The size of the door may be suited to the wishes of the apiarian: as this door will only give a view of the centre combs, in case of their being constructed in a line with the bars, or of one or more of the external combs, in case of their being attached at right angles with the bars or diagonally, it will be desirable to have a pane of glass in each side also, that the proprietor may be enabled to judge at any time of the stock of honey contained in the box. These small glass windows will seldom do more than afford the proprietor an opportunity of ascertaining the strength of his stock of bees, and the quantity of honey they have in store; if he wish to see more particularly the operations of the labourers, or to witness the survey which the queen now and then takes of them, he may have a large bell-glass, surmounted by a straw-hive, which latter may be occasionally raised, for the purpose of inspection.
“By this blest art our ravish’d 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 favour’d ken hath seenPace slow and silent round, the state’s fair queen.”Evans.
“By this blest art our ravish’d 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 favour’d ken hath seenPace slow and silent round, the state’s fair queen.”
Evans.
An opportunity of beholding the proceedings of the queen is so very rarely afforded, that many apiarians have passed their lives without enjoying it; and Reaumur himself, even with the assistance of a glass-hive, acknowledges that he was many years before he had that pleasure. Those who have been so fortunate, agree in representing her majesty as being very slow and dignified in her movements, and as being constantly surrounded by a guard of about a dozen bees, who seem to pay her great homage, and always to have their faces turned towards her, like courtiers, in the presence of royalty.
“But mark, of royal port, and awful mien,Where moves with measur’d pace theInsect Queen!Twelve chosen guards, with slow and solemn gait.Bend at her nod, and round her person wait.”Evans.
“But mark, of royal port, and awful mien,Where moves with measur’d pace theInsect Queen!Twelve chosen guards, with slow and solemn gait.Bend at her nod, and round her person wait.”
Evans.
Mr. Dunbar’s observations, upon the movements of the queen in his mirror-hive, do not correspond altogether with what is here stated. He says that he did not find her majesty attended in her progress by a guard, but that wherever she moved the way was cleared; that the heads of the workers whom she passed upon her route were always turned towards her, that they fawned uponand caressed her, touching her softly with their antennæ; but that as soon as she moved onwards, they resumed their labours, whilst all that she passed in succession paid her the same homage. This sort ofhomageis onlypaid to fertile queens;whilst they continue virgins, they are not treated with much respect.
The queen is very numerously surrounded, when depositing her first eggs in the cells, her attendants then cling to one another and form a living curtain before her, so completely impenetrable to our eyes, as to preclude all observation of her proceedings; unless the apiarian use the leaf-hive of Huber, or the mirror-hive of Dunbar, it is hardly possible to snatch a sight of her, excepting when she lays her eggs near the exterior parts of the combs. The manner in which bees attach themselves to each other, when forming a curtain, or when suspending themselves from a bough, or taking their repose, is, by each bee, with its two fore-claws, taking hold of the two hinder legs of the one next above it, thus forming as it were a perfect grape-like cluster or living garland. Even when thus intertwined with each other, as Swammerdam has observed, they can fly off’ from the bunch, and perch on it again, or make their way out from the very centre of the cluster, and rush into the air. This mode of suspension, so voluntarily adopted, must be agreeable to them, thoughthe uppermost bees evidently bear the weight of all the rest. Mr. Wildman supposes that they have a power of distending themselves with air, like fishes, by which they acquire buoyancy.
Each set of boxes must have oneclose cover, which should be an inch thick and well clamped at each end to prevent warping, as a considerable quantity of steam arises from the bees at certain seasons. The top, being intended to take off and on, should be secured by means of four screws, each placed about an inch and a half from the respective corners; and it should also be fitted to, and screwed down upon, all the boxes before any of them are used, that whenever it may be necessary to remove, or to add a box, the change may be effected with the utmost promptitude. Long taper screws, as nearly of the same size as possible, should be selected for fastening on the tops, and be dipped in grease before put in, to facilitate their removal. Each set of boxes must also have aloose floor, an inch thick and extending about an inch and half beyond the back and sides of the boxes. The outlet for the bees is usually cut in the lower edge of the boxes, but I have found it much more convenient to have it formed by sinking the floor half of its thickness at the centre of its front edge. The width of the part sunk should be about four inches, and should gradually diminish in depth till it reach the centreof the board. The sloping direction thus given will, in case of beating rain or condensed steam falling upon it, prevent any wet from lodging within the hive. The floor must also be clamped at the ends, to prevent warping, though the superincumbent weight renders it less liable to be warped than the top. Either on the right or left hand side of the entrance, as may be most convenient, agroovemust be cut half an inch deep and half an inch wide; to this groove aslidemust be fitted (made to run easily), for the purpose of closing the box, and preventing the egress or ingress of the bees, as occasion may require.
Acentre boardbetween each tier of boxes will likewise be convenient; it should be of the same size as the floor, and have an oblong hole about six inches by four in the middle, to give liberty to the bees to pass from box to box. Apiaries should always have a few supernumerary boards of each sort, and also some supernumerary boxes.
As the boxes and boards require to be made with great accuracy, that they may be nicely adapted to each other, a good joiner should be employed to construct them; for if there be any crevices the bees will, according to their invariable custom, fill them with propolis, and thereby waste their valuable time. The square boxes which I have described are the simplest of any, in their form: some persons prefer the octagon or hexagon form; in some situations, if windows be placed in the three posterior sides, those forms may be more convenient for exhibiting the operations of the bees, or the store of honey in the combs; but they are more expensive and more cumbrous, if made as capacious as the square ones; and these latter answer the intended purposes so well, as to satisfy completely those who have used them. Although I have endeavoured to give a clear description of the form and mode of constructing a bee-box and its appendages, probably it may be more satisfactory to young beginners to obtain a sight or a model of them, I refer them therefore to Mr. Hughes, joiner, Ross, Herefordshire, or to Mr. John Milton, 10, Great Marybone Street.
I cannot dismiss this part of my subject, without saying a few words respectingthe hive of Huish, which is contrived with the view of allowing the removal of the exterior bars, that support the honey-combs, without disturbing the brood-combs.The principle of this hive appears to be very good, but I doubt whether it will come into general use; for as bees are not very tractable creatures, they are not likely to construct their combs in direct lines, so as to attach one singly to each of Mr. Huish’s bars: the tops of the boxes which I use are constructed like Huish’s, yet I never saw an instance in which the combs did not either cross those bars at right angles, or connect themselves in some way or other with two or three bars, so as to render it impracticable to remove a comb or two from the outsides, in the manner that Huish proposes. The sole advantage of Huish’s hive consists in this undisturbing mode of removal; and could it be effected, honey might be extracted without withdrawing any of the stored pollen or propolis, or molesting the brood in the centre combs; an inconvenience which, it must be admitted, may be charged upon the storifying system, though I hope I have, in my chapter or Deprivation, pointed out a method that will, in a very great degree, if not entirely, remedy this inconvenience. Huish, in his instructions for using his hives, admits the difficulty which I have here stated, as to the attachment of a single comb to more than one bar, and gives particular directions how to proceed on such occasions; but even under tolerably favourable circumstances, the recommended operation wouldrequire considerable nicety, and no small portion of courage; in some cases the difficulty would be completely insurmountable. A hive very similar to that of Huish is described in Wheeler’s Travels. He states it to be in use in the neighbourhood of Mount Hymettus. “The hives,” says he, “in which they keep their bees, are made of willow or osiers fashioned like our common dust-baskets, wide at top and narrow at bottom.” “These tops are covered with broad flat sticks, along which the bees fasten their combs, so that a comb may be taken out whole.” We are informed, by Reaumur and Du Hamel, that this Greek method of keeping bees and taking honey was introduced into France in 1754. If it had succeeded, either in France or in this country, I think we should have heard more of it.
The only way in which I conceive that Huish’s idea can be followed up effectually, is, by employing the experimental hive of Huber; but the majority of persons who undertake the management of bees, will look to them as a source of profit; and to these the expense of such a hive would render it completely unavailable. Huber’s first experiments were made in single leaf-hives an inch and a half wide; his latter trials, on several of these connected together, each an inch and a quarter wide, which left the same room for the passage of the bees as the single hive. SeeChapter XI.Reaumur’s hives consisted of wooden frames, with glass windows, but of such a width, as to allow the bees to construct two combs parallel to each other. This form is unfavourable, inasmuch as it conceals from the observer whatever passes between them.
Mr. Thorley, who practised the plan of super-hiving, surmounted hisoctagon boxesand flat-topped hives, with alarge bell-glass, over which he placed a common straw-hive, to take on and off. From an extract which I have made from Dr. Evans’s book in the chapter on Instincts, he appears to have adopted this method.
It was by the aid of similar glasses that Maraldi was enabled to give to the world so accurate an account of the natural history and labours of bees.
“Long from the eye of man and face of day,Involv’d in darkness all their customs lay,Until a Sage, well vers’d in Nature’s lore,A genius form’d all science to explore,Hives well contriv’d in crystal frames dispos’d,And there the busy citizens inclos’d.”Murphy’s Vaniere.
“Long from the eye of man and face of day,Involv’d in darkness all their customs lay,Until a Sage, well vers’d in Nature’s lore,A genius form’d all science to explore,Hives well contriv’d in crystal frames dispos’d,And there the busy citizens inclos’d.”
Murphy’s Vaniere.
Wildman also, in addition to his usual mode of keeping bees, upon the storifying plan, occasionally employed flat-topped hives surmounted by a large bell-glass; and at the close of his Treatise we are informed that he had latterly adoptedanother method of super-hiving, which is still practised by apiarians of the present day. Instead of employing one large glass, he made use offourorfive small ones, each holding about a pint; and those who are fond of using honey fresh from the hive, will find this a convenient mode of keeping their bees, though probably not so profitable a one as the general plan of storifying. A stock of these hives and glasses, on the most approved construction, is kept constantly ready for sale at Mr. John Milton’s, 10, Great Marybone Street. The bees, upon this plan, are hived in the usual way, the top board being kept closed, till the glasses are placed over it, which may be done as soon as convenient after the hive has been put in the situation in which it is intended to remain. The glasses and top board should be covered with a common straw-hive, to exclude the light, as bees are found to work best in the dark. When the glasses are sufficiently filled with combs and honey,—and this period will very much depend upon the season,—if the bees still remain in them, placing an empty hive under the full one win generally cause them to descend, and facilitate the removal of the glasses, which may take place as often as the harvest of honey will admit, consistently with the leaving of a full winter’s supply for the bees. See chapter on Nadir-hiving. The usual mode of takingthe honey in these glasses is, first to cut off the communication between them and the hive on which they stand, by loosening the thumbscrew in the centre, and turning the board so far round as to close the openings; then, by means of a thin spatula, separating the glasses from their adhesion, and either carrying them, inverted, a short distance from the hive, into a shady place, or raising each glass by means of a wedge, and leaving it thus for about an hour. In either case the bees will quit the glasses and return to the family by the usual entrance. To effect the removal, I think it preferable to use two flat pieces of tin, after the manner of dividers, placing the tins successively under each glass, carrying it away upon one, and leaving the other over the opening till the glass has been emptied and replaced or another substituted in its room: and where it is wished to take only one or two glasses, this mode must always be adopted. The bees will rarely fill more than one set of glasses, during the first year; though in future years, if the season be favourable, they may be expected to fill two sets. The best time for removal is the middle of a fine day, when the greatest number of bees are roaming the fields. This method of management will not prevent the bees from swarming, unless it be combined with storifying, which it very easily may.
HIVES.
Bee-hiveshave been formed with various materials, the selection of which has depended partly upon the country or district in which they have been used, and partly upon the fancy of the apiarian.Osiers,rushes,segsandstrawhave all been in requisition for forming hives, and Bonner, an eminent bee-master in Scotland, proposes to have them made ofearthenware. In North America, according to Brookes, they are formed out ofthe hollow trunks of the liquidambar tree, cut to a proper length and covered with a board to keep out the rain: for the same purpose the people in Apulia usethe trunk of the giant fennel, after clearing away its fungous pith. In Egypt, says Hasselquist, bee-keepers make their hives ofcoal dust and clay, which being well blended together, is formed into hollow cylinders, of a span diameter, and from six to twelve feet long; these being dried in the sun, become so hard as to be handled at will. “I saw some thousands of these hives,” says our author, “at a village between Damietta and Mansora; they composed a wall round a house, after having become unserviceable in the use they were first made for.”—Voyagesand Travels in the Levant, &c. By Fred. Hasselquist, B.D.
Under the head of Storifying, I have given a history of the discovery and progressive improvement of boxes and storifying hives, and shall chiefly confine myself, in this chapter, to the form and dimensions of hives. The common bell-shaped straw-hives used by the cottagers are too well known to need remark. Premising, therefore, that theChelmsfordandHertford hivesare considered as the handsomest shaped and best formed, I shall limit my observations to thestrawhives which may be employed for storifying, as some persons may prefer straw to wood. These have been calledMoreton-hives, on account of their formonly, the material of which they were made being reeds and not straw. Thebest strawfor constructing hives is that ofunblighted rye, and unthrashedis preferable to thrashed straw; for being smooth and entire, the bees will be spared a good deal of trouble, as they invariably nibble away the rough sharp spiculæ that they find on the inner surface of a new hive. The ears of corn may be dissevered from the straw by a chaff-cutter, and thrashed with other corn. The most approved size for a storifying straw-hive is nine inches high by twelve inches wide,in the clear, the diameter being the same from top to bottom. The importance of having all bee-boxesmade of the same dimensions has been already dwelt upon, and it is of course of equal importance with respect to straw-hives. The upper and lower edges should be made as smooth as possible; which effect will be greatly promoted, by placing them, soon after making, between two flat boards with a 56lb. weight upon the uppermost, and leaving them in that position for a day or two. Within the upper row of straw, a small hoop should be worked, for the purpose of nailing a board or some wooden bars to it, and within the bottom row a piece of wood should also be worked over the part where the bees are to pass in and out, to allow of a more easy movement of the slide in the floor board. It would be an improvement if the hoop were perforated through its whole course with a wimble bit, that it might be stitched with willow or bramble splits, to the upper round of straw, instead of being worked in with it; and if a hoop were also stitched in a similar manner to the lower round of straw, the lower edge of it could be planed, sufficiently smooth, to lie on the middle or floor boards, as closely as a box, which would render the use of mortar or other luting unnecessary. The stitch holes in the hoop should be filled with putty, after the hive has been finished. If bars be made use of, they should be of the same width, and placed at the same distances from each other, as recommendedfor the boxes, and the vacancies, that would otherwise be left between the ends of the bars, should be made quite level, with bits of wood, cow-dung, or any other convenient substance. If a single board be used, that, of course, must be cut into bars of the proper widths. The direction of the bars should always be from front to back.
Middle boards and floors will be equally required for storifying hives as for boxes; but the outside covers should be made of straw, like round mats, and be wide enough to extend an inch beyond the edges of the hives, if used in an out-door apiary. The whole story should be covered with a goodhackelorcap, secured in its place by an iron hoop or a properly weighted wooden one, to prevent it from being blown down. As clean fresh rye straw is most suitable for constructing the hive itself, so it will be the best for forming the hackel with: the latter should be changed before it begins to decay, that it may not become offensive to the bees from its odour, nor be selected by insects as a nidus for their eggs.
The apiarian, if he be desirous of having glass windows in his straw-hives, may accomplish this object by cutting with a sharp knife through two of the bands of straw, in two places, about three inches asunder. The windows are generally cut opposite the entrance, and about the centre, butmay be made at any part of the hive. The ends of the cut straw-bands may be secured by stitches of packthread, or, what is better, with softened mole snap wire, and the panes of glass may be fastened with putty.
Out-door hives should have a protection not only of straw caps, but of ashedalso, which if made open infront only, would afford much shelter against driving rains and high winds; but the most complete shed is made with folding or sliding doorsat the back, and is closed at the sides, and in front, with the exception of such openings as may be necessary for the entrance of the bees and for their accommodation in bad weather. This shed renders hackels unnecessary, and is adapted either to storifying or single-hiving. In the annexed plate is a back view of it, with hives arranged in different ways.
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF WOODEN BOXES AND STRAW HIVES.
Mostof the writers who have instituted a comparison between hives and boxes, have decided in favour of the former. But it is to be recollected that when forming this decision, these writers have always had in their minds an out-door apiary, for which situation, on account of their exposure to the variations of temperature and the alternations of drought and moisture, straw-hives possess advantages over wooden boxes;—they are not so soon affected by a hot and dry or by a moist atmosphere; they do not part with so much heat in winter nor admit so much in summer, straw being, in the language of the chemists, a bad conductor of heat. Being much cheaper than any others, straw-hives are of course chosen by the cottager.
Upon the storifying system, and with the advantage of a bee-house, I think wooden boxes have a great superiority over straw-hives; they are more firm and steady, better suited for observing the operations of the bees through the glass windows in the backs and sides, and less liableto harbour moths, spiders, and other insects; they permit the combs, at the period of deprivation, to be more easily separated from the sides and tops, and if well made, have a much neater appearance than straw-hives.
LEAF HIVES.
Narrowhives, with large glazed doors on each side, have been recommended by apiarian writers, for exposing the operations of bees. That ofReaumurwas too wide: it allowed the construction of two parallel combs, by which of course, the apiarian was precluded from making any useful observations, upon the proceedings of the bees, in their interspace.Bonnetrecommended the use of a hive, the doors of which should be only so far asunder as to allow the building of one comb between them. This suggestion was successfully adopted byHuber; and to prevent the bees from building short transverse combs, instead of a single one, parallel to the sides of the hive, he laid the foundation himself, by fastening a piece of empty comb to the ceiling of the box.
Huber’sglass doors had only an interspace of an inch and half betwixt them: in this hive the bees could not cluster upon the surfaces of the comb, and yet had room to pass freely over it. Mr.John Hunterrecommended the diameter of these narrow hives to be three inches, and the superficies of the sides to be of sufficient size toafford stowage for a summer’s work. Mr.Dunbar, with his mirror-hive, constructed somewhat like Huber’s, has been able to make some interesting observations on the œconomy of the bee.VideEdinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. iii. The distance of his glass doors from each other is one inch and two thirds; the height and width of the hive, according to the plan in the Journal, about a foot. Across the centre of the mirror-hive Mr. Dunbar introduced a light frame, which though apparently dividing the hive into four compartments, allowed the bees a free passage: they were skreened from the light by a pair of folding shutters on each side.
Mr. Dunbar hived a small swarm in one of these narrow boxes, in June 1819: the bees began to build immediately, and he witnessed the whole of their proceedings, every bee being exposed to his view. The narrowness of their limits constrained them, from the very commencement, to work in divisions, so that four separate portions of comb were begun and continued nearly at the same time.
But this arrangement did not sufficiently employ these industrious creatures; for contrary to their usual mode of building, which is from above downwards, they laid two other foundations of comb, upon the upper parts of the cross sticks.
The bees now wrought upwards and downwards at the same time, till the originally separate portions were united and become one comb.
For want of proper precautions, the bees of this hive perished, during the intense cold of January 1820.
On the 25th of March following, Mr. Dunbar introduced another swarm into the same unicomb hive; and so early as the 27th, he saw the queenlaying the eggs of workers. This second swarm found plenty of honey and farina in the hive, left by its former tenants. Other particulars reported by Mr. Dunbar are detailed in the Chapters to which they belong.
These hives are of course only useful to the amateur apiarian, who is in quest of information or amusement.
Huber carried the principle of this hive still further: he joined several thin boxes together with hinges: these boxes or wooden frames were without glasses, and the hinges were so contrived as to admit of easy removal. Every box or leaf (as Huber called each separate frame), except the two exterior, was reduced in thickness to an inch and quarter, which, as there was a free communication between all the leaves, afforded the same liberty for the operations of the bees as the single box that was an inch and half wide. This contrivance gave him the power of opening the leaves separately, and inspecting the proceedings of the bees at all times: they soon became accustomed to this treatment, and M. Huber was thus able to examine any one of the divisions, without exciting the anger of the bees. After they had properly secured the pieces of comb which he had attached to the roofs of the boxes, they were subjected to a daily inspection by this indefatigable naturalist.
The preceding sketches may serve to show my readers the progressive proceedings of the bees in the unicomb hive, and the following outline may give them a notion of the compound hive.
DIVIDERS.
Theapiarian who adopts the storifying plan, should haveKeys’s dividers, which consist of two copper or brass plates, about the sixteenth of an inch thick, fifteen inches wide, and fifteen and a half long; the odd half inch, being turned up, serves for the operator to lay hold of, when the plates are withdrawn. Care should be taken that the plates be perfect planes, well hardened by hammering, and of proper thickness. If they exceed the prescribed thickness, the bees may escape as soon as the plates are partially introduced or partially withdrawn; and if they be thinner, there will be the same chance of escape from their want of firmness and elasticity.
These dividers greatly facilitate the various operations which the apiarian has to perform, and at the same time secure him from the attacks of the bees.
He should be provided with one of thelong-bladed spatulasor knives, used by apothecaries and painters, which he will find useful in separating the honey-combs from the sides of the hives or boxes. In some cases it will also be necessary to havean iron instrument, about ten inches longand half an inch wide, the end of which should beturned up about two inchesand bedouble-edged, that it may cut both ways. This instrument, which should be fixed in a wooden handle, being passed between the combs, will enable the operator to separate them from their attachment to the bars.
Those who make use of the Moreton-hives,—a description of which is given in the chapter on Hives,—should be furnished with two strips of tin four inches by fifteen; these will protect the straw bottoms of the upper hives during the introduction of the dividers, and should be introduced one on each side, the hives having been previously dissevered by means of the spatula.
STORIFYING.
Storifyingmeans the piling of hives or boxes upon each other, as shown in the above plate, and preserving a free communication between them; a method which enables the apiarian to take wax and honey without destroying the lives of the bees.
Attempts have been made to accomplish this object in different ways.Thorleyplaced empty hives or boxes over full ones,WildmanandKeysplaced full boxes over empty ones,WhiteandMadame Vicatplaced them collaterally.
Hives and boxes for storifying, as well as for observing the operations of the bees, have been made of various forms and dimensions, and of different materials: such as straw, osiers, glass, and wood.
Aristotle,Pliny, and other ancient writers, speak of contrivances for taking honey, and inspecting the operations of the bees. Modern writers, particularlyMouffet, ridiculed the ineffectual schemes of their brethren of antiquity, and indeed they were very soon abandoned. The way in whichtheyendeavoured to accomplish their objects, was by the introduction of transparent substances into the sides of the hives or boxes, such asisinglass,horn(cornu laterna),pellucid stone(lapis specularis), probablytalc, which is still used in the Russian navy for cabin windows, on account of its not being liable to break by the percussion of the air during the firing of cannon, or in tempestuous weather.
Mr.Hartlib’sCommonwealth of Bees, published in 1655, contains the first account, I have seen, of bee-boxes being employed in this country. He speaks of “an experiment of glassen hives invented by Mr.W. Mew, Minister of Easlington in Gloucestershire: his boxes were of an octagon shape, and had a glass window in the back.” Soon after, in the year 1675,Jno. Gedde, Esq. published, “A new discovery of an excellent method of Bee-houses and Colonies,” which was intended topreserve the lives of the bees: he obtained a patent for his boxes from King Charles.
Gedde’s boxes were considerably improved byJoseph Warder, a physician at Croydon, who published an account of them in his work entitled “The true Amazons, or the Monarchy of Bees.” Dr. Warder enriched his account with several curious circumstances respecting bees; some of which will be detailed in a future chapter. The method of these gentlemen seems not to have been generally known; for even Swammerdam, who published in 1680, makes no mention of it. Had Swammerdam known it, he would have been informed of many circumstances, respecting which he was evidently ignorant. This want of Dr. Warder’s information is to be lamented, for Swammerdam was an accurate observer, and a faithful reporter of what he did observe.
Gedde and Warder were succeeded by the Rev.John Thorleyof Oxford, who published “An Enquiry into the Nature, Order, and Government of Bees;” and by the Rev.Stephen Whiteof Halton in Suffolk, who wrote on “Collateral Bee-boxes, or an easy and advantageous method of managing Bees.” Collateral boxes have been objected to, because bees, when the boxes are on a level, have laid their eggs promiscuously in both; moreover side boxes occupy a great deal more room than storifying boxes.
Mr.Thorley’s sonimproved the method of his father. The indefatigable Mr.Wildmandevoted much of his time to the same subject: to him we are principally indebted for the present perfection of bee-boxes, and particularly for obtaining fresh honey throughout the season, by means of small glasses ranged upon a flat-topped hive.Videpages93and99.
“But faintly, Rome, thy waxen cities shoneThrough the dim lantern or refractive stone,And faintly Albion saw her film-wing’d trainGlance evanescent through the latticed pane.Ere Wildman’s art unveil’d the straw girt round,Its broad expanse with crystal vases crown’d,And each full vase, like Amalthæa’s horn,For Man successive graced the festal morn.”Evans.
“But faintly, Rome, thy waxen cities shoneThrough the dim lantern or refractive stone,And faintly Albion saw her film-wing’d trainGlance evanescent through the latticed pane.Ere Wildman’s art unveil’d the straw girt round,Its broad expanse with crystal vases crown’d,And each full vase, like Amalthæa’s horn,For Man successive graced the festal morn.”
Evans.
Madame Vicat, a very ingenious lady in Switzerland, published, in the Memoirs of the Berne Society, some very judiciousObservations on bees and hives. She was the first who hinted, that upon the storifying plan, the duplets and triplets should always be placed under the full hives; as the bees, in constructing fresh works, evidently prefer descending to ascending.
Lastly, we have Mr.Keys’svery useful book, "The ancient Bee-master’s Farewell," which has long been a standard work to the practical apiarian.
Keys states, that upon the storifying plan, three pecks of bees will collect more honey in a season, than four pecks divided into two families, upon the common plan, and that the proportion of pure honey and pure wax will likewise be greater. He observes, that a good storified colony has, under favourable circumstances, received an accession of thirty pounds of honey in seven days; whereas if a swarm had been sent off, the increase, in the same period, would not, probably, have been more than five pounds.
This difference of increase is owing, I conceive, to the divided family occupying a larger proportion of its workers as nurses, than the storified family employs, there being in the former the brood of two queens, in the latter the brood of only one, to be attended to. The one establishment is in fact divided, so as to form two establishments, and there must be of course, an observance of the accustomed peculiarities of dignity and office, in each of the two, as there was in the one; consequently, fewer collecting bees can be spared from the divided family, than would have been at liberty in their undivided state; and this reasoning will apply with increasing force as the number of duplets and triplets is increased.
In single-hiving, if rainy weather occur at the time the bees are prepared to throw off a swarm, and the hive be filled with comb to its utmostlimit, all the bees must remain idle till the return of fine weather; whereas if more room be given, as upon the storifying plan, they will, by embracing every opportunity for collecting, and by constructing fresh combs by means of the stores already collected, be enabled to diminish that check to their activity, which wet weather always occasions. Though rainy weather has this effect upon the bees, yet are they much less susceptible to moisture than to cold: they may frequently be seen in full activity upon a warm showery day, whereas on a cold dry one, they cluster closely together within the hives. The colder the weather the more closely they cluster. “When the lime-tree and black grain blossom,” says Huber, “they brave the rain, they depart before sun-rise, and return later than ordinary.”
Independently of the benefit derived from storifying, as congregating a numerous body of bees together, it will always be found advantageous to have hives of whatever sort well filled, as the bees uniformly work best when in a numerous body: this has induced Mr. Espinasse and others strongly to recommend the union of stocks that do not well fill the hives.
SWARMING.
Howeverpopulous a stock of bees may be in the autumn, its numbers are greatly reduced during winter, perhaps about six or seven eighths. This loss is more than replaced in the spring, by the amazing fecundity of the queen. Hence arises a disposition to throw off swarms, which, of course, will issue more or less frequently, more or less early, and in greater or less force, according to the temperature of the season, the fertility of the queen, the populousness of the stock, and the attention that has been paid to early feeding.
It is a prevalent opinion, that a swarm consists entirely of young bees; but this is an error: every swarm contains a mixture of young and old; the latter are distinguishable by being of a redder hue, and having ragged wings.
In favourable seasons, a good stock will throw off three swarms, even a swarm of the current year will sometimes throw off another swarm; in this latter case, there is but a small collection of honey, compared with the great number of bees which have been called into existence. I have endeavoured to account for this inpage 113. In the Monthly Magazine, for Sept. 1825, an instance isrecorded of five swarms being thrown off and hived before the end of July from planting one single stock; the season was favourable, and the situation, (High Armaside in Lorton), particularly so. They were not all thrown off from the first or parent stock, but from that and the earliest swarm. Bosc, the French consul in Carolina, has stated that he had eleven swarms in one season from a single stock; and that each of those swarms, during the same season, threw off the same number of secondary ones!!!! The space which usually intervenes between the first and second swarm is from seven to nine days; between the second and third, the period is shorter; and if there should be a fourth, it may depart the day after that which precedes it.
This succession of swarms must be owing to the great number of young queens that obtain their liberty. As they greatly weaken the parent stock, and are naturally weak themselves, the only resource under such circumstances is the union of two or more of the swarms into one family.
March is the month in which the grand laying of the queen usually commences; yet when January proves mild, the breeding will sometimes begin at the latter end ofthatmonth, and it is by no means an uncommon thing for the commencement to happen in February. The queen-bee maynaturally be expected to breed earlier in the season than insects in general, from the circumstance of the working-bees storing up food for the young, which other insects, that breed later, do not; as also from her living in the midst of a society which preserves a summer heat during the coldest months of winter. A thermometer in a bee-hive has ranged as high as 74° Fahrenheit at Christmas; and Bonner says that he has often seen his hives with young brood in them in the midst of a severe frost. In the Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c.Mr. Hubbardhas stated that vigorous well-stored hives breed even in the depth of winter. In this perhaps he was mistaken; the finding of eggs and maggots in the cells does not satisfy my mind, as they might have been laid late in the autumn, and have remained stationary till spring. Riem states, that in a bad season the eggs will remain in the cells many months without hatching. Mr. Hubbard was led to make the experiment of suffocating a strong stock in February, to ascertain the state of the brood-combs; in which he says that he found an abundance of brood, in every state, from that of egg to the almost perfect fly; although the preceding January had been very cold, accompanied by frost and snow,—a circumstance which in some measure confirms my supposition, as to the suspended development of the brood. Mr. Hubbardfurther adds, that on examining two weak hives, in March and April, he found not a single egg. From these very opposite statesDr. Evansinfers the great importance of leaving stocks strong in October, and feeding them in an ungenial autumn, conceiving that the bees apportion the numbers of their young to the means they possess of supporting them. That
“The prescient Female rears her tender broodIn strict proportion to the hoarded food.”
“The prescient Female rears her tender broodIn strict proportion to the hoarded food.”
This, however, does not correspond with what will be stated below; from which it will appear, that the queen sometimes lays eggs, in reliance upon an approaching season, and does not let the number altogether depend upon the stock of provision in the hive. The commencement of the queen’s breeding may generally be known, by the bees carrying in pellets of farina on their thighs. For want of a sufficient supply of this, as must happen in cold unkindly seasons, many of the nymphs are cast out, having died probably from actual starvation. Hence the necessity, as before stated, of having in the immediate neighbourhood of the hives such early blossoming trees and flowers as afford plenty of farina; and also late blossoming ones, that the bees may be enabled to lay in a store of it, ready for spring.
Swarming may take place at any time between the beginning of April and the latter end of August.It seldom happens before ten in the morning, nor later than three in the afternoon, and never but in fine weather. If it be sultry, bees are apt to rise after a storm, being anxious to escape from the heat of the hive, rendered more intolerable by the confinement which the storm has occasioned. In the sixth volume of the Philosophical Transactions, an instance is recorded byRichard Reed, Esq. of Lugwardine, of a swarm issuing on the 9th of March; as he supposed, in consequence of there being an insufficient supply of food for the whole family, a part were sent forth to seek their fortunes, lest the whole should perish. The day, he says, was fine, but does not mention the temperature. Probably this was a stock which had bred in the month of February, the swarm issuing from the usual cause, a disproportion between the size of the family and the size of the habitation.
If early swarming be desired, early breeding must be promoted, by feeding with sugared or honeyed ale in February and March, and by keeping the stock warm. And if the apiarian at any time wish to obtain a swarm, he has only to withhold from his bees that accommodation which storifying affords them.
The most advantageous time for a swarm to be thrown off is from the middle of May to the middle of June. This period comprehends the grandharvest season of the honeyed race. After the scythe has cut down the flowers which adorn our meadows and yield the bees such a plentiful supply of honey and farina, there is a very manifest relaxation in their activity; their excursions are not only much less extensive, but less frequent, although the weather be in all respects propitious. Swarms that issue much earlier than the time I have specified, are apt to be small; and should bad weather succeed, feeding will be necessary, to prevent famine. Those that issue later, afford no better promise, either to themselves or to the parent hives; for though late swarms are usually large ones, they will scarcely have time to rear their brood, and to lay in a store of honey, &c. adequate to the support of the family during the ensuing winter and spring. Late swarming is not only hazardous to the bees thrown off, but is injurious to the parent stock, which suffers in proportion to the loss of labourers, that should contribute to the general store of food, and assist in rearing the brood, which is generally abundant, though the season be far advanced.
Hence it is the usual practice, early in the autumn, to suffocate both the swarm and the stock, in order to secure whatever wax and honey may have been collected up to that time. There is however another alternative, as will be seen under the head ofUniting Swarms or Stocks.
If several days of rainy weather should succeed a swarm’s going off, the stores they carry with them from the parent hive may be exhausted and endanger a famine; in such a case recourse must be had to feeding.
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF STORIFYING AND SINGLE-HIVING.
Fromwhat has been said in the two last chapters, a comparative estimate may be made of the advantages which storifying possesses over single-hiving; and they appear to be the following.
First, an œconomical division of labour, an advantage common to all bodies of artificers, whose works are conducted upon a large scale, and which causes a larger quantity of wax and honey to be collected in the season, than if the bees were to swarm, and to carry on their operations in separate families.
Secondly, the facility with which the bees may be deprived of a considerable portion of their honey, without destroying their lives, or communicating to the honey any unpleasant flavour, from the sulphurous gas.
Thirdly, the power which is afforded to the bees, of employing themselves usefully during wet weather, in the manner before stated.
Fourthly, the saving of that time which is unnecessarily spent in the construction of fresh combs, in the new habitation.
Fifthly, the saving of room; for as every familyhas more warehouse-room than its respective necessities require, the division into small families must multiply the proportion of this superfluous room.
Sixthly, the saving of the time usually lost in preparation for swarming, when the bees hang inactively in clusters, on the outsides of the hives, for many days, sometimes for weeks, particularly if the weather be unfavourable.
It seems right to remark in this place, that though thisclusteringorhanging outof the bees is generally regarded as one of the strongest symptoms of an approaching swarm, it is nevertheless a deceptive one. It does certainly indicate that there are bees sufficient to throw off a swarm, and is sometimes evidence of an anxiety to do so; but unless there be a queen ready to go off with them, however distrest for room, the clustering will sometimes continue for a considerable time; in hot dry seasons it may last till the middle of August. This clustering, as before observed, is very prejudicial, as it causes the bees to be inactive in their principal harvest season, when every bee ought to be fully employed, and may induce a habit of inactivity for the future. Clustering likewise obstructs the operations of the bees that are active, by interrupting the thoroughfare to the hive. These disadvantages are admirably remedied by storifying, without which,independently of the loss of time to the bees, a constant system of watchfulness must be kept up by the proprietor, during the whole period of the bees clustering out, otherwise a swarm may be lost.
Storifying, though generally, is not invariably successful in causing the clustered bees to reenter the boxes: where it fails to do so, if a young queen were ready to assume the sovereignty of the colony, the clustered bees would swarm and seek a new habitation with the old one. M. Reaumur drowned several hives thus circumstanced, and examined all their inmates most minutely, but could never find more than a single queen, and this the old one; in none of these hives did he find royal larvæ.
Keyssays that he hasfailed to make the clustered bees rejoin the family, if he has put the empty him or box over the colony;but that byplacing the box under it, the bees soon re-entered and worked vigorously. I have myself, in several instances, noticed the reluctance of bees to ascend; this reluctance will however generally give way in a day or two, if no room be allowed them in any other direction. This is proved by the successful use of small glasses upon flat-topped hives or boxes, for obtaining fresh honey occasionally.Thorleyconstantly practised super-hiving, and was very successful with it. So likewise is myfriendMr. Walond, who finds it afford him a supply of purer honey than nadir-hiving; for as the queen is generally found more disposed to descend than to ascend, by placing the box over the stock it will seldom be stored with any other combs than those which contain honey.Mr. George Hubbard, however, of Bury St. Edmunds, in a paper contained in the Transactions of the Society of Arts, vol. ix. (for which they awarded him ten guineas), says that he has known instances in which thebees have swarmed rather than submit to super-hiving.
Bees have been known to construct combs under the floors of the hives, when restricted for room within.Here their natural activity surmounted the impediments thrown in their way, by the want of inclosed space. The storifying or colonizing plan has been much applauded for its saving the lives of the bees: though this preservation be well worthy of attention, yet it is an advantage very inferior to that which is derived from the œconomical division of labour, the consequent increase of wax and honey, and the facility afforded for extracting them. I trust that this remark will not expose me to the imputation of inhumanity, for I am fully sensible of the value of life to all creatures that exist, and have often felt strongly the force of Thomson’s pathetic description of the sulphurous death of bees.