care and
skill, many disappointments are frequently experienced in endeavouring
to establish fertile young queens at the head of colonies.
Hives found to be queenless may be supplied either with matured queens
or with queen cells. If the latter are sufficiently numerous, their
introduction may easily be effected by exchanging a comb in each hive;
if they have to be cut out and placed loosely in the new hive, a
triangular piece of comb should then be removed with them, to be used
as a block in preventing any pressure coming on them. A space must be
cut out of the middle in the centre combs of the hive into which they
are to be introduced. They must not be so loose as to be in danger of
falling out, but if such seems likely a little melted wax should be
applied with a feather. Special care must be exercised not to bruise
the royal embryos, as a very slight pressure is likely to be fatal. It
is important not to perform the operation till they are within three or
four days of coming forth, which may be known to be the case from the
brown look of the tops of the cells, the wax having been removed.
It is always easier to introduce royal brood into queenless hives
than matured queens, because bees are reluctant to receive stranger
queens, whilst they will tolerate one hatched in the hive, who will
speedily depart to seek a drone. Bee-masters mostly use small hives for
queen-rearing, as explained in the section on "Nucleus Hives" (page
197). It is not however indispensable to use other than the ordinary
hives, and Mr. Langstroth gives the following as the very best mode
of procedure. Place an empty hive on the top of a well-filled one,
giving communication through crown and floor boards and turning their
entrances opposite ways (one of his plans, by the bye, for procuring an
artificial swarm). The young bees will many of them take to the upper
hive--if not they must be enticed into it by food--and when there are
sufficient of them, a brood comb with adhering bees must be inserted
and the connection closed. After a few days this nucleus hive may be
removed, a few steps at a time, and another, if desired, take its
place and be raised in the same way. Queen-rearing operations must be
confined to warm weather and when drones are abundant.
Royal cells are often built so close together that it is difficult to
remove one without injuring another. As a remedy for this Dr. Dzierzon
has made the important discovery that any convenient worker cell may be
made to produce a queen by the removal to it of some of the royal jelly
from an unsealed cell; by placing this on the inner margin of the cell
selected, the bees will adopt and rear the larva as desired.
§ VIII. INTRODUCING NEW QUEENS.
This is an operation that is continually being practised for the
purpose of Italianising a colony, though there are other occasions for
its adoption, as on the loss or the superannuation of the old queen.
We will in the first place describe the mode of procedure with a frame
hive.
Should the old queen be remaining in the hive, she has first to be
removed. Having discovered her, by lifting out and examining the frames
(see page 271), place a wineglass over her whilst on the comb, and,
with a card passed very carefully underneath, she may, with a few of
her subjects, be made a prisoner and easily removed. She should be
preserved in a small box till the success of the new introduction is
ascertained. Then, having enclosed the new queen, with such of her
retinue if any as are with her, in the domed wire cage described at
page 199, place this cage upon the comb in a spot where there is a
little honey, so that she may be independent of the bees for food,
and as near the brood as may be; press it into the comb as far as the
middle, and close the hive and leave the bees undisturbed for three
days--less will mostly suffice, but it is best to be on the safe side.
The royal cells that are sure to have been commenced should now be cut
away with a penknife, and then the new queen may be carefully released.
If the hive is one that permits it, her reception should be watched. If
the bees make way for her and caress her with their antennæ, all will
be well, and the comb may be gently restored to its position and the
hive shut up. But if they cluster in a ball around her, her death is
intended; and if they cannot readily be induced to separate they should
be taken out and dropped into lukewarm water (which will hurt none of
them), and the queen re-encaged for another day or so--that is, if she
has not already met her doom, which is all uncertain: Mr. Langstroth
says he has had _several_ queens stung to death before they had quitted
his fingers! We prefer effecting her release, then shutting up the hive
and leaving the bees quietly to themselves.
We may remark here with regard to these acts of surrounding a new
queen, that they evidently arise from a great number rushing upon her
at once for the purpose of stinging her, but that very frequently
such purpose is frustrated by the immovable position in which the
inner bees are held. Suffocation however will soon effect the same
end if the ball be not dispersed. There are cases, on the contrary,
in which friendly bees surround a queen to protect her from others,
and sometimes the knot is made up of members of both parties, perhaps
without enclosing the queen at all. The hissing note will at once
distinguish a hostile onset from a protecting rally.
With the Renfrewshire cage (page 199 as above) all the variation needed
is to place the cage between instead of within the combs, so as to
permit of the queen's release at the bottom. The inventor considers
that this gives an advantage in introducing her majesty in the first
place to those bees that have been engaged in feeding her; but, as
already noticed, it is not the feeding, but the familiarising with
her presence, which is the great point, and that is surely quite as
well accomplished with the other cage as this. There is also here no
opportunity, as in the other case, of being certain whether she is well
received or not, so that we always put a good-sized board under the
entrance, and examine the next day whether she has been thrown out dead
or not.
In effecting the exchange with cottage hives, the bees must first be
driven out into another hive (as described at page 226), and after
the old queen is removed they must be sprinkled with a little water
flavoured with a drop of extract of peppermint (to be obtained of any
chemist), which overcomes the particular hive-scent, and makes all
smell alike; then throw the new queen in among them and place the mass
of them back in the hive. If preferred, an eke (page 186) may be
placed on the stand, the bees precipitated into it, and the hive of
combs placed above, when the bees will ascend. If this is done in the
evening the queen will in most cases be well received. As there is no
opportunity of excising queen cells, the process should be performed,
say, in the middle of October, when breeding has ceased. Stupefying
the bees with fungus is a method devised by Huber as applicable in any
kind of hive, and it has been highly approved of and declared to be
infallible.
A strange queen is generally well received by young bees, whether
she be Italian or English--for we have never found the slightest
difference in reception, though Mr. Wagner (Langstroth's "Honey Bee,"
page 325) was of opinion that there is more opposition in the case of
the foreigner. The difficulty is to have a sufficient number of such
young bees. In the middle of a hot summer's day a stock may be divided
and the part with the old queen left in its former position, while the
other part, with as many brood combs as it is prudent to take, may be
removed a few yards off. The old bees that have been brought with the
latter will in three or four hours have most of them returned to their
former abode, and the new queen may then with safety be given to the
remainder without caging, taking care to introduce her to the young
bees on the combs. This task must only be attempted on a warm midsummer
day and when the night temperature need not be feared for the young
brood in its deserted condition. Stocks may be divided and artificial
swarms formed in this way--from the end of May to the beginning of
July--if the apiarian has queens in readiness.
§ IX. ITALIANISING.
It requires a considerable amount of apiarian skill to accomplish the
union of Italian with common bees, so that we find by experience it
is best to send out complete stocks or swarms of the former. This is
particularly desirable now that the packing of whole hives is so easily
accomplished by us with the aid of bars and frames. We have sent a
great number of stocks to all parts by rail. Still, as the introduction
of fertile Italian queens is a frequent practice, and we are ourselves
large importers of the same, it is only right to add some directions
as to the course to be pursued where such union is resolved upon.
These queens come over during the summer months, from May to October.
They are packed in wooden boxes about five inches square, with a comb
of sealed honey in a frame in the centre to feed the queen and the
few workers that accompany her on the journey. The old queen should
first be removed from the hive, but carefully preserved till it is
ascertained whether all goes well with the stranger. The box containing
the latter must now be prised open, and this should be done within
doors, lest the queen should fly and be lost. On discovering her she
must be placed in a queen-cage and gradually introduced to her new
subjects in the manner explained under that article (pages 198 and 247).
If this is successfully accomplished all is right so far; but unless
considerable pains be taken the off-coming swarms will certainly
produce mongrel bees. If none of the neighbouring residents are
bee-keepers, the risk may be considerably narrowed by destroying the
drones and drone comb in the other hives and rearing Italian queens to
place at the head of each of these as speedily as possible. Every one
of these queens, even if impregnated from an undesired source, will
still produce _drones_ as purely Italian as herself (see page 64), and
thus in another year the chance of Italian mates being found for the
queens will be further increased: indeed the peculiarity of Italian
queens in laying drone eggs in there _first_ year will probably produce
this result more speedily. But should some hybrids be the result,
as in all probability will be the case, even these are much to be
preferred to the common black bee--some say (see page 53) that they are
even better than pure Italians for honey-gathering, but they are more
irascible.
This course is undoubtedly in opposition to the design of Nature to
avoid interbreeding, but we find even Mr. Hunter recommending it,
though showing in another place that he perceives it to be a violation
of his "law." By commencing with two Italian queens there might be more
chance given of escape from the evil--if it really is an evil when
not several times repeated. Von Berlepsch, however, informs us of
the following method, devised by Dathe and others, by which even this
objection _may_ be avoided:--
"When the young queen has left the cell, she is transferred after
forty-eight hours, or even earlier, into a cellar or some other dark
and cool place. If the drones, by one of which the impregnation is to
be accomplished, are not among the colony of the queen, they also must
of course be inserted. We now wait for a sunny day free from wind, when
the thermometer in the shade is at least 17° above zero [70° Fahr.];
the bees in question, towards five in the afternoon, _when drones have
completely ceased from flight_, are fetched out of their prison, and
set up in any spot, if possible where isolated and with the flight-hole
exposed to the sun; then, by means of a small syringe or in any other
way, direct some liquid honey into the flight-hole. In a minute or two
the bees will sport in numbers in the front, and it will not be long
before the queen and drones also fly out. At evening the colony is
brought back into custody, and the manœuvre is repeated till the young
queen has commenced laying, or till her accomplished fructification is
made sure by expansion of the abdomen, or, upon return from a flight,
by having the more or less torn-off drone penis upon her extremity."
Some essential particulars are not here specified, but we interpret
the instructions to refer to a _nucleus_ hive in which the queen is
hatched with several workers, but with no drones present except those
specially introduced. By choosing these, also from their birth, from
the progeny of a different queen from the mother of the one in the
nucleus, all may apparently be made as straightforward as could be
desired. Even Von Berlepsch, who is no friend to the Italians, praises
this method as a "beautiful discovery:" it dates only from 1867.
§ X. GENERAL HINTS ON FRAME HIVES.
It may not unnaturally be asked by some, Why all this trouble about
frame hives? No one, however, who has carefully read the previous
sections of this chapter, and especially those on "Artificial Swarming"
and "Queen-Rearing," can require any further answer to such question.
Briefly, frame hives stand immeasurably above others from the full
command over the bees which they afford. The facility of inspection
for ascertaining the strength of the colony or the stock of its honey,
or for incidental purposes, such as the detection of disease and the
extirpation of enemies such as the bee-moth, and again the facilities
provided for giving ventilation or for contracting the dimensions to
suit a small population, are among the minor but still great advantages
which the use of these hives secures. In skilful hands these advantages
may be used successfully; though in the hands of the unpractised and
unskilful the contrary may be the result.
It is a great desideratum that all the bars and frames in an apiary
should be of precisely the same dimensions, so as to fit every hive.
A hive that is weakly may often be advantageously strengthened by
having put into it a comb of brood from a populous stock, to which
an empty frame from the weak one may be given; no bees must be on
the brood-comb--these should be shaken off or gently dislodged with
a feather into the hive from which the comb is taken. The frames of
combs should then be, one by one, placed so as to fill in the vacancy,
leaving, the empty frame nearest the side.
In the _British Bee Journal_ of March 1875, Mr. Cowan gives the
following excellent description of his system of working frame hives.
He says: "The method is very simple, but is one that requires much
attention, which is, however, well repaid by the extra quantity of
honey obtained. The hives I use are the ten-frame Woodbury, and
thirteen-frame on the Woodbury plan, only longer. In the autumn I
transfer the bees into clean hives and leave them seven or eight
frames, and should they be short of food or of bees I add those I
may take from the cottagers in the neighbourhood. I feed with sugar
and water of the strength of two pounds of sugar to a pint of water
boiled a few minutes. They are fed up to a weight of thirty pounds.
During winter they have ample ventilation--the hives being raised about
one-eighth of an inch from the floor-board, and the top board is also
raised about the same height, so that there is a constant current of
air through the hive. While I am on the subject of wintering I may
mention that I have tried several plans. With the above I have always
been free from mouldy combs. I have also tried wintering without
crown-boards, by merely placing an empty super on the top, and I have
done so successfully--in fact, the hive which produced the largest
quantity of honey last year was wintered in this way. Condensers I
have tried, but give the preference to crown-boards without them. I
am trying the quilts on some of my hives, but must reserve my opinion
about them until later on.
"I generally supply my bees with plenty of food in the autumn, so that
they require no further attention until about the end of February,
when, if the weather is fine, the bees are all thoroughly roused into
activity and induced to commence and continue breeding until the
honey-gathering season commences, by which time every frame in the hive
is filled with brood, and the hives are so strong that it is easy to
make an artificial swarm and to ensure a good supply of honey besides.
If the weather is fine, about the end of February (or if cold, then I
defer a little longer) the bees are transferred into clean hives; and
in this way I get to know the exact state of the community. Now suppose
it is a ten-frame Woodbury hive. I do not return the whole of the eight
frames which the bees had for wintering on, but only from five to
six of the centre ones, and contract the size of the hive to the six
frames. I then unseal the honey-cells of two of the frames, and allow
the honey to run down inside the hive. This thoroughly rouses the bees;
and the queen at once begins to lay. The running honey is very soon
collected and stored; and in a few days I do the same with a couple
more frames, and so on until all the frames have been unsealed. I find
this a great advantage, as much of the honey that has granulated, and
which the bees will not touch, is removed by them out of the hive, and
gives them increased space.
"I now commence very gentle feeding, for which purpose I use the very
fine strainers found in Loysell's coffee-percolators, and allow each
hive from a quarter to half a pint of food a day, of the strength
of about three pounds of sugar to a quart of water. When there is
sealed brood in three or four of the frames I add two more--making
eight--and serve them in the same manner as the rest; then when there
are six with sealed brood, the colony will be sufficiently strong to
have the remaining frames added. The same plan is adopted with the
thirteen-frame hive. They must be constantly watched so as not to
allow them to store too much food, which would diminish the space
for egg-laying; and if such is found to be the case, food should be
withheld for a day or two, or until they are getting short of it. In
this way I keep them going from day to day; watch them carefully, or it
might happen that a hive full of bees--and at swarming point--might, if
not watched and supplied with requisite food for existence, swarm or
decamp. So by the time there is an abundance of honey abroad the hives
are completely filled with bees and contain brood in every frame hive;
and then it is that I put on my supers and discontinue stimulative
feeding.
"In the place of the crown-board I place a sheet of five-thirty-second
perforated zinc, and supers same size as hive and five inches deep. The
supers are provided with bars which are sawn down the centre, enabling
me to fix a strip of impressed wax sheet without any difficulty. The
bees generally take to these supers at once; and in a day or two the
crown-board of super is removed, and I place a second super without
top board between the first one and stock hive. The supers are also
provided with traps [page 201] to enable bees to leave after they have
deposited their load, instead of passing through the stock hive. Now
it sometimes happens that for some days the weather is fine and the
bees begin storing a large quantity of honey in the supers (as they
have no room in the stock hive), when suddenly the weather changes and
cold sets in. As soon as this happens I remove the supers and watch
the bees, and if they require small quantities of food I give it them,
and when the fine weather returns they go again into the supers when
replaced on top. In this way it sometimes takes only a week to fill a
thirty-eight or forty pound super with some of the best honey that can
be obtained in this part of the country [Horsham]. I discard old queens
and generally select young and prolific egg-layers."
Agreeing as we do very much with the hints Mr. Cowan gives, we commend
them to the careful carrying out of intelligent and painstaking
apiarians.
§ XI. REMOVING BEES.
A very great advantage that frame hives afford is the safety and
convenience with which a stock of bees can be transported in them to
any part of the kingdom or abroad: by a few additional arrangements
stocks have even been sent in them to distant countries. In many
districts hives are removed to moors and heaths in autumn, for the
purpose of gathering heather honey. In this operation the frames
are a great support to the combs, very much lessening the risk of a
break-down and consequent loss.
The proper course to pursue in this case is to remove the crown-board,
and nail across from side to side two strips of wood with smaller
pieces fastened on them so as to secure each frame in position. Then
nail a sheet of perforated zinc over the top; or in default of that
the crown-board may be screwed down, when, if the two strips are not
over an eighth Of an inch in thickness, they will secure ventilation
without allowing the bees to escape. The combs must be scrupulously
carried _lengthways_, or they will break; and if they are new and the
weather is warm, even with that precaution any but the most careful
hand carriage is nearly certain to ruin them. If not going far it is
best for the hive to be borne between two; but if this is impracticable
the vehicle used must at any rate have springs.
It is most urgent in making such a transfer that the most ample
ventilation should be allowed. The bees are of course gorged at the
time, and in that condition they are most particularly in need of air;
while on the other hand the fact of their imprisonment, together with
the shaking attendant on carriage, irritates them and causes them to
make such a commotion, that without stringent precautions they would
very probably be stifled, and of course the finer the colony the
greater is the danger.
With an ordinary skep this supply of air cannot be ensured at the
top, so that it becomes necessary, if the journey is to last longer
than an hour or two, to invert the hive. This must be done with
great caution and always in the direction in which the combs run. A
sheet of perforated zinc on a board, or a piece of coarse canvas or
cheese-cloth, may then be nailed or otherwise fastened with string over
the base, thus taking the place of the floor-board, and it is needless
to say that this should be done in such a manner that not a single bee
can escape. If the journey is likely to be one of more than a few hours
it will not do to employ any soft material, as it would in that time be
gnawed through; but wire-cloth would answer as well as perforated zinc.
As a preliminary to any remove, smoke should be blown in at the
entrance repeatedly during half an hour, after which it may be judged
that all on the wing will have returned. For carrying a swarm, either a
skep or box or anything will serve, and it must be secured and carried
mouth upwards in the same way.
§ XII. SUPPLYING NATURAL COMB.
We have spoken above (page 187) of the great value of sheets or strips
of wax for assisting the bees in the building of their combs. But
when, through another hive having lost its bees at an early stage, the
combs themselves can be supplied them in good and clean condition, the
advantage is very much greater. Such combs may be fixed in frame hives
exactly in the same plan as is adopted on transferring full honeycomb
(page 224).
Generally speaking the bee-keeper may be satisfied if he can simply
insert pure white guide-comb with which to start the bees. Every bar,
or if the comb is not plentiful, every other bar, should have a piece
fixed to it in the following manner: Cut a piece of clean empty comb of
the required size, say two inches square, not less; heat a common flat
iron, with which slightly warm the bar; then melt a little bees'-wax
upon it; draw the comb quickly over the heated iron, hold it down on
the centre of the bar, giving a very slight movement backwards and
forwards; then leave the wax to grow cold, and, if cleverly managed,
the guide will be found firmly attached. Care must be taken that
the pitch or inclination of the comb is the same as it is in the
hives--upwards from the centre of each comb.
When a hive has been in use many years the combs become very black,
and every bee that is bred in a cell leaves a film behind. It may be
understood how in this way the cells become contracted, and the bees
that are bred in them correspondingly reduced in size. After the lapse
of, say, five years it may be necessary to begin removing the old
combs. This may be done by cutting away the combs, or by substituting
an empty frame for one with old black comb, gradually moving the frames
towards each other. By taking two away in this manner in the spring or
summer of every season, the combs in course of five years may all be
reconstructed, and fresh clean ones be secured for breeding in, instead
of the old black ones that otherwise would remain as long as the stock
could live in the hive.
Guide-combs can also be used with glasses. These may be filled, with
great regularity, by adopting the following directions, which, we
believe, have never before appeared in print:--
Procure a piece of clean, new, empty, worker honeycomb, which has not
had honey in it (because honey will prevent adhesion to the glass);
cut it into pieces of about three-quarters of an inch square. Gently
warm the exterior of the glass (this we find is best done by holding
the glass horizontally for a short time over the flame of a candle);
then apply one of the pieces of empty comb inside at the part warmed,
taking care, in fixing it, that the pitch or inclination of the cells
is upwards--in fact, place the guide-comb in the same relative position
that it occupied in the hive or glass from which it was taken. There
is some danger of making the glass too warm, which will cause the wax
to melt and run down the side, leaving an unsightly appearance on the
glass; but a little experience will enable the operator to determine
the degree of warmth sufficient to make the comb adhere without any of
it being melted. It is hardly necessary to state that only the very
whitest combs ought to be used. A short time should be allowed before
changing the position of the glass, so that it may cool sufficiently
to hold the comb in its place. Six or eight pieces may thus be fixed,
so that, when the glass is filled, it will present a star shape, all
the combs radiating from the centre. The annexed illustration shows the
appearance of a glass as worked by the bees, in which guide-combs were
fixed in the manner described above. The drawing was taken from a glass
of our own, filled after being thus furnished. In the Old Museum at the
Royal Gardens, Kew, may be seen a Taylor's glass, presented by us, some
of the combs in which are elongated on the outside to the breadth of
six inches.
[Illustration]
We believe that not only does a glass present a much handsomer
appearance when thus worked--and will, on that account, most fully
reward the trouble of fixing guide-comb--but that more honey is stored
in the same space and in less time than if the glass be merely placed
on the hive in a naked condition for the bees to follow their own
course. This mode of fixing guide-comb does not solely apply to the
above-shaped glass, but is equally useful for all kinds of glasses. It
is introduced in connection with this glass because, from its having a
flat top and no knob, the regularity is more clearly apparent.
The working of bees in the bell glasses illustrates how tractable their
disposition really is if only scope is allowed for the due exercise
of their natural instinct. They have no secrets in their economy, and
they do not shrink from our constant observation as they daily pursue
their simple policy of continuous thrift and persevering accumulation.
Yet it is only owing to the labours of successive inventors that we
are now enabled to watch "the very pulse of the machine" of the bee
commonwealth.
"Long from the eye of man and face of day,
Involved in darkness all their customs lay,
Until a sage well versed in Nature's lore,
A genius formed all science to explore,
Hives well contrived in crystal frames disposed,
And there the busy citizens disclosed."
Murphy's Vanière.
§ XIII. APPLYING SUPERS.
Supposing the hive to be a stock (page 81), the super should be
applied at the early part of the season, say, if fine and warm, at
the latter end of April or beginning of May; but if the weather is
then unfavourable it is better to delay doing so until a more genial
temperature. If the colony is a swarm of the present year, two or
three weeks should be allowed to elapse from the time of tenanting
a hive before putting on the super; this delay is necessary to give
the bees the opportunity of building combs in their new domicile, and
of getting a store of honey for themselves before working for their
master. The exact time[28] will, however, depend much upon the weather,
and the same applies to the subsequent time occupied by the bees in
filling the super. They will be the more incited to commence their
work, and having commenced to continue it, if some warm covering is
placed over the glass; at night, when much comb-building goes on, it is
important to wrap it in flannel or worsted, or some warm material (a
baize bag is convenient for bell glasses). A further inducement will
be offered by the fixing of a piece of comb to the bars or ventilating
tube, as the case may be. The cells on the outside or by the window are
always the last to be filled, so that when these are sealed over it is
safe to conclude that the rest are also complete.
[Footnote 28: There is the nick of time before bees make their internal
arrangements for swarming, but the difficulty is to know precisely when
this is.]
When it is wished to use a super with a frame hive, _the crown-board or
roof of the stock hive must be taken away, the thin adapting or honey
board, or perforated zinc adapter, taking its place_--excepting of
course where the crown-board is provided with openings for the purpose.
The two long slits at the sides are to give admission to the super.
The bees will begin sooner, and work faster, if the bars are each
furnished with guide-comb (as described in the previous section). Combs
that have been left unfilled may be fixed to the bars, but these must
be white and clean, as dark comb should not be used for super hives.
§ XIV. REMOVING SUPERS.
The operation of taking honey is best performed on a fine sunny
day. The combs may be extracted singly, if wished, for consumption,
substituting an empty bar or comb; or, should the bee-keeper desire
to see a handsome super, he must wait until the bees have filled and
sealed up all the combs, and then he may proceed to disconnect the
super. If a bell glass, he will first pass a table-knife round it
underneath the rim; then with a piece of string or fine wire, one end
in each hand, he will very slowly sever the remaining connection with
the board, so as to allow of the bees getting out of the way. Wait an
hour or so for the commotion to subside and to give the bees time to
repair broken cells and suck up spilt honey. Then raise the glass and
blow in a little smoke, after which the slide that closes the roof of
the hive may be inserted, and above it another piece of zinc that will
cover the base of the super and hold the bees in it close prisoners.
After having confined them in the glass for a short time you must see
whether they manifest symptoms of uneasiness, because, if they do not,
it may be concluded that the queen is among them. In such a case,
replace the glass, and recommence the operation on a future day. It
is not often that her majesty is in the depriving-hive or glass; but,
this circumstance does sometimes happen, and the removal at such a time
must be avoided. When the bees that are prisoners run about in great
confusion and restlessness, the operator may conclude that the queen
is absent, and that all is right. The glass may be taken away a little
distance off, and placed in a flower-pot or other receptacle, where it
will be safe when inverted and the tin taken away; the bees will then
be glad to make their escape back to their hive. A little tapping at
the sides of the glass will render their tarriance uncomfortable, and
the glass may then be taken into a darkened room or outhouse, with only
a small aperture admitting light, which must be open; the bees, like
all insects, make towards the light, and so escape (see description
of "Bee-Traps," Chap. IV. § xviii.). The bee-master should brush them
off with a feather from the comb as they can be reached; but on no
account should the glass or other super be left exposed and unwatched,
because the bees that have the opportunity will gorge themselves to
their full, and speedily bring a host of others from the adjacent
hives, who, in a very little time, would leave only the empty combs.
It is truly marvellous how soon they will carry all the store back
again, if allowed to do so. Unless the honey season is over, an empty
glass should be put on to the hive in place of the full one, as it will
attract the bees up, thereby preventing the too close crowding of the
hive, and starting them to work more honeycomb.
If a bar or frame super, the first process is with a spatula to loosen
the adapting-board from the stock hive after which the string is passed
between them as above, putting in wedges on each side to follow the
string. The smoking and expulsion of the bees follow as before. Another
super will take the place of the one removed, or else the crown-board
must be replaced.
Some apiarians, however, are of opinion that deprivation is more easily
accomplished by disconnecting the super over night. In this case, after
smoking the bees, wedge the super up all round about an inch from the
board. Do this just before dusk, and leave it so for the night. The
opening in the board remains unclosed, to allow of the bees joining the
stock hive below, which they will naturally do for warmth. The super
should receive its usual cover, and quite early in the morning, before
the bees are much about, it will be ready for removal. The few bees
that remain within may be speedily induced to quit. With a super that
has an opening at the top it will be worth while to insert the nozzle
of a pair of bellows, when a few puffs will be very efficacious in
driving the occupants out.
§ XV. REMOVING FRAMES.
It is well for a beginner to practise the directions for opening and
shutting up hives, by using an empty hive until he becomes familiar
with the handling of the frames. The first thing to do is to loosen the
crown-board, or lid, with a knife, drawing a piece of string underneath
it, to divide the wax or cement with which the bees make all secure.
All this should be done very slowly, so as not to irritate the bees.
In hot weather the crown-board may be loosened by a lateral movement;
but sometimes, for want of care, this loosening of the lid disturbs the
bees, and, as soon as it is removed, a number of them, enraged thereby,
rush out and attack the operator. Especial care should be taken not
to prise the lid upwards, by way of wrenching it off, for the frames
and combs are generally secured thereto, and there is a liability of
rending the combs with it; this will greatly irritate the bees, and be
otherwise injurious. When a hive of bees is really enraged there is
little chance of pacifying them; if the first tokens of anger cannot be
appeased it is best to "give in" at once, and not attempt to perform
any operation, but to shut the hive up and beat a retreat, benefiting
by the experience in order to do better a day or so afterwards. There
are various devices for intimidating or conciliating the bees, and one
of these, already spoken of, is smoke. So next time the experimenter
makes his attempt let him raise the lid an inch or so, and blow a few
puffs of smoke into the hive, which will cause the bees to retreat.
Previous to this he may give a puff or two at the entrance, which will
help to produce the quieting effect. This is best done by using our
tube fumigator, with a little of the prepared fungus lighted. Pipes
or cigars are not convenient to use for this purpose when the head is
enveloped in the dress. As soon as the lid is removed a few bees will
fly out to learn the cause of such an interference. Conciliation should
then be offered by having at hand a little sweetened water, which may
be sprinkled, or rather let drop, from a feather or a brush.[29] The
sudden motion of the hand required in the act of sprinkling irritates
the bees, so that, instead of making them our friends, they may
become our foes. Mr. Langstroth recommends that a fine watering-pot,
containing sweetened water, be used for the purpose. Care must be
taken not to drench the bees; only just sufficient should be given
to run down the sides of the combs, as well as sprinkle the top. As
soon as the insects really understand that syrup is being given them,
they feast upon it, instead of angrily attacking the operator. Thus
pacified, and with gentle treatment, but little difficulty will be
found in proceeding with the work required. But the unskilled operator
should on no account neglect to put on a bee dress and gloves, as
described above. We would err on the side of caution, although there is
an old saying that "a cat in gloves catches no mice;" and the apiarian
will find that his fingers are not so free to work as he would like,
for gloves make them rather clumsy in drawing up the frames.
[Footnote 29: An objection to, this is that robber bees are liable to
be attracted from surrounding hives.]
These must now be gently prised up from front to rear; this may be done
with a small screw-driver or other stout instrument with a wedged end
to go into the notches. They fit loosely so as to permit of a slight
movement from back to front; a lateral or sideway movement might
kill the queen, or, if not so fatal as that, might crush some of the
bees and injure the brood combs, which must be carefully avoided. Of
course much depends upon the nature of the operation that has to be
performed, whether or no all the frames should be thus loosened. If
it be for making artificial swarms, or for any purpose that requires
an interview with her majesty, the whole of them must be loosened,
because it may happen that all the combs have to be examined, sometimes
twice over, before she can be discovered. Bees are very apt to build
their combs in a slightly waving form, and in extracting one it will
be needful to make room both for the comb and bees upon it to pass
without scraping the next comb, and there will be a difficulty if the
apiarian attempts to draw out one comb whilst the other frames are
located in their appropriate places. Where a dummy frame is provided
the operation becomes simple; but if there is none, let the operator
gently proceed to lift, say, the third frame slightly nearer to the
fourth frame (allowing it to lodge on the little block that divides
the notches),[30] and the second nearer the third, so as to admit of
sufficient space to lift out the end one. Very carefully and slowly
he should lift the frame by taking hold, with thumb and finger, of
the projecting shoulders that rest in the notch; and he must not let
it touch or scrape the next frame or the sides of the hive, so as to
crush, or irritate any bees.
[Footnote 30: Many hives are now made without notches, so that it is
necessary only to slide the frames.]
After the end comb is thus removed it will be easy to extract the
others, as there will now be plenty of room for drawing them out. If
the bar-frame holder (page 192) is not at hand an empty hive of the
same size will serve; and care should be taken that each comb occupies
the same relative position that it did in the hive so that the same
order may be afterwards retained when they are replaced.
In handling the frames it should be borne in mind that they are to be
held perpendicularly. To gain a view of both sides of the comb when
searching for the queen, or for any purpose requiring full inspection,
the reverse side may, with a little dexterity in twirling the frame
round, be brought to face the operator, without letting the comb break
away by its own weight and so fall out of the frame, which it may do
if allowed to deviate from its upright or downright position. If the
beginner could see an experienced person perform the operation he would
quickly understand how combs may thus be handled without any risk of a
smash.
The bee-keeper should be on his guard not to tempt the avarice of
bees by exposing honey, either in the comb or liquid, and also to be
very tardy of opening frame hives in the spring or autumn. If needful
to do so, soon after sunrise is the safest, because there will be few
bees about, and the hive should be taken, if convenient, to a quiet
corner of the garden, many yards away from the other hives, and what is
requisite done speedily, so as not to expose the honey to the scent of
a host of robbers, who will most unceremoniously pillage and cause a
terrible commotion.
When replacing frames in the hive, care must be taken not to crush
a bee, and on no account must the frame be let down with a jerk, or
the insects will become exceedingly fierce; it should be so slowly
deposited in its place that a bee on feeling the slightest pressure may
be able to escape unhurt. The crown-board should be replaced by first
resting its front edge along the back, and then sliding it forward, so
that any bee upon it is pushed away instead of being crushed. Should
the hive have its super on, the same directions may be followed. The
super with its honey-board may be bodily taken away, and so placed and
confined for a time that robber bees cannot find an entrance, and also
be far enough from the apiarian to be out of danger of being broken or
overturned by him.
It will be sometimes found, in cases in which the bees have not
had sufficient storage-room, that they have carried their building
operations outside and above the frames, or across from comb to comb.
Such cells must be severed and the materials melted down for wax. There
are also cases in which fine white combs of honey can be taken from the
end frames of the stock hive; but probably not more than one comb could
be removed in a season without impoverishing the bees.
§ XVI. EXTRACTING HONEY.
Those of our readers who prefer eating "run honey" to honey in the comb
may be glad of some instruction as to the best method of separating
the two. Beyond all question they will find this in the use of the
honey-extractor (page 193), but in default of such, and for extracting
honey from combs made in supers, the following should be the course
pursued:--
Take a sharp knife, and slice the combs on both sides, keeping the
knife parallel with the partition wall, so that every cell may be laid
open. Place these broken combs in a sieve, or on a piece of muslin
stretched across and tied round the opening of a pan or large-mouthed
jar. Allow the honey to flow out of the combs spontaneously, and
reserve the squeezing process for a separate jar, so that the honey of
the first-drained jar may be perfectly pure, both in appearance and
flavour. That which has pressure put on it will be waxy in flavour and
thick. Some persons recommend that the opened combs be placed in the
sun, as the heat will cause the honey to run more freely. The great
disadvantage of this is the temptation the honey offers to bees,
who will be eager to gain a share. Honey, whilst in the combs, keeps
remarkably well when left in the supers; if cut out, the combs should
be folded in writing paper, and sealed up, so as to effectually prevent
the free entrance of air; they should then be placed in a warm dry
closet.
§ XVII. MELTING COMBS DOWN.
Comb for which there is no use as such should be melted down into cake
wax. Brood comb which has undergone its five years or so of service
will probably not repay the trouble, and should therefore be thrown
away. But if in good condition it should be put into a clean saucepan
with plenty of soft water, and gently boiled or simmered over a clear
fire till it is melted, when, the wax will rise to the top. It must
then be run through a strainer (never mind a little water going with
it) into a stoneware or earthen pan, the sides of which have beep
greased to prevent adhesion. The refuse is then collected in a coarse
bag and boiled again, a flat iron or other heavy weight being placed
upon it to hold it down, and a plate or other false bottom beneath
it to prevent its burning. By working this about with a rod or ladle
a quantity more of wax will be brought out from it, and more still
by applying to the bag a wet rolling-pin upon a board also wet; the
additional wax thus obtained may be added to the other, and the whole
boiled again with a very little clean water and over a slow fire. Skim
off the dross as fast as it appears, and then pour the whole again into
the greased pan, and, after letting it cool slowly, scrape off the
settlings. The above is in the main Mr. Cheshire's method. Another is
that of Mr. Payne, who would pour the original boil into a canvas bag
of about a quart, which should be laid on an inclined board in a tub,
with cold water in it below the reach of the bag; then, applying the
roller, the wax is all expressed at one process, and may be collected
on the water and boiled again as before. The operation must be carried
on where the bees will not be able to get admittance, or the odour will
bring them in great numbers.
Virgin comb, being free from cocoons or other rubbish, will not require
the squeezing process, but may simply be melted into the pan, gradually
cooled, and melted again. If the cooling is artificially delayed the
wax will be all the clearer. If bleaching is desired, melt it again and
pour it out so as to form thin streams or plates, and then lay these
for a few days in the sun; take care however that they are not melted.
§ XVIII. WEIGHING HIVES.
One of the most effectual modes of ascertaining the condition of a hive
is by weighing it. Such knowledge is most important at the close of the
gathering season, in order that the bee-keeper may determine whether he
ought to give his bees artificial food to enable them to live through
the dreary winter. A knowledge of the numerical strength of the colony
is also useful in enabling the bee-keeper to decide which hives will
be benefited by being joined together, on the method explained in the
article on "Uniting Hives."
[Illustration]
A hive can very easily be weighed if a Salter's spring balance be
suspended near the apiary. The hive, having a strap or cord passed
under and over it, crossing at right angles on the top, may be
hooked on to the balance, so that the weight will be indicated on
the dial. The annexed illustration represents a tripod stand, with a
weighing-machine of the above-named construction, to which a hive with
a super is attached. Such an arrangement will be found convenient for
those bee-keepers who may not possess suitable sheds in their gardens
where a hive could be thus suspended from a beam. To prevent the hive
being swayed to and fro by the wind, three cords (gear ropes) might be
attached therefrom to the three legs of the stand. The height of such
a stand need not exceed four feet.
This contrivance is both portable and simple, and can be used from
time to time; or, if the apiarian desires to have the hive constantly
suspended, a water-proof covering might easily be made to drop
over, and adapted so as to admit of being raised occasionally for
ascertaining the weight shown on the dial. Much interest might be
derived by watching the daily or hourly increasing store brought into a
hive during the gathering season. Mr. George Fox, of Kingsbridge, and
Mr. S. Bevan Fox, of Exeter, have for some years each kept one stock
attached to a "Salter's Circular Spring Balance," suspended from a beam
under a shed, and, from experience, found that from a hive so balanced
a criterion may be formed of what other hives in the apiary are doing
through the day.
Some interesting observations have been made upon this point. Baron von
Berlepsch has had stocks which brought in twelve pounds of honey in a
day; Kader in Mentz had days when one stock brought twenty-one pounds;
Pastor Stein in Mentz had days when one stock brought twenty-eight
pounds. The sap which a bee's honey-bag holds weighs but a grain,
so that the bees, in this last case, must have made in one day over
160,000 journeys.
Many ingenious contrivances will, no doubt, suggest themselves for the
observation of hives in this manner. For instance, instead of the cord
being tied round the hive, three or four strong irons, with a screw
at one end and a ring at the other (known by ironmongers as "eyes"),
could be screwed into the floor-boards, to which the attachments might
be made fast. It will scarcely be necessary to hint that great care is
necessary that full provision should be made securely to support the
increasing weight; a fall would be most ruinous, and terribly enrage
the bees.
The weight of the hive should be marked on it when empty, so that
the exact amount of its contents may at any time be ascertained.
Experienced apiarians are able to judge of the weight of a hive by
lifting it a few inches from the stand; or by looking in at the window
of a stock hive a conclusive opinion may be formed as to the state of
the colony. If the combs within view be well filled and sealed, it will
be safe to consider that the hive contains sufficient stores to carry
the bees through the winter.
§ XIX. FEEDING.
The bee-keeper, after the honey harvest, should ascertain the state
of the stock hive, because it sometimes happens that hives which were
very strong and productive during summer have been left poorly off for
the winter. The bees, no doubt under the impression that those nicely
filled supers would prove to them an ample sustenance, have given up
the whole stock hive to the queen for breeding. If this be not looked
after and rectified the colony will starve off; or possibly on some
mild day in winter--even before all is exhausted--they will decamp as
if for a swarm.
The apiarian must therefore ascertain the state of the stock hive at
Michaelmas by means of a weighing machine. The weight, exclusive of
the hive, ought to be from twenty to twenty-four pounds, and if not
so, the bees must be fed till that weight is reached. This is done by
the feeders above described (page 202), from which they suck the syrup
as if honey-gathering, and then store it away, a quart in a day or so.
The time of doing this should not be deferred later, as it is important
that the food should be placed in the cells and sealed up, and they
cannot secrete the wax for this purpose without a warm temperature; if
it remained unsealed it would be liable to turn sour and cause disease.
Again, at mid-winter and in very cold weather, bees, though they never
become torpid like wasps, are in a state of dormant inactivity from
which it is better not to arouse them.
On the return of spring it will again be essential to attend to feeding
the bees, and this precaution must be exercised till May, when they
will be able to take care of themselves. A little food in the spring,
even when the store is not all expended, is of value as stimulating
the queen to lay more abundantly, for bees are provident and do not
rear the young rapidly when supplies are short. In this particular
their intelligence is very striking; they have needed no Malthus to
teach them that the means of subsistence must regulate the increase of
population.
"Part of the wondrous whole by Heaven designed,
Blest with some portion of ethereal mind,[31]
The prescient female rears her tender brood
In strict proportion to the hoarded food."
Evans.
[Footnote 31:
"His quidam signis, atque hæc exempla secuti,
Esse apibus partem divinæ mentis, et haustus
Æthereos dixere."--_Virgil_, G. iv. 219.
]
Judgment has, however, to be exercised to avoid _over-feeding_, or else
so many cells will be filled with honey that the queen can find none in
which to deposit her eggs, and thus the progress of the hive will be
seriously interfered with. It may also lead to the formation of drone
cells--a thing to be avoided under any circumstances. But if the hive
is thoroughly impoverished a more rapid process of feeding becomes
necessary, and the honey should be poured between the combs. The bees
will lick each other clean after this.
A very good syrup can be made by boiling three pounds of loaf sugar
with nearly two pints of water. Sugar-candy and barley-sugar have also
been each highly recommended for winter and early spring feeding, when
small pieces can easily be pushed in at the top of the stock hive a
little at a time. They have the advantage of being unlikely to turn
sour or to cause dysentery, as liquid food does when the bees are
confined by bad weather.
It is of the most urgent importance that the bees should have water
supplied them as soon as laying recommences, which should be early in
January; if the weather is such as to prevent their leaving the hive,
they must have it given them within. "For preparing the nourishment for
the brood," says Dzierzon, "water is to the bees indispensable. Sooner
could they dispense for a considerable time with pollen." It is also
needful to them for the preparation of wax, and, adds the same writer,
"when the egg-laying commences, some amount of wax is usually produced
equally soon, the bees requiring it for the covering of the brood
cells." For a double reason therefore water must be supplied them; but
in their eagerness to obtain it they are often drowned, so that It is
well to give it them in shallow vessels containing pebbles for them to
alight on. Salt also, says Dr. Bevan, is eagerly partaken of during
the early part of the breeding season till the beginning of May, after
which they seem wholly indifferent to it.
Such are the instructions for the regular process of feeding, though
even this, with good management, should not be needed unless in
exceptional circumstances. It has been remarked in the section on
"Swarming" that a supply of food is advisable at such occasions also,
but this is but an incidental trifle as compared with the other. The
task of bringing a hive safely through the winter will undoubtedly
dismay some of the inexperienced, and perhaps incline them to a
preference for the fire-and-brimstone quieters. But a little attention
to directions at the first will soon make the process tolerably simple;
while as to the relative profits of the two methods, it must be
recollected that the honey left in the stock hive for winter sustenance
is not much of it of a saleable quality, and the value of it and of any
extra syrup supplied will be far more than made up when in May a swarm
comes off, and two colonies are possessed where on the old system there
would have been none at all.
§ XX. WINTER PRECAUTIONS.
The most important of these is the one discussed in the preceding
section. There are, however, several other points which it is of
consequence for the apiarian to observe.
First of all the hive itself must be suitably protected against
climate, and if it be not of a description adapted to preserve warmth,
a transfer must be made to one that is. Matting or other fencework
may be erected to keep off piercing winds, and hay bands may be wound
around the hives. Some hives constructed Of glass are unsuited for
winter occupation--even when kept within doors success is difficult
and doubtful. They must be well wrapped up and covered in, and yet
ventilation be allowed, for unless the moisture can pass off it will
condense upon the inside of the glass, thus causing the combs to grow
mouldy and directly interfering with the health of the bees. The use
of such hives as the unicomb is best restricted to four months in the
year, when bees are most active and interesting in their operations.
An artificial swarm should be put into such a hive in May or June, and
taken out again in September--never later, for there are often cold
nights in October, when, the bees and brood being in near contact with
the glass, and not being able to cluster as is their natural wont, they
suffer greatly from the variations of temperature.
The population of each hive must also be well looked to, and if needful
the uniting processes (page 229) must be carried out before the
Michaelmas feeding. Hives that are to be so united should be gradually
brought near together, if not so already.
The innermost combs, having been the ones most employed for breeding,
will now be the ones least occupied with honey. It is therefore
advisable to transpose them with fuller ones, in order to keep the bees
clustered in the centre. They must not, however, have drone comb thus
given them. In order to give them communication through the combs,
"the apiarian should," says Langstroth, " late in the fall, cut with a
penknife a hole an inch in diameter in the centre of each comb, about
one-third from the top." This is for the purpose of allowing the bees
in cold weather to move in a body, without going outside the frames,
from combs where they have consumed the food to others that have honey
within reach.
Ventilation is of great moment, but if the hive allows of its being
given at the top, the entrance may then be narrowed so as only just
to give free passage to the bees. Holes the size of a pin's head will
allow the moisture to escape, and these must be reopened as fast as
they are propolised by the bees. The occurrence of a thaw is the time
when ventilation is needed in its highest degree. It is a good plan to
place a bell glass over the hole in the crown-board of a wooden hive,
with a zinc trough round it to receive the condensed moisture. It is
also requisite to clean the floor-board, say in February; but in this
and other operations the bees should not be disturbed, for if they
leave the hive when they are unable to fly properly, as is the case in
very cold weather, they are likely to be lost.
What further directions belong to this head will be found in the next
chapter under "Diseases" and "Enemies."' Mr. Langstroth has this
comprehensive sentence, the italics in which are his own. "_If the
colonies are strong in numbers and stores, have upward ventilation,
easy communication from comb to comb, and water when needed, and the
hive entrances are sheltered from piercing winds_, they have all the
conditions essential to wintering successfully in the open air."
[Illustration]
CHAPTER VI.
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
§ I. STINGS: THEIR PREVENTION AND CURE.
SOME of our readers may deem us neglectful in having,
as it were, left them to struggle through their bee-keeping novitiate
without informing them how to avoid the annoyance of stinging from
their docile but well-armed flock. Of course, having described the bee
dress, we have supposed that the apiarian was clad, if not "in complete
steel," at least in the head-gear and gloves, which will render him
invulnerable. The best safeguard from the anger of bees--as, indeed,
from the malice of men--is a quiet and peaceable spirit. Never strike
at a single one. The apiarian will learn to handle his bees not only
as "if he loved them"--as the quaint angler says--but as if he fully
believes that the bees love _him_. This they will do whenever he
approaches and treats them gently. There are some cases of exception
to this generally peaceable disposition of the bee; perchance a few
bees are dyspeptic, and refuse to be pacified, let their master seek
to bribe them never so wisely. Then, too, sometimes the bee-master
himself may be dyspeptic, which the unerring olfactory sense of the
bees speedily detects, and their anger is immediately aroused. Some
few persons, owing to constitutional peculiarities in their breath
or insensible perspiration, are objects of constant animosity with
bees, who, by driving them from the apiary, are giving a physician's
advice without charge for a fee. Some of the choicest perfumes used
by ladies are offensive to bees; and one may feel very certain that
the "fine puss gentleman," who disgusted the brave Hotspur with his
"pouncet-box" and praise of "'parmaceti for an inward bruise," would
have been speedily driven from an apiary in ignominious flight. For
the same reason they will ferociously, and perhaps fatally, attack a
sweaty horse, while they appear to have an equal antipathy to dogs. The
hand should not be waved near them in sprinkling, as has already been
remarked; nor should they so much as be pointed at when disposed to
be out of temper. "Above all," says Mr. Cotton, "never blow at them;
they will try to sting directly if you do." The distinguished success
of Burnens in his examinations was attributed in part by Huber to his
power of repressing his respiration. Confidence is another important
specific: if a person covers his face with his hands the bees will
attack and worry him at once and persistently; while a bee that is
inclined to sting will often prefer a person who is watching at a
supposed safe distance, judging such person afraid, and probably also
seeing him better.
Again, when once a bee has stung, the scent of the poison has an
infuriating effect upon others; therefore, says Butler, "you had best
be packing as fast as you can." Höfler, who lived in the same century,
gives the advice, "Never approach the bees with your hat off; for a bee
which may chance to have settled upon the head becomes easily entangled
in the hair, grows angry, stings, and moreover calls others to its
aid by its hissing passionate note." They have a dislike for woollen
gloves, also to some kinds of leather ones. If used to attendants in
light clothes it is said they will attack a visitor whose dress is
dark. Electricity in the air appears also to ruffle them; and when kept
at home by rain, or at night or early morning, they will resent any
interference. In very hot weather, too, those inside the hive are sure
to be in a bad humour. Von Berlepsch states that to disturb the combs
at such a time may perhaps, by breaking them, even cause a civil war in
the hive, as once happened to himself when exhibiting an Italian queen
and brood to some over-curious tyros, and when, out of some seventy or
eighty thousand bees, one-half were slain in the course of an hour.
Lastly, they are in a stinging mood when they are queenless and before
they have got over the agitation; also when in excitement during her
majesty's nuptial excursion. The best time to choose for operations is
when, with the hive in a normal condition and the weather agreeable,
the great mass of the older bees are out upon the wing. It is these
that there is the principal occasion to fear.
Occasionally even a skilful aparian may inadvertently, crush a single
bee; such a mischance is detected by the whole community with much
more facility than by any "crowner's quest," and their prompt verdict
decrees the summary punishment of the offender. There would be much
less fear of stings if it were always remembered that bees are never
aggressive. "Defence, not defiance," is their motto. They scarcely ever
attempt to sting when away from the hive, and very seldom indeed at the
time of swarming, for then they are gorged with honey. When molested
by angry bees, do not attempt to beat them off; the safest and best
retreat is a green bush. Thrust your head into this, or, if no such
refuge is near, in an emergency throw yourself on the ground, and, with
face downwards, the bees will soon leave you.
Yet some people appear to think they must inevitably be stung if they,
meddle with bees, and for their sakes it is needful to explain why it
is that a sting is painful, and how the wound inflicted by the bee may
be cured. The weapon, as we see it with our naked eye--finer than a
needle's point--is only the sheath, which lengthens or contracts like
the tubes of a telescope (see page 104). The dart, as before said, is
barbed on each side, so that the bee, when _very_ angry, is scarcely
ever able to withdraw it, but--
"Deems life itself to vengeance well resigned,
Dies on the wound, and leaves the sting behind."
There are, indeed, some happy mortals whose "blood such
an even tenour keeps" that a bee-sting is to them simply a puncture,
and nothing more. But unfortunately, as Langstroth puts it, "they seem
to take a mischievous pleasure in stinging those upon whom the poison
produces the most virulent effect." Dr. Bevan has suggested that lovers
should subject themselves to the ordeal of a bee-sting, in order to
prove, we suppose, that their temper is proof against "the _stings_ and
arrows" of any "outrageous fortune" that matrimony can bring.
It is the infinitesimally minute tincture of poison injected by the
bee which causes inflammation. The first thing to do is to remove
the sting, which, even when detached from the bee, will continue to
penetrate still further into the wound. Next press the hollow point
of a watch-key exactly over the place stung; this will express a
considerable portion of the virus. Then dip the hand into, or bathe
the part with, cold or tepid water, for the poison is volatile, and
will thereby be dissipated, to a great extent. On no account whatever
should the part affected be rubbed; to do that will diffuse the poison
and increase the inflammation. The specific remedy for a bee-sting is
taught us by chemistry: the venom is an acid, which an alkali will
immediately neutralise when brought into contact with it. Spirits of
hartshorn will generally be found efficacious, and should therefore
always be kept in an apiary. There are also several other remedies
more or less effectual, according to the special constitution of the
patient. A strong infusion of tobacco-water applied to the wound after
the sting has been extracted is a specific for many persons; others
find relief from the application of a sliced onion, while Frau Lieb,
of Jassy, declares nothing so efficacious as one's own saliva. Two
preparations may be named as made especially for the purpose--the
"Ledum Palustre," and Dr. Pine's "Bee-keeper's Lotion."
We have heard the remark from several who have kept bees for years,
that the poison from a sting has little or no effect on them; after
receiving many inflictions their flesh appears to become so little
affected that the swelling and pain at one time experienced no longer
trouble them. Herr Kleine recommends bee-keepers to subject themselves
intentionally to stinging, in order that in two years their system
may become insusceptible to the poison. No doubt those who are, so
stoically inclined will duly appreciate and gratefully acknowledge the
advice.
Boiling water poured on to bees makes a bee tea which has been highly
recommended in bad cases of strangury. Bee poison itself is a specific
with homœopathists, but one bee-sting is _not_ cured by a second, as
Mr. Langstroth satisfactorily demonstrated at the cost of much personal
pain.
§ II. POSITION OF HIVES.
Some writers on bee-culture attach much importance to the particular
position in which an apiary stands and the aspect towards which it
faces. A southern, or rather a south-eastern aspect, is the one which
we recommend. Our reason for this preference is that we deem it very
important for the bees to have the first of the morning sun. Bees are
early risers, and should have every inducement given them for the
maintenance of so excellent a practice. A few years since, many strong
opinions were expressed in favour of a northern aspect for hives. The
chief reason given for those opinions, though very plausible, appears
to us to be a very partial and inadequate one. It was said that, when
the hives face the south, the bees may, like the incautious swallow in
the fable, be tempted to fly abroad in the transient winter sunshine,
and then perish in the freezing atmosphere when a passing cloud
intervenes. But it is a very easy matter, if considered needful, to
screen the entrance by fixing up matting so as to intercept the rays of
the sun. At our own apiary we make no alteration in winter, under the
belief that the bees will take care of themselves and that they seldom
venture out when the weather is unsuitable.
Columella gave a number of directions on this point, the essence of
which may be stated as follows. If in a valley it will be easier for
the loaded bees to return home than if on a hill; it must not be
"exposed to noisome smells, nor to the din of men or cattle;" it should
be near a shallow running stream with pebbles for the bees to alight
on, but not near deep water with steep banks'; and the trees near
should be low, and convenient for manipulation in swarming.
The vicinity of sugar warehouses, or other places of temptation of
the kind, is certain to prove prejudicial if not fatal to an apiary.
The beeish instinctive love for sweets, like all other good things,
has its bad side, and here we see it developed into a propensity to
acquire on the shortest and easiest though most suicidal method. Mr.
Langstroth tells us that he once furnished a sweet-shop will gauze
windows and doors, when the bees "alighted on the wire by thousands,
fairly squealing with vexation," and in desperation they descended the
chimney, which had to be stopped in like manner.
§ III. PASTURAGE FOR BEES.
"Bees work for man; and yet they never bruise
Their master's flower, but leave it, having done,
As fair as ever, and as fit for use."
Apiarians generally agree in the opinion that very little can be done
in the way of providing any special forage for bees. Yet bee-fanciers
are always interested in observing which are the flowers that the
bees prefer; and there are certain well-established conclusions as to
the kind of districts and seasons which are the likeliest to produce
a good honey harvest. There is an old saying, that a country which
produces the finest wool also yields the best honey; and a pastoral
district is decidedly better than one under tillage. The principle of
the matter is, that the bees are best suited with a long dry season--an
early spring, a hot summer, and a late autumn. As not one of these
blessings can be commanded by the apiarian, his art must be applied
to providing some mitigation of the injury suffered by the bees when
the season is short or wet. For early springs the crocus, the blue
hepatica, and the violet all afford good supplies of pollen and honey,
and, if cultivated near the apiary, will be of great service when the
wild flowers are backward. All varieties of the willow and poplar
furnish early supplies of honey, as well as of the propolis to be
presently described; the blossoms of the gooseberry and currant are
very useful for the bees in May. Wet, when it enters flowers of any
kind, prevents, the tongue of the bee from reaching the secret source
of honey. On this account it is well to know, as does the bee, that the
drooping blossoms of the raspberry escape the effect of the showers,
and honey is gathered from them when other flowers are drenched within
as well as without. For a similar reason borage (_Borago officinalis_)
is valuable for bees, and also because that plant continues to flower
until the frosts set in. The honey both from raspberry blossoms and
borage is very superior. Mr. Langstroth says, that "the precipitous
and rocky lands of New England, which abound with the wild red
raspberry, might be made almost as valuable as some of the vine-clad
terraces of the mountain districts of Europe." The golden rod and also
asters afford superior honey for autumn gathering. Dzierzon strongly
recommends buckwheat being sown in the winter stubbles on behalf of
the bees, and he tries hard to persuade farmers that it is to their
interest to cultivate it. It should be named that all the ordinary
fruit blossoms, especially that of the apple, supply abundant store for
bees.
It is, however, to wild or field flowers that the bee-master must
chiefly look for the raw material on which his myriad artisans shall
exert their skill. The white clover of the pasture,[32] the wild thyme
on the hill, the heather on the moors, the furze and the broom on the
sandy waste, offer exhaustless stores for a greater number of bees
than can ever be located near them. Lime trees, when in blossom, and
mignonette are also most valuable resources; and there are two or three
peculiar sources of honey which one would not have suspected, as, for
instance, the blossoms of the onion plant, of turnips, and, in still
greater degree, the flower of the mustard plant.
[Footnote 32: It is a good practice to induce the owners of adjacent
fields to sow clover seed.]
In those districts of England where mustard seed is cultivated so
extensively, it would be well worth while for the farmers to keep large
colonies of bees. Another, but a very uncertain, source of honey is
the "honey-dew," which in some seasons appears in large quantities on
the leaves of the oak, the lime, and some other trees (see below).
§ IV. HONEY.
All that need be said in this place is a few observations upon honey
considered in itself. Practically, but not absolutely, it is destitute
of nitrogen, which is the flesh-forming principle in food. It has
been much contended whether or not it undergoes any transformation by
being swallowed by the bee. Dzierzon and others have maintained that
it does; Gundelach and Dr. Dönhoff have taken the contrary view, and
Von Berlepsch has come round to the same, which it will be seen is
also held by Schmid and Kleine, from whom we translate the following
description of this article:--
"Honey may be of diverse origin: it is either nectar or bud honey, or
leaf honey (the so-called honey-dew), or aphis honey [another form of
honey-dew], or fruit honey. The sources of honey unfortunately do not
flow with the same strength everywhere and at all times.
"For collecting the honey, bees are provided with tongues
and honey-stomachs.... In the stomach the honey undergoes no
transformation; only by evaporation in the cells does it receive its
subsequent distinctive character. After sufficient evaporation the
cells that contain it are sealed over with flat wax lids.
"Between different honeys there exists an essential difference in
respect of aroma, taste, colour, and composition. Whether there is
such a thing as poisonous honey is a question upon which opinions are
divided.
"In trade honey is often adulterated with starch, syrup, sugar, and
more pernicious ingredients, which can easily be detected by chemical
and microscopical analysis. The crystallisation of honey differs
essentially from that of sugar or of a mixture of honey and sugar."
On this matter of adulteration we have been favoured with some remarks
from a well-known apiarian who writes under the name of "A Lanarkshire
Bee-keeper." He recommends the purchaser to take a common test-tube,
nearly fill it with water, and add about one-twelfth as much of the
honey; when dissolved it will be turbid if the honey was pure, but
clear if sugar had been mixed with it. Those who wish to proceed
further may add a few drops of concentrated nitric acid, and then let
the tube stand for a week, at the end of which time the honey will be
precipitated, but the sugar remain in solution, and then by filtration
the quantities may be found.
Honey, like most vegetable products, should be fresh every year. It
may easily be kept from one season to the next; but after that, unless
carefully stored in a warm temperature, it will crystallise in the
comb, or perhaps ferment if separated therefrom.
Bees will often gather honey from the laurel, ivy, or other sources
more agreeable to themselves than to us, in which case there is little
choice but to leave the benefit of it to its producers (see page 97).
Again, the fact related by Xenophon in the retreat of the Ten Thousand,
that bees in Asia Minor extracted honey from plants which had not only
a disagreeable but a poisonous tendency to man, shows that it is quite
possible, where such noxious plants abound, for the bees to extract the
juices without any injury to themselves.
§. V. POLLEN, OR BEE-BREAD.
Bees, when fully grown, feed almost wholly on honey; but the larvæ
require for their development a more substantial kind of nourishment.
Such solid fare is found by the bees in the pollen of flowers, a
farina which contains the nitrogenous element of which honey is nearly
destitute. The body of a worker bee is covered with hairs, to which the
pollen adheres when, by contact with the bee, it is rubbed from the
anthers of flowers (see page 88). Dewy mornings or humid bowers suit
the bees for the gathering of the pollen. If the atmosphere be too dry
for kneading it into pellets, they roll themselves in the blossoms,
and on their return, with assistance from others, brush off the farina
into the cells intended for it. A portion of this "bee-bread" is taken
at once by the "nursing bees," who are supposed to subject it to some
change before offering it to the larvæ; but the greater part of the
pollen is stored away and reversed in the cells for future use. In
April and May the bees are frequently busy "all the day" in gathering
pollen, and often one community of bees will collect about twenty
pounds weight of "bee-bread" in one season.
One of the objects of the apiarian is to assist the bees in providing
for the nurslings of the hive. Dr. Dzierzon first suggested the plan
of providing the bees with "unbolted rye meal" as a substitute for
the farina of flowers. He had observed that, in early spring, before
the flowers were open, his bees had entered a neighbouring cornmill,
from whence they returned laden with rye flour. Since his discovery,
some keepers, in early spring, have placed rye or wheat meal near the
apiaries; to this artificial store the bees repair by thousands, and
seek to rollick in the enjoyment of such plenty, many of them returning
to the hive as dusty as millers. The object in thus supplying them
is that the brood may be rapidly brought forward, and early swarming
induced. In this way a few pounds of rye meal, at one penny per pound,
may tend to the production of very many pounds of honey of twelve times
the price.
In the _British Bee Journal_ there is a recommendation to sprinkle
pea flour amongst deal shavings in any open vessel, and place this
near the hives so that bees have access to it. We can endorse this
recommendation, for we know that it is freely taken by the bees.
If the bee-keeper ascertains that for some interval no pollen has been
conveyed into any particular hive he may regard it as a sure sign that
no young bees are there hatching, and consequently that the hive is
without a queen. Mr. Mahan, of Philadelphia, once met with a hive which
no pollen had been seen to enter for twenty-eight days; he put a queen
into it, took out his watch, and observed in three and a half minutes a
bee come in with pollen on its legs--many more speedily following!
Some remarks on the services which bees render to flowers will be found
in the section upon "Faculties and Functions" (page 55).
§. VI. PROPOLIS, OR BEES' CEMENT.
"Propolis" is a Greek word which originally signified "the outskirts
of a city," but was adopted by Latin writers on bees to denote the
sticky substance with which these city-rearing insects _protect_
their outskirts. It is "a resinous substance, very tenacious and
semi-transparent," which is indispensable for the bees as a cement
wherewith to fix their combs and fortify their hives against
intruders.[33] The bees, in working the propolis, often soften it by
blending it with a portion of wax; but they have to extract it in
its natural state directly from the bark and buds of certain trees.
The bark of the willow, the leaf-buds of the poplar and alder, and
the unopened blossoms of the hollyhock are very usual sources of
propolis. In the case of a new swarm, as bees must have this glue
before they can begin to build their combs, they will resort to most
unlikely places to obtain it. Sometimes they will enter a paint-shop
and attack the varnish, and it is said they have been seen to obtain
propolis from the pitch and rigging of a ship. These circumstances
afford intelligible hints to the apiarian, who, if his bees have not
easy access to firs, poplars, or willows, will provide some glutinous
or resinous matter which may serve for a substitute. The extraction of
propolis costs the bees very considerable labour, which they should be
relieved of as much as possible in order to facilitate their great work
of honey-gathering. Bees choose the warmer part of the day during which
to gather propolis, as then it does not so rapidly stiffen. Frequently
when they arrive at the hive it has become so hard that the other bees
are scarcely able to gnaw it from their thighs.
[Footnote 33: Egyptian bees, however, substitute wax, as stated on page
50.]
With propolis bees fasten down their hives, stop up crevices, to
exclude moths and ants, and sometimes use it to narrow their doorways
against the invasion of wasps. Extraordinary anecdotes are told of the
prompt and ingenious use they make of this substance. Réaumur relates
that, a snail having been observed by the bees on the window of the
hive, they proceeded to glue the shell to the glass, and there sealed
down the intruder in hopeless durance. In another case, that of a slug,
the bees, having slain it with their stings, were quite unable to
remove it from the hive. With wonderful foresight they then proceeded
to secure their community from the noxious effects likely to arise from
the decay of the carcase; and this they did by completely enveloping
it with a coating of impervious varnish. Huish relates a similar
occurrence in the case of a mouse caught in a hive by bees. Propolis
yields benzoic acid, and contains some aromatic properties.
§ VII. SECRETION OF WAX.
We have already made some remarks upon wax in the Chapter on "Anatomy
and Physiology." The subject is one that even yet has not been
thoroughly cleared up, though the discoveries of Hornbostel and Huber
have demonstrated that instead of being a vegetable product extracted
from pollen it is a fatty secretion of the bees themselves. But later
observers have come to the conclusion that though not obtained direct
from pollen, that food is essential to their power of secreting it.
Cases are certainly recorded in which combs have been built when the
bees had for several days been deprived of the means of procuring
this food, but it has not been shown that bees which have _never_ had
access thereto have still the power of secreting wax; Langstroth on
the contrary asserts that some pollen is _always_ found in the stomach
of wax-producers. So Dzierzon: "Even if wax, as a fat, is [like honey]
a substance destitute of nitrogen, and even if feeding upon honey or
sugar is alone sufficient to enable the bees to prepare it, it does
not therefore follow that pollen is not necessary for its continued
production. For, as already remarked, the bees can prepare food for
their young for a considerable time without pollen, yet no one would
assert that this is unnecessary for the nourishment of the brood. In
the one case as the other the bees are sustained by a certain store
taken into themselves, but which by degrees becomes exhausted." To
yield one pound of wax they require to consume from thirteen to twenty
pounds of honey; so that it would seem as if honey was the food-forming
principle of the wax, and pollen the stimulant that imparted to their
own organs the capacity for effecting the transformation.
The bees, it need hardly be stated, elaborate this secretion by
clustering themselves in festoons and curtains, in which they remain,
the fore legs of one clasping the hind ones of another, perfectly still
for some twenty-four hours, at the end of which time the scales are
found exuding around them, as mentioned in our earlier reference.
The little plates of wax are withdrawn by the bee itself with its hind
feet, and carried to the mouth with its fore feet, where the wax is
made soft and ductile; vigorous shakes of the body assist in detaching
the plates, and the floor-board is afterwards found covered with the
pieces that have fallen. One by one some of them then leave the cluster
and deposit their burdens in rough masses, which are subsequently
wrought by others into the hexagonal form. But it seems feasible that
the lower bees pass their secretions up the living ladder to the
uppermost ones to undergo this double process. The rapidity with which
comb-building progresses at such times would lead to the supposition
that there is a division of labour of this kind among them, just as
our labourers convey building material to the artisans on the scaffold
above. This work of comb-building is carried forward in warm weather,
for a cold temperature interferes with the secretion of wax. Von
Berlepsch declares that he has known cases in which a hive has built
three hundred square inches of comb in a single night!
The secretion of wax, and the method of its adaptation by the bees, are
thus admirably described by Evans:--
"So, filtered through yon flutterer's folded mail,
Clings the cooled wax, and hardens to a scale.
Swift, at her well-known call, the ready train
(For not a buzz boon Nature breathes in vain)
Spring to each falling flake, and bear along
Their glossy burdens to the builder throng.
* * * * *
These in firm phalanx ply their twinkling feet,
Stretch out the ductile mass, and form the street,
With many a cross-way path and postern gate,
That shorten to their range the spreading state.
Those with sharp sickle, or with sharper tooth,
Pare each excrescence, and each angle smooth,
Till now, in finished pride, two radiant rows
Of snow-white cells one mutual base disclose.
Six shining panels gird each polished round,
The door's fine rim with waxen fillet bound,
While walls so thin, with sister walls combined,
Weak in themselves, a sure dependence find."
§ VIII. ROBBING.
We have had many times to allude to the truly sad character which
our little favourites bear in this particular. Directions as to the
precautions necessitated thereby have been given pretty generally in
connection with operations in which it is to be feared, so that one
or two general remarks are all that need be added here. Von Berlepsch
stoutly maintains that there are no professional robbers amongst the
bees, but that all are ready to lend a hand in a job of the kind when
it is to be had. This is probably true in great part, but not to the
extent that there exist no individual differences in the strength of
the propensity, and the remark quoted from Dzierzon on "black" bees
(page 72) may be taken as expressive of the other side of the truth.
It is queenless stocks, nucleus hives, and weak colonies in general
that have most need for protection against enemies of their own kind.
By keeping the entrances narrowed, and feeding carefully without
leaving a trace of food about, the enticements to plunder may be kept
down as much as possible. It has been recently recommended in extreme
cases to saturate a rag with carbolic acid diluted with water (fully
half); this will effectually repel all except those who have no other
home to which to betake themselves. But it will be obnoxious to these
latter as well, so should not be lightly resorted to.
Mr. Langstroth has a capital little bit about a highhanded piece
of audacity that has been occasionally observed in our insect.
House-robbing, it seems, is not bad enough for them, but they will even
go the length of acting as highwaymen and garotters. For thus runs the
story of their waylaying and despoiling the humble bee: "Seizing the
honest fellow they give him to understand that they want his honey. If
they killed him they would never be able to extract his spoils from
their deep recesses; they therefore bite and tease him, after their
most approved fashion, all the time singing in his ears, 'Your honey
or your life,' until he empties his capacious receptacle, when they
release him and lick up his sweets."
§ IX. DISEASES OF BEES.
Dysentery is a disease produced either by long confinement, by
dampness, or by feeding in the winter. The first thing bees do when
disturbed is to fill themselves with food, so that in winter weather,
when they cannot get out to void their fæces, hives should not be
meddled with, otherwise the complaint may be brought on. It is also
engendered in many instances by the state of the weather in winter
months, and is indicated by the yellow colour of the excrement,
and by its being voided upon the floors and at the entrance of the
hives, which bees in a healthy state generally keep clean. All that
can be done for them when affected is to see that there is plenty
of wholesome food in the hive, and to well clean or to change the
floor-board, and so produce cleanliness.
The more formidable, but happily less common, malady of "foul brood"
does not attack the bees themselves, but affects the larvæ, by causing
them to putrefy in the cells, thus destroying all hope of the rising
generation. Bees are exceedingly fond of their young, and are greatly
dispirited when their hives are in this plight. In common with most
pestilential disorders, no satisfactory cause is assigned for its
first appearance. Some apiarians contend that "foul brood" is another
name for chilled brood; others, that the queen, by a freak of nature,
deposits some of her eggs the wrong way upwards, and that these putrefy
in the cells, and contaminate the others. Whatever may be the origin,
one thing is very certain--"it is catching:" there is, however, in
the circumstance of the adult bees and of those about emerging from
the cells not being injuriously affected thereby, a great help to its
eradication, as will presently be shown.
There are two kinds of foul brood--one of which is dry and not
contagious, the brood merely drying up in the cells; from which partial
character it is probably within the power of the bees themselves to
overcome. In the other kind, instead of drying up, the brood remains
dark and slimy in the cells, and emits a most unpleasant odour,
perceptible at some distance from the hive.
In the year 1848 Pastor Dzierzon lost a large number of stocks from
this disease; he however was enabled to banish it from his apiary,
and communicated to a German bee-journal very wholesome advice, which
Mr. Langstroth quotes, and from, which we make an extract; "When the
malady makes its appearance in only two or three of the colonies, and
is discovered early (which may readily be done in hives having movable
combs), it can be arrested and cured without damage or diminution of
profit. _To prevent the disease from spreading in a colony there is
no more reliable and efficient process_ than to stop the production
of brood; for where no brood exists none can perish or putrefy. The
disease is thus deprived both of its aliment and its subjects. The
healthy brood will mature and emerge in due time, and the putrid matter
remaining in a few cells will dry up, and be removed by the workers.
All this will certainly result _from a well-timed removal of the queen_
from such colonies. If such removal becomes necessary in the spring or
early part of the summer, a supernumerary queen is thereby obtained,
by means of which an artificial colony may be started, which will
certainly be healthy if the bees and brood used be taken from healthy
colonies. Should the removal be made in the latter part of summer, the
useless production of brood will at once be stopped and an unnecessary
consumption of honey prevented. Thus, in either case, we are gainers by
the operation."
In cases where the disease assumes a more malignant character--in
other words, "has got ahead," through "not being nipped in the bud"--it
will be well to take notice of another quotation from Mr. Langstroth's
book: "In the spring or summer, when the weather is fine and pasturage
abounds, the following cure is recommended by a German apiarian: 'Drive
out the bees into any clean hive, and shut them up in a dark place
without food for twenty-four hours; prepare for them a clean hive,
properly fitted up with comb from healthy colonies; transfer the bees
into it, and confine them two days longer, feeding them with pure
honey.'"
The late Mr. Woodbury's apiary was severely attacked by this disease
in the spring and summer of 1863. The writer happened to be on a visit
to him at this juncture, and witnessed him withdrawing infected combs
from hives that were literally masses of corruption, the brood-cells
of which, on being opened with a pointed instrument, revealed the
dark brown slimy matter before alluded to, and from which arose a
most unpleasant smell. Mr. Woodbury communicated to the _Journal
of Horticulture_, of July 21, 1863, an exact and graphic account
of his misfortunes, headed "A Dwindling Apiary." Finding that the
removal of the putrid matter must be simultaneously effected and the
bees driven out and placed in hives that had undergone a complete
purification, he set about endeavouring to accomplish his object, and
was so far successful that he was able to furnish an article to the
before-named journal of August 4, same year, under the more cheerful
title of "Convalescent," in which he says: "First, let me endorse the
opinions both of Dzierzon and Rothe, that, except under very especial
circumstances, it is unadvisable to attempt the cure of a foul-breeding
stock: better, far better, to consign its inhabitants to the brimstone
pit; the hive itself, if a straw one, to the flames; the comb to the
melting-pot; and appropriate the honey to any purpose, except that of
feeding bees."
Mr. Woodbury further says: "Before starting, it was requisite to ensure
the transfer of the bees to unpolluted hives; and here I found that
Dzierzon declares that every hive that has contained a foul-breeding
colony should be exposed to the sun and air for two years before
being re-stocked. In my own case this was simply impossible, and I
therefore adopted the practice of another German writer on the subject,
viz., to scrape out the hive very carefully, wash it all over with a
saturated solution of chloride of lime, keeping it closely shut up
for twenty-four hours, and then, after thoroughly washing it with
clean water, exposing it to the sun and air until the smell of the
disinfectant had passed off. This method has the advantage of enabling
one to use a wooden hive again after a lapse of a couple of days, and
is, I believe, thoroughly effectual."
Mr. Woodbury then captured the queen, secured her in a cage, and placed
her in a clean empty hive; all her bees were brushed from their combs
into it as rapidly as possible, in order to prevent their carrying
much of the infected honey with them; whilst the combs themselves
were set draining out of the bees' reach, and consigned as quickly
as possible to the melting-pot. After the lapse of three or four
days, the queen (still imprisoned) and bees were again transferred
to another clean hive, furnished with a few pure combs, and in this
they were suffered to remain, their queen being released in a day or
two, as soon as they appeared contentedly settled. Mr. Woodbury gives
another important hint, that operations of this kind with tainted
combs should be performed out of reach of robber bees from adjacent
hives, lest they should carry the infection to their respective
houses. By the before-mentioned process, he succeeded in completely
extirpating foul brood from his apiary in 1863, and had no return of it
afterwards. English apiarian writers have made so little allusion to
this disorder, that some of our older bee-keepers contend that modern
hives and foreign bees have something to do with bringing it about. To
show that the disease made its appearance in former days, there is a
chapter on this subject in Bonner's "Bee-Keeper's Companion," published
at Berwick in 1798, entitled "An Uncommon Disaster which sometimes,
though rarely, happens to Bees." Bonner, after recounting therein his
observations of the dwindling state of his own apiary, for which he
could not account, says: "He saw plainly that the young were all going
backward in the cells, and that he looked down between the combs, but
was unable to proceed for the stench that the rotten maggots produced."
Mr. Langstroth writes that "Aristotle speaks of a disease which was
accompanied with a disgusting smell, so that there is reason to believe
that foul brood was known two-thousand years ago."
Our own observation leads us to the belief that foul brood is caused
in many instances by feeding stocks with fermented honey or with syrup
likely to ferment. All liquid food should _be boiled before it is
given_ to the bees, to destroy any impurity and to make it wholesome,
for in several cases we have found stocks to be infected that have thus
been incautiously fed.
Suspicion may be aroused of the existence of foul brood in any kind
of hive, firstly, by the unproductiveness of the bees, also by the
diminishing number at the entrance; and if very far advanced the odour
will be very noticeable a few feet from the hive. But in bar-frame
hives an experienced eye will on examination readily detect the malady
if present by the dark unwholesome appearance of the comb, and by the
caps covering the diseased brood being sunken rather than raised. Small
perforations are noticeable in some, and in others the grubs may be
seen rotting in unsealed cells. We know of no cure, but some foreign
apiarians of experience recommend injecting a solution of salycilic
acid into every diseased cell; others say that carbolic-acid will
effect a cure; we know that the latter is very distasteful to the
bees and therefore should not be disposed, to advise its use. The best
thing to do is to break the hive up at once. The bees may be saved by
being put in quarantine a short time, and the hive cleansed as before
mentioned; but if the hive be a valuable straw one, after cleansing
and scraping, the interior should be coated with shellac dissolved in
spirits of wine. If a frame hive it will be best to have new frames
rather than to attempt to cleanse the old ones. To allow a hive to die
out is very dangerous, because the bees from other hives will rob and
carry the infected honey to their combs, and thus every colony within
bee-flight is liable to be polluted.
It may be well to give a hint about using old combs. Any that is very
black should be rejected, because the disease is sometimes present
in old hives, and also because each maggot leaves behind a silken
film which lines the top, sides, and base of the cell, also a slight
deposit of excrement which the bees do not clear away; thus the cells
grow smaller and the bees reared in them are also diminished in size,
although the bees do add a little to the mouth of the cell. On this
account we would recommend all when purchasing stocks to see that they
are not very old. The combs of a hive may be said to be the furniture
and storehouse of the bees, which in long service wear out and to some
extent become after a lapse of years unfit tenements for use. To remedy
this, Nature, always true to her laws and careful to make provision
for the perpetuation of the species, may have ordered that swarming
should be the means of establishing fresh colonies freed from the
disadvantages and contamination of the old. The late Mr. J. H. Payne,
of Bury St. Edmunds, had a straw skep that had had bees in it without
intermission for twenty years, but it is not advisable to keep them so
long, although, with a little judicious pruning, much may be done to
remedy the defects of old combs. Our own experience for keeping a stock
does not extend beyond ten years.
When we take into consideration how sorely our farmers are perplexed
by the cattle plague, known as the rinderpest, concerning which
so many conflicting opinions exist (and the same may be said of
the recommendations for its cure), can we wonder that our little
favourites should occasionally be liable to disorders of this sort
which puzzle even experienced bee-keepers? In the hope of allaying
unnecessary alarm, we would just add that foul brood is not a very
general complaint, and, so far as our observation extends, has been
most fatal in large experimental apiaries, where extensive propagation
has necessarily had to be pushed forward. With the experience and
advice already gained, this disorder may now be said to be considerably
deprived of its terrors.
We find several other complaints described at more or less length by
Von Berlepsch, but to which a very brief allusion will here suffice.
One he speaks of under the self-explaining title of "thirst-need,"
as to which he rightly remarks that it will be the bee-keeper's own
fault or inexperience if his bees are ever allowed to suffer from it.
Then there is "mad sickness," which consists in tumbling about as if
intoxicated, and which Dzierzon says he meets with nearly every year,
and conjectures to arise from partaking of poisoned honey--he suspects
the honey to be _naturally_ poisonous, since he observes this complaint
almost regularly at the time when the mountain ash is in bloom. The
next is "wing lameness," which the Baron' conjectures may be the
real disorder just spoken of as madness. Lastly we have the "thread
fungus," which is a growth found by Leuckart and Dönhoff in the stomach
and intestines of several bees, and which they pronounce contagious.
Our author does also include among the "sicknesses" of bees such
irregularities as rising against and murdering their queen; but one
would think that this was rather a political disorder, or else a case
for a commission of lunacy.
The apparent fungus growths seen occasionally on the heads and bodies
of bees have been found to be nothing more than the effect of smearing
with the gummy pollen of orchids, or with other glutinous vegetable
juices, on which afterwards ordinary pollen has collected and thus
caused the appearance of tufts or patches.
§ X. BEE ENEMIES.
Bees have few worse enemies than wasps in autumn. The most effectual
method of checking their invasion of hives is to have as narrow an
entrance as the bees can do with. If a stock is not very weak in
numbers the bees will be well able to guard a small aperture, and can
repel the attacks of these insidious and merciless robbers. On this
account the entrance to our cottage hive, as described at page 114, may
be used.
The bee-keeper is interested in preventing the increase of wasps; it is
therefore a good practice for him to set a price on queen wasps in the
spring, the death of one of them at that time being equivalent to the
destruction of a whole nest.
Should nests be found in the neighbourhood of an apiary, their
annihilation must be accomplished either by blowing them up with
gunpowder--an operation well understood by most country lads--or any
other effectual method. The late Mr. Payne recommended that a small
quantity of gas tar should be put into the mouth of a wasps' nest, and
if then covered with earth, the total destruction of the wasps will
be accomplished without further trouble. But to use blazing straw for
the purpose is always dangerous in country districts. We have lately
heard of a very ingenious and successful mode of entrapping and killing
wasps. Place some sugar or strongly sweetened compound on the ground in
a garden, and place over it a square hand-glass, wedged up an inch or
so all round. On this glass, which should have an opening at the apex,
lodge another, but a sound one. The wasps, attracted by the sweets,
will soon crowd under the lower glass, and, when they have well
feasted, will ascend into the upper, one; there, between the two, they
soon become scorched and perish by the heat of the sun shining on the
outer glass.
Some seasons are very productive for the increase of these prime pests
of the apiary, and when this is the case many hives severely suffer
by their depredations. When once wasps in any number have gained an
entrance into a hive, the bees can seldom eject them, and the invaders
generally remain until they have freely regaled themselves from the
luscious store. They not only consume the honey, but cause a good deal
of worry to the legitimate inhabitants of the hive, as well as killing
the foremost defenders of it. Wasps being much superior in strength, it
requires at least three bees to master one of them.
Having suffered loss in our own apiary from the attacks of wasps, we
feel it desirable to give a detailed account of our troubles from that
cause. An Italian stock was besieged and worried by wasps to such an
extent that in September the bees deserted it in a body. Fortunately
it happened that they chose a time for their departure just as we
visited the apiary. An unusual turmoil was heard in the hive, such as
is experienced at the time of swarming, and on immediately examining
the entrance we observed that the bees were quitting in tumultuous
haste. The usual methods that induce bees to settle were tried--amongst
others that of throwing sand up into the air, so that it should
fall down amongst the bees on the wing; but they were dispersed in
disorder, and their flight extended over three adjacent gardens. We
only discovered the clustered bees by diligent search, as the sequel
will show. Permission being asked of our next-door neighbour, we
searched his garden to see if our bees had alighted there; but found
that they had passed over. Making a similar application to the owner
of the garden adjoining, we entered, having a straw hive in hand, but
no bees were there. After looking diligently all round, and climbing
the wall, thereby gaining a view of the third garden, we perceived
in it unmistakable signs of an unwonted commotion. The occupiers of
the house were intently looking at a particular part of the garden,
and there was a dust-pan and a key, with which the master had been
"tanging the bees," to induce them to settle. We quickly made for
the proper entrance to the garden, and soon discovered our little
wanderers clustered to a large flower-vase. After brushing them into
the hive, and leaving it propped up with a stick, in order that the
stray ones might join, we returned home for an hour or so, to give
them time to settle. Judge of our vexation when, on returning to fetch
the hive home, we found that the refractory creatures had again taken
flight, and that all the work was to do over again. The wasps were
not to blame for this second flight of the Italians; we judged that
the swarm had been disturbed by visits from a colony of bees that
we discovered were living the life of outlaws under the roof of an
adjoining house. Although much disheartened and perplexed, we at once
renewed our search, and, upon enquiry, found that the missing bees
had taken a southerly course across the turnpike road, and it was
therefore necessary to ask permission to search the gardens of the
houses opposite. From one of these we observed, on looking through the
hedge, that the inhabitants of the next house were on the _qui vive_.
On enquiring whether they had seen a colony of bees, the wary old dame
replied that she "had no bees but her own," but added that "they were
very much excited." Having asked permission to go through the hedge to
look at her bees, we soon discovered our Italians on the top of the
old lady's bee-house. There was no difficulty in identifying our own
bees; their yellow rings were as good as a private mark. Quickly hiving
the swarm, we took them home, and replaced them in the hive they had
quitted. It was almost destitute of honey; but by liberal feeding,
and lessening the entrance so that only one bee at a time could find
ingress or egress, we succeeded in inducing them to rest in their old
home. Thus nearly half a day's exertion was needed to save a fine
colony, which would otherwise have been utterly lost by the power of
the relentless wasps.
Much watchfulness is needed to prevent the loss of swarms, and the
foregoing incident may serve to suggest the necessity of having
hives so located as to be constantly within view, either from the
dining-room, or of those whose duties oblige them to be near the
apiary. If we had not happened to be at hand at the moment this colony
started, it would have been irretrievably lost to us, as is the case
with many swarms and colonies simply because the departure takes place
without any one to witness.
In the season of 1865 wasps were as few as they were numerous the
preceding year; their paucity was attributable either to frosts in May
or to heavy rains in June, which destroyed them in their nests. In
general wasps are great depredators of wall-fruit, but in the autumn
before mentioned the bees occupied the wasps' foraging-ground. Perhaps
never in the memory of bee-keepers did bees feast upon fruit in the
same manner. Various reasons have been assigned for this unusual
occurrence; some thought that as there were so few wasps the bees were
unmolested, and enjoyed the saccharine matter in the fruit without let
or hindrance--for bees are about as partial to the company of wasps
as mice are to that of rats. Other bee-keepers remarked the sudden
and early termination of the honey-gathering, and conjectured that
the bees, being anxious to make up their winter store, endeavoured to
bring home nectar from the fruit because the weather was unusually
fine. There was one feature which is worth remarking: as far as our
observation extended, the bees did not, like the wasps, break the skin
of sound fruit, but were satisfied with lapping the juice of the ripe
fruit that had the skin already broken.
There are some birds that are given to preying around beehives, and if
their visits become too systematically troublesome, it may be worth
while to take active measures for making their presence scarce in
order to prevent these devourers from taking up a position near the
alighting-board and pouncing upon each bee as it makes its exit. The
toad is a less formidable enemy, but if one of these creatures is found
beneath a hive-stand it may fairly be concluded that he is on the watch
for such bees as may drop to the ground under their loads. Mice, again,
will make their abode in a hive for the winter, and devour the stores
when the bees are too inactive to interfere. Spiders, ants, and other
insects will also have to be guarded against.
Other formidable enemies of bees are moths. These insects are creatures
of the night, as the wasps are of the day, and they make their way
into the hives under cover of darkness, in spite of the bee sentinels.
They deposit their eggs in any crevices in or near the hive that they
can find. There the warmth of the hive, or of the sheltered situation,
causes the eggs speedily to hatch, and then the maggots soon work their
way to the comb and larvæ food, which they greedily devour, thereby
often bringing about the gradual but certain destruction of the whole
community of bees. The best method of keeping moths outside the hives
is to lessen the entrance, as before alluded to. Also, in the early
spring, the hives should be lifted from their floor-boards, which must
then be made thoroughly clean; and all crevices and corners about the
hive and stand should be scraped, so as to get rid of all eggs of moths
and other insects before the warm weather hatches them or enables them
to do mischief The bee-moth is not so troublesome in England as it
is in America and some parts of Germany; but still its encroachments
should be carefully guarded against in this country, for if not it may
easily increase to a very serious extent.
§ XI. BEE-KEEPING IN LONDON.
There are many persons, now in this noisy city pent, who frequently
remember the days of childhood when, among pastures of clover or amidst
flowery heath and woodlands, they listened to the cheerful hum of bees.
Partly from a desire to revive these old associations, and also from a
natural liking for the tendance of living creatures, such persons would
be glad to keep bees if they thought it possible to do so in London
or its suburbs with any chance of success. We do not wonder that many
should doubt even the possibility of bees feeding themselves amidst
such an "endless meal of brick;" but we can easily prove that bees,
if not placed too near to smoky chimneys, are able to produce honey,
both for themselves and for their masters. To make this plain we will
mention some special instances of metropolitan bee-keeping.
About a century ago a Mr. Wildman kept a bee-house and honey warehouse
in Holborn, near to where Middle Row lately stood. He was not only
a tradesman, but was also the apiarian of his day. He kept hives of
thriving bees on the roof of his house in Holborn, and many of the
nobility and gentry used to mount thither in order to inspect the
apiary. At that period St. Pancras was a "village two miles north-west
of London," and what is now the Regent's Park was open country. It
was then much easier for London bees to find their favourite forage,
but Mr. Wildman believed that his hives were filled with stores from
a considerable distance. Whilst enjoying his country rambles on
Hampstead Heath, he had a shrewd suspicion that many of the bees he
there observed gathering honey were labourers from his own apiary. In
order to identify his own flock amongst the rest he hit upon a homely
but very effective expedient. Having borrowed Mrs. Wildman's "dredging
box," he stationed himself near the entrance of his hives, and gently
dusted his bees with flour as they issued forth. He then betook himself
to Hampstead, where he found his previous surmise confirmed, for there
were numbers of his bees in their livery of white.
Wildman became noted for the remarkable control he obtained over his
bees, many instances of which he exhibited before the public. Several
of his operations with them were regarded as feats of legerdemain by
the uninitiated, as when he appeared before King George III., with
a swarm of bees hanging in festoons from his chin, or suspended in
a cluster at arms' length. The _Journal of Horticulture_ recently,
in alluding to Wildman, gives the following particulars as to his
performances:--
"Near the 'Three Hats,' Islington, was a place of popular
entertainment called 'Dobney's Tea Gardens,' kept by Mrs. Ann
Dobney. These gardens occupied the ground between White Lion Street
and Winchester Place, and were established as far back as 1728. In
1771 the house was taken for a short time as a boarding school;
but it was soon changed to its original purpose as a place of
amusement, for in 1772 Daniel Wildman exhibited bees here. This is
a copy of the advertisement:--
"'June 20, 1772. Exhibition of bees on horseback! at the Jubilee
Gardens, Islington (late Dobney's), this and every evening, until
further notice (wet evenings excepted).
"'The celebrated Daniel Wildman will exhibit several new and
amazing experiments, never attempted by any man in this or any
other kingdom before. The rider standing upright, one foot on
the saddle and one on the neck, with a mask of bees on his head
and face. He also rides standing upright on the saddle with the
bridle in his mouth, and, by firing a pistol, makes one part of
the bees march over the table, and the other swarm in the air and
return to their hive again, with other performances too tedious to
insert. The doors open at six; to begin at a quarter before seven.
Admittance--Box and gallery, 2s.; the other seats. 1s.'"
The secret of Wildman's skilful manipulation is well understood now; it
consisted in a careful holding and disposal of the queen, together with
confidence in the generally inoffensive disposition of bees. Dr. Evans,
whom we have often quoted for his correct information in apiarian
matters, thus speaks of his feats:--
"Such was the spell which round a Wildman's arm
Twined in dark wreaths the fascinated swarm,
Bright o'er his breast the glittering legions led,
Or with a living garland bound his head.
His dextrous hand, with firm, yet hurtless hold,
Could seize the chief, known by her scales of gold,
Amidst the wondering train prune her thin wing.
Or o'er her folds the silken fetter fling."
To recur to our subject. After the days of Wildman our own
establishment in Holborn became widely known for beehives and honey.
Although we never attempted to start a London apiary at all approaching
in extent that of our predecessor, we have occasionally kept bees on
the house-top, both in Holborn and Regent Street. At each of those
situations we have noticed that the bees bring pollen as well as
honey into their hives. One summer there was brought under our notice
an illustration of the acuteness of the scent of bees and of their
diligent search for food, proving, too, that if sweets can be obtained,
even from unusual sources, the bees will find them out. A poor woman,
who, at the corner of an adjacent street, vends "brandy balls,"
"toffee," "rock," and other saccharine compounds--all well known to
most juveniles--used to receive frequent visits from our bees. Their
visits to the old dame's domain were at first rather interesting, and
if the few pioneers who had the sagacity to find such a store had
kept the secret only to themselves, their company would not have been
objected to. Such selfish policy does not, however, accord with the
social instinct of bees, and these soon informed their companions of
the good fortune provided for them in an archipelago of sugar islands.
Day by day the swarms of these uninvited visitors increased, until all
legitimate customers were beaten off; and the old dame had to see, not
only her hope of gain destroyed, but her stock of "goodies" sensibly
diminishing by the thefts of these brigands of the air. She could not,
or dared not attempt to, drive the intruders away, so made diligent
enquiry as to where the robbers were harboured. Having traced them
to our establishment in Regent Street, she came to implore of us to
move the bees if possible, or she would have to move her stall, and so
lose her "connection" in the "toffee" and "rock" trade. Wishing not to
hinder the poor woman in gaining her livelihood, we decided on removing
our bees into the country.
Another special instance of bees being profitably kept in proximity
to the busy thoroughfares of London is now before us. Two years ago
we supplied a stock of English bees to a gentleman residing in the
Strand, the back windows of whose house open on the Thames Embankment
and the river. Thus the bees have a fine open flight, as their hive is
placed against the sash on a third floor (an opening is cut to match
the entrance, so that the bees have a covered way to their hive); from
this they are seen taking their flight across the river Thames, to what
may be thought the unattractive locality of Lambeth. However, they
seem to reach some "green fields and pastures new," probably in the
gardens of the archbishop's palace, for they return laden with pollen
from flowers, and during the two summers that the hive has been so
located, have yielded nice glasses of honeycomb as well as afforded
a considerable amount of pleasure to the owner and his friends, with
every prospect of going on flourishing.
It is difficult to assign an exact limit to the distance that bees
will go in search of honey-yielding blossoms. It has been proved by
various experiments that they will fly, say, five or six miles, if the
supplies are scanty within a shorter radius; but bees well understand
that first of all economies, the saving of time, and if they can find
forage near at hand they prefer it. Hence, other things being equal,
the quantity of honey stored will be in proportion to the contiguity of
good pasturage. In this way it is that the systematic removal of hives,
as practised in many districts, has such a notable effect on the honey
harvest.
A novel sight for Londoners to witness occurred in June 1865. A swarm,
having been ordered to be sent into the country the following morning,
was temporarily placed on the leads at the back of our house, 149,
Regent Street. The sun shining hot on the hive, or some other cause,
induced the inmates to decamp. After a time a passer-by called in
to inform us that some bees had arrested the progress of a cab. We
at once conjectured that they were our missing swarm, the absence
of which had previously puzzled us not a little; so we sent our man
with a straw hive to bring the truants back, which he succeeded in
doing, followed to the door by a crowd, who were amazed at the sight
of the "'oney-bees," as the Cockney lads called them. Cabby had to be
compensated for the loss of his fare, for the affrighted passengers
had left him in a hurry, so that, altogether, no little commotion was
caused--a crowd so soon collects in London streets.
During several years we kept bees in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's
Park, and have there frequently taken full and handsome glasses of
honey. The position of our apiary was on the site now occupied by
the new monkey house. The visitors to the gardens found considerable
interest in watching the bees in our glass hives, and were afterwards
much disappointed at the absence of so entertaining an exhibition. The
writer had the honour of showing and explaining the working of these
hives to some of the juvenile members of our Royal Family who had
come to the gardens on one of their accustomed early morning visits
with their French governess. Their conversation was in French; and on
entering the bee-room, "Regardez les abeilles! Voyez done la reine!"
was soon on their lips. The young princesses took special care that
their brother Arthur, as they affectionately called him (now known
by the title of H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught), should observe the
attention paid by the working bees to their queen, as well as to other
points of interest connected with the busy scene before them, with
which they all expressed themselves much delighted. A collection of
these hives were also exhibited by the Acclimatisation Society of Great
Britain, with living bees in them, at the Fish Department of the Royal
Horticultural Gardens, South Kensington, and prospered satisfactorily
until removed, the space being required for other objects.
A gentleman residing in St. James's Place has, for some considerable
time past, kept bees in his garden there. He uses our improved cottage
hives, and his bee-keeping is decidedly successful, as he generally
takes some fine glasses of honey each season, besides leaving
sufficient as winter store for the bees. For a London situation, St.
James's Place is a very favourable one; the gardens behind the houses
pleasantly face the Green Park, so that the bees have an uninterrupted
flight to start with. They are also within easy range of the richly
flowered gardens of Buckingham Palace and those of the nobility and
gentry who reside around the Parks. To those gardens the bees of St.
James's Place resort, without waiting for any licence or certificate
from the royal and noble owners of the honey-yielding preserves. Being
within a short distance of our establishment, when this gentleman's
bees swarm he generally sends to us for assistance in hiving them.
The neighbourhood of St. John's Wood, and, indeed, almost all the
suburbs of London, are favourable for the production of honey. We
mention St. John's Wood because, from the fact of having kept bees
there ourselves, we are able to prove by experience that they do well
in that locality. We know of several bee-keepers on nearly all sides
of the town who have each had a considerable surplus of honey in their
supers, after leaving sufficient for the bees themselves in the lower
or stock hives. Whilst referring to this part of the environs of the
metropolis we take the opportunity of explaining that our own apiary (a
coloured view of which forms the frontispiece of this work) is situated
near Hampstead. The spot is not so easy of access as might be desired,
being somewhat remote from the road, in a portion of a meadow between
West End and Kilburn.
On looking at the picture, it will be seen that there are a large
numbed of hives on separate stands, mostly bar-frame hives, at some
little distance from each other, in order to prevent confusion when
manipulating. At the back, near the hedge we have some hives on rails,
which like the others are well protected from the weather, every one
having its own covering. Besides these there are three bee-houses,
which are so suitable for preserving from the weather hives with fixed
combs, and where there is less need for manipulation, such as our straw
cottage hives. One house will contain six hives, another three, and a
third two. These houses are explained at page 166.
At the back, about the centre of the drawing, is the operating house,
also forming a storehouse or magazine where apiarian appendages are
kept, together with feeding syrup and combs, etc., so essential for
use, and which yet must be secured from the thievish propensities of
the bees, and access to which, if possible to gain, demoralises them so
much that they make war and attempt to pillage each other's hives, as
elsewhere referred to.
The shallow pans in front (earthen milk pans) have water in them, and
are so placed that the bees may have access to moisture, which is so
essential for them in spring for comb-building and breeding. Straight
straws are floated on the water so as to admit of the bees imbibing
without the liability of their being drowned.
On this ground we largely cultivate Italian bees, and unite imported
queens to colonies of English bees, to be ready to supply swarms and
stocks therefrom as pure and genuine as possible.
The district is not so good for bees as if it were farther in the
country and more removed from London smoke; nevertheless we have had
fine supers worked here, and find it a great convenience to have
a bee-farm at so moderate a distance from' town to carry on this
department of our trade.
Some time ago we exhibited in our window a super of fine honey from
the apiary of Mr. Shirley Hibberd, the proprietor and editor of the
_Gardener's Weekly Magazine_. It consisted of a box containing twenty
pounds nett weight of honey, and was produced at Stoke Newington, only
three and a quarter miles from the General Post Office.
The _Times_ "Bee-Master," whose letters from Tunbridge Wells awakened
so much interest in this pleasing pursuit, also commissioned us to
exhibit a super produced under his own management in that locality. Mr.
S. B. Fox, at Exeter, had upwards of four hundred pounds of honey, of
excellent quality, though one of his apiaries is quite within the city.
§ XII. GENERAL REMARKS.
Book-Keeping.
Every bee-keeper should be a book-keeper, that is so far as to have a
permanent record of the events of the apiary and the fortunes of his
bees. A book similar to a tradesman's journal would be very suitable
for the purpose. In it he should note down the date of the first swarm
of the season especially, and those of other swarms also; and in autumn
the quantity of honey taken from each hive should be entered, with
remarks on the probable size and weight of the various stocks. These
particulars will not only be interesting for the bee-keeper to turn to
in winter, but will be of practical service in enabling him to know
the exact age and probable strength of each stock. The bee-book may
also be contrived to show the total amount of honey that the bees have
produced for their owner, and the nett profits of the apiary. A simple
and clear account like this--provided, by the bye, that it does show a
satisfactory balance--will be very useful for inducing cottagers and
farm-labourers to start bee-keeping. Nothing like ocular demonstration
for this class. The "humane" apiarian will reason with them in vain
until he shows them a monster skep of honey and mentions the price that
it will fetch in the market. When convinced that the depriving system
will pay, the cottager will gladly adopt it.
Advice for Cottagers, etc.
A writer in the _Quarterly Review_ (whose article has since been
published by Mr. Murray as a shilling handbook, "The Honey Bee") gives
the following good advice: "Don't bore the cottager with long lectures;
don't heap upon him many little books; but give him a hive of the best
construction, show him the management, and then _buy his honey_; _buy_
all he brings, even though you should have to give the surplus to some
gardenless widow. But only buy such as comes from an improved hive--and
you cannot easily be deceived in this--one which preserves the bees and
betters the honey. Then, _when you pay him_, you may read to him, if
you will, the wise rules of old Butler, _exempli gratia_:--
"'If thou wilt have the favour of thy bees that they sting thee
not, thou must not be unchaste or uncleanly; thou must not come
among them with a stinking breath, caused either through eating of
leeks, onions, or garlic, or by any other means, the noisomeness
whereof is corrected by a cup of beer; thou must not be given to
surfeiting or drunkenness; thou must not come puffing or blowing
unto them, neither hastily stir among them, nor violently defend
thyself when they seem to threaten thee; but, softly moving by, thy
hand before thy face, gently put them by; and, lastly, thou must
be no stranger to them. In a word (or rather in five words), be
chaste, sweet, sober, quiet, familiar; so they will love thee and
know thee from all others.'"
These "wise rules of old Butler" are, however, in the
main taken from Columella.
Allusion having been made to the profit that may be gained by the
judicious management of bees, we will illustrate that point by relating
an anecdote of a certain French _curé_.[34] It is one which may be
suggestive to some of the rural clergy in this country, who might
almost as easily keep an apiary as they do a garden or an orchard.
[Footnote 34: This story, in a disguised form, or, as the writer would
say, an improved form, was quoted in the _Cornhill Magazine_ some time
ago. In transforming the bee-keeping _curé_ into an English clergyman
the effect was cleverly enhanced, especially as to the dismay of the
decorous English prelate in hearing that his poor brother in the Church
had turned "manufacturer;" but then the _vraisemblance_ of the story,
as we have it, was destroyed.]
A good French bishop, in paying his annual visit to his clergy, was
very much afflicted by the representations they made to him of their
extreme poverty, which, indeed, the appearance of their houses and
families corroborated. Deploring the sad state of things which had
reduced them to such a condition, he arrived at the house of a curate,
who, living amongst a poorer set of parishioners than any he had yet
visited, would, he feared, be in a still more woful plight than the
rest. Contrary, however, to his expectations, he found the appearance
of this remote parsonage to be superior to those he had already
visited. Everything about the house wore the aspect of comfort and
plenty. The good bishop was amazed. "How is this, my friend?" said he;
"you are the first pastor I have met with having a cheerful face and a
plentiful board! Have you any income independent of your cure?" "Yes,
sire," said the pastor, "I have: my family would starve on the pittance
I receive from the poor people that I instruct. If you will walk into
the garden, I will show you the stock that yields me such excellent
interest." On going into the garden he showed the bishop a long range
of beehives. "There," said he, "is the bank from which I draw an annual
dividend, and it is one that never stops payment." His harvest of
honey enabled him almost to dispense with the use of sugar, leaving
him a considerable quantity for disposal in the market; of the coarser
portions he made a tolerable substitute for wine, and the sale of the
wax nearly paid his shoemaker's bill. Ever afterwards, when any of the
clergy complained to the bishop of poverty, he would say to them, "Keep
bees! keep bees!" In this succinct advice--extending it to laity as
well as clergy in rural districts--we heartily join, believing that in
this country a tenfold greater number of hives might be successfully
kept than are now established.
In a very practical sense the oft-repeated lines of Gray are strictly
true:--
"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
An apiary in the garden of every village clergyman would
afford the means of economising this unclaimed bounty of Providence.
An Old Anecdote.
An amusing instance of the fondness of bears for honey is related by a
Muscovite ambassador to Rome, in the "Feminine Monarchie; written out
of Experience by Charles Butler. Printed in the Year 1609"--a quaint,
but sensible work:--
"A neighbour of mine (saith he), in searching in the woods for
honey, slipped down into a great hollow tree, and there sunk into a
lake of honey up to the breast; where--when he had stuck fast two
days, calling and crying out in vain for help, because nobody in
the meanwhile came nigh that solitary place--at length, when he was
out of all hope of life, he was strangely delivered by the means of
a great bear, which, coming thither about the same business that he
did, and smelling the honey, stirred with his striving, clambered
up to the top of the tree, and then began to lower himself down
backwards into it. The man bethinking himself, and knowing that the
worst was but death--which in that place he was sure of--beclipt
the bear fast with both his hands about the loins, and withal
made an outcry as loud as he could. The bear being thus suddenly
affrighted, what with the handling and what with the noise, made up
again with all speed possible. The man held, and the bear pulled,
until, with main force, he had drawn him out of the mire; and then
being let go, away he trots, more afeared than hurt, leaving the
smeared swain in joyful fear."
Instructions for New Bee-Keepers.
Bees may be very inexpensively and profitably kept in the cottager's
hive (see page 110), which will be found a very productive one. It is
true that it has not the appliances of windows and bell glasses; for
the cottager is not supposed so much to care for his hives as a source
of amusement; his object in bee-keeping is simply the profit it may
bring. For those of our readers who wish to have united the facility
of observing the bees with that of the plentiful production of honey,
we would especially recommend the improved cottager's hive, described
at page 112. If inclined to go to a little further expense, the
hives described at pages 113, 120, 139, and 143, all afford constant
opportunity for inspection of the bees, and allow of their working
freely in the most natural manner. The Stewarton hive (page 146) is
also a favourite with those who give the preference to honey stored in
boxes, although the opportunities for observation are not so great as
with some others.
Renfrewshire Bee-Keeper's Hints on Supering and Prevention of Swarming.
The mention again of the Stewarton hive affords us an opportunity of
which we avail ourselves to put before our readers an extract from a
private letter received whilst the foregoing pages are in type, from
that successful and accomplished apiarian already alluded to, "The
Renfrewshire Bee-keeper," which seems to us to contain a useful hint
or two as regards putting on supers and the prevention of swarming,
which, although practised with our friend's _favourite hive_, can be
advantageously adopted with other hives. He says, "In working Stewarton
colonies, I am seldom troubled with swarms, the secret being, in giving
super space at the nick of time, before swarming mania seizes them;
and when once they have taken to supers, I keep an ample supply of
space in advance of their wants.
"However hot the weather may become, they somehow retire upstairs to
this vacant room, and comb-building there affords them employment, and
they do not readily think of swarming. For instance, in the beginning
of summer last year (1876), the season was so bad that at first I gave
them little room; suddenly the weather became hot and favourable,
and one strong colony swarmed right off. I excised the royal cells,
and returned the bees; no use--off they came again in eight or ten
days' time; took the hive to pieces, cut out all royal cells, and in
addition, the thought having occurred to me that maturing drone brood
was an accessory to swarming condition, I excised every portion of that
also. With seven supers (each four inches deep) they rested content and
kept to work most vigorously, never attempting to swarm again."
From this extract the practical bee-keeper may learn much; particularly
as regards depriving the bees of the inclination to swarm by cutting
away the drone brood.
Perhaps we may here be allowed to advise the filling up of vacancies
where excision of drone comb is made (whether with brood or without),
by the insertion of clean worker comb, in order to prevent the
construction of the former.
Bees Working in Supers.
There is a little matter here with regard to bees working in supers
that should be noticed, and that is that when the ascending hole is
round and in the centre of the stock hives, the bees sometimes start
wrong and carry the comb upwards. This has two objections: the first
is that the bees do not work so quickly as when they begin from the
roof of the super, and the other is that the queen gains an easy ascent
and deposits eggs in cells where honey is wanted. When this style of
comb-building is observed, it is best to take the super off, cut the
comb down, and endeavour to make it adhere to the crown of the super by
using a little melted wax (page 261, or if a glass, as recommended at
page 262), so that the bees may continue the work, as is their wont,
downwards.
There are few hobbies which cost so little outlay as the keeping of
bees. Once the "plant" of hives is purchased, there is little, if any,
additional expense, and always a probability of a fair return. If honey
be obtainable the bees will find it; they work for nothing, and provide
themselves with sustenance, requiring only a very little labour from
their keepers, and that labour of a pleasing and instructive kind.
To the advanced and skilful apiarian we would especially commend the
use of the frame hives. With these, as we have attempted to show, the
bee-keeper has a full command over his hives and bees. Many mistakes,
it is true, have been made by uninitiated bee-keepers in using the
more elaborate hives. Being struck with the remarkable facilities
afforded by these superior hives for the extraction of any one comb,
and, perhaps, fascinated with their easy sway over so highly organised
a community, these new-fangled bee-keepers have acquired a habit of
perpetually and incautiously meddling with the bees. The inevitable
results in such cases are, distress to the bees, impoverishment of
the stocks, and loss and vexation to the over-zealous apiarian. All
these things may be avoided if it is remembered that there are first
steps in bee-keeping, as well as in chemistry, croquet, or cricket. In
bee-keeping, as in floriculture, it is a great point to know when to
"let well alone." There is no florist, however anxious for a prize,
who would be continually pulling up his plants to see how their roots
were growing. Doubtless the full control which the bars and frames
afford over the inmost recesses of the hives is a great temptation to
the bee-keeper; but if he yields too readily to it he will imperil
his chance of profit and deprive himself of that continuous source of
interest which a judicious apiarian always enjoys.
Ignorance Concerning Bees.
Many persons who are well-informed on most subjects are profoundly
ignorant on all points of the natural history of bees; and as with old
so with young. As an amusing illustration of this, we may transcribe
an order we received a few years back from a seminary in the north
of England: "Master presents his compliments to Messrs. Neighbour,
and begs they will send him a swarm of bees; he encloses _six postage
stamps_, and hopes they will send him a _good_ swarm." This embryo
naturalist was evidently of a mercantile turn, and had a mind to buy
in the cheapest market, for in a postscript he adds: "Please let
it be fourpence, if you can!" We need scarcely say that, in reply,
we endeavoured to enlighten our juvenile correspondent as to what
constituted a swarm of bees, and returned the stamps, with our thanks.
Superstition Respecting Bees.
Much superstition has existed, and, in some quarters, still exists,
among the poor respecting bees. If a death occurs in the family of the
bee-owner, these superstitious folk consider it needful to make the
bees aware of the bereavement by "waking" them; that is, by giving a
few raps at the entrance, and audibly announcing the circumstance.
If this be not done, "no luck," say they, will come of the bees the
following season. One summer, even near the metropolis, we heard a
cottager bemoaning to his neighbour "his bad luck with his bees," when
the other replied, "Ah! no wonder; you never 'waked' your bees when
your wife died; what can you expect if you omit such needful duty?"
In many parts of France, as well as here, it is a custom on such
occasions to put the bees into mourning, by placing black crape or
some such material round the hives. Bees also receive intelligence when
a marriage or a christening takes place: in these cases the hives are
draped with red cloth. In fact it is considered an essential element
of "good luck" to inform the bees of any remarkable circumstance that
occurs in the family of the bee-keeper. How would these good people
manage with the newly imported foreign bees, for they can hardly be
expected to have learned our "lingo"? This difficulty is, however, not
likely to be experienced, for the keeping of superior sorts implies
an intelligence that would be above any such pitiable nonsense.
Fancy a man in this nineteenth century haranguing his bees after the
above-mentioned fashion! Mr. Langstroth says that "some superstitious
folk in America assert that the bees sometimes take the loss of their
master so much to heart as to alight upon the coffin whenever it is
exposed." A clergyman told him that he attended a funeral where, as
soon as the coffin was brought from the house, the bees gathered on
it so much as to excite alarm. Some years after this occurrence,
being engaged in varnishing a table, the bees alighted upon it in
such numbers as to convince the clergyman that love of the varnish
on the outside, rather than any respect for the deceased within,
was the occasion of their conduct at the funeral. Mr. Langstroth
adds: "How many superstitions, believed even by intelligent persons,
might be as easily explained, if it were possible to ascertain as
fully all the facts connected with them!" Only a short time since an
English clergyman informed us of a severe contest going on in his
garden between Church and Dissent, for he had a hive of bees from a
Nonconformist in his parish, and these dissenting bees persistently
attacked his hives to such an extent that he really must get rid of
them, and thus liberate his episcopal apiary from such discordant
disturbers of the peace.[35] Another infatuation is, that you should
on no account part with your bees for _silver_ money--only for _gold_.
This is so far sensible that it ensures a respectable price. Certain
credulous bee-keepers cannot, on any account, be induced to part with
their bees for money; they will _barter_, but not _sell_--to sell bees
is, in their view, to lay themselves open to evil fortune. If these
apprehensions are correct, our punishment will be a severe one, for we
have been great offenders in that way, and seem likely to go on sinning.
[Footnote 35: The explanation may probably be that a strong hive was
brought close to weak or queenless ones.]
The culture of bees would be greatly promoted if a knowledge of it
were considered necessary as one of the regular qualifications of a
gardener. So little time is needed to gain the skill requisite for
the tendance of an apiary, that it seems only reasonable to expect
it of a well-taught gardener, and he should feel a pleasure in the
circumstance of its forming a part of his duties. In Germany, where a
country gentleman's table is kept constantly supplied with fresh honey,
the gardeners are expected to understand the management of hives; and
in Bavaria modern bee-culture is taught in the colleges to all the
horticultural students. Travellers in Switzerland will call to mind the
almost invariable practice of placing new honey on the breakfast tables
at hotels in that country. We are told that some of this new honey so
highly approved of is only golden syrup with a portion of the colour
extracted, and possibly otherwise made up to be palatable; also that
there is a factory in Switzerland doing a profitable business in this
way. If such be the case, tourists are often taken in. Treacle will do
no one any harm, but it is not pleasant to be gulled except for the
reason that "ignorance is bliss."
Caution Respecting Flight Hole.
Fine colonies are sometimes destroyed by the entrance-way becoming
stopped by some impediment or other, and care is requisite to keep a
watch, that so fatal a catastrophe does not happen, because the bees
(_unless where very simple ventilation is given_), excited by their
imprisonment, make matters worse, by raising the temperature of their
hive to such a pitch that the combs melt from their foundations, and
the bees themselves are suffocated, presenting, alas! a most woful
spectacle to witness.
We give this hint because of having ourselves suffered from a similar
cause when workmen have been employed in the vicinity of hives; these
gentlemen, thoughtless of the welfare of the bees, but most careful of
their own convenience, have placed a piece of wood across, or otherwise
stopped the entrances, to prevent the bees coming out. In _summer
weather_ a very short time of confinement in a close hive suffices to
complete the work of desolation; but should the bee-keeper's attention
be drawn to such a state of things, he must immediately raise the hive
from the floor-board and let the poor bees, have all the air possible,
leaving them thus exposed for the purpose of affording them a chance
of revival. When bees are likely to incommode those whose duties
temporarily oblige them to be near the entrances, it is better to cover
the hive over night with net in the form of an inverted bag tied at the
base, so that, the bees may be able to get air within the net and not
be too closely confined. The objection to this is that you stop all
labour, which of course harasses the bees for the time, but there will
be no other bad results. The foregoing remarks more particularly apply
to the summer season. In winter or in the spring, when the weather is
cool and the bees are not so numerous, hives may be shut up even for a
day or so without much _ventilation_, and but little harm will arise
therefrom.
Hive for Swarming Needful.
There is another little matter of detail that should be named here;
that is, the necessity of the bee-keeper always having a common hive in
readiness near the bees, so as to be able to secure any swarm which may
unexpectedly start.
CONCLUSION.
Here our pleasant task must close. We trust that all information has
been given that is needful to enable the practical bee-keeper to begin
business and the scientific apiarian to extend his observations. In
conclusion, we would remind all bee-keepers who earnestly desire
success, and who hope to draw pecuniary profit from their pursuit,
of the golden rule in bee-keeping--"Keep your stocks strong." In
exercising the assiduous attention and persevering effort which that
maxim enjoins, they will not only be regarded as _bee-keepers_,
but, as Mr. Langstroth says, will acquire a right to the title of
_bee-masters_.
[Illustration]
APPENDIX.
BEES AT THE EXHIBITION OF 1862.
The annexed figure represents our stand in the Agricultural Department
of the International Exhibition of 1862. The space granted us in the
World's Great Fair was somewhat limited; but we were able to exhibit
a tolerably complete stock of apiarian apparatus, and all the more
important beehives. Amongst these was a unicomb hive stocked with
Italian bees. This was an object of great attention, and daily hundreds
of visitors flocked round our stand in order to watch the movements of
the Italian queen with her gay and busy subjects. The entrance-way for
the bees being in the "Open Court," to which all visitors had access,
it was necessary to place the hive in an elevated position, so that it
should be beyond the reach of incautious passers-by, and to obviate any
chance of annoyance to the vast crowds of people continually around.
[Illustration: STAND AT THE EXHIBITION OF 1862.]
CASES OF ACCLIMATISING BEES.
Among others who took a deep interest in the exhibition just described
was Mr. Edward Wilson, President of the Acclimatisation Society of
Victoria. This gentleman requested us to pack four stocks of the
Italian bees for conveyance to Melbourne. With the assistance of Mr.
Woodbury--whose aid was, indeed, essential--these stocks were sent off
on the 25th of September, 1862, by the steamship "Alhambra," so as to
arrive at the colony during the Austral summer. The hives were Woodbury
frame-hives, having ample space and ventilation, as well as the means
of supplying water to their inmates during the voyage; there was also a
sufficient store of honey to last until the following March. The bees
arrived at Melbourne, where they were released after an imprisonment of
seventy-nine days, and have since rapidly multiplied, the climate and
pasturage of Australia greatly favouring the increase of this superior
variety of the bee.
Mr. Wilson was so well pleased with the careful manner in which these
stocks were fitted out for their voyage across the seas, that he
subsequently instructed us to prepare him three more hives, which were
sent out in a sailing vessel. Owing to the mismanagement of the water
supply during the voyage, only one stock survived in this instance. Mr.
Wilson informs us that one of these hives contained 136lb. of honey on
the 25th of December, 1864 (Midsummer in Australia).
Upwards of twenty years ago we sent a Nutt's hive stocked with bees
to New Zealand. We then adopted the plan of fixing the hive in a meat
safe, so that the bees could fly about a little, and also cleanse
the hive of their dead, they being always very attentive to sanitary
arrangements.
Several more recent exportations of Italian bees have been made by
us. We have sent two stocks to Madras, which arrived safely, and we
hear are doing well, also a stock to South Africa under the care of
the lady who ordered them, and who was herself going out. We had the
satisfaction of receiving the following note:--
"Grahamstown, Nov. 3, 1875.
"Mrs. Mullens is very pleased to inform Messrs. Neighbour and
Sons that the stock of Ligurian bees supplied to her on board the
'Nyanza' at Southampton on July 23rd have arrived quite safely.
Mrs. Mullens thinks they were exceedingly well packed; they had a
trying journey by bullock waggon two days after leaving the sea.
They were released from the hive on September 3rd, and appeared
weak at first, but began to work in less than an hour. A large
number of dead bees were found at the bottom of the hive on
opening--most likely caused by the boat in which the bees were
having water in it."
This report we consider very favourable. There would naturally be a
great mortality during such long confinement, and for the reasons also
which Mrs. Mullens mentions.
PHILADELPHIA EXHIBITION OF 1876.
_Dated Dec. 12th._
Award of Prize Medal to G. Neighbour and Sons,
For a large and varied collection of economical beehives so arranged
that the honey can be taken without the destruction of the bees.
Special attention is directed to the Unicomb Hives with Venetian blinds
to allow the bees to be exposed to light, whilst the sun's rays are
excluded. Also to a Honey Extractor by centrifugal force, which removes
the honey from the combs without injuring the latter, which can be
returned to the hives.
(Signed,) John Coleman,
On behalf of the Judges.
Approved of group of Judges.
[5 names.]
CALEDONIAN APIARIAN SOCIETY.
The head-quarters of this Society are at Glasgow; and, taking example
from the British Bee Keepers' Association, shows are held and prizes
given for beehives and their produce; also living bees at work in glass
hives are exhibited. In addition to which, manipulations connected with
bee economy, such as transferring, handling bees in bar-frame and other
hives, are demonstrated to beholders.
The exhibition of this year (1877) was held at Edinburgh, in connection
with the annual gathering of the Highland and Agricultural Society, and
which was very successful.
There was a separate charge for admission to the bee and honey
department, which was visited by great numbers of people. In
consequence of the poor honey harvest, but a small quantity of
honeycomb was sent for competition.
With other beehive makers, we exhibited a large collection of our
hives, also living bees, with all the appliances needed in bee-culture.
The first prize was awarded us for the best and largest display. This
prize consists of a handsome silver cup and 40s.
Amongst our interesting collection were a dozen or so of Italian Alp
queens in small boxes, each within a separate box, with a few worker
bees. These had been sent over expressly for this show, and would
therefore take no harm by being kept a few days, until purchased by
some of the enterprising Scotch bee-keepers, and substituted for
ordinary queens in the manner explained in the body of this work.
One of the transparent single-comb hives brought from the neighbourhood
of Glasgow and exhibit ed by the indefatigable honorary secretary of
the Society, Mr. Bennett, was thought to possess no queen, as no brood
was to be seen, and there were so many drones present in the hive. In
order to supply what we considered the deficiency, we appropriated one
of the boxes containing a foreign queen, and in the evening allowed her
majesty quietly to pass into the hive through an opening on top, taking
the precaution to cover up the hive.
[Illustration: Exterior of Apiary.
As originally erected in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park.]
[Illustration: Interior of Apiary.]
On making an inspection next morning we were surprised to find a very
dark Italian queen, as we thought. A few hours later we witnessed
an interesting scene, no less than a single combat between the real
Italian queen and the queen of the hive; for although we had judged
the hive to be queenless there was one in the hive all the time, but
she was a virgin. At the moment of our observation the two queens were
engaged in mortal conflict, and we were able to summon our worthy
secretary and a few apiarian friends to witness the battle. After some
few minutes (each being curled round against the other) the English
or rather the Scotch queen dropped dead to the bottom of the hive
and was seen no more. It would have been interesting to have gained
possession of the dead queen for examination under the microscope, but
the construction of the hive and the position it was in did not allow
of searching for her. The Italian mother, who was for some time after
greatly excited and evidently much discomposed, reigned supreme, the
monarch of the hive; and being already fertilised, the worker bees
paid her due attention, but began worrying and tormenting the drones,
because they were now not wanted.
These assaults of the little active working bees on the burley drones
very much interested the spectators. The queen proceeded with her
duties of egg-laying, and the bees having exit through the hording,
the usual work of the hives was carried on fully exposed to view. Not
the least gratifying feature was the sight of these little labourers
travelling in and out under the glazed covered way.
More active manipulation, such as driving bees from one hive to
another, gaining possession of the queen, and exhibiting her in the
hand, was carried on in another portion of the shed, and became a
source of wonderment to spectators.
Many of the local newspapers had paragraphs descriptive of this new
exhibition in connection with a Scotch agricultural show.
INDEX.
Abbott, C. N., Frame-hives, 146
Abdomen of bees, 102
Accident at Stafford House, 164
Acclimatising Bees (Appendix), 349
Advice by Butler, 333
American Bee Journal, 190
Anatomy of bees, Plates I. and II., facing pages 34 and 86
Anecdote from Butler, 336
" of French clergyman, 334
" showing provision made for swarming, 78
Antennæ of bees, 94
Apiary, Geo. Neighbour & Sons, (frontispiece)
" description of, 330
Applying supers, 264
Artificial swarming, 233
Asiatic bees, 49
Austrian ditto (Lower), 46
Bar-frame holder, 192
Bar Supers, 183
Bath and West of England Agricultural Association, 42
Bee as an insect, 7
" dress, 208
" feeders, Nutt's, 126
" bottle, 203
" can, 204,
" round, 205; wood, 206
" houses, 166-179
" traps, 201
" veil, 210
Beehives, various, 108 to 165
Bee-keeping in London, 322
" Zoological Gardens, 328
" Horticultural Gardens, 329
" St. John's Wood, 329
" Hampstead, 330
Bees, do they go to sleep? 31
" increase of, 82
" head of, 88
" eye of, 90
" mouth, 91
" tongue, 92
" mandibles, 93
" sense of hearing, 95
" " smell, 96
" antennæ. 96
" thorax and organs of motion, 97
" breathing, 100
" stomach, 102
" honey bag, 102
" produce of wax, 103
" sting, 104
" dislike to hive, 221
" enemies of, 315
" profitably kept, 336
Bell glasses, see glasses
Berlepsch, Baron von, 4, 6, 10, 36, 42, 49, 75, 211
" theory of drone-breeding, 69
" on swarming, 77
" breeding superfluous princesses, 81
Bevan, Dr., 3, 18, 66
Black Bees, 71
Book-keeping recommended, 332
Box Fumigator, 206
British Bee-keepers' Association, 6, 48
Caledonian Apiarian Society (Appendix), 354
Carbolic acid, use of, 208, 220, 305
Carniolan bees, 45, 46, 53, 78
Change of frame-hives beneficial in spring, 223
Cheshire's (F.) frame-hive, 145
" nucleus hive 197
" transferring board, 192
" wax guide-maker, 191
Comb-building in supers, 338
" fixing in ditto, 262
" foundations (American), 190
Combs, placing in frame-hives, 223
Common cottager's hive, 108
Corri, Herr, 47, 78
Cottage hive, improved, 114
Cottager's hive, no
" improved ditto, 112
" improved frame-hive, 142
Cotton, Rev. W. C., 5, 45, 78
Covers, zinc, for hives, 171, 172
" wood, 172, 174, 175, 177, 179
Cowan's (Mr.) plan of working frame-hives, 255
Crystal Palace skep, 109
Cyprian bees, 47
Darwin, Dr. 56, 57
Dathe, 53
" plan of fertilizing queens with Italian drones, 253
Diseases of bees, 306
Dönhoff, Dr. 5, 65, 96
Driving, 226
" best condition for, 228
" useful for taking honey, 229
Drone bee, 19, 62
" " has no father, 64
" eggs, theory of production, 62, 252
" trap, 201
" comb, to be used sparingly, 224
Drone comb, building of, sometimes to be avoided, 238
Dummy frame, 140, 143
Dzierzon, Dr., 4, 10, 36, 42, 44
" description of the round of the bees' concerns, 32
" on swarming, 77
" not a smoker, 210
Egg-laying, 10, 67
Eggs and transformations, 59
Ekes, description of, 186
Epitaph on brimstoned bees, 85
Evans' (Dr.) poem on bees, 3,
quotations from, 59, 75, 76, 107, 165
Extracting honey from comb, 274
Extractor, honey, 193
Eyes of bees, 89
Faculties, and functions, 54
Feeder, Nutt's, 126
Feeders, (various), 202
Feeding, 279
Fertile workers, 62, 67
Fittings and apparatus (outside), 166
Flat-topped glasses, 182
Foul brood, 307
" Langstroth, Woodbury, and Dzierzon on, 308, 312
Fox, Mr. George, 278
" Mr. S. Bevan, 278, 332
Frame-hive, putting swarm into, 219
" facility for placing combs, 223,
" with cover and stand, 175, 177, 179
Frames, removing, 268
French exhibition, 165
Fumigators, 206
Fumigating, description of, 231
General hints on frame-hives, 254
" remarks, 332
Gerstäcker, 54
Glass hives, ladies' observatory, 120
" frame, 138
" with cover and super, 177, 178
Glasses for supers, 180, 181, 182
Guide comb, 188, 261-264
" maker (Cheshire's), description of, 191
Hawkins, Mr. Waterhouse, 50
Head of bee, 88
Hearing of bees, 95
Heath bees, 46
Hints, general, on frame-hives, 254
Hives, modern, 108 to 165
" sometimes destroyed by entrance being stopped, 343
Hiving swarms, 212
Honey bag of bees, 102
" cutters, 193
" description of, 296
" extractor, 193
" test when adulterated, 297
Houses for hives, 166
Hruschka, Von, 193
Huber, 62
Hunter's, Mr., support for hive when driving, 229
Impressed wax sheets, 187
Improved cottage hive, 113
" cottager's hive, 112
" ditto, no windows, 119
Increase of bees, 82
Insects necessary for existence of flowers, 59
Italian bee, 34, 35, 41
Italianising hives, 251
Kerner, 58
Kleine, Herr, 5, 35, 244
Klipstein, Von, anecdotes of queens, 22, 66
Knowledge of bee-keeping necessary for a gardener, 343
Ladies' Observatory Hive, 120
Lanarkshire bee-keeper, 297
Lanarkshire hive, 155
Langstroth, Rev. L. L., 3, 5, 10, 43. 83. 85, 129, 346
Langstroth, Rev. L. L., on transferring swarms, 220
Lee's supers, 145, 146
Legs of bees, 98
Leuckart, Professor, 64, 66
Ligurian bee, 7, 34
London apiaries, 325
Lower Austrian bees, 46
Lubbock, Sir John, 6, 57, 59
Mahan, Mr., 9
Mandibles of bees, 91
Manipulation with bees, 212
" " frame-hives, 269
Mel-extractor, 196
Melting down combs, 275
Mouth of bees, 91
Munn, Major, 129
Nadirs, description of, 186
Neighbours' improved cottager's hive, 113
Neighbours' improved cottage-hive, 114
Neighbours' new frame-hive, 139
New cover and stand for frame-hives, 175, 176, 179
New wood feeder, 206
Nucleus hive, 197
Nutt's hive, 123
Orchard, good place for an apiary, 56
Organs of sensation, 88
" motion, 97
" reproduction, 62
Parthenogenesis, 64
Pasturage for bees, 293
Payne's (I. H.) glass, 182
Perforated zinc adapter, 141, 143, 144, 200
Philadelphia Exhibition, 160;
and Appendix, 350
Philadelphia hive, 143
Pollen basket, 98
" preservation from incursions of ants, 58
" description of, 298
" substitute for, 299
Position of hives, 292
Propolis, 300
Queen, 8
Queen, power of egg-laying, 10
" homage paid to fertile, 12
" no attention bestowed on virgins, 13
" two queens in a hive, 15
" sting of used for depositing eggs, 15
" some queens will not fight, 15
" consternation at loss of, 16
" life of, 19
" fertilisation of, 11, 20, 22, 24
" in relation to sexes, 63
" at swarming time, 73
" and drone preventers, 200
" rearing, 17, 27, 77, 243
" cells, 17, 244
" securing, 228, 240
" introducing stranger, 247
" cages, 198, 244
Quilts, 180
Rationale of swarming, 72
Relation of sex to cells, 67
" plants to insects, 56, 57
Removing bees, 259
" supers, 266
" frames, 268
Reproductive economy, 62
Renfrewshire bee-keeper, 24, 41, 154
" queen cage, 199
" instructions on supering, 337
Robbing, 225, 305
Rorl's (Mr.) way to get quit of fertile workers, 67
Round feeder, 205
Royal cells, 17, 244
" " transferring, 198
" duels, 15, and Appendix
Salt obtained by bees, 30, 97
Samuelson's work,. The Honey Bee, 5, 91, 96
Siebold, Von, on Parthenogenesis, 64
Skep, Crystal Palace, 109
" (old), transferring combs from, 223
Slow feeding, 204
Smelling, sense of, largely possessed by bees, 96
Smith, Mr. J., 48
Smyrnæan bees, 47
Society of Arts, 57
Stands for hives, 118, 170
Stewarton hive, 146 to 155, 337
Sting, 104
" prevention and cure, 286
Stocks (old) transferring, 222
Stomach of bees, 102
Straw frame-hive, 136, 141
" hives, round, 108 to 120
Stupefying bees, 207
Supers, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185
Superstitions about bees, 341
Supplying natural comb, 261
Swammerdam, 63
Swarm, number of bees composing, 79
" second flight disastrous, 214
" often mix, 214
" taking, 214
" sending to a distance, 217
" conveyance of, 217
" transferring, 218
" returning, 218
" brought from a distance, 219
" should be fed, 221
" truant, 78, 317
" artificial, 233
Swarming, rationale of, 72
" provision made for, 74, 78
" signs of, 80
" a provision of Nature, 212
Taylor, the late Mr. H., 37
Taylor's glasses, 181
Thorax of bee, 97
Tongue of bee, 92
Transferring board, 192
" swarms, 218
" old stocks, 222
Tristram, Rev. H. B., extract from his book, 51
Tube fumigator, 207
Unicomb observatory hive, outdoor, 157
Unicomb observatory hive, directions for, 160
Unicomb observatory hive, indoor, 162
Uniting weak colonies, 229
Ventilation performed by bees, 30, 285
Ventilators, 124
Vulcanite for feeding-stage, 203
Wasps, 315
Warder, Dr., experiment with swarm, 77
Water for bees, 30, 331
Wax, how produced, 103
" impressed sheets of, 187
" secretion of, 302
Weighing hives, 276
Wildman's bees, 322
Wings for bees, 97
Winter precautions, 283
Wood cover, 172
" feeder, 206
Woodbury, T. W., 37, 42, 49, 50
" frame-hive, 134
" mode of hiving swarm, 216
" mode of transferring swarm, 220
" hive cover, 174
Xenophon's army poisoned with honey, 298
Zinc covers, ornamental, 171
" " plain, 172
" rests, 140
" adapters, perforated, 141, 143, 144, 200
Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury.
PRICE LIST
OF
_NEIGHBOUR & SONS'_
IMPROVED BEE-HIVES
_For taking Honey without the Destruction
of the Bees._
[Illustration]
EXHIBITORS AT THE
Great Exhibition, 1851. Dublin Exhibition, 1853.
Exposition Universelle, 1855.
International Exhibition, 1862. Dublin Exhibition, 1866.
Paris Exposition Universelle, 1867.
Annual International Exhibition, 1873.
British Bee-Keepers' Shows, Crystal Palace, 1874, 1875.
Alexandra Palace, 1876.
International Philadelphia Exhibition, 1876.
Caledonian Apiarian Show at Edinburgh, 1877.
List of Prices.
_No._ £ s. d.
1. Nutt's Collateral Bee-Hive 5 5 0
Stand for ditto 0 16 0
2. Single Box Hive 3 3 3
3. Neighbours' New Frame Stock Hive 1 5 0
Super 1 5 0
Cover for ditto 27s. and 2 0 0
4. Carr's Bar and Frame Hive 0 19 6
Super for ditto 0 19 6
5. Neighbours' Improved Cottage Hive 1 15 0
Stand for ditto 0 10 6
6. Ditto, without Windows 1 5 0
7. Ladies' Observatory Hive 2 5 0
8. The Cottager's Hive 0 10 6
9 and 10. Bee Feeders each 5s. and 0 4 0
11. and 12, Fumigators " 2s. " 0 2 6
13. Honey Cutters per pair 0 5 0
14. Improved Cottager's Hive 1 1 0
15. Honey Extractor for hand use 15s. and 0 17 6
16. Woodbury Bar Super 0 10 6
17. Neighbours' New Supers, Wood and Glass 1 1 0
Ditto ditto Straw and Wood 1 5 0
18. Taylor's Glass, to contain about 8 lb. 0 3 6
19. Payne's Glass, with hole in centre, to afford additional
space to supers partly filled 0 3 0
20. Neighbours' Revolving Indoor Unicomb Hive 3 10 0
21. New Can Feeder, on the principle of a fountain,
adapted for slow, stimulating feeding (3 pints) 0 5 0
22. New Frame Stand, to be used when manipulating
with movable combs 0 5 6
23. American Sectional Supers per set of 14 0 3 6
24. Taylor's Super Glass
25. Bell Glass, to contain about 9 lb 0 4 0
26. Ditto ditto 5 lb 0 2 0
27. Ditto ditto 3 lb 0 1 0
28. New Shape Flat-top Glass, with lid to place on
table inverted 0 3 6
30. Shallow Glasses, 9½ in. wide by 4 in.-deep 0 3 0
Ditto " 13½ in. " 4½ in. " 0 5 6
31. Bee Dress, with Sleeves (post free, 3d. extra) 0 6 0
32. India-rubber Gloves (by post, 2d. extra) per pair 0 6 0
33. Common Straw Hives 0 2 6
34. Small Straw Super Hives 0 2 0
36. Floor Boards, according to description, 2s., 2s. 6d. 0 3 0
37. Zinc Cover for Improved Cottage Hive 0 15 6
38. Ornamental Zinc Cover 2 2 0
39. Bee House, to contain two Improved Cottage' Hives 4 4 0
42. Woodbury Bar and Frame Hive 0 18 0
Ditto ditto with Window 1 1 0
Cover 1 1 0
Stand 0 10 6
44. The Bottle Feeder 0 2 6
45. Woodbury Straw Bar and Frame Hive, 18s. 6d. and 1 2 0
46. Outdoor Unicomb Hive, to take Woodbury Frames 5 10 0
Stand 0 11 6
47. Common Cottage Hive, 5s. 6d. each. Six for 1 10 0
49. Glass Frame Hive 1 10 0
51. Improved Wax Sheets per doz. 0 6 0
52. Lee's Octagon Straw Hive 1 0 3
Super 0 11 6
Cover and Stand 1 12 6
53. Lee's Octagon Hive, in Mahoghany 0 17 6
54. Ditto ditto Pine 0 6 0
55. Ditto ditto Glass Sides 0 9 0
56. Ditto ditto smaller, in Mahoghany 0 12 6
57. Ditto ditto Wooden Sides, Glass Top 0 5 6
58. Stewarton Hive (3 Stock Boxes, 1 Honey Box) 1 1 0
59. New Wood Bee Feeder 0 5 0
60. Neighbours' Cottage Frame Hive 0 7 6
61. Neighbours' Divisional Super, 3s. 6d. per pair 0 6 6
62. Cover for Neighbours' Frame Hive 0 8 6
63. Cottage Frame Hive, Woodbury Frames 0 7 6
64. Cheshire's Frame Hive, complete--Stand, Super, and
Cover, the latter painted 1 17 6
65. Abbott's ditto ditto 1 17 6
66. Lanarkshire Stock Hive 0 16 6
Super 0 6 6
Roof 0 7 0
67. Neighbours' New Bee Veil (by post, 2d. extra) 0 2 6
68. Flat-top Glass with 3 inch hole in centre (similar to
Payne's), for adding space to Supers 0 3 6
69. Same construction as above, 6½ in. wide, 3 in. deep 0 2 0
70. Lee's Double Super per pair 0 5 6
71. Cheshire's Nucleus Hive, for Queen Rearing 0 12 6
72. Cheshire's Transferring Board 0 10 6
73. Cheshire's Prize Smoker 0 2 0
74. Cheshire's Drone Trap 0 4 6
75. Syrup Can and Shovel 0 6 6
76. Vulcanite Feeding Plates each 6d. and 0 0 9
(Less by the dozen)
77. Bligh Bee Quieter each 0 2 6
78. Queen and Drone Preventers 1s. and 0 1 6
79. Crystal Palace Skep 0 4 6
Floor Board 0 3 0
Super 0 2 6
80. Neighbours' Straw Frame Hive, with New-shaped
Cover and Stand, grained and varnished 3 11 6
81. New Cottage Frame Stock Hive, with Window 0 12 6
82. New Cover and Stand for the above (painted) 1 7 0
83. Neighbours' Cylindrical Honey Extractor 2 10 0
Two Wire Cases 0 12 0
84. Bee House for One Hive 2 10 0
85. Renfrewshire Stewarton Movable Comb Hive, consisting
of 3 Stock Boxes and 1 Honey Box 1 8 0
86. Bee Traps, for clearing Bees from Supers 0 2 6
87. Philadelphia Hive, with Super, Stand, and Cover 2 2 0
88. Sectional Supers the set 0 4 6
89. New Cover for Cottage Frame Hive (carries its
own Stand) 1 7 0
90. Quinby Smoker 0 6 6
* * * * *
PUBLICATIONS ON BEES.
"The Apiary;" or, Bees, Beehives, and Bee Culture,
by Alfred Neighbour. 0 5 0
Hive and Honey Bee, by Rev. L. L. Langstroth (American).
A New Edition 0 9 6
Quinby's Bee-Keeping (American) 0 8 6
Italian Alp Bee, by Hermann 0 1 0
* * * * *
[Illustration] PRIZE MEDALS AWARDED AT THE [Illustration]
PHILADELPHIA
AND OTHER EXHIBITIONS.
GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS'
PRICE CURRENT OF
Genuine Italian Alp or Ligurian Bees.
An Italian Queen in a small Box, accompanied by a few Worker Bees, with
full directions for uniting to English Stocks, each from April and May,
12s.; June, 11s.; July, 10s.; August, 9s.; September, 8s.; October, 7s.
Orders should be given in advance.
For parcels of Six Queens at one time, 1s. each less.
A Stock, with genuine Italian Queen, packed so as to travel by rail
with comparatively no risk of damage, including the Straw Frame Hive
with window, £4; or if in New Cheap Frame Hive, No. 60 or 63, which has
no window, £3 5s.
_Swarms and Stocks of English Bees can be obtained._
* * * * *
Transcriber Note
Minor typos corrected. Hyphenation was standardized to the most
frequently used version with the exception of beehive which was used by
the author and bee-hive in quotations from other works.
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