On The Advantages Which Ought To Be Found In An Improved Hive
In this chapter, I shall enumerate certain very desirable, if not
necessary, qualities of a good hive. I have neither the taste nor the
time for the invidious work of disparaging other hives. I prefer
inviting the attention of bee-keepers to the importance of these
requisites; some of which, as I believe, are contained in no hive but my
own. Let them be most carefully examined, and if they commend themselves
to the enl
them be employed to test the comparative merits of the various kinds of
hives in common use.
1. A good hive should give the Apiarian a perfect control over all the
combs: so that any of them may be taken out at pleasure; and this,
without cutting them, or enraging the bees.
This advantage is possessed by no hive in use, except my own; and it
forms the very foundation of an improved and profitable system of
bee-culture. Unless the combs are at the entire command of the Apiarian,
he can have no effectual control over his bees. They swarm too much or
too little, just as suits themselves, and their owner is almost entirely
dependent upon their caprice.
2. It ought to afford suitable protection against extremes of heat and
cold, sudden changes of temperature, and the injurious effects of
dampness.
In winter, the interior of the hive should be dry, and not a particle of
frost should ever find admission; and in summer, the bees should not be
forced to work to disadvantage in a pent and almost suffocating heat.
(See these points discussed in the Chapter on Protection.)
3. It should permit all necessary operations to be performed without
hurting or killing a single bee.
Most hives are so constructed that it is impossible to manage them,
without at times injuring or destroying some of the bees. The mere
destruction of a few bees, would not, except on the score of humanity,
be of much consequence, if it did not very materially increase the
difficulty of managing them. Bees remember injuries done to any of their
number, for some time, and generally find an opportunity to avenge them.
4. It should allow every thing to be done that is necessary in the most
extensive management of bees, without incurring any serious risk of
exciting their anger. (See Chapter on the Anger of Bees.)
5. Not a single unnecessary step or motion ought to be required of a
single bee.
The honey harvest, in most locations, is of short continuance; and all
the arrangements of the hive should facilitate, to the utmost, the work
of the busy gatherers. Tall hives, therefore, and all such as compel
them to travel with their heavy burdens through densely crowded combs,
are very objectionable. The bees in my hive, instead of forcing their
way through thick clusters, can easily pass into the surplus honey
boxes, not only from any comb in the hive, but without traveling over
the combs at all.
6. It should afford suitable facilities for inspecting, at all times,
the condition of the bees.
When the sides of my hive are of glass, as soon as the outer cover is
elevated, the Apiarian has a view of the interior, and can often at a
glance, determine its condition. If the hive is of wood, or if he wishes
to make a more thorough examination, in a few minutes every comb may be
taken out, and separately inspected. In this way, the exact condition of
every colony may always be easily ascertained, and nothing left, as in
the common hives, to mere conjecture. This is an advantage, the
importance of which it would be difficult to over estimate. (See
Chapters on the loss of the queen, and on the Bee Moth.)
7. While the hive is of a size adapted to the natural instincts of the
bee, it should be capable of being readily adjusted to the wants of
small colonies.
If a small swarm is put into a large hive, they will be unable to
concentrate their animal heat, so as to work to the best advantage, and
will often become discouraged, and abandon their hive. If they are put
into a small hive, its limited dimensions will not afford them suitable
accommodations for increase. By means of my movable partition, my hive
can, in a few moments, be adapted to the wants of any colony however
small, and can, with equal facility, be enlarged from time to time, or
at once restored to its full dimensions.
8. It should allow the combs to be removed without any jarring.
Bees manifest the utmost aversion to any sudden jar; for it is in this
way, that their combs are loosened and detached. However firmly fastened
the frames may be in my hive, they can all be loosened in a few moments,
without injuring or exciting the bees.
9. It should allow every good piece of comb to be given to the bees,
instead of being melted into wax. (See Chapter on Comb.)
10. The construction of the hive should induce the bees to build their
combs with great regularity.
A hive which contains a large proportion of irregular comb, can never be
expected to prosper. Such comb is only suitable for storing honey, or
raising drones. This is one reason why so many colonies never flourish.
A glance will often show that a hive contains so much drone comb, as to
be unfit for the purposes of a stock hive.
11. It should furnish the means of procuring comb to be used as a guide
to the bees, in building regular combs in empty hives; and to induce
them more readily to take possession of the surplus honey receptacles.
It is well known that the presence of comb will induce bees to begin
work much more readily than they otherwise Would: this is especially the
case in glass vessels.
12. It should allow the removal of drone combs from the hive, to prevent
the breeding of too many drones. (See remarks on Drones.)
13. It should enable the Apiarian, when the combs become too old, to
remove them, and supply their place with new ones.
No hive can, in this respect, equal one in which, in a few moments, any
comb can be removed, and the part which is too old, be cut off. The
upper part of a comb, which is generally used for storing honey, will
last without renewal for many years.
14. It ought to furnish the greatest possible security against the
ravages of the Bee-Moth.
Neither before nor after it is occupied, ought there to be any cracks
or crevices in the interior. All such places will be filled by the bees
with propolis or bee-glue; a substance, which is always soft in the
summer heat of the hive, and which forms a most congenial place of
deposit for the eggs of the moth. If the sides of the hive are of glass,
and the corners are run with a melted mixture, three parts rosin, and
one part bees-wax, the bees will waste but little time in gathering
propolis, and the bee-moth will find but little chance for laying her
eggs, even if she should succeed in entering the hive.
My hives are so constructed, that if made of wood, they may be
thoroughly painted inside and outside, without being so smooth as to
annoy the bees; for they travel over the frames to which the combs are
attached; and thus whether the inside surface is glass or wood, it is
not liable to crack, or warp, or absorb moisture, after the hive is
occupied by the bees. If the hives are painted inside, it should be done
sometime before they are used. If the interior of the wooden hive is
brushed with a very hot mixture of the rosin and bees-wax, the hives may
be used immediately.
15. It should furnish some place accessible to the Apiarian, where the
bee-moth can be tempted to deposit her eggs, and the worms, when full
grown, to wind themselves in their cocoons. (See remarks on the
Bee-Moth.)
16. It should enable the Apiarian, if the bee-moth ever gains the upper
hand of the bees, to remove the combs, and expel the worms. (See
Bee-Moth.)
17. The bottom board should be permanently attached to the hive; for if
this is not done, it will be inconvenient to move the hive when bees are
in it, and next to impossible to prevent the depredations of moths and
worms.
Sooner or later, there will be crevices between the bottom board and the
sides of the hive, through which the moths will gain admission, and
under which the worms, when fully grown, will retreat to spin their
webs, and to be changed into moths, to enter in their turn, and lay
their eggs. Movable bottom hoards are a great nuisance in the Apiary,
and the construction of my hive, which enables me entirely to dispense
with them, will furnish a very great protection against the bee-moth.
There is no place where they can get in, except at the entrance for the
bees, and this may be contracted or enlarged, to suit the strength of
the colony; and from its peculiar shape, the bees are enabled to defend
it against intruders, with the greatest advantage.
18. The bottom-board should slant towards the entrance, to assist the
bees in carrying out the dead, and other useless substances; to aid them
in defending themselves against robbers; to carry off all moisture; and
to prevent the rain and snow from beating into the hive. As a farther
precaution against this last evil, the entrance ought to be under a
covered way, which should not, at once lead into the interior.
19. The bottom-board should be so constructed that it may be readily
cleared of dead bees in cold weather, when the bees are unable to attend
to this business themselves.
If suffered to remain, they often become mouldy, and injure the health
of the colony. If the bees drag them out, as they will do, if the
weather moderates, they often fall with them on the snow, and are so
chilled that they never rise again; for a bee generally retains its hold
in flying away with the dead, until both fall to the ground.
20. No part of the interior of the hive should be below the level of the
place of exit.
If this principle is violated, the bees must, at great disadvantage,
drag their dead, and all the refuse of the hive, _up hill_. Such hives
will often have their bottom boards covered with small pieces of comb,
bee-bread, and other impurities, in which the moth delights to lay her
eggs; and which furnished her progeny with a most congenial nourishment,
until they are able to get access to the combs.
21. It should afford facilities for feeding the bees both in warm and
cold weather.
In this respect, my hive has very unusual advantages. Sixty colonies in
warm weather may, in an hour, be fed a quart each, and yet no feeder be
used, and no risk incurred from robbing bees. (See Chapter on Feeding.)
22. It should allow of the easy hiving of a swarm, without injuring any
of the bees, or risking the destruction of the queen. (See Chapter on
Natural Swarming, and Hiving.)
23. It should admit of the safe transportation of the bees to any
distance whatever.
The permanent bottom-board, the firm attachment of the combs, each to a
separate frame, and the facility with which, in my hive, any amount of
air can be given to the bees when shut up, most admirably adapt it to
this purpose.
24. It should furnish the bees with air when the entrance is shut; and
the ventilation for this purpose ought to be unobstructed, even if the
hives should be buried in two or three feet of snow. (See Chapter on
Protection.)
25. A good hive should furnish facilities for enlarging, contracting,
and closing the entrance; so as to protect the bees against robbers, and
the bee-moth; and when the entrance is altered, the bees ought not to
lose valuable time in searching for it, as they must do in most hives.
(See Chapters on Ventilation, and on Robbing.)
26. It should give the bees the means of ventilating their hives,
without enlarging the entrance too much, so as to expose them to moths
and robbers, and to the risk of losing their brood by a chill in sudden
changes of weather. (See Chapter on Ventilation.)
To secure this end, the ventilators must not only be independent of the
entrance, but they must owe their efficiency mainly to the co-operation
of the bees themselves, who thus have a free admission of air only when
they want it. To depend on the opening and shutting of the ventilators
by the bee-keeper, is entirely out of the question.
27. It should furnish facilities for admitting at once, a large body of
air; so that in winter, or early spring, when the weather is at any time
unusually mild, the bees may be tempted to fly out and discharge their
faeces. (See Chapter on Protection.)
If such a free admission of air cannot be given to hives which are
thoroughly protected against the cold, the bees may lose a favorable
opportunity of emptying themselves; and thus be more exposed than they
otherwise would, to suffer from diseases resulting from too long
confinement. A very free admission of air is also desirable when the
weather is exceedingly hot.
28. It should enable the Apiarian to remove the excess of bee-bread from
old stocks.
This article always accumulates in old hives, so that in the course of
time, many of the combs are filled with it, thus unfitting them for the
rearing of brood, and the reception of honey. Young stocks, on the other
hand, will often be so deficient in this important article, that in the
early part of the season, breeding will be seriously interfered with. By
means of my movable frames, the excess of old colonies may be made to
supply the deficiency of young ones, to the mutual benefit of both. (See
Chapter on Pollen.)
29. It should enable the Apiarian, when he has removed the combs from a
common hive, to place them with the bees, brood, honey and bee-bread, in
the improved hive, so that the bees may be able to attach them in their
natural positions. (See directions for transferring bees from an old
hive.)
30. It should allow of the easy and safe dislodgement of the bees from
the hive.
This requisite is especially important to secure the union of colonies,
when it becomes necessary to break up some of the stocks. (See remarks
on the Union of Stocks.)
31. It should allow the heat and odor of the main hive, as well as the
bees themselves, to pass in the freest manner, to the surplus honey
receptacles.
In this respect, all the hives with which I am acquainted, are more or
less deficient: the bees are forced to work in receptacles difficult of
access, and in which, especially in cool nights, they find it impossible
to keep up the animal heat necessary for comb-building. Bees cannot, in
such hives, work to advantage in glass tumblers, or other small vessels.
One of the most important arrangements of my hive, is that by which the
heat ascends into all the receptacles for storing honey, as naturally
and almost as easily as the warmest air ascends to the top of a heated
room.
32. It should permit the surplus honey to be taken away, in the most
convenient, beautiful and salable forms, at any time, and without any
risk of annoyance from the bees.
In my hives, it may be taken in tumblers, glass boxes, wooden boxes
small or large, earthen jars, flower-pots; in short, in any kind of
receptacle which may suit the fancy, or the convenience of the
bee-keeper. Or all these may be dispensed with, and the honey may be
taken from the interior of the main hive, by removing the frames with
loaded combs, and supplying their place with empty ones.
33. It should admit of the easy removal of all the good honey from the
main hive, that its place may be supplied with an inferior article.
Bee-Keepers who have but few colonies, and who wish to secure the
largest yield, may remove the loaded combs from my hive, slice off the
covers of the cells, drain out the honey, and restore the empty combs,
into which, if the season of gathering is over, they can first pour the
cheap foreign honey for the use of the bees.
34. It should allow, when quantity not quality is the object, the
largest amount of honey to be gathered; so that the surplus of strong
colonies may, in the Fall, be given to those which have not a sufficient
supply.
By surmounting my hive with a box of the same dimensions, the combs may
all be transferred to this box, and the bees, when they commence
building, will descend and fill the lower frames, gradually using the
upper box, as the brood is hatched out, for storing honey. In this way,
the largest possible yield of honey may be secured, as the bees always
prefer to continue their work below, rather than above the main hive,
and will never swarm, when allowed in season, ample room in this
direction. The combs in the upper box, containing a large amount of
bee-bread and being of a size adapted to the breeding of workers, will
be all the better for aiding weak colonies.
35. It should compel, when desired, the force of the colony to be mainly
directed to raising young bees; so that brood may be on hand to form new
colonies, and strengthen feeble stocks. (See Chapter on Artificial
Swarming.)
36. It ought, while well protected from the weather, to be so
constructed, that in warm, sunny days in early spring, the influence of
the sun may be allowed to penetrate and warm up the hive, so as to
encourage early breeding. (See Chapter on Protection.)
37. The hive should be equally well adapted to be used as a swarmer, or
non-swarmer.
In my hives bees may be allowed, if their owner chooses, to swarm just
as they do in common hives, and be managed in the usual way. Even on
this plan, the great protection against the weather which it affords,
and the command over all the combs, will be found to afford great
advantages. (See Natural Swarming.)
Non-swarming hives managed in the ordinary way are liable, in spite of
all precautions, to swarm very unexpectedly, and if not closely watched,
the swarm is lost, and with it the profit of that season. By having the
command of the combs, the queen in my hives can always be caught and
deprived of her wings; thus she cannot go off with a swarm, and they
will not leave without her.
38. It should enable the Apiarian, if he allows his bees to swarm, and
wishes to secure surplus honey, to prevent them from throwing more than
one swarm in a season.
Second and third swarms must be returned to the old stock, if the
largest quantities of surplus honey are to be realized. It is
troublesome to watch them, deprive them of their queens, and restore
them to the parent hive. They often issue with new queens again and
again; and waste, in this way, both their own time, and that of their
keeper. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." In my hives,
as soon as the first swarm has issued, and been hived, all the queen
cells except one, in the hive from which it came, may be cut out, and
thus all after-swarming will very easily and effectually be prevented.
(See Chapter on Artificial Swarming, for the use to which these
supernumerary queens may be put.) When the old stock is left with but
one queen, she runs no risk of being killed or crippled in a contest
with rivals. By such contests, a colony is often left without a queen,
or in possession of one which is too much maimed to be of any service.
(See Chapter on the Loss of the Queen.)
39. A good hive should enable the Apiarian, if he relies on natural
swarming, and wishes to multiply his colonies as fast as possible, to
make vigorous stocks of all his small after-swarms.
Such swarms contain a young queen, and if they can be judiciously
strengthened, usually make the best stock hives. If hived in a common
hive, and left to themselves, unless very early, or in very favorable
seasons, they seldom thrive. They generally desert their hives, or
perish in the winter. If they are small, they cannot be made powerful,
even by the most generous feeding. There are too few bees to build comb,
and take care of the eggs which a healthy queen can lay; and when fed,
they are apt to fill with honey, the cells in which young bees ought to
be raised; thus making the kindness of their owner serve only to hasten
their destruction. My hives enable me to supply all such swarms at once
with combs containing bee-bread, honey and brood almost mature. They are
thus made strong, and flourish as well, nay, often better than the first
swarms which have an old queen, whose fertility is generally not so
great as that of a young one.
40. It should enable the Apiarian to multiply his colonies with a
certainty and rapidity which are entirely out of the question, if he
depends upon natural swarming. (See Chapter on Artificial Swarming.)
41. It should enable the Apiarian to supply destitute colonies with the
means of obtaining a new queen.
Every Apiarian would find it, for this reason, if for no other, to his
advantage to possess, at least, one such hive. (See Chapters on
Physiology, and loss of Queen.)
42. It should enable him to catch the queen, for any purpose; especially
to remove an old one whose fertility is impaired by age, that her place
may be supplied with a young one. (See Chapter on Artificial Swarming.)
43. While a good hive is adapted to the wants of those who desire to
enter upon bee-keeping on a large scale, or at least to manage their
colonies on the most improved plans, it ought to be suited to the wants
of those who are too timid, too ignorant, or for any reason indisposed,
to manage them in any other than the common way.
44. It should enable a single individual to superintend the colonies of
many different persons.
Many would like to keep bees, if they could have them taken care of, by
those who would undertake their management, just as a gardener does the
gardens and grounds of his employers. No person can agree to do this
with the common hives. If the bees are allowed to swarm, he may be
called in a dozen different directions, and if any accident, such as the
loss of a queen, happens to the colonies of his customers, he can apply
no remedy. If the bees are in non-swarming hives, he cannot multiply the
stocks when this is desired.
On my plan, gentlemen who desire it, may have the pleasure of witnessing
the industry and sagacity of this wonderful insect, and of gratifying
their palates with its delicious stores, harvested on their own
premises, without incurring either trouble or risk of injury.
45. All the joints of the hive should be water-tight, and there should
be no doors or slides which are liable to shrink, swell, or get out of
order.
The importance of this will be sufficiently obvious to any one who has
had the ordinary share of vexatious experience in the use of such
fixtures.
46. It should enable the bee-keeper entirely to dispense with sheds, and
costly Apiaries; as each hive when properly placed, should alike defy,
heat or cold, rain or snow. (See Chapter on Protection.)
47. It should allow the contents of a hive, bees, combs and all, to be
taken out; so that any necessary repairs may be made.
This may be done, with my hives, in a few minutes. "A stitch in time
saves nine." Hives which can be thoroughly overhauled and repaired, from
time to time, if properly attended to, will last for generations.
48. The hive and fixtures should present a neat and attractive
appearance, and should admit, when desired, of being made highly
ornamental.
49. The hives ought not to be liable to be blown down in high winds.
My hives, being very low in proportion to their other dimensions, it
would require almost a hurricane to upset them.
50. It should enable an Apiarian who lives in the neighborhood of human
pilferers, to lock up the precious contents of his hives, in some cheap,
simple and convenient way.
A couple of padlocks with some cheap fixtures, will suffice to secure a
long range of hives.
51. A good hive should be protected against the destructive ravages of
mice in winter.
It seems almost incredible that so puny an animal should dare to invade
a hive of bees; and yet not unfrequently they slip in when the bees are
compelled by the cold to retreat from the entrance. Having once found
admission, they build themselves a nest in their comfortable abode, eat
up the honey, and such bees as are too much chilled to make any
resistance; and fill the premises with such an abominable stench, that
on the approach of warm weather, the bees often in a body abandon their
desecrated home. As soon as the cold weather approaches, all my hives
may have their entrances either entirely closed, or so contracted that
a mouse cannot gain admission.
52. A good hive should have its alighting board constructed so as to
shelter the bees against wind and wet, and thus to facilitate to the
utmost their entrance when they come home with their heavy burdens.
If this precaution is neglected, much valuable time and many lives will
be sacrificed, as the colony cannot be encouraged to use to the best
advantage the unpromising days which so often occur in the working
season.
I have succeeded in arranging my alighting board in such a manner that
the bees are sheltered against wind and wet, and are able to enter the
hive with the least possible loss of time.
53. A well constructed hive ought to admit of being shut up in winter,
so as to consign the bees to darkness and repose.
Nothing can be more hazardous than to shut up closely an ill protected
hive. Even if the bees have an abundance of air, it will not answer to
prevent them from flying out, if they are so disposed. As soon as the
warmth penetrating their thin hives tempts them to fly, they crowd to
the entrance, and if it is shut, multitudes worry themselves to death in
trying to get out, and the whole colony is liable to become diseased.
In my hives as soon as the bees are shut up for Winter, they are most
effectually protected against all atmospheric changes, and never
_desire_ to leave their hives until the entrances are again opened, on
the return of suitable weather. Thus they pass the Winter in a state of
almost absolute repose; they eat much less honey[12] than when wintered
on the ordinary plan; a much smaller number die in the hives; none are
lost upon the snow, and they are more healthy, and commence breeding
much earlier than they do in the common hives. As some of the holes into
the Protector are left open in Winter, any bee that is diseased and
wishes to leave the hive can do so. Bees when diseased have a strange
propensity to leave their hives, just as animals when sick seek to
retreat from their companions; and in Summer such bees may often be seen
forsaking their home to perish on the ground. If all egress from the
hive in Winter is prevented, the diseased bees will not be able to
comply with an instinct which urges them "To leave their country for
their country's good."
54. It should possess all these requisites without being too costly for
common bee-keepers, or too complicated to be constructed by any one who
can handle simple tools: and they should be so combined that the result
is a simple hive, which any one can manage who has ordinary intelligence
on the subject of bees.
I suppose that the very natural conclusion from reading this long list
of desirables, would be that no single hive can combine them all,
without being exceedingly complicated and expensive. On the contrary,
the simplicity and cheapness with which my hive secures all these
results, is one of its most striking peculiarities, the attainment of
which has cost me more study than all the other points besides. As far
as the bees are concerned, they can work in this hive with even greater
facility than in the simple old-fashioned box, as the frames are left
rough by the saw, and thus give an admirable support to the bees when
building their combs; and they can enter the spare honey boxes, with
even more ease than if they were merely continuations of the main hive.
There are a few desirables to which my hive makes not the slightest
pretensions! It promises no splendid results to those who purchase it,
and yet are too ignorant, or too careless to be entrusted with the
management of bees. In bee-keeping, as in other things, a man must first
understand his business, and then proceed on the good old maxim, that
"the hand of the diligent maketh rich."
It possesses no talismanic influence by which it can convert a bad
situation for honey, into a good one; or give the Apiarian an abundant
harvest whether the season is productive or otherwise.
It cannot enable the cultivator rapidly to multiply his stocks, and yet
to secure, the same season, surplus honey from his bees. As well might
the breeder of poultry pretend that he can, in the same year, both raise
the greatest number of chickens, and sell the largest number of eggs.
Worse than all, it cannot furnish the many advantages enumerated, and
yet be made in as little time, or quite as cheap as a hive which proves,
in the end, to be a very dear bargain.
I have not constructed my hive in accordance with crude theories, or
mere conjectures, and then insisted that the bees must flourish in such
a fanciful contrivance; but I have studied, for many years, most
carefully, the nature of the honey-bee; and have diligently compared my
observations with those of writers and practical cultivators, who have
spent their lives in extending the sphere of Apiarian knowledge; and as
the result, have endeavored to adapt my hive to the actual wants and
habits of the bee; and to remedy the many difficulties with which I have
found its successful culture to be beset. And more than this, I have
actually tested by experiments long continued and on a large scale, the
merits of this hive, that I might not deceive both myself and others,
and add another to the many useless contrivances which have deluded and
disgusted a credulous public. I would, however, most earnestly repudiate
all claims to having devised a "perfect bee-hive." Perfection can belong
only to the works of the great Creator, to whose Omniscient eye, all
causes and effects with all their relations, were present, when he
spake, and from nothing formed the universe and all its glorious
wonders. For man to stamp upon any of his own works, the label of
perfection, is to show both his folly and presumption.
It must be confessed that the culture of bees is at a very low ebb in
our country, when thousands can be induced to purchase hives which are
in most glaring opposition not only to the true principles of Apiarian
knowledge, but often, to the plainest dictates of simple common sense.
Such have been the losses and disappointments of deluded purchasers,
that it is no wonder that they turn from everything offered in the shape
of a patent bee-hive, as a miserable humbug, if not a most bare-faced
cheat.
I do not hesitate to say that those old-fashioned bee-keepers, who have
most steadily refused to meddle with any novelties, and who have used
hives of the very simplest construction, or at least such as are only
one remove from the old straw hive, or wooden box, have, as a general
thing, realized by far the largest profits in the management of bees.
They have lost neither time, money nor bees, in the vain hope of
obtaining any unusual results from hives, which, in the very nature of
the case, can secure nothing really in advance of what can be
accomplished by a simple box-hive with an upper chamber.
_A hive of the simplest possible construction_, is only a close
imitation of the abode of bees in a state of nature; being a mere hollow
receptacle in which they are protected from the weather, and where they
can lay up their stores.
_An improved hive_ is one which contains, in addition, a separate
apartment in which the bees can be induced to lay up the surplus portion
of their stores, for the use of their owner. All the various hives in
common use, are only modifications of this latter hive, and, as a
general rule, they are bad, exactly in proportion as they depart from
it. Not one of them offers any remedy for the loss of the queen, or
indeed for most of the casualties to which bees are exposed: they form
no reliable basis for any new system of management; and hence the
cultivation of bees, is substantially where it was, fifty years ago, and
the Apiarian as entirely dependent as ever, upon all the whims and
caprices of an insect which may be made completely subject to his
control.
No hive which does not furnish a thorough control over every comb, can
be considered as any substantial advance on the simple improved or
chamber hive. Of all such hives, the one which with the least expense,
gives the greatest amount of protection, and the readiest access to the
spare honey boxes, is the best.
Having thus enumerated the tests to which all hives ought to be
subjected, and by which they should stand or fall, I submit them to the
candid examination of practical, common sense bee-keepers, who have had
the largest experience in the management of bees, and are most
conversant with the evils of the present system; and who are therefore
best fitted to apply them to an invention, which, if I may be pardoned
for using the enthusiastic language of an experienced Apiarian on
examining its practical workings, "introduces, not simply an
_improvement_, but a _revolution_ in bee-keeping."
More
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A PARASITE OF THE MAGGOT
The dangers of the exhumation are not the only ones; the Bluebottle must be acquainted with others. Life, when all is said, is a knacker's yard wherein the devourer of today becomes the devoured of tomorrow; and the robber of the dead cannot fail t... A TRUFFLE-HUNTER THE BOLBOCERAS GALLICUS
In the matter of physics we hear of nothing to-day but the Roentgen rays, which penetrate opaque bodies and photograph the invisible. A splendid discovery; but nothing very remarkable as compared with the surprises reserved for us by the future, w... Age Of Bees
The queen bee, (as has been already stated,) will live four, and sometimes, though very rarely, five years. As the life of the drones is usually cut short by violence, it is not easy to ascertain its precise limit. Bevan, in some interesting stateme... AN INVADER - THE HARICOT - WEEVIL
If there is one vegetable on earth that more than any other is a gift of the gods, it is the haricot bean. It has all the virtues: it forms a soft paste upon the tongue; it is extremely palatable, abundant, inexpensive, and highly nutritious. It i... ANOTHER PROBER (PERFORATOR)
What can he be called, this creature whose style and title I dare not inscribe at the head of the chapter? His name is Monodontomerus cupreus, SM. Just try it, for fun: Mo-no-don-to- me-rus. What a gorgeous mouthful! What an idea it gives one of ... Artificial Rearing Of Queens
The distress of the bees when they lose their queen, has already been described. If they have the means of supplying her loss, they soon calm down, and commence forthwith, the necessary steps for rearing another. The process of rearing queens artifi... Artificial Swarming
The numerous efforts which have been made for the last fifty years or more, to dispense with natural swarming, plainly indicate the anxiety of Apiarians to find some better mode of increasing their colonies. Although I am able to propagate bees ... Bee-dress
Timid Apiarians, and all who are liable to suffer severely from the sting of a bee, should by all means furnish themselves with the protection of a bee-dress. The great objection to gauze-wire veils or other materials of which such a dress has been ... Bees Cannot Under Any Circumstances Resist The Temptation To Fill Themselves With Liquid Sweets
It would be quite as easy for an inveterate miser to look with indifference upon a golden shower of double eagles, falling at his feet and soliciting his appropriation. If then we can contrive a way to call their attention to a treat of running swee... BRAMBLE-DWELLERS
The peasant, as he trims his hedge, whose riotous tangle threatens to encroach upon the road, cuts the trailing stems of the bramble a foot or two from the ground and leaves the root-stock, which soon dries up. These bramble-stumps, sheltered and pr... Breeding Cage Observations
<p>After you have learned all you can about the habits of the grasshopper in the field, catch a few of them and take them home and put them in a glass fruit jar. Collect green leaves for them and watch them feed. Watch their method of feeding close... Breeding Work
<p>Collect a few of the worms and put them in a glass jar with a piece of cabbage leaf. Examine them carefully and watch them crawl. How many legs do they have? Where are they placed on the body? How can they use so many legs while crawling? How m... CHANGE OF DIET
Brillat-Savarin, when pronouncing his famous maxim, "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are," certainly never suspected the signal confirmation which the entomological world would bestow upon his saying. Our gastrosopher was speaking ... Comb
Wax is a natural secretion of the bees; it may be called _their oil or fat_. If they are gorged with honey, or any liquid sweet, and remain quietly clustered together, it is formed in small wax pouches on their abdomen, and comes out in the shape ... Directions For Collecting
<div> <img src="/images/010.png" alt="" title="" height="350" width="307" /> A convenient home-made net for catching insects; note the broom-stick handle, heavy twisted wire and mosquito net bag.</div> <div> <img src="/images/011.png" alt="" title=""... Directions For Feeding Bees
Few things in the practical department of the Apiary, are more important and yet more shamefully neglected, or grossly mismanaged, than the feeding of bees. In order to make this subject as clear as possible, I shall begin with the Spring examin... ECONOMY OF ENERGY
What stimulus does the insect obey when it employs the reserve powers that slumber in its race? Of what use are its industrial variations? The Osmia will yield us her secret with no great difficulty. Let us examine her work in a cylindrical habitati... Effect Of Retarded Impregnation On The Queen Bee
I shall now mention a fact in the physiology of the Queen Bee, more singular than any which has yet been related. Huber, while experimenting to ascertain how the Queen was fecundated, confined some of his young Queens to their hives, by contractin... EXCHANGING THE NESTS
Let us continue our series of tests with the Mason-bee of the Walls. Thanks to its position on a pebble which we can move at will, the nest of this Bee lends itself to most interesting experiments. Here is the first: I shift a nest from its place, t... EXPERIMENTS
As the nests of the Mason-bee of the Walls are erected on small-sized pebbles, which can be easily carried wherever you like and moved about from one place to another, without disturbing either the work of the builder or the repose of the occupants ... Feeding To Make A Profit By Selling The Honey Stored Up By The Bees
For many years, Apiarians have attempted to make the feeding of bees on a large scale, profitable to their owners. All such attempts however, must, from the very nature of the case, meet with very limited success. If large quantities of cheap West I... Fertile Workers
It has already been remarked, that the workers are proved by dissection to be females, all of which, under ordinary circumstances, are barren. Occasionally, some of them appear to be more fully developed than common, so as to be capable of laying eg... HEREDITY
Facts which I have set forth elsewhere prove that certain dung beetles' make an exception to the rule of paternal indifference--a general rule in the insect world--and know something of domestic cooperation. The father works with almost the same ze... Honey Pasturage Overstocking
In the chapter on Feeding, it has already been stated that honey is not a natural secretion of the bee, but a substance obtained from the nectaries of the blossoms; it is not therefore, made, but merely gathered by the bees. The truth is well expr... INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY
Everything happens sooner or later. When, through the low windows overlooking the garden of the school, my eye glanced at the laboratory, where the madder vats were steaming; when, in the sanctuary itself, I was present, by way of a first and last ... INSECTS AND MUSHROOMS
It were out of place to recall my long relations with the bolete and the agaric if the insect did not here enter into a question of grave interest. Several mushrooms are edible, some even enjoy a great reputation; others are formidable poisons. Sh... INSTINCT AND DISCERNMENT
The Pelopaeus (A Mason-wasp forming the subject of essays which have not yet been published in English.--Translator's Note.) gives us a very poor idea of her intellect when she plasters up the spot in the wall where the nest which I have removed use... Instincts Of Bees
This treatise has already grown to such a length, that I must be exceedingly brief on a point peculiarly interesting to all who delight in investigating the wonders of the insect world. In the preceding parts of the work, numerous proofs have been g... LARVAL DIMORPHISM
If the reader has paid any attention to the story of the Anthrax, he must have perceived that my narrative is incomplete. The fox in the fable saw how the lion's visitors entered his den, but did not see how they went out. With us, it is the conve... Loss Of The Queen
That the queen of a hive is often lost, and that the ruin of the whole colony soon follows, unless such a loss is seasonably remedied, are facts which ought to be well known to every observing bee-keeper. Some queens appear to die of old age or ... MATHEMATICAL MEMORIES: MY LITTLE TABLE
It is time to start our analytical geometry. He can come now, my partner, the mathematician: I think I shall understand what he says. I have already run through my book and noticed that our subject, whose beautiful precision makes work a recreatio... MATHEMATICAL MEMORIES: NEWTON'S BINOMIAL THEOREM
The spider's web is a glorious mathematical problem. I should enjoy working it out in all its details, were I not afraid of wearying the reader's attention. Perhaps I have even gone too far in the little that I have said, in which case I owe him s... MORE ENQUIRIES INTO MASON-BEES
This chapter was to have taken the form of a letter addressed to Charles Darwin, the illustrious naturalist who now lies buried beside Newton in Westminster Abbey. It was my task to report to him the result of some experiments which he had suggested... MY SCHOOLING
I am back in the village, in my father's house. I am now seven years old; and it is high time that I went to school. Nothing could have turned out better: the master is my godfather. What shall I call the room in which I was to become acquainted ... Natural Swarming And Hiving Of Swarms
The swarming of bees has been justly regarded as one of the most beautiful sights in the whole compass of rural economy. Although, for reasons which will hereafter be assigned, I prefer to rely chiefly on artificial means for the multiplication of... OBJECTIONS AND REJOINDERS
No idea of any scope can begin its soaring flight but straightway the curmudgeons are after it, eager to break its wings and to stamp the wounded thing under foot. My discovery of the surgical methods that give the Hunting Wasps their preserved food... On The Advantages Which Ought To Be Found In An Improved Hive
In this chapter, I shall enumerate certain very desirable, if not necessary, qualities of a good hive. I have neither the taste nor the time for the invidious work of disparaging other hives. I prefer inviting the attention of bee-keepers to the i... ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE HIVE
IT is not my intention to write a treatise on apiculture, or on practical bee-keeping. Excellent works of the kind abound in all civilised countries, and it were useless to attempt another. France has those of Dadant, Georges de Layens and Bonnier... On The Way In Which The Eggs Of The Queen Bee Are Fecundated
I come now to a subject of great practical importance, and one which, until quite recently, has been _attended_ with apparently insuperable difficulties. It has been noticed that the queen bee commences laying in the latter part of winter, or ear... Overstocking A District With Bees
I come now to a point of the very first importance to all interested in the cultivation of bees. If the opinions which the great majority of American bee-keepers entertain, are correct, then the keeping of bees must, in our country, be always an ins... PARASITES
In August or September, let us go into some gorge with bare and sun- scorched sides. When we find a slope well-baked by the summer heat, a quiet corner with the temperature of an oven, we will call a halt: there is a fine harvest to be gathered ther... Pasturage
Some blossoms yield only pollen, and others only honey; but by far the largest number, both honey and pollen. Since the discovery that rye flour will answer so admirably as a substitute, before the bees are able to gather the pollen from the flowers... PERMUTATIONS OF SEX
The sex of the egg is optional. The choice rests with the mother, who is guided by considerations of space and, according to the accommodation at her disposal, which is frequently fortuitous and incapable of modification, places a female in this cel... Pinning And Preserving A Collection
<div> <img src="/images/012.png" alt="" title="" height="300" width="317" /> Method of pinning different kinds of insects.</div> <p>After the insects, have been caught and killed, they should then be prepared for the permanent collection. Most insects... Pollen Or Bee-bread
This substance is gathered by the bees from the flowers, or blossoms, and is used _for the nourishment of their young_. Repeated experiments have proved that no brood can be raised in a hive, unless the bees are supplied with it. It contains none ... Procuring Bees To Start An Apiary
A person ignorant of bees, must depend in a very great measure, on the honesty of those from whom he purchases them. Many stocks are not worth accepting as a gift: like a horse or cow, incurably diseased, they will only prove a bill of vexatious exp... Propolis
This substance is obtained by the bees from the resinous buds and limbs of trees; and when first gathered, it is usually of a bright golden color, and is exceedingly sticky. The different kinds of poplars furnish a rich supply. The bees bring it o... Protection Against Extremes Of Heat And Cold Sudden And Severe Changes Of Temperature And Dampness In The Hives
I specially invite a careful perusal of this chapter, as the subject, though of the very first importance in the management of bees, is one to which but little attention has been given by the majority of cultivators. In our climate of great and... Protector
I attach very great importance to the way in which I give the bees effectual protection against extremes of heat and cold, and sudden changes of temperature, without removing them from their stands, or incurring the expense and disadvantages of a co... RATIONING ACCORDING TO SEX
Considered in respect of quality, the food has just disclosed our profound ignorance of the origins of instinct. Success falls to the blusterers, to the imperturbable dogmatists, from whom anything is accepted if only they make a little noise. Let u... Rearing And Observing Them While Alive
<p>While studying an insect it is advisable wherever possible to first study it where it is found in the field and later bring it home and keep it alive in a jar where it can be fed and observed and its various habits studied. Cages for breeding in... RECOLLECTIONS OF CHILDHOOD
Almost as much as insects and birds--the former so dear to the child, who loves to rear his cockchafers and rose beetles on a bed of hawthorn in a box pierced with holes; the latter an irresistible temptation, with their nests and their eggs and the... Remedies For The Sting Of A Bee
If only a few of the host of remedies, so zealously advocated, could be made effectual, few persons would have much reason to dread being stung. Most of them, however, are of no manner of use whatever. Like the prescriptions of the quack, they are a... Robbing
Bees are exceedingly prone to rob each other, and unless suitable precautions are used to prevent it, the Apiarian will often have cause to mourn over the ruin of some of his most promising stocks. The moment a departure is made from the old-fashi... Royal Jelly
The young queens are supplied with a much larger quantity of food than is allotted to the other larvae, so that they seem almost to float in a thick bed of jelly, and there is usually a portion of it left unconsumed at the base of the cells, after t... SOME REFLECTIONS UPON INSECT PSYCHOLOGY
The laudator temperis acti is out of favour just now: the world is on the move. Yes, but sometimes it moves backwards. When I was a boy, our twopenny textbooks told us that man was a reasoning animal; nowadays, there are learned volumes to prove to ... Study Of Specimen
<p>Take a grasshopper from the jar and examine it carefully. Count the number of legs, wings and joints in the body. How many joints in the legs? Examine the tip of the foot for a soft pad and on either side of it a strong hook. What are these used... Study Of The Fly And Its Work
<p>Observe first of all the feeding habits of the fly. What foods in the home is it most fond of? Make a list of all the food materials it is found to feed on. Where and on what is it found feeding out doors? Do you find it feeding on filth and if s... The Anger Of Bees Remedy For Their Sting Bee-dress Instincts Of Bees
If the bee was disposed to use, without any provocation, the effective weapon with which it has been provided, its domestication would be entirely out of the question. The same remark however, is equally true of the ox, the horse or the dog. If th... The Ant
<p>The ants are closely related to the bees and are similar to them in many respects. They live in colonies consisting of workers, drones, and a queen. The males or drones appear at swarming time and the workers are divided into various castes&mdas... The Ant Studies And Observations
<p>It is easy to study the out-door life of ants, but it is most difficult to follow their activities in the nest. Go into the field or out on the school grounds and watch along paths or bare spots for ants. Soon red or black fellows will be seen h... THE ANTHRAX
I made the acquaintance of the Anthrax in 1855 at Carpentras, at the time when the life history of the oil beetles was causing me to search the tall slopes beloved of the Anthophora bees [mason bees]. Her curious pupae, so powerfully equipped to fo... The Apply Worm
<div> <img src="/images/025.jpg" alt="" title="" height="288" width="400" /> Apple worms in core of apple. Usually only one worm appears in an apple. Note the decaying of the apple.</div> <p>This is perhaps the most destructive insect pest attacking ... The Apply Worm Observations And Breeding Work
<p>Go into the orchard and examine for apples with masses of sawdust-like material projecting from the sides or blossom end. By removing this brown deposit which is the excrement of the worm, you will find a hole leading into the apple. Cut open on... THE BANDED EPEIRA
In the inclement season of the year, when the insect has nothing to do and retires to winter quarters, the observer profits by the mildness of the sunny nooks and grubs in the sand, lifts the stones, searches the brushwood; and often he is stirred... THE BANDED EPEIRA
BUILDING THE WEB. The fowling-snare is one of man's ingenious villainies. With lines, pegs and poles, two large, earth-coloured nets are stretched upon the ground, one to the right, the other to the left of a bare surface. A long cord, pulled at the... The Banded Epeira
BUILDING THE WEB. The fowling-snare is one of man's ingenious villainies. With lines, pegs and poles, two large, earth-coloured nets are stretched upon the ground, one to the right, the other to the left of a bare surface. A long cord, pulled at ... THE BEE-EATING PHILANTHUS
To meet among the Wasps, those eager lovers of flowers, a species that goes hunting more or less on its own account is certainly a notable event. That the larder of the grub should be provided with prey is natural enough; but that the provider, whos... The Bee-moth And Other Enemies Of Bees Diseases Of Bees
Of all the numerous enemies of the honey-bee, the Bee-Moth (Tinea mellonella,) in climates of hot Summers, is by far, the most to be dreaded. So wide spread and fatal have been its ravages in this country, that thousands have abandoned the cultiva... THE BLACK-BELLIED TARANTULA
The Spider has a bad name: to most of us, she represents an odious, noxious animal, which every one hastens to crush under foot. Against this summary verdict the observer sets the beast's industry, its talent as a weaver, its wiliness in the chas... THE BLUEBOTTLE
To purge the earth of death's impurities and cause deceased animal matter to be once more numbered among the treasures of life there are hosts of sausage-queens, including, in our part of the world, the Bluebottle (Calliphora vomitaria, Lin.) and the G... The Bluebottle
To purge the earth of death's impurities and cause deceased animal matter to be once more numbered among the treasures of life there are hosts of sausage-queens, including, in our part of the world, the Bluebottle (Calliphora vomitaria, Lin.) and th...