CHAPTER I.

THE BEE KEEPER'S GUIDE.

CHAPTER I.

Situation of an Apiary, and directions for placing the Hives.

I haveno hesitation in saying, that a South aspect is decidedly preferable to any other situation for an Apiary. I have tried various aspects, but the Bees in the South I have always found to be the healthiest, and to collect the largest quantity of honey. It is very important that the hives be sheltered from the wind by trees or houses, andthat they are not placed in the vicinity of ponds or large rivers, for high winds will dash them into the water, where numbers will perish.

It was the opinion of the ancients, that Bees, in windy weather, carried weights to prevent them from being driven about by it. Virgil says,

"That with light pebbles, like a balanced boat,Poised through the air on even pinions float."

"That with light pebbles, like a balanced boat,

Poised through the air on even pinions float."

Sotherby's Georgics.

This is now ascertained to be erroneous, and is ascribed, by Swammerdam and Reaumur to preceding observers having mistaken the Mason Bee, for a Hive Bee; the former builds its nest against a wall, with a composition of gravel and its own saliva, and when freighted with the former article, may easily have led a careless observer into the erroneous opinion alluded to. The Abbe della Rocca appears to have fallen into, and perpetuated, the same error.

Though large ponds are very injurious, a smallstream is beneficial to them, which if they are not supplied with, water must be given them, for it is absolutely necessary, and enters, as much as honey and farina, into the composition with which they nourish the brood. The plan that I have for many years adopted, is to fill an unglazed earthen pan, eighteen inches by eight, four inches deep, and square at the sides, with water, upon the surface of which floats a very thin deal board perforated with holes, a quarter of an inch in diameter and about an inch distant from each other; in Spring and Summer, the Bees may be seen coming in great numbers to drink, or rather to carry water into their hives, to mix with the farina they collect so abundantly at this season of the year for food for their young. In my opinion, Dr. Bevan says very justly, that "the Apiary should be near the residence of the proprietor, as well for the purpose of rendering the Bees tractable, and well acquainted with the family, as for affording a good view of their general proceedings."

I am a decided enemy to Bee houses of all kinds,for they are the means of causing the ruin of a great number of hives, by affording a home to their worst enemies, viz.: mice, moths, spiders, earwigs, and various other insects, thousands die from imprisonment, and many hives are destroyed by humidity. The method of placing several hives upon the same bench is also very injurious, it very much facilitates pilfering, and renders it impossible to operate upon one hive, without disturbing the others.

The hives should be placed upon separate boards, supported by single pedestals four or five inches in diameter, firmly placed in the ground, and standing about fifteen inches from the surface, (seefig. 1. plate 1.) upon the top of this post should be nailed firmly a board nine inches square, upon which should be placed the board the hive stands upon, but not nailed, the double boards will be found very convenient for weighing or removing the hives, without disturbing the Bees.

On no account use clay or mortar as is usually done to secure the hive to the board, the Bees ofthemselves will do it more effectually;[1]clay or mortar tends very much to decay the hives, and to harbour moths and other insects; each hive should be covered with a large milk-pan, and be well painted every year, for hives managed upon the Depriving System, are expected to stand from fifteen to twenty years.

[1]This fact, though it has been denied by those who profess to have had much experience in the management of Bees, is known to every novice in Apiarian science, for he does not suffer much time to pass, after having purchased a swarm of Bees, without endeavouring to ascertain how much honey they have collected, and finds the difficulty of separating the hive from the board upon which it was placed.

The hives should be placed about three feet apart from each other, and in a right line; but should the number be too great to allow of this arrangement, and render two rows necessary, they must not be less than fifteen feet asunder, and those in the front row intersecting the line formed by the hinder one.

The boards on which the hives are placed,should be cleaned about four times in the year—January, March, April and November, much time and trouble will be saved the Bees thereby.

Plants which rise in height equal to or exceeding the entrance of the hives, should not be suffered to grow in their immediate vicinity, and every facility should be removed by which the enemies of the Bees can ascend into the hives.

Still, however, a few shrubs or standard roses of four or five feet may with advantage be placed eight or ten paces in front of the hives, for the Bees to alight upon in their return home, when heavily laden with honey and pollen—it saves their falling to the ground from the weight of their load, which they frequently do, and in unfavourable weather to rise no more. It was seeing them rest in this manner that gave rise to the following lines:—

Rest on that Rose's leaf awhile, thou little Busy Bee,Thou hast winged thy way with thousands, the wand'ring, the free.Unwearied with thy ceaseless toil in search for future store,Thou'rt come back to unlade thy sweets, then sally forth for more.Thou'st been among the flow'rs of gold, their kiss is on thee yet,And o'er thy richly powdered wings how many hues are met.That tell of revelling at the founts of nectar's luscious tide,Of honey-dews that rest upon each petal's glossy side.Where hast thou been since the bright morn first saw thee on thy way'Mong scented brier and glittering heath that woo'd thy lingering stay?Hast thou no voice to tell us of the far-off verdant scenes,Of the rich limes thou lovs't so well, and of the fresh'ning streams.Away! away! once more thou'rt up and e'er the leaf be still'd.To its soft rest from the trembling that thy light form has thrill'd,Thoul't be again among thy loves, the fragrant, the bright,All jealous of their hidden sweets, in murmuring delight.

Rest on that Rose's leaf awhile, thou little Busy Bee,

Thou hast winged thy way with thousands, the wand'ring, the free.

Unwearied with thy ceaseless toil in search for future store,

Thou'rt come back to unlade thy sweets, then sally forth for more.

Thou'st been among the flow'rs of gold, their kiss is on thee yet,And o'er thy richly powdered wings how many hues are met.That tell of revelling at the founts of nectar's luscious tide,Of honey-dews that rest upon each petal's glossy side.

Thou'st been among the flow'rs of gold, their kiss is on thee yet,

And o'er thy richly powdered wings how many hues are met.

That tell of revelling at the founts of nectar's luscious tide,

Of honey-dews that rest upon each petal's glossy side.

Where hast thou been since the bright morn first saw thee on thy way'Mong scented brier and glittering heath that woo'd thy lingering stay?Hast thou no voice to tell us of the far-off verdant scenes,Of the rich limes thou lovs't so well, and of the fresh'ning streams.

Where hast thou been since the bright morn first saw thee on thy way

'Mong scented brier and glittering heath that woo'd thy lingering stay?

Hast thou no voice to tell us of the far-off verdant scenes,

Of the rich limes thou lovs't so well, and of the fresh'ning streams.

Away! away! once more thou'rt up and e'er the leaf be still'd.To its soft rest from the trembling that thy light form has thrill'd,Thoul't be again among thy loves, the fragrant, the bright,All jealous of their hidden sweets, in murmuring delight.

Away! away! once more thou'rt up and e'er the leaf be still'd.

To its soft rest from the trembling that thy light form has thrill'd,

Thoul't be again among thy loves, the fragrant, the bright,

All jealous of their hidden sweets, in murmuring delight.

I have always found the advantage of planting, in the vicinity of my hives, a large quantity of the common kinds of crocus, single blue hipatica, heleborus niger, and tussilago petasites, all of which flower very early and are rich in honey and farina: salvia nemorosa, (of Dr. Smith) which flowers very early in June and lasts all the summer, is in an extraordinary manner sought after by the Bees, and when room is not an object, twenty or thirty square yards of it may be grown withadvantage; origanum humile, origanum rubescens, (of Haworth) and mignonette may also be grown; cultivation beyond this, exclusively for Bees, I believe answers very little purpose. Cúscuta sinensis is a great favorite with them; and the pretty little plant anacampseros populifolium, when in flower, is literally covered by them—honey itself appears not to possess more attractions for them than this plant.

Doctor Bevan says: "To those who, residing in towns, may consider it indispensable to the success of an Apiary, that it should be in the immediate vicinity of good pasturage, and be thereby deterred from benefiting and amusing themselves by keeping Bees; it may be satisfactory to learn that the Apiary of the celebrated Bonner was situated in a garret, in the centre of Glasgow, where it flourished for several years, and furnished him with the means of making many interesting and valuable observations which he gave to the world about thirty years ago."

My own experience also proves the truth of theabove statement, residing myself for four years in the centre of a large town, in a house without a garden, I kept two stocks of Bees in my study, in glass, and four or five others in the improved cottage hive upon the roof of my house, and I am not aware that they have ever done better, or afforded me a larger quantity of honey, in any other situation.

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