AUTHORS PREFACE.
Havingattained old age, I think it a duty, before quitting the world, to communicate to the public the observations I have made during sixty-four years that I have been occupied with bees. From my earliest years I have been very fond of these admirable insects. I began to observe them under the direction of my father,Jacques de Gelieu, pastor of the church of Bayards, and afterwards of that of Verrieres, in the principality of Neuchatel. He instructed me in the principles of this interesting study, and taught me to like and to admire it, by making me read the memoirs of the immortalReaumur,with whom he had the honour to correspond. Being a nice observer, he had prepared, so early as 1746, a work in two volumes, entitled "A New and Economical Method for the Preservation and Increase of Bees, and how to procure a more abundant supply of Honey and Wax." But when his work was ready for the press, he lost in one day, by an unfortunate accident, the whole of his hives except one, which he presented to me, and which I subsequently managed under his direction.
Thrown from that time into a succession of pressing occupations, he lost sight of the printing of his work, which is now in my possession, in his own handwriting. It contains the description of the storied hive, of which he was the inventor, and which has since been so variously modified. These hives have been made known only through his correspondence with M.de Reaumur, and other literary men, as will appear from the note at the end of this Preface.
In the collection of observations which I now present to the public, I limit myself to what is strictly practical, leaving to superior minds, theSwammerdams, theReaumurs, theShirachs,theHubers, to dive into the theory with which they are so successfully engaged.
Theory, however, leads to practice; and I have built on the foundation which they have so skilfully laid down. I shall make known what my long experience has taught me to consider the best form of hives. To ascertain which merited the preference, I mixed all sizes and shapes of them in my apiary, noting down their condition and product, thus securing a result to which no doubt could attach; convinced that it is easier to multiply hives in good seasons than to preserve them in bad ones, since, in the first case, one has only to leave them in some measure to themselves, while in the second there must be assiduous care and attention bestowed on them. Vexed at hearing of the great losses that have so generally taken place of late years, and of the sensible and rapid diminution of these precious insects, I shall point out how I succeeded in preserving mine in the worst seasons, especially in those of 1812 and 1813; and I shall lay down the principles from which no one should swerve, if he wishes to be constantly successful.
Many people are fond of bees—indeed have apassion for them; but it is not enough to be fond of them,—they must be skilfully taken care of, according to certain rules, applicable in every case, but more particularly in bad years. Mistaken care annoys them—niggardliness ruins them. In laying down rules, I shall always take care to assign my reasons for them.
Among the discoveries which I had the happiness to make, there is one of the greatest importance to the practical apiarian, of which I had not even the slightest suspicion, and which astonished me so much that I could not believe my eyes. It was only after trials a hundred times repeated and diversified, that I could fully convince myself. The fact is certain, the reason is to me unknown, and I leave to persons more learned than myself to give the explanation.
I have read most of the treatises that have been published on bees, and have found errors in most of them. To avoid them myself, I shall advance nothing that I have not verified by numerous experiments, which every one may repeat. I shall make my narrative as short as possible.
I have said that the storied hives invented by my late father, were known only through hiscorrespondence with M.de Reaumur, and other literary men; the following is the proof:
Extract from theCorps d'Observation of the Society of Commerce and Agriculture of Great Britain, 1757-58. Printed at Rennes in 1761, page 162.
"Monsieur de laBourdonaye, Procureur General-Syndic, to whom the custom of our peasants (of drowning the bees, or suffocating them with sulphur, in order to deprive them of all the store they have laid up to maintain them during the winter) has been long known, wrote to M.de Reaumur, during the last assembly of the states, 1756, to ask for some instructions on this subject.
"This academician pointed out, in his answer, the methods which he had expounded in the fifth volumedes Memoires pour servir à l'Histoire Naturelle des Insectes; but he recommends, more particularly, to use the curiously shaped hives, invented byGelieu, a gentleman of the principality of Neuchatel.
"Reaumur'sletter, which, at first sight, seems to contain a sufficient description ofGelieu'shive, does not clear up certain difficultiesthat presented themselves in the detail, when we come to attempt their construction from his directions; and thereforeNevel, member of the Committee of Rennes, resolved to request a pattern hive fromReaumurhimself, which he accordingly obtained, and sent to the society. It appears that hives of this kind would supply all that can be desired in the management of bees; but they would cost more than one louis each—a price infinitely beyond the reach of a labouring man, and which would even be too great for the rich. It was necessary, therefore, to think of profiting by the invention ofGelieu, in contriving hives so cheap that every peasant might use them.
"Monsieurde la Bourdonaye, who paid great attention to this subject, kindly communicated to the Society both the letter ofReaumur, and the plan which he himself had formed, of making hives at a small expence. He began by using, on his own estate, those which he recommended as an experiment to the Society. It was called anexperiment, because, in reality, notwithstanding the probability of success attending the use of hives like those of which he sentthe model, his modesty made him afraid that experience might, in some shape, belie his hopes. The Society was not long in ordering hives to be made after the model. They have made trial of them in the different faubourgs of Rennes. The rainy summer has prevented these trials being completed, but the commencement has succeeded very well.
"It is perhaps not altogether useless to give here an abridged exposition of the accidents that might be prevented, in changing the shape of ordinary hives, and of the means that might be employed for that purpose.
"It has been already said, that it is but too common to suffocate or drown the bees, at the end of the season, for the sake of profiting by the honey and wax. Those who manage them with more profit and intelligence, watch the time when the hives are nearly full, to force the bees up into an empty hive. This operation must be done in fine weather, in order that the bees may have time to make a sufficient provision for the winter. This practice, though the best of those in use at present, causes considerable loss; the brood-comb is taken away with the wax; sothat the proprietor loses a swarm just coming out, as well as the swarms that this one might have afterwards produced. It is this loss particularly thatGelieuwould prevent.
"The hives at present on trial are, in shape, like a little round tower, or hollow cylinder, composed of four equal pieces, placed one above another."
"It is a certain fact, that the cells destined for the reception of eggs are always situated in the lower part of the hive, which is never disturbed. According toGelieu'splan, it is only the storey above the hive that is taken, until after the brood-comb has furnished a swarm, and the swarm has taken flight.
"It seems, then, the interest of Rennes to patronizeGelieu'shives; they guard against the inconveniences of the methods now in use; and this has inducedBourdonayeto adopt the means of making them of straw, in place of wood, like those ofGelieu.
"Monsieurde la Bourdonaye'shives are a little higher priced than those in common use; but they give nearly a quarter more room, andare, of course, more profitable in regard to price; they are in the proportion of five to eight.
"We shall soon be able to determine, with certainty, the advantages to be derived from this invention.Montluchas placed some joinings, such asBourdonayehas contrived, underneath his own hives, upon his estate of Laille. Similar ones, at different places in the faubourgs of Rennes, will furnish decided proofs of comparison.
"The preservation, and also the increase of bees, is an object of such interest to Brittany, that the peasants cannot be too much encouraged to turn their attention to it.
"The Society is well aware that it will be necessary to publish general instructions on that head, and that the greatest merit of such a work will be to giveonly necessaryinstructions, and nothing more. It must be made so simple and so cheap as to be within every one's reach, and, above all, applicable only to practical use. Any thing more is only fit for treatises wherein the authors are more occupied with the interests of their own self love, than with those of the public. But though much has been written on this subject,the Society is of opinion that there are yet observations and experiments to be made before publishing a document by which all the world might profit."
On this long quotation, I shall merely take the liberty of remarking, that the only inconvenience ascribed to the storied hives, invented and made by my Father—the only objection made to them—is, that they are too dear, "that they will cost more than a louis each; a price infinitely beyond the reach of a labouring man." The price is high in Brittany, where wood is very dear. On the other hand, the model which my Father sent toReaumur, was made with a great deal of nicety, as a common one would not have been worth offering to that illustrious academician who sent him in return a very handsome thermometer, graduated by himself. My Father's hives, more simply wrought, were less expensive.