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BEES,

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BEE-CULTURE.

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OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

From The Journal of Horticulture, February

28, 1865.

Mr. Neighbour says in his preface

We are so frequently applied
to for advice oil matters connected with bees and bee-hives, that it
seemed likely to prove a great advantage to our correspondents and
ourselves if we could point to a ' handy book of our own which
should contain full and detailed replies sufUcient to meet all ordinary
'

'

'

Keeping this object steadily in view, the writer describes

the various hive's and apiarian apparatus manufactured by his firm,
pointing out the various advantages claimed for them, and giving
ample directions for their use. When we add that the author expresses his acknowledgments to Mr, Woodbury, Mr. Taylor, the
illustrious Huber and Mr. Langstroth, it may readily be imagined
that the information derived from such sources must in the main be
correct, and that Mr. Neighbour, in addition to the strictly business
portion of his work, has been enabled to impart to his readers a very
considerable amount of sound instruction on most points of Apiarian
inquiries."

management.

From The Journal of Horticulture, May

29, 1866.

Mr. Neighbour's book, the first edition of which was noticed by

us in February 1865, now makes its appearance in a new guise,
being reduced from demy 8vo. to crown 8vo. whilst the number of
its pages is increased from 134 to 274, with Isut a slight increase in
price.
In addition to a description of the various hives and
apiarian apparatus sold by the well-known firm of which the author
is a member, it contains a considerable amount of generally accurate
information compiled from the best authorities ; Mr. Woodbury's
contributions to our pages being in particular heavily drawn upon.
,

A new feature

in this edition is a couple of steel plates illustra-

anatomy of the bee, engraved- by Mr. E. W. Robinson with

customary ability ; embracing also coloured delineations of the

tive of the

his

.
three sexes of the Ligurian or Italian variety of honey-bee.
Mr. Neighbour possesses a very great advantage over a mere
divers
practical
bee-keeper,
and
he
himself
is
a
compiler, in that
.

OPINIONS OF THE PJiESS(commvED).

anecdotes of his experiences are related by him in a light and
For this reason also the information conveyed in
his pages is, as we have already stated, very generally correct.

amusing manner.

Athen^um, August

1865.

19,

Emanating from a house so well known and so extensively

patronized by the cultivators of bees, it will readily be concluded
The
that the object of the present work is primarily commercial.
author, a member of the firm, in giving the reason for the publicaare,
tion of his book, speaks in the name of the company.
'
he says, "so frequently applied to for advice on matters connected
with bees and bee-hives, that it seemed likely to prove a great advantage, alike to our correspondents and ourselves, if we could point to
a ' handy-book of our own, which should contain full and detailed
This is candid
replies sufficient to meet all reasonable inquiries. "
and open, and stands in favourable contrast to the ordinaiy puffing
books which aim to conceal under the aspect often of a scientific
treatise the boasting advertisement of their own wares.
It is but
justice to the respectable house from which the present little treatise
issues to say that it fulfils its public object, presenting one of the most
useful practical treatises on this most interesting pursuit which we have
met with. It does not profess to enter deeply into the physiological
marvels of the habits of bees ; it is, in fact, meagre in the scientific
phase of the subject. The various theories concerning the propagation of bees are nowhere discussed,* and the hypothesis of Siebold is
not even alluded to. * But for those persons who desire to know how
to procure good honey with certainty, and how to watch in safety
the working of these little untaught but unerring mathematicians,
the work of Mr. Neighbour will be found very useful.
It also informs us where the best hives of every kind and form are to be
"
obtained of course, of
Messrs. Neighbour
Sons."
'

We

'

&

The Reader,
The Apiary

26 August, 1865.

Bees, Beehives, and Bee Culture. By Alfred

Neighbour. (Kent & Co.)
This valuable manual is, what it professes to be, a familiar account
of the habits of bees, and the most improved methods of management, with full directions adapted for the cottager, farmer, or scientific
apiarian.
The writer is a regular enthusiast, but an enthusiast whose
practical knowledge of the subject is made all the more available to
the reader from the very enthusiasm which, as in Virgil, leaves not
the most minute instruction untold.
Nobody can write about bees
without quoting poetry, and Mr. Neighbour does this largely, yet

most

or,

aptly.
* Will be found in third edition.

THE APIARY.

GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS'

BEE

FARM,

WEST

END,

HAMPSTEAD.See page

S30.

THE APIARY;
OR,

AND BEE

BEES, BEEHIVES.

CULTURE.
BEING A FAMILIAR ACCOUNT OF THE HABITS OF BEES AND THE

MOST IMPROVED METHODS OF MANAGEMENT.

ALFRED NEIGHBOUR.
THIRD EDITION.
GKEATLY ENLARGED, REVISED, AND REMODELLED.

" Beaucoup de gens aimeHt les abeilles je n'ai vu personne qui

on se passionne pour elles." Gelieu.
;

crement

les

aima mddio-

LONDON

KENT AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW;

GEO. NEIGHBOUR AND SONS,
149,'

REGENT STREET,

and

127,

HIGH HOLBORN,

AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

1878.

(^f/i^

Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers,

London and Aylesbury,

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

HE present issue
said' to

be

of our

really a

greater portion of

it

handbook may be

new work.

Not

fairly

that the

has been consecutively re-

written,

^^

has wholly disappeared ; but the additions of entirely

^-

'sections

nor yet that the larger half of the former matter

and

half-sections, the transpositions with a

to facilitatmg reference, the erasures of

of date or only repetition

in short, the

to render the
.

book

form in which

The

is

now

are such as

presented a

own department,

descriptions of several'hives

much

and apparatus

larger

number of new and improved

5~~Of the eighteen hives now described, no

*

are

new

the practical appliances.

that

gone out of use have been removed to make room

'''^

view

either out

rather than an ordinary fresh edition.

First as to our

*ol:

it

is

thorough over-

hauling of the text from beginning to end

">

^
U

what

new

new

introductions,

and the same

is

less

have

for the

inventions.

than a half

the case in greater

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

vi

or less degree with the supers, the covers,

and the bee

contrivances of every kind.

The

chapter on

" Manipulation " has been equally

having throughout been

enlarged,

chapters on that branch in

Bee."

with

collated

the

Mr. Langstroth's " Honey

For very many valuable additions, both large and

small,

we

have

also

and we

are therefore indebted to that source,

some

obligations

to

acknowledge to Mr.

Cheshire's " Practical Bee-keeping."

It is in reference chiefly to

many

transpositions have

ment of the matter

this

department that so

been made from the arrange-

in former editions.

Finding that by

giving extensive practical directions under nearly every

individual hive

by

repetition,

we were

and

instructions to each,
to

comprise

and
as

all

to retain

losing

at the

much greatly needed space

same time giving

this in

articles

complete
possible

of a general character,

under special hives or appliances such only

was stricdy pecuhar to themselves.

references

less

we have endeavoured when

now

The system

carried out, together with the

of

numbering

of sections and displaying the numbers in the head-lines

of every page, will

we

trust

apparent inconvenience which

remove even
is

the

that

small

accompaniment of

a large and substantial gain.

But perhaps more than all has the earlier part of our
work been enlarged and emended that which treats on

the

insect

economy,

itself,
its

its

habits,

natural history,

and

its

structure.

its

reproductive

For

this

course

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

improvement we are

of

largely indebted to

vii

the very

masterly and exhaustive treatise of Baron von Berlepsch,

"Die Biene und ihre Zucht in beweglichen Waben "

("The Bee and its Culture in Movable Combs "); after
this

Dr.

to

Dzierzon's latest work,

" Rationelle Bien-

" to Schmid and Kleine's " Leitfaden " to

;
Samuelson and Hicks's " Honey Bee " to Mr. John

enzucht

Hunter's very comprehensive and readable " Manual ot

Bee-keeping

"

and

to the British

and American Bee

'journals, the former for letters from correspondents,

and

the latter also for the very able articles by which that re-

markably well-conducted periodical

is

distinguished.

To

Mr. Frederick Smith, of the Entomological Department

at the

British

Museum, we have

also to

acknowledge

our indebtedness for courteous personal communications

rendered more than once.

Reference should also be

tions

well as to

some other

to aid in the transla-

literary assistance

has added to the interest of

149,

made

from the German Treatises before mentioned, as

this

Regent Street, London,

August 1877.

work.

which we hope

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

UR apology for
for advice

preparing a bee-book

We

simple one.

is

on matters connected with bees and

seemed

prove a great advan-

beehives, that

it

tage, alike to

our correspondents and ourselves,

could point to a

should contain

full

"

likely to

handy book

and detailed

possess

some

no wish

of our

"

any of tliem

meet

the apiarian manuals

special excellence or other,

to disparage

if we
own which

replies sufficient to

Most of

ordinary enquiries.

all

a very

are so frequently applied to

and we have

yet in

all

we have

found a want of explanations relating to several of the

more recent improvements.

It has

and

more

especially

detailed directions

been our aim

to_

give explicit

on most subjects connected with

the hiving and removing of bees, and also to show how,

by judicious application of the " depriving

productive powers
increased.

of

the

bees

" system, the

may be enormously

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

We need

say

here as to the interest that attaches

little

to the apiary as a source of perennial pleasure for the

amateur

this

Many

of the hives and methods of

are described

with a direct reference to

naturalist.

management
class

of bee-keepers, so

besides

that,

and

plain

simple directions suitable for cottagers with their ordinary

hives,

this

useful for
for those

work
the

who

will

We

apiarian,

scientific

is

lay stress

on the term "acquaint-

nothing in the management of the

various bar-and-frame hives which

how

the

Such

modern

hives.

service for

Let them give a

humane and

may be performed at
may at once commence to

The word

" new-fangled " has done

and prejudiced, but we

be of a very different class.

fair trial to

the

modern appliances

for

depriving system of bee-keeping, and

and observation.

neighbours

the

use

the indolent

they will find offered to them an entirely

interest

when

explicit directions are herein given as

trust that our readers will

the

at all difficult

the right operations

right times, that a novice

good

is

practice has rendered the bee-keeper familiar

with them.
to

or at least valuable

much wider acquaintance

bee-keeping than is now usually pos-

would

ance," for there

frequent

to include instructions

desire to gain a

with the secrets of

sessed.

be found

new

field

of

At present our continental

far surpass us as

bee-masters

that the following season, if the

but we trust

summer be

fine,

will

prove a turning point in the course of English beekeeping.

There is little doubt that a greater number of

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

and

intelligent

influential

xi

persons in this country will

become bee-keepers than has ever been the case before.

Our task would have lost half its interest did we not
hope that it would result in something beyond the encouragement of a refined and interesting amusement

The

for the leisurely classes.

social

importance of bee-

keeping, as a source of pecuniary profit for small farmers

and
as

been appreciated

agricultural labourers, has never

it

selves,

deserves.

Yet these persons

aside

lay

the bungling

will not,

of them-

and wasteful plan of

destroying the bees, or learn without being taught the

only proper method, that of deprivation.

cated neighbours,
will

when once

be the persons to introduce the more

system of humane bee-keeping.

as

Their edu-

interested in the pursuit,

permanent residents

influence

in

this

The

in the country,

respect.

There

profitable

clergy especially,

is

may have

great

not a rural or

suburban parish in the kingdom in which bee-keeping

might not be largely extended, and the well-being of

all

but the very poorest inhabitants would be greatly pro-

Not only would the general

moted.

practice of bee-

keeping add largely to the national resources, but that

addition would chiefly
to

whom

it

fall

to the share of those classes

would be of most

value.

Moreover, in the

course of thus adding to their income, the uneducated

classes

would become interested

in

an elevating and

instructive pursuit.
It is curious to

observe that honey, whether regarded

b

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

xii

an agricultural product,

as a manufactured article or as

exceptional
is obtained under economical conditions of
article, we
manufactured
advantage. If regarded as a
notice that there

is

no outlay required

The

nor any expense for "raw material."

labourers are eager to utilise

"labour,"

for

industrious

their strength

all

they

never " combine " except for the benefit of their master,
they never " strike " for wages, and they provide their

own

subsistence.

honey has

do

to

All that the master-manufacturer

financially

"fixed capital" in

for

is,

to

make a

of

outlay

little

"plant" of hives

the needful

Then,

and utensils; no "floating capital" is needed.

on the other hand, if we regard honey as an

agricul-

more

striking

tural product,

contrast

it

the

to

presents as such a

economists'

there

is

for

wages,

and

none

will

for

to

products " of the flowers

in the

no outlay

United Kingdom may

for

those

" waste

and leaves which none but the

winged workers of the hive can ever

utilise.

recent domestication in England of the Ligurian

or Italian

Alp bee adds a new and additional source

of interest to bee-culture.

We

pretty fully into this part of the

that

there

be cultivated, as in China, but no proprietor

ever be able to claim " rent "

The

is

raw material, but

nothing to be paid for "use of a natural agent.''

Every square yard of land

come

of what are the

Not only

"requisites of production."

needed

still

theory

what

is

have

therefore

subject;

gone

and believe

here published with regard to their intro-

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

xiii

duction embodies the most recent and reliable information

respecting

We

them

that

is

possessed by English apiarians.*

under many obligations

are

for the advice

and

we have on many occasions received

from Mr. T. W. Woodbury, of Exeter, whose apiarian
assistance

skill

is

that

unrivalled

in

Our acknowledg-

country.

this

ments are also due to Mr. Henry Taylor, author of an

excellent

"Bee-keeper's

Manual,"

for

help and

his

counsel during the earlier years of our apiarian experience.

Both these gentlemen have

municated to

us

their

contrivances

frequently com-

and suggestions,

without thought of fee or reward for them.

with most recent writers on bee- culture,
sarily largely

and

In

we

common

are neces-

indebted to the standard works of Huber

succeeding

From

apiarians.

the

more recent

volume of the Rev. L. L. Langstroth we have

obtained useful information.
later years,

pulation

had considerable experience

and

practical

also

But having ourselves, of

managemennt

in

the

mani-

we

of bees,

are

enabled to confirm or qualify the statements of others,

as well as to summarise information gleaned from various
sources.
*

-Some of our apiarian friends

may be

inclined to be discouraged

from cultivating the Ligurian bees in consequence of the

their
bees.

liability

of

becoming hybridised when located in proximity to the black

We can dispel these fears by stating that we have not un-

frequently found that hybrid queens possess the surprising fecundity

of the genuine Italian ones, whilst the English stocks in course of

time become strengthened by the infusion of foreign blood.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

xiv

Let

it

to push

be understood that we have no patented devices

we

are free to choose out of the

many

apiarian

contrivances that have been offered of late years, and

feel perfectly at liberty to praise or

we

experience warrants us in doing.

that

we

necessarily

described herein

It

hives

disparage

we have sought as

to indicate the principles

blame as our

does not follow

which

much

on which good

are

hives

must be

constructed, whatever their outward size or shape.

through the work,

we have endeavoured

to

not

as possible

All

adopt the

golden rule of "submission to Nature" by reference

to

be

which
easily

all

the fancied difficulties of bee-keeping

overcome.

sway over natural objects

to hold

more

leading doctrine

power

In none of the attempts of

is

may
men

the truth of Bacon's

beautifully illustrated than in the

that the apiarian exercises in the little

world of

bees.

Some

persons

poetical

may

quotations

matters of

fact.

We

consider

we have used too many

book dealing wholly with

trust,

however, that the examina-

in

tion of the extracts will at once

remove that feeling of

objection.

We

venture to hope that the following pages contain

many valuable hints and interesting statements which

may tend to excite increased and renewed attention to
the most useful

and industrious of

all insects.

Although bees have neither reason nor religion for

their guide, yet from them man may learn many a

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

lesson of virtue and industry, and

them thoughts

We

suggestive of trust

xv

may even draw from

and

faith in

God.

beg leave to conclude our preface, and introduce

the subject, by the following extract from Shakespeare,

who, without doubt, kept bees

in that

ford wherein he used to meditate

" So work

garden at

Strat-

the honey-bees

Creatures that, by a rule in Nature, teach

The art of order to a peopled kingdom.

They have a king and officers of sorts
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home
;

Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad

Othei's, like soldiers,

armed

in their stings,

Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds

Which pillage they, v^ith meriy march, bring home
To the tent royal of their emperor
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
;

The singing masons building roofs of gold

The civil citizefis kneading up the honey ;
The poor mechanic porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate

The sad-eyed

justice,

with his surly hum.

Delivering o'er to executors pale

The

lazy,

yawning

drone.''

Shakespeare's Henry

V.,

Act

i.

Scene

2.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
Literature of Bee-keeping

CONTENTS.

XVIU

PAGE

SEC.

III.

The Thorax and Organs

IV. The

Abdomen and

of Motion

97

Secretive Organs

CHAPTER III.
Modern Beehives.
I.

II.

Common

Cottager's

Hive

Neighbours' Crystal Palace Skep

III.

The

IV.

An

Cottager's

Hive

Improved Cottager's Hive.

V. Neighbours' Improved Cottager'^ Hive

VI. The Ladies' Observatory Hive.

.....

VII. Nutt's Collateral Hive

VIII. Huber's Hive

'

IX. The "Woodbury Frame Hive

X. Neighbours'

New Frame

Hive

XI. Neighbours' Cottager's Frame Hive

XII. The Philadelphia Frame Hive

XIII. Cheshire's Frame Hive

XIV. Abbott's

New Frame

XV. The Stewarton Hive

....
....

Hive

XVI. The Lanarkshire Hive

XVII. Neighbours' Unicomb Observatory Hive
XVIII. Neighbours' Unicomb Observatoiy Hive

Outdoor
Indoor

CHAPTER
Fittings
I.

Bee-Houses

II. Zinc Covers

III.

Wood

IV. Quilts

Covers

V. Bell Glasses

VI. Bar Supers

VII. Ekes and Nadirs

IV.

and Apparatus.

102

CONTENTS.
SEC.

VIII. Impressed

IX.

Comb

Wax

Sheets

Foundations

X. Cheshire's Guide-Maker
XI. Bar-Frame Holder

XII. Cheshire's Transferring Board

XIII. Honey Cutters

XIV. The Honey

XV.

Extractor

XVI. Queen-Cages

Hive

Cheshire's Nucleus
.

XVII. Queen and Drone Preventer

XVIII. Bee-Traps

XIX. Drone-Traps

XX.

Bee-Feeders

XXI. Fumigators
XXII. Bee-Dress or

Protector

CHAPTER

V.

Bee Manipulation.
I.

II.

Hiving Swarms
Transferring

III. Transferring

Swarms
Old Stocks
.

IV. Driving

V. Uniting Colonies
VI.

Artificial

Swarming

VII. Queen-Rearing

VIII. Introducing

New

Queens

IX. Italianising

X. General Hints on Frame Hives

XI. Removing Bees

Comb

XII. Supplying Natural

XIII. Applying Supers

XIV. Removing Supers

XV. Removing Frames

>

CONTENTS.

XX

I'AGE

SEC.

XVI. Extracting Honey

XVII. Melting Combs down

274.

XVIII. Weighing Hives

276

XIX. Feeding

XX. Winter

279

Precautions

CHAPTER

VI.

Miscellaneous Information.
I.

Stings

their Prevention

and Cure

286

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.

PLATE
1.

la.
ill.

I.

(Page

I./.

Front view of head of ditto.

Mandible of ditto.

2.

Worker, or imperfect female.

ic.

2a.

Antenna of ditto.

2d.

Hind

2i*

Ditto, outer side

2c*

Side view of head.

2c.

Back view of ditto, showing

showing the pollen-brushes.

showing the pollen-basket.

leg of ditto, inner side

thorax,

Mandible.

3.

Male, or drone.

2a.

Antenna of ditto.

3*.

Hind leg of ditto.

31:.

Front view of head of ditto.

A.

the junction of the gullet with the

and position of the tongue and

2d.

2cl.

34).

Queen bee.
Antenna of ditto.
Hind leg of ditto.

its

appendages.

Mandible of ditto.
B. Hind edge of fore wing,
Enlarged view of the wing.
showing the thickened margin, and fore edge of hind
wing, showing the hooks, which hold on to the thickened

margin of the
flight.

fore wing,

and keep them together during

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.

;ii

PLATE
Body of a bee

(Page

II.

86).

divested of antenna, legs,

the anatomy of the

thorax and

and wings, showing

natural

position of

the

stomach.
5*.
a.

bbb.
L.

ee.

d.
f.

g.
h.
i.

The eyes.
The stemmata.
The muscles that move the vi-ings.
The external covering of the thorax.
The bases of the wings.
The honey-bag, or first stomach.
The ventricle, or true stomach, distended with food.
The rectum.
The biliary vessels.
Portion of the membranous tissue lining the inner
surface of the segments,

and

and enclosing the stomach

intestines.

The stomach emptied

of

contents,

its

to

show the muscular

contraction of the ventricle.

d.
f.

g.
h.

The

The honey-bag.
The ventricle.
The rectum.
The biliary vessels.

ligula, or tongue,

and

its

appendages.

The base of the ligula.

m. The paraglossse.
n.
The maxillEe.
The labial palpi.
u.
The tongue.
/.
/.

The

sting

and

its

muscles.

s.

Curved base of the outer sheath enclosing the

r.

Muscles that move the sting.

The attachment of the muscles to the outer cover-

q.

ing of the abdomen.

/.

Poison-bag.

a.

Glands connected with the poison-bag.

sting.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
V.

Honey-plates covering the muscles

r,

xxiii

and

the sheatlis of the sting are attached at

4*

to

"

Base of sting connecting with the poison-bag

Tip of the same

Magnified view of point of

sting,

which

s.
t,

showing the serrations on each

side.
5.
6.
7.

8.

Three hexagonal prisms of a bee's eye (Swammerdam).

Abdominal plates of the bee, detached to show the wax

cells.

Eggs of bee, natural size, and magnified (from Reaumur).

Helminthomorphous or apodal larva of a bee (Reaumur).

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Frontispiece.

Coloured view of Geo. Neighbour

and Sons'

Apiary.

Plate

I.

-Italian

Alp Queen, Drone and Worker Bees, with

Anatomical Drawings

Plate II.

Dissected Bee, with

Facing page

Illustrations of various

Facing page

Common

Cottager's

34

Members

Hive

86
108

Neighbours' Crystal Palace Skep

109

The

no

Cottager's

Hive

Improved Cottager's Hive

Improved Cottage Hive (No. 5)
Improved Cottage Hive (No. 6), no windows
The Ladies' Observatory Hive
Nutt's Collateral Hive
Woodbury's Bar-frame Hive (wood)
Woodbury's Single Bar Frame as taken from hive
Woodbury's Bar-frame Hive (straw)
Woodbury's Bar -frame Hive (glass)
Neighbours' New Frame Hive (wood)
Neighbours' New Frame Hive (straw), with Frame Super
Neighbours' Cottager's Frame Hive (wood)
Neighbours' Philadelphia Frame Hive
Stewarton or Ayrshire Hive
.

112
.

.......
.

"3
119

120
123
135
135

136
138

139
142

143

144
147

ILLUSTRATIONS.

xxv
PAGE

Neiijhboui-s' Out-door

Unicomb Hive

Neighbours' Indoor Unicomb Hive

Bee House

for

Bee House

for

Bee House
Bee House

for

Wooden Cover

Frame Hive

for

New Frame

Neighbours'

New Frame
New Frame

large Cover

Neighbours'
Neighbours'

Hive, ditto

.170

Cutters

for

Table

Divisional Super
Sectional Super

Bar-frame Holder

172
74

Neighbours' Queen and Drone Preventer

Neighbours' Bottle Feeder
Neighbours'

New Can

Neighbours'

Round Feeders

New Wood

Feeder

Feeders

78

Straw

179

181

.182

182

.183
.

184
184

185

.192
193

-194
.

200

.203

...
.

.178

Cover and

176

with

171

.175

(glass),

Glass Sides and Top, with Shutters

Extractor

169

in close-fitting

(5 varieties)

Glass-sided Bar Super

New
New
New

Closed front view

Front view

Bar-frame Super

Honey
Honey

.167

and on Stand

Flap-topped Glass, with Cover

Neighbours'

......

Payne's Glasses

Neighbours'

162

.166

Stand

Neighbours'

New Frame Hive Front view, closed

New Frame Hive (No. 81). Wood with

and Flat-shaped Glasses

Woodbury

Hive and Frame Super

Crown, and Large Window

Bell

Hive, with Cover, Stand, and Pair of

Back view

Divisional Supers

Neighbours'

.....

Zinc Cover for Cottager's Hive

Neighbours'

Front view
two Hives Back view
twelve Hives Front view
twelve Hives Back view

Ornamented Zinc Cover

.158

two Hives

for

204

205

206

ILL USTRA TIONS.

INTRODUCTION.
LITERATURE OF BEE-KEEPING.
|UST

a few words at starting on the history of

the bee in ancient and

work

is

exhaustive treatise
it is

not a
;

modern

critical survey,

and

still

less

an

but even that popular outline which

our aim to produce seems defective without some

mention of the great bee-students of the

the

Our

literature.

first

past.

We

find

definitive description of the insect in Aristotle's

"History of Animals," written about the middle of the

fourth century before Christ,
scientific information

and combining much sound

on our subject with other

ments which better information has had

little

before

him lived Aristomachus, of

state-

to reject.

Cilicia,

who wrote

works on agriculture and domestic economy which are

lost to us except in

a few quotations, but of

whom we

are told that he devoted some fifty-eight years to a continual observance of the habits of bees.

of Thasos,

is

One

mentioned as another of their

betook himself to a
to pursue their study.

Philiscus,

votaries,

who

forest life in order uninterruptedly

Then

just after the Christian era

INTRODUCTION.

came Pliny the

Elder, from

particulars of the

two just

" Natural History," which

whom we

learn these few

named, and whose celebrated

is

the

work rather of a student

than of a master, honours the bee with an elaborate and

interesting description.
his

work "

On

Shortly after

him Columella,

in

Rustic Matters," gave copious instructions

on bee-keeping, which, though reproducing some older

,

errors, are greatly in^

and place him,

advance of any that had appeared,

for the accuracy that they display, at the

head of the apiarians of

and Varro must

also

antiquity.

Theophrastus, Celsus,

be ranked among the ancient writers

whose attention was drawn

to

this

But perhaps the most renowned of

the subject
Virgil, in

the fourth

is

industrious insect.
classic

works upon

book of the "Georgics" of

which we are presented with a minute treatise

upon bees and

their culture, with all the sense as well as

nonsense that then passed current thereupon, together

with that most beautiful passage in the poet's writings,
visit of Orpheus to the shades, which is
appended by one of those incidental connecting-links of
which ancient poets were wont to avail themselves.

the story of the

In more modern times the principal writers have been

Swammerdam, the Dutch naturahst ; Maraldi, an Italian
mathematician
well

known

Schirach, a Saxon clergyman

for his

Rdaumur,

thermometer ; Bonnet, a Swiss ento-

mologist and jurist; the famous Dr. John Hunter;

above

all

though

Francis Huber, of Geneva.

The

totally blind, contrived, principally

and

last of these,

by the aid of

LITERATURE OF BEE-KEEPING.
and painstaking

his very intelligent

to

Burnens

assistant,

accumulate a long series of minute observations which

have brought about an entire revolution in the science.

In connection with Huber must be mentioned Mile.
Jurine, who,

by her

delicate microscopic examinations,

rendered him the most important services, and gave more

At the same

than one valuable discovery to the world.

period lived Dr. John Evans,
the poet-laureate of the bee.

from which we

shall

who may be

make numerous

quotations,

with great taste, and combines, with rare

accuracy of detail with a poetic

litde

later than

temporar}',

among

these,

spirit

though

is

Bees,''

written

felicity, scientific

which never

in-

flags.*

part their

came Dr. Bevan, whose name

is still

con-

cited as

the highest authorities on the subject, and whose

work,

"The Honey

book

in our language,

Bee,''
till

was regarded as

its

great text-

superseded, with the progress

of discoveries, by one under the same

of the Rev. L. L. Langstroth.
is

styled

fitly

His poem, " The

This

title

last

from the pen

gentleman,

who

a Presbyterian minister in Ohio, stands undoubtedly at

* Dr. Evans's poem consisted of four parts, of which only three

were ever published. We possess an author's presentation copy in
which is a written memorandum that the manuscript of the remainder
had been prepared for the press, and was still in the keeping of the
We have flmtten numerous letters with a view to tracking
family.
it out for pubUcation ; but very recently we have leamt that the only
survivor of nine children

abouts of the document.

is

unable at present to discover the where-

Dr. Evans was some time a physician at

Shrewsbury, but removed into and died in Wales.

INTRODUCTION.

the present day as the foremost apiarian of the English-

speaking race.

But we are forced

Germans bear

palm above

the

to

admit that the

us, for all the great

advances

knowledge of the bee which have been made

in our

Roman

therefore,

Dr. Dzierzon,*

Catholic priest of

Carlsmarkt in

whose acute investigations the great mass

to

Silesia,

for

To

a generation have come from them.

of these are to be ascribed, must be conceded a rank

second to that of Huber; while Baron von

scarcely

Berlepsch, of Coburg,

who

is

ever ready to follow

and improve upon the researches of the "

has beyond question earned for himself a position

writers

we should

allude to

lived in the latter part of the last century,

Dr. Dunbar,

Of

who

dates at the beginning of

the mass of other

be impossible

The

details.

and

in-

Of famous Scotch
Bonner, of Glasgow, who

to that of the master alone.

ferior

will

up

great, master,"

all

that

in

names

in

this.

that press in

upon us

it

such narrow limits to supply any

literature of the subject is truly

we can do

is

chronological order of the

who have

and the Rev.

to furnish a

list

enormous,
in

rough

more noteworthy of those

some way rendered

service to our acquaint-

* Pronounced Dzeert-sohn.
Some of the above names, it may not
be amiss to add, are not always sjjelt correctly by bee-writers. In
particular, nearly all of them, copying each other, omit the accent in

"Reaumur"
imanimous

(Ray-oh-mcwr),

in inserting.

We

which we find French biographers

have also seen " Miraldi " in a recent

popular work, while one author had a fancy to

which

is

evidently a pure mistake.

write "Hiiber,"

LITERATURE OF BEE-KEEPING.
ance with the bee.
nteus

Besides the great naturahsts Lin-

and Cuvier we therefore

SLxteenth

Apum"

century.

Hill,

select the following

"De

Proprietatibus

Purchas, Goedart,

Swammerdam,

Xikol Jacob.

(anon.) published about 1510.

Seventeenth century.

Butler,

Wren, Hartlib, Gedde. Rusden, Ray (with Willughby and

Dr. M. Lister), Dr. Martin John (of Germany).
Sir C.

Eighteenth century.

Maraldi,

Mme.

ilerian. Dr.

Warder, Dr.

Derham, Reaumur, Thorley, Lyonnet, Vaniere (.poet, of Holland),

Dobbs, Rev. Stephen White, Schirach, Janscha, Bonner, Debraw,
Thos. and Danl. Wildman, Gilb. White, Mme. Vicat, Pijsl, Abbe
Delia Rocca, Hubbard, Keys, Bonnet, Riem, Dr. Jno. Hunter.
Nineteenth Century.
Francois Huber (with his son Pierre, and

Bumens),

Latreille, Mile. Jurine, Spitzner, T.

A. Knight, Rev. Dr.

Dunbar, Huish, Dr. Evans (poet), Feburier, Kirby and Spence,

Humphrey, Baron von Ehrenfels, Newport, Dr. Bevan, Gundelach,

Lord Brougham, Pastor

Golding, Maj. Munn,

Wagner

(ditto).

Of contemporary

von Baldenstein, Xutt, Payne,

Woodbury, Quinby (of America),

Oettl, Capt.

Taylor,

writers in our

own

in addition to Langstroth, refer to

language,

we may,

Rev. W. C. Cotton,

Samuelson (with Dr. Hicks), Hunter, Cheshire, and

Pettigrew

while to the

may be added

German names

already given

those of Professors Leuckart and Von Sie-

bold, Drs. Donhoff and Kiichenmeister, Pastors Kleine

and Schonfeld, Vogel, Dathe, Rothe, Count von Stosch,

and Schmid, the

noting

how

lands to

large

whom

editor of the Bienenzeitung.

is

the

the
title

number of

It is

worth

apiarians of different

of "reverend"

is

prefixed.

But while conceding to Germany an unquestioned

first position in the theoretical department, we do not

INTRODUCTION.

Von

admit the accuracy of

" in

all

Berlepsch's

other countries bee-keeping

is

a mere plaything and amusement."

it

different cases

almost throughout

If the

Baron would

we could show him, from

to the other, a goodly number of very
and though we have much to learn, and

honour our island with a

one end of

assertion that

visit,

have not long gone systematically to work to learn

are not wanting clear

course

is

sponding

it,

there

and increasing signs that the

right

entered, upon,

and must

in time secure corre-

In the year 1874 was established the

results.

British Bee-keepers' Association,

with one of the

entomologists of the day, Sir John Lubbock, at

first

head

auspices there have since been held annual

and under

its

shows

the Crystal

at

its

and Alexandra Palaces,

at

which

bees themselves, their dwellings and paraphernalia, and

their products,

have been submitted to the awards of

judges as well as to the popular inspection.

periodicals
apiculture,

hopeful.

are

either

wholly or

in

part

Several

devoted

to

and altogether appearances are healthy and

While therefore we

ment from our

bees,

satisfaction as well.

we claim

still

do look

to experience a

for

amuse-

more

solid

CHAPTER

I.

THE BEE AS AN
I.

HERE

is

INSECT.

CLASSIFICATION.

a self-complacency in commencing a

subject scientifically, so let us devote our

first

half-page to defining the place of the bee in

The common English honey bee,

is known by the name
of Apis mellifica ; while the new favourite, the Italian or
Ligurian bee, has obtained the specific name of ligustica,
though naturalists are now satisfied that the two are only
varieties of a single species.
The genus Apis belongs

the animal kingdom.

sometimes called the black bee,

Hymenoptera, or membrane-winged

insects,

which some entomologists have subdivided into

families

to the order

and

sections

of these, one family will comprise' the

honey bees, humble bees,

etc.

which the hornet

and others respectively the

is

one

another the wasps, of

ants, the gall insects, the saw-flies,

and other winged creatures of little

and

certain parasites

familiarity.

The

entire

order belongs to the class Insecta, and that to the grand

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

[Ch.

i.

In England

division Articulata, or conjointed animals.

alone there are 250 native species of bee.

Turning now to the particular insect with which

we

we observe that every hive

summer three distinct classes-

intend to interest ourselves,

or bee colony comprises in

of bees, each class having functions peculiar to

and

As each bee knows

community.
they
the

itself,

maintenance and well-being of the

essential to the

its

own proper

duties,,

work harmoniously and zealously together for

all

common

Certain apparent exceptions to the

weal.

good-fellov/ship of the bees will be hereafter noticed, but

these

arise

out of

conditions

essential

economy of the bee community.

do

live in society, as they

in hives,

bee in an isolated condition

little

in

That honey
is

the

social

bees

should

absolutely needful.

a very helpless delicate

is

soon susceptible of cold, and paralysed

creature,

thereby unless able to join her companions before night

comes

on.

By congregating

maintain warmth, whatever

may be.
The three
females

classes

female

perfect
;

of bees

the

in

the

working

large

numbers

are

the

bees,

bees-

temperature

external

queen bee, or

or

undeveloped

and the drones, or male bees.

II.

appropriately styled, by

THE QUEEN,
German

bee-keepers, the mother

the only perfectly developed female

among the

whole population of each separate colony.

Thus her

bee,

is

THE QUEEN.

11.]

majesty indisputably sways her sceptxe by a divine

because she

lives

and

reigns in

the hearts

right,

of loving

children and subjects.

The queen may

very readily be distinguished from the

bees by the greater length of her body and

rest of the

the comparative shortness of her wings; her legs are

and are not furnished with

longer,

baskets as those of the working bee,

fed

by the

latter,

brushes or

either

for,

being constantly

she does not need these implements

the upper surface of her

body

is

of a brighter black than

the other bees', whilst her colour underneath

is

a yellowish

brown ;* her wings, which do not extend more than half

the length of her body, are sinewy and strong ; her long

abdomen

tapers nearly to a point

her tongue more slender, and

of the working bee, and her sting

ments

in the

when out
she

is

her head

much
is

is

rounder,

shorter, than that

curved.

Her move-

hive are measured and majestic, though

of her proper sphere, as at swarming time,

distinguished,

on the contrary, by the rapidity of

She has a peculiar scent, which

her steps.

tive to workers, that

^Nlr.

so attrac-

!Mahan, of Philadelphia, states

he has several times had them

mile away from his

is

alight

apiar)-, after

upon

his fingers, a

he had been handling

the royal mother.

It is the chief function

from which

all

of the queen to lay the eggs

future bees originate, the multiplication of

* Yellow Italian queens form an exception in point of colour.

See Plate

I.

Fig.

I.

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

lo

[Ch.

I.

the species being the purpose of her existence; and she

follows

it

up with an

the workers construct

assiduity similar to that with

which

queen

combs or

breeding season from i,ooo to 3,000 eggs

will lay in the

Von

Both Langstroth and

a day.

queens lay

collect honey.

at the rate of six per

latter observer,

on supplying

empty comb, found

at the

Berlepsch have seen

minute, or more

his

and the

queen with some new

end of twenty-four hours that

she had laid 3,021 eggs, which at her observed speed

she would accomplish in eight hours, and thus have

She kept up

teen for rest.

days, in which she filled 57,000 cells; and, what

more

surprising, she

went on in

laid.

1,300,000

But with ordinary queens,

eggs, or 300,000 per year.

this rate

is still

like style ior five years,

during which, at the lowest reckoning, she

says the Baron, 1,200 a day

six-

twenty

to nearly this rate for

is

excellently

good work, and

from February to September, with allowance for

more than 150,000 bees in

Most queens," says Dzierzon, " in spacious

slacker periods, will produce

a year.

"

hives and at a favourable season, lay 60,000 in a month,

.

and a

specially fertile

which she on an average

This
into

is

indeed

a-

vast

queen, in the four years

lives, lays

over a million eggs."

number; but when there

is

taken

consideration the multitudes required for swarms,

the constant lessening of their

various ways,

and the many

their distant travels in

strength

by death

in

them

in

search of the luscious store,

it

does not seem that the case

casualties attending

is

overstated.

THE QUEEN.

n.]

To keep up

II

these hea\'y productive duties the queen

requires to eat in correspoliding proportions,

she varies, or the bees

-i'ary

has

and these

for her, in the

same

She sucks honey from the

ratio with the laying itself.

cells direct, or

them

supplied to her by the workers

it

and, as an important additional

fact,

the latter regularly

nourish her with pollen already partially digested in

own stomachs.

their

In a glass unicomb hive

describe

traced.

to discover

and,

which

shall hereafter

the

whether

it is

occupied with an egg or honey,

empty, she turns round in a dignified manner and

if

inserts her long

body

so long that she

the egg at the bottom of the cell

is

able to deposit

she then passes on to

and so continues industriously multiplying her

another,

laborious subjects.

the queen

many

we

movements of the queen bee may be

She may be seen thrusting her head into a cell
all

is

It

prolific,

not unfrequently happens when

and

if it

is

an early season, that

eggs are wasted for want of unoccupied

cells

for

case the queen leaves them exposed at the

in that

bottom of the

hive,

where they are greedily devoured by

the bees.

The queen
jects,

is

bee, unlike the great majority of her sub-

a stayer at home.

of her princess

life

On

the second or third day

she usually sets out on

the

all-

and when once

important- concern

of her marriage,

this is satisfactorily

accomplished she never afterwards

leaves the hive, except to lead off an emigrating swarm.

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

12

[Ch.

i.

Evans, with proper loyalty, has duly furnished a glowing

epithalamium for the queen bee, thus

" But now, when noontide Sirius glares on high,

With him young love ascends the glowing sky.

From

And

vein to vein swift shoots prolific

thrills

each insect

Thence, Nature, to

Wheels round

in

fulfil

fire,

with desire.

fibril

thy prime decree,

wanton

rings the courtier bee

Now shyly distant, now with bolder air.

He woos and wins the all-complying fair
Through fields of ether, veiled in vapoury gloom,
They seek with amorous haste the nuptial room,
As erst the immortal pair on Ida's height
Wreathed round their noon of joy ambrosial night."

The

and attachment of bees

loyalty

one of

their

most remarkable

stantly supply her with food,

her,

softly

queen

is

they con-

and fawn upon and caress

touching her with their antennae a favour

which she occasionally

the hive

to their

characteristics

all

returns.

the bees through

passes pay her the same

When
whom

homage

she

moves about

she successively

she experiences no

inconvenience from overcrowding, for though the part

of the hive to which she

populous,

way

is

is

journeying

may be the most

common bees

immediately made, the

tumbling over each other to get out of her path, so

great

is

progress.
her,

their

anxiety not to

number of them

none venturing

interfere

with

the royal

often form a circle

to turn their

round

backs upon her, but

anxious to show that respect and attention due to

her rank and station.

all

THE QUEEN.

n.J

The

13

majestic deportment of the queen bee, and the

homage paid

to her, are, with a

described by Evans
'

'

little

poetic licence, thus

But mark, of regal port and awful mien,

Where moves with measured

jjace the insect

queen

Twelve chosen guards, with slow and solemn gait,

Bend at her nod, and round her person wait.
Not eastern despots, of their splendour vain,
Can boast, in all their pomp, a brighter train
Of fear-bound satraps not in bonds of love
Can loyal Britons more obedient move."
;

Some

modification has to be

made, however, in the

old ideas on this head, though, so long as

it

is

under-

stood that the reverence of the bees for their queen

official

and not a personal reverence,

it

may be

is

an

allowed,

except as to the existence of a regular guard, to be for

the most part true enough.

But the government

is

limited and not an absolute monarchy, for the workers

often impose their

homage, moreover,

own
is

will

upon the

sovereign.

This

paid only to matron queens, as

Dr. Dunbar noted whilst experimenting on the combative

qualities

of the queen bee.

"So

long,"

says

he, "as the queen which survived the rencontre with

her rival remained a virgin, not the slightest degree of

respect or attention was paid her

her food

not a single bee gave

she was obliged, as often as she required

to help herself; and, in crossing the

honey

purpose, she had to scramble, often with

it,

cells for that

difficulty,

over

the crowd, not an individual of which got out of her way,

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

14

[Ch.

I.

But no

or seemed to care whether she fed or starved.

sooner did she become a mother than the scene was

changed," and

The

all

treated her with

queen bee

sting of the

due attention.
utilised in depositing

is

her eggs, and she does not use

except in combat with her sister queens.

stroth remarks that

purposes

for hostile

it

Mr. Lang-

forbearance apparently arises

this

from the knowledge that the use of the sting might prove
fatal to herself,

hive.

He

and thus

seriously jeopardise the

adds that she

carry

will

it

whole

to the extent of

allowing herself to be torn limb from limb without an

attempt at stinging, though

if

which,

powerful than those of other bees,

may

But she admits of no

discomfort.

almost her

first act,

on coming

being more

occasion some

rival to

forth

attempt to tear open and destroy the

her throne

from the
cells

cell, is

so

happen

that another

in the hive at the

same

Should

queen of similar age does

exist

time, then, if one be not promptly

destroyed by the workers, as

rule,

an

containing the

pupse of princesses likely to become competitors.

it

hand

closely held in the

she will sometimes use her jaws,

is

now

considered to be the

the two are usually brought into contact with each

other, in order to fight

it

and decide by a

out,

mortal to one of them, which

stronger of course

while her

rival

is

is

to

be the

struggle,

ruler

the

and remains supreme,

dead or is left to die.*

victorious,

either

falls

Dr. Sevan mentions examples both of instant fatality and of

survival for twenty-four hours.
The sting of the queen is evidently
*

less

powerful than that of workers, as her poison-bag

is

smaller

THE

II.]

I
Either of these,
of settling the

it

QUEEA'.

must be admitted,

atiair

than

it

would be

15

a wiser method

is

to range the

whole

hive under two distinct banners, and so create a

\var, in

which the members of the

and destroy each other

little

or

queen

kill

for matters they individually

had

The bees

no concern about.

care not which

so long as they are certain of having one to

it is,

rale over

civil

bands would

rival

them and perpetuate the community

indeed,

they have been known in some cases to form rings round

the respective combatants, and even to force them to

unaware of each

the conflict

if

Dr. Bevan

tells

?wt fight.

The workers do not

in such case

it

Vogel, for two

together

other's presence.

us that there do exist queens which

is,

always decide: the matter

indeed, nothing

uncommon,

queens to be allowed to

fruitful

But
ivill

says
live

and we have had instances of the same kind

ourselves, without being able to give a reason other than

that " the exceptions prove the rule."

it

is

said, is usually

younger mother

These royal

bom

duels,

An Italian queen,

assisted in her third

in her

own

year by a

hive.

though no longer regarded as the

invariable routine, have

been abundantly

testified to

by

undoubted witnesses, and some of these have deduced

a singular law as governing the combatants.
and we learn from Von Gindly

Neither

he once succeeded in inducing a

queen to sting him, when the effect was like little more than the
prick of a needle. Kleine also, after persevering attempts, was once
stung by a queen, and so was Hofinann of Vienna the queen in this
that

last case losing

thereby the faculty of laying.

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

i6

queen,
at

it is

said, will sting

[Ch.

i.

her rival unless she has her

an advantage, and can thrust her body beneath the

and

other's,

inflict

the fatal thrust without fear either of

receiving another simultaneously, or of being unable to

withdraw her own

If

sting.

on the contrary each has

grappled the other in readiness for mutual slaughter, they

will at

once separate and commence the battle anew.

imagine the consternation a hive

search for their

monarch

rush forth

immense numbers

is

in

the

can mistake.

calls

for

a diligent

the

If

and com-

" a succession of wailings

which no experienced bee-master

key,''

When

by giving a queen.

such a commotion

observed in

is

repair the

loss

generally their

own

will

The bees have

such a calamity, in their power of raising a

new queen from amongst

nor the former means
gradually dwindles
is

make

seek her.

to

an apiary the competent apiarian

remedy

first

and then afterwards

unavailing they will return to the hive

minor

easy to

thrown into when

is

in the hive,

mence what Langstroth

in

may be

it

The bees

deprived of her presence.

search

above of the

description given

After perusing the

attachment of bees to their queen,

and

their larvse

is

in

available,

time dies

but
the

off.

if

neither this

whole colony

The

following

method by which working bees provide a successor

the throne when deprived of their queen by accident,

the

to

or in anticipation of the

by

the old queen

They

select,

first

swarm, which

is

always led

when not more than

three days old,

an

THE

II.]

egg previously intended

will serve, so

(2UEEN.

for

a worker bee

be not grown

it

they enlarge the

cell

17

to

its

but

size

full

a larva

and

then

so selected by destroying the sur-

rounding partitions; they thus form a royal cradle, in

shape very much

like

chosen embryo

then fed

is

an acorn-cup inverted.

description of nurture, called

liberally

by

The

with a peculiar

naturalists

" royal jelly"

a pungent food composed of honey and digested pollen,

and prepared by the worker bees exclusively
of the larvae that are destined to

The

the honour of royalty.

for those

become candidates

effect of this is

and to hasten the development of the

perfect

insect, so that instead of

for

both to
future

a worker being produced at

the end of twenty-one days, a queen emerges in the

reduced term of sixteen.

But should the deprivation happen

either

there

at a time

when,

from the season or from abnormal circumstances,

is

often

no worker brood

exhibit

struggles,

in the hive, the bees will then

a series of curious and even ludicrous

which Von Berlepsch has aptly compared to

the clutchings at

straws

made by a drowning man.

Themselves individually are no

beyond themselves, and

posterity they

sole preoccupation, therefore,

queen.

Some

drone eggs

sufferers

is

but bees look

must have.

to raise drones

Their

and a

of them often develop a capacity to lay

(as explained

under

ix.),

and most of these

they will carefully cherish for their natural purpose, but

others they will surround with royal cells

and feed with

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

royal

jelly,

so that the poor things

dosed to death in a frantic

And

if

we

queen they have

As

will

even try to

In more senses

when bees have

see that

lost their

their sex

change

hand they

hatch a queen out of a lump of pollen

than one then

i.

on hatching are soon

effort to

drone eggs are not to

[Ch.

lost their

head.

curiously dissimilar,

though not discordant,

in-

stances of the effect of removing the queen from a hive,

we may mention

Mr. Langstroth once

that

experiment for only two or three minutes,

all in

tried the

when he had

confusion immediately, and found two days after

that royal cells

had been prepared

while Dr.

Sevan once

effected the removal so quietly that for eighteen hours

went on as

all

and then on a sudden the

usual,

became known, and everything was changed

tion

and

fact

into agita-

Should a queen so separated be

distraction.

detained from her subjects, she resents the interference,

refuses food, pines,

The

and

dies.

observations upon the queen bee needful to verify

the above-mentioned facts can only be

made

in hives

constructed for the purpose, of which the " Unicorob

Observatory Hive "

queen

is

the best.

is

scarcely ever

several rows of

comb

to

In ordinary hives the

be seen

where there are

she invariably keeps between them,

both for warmth and for greater security from danger.

The

writer has frequently observed in stocks

which have

uafortunately died, that the queen was one of the last to

expire; and she

is

always more

difficult to

gain pos-

THE DRONE.

III.]

session of than other bees, being

she

is

by

19
instinct taught that

indispensable to the welfare of the colony.

The queen

enjoys a far longer

life

than any of her

subjects, her age very often extending to four or even

years

five

cases,

have

her
left

except in rare

however,

fertility will,

her long before that term, or she will lay

only drone eggs, so that as a general rule a substitute

is

better found for her

Under

year.

ductive

when she has entered her

third

the next section, and those on " Repro-

Economy

"

and " Relation of Sex

well as in Chapter IV. under "

to Cells," as

Queen Cages,"

will

be

found other information connected with the queen.

The drones
are larger

be

III.

are the

and more

male bees; they possess no

by

their

and louder humming.

confined in a box.

heavy motion, thick-set

They have

which becomes very noticeable

if

a strong odour,

several of

them are

Evans thus describes the drones

" But now, when April smiles through many a

And

tear,

the bright Bull receives the rolling year.

Another tribe, to different fates assigned,

In ampler cells their giant limbs confined,
Burst through the yielding wax, ^tA wheel around

On
No

heavier wing, and

hum

a deeper sound.

sharpened sting they boast

Before the hive, in threatening

The unwieldy

No

sting,

and may

hairy than the workers,

easily distinguished

form,

THE DRONE.

drones.

yet,

buzzing loud.

circles,

crowd

Their short proboscis sips

luscious nectar from the wild thyme's lips

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

20

[Ch.

From the lime's leaf no amber drops they steal,

Nor bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal

On

others' toils, in

The

pampered

i.

leisure, thrive

lazy fathers of the industrious hive.

we 're told, these seeming idlers share

The pleasing duties of parental calre,
With fond attention guard each genial cell,
Yet

oft,

And watch

the embryo, bursting from

But Dr. Evans had been " told

when

"

its

shell."

what was not correct

he sought to dignify drones

with

" nursing fathers " (" brood bees " as the

to call them), for that task

Nor

the working bees.

of

is

the office

of

Germans used

undertaken by the younger

are

they even utilised in

maintaining warmth, for they are expelled just at a time

when warmth

is

No

most required.

occupation

falls

to

the lot of the drones in gathering honey, nor have they

the

means provided them by Nature

for assisting in the

They are the progenitors of working

and nothing more so far as is known, that is the

labours of the hive.

bees,

only purpose of their short existence.

In a well-populated hive the

number of drones

puted at from one to two thousand.

Huber, " have been extremely embarrassed

for the

number of males

in

most

is

hives,

to

account

which seem only

a burden to the community, since they appear to

no function.

com-

" Naturalists," says

fulfil

But we now begin to discern the object

of Nature in multiplying them to such an extent.

As

fecundation cannot be accomplished within the hive,

and

as the

queen

is

obliged to traverse the expanse of

THE DRONE.

III.]

the atmosphere,

requisite that the males should

it is

may have

numerous, that she

some one of them

would be

be

the chance of meeting

Were only two

in her flight.

in each hive there

21

little

or three

probability of their

departure at the same instant with the queen, or that

they would meet her in their excursions

the females might thus remain sterile."

It is

important

queen bee that her stay

in the air

for the safety of the

and most of

should be as brief as possible, as her large size and slowness of flight render her an easy prey to birds.

now

Huber seems

of the same hive, as

On
so

It is

not

thought that the queen always pairs with a drone

the contrary,

many

it

would appear

other animals, there

is

a provision against such

Mr. John Hunter,

interbreeding.

to have supposed.

that with bees, as with

in his

" Manual of

Bee-keeping," speaks of this as amounting to a law, and

thus represents the

fact

complicated by another

a particular hive

at

as diametrically opposite

to

But we believe the question to bp

Huber's conclusion.

whether the drones

that inhabit

any given time are regularly born of

the same family with that hive, or whether they are not

very often to be viewed as " strangers within the gates."

At

all events, it

appears estabHshed that the queen and

drones within a hive do watch each other's movements

when

the former

that the union

is

is

about taking her nuptial

flight,

sometimes consummated close

and

at hand,

though certainly never attempted within the precincts of

the hive

itself.

This

last

circumstance, which by

all

THE BEE AS AN

22

accounts

INSECT.

absolutely invariable, would

is

extent of the provision,

and

it

is

seem

[Ch.

to

i.

be the

one that in ordinary

circumstances would preclude the recurrence of in-and-in

A confirmation of these views is afforded
breeding.

from the interesting experience of Captain von Baldenstein with his one Italian stock maintained by itself for
seven years,

who found that all this time, with one exception,

young queens produced bastard

the

proving that

all

workers,

clearly

but that one were impregnated by the

drones of other colonies.

The drone

that

happens

for

it is

at first sight

is

might appear,

a law of Nature that the bridegroom does not

survive the wedding-day.

less

be the selected husband

to

by no means so favoured as

His death, however,

is

doubt-

generally instantaneous, whereas in other case

it

would probably have been one of torture or starvation.

In 1867 the German apiarian
of an instance of the

queen,
it

and

Von

Klipstein was witness

wedding ceremony, when a young

who was leading a swarm, became detached from

upon a currant bush, where she was joined

settled

by a drone

after a

few seconds the two flew away

gether for three yards and then

fell

to the ground,

to-

when

the queen disengaged herself, and the drone was found

to be dead.

But we learn from the American Bee

yournal, of March 1861, that two similar cases were

observed in the United States some years earlier than
this.

The

latter of these

two agreed with the above

in

showing the immediate death of the male bee, the rule

THE DRONE.

in.]

as to

which

by a

also confirmed

is

Langstroth, that

if

a drone

23
fact noticed

and squeezed, as one would squeeze a wasp

protrusion of the sting,

up dead

as

if

struck

by

was also communicated

gentleman,

it

it

by Mr.

taken between the fingers

is

The

lightning.

to cause

a crack and shrivel

will give

instance in point

Bee jFmcrnal through

to the

this

having been noticed, on a July afternoon

W. W. Gary, of Coleraine,
The queen was returning from a presumably unsuccessful flight, when a drone met her at

in

i860, by his friend Mr.

Massachusetts.

about three feet from the hive entrance; a sharp snap

was heard almost

ground perfectly dead.

by the Rev. Mr.

and occurred

and the male

directly,

The

MLllette, of

fell

the

to

other case was witnessed

Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania,

June 1859, during the process of hiving.

young queen there were four in the swarm "was
in

observed on the wing, and in a

by a drone.

moment

after

was seized

After flying about a rod they both

the ground in close contact

departing (having broken loose)

about ... in a very few minutes

it

but

after crawling

expired

"

cumstance being probably quite exceptional in

of minutes, and

mation as

it

to the

is

to

the drone was about

came

unfortunate that

the

we have no

immediate or subsequent

cir-

this lapse

effect

infor-

upon

the queen.

As a

general rule the royal lady, not meeting drones

straightway

upon her

issue

from the hive, spends a

little

time in reconnoitring her home, and then, often not

till

AN L\SECT.

THE' BEE AS

24

her second day's

away high

exit, sails

[Ch.

into the

air,

and

sometimes to a considerable distance horizontally as well.

"

Renfrewshire Bee-keeper

yournal, of

come

May

1877, that

knowledge

his

to

" states in the British

Bee

an undoubted instance had

in

which a

common

queen,

located five miles distant in a bee-line measured

upon

the

Ordnance map, had become impregnated by one of

his

own

Italian drones

Italians in the entire

On
to

these

being positively the only

district.

the queen's return

have been achieved

that

she

is,

supposing her object

will exhibit the

male organ

adhering to her extremity, and sometimes she

to free

herself of

any assistance without the

risk

of effects

The

herself as they were to her spouse.

this series of

It

itself.

phenomena lies

protruded
out,

required, in

some way

attached to

is

the orifice

it

is

motion
at

all.

is

to

fatal

organ

this

effect

like

the

wholly internal.

must therefore be turned

it

and to

literally

a powerful inflation

is

which act the forces of the system are in

fatally

ruptured

very rationally deduces

as

explanation of

in the structure of the

sleeve of a coat to the shoulder, but

To be

unable

simply the expanded prolongation of the

is

seminal duct, and

inside

is

nor can the bee-keeper give her

it,

only

when

while, as Professor Leuckart

the breathing vessels are

in the air that the

Then

thus clearing up another mystery

drone

the singular scales

which the organ

is

beset render

is

filled

by

able to accomplish

it

and protuberances with

it

when once

inserted

THE DRONE.

ni.j

very

difficult

of withdrawal, even

already dead.

INIr.

25

owner were not

if its

Langstroth remarks as to the design

of this seemingly harsh provision that in default of

queen would be compelled

much

longer in the

air,

the

it

remain with the drone

to

thus incurring far greater danger

of falling a prey to some passing bird.

After

all it is

doubtedly one of those instances as to which

un-

may be

it

said of Nature, in Tennyson's words,

'

So
So

careful of the type she seems.

careless of the single

Her majesty, although

means a sorrowful bride,

thus

left

for in

life.''

a widowed,

by no

is

from two to three days

she becomes the happy mother of a large family.

at least

in the

is

autumn she may not commence

following spring.

laying

marries

memory of her departed lord, for

again.
Once impregnated as is the

insects

till

the

cannot be said that she pays no

It

respect to the

most

Such

the normal rule, but should the season be late

she never

case with

the queen bee continues productive during

the remainder of her existence.

The swarming season being over that is about the end

when the gathering has materially slackened

of July,

a general massacre of the " lazy fathers " shortly

Dr. Bevan observes that

now

their

work

is

" they are regarded as useless consumers of the

others' labour

love

is

at

follows.

completed,
fruits

of

once converted into hate, and

a general proscription takes place."

For

it

was

love,

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

26

[Ch.

i.

and fed with

the drones having previously been petted

prepared pollen in the same way as the queen herself.

Von

Berlepsch describes the work of destruction as comforth of the

mencing with the casting

issuing from the cells, after

Then

are similarly treated.

chased from the honey

prevent their access

drone brood just

which the larva and nymphs

the drones themselves are

stores,

thereto.

and a watch

On

they crouch away together in corners,

finding
till,

kept to

is

hopeless

it

when thoroughly

exhausted by hunger, the workers drive them out one by

one,

and they die with cold and hunger

them

are stung.

very few of

This work goes on night and day, and

occasionally they collect to die in such a heap before the

a danger of their suffocating the

flight-hole that there is

Disabled or useless workers are dealt with in an

hive.

equally

summary

fashion; but in the case of a super-

annuated queen, the best opinions are that she

to take her

own

is

allowed

quietus.

Supposing the drones come forth in April or May,

which

is

the usual period, then, as their destruction takes

place somewhere about the

commencement

of August,

three or four months will be the ordinary extent of their

existence; but should

ment of

it

so

happen that the develop-

the queen has been retarded, or that the hive

has by chance been deprived of her, the massacre of

the drones is deferred.
On the other hand, in case of
the cutting short of the gathering season
it

occasionally happens at an earlier

by bad weather,

date even

so soon

THE WORKER.

IV.]

as

Now

May.

and then a drone or two escape, and pro-

long their lives through the winter.

The working

IV.

THE WORKER.

bees form by

far

the most numerous ot

the three classes contained in the hive.

smallest of the bees

black

nearly

varieties),

They are the

brown or

in colour they are dark

and other foreign

(except the Italians

and they are distinguished by

their activity

upon the wing. As to their numbers in a colony, " an

ordinary first swarm from a straw hive," says Von
Berlepsch, "contains from twelve to twenty thousand,

but I have had

wood

large

hives

moderate computation, there were

in

which,

at

end of

living at the
:

June about a hundred thousand bees " from thirty to

fifty thousand, however, wiR better represent the strength
of an average stock in an English hive.

The

worker,

though formerly spoken of under the term "neuter,"

is

of the same sex as the queen, but

is

only partially

developed, and thus, with some exceptions (see

it

incapable of laying eggs.

is

would

ordinarily produce a worker

ix.),

But any egg which

bee may, by the

cell

being enlarged and the "royal jelly" supplied to the

be hatched

larva,

into

This most curious fact

most

mature and .perfect queen.

may be

interesting experiments,

verified in

any apiary by

which are capable of being

turned to important use.

The

lives

of the worker bees vary very greatly, and

THE BEE AS AN

28

are

INSECT.

[Ch.

i.

during the repose of winter

much more prolonged

Von
than in the wear and tear of the gathering season.
experiments
Berlepsch describes three careful sets of
which he carried out

purpose of attaining more

for the

exact knowledge on this point.

In one of these he

introduced an Italian queen into an ordinary stock at

the beginning of October

hatched

he then found as a

all

the old brood

some of them

result that the

for a certainty lived eight

and possibly more, though

it

case, the

queen having died

he

strictly isolated

months,

seems most probable that

In another

the last to die were also the latest born.

winter,

was

last of the

bees had disappeared at the end of May, so

common
that

when

commencement

at the

and,

the hive,

of

season

the

being exceptionally mild, he found that some of the bees

continued alive for ten and a half months.

ing experiment bore

and

it

three

His remain-

upon the summer term of

existence,

resulted in exhibiting six weeks as the avej-age,

months as the outside possible period of

and

lifetime.

Dzierzon points out the difference produced by the character of a bee's

distance to
will

its

knocking

employment.

To

have to

pasturage will soon wear

its

fly

out,

a long

and so

wings against sharp leaves, as

case with the bluebottle, the thick corn

plant grows rendering the effect very
if,

it

is

the

amid which

this

much

worse.

But

he adds, they pass the summer in entire repose, as a

hive without a queen

lives

may be prolonged

may

do,

for a

year or even more.

then,

if

well fed, their

THE WORKER.

IV.]

The

population of a

liive

29

very small during the

is

winter in comparison with the vast numbers gathering

produce

summer

in the

produce which

may

as of old,

they themselves

So

enjoy but for a short period.

live to

that not only,

lessons of industry be learned from bees,

but they also teach self-denial to mankind, since they

labour for the community rather than for themselves.

Dr. Bevan, in describing the age of bees, thus adapts

the well-known lines of
generations of

"Like

men

Homer

in allusion to the fleeting

leaves on trees the race of bees

Now green in

youth,

now

is

found,

withering on the ground

Another race the spring or fall supplies,

They droop successive, and successive rise."

With regard

to the functions of worker bees,

supposed that there were two

ing as gatherers of store and the other as

brood.

act-

nurses of

This however has been demonstrated to be a

mistake, for the distinction

not one of

is

of age, the younger workers, for the

weeks of
inner

Huber

one

distinct classes,

or

their existence,*

home

class,

first

but simply

two or three

assuming the whole of the

occupations

viz.,

those

of

feeding

the larv, the queen, and the drones, and of making wax,
building comb, and closing the
*

German

observations cited

nineteen days.
the rule.

The

The Baron
first

cells,

by Von Berlepsch give from ten

to

gives provisionally the sixteenth day as

sporting before the hive

fourth to the tenth day.

as well as keeping

is

given at from the

THE BEE AS AN

30

INSECT.

[CH.

I.

they
the hive in a state of cleanliness and these duties
the
until themselves sufficiently vigorous to range

retain

ticeship they enter

collect

After this term of appren-

quest of supplies.

fields in

the labours of adult bees,

upon

and

honey, pollen,

which functions, and that of wax

in the third

duties of the younger

brought in to aid in the suste-

when

of the latter in the hive

fectly idle if
staff

to

be found

devoted to these four items in Chapter VI.

salt are also

nance of the young brood.

full

secretion, will

and fourth sections of our next chapter, and

in the sections

Water and

and

propolis particulars as

kept at

The

older bees perform the

there are

none or

insufficient

but they will hang about per-

home by weather when

of their younger

sisters.

These

there

last,

is

on the

contrary, cannot possibly supply the places of the older

until at the very least they

have attained their eleventh

or twelfth day.

Another of the varied duties performed by the younger

worker bees

is

that of ventilating the hive

with their wings.

may be

On

by fanning

warm day a number of them

seen located outside on the alighting-board work-

ing these appendages at the utmost velocity so as to

drive a current of pure air within

while inside, but not

exactly opposite to their comrades, are another troop,

who by

the

foul air out.

same process are engaged in driving the

Other

detachments

weather posted in different parts

are in the hottest

of the interior, and

the whole relieve each other in pickets.

Huber

ascer-

THE WORKER.

IV.]

31

tained that the inside air of a hive

is

thus preserved

nearly as pure as that without.

In older works on the subject we are told of the

sentinels of bees, but this idea
fiction.

It

is

now abandoned

arose naturally enough

office of fanners, as well as

from the

out of the above

fact that if a rap

given upon the alighting-board a bee

appear without.

So too

if

will

sentinels.

heat, these will

danger appears, and

if

are

at the gates to

be found.

has been

most to be fegred there are no guards

much

queried whether bees ever go to

sleep during the working season, as

night,

when not

specially

sufficient to say that at the season

it is

when enemies
It

any

relief

promptly perform the duties of

But as to any of them being posted

for that purpose,

be

immediately

bees are outside either as fanners or for their own

from the

as a

it

is

known

that at

gathering abroad, they are engaged in

ceaseless activity at

home.

Huber, however, observed

frequent instances of bees placing their heads' in empty

cells

for

and remaining

from

perfectly motionless in that position

to twenty-five minutes, in his opinion

fifteen

Von

evidently asleep.

Berlepsch has repeatedly observed

similar occurrences both with workers

and queens

with drones, but then, says he, what

the whole

these but sleep

and he considers

upon the point no doubt whatever.

is

not

life

of

that there can exist

"

The more

active

the 'bees are," he remarks, "the more will they sleep,

like every creature."

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

32

[Ch.

I.

following passage from Dzierzon describes in a

The

popular way the round of the bees' concerns as they vary

"In spring, when

new life, the activity

the seasons:

with

all

Nature has

of

the hive

awakened

to

especially

directed to the increasing of the

laying of eggs

and

laid,

at first, indeed,

at the outset

is

stock, the

none but worker eggs are

only a few hundred cells in

day, but afterwards thousands, as every hive seeks in the

make its own continuance secure. When

number of bees has through the daily
augmentation become perceptibly increased, when the
place to

first

gradually the

more

pastures have

warmth

unfolded themselves, and the

fully

has reached a higher degree, then, in

in the hive

the confidence of strength and of a sort of maturity, and

having regard to the remoter object of increase through

connubial relations, drone brood

also laid.

is

Finally,

although not in every case, in greater or less number

queen
these

and leaves

the so-called

'

it

on a

no longer

its

day

fine

bee store has passed

decline

activity of the bees

safe

noon with

at

In most years and

fore-swarm.'

districts the

entered upon

The

one or other of

as

sealed over, the old queen feels

in the hive,

most

As soon

prepared.

cells are
is

after

now

the

its

climax and

swarming period.

takes another

direction.

In order to leave over as much honey as possible for

the

provisicnless

season that stands

now

system of saving

is

the unavoidable

loss

pursued.

before

them, a

To compensate

of population from the

for

journeys

THE WORKER.

IV.]

33

abroad, a certain quantity of worker brood

is

still

con-

tinually set on, but to a limited extent, while the breed-

ing of drones

is

not

only given up,

deposited drone brood

but the already

and the

usually thrown out,

is

drones themselves, as no longer of any use, are expelled

from the hive.

Comb-building

too,

it

would consume honey, and

ing the bees in fact

fill

all

at the

served for brood-rearing.

for

rests entirely, as

autumn gather-

first

hand with honey,

to

cells

though previously these may

which the bees so

now

eagerly carried on in the spring,

most part have

the

Their activity

is

now bent

to

securing their future position by accumulating the largest

possible

store

and

of honey,

against draughts and cold

their dwelling with propolis,

flight-holes

themselves

preserving

by stopping up the holes

in

and narrowing the too wide

and these cares generally occupy them so

long as the temperature

is

of such a degree that they

make their flights, which is up to about 13

degrees Reaumur [say 60 Fahr.] .... When there
can

is

still

nothing more to gather, the bees,

strength as well as honey, fly out

no

in

the finest days, but preserve themselves

repose,

and only undertake,

sional sport before

order to save

longer, even
in

after several days,

the hive on

on

complete

an occa-

some wann noonday,

so as to cleanse themselves once more before the winter."

Dr. Evans addresses
in

and describes the worker bee

two passages of such real beauty that we cannot

refrain

from giving them a place here

:
3

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

34

[Ch.

I.

sign,

"Ye light- winged labourers liail the auspicious

When the twin stars in rival splendour shine
!

Cheered by their beams, your quickening numbers swell,

pant your nations in the crowded cell.
Blithe Maia calls, and bids her jocund train

And

Breathe the warm gale, or softly falling rain ;

Inhaled at every pore, the dewy flobd
Spreads the young leaf, and wakes the'sleepingbud.

*****

Yes, light-winged labourers

still

unwearied range

flower to flower, your only love of change

From

communion rare,
To wreathe contentment round the brow of
be your envied

Still

No

lot,

care

nice distinctions, or of rich or great,

Shade the

clear sunshine of

your peaceful state

Nor Avarice there unfolds her dragon wing,

Nor racked Ambition feels the scorpion sting
Your tempered wants an easy wealth dispense,
The public store your only affluence
;

For

alike the busy fervour glows.

Alike ye labour, and alike repose *
all

Free as the

air,

yet in strict order joined,

Unnumbered bodies with a single mind.

One royal head, with ever-watchful eye,
Reins and directs your restless industry.
Builds on your love her firm-cemented throne.

And

with her people's safety seals her own.''

V.

THE ITALIAN OR LIGURIAN

BEE.

new, or rather a re-discovered, variety of bee has

been brought into practical use amongst

recently
arians

in
*

'
'

Germany and America,

Omnibus una

as

quies operum, labor

well

as

in

omnibus unus.
Virgil,

G.

iv. 184.

apithis

PUtc-.I,

THE ITALIAN OR LIGURIAN BEE.

v.]

country.

35

has been called "the Yellow Italian Alp

It

named "

Bee," and was also

the Ligurian

Marquis de Spinola, who found

and he considered
to the Greeks.

it

to

in

it

Bee

Piedmont

"

by the

in 1805

be the principal species known

" There can exist no doubt," says Kleine,

"The

in his handbook,

Bee and

Italian

Culture,"

its

" that both kinds were known side by side from the
earliest times.

Even mythology

relates that Jupiter, out

of gratitude for their having fed him with honey when a

new-born god, afterwards made the bee brass-coloured

'

or 'golden-coloured.'

Aristotle also noticed the coloured

as different from the black bee,

same

distinction."

The

and Virgil adduces the

speaks of the "best kind

latter

of bee as being of a golden colour with ruddy scales.

is

stated that

are

it is

found also in Spain.

It

Leading apiarians

but unanimous in pronouncing these bees justly

all

entitled to the high character given them.

advantages claimed for them are

the queens,
bility,

"

greater

The

more industry and productiveness,

and a more handsome appearance ;

special

fecundity of
less irasci-

for,

being of

a golden colour, they are prettier than our black bees.

(See coloured engraving, Plate

The
its

Italian varies but

little

physical characteristics.

ance consists in the

first

I.

Figs, i, 2, 3.)

from the

The

common

bee in

difference in appear-

three rings of the

abdomen

being of an orange colour instead of a deep brown, ex

cept the posterior edge and under portion of the third,

which are black

some

individuals, however,

have

less

THE DEE AS AN INSECT.

36

[Ch.

them than others the younger bees

colour about

far

i.

the

These orange-coloured parts are transparent when

The
closely examined with the sun shining on them.
drones are more darkly ringed than the workers, and are

most.

light-yellow beneath,

which

an

is

in that part;

the English.
rarest," says

into

many are also a

The queens vary

Von

infallible

dis-

fourth part smaller than

greatly

"

The

finest

and

Berlepsch, " are bright yellow varying

Others rather resemble the workers, ex-

bluish.

hibiting only yellow rings

and a few are very

see that the Italian

is

difficult or

From

impossible to distinguish from our own.

own

mark of

which are nearly white

tinction from the English drones,

not a constant race,

this

we

like, e.g.,

our

or the Egyptian."

It is

now

over thirty years since attention was recalled

to this variety

by Captain von Baldenstein, who, when

stationed in Italy during a part of the Napoleonic wars,

had observed

that the bees about

Lake Como were of a

different colour from ordinary ones.

his retirement

from military

life,

In

later years, after

he became a student

of natural history, and, remembering these bees, he pro-

cured a colony of them in 1843.

This he preserved,

through constant disappointments, for seven years, and

in

1848 he

communicated to the Bienenzeitung the

From

deductions of his experience.

this

Dr. Dzierzon

was induced to pursue the experiment, and from him the

variety

became introduced

The

introduction of this

in

Germany.

new

variety of bee into Eng-

THE ITALIAN OR LIGURIAN

v.]

M. Hermann, a

land was through our agency.

tivator at Tamins-by-Chur,

BEE.

37

bee-cul-

Canton Grison, Switzerland,

wrote to us on the sth of July, 1859, offering to supply us

The date should be specially

was the commencement of a new era

with Italian queen bees.

noted, because this
in

bee-keeping in

country.

this

We

of "

The

were always in

H.

friendly intercourse with the late Mr.

Taylor, author

Bee-keeper's Manual," and then correspondent

on Bee Culture

to the Cottage

Gardener (since called the

journal of Hortiadture); and, being

in the practice of

we

told

offer made us of a new kind of bee.

knew nothing about it himself, but asked

per-

frequently discussing apiarian subjects with him,

him of the
said he

He

mission to publish the intelligence in the journal he was

connected with, and we assented, entirely for public

The

interest

and

from

appeared accordingly in the current number of

it,

the journal
as

to gratify him.

referred

many have

known

to.

called

it,

Prior to this the Italian, or,

the "Ligurian" bee, was

un-

letter attracted the attention of that intelligent

apiarian, the late T.

W. Woodbury,

as the "Devonshire Bee-keeper."

is,

or an extract

IN THIS COUNTRY, except to a few naturalists.

The same

that

letter,

a fortnight after

M. Hermann's

a consignment of Italian bees

England.

Esq., so well

On

the

offer,

first

With these Mr. Woodbury

known

the 19th of July,

we

received

imported into

also received

queen bee and a few workers, which he introduced

one
into

a hive of English bees from which the queen had been

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

33

removed.

His

him

in possession of four Ligurian-

His subsequent experience with

this

communication

in a

variety he fully described

Bath and West of England Agricultural

jfournal.

M. Hermann sent us
pamphlet entitled " The Italian Alp Bee

a copy

Subsequently

Mine
have
it

or, the

of Husbandr}'," with the request that

it

of his

Gold-

German, and that copies of

translated from the

It

was

by us accordingly, and, although

sin-

gular as a literary production,

advanced

new

to the

we should

should be printed in the English language.

speedily published

i.

were very successful, and "the

efforts

spring of i860 found

ised stocks."

[Ch.

it

may be

useful for the

apiarian.

Certainly the bees are partially of an orange or golden

colour,

and

if

one could believe the golden anticipations

indulged in by M.

be

Hermann

respecting them, these would

sufficient to identify the Italian

described by

Hood

in

bee as the species

"Miss Kilmansegg''

those which

dwelt in

"A golden hWe,

Where golden

on a golden bank,

bees,

by alchemical prank,

Gather gold instead of honey."

In the pamphlet referred

to,

M. Hermann

gives the

following description of what he insists on designating as

Apis helvetica : " The Yellow Italian Alp bee is a mountain insect

it is

the right and

found between two mountain chains to

left

of

Lombardy and

and comprises the whole

the Rhetian Alps,

territory of Ticino,

Val Tellina,

THE ITALIAX OR LIGURIAN

v.]

and the southern Grisons.*

It thrives

up

BEE.

39

to the height

of 4,500 feet above the level of the sea, and appears to

prefer

northern clime to the warmer, for in the

tlie

south of Italy

The Alps

not found.

it is

are their native

country, therefore they are called Yellow Alp or tame

house bees, in contradistinction to the black European

bees,

which we might

call

common

which, on the slightest touch,

fly like

forest

bees,

and

lightning into your

face. [?]

"

As

all

good and noble things

common

scarce than

in the

ones, so there are

world are more

more common

black bees than of the noble yellow race, which latter

inha,bit

only a very small piece of country, while the

home

black ones are at

ever5rwhere in Europe, and even

in America."

Our own experience with

the Italian bee enables us

to corroborate the statements

We

its favour.

of the

common

duced

is greater.

effect

kind,

more

of honey

is

prolific

than those

and the quantity of honey pro-

These two

facts stand as cause

the bees being multiplied

more

and

quickly, the store

accumulated more rapidly, and the Italian

bees consume,
kind.

which have been made in

find the queens

When

anything, less food than the

if

common

of pure Italian blood these bees are, by

" Otherwise Tessin, Veltlin (French Valteline), and the southern

Graubiinden.

Von

Berlepsch names the localities they inhabit as

Genoa, Venetia, Lombardy, and the southern valkys of the Grisons

bordering upon Italy.

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

40

some

can

testify

anecdote

for stores with greater eagerness,

and

hesitation in paying visits to other hives,

little

from our

will

i.

thought to be hardier than our own.

apiarians,

That they forage

have

[Ch.

own

who Hved

Another bee-keeper,

we

following

propensities

intrusive

their

illustrate

The

observation.

same neighbour-

in the

hood, was once inspecting our hives, when, on observing the yellow bees, he exclaimed, " Now I have found
out where those strange-looking bees

come from;

for,"

said he, " these yellow-jackets are incessant visitors to

my

hives.

had come

thought they were a species of wasp that

and

to rob,

now

until

have been unable to

account for their appearance at the entrance of

so that I have killed

them by hundreds."

at all pleasing intelligence for us,

my

hive,

This was not

and we

trust that our

neighbour has been more lenient to "the yellow-jackets"

since his

visit, for

such summary capital punishment was

wholly unmerited, because

ceived (see page 169)
side

it

when

by side with the others

are inclined

is

peaceably

naturalised,

in

its

more

believe that

to

a bee

becomes

fresh abode.

amongst bees of

different hives than bee-keepers

to

We

takes place

visiting

been accustomed

suppose

re-

and works

have

but where the Italian andi-

black bees are kept near each other, the foreigners being

conspicuous by their lighter colour, there

in

identifying

hives.

Von

them when
Berlepsch,

we

at

the

find,

exists during the gathering season

is

less difficulty

entrance of

remarks

that

other
there

a species of " com-

THE ITALIAN OR LIGURIAN DEE.

v.]

munism of

41

dwellings " between the bees of neighbouring

hives.

The Italian bees

when on the wing.

are

more

They

active than

common

also observed to

are

longer hours than other bees both early and

as in seasons

when

the latter will not

much more

altogether they are

seasons

stir

Thus

abroad.

In

we have taken a

From

glass super containing forty

pounds nett of honey, besides having drawn from

artificial

swarm

and

many

Italian stock

than from any one of our colonies of black bees.

this hive

work

late, as well

productive.

we have had more honey from an

bees

after all

it

an

it

remained the strongest

hive in our apiary.

In a private

letter received

from Mr. Langstroth he

informed us that in the season of 1865 he bred over

300

Italian

queens

these he disseminated to various'

bee-masters on the American continent, and the united

opinion of apiarians in that country was increasingly in

favour of the decided advantage of the cultivation of the
Italian bee.

rage

"

At

the present date

with bee-keepers there.

a quieter but not

less

literally "all

genuine welcome accorded to

In the British Bee Journal

guished apiarian "

it is

for

the

With ourselves there

May

A Renfrewshire

is
it.

1877, the distin-

Bee-keeper " writes

" After careful study and comparison of both I found

the Italian superior for beauty, prolificness, power, and
activity,

and

fresh blood."

(to

my

view the greatest value of

all)

for

THE BEE AS A A INSECT.

42

To

[Ch.

r.

we will now add

The following is ex-

already cited

the testimonies

that of the late

Mr. Woodbury.

by him

tracted from the paper contributed

and West of England Agricultural

"jPournal

to the
:

"

Ba(k

From my

strongest Ligurian stock I took eight artificial swarms

in the spring, besides depriving

combs.

Finding,

lecting

honey so

empty

cell

in

June,

in

fast

which

it

that

of numerous broodthe

bees were col-

that the queen could not

to lay

compelled to put on a super.

an

egg, I

When

find

an

was reluctantly

this

had been

filled

with thirty-eight pounds of the finest honeycomb,* I

removed

it,

and

stock hive (a very large one)

as the

could not contain the multitude of bees which issued

from

it,

swarm.

formed them into another very large

The

artificial

foregoing facts speak for themselves

but

as information on this point has been very generally

asked, I have no hesitation in saying that I believe the

Ligurian honey bee infinitely superior in every respect

to the only species that

we have

hitherto

been acquainted

with."

The

chorus of praise

noticeable

is

is

not however universal.

Most

the broad divergence of views between the

two greatest apiarians of Germany

Baron von Berlepsch.

Dr.

The former pronounces

less given to stinging, less sensitive of cold,

earlier in brood-raising

Dzierzon and
this

bee

more prolific,

and swarming, forwarder

also in

This super was exhibited at our stand in the International

Exhibition of 1862.
*

THE ITALIAN OR LIGURIAN

v.]

more

comb-building,

more courageous

and

industrious

Italian

may

humbug," and sums up

he has not found

to sting, but,

comb and

begins building drone

drones in the

and that mostly

early,

manifestly inferior
utility,

and

year,

first

to

"While

follows:

as

bee " the

calls the

perhaps be distinguished from our

what sHghter disposition

it

He

true in a single particular.

these and

declares emphatically

that, after a long course of experience,

them

ahd prompter

The Baron examines

by one, and

own by

it

a some-

on the other hand,

raising

numbers of

queens grow unfertile so

its

inopportune a time,

at so

43

honey-yielding,

in defence of its stores,

in expelling the drones.

other assertions one

BEE.

it

stands

our own in a relation of economic

and has therefore

for us

no

practical value at

all."*

Though we

are unshaken in our adhesion to the Italian

impossible to (treat them

bee by these opposite views,

it is

as beneath consideration.

They

dice, for the

Baron was

at

first

are not a

as

the strangers' favour as any one.

less possible to

set

aside

on

much
But

their

mere preju-

prepossessed in
it

would be

still

account the united

testimony of Dzierzon, Langstroth, and a host of others

who

are above delusion on such a point.

can we account for

first

place,

much

this

of

Von

* In our previous editions

now makes

full

then

In the

Berlepsch's data are negative

Von

Berlepsch's views were cited as

s\XQia^y favourable to the Italian bee.

he

How

one notable divergence

recantation of his "

The change
error.''

is his

own, and

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

44

and negative evidence can never

only,

thus

when he

tells

activity or greater

[Ch.

i.

set aside positive

us that he " has not observed " earlier

courage or

others of unquestioned

sensitiveness,

less

while

judgment have observed these

we cannot hesitate to decide in the favour of the

As to less disposition to sting, the positive evidence should be on the Baron's side when he says that
theyrti? sting; but in this case, as we have seen, he partly
concedes the point. As to productiveness and fecundity,
there may be some undetected peculiarity about this bee
points,

latter.

to which something in the Seebach apiary or neighbour-

hood

At

not so congenial as in other parts.

is

Dr. Dzierzon

is

unmoved from

all

events.

his faith, for. we find

him

in the present year giving as the result of twenty-five

years' experience that this

bee

is

prolific as it is beautiful;'' that

climate well, and that

some care
Still

its

"as
it

gentle, diligent,

"bears our German

preservation in purity

with

is

quite possible."

some persons

foreign bee, just as

Some have had

are sure to be disappointed with a

some

will

be with a foreign country.

their expectations raised too highly,

expect wonderful results to follow without

on the contrary, are so wrapt up

they cherish
bees,

and

it

and thus

in the

and

effort; others,

new

treasure that

with vastly greater pains than their other

attribute to the

bee

itself

be credited to their own superior care.

what

is

In particular, with

regard to the greater fecundity of the queens,

some allowance ought

to

be made

partly to

we

think

for the circumstance

OTHER FOREIGN VARIETIES.

VI.]

meet the demand

that in order to

are being continuously bred, so

queens they

for Italian

that

45

when

united to

English stocks they are always young and in the prime as

to fertility; whilst the

to
is

exist

in

nothing to

the

common

hives

call for

their

been a

little

we

think there

retain altogether our

VI.

and they

most decided preference.

OTHER FOREIGN VARIETIES.

like

In

appearance

our English bee.

the rings on the

by a

to the Italians,

this point in their favour,

Carniolan Bees.

much

fact has

much may

a clear balance on

very

this

overlooked; but though too

have been thus credited

I.

there

encouraging their special propaga-

In making comparisons we think

tion.

is

black queens are allowed

appointed time, as

abdomen

close observer) one

The

are whiter

this

variety

difference

is

is

that

otherwise (except

would not be known from the

other.

Eight years ago the Rev. W. C. Cotton (brother of,

Lord Justice Cotton and author of " My Bee Book ")

had a stock of these bees from Austria, where they are

largely cultivated,

We

and he

left

them under our charge.

placed them in our own apjary at Hampstead, where

they did very well, working a capital super in the

year, as well as parting with a fine swarm.

year Mr. Cotton had the swarm sent to his

first

The second
own apiary,

near Chester, because he wanted the original queen,

which of course

this

had with

it.

This swarm had rather

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

46

a remarkable adventure, and was nearly

page

The

78.

[Ch.

i.

lost, as related at

Carniolans have been praised as possess-

ing similar good qualities with the Italians, and though

"a new

Berlepsch laughs at them and calls them

Von

them

grand swindle," yet, as he declares

not altogether identical," with

allied, if

variety, for

be " closely

the following

which he has only good reports, his denuncia-

seem reasonably open

tions of these

Lower Austrian Bees.

2.

to

to qualification.

Baron

von

Berlepsch

mentions these as a variety which he found, to

prise, in the

have been the same that

They

and described.
but about one in

upon

the

his sur-

neighbourhood of Vienna, but which must

first

Von

Ehrenfels had cultivated

scarcely differ from the Carniolan,

rather strongly

fifty is

marked with red

The Baron speaks

of the back.

ring

of their habitat as " the El Dorado of the Bee," and he

declares

them wholly

and thinks they

He

free

likely to

Heath

Bees.

character, deriving

own

This
its

be a profitable breed, a

variety.

is

a race of a very different

name from

Luneburg Heath, and found

Schleswig,

and Holstein.

sort,

drones than ordinary bees.

raise fewer

recommends, as

cross of these with our

3.

from the vices of the next

the district

also

known

as

about Oldenburg,

In form and appearance Heath

bees are wholly identical with our own, but they seem like
bees in a lower state of civilisation, perpetually swarming

without occasion and with unmanageable impulse, and

producing principally drones and drone comb even with

OTHER FOREIGN VARIETIES.

VI.]

a queen of the

first

Berlepsch, " this

is

"

year.

by

far the

47

Undoubtedly," says

Von

worst kind of bee existing

Germany."

in

Greek or Cecropian

4.

In some particulars

Bees.

these are like a cross between the Italian and

bees.

The queen

is

as the second scale,

Most

common

dark bronze on the abdomen as

but the

common

far

colour above.

of the workers have a ring and a half of bronze

or a reddish rust-colour

They

this hue.

some have two

more

are stated to be

productive than

common

bees,

entire rings of

industrious

and the drones

and

to

be

smaller.

This and the two previous varieties we thus briefly

notice on the basis of the remarks of

We

duced into
attained

this country,

much

Deumer sounded

his

Berlepsch.
intro-

nor do they appear to have

success in Germany.

does our author dismiss

Von

them has been

are not aware that either of

this last

Thus humorously
" Since 1864, when
'

trumpet with distended cheeks,

have heard not so much as a

last

we

dying speech from the

Cecropian bee, and she seems already in Germany to

have gone the way of

lightly on her

5
try

all

flesh.

May 'the

earth lie

Cyprian and Smyrn^an Bees. "A CounDoctor" writes in the British Bee 'journal that

and

6.

he had prepared a translation from the Bienenzeitung of

an

article

of the

by Herr

good

Corri, in

which he speaks most highly

qualities of the

Cyprian bees, and considers

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

48

them
In

Ch.

i.

advance of any other bee that he has cultivated.

in

opinion he

this

is

borne out by Count Rudolph Ko-

lowrat of Tabor.
" It so frequently happens," proceeds the correspondent, " that the last pet receives the highest honours,

and we are so apt to believe that that must have special

value which has cost considerable pains to obtain, that

a certain amount of caution

these

enthusiastic

however,

is

advisable in receiving

is

Herr

statements.

opinion,

Corri's

deserving of the highest respect

for

both he

and the Count have been most perseveringly engaged

for

many

years past in importing various races of bees

from their native lands, and making comparative observations as to their merits,

and

this

by the expectation of commercial

"The

bees got from Smyrna (1864) seem to stand

next in their estimation.

stocks,

without being biassed

gain.

Both the

originally imported

and those subsequently raised from them,

sented, however, a certain

after the

number of black

most painstaking attempts

the results remained the same.

The

to

bees,

pre-

and

breed them pure

conclusion

come

to

was that they were of a mixed race."

Our own experience tallies very much with this opinion.

We imported from Germany stocks of both the Cyprian
and Smymaean bees, and exhibited them at the bee
shows of the British Bee Association. Previous to doing
so we submitted specimens to Mr. F. Smith of the British
Museum, and he reported favourably of them

that

al-

OTHER FOREIGN VARIETIES.

VI.]

though resembling the Italian {Apis

49

the Cyprian

li'^tistka),

were clearly of a different species, but more nearly*

approaching the Egyptian {A. fasciatd)
possessed the irascible

qualities

so

they certainly

distinctive of the

Egyptians, and used their stilettoes unmercifully on

some

We

have

of the gentlemen connected with the show.

not been sufficiently enamoured of them to pursue their

The resemblance is so
we see no

cultivation further.

bees already domiciled here that

close to those
special advan-

tage to be gained by doing so.

7.

Asiatic Bees.

tinct species

it is

This

bee {Apis dorsatd)

larger than our own,

of,

considerable

to have a

India.

more formidable than those

here,

and except

nothing to
8.

Egyptian Bees.

These

see

bees, though called Apis

by many

species as ordinary bees.

They

own and

as a variety of the

same

are rather smaller

and

the Italian, though closely

resembling the latter in appearance.

hairs all about them,

we can

their introduction.

fasciata, are considered

slenderer than our

stings of these bees,

of the varieties possessed

as a matter of curiosity

recommend

a dis-

colony brought to

The

England, but without success.

are

is

exists in a

Mr. Woodbury made

wild state in the woods

exertions

and

and the

first

abdomen are of a reddish

marked with similar
even more beautiful than the

They have white

two and a half rings

of the

yellow.

are also well

rings,

is

Italian.

The drones

and the queen

Baron von

Berlepsch recommends crossing the handsomest Italian

THE BEE AS AN INSECT

50

[Ch.

i.

queens with Egyptian drones, with a view solely to the

aesthetic purpose of raising the most beautiful breed of
bees to be obtained.

The German

apiarian

and has discovered

attention to this variety,

It

interesting peculiarities.

uses

wax

in

the cold.

and

it

in

is

special
it

some

never gathers propolis, but

seems almost proof against

But the most singular fact that has

knowledge

his

place

its

Herr Vogel has given

come

to

that there exist regularly in an Egyptian

colony some twelve or so small drone-laying queens,

which would be called

fertile

workers but that they

have a distinctive appearance, consisting in the waxen

yellow of their breasts
also

by

which

feature

the drones of their progeny.

possessed

is

This

is

assuredly

one of the most curious discoveries that have ever

been made

in

relation

even to

this

most curious of

insects.

The

late

Mr. Woodbury imported some of these bees,

but found them exceedingly vicious, and really to possess

no

Some

superiority over our English bees.

Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, the

naturalist,

years since

bought a stock

of Mr. Woodbury, and brought them with him in order to

place in the Horticultural Gardens at South Kensington.

Being unacquainted with the placing of bees, he asked

our aid in doing so.

thereby acquired our

From the experience of them

own idea would be that no one

could ever desire such bees

they came out with a rush,

and stung everybody within reach,

right

and

left,

who was

OTHER FOREIGN VARIETIES.

vi.]

not provided with a veil.*

This

is

51

the kind of bee found

and therefore the one which Samson found

in Palestine,

in the carcase of the lion.

In connection with

this species, the

tram, in his valuable book,

an

Rev. H. B. Tris-

"The Land

of Israel," has

interesting account of the bees in that country.

Palestine bee-keeping

is

and every house has a

Their bee, he

says,

hives, in rocks,

and

In

an important item of industry,

pile of beehives

in

its

yard.

"is amazingly abundant, both in

in old hollow trees.

It is smaller

than our ordinary bees, with brighter yellow bands on

the thorax and abdomen, which
shape,

and with very long

is

antennae.

rather

In

wasp

its

immense population of neuters

especially in the

like in

habits,

and

in each

community, and in the drones cast forth in autumn,

resembles the other species.
sharp.

The

it

Its sting also is quite as

hives are very simple, consisting of large

tubes of sun-dried mud, like gas-pipes, about four feet

long,

and closed with

mud

at each end, leaving only an

aperture in the centre large enough for two or three bees

The insects appear to frequent both

The tubes are laid in rows horizontally,

to pass at a time.

doors equally.

and

piled in a pyramid.

counted one of these colonies,

consisting of seventy-eight tubes, each a distinct hive.

Coolness being the great object, the whole

is

thickly

* Vogel says, that this bee never stings unless incensed, "but then
quite maliciously

smoke, but

is

it is only more irritated by tobacco

subdued by that from willow touchwood.

" also that

effectually

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

52

mud and

plastered over with

a branch

covered

witli

[Ch.

i.

boughs, white

stuck in the ground at each end to assist the

is

At

bees in alighting.

first

we took

destroying the

the hives are

swarms for
full

their

the clay

is

removed from the ends of

honey extracted with an iron hook

the pipes, and the

comb which

those pieces of

carefully replaced,

these singular struc-

The barbarous practice of

When
honey is unknown.

tures for ovens or hen-houses.

contain young bees being

and the hives then closed up again.

Everywhere during our journey we found honey was

always to be purchased
for

many

culinary

and

it

preparation of sweet cakes.

is

used by the natives

and

purposes,

It

for

especially

the

has the delicate aro-

matic flavour of the thyme-scented honey of Hybla or

Hymettus.
" But, however extensive are the bee colonies of the
the

villages,

far greater.

number of wild bees of the same

The innumerable

limestone rocks,

fissures

and

which everywhere flank the

afford in their recesses secure shelter for

swarms

species

clefts

and many of the Bedouin,

is

of the

valleys,

any number of

particularly in the

wilderness of Judaea, obtain their subsistence by beehunting, bringing into Jerusalem jars of that wild honey

on which John the Baptist fed

the
tree

comb had dropped on

in

Wady

which

it

and

in the wilderness,

which Jonathan had long before unwittingly

tasted,

when

the ground from the hollow

was suspended.

The

visitor to

the

Kurn, when he sees the busy multitudes of bees

OTHER FORETCy VARIETIES.

VI.]

about
'

its

cannot but recall to mind the promise,

cliffs,

With honey out of the stony rock would

There

thee.'

53

is

have

satisfied

no epithet of the Land of Promise more

true to the letter, even to the present day, than this,

that it was a land flowing with milk and honey.' "
'

The

question as to the worth or worthlessness of the

above respective
as

it is

of a

not yet so decided a matter

Those

particular race will praise

have had a

down

varieties is

with the Italians.

and

interested in the sale

it

up, while those

single disappointment with

that

nearly the

is

be gathered from current

Dathe announcing,

''

sum

it

literature.

but in the same paper

which

so

there

staggers

us

confidence

sentence, which

we ought
is

Thus we

is

read, "

sting.

the

That

Von

is in-

Between the

no particular

differ-

Berlepsch's

we do not know how

given as the summing up of a dis-

after the

country,

Silesia

German and

Carniolan, at the expense of honey,

bees;

find

to place in the rest of the

cussion in that famous bee

Egyptian bee ranks

we

after

vituperations of the latter that

much

it

have discontinued the rearing

German and Heath bees

ence''

run

of the experience to

of Cyprian, Egyptian, and Carniolan bees."

telligible

will

who

" The

Italian; the

produces

many

Cyprians are diligent, but quite inclined to

The Herzegovinlan bee

is

praised.

Bees ob-

tained by judicious crossing have the preference over

the pure races."

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

54

Numbers of
up from

other varieties

[Ch.

may be expected

time to time, as for instance the

one

last

century spoke of a

Delia Rocca in the last

coloured " bee that was brought from

Belgium, and which

Holland and

The North European (now spread

named.

"dawn-

in-

Dr. Gerstacker thus classifies

cluded with the Italian.

the varieties

to crop

probably one of the races

is

i.

all

over

the world), the Italian with black breasts, the Italian

with yellow breasts, the Egyptian, the African, and the

Three South Asiatic bees he regards

Madagascar.
specifically

distinct

Apis

indica,

dorsata,

and

as

florea.

Mr. F. Smith adds zonata and nigrocinda, and inclines to

make

a species of fasciata (the Egyptians).

VII.
It

FACULTIES AND FUNCTIONS.

would be trenching too much upon our

were to venture into the inviting

heading might introduce
of the subject renders

it

us.

more than

to give

is

made

to

it,

even

if it

be

for

remark that the information we have

some might be disposed

tractive portion

we

the extreme interest

scattered through other sections

Especially as

be well to

to

limits if

to which this

perhaps desirable that some

succinct allusion should be

little

Still

field

and chapters.

to skip the unat-

on " Anatomy and Physiology,"

state here that in the

it

may

second section of that

chapter will be found a brief account of the sight and

other senses of bees, and of the uses of their antennas,

by which they seem

to feel, hear, smell,

and communicate.

FACULTIES AND FUNCTIONS.

VII.]

A remark

upon

their

power of distinguishing colours, and

practical value, will

its

55

be found

in connection with our

description of bee-houses for twelve hives (Chap. IV.

On

the senses of taste

and smell we have some

observations in the sections of Chapter VI.

"Robbing," and "Bee-keeping

in

i.).

further

upon "Stings^"

London."

For the functions and habits of bees we must

also refer

to the passages already instanced, as well as to the sections

above on the "The Queen,"

Rationale of Swarming"

etc., that

on "The

(page 72), and to those

in

Chapter VI. on the four substances which bees collect or

secrete, as well as (though in a less degree) to those
headed " Pasturage " and " General Remarks." Those

who will
we trust,
tant

and

favour our book with a consecutive reading

will,

find at the conclusion that all the

more impor-

interesting facts of this class are in

one or other

of these places tolerably though briefly described.

The
.

service that bees perform to flowers

that has

much

attracted

every one knows, or should know, a flower has

and

pistils,

organs,

a subject

is

As

attention of late years.

which are respectively

and the pollen contained

its

its

stamens

male and female

in the anthers, or

little

knobs on the summits of the stamens, must be conveyed

to the pistils, or

anthers burst;

on the

pistils,

no seed
the

or

it

will

be produced.

pollen might happen to

might not; but the

(though they do not

roll

manner that some have

When
fall

visits

the

partly

of bees

about in the flower, in the

stated) are found

by experience

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

S6

be efficacious

to

Owners of

spot.

conveying

in

fruit

fine

the right

this dust to

the orchard,

that

if

would prove more

fruitful

account the orchard

is

than

its

tree,

that

tree

On

this

fellows.

a good place for the apiary, for

seems that the more abundant the honey the better

will

be the crop of

The whole

fruit.

Fertilisation of Orchids,'' but

going

subject

is

how much more

we must add

and

dicecious

plants, the former of which have the stamens and

different flowers,

in the nut tree,

pillars

in

flowers

may be

and the

A familiar

diffc7-ent roots.

the

pistils

latter liave these flowers

example of the former

whose long catkins, hanging

early

The

to the fore-

urgent are the services of bees in

the case of what are termed monoecious

spring,

are

is

upon

found

like cater-

assemblages of male

while the females, from which the nuts develop,

detected by their crimson

and grow

in

stalkless

clusters

openings of remote scaly buds.

bees, our
little

scien-

treated in Mr. Darwin's remarkable book, "

tifically

//!

during

forenoon the bees had spread freely

amongst the blossoms of a particular

it

i.

trees have noticed, in a season

generally unfavourable to

only one

[Ch.

pistil-tips (stigmas),

of two or three in the

But

for the

visits

or

autumn nutting rambles would thus have but

prospect of success.

In the second case, often very

considerable distances intervene between the two flowers

for instance,
pei-ennis),

common dog mercury {^Mercurialis

may find plantation after plantation

with the

a botanist

containing male flowers by thousands, but not a single

FACULTIES AND

\-ll.]

female

and

some

at length in

FU.\CTIO.\S.
he

far-off spot

57

may succeed

finding the females, equally by themselves, yet in

ill

seed.

In these cases there

nothing but the

is

full

visits

of

pollen-gathering insects which can convey the fertilising

,

dust to the flower for which

it is

And

designed.

accord-

ing to Mr. Darwin all plants are practically dicecious,

for

he states that the pollen, to have a

must be brought to the

pistils

fertilising effect,

of one flower from the

Whether

stamens of one on another root.

be con-

this

sidered established or not, there remains the fact of the

existence of dioecious plants as explaining the admirable

design of the provision that a bee in the course of one

flight shall

gather pollen solely from one

as honey-gathering

by

this rule

concerned the bee

is

As

species.

but for this other important function

becomes absolutely

essential that the right pollen,

that only, should be conveyed to the right flower.

careful observer

may

note

how

it

and the " socks,"

call

To no

will

scientific

man

of preparation

delivered

by

has been gathered,

are

them, on the two

we probably more indebted

and deductions upon

John Lubbock.

to a lecture

Germans

be found always of the same colour.

for observations

to Sir

and

The

and brown according

to the kind of flowers from which

hind legs

it

the dust on the bodies

of bees varies from yellow to red

as the

far

not governed

is

it

Whilst

was the

this

this edition

writer's

branch than

was

course

in

privilege

to

listen

upon "Relations of Plants and Insects"

this

able investigator before the

Society

THE BEE AS AN

58

INSECT.

[Ch.

i.

of Arts; and the lecture has since been published as

a paper in the Fortnightly Review of April 1877.
the

of his remarks

course

teresting particulars of the

John

Sir

bees,

by

from the

whom

in-

ways in which flowers are

protected from the incursions of ants, whose

be harmful, both from

In

many

cited

visits

their rifling the stores

would

from the

alone they are likely to be fertilised, and

of the latter to desert any species in

liability

which

their tender

seized

by ants

it

probosces were in danger of being

being the nature of an ant to grapple

any pointed thing directed towards

ferred to as having observed

Kemer was

her.

re-

some of the modes by which

In some cases there are chevaux

such results are obviated.

de frise around the flower, in the form of hairs pointing

downwards, or other barriers which the ant cannot penetrate or

is

surmount

smooth

notably in the

in the' thicket heads of

some

are glutinous parts which

was noticed

in the

the

In others there

ant cannot traverse, as

Polygonum amphibium, which, when

certain hairs, while

it is

bluebottle, which

thistles.

grows on land, has sticky glands

already,

com

over except just beneath the "flower, and'

all

when

at

in the water,

perfectly smooth.

it

the extremities of

where

it

is

safe

Again, there are pendu-

lous flowers, like the snowdrop, which are so slippery

on

the surface that an ant would immediately slide

as

was humorously
several others

illustrated

by the

also stated showing

by a sketch prepared with

lecturer's daughter.

how

off,

the pollen

is

Facts were

sometimes pre-

EGGS AND TRANSFORMATIONS.

viii.]

59

served by the closing of certain flowers at times when

winged insects were not on the move, and the exclusion

thereby of such as would not aid in the work of
" It

cation.

where

is

expresses

many

"),

to say," as Sir

(" British Wild

himself

Relation to Insects
are in

much

not too

" that

if

still

of flowers; that

if

in

on the one hand flowers

more necessary
insects

else-

Flowers

cases necessary to insects, insects

other hand are

fructifi-

John

on the

to the very existence

have been in many cases

modified and adapted with a view to obtain honey and

pollen from flowers, flowers in their turn

and

colour, their honey,

and even

owe

their scent

their distinctive forms,

to the action of insects."

'

'

And plains sad Chloris how these spoilers

From her ripe crests the vivifying meal,

steal

Pare the thin films that shield her anthered reign,

And

all

No

kind intruders

her nectared

cells insatiate drain ?

aU reserved for you

She pours through honeyed horn her luscious dew.
!

While, grateful for the rich repast, ye shed

Fresh showers

prolific

round her genial bed."

Evans.

VIII.

EGGS AND TRANSFORMATIONS.

It is necessary that

some explanation should be

as to the existence of the bee before

it

given,

emerges from the

cell.

The eggs (Plate II. Fig. 7) of all the

when first deposited, are of an oval

bees,

three kinds of

shape, slightly.

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

6o

They

curved, and of a bluish-white colour.

on

the surface

when

laid,

[Cll.

I.

are glutinous

which causes them to adhere

where the queen deposits them.

to the bases of the cells

In three or four days the egg changes to a small white

worm, and

in this stage

or grub (Plate II. Fig.

is

known by

8), in

a drone

six

enlarge during this period

till

to six days

more

base of the

While

cell.

which

names of

the

state

it

and a half;
it

larva

remains four

its

dimensions

appears as a ring at the

in this stage

it

fed by the

is

nurse bees with a mixture of farina and honey, a transparent white fluid in which

supply of which

is

drop remains on

its

the

and the

larva floats,

so exactly apportioned that not a

ceasing to be required.

The next transformation is to the nymph or pupa form.

The nurse bees now seal up the cells with a preparation
them with coverings which, by

similar to wax, leaving

their

greater convexity

them

readily from

round
its

itself

distinguish

The pupa

then spins

cells.

a film or cocoon, just as a silkworm does in

chrysalis state

hours with

and darker colour,

honey

this

workers and drones occupy

process

half-cocoons, finish

scope shows that

them

this

princesses, which
in

twenty-four.

cradle-curtain

is

thirty-six

spin

The

air.

No

farther attention

micro-

perforated with

very minute holes, through which the baby bee

supplied with

only

is

duly

on the part of

is now requisite, except a proper degree of heat,

which they take care to keep up a position for the

the bees

breeding

cells

being selected in the centre of the hive,

EGGS AND TRA.XSFORAfATIONS.

vill.]

where the temperature

The

be most congenial.

likely to

is

61

destined for the rearing of drones are larger

cells

than those from which workers

seven of the

latter

deep again as the

selves there

is

inch against twenty-

the former are

more

slightly

But between the eggs them-

over.

externally

also one-third as

and are made

latter,

convex when sealed

proceed, the former

will

standing nineteen to the square

no difference whatever.

In from nineteen to twenty-one days after the egg

first laid

(unless cold weather should have retarded

bee quits the pupa

the

and,

state,

nibbling

through the waxen covering that has enclosed

The

a winged insect.

forth

twenty-four or twenty-five days,

eggs

and those of queens

observatory hives the young bees

other bees

them any

do not take

way

in watching the eager

its

may

distinctly

be seen

into the world, for the

have frequently been amused

little

new comer, now obtruding

head, and anon compelled to withdraw into the

to escape being trampled

throng, until at last

The

little

enters

it

forth to the

its

cell

on by the apparently unfeeling

has succeeded in making

its exit.

grey creature, after brushing and shaking

upon

six-

In the unicomb

the slightest notice, nor afford

We

assistance.

comes

of drones require

teen or seventeen, to arrive at maturity.

as they literally fight their

way

its
it,

is
it)

duties in the hive,

and

itself,

after a while issues

more laborious occupation of gathering honey

in the fields

thus

early illustrating that character for

industry which has been proverbial at least since the

THE BEE AS AN

62

INSECT.

[Ch.

I.

days of Aristotle, and which has in our day been rendered

familiar

even to infant minds through the nursery rhymes

of Dr. Watts.
IX.

The

REPRODUCTIVE ECONOMY.

fertilisation

of the queen and the determination

of the sexes of her progeny are two subjects of so

interest that

we must make room

for

much

some exposition of

the discoveries of the past thirty years in relation thereto.

What has been already stated on the former of these

under the section on " The Drone " consists of facts
which were mainly established by Huber

German

the present generation the great

but within

apiarians have

returned to the question, and Dzierzon has set forth some

most marvellous deductions, which Baron von Berlepsch

has followed up with amplification and further proof.
It

was found that the queen while in a virgin condition

was often capable of depositing

eggs, unlike those of poultry laid

conditions,
all

would hatch equally with

produced drones.

Whence come
tilised ?

From

that these

this

others,

but they

the

question.

arose

the drones after the queen has been

fact

known from

was by some supposed to

hives

and

eggs,

under somewhat similar

the days of

fer-

Huber and Riem

settle the difficulty.

In

many

there exist what are called " fertile workers "

bees having the female organs sufficiently developed to

deposit eggs, but not sufficiently so to receive fecundation

and as

it

was found

that the eggs of these ful-

REPRODUCTIVE ECONOMY.

IX.]

and invariably produced

the conditions required,

filled

.63

drone bees, the theory was erected that these

workers were the regular producers of that
this

plausible

solution of the problem did

Every

examination.
eggs in drone

analysis

cells,

had therefore

of investigation

But

not stand

queen does habitually lay

fertile

and from those eggs drones are

developed.

uniformly

fertile

sex.

and

Dissection
to

be resorted

to,

microscopic

and the course

commenced by Swanimerdam and purnow pushed to a much further

sued by Mile. Jurine was

extent.

Proceeding from the two ovaries of the queen there

are two canals, called oviducts, which presently unite,

and immediately beyond

With

fertile

queens

it

of juncture

their point

pmall globular receptacle which

was found that

permanently occupied by a

is

called the spermatheca.

is

this

appendage

is

fluid identical with that in

the reproductive organs of the drones, and that as such

jt

abounds in spermatozoa ; while with a

and

fluid is totally destitute of these,

in appearance, being thin

passes

down

spermatheca,

may

either

pounded

receive

own

shall determine.

what

From

each egg,

that

this

as

mouth of the

fecundation or not,

will or

some other

cir-

Dzierzon accordingly pro-

as the apparent, though

solution of the enigma,

queen the

wholly different

the oviduct and over the

according as the queen's

cumstance

virgin

and transparent.

discovery the conclusion foUpwed

it

is

is

still

only hypothetical,

known

as the doctrine

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

64

ot parthenogenesis or virgin breeding

is

[Ch.

the

law that

i.

life

imparted by the mother independently, and that every

egg as originally developed in her ovaries

sex, but that

whenever

becomes transformed

To

fertilised

is

of the male

with the male fluid

into a female

it

convert this hypothesis into a demonstration,

Von

Berlepsch invited to his apiary in succession the two

great comparative

Von

Siebold,

Leuckart and

anatomists Professors

and furnished each with a number of both

drone and worker eggs for microscopic

examination.

Leuckart examined the surfaces of the eggs ;

Von

who
this

Siebold,

followed him, tried the interiors, and the latter by

means was triumphantly

successful, for, after the

careful preparation of his subjects,

most

he detected in thirty

out of forty worker eggs from one to four spermatozoa

while in his twenty-four drone

apiece,

not a single one.

The

exceptions

eggs he found

were

insufficient to

invalidate the results, for the ten worker eggs in which

signs of impregnation

were found were only the

no

failures

of observation to be naturally expected in so delicate a

scrutiny.

Thus

the fact

was established that eggs which

produce male bees are descended from the female only

in other words, that drones have no fathers !

Most

strikingly has this

discovery which
Italian

make

we owe

law been corroborated by a

to

the

introduction of the

bee a discovery, too, which any bee-keeper can

for himself.

If

an English drone, or

an Italian queen
vice versa,

is

crossed v/ith

the W07-kers only of her

REPRODUCTIVE ECONOMY.

IX.]

progeny

be mongrels

will

the

drones will invariably

pure blood of the queen, thus proving to

the

retain

65

demonstration that they owe their origin to her alone.

Should a mongrel drone be then observed,

a sure sign that a

queen

not be

will

mother.

its

is

in the

be

will

it

hive

Dr. Donhoff,

the

we

are

same law by a converse method,

confirmed the

told,

worker

fertile

having in 1855 obtained a worker bee from a drone egg

which he had

some

believed by

drone-laying

quently

we have

as

that

like

it),

again

it

fluid.

capable before

that

if

she has once

it

commenced

become subse-

Mr. Langstroth, however, mentions

to the contrary,

where a queen of

his, after

drone eggs for a week or two, became

persistently laying

workers.

is

impossible for her to

is

it

fertilised.

an instance

after

observed,

of becoming the mother of drones, but

fertilisation
is

impregnated with the male

artificially

The queen,

the happy mother of a thriving colony of

Von Berlepsch alludes

but

was a

to this case (with others

unconvinced, being suspicious that here

is

worker and not the queen who laid

fertile

But looking to the

the drone eggs.

fact that vcA-ay per-

manently unfertile queens lay drone eggs, while others

lay

no eggs

at

all,

similar difference

does

may

Thus, while the Baron

rule,

we

it

not seem reasonable that a

subsist previous to fecundation ?

is

on firm ground as

to the general

incline to a belief that as to the exception the

American observer

is

quite correct.

Dzierzon thus writes:

"In

general, so long
5

as the

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

66

young queen continues her wedding

warm summer

when

are slower in the hive, she

ment

weeks

she

hopeless, cases

is

still

gone on

which in the

life

and develop-

pursues for even

capable of becoming properly

is

But some queens continue

fertile."

i.

she does at the very most for four weeks,

but in the cool spring or autumn,

five or six

flights

[Ch.

to fly long after

it

being recorded in which they have

The same

for ten or twelve weeks.

observer

speaks of having had several young queens which were

lame

either

hive,

bom

in.

a continued cold

and thus developed into confirmed drone-breeders.

The queen
is

in their wings or

so that they were prevented from leaving the

season,

leaves the hive every fine day

till

her purpose

accomplished, and this led Bevan and others to surmise

that she

them

met successively with

later authorities
this conjecture,

probable.

several drones

consequence

lost his life in

one Of

any confirmation nor even mention of

and

it

In the case

may be

down
observed by Von
set

referred to above (page 22), as the

death shortly

till

but we do not find in

Klipstein,

and

queen met with her

he sent her to Leuckart, who found

after,

that from this obviously

were so completely

as entirely im-

filled

first

impregnation her organs

as to imply

no need

for

a second.

Leuckart has elsewhere stated that a queen's spermatheca

is

capable of containing twenty-five millions of sperma-

tozoa, so that there

single

entire

need be no wonder

at the fact of a

fecundation being sufficient to answer for her

term of existence.

RELATION OF SEX TO

x.]

The

fertile

CELLS.

67

workers, which by their course of adding to

the drone stock

may prove

a terrible nuisance in a hive,

were ascertained by Huber to be always hatched in close

proximity to the queen

whence he conjectured

cells,

they obtained by accident a portion of the royal

Von

designed for the rearing of princesses.

and Langstroth

prefer the

Berlepsch

theory that such jelly was-

purposely given them, and the conversion of their

cells into royal ones

commenced, but

was afterwards abandoned, as

more of such

start

with.

They are

cells

that
jelly

it is

own

that the intention

known

that bees often,

than they ultimately proceed

of only exceptional occurrence in hives in

a normal condition, but in a queenless stock they very

often appear, sometimes even in considerable numbers,

having been probably fostered with the

late

but at too

jelly,

a period to convert them into queens.

They

usually

deposit their eggs correctly in drone cells, though drone-

breeding queens lay in those of workers and even in royal

cells

thus

evincing a presence of the will though an

absence of the powerT

To

get rid of a fertile worker

has been recommended by Mr. Rorl to " drive

(Chap. v.

near spot

iv.) to
all will

one to be got
before,

rid

''

an empty hive, and place

return to their old
of,

home

it

the bees

this in a

except the

she having probably never flown

and therefore not knowing her way.

X.

RELATION OF SEX TO CELLg.

There remains the very interesting question of the

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

68

connection between sex and

paradoxical to say so,
that

is

to say,

is

cells,

which,

[Ch.

if it

be not

as a general rule invariable

produce respectively workers and drones without

But

in

the queen and the hive are in

when both

a normal condition, the eggs laid in each class of

or exception.

I.

cells

failure

abnormal circumstances, as with a

drone-breeding queen, the law does not hold, and drones

of a diminished size are hatched from worker

cells,

though the bees, on discovering the state of things, do

by subsequent elongation

their best

to adapt the cradles

to their unexpected occupants.

Such

of the existence of " small drones

in

drone

In

cells

do not appear

to

"

moment
Rather,

Has

the explanation

be in any way peculiar.

regard then to the main fact

with the question,

is

but workers hatched

we

are

confronted

the queen a knowledge, at the

of laying, of the gender of each particular egg ?

it

would seem, she has the power of making

it

what gender she pleases by compressing her spermatheca

or not at the instant of

We

must however

contrary, quoted

the late Mr.

its

refer to

passing

by Langstroth

Wagner

down her

as started

this

his friend

worker

Germany also.
own will, but the

country and

It is to the effect that not the queen's

limits of the

by

of Philadelphia, and which has been

approved by many in

narrow

oviduct.

an ingenious theory to the

cells,

administer the above

compression, while the more spacious drone cells allow

her

body

to

be inserted without such

Berlepsch however,

it

is

safe

to

say,

effect.

Von

has absolutely

RELATION OF SEX TO

X.]

demolished

mechanical explanation

this

recent writers have quoted the

approval,

it

may be

best to give

explanation

(a) perfectly

and as some

thoroughly untenable

is

new worker

69

"Wagner theory" with

the German observer's

own words

principal objections in his

" This

CELLS.

cells are fully as

old drone cells in which breeding has taken place

and

times,

yet, as

for

wide as very

many

found by experience, female bees come

from the former and males from the

(b)

latter,

Many

queens are of a strikingly slender form, some of them

occasionally so small that they can scarcely be distin-

guished from workers, and yet they have no proclivity

to drone-laying

case

if

which

must however have been the

the narrow cell effected the fertilisation of the

egg by pressure.

(^)

queen

lays

even in

cells

that are scarcely begun, with which, therefore, the pro-

portion of the diameter to the thickness of her

no influence

exercise

from the drone

(,d)

If there are

stock

worker
fertile

in

is

cells

body can

and yet drones come

forth

and workers from the worker

cells.

at

no drone

all,

her

cells at

command, and

the

want of drones, the queen lays male eggs

cells,

queen,

and drones hatch from them.

if

(/)

in

introduced with her colony into a hive

containing nothing but drone comb, would naturally {on

such hypothesis] furnish the drone

would worker
she does

cells,

and make no

make a very

cells

great difficulty

she lays no eggs in the cells at

with eggs as she

difficulty

all,

but

about it.

for a

lets

But

long time

them drop, or

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

70

she does lay in the drone

cells,

Ordinary worker bees come forth."

experiments

decisively proving

i.

But at

escape abroad with her entire colony.

tries to
last

[Ch.

and what ensues ?

Instances follow of

this.

It

only

is

fair,

however, to add that Mr. Wagner's theory does not

monarch of the hive

necessarily degrade the

mere egg-laying machine," as

some of

in

his

Von

arguments, for she might

which

intelligence in deciding

"a

into

Berlepsch regards

cells to lay in,

still

it

exhibit

even

if

the

determination of the sex of the egg rested finally with

the cell

which she had chosen.

The queen then

exercises a personal control over each

egg as she deposits

but, unless interfered with

it,

by

irre-

gular circumstances, shd adapts her will to the cells

chooses the cells

hive.

and

according to the requirements of the

But when both drones and workers are

each class of

sition she lays her eggs in

comes to them, as to which

fact the

in requi-

cells just as

she

Baron gives abun-

dant evidence, having in one instance observed a queen

make no fewer than

to drone

cells

Inconsistent as

five

may

it

in royal cells the eggs

that"

is,

when

changes in a day from worker

or vice versa

without any intermission.

appear, she also herself deposits

which are to hatch into her

rivals

these cells have been prepared with a

for

view to swarming;

the preponderance of argument

goes against the belief that eggs are ever removed into
these by the workers.*

In addition to determining the

The eggs when once deposited adhere

to the cdls

and could

RELATION OF SEX TO CELLS.

X.]

sex she

further capable of regulating to a large extent

is

number

the total

71

of eggs she lays, and thus of modifying

the growth of the population with the character of the

season and the condition of the colony

been

that has

know

has been
eggs at

transferred from a

all

to

to vary in

weak

thus a queen

to a strong hive

two or three days from no

two thousand a day.

She lays during

some ten months of the year, suspending the process

For her first season she
in November and December.
lays almost exclusively worker eggs.

We

are told of the occasional occurrence of herma-

phrodite bees, half workers and half drones, and the

explanation of their existence

given by

is

Von

Berlepsch

as an incomplete penetration of the shell of the egg, in

the act of fertiUsing, by the spermatozoa.

Yet another

order of individuals has been supposed to exist by some,

and they have termed them

" black bees," * also " drone

mothers;" they are not, however, the veritable

"fertile

workers " named above, but owe their distinction solely

They

to misconception.

often with fewer

are blacker than the rest,

and shorter

after ascertaining

hairs

and

but the above author,

from Leuckart that there was no anatothem ; but occasionally when fresh
body of the queen, or even of a worker.

not be removed without ruining

laid they stick to the

new

Queenless stocks sometimes in their temporary insanity start

queen

cells

these will
*

without thinking where the eggs are to come from

remain empty unless some

This term

in distinction

is

also

from the

fertile

worker' tries her

but

skill.

sometimes applied to English bees generally

Italians.

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

72

[Ch.

i.

mical difference, proved by experiments that their colour

was caused simply by smearing with honey, or else

was the effect of stifling or of fright, and that the loss
of hairs was owing to nothing more than having crept
repeatedly through confined

Dzierzon

"

The black

entrance-holes

colour

is

Similarly

one purely accidental,

produced through heating, rubbing against

smearing, licking, and the like.

As a

sides, biting,

rule, the glossy

black bees are robbers which have been pursuing their

some considerable time."

trade for

XI.

Under

THE RATIONALE OF SWARMING.

this

heading we purpose to describe

such

matters as belong chiefly to the natural history of the

bee, thus reserving for

ning of our

fifth

proper position at the begin-

its

chapter

all

which

strictly

subject of " Manipulation," and which

it

belongs to the
is

to the con-

venience of the inexperienced bee-keeper to find brief

and ready to

his

hand

A leisurely digesting
present section

at

any moment of emergency.

of the interesting facts stated in the

however, greatly

him

in

the

In May, when the preceding part of the spring

has-

will,

assist

intelligent following of his pursuit.

been

fine,

of eggs,

the queen bee

and the increase

is

in a strong healthy hive

prodigious that emigration

is

is

so

necessary, or work would

The bees, on arriving at a conviction of

commence preparations by the building of royal

soon cease.
this fact,

very active in the deposition

RATIONALE OF SWARMING.

xi.]
cells,

thus putting matters straight for the after govern-

ment and

swarm on the

cells

The queen,

progress of the hive.

first

pleasant day after one of these

has been sealed over, that

seven days before her

this,

the bees usually destroy

It is

now

some

six or

likely to emerge.

If

within two days of the hatch-

till

either start fresh cells or give

the season.

to say,

is

first rival is

delayed by the weather

ing of

nolens volens,

with the general resolution, and makes off with

falls in

the

73

all

the princesses,

and

up swarming altogether

for

a well-established fact that the

first

swarm, and thus the

sovereignty of the old hive devolves

upon a young queen.

old queen goes forth with the

Dzierzon, however, once met with a case in which the

old queen refused to

stir,

and three strong swarms were

led forth by

young princesses

By

it

the bye,

in the course of five days.

should be added that swarms are never

" led " forth except

by young queens,

having these at their head

fruitful

in the sense of

mothers usually follow

in the midst.

As soon

as the

swarm builds combs

in

its

new abode,

the emigrant queen begins laying eggs in the

cells,

and

new
now amongst apiarians no

thereby speedily multiplies the labourers of the

colony.

Although there

is

doubt that the old queen quits her home, there

as to the composition of the
depart.

swarm

Some show unmistakable

is

no

rule

old and young. alike

signs of age

by

their

ragged wings, others their extreme youth by their lighter

colour.

We

do

not, however, use the term "

young "

in

THE BEE AS AN

74

INSECT.

[Ch.

reference to those youngest inhabitants of the hive

engagements are solely within doors,

till

for these

proper time for flying has arrived.

their

lepsch says that

whose

cannot go

Von Berhome at

the adult bees which are at

all

swarm

the time of starting go with the

this results in

i-

and sometimes

none but the brood bees being

left

or

only one-fourth of the population.

In preparation for

commence

honey-bags, taking

bees

flight,

suflScient,

store

is

it

is

said,

filling their

for

three days' sustenance.

needful, not only for food, but to enable

commence the secretion

combs in'thejr new domicile.
to

On

of

wax and

This

them

the building of

the day of emigration the weather must be fine,

warm, and

clear,

with but

little

wind

stirring

for the old

queen, like a prudent matron, will not venture out unless

the day

is

in every

way

favourable.

Whilst her majesty

we have mentioned

hesitates, either for the reasons

or

because the internal arrangements are not sufficiently

matured, the bees

will often fly

about or hang in clusters

at the entrance of the hive for

together, all labour

nights

When

suspended.
hours,

this cluster is

formed

and grows constantly larger

may be
busy

two or three days and

meanwhile being apparently

in the

taken as the sign of a very speedy

flitting

morning

in spite of the sun,

start.

it

The

of other bees around this cluster, or their

sporting in numbers before the hive, are also reliable

signs,

and some have included the appearance of drones

at ten in

the morning.

At

the

last,

when

the time

is

RATIONALE OF SWARMING.

xi.]

75

quite fixed, the bees in the cluster suddenly return to the

hive to

fill

themselves with honey for the

agitation of the

little

folk

is

The

flight.

well described by Evans

" See where, with hurried step, the impassioned throng

Pace o'er the hive, and seem, with plaintive song,
To invite their loitering queen now range the floor.
And hang in clustered columns from the door ;
;

Or now in restless rings around they fly,

Nor spoil they sip, nor load the hollowed

thigh

E'en the dull drone his wonted ease gives

o'er,

Flaps the unwieldy wing, and longs to soar."

But when
tion

all is

ready, a scene of the

takes place; the bees rush

most violent

forming quite a dark cloud as they traverse the

The
is

air.

time selected for the departure of the emigrants

generally between lo a.m.

come

agita-

out in vast numbers,

they have been

the other

and 3 p.m.

most swarms

an hour of noon. ^ In very sultry weather

off within

hand

known

to

be as

early as 7 a.m.,

and on

as late as 5 p.m., though 'this last pro-

bably only occurs when a young queen leads the detachment.

As a

rule, says

in the morning
is

Von

Berlepsch,

first

swarms

start

and after-swarms in the afternoon.

It

a very general remark that bees choose a Sunday for

swarming, and probably this

stillness reigns

around.

It will

that the careful bee-keeper

is

is

because then greater

not be

difficult to

watch, lest he should lose such a treasure

takes wing.

The

imagine

anxious to keep a

strict

when once

it

exciting scene at a bee-swarming has

been well described by the apiarian laureate

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

76

" Mounts the glad

[Ch.

I.

chief! and, to the cheated eye,

Ten thorfsandjshuttles dart along the sky,

As swift through ether rise the rushing swarms,
Gay dancing to the beam their sun-bright forms,

******

And

each thin form,

Trails, as

it

still

lingering on the sight,

shoots, a line of silver light.

High poised on buoyant wing,

the thoughtful queen

In gaze attentive views the varied scene.

And
The

soon her far-stretched ken discerns below

light

laburnum

lift

her polished brow,

Wave her green leafy ringlets o'er the glade,

And seem to beckon to her friendly shade.
Swift as the falcon's sweep, the monarch bends

Her flight abrupt the following host descends ;

Round the fine twig, like clustered grapes, they close
:

In thickening wreaths, and court a short repose."

As

it

often happens with after-swarms that

one young queen

is

hatched before the

the presence of these

may

more than

start is

made,

cause irregular and puzzUng

Langstroth mentions a case in

behaviour in 'the bees.

than eight queens must have started thus

which no

less

together,

and Von Berlepsch once met with the same

number ; while

Spitzner found a

swarm with so many

as

twenty-one, but this happened fourteen days after the

return to the hive of the

queen.
it is

As mentioned

first

swarm, which had lost its

on " The Queen,"

in the section

not altogether a rare occurrence, though certainly

the exception, for

together.

more than one monarch

to settle

down

In one American case no fewer than

colonies once took

up

five

their quarters in a single large

RATIONALE OF SWARMING.

XI.]

-j-j

box, and remained there through a season " united yet

divided."
If,

on the contrary, the queen

not in the swarm at

is

the bees sometimes return at once to the hive,

times they

institute

first

swarm was starved

during

to death

Of course

five days.

In

Warder a whole

by alteniate deprivations

of their queen

restorations

and some-

a search for her majesty.

the famous but cruel experiment of Dr.

and

all,

in his

repeated at intervals

day

this

devotion was

attributed to personal regard.

Exceptional cases of another kind are also not un-

common,

which a colony has made no preparation

in

swarming (by the formation of royal

sudden
says

arrival of

by the heat

warm weather it is enticed

Von Berlepsch by the

itself.

example of neighbouring hives

the Baron,

"

An

contagious

some ten

internal revolution

"and they

Dzierzon

to carry out in a hurry

that which ought to have received

liminary care.

for

but on the

cells),

is

days' pre-

made," says

The

rush forth for the swarm.

queen, as becomes the pseudo-sovereign of a democratic

monarchy, hastens to prove to her people

obedient servant, and there the swarm
first

On

convenient tree."

in such case

be found

that

is,

their most-

hanging on the

the following morning

worker

cells

it

will

have been trans-

formed into royal ones.

An

way in which bees somemake provision beforehand of a place to fly to when

about to swarm came under our own notice a few years

times

instance illustrating the

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

78

A lady who lived

since.

[Ch.

i.

about a quarter of a mile from

our apiary sent to us to say that a swarm had gone in at

a hole over her stable, and to ask us to come and hive

On

them.

our going to do so her gardener told us that

he had seen three days previous two or three bees as

reconnoitring
o'clock

on the

third day the

whole swarm went

took up their position between

The

flooring.

difficulty

penter was sent

was

if

next day several came, and about eleven

for,

set over, with a

the rafters

was now to get

in

and

under the

at them.

car-

the boards were taken up, a hive

brood comb placed in

it

to attract

them, and by dint of smoke and brushing with a feather,

the queen and her retinue were coaxed to ascend into

Some

the hive.
forage,
settled

of the bees had already gone out to

and there were many

so to secure these

flying

and make

about that had not

it

easy for them,

we

brought the hive out, and erected a sort of platform on a

pair of steps close to the hole, which
all

and were

easily

We

we

stopped.

the out-flying bees had joined the

nighttime

By

swarm

removed.

ought to mention that we recognised this swarm

from the appearance of the bees as those from the

Carniolan hive

left

under our care by the Rev. W. C.

Cotton (page 45), and as the queen with the swarm was
the original,

we had

to take the bees

we might be allowed
we provided a swarm of the

to ask that

back

if

ordinary English bees, which offer was accepted.

Cottqn eventually took

this

Mr.

colony to his residence at

RATIONALE OF SWARMING.

xi.]

Frodsham near

-Chester,

and we kept the

which

stock,

The bees

had a new queen.

of course

79

did not long

retain their distinctive features.

swarm of

ro,ooo to
Dzierzon,

"we may

call

Von

estimated

"

an

that

there were

and 6,000

to 8,000 a

for

swarming there would

A good

therefore weigh from three to five pounds.

store for the winter;

We

pounds was proportionally more

August as regards

hive, he. states, there

seems

the more bees the

for a

really

new swarm

profitable than

For a

other weight, larger or smaller.

no

is

"

limit but that of

better.

swarms ; these are the

best,

also

first

or

and when a swarm

purchased, such should be bargained

are

any

fully furnished

Hitherto our remarks have had reference to

" prime

will

have

though the Baron's experiments

showed with remarkable conformity that

space

swarm

heavier than two pounds and a half

that were in very excellent condition in

six

weak

experiment

5,600 unloaded bees in a

be more than 4,000.

known swarms not

says

average,"

Berlepsch by a very careful

pound, so that when loaded

certainly not

On

20,000 a strong swarm, 12,000

to 15,000 a moderate one,

one."

contains from

bees, in a natural state,

20,000 insects.

for.

But there

second swarms, known amongst cottage bee-

keepers as " casts," one of which

is

often found to issue

from the hive nine or ten days after the

in very rare cases such has

first

been known

third or as late as the seventeenth day.

has departed

as early as the
It is

not always

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

8o

[Ch.

i.

that a second swanii issues, as so

much depends on

strength of the stock, the weather,

and other causes ; but

should the bees determine to throw out another, the

hatched queen in the stock hive

the

first

prevented by her

is

subjects from destroying the other royal princesses, as

she would do

if left

to

her

own

quence becomes highly indignant

in her purpose, utters, in

sounds,

much

She

will.
;

and,

in

quick succession,

angry

shrill

commonly

resembling Peep, peep*

conse-

when thwarted
called

" piping," but which more courtly apiarians have styled

the vox regalis.

The

what

these being,

by

different note

this

princesses answer her in a someit

must be understood,

time perfectly developed queens, but afraid to

quit their cells,

where accordingly the brood bees feed

them.

This royal wailing continues during the evening, and

is

sometimes so loud as to be

yards from the hive.

may

distinctly audible

this is the case, a

many
swarm

usually be expected either on the next day or at

latest

within three

days,

longer postponement.
is

When

the

unless

weather causes a

This sound, when persevered

a sure sign of the issuing of an after-swarm, but

in such case almost the only sign,

that even

when

So

all

it

English writers.

after a

in,
is

must be noted

the bees do not intend to

sometimes be heard a day or two

*

and

it

swarm

it

may

second swarm

Bees in Germany evidently speak a

different language, for there the reigning

queen

her imprisoned rival answers, Quah, quah.

cries, Tiih, tuh,

while

 XI.]

RATIONALE OF SWARMING.

has

left.

If not

ing

is

heard

chary of weather as the

exercised

much

so

may be concluded

The second swarm

an end.

at

it

first

caution,

except in the best of

summer

it

is

8i

that

swarm-

not quite so

was the old lady who

to leave

disliking

home

weather.

In some instances, owing to favourable breeding sea

sons and prolific queens, a third swarm issues from the
hive (usually after intervals of two or three days), which
is

termed a "

colt

and

"

in remarkable instances

even

a fourth (after another day's interval), which in rustic

phrase

designated a

is

he once had a

night.

fifth,

Mr. Langstroth says that

"filly.''

and

five in the

all

swarm from a swarm

is

swarm, and, according to bee theory,

old queen for

its

leader

course of a

called a "

bably be at about a month after the hiving.

colony, of one or

more

years' duration,

"

again have the

will

such does occur

if

fort-

maiden

is

it

will pro-

The origijial
known as a

" stock."

When

swarming

remaining in

is

over for the season any princesse

cells are torn

out and destroyed as beforL

stated, or else left to the tender mercies

sovereign.
assailants, "

But now and then one of them slips. past her

and then," says Von Berlepsch, " there ensues

a regular hunt, which I have

through the hive window.

the fate that

pursue

of the reigning

is

when

several times

The queen,

well

in store for her, rushes away,

seized

by the

observed

knowing

and the bees

feet or the wings she cries

out pitiably, and one queen so

moved my compassion
6

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

82

that I liberated her, put her in a

comb on

her with workers and

she became successfully

[Ch.

i.

queen cage, suppHed

a following day, and, as

fertilised,

brought her through

the winter.''
XII.

INCREASE OF BEES.

"The Queen" we

In the section upon

have given

(page lo) some particulars as to the rate of breeding with

The

bees.
is

found

needful expansion for this rapid development

in the

above process of " swarming,'' by which

new

they provide themselves with fresh space, and plant

colonies.

But the object of the bee-master

and educate

his bees,

and

in so

and trouble which

the risk

is

for

this

much

doing he avoids

of

incurred by allowing the

busy folk to follow their own devices.

methods

to train

is

The

end adopted by apiarians

various

come

all

under the term of the "depriving" system, and they

form part of the great object of humane and economical
bee-keeping, which
slaughtering

them

is

as

very natural question

to save the bees alive instead of

under the old clumsy regime.

is

often asked

How

is

upon the depriving system, where our object

vent swarming, the increase of numbers
as

upon the old plan ?

eggs

is

It will

is

it

is

that,

to pre-

not so great

be seen that the laying of

performed by the queen only, and that there

is

but one queen to each hive; so that where swarming

is

prevented there remains only one hive or stock, as

the superfluous princesses are not allowed to

come

to

INCREASE OF BEES.

xih]

maturity.

If

all

those

monarchs, or mother
proportionate

going on more rapidly

bees,

were

princesses

and

become

to

emigrate with a

to

number of workers,

S3

increase would be

but the old stock would be so

impoverished thereby as possibly to yield no surplus

honey, whilst the swarms might come off too late for

them

to collect sufficient store

enough

With
is

whereon

to

grow populpus

to withstand the winter.

men, " union

bees, as with

them

often better to induce

numbers

rather than to part

to
at

strength

is

"

and

it

remain as one family,

late period

of the

honey-gathering season, without a prospect of support-

and so perish from cold and hunger

ing themselves,

during the ordeal of the winter season.

This

the great secrets of successfiil bee-keeping.

is

one of

Mr. Lang-

stroth's recommendation is that none "but the most

experienced apiarians " should attempt " at the furthest

to

do more than

is

Even

one year."

treble their stocks in

doubling them, he says,

often too rapid

an increase

for obtaining spare honey.

Our plan of
rally

giving additional storage-room will, gene-

speaking,

policy,

prevent swarming.

we contend,

loss of time

paratory to

is

an advantage

This stay-at-home
;

for instead of the

consequent upon a swarm hanging out pre-

flight,

all

the bees are engaged in collecting

honey, and that at a time when the

-v^eather is

favourable and the food most abundant.

Upon

most

the old

system the swarm leaves the hive simply because the

THE BEE AS AN INSECT.

84

[Ch.

t.

when tlie
and inhuman

dwelling has not been enlarged at the time

bees are increasing.

Upon

the antiquated

plan where so great a destruction takes place by the

brimstone match, breeding must, of course, be allowed

to

go on to

its full

chief object under the

free

from

all

make up for such sacrifices.

new system is to obtain honey

extent to

Our

No

extraneous matter.

oiu can depend upon

gathering pure honey from combs where storing

and

breed-

ing are performed in the same compartment.

For

fuller

explanations

on

scriptions of our

this

point

we

refer to

improved hives

the various de-

in a subsequent chapter

of this work.

We
honey

often receive from Scotland magnificent boxes of

;

and though the

part attributed to

fine quality is

good pasturage,

no doubt

it is

largely

to

be

in

owing to

keeping the stocks strong, and thus having hives well

stored

and well populated

weakly hive

will take

grow populous

early

some weeks,

and as soon

in
if

the

to

as the strength of the hive

has recovered, the honey season will have

if

season.

not months,

advanced,

not ended, whilst the strong stocks have been able

to take full advantage of the supplies, having

an abun-

dance of labourers to collect the honey and store

it

in

supers for their master.

There can now be scarcely two opinions

as to the use-

lessness of the rustic plan of immolating the poor bees

after they

have striven through the summer so to " im-

prove each shining hour."

The

ancients in Greece

and

INCREASE OF BEES.

XII.

Italy took the surplus

now

for

Rj

honey and spared the bees, and

every intelligent bee-keeper there are ample

appliances wherewith to attain the same results.

Mr.

Langstroth quotes from the German the following epitaph,

which, he says, " might be properly placed over every pit

of brimstoned bees

"
:

!5ctc

JRestiS,

CUT OFF FROM USEFUL LABOUR,

A COLONY OF

INDUSTRIOUS BEES,
BASELY MURDERED
BY ITS

And

UNORATEFUL AND IGNORANT

OWNER.
Thomson, the poet of " The Seasons," has recorded

an eloquent poetic protest against the barbarous pracwhich, however, in his day there was no alter-

tice, for

native

" Ah

see,

where, robbed and murdered, in that pit

Lies the still-heaving hive

at

evening snatched,

Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night,

And

fixed o'er sulphur

The happy

while, not dreaming

people, in their

waxen

ill,

cells,

Sat tending public cares, and planning schemes

Of temperance,

To

mark,

full

for winter

poor

rejoiced

flowing round, their copious stores.

Sudden, the dark, oppressive steam ascends

And, used to milder scents, the tender race

By

thousands tumble from their honeyed domes.

Convolved and agonising

It will

show

" a

be our pleasing

more

in the dust."

task, in

excellent way."

subsequent chapters; to

CHAPTER

II.

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

I.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

JLTHOUGH
the present
into the

the

principal object in compiling

work has been

way

most recent and approved methods,

'

to induct our readers

of keeping bees according to the

it

requires

little

apo-

logy for thus apparently deviating from such prescribed

course by devoting a small portion of our space to a description of the

whose labours

anatomy of the wonderful

all

especially since a

knowledge of

their habits

interesting to the bee-keeper, but enables

his apiary in

In a

before

creatures

him

is

assist,

not only

to conduct

accordance therewith.

treatise of this kind,

we

character,

little

our contrivances are intended to

shall

intended to be of a popular

endeavour

to

place

our readers in a concise and

much as may be technical

who wish to go more deeply

these

simple

details

manner,

and

avoiding as

terms,

ring those

into this branch of

refer-

the subject to the works of Kirby and Spence, Samuelson,

PRELIMINAR V REMARKS.

I.]

87

In the course of our descriptions we

etc.

quently refer to the steel engravings, Plates

drawn by Mr. E. W. Robinson,

logical Society of

sected bees

we

him

and

illustrations,

which

purpose we have in view.

clear that a

little

shall

fre-

and

II.,

Entomo-

carefully dis-

for the purpose, subjected these

dissections to the microscope,

accompanying

the

artist to

London, who has most

sent

I.

skilfully

produced the

much

will so

assist the

These delineations are so

explanation will suffice to impart a

full

understanding of the various parts of the bee.

Because the bee

is

its

among such as
things."
The

but her

fly,

we are not to
The bee is little

so small an insect

neglect investigating

"

organisation.

enlightened

fruit

the chief of sweet

is

Boyle,

when contemplating

the wonders of Nature, declared that his

astonishment

had been more excited by the mite than by the elephant

and
as

"not so much on the docks

that his admiration dwelt

on the watches of

The

Figures

i,

creation." *

2,

and

3,

in Plate

L, respectively

represent the exterior forms of the queen, the worker, and

the drone.

They

illustrating the

are thus coloured for the purpose of

Yellow Italian Alp, or Ligurian bee, now

deservedly held in such high estimation by bee-keepers,

and of whose good

qualities

we have already remarked.

All the bees constituting a stock

may

bright a colour as those represented

in appearance from the younger ones

*

Dr. Bevan.

not be of quite so
the old bees differ

darkened

bodies

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

and ragged wings, not grey
are the signs of old age

so

hairs

and wrinkled

that with bees

human

Italians), as with the gentler sex of the

is

[Ch.

II.

faces,

(especially
race, there

appointed a period both of youth and beauty.

The anatomical
same

in

structure of our English bee

the

is

kind as that of the Italian ; * a description of

The most
The English

the one will therefore serve for the other.

apparent difference consists in the colour.

bee

is

brown

of a blackish

both varieties have their

bodies wholly covered with close-set hairs.

These

hairs

deserve particular attention, because, although so small,

each hair

is

feather-shaped,

consisting of a

stem and

branches somewhat analogous to the feathers of birds.

This form

is

extremely serviceable to the insect,

when

revelling in the corolla of flowers, to collect the farina,

and, besides being thus useful,

is

peculiarly adapted for

retaining animal heat.f

The

insect

thorax or

II.

is

chest,

divided into three parts

The head

of the queen (Plate

This

last (Fig.

I.

Fig.

c),

as also that of

rounder than that of the worker

c), is

2 c)

is

of a triangular shaj)e,

Naturalists consider the Italian bee a Very superior race,

that the various organs are stronger

and of greater capacity

however not easy to define the precise anatomical

'
'

the

THE HEAD AND ORGANS OF SENSATION.

the drone (Fig. 3

bee.

the head,

and the abdomen.

Naturalist's Library."

superiority.

and
and
it is

PU.U.

I.W.Rotmor.Dsl'etO'clBbS.

2.

 II.]

HEAD AND ORGANS OF SENSATION.

much

flattened, as

common

In

view.

the

tains

inlet

in Fig. 2 c*,

89

which shows the side

with other creatures, the head con-

for

nutrition,

and

the

is

seat

of the

principal organs of sensation.

In the figures before alluded to may be seen the

double visual apparatus with which bees are provided.

The
two

oval lobes on each side of the head represent the

eyes, the secondary organs of vision being the three

small eyes on the top of the head, called " stemmata."

We

shall first describe

seems

to

the

be the case with

have neither

irides

two larger

eyes, which, as

are immovable,

all insects,

and

nor pupils, nor yet eyelids to cover

them, but are protected from the dust or pollen of flowers

by a number of small

hairs, as well as

which defends and secures them from

tude of hexagonal lenses, called "
the eye of a bee, give

it,

scope, the appearance of

pare

it

by a horny tunicle,

The

injury.

ocelli,"

multi-

which make up

when viewed through a microhoneycomb

or

we might com-

to a multiplying-glass with hexahedral facets, each

one ocellus. But when

we look also to the inner structure, it resembles rather
some thousands of telescopes all converging towards one
facet representing the surface of

point.

It

has been computed that in each eye there are

3,500 of these collateral lenses.

represents three of these prisms

Each of them
prising, first
fitted

is

Fig.

or

in Plate II.

lenses

magnified.

wonderfully intricate in structure, com-

two plano-convex lenses of different densities,

together on the

flat

sides

on the

principle of an

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

go

achromatic object-glass

[Ch.

ii.

next an empty space surrounded

with dark pigment, which

convex within Hke the neck

is

of a vase, so as to narrow the passage for the rays to

about one-half the diameter, or one-fourth the superficial

space

and

lastly

a longer conical lens, convex at each

end and communicating with the optic nerve.

The

simple eyes, or stemmata, on the contrary,' are as strictly

simple as their

name

implies, consisting of

one nearly

globular lens apiece.

The

construction of the eye for seeing objects best at

a moderate distance

will

account for the fact that bees

mount high up into the air after collecting their store of

food, and then, having determined the point, no matter

how

far off,

they

cannon-ball,

fly

homewards with the

and alight

directness of a

door of their own habitation,

at the

though the country around may be crowded with hives

but on reaching the entrance their vision appears defective, for

they then feel their

totally blind,

way

with the antennae as

if

and should the hive have been moved a little

they will rise again into the

air to

obtain a

more

dis-

tant view, suited to the lengthened focus of their sight.

When

a stock or swarm

is

brought from a distance the

bees do not take their departure at once, but reconnoitre

awhile,

visiting

surrounding objects so as to well know

the spot again in order to return thereto.

The distinct purposes

may not perhaps be

eyes

but Pastor Schonfeld

of the two different kinds of

yet determined with certainty,

(whom Von Berlepsch employs

to

 II.]

HEAD AND ORGANS OF SENSA TION.

own work

write those sections of his

senses of bees, as being

91

that relate to the

"beyond doubt the best-informed

of apiarians on these subjects ") gives a decided opinion

that the stemmata serve only for the most distant objects,

compound eyes, which are much more highly

Thus
refractivej become available when closer at hand.
these eyes, which we compared to telescopes, are credited
while the

with the least of telescopic power, an.d serve for nearer

observation after

How much

all.

are not yet in a position to say,

withdrawn of what

is

also serviceable in the twilight,

vision in the interior of a hive.

as a rare compliment
apiarian,

his

The mouth

work, " The

of the bee

labrum, or upper

lip,

is

ligula or tongue,

to afford

some

worth mentioning,

its

and the

a most complex structure,

duties,

and

consists of .the

lip,

which

also called the

is

made up

proboscis,

gills,

of the

the labial

paraglossse, together with the maxillse, or

we adopt

want of a

by

Honey Bee."*

with the mandibles, or upper

and of the labium, or lower

lower gills

It is

from a German to an English

marvellously adapted for

for

and thus

of the eyes of our insect to be given

Samuelson in

palpi,

eyes are assumed to be

Schonfeld declares the best anatomical

that

description

we

stated above as to the far-sighted-

The compound

ness of bees.

nearer, however,

and nothing need be

better.

The compliment

this

word "gills" from the German

The jaws open

vertically,

belongs doubtless lo Dr. Hicks, to

anatomical portion of that work

is

presumably due.

but the

whom

the

ANATOMY AND

92

mandibles,

PHYSIOLOGY.

and palpi work

maxillse,

horizontally,

The mandibles

serve as pincers or scissors.

[Ch.

ii.

and

are the two

side pieces which constitute the working portion of the

upper jaw.

Fig.

in Plate

I.

shows the mandible of

the queen, which, like that of the drone (Fig.

3 d),

is

provided with two teeth, whilst the mandible of the

worker (Fig.

d)

is

This

without teeth.

last

having to

manipulate the wax with smoothness, the teeth would

These mandibles are strong,

doubtless be objectionable.

down

horny, and sharp-pointed, to assist in breaking

food,

and

in other respects constitute serviceable tools

for seizing their enemies, ejecting the drones, etc.

The tongue

(Plate

Fig.

II.

3),

long slender projection,

flattish in

thickness of a bristle.

It

rings,

each of which

is

elephant,

and

it

its

all

it is

some-

like the trunk of

it is

an

and contraction,

directions;

and by

rolling

sweeps or laps up, by means of the fringes

everything to which

around

it,

a bee

alights

upon a

flower,

stamens, where the nectar

collection

extremity, where

susceptible of extension

bending and twisting in

about,

has about forty cartilaginous

In movement

is

is

fringed with minute hairs, having

also a small tuft of hair at

what serrated.

proboscis,

or

form, and about the

is

it is
it

applied.

secreted,

on the tongue, from whence

gullet (Plate

I.

Fig. 2

ing combs, the tongue

c)
is

at

its

Thus, when

pierces the petals

base.

and

and deposits

its

it

passes into the

At

times, in build-

used as a trowel, with which the

minute scales of wax are deposited in their appropriate

HEAD AND ORGANS OF SENSA TION.

II.]

and the desired

places,

finish is

given to the

cells.

93

This

organ has been denied by some to be a hollow tube, but

not the view generally held, and

this is

it

certainly does

not act wholly by handing up the food, for there

is

furrow or gutter running along the whole length of

under

side.

rings of the

a
its

Thus, when a bee is imbibing honey the

abdomen have a vibratory motion similar to

pumping, showing
rapidly going on.

to the casual observer that suction

Dr.

Bevan

tells

us

that

the

is

true

is

an extremely minute object at the base of the

maxillsej

but this appears to have been a mistake of

tongue

his

own.

The

labial palpi (Plate II. Fig. 3 0) rise

from the base

of each side of this lapping instrument, and are also

They appear to serve as feelers to

Between these and the tongue are the two
the mouth.
small sheaths or membranes called the paraglossae ; and
ciliated exteriorly.

outside of the

same are the working portions of the lower

jaw, or the maxillae (Fig. 3 n), which are also provided

with hairs and with two feelers midway

lary palpi.

When

known

the jaws close on the

as maxil-

tongue they

form a sheath or defence thereto.

With the mandibles of the upper jaw opening

and

left,

right

and the maxilla of the lower, which serve to

hold the object laboured upon, the insect prepares

work

its

for the sweeping-up apparatus of the lower parts.

Thus, when combs become mouldy, or in any way

unfit

receptacles for brood or honey, these tools provided by

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

94

[Ch.

II.

Nature serve the place of hands, and the bees are able
to

chop up

them.

and remove from

in small pieces,

whatever lumber of

ing,

this

kind

their dwell-

may be

offensive to

They are appHed also for opening the

The whole of this apparatus, while

of flowers.

in action in

together

an expanded

when not

state,

anthers
perfect

can be folded or coiled

in use, so as to

form one strong and

well-protected instrument.

The

antennae (Plate

I.

Figs,

i a,

2 , 3 a) are

most im-

portant instruments, and are planted between or below the

eyes and a

little

below the stemmata, one on each side

they consist of a number of tubular joints, each having a

separate motion, and, being thus jointed throughout their

whole length, they are capable of every variety of

and

their extremities are exquisitely sensitive.

flexure,

With the

antennae these insects recognise their queen, and appear

to

communicate

For instance,

may be

if

to each other their joys

a colony be deprived of

and sorrows.

its

queen, bees

seen rushing about the hive, and, with a nervous

twinge, crossing their

antenna or violently

striking

them

together, and conveying the intelligence of their forlorn

state.

The

sense of touch

performed an interesting

proved that

it

is

here most acute.

Huber

experiment which definitely

was by means of these organs that they

communicated with each

Dividing a hive by a

other.

grating which kept the two portions too widely apart for

the antennae to meet, he soon had the queenless half in

a state of commotion and upset

but when he allowed

HEAD AND ORGANS OF SENSATION.

11.]

these feelers the

means

95

of access, though nothing else

could be passed through, he saw them by hundreds

making

and receiving answers, which

enquiries,

their

whole remaining

in the

resulted

The same

tranquil.

observer tried the experiment of depriving two queens

of their antennse and introducing both to the same hive,

when

know
moment he added

the bees did not appear to

the stranger

but the

possession of these organs, they

Huber

derous intent.
night

is

fell

own from

a thid,

still

in

upon her with mur-

further points out that a moonlight

the best time for observing the use of the antennae

The

as feelers.

doors, to

bees,

if it is

warm, circumambulate

comes within reach

that

their

appearance as vigilant sentinels, with these

all

appendages stretched right before them

moth

their

the

and woe

instant

to the

it is felt

its

death follows.

The

sense of hearing has- been denied bees by some,

but against
this

power

all
is

evidence

others contend that the seat of

The sounds

also situate in their antennae.

which bees emit, particularly

at

swarming time, are con-

clusive that they possess this faculty

for arriving at

the only reasons

an opposite conclusion seem

to be, that

they are indifferent to most sounds, even' the loudest,

not emitted by themselves-

but

even to

this there is the

notable exception of the fright they evince at drumming

on

their

hives

can be found.

and

that

no precise organ of hearing

Naturalists are

now more

opinion that the seat of hearing

is

united in the

here located.

The

ANATOMY AND

96

PHYSIOLOGY.

[Ch.

antennae are said to have also another

office, viz.,

they act as a barometer, by which bees

know

of the weather and

ii.

that

the stale

premonished of storms; the

are

darkening of the sky seems, however, to be frequently

the cause of their trooping homeward, though they care

not for the loudest thunder, so long as the sun continues

In the dark recesses of the hive the feelers

to shine.

and may

are exceedingly serviceable,

truly

be deno-

minated " eyes to the bhnd."

Bees possess acutely the sense of smell, and, attracted
flowers, they

by the fragrance of

may be

seen winging

their way a considerable distance in an undeviating course,

even sometimes in the face of weather which one might

,

have thought they v/ould not have braved.

seat of this sense, however,

DonhofF ascribes

is

The

precise

another doubtful point.

Dr.

this also to the antennae, stating that if

these are cut off the bees lose the faculty, but regain
after

the other

way

but are we not familiar with analogies in

which on the

some organ

loss of

developed elsewhere

lost part

own

is

vesicles at

tion of the face.

as here the rudi-

Schonfeld's

that the faculty resides in the surfaces of

author of Samuelson's "

again attribute

function has been

must have remained ?

the inner respiratory organs; Dr.

number of

its

especially when

ments of the
surmise

it

Schonfeld takes this as proving the case

a time.

it

to

Hicks (the

Honey Bee

the

assistant

") places

roots of the wings

it
;

in

others

two depressions in the lower por-

But Donhoff 's reference

to the

antenna

THORAX AND ORGANS OF MOTION.

HI.]

has experiment, to our view, in

its

favour, though of

But whether

course not decisively so.

97

this

correct

is

or not, this pair of horns play an important part with the

useful faculties which they combine.

With

can

their extraordinary devotion to sweets, bees

hardly but be possessed of a strong sense of

though

taste,

in consequence of their being detected occasionally lap-

ping the impure liquids from stable or other

Huber considered it the

But it is now ascertained
are fond of

salt,

least perfect

that bees, like

and they

foetid drains,

of their senses.

most animals,

therefore resort to dunghills

and stagnant marshes, from which they are doubtless able

to extract saline draughts.
that,
fault

It

cannot be denied, however,

according to our ideas, their taste

thus

sometimes happens

it

abound and are allowed

leeks

so anxious to complete

that,

to

is

otherwise at

where onions and

run to seed, bees are

their winter stores, that,

feeding on these plants, a disagreeable flavour

municated to the honey (see Chap. VI.

III.

com-

is

iii.).

THE THORAX AND ORGANS OF MOTION.

The thorax

or chest approaches in figure to a sphere,

united to the head by a thread-like ligament.

and

is

This

is

the centre of the organs of motion.

attached both the muscles that

and the

legs

In Fig.

move

from

move

Here

are

the legs and wings,

and wings themselves.

of Plate II.,

the wings;

e,

e,

b,

b,

show the muscles

that

These

the bases of the wings.

7

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

98

[Ch.

appendages consist of two pairs of unequal

hook

are arranged to

together.

In Plate

which

size,

Fig.

I.

ii.

will

In Fig. B are the

be seen the margins of the two wings.

eighteen or twenty hooks placed on the anterior margin

of the hinder wing, whilst the posterior margin of the

wing

fore
that,

is

beautifully folded over to receive them, so

when employed

two

in fanning for ventilation, the

wings on each side act as one, and present an unbroken

surface to the

air.

The wings of workers

are larger than

much

those of the queen, but those of drones are

larger

still.

The bee has

on each

six legs, three

composed of

is

a man's arm, for the thigh, the

and the

leg,

foremost pair of these are the shortest

are

somewhat

the

little

middle joint of these

in

the form

" pollen basket."

to the

The

second pair of

all.

last there

of

legs,

On
is,

is

in

each

leg,

The

itself

a small

called

the

Fig. 2 ^ in Plate

to the recep-

On

shows the

I.

inner side of the hind leg and pollen brush

for the

the

conveyed from the front

and from these

outer side and pollen basket.

the outside of the

marrow-spoon,

pollen

tacles in the hind ones.

bee often covers

The

foot.

the middle pair

from the baskets on her thighs

hindmost are the longest of

cavity,

leg

and with them the bee unloads

longer,

pellets

Each

side.

several joints, having articulations like

b*, the

entering a flower a

with pollen, and hence the need

brash apparatus on reaching home.

legs are covered with hairs,

more

particularly the

THORAX AND ORGANS OF MOTION.

III.]

99

edges of the cavity mentioned, in which the kneaded

pollen requires to be maintained securely.

In

this

they

convey those coloured loads which are so constantly

seen carried into a hive.
in the thigh

is

This basket, or pollen groove,

peculiar to the worker

neither queen nor

drone has anything of the kind.

Another provision of the bee's limbs

of hook's attached to each

consists in a pair

foot, with their points opposite

each other, by means of which the bees suspend

to

themselves from the roof or sides of hives, and cling to

each other as they do at swarming time or prior to and

during the formation of
curtain.

new comb,

thus forming a living

In these circumstances each bee, with

fore claws, takes hold of the

next above.

This

mode

its

two

two hinder legs of the one

of suspension seems agreeable

to them, although the uppermost in the festoon appear to

Wildman supposed

be dragged by the weight below.

that bees

had a power of distending themselves with

air

and thus lessen the burden of those

They find no difficulty in extricating them-

to acquire buoyancy,

at the top.

selves from the

make

its

mass

the most central of the group can

way without endangering

the stability of the

grape-like cluster.

Bees are able to walk

either
liar

on

mechanism of

so, consists in their

thin

freely in

an inverted position,

glass or other slippery substances.

membranous

their feet,

The

which enables them

pecuto

do

having in the middle of each hook a

little

cup or sucker that

is

alternately

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

loo

exhausted and

beautiful apparatus
ceiling

for

with

filled

hence

Flies

commonly

fly

These

exhausted receivers,

may be

ii.

have the same

air.

a resting-place.

[Ch.

selects the

or

air-cups,

little

seen by applying a strong

window
The edges

magnifying-glass to a

that has a bee traversing

the reverse side.

of these

which

their legs

may be

be also serviceable
mitting

it

little

suckers are

any kind of surface

serrated, so as to close against

applied.

This apparatus

for gathering the pollen before trans-

to the baskets

on the hind

Besides these

legs.

appendages and apparatus of the thorax, that region

by the cesophagus or

traversed

which

will

to

may

be found in Plate

gullet (the

I.

Fig. 2

c),

is

opening to

on

its

way

to

the digestive and other organs, situate in the third part

of the insect

viz.,

the

abdomen.

The

covering of the

thorax, with the external covering of the gullet,

may be

seen in the drawing of the magnified dissected body of

the bee (Plate II. Fig.

The
feature

1).

breathing apparatus of bees

is

a very remarkable

they have no lungs, but, instead, air-vessels, or

tubes and bladders ramifying through every part of the

The

frame.

external openings of these, which are called

"spiracles,'' are

hind the wings.

thorax,

and one

abdomen.
ing, as the

the

way

found in the sides of their bodies be-

Two
pair

pairs of

on each

They would be

them

are located in the

side of the scales of the

difficult] to

show

in a draw-

multitude of hairs which protect them are in

of getting at a very distinct delineation.

The

III.]

THORAX AND ORGANS OF MOTION.

writer has traced their oval form

R. and

by the aid of Messrs.

Beck's " Binocular Micro'scope," and exceed-

J.

ingly interesting objects they appeared.

From- the

cumstance of bees breathing through these

their bodies,

sadly the

it

little

not be

will

difficult

fall

it is

to prevent bees being

when

it

also

their

how

shows

besmeared with honey

(by using bad appliances for feeding), which

injurious to them.

how

to understand

on loose mould, and thus have

breathing pores choked with dust

cir-

orifices in

creatures must be inconvenienced

by accident they
needful

loi

The air-vessels are

all

is

still

more

that they possess

of a circulating system, as bees have neither lungs, heart,

liver,

nor blood.

It appears,

however, that a white fluid

matter, called "chyle," which in degree answers the pur-

pose of blood,

is

produced in

the" intestines,

the body, receives the oxygen from the

nourishes

air-vessels,

and

generates that animal warmth so necessary for the insect's

well-being

warmth

Schmid and Kleine

that

it

animal.

is

which, as a matter of course, say

in their

"Leading Threads,"

incorrect to call the

settles

insect a cold-blooded

Bees have the power of counteracting super-

abundant heat by

perspiration.

Not

unfrequently, on a

hot summer's morning, a good deal of moisture

may be

noticed at the entrance of a crowded hive, which the

inmates have been enabled to throw

off.

This

is

healthy sign, because a sign of great numerical strength.

The humming sound

always to be heard in a beehive

produced by breathing.

is

ANATOMY AMD PHYSIOLOGY.

102

[Ch.

ii.

THE ABDOMEN AXD SECRETIVE ORGANS.

IV.

The abdomen,

attached to the posterior part of the

thorax by a slender ligament, has, for an outer <;overing;

six folds or scales of

other,

unequal breadth, overlapping each

and contains the honey-bag, or

ventricle, or true

stomach (Plate

stomach, the

first

and 2/), with

II. Figs, i

other intestines, to be hereafter referred to.

The honey-bag

(Figs,

and

when

full it is

and so transparent
seen through

it.

the

about the

it is

size of

that the colour of the

This sac, as

susceptible of contraction,

it

is

stomach, no

first

In shape

digestion takes place here.

oil-flask

an enlargement of

2 (^ is

the gullet, and, although called

honey may be

sometimes

and so organised as

the bee to disgorge a part of

its

honey-cells of the hive.

has been

It

a taper

like

a small pea,

called,

contents at will, to

much

is

to enable
fill

the

controverted

whether any or what change takes place in the nectar of

flowers whilst in the bee's stomach (Chap. VI.

iii.).

short passage leads to the ventricle or true stomach

(Figs. I

and

/), which

is

somewhat larger. This receives

the food from the honey-bag, for the nourishment of the

bee and the secretion of wax.

honey-bag, has a considerable

The stomach,

and other

are brought into play to help the digestive

organs.

The

like the

number of muscles, which

biliary vessels (Figs, i

and

2 h,

Ji)

receive

the chyle from the digested food in the stomach, which

from thence

is

conveyed

to all parts of the

body

for its

 IV.]

ABDOMEN AND SECRETIVE

"A

support.

ORGANS.

103

Dzierzon, "with the honey

bee," says

which she can take into her stomach,

is

able to subsist

abundantly under some circumstances for longer than a

week, while under others she
twenty-four hours.

we

If

of hunger within

will die

regard

combustion, then with the bee

it

life

a process of

as

resembles at one time

the spark just glimmering in the ashes, at another the

bright up-bursting flame that in a few minutes consumes

the fuel, which to the barely glimmering

ensured nutrition for a

Wax is

much

would have

fire

longer time."

the animal fat of the bees, and to produce

requires a considerable consumption of

To be

the drain upon the system.

honey

it

to supply

capable of passing

through the pores of the abdomen, the wax must no

doubt be a liquid

on making

matter, which,

oily

appearance outside the abdominal

rings,

thickens,

its

and

exudes from under the four medial ones, in flakes like

fish-scales,

one on each side

so that there are eight of

these secreting cavities, which are peculiar to the worker,

not being found either in the

shape of these cavities

and the

is

that of

plates of wax, being

queen or drone.

an

moulded

accordingly the same form (see Plate

direct channel of

and these

6 w).

is

No

communication between the stomach

Huber

conjectures that the

vessels are contained in the

and which

in them, exhibit

II. Fig.

receptacles, or wax-pockets,- has as yet

discovered; but

The

irregular pentagon,

been

secreting

membrane which lines them,

covered with a reticulation of hexagonal

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

104

[Ch.

ii.

analogous to the inner coat of the second

meshes,

stomach of ruminant quadrupeds.

The

last

important organ of the abdomen

This small but effective weapon

stomach, and

is

is

situate close to the

found in the queen and worker, but

absent in the drone.

Our engraving

r shows the muscles that

is

(Plate II. Fig. 4)

exhibits the sting of the worker bee with

attachments

the sting.

is

its

muscles and

move

the sting,

and q the curved base of the outer sheath by which it is

enclosed.
Much beautiful mechanism is observed on a
microscopic examination of this weapon, so wonderfully
powerful in comparison with

composed of
double

the

The

sting

is

three separate portions, each of which

is

dart,

its

bulk.

and the inner and outer sheaths.

Very

confusing accounts are given of this organ in different

works,

owing probably to the term " sheath

"

being

applied by some to the outer and by others to the inner

covering.

The

outer one consists of two fleshy curved

claspers [g in the figure), inside of

sheath, which forms

consists of

These

which

is

an essential portion of the

the linear
sting,

two horny scales closely adherent to the

last are

composed of

stiff

filaments,

which

and

darts.
at the

outer end are each barbed with from five to ten teeth on

one side; and they

that within the outer,
telescope.

slide within the

on the

As represented

inner sheath, and

principle of the tubes of a

in our engraving, the inner

sheath clasps the darts to a level with the tips of the

outer one.

ABDOMEN AND SECRETIVE

IV.]

The

darts are

ORGANS.

105

protruded in the act of stinging,

first

and, by aid of the powerful muscles on each side at

are

s,

buried in the flesh to the depth of one-twelfth of an inch

the inner sheath then follows, and at the same time, by a

muscular contraction, the poison

is

along the

forced

groove in which the darts work, causing the well-known

painful effects which arise from the sting of a bee.

These

darts are of slightly unequal length, so that the teeth

From

each side are not opposite to each other.

arrangement

and

it is

alternately

easier for

them

on

this

to penetrate the flesh,

deepen the wound, while the teeth succes-

sively hold each firm as

has been ejected.

it

makes

its

way, until the poison

command

If the sufferer could only

himself so as to remain perfectly passive, the bee might be

able to draw in these darts which protrude
sheath,

and would then have a chance of withdrawing

the sting
pain,
life.

beyond the

the

little

insect

would consequently

inflict less

and might perhaps escape paying the penalty of her

It generally

happens, however, that the excitement

of both parties is so great, that the poor bee leaves behind

the whole apparatus, and even part of her

so that her death

severe.
long,

The

and

is

is

sting

the result,
is

(Fig.

Here

more

).

By

these

are situated the

the poison

secreted and passed into the poison-bag (Fig. 4

acts as a reservoir for retaining

On

is

about the sixth part of an inch

largest at the base.

glands or ducts

intestines,

and the wound

the subject of the sting

it till

t),

is

which

required.

Paley remarks

"

The

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

io6

[Ch.

ii.

action of the sting affords a beautiful example of the

union of chemistry and mechanism

of chemistry, in

respect to the venom, which in so small a quantity can

produce such powerful

sting

is

effects

of mechanism, as the

compound

not a simple but a

The

instrument.

machinery would have been comparatively useless had

not been for

the chemical process, by which, in

honey

insect's body,

is

converted into poison

it

the

and, on

the other hand, the poison would have been ineffectual

without an instrument to
the fluid."
but,

As before

in place thereof,

wound and a

syringe to inject

no

stated the drone has

sting,

on

the organs of reproduction,

which, as on the corresponding organs of the queen,

sufficient has

been remarked above (pages 24 and

And now,

mark the wonderful contrivance and

works of the Great Master
works of

man we

see, perhaps,

63).

we would

in concluding this section,

finish

which

all

re-

the

In the

Artificer unfold.

a piece of mechanism of

unquestioned beauty and excellence, yet there

is

a bolt

here or a screw there that might have been dispensed

with,

and does not possess any

definite use.

works of Nature everything has a place

But in the

we may not

once comprehend the exact purpose of some

at

intricate

that we have not made a

The most minute hair serves its

parts, but that only implies

thorough investigation.
required end.

Some

reflections of Dr. Evans,

chiefly referring to the cells of bees,

priately

fi

nish this chapter

may

though

not inappro-

IV.]

"

ABDOMEN AND SECRETIVE

On

books deep poring, ye pale sons of

Who waste in studious

ORGANS.

toil,

trance the midnight

oil,

Say, can ye emulate, with all your rules,

Drawn

or from Grecian or from Gothic schools.

This artless frame ? Instinct her simple guide,
A heaven-taught insect baffles all your pride.
Or ye on theory's wild wave that roam.
And skim from science but its froth and foam,
Who wield 'gainst Truth the sharp yet shivery lance.
Devoted bending to your idol, Chance
;

Oh
And

Chance her lawless atoms bind,

weave the tissued woof of sense and mind.
Or her blind impulse in yon mansions trace
say, could

The

No

firmest fabric with the amplest space

while ye boast to

bow

at Reason's shrine,

That Reason bids you hail the Power Divine.

Not huge Behemoth, not the whale's vast form.
That spouts a torrent and that breathes a storm,
Transcends in organs apt the puny fly,
Her fine-strung feelers, and her glanceful eye
Set with ten thousand lenses.
Not the pile
By fabled giant raised in Erin's isle.
Not Staffa's crystalled shore, where now, Fingal,

Roar

Nor

the hoarse surges through thy columned hall,

all

yon marshalled orbs

that ride so high.

Proclaim more loud a present Deity,

Than the nice symmetry of these small cells.

Where on each angle genuine Science dwells,
And joys to mark through wide creation's reign

How

close the lessening links of her continued chain.

107

CHAPTER
MODERN
I.

will

III.

BEEHIVES.

COMMON COTTAGER'S
commence' our

HIVE.

of hives with

list

this,

the

very simplest form of adaptation to the depriving

system.

The upper hive

is

intended for a super

and the lower one

is

the "stock"

for the bees' settled habitation.

The

directions for applying this,

as well as for stocking the hive

and taking the honey,

ever

head

be

obtained

" Neighbours'

will

how-

under

the

Improved

Cottage Hive" (page ii6), and

in the sections referred to there

"Applying Supers,"
those

who

etc.

The

on " Hiving Swarms,"

hive

is

well

suited for

are desirous of leading their poorer neigh-

bours into the humane system of bee-keeping.

See

the remark at the end of the next section respecting the

hole for giving admittance to the super.

 n,]

XKFGHBOURS' CRYSTAL PALACE SKEP.

109

NEIGHBOURS' CRYSTAL PALACE SKEP.

II.

This hive (so styled from

Crystal Palace

Show

in being larger,

having a

its

obtaining a prize at the

in 1875) differs

and

from the foregoing

in

thicker floor-

board, a hooped fitting

window

at the base, a

in

the super, and a movable

cap as a

finish

to either

super or stock hive, ac-

cording as the former

The

in use or not.

side

is

out-

dimensions of the

lower

hive

seven-

are

teen inches diameter by

nine

in

depth, and of

the super thirteen inches

by

five.

When

there

in the centre

a hole

is

on top of

the stock hive, as

case here, there

is

is

the

a possibility of the queen ascending

and depositing eggs

in the super.

To check

such a

mishap, a queen and drone preventer can be applied,

which

is

a contrivance so arranged as to admit the pan-

sage of nothing larger than a worker (Chap. IV.

xvii.).

MODERN BEEHIVES.
III.

This

is

composed

THE COTTAGER'S

[Ch.

III.

HIVE.

our more complete form of a cottager's hive,

entirely of straw.

do better

bees

of that material

hives

any

very prevalent opinion

that

exists

in

than of

Another opinion

other.

prevails, that the old-fashioned

straw hive
sive, the

Although we

most productive.
cannot go so
willing

far as this,

admit

to

hands of that large

of bee-keepers
these the
;

aimed

more

class

By

cottagers.

fanciful hives will

besides, the expense puts

beyond the reach of

quite

straw

the most suitable to put

into the

be instantly condemned

are

humane

common

system to the old

is

we

a sim-

that

plified adaptation of the

hive

expen-

the least

is

most simple, and the

The

the poorer class.

at in planning this structure has

been

them

object

to furnish

a depriving hive that should be at once easy of manage-

ment, inexpensive, and convenient.

which the bees are

flat

first

deposited,

top with a hole in the centre.

hive

is

The
is

The

stock hive, in

round, and has a

size of this lower

nine inches deep outside, and fifteen inches

across the bottom

it

is

finished with a

wooden hoop,

THE COTTAGERS

111.]

which adds very much

to

HIVE.

We

by wooden pegs.

termed the

which

stock hive,

durability.

quarter thick, with a

of straw closes the hole in the top

fixed

and

firmness

its

The floor-board is one inch and a

way sunk therein for the entrance.

in

small round

this

mat

mat may be

have now described what

is,

in fact,

is

an old-fashioned

straw hive, adapted, modernised, and improved to the

more humane,

The weight

the depriving system.

viz.,

of the stock hive, with

floor-board,

its

is

about seven

pounds.

The

super

inches deep outside and twelve or

five

is

when

so in diameter, and,

contains about twelve

filled,

pounds of honey and comb.

Its

purpose

exactly

is

identical with that of the three bell glasses described

page 117: the lower hive

and

upper

treasure which the

for himself.

made
is

in filling

it.

for the bees'

own consump

to receive the surplus of their

is

window, which

An

is

placed at the

useful for inspecting the progress

adapting-board to
it

facilitate

removal

by some.

straw hive, sufficiently deep to cover, drops

over the super, keeping the window dark, "and

close

on

made

fast

to

on

breeding compartment

owner intends to appropriate pure

added underneath

A common

is

glass

side of the super,

for the

honey

for the storage of

tion, while the

is

to the stock hive.

by driving

keep the whole

in

firm.

This cover hive

fitting

may be

two skewers, one on each

side,

Unless placed in a bee-house

or under a shed, the outside should be painted

or a

MODERX

BEEHIVES.

[Ch.

III.

piece of oilcloth, or waterproof covering of any kind,

shaped so as to shoot

off the rain, will save the trouble

of paint, and answer the purpose (see Chap. IV.

The mode

iii.).

of stocking this hive, and of taking the

honey, will be clearly gathered from the directions under

V.

below, and from

the general instructions in the

After two or three weeks

sections therein referred to.

the straw

mat may be removed

to give the bees access to

the super.

IV.

AX IMPROVED COTTAGER'S

This hive
above, as

it

is

HIVE.

very superior to the one described just

possesses a Taylor's glass in lieu of a straw

super,

and an adapting-board and

a window in the lower portion.

principle

Its

same

is

as that of

which

is

also exactly

the

succeeding,

simply a more elaborate

development of

this

illustration places the

hive.
Our
window over

entrance, being so

the

the

drawn

in

order to exhibit back and front at

one view, whereas in

reality

on the opposite

at

is

side

it

the

back, so as to allow of an inspection free from the liability of

annoyance from the bees.

section.

For directions see the next

v.]

NEIGHBOURS' COTTAGE HIVE.

-J

113

MODERN BEEHIVES.

114

V.

[Ch. in.

NEIGHBOURS' IMPROVED COTTAGE HIVE.

Our improved cottage hive (shown page 113), is neatly

made of straw bound with cane, and therefore very
durable.*
The lower hive is covered with a wooden top,
it

three holes, through which the bees convey

honey

into three middle-sized bell glasses with ven-

having in
their

which,

tilators,

There

when

filled,

hold about six pounds each.

a hoop at the bottom, another round the top of

is

wooden crown-board is fastened.

the lower hive ; to this the

These hoops are a great improvement, and are

less liable

The
wooden board one

to harbour insects than if straw alone were used.

floor-board, as

its

name

implies,

is

inch and a quarter thick, with a projection of three or

four inches under the entrance to form an alighting-place.

This entrance

shutter

is

cut out

windows

are three

of,

or sunk

these are very useful

ing the progress

and

the board.

in,

in the lower hive,

interesting for inspect-

Across the centre window

made.

thermometer, enclosed at the sides by

The window
much to the

shutters, being

* This

is

The upper
glasses, is made

the hive referred to

slips

is

of glass.

add very

of oak colour,

appearance.

merely a cover for the

There

each closed with a

which

hive,

is

like the lower

by the " Bee-Master

"

of the Times

Gumming) when he says "The second kind of hive I alluded

to is made of stravi', and may be purchased at Neighbours', in
Holbom.
It is so well made that it' willlast very long.
I have
(Dr.

had one

in constant use during ten years,

when

was bought."

it

and

it

is

still

as

good as

NEIGHBOURS' COTTAGE HIVE.

v.]
a hoop

is

worked

into the straw,

and

is

115

sufficiently large

to allow the cover to drop over the crown-board, keeping

the

whole

close,

A zinc ventilator,

and preventing wet from

drifting in.

ornamentally painted, forms the apex

this is useful in letting the confined

hot

air

pass away in

warm weather. The ventilator is opened by raising it.

The lower or stock hive is fifteen inches in diameter and
nine and a half in depth outside its weight, when empty,
is seven pounds and a half.
The cover, or top hive^ is
;

twelve inches deep and fifteen inches in diameter

ornamental zinc top being four inches deep.

is

about twenty-four inches high.

packed, including glasses,

These hives have a

is

the

The whole

The weight

of a hive

about eighteen pounds.

appearance in the garden,

tasteful

but they require some further protection from the weather

in the form of a cover or of a bee-house

that have yet to

little

be described.

In extreme cold weather

additional protection,

by having matting folded

round them,

One

contrivances

will

be advisable.

of the advantages of this and the preceeding hives

over the ordinary cottage hive

opportunity for the

is

that they afford ready

humane management of

bell glasses also give the

bees.

The

owner the power of taking honey-

comb of pure quality, free from the extraneous matter

known as " bee-bread," instead of combs that are darkened
by having brood hatched in them. By this system we
have combs newly made and used only for depositing
the honey first put into them hence the name " virgin
:

MODERN

ii6

BEEHIVES.

[Ch.

ill.

These glasses have a very pretty appearance,

honey.''

home
The lower hive is the
receptacle for the bees ; when a swarm is placed in this
hive they immediately proceed to fill it with combs for
the storage of honey for their own use, and for cells to
and,

when

nicely

filled,

are very convenient for

use or for making presents.

breed

The
is

This hive remains undisturbed.

in.

best

mode

by placing an

of tenanting a hive of this description

early

and strong swarm

in

it,

which

may

be generally procured of a neighbouring bee-keeper ;

from a distance, considerable care
plenty of air (Chap. V.

remove the

lation,

slides

wrapping the hive up

xi.).

and

is

For the purpose of ventisubstitute perforated zinc,

in a coarse cloth of

open texture

(dispensing with the floor-board during transit

distance

is

when

and the temperature warm).

great

if

necessary to admit

the

It is

necessary only to send the lower or stock hive to the

swarm, taking the precaution to

party furnishing the

fix

the slides at top with tacks, as the hive has to be

inverted to receive the bees.

prefer to give

herbs
scents

it

little

there can be

may

Some

older bee-keepers

dressing with syrup, beer, or

no objection

to the

first,

but other

not be pleasant to the insects and are far

better avoided, as also are the sticks so often inserted,

they being almost certain to cause crooked combs.

bees,

if

The

swarming, are shaken into the hive, as described

in Chap. V.
directions will

i.

if

transferred from another hive, the

be found

in a following section of the

NEIGHBOURS' COTTAGE HIVE.

v.J

same chapter.
remove them

Towards evening

close the entrance,

Success depends on

also

on

The

following morning they will

their careful

this,

and

removal on the evening of hiving.

marking well

and not

flight,

and

the exact position they are intended

to

permanently to occupy.

location,

117

labour in

their

new

their habitation before they take

failing to return to

loaded with luscious

it

store.

The

general directions must be observed in applying

the supers (Chap. V.

thermometer

To

xiii.).

When

will rise rapidly to

the time arrives the

100 degrees or upwards.

prevent swarming the zinc slides on the wooden top

must now be withdrawn, and the

bell glasses put on,

covered and protected by the upper hive

after

which

now having

the bees

will readily

fill

a day or two

of swarming will at once disappear,

all signs

increased storage-room, which they

The

with comb.

ventilator should always

remain open during the day, to allow the hot

away from the

interior,

air to

pass

thereby contributing to the white-

ness and beauty of the work; the bees enjoy the refresh-

ment of coolness thereby

faster

for

it.

stopped, and the

warm
to

material.

each

The

glasses

We now

all

and they work the

ventilation

should be

wrapped round with some

supply flannel-lined baize bags

glass sent out with the hive.

directions for taking

usual (Chap. V.

square

afforded,

At evening

is

xiv.).

honey are much the same as

slide

seven inches and a half

furnished with the hive, and

is

useful to

remove

MODERN BEEHIVES.

ii8

The

the g'ass upon.

[CH. in.

wooden top of

holes in the

this

hive are of a peaked shape, to act as a preventive against

slaughtering any bees whilst pushing the slide in for the

purpose of removing the glass when

The

full.

tacks

when

before alluded to should be removed from the slides

the hive

fixed in

is

its

The

place.

entrance slide

very serviceable during the winter months

is

to lessen the

passage-way, thereby preventing the admission of too

much

cold air;

it is

also occasionally useful

on a summer

evening to lessen the entrance when moths are trouble-

some, for

guard

it

there .be only a small opening the tees can

if

and

easily repulse intruders.

During the time

of gathering they require the whole width to remain

open.

The

pedestal,

shown on the

right in the next figure,

as originally sent out, has a hole through each of

and must be firmly

four iron pegs supplied with

vent rotting,

The

foot.

it

is

its feet,

ground by means of the

fixed in the

for the

it

purpose

to pre-

well also to place a brick under each

hive must then be

made

a precaution against high winds.

stand as

fast to the

The

about

latter is

twenty-two inches in height.

The

simplicity

rendered

it

and easy management of

an especial

real utility with

many conveniences

Not a few bee-keepers

tions,

favourite,

this hive

combining as

we

desire to unite the

are

now

have
does

to satisfy the curious.

two

and no hives combine these advantages

degree than the one

it

describing.

qualifica-

in a greater

NEIGHBOURS' COTTAGE HIVE.

v.]

cheaper form of

precisely the

ception that

same

it

this hive

size

is

119

here represented, of

and construction, with the ex-

has no windows or thermometer.

apiarian with this hive will therefore have to trust

to his
ing,

own judgment

The
more

as regards the likelihood of swarm-

and must watch the appearance the bees present

the entrance.

When

it is

at

time to put on supers in order

to prevent swarming, premonition will be given by the

unusual numbers crowding about the entrance, as well as

by the heat of the weather, making

room

is

required for the

Michaelmas the directions

attended to (see Chap. V.

it

evident that more

increasing populatioxi.
as

to

xviii.).

weighing

At

must be

MODERN
VI.

The
hive.

BEHIVES.

[Ch.

THE LADIES' OBSERVATORY

III.

HIVE.

following illustration shows the construction of this

The

stock hive

of stout glass, and cylindrical,

is

with a

flat

top and a hole in the

centre

it is

thirteen inches iivinside

diameter and eight inches and a half

deep.

wooden

support,

the floor-board,

bees

composed of even

bars fixed on a pedestal from

is

and secure

cling to

to

combs,

instead

very useful for the

of

their

wholly

resting

against the glass.

The

floor-board

is

of mahogany,,

border being French-polished.

the

middle-sized bell glass, for de-

privation,
this

is

may be

hole

slide.

placed over the hole

cover of

closed by a zinc
straw,

eighteen

inches deep and fifteen inches wide,,

with a zinc ventilating top similar to that affixed to the

cottage hive, completes the arrangements.

of the stock hive and board

the figure the cover

In a thoroughly
This hive

is

is

is

shown

warm room

The weight

about sixteen pounds.

In

lifted to display the interior.

it

may be kept

entirely

off.

who

are

well adapted for those persons

desirous of having the opportunity of

making a

closer

examination of the workmanship of these industrious and

LADIES' OBSERVATORY HIVE.

121

interesting insects, as the whole of the interior

may be

exposed to view;

window

vi.]

particularly suitable for a

is

it

or an indoor apiary, and will also be found a valuable

addition to the greenhouse.

Under

these circumstances

the entrance-way should be covered with a

and an aperture cut

glass,

the entrance to the hive

bees

may

flat

piece of

in the sash corresponding with

through the glazed passage the

then find egress and ingress without being able

to gain access to the apartment.

An

alighting-board,

four inches wide, must be fixed outside

on a

level with

the entrance.

^\e had a hive of this kind in operation at the Great

and 1862,

Exhibitions of 185

above described.

It

much
many

curiosity,

interest

and

manner

fixed after the

answered admirably, and excited

though placed there under

disadvantages.

When

a hive of

this

kind

is

to

be stocked, proceed

the main as with ordinary transfers (Chap. V.

place the floor-board and

ii.),

in

but

support of the hive in the

middle of the sheet or swarming-board, and precipitate

the bees as

much

them with the

as possible on to the support

glass,

propping

it

rests sufficiently high to prevent the bees

They will collect under the bars and on

about one hour's time the whole

and

all

the stragglers

together, the

support

cover

being squeezed.

the pedestal,

and

in

will

have

settled quietly,

on the board

will

have collected

swarm hanging pear-shaped from

the bricks can

up with bricks or other

now be removed, and

the bar

the glass put

MODERN

122

in its right place

now be

to the place

The
hiving

it is

if

destined permanently to occupy.

bees will speedily build

the

undisturbed,

there for their assistance

\vill

The straw cover can

and the hive can be removed

all,

comb, working from the wooden

fortnight,

[Ch. hi.

should not be admitted for some days after

light
;

on the floor-board.

down over

set

BEEHIVES.

if

bars,

which are placed

In ten days or a

and support.

the weather continue fine

prepare to swarm again

must now be unstopped, and the

comb having been

and warm, they

the opening at the top

bell glass put on, guide-

The

previously fixed.

directions

given as to these matters for the preceding hive apply

equally to this one.
It is advisable in winter to furnish the glass stock hive

with more protection from cold than

straw cover

wadding,

for

alone

which there

and the cover,

on the

some

will

is

afforded by the

of

space between the glass hive

much moisture condensing

As remarked under " Winter

prevent so

sides of the glass.

Precautions " (Chap. V. xx.),

greatest care

is

thick baize, or wrapper

it

is

only by the very

bees can be brought through that

that

season in a glass hive.

The

hole at top

is

used

apiarian fear the stock of

short; either feeder

IV.

XX.).

for supplying food, should the

honey

is

may be used

in danger of running

for the

purpose (Chap.

NUTTS COLLATERAL

,vii.]

VII.

The

late

Mr. Nutt, author of " Humanity to Honey

may be

rians

and though

it

is

123

NUTT'S COLLATERAL HIVE.

Bees,"

used

HIVE.

still

regarded as a pioneer of
his hive

now

is

modem

comparatively

apialittle

worthy of description from the part

it

has played in the history of bee-keeping.

It consists of three

boxes placed side by side

(c, a, c),

with an octagonal box (b) on the top, which covers a

bell glass.

Each of the

three boxes

is

nine inches high,

the same wide, and eleven inches from back to front.

Thin wooden

partitions, in

which

six or

seven openings

corresponding with each other are made, divide these

compartments, so that
other

is

free access

afforded to the bees

from one box to the

this

communication

is

MODERN

124

BEEHIVES.

when necessary, by a
between. The octagonal cover
stopped,

[Ch. hi.

zinc slide passing

is

down

about ten inches in

diameter and twenty high, including the sloping octafinish.

There

are two large windows in each of the end boxes

and one

gonal roof, surmounted with an acorn as a

Across the

in the centre box.

latter is

a thermometer,

scaled and marked, so as to be an easy guide to the

bee-master, showing him,

the increased
is

by the

in

temperature,

this

thermometer

rise

accommodation required

a fixture, the indicating part being protected by two

pieces of glass, to prevent the bees from

it

coming between

and the window, and thereby obstructing the view.

D D
boxes

In the centre of each of the end

are ventilators.
is

a double zinc tube, reaching

the middle

the outer tube

is

down a little below

a casing of plain zinc, with

holes, about a quarter of an inch wide, dispersed over

the inside one

is

it

of perforated zinc, with openings so

small as to prevent the escape of the bees

a flange or

rim keeps the tubes suspended through a hole made to

receive

it.

The

object in having double tubing

is

to

allow the inner one to be drawn up, and the perforations

to

be opened by pricking out the wax, or rather the

propolis, with
hives.

which bees close

all

openings in their

These tubes admit of a thermometer, enclosed

in a cylindrical glass, being occasionally inserted during

the gathering season

for

it

requires to

be

about a quarter of an hour, and on

left in
its

the tube

withdrawal,

if

found indicating ninety degrees or more, ventilation must

NUTVS COLLATERAL

VH.]

be adopted

HIVE.,
"

lower the temperature.

to

object," as Mr. Nutt expresses

boxes and the

125

The grand

"is to keep the end

it,

than the pavilion or

cooler

bell glass

middle box, so as to induce the queen to propagate her

species there

and there only, and not

part of the hive

combs

are in

by

this

means the

in the depriving

side

requires a considerable degree of

box does not require more

warmth

and upper

The queen

no way discoloured by brood.

the middle

ventilation than the additional

The bees enjoy

coolness in the side

boxes, and thereby the whiteness

and purity of the

openings

afford.

The ornamental

luscious store are increased."

D must be

left raised,

and

by putting the perforated

The boxes

is

part a

little

on one

side.

before described are placed on a raised

the whole

double floor-board, extending

The

about thirty-six inches.

length

is

viz.,

the entrance (as our

illustration

only shows the back of the hive

imagine

on the other

side)

floor-board projects a few

In the centre

inches in front.

it

zinc top

easily kept in that position

it

is

made by

we must
cutting a

sunken way,. of about half an inch deep and three inches

wide, in the floor-board, communicating only with the

middle box

it

is

through

this

entrance alone that the

bees find their way into the hive, access to the end boxes

and the super being obtained from the

inside.

Ah

close under the entrance, for the

alighting-board

is fitted

bees to

upon when returning laden with honey.

settle

This alighting-board

is

removable

for the

convenience of

MODERN BEEHIVES.

126

The

packing.

[Ch. in.

by Mr.

or stock box, a, called

centre,

Nutt the Favilion of Nature, is the receptacle for the

swarm, e e are two block fronts, which open with a

hinge.

semicircular hole, three inches long

wide in the middle,

is

cut in

and two

upper floor-board

the

immediately under the window of each box; these apertures are closed

blocks,

by separate perforated zinc

when opened,

afford a ready

the temperature of the side

centre f

is

a drawer, in which
so

constructed

is

any

perforated

drawer a

little

openings just

false

bottom of

Liquid

food

is

poured in by pulling out the

way ; the bees

the perforated zinc,

zinc.

can

the bees

that

mentioned on to a

refuse.

a feeding-trough,

descend through the

easily

The

boxes, and they are also

useful for allowing the bees to throw out

The

slides.

means of reducing

readily

come down on

and take the food by

to

inserting their

probosces through the perforations, with no danger of

being drowned.
is

Care must be exercised that the food

not given in such quantity as to come above the holes

by

this

means each hive has a supply of food

only to the inmates, with no possibility,

shut

in,

The

accessible

when

closely

of attracting robber bees from other hives.

exterior of these hives

is

well painted with

two

coats of lead colour, covered with two coats of green,

and varnished:

Notwithstanding

this preservation it is

absolutely essential to place such a hive under a shed

BUBER'S HIVE.

VIII.]

some

or cover of
likely to

is

sort, as

the action of the sun and rain

decay the wood, whilst the extreme summer

heat might cause the combs to

Neat and

tions.

127

fall

sheds

tasteful

from their founda-

may be

supported by iron

sisting either of zinc or thatched roofs

or

wooden

rods,

and they

the flower-garden.

will

erected, con-

form a pretty addition to

be well to make the covering

It will

a foot or two longer, so as to allow of a cottage hive on

each

appearance of the whole

side, as the

much im-

is

proved by such an arrangement.

The
been

super will be almost sure to be

opened

first

to the bees.

filled first,

This

is

be removed

will

The removal

according to the general instructions.

the end boxes

having

of

a somewhat similar process, but they

should on no account be taken away at the same time as

the glass, or, indeed, at a time

being

robbed

the bees

we were going

when any

to say, for

other hive

it is

is

robbery to

they intended the honey for their winter food,

and are much enraged

at

being deprived of

shut

down

now

prisoners separated from the hive

the dividing tin

half an hour,

it.

the bees in the end

;

First

box

are

keep them so

and then take away the box bodily

to

another part of the garden, or into a dark outhouse.

VIII.

To

Francis

of apiarians

''

Huber

we

RUBER'S HIVE.

not improperly

are indebted for

styled

"the prince

more extensive and

accurate observations on the habits of the bee than have

MODERN BEEHIVES.

128

been contributed by

We

Aristotle.

all

[Ch.

m.

other observers since the time of

have here introduced a description of

Ruber's leaf hive (and should be glad to exhibit one)

for the sake of

apiarian

was invaluable

for

other apiarians
vertical bars

historic interest

its

science.

Though
Huber

the

entirely

himself,

in connection with

gone out of use

and

it

adoption of the present

plan of

and frames.

In connection with

this last

point of interest

it

seems

introduce here some very brief account of the

fitting to

development of the movable-frame hive.

immemorial " there have existed bar hives

From

" time

indeed, they

have been traced to the ribbed carcase of Samson's

But

in

it

suggested to

most cases the bars were not movable ones

lion.

they

were simply designed to aid the purpose of keeping an

upper story in some degree clear of the queen's

meddling.

And

inter-

even when they were capable of removal

they added but a sHght step in advance, and the credit

of the inventions of Golding in England and Dzierzon

Germany is due not td the bars themselves but to

mode of affixing, and especially to the guide-comb
attached beneath. At about the same date with these
in

their

there

appeared a Russian hive known as the Prgpo-

kovitsch, which consisted in an arrangement of several

stories of

frames inserted endways and resting on cross

pieces below them.

Thus one invention supplied bars

without frames, while the other offered frames without

bars.

But the

right idea

had now been caught, and

it is

HUBER'S HIVE.

VIII.]

129

not surprising that several apiarians, independently and

simultaneously, were engaged at this period in working
it

out.

Briefly

summarised the sequel

our own countryman Major

France

for his

is

Munn

In 1841

as follows.

obtained a patent in

movable bar-and-frame

hive, of

which he

published a description in England in 1844 ;* in America

in

85 1 Mr. Langstroth completed the invention of his

in

Germany

distinct

inventive

movable bar-frames; and

von Berlepsch by a
all

possess

to

the

opened

at the back,

process

honour of the contrivance,

although we certainly proved the

general or extensive use.

last to

make

Major Munn's

and when

in

the frames (and hive too) from

of

it

any

original hive

185 1 he reappeared

in print with a hive opening at the top, he

1853 Baron

added
Thus England appears

the frames to Dzierzon's bars.

after

in

had altered

oblong to triangular.

Probably one reason of the invention's

failure

expensiveness of the Major's

which are such

make

fittings,

was the

more like
some astronomical instrument than a box for bees and
honey. Be this as it may, there was practically no such
as to

the hive appear in his engravings

thing as a frame hive in use in England

till

when

i860,

Mr. Tegetmeier was the means of reintroducing

*

"A Description of the

Bar-and-Frame Hive invented by

it

W. A.

Munn, Esq.:" London, Van Voorst, 1844; 2nd ed. 1851. In his
edition of Sevan's " HoneyJ Bee," brought out in 1870, the Major
tells

us that he had been for some years engaged in connection with

this distinguished author''(and

we presume Mr.

Golding) in,the pre-

paration of the above hive.

MODERN BEEHIVES.

130

[Ch. hi.

whether from Germany or America we are not quite sure.

The German

open

hives, however,

Langstroth's are like our

own

EngHsh

inventor of bar-frame hives, the hive of

Mr. Woodbury

else.

apiarians

to this gentleman's than to that of

comes nearer

it

any one

was who afterwards brought out

which met with the

the frame hive

Mr.

at the end, while

so that, whoever was the

general acceptance

first

in this country.

Having made allusion

hives

it

may be

additional particulars.

German
we append a few

to the construction of the

acceptable to

some

According to

if

Von

Berlepsch, the

depth should be about sixteen inches, the length twentyeight,

is

and the breadth only nine, so that the receptacle

high and narrow, and reaches a long

frames, which

our

fit

way

own turned up on

The

back.

crossways, are consequently

much

like

more frequently

end, or perhaps

two frames are used, one as a story above the other.

With the most approved hive

(the " Lagerbeute ") in-

stead of supers the further end of the long

tioned off and goes by the

Then, as the only

only must

this

name

practical

"room" be

of the

opening

cleared

is

~"

box

parti-

at this end, not

away equally with our

supers before the brood frames can be got

at,

these can be reached without taking out

all

that are in front of them.

is

honey-room."

When

but none of
the others

supers are used the

frames can be extracted without interfering with these,

so that

some advantage might then

arrangement; but generally speaking

removal

is

rare necessity -while

result

from such

this operation of

the supers

are on.

HUBERTS HIVE.

vm.j

111

some

at

the end

therefore in our Philadelphia hive

to

may be

cases extraction at the top

convenient, and in others

131

more

the

and we have

endeavoured

xii.)

by supplying an opening

unite the two advantages

both at the side and the top.

To

return, however, to the subject of our present sec-

During the early period of Ruber's investigations

tion.

he prosecuted them by means of single-comb

allow of each side of the
found, however,

The

bees

which

could

was one important

that there

not in these hives

cluster

together,

Huber hit upon the

number of single-

a reduced temperature.

effects of

He

defect.

method of withstanding the

natural

their

is

which

hives,

comb being examined.

ingenious expedient of combining a

comb

frames, so as to form one complete hive, which

be opened,

could

order to

in

comb, without disturbing the

expose any particular

From

rest.

of the opening and closing of this hive

it

been called the " Leaf or Book Hive."

separating each

comb

is

the

manner

has generally

The

division

joined both back and front with

"butt hinges," fastened with a movable pin, on with-

drawing which, at both

on

it

may be

Huber's leaf hive

hive.

several

were

sides,

set

each

inspected as easily as

ordinary

if in

thus in

is

when

appearance as

but each single portion

of there being any couphng of twos.

floor-board on which the hive stands

hive

the bees

a single-comb
if

"History of England" chess-boards

up on end together

distinct, instead

comb and

closed, so

as to allow of

is

is

The

larger than the

its

being opened

MODERN BEEHIVES.

132

the bees

a glass

is

window

There

is,

though not noticed by him or his careful

bees

comrades,

it

is

is

it

use

that

is,

the

without crushing some of

catastrophe which, by exasperating their

certain to interfere with

no such

risk in the

any experiments.

bar-and-frame hive, whilst

every facility possessed by Huber's

The

character of

which he pursued
that

general

its

difficulty there is in closing

in

each end of the hive,

however, one serious objection to Huber's

assistant, has prevented

There

in

provided with a shutter.

is

hive, which,

the

entrance-way for

hollowed out of the floor-board as in other

is

There

hives.

which

An

any particular " volume."

freely at

[Ch. hi.

we need

Huber and
his

retained.

is

the circumstances under

observations are

remarkable

so

scarcely apologise for stating a few parti-

culars respecting

him

here.

He

was born

at

Geneva, in

July 1750, his family being in honourable station and

noted

for talent.

lost his sight,

days.

was overcome by the remarkable

with which Burnens, his assistant, watched the

bees and reported their movements to Huber.

Huber

his

This apparently insuperable obstacle in the way

of scientific observati6n
fidelity

manhood he

Just as he attained to

and remained blind to the end of

also,

who, betrothed to him before

had remained constant

Madame

his calamity,

in her affection, assisted in

the

investigations with great assiduity during their long

and

happy wedded

was

life.

Huber, fortunately

in a position to devote both

means and

for science,

leisure to these

observations; and Burnens, though only a peasant, was a

HUBER'S HIVE.

viii.]

superior

man, and rose by his worth

In

trate of his native village.

Pierre rendered important aid.

to

133

become chiefmagis-

later years

We

'

Ruber's son

quote the following

from " Memoirs of Huber " by Professor de CandoUe

"We

have seen the blind shine as poets, and

distinr

guish themselves as philosophers, musicians, and calculators

but

was reserved

it

for

Huber

to give a lustre to

and on objects

his class in the sciences of observation,

so

minute

most clear-sighted observer can

the

that

scarcely perceive them.

The reading of the works of
Reaumur and Bonnet, and the conversation of the

directed

latter,

curiosity to

his

His habitual residence

the desire,

first

some blanks

the history of

in the country inspired

of verifying some

in their history

but

facts,

this

bees.

him with

then of

filling

kind of observa-

tion required not only the use of such an instrument as

the optician must fiirnish, but an intelligent

who

alone could adjust

named

servant
sagacity

Huber
him

and

Francis
the

for

practised

it

him

to

its

use.

He

assistant,

had then a

Burnens, remarkable for his

devotion he bore

his

master.

in the art of observation, directed

to his researches

by questions

adroitly combined,

and, aided by the recollections of his youth and by the

of his

testimonies

wife

assertions of his assistant,

in his

own mind

fest facts.

'

and

friends,

he rectified the

and became enabled

to

form

a true and perfect image of the mani-

am much more

to a scientific friend,

'

certain,' said he, smiling,

of what I state than you are, for

MODERN

134

BEEHIVES.

[Ch. in.

you publish what your own eyes only have seen, while
I

mean among many

the

take

This

witnesses.'

is

doubtless very plausible reasoning, but very few persons

will

by

The

it

be rendered

results of

distrustful of their

of " Nouvelles

eyesight."

Ruber's observations were published

form of

in 1792, in the

own

letters to

Observations

Bonnet, under the

sur les

title

This

Abeilles."

work made a strong impression upon many naturaHsts,

not only because of the novelty of the facts stated and
the excellent inductive reasoning employed, but also on

account of the rigorous accuracy of the observations

recorded,

when

it

was considered with what an

extra-

ordinary difficulty the author had to struggle.

Huber
mind

retained the clear

until his death,

December, 1831.

faculties

of his observant

which took place on the

Most of

impregnation of the queen, the formation of

the whole

economy of the bee community,

and described by Huber, have received

from the investigations of succeeding

I.

AVooD.

The

Frame Hive,"

late

Mr.

as originally

nd of
the

cells,

and

as discovered

full

confirmation

naturalists.

THE WOODBURY FRAME

IX.

.22

to

the facts relating

HIVE.

Woodbury's

" Bar-and-

made, consists of a wooden

box, fourteen inches and a half square inside, and nine

inches

The

deep.

lessened by the
there are ten

actual

habitable

space inside

is

room occupied by the frames, of which

these rest

on a rabbet a

litde

below the

WOODBURY FRAME

ix.l

surface,

leaving

HIVE.

of three-eighths of an

a space

135

inch

between the upper side of the bars and the crown-board.

This allows

a free

sage on the top

pas-

for the

bees, entirely obviating the

necessity of

vations

board,

making exca-

as

crown-

the

in

has

hitherto

been recommended. The

frames are nearly an inch
wide, and rest in notches, with spaces of half an inch
bet\veen them

they extend to within three-eighths of an

inch of the floor-board, so as to hang without touching

any

part, leaving

about the same distance from the

be seen that there

It will

is

sides.

thus a free passage for the

bees on every side, so that they are kept from coming

in contact with the sides of the hive.

Oiir illustration

shows the hive open, and exposes to view the top of the
ten bars and frames, as

window

is

also

shown

they range front and back.

;

this is

placed in the figure

over the entrance, but the proper position would be just

opposite.

The drawing

is

made

so as to

show back and

front at once.

As

before mentioned, the stock hive has ten frames

each

thirteen

inches long

by

seven and a quarter high (inside

measurement), with a five-eighths

of an

inch projecting piece

at

MODERN BEEHIVES.

136

each upper end, which

We

front.

modem

rests in the

have placed

this

hive

[Ch.

ill.

notches at back and

first

in

our Hst of

frame hives in accordance with the part

played in rendering them popular in

this

it

has

country as

explained in the preceding section.

2.

Straw.

Subsequently

to the introduction of the

above wood hive Mr. Woodbury recommended that the

made

stock hive should be

dimensions ;
in

this material

summer, more equable

slightly ventilating,

of straw, of exactly the

same

being warmer in winter, cooler

in temperature at all times,

and allowing of absorption.

Bees,

during, cold weather, cluster together to generate the requisite degree of heat

the hive being thus so

the temperature of the interior of

much

higher than the external at-

mosphere, a good deal of moisture condenses at the top

and on the

sides of the hive.

stated, prevents this

The

straw, as

dampness hanging about

before

within,

and

tends to keep the inmates more healthy.

The

square straw hives, and a machine for raakincr

WOODBURY FRAME

IX.]

HIVE.

137

them, exhibited in the Austrian department of the International Exhibition of 1862, suggested the idea of emplo)'-

We

ing that material for English frame hives.

have had

a machine made resembling the one exhibited, and suited

to the size in

use by us, by which

our hive-maker

have a wood frame

at top,

an inch deep, with the

worked

similar frame forms the base, the straw being

between.

An

floor-board

beyond the

it is

slightly

wide,

is

inch projection

on

is left

all

sides of the

which

exterior of the hive, from

chamfered down.

re-

comb-frames to hang.

quisite notches to allow the ten

is

These

able to manufacture neat square hives in straw.

An

entrance, four inches

cut out of the substance of the board, beginning

at the edge,

and continuing on the same

the hive, where

it

level until inside

This entrance

slopes upwards.

is

about three-eighths of an inch high where the hive

crosses

it.

These straw hives have

Iseen generally

windows, as Mr. Woodbury and other

have so preferred them.

windows unsuitable
condenses on the

without

They have considered

for winter,

glass.

made

scientific apiarians

glass

because then moisture

There

is

no doubt

that the

having a peephole or two in a hive adds very agreeably

to

its

value for amateur bee-keepers, and, to meet the

wishes of such,

we have had

with windows.

It is

lift

straw hives constructed

not every one

out the frames as often as

is

who would

like to

necessary for an in-

spection of the state of the colony, nor perhaps

is

it

MODERN

138

BEEHIVES.

The windows have

advisable to be often thus meddling.

also a very neat appearance,

[Ch. in.

have hives with one,

^^'e

and some with two and three windows ; of course a little

extra expense is incurred where these are made, but
that

is

who approve of the

The crown-board (if a straw

not objected to by those

additional convenience.

top can be called by that name) has, like the hive, a

frame of wood

round, and a square piece of

all

the centre, Avith a two-inch hole

this hole

purpose of administering food, in a

plained hereafter.

mode

wood

for the

to

be ex-

block of wood,

circular

in

is

four

inches in diameter, closes the opening.

3.

full

Glass.

Some bee-keepers

like to

be able to make

and daily inspection of the hive; we have

fore prepared a few hives, constructed of

enclosed on

sides

all

The dimensions

there-

wooden frames

and on the top with window-glass.

are precisely the

same as those before

mentioned, and allow the same number of bars and

The crown has

frames (ten).
glass

to

admit

structed of

double

variations" of

glass,

temperature.

a round hole cut in the

The

of feeding.
to

four

sides are con-

preserve the bees from

^A'e

cannot,

however, re-

.YEIGHBOUIiS' ,XEir

X.]

commend

this hive for

we should

prefer hfting the

FRAME

HIVE.

139

a winter residence for the bees

combs out and placing them

in a straw hive of similar construction, to pass through

the ordeal of the winter season (Chap. V.

a hive

is

an object of much

commonwealth of bees

is

interest, as in

exposed to view

not be obscured from daylight, provided

from sun and

rain.

All the external

stained, varnished, or

made

it

Such

xx.).
it

the whole

and

it

need

be protected

woodwork can be
mahogany so

of polished

that the appearance of the glass frame hive is extremely

neat,

and much approved

NEIGHBOURS'

X.

I.

NEW FRAME

HIVE.

Since the former

editions of this

several alterations

and improvements have

Wood.

published,

of.

been made.

We

hive than the

Woodbury

work were

find, in the first place, that a

is

deeper

desirable for the better con-

MODERN

140

centration of heat,

and

BEEHIVES.

[Ch. hi.

admit of more honey

also to

being stored above the brood, so that the food shall be

Our new frame

easier of access to the bees in winter.

hive measures accordingly twenty-one inches from front

to back, sixteen

inches in width, and twelve in height,

thus allowing the sides to be constructed of the original

breadth of the planks,

being

made up by the

viz.,

eleven inches (the other inch

The

thickness of the floor-board).

frames, of which there are nine, are ten inches deep

thirteen wide

and

they rest on strips of zinc, which prevent

the bees from propolising them

down

so firmly, and, as the

outsides of the hive are so enlarged as to leave galleries

from side to side beyond the ends of the bars, there

easy access allowed to the fingers in removing.

noteworthy improvement
frame," which

is

size as a frame,

is

is

Another

the addition of a "

dummy

merely a thin piece of board of the same

and whose use

either to contract the

is

dimensions of the hive according to the population,

or to

the

make

first

The

room, by

its

removal for the extraction of

comb.
frames are held firm and kept at their correct

distances apart

by means of small

formed lengthways

for

staples,

sheets or guide-strips cut from these.

rests

on the

and a

slit

the insertion of impressed

is

wax

The crown-board
it may be

thin edge of zinc, in order that

replaced more quickly, with less danger of crushing a

bee than on a broader surface.

in the centre of the board,

which

There
in

is

some

a feeding-hole
hives

is

closed

NEIGHBOURS' NEJV FRAME HIVE.

X.]

by a

zinc slide running in an opening cut out of the

wood, and
the

141

opening are supplied

them

In

finished hives two long openings are cut

for admitting bees to the

closing

by a wooden block.

in others is covered

more highly

Two

super.

one

slides

for

each

pair being of plain zinc for

entirely, the other

with

slits

cut of three-

sixteenths of an inch in width for the purpose of queen-

preventers

(see

Chap. IV.

The

xvii.).

supers are

similar,

but not so deep, and have eight frames instead

of nine

they are, however, frames, and not mere bars

The

as ordinarily.

sides

and top axt oi glass, with baize,

lined shutters.

A hive intermediate between

(

xii.),

Improved Frame Hive,"

cover on page 179.

window, and

larger

this

and which may be

It
is

shown

is

2.

Straw.

bours'
It

is

New

Cottager's

opened

designed to admit a zinc adapter

in other respects

it

above hive.

The

figure

overleaf

exhibits

"Neigh-

Straw Frame Hive," with super attached.

of exactly the

foregoing.

"The

inside the

has a straw crown-board and a

with queen-preventing perforations

is identical with the

and the Philadelphia

called

There

is

hole in the centre,

preventing openings

size

and

construction as the

a straw crown-board with feeding-

and two
as

slits

above.

of zinc with queen-

The

supeirs

of

the

own material, but have three

The
advantages of straw for
windows instead of one.
hives are described under the Woodbury straw hive, above.
straw hive are

made

same

of

its

MODERN BEEHIVES.

142

3.

with

Glass.

A representation of

super,

its

on page 177.
struction

is

is

this

[Ch. hi

same hive

in glass,

given inside the opened cover figured

Nothing need be added here, as the con-

the

same with

the description of the

that of the

Woodbury

wood

hive.

See

glass hive in the pre-

vious section for general remarks

upon

hives of that

material.

XI.

This

NEIGHBOURS' COTTAGER'S FRA:\IE HIVE.

is

a simpler and less expensive hive than the one

just described, being without

with
it is

wooden crown and

the same,

means, or

and

is

windows or a dummy, and

floor boards.

In other respects

thus suitable for persons with small

who may wish

to purchase in large

Almost any kind of super may be adjusted

numbers.

to this hive,

but those specially adapted are the frame super and our

PHILADELPHIA FRAME HIVE.

xii.]

divisional

and sectional
" Supers "

on

article

their addition the

supers, for

(Chap. IV.

all

T43

of which see the

vi.).

To admit

of

crown-board must be removed, and a

zinc adapter with queen-preventing openings substituted.

XII.

THE PHILADELPHIA FRAME

Our frame

HIVE.

hives hitherto described have facilities for

extracting the

movable combs

at the roof of the hive

with the present one the frames are drawn out at the
sides as well as above.

venience, as

it

This

is

manifestly a great con-

obviates the necessity of removing the

when an examination of the combs is required to

be made in the midst of the working season. The hive,
cover, and stand are all in one, and the side-flap falls
supers

down, as

it

does in the cover shown on page 175, and the

by removal, serves as a dummy, allow-

loose glazed side,

MODERN BEEHIVES.

144

ing each
the next.

comb
The

to

be withdrawn without

cover,

as does the stock hive.

the plan adopted

There
which

in

is

it

will

The

III.

risk of scraping

be seen, opens

floor-board

at

one

side,

draws out on

by Mr. Cheshire.

a straw crown-board with

summer

[Ch.

is

a feeding-hole,

replaced by a queen-preventing zinc

CHESHIRE'S FRAME HIVE.

Xlll.]

adapter perforated
to

all

over with circular holes too narrow

The whole

admit the queen or drones.

frames

145

space over the

then covered with our small sectional supers

is

(Chap. IV.

which, by means of the numerous

vi.),

perforations, are completely seasoned to the bees' taste

with the same scent as the hive

cover

its

the weather, and

In

it

commended

highly

its

XIII.

carries its

at the

identical

own

stand.

It

was very

Alexandra Palace Bee Show.

CHESHIRE'S FRAME HIVE.

from the one

little

which in outward appearance

;

wood

of

hive with

general principles and inner structure this hive

very

differs

The

itself.

complete without any further protection from

is

it

last
is

more

closely

but the walls of the stock hive, when

(for

they can also be

had

with

described,

still

in

straw,

made
if

the

apiarian so prefers) are constructed double, with an air-

space between, with a view to modifying the variations

of temperature.

work
one

is

part of the

outer wood-

Within are two of Lee's bar supers, placed

side.

one upon the

supplied,
first is

The upper

a cover to the supers, and opens on a hinge at

other, the

upper of which

is

to

be

first

and the other added from beneath when the

partly filled.

The stock hive usually contains eleven of the regularsized Woodbury frames, besijies the dummy.
Admission
is

given to the super by means of

two of the

five

slits

in the

sides of

planks constituting the crown-board, and

10

MODERN BEEHIVES.

146

when

the super

ends,

when

away these two can be

is

come

the sHts will

entrance-hole

is

off

shifted to the

inches in length, but

ten

in front of the entrance is

The

wet or moisture.

The

outside the hive.

with shutters for narrowing or closing

board

[Ch. hi.

it.

is

provided

The

alighting-

grooved in order to

let

entire floor-board draws out

to allow of cleaning.

XIV. ABBOTT'S

Mr. Abbott's new

size of its frames,

deep.

The

NEW FRAME

distinguished for the large

liive is

which are sixteen inches long by ten

There are eight of them, besides two dummies.

lioney-board

is

in three portions, with a

in the centre for feeding,

and two

close

rests

and

of straw,

carries its

dimensions are two

feet

This divided crown-

the bars of the frames,

be placed over

quilt should
is

upon

round hole

for giving admis-

slits

sion to the supers, which are Lee's.

board

HIVE.

it

in winter.

own

The

and a

stock hive

cover and stand.

Its

wide and three high.

Mr. Abbott has previously constructed some cheaper

hives, but cheapness

to allow cf their

was made too exclusively

becoming

their object

sufficiently serviceable to

be

recommended.

XV.

The Stewarton
so often

spoken

THE STEWARTON

HIVE.

hive (also called the Ayrshire hive)

of,

and

in such favourable terms,

is

by

THE STEWARTON

XV. J

HIVE.

147

we deem it necessary to give it a place

supply some explanation of its construction

bee-keepers, that

and

here,

to

We

and management.
sider

as

some of

the principles of

management

are

its

imper-

so

understood

fectly

con-

needful,

especially

this

many

that

mistakes are made, and also

because, for the convenience

we

of bee-keepers,

keep

supply of these hives on hand.

The name

derived from

is

been

their having

brought

first

out at Stewarton, in Scotland

and they are

and

at so

still

made

moderate a

so well,

price, in

London workmen are unable to commanufacture.

Our supply is therefore from

that country, that

pete in their
that source

so that, with a

little

addition for carriage,

the price approximates that of the makers themselves,

affording a convenience to

many

of our apiarian friends

in being able to obtain these hives in

Our
hive

is

illustration

complete.

London.

shows the four boxes set up when the

We will

suppose that the beginner has

just received the four octagonal boxes detached, with the

bundles of grooved

slides.

About one-half of these are

short pieces, or pegs, termed sectional slides, but similarly

cut to the longer ones

these are to

fill

up the openings

MODERN BEEHIVES.

148

where the

full slides

[Ch. hi.

are not put in, or are required to

be

He will find himself in

withdrawn, as hereafter explained.

possession of four boxes so neatly dovetailed on the bevel,

he be of a mechanical turn, he

that, if

prised at the

way in which they are put

the price for which they are offered.

A, B, c, technically called "
similar,

will

not only be sur-

together, but also at

Three of the boxes,

body boxes," are

precisely

each being fourteen inches in diameter and five

Nine bars range along

inches and a half deep inside.

the top of each box.

These are not movable, but are

designed to induce the regular building of the combs.

Between these and beyond

narrow

slides, the

slides

nto each other, so that the top

as if with a crown-board.

shown
same
box,

are

is

to

ten
fit

completely covered

In the figure the sHdes are

The

as partly withdrawn.

depriving box or super;

outer ones

the

and bars being grooved

it is

fourth box, d,

is

the

only four inches deep, but the

This being the honey-

in diameter as the others.

furnished with seven wide fixed bars instead of

it is

nine, because, as stated at page 183, bees construct deeper

receptacles to contain the

thus, should the

may

honey than

queen go up into

find the cells are too

much

this

for breeding in

compartment, she

elongated to enable her

when her body is inserted for the purpose of depositing an egg. The honey is thus kept pure,
and the thick comb has a more massive, richer appearto reach the base

ance,

and

a super

that

which not unfrequently mars the quality of

viz., cells that either

contain brood or have been

THE STEWARTON

xv.]

bred in

Each box

prevented.

is

HIVE.

149

furnished with two

is

small windows, back and front, closed by sliding shutters,

by which opportunity

is

afforded for inspecting the pro-

when the

gress made, and also for ascertaining

filled

Each of

way

the boxes a,

four inches wide

b, c, is

furnished with an entrance-

and half an inch high, a wooden

either wholly or partially closing

slide

When
and

cells are

and the box may be taken away.

at

it

as required.

work the bees need only one entrance open,

that at

the lowest box.

mentioned are pushed into

The

long slides before

their respective receptacles

from the back of the hive to close the openings between

the bars

those of

them

that are shorter will be seen to

belong to the sides of the octagon, and their ends are cut

A little

angular to suit the form of the box.

tion will suffice to

show the

the appropriation of which

examina-

right allotment of the slides,

may be

said

somewhat

to

resemble the putting together of a child's puzzle.

The box

b must be

respond with the box

left

a,

open

at the interstices that cor-

placed above, the

little

openings

being closed by the insertion of the ten sections of

slides,

thus leaving free communication inside with the upper

box

A,

and admitting of no

When

the entrance.

outlet for the bees except at

the four boxes are placed above each

other, the structure measures twenty-two inches high.

The Scotch

carpenters send

no

floor-board,

and no

covering or roof for the top to shoot off the rain

evidently expect that the purchaser

is

they

provided with a

MODERN BEEHIVES.

I50

[Ch. in.

shed or bee-house of some kind, and also with a

floor-

Should the apiarian, .however, not have these

board.

necessaries,

The

we can supply

the deficiency.

are furnished with wooden

when turned round, keep each box

sides of the boxes

buttons,

which,

exactly in

its

place one above the other; there are also

projecting irons or screw heads for tying the two boxes

and B together preparatory

to hiving the

swarm, also for

weighing; or ifthe boxes stand out exposed, all

secured, to prevent their being

may be thus

blown over by high winds.

In putting the hive into use, take the two boxes a

and

B,

made one by

the junction before mentioned, with

complete access from one to the other inside by the free

Shake the swarm in just as

communication afforded.
with a

common

cottage hive.

If the weather

be favourable these two boxes

To

nearly filled in ten days.

the Stewarton hive the

first

two body boxes, a and

e.

there

till

they have nearly

comb, which (with

and

get the

year, put

Two swarms

filled

the

this increased

are

is

body boxes with

number

of workers,

be from

five to ten

seldom procurable the same

a doubt whether greater progress

comb and
new comers.

than the other, so as to build

for the reception of the

if

they

may

be attained by hiving one swarm a week or so

ready

be

two swarms into

day so as then to be joined together, and even

were there

will

advantage of

Allow the bees to remain

in favourable weather) should

days.

full

raise

not

earlier

brood

THE STEWARTON

XV.]

The second swarm

box,

HIVE.

should be hived in the third body

and placed close to the boxes

c,

151

a, b,

and

these last are placed on the top of the box

at

dusk

The

c.

entrance being open in the lowest box, that of the central

box,

now be closed with the slide.

box c must be withdrawn and the

The

should

B,

slides of

pegged with the sectional

swarm

night the second

ascend and join the other,

In the morning one of the

probably be found thrown out in

will

The box
slide of

In the course of the

slides.

will

thus becoming one family.

queens

is

top

interstices

front.

then to be removed, and the entrance

box b withdrawn.

ascended, the removal

Should

may be

all

the bees not have

deferred until later in the

day when many of them are dispersed gathering honey.

The

object of removing the

so that the

more

box

rapidly,

and the bees be sooner ready

by

fixing small pieces of

carried
to

They may be

the super box d, placed above.

into this

room
on
wojk in

c.is to restrict tlie

work of comb-building may be

allured

worker guide-comb, of

pure white colour, on the centre of each side bar.

however, a

and

box of honey with neatly made,

quite regular

comb must be
If

comb be

straight,

desired, a piece of this guide-

fixed to the centre of each bar of the seven.

guide-comb be unobtainable,

wax

If,

sheets or artificial

strips of the

comb (hereafter

impressed

described) will be

found excellent substitutes.*

Having
*

satisfied yourself,

by peeping

The body boxes may be prepared

in at the

windows,

in a similar manner.

MODERN BEEHIVES.

152

[Ch. hi.

and from symptoms

at

boxes are well

place your prepared honey-box on

filled,

the entrance, that the original

the top, draw a slide at each side of the middle box to

communication, and insert the

aiford

pegs.

little

It is

not well to withdraw the slides in the middle, because

the queen

more

is

readily

be induced to work in the supers

junctures are covered with

When you

warmth.

commenced work
to

it,

all

gummed

notice that

in the honey-box,

cases

the stock,

the

if

paper to preserve

have

the bees

and are

fairly

likely to

may

a second and afterwards other supers

added, the

Bees may

then far more likely to ascend.

keep

still

be

new one being always placed uppermost in

the remaining box c must be added below
which will afford additional room and pre;

vent swarming, exchanging the entrance to the newly-

box and

furnished

sliding in pieces of

be added

till

in

wood

to close the

may

Supers and nadirs

aperture of that above.

fine seasons

and with

first-rate

in fact

management

there are eight or ten boxes in the pile.

Should the bees begin making comb in the bottom

box, draw two more slides for freer access into the super,
as there will then be

having so

much

little

risk of the

queen ascending,

range for egg-laying in the three lower

boxes.

In very fine weather a good swarm or stock

honey-box in the space of two weeks

time

is

honey

usually occupied.

differs

very

little

The

but a

process

will

much

fill

longer

of taking the

from that ordinarily followed

in

THE STEWARTON HIVE.

xv.j

removing supers (Chap. V.

The

xiv.).

disconnected with a spatula and twine

one or two top

the bees are

slides,

with bellows to cause them to

Before winter sets

moved, and the comb

for

consumption

carefully

if

the

in,

it

the

make

box

super box

is

then drawing out

smoked or blown

their exit.

c, if in use,

contains

(if

may be

re-

well filled) be used

comb be empty,

guarded from moth and other

be invaluable next season.

153

remain

let it

insects, as

it

Empty comb may be

will

thus

preserved by tying or pasting a piece of stout newspaper

and keeping the box in a dry

when required, may be liberally pursued

closely round the bottom,

Feeding,

place.

by withdrawing two

slides

and supplying a

bottle or

other feeder.

The

chief value of the Stewarton supers consists in the

boxes being shallow, so that the combs are more

be well

filled

down

mence work more

ments.

This

is

to the base

readily in such than in loftier compart-

a great advantage with supers, particu-

larly

when

less

likelihood of the

same
sun

required to be sent to a distance, as there

reason,

fall

on

foundations

now

likely to

the bees will also com-

when

combs breaking down.

the weather

is

is

For the

hot and the rays of the

combs might part from their

were no intermediate bars, which is

the hive, the

if

there

the case in the stock hive,

composed

as

two boxes were

in one, the

depth of each

boxes.

If these

comb would be

twelve inches

and,

when

it is

of two

filled

with

brood and honey, would probably weigh ten pounds.

MODERN BEEHIVES.

154

This

[Ch. hi.

a great weight to be supported in hot summer

is

weather,

when

the

wax

Another

softened by the heat.

is

distinguishing feature that the Stewarton hive possesses

the use of the box

c,

the season advances, prevents what

to the apiarian, viz., a late
value,

is

which, by giving increased room as

swarm

is

often an annoyance

too

late to

and impoverishing the stock by a

be of any

division of

its

numbers, thereby perhaps impeding the completion of

the super.

A further

advantage of the box c

is

that

it

induces the bees (who frequently hang in clusters about

the entrance) to carry on their

work instead of remaining

in enforced idleness.

An

accomplished apiarian

who

writes

much

Horticidtural and Bee J^ournals under the

title

in

the

of "

Renfrewshire Bee-keeper," and whose descriptions and

management of
authority on this

Stewarton

the

mode

hive

render him

an

of bee-keeping as well as on the

subject generally, says the only fault he has to find with

the

Stewarton hive

the fixity of the bars.

is

With a

modified hive used by him they are held in position with

half-inch brass screws

thus

all

are movable, instead of

being fastened with nails as in the original Stewarton.

In

each of the three body boxes are four bar-frames from

end

to

end of the

parallel sides; the

side of these are attached to

have no frames, as there would be a

them

to suit the angle.

the bars, they

may be

If

it

two combs on either

movable

is

bars, but these

difficulty in

making

requisite to withdraw

easily disconnected

from the sides

THE LANARKSHIRE

XVI.]

by passing down a

HIVE.

155

These boxes are one inch

knife.

We

must

quite the

same

deeper than those of the ordinary Stewarton.

say

we do not

facility

comb

consider that there

combs

extracting

for

without the

The
visit

it

Many

facility.

tempted to disturb

also

with

as

movable

other

hives described in these pages, but this

an element of success

is

may be

opportunity

possesses

the

indiscreet

bee-keepers are

much.

their bees a great deal too

writer ha'd the pleasure of paying this gentleman

when

in Scotland last autumn,

some remanets of the

took from his hives

last

and saw

his apiary,

store of wonderful supers he

specimens

summer

indeed of

good bee-keeping, and of the golden maxim worthy of

imitation,

"Keep

XVI.

all

your stocks strong."

THE LANARKSHIRE

In outward form

this

hive

is

HIVE.

much

like

the

first

bar-frame hive introduced to English apiarians by Mr.

Tegetmeier,
to a

now

who about

eighteen years ago was secretary

defunct apiarian society the head-quarters of

which were

just outside

I>ondon at Muswell

gentleman adapted the Stewarton

slides to

Hill.

This

a square bar-

frame hive, so that no crown-board was needed, just as

is

here provided by the ingenious Lanarkshire bee-keeper.

One

of Mr. Tegetmeier's hives

Bethnal Green

some cause

it

Museum

did not

of

come

may be

Science

seen at the

and Art.

into very general use.

From

MODERN

156

The

hive

stock

we

inches and

sixteen

BEEHIVES.
now

are

eleven frames and one division board or

of the frames

is fitted

rear,
;

contains

it

dummy.

with a false bar, which

be under the bar proper

to

to

side to side, within

nine inches and a half, and

is

lir.

measures

describing

three-quarters from front

and seventeen and a quarter from

the height

[Ch.

Each

intended

is

by taking a frame and

pressing this bar out, an arrangement will be found for

enclosing and holding tightly fixed the impressed sheets of

wax

The ends

for guides.

and back of the hive

of the frames rest in the front

the top edges of the latter being

deeply grooved along their centres to reduce the bearing

surfaces, so that there

may be

less

danger of crushing a

These 'are

bee when the frames are placed in position.

now

kept apart, and the spaces between are closed by

wooden

slides as in the

octagon Stewarton hive

thus the

advantages claimed by Scotch apiarians are here to be

The

found in a square bar-frame hive.

sides

and lower

ends of the frames have projections which touch and

keep each other steady, so that the combs are not so

liable to

The

be pressed together.

super

is

four inches deep

to the stock hive,

bars,

the

which have

and

slits

is

and equal

furnished, like

in diameter

it,

with false

for inserting those infallible guides,

impressed waxen sheets.

These are surmounted

with another row of movable bars with the Stewarton

slides

between as before explained.

The back

of the hive has a circular revolving disc of

OUTDOOR UNICOMB HIVE.

xvii.]

woqd

of half thickness

let into

it,

in

157

which are three

three-quarter inch holes covered with perforated zinc, so

that ventilation

board

is

made

may be

and out

which arrangement

floor-board,

The

given or not.

to slide in

is

convenient for transit

of the hive to the moors or anywhere else.

trance

is

opened or closed by means of

one on each

The

en-

sliding shutters,

side.

Outside covering from the weather

we

alighting-

in grooves beneath the

is

are also in a position to provide.

doubt an ingenious useful

hive,

needed, and

This

is

this

beyond

and how so much labour

can be bestowed and yet the hive cost so

little

is

marvel.
f

XVII.

NEIGHBOURS' UNICOMB OBSERVATORY

HIVE -OUTDOOR.

The unicomb

tages over similar hives as previously

illustration

shows the

ments ; these are

many advanconstructed.
The

hive here represented has

six

interior divided into six compart-

Woodbury

The

frames.

inner sash

opens, to admit of hanging up the frames on the notches

prepared for them.

The width

glasses of the sashes

,

is

of the hive between the

just sufficient to

admit of one

thickness of comb, with space on each side for the bees

to pass

Any one

and repass between the

possessing a

glass

Woodbury box

and the comb.

or straw frame hive

can readily commence a unicomb, and as readily put the

combs and bees back

into the square hive again.

MODERN BEEHIVES.

158

The

outside shutters on each side are

[Ch. in.

composed

of

Venetian blinds, admitting daylight, but obscuring the

Pi'lliiF:.--:

rays of the sun.

fixed to the

There are two iron wheels, the one

bottom of the

running along

its

whole structure turns.

there

is

hive, the other to a stout

entire length

board

on these two wheels the

In the centre of the floor-board

an opening, with a passage-way running under-

neath, so that the bees' entrance

is

in

no way

affected

by

the position of the hive, which revolves to suit the con-

venience of visitors inspecting

Should the queen,

it.

with her attendants, not be visible on one side, the other

side of the

comb can be brought

examined with the same

are inspected in a shop

into full view,

and

facility as

a picture, or as articles

window.

Thus the sovereign

mother, the drones with their aimless movements, and

OUTDOOR UNICOMB HIVE.

XVII.]

the crowd of ever-busy workers, either

combs

or storing honey,

may be always

159

building their

seen, as present-

ing a veritable tableau vivant.

Another improvement that we have made upon Mr.

Woodbury's pattern
frames and

that of adapting

is

admit the

to

has necessitated an increase in

this

The

size.

outside dimensions are nearly three feet square and seven

inches deep from back to front.

Provision

top for feeding, and for wol'king two small

for deprivation,

An

board.

which

The

under the entrance.

when

indoors,

like the indoor

is

placed at the centre, close

hive can, however, be placed

must be adjusted

it

unicomb

at

protected by the weather-

are

alighting-board

made

is

flat-top glasses

to the

window-sash

in the next section.

-In the summer of 1863 we had ample proof of the

success of this hive during

its

exhibition at the annual

show of the Bath and West of England Agricultural

Society at Exeter.

them

and, on

We

selected six combs,

and packed

one of the square box Woodbury frame

in

a.rrival at

That being

Exeter, placed

fixed against the

them

in the

unicomb.

boarded side of a shed, we

found the covered way a great convenience, and

swered remarkably well

hives,

the bees did not

it

seem

an-

to be

inconvenienced by having to travel through so long a

passage.

glass covering admitted a full view of the

little

labourers as they crowded

very

much enhanced

the hive.

in,

and the

sight of

them

the interest of visitors examining

MODERN

i6o

BEEHIVES.

[Ch. hi.

we have

Since the time before mentioned

exhibited

bees at the meetings of the Bath and West of England

Agricultural Society at Bristol,

and of the Royal Agri-

On

cultural Society at Newcastle in 1864.

was given that

sions further proof

answers the purpose intended, and

to

many thousands

this hive
it

We

of visitors.

both occaadmirably

afforded pleasure

also exhibited

of these hives in our collection at the

one

Philadelphia

Exhibition of 1876, and in their certificate of award the

jurors direct special attention to the

unicomb hive with

Venetian blinds as allowing the admission of light to the

bees whilst the sun's direct rays are excluded.

The unicomb
may

bee-keeper

queen

is

may be

artificial

swarm
or he

it

be

more

The former plan

because new comb has

at once.

advisable,

empty frames must be put

an

under that heading (Chap.

built within the five frames;

artificial

combs

the

and so form an

take six brood combs, and by that

means stock the unicomb

perhaps, the

comb upon which

into the hive,

as directed

may

The

stocked in two ways.

either select the

found, and put

V.

vi.),

hive

for

It is

in.

in

this

is,

to

case five

a better plan

still if

are placed in each frame, so as to afford

interesting opportunity of watching the formation of

the cells therein.

colour

The' combs are sure to be dark in

when taken from a stock

hive,

and new combs,

The
may be

being whiter, have a better appearance in the hive.

comb upon which

the queen was introduced

taken away after the

artificial

'

swarm has made combs

OUTDOOR UNICOMB

xvii.J

within

the

i6i

when the queen is

five frames
new combs, opportunity may easily be

some of the other

on one of

HIVE.

taken for opening the hive and removing the old dark

comb, which, with the unhatched brood, may be deposited

any square hive that needs strengthening.

in

If the possessor of a square

wishes to

start

a strong

Woodbury frame

hive

unicomb colony, and does not

object to appropriating the stock, he must take out of

the \A'oodbury hive any six combs on the frames, and

put the unicomb in

its

place so as to receive

returning bees that happen to be abroad

combs can be

inserted in

which there may be room.

operation,

the remaining

any other frame hives in

We

have had

this hive in

stocked in such manner, and found

On

answer remarkably well.

able

ornamental stand,

it

the

all

it

to

a lawn, placed on a suit-

formed a pleasing and

in-

structive object.

In unicomb hives there

is

considerable difficulty in

keeping the bees alive through the winter, but where

the

combs

transfer

are removable, this can

recommended

in

Chap. V.

be avoided by the

xx.

In some

degree to moderate the variations of temperature we have

used treble glass with a space between each

greater

warmth

intercepted.

the

is

thus obtained,

square

and the view

is

not

Opportunity should be taken for cleaning

unicomb hive when empty.

MODERN BEEHIVES.

1 62

XVIII.

[Ch.

III.

NEIGHBOURS' UNICOMB OBSERVATORY

HIVE INDOOR.

This hive

well adapted for those persons

is

who

are

closely examining
desirous of having the opportunity of

the

workmanship of the industrious and

mates.

It is particularly

or an indoor apiary,

and

intended
will

for a

interesting in-

window

also be found an

ing addition to the greenhouse,

recess.

interest-

Bees cease to appear

and
disturbed when exposure to the light is continuous,
full
a
obtain
to
bee-keeper
this discovery enables the
inspection.

The

hive

should

be screened from

the

inmates,
direct rays of the sun, which would worry the
and be otherwise prejudicial. An aperture should be
the
cut in the sash corresponding with the entrance to
hive, through

which the bees may find egress and

in-

INDOOR UNICOMB HIVE.

XVIII.]

i6j

gress, without

being able to gain access to the apartment, as described under the "Ladies' Observatory Hive "

As

(page 120).

wheel

like

the hive

now made

is

preceding,

the

room

eighteen inches within the

tion to be

made

clear of the

The

be glazed over.

must extend'

to enable the revolu-

The

window.

process

on a

to revolve

passage

this

passage

of stocking

may

identical''

is

with that in the last section.

Although

double

this hive is constructed of

keep up a more uniform degree of warmth,

still,

'

glass, to

from the

cold nature of that material, and the close contact into-

which the bees are brought with

flannel against

it

found essential

if

winter,

it, it is

on the outside.

and very much adds

summer months,

the

fully

to

their

hive

comfort on cold

In the daytime, in

being of double

exposed to view, and

ture of the apartment in

60 degrees,

is

the bees remain in this hive during

nights at most periods of the year.

whole may be

advisable to place

Such precaution

which

this extra care will

it

if

glass,

the

the tempera-

stands be kept up to

not be needed.

At the annual International Exhibition of 1873, at

South Kensington, we had two of these hives in full
operation, an opening being
full

access to the pasturage

made

so that the bees

of the

other gardens of the neighbourhood.

visitors

whose delight

it

was

to

Horticultural

Among

the

had
and

many

watch the hidden work-

ing of the hives thus laid bare for inspection was His

Grace the Duke of Sutherland, and he commissioned us

MODERN BEEHIVES.

i64

one of these unicomb hives at the window of

to place

an anteroom adjoining his

St.

m.

[Ch.

we

James's, which

an open

flight

Stafford House,

library at

accordingly did, the bees haviiig

over his

own garden and

St.

James's

For a time

Park, as the entrance faced that way.

this

was an unfailing source of

interest

His Grace and

but unfortunately a reverse

came over

his visitors

and

gratification to

The

the spirit of our dream.

hive was with-

out the Venetian blinds, thus depending on the windowblind being carefully

An

shining.

one day as usual

of the

drawn down when the sun was

oversight prevented this being attended to

:

it

was on the occasion of the

Shah of Persia

servants were so

to

House, when the

Stafford

much occupied

visit

that the secluded

room

which the bees were in was wholly neglected.

The,

consequence was that the rays of the burning June sun

so

hung out

distressed the bees that they

among them,

the queen

combs were

at the

at the outside

same time melted, and

foundations, and the brood was

some

clusters,

fell

from their

ruined by heat

all

We

the whole hive became a wreck.

fact,

in

entrance; the

managed

';

trouble to save the bees, but His Grace was

disheartened by the catastrophe

repetition,

though

much

to

our

that,

for

fear

so

of

disappointment,

in

after

its

he

declined re-stocking the hive.

At the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1855 we

exhibited a hive of this description in

The bees

left

London on

full

also

working order.

the sth of July of that year.

INDOOR UNICOMB HIVE.

XVIII.]

and were placed

An

morning.

165

Exposition on the

in the

was made

entrance

Our bees

the side of the building, as before explained.

had no national

antipathies,

forth to their "fresh fields

Champs

Elysdes,

Luxembourg,

and they immediately

sallied

and pastures new"

in the

gardens

the

etc.,

following

them through

for

of

the

Tuileries,

the

whence they soon returned laden

with luscious store from French flowers.

The
medal

Jurors of the

Exposition awarded

for beehives.

prize

a prize

us

was also adjudged

to us

for the hive here described at the Crystal Palace

in

1874; while a variation that

sisting
sails

we have made
crossway

of four half-unicombs fixed

windmill

of a

obtained

Alexandra Palace Bee Show

in

The unicomb observatory

have been suggested by the
" By
'

this blest art

Yet
Still

the

1876.
hive

lines of

is

one which might

Evans

build their roofs of gold,'

mingling multitudes perplex the

all in

the

at

award

like

con-

like

our ravisherl eyes behold

The singing masons

And

vien',

order apt their tasks pursue.

happier they whose favoured ken hath seen

Pace slow and

silent

Show

round, the state's

fair

queen."

CHAPTER
FITTINGS

HERE

is

I.

IV.

AND APPARATUS.
BEE-HOUSES.

no contrivance

for protecting hives

from the weather so complete as a bee-house

one which also admits of an easy inspection of

the hives ranged therein

bee-keepers.

We

is

especially convenient for lady

here present

designed for only two hives.

a front view

of one

BEE-HOUSES.

!]

The

folding doors behind the bee-house have only to

be opened, and the hives are

view

tion

by

then,

glasses

may be

from

busy

Under

167

raising the

at

once exposed to

upper hive or cover, the

deliberately inspected without molesta-

and the progress made by

may be watched from day to

the bees,

multitude

full

the roof on each

side

are openings to

the
day.

act as

With the

ventilators, to allow the heated air to escape.

sun shining on the house, and no escape of

this kind,

the temperature would become that of an oven.

Here our

illustration

shows the back view of the bee-

house, the interior being furnished with two of our im-

proved cottage

hives.

Two

suspended weights balance

the top hives which cover the glasses

runs on

the cord for each

pulleys, so that the covers can

be

easily raised

and

AND APPARATUS.

FITTIXGS

68

down

easily shut

as

We may

finished.

again

iv.

the inspection

here remark that

keep the glasses long exposed to

The

when

[Ch.

is

it

full light

is

not well to

and view.

front of the bee-house being closely boarded, a

passage-way

is

contrived for the bees, by which they

have egress and ingress to the hives without being able

The

to gain access to the house.

hives must be kept

close to the front boarding of the house, to prevent the

opening of any crevices which the bees might mistake

and so

for the entrance to their hives,

The

the house.

front

view of

find their

ordinary contrivance for giving admission

zinc

entrances

shown
hives.

in the

may

also

into

the sliding

be advantageously

woodcut of the bee-house

The bee-houses we-

way

bee-house shows the

this

fixed,

as

to contain twelve

have a lock and

furnish

key.

Care must be taken to keep the bee-houses

spiders

and other

In some

insects.

The

numerous and troublesome.

for excluding

them

is

to put

some

other

woollen

of

oil,

we recommend

plan

material

which have previously been soaked

use sperm

from

pitch round the four

supports of the bee-house, or, better

flannel or

free

districts ants are

still,

that
in

strips of loose
is

lamp

as being the slowest-drying oil

absorbent,
oil.

We

we know

piece of string will keep the flannel close to the

wood, and then neither ant nor other insect

up; so that by

this

simple means

speak, be insulated and placed

the_

beyond

will

pass

hives may, so to
their reach.

As

BEE-HOUSES.

1-]

the

up

oil dries

found

this

169

can easily be renewed.

it

We

have

an effectual remedy against these insidious

enemies of bees.

Where economy

of

room

is

a consideration we

fit

up

bee-houses with a double row of hives, one above the

other.

Our

illustrations

back of a house of

this

show respectively the

front

and

kind for twelve hives, having an

ornamental zinc gutter to prevent the wet from dripping

on

to the alighting-board.

thus together

we

When

a number of hives are

colour the alighting-boards differently,

so as to provide the bees with a distinctive

which each may know

into

its

its

neighbour's house.

Bees readily enough receive

a honey-laden labourer into a hive

be poor and empty

it

will

mark by

own home, and not wander

but

if

the wanderer

be promptly repulsed, and

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

lyo

may have

to forfeit

its

for the

life

mistake.

[Ch.

iv.

Queens

returning from their wedding trip are liable to mistake

their hive if there

is

not a noticeable difference between

queen entering a hive already pos-

sessed of a fruitful

sovereign would be certain to be

the

entrances.

killed,

and the

loss to her

own

hive

is

Hives are often made queenless from

a serious one.
this cause,

and

thereby reduced to utter ruin, the bee-master perhaps

attributing his failure to something altogether different.

In

lieu of

houses an economical stand can be provided

by driving two rows of posts

into the ground, one row

about twelve inches behind the other, and nailing upon
them rails two inches wide and thick. The hives may

stand upon these, with eighteen inches between them

for
space for performing operations.
But there is
less fear

of jarring the other hives

when

the stands are separate.

i^

ZINC COVERS.

n-:

ZINC COVERS.

II.

The annexed
cover,

illustration

and renders but

represents

171

little

shows the ornamental zinc

description necessary.

It

one of our im-

proved cottage hives upon

Three clumps of

stand.

wood must be

driven into

the ground, and the three

'

supporting

rods

iron

covering

made

screws

with

the

fast to

them

there

are

screw holes in the feet of

the iron rods for the purpose.

but

When

thus secured

fear

need be en-

little

tertained of

its

being blown

over by high winds.

In the roof two pulleys

are fixed, so that, by attach-

ing a cord, the upper hive

covering the bell-glass supers

may be

raised with facility for the purpose

the progress

mode

made by

the bees.

of.

observing

Directions as to the

of fixing the pedestal will be found above (page

118).

The ornamental

zinc cover will form a pleasing object

in the flower-garden

when placed

in a suitable position

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

172

on the

grassplot.

It is

painted green

[Ch.

l-v.

the iron rods are

of such a length as to support

the roof at a convenient height

from the ground.

Our next

figure is that of a

simple and inexpensive covering for any cottage straw hive

when exposed
It

coming

hive,

to protect

it

garden.

in the

on

close

fits

to

the upper

sufficiently

low

from sun and

rain,

without obscuring

the

whole

hive.

These covers are painted green

a colour that

is

gene-

rally preferred.

A loose

some
saw

some

useful.

Such covers are made

is

in various

to drop over the hive in detached portions,

and others hinged

in a single piece,

in the last chapter (

part of the hive

for

COVER.S.

outer case completely enveloping the hive

found very
forms,

WOOD

III.

xii.,

Ample

itself.

xiii.,

some, as we

xiv.), constitute

rotjm must be allowed

opening these, both at the side and behind, remem-

bering that from the latter position

be conducted.

The cover and

ing, or else staining

better

the hive

not need

this.

all

stand

operations must

will require paint-

and varnishing, which looks perhaps

itself, if

When

not exposed to the weather, will

removing or replacing the covers,

IVOOD COVERS.

HI.]

care must be taken not

formed

v/ith

to

173

Covers

enrage the bees.

opening shutters

will obviate the necessity

of frequent removal.

The accompanying

shows a simple form of

figure

cover for dropping over a hive.

inches, depth twenty-two,

Its

and height

Cottagers often use straight

together; this contrivance is

stiff

width
in

is

twenty-six

middle nineteen.

thatching straw, sewed

termed a "hackle," and has

a pretty appearance, particularly

if

number of hives

are

Care has however to be exercised that mice

in a row.

do not make the cover a resting-place. Mortar is often

used for fastening round the hive at the bottom,, but this
is

a bad plan, as

wooden hoop

fits

it

anything of the kind.

is

more

forms a harbour for insects; the

so close as to leave httle necessity for

The wooden cover

just_

described

especially constructed for our frame hive (page

142), but

it

may be used

for

any hive that

it

will

fit

over.

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

174

Our next

cut represents the

formed in three portions (the

Woodbury

[Ch.

iv.

cover, which is

roof, the super-cover,

and

the stock -hive cover). It

has an upper and a lower

door, or rather shutter,

The whole can

behind.

be placed on a pedestal

As

shown.

as here

cover requires to be
off in pieces,

to

and

is

this

lifted

liable

be blown over by the

wind,

is

it

not so con-

venient as those figured

below,
hinges

which open

and

are

on
self-

supporting.

We

next give two representations of one of our

elaborate covers, showing

opened and

in front as closed.

cover with one of our

within

and two

it,

it

more

respectively from behind as

The former

new frame

exhibits the

hives (Chap. III. x.}

divisional supers

upon the

hive, the

roof being formed sufficiently high to accommodate these.

The cover
and

is

down

is

thus

made

to

open near

held back by a chain.

The

its

vertical centre,

flap

behind

falls

on opening the top to allow of inspecting the stock

hive without drawing

it

out of the cover.

In the front

a portico for protection to the entrance, and

there

is

wood

slides

work

in grooves to

narrow the opening in

WOOD

III.]

COVERS.

winter or other bad weather.

cover and stand

two,

will

is

twenty-six.

grained and varnished.

be observed

total height of the

forty-five inches, the

and the depth

whole
it

is

The

175

The

width twenty-

outside

of the

In the figure following

that the hinges are placed in the

FITTINGS

176

AND APPARATUS.

front; -while underneath

these the

[Ch.

portico, sHdes,

iv.

and

alighting-board are clearly shown, as well as the sloping

roof

in

short,

structure as

The next
cover, but
costly.

it

it

the

general appearance

of the whole

actually stands in the apiar)'.

pair of views represent another very useful

has the objection of being bulky and more

The open

figure exhibits, within the cover, our

 in.j

WOOD

COVERS.

177

FITTINGS

1/8

new

glass frame hive

are formed

totally

witli

AND APPARATUS.
and super (page

movable pins

removed from the

142).

[Ch.

The

hinges

to enable the cover to

stand.

An

iv.

be

opening from the

outside conuTiunicates with the super, so that the bees

can

find

exit without

passing through the stock hive.

IVOOD COVERS.

in.]

The

flight-hole

179

can be narrowed as in the previous

instance.

The annexed

cut shows a

inexpensive construction.

can be placed.

The

In

new cover
it

of simple and

any of our frame hives

stock hive here exhibited

is

the one

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

i8o

referred to

on page 141,

as

"The

The advantage

FraiBe Hive."

Cottager's

board,

that the hive

manageable
stand,

and cover

all

Some American
tion to the hive
off.

Quilts are

piece of carpet.

will

own

floor-

and more

than those that have hive,

hives.

the outward construction so well

IV.

is

needful.

QUILTS.

apiarians

recommend the use of a

a crown board, as admitting of ventila-

and thus allowing the moisture

made

of

some

soft

to pass

woollen material or a

Care must be exercised that the mag-

gots of other insects

a hotbed

its

easily stocked

and Abbott's

further explanation

quilt in place of

Improved

in one, as is the case with the Phila-

The drawing shows

little

more

in other respects

delphia, Cheshire's,

that

is

iv.

in having the stock hive

independent of the cover and stand, and on

is

[Ch.

do not

find a

home

by that means be provided

underneath, or
for bees'

worst

enemies.

V.

BELL GLASSES.

In describing the stock hives

glass, allusion has frequently

of wood, straw, and

been made

hives technically called " supers."

The

to the depriving

simplest form of

these consists of the straw caps, represented at pages 108

no, and

next to these will come those to which the

BELL GLASSES.

v.]

above heading
at the top,

applies.

we have

Of

i8i

the stricter bell-form, rounded

three sizes

To contain lolb., lo inches high, 7 inches wide.

To contain 51b. 7 inches high, 5 \ inches wide.
To contain 31b. 5 inches high, 4 inches wide.
,

These

sized
glass

The
for

is
is

used in the hives before de-

bell glasses are

scribed.

largest

for

is

Nutt's hive

our improved cottage hive

so very small that

do not recommend

it.

it

Bees

is

the middle-

the smallest

not often used, and

will generally

fill

we

a^middle-

sized glass quite as soon as one so small as this.

The

next figures exhibit what are

Glasses."

known

They were introduced by Mr.

recommended

as

The drawings

will

preferable

show

to

as "Taylor's

Taylor,

deep narrow

and are
glasses.

that they are straight at the

FITTINGS

AND APPARATUS.

IV.

top inside, with a knob above to take

sides, flat at the

hold by, through whic?i

a ventilating

[Ch.

tube.

twenty pounds,

The

larger,

contain perhaps

to

deep and thirteen inches

six inches

is

wide ; the smaller,

a half-inch opening to admit

is

inches deep and nine and a half

five

inches wide.

The

late

Mr.

J.

H. Payne, of Bury

Edmunds,

St.

author of the " Bee-keeper's Guide," introduced another

"Payne's Glass" accordingly.

glass, called

It has

is

duce

and

It is to

honey.

a three-inch hole in the centre, the

purpose of which
additional

be used as follows

to

tempt bees to prolarger

When

of

stores

a bell glass

(which must be smaller in diameter than Payne's)

half or quite filled, raise

it,

and place Payne's

the hole of the stock hive, with the

filled glass

The bees

over the three-inch hole.

will

is

glass over

on

it,

bring their

combs through, and thus Mr. Payne found that they

store more honey than if the bell glass were
removed and another empty one put in its place.

would

The

" Flat- topped Glass "

is

a super to be placed on

the hive in a similar

glasses already alluded

advantages of being
sides, flat at top,

when

so that

on
a plate.

The

glass

to

way
to.

to

the bell

It has the

straight

at

the

and without a knob

filled it

may be brought

the breakfast table, inverted,

lid

shown

in

the figure forms

on
a

BAR SUPERS.

VI.]

and

cover,

the

combs

fits

and

over outside so as not to interfere with

There

within.

Dimensions,

83

six

a ventilating tube as above.

is

and three-quarter inches

in diameter,

five in height.

VI.

To

these

we have

BAR SUPERS.
made

already

considerable allusion

They

under the various hives to which they are applied.

are often
straw.

made

It is desirable that the

be made thicker than those

in fact

and

many

of glass, but

deepen

their

honey

wood

are of

combs

in supers should

for breeding

cells to

or even

the

bees will

almost any extent

therefore the bars are placed somewhat, further apart

than in stock hives, thus allowing of one or two bars

By

these can be brought up,

inches in thickness.
the

less.

gradually widening the spaces between the combs

older supers the

cut exhibits the "

Von

Berlepsch

tells us,

to four

With the shallower form of

bars

are

Woodbury

without frames.

Super," which

thirteen inches square

and

the ten of the hive.

These can be

six

is

all

The

of glass.

deep, with eight bars to

either the

Wood-

FITTINGS

84

bury ribbed bars, or

AND APPARATUS.

flat

[Ch.

iv.

ones with guide-comb attached.

Lee's supers are similar, but they contain seven bars with
four Stewarton shdes for giving admission from one to

when more than one super is used.

The next figure shows our " Frame Super,"

the other

ficiently

described on page 141.

in glass with

wooden framework,

already suf-

can be had as belowj

It

or in straw with three

windows, as shown with the hive on page 142.

Next

in order

we

give our " Divisional Super," to which

a prize was awarded at the Crj^stal PalaCe Bee

1875.

It

is

composed of seven

which are kept together by

division

is

lateral strips of

intended to have one

Show

in

divisions or frames,

wood.

comb worked

Each
in

it,

rendering the contents of the super divisible without

cutting the combs.

As shown

in the figure

on page 175,

BAR SUPERS.

vi.]

super

this

the

same

adapted

is

now made

figure

it

will

for placing

i8s

be observed that these supers are

one above the other, passages being

cut out of the top bar of the lower of the pair.

cut for the insertion of strips of

Both

in this super

From

with whole-glass ends.

wax

and the next

Slits are

sheets.

it is

desirable to pro-

vide against the admission of cold through the numerous

interstices

by keeping a warm woollen covering on the

top and pasting paper over the divisions, which can easily

be cut through when the super

is filled.

Neighbours' " Sectional Super

The

" is the last of

attention of apiarians has been so

late years

much

series.

turned of

towards a cheap and compact receptacle for

honeycombs intended
duced

our

for deprivation, that

this last invention,

which

is

very

we have intromuch on the

same plan as the preceding, but the longitudinal divisions

are again divided across, forming boxes, as shown in the

FITTINGS AND APPARATUS.

86

Each

figure.

section

is

iv.

about two inches wide, seven

and four and a half

long,

[Ch.

to five

deep

in the

comb.

about two pounds of honey

it

contain

will

This

a con-

is

venient quantity for placing on the table or for purposes

The

of presentation.

space as

the

fourteen sections occupy the

number can however be used according

hive

same

Any

seven divisions of the preceding.

to the size of the

the Philadelphia hive, for instance, has space for

Again,

eighteen.

any

single

section

can be removed

when full, and another substituted.

Each section has a saw-cut in the crown for the insertion of wax strips.
The queen-preventing zinc adapter
can also be used.

Observe the caution given

in the

second paragraph of the description of the divisional

super, just above.

VII.

We allude
and

EKES AND NADIRS.

to these for the sake of explaining the terms,

as they are adjuncts

porary enlargement.

sometimes recommended

They

for

tem-

are further contrivances for

the prevention of swarming, but they differ from supers

added below instead of above the stock

hive.

an eke is a half-hive so added, and a nadir an

entire

in being
Briefly,

An example of an eke is sometimes met with when a

common skep is cut horizontally in half, and the lower por-

one.

tion placed

beneath an entire skep hive.

of a nadir

we have only

For an instance

lo refer to the Stewarton hive.

Ekes and nadirs give increased room

to the

bees, but

IMPRESSED

Vlil.]

WAX

SHEETS.

187

they of course do not answer the purpose of supers in

providing honey free from the admixture of brood.

VIII.

These

IMPRESSED

WAX

artificial partition walls for

SHEETS.
combs are

sheets of

genuine wax, about the substance of thin cardboard.

They

receive rhomboidal impressions

between two metal

plates, carefully

by being pressed

and mathematically

prepared and cast so that the impressions are exactly the

same

size as the

base of the

cells

of a honeycomb.

An

comb will show that the division

of the opposite cells is made by a thin partition-wall,
common to both. The substance of this is said to be

inspection of a piece of

only the one hundred and eightieth part of an inch, whilst

the

artificial

ones

we

fortieth

thirtieth

are

recommending are between the

part of an inch, or

more than four

times the thickness of the handiwork of the bees themselves.

It

them with

would, indeed, be vain to attempt to furnish

sheets of

delicate fabric,

wax

at all approaching their

and our sheets are

can be to bear the handling requisite

the hives.

We find, however, that

for fixing

the thickness

them

is

no

advantage ; the bees speedily excavate and ^are the

ficial sheet so as to suit their

required

own

own

quite as thin as they

in

disarti-

notions of the substance

then, with admirable economy, they use

the

surplus thus obtained for the construction of the cells.

After a sheet has been partly worked

it is

interesting to hold

it

up

to the light

at by the bees,
and observe the

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

i88

beautiful transparency of that part of

it,

[Ch.

iv.

contrasted with

the opaqueness of the part not yet laboured upon.

This invention renders us independent ol guide-comb,

which

not always obtainable.

is

Germany, where

many

has attained

it

comes

It

to us

from

years of success.

Atthe International Exhibition of 1862 we purchased

the

metal plates or castings, so as to manufacture the im-

we

pressed sheets with which

customers; and

we have
will

the

after

great confidence in

be seen

belovv,

now

are

careful

able to supply our

trials

we have made
As

recommending them.

however, we no longer advise inser-

tion of entire sheets.

In the season of 1863 we furnished a Woodbury glass

super with the wax sheets fixed to the bars in the Avay
hereafter to

mark

be explained, and

was

it

truly astonishing to

wax were
made
ready for the storing of honey, and the new combs soon
became beautifully white for, although the artificial wax
has a yellow tinge, yet, after being worked at and made
the rapidity with which these sheets of

converted into comb.

Receptacles were quickly

thinner,
If

it is

half ones
is

as

good

in colour as ordinary

whole sheets are used

or,

perhaps the simplest plan

to fix a strip of

wood

for fastening

them

with brads to the under side of

wax

the top frame or bar ; place the

then wedge another

combs.

in the case of supers,

strip close to

it,

sheet against

this,

and thus hold the wax

sheet firmly in the centre of the frame, taking care also

to

make

the second strip of

wood

fast with brads.

This

IMPRESSED IVAX SHEETS.

vill.]

has however the objection that

The wax

space.

of the frame

plates

189

slightly diminishes the

it

must not'Cxtend

to the

bottom

a space of at least one inch should be

left

expansion, because the bees, in working the plate,

for

stretch

down

it

lower.

We

also use a few pins firmly

pressed ^into the frames, and long enough to reach the

edge of the plate

each

side,

may be

for

by

fixing three or four pins

on

both at the sides and at the bottom, the plate

held in an exactly central position within the

frame.

We

are

now

disposed to

make a

great modification in

the above directions, and, instead of using entire sheets

of wax,
width,

we

cut strips from

and place these

them of about an inch

in the bars as before,

in

when they

form an edged projection of half or three-quarters of an

inch.

We have

found an objection to the entire sheets

in the fact that they sometimes curl

weight of the bees

itself to

so

and break with the

new swarm apply

become an obstruc-

eagerly does a

work upon them

and thus

tion instead of a help.

Strips of

cardboard or wood shaving, dipped in hot

wax

or well besmeared therewith,

the

wax

strips themselves.

may be

Where no

substituted for
slit is

the insertion of either, the shaving running

lower edge of the bar

may be

wax, and the same purpose

will

made for
down the

simply rubbed with hot

be served.

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

igo

IX.

This

is

an,

American attempt

here

is

iv.

COMB FOUNDATIONS.

impressed wax sheets.

the bees there

[Ch.

improve

to

on our

In the proffered assistance to

some advance,

for not only are

the lozenge-shaped plates at the base of each cell more

clearly

stamped and defined, but the sides of the

are slightly

begun

so

cells

deep are the impressions that the

foundations of the walls are actually

laid.

Being quite a nev/ invention, there has not been much

time for

fully testing

keepers that
difficulty as

them.

it,

but we find from American bee-

when used-in

large sheets there

with our impressed

wax

is

the bees

same

the

will twist

As specimens of work these comb foundations

commendable for appearance.
The

are certainly very

white ones seem too white to be of pure wax, and any

substitute offered to bees has hitherto proved a failure.
]\Ir.

Baldridge, a frequent correspondent of the American

Bee y^ournal, speaks of the yellow sheets as

far prefer-

able to the pure white, but

some

that are

made

of paraffin he considers of

little

worth.

Possibly the

material of which they are manufactured

may be made

to suit the delicate senses of the bees.

partly

Until this

is

the case, hindrance rather than help in comb-building

will

be the

result

of placing

same

as described for

them

in

the frames

The mode of fixing

impressed wax sheets.

sectional or other supers.

is

and
the

CHESHIRE'S GUIDE-MAKER.

x.]

X.

At

191

CHESHIRE'S GUIDE-MAKER.

the Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in 1875, Mr.

Cheshire exhibited and obtained a prize for a wax guidemaker, which

is

an ingenious contrivance.

of a plaster df Paris

cast,

It consists

with impressions taken from the

metal plates before referred to (page 187).

two inches

eleven or twelve inches long.

or

tin

by

same

in width, about the

This cast

in thickness,

It rests in a shallow zinc

trough containing water to keep the plaster

capillary attraction.

The

is

and

may

plaster cast

soaked in water; then place against

damp

first

be

side the top

its

bar of the frame, reversed so that the centre of the under

side lies even with the edge of the

wax (which must be genuine)

glue-pot

is

embossed

The

cast.

melted in an ordinary

then with a clean paintbrush

it

applied to

is

the top of the plaster cast and exposed part of the bar.

The wax immediately hardens on

the

damp

cast

does not adhere, whilst the under side of the bar

an embossed guide of

means of

and

carries

sufficient

depth to be an unfailing

swarm

in the building of straight

direction to the

combs.

When

a large number of frames have to be prepared,

this ingenious apparatus is

a convenience

but for the

we should advise procuring a few of

impuessed wax sheets, cutting them in strips, and

ordinary apiarian
the

fixing without the

mess and trouble which Mr. Cheshire's

apparatus involves.

FITTINGS AND APPARATUS.

192

It is often

[Ch.

iv.

XL BAR-FRAME HOLDER.

a great convenience to have a rest at hand

to lodge frames

comb

of

The

on.

iUustration shows

one that we have contrived,

and which

will

accommodate

twelve frames of almost any

The two broad rests on

may be set closer or

size.

the top

apart

further

by loosening

them

the screws which keep

They

firm.

are

easily

shifted

and secured again by

screwing up.

This stand

is

so that

light in weight,

be carried about as required.

The

it

can

easily

frames of comb, with

bees on them just as they are, are temporarily placed on

the holder

hive

is

when an

needful,

inspection of the interior of the

and the combs can be returned

to the

hive in the same order.

XIL CHESHIRE'S TRANSFERRING BOARD.

This

is

a contrivance which

will

be found specially

serviceable in transferring old stocks from one hive to

another (Chap. V.
for the

iii.).

an inclined

rest

wood arranged

like

It consists of

combs, composed of

laths,

of

the teeth of a comb, so as to allow the honey to drain

into the zinc receiving-frame underneath

it

also admits

the ready introduction of the tape or whatever

is

used

THE HONEY-EXTRACTOR.

xiv.]

for tying

and

fixing the

combs

in the

new

193

frame.

The

operator should place the board upon a table so that

him

laths, face

upper edges of the inclined

front, or the

its

as he stands.

XIII.

HONEY-CUTTERS.
comb from boxes

Honey-cutters are used for removing

and

damaging

glasses without

is for

The

it.

flat-bladed knife

disconnecting the combs from

the sides

the hook-shaped one

is

y'"
|

to be applied to the top or hori-

box or

zontal part of the

glass.

^"^

We

have recently introduced a knife with both these blades,

one respectively

The
by

first

at each end.

THE HONEY-EXTRACTOR.

XIV.

notion of extracting honey from the combs

centrifugal

motion was the

result of

an accident.

son of Major von Hruschka, a bee-keeper in Germany,

tied

a piece of

whirled

it

honeycomb

to

round the inside of a

honey was ejected and the

cells

string,

pail.

and

in

play

Finding that the

of the

comb

left dry,

the idea was suggested to Herr von Hruschka of constructing a

machine

afterwards did.

for the purpose,

The

first

and

this

he soon

honey- extractor was a wooden

vessel with something like a broomstick working

pivot in the centre

to this axle, provision

attaching a framework

to

carry the

on a

was made

for

combs, and the

13

FITTINGS

194

centrifugal

AND APPARATUS.

[Ch.- iv.

motion was obtained by winding

coils

string" round the upper part of the revolving shaft,

was thus put

by pulling
sharply in

in

oC

whicb

motiom

the

string

way a

the

boy's

humming-top

made

to spin round.

is

This answered for a

beginning; but with the
opportunity of employ-

machinery

ing

it

was

soon found that many

improvements

in

construction might

made.

was

it

For

the-

be

instance,

apparent

that

the extractor should be

sorbs so
in

warm

cleansed.

much honey

that

it

constructed

of

because the

wood

metal,

weather, however carefully attended to and

The

honey-extractor shown here consists of a

metal reservoir with a treacle tap at

liquid honey.

In the middle of

its

base to draw off the

this reservoir is

a cast-

iron spindle, with arms or projections to receive

metal wire cases, one on each side

combs

ab-

soon become sour

will

two

in these cases the

are placed, whether in frames or not.

Motion

is

given by turning the handle, which with the aid of a

THE HONEY-EXTRACTOR.

XI V.J

195.

cog-wheel causes the spindle to revolve at great speed.

The machine

is

mostly used for frames of combs taken

from stock hives whilst the honey-gathering is

When

the frame

is

at its height.

removed from the hive

whilst at

work, the bees have to be shaken or brushed off

full

with a feather, and those cells that are sealed have to

be uncapped by sha\ing the waxen

lids off

with knives,,

of which there should be two, one to be kept immersed

in a vessel of hot water, whilst the other

becomes
is

cold,

and so alternately

is

used

until

until the required

it

work

The knife being warm very much aidswax as near the top as possible,,

accomplished.

in slicing through the

and prevents tearing the tender comb.

done
little

carefully so as to disturb the

as possible,

which honey
is

This must be

form of the

and not to touch the brood

cells as

cells,

placed in one of the wire cases, and a second

same manner and dropped

be treated

in the

extractor.

A few turns

centrifugal force,

from

The frame

cells are easily distinguished.

may

into

of the handle eject the honey

and a

little

practice will

the

by

inform the

operator of the requisite degree of speed, though some

honey
other.
is

is

more tenacious and

When on

gone out of one

reversed,

The

it is

refill,

turns than-

then have to be

will clear the cells

frames should

hive for the bees to

more

found that the honey

side, the cases will

and a few more turns

other side.

may

takes a few

examination

now be

on the

returned to the

and two other frames of comb

take their places in the extractor, and so on until

all

the

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

196

combs

[Cli. iv.

have been

in that hive suitable for extraction

operated upon according to the wish and judgment of

the manipulator.

little

commencing

Prior to

smoke should be blown

this operation,

into the hive

and an

made lest the queen should be too summarily

shaken off the comb she must be quietly transferred to
another if the one she may be on is required to be

examination

placed in the extractor.

During the gathering season

is

it

astonishing

how

quickly these emptied cells will be refilled with honey,

and not unfrequently the queen

contracted

accommodation

for

some of these

finds in

unoccupied receptacles timely provision

for her othe'rwise

depositing

eggs

written about the value of

comb, and by

the labour of the bees in building

no doubt but

that this instrument

the bee-keeper
introduction

when

it is

is

important adjunct thereto.

combs

There

saved.

it

is

and since the

has

formed an

For no invention has the

more deeply indebted than

"

Germany, improved upon as

" of

is

of great service to

apiarian cause to be

Mel Extractor

thus

this contrivance

judiciously applied,*

of the movable

Much

breeding goes forward at an astonishing rate.

for the
it

has

Even if there

been both in America and

in this country.

were

honey, the extractor would be

less sale for extracted

found

at certain times of great value to every bee-keeper.

* This, machine is not of much service

combs made in supers, the cells of which

operating upon.

for extracting

honey from

are mostly too soft to bear

CHESHIRE'S NUCLEUS HIVE.

XV.]

In the award at the Philadelphia Exhibition,

of commendation

The

is

sj^ecial notic

recorded of our honey-extractor.

XV. CHESHIRE'S

NUCLEUS HIVE.

object of nucleus hives

section

197

on " Queen Rearing

"

is

explained below in the

(Chap. V.

render services in the process of

vii.),

and they

swarming, in

artificial

maintaining a supply of young mothers, or in Italianising

an apiary.

Mr. Cheshire's contrivance

as

is

made

Certain frames in a regular hive are

follows

to consist

of

two half-frames, each complete, but joined together in

the top bar by a tongue in the one portion which
firmly

into an opening in

ordinary frame except for the division

When

a royal

compound

cell

down

the middle.

has been formed upon one of these

frames, such frame

is

taken out of the hive,

and the twin portions are then placed

nucleus, which

fits

the other, thus forming an

side

by side

in the

measures only three and three-quarter

inches wide inside, nine inches deep, and seven and a

half from front to back.
in

the

Its sides are

constructed double

same way as those of the Cheshire frame hive

(page 145).

In the nucleus hive

frames to be well covered up.

the queen was not

upon

the other bees

may be

however,

be sure

will

it

is

necessary for the

Care must be taken that

either of the nucleus frames, but

retained

upon

it.

The

older ones,

to return to the stock hive,

and

their place must be supplied by shaking young ones off

other frames on to a board in front of the nucleus.

FITTINGS

igS

The

ro3-al cells

AND APPARATUS.

may be

[Ch.

iv.

obtained from any source, and

the divided frames, after which

artficially transferred to

the frames must be placed in a stock hive for twentyfour hours for the bees to fix

and

repair the cells.

Or,

if

more convenient, three or four such frames may be placed

in the

middle of a hive, and

queen may be removed

all

for a

stocked with eggs

the

few hours, at the end of

which a larger or smaller number of royal

cells

wiH be

found to have been formed, and these in the middle

The

frames, which should be the ones desired.

may

ferring process

still

two queens are wished

placed inside
together in

one such
is

for.

on each of

will

The

royal cells should be

the two parts of the frame are put

the nucleus

cell

hatched

when

trans-

be needful, unless only one or

there must however be

these, as the

be certain to destroy the

only

queen that

first

cells

of the

rest.

Further mention of the subject of nucleus hives will

be found under " Queen-Rearing."

They should be

constructed with narrow entrances so as to lessen the

facilities to

robber bees.

XVI.

QUEEN-CAGES.

These are small receptacles made of close wire or

perforated zinc, just large enough to contain the queen

with a few of her acknowledged subjects, and their use

is

on the occasion of her introduction

The new queen

is

by

this

to a

new

hive.

means protected from the

QUEEN-CAGES.

xvi.]

primal hostility of the bees,

much communication

199

but at the same time so

permitted as suffices to fami-

is

them gradually with her presence.

liarise

the characteristics of the bee nature

one of

It is

that,

however

dis-

tressed they may' be at the loss of their old queen, and

however eagerly

at

work

will not usually receive

source.

They

when longing

We have
them

is

produce a successor, they

to

such at once from an

to transfix her with their stings.

two kinds of cage

a wire

artificial

however, supply her with f6od even

will,

dome

to

One

for this purpose.

of

be placed over the queen, when

with a card carefully slipped underneath she can be kept

secure until the hive

It

nearly the

is

is

prepared to receive her favourably.

same

as Kleine's cage for protecting

royal cells, as described under " Queen-Rearing " (Chap.

V.

Another cage, devised and strongly recom-

vii.).

mended by " A Renfrewshire

and neatly made of wire net

and a quarter wide, and

the top

is

all

in

form

three-eighths of an inch thick

The door

consists of stronger

reaching across' the bottom of the'cage

fixed at

them

is flat

two inches deep, one

round as a flange to prevent slipping too

between the combs.

wires

it is

of the same material, and projects one-eighth

of an inch
far

Bee-keeper,"

these are

one end, and have two more wires fastened to

at the other,

which wires pass up

at the corners

.and are brought out at the top, where a push with the

thumb
this

will

cause the bottom to project open.

cage we consider there

is

more

Into

difficulty in intro-

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

200

[Ch.

IV.

ducing the queen than into the other, as she has to be

taken hold of with the thumb and finger and passed
within the narroiv opening

cages are

made

and though some of the

with an entry-valve at the top, the risk

of injuring the queen remains, in our opinion, greater

than with the

domed

with each of

these

" Introducing

XVII.

Much

The mode

cage.
will

be

New Queens "

(Chap. V.

disappointment

that brood,

the

is

often

filled

felt,

and not honey,

The

pied

is

many

of

until

such time as

has hatched out.

The comb

be discoloured, but there

to

in

is

In such a case the super should

cells.

the brood

that.

when removing

with honey, at finding

be replaced on the hive

be found

viii.).

QUEEN AND DRONE PREVENTER.

a super that appears well

will

of procedure

described under

found

fact of there

being even a few

a great deterioration.

This

is

no help

cells so

little

for

occu-

contrivance,

however, excludes both the queen and the drones, the

wires or strips of zinc being fixed too close together to

admit of their passage, though wide enough for the

worker bees.
cover, but
of

It

more

is

adapted

for

any hole that

will

especially for the openings in the tops

straw hives communicating with the supers.

our better-class hives

like

it

Some

of

are fitted with slides pierced in

manner, or else with sheets of perforated zinc to

ensure the same end.

DROiXE-TRAPS.

XIX.]

The

201

queen-preventer also serves a useful purpose in

preventing pollen being carried into the supers, as the

edges of the wires or bars act as scrapers upon the legs

of the bees.

The

XVIII.

object of these

to taking the honey.

is

BEE-TRAPS.

to clear supers of bees previous

There are several of them

but the principle of most

is

trap resembles one of the

common

traps,

the

the same.

round-holed mouse-

but the bees have to pass out instead of

little

circular hole

and permitted by wire

a pin

is

in use,

Glutton's bee-

in.

Over

hung perpendicularly,

staples to

open

allow the escape of the bee, after which

it

far

enough to

falls

back and

The super having been removed

and inverted, the trap may be fitted into

denies readmission.

from the hive

one of the sides of a box, which, without

then inverted

upon the

super,

its

bee from outside.

when

the bees within will

is

then darkened,

falls in

The
make

Mr. Cheshire and Mr.,

for the light through the trap.

Aston have

is

every opening being

closed which could admit a

super

lid,

also invented traps.

Mr. Aston's has

talc

place of pins.

XIX. DRONE-TRAPS.

If the increase of drones grows into an intolerable

nuisance a trap
nation.

may be

applied for their partial extermi-

Aston's drone-trap

though we recommend

its

is

an ingenious contrivance,

use only under limitations.

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

202

It consists of a

box

opening from the

[Ch.

but no means of

exit

except

through perforations which admit only the workers

make
the

it

by the

the

while their proper

light,

darkened by a ridge over which they can

flight-hole is

left in

an

to affix to the hive entrance, with

inside,

bees are attracted into

just

iv.

their

box

way

to the trap are

The drones

are thus

objections which

we have

into the hive.

to perish.
first,

The

that the surmounting of the ridge

must surely prove an impediment to the work of the

bees

secondly, that the ridge obstructs ventilation

will,

an hour or so

But

if

the trap be applied only

at the part of the

day when the drones

are leaving the hive in the greatest numbers,

perhaps

and

promptly discovered, soon share the same

unless

fate with the drones.

for

should the queen stray into the trap, she

thirdly, that

sufficiently effect its

it

may

then

purpose and be free from

any serious drawback.

It

XX. BEE-FEEDERS.

has long been acknowledged that the best

feeding bees

is

mode

of

through an opening at the top of the

stock hive, as bees can thus take the food without coming

abroad.

Another important feature

is

the

cleanline^

with which liberal feeding can be accomplished

operations require

sweet

is left

more

care than this does.

hanging about the hive

it

and few
If liquid

tempts robber bees,

and when once the bees of an apiary have had a

there. is no knowing where their depredations will

taste,

stop.

BEE-FEEDERS.

^ XX.]

Even

no hives be completely destroyed, weakness from

if

loss of

numbers

will

be the portion of most,

The morals

the hives in the garden.

are

here a good deal at

when

203

for

fault,

their inordinate passion

is

if

not of

all,

of our favourites

the stronger hives,

thus stirred

up by the

carelessness or want of knowledge of the bee-keeper,

attack and prey

warned

to

is

"

upon the weaker ones.

be forearmed"

To be

and "prevention

fore-

is

better

annexed

figure,

than cure."

The

" Bottle Feeder," as

consists of a round or
position
hive,

and

v.'hich

is

of

the

stock

resting in a circular block,

below

a piece of perforated zinc.

The

be employed
;

in the

bottle placed in

over the feed-hole

following directions will

food

shown

flat

Fill

show how

it

is

to

the bottle with liquid

an inverted

ii^^^^a
|
fc

^:~J^Z^^^
^'^^~~^

apply the net, affixed by an india-rubber band,

over the mouth

stock hive,

and

place the block over the hole of the

invert the bottle, the

the hole in the block

through

the

neck resting within

the bees will put their tongues

and imbibe the food, thus

perforations,

causing the bottle to act on the principle of a fountain.

The
is

bottle being glass,

consumed.

it is

The piece

easy to see

when

of perforated zinc

the food

is

for the

purpose of preventing the bees from clinging to the net,

or escaping from the hive when the bottle

is

taken away

for the purpose of refilling.

Specially prepared pieces of vulcanite plate, pierced

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

204

[Ch. iv

with holes in such maimer as to give complete regulation

to the supply of food, are
apiarians.

to

be a

No

fixture

net

is

much recommended by some

then required, but as the plate

on the crown-board, the

inverted over a small shovel or

some

which may then be withdrawn, leaving

holes

requisite, as the

bees

it

standing upon

up

this feeder

strongly

recommend

with one of the middle-

sized bell glasses, should the regular hive cover not

sufficiently tight.

When bees

is

sometimes stop up the

will

We

with their propolis.

closely covering

is

be

thin metal plate,

Occasional examination of the plate

the vLilcanite.

however

bottle should

be

are not kept in a bee-house

this is particularly needful.

The

"

Can Feeder"

for this purpose.

is

Much

our next form of an apparatus

has been said about stimulating

feeding
in

that

such

is,

administering food

way

that

there

shall

always be liquid sweets within the

reSch of the bees, and that they

shall continuously

bibe a

little.

requirement
a

new

feeder,

which consists of a

be able to im-

In order to meet

we have

this

constructed

tin bottle or can, six

inches wide by six high, with five small holes at the

bottom, and closed by a sliding valve and a screw top.

The can is filled from the top, with the valve closed, and
when the screw top is made firm this valve is drawn
back by moving the pin in front. The can is placed

BEE-FEEDERS.

XX.]

205

over the feeding-hole at the top of the stock hive, and

the bees have access to

on the
it

by small

it

principle of a fountain

the feeder

The

refilling.

is

empty.

It

This can

holes.

glass side

drawn down by
is let

capacity of the vessel

Our " Round Feeder

eight inches across

is

over a quart.
it

for
Its

less liable

"

is

made

of zinc or earthenware,

The

and three deep.

projection out-

a receptacle for pouring in

is

The bees

the food.

the feeder through

gain access to
a round hole,

placed either at the centre

is

or nearer one side, whichever

on the top of the stock hive

fits

show

from robber bees.

to attack

which

in to

need not be removed

difference in form from the above renders

side

is

the screw top rendering

the liquid only escapes as

air-tight,

the probosces of the bees.

when

may
it

is

best suit the openings

in fact a

tube which

oyer the feed-hole in the crown-board, thus allowing

through

the bees to rise

liquid.

groove, covers

the feeder

bees escaping, whilst

hive,

when

and

affords

feeding.

of zinc

it

above the surface of the

circular piece of glass, cut so as to

but

it

all

retains the

warmth within the

opportunity for inspecting the bees

The

feeders were originally

some bee-keepers advised

earthenware, and a few have been thus

the wishes
material.

into a

fit

over and prevents the

of those

who

made only
the

made

use
to

of

meet

give the preference to that

AND APPARA TVS.

FITTINGS

2o6

When

the bees are fed from above

kept at a

the feeder

is

the hive.

In

which the food

the heat ot

hives cottagers feed the bees by-

pushing under the hive thin sHps of

into

manner,

in this

warm temperature by

common

[Ch. iv.

poured.

is

wood scooped

out,

This plan of feeding-

can only be had recourse to at night, and the pieces of

wood must be removed

in the

By

morning.

feeding at

the top of the stock hive any interruption of the bees is

For further instructions on

avoided.
directions

given

for

this head, see the

using the bottle

Round

feeder.

feeders are of course entirely safe from robber attacks,

being protected by the regular hive cover.

A variation upon this is " The New Round Feeder,"

1875 Crystal Palace

at the

which obtained a prize

Show.

made

It is

Bee

of wood, and holds

more than two pounds of

liquid food,

which must be poured into the outer

The bees ascend through the

trough.

centre as in the last case,

most
at

ridge,

which

is

and passing over the inner-

rounded, they reach the inner trough,

which they imbibe the food without

as the sides are too contracted.

glass covers the top.

The

feeder

A
is

risk of

piece

drowning,

of

window

nearly ten inches

in diameter.

The

"

XXI.

rUMIGATORS.

Box Fumigator"

pepper-box upon a

foot.

is

tin case,

It is a

somewhat

like

simple adaptation of the

FUMICATORS.

XXI.]

207

fumigating apparatus described by Mr. Nutt, and

used in the following manner

Have a

is

straw hive or

ready that will match in circumference

other vessel

the hive intended to be fumigated.

have a conical top

downwards without a
be convenient

rest

to invert

in this case

on a

it

it

in

reversed

its

will

A^ii^

Having

pail.

upon

ascertained that the hive to be operated

and the empty one

empty hive

If the

not remain crown

will

it

position

^t'^

^^^^

nearly match in size, take half a packet of the prepared

fungus,

fire it well,

and place

in the

it

box

or fumigator

place this in the centre of the empty hive, then bring the

occupied hive directly over, so as to receive the fumes of

smoke.

To keep

tures of the

all close,

two hives.

may be heard dropping

where they
hive

lie

may be

quickly.

put a wet cloth round the junc-

After a minute or two the bees

heavily into the lower

After a

stupefied.

upon

gently tapped

On

to

little

empty

make them

fall

be found lying quiet

one,

when

at

it

the bottom of the lower

the intended operation

of uniting

different

colonies, searching for the queen, or whatever else

more

removing the upper hive the bees from

will

be

hive,

while the old

it

may

must be promptly performed.

The "Tube Fumigator," which

be found to possess many ad-

will

vantages over the above,

for several

disturbed

it

purposes.
is

is

useful

When

a frame hive has to be

requisite to raise the lid

and blow a

little

FITTINGS

2o8

smoke

AND APPARATUS.

[Ch.

iv.

into the hive, so as to check the angry passions

of the bees.

If

it

be desirable to stupefy the bees,

fungus must

ignited

be placed

the box and

in

flattened end applied to the entrance of the hive

smoke

then blown

is

with bellows

either

in,

the
the

or

by

applying the mouth of the operator, taking care to close

openings through which

all
fall

down

but the

stupefied,

effect

it

according to

varies

of the hive and the

quantity of

projected operation must

The bees

can escape.

ten minutes

generally in about

populousness

the

comb

in

now be performed

as activity will soon be regained.

it.

The

speedily,

See preceding direc-

tions.

Another and quite a

different

means of subjugation

has recently been introduced in the form of carbolic

The odour

of this drug

acid.

by bees that

so abominated

is

the most refractory hive will be immediately subdued by

sprinkling a few drops

But a

feeling of

of

it

on the tops of the frames.

humanity should

suffice to

frequent resort to so harsh a measure.

other places (Chap. V.

ii.

and VI.

to the applications of the

same

viii.)

prevent the

We

have in

made

allusion

fluid to the operation

of transferring swarms and to the repelling of robber

bees.

XXII.

All operations

hiving

of bess

BEE DRESS OR PROTECTOR.

connected with the removal or the
should

be

conducted

with

calmness

 XXII.]

BEE DRESS.

and circumspection.

Bees, although the busiest of crea-

269

tures, entertain a great dislike to fussiness in their masters,

and become

irritable at

to see that he

once

tage in having the

knows

operator
stung,

he

he can open

combs, gather in
honey, with

for

cannot

when

great advanat

the

possibly be

his hives, take out the

his swarms, or take the

one that we keep ready in

of a very simple construction.

is

made

of

strong

black

net,

is

like

an inverted bag,

It

which

manufactured for us specially for

shape

is

Various kinds of bee dresses have

sopher.

is

there

the deliberation of a philo-

all

been contrived
stock

the apiarian allows them

and hands covered whilst

face

work amongst the bees

if

Hence

in a hurry.

is

this

large

is

purpose, and in

enough to allow

of a gentleman's wideawake or a lady's hat being worn

The

underneath.

.projection of the hat or cap causes

the dress to stand off from the face, and the meshes of
the net, though

much

too small for a bee to penetrate,

are wide enough to allow of clear vision for the operator.

An

elastic

band secures the dress round the waist ; the

sleeves also,
at the wrists

bee-master

made
by a

may be

of durable black calico, are secured

similar

method.

The hands

effectually protected with

of the

a pair of

india-rubber gloves, which should be put on before the

dress
is

is

fastened round the wrists.

regularly used

This kind of glove

by photographers, and allows of greater

14

AND APPARATUS.

FITTINGS

[Ch.

Some

ease in manipulation than any other description.

persons also

tie strings

round the ancles of

wear Wellington boots

will

their trousers,

Those who

same purpose.

or use elastic bands for the

iv.

be able to tuck the trousers

within them.

The annexed

figure represents

a cheaper form of bee

veil

which

we have more recently introduced.

It is provided with an elastic band
which

fits

portion

round the

There

coat.

hat, the lower

being folded under the

is

however no pro-

tection to the arms.

It is

made

of the same specially constructed

material as the

preceding^a strong

black net, with large meshes.

Thus a very simple and inexpensive means of

tection will enable even a novice in bee-keeping to
his

pro-

make

observations and conduct his experiments under a

sense of- perfect security.

who

scorn

all

such

There

artificial

are, of course, those

modes of

having inured themselves to stinging take

course,
limit

protection,
it

only to be restrained within some

by means of the

persistent

and

as a thing of

manner of

smoking of

cigars

or

pipes (non-smokers such as Dzierzon use a sort of mouthfumigator).

stoics are to

wise the

But

it

does not follow that none but these

be permitted to manipulate with bees, other-

number

of beginners would be likely to be but

BEE DRESS.

^xxii.]

And

few.

even he who

is

211

protected need not be careless

as to the feeUngs of his bees; his success and their comfort will

as

if

his " handling

gently,

and

" Familiarity " between bees

and

be promoted by

he loved them."

them

their master breeds not " contempt," but affection.*

further under " Stings " (Chap. VI.

*

Von

Berlepsch denies that bees come really to

know

master so as to be able to distinguish him from any one

retain the

remark

become used

See

vii.).

their

else.

in our text as true to the extent that they

to his manipulations.

We
do

CHAPTER

V.

BEE MANIPULATION.
[HE

HIVING SWARMS.

I.

spring

mence an

the best period at which to

is

starting-point

period

known

months of
and

as

and swarming time

apiary,
for

new

the

the swarming

May and

June.

in April.

value.

If bees

The

earlier the

swarm

is

during the

With a very forward stock,

in exceedingly fine weather, bees

swarm

do occasionally

swarm the

in July they

greater

seldom gather

cient to sustain themselves through the winter,

by

careful feeding they

may

The

bee-keeper.

season

com-

a good

is

easily

be kept alive

is its

suffi-

though
if

hived

early in the month.

The

cause of a swarm leaving the stock hive^is that

the population has groivn too large for

overcrowding, and
for space in

which

is

to

Swarming

the

is

method whereby the bees seek

to increase their stores.

on "super hives" the required

be given

it.

Nature for remedying the inconvenience of

provision, of

them

relief

may,

in

By putting
many cases,

but should the multiplication of stocks

HIVING SWARMS.

I.]

be desired, the bee-keeper

swarm has issued

until the

In

many country

for the

good

213

space

will defer increasing the

forth.

districts

it is

a time-honoured Qustom

commence on such

folks of the village to

occasions a terrible noise of tanging and ringing with

and key.

frying-pan

This

done with the absurd notion

is

that the bees are

may by

charmed with the clangorous

be induced to

it

settle as

source of such sweet sounds.

mistake

and

there are other

The

pose.

near as possible to the

This

is,

better

however, quite a

means

for the pur-

practice of ringing was originally adopted

for a diiferent

and

far

more

sensible object

viz., for

purpose of giving notice that a swarm had issued

and

owner was anxious

that the

following, even though

premises.

and

din,

It

to claim the right of

should alight on a neighbour's

it

would be curious

ceremony has

the

forth,

thus got

to trace

corrupted

how

this

ancient

from the original

design.

In case the bees do not speedily

fest signs of settling, a

mould may be thrown up

the winged throng

object.
.

by

little

into the air so as to

tying a

fall

among

settling.

Some

persons

water from a garden engine with the same

There

are, indeed,

many ingenious

apiarians for decoying the swarms.

nientions

swarming .mani-

they mistake this for rain, and then

very quickly determine upon

squirt a

after

few Ijandfuls of sand or loose

devices used

Mr. Langstroth

a plan of stringing dead bees together, and

bunch of them on any shrub or low

tree

upon

BEE MANIPULATION.

214

which
plan

it

is

to

is

[Ch.

desirable that they should alight

v..

another

hang some black woven material near the

swarming bees may be led

hive, so that the

to"

suppose

they see another colony, to which they will hasten ta

Swarms have a

attach themselves.

when

other

when

great affinity for each

of course,

they are adrift in the air; but,

the union has been effected, one of the rival queens-

has to be disposed-

any of the above

of.

more ingenious device than

by means of a mirror

is

reflection of the sun's rays

wilders the bees and checks their flight.

often desirable to use

to flash

amongst a swarm, which beIt

manifestly

is

some of these endeavours

to induce

early settlement,

and to prevent,

from clustering

high trees or under the eaves of houses,

where

it

in

may be

difficult to

if

possible, the bees-

hive them.

Should prompt measures not be taken to hive the beesas soon as the cluster

is

well formed, there

within

one or two hours they

flight

and

dread.

this is

may

start

is

danger that

on a second

what the apiarian has so much

If the bees set off a

second time

it is

to-

generally

for a long flight, often for miles, so that in such a case it

is

usually impossible to follow them,

valuable colony

Too much

may be

and consequently a

irretrievably lost.

care cannot be exercised to keep

from a swarm when

it

has once settled.

off"

the sun.

If exposed

heat in this way, bees are very likely to decamp.

to-

We

have frequently stretched matting or sheeting on poles sa

as to intercept the glare,

and thus render

their temporary-

HIVING SWARMS.

!.]

position cool

and comfortable.

hive used to take

them

315

For the same reason the

in should not

have been standing

in the sun.

Two

swarms sometimes depart

join together

in such a case

at the

same

we recommend

and

time,

that they

be treated as one, by putting them into a hive as before

described, taking care to give abundant
to delay affording access

They

will settle their

own

queen being destroyed.

room and not

to the super hive or glasses.

notions of sovereignty by one

There are means of separating

two swarms, but the operation

is

a formidable one, and

does not always repay even those most accustomed to

such manipulation.

If

after

one swarm has started

mix

there are signs of another setting out which might

with

it,

means may be taken

the second, or sheets

With regard

for securing the

may be thrown

queen of

over the hive.

to preparations for taking a swarm, our

advice to the bee-keeper must be the reverse of Mrs.

Glass's notable injunction as to the cooking of a hare.

Some

time before you expect to take a swarm, be sure

to have a suitable hive in

which to take

other requisite properly ready.

it,

bee

and also every

veil or dress will

preserve the most sensitive from the possibility of being

stung.

This

article is fully

described on page 209.

But

bees when swarming are in an eminently peaceful frame

of

mind

having dined sumptuously, they require to be

strongly provoked before they will sting.

Yet there may

be one or two foolish bees who, having neglected to

fill

BEE MANIPULATION.

2i6

v.

honey-bags, are inclined to vent their ill-humour

their

on the apiarian

or,

what

far

is

hive (a straw skep

the bees

likely,

When

manifesting unusual excitement.

new

more

may be incensed

of neighbouring hives

first

[Ch.

they see him

if

ready the

all is

the most convenient in the

is

instance, but if that is not at

thing else will serve as a substitute)

an inverted position under the

hand a box or anyheld or placed in

is

cluster of bees,

which the

operator detaches from their perch with one or two quick

shakes; the floor-board

is

is

next placed on the hive, which

then slowly turned up on to

leave

base,

its

and

well to

a short time in the same place, in order to allow

it

of stragglers joining their companions.

should

it is

make

sure that

on the branch, as

he has not

left

The

operator

the queen behind

in that case the bees

would return

to

her.

Sometimes swarms
walls,

The
kind.

late

on trunks of

alight

trees

or

on

may be difficult to shake or brush them off.

Mr. Woodbury mentioned an instance of this
swarm clustered among the large branches of

where

it

a pear tree, just at their point of union with the trunk.

In

this case

he merely supported a straw hive just over

the swarm with the

left

of the tree with the open

hand, whilst he struck the trunk

palm of the right.

up

thus produced sent the bees

rapidity,

most

and the

satisfactory

entire

The

vibration

into the hive with -great

swarm was speedily hived

manner.

Mr. Langstroth

in the

in a similar

case fastened a leafy branch above the bees with a gimlet,

HIVING SWARMS.
and then smoked them upwards

217

upon

clustered

till

it.

It

should be borne in mind that they have always a readier

tendency to ascend than to descend.

in carbolic acid will very promptly

A feather

fumes there

they can readily escape from

its

tion in this case to

its

Another case of

an awkward spot

mentioned above (page

If the

distance,

new swarm

it is

is

is

it

as

no objecsettling in

78).

same spot

to be left at the

it

is

shaded from

to stand in or near the

remove

is

intended for transportation to a

provided the sun

meant

better to

use.

as well for

is

it

until evening,

the hive

is

dipped

move them, and

it

but

if

same garden,

within half an hour to

its

perma-

nent position, because so eager are newly swarmed bees

for

pushing forward the work of furnishing their empty

house that they

sally forth at

If the removal has

once in search of materials.

been made

after they

they will be unable to find their

position, in
till

they

which case they

fall

in its altered

will circle

about for hours

and die from exhaustion.

But by prompt

transference, only the

lost,

have gone forth

home

first

and these are a good

whole colony to

despatch of scouts will be

loss, as

they might entice the

desert.

The bee-master should

always

seek to

labourers from swarming more than once

prevent his

his policy

is

rather to encourage the industrious gathering of honey,

by keeping a

sufficient

supply of supers on the hives.

Sometimes, however, he may

too early or unduly

late,

err in putting

and the bees

will

on the supers
then swarm a

BEE MANIPULATION.

2i8

[Ch.

v.

second time, instead of making use of the storerooms

In such a case the clever apiarian, having

thus provided.

spread the swarm on the ground, will select the queen,

and cause the bees

But

they came.

to

go back to the hive from whence

this operation requires

apiarian skill which, though

greater than

is

it

may

easily

an amount of

be attained,

is

usually possessed.

For a description of the theory and phenomena of

swarming, with the signs by which

its

imminence may

be gathered, and a variety of information referring

to the habits

and

life

of the insect, the reader

to an earlier article in this

II.

Where

work (Chap.

is

chiefly

referred

I. xi.).

TRANSFERRING SWARMS.

the permanent hive

the swarm

may

mth many

of the hives

is

of the skep description

of course be hived into

now
we

at once.

But

in approved use a process of

transference will be necessary.

straw hive, into which

it

will

To

effect this, place the

suppose the bees have

been shaken, on the ground, propped up on one side

mth a brick or a flower-pot, or anything of the sort that

may be handy, in order that straggler bees may join the
swarm.
The spot selected for this should be as shady a
one as can be found, near to the place where the swarm
settled

or

it

may be shaded from

fixing matting
falling

on the

on two
hive.

the rays of the sun

by

poles, so as to prevent the heat

Spread a sheet or cloth on the

ground where an even surface can be obtained

stake

TRANSFERRING SWARMS.

II.]

this sheet

down

inequalities,

219

the four corners, to prevent ruts

at

and

which are great hindrances to the bees going

into the hive (Mr. Cheshire's swarming-board, which

is

simply a large square board to rest on the hive-stand,

has

advantages)

its

without

its

place the frame hive

floor-board, having

or sticks rather

its

upon the

front raised

sheet,

on blocks

not more, other-

more than an inch long

wise the bees will cluster, and attach themselves to the

lower part of the frames, instead of going up between.

These preparations

will

perhaps occupy ten minutes, by

which time the swarm

tolerably quiet.

have become settled and

will

Then, with a sharp

rap, precipitate the

bees out of the straw hive on to the sheet immediately

frame hive

in front of the

knock, so as to dislodge

give the straw hive another

all

the bees,

quite away, otherwise they may,

if it

and then take

be

left

it

near, per-

versely choose to go into that, instead of the one desired.

In an hour or

so,

more

or

less,

the whole

swarm

will

have clustered within the frames.

In some cases, as when the swarm has to be brought

from a distance and procured from a cottager about

whose

skill in

misgivings,

carrying out these directions there

it is

best to give instructions that the

be brought home

after sunset,

may be
swarm

and then the foregoing

directions for inducing the bees to tenant the frame hive

may be
fer the

better carried out.

For ourselves, we much pre-

evening for the purpose.

Not

after

dusk however

in fact no operation of the kind ought to be attempted

BEE MANIPULATION.

220

when

it

[Ch.

so dark that the bees, if they should

is

unable to see where to

be sure to

settle

fly to, for

upon the

them from

sprinkled over

in

fly,

v.

are

that case they will

operator.

a watering-pot

A
is

water

little

likely to in-

duce them to quit the ground and go up into the hive

more quickly; a

smoke, or a touch with a twig

little

may answer

or feather,

same purpose, and

the

feather be dipped in diluted carbolic acid

speedily do

its

work.

veniently be swept up.

it

if

will

the

more

With a goose wing they may con-

The

operator should be protected

with the bee dress and other precautions described on

page 209.
Mr. Langstroth writes: "If they seem
to enter [the

new

hive], gently

a large spoon and shake them close to

they go in with fanning wings, they
note,

which communicates to

at all reluctant

scoop up a few of them with

their

news that they have found a home

its

entrance.

will raise

As

a peculiar

companions the joyful

;

and

in a short

time

the whole swarm will enter, without injury to a single bee."

On

catching the note the queen speedily follows, and,

being longer

in

limb, she outstrips

the

others in the

race.

In the J^ournal of Horticulture, Mr.

combs be

removed and the

on

Woodbury says: " If

may be

fixed in the frames, the crown-board

cluster

to the top of the

knocked out of the straw hive

exposed frames.

The bees

will

disappear between them wdth the utmost alacrity, delighted

to have

met with a ready-furnished

dwelling,

and the

top,

TRAXSFERR[NG SIVA RMS.

n.]

221

or crown- board, having been replaced, the hive should at

once be removed to the position

it is

intended to perma-

nently" occupy."

Bees occasionally manifest a

The

operator

will,

however,

in

to ascertain their intentions.

dislike to their

new

hive.

a very short time be able

If

on putting

his ear to the

hive he- catches sounds like gnawing or rubbing, he

be sure that they have commenced work

or they go listlessly about,
it,

" with a sort of-

and hang,

but

may

if all is still,

as Langstroth puts,

dogged or supercilious

gathered that they intend to be off at the

air,"

first

it

may be

opportunity.

In such case, either catch the queen and put her in a

cage (page 198), or keep the whole hive in darkness for
three days,

supplying food, water, and ventilation the

while.
If the weather be wet the next

day or so

after hiving,

in the shape of food, for although,

new colony
when a swarm leaves

a hive, almost every bee composing

it

it

will

be well to give a

little

assistance to the

has

filled itself

with

honey, we have -known not a few instances, in case of very

wet weather, in which the whole swarm has been starved

for the

want of

this small

should be given the

course, the

first

first

but most timely help.

A little

night even in fine weather.

work of the bees

is

Of

to build themselves

combs, and these combs being produced by the secretion

of wax from honey, a great drain upon their resources

immediately begins, and any

is

Uttle outlay at this juncture

therefore abundantly compensated.

BEE MANIPULATION.

222

III.

[Ch. v.

TRANSFERRING OLD STOCKS.

possessor of a stock of

AVe frequently find that the

bees in a cottager's common straw hive

moving the whole

stock, with

is

desirous of re-

brood and comb, into one of

our improved hives, in which the honey

may be

without the destruction of the bees.

We

courage such a
labour,

into a

attended as

it

is

with

may

old-fashioned hive

humane

very readily be turned

one, simply by cutting out the middle of

the top of the hive with a sharp-pointed knife

may

dis-

much

and requiring a considerable amount of apiarian

An

skill.

transfer,

obtained

mostly

a piece

thus easily be taken out, so as to leave a round hole

two or three inches in diameter, taking care that the knife

does not penetrate
the

comb

much below

or the bees.

the straw, lest

it

reach

There should be ready a round

adapting-board, with a corresponding

hole,

be secured on the top by putting four long

which may

nails

through

the same

number

of holes in the board

or a glass

may be

placed on the top, for the purpose of

then a cap-hive

who

will

This hive or glass

will

form a super or depriving-hive,

and can be worked

as profitably as

admitting the bees,

hives.

soon crowd therein to work.

For the sake of more

most of the improved

sightly

appearance,

outside case, either of zinc, straw, or wood,

dropped over
will

all,

and

then,

if

an

may now be

well painted, the whole

form no disfigurement to any flower-garden.

This

is,

beyond doubt, the

easiest

way of overcoming

TRANSFERRING OLD STOCKS.

III.]

the

difficulty,

but as

proceed to describe

may be

it may not satisfy all, we

how a complete transfer of

No

effected.

223

placing of the

combs

does the frame

hive.

hive offers such

now

will

colonies
for the

facilities

in a perfectly upright position as

As before remarked, we should be

slow to recommend any one to attempt the operation

who

not already pretty well accustomed to the hand-

is

ling of bees

and acquainted with

their habits

but by

carefully carrying out the following directions an apt bee-

keeper

may

thing

to get the bees

is

successfully perform

two ways of doing

this

the

one

is

resorted

place the bees

to,

first

there are

by fumigation

207), the other by driving (page 226).

may be

The

feat.

away from the combs

(see

page

Whichever plan
temporary

in the

hive on their old stand until you are quite ready to admit

them

into the frame hive.

Havs

in readiness

These consist of a

necessary appliances.

all

the

large knife for

cutting the hive, a good-sized table on which to lay the

washing
tape or

brood combs, a basin of water

which may besmear the hands

for

off

honey

string to fasten

the combs in their frames, a pair of honey-cutters (page

193) for cutting out the combs, jars to hold the honey
that runs out, and a feather for brushing off any bees
that

may

remain.

should have on
If the

old skep

facilitated

It

is

by cutting

two middle combs

is

necessary that the

operator

bee dress and india-rubber gloves.

his

not valued the operation will be

it

in half vertically .between

but the honey-cutters

will

the

accom-

BEE MANTPULATIO.Y.

224

[Ch. v.

plish the object without this destruction if

in useful here.
laid

upon

If

one

possessed the frames

is

it,

must then be placed within

course they will not exactly

piece by piece,

the frames there

to

is

it

fit,

will

soon

it

comb

may be

very sparingly,

which

is

it

at

and

false

fix

an

bottom

whatever height the supply of

Drone comb, however, should be used

and t-his only for the outside frames, in

not likely to be selected by the queen for

breeding purposes, but

filled

any of

supply empty

hand, and in default of such,

called

requires.

If in

up.

fill

not sufficient comb,

is

additional bottom bar inside the frame

as

"Of

these.

but they must be adjusted,

they bind each other together; the

till

few interstices the bees

if

may be

and the combs, which should be cut as

large as possible,

comb

not de-

it is

Mr. Cheshire's transferring board (page 192) comes

sired.

left

for storage of honey.

partly filled frames

Both

must now be made secure

by tying pieces of tape or pliable wire (even string

will

answer) round the whole from top bar to bottom or false

bottom

there should

be two of these to a frame, or

]3erhaps three if the pieces of

days or so the bees

ivill

comb

have made

are small.
all

firm

In two

enough

for

the tape to be dispensed vnth, which should accor4ingly

be done, as

member
knife,

first

it

is

in the bees' way.

To

the cells from the tape by

and then cut the

tape

effect this, dis-

means of a sharp

and draw

it

out.

Care

should be taken that the combs occupy the same position in the frames as in the hive

from which they were

 lll.j

TRANSFERRING OLD STOCKS.

extracted,

for the

Supply guide-comb or wax

inclined slightly upwards.

any frames that are wholly unoccupied.

strips to

The

not exactly horizontal, but

are

cells

225

frames

the bees

now

may be

recommends
well to keep

let into it in

for a

swarm

when

are placed in the hive,

filled

the

manner Mr. Woodbury

(see page 220).

may be

It

as

them confined a few hours, giving them

water at the top, by means of a soaked sponge laid on'

perforated zinc, until they

make

combs secure

the

the

object of this being to exclude the bees from other hives,

who,

if

feloniously inclined, might

come

to rob.

For the

same reason the operation of adjusting the combs should

not be performed in the open

surrounding hives

will

air,

or the

bees from

be sure to come in great numbers

to obtain a share of the

honey necessarily exposed.

It

should be done inside a room with the temperature at

about 70 degrees

not

cold enough to chill the brood,

nor yet hot enough to soften the combs.

An

expert

apiarian could perform the operation in less than three-

quarters of an hour,
after

a swarm has

and with

left

best time for such a removal.

loss.

little

the old stock

is

week or so

perhaps the very

In some instances a rout-

ing of this kind has a beneficial effect

old stocks of

hives that have previously appeared to be dwindling are

often aroused to activity
domicile.

by

their

removal into a fresh

After the winter's doze this

is

especially the
April.

We

have ourselves frequently shifted the stock from a

well-

case, say if

done on a warm day

early in

15

BEE MANIPULATION.

226

[Ch.

v.

occupied frame hive to a fresh one, in which the bees

find a clean floor-board and walls, as well as freedom

from insects that may have harboured in crevices during

the winter.

DRIVING.

IV.

Driving

an operation by which bees are induced to

is

vacate an, old settled hive and to enter an empty one.

Many

apiarians prefer this

mode

of effecting an exchange

The

of hives to the plan of fumigating the bees.

greatest

success attending such a transfer will be in the case of

combs

hives well filled with

the floor-board

and

it

that are

worked nearly

may be remarked

open space

generally so far provident that they leave an

in

which

to pass

floor of the

to

that bees are

underneath their combs over

all

the

\\^hen the old hive is inverted the

hive.

bees crawl up the combs, and thus more easily pass up

into the

new

hive,

which the operator places over the

old one with the intent that they should enter

The

is

about

and when the weather

is

warm:

the middle of the day,

It is essential that the

dress

it.

best time for performing this operation

and

gloves, as before described;

commencing
plements.

operator be protected with a bee

he must provide

his task

These are

a couple of

should correspond in shape and

which the bees are to be driven

the juncture

when

the

new

hive

and previous
all

hives,

to

necessary im-

both of which

size \vith the hive froin

;

is

a cloth to

tie

round

at

placed on the old one

DRIVING.

IV.]

some

keep the cloth in

string to

227

its

place

to receive the top of the old hive,

conical shape, but

hive

mth

tube fumigator with some

The bucket

the material of war.

securely on

where the

blown

in

hive stands

full

amongst the

down

over the

full

in a square box-

which

or stool

will

and a

complete

must be placed

then a few puffs of smoke,

bees, will

cause them to retreat up

The bee-master must now

amongst the combs.

or on the stool

is

be the best

ground, about a yard from the place

the

hive * upside

fuiigus,

one of the old

if

the stock of bees

if

top, a firm stool will

flat

an empty pail

very gently, letting

it

turn the

rest in the pail

he then quickly places the empty hive

one,

and

any escape of the

ties

cling the closer to

the cloth round

the

The

hives.

should resemble the old one even

to be placed on

the

it,

to prevent

be damped

it

third

which

If the cloth

bees.

hive,

in colour,

is

intended

stand formerly occupied by 'the

stock, so as to retain the few returning bees which

been absent

in the fields.

crevices through which

escape from

When

it

had

Care must be taken that

all

bees

to

is

possible for

the

united hives should be effectually closed.

the-

the two are fairly united, the operator will proceed

by rapping the
of

will

sticks,

more

full

hive gently with the hands or a couple

particularly

on that side where the combs

are the most thickly placed

that

is,

if

the hive be^ not

* Care should be exercised in turning the hive over to keep the

combs

vertical

by turning

it

in the direction in

arid not crossways, or they are likely to

which they hang,

break from their foundations.

BEE MANIPULATION.

228

equally filled on

all sides.

stock

[Ch.

in the best

is

condi-

tion for driving twenty-one days, or thereabouts, after

swarm has issued

first

out, the bees will quit

v..

a.

the brood will then have hatched

more

readily,

and there

be no

will

loss of larvae in the cells.

It generally

bees regularly

happens that

commence

minutes the

in ten or fifteen

the ascent

their

exodus

be known by the distinct rushing sound which

will

always

is

when a colony of bees is on the move. The

thing bees do when disturbed is to fill their honey-

noticed
first

do

bags, as they invariably

quently, after the
in the case of a

first

swarming time

at

rush into the

new

hive

is

swarm, the "flitting" bees are not

disposed to take mng.

When

the noise

conse-

over, as

much

made by

the

ascending bees has been heard, and has in a great degree

may be removed, and the old hive,

may be taken indoors and if a few bees
remain they may be brushed off with a feather. An

subsided, the cloth

now
yet

deserted,

experienced apiarian, on

hearing the rushing noise

first

before mentioned, will not hesitate to

over a

on one

little

side, so tliat

during the ascent; the queen

if

he

maybe

tilt

the bees

seen passing up, and

the operator desires to take her away he can secure

her by gently taking her between thumb and

who have become experienced

it

the top hive

may watch

can

the

safely

first.

be performed

This

is

called

wA'Ca.

"

finger.

Those

in this operation find that

the hives fixed open from

open driving," and can be

effected with increased facility

by sticking two skewers

UNITING COLONIES.

v.]

through the

229

of the lower hive in such

ruin

manner

that

they shall act as props to keep the upper in a fixed

Mr. Hunter has, however, devised an improve-

position.

ment upon

consisting in a wire hinge to connect

this,

and mre rods

the two hives,

The

them open.

to prop

has both his hands at liberty for other

operator thus

parts of the work.

If the taking of the

honey

master, then " driving "

is

be,

the object of the bee-

manifestly

a'

better plan than

resorting to the fumes of sulphur for the purpose

the bees from

whom

stocks that are

the store

is

for

taken can be joined to

weak in numbers, with considerable ad-

vantage to the future prosperity of the apiary (see next

section).

A weak

UNITING COLONIES.

V.

colony

may

only

may

this

frequently with advantage be

may be made

to another, or three

be done with new swarms, but

added

And

into two.
in

not

autumn,

may be

no brood

in the

combs,

out also with stocks, the

combs

that are extracted being

when

there

is

taken care of
is

for use

when

required.

the best time for this operation.

it

carried

After working hours

It is not,

however,

altogether a simple one, as strange bees will not intermix

unlesg

measures are taken to overcome their natural

hostility

to each

other.

Whatever be the number of

hives in an apiary, the bees of each

their

own companions.

single

know

the smell of

bee that enters the

BEE MANIPULATION.

230

wrong hive

will

[Ch. v

be stung to death, unless possessed of a

good booty whdrewith to disarm animosity.

on the

admixture of entire colonies,

distinct

ground of advantage over the

be a method
purchase

hit

and disastrous

frightened

will

all

upon the wing

one

is

to deprive

go

home

in search of a

and

self-possessed

active in

further demoralised

still

alike

must

If both are alike

and the same

if

both are

but quite otherwise

own abode, while

and gorged, and it

its

by having lived under

an unfertile queen, or with none at

cowed

other, there

of this or else to

it

slaughter.

well,

the others are frightened strangers

may be

Similarly

one has some

goodwill, for otherwise there will ensue a

its

ferocious

if

upon

if

But

all.

by a good drumming on the

if

both are

hives, they

may

be sprinkled so as to possess the same scent, and then

taken to a third position and shaken out on to a sheet
together,

mony.

when they

be searched

will enter

the offered hive in har-

If each colony has a queen,

for

one of them

may

and removed.

slight variation

upon

this

method

consists in driving

the bees of the one hive (see last section) straight\\-a)into the other, having

by drumming

until

first terrified

by

their

the bees of the latter

changed note they may be

concluded to be thoroughly subdued, and as a conse-

quence gorged with honey ; then, before

is

recovered, the others

plan

is

must be joined

their equanimity

to them.

A third

the one usually practised with the Stewarton hive

(page 151), and which can be imitated with other hives,

UNITING COLONIES.

v.]

by means

of ekes or nadirs

when

the evening,

in

this

231

usually carried out

is

the quietude appears efficacious

any

in settling all differences without the necessity of

other precautions.
the

dislodge

fourth

on

bees

to a

is

follows;

as

sprinkle

cloth,

At dusk,

them with

sweet syrup scented with essence of peppermint (as a

means of bribing

their

place the hive to which

the mass
for

new

intended to join them over

they will gradually ascend into the hive placed

and

them,

morning the

next

early

hive, with

augmented, may be removed to

slender stock thus

Should the operator not have been successful

stand.

may

gaining possession of the queen, he

leave

bees themselves to decide which queen they

Many
first

and

hosts to receive them),

is

it

the

bees

proceed as follows
the bees

in

one

its

in

to the

it

will have.

persons feel more secure from stinging

stupefy

its

if

they

These should

by fumigation.

Having used the fumigator upon

hive,

as described

under that

article

(page 207), place a sheet on the ground and spread the

bees on

it

then, with a feather, sort

to pick out the queen.

the rest of the lethargic

The

into the inverted hive again.

now be

them

As soon as she
swarm from off

over, in order
is

found, pour

the sheet back

stupefied bees

must

made of honey and

together.
Some apiarians

sprinkled freely with a syrup

water, or sugar

recommend

and

ale boiled

a few drops of peppermint to be mixed with

the syrup, in order to drown the peculiar odour which

special to each hive of bees

this

is

is

more necessary when

BEE MANIPULATION.

232

[Ch.

v.

both hives are fumigated, and whilst .under the influence

of smoke are well mixed together upon the sheet or board.

Such course can be adopted

instructions will be

we

if

suppose as before that only one

will

The

upon.

and no

preferred,

further

needed than what are here given

is

but

thus operated

hive containing the non-stupefied bees mu,st

now be placed on

the top of the inverted one, just as the

hive was from which the bees in the latter have come.

wet cloth must be fastened round the two hives, so as

to prevent

The

hives in

must be placed where they are not

likely to

any of the bees from escaping.

this position

be knocked down or meddled with.

The

fresh bees in

the upper hive, attracted by the scent of the bees be-

smeared with honey, go down and commence licking

the sweets from the sleepy ones.

The

latter

off

gradually

when all get mingled together and ascend in

company to the upper hive, where they live as if they

revive,

had not been separate

be

left

hive

families.

The two

hives should

undisturbed for twenty-four hours, when the upper

may be removed and

spot from whence

it

placed immediately on the

was brought.

The removed queen should be kept alive and fed as

live, in case any harm should befall the

long as she will

sovereign of the other community.

be incorporated

the stupefied colony

empty
other

skeps, the

is

adjusted.

If three hives are to

in two, the only difference will

upon the sheet

is

be that

divided into two

one being covered securely over

till

the

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.

VI.]

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.

VI.

Every bee-keeper knows the anxiety he

ing and expecting a swarm to
" like

his favourites should,

away

"

a mischance that

it is

come

We

assisted.

that

call

it

lest

be found

this will

this

to point out

work of Nature

because

assisted,

fly

In

desirable to prevent.

how, especially with movable frames,

swarming should,

watch-

wing and

we propose here merely

fully treated of;

swarming

feels in

forth, fearful

riches, take

our description of natural swarming

may be

233

artificial

as nearly as possible, resemble natural

is, it

'

should be performed

at the

same

time of the year, and when the populous state of the

hive

makes a

division desirable.

to be the case

This

when bees hang out

is

easily

known

in clusters at the

entrance, wasting their time in enforced idleness instead

of being abroad gathering honey.

necessary

It is also

that there should be drones about at the date chosen.

When

such

is

the state of the hive, the advantages of

movable-frame hives
the others the bees

are
will

strikingly

manifested.

often persist

With

in wasting their

time as just stated when a swarm would put

all

to rights

while they are often just as awkward the other way and
will

send out swarm

after

swarm which the strength of

the hive cannot spare and which in themselves are unable

to form colonies capable of self-support and of repelling

robber bees.

by

The

great expenditure of time

and labour

the bee-keeper, with the fear that after all the

swarm

BEE MANIPULATION.

234,

may come
perhaps

off at a

lost,

absent,

is

An

and then

the bees their chance,

may

may

apiarian

resort to

if

artificial

if

upon

he pleases give

they do

not swarm

means.

But

if

wishes to dispense with the former altogether he

have to adopt measures of prevention against

forced colony must not be procured

Some

of natural swarming.

clip the

which seems a clumsy proceeding

commended by

as

fall

trance

may

ground and be

of the

till

it,

at

as his

the proper time

wings of the queen,

at the best

though

hive

still

wander

lost.

re-

forth

and thus

Others block the en-

with some obstruction which only

workers can pass, by which means the drones

be kept

he
\vill

high authorities from Virgil to Langstroth

the royal mother

to the

v.

and thus be

are additional objections to depending

the natural process.

readily he

when he

time

[Ch.

home.

If this be the

will also

method pursued care

must be taken that the obstructions are removed both

after sunset

out of

and before sunrise

to permit of the dragging

among

the bodies of such as haye fallen

the

hourly victims of the gathering season.

The

best time for performing the operation

is

about

ten o'clock in the morning of a fine summer's day.

The

following directions should be carried out

a counter or bench that

has space on
inhabited
to

it

is

firm

for the inhabited

frame

and

or,

Place ready

strong,

and which

rather, the over-

and the empty one, which

is

about

be made the receptacle of a separate stock.

The

hive,

operator, attired in his bee dress,

and having the other

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.

vi.]

appliances ready,
at

may now open

235

the hive * (as described

page 270), and proceed to take out the frames, carefully

examining both sides of each comb to find the queen

she

is

generally in the centre of the hive, so that

may be

put into the empty hive,

and when the object of the bee-master's search

he must
majesty,
at

remove the

carefully

and may place

one end by

itself,

frame

found

is

her

containing

temporarily in the empty hive,

it

may make

or he

frame holder (Chap. IV.

to put the frames

As

always needful to take out every one of the frames.

these are examined they

not

it is

use of the bar-

Next he must proceed

xi.).

back into the old

up the

hive, closing

vacancy caused by the removal of the comb with the

queen on

and leave the empty frame

it,

Then he may

the few bees that

empty hive
frames

in,

at the end.'

place the frame containing the queen, with

may be upon

and,

it,

in the centre of the

putting

finally,

and replacing the

lid,

he

all

empty

the other

will place this hive

The

in the exact position occupied

by the old

bees that are on the' wing

go to the old spot, and,

will

stock.

' Bees are apt to take the interference more quietly

'

is

moved a

little

distance from

put an empty hive in

its

its

place, to

can be shaken out when the hive

is

restored.

If

this

trance should be shut

clustered bees

may be

is

f Italian queens are

kept

down

at

accustomed Stand

it

in

amuse returning
is

if

the stock

in such case,,
bees.

These

desired they should inhabit

closed

until the hive

is

bee-house

the

en-

replaced,

when

the

once admitted.

more

easily detected, being of a brighter

colour, and, generally, larger than English queens.

BEE MANIPULATION.

236

[Ch.

finding the queen there, they will rally round her,

if

a time

will

on

is

and

chosen when a large number are abroad, they

their return very

soon form a

sufficient

constitute a swarm; comb-building will

frames

v.

will, in

.stock will thus

a week or so, be

at

number

to

once begin, the

and a

satisfactory

exactly

as described

filled,

be established.

This operation we once performed

with

above except that there was no frame- extracting

one of our improved cottage

Whilst inspecting

hives.

our bees we caught sight of the queen on the

bell glasses.

missed, and

we immediately resolved

swarm,

for the hive

comb

in

This was a chance not to be

one of the

was very

full

to

of bees.

form an
'

artificial

Besides, being

obliged to be away from the apiary most of the week,

we were glad of

the opportunity of so easily establishing

a colony without the uncertainty and trouble of hiving a

natural swarm.

In the

first

we

place

slid

a tin under

the bell glass, and, removing the stock hive from underneath,

we took

it

a few feet away

then we placed an

empty improved cottage hive where the old stock had

stood,

and put the

comb

glass of

containing the queen

and a few bees over one of the holes

this

new empty

hive.

The bees

in

the crown of

that were left abroad

.belonging to the old stock returned as usual to their old

entrance as they supposed

formed a large cluster

building, the

below were

queen remaining
sufficiently

soon a

in the hive

sufficient

number

and began comb-

in the glass until the cells

numerous

for her to deposit

her

vi.]

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.

237

The experiment answered

exceedingly

eggs in them.

Both hives prospered

well.

some

princesses

the old

coming forward

had

hive either

to supply the loss of the

queen, or the bees used the power that they possess of

raising a

queen from worker brood

have previously described (page

The

manner we

16).

foregoing account illustrates the successful forma-

tion of an artificial

swarm

but, with

gaining possession of the queen

is

on

a cottage

this

method

hive,

quite

With a movable-frame hive she can

a matter of chance.
at

in the

any suitable time be found.

same plan

Precisely the

is

old stock in the frame hive as

case of the cottage, that

off:

when the

may be

is,

to

to

be adopted with the

we have described in the

remove it some few paces

hives are in a bee-house a similar result

obtained by placing the new swarm for a day or

two so as to be reached by the same entrance as the old

stock,

and the

Some

apiarians

may be removed to one close by.

recommend that a space be left between

latter

the two hives, by arranging them on the right and

left

of the old entrance, in order that too large a proportion

of bges should not enter the

new

hive at the old position,

to the impoverishment of the other.

the

mode adopted

that

we

see

But we have found

with the cottage hive answer so well

no reason

for

recommending any

different

plan.
It is the office

of the bee-master to

least degree to oppose,- Nature.

assist,

not in the

We know that

when a

BEE MANIPULA TION.

238

swarm

natural

located in a

issufes

forth

new abode

it

has

it

[Ch.

v.

queen, and when

its

commences building worker

combs, leaving the building of the few requisite drone

combs

But

to a later period.

if

a division of the hive

should be made, by putting half the combs in one hive

and half

in another, the hive that

embryo queen

contains an

only drone

comb

(see

page 17)

either queenless or

is

busy

will

itself

thus a

with building

number of

recep-

tacles for useless bees are provided, while all the time

the colony

is

rapidly dying off from the wear-and-tear of

the working season.

In the plan we have recommended for forming two

we

separate families
things
that

is

the

comb

nearly follow the natural course of

that the

queen

is

upon

is

the only one

taken from the hive, and this vacancy should be

filled in

by moving the frames together, so as to leave the

empty frame

at the end.

The swarm under

the govern-

ment of the queen construct the combs, and furnish

their

new abode,

as before stated, with

worker

cells.

By

adopting the plan above described, the movable-frame

hive will prove far superior to any of the dividing-hives,

which provide

There

are,

for equal division of the

procedure more or

number
sion.

is

combs.

however, quite a host of other modes of

less varied

from the above, and their

doubtless capable of almost unlimited exten-

Mr. Langstroth, in the tenth chapter of his "

Honey

Bee," describes a considerable variety of them, nearly

of which are

accomplished wholly or

in

part

all

by the

ARTIFICIAL S HARMING.

VI.]

The

process of driving.

commends

as

swarming.

Two

he particularly

following

"re-

approaching nearest of any to natural

hives exactly alike are placed one above

the other with their entrances different ways

made through

holes

239

they have

their floor-boards to allow of

com-

munication from the crown-board of whichever for the

time occupies the lower position.

Free passage being

thus given from one to the other, a number of the young

bees

use the upper entrance.

will

a swarm

is

After

some ten days

driven from the lower and received into the

upper, upon which the positions of the hives are reversed,

the forced swarm being put below.

bees

will unite

lower entrance

Most of the mature

with the swarm from association with the

;

but the young ones which have habituated

themselves to the upper one

will

now

cling to the parent

stock and form a sufficient strength to keep

it

properly

In the course of a few days the upper hive

going.

may

be placed by the side of the lower, and then, by successive short steps,
apiary.

If

it

removed

to

any other part of the

was found that either hive was too weak

the positions should be again reversed.

When

driving

is

the

method

resorted

to,

it

becomes

absolutely essential, in forcing a swarm, that the queen

should go with the new colony

it

is

but on the other hand

not in this case the object to drive all the bees

from

the

to preserve

queen.

parent stock,

warmth

but to leave,

for the

If therefore the

brood and

queen

is

say,

a quarter

to raise a

new

not observed in the

BEE MANIPULATION.

240
of the

ascent

bees

after

[Ch.

drumming, those

the

swarm must be turned and shaken over

in

order to find her (they will not attempt to

An

crawl).

and

in that case

will

it

stands for a short time

be best to

the

and the old on some other

one which
o

may still

inexperienced eye

Should

the royal presence.

in the

the skep in
fly,

but only

to detect her,

both hives upon

set

new one on the old stand

when within half an hour the

may be judged

quiet

is fairly

fail

v.

this

to

be possessed

be the old hive

it

must be again drummed, or the swarm may be returned

to
is,

and the operation renewed on a following day.

it

however, only with skep hives that any

this

kind need be apprehended

there

is

It

diiificulty

of

always the power

of capturing and transferring the queen from movable

When

frames.

swarm

is

she

at last

secured,

number of bees

and the

is

after

that have

stock retains one-half

and the swarm take

its

it

in the

accompanied

may be moved

place

desired hive

the

measures depend on the

to a

If the

her.

new

position

upon the old stand.

Which-

ever occupies this latter post will detach largely from the
strength of the other, so that the reduction undergone

by the parent stock

be able to

As
2 25),

will

not be more than

it

will

probably

sustain.

detailed in the above article

there

is

a third hive

made

on " Driving
use of in

"

(page

this

case,

which has received the bees that returned home during

the operation, and these are

may most

require them.

now added

to

whichever

hi\'e

Should too many have gone

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.

VI.]

over with the swarm, this latter

set in a cool

restored to

it,

occurrence

wherever

this

taken away and

old hive

and out of the

once

third hive will at

and the impression made upon them by the

be such that they

will

placed.

it is

must be close

kept where

It

it is

at

for a

now

cling to

it

must be forthwith removed

to

hand, so that

will

if still

short of bees

entrance should be closed

its

until sunset as a precaution against robbers,

The

as to stop ventilation.

permanent

swarm

the forced

if

day or two a good number may

desert to the old stock;

their

carefully

is

the bees which were dis-

intended permanent position, but

its

is

when

old stand,

its

tractedly flitting in

rush into

may be

airy place, while the

241

hive,

but not so
.

forced swarm,

now be

must

not in

if

treated

as

ordinary transfer, and their fixed abode be brought

Some

the evening to the old stand.

may be needed

at

and

first,

suggested,
at

and

if

in very cool weather the

rare

process of driving

artificial

left,

page 236
for the

is

good fortune

but even

sake of

is

no

its

\vith

even

the only

there appears

as

method of

hives, except

obtainin

such

the one mentioned on

frame hives

rapidity.

if

stock.

swarms from cottage

cases of

There

arrangement just

inconvenient to complete the operation

no need on account of the old

The

all.

deserting in the

once the swarm may be so

ing

in

additional covering

operation should not be attempted at

fear of all the bees

an

it is

often practised

But with an experienced

operator the same result can be achieved by simply taking

16

BEE MANIPULATION.

242

[Ch.

V.

out the frames one by one and jerking off the bees on to
the sheet in front of the

new pei-manent

which the queen

will

it is

is

found

queen, brood, and workers.

many

and deposited

that

on

If the

swarm

is

being

must be taken with the

collected in a skep the queen

fingers

hive

be inserted therein just as

while the bees from as

therein,

frames as are needful must be shaken in after her.

There

enough

is

sometimes a doubt whether a hive

to yield a

is

strong

swarm, though apparently overstocked.

In such cases there

is

an excellent plan, devised by Mr.

Langstroth and strongly approved by Mr. Cheshire, for

On

obtaining a single swarm out of two hives.

able morning,

drum

when

a strong stock

large
till

a suit-

numbers are upon the wing,

every bee has

forced swarm on ,the old stand

left

Place the

it.

this of course consists of

bees in an unfurnished hive, while the old hive has lost all
its

bees, but retains

its

brood.

Remove

this hive to

the

stand of another strong stock, the hive of which goes to

a third spot with the bees inside

at the time.

it

Those

and
new queen ; while

of this last which were upon the wing will enter

remain with the

first

hive and raise a

sufficient will

be transferred with the second stock hive

to protect

brood

its

also.

Thus the

bees to the swarm, but the whole of

gives the larger half of

its

bees.

first

its

for

drumming; but

to shake off every bee without

no

the second

If frame hives are the

ones used, the shaking process of the

be substituted

stock gives

brood

as

it

last paragraph may

may not be possible

damaging the combs, a

QUEEN-REARING.

VI T.]

243

goose wing should be employed to brush

off the

more

tenacious of the occupants.

modifications consist in either obtaining one

Other

swarm out of

four or five hives, or else one less than their

own number

out of the same.

hives) two

new

For the former (frame

combs may be taken from each and placed

hive,

which

is

For the

strong stock.

in

then set upon the stand of some

latter,

a swarm

is

forced, after or

before working hours, from each of these hives, while

another swarm, that has been procured from some bee-

keeper a mile or two

place,

is

off,

now shaken on

and has been kept

softly

and divided equally or

as required

The

have yielded the swarms.

keep

among

the hives that

distance that these bees

prevent them from returning to their

will

it

scooped up with a saucer

from taking wing, and

have come

in a cool

to a sheet, sprinkled to

own

home.
VII.

Perhaps

the

hive possesses

of

its

QUEEN-REARING.
the

movable-frame

that a full knowledge,

can be attained

advantage

greatest

is,

exact state as regards the queen, the population,

and the quantity of food

in stock.

a genial temperature the combs

During weather of

may on any

fine-day

be inspected, and thus, a knowledge being gained of the

deficiency existing in a hive, the necessary

be adopted
examination

for supplying the want.

will

verify

the

fears

means may

Sometimes such an
of

the

bee-keeper.

BEE MANIPULATION.
when, having observed that

his

[Ch. v.

bees have ceased to

warning that

carry in pollen, he has thereby received

the queen has been lost at

some juncture when no

cessor to the throne could be

has entered on a downward

away

entirely,

and

course

suc-

Such a hive

provided.

will

dwindle

unless a queen should be given to

it,

or

some combs containing young brood not many days

By the latter method the bee-keeper
old (see page i6).

else

will

gain an opportunity of seeing the

their

wonderful process

brood thus provided

practicable the colony

An

ingenious

use by

little

continental

for

of raising a

them.

bees set about

queen from the

means

If neither

must be united

to

some other

is

hive.

contrivance has been brought into

bee-keepers,

/^^l^fc^^

Herr

by

especially

Kleine,

German

pastor, to prevent the

alluded

destruction
to.

small
fact,

consists of a

It

cage

wire

(in

a pipe cover), as

represented

annexed

in

the

illustration,

placed over a queen

cell to protect

it

from

the mother bee's animosity.

It also serves

to prevent the

young

queen, when hatched,-

QUEEN-REARING.

VII.]

from escaping
towards her

The

hive.

have the same jealous feeling

for she will

should there be more in the

sister princesses,

may

bee-master

245

thus

carefully

remove and

appropriate her.
Particular attention will have to be exercised to affix

the cage into the

wall,

As

comb by

pressure, as far as the middle

but at no point must

it

touch the royal

the cage will probably project

adjoining comb, a
tion

may be

little

and removal of a por-

incision

necessary to allow space for

it.

This covering need not be put over the

egg

is

little

the reigning

more than a week

are unmolested

fertile

care

the

apimosity of

brood approaches maturity.

itself

These

cells

on the tenth day, but on the eleventh

day they may be found

frequently

cell until

The

old.

queen does not generally manifest

until the royal

apiarian's

cell itself.

touch the

so as to

and

experienced

young queens

Notwithstanding the

tenantless.

skill,

in

at the

many disappointments
endeavouring

are

establish

to

head of colonies.

Hives found to be queenless may be supplied either

with matured queens or with queen

cells.

are sufficiently numerous, their introduction

be effected by exchanging a comb

in

have to be cut out and placed loosely

triangular piece of

If the latter'

may

each hive
in the

new

easily
if

they

hive, a

comb should then be removed

with

them, to be used as a block in preventing any pressure

coming on them.

middle

combs of

in the centre

space must be

cut

out of the

the hive into which they

BEE MANIPULA TION.

246

They must not be

are to be introduced.

be

in

danger of

melted

little

[Ch. v.

falling out,

but

if

so loose as to

such seems likely a

wax should be applied

a feather.

fl'ith

Special care must be exercised not to bruise the royal

embryos, as a very slight pressure

It is

within three or four days of

known
of the
It is

less

is

to be the case

coming

be

likely to

important not to perform the operation

forth,

fatal.

they are

till

which may be

from the brown look of the tops

the wax having been removed.

cells,

always easier to introduce royal brood into queen-

hives than matured

queens, because

bees

are re-

luctant to receive stranger queens, whilst they will tolerate

one hatched
a drone.

in the hive,

who

will speedily

depart to seek

Bee-masters mostly use small hi\es for queen-

rearing, as explained in the section

(page 197).

It is

on " Nucleus Hives

"

not however indispensable to use other

than the ordinary hives, and Mr. Langstroth gives the

mode

following as the very best

empty hive on the top of a

of jffocedure.

Place an

well-filled one, giving

com-

munication through crown and floor boards and turning

their entrance.?' opposite

ways (one of

his plans,

bye, for procuring an artificial swarm).

will

many

of them take to the upper hive

must be enticed
sufficient of

into

it

them, a brood

by food

comb

and

nucleus hive

and another,

if

may be removed,

desired, take

its

if

when

not they
there are

with adhering bees must

be inserted and the connection closed.

this

by the

The young bees

After a few days

a few steps at a time,

place and be raised in

the same way.

QUEENS.

Royal

are abundant.

together that

cells are often built so close

difficult to

247

Queen-rearing operations must be con-

warm weather and when drones

fined to

remedy

NEW

INTRODUCING

viii.j

for this Dr.

Dzierzon has

made

the important

may be made

discovery that any convenient worker cell

to produce a queer; by the removal to

royal jelly from an unsealed cell

it is

As a

remove one without injuring another.

of some of the

it

by placing

this

on the

inner margin of the cell selected, the bees will adopt and
rear the larva as desired.

VIII.

This

is

INTRODUCING

an operation that

is

NEW

QUEENS.

continually being practised

for the purpose of Italianising a colony,

other occasions for

We

superannuation of the old queen.

place describe the

mode

to

be removed.

will

in the first

of procedure with a frame hive.

Should the old queen be remaining

first

though there are

adoption, as on the loss or the

its

in the hive, she has

Having discovered

her,

by

lifting

out and examining the frames (see page 271), place a

wineglass over her whilst on the comb, and, with a card

passed very carefully underneath, she may, with a few

of her subjects, be made a prisoner and

easily

She should be preserved in a small box

till

of

the

new

introduction

is

ascertained.

removed.

the success

Then, having

enclosed the new queen, with such of her retinue

as are with her, in the

page 199, place

this

domed

if

any

wire cage described at

cage upon the

comb

in a spot

where

BEE MANIPULATION.

248
there

is

little

honey, so that she

of the bees for food, and as near

press

it

comb

into the

[Ch.

may be independent
the brood as may be
i

as far as the middle,

and close the

hive and leave the bees undisturbed for three days

will

The

mostly

suffice,

but

is

it

best to be

on the

now be cut away with

new queen may be carefully

one that permits

antennae,

all

restored to

be

will
its

a penknife, and then the

If the

released.

for her
well,

if

hive

is

position

and caress her with

If

their

and the comb may be gently

and the hive shut

But

up.

they cluster in a ball around her, her death

and

less

her reception should be watched.

it,

make way

the bees

safe side.

commenced

royal cells that are sure to have been

should

v.

is

if

intended

they cannot readily be induced to separate they

should be taken out and dropped into lukewarm water

(which

will

encaged
already

for

hurt

none of them), and the queen

another day or so

that

met her doom, which

is

all

re-

she has not

is, if

uncertain

Mr.

Langstroth says he has had several queens stung to

death before they had quitted his fingers

effecting her release, then shutting

We

prefer

up the hive and leaving

the bees quietly to themselves.

We may

remark

here with

regard to these

acts

of

surrounding a new queen, that they evidently arise from

a great

number rushing upon her

at

once

for the

purpose

of stinging her, but that very frequently such purpose

frustrated

by the immovable position

bees are held.

in

is

which the inner-

Suffocation however will soon effect the,

IXTRODUCnXG

viir.]

same end
on the

if

QUEJ:NS.

which friendly bees surround a queen

from others, and sometimes the knot

to protect her

of

249

There are cases,

the ball be not dispersed.

contrary, in

made up

NEW

members of both

enclosing the queen at

The

all.

is

perhaps without

parties,

hissing

note will at

once distinguish a hostile onset from a protecting

rally.

With the Renfrewshire cage (page 199 as above) all the

variation needed is to place the cage between instead of
within the combs, so as to permit of the queen's release

The

at the bottom.

an advantage

inventor considers that this gives

introducing her majesty in

in

the

first

place to those bees that have been engaged in feeding

her

but, as already noticed,

it is

familiarising with her presence,

and that

is

not the feeding, but the

which

is

the great point,

surely quite as well accomplished with the

other cage as

There

this.

is

also here

no opportunity,

as in the other case, of being certain whether she

received or not, so

that

is

well

we always put a good-sized

board under the entrance, and examine the next day

whether she has been thrown out dead or not.
In effecting the exchange with cottage hives, the bees

must
at

first

be driven out into another hive

page 226), and

after the

must be sprinkled with a

old queen

little

is

(as

described

removed they

water flavoured with a drop

of extract of peppermint (to be obtained of any chemist),

which overcomes the particular hive-scent, and makes

all

smell alike

then throw the new queen in

them and place the mass of them back

among

in the hive.

If

BEE MANIPULATION.

250
preferred,

an eke (page i86) may be placed on the stand,

bees precipitated into

the

and the hive of combs

it,

placed above, \Yhen the bees

done

As

well received.
cells,

there

ascend.

will

queen

in the evening the

queen

[Ch. v.

If this

no opportunity of excising

is

the process should be performed, say, in the

middle of October, when breeding has ceased.

ing the bees with fungus

approved of and declared

strange queen

to

be

bees, whether she be ItaKan

and

has been highly

it

infallible.

generally

is

Stupefy-

a method devised by Hiiber

is

as applicable in any kind of hive,

is

most cases be

in

will

-^vell

received by young

or English

for

we have

never found the slightest difference in reception, though

Mr. Wagner (Langstroth's "

of opinion that there
foreigner.

The

Honey

difficulty is to

of such young bees.

Bee," page 325) was

more opposition

is

have a

in the case of the

sufficient

number

In the middle of a hot summer's

day a stock may be divided and the part with the old

queen
with as

left

in

its

former position, while the other

many brood combs

be removed a few yards

been brought with the

as

off.

it is

prudent to take,

The

part,

may

old bees that have

latter will in three or four

hours
have most of them returned to their former abode, and
the

new queen may then

\\\\\-\

safety

be given to the

remainder without caging, taking care to introduce her

to the

young bees on the combs.

This task must only

be attempted on a warm midsummer day and when the

night temperature need not be feared for the young

ITALIANISING.

IX.]

brood

and
of

swarms formed

May

queens

from

in this way-

the beginning of July

to

It requires

stocks

end

the apiarian. has

if

ITALIANISING.'

a considerable amount of apiarian

accomplish the union of Italian with

we

divided
the

in readiness.

IX.

that

may be

Stocks

in its deserted condition.

artificial

251

find

or

desirable

by experience

skill to

bees,

This

is

particularly

that the packing of whole hives

is

so easily

We

accomplished by us with the aid of bars and frames.

have sent a great number of stocks to

all

parts

by

as the introduction of fertile Italian queens

Still,

so-

best to send out complete

it is

swarms of the former.

now

common

rail.
is

frequent practice, and we are ourselves large importers of

the same,

it

is

only right to add some directioiis as to

the course to be pursued where such union

upon.

is

resolved

These queens come over during the summer

months, from

May

wooden boxes about

to

They

October.

are

packed

inches square, with a

five

in

comb

of

sealed honey in a frame in the centre to feed the queen

and the few workers

The

old queen

that

should

but carefully preserved

accompany her on the

first
till

it

is

goes well with the stranger.

latter

journey.

be removed from the hive,

must now be prised open,

ascertained whether

The box

arid this should

within doors, lest the queen should

fly

all

containing the

and be

be done

lost.

On

discovering her she must be placed in a queen-cage and

BEE MAMPULATIOX.

252

new

gradually introduced to her

[Ch.

subjects in the

\-.

manner

explained under that article (pages 198 and 247).

If this

is

successfully accomplished all

right so far

is

but unless considerable pains be taken the off-coming

swarms mil certainly produce mongrel bees.

If

none of

the neighbouring residents are bee-keepers, the risk

may

be considerably narrowed by destroying the drones and

drone comb
to place
possible.

in the other hives

at the

and rearing

Italian

queens

head of each of these as speedily as

Every one of these queens, even

from an undesired source,

will

still

if

impregnated

produce drones as

purely Italian as herself (see page 64), and thus in another

year the chance of Italian mates being found for the

queens

will

be further increased

indeed the peculiarity

of Italian queens in laying drone eggs in

'Ca&xx first

probably produce this result more speedily.

will

should some hybrids be the

But

result, as in all probability

will

be the case, even these are

the

common

black bee

year

some

much

be preferred to

to

say (see page 53) that

they are even better than pure Italians for honey-gathering,

but they are more

This course

is

irascible.

undoubtedly in opposition to the design

of Nature to avoid interbreeding, but

Hunter recommending
place that he perceives

By commencing

it,

it

evil

when not

find even

to

in

be a violation of

Mr.

another

his " law.

with two Italian queens there might be

more chance given of escape from the

an

we

though shomng

evil

several times repeated.

if it

Von

really is

Berlepsch,

ITALIANISING.

^ IX.]

253

however, informs us of the following method, devised by

Dathe and
avoided
"

by which even

others,

may be

this objection

When

the young queen has

the

left

cell,

she

is

trans-

ferred after forty-eight hours, or even earlier, into a cellar

or

some other dark and cool

one of which the impregnation

not

among

the

If the drones,

place.
is

colony of the queen, they also must of

We now

course be inserted.

wait for a sunny day free

from wind, when the thermometer

17" above zero [70 Fahr.]
five in the afternoon,

in the

shade

hole

spot, if possible

when drones have

completely ceased

sport in

numbers

then,

oeuvre

is

laying, or

is

some

liquid

honey

in the front, and2it will not

be long

At evening

fly out.

brought back into custody, and the man-

repeated
till

in

In a minute or two the bees will

before the queen and drones also

the colony

up

flight-

by means of a small

other way, direct

into the flight-hole.

set

where isolated and with the

exposed to the sun

syringe or in any

at least

is

the''bees in question, towards

from flight, are fetched out of their prison, and

any

by

be accomplished, are

to

till

the young queen has

her accomplished fructification

commenced
made sure

is

by expansion of the abdomen, or, upon return from a

flight, by having the more or less torn-off drone penis
upon her

extremity."

Some

essential particulars are not

here specified, but we interpret the instructions to refer

to a nucleus hive in which the

queen

is

hatched with

several workers, "but with no drones present except those

BEE MANIPULATION.

254

specially introduced.
birth,

these, also

v.

from their

from the progeny of a different queen from the

mother of the one

made

By choosing

[Ch.

in the nucleus, all

as straightforward as could

who

Berlepsch,

method

no friend

is

may

apparently be

Even Von

be desired.

to the Italians, praises this

as a " beautiful discovery

"

it

dates only fron\

1867.

GENERAL HINTS ON FRAME HIVES.

X.

It

may

Why

not unnaturally be asked by some,

No

trouble about frame hives ?

carefully read the previous sections of this

especially those

on

"Artificial

all this

who has
chapter, and

one, however,

Swarming" and

"

Queen-

Rearing," can require any further answer to such question.Briefly,

from the

The

frame hives stand immeasurably above others

full

facility

conmiand over the bees which they

afford.

of inspection for ascertaining the strength of

the colony or the stock of

its

honey, or for incidental

purposes, such as the detection of disease and the

pation of enemies such as the bee-moth,
faciUties

extir-

and again the

provided for giving ventilation or for contracting

the dimensions to suit a small population, are

minor but

still

hives secures.

among

the

great advantages which the use of these

In

skilful

hands these advantages may be

used successfully ; though in the hands of the unpractised

and

unskilful the contrary

It is

in

may be

a great desideratum that

the result.

all

the bars

and frames

an apiary should be of precisely the same dimensions,

GENERAL HINTS ON FRAME HIVES.

X.]

so as to

fit

every hive.

hive that

is

weakly

may

255
often

be advantageously strengthened by having put into

comb

of brood from a populous stock, to which an

frame from the weak one

be on the brood-comb
gently dislodged with a

comb

the

is

taken.

may be

-these

The frames

one by one, placed so as

the

empty frame nearest the

to

fill

combs should then

in the vacancy, leaving,

gives the following excellent description of his

very simple, but

is,

is

He

says

one that requires

"The method
much attention,
:

however, well repaid by the extra quantity of

honey obtained.

The

hives I use

are

the

ten-frame

Woodbury, and thirteen-frame on the Woodbury

only longer.
clean hives

In the autumn

plan,

transfer the bees into

and leave them seven or

eight frames,

should they be short of food or of bees

may

or

side.

system of working frame hives.

which

ofif

which

yonrnal of March 1875, Mr.

In the British Bee

is

of

no bees must

should be shaken

feather into the hive from

be,

Cowan

given

it

empty

and

add those

take from the cottagers in the neighbourhood.

feed with sugar and water of the strength of two pounds

of sugar to a pint of water boiled a few minutes.

are fed

up

to a weight of thirty pourids.

they have ample ventilation

They

During winter

the hives being raised about

one-eighth of an inch from the floor-board, and the top

board
is

is

also raised about the

a constant current of

am on

air

same

height, so that there

through the hive.

the subject of wintering I

While

may mention

that I

BEE MANIPULATION.

2 56

have tried several plans.

been

free

[Ch.

the above

'\\'ith

from mouldy combs.

v.

have always

have also tried winter-

ing without crown-boards, by merely placing an empty

super on the top, and I have

honey
have

last

am

my

on some of

trying the quilts

my

hives,

opinion about them until later on.

generally supply

my

bees with plenty of food in the

about the end of February, when,

bees

in

Condensers

autumn, so that they require no further attention

the

but give the preference to crown-boards with-

but must reserve

I

successfully

the largest quantity of

year was wintered in this way.

tried,

out them.

"

done so

the hive which' produced

fact,

are

all

if

the weather

until

is fine,

thoroughly roused into activity and

induced to commence and continue breeding

until the

honey-gathering season commences, by which time every

frame

in the hive

so strong that
to ensure a
is

fine,

with brood, and the hives are

make an

easy to

hives

and

If the weather
if

cold,

then

longef) the bees are transferred into clean

in this

the community.
hive.

swarm and

artificial

besides.

about the end of February (or

little

bury

is filled

good supply of honey

defer a
;

it is

way

Now

get to

suppose

know
it

is

the exact state of

a ten-frame

Wood-

do not return the whole of the eight frames

which the bees had

for

mntering on, but only from

to six of the centre ones,

hive to the six frames.

and contract the

five

of the

then unseal the honey-cells of

two of the frames, and allow the honey

inside the hive.

size

to

run

This thoroughly rouses the bees

down
;

and

GENERAL HINTS ON FRAME HIVES.

X.]

Ae

queen

at

once begins to

tlie

The running honey

lay.

very soon collected and stored

and

in a few days I

same with a couple more frames, and so on

frames have been unsealed.

the

advantage, as

much

and which the bees

257

of the honey that has granulated,

will

not touch,

is

removed by them

out of the hive, and gives them increased space.

"

pose

now commence
I

'

very gentle feeding, for which pur-

use the very fine strainers found in Loysell's coffee-

percolators,

and allow each hive from a quarter

to half a

pint of food a day, of the strength of about three

of sugar

to-

When

a quart of water.

in three or four of the frames I

and serve

eight;

them

then when there are

will

be

do

until all

a great

find this

is

suflficiently

added.

in the

six

there

is

pounds

sealed brood

add two more

same manner

making

as the rest

with sealed brood, the colony

strong to have the remaining frames

The same plan is adopted with the thirteenThey must be constantly watched so as not
them to store too much food, which would

frame hive.
to allow

diminish the space for egg-laying

and

such

if

found

is

to be the case, food should be withheld for a day or two,

or until they are getting short of

them going from day

to

day

might happen that a hive

point

might,

food

for existence,

there

is

if

full

In

it.

this

watch them
of bees

way

keap

carefully, or

and

at

it

swarming

not watched and suppUed with requisite

swarm or decamp.

So by the time

an abundance of honey abroad the hives are

completely

filled

with bees and contain brood in every

17

BEE MANIPULATION.

2S8

frame hive

and then

it is

that I put

[Ch. v.

my

on

and

supers

discontinue stimulative feeding.

" In the place of the crown-board I place a sheet of

five-thirty-second perforated zinc,

The

hive and five inches deep.

bars which are sawn

down

and supers same

the centre, enabling

a strip of impressed wax sheet without any

or two the crown-board of super

is

me

and

The

The

in a

removed, and

a second super without top board between the

hive.

as

to fix

difficulty.

bees generally take to these supers at once

and stock

size

supers are provided with

day

place

first

one

supers are also provided with traps

[page 201] to enable bees to leave after they have deposited

Now

their load, instead of passing through the stock hive.

it

sometimes happens that

fine

for

some days the weather

and the bees begin storing a

large quantity of

is

honey

in the supers (as they have no room in the stock hive),

when suddenly the weather changes and cold sets in. As

soon as
bees,
it

this

and

if

happens

remove the supers and watch the

they require small quantities of food

give

them, and when the fine weather returns they go again

into the supers

when replaced on

times takes only a week to

fill

In this way it some-

top.

a thirty-eight or forty pound

super with some of the best honey that can be obtained

in this part of the country

[Horsham].

queens and generally select young and

Agreeing as we do very

Cowan

much

we commend them
out of inteUigent and painstaking
gives,

discard old

prolific egg-layers."

with

the hints

Mr.

to the careful carrying

apiarians.

REMOVING BEES.

xi.]

259

XL REMOVINC; BEES.

vety great advantage that frame hives afford

safety

is

the

and convenience with which a stock of bees can be

transported in

them

to

any part of the kingdom or abroad

by a few additional arrangements stocks have even been

them

sent in

to distant

removed

hives are

to

countries.

many

In

moors and heaths

the purpose of gathering heather honey.

districts

autumn,

in

In

for

this opera-

tion the frames are a great support to the combs, very

much

lessening the risk of a break-down and consequent

loss.

The proper

course to pursue in this case

is

to

remove

the crown-board, and nail across from side to side two

strips

wood

of

with smaller pieces fastened on them so

as to secure each frame in position.

of perforated zinc over the top

may be

crown-board

is

break

will

the two

If not going far

if

at

if

this

any rate have

most urgent

is

they are

new and the

nearly certain to ruin them.

best for

is

it

between two; but

used must

scrupulously carried length-

and

warm, even with that precaution any but the

most careful hand carriage

It is

if

without allowing the bees to

The combs must be

ways, or they

weather

nail a sheet

screwed down, when,

will secure ventilation

escapq.

Then

or in default of that the

not over an eighth Of an inch in thickness,

strips are

they

in

is

the hive to be borne;

impracticable the vehicle

springs.

making such a

transfer that the

26o

BEE MANIPULATION.

most ample

venlilatlon shoiild be allowed.

and

are of course gorged at the time,

[Ch.

The bees

in that condition

they are most particularly in need of air

other hand

attendant on carriage,

while on the

irritates

make such a commotion,

causes them to

them and

that without

stringent precautions they

would very probably be

and of course the

colony the greater

finer the

With an ordinary skep

supply of

this

ensured at the top, so that

is

the fact of their imprisonment, together with

the shaking

journey

v.

it

becomes

to last longer than an

the hive.

the danger.

air

cannot be

necessary,

if

the

hour or two, to invert

mth

This must be done

stifled,

is

and

great caution

always in the direction in which the combs run.

sheet

of perforated zinc on a board, or a piece of coarse canvas

may

or cheese-cloth,

then be nailed or otherwise fastened

with string over the base, thus taking the place of the
floor-board,

done

and

in such a

If the journey
it

it

is

needless to say that this should be

manner

is

that not a single bee can escape.

likely to

be one of more than a few hours

not do to employ any soft material, as

will

in that time be gnawed through

answer as well as perforated

As a preliminary
blown
after

to

it

would

but wire-cloth

would

zinc.

any remove, smoke should be

in at the entrance repeatedly during half

which

it

may be judged

that

all

an hour,

on the wing

will

have returned.

For carrying a swarm, either a skep or

box or anything

will serve,

carried

mouth upwards

and

in the

it

must be secured and

same way.

SUPPLYING NATURAL COMB.

xn.]

SUPPLYING NATURAL COMB.

XII.

We

261

have spoken above (page 187) of the great value

of sheets or strips of wax for assisting the bees in the

But when, through another

building of their combs.

hive having lost

bees at an early stage, the combs

its

themselves can be supplied them in good and plean condition, the

may be
is

advantage

is

much

very

adopted on transferring

full

he can simply

Every

plentiful, every other bar,

manner

in the following

of the required
heat a

the bar

comb

may be

as

224).

satisfied if

pure white guide-comb with which

insert

to start the bees.

less

same plan

honeycomb (page

Generally speaking the bee-keeper

comb

Such combs

greater.

fixed in frame hives exactly in the

common

bar, or

is

not
it

say two inches square, not

size,

then melt a

comb

the

Cut a piece of clean empty

flat

if

should have a piece fixed to

iron, with

little

which

bees'-wax

upon

slightly
it

warm

draw the

it down on the
movement backwax to grow cold,

quickly over the heated iron, hold

centre of the bar, giving a very slight

wards and forwards

and,

if

cleverly

then leave the

managed, the guide

will

be found firmly

attached.

Care must be taken that the pitch or inclina-

tion of the

comb

is

the

same

as

is

it

in the hives

up-

wards from the centre of each comb.

When
become

a hive has been in use

very black,

leaves a film behind.

way the

cells

many

and every bee

become

It

that

years the
is

bred in a

may be understood

contracted,

combs

how. in

cell

this

and the bees that are

BEE MANIPULATION.

262

[Ch.

bred in them correspondingly reduced in

lapse

years

say, five

of,

it

removing the old combs.

v.

After the

size.

may be necessary to begin

This may be done by cutting

away the combs, or by substituting an empty frame

for

one with old black comb, gradually moving the frames

By taking two away in this manner

summer of every season, the combs in

towards each other.

in the spring or

may

course of five years

all

be reconstructed, and fresh

clean ones be secured for breeding

in,

instead of the old

black ones that otherwise would remain as long as the

stock could live in the hive.

Guide-combs can

may be

filled,

also

be used with

These

glasses.

with great regularity, by adopting the

fol-

lowing directions, which, we believe, have never before

appeared in print

Procure a piece of clean, new, empty, worker honey-

comb, which has not had honey

will

prevent adhesion to the glass)

in

(because honey

it

cut

it

about three-quarters of an inch square.

the exterior of the glass (this

we

find

into pieces of

Gently

is

warm

best done by

holding the glass horizontally for a short time over the

flame of a candle)

empty comb inside

at the part

fixing

it,

upwards

that the

in fact,

making the

it

place
it

of the

the guide-comb

in

care, in
cells is

the

same

occupied in the hive or glass

was taken.

glass

warmed, taking

pitch or inclination

relative position that

from which

then apply one of the pieces of

There

is

some danger of
wax

too warm, which will cause the

SUPPLYING NATURAL COMB.

xii.]

to melt

and run down the

appearance on the glass

an unsightly

leaving

side,

but a

little

263

experience

will

enable the operator to determine the degree of warmth

sufficient

make

to

being melted.

comb adhere

the

It is

without .any of

it

hardly necessary to state that only

the very whitest combs ought to be used.

short time

should be allowed before changing the position of the

may

cool sufficiently to hold the cortib

glass, so that

it

in

Six or eight pieces

its

that,

place.

when

the

all

the glass

combs

is

may

filled, it will

from

radiating

thus be fixed, so

present a star shape,

the- centre.

The

antiexed illustration shows the appear-

ance

-of a glass as

worked by the

which guide-combs were fixed

after

filled

Old Museum

manner

The drawing was taken

described above.
of our own,

bees, in

in the

at the

froiii

being thus furnished.

a glass

In the

Royal Gardens, Kew, may be seen

Taylor's glass, presented

by

us,

some of the combs

in which are elongated on the outside to the breadth of

six inches.

We
that

account,

guide-comb

most

but

space and in

on

much

believe that not only does a glass present a

handsomer appearance when thus worked

less

fully

that

and

will,

on

reward the trouble of fixing

more honey

time than

if

is

stored in the

same

the glass be merely placed

the hive in a naked condition for the bees to follow

their

own

course.

This

mode

of fixing guide-comb

does not solely apply to the above-shaped

glass,

tut

is

BEE MANIPULATION.

264

equally useful for

flat

kinds of glasses.

It is

top and no knob, the regularity

is

v.

introduced
its

having

more

clearly

with this glass because, from

in connection

all

[Ch.

apparent.

The working of bees in the bell glasses illustrates

how tractable their disposition really is if only scope is
due exercise of

allowed for the

They have no

secrets in their

their natural instinct.

economy, and they do not

shrink from our constant observation as they daily pur-

sue their simple policy of continuous

vering accumulation.

Yet

of successive inventors

watch

" the

and perse-

thrift

only owing to the labours

it is

we are now enabled to

that

very pulse of the

machine

"

of the bee

commonwealth.

"Long

from the eye of

Involved in darkness

man and
all their

face of day,

customs lay.

Until a sage well versed in Nature's lore,

A genius formed all science to explore,

Hives well contrived

And

in crystal frames disposed,

there the busy citizens disclosed."

Murphy's VAxiiRE.

Supposing the hive to be a stock (page

should be applied
fine

of

and warm,

May

but

at the latter

if

the weather

end of April or beginning

is

better to delay doing so until a

If the colony

is

8i), the super

at the early part of the season, say, if

then unfavourable

more

it

is

genial temperature.

a swarm of the present year, two or

APPLYING SUPERS.

xni.]

265

three weeks should be allowed to elapse from the time

of tenanting a hive before putting on the super

delay

building

combs

store of

honey

master.

The

in their

new

domicile,

for themselves before

exact time *

will,

be the more incited

and having commenced

covering

is

will

the super.
their work,

be offered by the

some warm

if

it,

at night,

when much

important to wrap

is

convenient for bell glasses).

is

in filling

to continue

it

further

so that

in

bag

inducement

comb to the
may be. The cells

on the outside or by the window are always the

filled,

it

(a baize

fixing of a piece of

bars or ventilating tube, as the case

be

much

commence

some warm material

flannel or worsted, or

'

to

placed over the glass

comb-building goes on,

getting a

applies to the subse-

quent time occupied by the bees

will

and of

working for their

however, depend

upon the weather, and the same

They

this

necessary to give the bees the opportunity of

is

when

these are sealed over

it

last to
is

safe

to conclude that the rest are also complete.

When

wished to use a super with a frame hive,

is

it

the crown-board or roof of the stock hive

must

be taken

away, the thin adapting or honey board, or perforated zinc

excepting

place

of course where the

adapter, taking

its

crown-board

provided with openings for the purpose.

The two

long

* There

is

rangements

when

this

is

is.

slits

at the sides are to give

the nick of time before bees

for

swarming, but the

make

admission to

their internal ar-

difficulty is to

know

precisely

BEE MANIPULATION.

;66

The bees

the super.
if

will

[Ch. v.

begin sooner, and work

the bars are each furnished with guide-comb

scribed

been

the

in

left

Combs

previous section).

faster,

(as de-

that

have

unfilled may be fixed to the bars, but these must

be white and clean, as dark comb should not be used

for

super hives.

operation of taking honey

The

sunny day.

fine

REMOVING SUPERS.

XIV.

best performed on a

is

The combs may be

extracted singly,

if

empty bar or

wished, for consumption, substituting an

comb; or, should the bee-keeper desire to see a handsome super, he must wait until the bees have filled and
sealed up all the combs, and then he may proceed to
If a bell glass, he will

disconnect the super.

table-knife

round

first

pass a

underneath the rim; then with a

it

piece of string or fine wire, one end in each hand, he will

very

slowly sever

the

remaining connection with the

board, so as to allow of the bees getting out of the way.

Wait an hour or so

for the

commotion

to subside

give the bees time to repair broken cells

spilt

honey.

smoke,
hive

after

may be

Then

raise the glass

which the
inserted,

close

it

and above

prisoners.

and blow

it

another piece of zinc

and hold the bees

may be concluded

in

must see whether they

manifest symptoms of uneasiness, because,

it

in a little

After having confined theni

the glass for a short time you

not,

to

slide that closes the roof of the

that will cover the base of the super

in

and

and suck up

that the

queen

is

if

they do

among them.

REMOVING SUPERS.

.xiv.]

In such a case, replace the

majesty

is

and 'recommence the

glass,

operation on a future day.

267

that

her

in the depriving-hive or glass; but, this

cir-

It

not often

is

cumstance does sometimes happen, and the removal

When

such a time must be avoided.

at

the bees that are

prisoners run about in great confusion

and

restlessness,

may conclude that the queen is absent, and

right.
The glass may be taken away a little

the operator
that

all

is

distance
tacle,

and placed

off,

where

taken away

it

will

be

in a flower-pot or other recep-

and the

inverted

the bees will then be glad to

escape back to their hive.

little

make

tin

their

tapping at the sides

render their tarriance uncomfortable,

of the glass

will

and

may

the glass

when

safe

then be taken into a darkened room

or outhouse, with only a small aperture admitting light,

which must be open; the bees,

towards the

light,

and so escape

" Bee-Traps," Chap. IV.

brush them

like all

(see

insects,

description of

The bee-master should

from the comb as they can

xviii.).

off with a feather

be reached ; but on no account should the

super be

left

make

glass or other

exposed and unwatched, because the bees

that have the opportunity will gorge themselves to their

full,

and speedily bring a host of others from the adjacent

hives, who, in a very

empty combs.
carry

all

It is truly

is

over,

time,

would leave only the

marvellous

the store back again,

the honey season

little

if

how soon

allowed to do

so.

they will

Unless

an empty glass should be put on

to the hive in place of the full one, as

it

will attract the

BEE MANIPULATION.

268

[Ch. v.

bees up, thereby preventing the too close crowding of the

hive,

and

starting

them

to

work more honeycomb.

bar or frame super, the

If a

process

first

with a

is

spatula to loosen the adapting-board from the stock hive

after

which the

string is passed

between them as above,

putting in wedges on each side to follow the string.

smoking and expulsion of the bees follow as

Another super

Some
is

of the one removed, or

crown-board must be replaced.

else the

tion

will take the place

The

before.

apiarians, however, are of opinion that depriva-

more

easily

super over night.

accomplished by disconnecting the

In

wedge the super up

Do

board.

after^smoking the bees,

round about an inch from the

this just before dusk,

The opening

night.

this case,
all

in the

and leave

it

so for the

board remains unclosed,

to

allow of the bees joining the stock hive below, which

they

naturally

will

receive

its

do

for

warmth.

The super should

usual cover, and quite early in the morning,

are much about, it will be ready for
The few bees that remain within may be

before the bees

removal.

'

speedily induced to quit.

With a super

opening

be worth while to insert the

at the top

it

will

nozzle of a pair of bellows,

when a few

that

puffs will

has

an

be very

efficacious in driving the occupants out.

It is well for

XV.

REMOVING FRAMES.

a beginner to practise the directions for

opening and shutting up hives, by using an empty hive

REMOVING FRAMES.

XV.]
until

The

269

he becomes familiar with the handling of the frames.

thing to do

first

to loosen the crown-board, or lid,

is

with a knife, drawing a piece of string underneath

make

divide the wax or cement with which the bees

may be

loosened by a lateral movement

want of

but sometimes,

care, this loosening of the lid disturbs the

bees, and, as soon as

enraged

all

slowly, so as not

In hot weather the crown-board

to irritate the bees.

for

done very

All this should be

secure.

to

it,

it

removed, a number of them,

is

and

rush out

thereby,

attack

the

operator.

Especial care should be taken not to prise the lid upwards, by way of wrenching

the frames

for

off,

it

combs

are

liability

of rending the

irritate

the bees, and be otherwise injurious.

generally secured

hive of bees

them;

pacifying

appeased

is

it is

really
if

combs with

it

enraged there

the

first

and there

thereto,
;

and
is

this will greatly

little

is

When

chance of

tokens of anger cannot be

best to " give in " at once,

and not attempt

any operation, but to shut the hive up and

to perform

beat a retreat, benefiting by the experience in order to

do

better a day or

There are various

so afterwards.

devices for intimidating or conciliating the bees, and one

of these, already spoken

of,

is

inch or

which

may

so,

will

and blow a few

let

puffs of

cause the bees to

So next time the

smoke.

experimenter makes his attempt

retreat.

him

raise the lid

smoke

an

into the hive,

Previous to this he

give a puff or two at the entrance, which will help

to produce the quieting

effect.

This

is

best

done by

BEE MANIPULATION.

270

using our tube fumigator, with a

little

[Ch. v.

of the prepared

Pipes or cigars are not convenient to

fungus lighted.

when

use for this purpose

the head

is

enveloped in the

removed a few bees

will fly

out to learn the cause of such an interference.

Con-

As

dress.

ciliation
little

let

soon as the lid

is

should then be offered by having at hand a

sweetened water, which

may be

of the

hand required

sprinkled, or rather-

The sudden motion

drop, from a feather or a brush.*

in the act of sprinkling irritates the

making them our

bees, so that, instead of

may become our foes.

friends, they

Mr. Langstroth recommends that

a fine watering-pot, containing sweetened water, be used

Care must be taken not to drench the

for the purpose.

bees

only just sufficient should be given to run

down
As

the sides of the combs, as well as sprinkle the top.

soon as the insects

understand that syrup is'being

really

given them, they feast upon

Thus

ing the operator.

ment,
with

btit little

the

it,

instead of angrily attack-

pacified,

difficulty will

work required.

and with gentle

treat-

be found in proceeding

But the unskilled operator

should on no account neglect to put on a bee dress and

We

gloves, as described above.

of caution, although there

gloves catches no mice

"

is

make them

An objection

to,

err

and the apiarian

work

as he

this is that

will find that

would

rather clumsy in drawing

from surrounding hives.

on the side

an old saying that " a cat in

his fingers are not so free to

gloves

would

like, for

up the frames.

robber bees are liable to be attracted

REMOVING FRAMES.

xv.]

271

These must now be gently prised up from

rear

this

may be done

wedged end

other stout instrument with a

notches.

They

front to

with a small screw-driver or

to go into the

loosely so as to permit of a slight

fit

movement from back to front; a lateral or sideway

movement might kill the queen, or, if not so fatal as
that, might crush some of the bees and injure the brood
combs, which must be carefully avoided. Of course
much depends upon the nature of the operation that
has to be performed, whether or no

be thus loosened.

If

it

be

for

the frames should

all

making

swarms,

artificial

or for any purpose that requires an interview with her

majesty, the whole of

it

may happen

them must be loosened, because

that all the

combs have

to be examined,

sometimes twice over, before she can be discovered.

Bees are very apt to build their combs

waving form, and in extracting one
to

make room both

it

in

slightly

be needful

will

comb and bees upon

for the

it

to

pass without scraping the next comb, and there will be

difficulty if the

comb

attempts to draw out one

apiarian

whilst the other frames are located in their appro-

priate places.

Where a dummy frame

operation becomes simple

but

operator gently proceed to

slightly nearer to the fourth

on the
*

little

Many hives

if

lift,

there
say,

is
is

the

provided

the-,

none,

the

let

third

frame (allowing

it

frame

to lodge

block that divides the notches),* and the

are

now made without

only to shde the frames.

notches, so that

it is

nectessary

BEE MANIPULATION.

272

second nearer the

to

Very

lift

finger,

of the

shoulders

projecting

and he must not

carefully

sufficient

let

it

space

and slowly he

the frame by taking hold, with

should

notch

admit of

third, so as to

out the end one.

lift

[Ch. v.

that

thumb and
rest

in

the

touch or scrape the

next frame or the sides of the hive, so as to crush, or

irritate

any bees.

After the end

comb

thus removed

is

to extract the others, as there will

for
is

drawing them

out.

now be

it

will

be easy

plenty of

room

If the bar-frame holder (page 192)

not at hand an empty hive of the same size will serve

and care should be taken that each comb occupies the

same

relative position that

it

did in the hive so that the

same order may be afterwards retained when they are

replaced.

In handling the frames

that

it

should be borne in mind

they are to be held perpendicularly.

view of both sides of the

comb when

queen, or for any purpose requiring

reverse side may, with a

little

To

gain

searching for the

full

inspection, the

dexterity in twirling the

frame round, be brought to face the operator, without

letting the
fall

comb break away by

out of the frame, which

deviate from

its

it

own weight and

may do if allowed

its

upright or downright position.

so
to

If the

beginner could see an experienced person perform the

operation he would quickly understand

how combs may

thus be handled without any risk of a smash.

The

bee-keeper should be on his guard not to tempt

REMOVING FRAMES.

xv.]

the avarice of bees by exposing

comb

or liquid,

and

honey, either in the

be very tardy of opening

also to

frame hives in the spring or autumn.

so,

soon

273-;

after sunrise is the safest,

If needful to

because there

few bees about, and the hive shouH be taken,

and what

hives,

is

be

con-

many yards away

venient, to a quiet corner of the garden,

from the other

will
if

do

requisite

done

speedily,

so as not to expose the honey to the scent of a host of

robbers,

who

will

most unceremoniously pillage and cause

a terrible commotion.

When

replacing frames in the hive, care must be taken

not to crush a bee, and on no account must the frame^

be

let

down

become

with a jerk, or the insects will

ceedingly fierce

it

should be so slowly deposited in

place that a bee on feeling the slightest pressure

exits-

may

be able to escape unhurt.

The crown-board should be

replaced by

front edge along the back,

and then

first

sliding

resting
it

its

forward, so that any bee

super on, the same directions

have

its

The

super with

its

honey-board

upon

it is

Should the hive

pushed away instead of being crushed.

may be

may be

followed.

bodily taken

away, and so placed and confined for a time that robber

bees cannot find an entrance, and also be

far

enough

from the apiarian to be out of danger of being broken or

overturned by him.
It will

be sometimes found,

have not had

sufficient

in cases in

which the bees

storage-room, that they have

carried their building operations outside

and above the

BEE MANIPULATION.

274

frames, or across from

comb

to

[Ch.

Such

comb.

cells

be severed and the materials melted down

There are

also cases in

which

must

for wax.

combs of

fine white

v.

honey-

can be taken from the end frames of the stock hive

but probably not more than one
in a season without

impoverishing the bees.

EXTRACTING HONEY.

XVI.

Those of our readers who

to

honey

as to the best
all

prefer eating " run

comb may be

in the

comb could be removed

method of

glad of

some

honey

"

instruction

separating the two.

Beyond

question they will find this in the use of the honey-

extractor (page

extracting

193),

but in default of such, and for

honey from combs made

lowing should be the course pursued

Take a sharp

knife,

and

slice the

in supers, the fol:

combs on both

keeping the knife parallel with the partition

every

cell

may be

in a sieve, or

tied

sides,

wall, so that

Place these broken combs

laid open.

on a piece of muslin stretched across and

round the opening of a pan or large-mouthed

jar.

Allow the honey to flow out of the combs spontaneously,

and reserve the squeezing process

that the

honey of the

pure, both in appearance

pressure put on

Some

persons

it

for a

first-drained jar

will

and

flavour.

separate

may be

That which has

be waxy in flavour and

recommend

that the

so

jar,

perfectly

thick.

opened combs be

placed in the sun, as the heat will cause the honey to

run more

freely.

The

great disadvantage of this

is

the

MELTING COMBS DOWN.

XVII.]

temptation the honey

Honey,

gain a share.

to

remarkably well when

who

offers to bees,

combs should be folded

whilst

be eager

will

the combs, keeps

in

in the supers

left

275

cut out, the

if

in writing paper,

and sealed up,

so as to effectually prevent the free entrance of air

should then be placed in a warm dry

XVII.

Comb

for

its five

they

MELTING COMBS DOWN.

which there

is

no use

melted down into cake wax.

undergone

closet.

as

such should be

Brood comb which has

years or so of service will probably not

repay the trouble, and should therefore be thrown away.

But

good condition

if in

saucepan with plenty of

simmered over a

wax

should be put into a clean

it

soft water,

clear fire

will rise to the top.

a strainer (never mind a

till

it

and gently boiled or

is

melted, when, the

must then be run through

It

little

water going with

it)

into a

stoneware or earthen pan, the sides of -which have beep

The re/use is then

greased to prevent adhesion.

in

a coarse bag

and boiled

again, a

heavy weight being placed upon

a plate

or- other false

burning.

it

this

it

collected

iron or other

to hold

bottom beneath

By working

flat

it

down,, and

to prevent

quantity more of wax. will be brought out from

more

still

by,

upon a board

may be added
with a very

and

bag

the additional

wax thus obtained

to 'the

to the other,

little

it,

a wet rolling-pin

applying

also wet

its

about with a rod or ladle a

and the whole boiled again

clean water and over a slow

fire.

Skim

BEE MANIPULATION.

276

dross as fast as

off the

it

[Ch. V.

and then pour the

appears,

whole again into the greased pan, and,

the main Mr. Cheshire's method.

Mr. Payne, who

after letting

The above

cool slowly, scrape off the settlings.

Another

it

on an

canvas bag of about a quart, which should be laid

below the

then, applying the roller, the

it

in

that of

is

would pour the original boil into

inclined board in a tub, with cold water in

reach of the bag

is

wax

is

may be collected on
before.
The operation

expressed at one process, and

all

the water and boiled again as

must be carried on where the bees

not be able to

will

get admittance, or the odour will bring

them

in great

numbers.
Virgin comb, being free from cocoons or other rubbish,
will

not require the squeezing process, but

may simply

be melted into the pan, gradually cooled, and melted

If the cooling

again.

be

all

the clearer.

and pour

it

is artificially

If bleaching

is

delayed the wax will

desired, melt

it

again

out so as to form thin streams or plates, and

then lay these for a few days in the sun

take care

however that they are not melted.

One

XVIII.

of the most effectual

condition of a hive
is

WEIGHING HIVES.

most important

is

modes of

by weighing

it.

ascertaining the

Such knowledge

at the close of the gathering season,

in order that the bee-keeper

ought to give his bees

may determine whether he

artificial

food to enable them to

WEIGHING HIVES.

JtVIII.]

live

through the dreary winter.

numerical strength of the colony

is

277

knowledge of the

also useful in enabling

the bee-keeper to decide which hives will be benefited

by being joined together, on the method explained

in

on " Uniting

the article

Hives."

hive can very easily

be weighed

a Salter's

if

be

balance

spring

pended near the

The

sus-

apiary.

hive, having a strap

or cord passed under and

over

it,

.angles

crossing at right

on the

hooked on

top,

may be

to the balance,

so that the weight will be

indicated- on

The annexed

the

dial.

illustration

represents a tripod stand,

with a weighing-machine
of the above-named construction, to

which a hive

with a super

is

attached.

Such an arrangement
bee-keepers

who may

will

be found convenient

for those

not possess suitable sheds in their

gardens where a hive could be thus suspended from a

beam.

To

prevent the hive being swayed to and fro

by the wind, three cords (gear ropes) might be attached

BEE MANIPULATION.

278

therefrom to the three legs of the stand.

such a stand need not exceed four

This contrivance

is

[Ch. v.

The

height of

feet.

both portable and simple, and can

be used from time to time

or, if

the apiarian desires to

have the hive constantly suspended, a water-proof covering might easily be

made

to drop over,

and adapted so

as to admit of being raised occasionally for ascertaining

the weight

shown on the

dial.

Much

interest

might be

derived by watching the daily or hourly increasing store

brought into a hive during the gathering season.

George Fox, of Kingsbridge, and Mr.

Exeter, have for

S.

some years each kept one stock attached

to a " Salter's Circular Spring Balance,"

beam under

Mr.

'Bevan Fox, of

suspended from

a shed, and, from experience, found that

from a hive so balanced a criterion may be formed of

what other hives in the apiary are doing through the

day.

Some

interesting observations have

this point.

been made upon

Baron von Berlepsch has had stocks which

brought in twelve poynds of honey in a day

Kader

in

Mentz had days when one stock brought twenty-one

pounds

Pastor Stein in Mentz had days

brought twenty-eight pounds.

when one
The sap which a

stock
bee's

honey-bag holds weighs but a grain, so that the bees, in

this last case,

must have made

in

one day over 160,000

journeys.

Many

ingenious contrivances

will,

no doubt, suggest

themselves for the observation of hives in this manner.

FEEDING.

XIX.]

279

For instance, instead of the cord being

tied

round the
one end

hive, three or four strong irons, with a screw at

and a

ring at the other

as " eyes

(known by ironmongers

could be screwed into the floor-boards, to which

made

attachments might be

fast.

necessary to hint that great care

provision should be
creasing weight

made

is

It will scarcely

be

necessary that

full

securely to support the in-

would be most ruinous, and

fall

"),

the

ter-

ribly enrage the bees.

The

weight of the hive should be marked on

empty, so that the exact amount of

any time be ascertained.

or

by looking

stock hive a conclusive opinion

If the

state of the colony.

filled

and

sealed,

it

will

contents

it

when

may

at

Experienced apiarians are able

to judge of the weight of a hive

from the stand

its

be

by

lifting

it

in at the

a few inches

window of a

may be formed

as to the

combs within view be

well

safe to consider that the hive

contains sufficient stores to carry the bees through the.

winter.

The

XIX. FEEDING.

bee-keeper, after the honey harvest, should ascer-

tain the state of the stock hive, because

it

sometimes

happens that hives which were very strong and productive

during

The

summer have been

bees,

left

poorly off for the winter.

no doubt under the impression

nicely filled supers

would prove

to

that those

them an ample

sus-

tenance, have given up the whole stock hive to the queen

BEE MANIPULATION.

28o

[Ch. v.

and rectified
some mild day

If this be not looked after

for breeding.

the colony will starve off; or possibly on

even before

in winter

all is

exhausted

they

decamp

will

as if for a swarm.

The

apiarian

must therefore ascertain the

the stock hive at

The

machine.

of

state

Michaelmas by means of a weighing

weight, exclusive of the hive, ought to

be from twenty to twenty-four pounds, and

bees must be fed

till

that weight

is

if

not so, the

This

reached.

is

done by the feeders above described (page 202), from

which they suck the syrup as
then store

doing

this

it

honey-gathering, and

if

away, a quart in a day or

should not be deferred

The time

so.

later, as

it is

that the food should be placed in the cells

up,

and they cannot

out a

be

secrete the

warm temperature

liable

to

turn

wax

and sealed

purpose with-

for this

remained unsealed

if it

of

important

sour and cause disease.

it

would

Again, at

mid-winter and in very cold weather, bees, though they

never become torpid like wasps, are in a state of dor-

mant

inactivity

from which

better not to

is

it

arouse

them.

On

the return of spring

it

will

again be essential to

attend to feeding the bees, and this precaution must be

exercised

till

themselves.
store

is

not

May, when they

A
all

little

will

be able to take care of

food in the spring, even when the

expended,

is

of value as stimulating the

queen to lay more abundantly,

for bees

are provident

and do not rear the young rapidly when supplies

are

FEEDING.

XIX.]

In

short.

ing
the

281

this particular their intelligence

is

very strik-

they have needed no Malthus to teach them that

means of subsistence must

regulate the increase of

population.
'

'

Heaven designed,
some portion of ethereal mind, *

Part of the wondrous whole by

Blest with

The
In

prescient female rears her tender brood

strict

proportion to the hoarded food."

Evans.

Judgment

has, however, to

feeding, or else so

many

that the queen can find

be exercised to avoid

cells will

none

in

be

filled

which to deposit her

and thus the progress of the hive

eggs,

interfered with.

drone

cells

a thing

But

stances.

It

if

may

also

is

will

be seriously

lead to the formation of

to be avoided

the hive

under any circum-

thoroughly impoverished a

more rapid process of feeding becomes

necessary,

the honey should be poured between the combs.

bees

will lick

very

pounds of

each other clean

over-

with honey

and

The

after this.

good syrup can be made by boiUng three

loaf sugar with nearly two pints of water.

Sugar-candy and barley-sugar have also been each highly

recommended

for winter

and

early spring feeding,

when

small pieces can easily be pushed in at the top of the

stock hive a
*

"His

little

at

a time.

They have the advantage

quid am signis, atque hsec exempla secuti,

Esse apibus partem divinse mentis,

^thereos

dixere.''

Virgil,

G.

iv.

et haustus

219.

BEE MANIPULATION.

282

[Ch.

v.

of being unlikely to turn sour or to cause dysentery, as

liquid food does

when the bees

by bad

are confined

weather.

of the most urgent importance that the bees

It is

should have water supplied them as soon as laying

commences, which should be

weather

early in January

it

nourishment

given them within.

of wax
it

It is also

for the preparation of wax,

when

is

usually produced equally soon, the bees requir-

brood

cells.''

For a double

well to give

it

but in

it

they are often drowned, so

them

in shallow vessels containing

their eagerness to obtain

pebbles for them to alight on.

is

same

and, adds the

commences, some amount

the egg-laying

for the covering of the

It is

to

needful to

reason therefore water must be supplied them

that

is

Sooner could they dispense for

a considerable time with pollen."

ing

" For preparing the

for the brood," says Dzierzon, " water

the bees indispensable.

writer, "

re-

the

such as to prevent their leaving the hive, they

is

must have

them

if

Salt also, says Dr.

Sevan,

eagerly partaken of during the early part of the breed-

ing season

till

seem wholly
Such

the beginning of

indifferent to

May,

after

which they

it.

are the instructions for the reglilar process of

feeding, though even this, with

good management, should

not be needed unless in exceptional circumstances.

It

has been remarked in the section on " Swarming " that a

supply of food
this is

is

advisable at such occasions also, but

but an incidental

trifle

as

compared with the

other.

WINTER PRECAUTIONS.

xx.]

The
will

283

task of bringing a hive safely through the winter

undoubtedly dismay some of the inexperienced, and

perhaps incline them to a preference for the fire-and-

brimstone quieters.
at the first will

But a

attention to directions

little

soon make the process tolerably simple

while as to the relative profits of the two methods,

must be recollected that the honey

for

winter sustenance

quality,
will

and the value of

be

comes

is

far
off,

it

left in

much

not

and of any

of

it

of a saleable

extra syrup supplied

more than made up when

in

May

a swarm

and two colonies are possessed where on the

old system there would have been none at

XX.

The most important

which

it

all.

WINTER PRECAUTIONS.

the preceding section.

points

it

the stock hive

is

the one discussed in

are,

however, several other

of these

There

of consequence for the apiarian to

is

observe.
First of all the hive itself

against climate, aiid

if it

must be

must be made

to preserve warmtTi, a transfer

is.

Matting or other fencework

off piercing winds,

the

hives.

suited

for

may

to

one that

be erected to keep

and hay bands may be wound around

Sonie hives constructed Of glass are unwinter occupation

doors success
well

suitably protected

be not of a description adapted

is

difficult

even

and

wrapped up and covered

when kept

doubtful.
in,

and yet

within

They must be
ventilation

allowed, for unless the moisture can pass off

it

will

be

con-

BEE MANIPULATION.

284

dense upon the inside of the

combs

grow mouldy and

to

is

best restricted to four

thus causing the

glass,

directly interfering with the

The use of such

health of the bees.

[Ch. V.

months

unicomb
when bees

hives as the

in the year,

are most active and interesting in their operations.

artificial

swarm should be put

into such a hive in

or June,

and taken out again

September

in

for there are often cold nights in October,

and brood being

never

later,

when, the bees

in near contact with the glass,

being able to cluster as

An
May

and not

their natural wont, they suffer

is

greatly from the variations of temperature.

The population
to,

and

if

of each hive must also be well looked

needful the uniting processes (page 229) must

be carried out before the Michaelmas feeding.

Hives

that are to be so united should be gradually brought near

together,

if

not so already.

The innermost combs, having been the ones most employed for breeding, will now be the ones least occupied
with honey.

It is therefore advisable to transpose

them

with fuller ones, in order to keep the bees clustered in

the centre.

They must

thus given them.

not, however,

have drone comb

In order to give them communication

through the combs, "the apiarian should," says Langstroth, " late in the

fall,

cut with a penknife a hole an

inch in diameter in the centre of each comb, about onethird

from the top."

This

is

the bees in cold weather to

for_the purpose of allowing

move

in a body, without

going outside the frames, from combs where they have

WINTER PRECAUTIONS.

xx.]

consumed the food

285

others that have honey within

to

reach.

Ventilation

of

is

of great moment, but

Holes the
escape,

then be

of a pin's head will allow the moisture to

size

and these must be reopened

the time

may

just to give free passage to the bees.

when

as fast as they are

The occurrence

propolised by the bees.

is

the hive allows

being given at the top, the entrance

its

narrowed so as only

Tt

if

ventilation

is

needed

in

its

of a thaw

a good plan to place a bell glass over the hole in

the crown-board of a

round

it

wooden

to receive the

hive, with a zinc trough

condensed moisture.

It is also

requisite to clean the floor-board, say in February

this

and other operations

turbed, for
to

is

highest degree.

fly

if

they leave the hive

properly, as

are likely to be

What
found

in

sentence,

when they

are unable

lost.

next

the

the

but in

the case in very cold weather, they

is

further directions belong to this

" Enemies.''

the bees should not be dis-

Mr.

under

head

will

" Diseases

"

be

and

Langstroth has this comprehensive

italics

colonies are strong in

ventilation, easy

chapter

in

which are

numbers and

his own.
stores,

communication from comb

water when needed, and

the hive entrances

from piercing winds, they have

to wintering successfully in the

all

" If the

have upward
to comb,

and

are sheltered

the conditions essential

open

air."

CHAPTER

VI.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

I.

STINGS

OME

THEIR PREVENTION AND CURE.

of our readers

having, as
their

them how

it

were,

may deem

left

them

bee-keeping novitiate

to avoid the

us neglectful in

to struggle through
v(fithout

informing

annoyance of stinging from

their

Of course, having described

docile but well-armed flock.

we have supposed that the apiarian was clad,

not " in complete steel," at least in the head-gear and

the bee dress,

if

gloves, which will render

him

safeguard from the anger of

malice of

men

is

invulnerable.

bees as,

a quiet and peaceable

a single one.

The

best

indeed, from the

spirit.

Never

The

apiarian will learn to handle

his bees not only as "if he loved them "
as the quaint
strike at

angler says
him.

them

but

as if he fully believes that the bees love

This they will do whenever he approaches and treats

gently.

There are some cases of exception to

generally peaceable disposition of the bee

this

perchance a

few bees are dyspeptic, and refuse to be pacified,

let'

STINGS.

I.]

their master seek to bribe

too,

287

them never so

Then,

wisely.

sometimes the bee-master himself may be dyspeptic,

which the unerring olfactory sense of the bees speedily

detects,

and

their anger

is

Some

immediately aroused.

few persons, owing to constitutional peculiarities in their

breath or insensible perspiration, are objects of constant
animosity with bees, who, by driving them from the
apiary, are giving a physician's advice without charge for

fee.

Some

of the choicest perfumes used

offensive to bees

gentleman,"

the "fine puss

Hotspur with

and one may

his "

who

by

ladies are

very certain that

feel

disgusted the brave

pouncet-box " and praise of

"''par-

maceti for an inward bruise," would have been speedily

driven from an apiary in ignominious

same reason they

will ferociously,

For the

flight.

and perhaps

fatally,

attack a sweaty horse, while they appear to have an

The hand should not be

equal antipathy to dogs.

waved near them

in

sprinkling,

as

has already been

remarked; nor should they so much as be pointed at

" Abpve all," says
to be out of temper.
Mr. Cotton, " never blow at them ; they will try to

when disposed

The

sting directly if

you do."

Burnens

examinations was attributed

Huber
fidence

in his

to his
is

power of repressing

another important

his face with his

him

at

distinguished success of

hands the

specific": if

part

once and persistently ; while a bee that

who

by

Con-

a person covers

,bees will attack

to sting will often prefer a person

,in

his respiration.

is

and worry
is

inclined

watching at a

288

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

supposed

judging such person

safe distance,

[Ch. VT.

afraid,

and

probably also seeing him better.

Again,

when once a bee has

stung, the scent of the

poison has an infuriating effect upon others

says Butler, "

fast as

you had best be packing as

who

can.''

Hofler,

advice,

"Never approach

may chance

a bee which

becomes

dark.

have settled upon the head

calls others to its aid

some kinds of

light clothes
is

the bees with your hat off; for

to

They have a

ate note."

it is

grows angry,

by

its

stings,

hissing passion-

dislike for woollen gloves, also

If used to attendants in

leather ones.

said they will attack a visitor whose dress

Electricity in the air appears also to rufHe

and when kept

you

same century, gives the

easily entangled in the hair,

and moreover
to

lived in the

therefore,

at

home by

them

rain, or at night or early

morning, they will resent any interference.

In very hot

weather, too, those inside the hive are sure to be in a

bad humour.

combs

at such

even cause a
to himself
to

Von

Berlepsch states that to disturb the

may

a time
civil

when

perhaps,

war in the

by breaking them,

hive, as

once happened

exhibiting an Italian queen

some over-curious

tyros,

and brood

and when, out of some

seventy or eighty thousand bees, one-half were slain in

the course of an hour.

mood when

Lastly, they are in a stinging

they are queenless and before they have got

over the agitation

also

when

majesty's nuptial excursion.

for operations

is

in excitement during her

The

best time to choose

when, with the hive in a normal con-

STINGS.

I.]

and the weather

dition

older bees are out

is

28c(v

agreeable, the great mass of the

upon the wing.

It is these that there

the principal occasion to fear.

Occasionally even a skilful aparian

crush a single bee

such a mischance

whole community with much more

may

inadvertently,

detected by the

is

facility

than by any

" crowner's quest," and their prompt verdict decrees the

summary punishment

much

of the offender.

less fear of stings if

that bees

ance,"

is

They

their motto.

There would be

were always remembered

never aggressive.

are

when away from

sting

it

" Defence, not

scarcely ever attempt tO'

the hive,

and very seldom indeed

at the time of swarming, for then they are

When

honey.

gorged with

molested by angry bees, do not attempt.

to beat

them

bush.

Thrust your head into

is

defi-

and best

off ; the safest

retreat

this, or, if

is

a green

no such refuge

emergency throw yourself on the ground,

near, in an

and, with face downwards, the bees will soon leave you.

Yet some people appear

be stung
is'

if they,

needful to explain

how

wound

the

why

inflicted

weapon, as we see

needle's point

to.

think they must inevitably

meddle with bees, and

is

it

it is

for their sakes it

that a sting

is

painful,

by the bee may be cured.

with our naked eye

finer

and

The

than a

only the sheath, which lengthens or

contracts like the iubes of a telescope (see page 104).

The

dart, as before said, is

when

the bee,

draw

it,

but

very angry,

barbed on each
is

side, so that

scarcely ever able to "with-

19

290

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

[Ch.

vi.

" Deems life itself to vengeance well resigned,

Dies on the wound, and leaves the sting behind."
are, indeed, some happy mortals whose " blood
such an even tenour keeps " that a bee-sting is to them

There

simply a puncture, and nothing more.

as Langstroth puts

it,

" they

to take a mischievous

upon whom the poison

pleasure in stinging those

duces the most virulent

seem

But unfortunately,

pro-

Dr. Bevan has suggested

effect."

that lovers should subject themselves to the ordeal of a

temper
'

is

we suppose,

order to prove,

bee-sting, in

proof against

'

'

that

their

the stings and arrows " of any

outrageous fortune " that matrimony can bring.

minute tincture of poison

It is the infinitesimally

jected by the bee which causes inflammation.

thing to do

to

is

remove the

detached from the bee,

further into the

sting,

which,

will continue to penetrate still

wound.

Next press the hollow point of

a watch-key exactly over the place stung

press a considerable portion of the virus.

hand

into, or

for the

poison

is volatile,

On

and

will

do

The

taught us by chemistry

which an

alkali will

brought into contact with

generally

be

thereby be dissipated,

that will diffuse the poison

and increase the inflammation.

acid,

dip the

no account whatever should the

part affected be rubbed ; to

is

this will ex-

Then

bathe the part with, cold or tepid water,

to a great extent.

a bee-sting

in-

The first
even when

found

specific
:

the

remedy

venom

is

for

an

immediately neutralise when

it.

Spirits of hartshorn will

efficacious,

and should therefore

ST/NGS.

I.]

291

There are also several

always be kept in an apiary.

other remedies more or less effectual, according to the

special constitution of the patient.

tobacco-water applied to the

been extracted

wound

many

a specific for

is

strong infusion of

after the sting

persons

has

others

find relief from the application of a sliced onion, while

Frau Lieb, of Jassy, declares nothing so

Two

one's

own

made

especially for the purpose

and

saliva.

efficacious as

may be named as
"
the Ledum Palustre,"

preparations

Dr. Pine's " Bee-keeper's Lotion."

We

have heard the remark from several who have kept

bees for years, that the poison from a sting has

no

effect

on them

ilesh appears to

and pain

at

after receiving

become

so

many

or

affected that the swelling

little

one time experienced no longer trouble

Herr Kleine recommends bee-keepers

them.

little

inflictions their

to subject

themselves intentionally to stinging, in order that in two

may become insusceptible to the

No doubt those who are, so stoically inclined

years their system

poison.
will

duly appreciate

and

gratefully

acknowledge the

advice.

Boiling water poured on

to

bees makes a bee tea

which has been highly recommended

strangury.
thists,

Bee poison

but one bee-sting

itself is
is

in

bad cases of

a specific with homoeopa-

no( cured by a second, as Mr.

Langstroth satisfactorily demonstrated at the cost of

much

personal pain.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATrON.

292

II.

Some

writers

[Ch. VI,

POSITION OF HIVES,

on bee-culture attach much importance

which an apiary stands and

to the particular position in

the aspect towards which

a south-eastern aspect,

Our reason

it

is

faces.

for this preference is that

portant for the bees to have the

Bees are early

risers,

southern, or rather

we recommend.
we deem it very im-

the one which

first

of the morning sun.

and should have every inducement

given them for the maintenance of so excellent a practice.

few years

since,

many

strong

opinions were

chief

reason

given

for

ex-

The

pressed in favour of a northern aspect for hives.

those opinions, though

very

appears to us to be a very partial and in-

plausible,

adequate one.

It

was said

that,

when

the hives face

the south, the bees may, like the incautious swallow in

the fable, be tempted to

fly

abroad in the transient

winter sunshine, and then perish in the freezing atmos-

phere when a passing cloud intervenes.

very easy matter,

if

But

it

is

considered needful, to screen the

entrance by fixing up matting so as to intercept the rays

of the sun.
in winter,

At our own apiary we make no

under the belief that the bees

alteration

will take care of

when the

themselves and that they seldom venture out

weather

is

unsuitable.

Columella gave a number of directions on

the essence of which
valley

it

will

may be

this point,

stated as follows.

If in a

be easier for the loaded bees to return

PASTURAGE FOR BEES.

III.]

.home than

if

on a

293

must not be "exposed to

hill^ it

'noisome smells, nor to the din of

men

or cattle

"

it

should be near a shallow running stream with pebbles

for the bees to alight on, but not near

deep water with

steep banks'; and the trees near should be low, and

convenient for manipulation in swarming.

The

vicinity of sugar warehouses, or other places of

temptation of the kind,

not

.sweets, like all other

here

we

see

it

certain to prove prejudicial if

is

The

an apiary.

fatal to

good

beeish instinctive love for

things, has its

bad

and

side,

developed into a propensity to acquire on

the shortest and easiest though most suicidal method.

Mr. Langstroth
-shop will
-"

alighted

tells

us that he once furnished a sweet-

gauze windows and doors, when the bees

on the wire by thousands,

and

vexation,"

desperation

in

chimney, which had to be stopped

III.

" Bees work

for

man

and

fair as ever,

squealing with

descended

in like

PASTURAGE FOR

BEES.

'

as

fit

it,

having done,

for use."

Apiarians generally agree in the opinion that very

can be done
for bees.

in the

the

manner.

and yet they never bruise

Their master's fiower, but leave

As

fairly

they

way of providing any

Yet bee-fanciers are

always

little

special forage

interested

in

observing which are the flowers that the bees prefer

and
.the

there are certain well-established conclusions as to

kind of

districts

and seasons which are the

likeliest

294
CO

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
There

produce a good honey harvest.

ing, that

an old say-

is

a country which produces the finest wool also

yields the best

better than

honey

and a pastoral

one under

district

The

tillage.

is

decidedly

principle

of the

that the bees are best suited with a long dry

matter

is,

season

an

autumn.

[Ch. vi.

manded by

the

summer, and a

a hot

spring,

early

As not one of

these blessings can

apiarian, his

late

be com-

must be applied to

art

providing some mitigation of the injury suffered by the

bees when the season

is

the crocus, the blue hepatica,

.

For early springs

short or wet.

and the

violet all

good supplies of pollen and honey, and,

near the apiary,

if

afford

cultivated

be of great service when the wild

will

flowers are backward.

All varieties of the willow

and

poplar furnish early supplies of honey, as well as of the

propolis to be presently described

the blossoms of the

gooseberry and currant are very useful

May.

Wet, when

it

enters flowers of

for the bees in

any kind, prevents,

the tongue of the bee from reaching the secret source of

honey.

On

this

account

it is

well to know, as does the

bee, that the drooping blossoms of the raspberry escape

the effect of the showers, and honey

them when
\vithout.
is

other flowers are

is

gathered from

drenched within as well as

For a similar reason borage {Borago

officinalis)

valuable for bees, and also because that plant

tinues to flower until the frosts set

in.

from raspberry blossoms and borage

Mr. Langstroth

says,

that

con-

The honey both

is

very superior.

"the precipitous and rocky

PASTURAGE FOR BEES.

III.]

New

lands of

England, which abound with the wild red

made almost

raspberry, might 'be

vine-clad terraces of the

of the

The golden rod and

Europe."

honey

autumn

for

behalf of the bees, and he

it

named

is

some

as valuable as

mountain

of

districts

also asters afford superior

Dzierzon strongly recom-

gathering.

mends buckwheat being sown

that

295

in the winter stubbles

tries

on

hard to persuade farmers

to their interest to cultivate

it.

It

should be

that all the ordinary fruit blossoms, especially that

of the apple, supply abundant store for bees.

It

is,

however, to wild or

master must
his

myriad artisans

bee-

field flowers that the

chiefly look for the

raw material on which

The

shall exert their skill.

clover of the pasture,* the wild

thyme on the

white

hill,

the

broom on the
sandy waste, offer exhaustless stores for a greater number
Lime
of bees than can ever be located near them.

heather on the moors, the furze and the

trees,

when

and mignonette are also most

and there are two or three peculiar

in blossom,

valuable resources

sources of honey which one would not have suspected,

as,

the blossoms of the

for instance,

turnips, and, in

mustard

still

districts of

of

of the

England where mustard seed

cultivated so extensively,
for the farmers to
is

flower

plant.

In those

* It

onion plant,

greater degree, the

it

is

would be well worth while

keep large colonies of bees.

Another,

a good practice to induce the owners of adjacent fields to

sow clover

seed.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

2g6

ties

some seasons appears

in

vi.

is

the " honey-

in

large quanti-

but a very uncertain, source of honey

dew," which

[Ch.

on the leaves of the oak, the lime, and some other

trees (see below).

IV.

All that
tions

need be said

in this place

upon honey considered

not absolutely,

principle

flesh-forming

a few observaPractically, but

of nitrogen, which

food.

in

is

in itself

destitute

is

it

contended whether or not

tion

HONEY.

much

undergoes any transforma-

it

Dzierzon and

by being swallowed by the bee.

others have maintained that

it

does

Gundelach and

Donhoff have taken the contrary view, and Von

Dr.

come round

Berlepsch has
seen

is

also held

to the sarrie,

which

by Schmid and Kleine, from

translate the following description of this article

"

or

the

is

has been

It

Honey may be

bud honey,

The

For

collecting the honey, bees

are

tion in the cells does

it

After

it

receive

sufficient

all

times.

provided with

In the stomach the

honey undergoes no transformation

character.

fruit

sources of honey unfortunately do not flow

tongues and honey-stomachs

contain

or leaf honey (the so-called honey-dew),

with the same strength everywhere and at

"

be

either nectar

it is

will

honey [another form of honey-dew], or

or aphis

honey.

of diverse origin

it

whom we

its

only by evapora-

subsequent distinctive

evaporation

are sealed over with

flat

wax

the cells

lids.

that

HONEY.

IV.]

"

Between

297

honeys there

different

exists

an essential

difference in respect of aroma, taste, colour,

Whether there

position.

honey

honey

and fmore pernicious

syrup, sugar,

can

with starch,

which

ingredients,

be detected by chemical and microscopical

easily

The

analysis.

are divided.

adulterated

often

is

and com-

such a thing as poisonous

upon which opinions

a question

is

" In trade

is

crystallisation of

honey

differs essentially

from that of sugar or of a mixture of honey and sugar."

On
with

this matter of adulteration we have been favoured

some remarks from a well-known apiarian who

writes

under the name of " A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper."

He recommends

the purchaser to take a

tube, nearly

with water, and add about one-twelfth

fill it

as

much

if

the honey was

mixed

of the honey

with.

may add
then

let

when

dissolved

but clear

pure,

Those who wish

it.

it

common
will

test-

be turbid

if

sugar had been

to

proceed further

a few drops of concentrated nitric acid, and

the tube stand for a week, at the end of which

time the honey

in solution,

will

be precipitated, but the sugar remain

and then by

filtration

the quantities

may be

found.

Honey,

like

every year.

the next

It

Bees

if

may

but after

temperature,

ferment

most vegetable products, should be

it

easily

fresh

be kept from one season to

that, unless carefully stored in

will crystallise in the

warm

comb, or perhaps

separated therefrom.

will often

gather honey from the laurel,

ivy,

or

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

298

which case there

benefit of

to

it

choice

little

is

but to leave the

Again, the

producers (see page 97).

its

by Xenophon

related

fact

to themselves than to us,

more agreeable

other sources
in

Thousand, that bees

in

[Ch. vi.

the retreat

in

of the

Ten

Asia Minor extracted honey

from plants which had not only a disagreeable but a

poisonous tendency to man, shows that
sible,

it

where such noxious plants abound,

to extract the juices without

V.

when

Bees,

POLLEN, OR BEE-BREAD.

fully

grown, feed almost wholly on honey

larvae require for their

stantial

kind of nourishment.

development a more sub-

Such

solid fare

in the pollen of flowers, a farina

tains the nitrogenous

The body

destitute.

quite pos-

for the bees

any injury to themselves.

but the

by the bees

is

element of which honey

of a worker bee

is

is

found

which conis

nearly

covered with

which the pollen adheres when, by contact with

hairs, to

the bee,

it

page 88).

is

rubbed from the anthers of flowers (see

Dewy mornings

or

humid bowers

bees for the gathering of the pollen.

be too dry

for

kneading

selves in the blossoms,

it

If the

into pellets, they roll them-

and on their return, with assistance

from others, brush off the farina into the

A portion

suit the

atmosphere

intended

cells

of this " bee-bread "

is taken at once
by the " nursing bees," who are supposed to subject it to
some change before offering it to the larvae but the

for

it.

greater part of the pollen

is

stored away and reversed

POLLEN.

v.]

299

In April and

in the cells for future use.

day"

are frequently busy "all the

May

the bees

in gathering pollen,

and often one community of bees

will collect

about

twenty pounds weight of " bee-bread " in one season.

One

of the objects of the apiarian

to assist the bees

is

Dr. Dzierzon

in providing for the nurslings of the hive.

first

suggested the plan of providing the bees with " un-

bolted rye meal " as a substitute for the farina of flowers.

He

had observed

that, in early spring, before the flowers

were open, his bees had entered a neighbouring cornmill,

from whence they returned laden with rye

his discovery,

some keepers,

rye or wheat meal near the apiaries

store the bees repair

in the

flour.

in early spring,
;

Since

have placed

to this artificial

by thousands, and seek

to rollick

enjoyment of such plenty, many of them returning

The object in thus supplying them is that the brood may be rapidly brought
-forward, and early swarming induced.
In this way a few
pounds of rye meal, at one penny per pound, may tend
to the production of very many pounds of honey of
to the hive as dusty as millers.

twelve times the price.

In the British Bee Journal there

to

sprinkle

open

vessel,

pea

and place

have access to
tion, for

it.

we know

is

a recommendation

amongst deal shavings

flour

this

We
that

any

this

recommenda-

freely taken

by the bees.

can endorse
it

in

near the hives so that bees

is

If the bee-keeper ascertains that for

some

interval

no

pollen has been conveyed into any particular hive he

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

300

may

regard

as a sure sign that

it

[Ch. vi.

no young bees are there

hatching, and consequently that the hive

without a

is

Mr. Mahan, of Philadelphia, once met with a

queen.

hive which no pollen had been seen to enter for twentyeight days

he put a queen into

and observed

with pollen on

its

legs

Some remarks on
flowers will

and a

in three

it,

took out his watch,

half minutes a bee

come

many more speedily following

in
!

the services which bees render to

be found

in the section

upon "

Faculties

and

Functions " (page 55).

VI.

" Propolis "

PROPOLIS, OR BEES' CEMENT.

is

a Greek word which originally signified

" the outskirts of a city," but was adopted by Latin

writers

on bees

denote the sticky substance with

to

which these city-rearing insects protect

It

is

"a

their

resinous substance, very tenacious

transparent," which

cement wherewith

is

to

indispensable for the bees as a

fix

hives against intruders.*

combs and

their

The

by blending

often soften

wax;

but they have to extract

directly from the bark

fortify their

bees, in working the pro-

polis,

it

outskirts.

and semi-

it

and buds of

it

in

with a portion of
its

natural

certain trees.

state

The

bark of the willow, the leaf-buds of the poplar and alder,

and the unopened blossoms of the hollyhock

usual sources of propolis.

In the case of a

are very

new swarm,

* Egyptian bees, however, substitute wax, as stated on

page 50.

PROPOLIS.

vi.]

3'

as bees must have this glue before they can begin to

build their combs, they will resort to most unlikely places

to obtain

Sometimes they will enter a paint-shop and

it.

attack the varnish,

and

it is

said they have

been seen to

obtain propolis from the pitch and rigging of a ship.

These

circumstances

apiarian,

who,

if

poplars,^ or willows,

to

the

have not easy access to

firs,

afford

his bees

some glutinous

provide

will

resinous matter which

may

hints

intelligible

serve for a substitute.

or

The

extraction of propolis costs the bees very considerable

much

labour, which they should be relieved of as

possible in order to facilitate their great
gathering.

Bees choose the warmer part of the day

during which to gather propolis, as then

rapidly
it

stiffen.

it

does not so

Frequently when they arrive at the hive

has become so hard that the other bees are scarcely

able to

gnaw it from

their thighs.

With propolis bees

crevices, to exclude
it

as

work of honey-

to

fasten

moths and

their hives, stop

ants,

up

and sometimes use

narrow their doorways against the invasion of wasps.

Extraordinary anecdotes
ingenious use they

are told

make

relates that, a snail having

the

down

window

and there sealed down the intruder

In another case, that of a

less durance.

move

it

Reaumur

been observed by the bees on

of the hive, they proceeded to glue the shell

to the glass,

having slain

of the prompt and

of this substance.

it

in hope-

slug, the bees,

with their stings, were quite unable to re-

from the hive.

With wonderful

foresight they

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

302

then proceeded to

noxious
carcase

effects
;

and

secure their

likely to

community from the

from the decay of the

arise

with a coating of impervious varnish.

similar occurrence in the case of a

We

Huish

in a

and contains

properties.

VII.

SECRETION OF WAX.

have already made some remarks upon wax in the

Chapter on "Anatomy and Physiology."

is

it

relates a

mouse caught

Propolis yields benzoic acid,

some aromatic

vi.

did by completely enveloping

this they

hive by bees.

[Ch.

The

subject

one that even yet has not been thoroughly cleared up,

though the discoveries of Hornbostel and Huber have

demonstrated that instead of being a vegetable product

extracted from pollen

But

themselves.

it

later

is

a fatty secretion of the bees

observers

have come to the

conclusion that though not obtained direct from pollen,

that

food

is

essential

to

their

power of secreting

it.

Cases are certainly recorded in which combs have been

when the bees had for several days been deprived

of the means of procuring this food, but it has not been
shown that bees which have 7tever had access thereto
have still the power of secreting wax Langstroth on the
contrary asserts that some pollen is always found in
built

the
if

stomach of wax-producers.

wax, as a

nitrogen,

fat, is

and even

[like
if

So Dzierzon

"

Even

honey] a substance destitute of

feeding

upon honey or sugar

alone sufficient to enable the bees to prepare

it, it

is

does

SECRETION OF WAX.

VII.]

not therefore follow that pollen

303

not necessary for

is

its

For, as already remarked, the

continued production.

bees can prepare food for their young for a considerable

time without pollen, yet no one would assert that
unnecessary for the nourishment

one case as the other the bees are sustained by a

comes exhausted."

To

yield

consume from

honey; so that

it

certain

by degrees be-

store taken into themselves, but which

require to

this is

In the

the brood.

'of

one pound of wax they

thirteen to twenty

would seem as

if

pounds of

honey was the food-

forming principle of the wax, and pollen the stimulant

that imparted to their

own organs

the capacity for effect-

ing the transformation.

The

bees,

by

secretion
tains, in

it

need hardly be

stated,

elaborate

this

and

cur-

clustering themselves in festoons

which they remain, the fore legs of one clasping

the hind ones of another, perfectly

still

for

some twenty-

four hours, at the end of which time the scales are found

exuding around them, as mentioned in our earlier reference.

The

little

itself

with

fore

feet,

its

plates of

wax

hind

and carried

feet,

where the wax

are withdrawn

is

to the

made

soft

by the bee

mouth with

its

and ductile;

vigorous shakes of the body assist in detaching the

plates,

and the floor-board

with the pieces that have

them then

is

afterwards found covered

fallen.

leave the cluster

One by one some

and deposit

their

of

burdens in

rough masses, which are subsequently wrought by others

into the hexagonal form.

But

it

seems feasible that the

304

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

[Ch. vi.

lower bees pass their secretions up the living ladder to

The

the uppermost ones to undergo this double process.

which comb-building progresses

rapidity with

times would lead to the

supposition

forward in

This work of comb-building

warm

known

on the
carried

is

Von

wax.

Berlepsch declares

cases in which a hive has built three

hundred square inches of comb

The

secretion of wax,

in a single night

and the method of its adaptation

by the bees, are thus admirably described by Evans

" So,

filtered

through yon

flutterer's

folded mail.

Clings the cooled wax, and hardens to a scale.

Swift, at her well-known call, the ready train
(For not a buzz boon Nature breathes in vain)

Spring to each falling

flake,

and bear along

Their glossy burdens to the builder throng.

*

These

in firm

iic

phalanx ply their twinkling

feet,

Stretch out the ductile mass, and form the street.

With many

a cross-way path and postern gate.

That shorten to their range the spreading state.
Those with sharp sickle, or with sharper tooth,
Pare each excrescence, and each angle smooth.
Till

now,

in finished pride,

Of snow-white

cells

two radiant rows

one mutual base disclose.

Six shining panels gird each polished round.

The

door's fine rim with

While walls

Weak

weather, for a cold temperature inter-

feres with the secretion of

that he has

is

just as our

labourers convey building material to the artisans

scaffold above.

such

there

that

among them,

division of labour of this kind

at

waxen

fillet

bound.

so thin, with SiSter walls combined,

in themselves, a sure

dependence find."

ROBBING.

itvui.]

We

have had man)' tunes to allude to the truly sad

character which our

lar.

ROBBING.

VIII.

30s

little

favourites bear in this particu-

Directions as to the precautions necessitated thereby

have been given pretty generally

operations in which

it is

to

general remarks are

all

that

be

in

connection with

two

feared, so that one or

Von

need be added here.

Berlepsch stoutly maintains that there are no professional

robbers amongst the bees, but that

a hand
is

in a job of the

kind when

all

it

is

are ready to lend

be had.

to

This

probably true in great part, but not to the extent that

there exist

no individual

differences in the strength of

the propensity, and the remark quoted from Dzierzon on

" bees (page 72)

"black

may be

taken as expressive of

the other side of the truth.

It is

queenless stocks, nucleus hives, and weak colonies

in general that have most need for protection against

enemies of

their

own

kind.

By keeping

the entrances

narrowed, and feeding carefully without leaving a trace

of food about,

the

enticements

down as much as possible.

recommended in extreme cases
kept

to

plunder

It has

to saturate a rag with

carbolic acid diluted with water (fully half)

eifectually repel all except those

home

to

which

resorted

to.

latter as well, so

this

who have no

to betake themselves.

obnoxious to these

may be

been recently

But

it

will

other

will

be

should not be lightly

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

3o6

observed in our insect.

about a high-

capital little bit

Mr. Langstroth has a

handed piece of audacity

[Ch. VI.

has been occasionally-

that

House-robbing,

bad enough

for them, but they will

of acting as

highwaymen and

it

seems,

" Seizing the honest fellow they give

stand that they want his honey.

would never be able

recesses

him

humble

to under-

If they killed

to extract his spoils

him they

from their deep

they therefore bite and tease him, after their

most approved fashion,

'

not

For thus runs

garotters.

the story of their waylaying and despoiling the

bee

is

even go the length

Your honey or your

receptacle,

life,'

when they

the time singing in his ears,

all

until

he empties his capacious

him

release

and

lick

up

his

sweets."
IX.

DISEASES OF BEES.

Dysentery is a disease produced either by long confinement, by dampness, or by feeding

thing bees do

when disturbed

is

in the winter.

to

fill

The

first

themselves with

when they cannot get out

to void their faeces, hives should not be meddled with,
otherwise the complaint may be brought on.
It is also
engendered in many instances by the state of the weather

food, so that in winter weather,

in winter

months, and

is

of the excrement, and

floors

and

indicated by the yellow colour

by

its

being voided upon the

at the entrance of the hives,

healthy state generally keep clean.

done

for

them when

affected

is

which bees in a

All

that

to see that there

can be
is

plenty

DISEASES OF BEES.

IX.]

307

of wholesome food in the hive, and to well clean or to

change the floor-board, and so produce cleanliness.

The more formidable, but happily less common,

malady of " foul brood " does not attack the bees themselves, but affects the larvae,

by causing them

in the cells, thus destroying all

tion.

common

factory cause

when

their hives are in this plight.

with most pestilential disorders, no

is

assigned for

brood

deposits

brood"

is

very certain

by a freak of

some of her eggs the wrong way up-

wards, and that these putrefy in the

nate the others.

is

others, that the queen,

satis-

Some
another name

appearance.

its first

apiarians contend that "foul

for chilled

nature,

to putrefy

rising genera-

Bees are exceedingly fond of their young, and

are greatly dispirited

In

hope of the

"

cells,

Whatever may be the

it

is

catching

" there

the circumstance of the adult bees

emerging from the

is,

one thing

however, in

and of those about

not being injuriously affected

cells

thereby, a great help to

and contami-

origin,

its

eradication, as will presently

be shown.
There are two kinds of

foul

one

brood

of which

is

dry and not contagious, the brood merely drying up in

the cells; from which partial character

it

is

probably

within the power of the bees themselves to overcome.

In the other kind, instead of drying up, the brood

remains dark and slimy in the

cells,

unpleasant odour, perceptible at

hive.

and emits a most

some distance from

the

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

3o8

In the year 1848 Pastor Dzierzon

of stocks from this disease

banish

it

German

from

his

When

done

to

makes

we make an

its

is

extract

appearance in only two or

discovered early (which

having movable combs),

in hives

wholesome advice, which Mr.

three of the colonies, and

readily be

a large number

and communicated

apiary,

bee- journal very

the malady

vi.

he however was enabled to

Langstroth quotes, and from, which

"

lost

[Ch.

it

may
can

be arrested and cured without damage or diminution of

To prevent

profit.

there is no

more

the disease

reliable

and

efficient

THE production OF BROOD

none can perish or
both of

its

putrefy.

aliment and

its

from spreading

for

process

in a colony

than to stop

where no brood

The disease is
subjects.
The

exists

thus deprived

healthy brood

mature and emerge in due time, and the putrid

will

matter remaining in a few cells will

removed by the workers.

from a

dry up, and be

All this will certainly result

well-timed removal of the queen from such colonies.

If such removal

becomes necessary

in the spring or early

part of the

summer, a supernumerary queen

obtained, by

means

started,

which

will certainly

be healthy

if

removal be made in the

latter part

thereby

may be

the bees and

brood used be taken from healthy colonies.

less

is

of which an artificial colony

Should the

of summer, the use-

production of brood will at once be stopped and an

unnecessary consumption of honey prevented.

either case,

we

are gainers

Thus, in

by the operation."

In cases where the disease assumes a more malignant

DISEASES OF BEES.

IX.J

3oy

character in other words, " has got ahead," through

" not being nipped in the bud " it will be well to take

notice of another quotation from Mr. Langstroth's

" In the spring or

summer, when the weather

pasturage abounds, the following cure

by a German apiarian

'

is

is

book

fine

and

recommended

Drive out the bees into any

clean hive, and shut them up in a dark place without

food

twenty-four hours

for

longer, feeding

The
by

into

it,

and confine them two days

them with pure honey.'

Mr. Woodbury's apiary was severely attacked

late

this disease in the spring

writer

prepare for them a clean

up with comb from healthy colonies;

hive, properly fitted

transfer the bees

happened

to

be on a

and summer of 1863.

visit to

him

The

at this juncture,'

and witnessed him withdrawing infected combs from

hives that were literally masses of corruption, the broodcells

of which, on being opened with a pointed instru-

ment, revealed
alluded
smell.

dark brown slimy matter before

the

and from which arose a most unpleasant

to,

Mr. Woodbury communicated

Horticulture, of July 21,

account

of

Apiary."

his

misfortunes,

to the

yournal of

exact and graphic

headed

"A

Dwindling

Finding that the removal of the putrid matter

must be simultaneously

and placed

in hives

purification,

he

his object,

1863, an

set

effected

that

and the bees driven out

had undergone a complete

about endeavouring to accomplish

and was so

far successful that

he was able to

furnish an article to the before-named journal of August

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

310

4,

same

year,

under the more cheerful

valescent," in which

he says

" First, let

vi.

of " Con-

title

me

[Ch.

endorse the

opinions both of Dzierzon and Rothe, that, except under

very especial circumstances,

unadvisable to attempt

it is

the cure of a foul-breeding stock

consign
if

itself,

better, far better, to

inhabitants to the brimstone pit; the hive

its

a straw one, to the flames

melting-pot

comb

the

to the

and appropriate the honey to any purpose,

except that of feeding bees."

Mr. Woodbury further says

" Before starting,

it

was

requisite to ensure the transfer of the bees to unpolluted

hives

and here

found that Dzierzon declares that

every hive that has

contained a foul-breeding colony

should be exposed to the

sun and

before being re-stocked.

In

simply impossible, and

of another

German

out the hive very

I therefore

writer

on the

carefully,

air for

my own

two years

case this was

adopted the practice

subject, viz., to scrape

wash

all

it

over with a

saturated solution of chloride of lime, keeping

shut

up

washing

for twenty-four hours,

it

and

with clean water, exposing

air until the smell

it

closely

then, after thoroughly

it

to the sun

of the disinfectant had passed

and
off.

This method has the advantage of enabling one to use a

wooden
is,

hive again after a lapse of a couple of days,

I believe,

and

thoroughly effectual."

Mr. Woodbury then captured the queen, secured her

in a cage,

and placed her in a clean empty hive;

her bees were brushed from their

combs into

it

all

as rapidly

DISEASES OF BEES.

IX.]

311

as possible, in order to prevent their carrying mucli of

the infected honey with them

combs them-

whilst the

and con-

selves were set draining out of the bees' reach,

signed as quickly as possible to the melting-pot.

the lapse of three or four days, the queen

After

im-

(still

prisoned) and bees were again transferred to

another

clean hive, furnished with a few pure combs, and in this

they were suffered to remain, their queen being released
in a

day or two,

as

soon as they appeared contentedly

Mr. Woodbury gives another important

settled.

that operations of this kind with tainted

hint,

combs should

be performed out of reach of robber bees from adjacent

hives, lest they should carry the infection to their respective houses.

By

the before-mentioned process, he suc-

ceeded in completely extirpating

apiary in

this disorder, that

modern

brood from

and had no return of

1863,

English apiarian writers have

that

foul

hives

made

so

his

afterwards.

it

little

allusion to

some of our older bee-keepers contend

and

foreign bees have something to

do with bringing it about. To show that the disease

made its appearance in former days, there is a chapter
on this subject in Bonner's " Bee-Keeper's Companion,"
published at Berwick in 1798, entitled "An Uncornmon
Disaster which

Bees."

Bonner,

sometimes, though rarely, happens

after recounting

tions of the dwindling state of his

he could not account, says

young were

all

"

therein

own

He

to

his observa-

apiary, for

which

saw plainly that the

going backward in the

cells,

and

that

he

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

312

[Ch. Vi.

looked down between the combs, but was unable lo

proceed for the stench that the rotten maggots produced."

Mr. Langstroth writes that "Aristotle speaks of a disease

which was accompanied with a disgusting smell, so that
there

is

reason to believe that foul brood was

known

two-

thousand years ago."

Our own observation

brood

caused in

is

leads us to the belief that foul

many

instances by feeding stocks with

fermented honey or with syrup likely to ferment.

AU

liquid food should be

the-

bees, to destroy

Suspicion

Drood

we have found

been incautiously

may be

any kind of

in

it

and

if

wholesome,

fed.

aroused of the existence of foul

by the unproductive-

hive, firstly,

very

far

number

advanced the odour

very noticeable a few feet from the hive.

frame hives an experienced eye

readily detect the

it

to

stocks to be infected

ness of the bees, also by the diminishing

entrance

given

is

any impurity and to make

for in several cases

that have thus

boiled before

malady

if

will

But

at the-

will

be

in bar-

on examination

present by the dark un-

wholesome appearance of the comb, and by the

caps-

covering the diseased brood being sunken rather than

raised.

Small perforations are noticeable in some, and

in others the grubs

may be

We know

of no

cure, but

experience

recommend

seen rotting in unsealed

foreign

cells.

apiarians

of.

injecting a solution of salycilic

acid into every diseased cell

acid will effect a cure

some

others say that carbolic-

we know

that the latter

is

very

DISEASES OF BEES.

IX.]

313

distasteful to the

bees and therefore should not be dis-

posed, to advise

its

break the hive up at once.

The best thing to do is to

The bees may be saved by

being put

a short time, and the hive

in

use.

quarantine

cleansed as before mentioned;

but

if

the hive be a

valuable straw one, after cleansing and scraping, the

interior should

be coated with shellac dissolved

If a frame hive

of wine.

it

will

in spirits

be best to have new

frames rather than to attempt to cleanse the old ones.

To

allow a hive to die out

is

very dangerous, because

the bees from other hives will rob and carry the infected

honey

to their combs,

flight is liable to

It

Any

may be
that

disease

is

is

and thus every colony within bee-

be polluted.

well to give a hint about using old combs.

very black should be rejected, because the

sometimes present in old hives, and also

because each maggot leaves behind a silken film which

lines the top, sides,

and base of the

cell,

also a slight

deposit of excrement which the bees do not clear

away

thus the cells grow smaller and the bees reared in

are also diminished in size, although the bees

them

do add a

cell.
On this account we would
purchasing
when
stocks to see that they
recommend
The combs of a hive may be said to
are not very old.
little

to the

mouth of the
all

be the furniture and storehouse of the bees, which

service wear out

and

to

some extent become

of years unfit tenements for use.

To remedy this,

always true to het laws and careful to

make

in long

after a lapse

Nature,

provision for

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

314

the perpetuation of the species,

[Ch.

may have ordered

vi.

that

swarming should be the means of establishing fresh

colonies freed from the disadvantages

The

of the old.

Mr.

late

J.

Edmunds, had a straw skep

and contamination

H. Payne, of Bury
that

had had bees

without intermission for twenty years, but

is

it

it

not ad-

keep them so long, although, with a

visable to

St.

in

little

much may be done to remedy the

combs.
Our own experience for keeping

judicious pruning,
defects of old

a stock does not extend beyond ten years.

When we

take into

consideration

how

the

rinderpest,

concerning which so

opinions exist (and the same

mendations

for its cure),

may be

our

sorely

farmers are perplexed by the cattle plague,

many

known

as

conflicting

said of the recom-

can we wonder that our

little

favourites should occasionally be liable to disorders of

this sort

which puzzle even experienced bee-keepers?

In the hope of allaying unnecessary alarm, we would

just

add that

foul

brood

is

not a very general complaint,

and, so far as our observation extends, has been most

fatal in large

experimental apiaries, where extensive pro-

pagation has necessarily

the experience

may now be

We

had

to

be pushed forward.

and advice already gained,

said to

be considerably deprived of

its terrors.

find several other complaints described at

less length

by Von Berlepsch, but

allusion will here suffice.

self- explaining title

of

'
'

to

With

this disorder

more or

which a very brief

One he speaks

thirst-need, " as to

of under the

which he rightly

BEE ENEMIES.

x.j

remarks that
experience

Then

if

will

be the bee-keeper's own

fault or in-

his bees are ever allowed to suffer

if

there

about as

it

315

is

"

mad sickness," which consists

intoxicated,

in

from

it.

tumbling

and which Dzierzon says he meets

with nearly every year, and conjectures to arise from

partaking of poisoned honey

he

suspects the honey to

be naturally poisonous, since he observes

this

complaint

almost regularly at the time when the mountain ash is in

bloom. The next is " wing lameness,'' which the Baron'

may be

conjectures

madness.

Lastly

the real disorder just spoken of as

we have

the " thread fungus," which

is

a growth found by Leuckart and Donhoff in the stomach

and

intestines of several bees,

Our author does

contagious.

" sicknesses

"

also include

among

the

of bees such irregularities as rising against

and murdering
this

and which they pronounce

their

was rather a

queen; but one would think that

political disorder, or else

a case for a

commission of lunacy.

The apparent

fungus growths seen occasionally on the

heads and bodies of bees have been found to be nothing

more than the

effect of

smearing with the giimmy pollen

of orchids, or with other glutinous vegetable

juices,

on

which afterwards ordinary pollen has collected and thus

caused the appearance of

X.

tufts or patches.

BEE ENEMIES.

Bees have few worse enemies than wasps in auturnn.

The most

effectual

method

of checking their invasion of

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

3i6
hives

do

to

is

bees

will

not very weak in numbers the

is

be well able to guard a small aperture, and can

and merciless rob-

repel the attacks of these insidious

On

bers.

this

account the entrance to our cottage hive,

page 114,

as described at

The bee-keeper
crease of wasps
to set a price

one of them
tion of a

may be

it is. therefore

on queen wasps

whole

used.

preventing the

interested in

is

in-

a good practice for him

in the spring, the death of

time being equivalent to the destruc-

at that

Should nests
apiary,

vi.

have as narrow an entrance as the bees can

If a stock

with.

[Ch.

nest.

be found

their annihilation

in the

neighbourhood of an

must be accomplished

either

an operation well

by blowing them up with gunpowder

understood by most country lads

method.

The

late

or any other effectual

Mr. Payne

recommended

that a

small quantity of gas tar should be put into the. mouth

of a wasps' nest, and

then covered with earth, the total

if

destruction of the wasps will be accomplished without

further trouble.
is

But

to use blazing straw for the

always dangerous in country

districts.

heard of a very ingenious and successful

ping and killing wasps.

We

purpose

have

mode

lately

of entrap-

Place some sugar or strongly

sweetened compound on the ground in a garden, and

place over
so

all

it

round.

a square hand-glass,

On

this glass,

wedged up an inch

ing at the apex, lodge another, but a sound one.

.

or

which should have an open-

The

wasps, attracted by the sweets, will soon crowd under

BEE EhEMIES.

X.]

when they have

the lower glass, and,

ascend into the upper, one

there,

317

well feasted, will

between the two, they

soon become scorched and perish by the heat of the sun

shining on the outer glass.

Some

seasons are very productive for the increase of

these prime pests of the apiary, and

many

hives severely suffer

by

when

this is the case

When

their depredations.

once wasps in any number have gained an entrance into a

hive, the bees

can seldom eject them, -and the invaders

generally remain until they have freely regaled themselves

sume

from the luscious

store.

the honey, but cause a

They not only con-

good deal of worry

to the

legitimate inhabitants of the hive, as well as kilKng the

foremost defenders of
in strength,

it

Wasps being much

it.

superior

requires at least three bees to master one

of them.

Having

suffered

attacks of wasps,

loss

we

feel

in
it

our

own

apiary from the

desirable to give a detailed

An

account of our troubles from that cause.

Italian

stock was besieged and worried by wasps to such an

extent that in September the bees deserted
Fortunately

it

happened

departure just as

we

it

in a body.

that they chose a time for their

visited the apiary.

turmoil was heard in the hive, such as

is

An

unusiaal

experienced at

the 'time of swarming, and on immediately examining the

we observed that the bees were quitting in

tumultuous haste. The usual methods that induce bees

entrance

to

settle

were tried

amongst

others that of throwing

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

3i8

sand up into the

so that

air,

the bees on the wing

and

order,

'their

gardens.

We

diligent

search,

it

should

[Ch.

vi.

down amongst

fall

but they were dispersed in dis-

flight

extended over three adjacent

only discovered the clustered bees

the sequel

by

show.

Permission

being asked of our next-door neighbour,

we searched

his

as

garden to see

if

will

our bees had alighted there; but

found that they had passed over.

Making a similar
owner of the garden adjoining, we

application to the

entered, having a straw hive in hand, but

After looking diligently

there.

all

no bees were

round, and climbing

the wall, thereby gaining a view of the third garden,

perceived in

it

The

motion.

we

unmistakable signs of an unwonted comof the

occupiers

house were intently

looking at a particular part of the garden, and there was

a dust-pan and a key, with which the master had been

" tanging the bees," to induce them to

quickly

made

for the

soon discovered our

flower-vase.

leaving

it

stray ones
so, to give

little

We

wanderers clustered to a large

After brushing them

propped up with a
might

settle.

proper entrance to the garden, and

join,

them time

into

stick,

'

we returned home
to settle.

the

hive,

and

in order that the

an hour or

for

Judge of our vexation

when, on returning to fetch the hive home, we found that

the refractory creatures had again taken
all

to

the

work was

blame

that the

for this

flight,

and that

The wasps were not

second flight of the Italians we judged

to

do over

again.

swarm had been disturbed by

visits

from a

BEE ENEMIES.

X.J

319

colony of bees that we discovered were living the

life

of outlaws under the roof of an adjoining house.

Al-

though much disheartened and perplexed, we

at

once

renewed our search, and, upon enquiry, found that the

missing bees had taken a southerly course across the
turnpike road, and

it

was therefore necessary to ask

permission to search the gardens of the houses opposite.

From one

of these

we

observed, on looking through the

hedge, that the inhabitants of the next house were on the

quivive.

On

enquiring whether they had seen a colony

of bees, the wary old

dame

replied that she "

had no

bees but her own," but added that " they were very

much

Having asked permission

excited."

the hedge to look at her bees,

Italians

was no

on the top of the old

difficulty

in

we soon

to

go through

discovered our

identifying

our

own

bees;, their

yellow rings were as good as a private mark.

hiving the swarm,
in the hive they

honey

There

lady's bee-house.

Quickly

we took them home, and replaced them

had

quitted.

It

was almost

destitute of

but by liberal feeding, and lessening the entrance

so that only one bee at a time could find ingress or egress,

we succeeded

in inducing

them

to rest in their old

Thus nearly

half a day's exertion

fine colony,

which would otherwise have been

lost

by the power of the

Much

watchfulness

is

was needed

home.

to save a
utterly

relentless wasps.

needed

to prevent the loss of

swarms, and the foregoing incident

may

serve to suggest

the necessity of having hives so located as to be con-

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

320

If

whose duties oblige them

we had not happened

this

colony started,

us, as is the case

it

with

vi.

from the dining-room, or of

stantly within view, either

tliose

[Ch.

be

to

be near the apiary.

to

at

hand

would have been

at the

moment

irretrievably lost to

many swarms and colonies simply be-

cause the departure takes place without any one to witness.

In the season of 1865 wasps were as few as they were

numerous the preceding year

butable either to frosts in

which destroyed them

their paucity

May

was

attiri-

or to heavy rains in June,

In general wasps

in their nests.

are great depredators of wall-fruit, but in the

autumn

before mentioned the bees occupied the wasps' foraging-

Perhaps never

ground.

did bees feast upon

in the

memory

the

fruit in

of bee-keepers

same manner.

Various

reasons have been assigned for this unusual occurrence

some thought

that as there were so few

wasps the bees

were unmolested, and enjoyed the saccharine matter in

the fruit without let or hindrance
partial to the
rats.

company

bees are about as

for

of wasps as mice are to that of

Other bee-keepers remarked the sudden and early

termination of the honey-gathering, and conjectured that

make up

the bees, being anxious to

their winter store,

endeavoured to bring home nectar from the

the weather was unusually

which

is

fine.

worth remarking

as

fruit

because

There was one feature

far

as

our observation

extended, the bees did not, like the wasps, break the
skin of sound

fruit,

but were

juice of the ripe fruit that

satisfied

with lapping the

had the skin already broken.

BEE ENEMIES.

X.]

There are some birds

beehives,

and

troublesome,
sures for

it

if their

that are given to preying

become too

visits

may be worth

making

321

around

systematically

while to take active mea-

their presence scarce in order to pre-

vent these devourers from taking up a position near the

alighting-board and pouncing

The

exit.

toad

these creatures

is

is

less

upon each bee

found beneath a hive-stand

be concluded that he

is

on the watch

for

drop to the ground under their loads.

make

abode

their

as

it

makes

formidable enemy, but

it

if

its

one of

may

fairly

such bees as

may

Mice, again, will

in a hive for the winter,

and devour the

when the bees are too inactive to interfere. Spiders,

and other insects will also have to be guarded against.

stores
ants,

Other formidable enemies of bees are moths.

These

insects are creatures of the night, as the wasps are of the

day,

and they make

their

way

into the hives

of darkness, in spite of the bee sentinels.

their eggs in

can

find.

under cover

They

deposit

any crevices in or near the hive that

There the warmth of the

t'hey

hive, or of the shel-

tered situation, causes the eggs speedily to hatch,

then the maggots soon work their way to the

larvae

food,

and

comb and

which they greedily devour, thereby often

bringing about the gradual but certain destruction of the

The

whole community of bees.

moths

outside the hives

before alluded to.

should be

lifted

is

best

method of keeping

to lessen

the

entrance,

as

Also, in the early spring, the hives

from their floor-boards, which must then

be made thoroughly clean

and

all

crevices

and corners
21

MISCELLANEOUS

3^.2

INFORiyrATION.

[Ch.

vi.

about the hive and stand should be scraped, so as to get

of

rid

eggs of moths and other insects before the

all

warm weather hatches them or enables them to do

The bee-moth is not so troublesome in Engmischief
land as it is in America and some parts of Germany
but

still

its

encroachments should be carefully guarded

against in this country, for

if

not

it

may

easily increase to

a very serious extent.

XI.

BEE-KEEPING IN LONDON.

There are many persons, now in this noisy city pent,

who frequently remember the days of childhood when,
among pastures of clover or amidst flowery heath and
woodlands, they listened to the cheerful

hum

of bees.

Partly from a desire to revive these old associations,

also

creatures, such persons

they thought

it

possible

would be glad
to

do so

suburbs with any chance of success.

that

and

from a natural liking for the tendance of living

many should doubt even

to

in

We

keep bees

London

.or

if
its

do not wonder

the possibility of bees feed-

ing themselves amidst such an " endless meal of brick ;"

but
to

we can

easily

prove that bees,

smoky chimneys,

themselves and for their masters.

we

will

if

not placed too near

are able to produce honey, both for

To make

this plain

mention some special instances of metropolitan

bee-keeping.

About a century ago a Mr. Wildman kept a beehouse and honey warehouse in Holborn, near to where

BEE-KEEPING IN LONDON.

XI.]

Row

Middle

He was

lately stood.

man, but was

323

not only a trades-

also the apiarian of his day.

He

kept

of thriving bees on the roof of his house in

hives

Holborn, and many of the nobility and gentry used to

mount

thither in order to inspect the apiary.

At

that

period St. Pancras was a "village two miles north-west of

London,

''

country.

now the Regent's Park was open

was then much easier for London bees to

and what
It

is

Mr. Wildman believed

find their favourite forage, but

that his hives were filled with stores from a considerable

Whilst

distance.

enjoying

country rambles

his

Hampstead Heath, he had a shrewd

of the bees he there
labourers from his

own

flock

own

amongst the

suspicion that

01^

many

observed gathering honey were

apiary.
rest

he

In order to identify his

hit

upon a homely but

Having borrowed Mrs. Wild-

very effective expedient.

man's "dredging box," he stationed himself near the

entrance of his hives, and gently dusted his bees with flour
as they issued forth.
stead,

He

where he found

for there

then betook himself to

Hamp-

his previous surmise confirmed,

were numbers of his bees in their livery of white.

Wildman became noted

obtained over his bees,

hibited before the public.

them were regarded

for the

many

remarkable control he

instances of which he ex-

Several of his operations with

by the unwhen he appeared before King George III.,

with a swarm of bees hanging in festoons from his chin,
as feats of legerdemain

initiated, as

or suspended in a cluster at arms' length.

The journal

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

324

[Ch. vi.

of Horticulture recently, in alluding to Wildman, gives

the following particulars as to his performances

" Near

Three Hats,' Islington, was a place of popular enterDobney's Tea Gardens, kept by Mrs. Ann Dobney.
These gardens occupied the ground between White Lion Street and
Winchester Place, and were established as far back as 1728.
In
1771 the house was taken for a short time as a boarding school ; but
the

'

tainment called

it

'

'

was soon changed

the advertisement

'"June

20,

to

its

original purpose as a place of

Wildman

for in 1772 Daniel

:

This

exhibited bees here.

amusement,
is

a copy of

Exhibition of bees on horseback! at the

1772.

Jubilee Gardens, Islington (late Dobney's) this and e veiy evening,

,

until further notice (wet evenings excepted).

'" The celebrated Daniel Wildman will exhibit several

amazing experiments, never attempted by any

man

new and

any
one foot on the
saddle and one on the neck, with a mask of bees on his head and
face.
He also rides standing upright on the saddle with the bridle
in his mouth, and, by firing a pistol, makes one part of the bees
march over the table, and the other swarm in the air and return to
other

kingdom

their

hive again, with other performances too

The doors open

tance Box and

The

The

before.

at six

to

secret of

rider standing upright,

the other seats.

Wildman's
it

tedious to insert.

begin at a quarter before seven.

gallery, 2s.

understood now;

in this or

skilful

Admit-

"
Is.'

manipulation

is

consisted in a- careful holding

well

and

disposal of the queen^ together with confidence in the

generally

inoffensive disposition

whom we

have often quoted

of bees.

in ai^iarian matters, thus speaks of his feats

" Such was the

Twined

in

spell

Dr.

Evans,

for his correct information

:

which roimd a Wildman's arm

dark wreaths the fascinated swarm,

BEE-KEEPING IN LONDON.

4 XI.]

325

Bright o'er his breast the glittering legions led,

Or with a

living garland

bound

his head.

His dextrous hand, with firm, yet hurtless hold,

Could seize the chief, known by her scales of gold,
Amidst the wondering train prune her thin wing.

Or

To
our

her folds the silken

o'er

After the days of

recur to our subject.

own

fetter fling.

Wildman

establishment in Holborn became widely

to start a

London

known

Although we never attempted

and honey.

for beehives

apiary at

all

approaching in extent

that of our predecessor,

we have occasionally kept bees

on the house-top, both

in

At each of those

situations

Holborn and Regent

we have noticed

Street.

that the bees

One

bring pollen as well as honey into their hives.

summer

there

was brought under our notice an

illustration

of the acuteness of the scent of bees and of their diligent

search for food, proving, too, that

if

tained, even from unusual sources,

them

A poor

out.

woman, who,

sweets can be obthe bees

will

at the corner of

find

an ad-

jacent street, vends " brandy balls, " " toffee, " " rock, "

and

other saccharine

juveniles

Their

used

visits to

interesting,

compounds

all

well

known

the old dame's domain were at

and

to

most

to receive frequent visits from our bees.

if

the few pioneers

who had

first

rather

the sagacity

had kept the secret only to themcompany would not have been objected to.

to find such a store

selves, their

Such
social

selfish policy

instinct

does not, however, accord with the

of bees, and these soon informed their

companions of the good fortune provided

for

them

in

an

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

326

"

archipelago of sugar islands.

Day by day

these uninvited visitors increased, until

[Ch.

the swarms of
legitimate cus-

all

dame had

tomers were beaten off; and the old

vi.

to see,

not only her hope of gain destroyed, but her stock of

"goodies" sensibly diminishing by the

brigands of the
to,

to

She could

air.

dared not attempt

made

diligent enquiry as

drive the intruders away, so

where the robbers were harboured.

them

to our establishment in

implore of us to

move

Regent

the bees

thefts of these

not, or

if

Having traced

Street, she

came

possible, or she

to

would

have to move her stall, and so lose her " connection " in
Wishing not to hinder
the " toffee" and " rock " trade.
the poor

woman

in gaining jier livelihood,

we decided on

removing our bees into the country.

Another special instance of bees being profitably kept

busy thoroughfares of London

in proximity to the

before

us.

Two

years

now

is

ago we supplied a stock

of

English bees to a gentleman residing in the Strand, the

back windows of whose house open on the Thames Em-

bankment and the

flight,

river.

as their hive

floor (an

opening

is

is

Thus the bees have a

cut to

match the entrance, so that

the bees have a covered

way

they are seen taking their

flight

to

to their hive)

fie'ds

across the river

what may be thought the unattractive

Lambeth.

open

fine

placed against the sash on a third

However, they seem

to reach

and pastures new," probably

from

this

Thames,

locality

of

some "green

in the gardens of the

archbishop's palace, for they return

laden with pollen

BEE-KEEPIXG IN LONDON.

XI.]

from

327

and during the two summers that the

flowers,

hive has been so located, have yielded nice glasses of

honeycomb

amount of

as well as afforded a considerable

pleasure to the owner and his friends, with every pros-

pect of going on flourishing.

It is difficult to assign

an exact

limit to the distance

that bees will go in search of honey-yielding blossoms.

It

has been proved by various experiments that they will

fly,

say, five or six miles, if the supplies are scanty within

a shorter radius
all

but bees well understand that

economies, the saving of time, and

hand they

forage near at

prefer

of

Hence, other things

it.

being equal, the quantity of honey stored

will

portion to the contiguity of good pasturage.

it is

first

they can find

if

be

In

in pro-

this

way

that the systematic removal of hives, as practised in

many

districts,

has such a notable effect on the honey

harvest.

novel sight for Londoners to witness occurred in

June 1865.

swarm, having been ordered to be sent

into the country the following morning,

was temporarily

placed on the leads at the back of our house, 149, Regent

Street.

The sun

shining hot on the hive, or

cause, induced the inmates to

decamp.

passer-by called in to inform us that

rested the progress of a cab.

We

some other

After a time a

some bees had

at

that they were our missing swarm, the absence of

had previously puzzled us not a

man

little

ar-

once conjectured

so

we

which

sent our

with a straw hive to bring the truants back, which

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

328

[Ch.

vi.

he succeeded in doing, followed to the door by a crowd,

who were amazed

the

Cockney

at the sight of the " 'oney-bees, " as

lads called them.

pensated for the loss of his

sengers
little

had

left

him

to

be com-

the affrighted pas-

in a hurry, so that, altogether,

commotion was caused

London

Cabby had

fare, for

a crowd so soon

no

collects in

streets.

During several years we kept bees in the Zoological

Gardens, Regent's Park, and have there frequently taken
full

The position of our

now occupied by the new monkey

and handsome glasses of honey.

apiary was on the site

house.

The

visitors to the

gardens found considerable

interest in

watching the bees in our glass hives, and were

afterwards

much

taining

disappointed at the absence of so enter-

The

an exhibition.

writer

had the honour of

showing and explaining the working of these hives to

some

of the juvenile

had come
early

members of our Royal Family who

to the gardens

morning

visits

on one of

their

accustomed

with their French governess.

Their

conversation was in French ; and on entering the bee-room,

" Regardez les abeilles

on

their lips.

Voyez done

The young

la reine

"

their brother Arthur, as they affectionately called

known by

the

title

of

was soon

princesses took special care that

H.R.H.

the

Duke

him (now

of Connaught),

should observe the attention paid by the working bees to

their queen, as well as to other points of interest con-

nected with the busy scene before them, with which they
all

expressed themselves

much

delighted.

collection

BEE-KEEPING IN LONDON.

XI.]

329

of these hives were also exhibited by the Acdimatisation

Society of Great Britain, with living bees in them, at the

Fish Department of the Royal Horticultural Gardens,

South Kensington, and prospered

moved, the space being required

A gentleman residing

in St.

satisfactorily until re-

for other objects.

James's Place has, for some

considerable time past, kept bees in his garden there.

He

uses our improved cottage hives, and his bee-keep-

ing

is

decidedly successful, as he generally takes some

fine glasses of

honey each season, besides leaving

cient as winter store for the bees.

St.

James's Place

is

For a London

a very favourable one

suffi-

situation,

the gardens

behind the houses pleasantly face the Green Park, so

that the bees have an uninterrupted flight to start with.

They

are also within easy range of the richly flowered

gardens of Buckingham Palace and those of the nobility

and gentry who

reside

gardens the bees of

around the Parks.

James's Place

St.

To

resort,

those

without

waiting for any licence or certificate from the royal and

noble owners of the honey-yielding preserves.

within a short distance of our establishment,

Being

when

this

gentleman's bees swarm he generally sends to us for

assistance in hiving them.

The neighbourhood
almost

all

of

St.

John's Wood, and, indeed,

the suburbs of London, are favourable for the

production of honey.

We

mention

St.

John's

Wood

because, from the fact of having kept bees there ourselves,

we

are able to prove

by experience

that they

do

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

330

We know of several

well in that locality.

nearly

all sides

sufficient for the

metropolis

bees themselves in the lower or stock

we take

the opportunity of explaining that our

apiary (a coloured view of which forms the frontis-

piece of this work)

is

a con-

supers, after leaving

in their

Whilst referring to this part of the environs of the

hives.

own

honey

vi.

bee-keepers on

who have each had

of the town

siderable surplus of

[Ch.

is

situated near

The

Hampstead.

spot

not so easy of access as might be desired, being some-

what remote from the road, in a portion of a meadow

between West End and Kilburn.

On

looking at the picture,

it

be seen that there are

will

a large numbed of hives on separate stands, mostly barframe hives, at some

distance from each other, in

little

order to prevent confusion

back, near the hedge
like

one having

manipulating.

we have some

the others are well

every

when

its

protected

own

hives on

from

At the

rails,

Besides

covering.

which

the weather,

these

there are three bee-houses, which are so suitable for pre-

serving

from the weather hives with fixed combs, and

where there

is

less-

straw cottage hives.

need

for manipulation,

One house

another three, and a third two.

will

such as our

contain six hives,

These houses are ex-

plained at page i66.

At

the back, about the centre of the drawing,

rating house, also forming a storehouse or

is

the ope-

magazine where

apiarian appendages are kept, together with feeding syrup

and combs,

etc.,

so essential for use,

and which yet must

BEE-KEEPING IN LONDON.

XI.]

33

be secured from the thievish propensities of the bees, and

possible to gain, demoralises

access to which,

if

much

make war and attempt

that they

them so

to pillage

each

other's hives, as elsewhere referred to.

shallow pans in front (earthen milk pans) have

The

water in them, and are so placed that the bees

access to moisture, which

is

so essential for

comb-building and breeding.

for

floated

on the water so

without the

On

this

liability

may have

them

Straight

in spring

straws are

as to admit of the bees imbibing

of their being drowned.

ground we largely cultivate Italian bees, and

unite imported queens to colonies of English bees, to be

ready to supply swarms and stocks therefrom as pure and

genuine as possible.

The

district is

in the country

nevertheless
find

it

not so good for bees as

if it

were farther

and more removed from London smoke ;

fine supers worked here, and

we have had

a great convenience to have a bee-farm at so

moderate a distance from' town to carry on

this

department

of our trade.

Some

time ago we exhibited in our window a super

of fine honey from the apiary of Mr. Shirley Hibberd,

the proprietor
zine.

and

editor of the Gardener's Weekly

It consisted of

Maga-

a box containing twenty pounds nett

weight of honey, and was produced at Stoke Newington,

only three and a quarter miles from the General Post
Office.

The Times "

Bee-Master,''

whose

letters

from Tun-

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

332

bridge Wells awakened so

much

ing pursuit, also commissioned

produced under

Mr.

S. B.

his

is

vi.

interest in this pleas-

us to exhibit

own management

a super

in that locality.

Fox, at Exeter, had upwards of four hundred

pounds of honey, of excellent

apiaries

[Ch.

though one of his

quality,

quite within the city.

XII.

GENERAL REMARKS.
Book-Keeping.

Every bee-keeper should be a book-keeper, that

far as to

is

so

have a permanent record of the events of the

A book

apiary and the fortunes of his bees.

similar to a

tradesman's journal would be very suitable for the pur-

In

pose.

swarm
also

and

it

he should note down the date of the

of the season especially,

in

first

and those of other swarms

autumn the quantity of honey taken from

each hive should be entered, with remarks on the probable size and weight of the various stocks.
ticulars will not only

be interesting

for the

These

par-

bee-keeper to

turn to in winter, but will be of practical service in enabling

him

to

stock.
total

know the exact age and probable strength of each

The bee-book may also be contrived to show the

amount of honey

their owner,

and

and the

that the bees

clear account like this

does show a

have produced for

nett profits of the apiary.

A simple

provided, by the bye, that

satisfactory balance

will

be very useful

it

for

inducing cottagers and farm-labourers to start bee-keeping.

Nothing

like ocular

demonstration for

this

class.

GENERAL REMARKS.

xii.]

The "humane"

333

apiarian will reason with

them

in vain

he shows them a monster skep of honey and men-

until

tions the price that

it

will fetch in the

convinced that the depriving system

will gladly

adopt

it.

Advice for Cottagers,

writer in the Quarterly

since

etc.

Beview (whose

been published by Mr. Murray as a

"The Honey Bee")

book,
advice

When

market.

will pay, the cottager

article

shilling

has

hand-

the following good

gives

" Don't bore the cottager with long lectures

don't heap

upon him many

books

little

but give him a

hive of the best construction, show him the management,

and then buy

his honey ; buy all

you should have

he brings, even though

to give the surplus to

some gardenless

But only buy such as comes from an improved

widow.

and

hive

you cannot

easily

be deceived in

this

which preserves the bees and betters the honey.

when you pay Mm, you may read

to him, if

wise rules of old Butler, exempli gratia

"

'

If

you

Then,
will,

the

thou wilt have the favour of thy bees that they sting thee

must not be unchaste or uncleanly

not, thou

among them with a

whereof

is

thou must not come

stinking breath, caused either through eating of

leeks, onions, or garlic, or

by apy other means, the noisomeness

; thou must not be given to
thou must not come puffing or blowing

corrected by a cup of beer

surfeiting or

drunkenness

unto them, neither hastily

thyself

one

when they seem

stir

among them, nor

to threaten thee

violently defend

but, softly

hand before thy face, gently put them by ;

no stranger to them. In a word (or rather

moving

by, thy

and, lastly, thou must

in five words),

be

be chaste.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

334

sweet, sober, quiet, familiar

from

so they will love thee

[Ch.

vi.

and know thee

all others.'

These "wise
main taken

rules of old Butler'' are, ho^/ever, in the

froin Columella.

made

Allusion having been

to the profit that

gained by the judicious management of bees,

illustrate that point

French cure.*

some of

by

relating

may be
we will

an anecdote of a certain

one which may be suggestive to

It is

the rural clergy in

this

country,

who might

almost as easily keep an apiary as they do a garden or

an orchard.

good French bishop,

his clergy,

they

made

was very much

to

him of

their

in paying his annual visit to

afflicted

by the representations

extreme poverty, which, indeed,

the appearance of their houses and families corroborated.

Deploring the sad state of things which had reduced thera

to such a condition,

who,

living

any he had yet

more woful

he arrived

amongst a poorer
visited,

at the

would, he feared, be in a

plight than the rest.

his expectations,

house of a curate,

set of parishioners

than
still

Contrary, however, to

he found the appearance of

this

remote

parsonage to be superior to those he had already

visited.

*'
This story, in a disguised form, or, as the writer would say, an
improved form, was quoted in the Cornhill Magazine some time ago.
In transfoi-ming the bee-keeping curl into an English clergj-man the
effect was cleverly enhanced, especially as to the dismay of the

decorous English prelate in hearing that his poor brother in the

Church had turned " manufacturer ; " but then the vraisemblance of
the story, as

we have

it,

was destroyed.

GENERAL REMARKS.

XII.]

335

Everything about the house wore the aspect of comfort

and

plenty.

this,

my

" said

he

"

you are the

How

"

The good bishop was amazed.

friend

first

is

pastor I

have met with having a cheerful face and a plentiful

board

Have you any income independent of your

"Yes, sire," said the pastor, "I have: my

cure?"

family would starve on the pittance I receive from the

poor people that

garden,

If

I instruct.

you

show you the stock

will

excellent interest."

On going

it

me

into the garden he

the bishop a long range of beehives.

"

walk into the

will

that yields

such

showed

" There," said he,

the bank from which I draw an annual dividend, and

is

is

His harvest of

one that never stops payment."

honey enabled him almost

to dispense with the use of

him a considerable quantity

sugar, leaving

for disposal

made a tolerable substitute for wine, and the sale of the wax nearly
paid his shoemaker's bill. Ever afterwards, when any of

in the

market

of the coarser portions he

the clergy complained to the bishop of poverty, he would

say to them, "
cinct advice

Keep bees

extending
we

it

keep bees "

In

this suc-

to laity as well as clergy in

heartily join, believing that in this

rural districts

country a tenfold greater number of hives might be

successfully kept than are

now

established.

In a very practical sense the oft-repeated lines of Gray

are strictly true
'
'

Full

many

And

waste

a flower
its

is

bom

to blush unseen,

sweetness on the desert air."

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

336

An

garden of every village clergyman

apiary in the

would

means of economising

afford the

[Ch. vi.

unclaimed

this

bounty of Providence.

An Old Anecdote.

An

amusing instance of the fondness of bears for

honey

by a Muscovite ambassador

related

is

in the "

Feminine Monarchie

by Charles

quaint, but sensible

"

work

neighbour of mine

honey, slipped

down

Year 1609

the

"

searching in the woods for

(saith he), in

into a great hollow tree,

lake of honey up to the breast

Rome,

written out of Experience

Printed in

Butler.

to

where

and there sunk

when he had

into a

stuck fast two

nobody in the
meanwhile came nigh that solitary place at length, when he was
out of all hope of life, he was strangely delivered by the means of a
great bear, which, coming thither about the same business that he
days, calling and crying out in vain for help, because

did,

and smelling the honey,

to the top of the tree,

wards into

stirred

with his

and then began

The man bethinking

to

striving,

clambered up

lower himself

down back-

and knowing that the'

worst was but death which in that place he was sure of beclipt
the bear fast with both his hands about the loins, and withal made
an outcry as loud as he could. The bear being thus suddenly
affrighted, what with the handling and what with the noise, made
up again with all speed possible. The man held, and the bear
pulled, until, with main force, he had drawn him out of the mire
;
and then being let go, away he trots, more afeared than hurt, leaving
the smeared swain in joyful fear.''
it.

himself,

Instructions for

Bees

may be

New

Bee-Keepers.

very inexpensively and profitably kept

in the cottager's hive (see

page no), which

a very productive one.

It is true

that

apphances of windows and bell glasses

it

will

be found

has not the

for the cottager

GENERAL REMARKS.

? xn.]
is

much

not supposed so

of amusement
profit

it

may

337

to care for his hives as a source

his object in bee-keeping

bring.

is

simply the

For those of our readers who wish

to have united the facility of observing the bees with that

of the plentiful production of honey,

recommend
page 112.

we would

especially

the improved cottager's hive, described at

If inclined to

go

to a little further expense, the

hives described at pages 113, 120, 139, and 143,

all

afford

constant opportunity for inspection of the bees, and allow

of their working freely in the most natural manner.

Stewarton hive (page 146)

who

give

the preference

is

to

The

also a favourite with those

honey stored

boxes,

in

although the opportunities for observation are not so

great as with

some

others.

Renfrewshire Bee-Keeper's Hints on Supering and

Prevention of Swarming.

The mention

again of the Stewarton hive affords us an

opportunity of which

we

avail ourselves to

put before our

readers an extract from a private letter received whilst the

foregoing pages are in type, from that successful and ac-

complished apiarian already alluded

to,

"The Renfrewshire

Bee-keeper,"which seems to us to contain a useful hint or

two as regards putting on supers and the prevention of

swarming, which, although practised with our friend's^^vourite hive, can be advantageously adopted with other hives.

He says,

" In working Stewarton colonies, I

am

seldom

troubled with swarms, the secret being, in giving super

MISCELLANEOUS. INFORMATION.

338

[Ch.

vi.

space at the nick of time, before swarming mania seizes

them

and when once they have taken to supers, I

keep

an ample

supply of space in advance of their

wants.
"

However hot

retire

the weather

may become,

upstairs to this vacant room,

there affords

somehow

they

and comb-building

them employment, and they do not

think of swarming.

For instance,

readily

in the beginning of

summer last year (1876), the season was so bad that at first
suddenly the weather became hot
I gave them little room
;

and favourable, and one strong colony swarmed

I

excised the royal cells-and returned the bees

off they

came again

in eight or ten days' time

hive to pieces, cut out

all

royal

thought having occurred to

me

cells,

and

off.

no use

took the

in addition, the

that maturing drone

was an accessory to swarming condition,

portion of that also.

right

brood

I excised every

With seven supers (each four inches

deep) they rested content and kept to work most vigorously, never attempting to

From
much
;

swarm

again."

this extract the practical

particularly

the inclination

to

as

regards

swarm by

bee-keeper

depriving

cutting

may

away

learn

bees of

the
the

drone

brood.

Perhaps we

may

here be allowed to advise the

up of vacancies where excision of drone comb

is

filling

made

(whether with brood or without), by the insertion of clean

worker comb, in order to prevent the construction of the

former.

GENERAL REMARKS.

XII.]

339

Bees Working in Supers.

There

is

little

matter here with regard to bees work-

ing in supers that should be noticed, and that

the ascending hole
hives, the bees

is

round and

sometimes

start

is

when

that

in the centre of the stock

wrong and

upwards. This has two objections the

:

carry

first is

tlie

comb

that the bees

do not work so quickly as when they begin from the roof

of the super, and the other

is

that the

queen gains an easy

ascent and deposits eggs in cells where honey

When

this style of

take the super

make

it

off,

comb-building
cut the

is

observed,

wanted.
best to

comb down, and endeavour

adhere to the crown of the super by using a

melted wax (page 261, or

if

page 262), so that the bees

a glass, as

may

recommended

continue the work, as

There are few hobbies which cost so

the keeping

of bees.

purchased, there

to

little

at
is

downwards.

their wont,

always

is

it is

Once the

is little, if

little

" plant "

outlay as

of hives

is

any, additional expense, and

probability of a fair

obtainable the bees will find

it ;

return.

If

honey be

they work for nothing,

and provide themselves with sustenance, requiring only

a very

labour from their keepers,- and that labour

little

of a pleasing

To

and

instructive kind.

skilful apiarian we would

commend the use of the frame hives. With
these, as we have attempted to show, the bee-keeper
has a full command over his hives and bees. Many

the

especially

advanced and

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

340

mistakes,

it is

true,

have been made by uninitiated beeBeing struck

keepers in using the more elaborate hives.

-with the

[Ch. vi.

remarkable

afforded

facilities

hives for the extraction of any one

fascinated with their easy

by these superior

comb, and, perhaps,

sway over so highly organised

a community, these new-fangled bee-keepers have acquired a habit of perpetually and incautiously meddling

The

inevitable results in such cases are,

distress to the bees,

impoverishment of the stocks, and

with the bees.

loss

and vexation

things
first

or

remembered

if it is

that there are

steps in bee-keeping, as well as in chemistry, croquet,

In bee-keeping,

cricket.

great point to
is

All these

to the over-zealous apiarian.

may be avoided

no

florist,

know when

as

however anxious

continually pulling

up

floriculture,

is

it

There

who would be
how their roots

for a prize,

his plants to see

Doubtless the

were growing.

in

to " let well alone."

control which the

full

bars and frames afford over the inmost recesses of the

hives

is

a great temptation to the bee-keeper

yields too readily to

profit

it

he

will

but

if

he

imperil his chance of

and deprive himself of that continuous source of

interest

which a judicious apiarian always enjoys.

Ignorance Concerning Bees.

Many
jects are

persons

history of bees

amusing

who

are well-informed

profoundly ignorant on
;

and

all

as with old so

illustration of this,

on most sub-

points of the natural

we may

vv'ith

young.

transcribe

As an

an order

GENERAL REMARKS.

XII.]

we received
of England

341

a few years back from a seminary in the north

:

" Master

presents his compliments to

Messrs. Neighbour, and begs they will send him a swarm

of bees; he encloses six postage stamps, and hopes they
will

send him a good swarm."

was evidently of a mercantile

buy

This embryo naturalist

turn,

and had a mind

to

in the cheapest market, for in a postscript he adds

" Please

be fourpence,

let it

scarcely say that, in reply,

if

you can

our juvenile correspondent as to

swarm of

"

we endeavoured

We

-.

need

to enlighten

what constituted a

and returned the stamps, with our

bees,

thanks.

Superstition Respecting Bees.

Much

superstition has existed, and, in

still exists,

among

some

quarters,

If a death

the poor respecting bees.

occurs in the family of the bee-owner, these superstitious

folk consider

needful to

it

make

the bees aware of the

bereavement by "waking" them; that

by giving a

is,

few raps at the entrance, and audibly announcing the

If this be not done,

circumstance.
will

come of

"no

luck," say they,

One sumwe heard a cottager

the bees the following season.

mer, even near

the metropolis,

to his neighbour " his bad luck with his

when the other replied, " Ah no wonder you
never waked your bees when your wife died what

bemoaning
bees,"

'

can you expect

many

'

if

you omit such needful duty

parts of France, as well as here,

it is

"

In

a custom on

such occasions to put the bees into mourning, by placing

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

342

material round

black crape or some such

[Ch.

the

vr.

hives.

Bees also receive intelligence when a marriage or a

christening

takes place

draped with red

essential

of

In fact

is

it

considered an

element of "good luck" to inform the bees

any remarkable circumstance

that occurs

How

of the bee-keeper.

family

hives are

these cases the

in

cloth.

would

the

in

good

these

people manage with the newly imported foreign bees,

for

they can hardly be expected to have

" lingo

be

" ?

This

difficulty

experienced,

keeping

the

for

of

Fancy a man

nonsense.

likely

superior

to

sorts

would be above any such

implies an intelligence that

pitiable

learned our

however, not

is,

in

this

nineteenth

century haranguing his bees after the above-mentioned

fashion
tious

Mr.

folk in

Langstroth says that " some supersti-

America

assert

that the bees

much

take the loss of their master so

alight

upon the

coffin

whenever

it

is

sometimes

to heart as to

exposed."

clergyman told him that he attended a funeral where,

as soon as the coffin

bees gathered on

was brought from the house, the

so

it

much

Some

as to excite alarm.

years after this occurrence, being engaged in varnishing

a table, the bees alighted

upon

it

in

such numbers as to

convince the clergyman that love of the varnish on the

outside, rather than

any respect

was the occasion of

Langstroth adds

even by

"

their

for the

How many

intelligent persons,

deceased within,

conduct at the funeral.

superstitions,

Mr.

believed

might be as easily explained.

GENERAL REMARKS.

xu.]
if it

were possible to ascertain as

nected with them

fully all the facts con-

Only a short time since an English

"

343

clergyman informed us of a severe contest going on

in his

garden between Church and Dissent, for he had a hive of

bees from a Nonconformist in his parish, and these dissenting bees persistently attacked his hives to such an
extent that he really must get rid of
his episcopal apiary

liberate

Another infatuation

turbers of the peace.*

should on

money

sell

bees

is,

This

money

dis-

you

that

is,

for silve?-

is so far sensible that

Certain

credulous

it

beepart

to

they will barter, but not

sell

open

in their view, to lay themselves

If these apprehensions are correct, our

to evil fortune.

punishment

and thus

on any account, be induced

cannot,

with their bees for

to

no account part with your bees

only for gold.

ensures a respectable price.

keepers

them

from such discordant

will

be a severe one,

great offenders in that way, and

for

seem

we have been
likely to

go on

sinning.

The

would be greatly promoted

culture of bees

knowledge of

it

of a gardener.

regular qualifications

needed

So

time

is

an

it

seems only reasonable

well-taught gardener,

the circumstance of

The

to gain the skill requisite for the tendance of

apiary, that

if

were considered necessary as one of the

explanation

brought close

to

weak

and he should

its

little

to expect
feel

it

forming a part of his duties.

may probably be
or queenles'5 ones.

of

a-

a pleasure in

that a strong

hive

In

was

344

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

Germany, where

[Ch. vi,

country gentleman's table

kept

is

constantly supplied with fresh honey, the gardeners are

expected to understand the management of hives

modern bee-culture

in Bavaria

is

land will
placing

call to

new honey on

the almost invariable practice of

the breakfast tables at hotels in

We are told that

that country.

highly approved of

is

some of this new honey so

only golden syrup with a portion

of the colour extracted, and possibly otherwise

be palatable

also that there

doing a profitable business

is

it is

made up

to

a factory in Switzerland

in this

case, tourists are often taken in.

any harm, but

and

Travellers in Switzer-

to all the horticultural "students.

mind

taught in the colleges

way.

If such be the

Treacle will do no one

not pleasant to be gulled except for the

reason that " ignorance

is

bliss."

Caution Respecting Flight Hole.

Fine colonies are sometimes destroyed by the entranceway becoming stopped by some impediment or other,,
and care is requisite to keep a watch, that so fatal a
catastrophe does not happen, because the bees

where very ainple ventilation

imprisonment,
perature

make

is give?i),

excited

{unless,

by

their

matters worse, by raising the tem-

of their hive to such a pitch that the

combs

melt from their foundations, and the bees themselves are

suffocated, presenting,

alas

a most woful spectacle to

witness.

AVe give

this hint

because of having ourselves suffered

GENERAL REMARKS.

xu.

345

from a similar cause when workmen have been employed

in the vicinity of hives

these gentlemen, thoughtless of

the welfare of the bees, but most careful of their

wood

convenience, have placed a piece of

In summer weather a very short time of

out.

confinement in a close hive

of desolation

drawn

complete the work

must immediately

from the floor-board and

the air possible, leaving

all

the purpose

When

suffices to

but should the bee-keeper's attention be

to such a state of things, he

raise the hive

have

of

let

the poor bees,

them thus exposed

for

them a chance of revivaL

affording

bees are likely to incommode those whose duties

temporarily oblige them to be near the entrances,

form of an inverted bag tied

may be

the bees

it is.

cover the hive over night with net in the

better to

you stop

all

at

the base,

so

able" to get air within the net

not be too closely confined.

that

or

the entrances, to prevent the bees

otherwise stopped

coming

own

across,

labour,

The

that,

and

objection to this

is

which of course harasses the

bees for the time, but there will be no other bad

results.

The foregoing remarks more particularly apply to

summer season. In winter or in the spring, when

the:

the

cool and the bees are not so numerous, hives-

weather

is

may be

shut up even for a day or so without

tilation,

and but

little

harm

much

ven-

will arise therefrom.

Hive for Swarming Needful.

There

is

another

little

matter of detail that should

be

346

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.

named

here

that

always having a

is,

vj.

the necessity of the bee-keeper

common

hive in readiness near the bees,

so as to be able to secure any

pectedly

[Ch.

swarm which may unex-

start.

CONCLUSION.
Here our pleasant

task

must

We

close.

information has been given that

is

needful to enable the

and the

practical bee-keeper to begin business

apiarian to extend his observations.

would remind
cess,

all

stocks strong."

scientific

In conclusion, we

bee-keepers vfho earnestly desire suc-

and who hope

pursuit, of the

trust that all

to

draw pecuniary

profit

golden rule in bee-keeping

from their

" Keep

your

In exercising the assiduous attention and

persevering effort which that

not only be regarded as

maxim

enjoins, they will

bee-keepers, but, as

Mr. Lang-

stroth says, will acquire a right to the title of bee-masters.

APPENDIX.
BEES AT THE EXHIBITION OF
The annexed

figure represents

our

stand in

1862.

the

Agricultural

Department of the International Exhibition of 1862.

The space

granted us in the World's Great Fair was somewhat limited

we were

able to

apparatus, and

all

the

more important

was a unicomb hive stocked with

of great attention,

but

exhibit a tolerably complete stock of apiarian

beehives.

Italian bees.

and daily Irundreds of

Amongst

these

This was an object

visitors flocked

round our

stand in order to watch the movements of the Italian queen with

her gay and busy subjects.

in the

"Open

Court,'' to

necessary to place the hive

The
which
in' an

entrance-.way for the bees being

all

visitors

had

access,

elevated position, so that

be beyond the reach of incautious passers-by, and

it

it

was

should

to obviate any"

chance of annoyance to the vast crowds of people continually

around.

r-1

>r>/;#jt,jj,

'4

"

r1-

STAND AT THE EXHIBITION OF

1862.

APPENDIX.

349

CASES OF ACCLIMATISING BEES.

Among

others

who took a deep

Edward Wilson,

described was Mr.

interest in the exhibition just

President of the Acclimatisa-

This gentleman requested us to pack four

tion Society of Victoria.

With

stocks of the Italian bees for conveyance to Melbourne.

assistance of Mr.

Woodbury

whose

the

aid was, indeed, essential

these stocks were sent off on the 25th of September, 1862, by the
steamship " Alhambra," so as to arrive at the colony during the

Austral summer.

The

ample space and

ventilation,

Woodbury

hives were

water to their inmates during the voyage

honey

frame-hives, having

means of supplying
there was also a sufficient

as well as the
;

March. The bees arrived

where they were released after an imprisonment of
seventy-nine days, and have since rapidly multiplied, the climate
store of

to last until the following

at Melbourne,

and pasturage of Australia greatly favouring the increase of

this

superior variety of the bee.

Mr. Wilson was so well pleased with the careful manner

in v/hich

these stocks were fitted out for their voyage across the seas, that he

him three more hives, which

Owing to the mismanagement of

subsequently instructed us to prepare

were sent out

in a sailing vessel.

the water supply during the voyage, only one stock survived in this

Mr. Wilson informs us

instance.

1361b.

that one of these hiVes contained

of honey on the 25tli of December, 1864

(Midsummer

in

Australia).

Upwards of twenty
bees to

New

years ago

Zealand.

We

we

sent a Nutt's hive stocked with

then adopted the plan of fixing the

hive in a meat safe, so that the bees could

fly

about a

little,

and

also cleanse the hive of their dead, they being always very attentive

to sanitary arrangements.

Several more recent exportations of Italian bees have been

made

by us. We have sent two stocks to Madras, which arrived safely,

and we hear are doing well, also a stock to South Africa under the

APPENDIX.

350
care of the lady

We had the

out.

who

ordered them, and

who was

herself going

satisfaction of receiving the following note

" Grahamstown, Nov.

"Mrs. Mullens

is

1875.

3,

veiy pleased to inform Messrs. Neighbour and

Sons that the stock of Ligurian bees supplied to her on board the
Nyanza at Southampton on July 23rd have arrived quite safely.
Mrs. Mullens thinks they were exceedingly well packed ; they had
'

'

a trying journey by bullock waggon two days after leaving the sea.
They were released from the hive on September 3rd, and appeared
weak at first, but began to work in less than an hour. A large
number of dead bees were found at the bottom of the hive on opening

most likely caused by the

water in

boat in which the bees were having

it."

This report we consider very favourable. There would naturally

be a great mortality during such long confinement, and for the
reasons also which Mrs. Mullens mentions.

PHILADELPHIA EXHIBITION OF
Dated Dec.

Award of

Prize

Medal to

1876.

I2tk.

G.

Neighbour and

Sons,

For a large and varied collection of economical beehives so arranged

that the honey can be taken without the destruction of the bees.
Special attention

is

directed to the

Unicomb Hives with

Venetian

blinds to allow the bees to be exposed to light, whilst the sun's rays
are excluded.

Also to a Honey Extractor by centrifugal

removes the honey from the combs without injuring the

can be returned to the hives.
(Signed,)

[5 names.]

which
which

John Coleman,

On
Approved of group of Judges.

force,
latter,

behalf of the Judges.

APPENDIX.

351

CALEDONIAN APIARIAN SOCIETY.

The head-quarters of this Society are at Glasgow; and, taking
example from the British Bee Keepers' Association, shows are held
and prizes given

work

for beehives

and

in glass hives are exhibited.

tions connected with bee

in bar-frame

and other

their produce

economy, such as

hives, are

also living bees at

In addition to which, manipulatransferring, handling bees

demonstrated to beholders.

The exhibition of this year (1877) was held at Edinburgh, in connection with the annual gathering of the Highland and Agricultural
and which was very successful.
There was a separate. charge for admission to the bee and honey
department, which was visited by great numbers of people. In consequence of the poor honey harvest, but a small quantity of honey-comb
was sent for competition.
Society,

With

other beehive makers,

we

exhibited a large collection of our

hives, also living bees, with all the appliances

The

needed in bee-culture.

was awarded us for the best and largest display. This

prize consists of a handsome silver cup and 40s.
Amongst our interesting collection were a dozen or so of Italian
Alp queens in small boxes, each within a separate box, with a few
worker bees. These had been sent over expressly for this show, and
first

prize

would therefore take no harm by being kept a few days, until purchased by some of the enterprising Scotch bee-keepers, and substituted for ordinary queens in the manner explained in the body of
this

work.

One

of the transparent single-comb hives brought from the neigh-

bourhood of Glasgow and exhibit ed by the indefatigable honorary secre taiy of the Society, Mr. Bennett, was thought to possess no queen,
as no brood was to be seen, and there were so many drones present in
In order to supply what we considered the deficiency, we
the hive.
appropriated one of the. boxes containing a foreign queen, and in the

23

APPENDIX.

354

evening allowed her majesty quietly to pass into the hive through
an opening on top, taking the precaution to cover up the hive.

On making

an inspection next morning

a very dark Italian queen, as

we

vi'e

thought.

vi'ere

surprised to find

few hours later we

witnessed an interesting scene, no less than a single combat between

the real Italian queen and the queen of the hive ; for although we

had judged the hive to be^queenless there was one in the hive all
At the moment of our observation
the time, but she was a virgin.
the two queens were engaged in mortal conflict, and we were able
to summon our worthy secretary and a few apiarian friends to
After some few minutes (each being curled
witness the battle.
round against the other) the English or rather the Scotch queen
dropped dead to the bottom of the hive and was seen no more.
It would have been interesting to have gained possession of the dead

queen

for

examination under the microscope, but the construction of

it was in did not allow of searching for her.

the hive and the position

The

who was
much discomposed,

Italian mother,

evidently

some time after greatly excited and

reigned supreme, the monarch of the

for

and being already fertilised, the worker bees paid her due
began worrjang and tormenting the drones, because
they were now not wanted.
These assaults of the little active working bees on the hurley

hive

attention, but

drones very much interested the spectators.

The queen proceeded
with her duties of egg-laying, and the bees having exit through the
hording, the usual work of the hives was carried on fully exposed to

Not the least gratifying feature was the sight of these little
labourers travelling in and out under the glazed covered way.
More active manipulation, such as driving bees from one hive to
view.

another, gaining possession of the queen, and exhibiting her in the

hand, was carried on in another portion of the shed, and became a

source of wonderment to spectators.

Many
new

of the local newspapers had paragraphs descriptive of this

exhibition in connection with a Scotch argricultural show.

INDEX.
Abbott,

Beehives, various, 108 to 165

Abdomen

Bee-keeping in London, 322

Zoological Gardens, 328
,,
Horticultural Gardens, 329
,,
St, John's Wood, 329
,,
Hampstead, 330
,,

C. N., Frame-hives, 146

of bees, 102
Accident at Stafford House, 164
Acclimatising Bees (Appendix), 349

Advice by Butler, 333

American Bee Journal, igo

Anatomy of bees, Plates I. and II.,
facing pages 34 and 86
Anecdote from Butler, 336
of French clergyman, 334
,,
showing provision made

Bees,
,,

,,
,,

,,

for swarming, 78
Antennas of bees, 94

Apiary, Geo. Neighbour

&

,,
,,

Sons,

(frontispiece)
,,

description

of,

,,

Asiatic bees, 49
Austrian ditto (Lower), 46

,,

holder, 192
Bar Supers, 183
Bath and West of England Agricultural Association, 42
Bee as an insect, 7
dress, 208
feeders, Nutt's, 126
bottle, 203

can, 204,

round, 205; wood, 206

houses, 166 179

traps, 201

veil,

210

'

,,
,,
,

Bak-frame

to sleep
increase of, 82
head of, 88

,,

smell,

antennae. 96

31

96

thorax and organs of motion,

97
breathing, loo
stomach, 102

honey bag, 102

produce of wax, 103

, ,

sting, 104
dislike to hive, 221

,,

enemies

,,

eye of, 90
mouth, 91
tongue, 92
mandibles, 93
sense of hearing, 95

330

Applying supers, 264

Artificial swarming, 233

do they go

of,

315

profitably kept, 336

,,
Bell glasses, see glasses

Berlepsch, Baron von, 4, 6, 10, 36,

42, 49, 75, 211
theory of drone-breeding, 69
,,
, ,

on swarming, 77
brdSding superfluous princesses, 81

Bevan, Dr.,

3,

18, 66,

INDEX.

356

Drone comb, building

Black Bees, 71
Book-keeping recommended, 332
Box Fumigator, 206
British

Bee-keepers' Association,

48

6,

Caledonian

Apiarian Society
(Appendix), 354
Carbolic acid, use of, 208, 220, 305
Carniolan bees, 45, 46, 53, 78
Change of frame-hives beneficial
in spring, 223
Cheshire's (F.) frame-hive, 145
nucleus hive 197
transferring board, 192
,,
wax guide-maker, 191
Comb-building in supers, 338
,

on swarming, 77
not a smoker, 210

Ekes, description

of,

186

Epitaph on brimstoned bees, 85

Evans' (Dr.) poem on bees, 3, quotations from, 59, ']ij^ 76, 107, 165
Extracting honey from comb, 274
Extractor, honey, 193
Eyes of bees, 89

, ,

fixing in ditto, 262

foundations (American), 190
Combs, placing in frame-hives, 223
Common cottager's hive, 108
Corri,Herr, 47, 78
Cottage hive, improved, 114

Faculties, and functions, 54

Feeder, Nutt's, 126
Feeders, (various), 202
Feeding, 279
Fertile workers, 62, 67

no

improved

and apparatus (outside),

166
Flat-topped glasses, 182
Foul brood, 307
Langstroth, Woodbury,

and Dzierzon on, 308, 312

Fox, A'Ir. George, 278
Mr. S. Bevan, 278, 332

Frame-hive, putting swarm into,2i9

facility
for
placing

ditto, 112
improvedframe-hive,i42
Cotton, Rev, W. C, 5, 45, 78
Covers, zinc, for hives, 171, 172
wood, 172, 174, 17s, 177, 179

Cowan's (Mr.) plan of working

frame-hives, 255
Crystal Palace skep, 109
Cyprian bees, 47
,,

some-

Egg-laying, 10, 67
Eggs and transformations, 59

Cottager's hive,

of,

times to be avoided, 238

Dummy frame, 140, 143
Dzierzon, Dr., 4, 10, 36, 42, 44
description of the round
,,
of the bees' concerns, 32

Fittings

,,

Darwin,

Dr. 56, 57
Dathe, 53
plan
of fertilizing queens
,,
with Italian drones, 253
Diseases of bees, 306
Donhoff, Dr. 5, 65, 96
Driving, 226
best condition for, 228
useful for taking honey,229

Drone bee, 19, 62

has no father, 64

combs, 223,
with cover and stand,
17S. ^n, 179
Frames, removing, 268
French exhibition, 165
Fumigators, 206
Fumigating, description of, 231

.,

eggs, theorj' of production,

.,

62, 252
trap, 201

comb, to be used sparingly,

224

General hints on frame-hives, 254

remarks, 332

Gerstacker, 54
Glass hives, ladies' observatory, 120
frame, 138
.,
with cover and super,

177, r78
Glasses for supers, 180, 181, 182

INDEX.
Guide comb,

description

i88j 261

264

maker
of,

(Cheshire's),

191

Hawkins, Mr. Waterhouse,

Head of bee, 88

50

357

Leukart, Professor, 64, 66

Ligurian bee, 7, 34
Loridon apiaries, 325
Lower Austrian bees, 46
Lubbuck, Sir John, 6, 57, 59

Hearing of bees, 95

Mahan,

Heath

Mandibles of bees, 91
Manipulation with bees, 212

bees, 46
Hints, general, on frame-hives, 254
Hives, modern, 108 to 165

sometimes destroyed by
entrance being stopped, 343
Hiving swarms, 212

Honey bag

of bees, 102

cutters, 193

,,

description

of,

296

extractor, 193
test when adulterated, 297
Houses for hives, 166
,,

,
,

Hruschlca, Von, 193

Huber, 62
Hunter's, Mr., support for hive

when

driving, 229

Impressed wa.\ sheets, 187

Improved cottage hive, 113
,,

Mr., 9

frame-hives, 269
Mel-extractor, 196
,

Melting down combs, 275

Mouth of bees, 91
Munn, Major, 129
Nadirs, description of, 186
Neighbours* improved cottager's
hive, 113

Neighbours'improved cottagehive,
114
Neighbours' new frame-hive, 139
New cover and stand for framehives, 175, 176, 179
New wood feeder, 206
Nucleus hive, 197
Nutt's hive, 123

cottager's hive, 112

ditto, no windows, 119

,,
Increase of bees, 82
Insects necessary for existence of

Orchard, good

place

for

an

apiary, 56

Organs of sensation, 88

flowers, 59
Italian bee, 34, 35, 41
Italianising hives, 251

,,

motion, 97

,,

reproduction, 62

Parthenogenesis, 64

Kernek,

58
Kleine, Herr,

5,

35,

244

anecdotes of
Von,
queens, 22, 66
Knowledge of bee-keeping necessary for a gardener, 343

Klipstein,

Ladies' Observatory Hive, 120

Lanarkshire bee-keeper, 297
Lanarkshire hive, 155
Langstroth, Rev. L. L., 3, 5, 10,
43. 83. 85, 129, 346
Langstroth, Rev. L. L., on transferring swarms, 220
Lee's supers, 145, 146
Legs of bees, 98

Pasturage for bees, 293

Payne's (I, H.) glass, 182
Perforated zinc adapter, 141, 143,
144, 200
Philadelphia Exhibition, i6o and
Appendix, 350
Philadelphia hive, 143
Pollen basket, 98
;

preservation from incursions

of ants, 58
description of, 298
substitute for, 299
Position of hives, 292
Propolis, 300
,,

'

, ,

Queen,

INDEX.

358

Queon, power of egg-laying, lo

homage paid to fertile,
,,
12
no attention bestowed
virgins, 13

,,

two queens

in

on

,,

queens

will

not

fight, IS

,,

consternation at loss of,i6

life of, 19

,,

fertilisation of, 11, 20, 22,

,,

24
in relation to sexes,

63
at swarming time, 73
,,
and
drone
preventers,
200
,,
rearing, 17, 27, 77, 243
,,
cells, 17, 244
,,
securing, 228, 240
mtroducing stranger, 247
cages, 198, 244
,,
Quilts, 180
,,

Smelling, sense of, largely possessed by bees,-96

Smith, Mr.

Smymsean

a hive, 15

sting of used for depositing eggs, IS

some

Slow feeding, 204

J.,

48

bees, 47

Society of Arts, S7

Stands for hives, 118, 170

Stewarton hive, 146 to 155, 337
Sting, 104
prevention and cure, 286

Stocks (old) transferring, 222

Stomach of bees, 102

Straw frame-hive,

136, 141

hives, round, 108 to 120

.,
Stupefying bees, 207
Supers, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, i8s
Superstitions about bees, 341
Supplying natural comb, 261
Swammerdam, 63
Swarm, number of bees composing, 79

second
214

flight

disastrous,

often mix, 214

taking, 214
sending to a distance, 217
conveyance of, 217
transferring, 218
returning,
218

brought from a distance,

,,
219
should be fed, 221
,,
truant,

78, 317
artificial, 233

Swarming, rationale of, 72

,5

Rationale

of swarming, 72
Relation of sex to cells, 67
plants to insects s^, 57
,

Removing
,,
,

bees, 2S9
supers, 266
frames, 268

Reproductive economy, 62
Renfrewshire bee-keeper,24,4i, IS4
queen cage, 199
,,
instructions on
pering, 337

,,

Robbmg,

su-

225, 30s

(Mr.) way to get

workers, 67

Rorl's

ciijit

of

fertile

Round
Royal
,,
,,

feeder, 205
cells,

17,

212

244

transferring, 198
,,
duels, IS, and Appendix

Salt

obtained by bees, 30, 97

Samuelson's work. The Honey
Bee, s, 91, 96
Siebold,Von,onParthenogenesis,64
Skep, Crystal Palace, 109
,

(old),

transferring

from, 223

provision made for, 74,

78
signs of, 80
a provision of Nature.

combs

TAYLOR,

the late Mr. H., 37

Taylor's glasses, 181
Thorax of bee, 97
Tongue of bee, 92

Transferring board, 192

swarms, 218
,5
old stocks, 222
J,
Tristram, Rev. H. B., extract
from his book, 51

INDEX.
Tube

359

Weighing hives, 276

Wildman's bees, 322

fumigator, 207

Unicomb

observatory hive, outdoor, 157

Unicomb observatory hive, directions for, 160
Unicomb observatory hive, indoor,
162

Wings

for bees, 97

Winter precautions, 283

Wood

cover, 172
feeder, 206

Woodbury, T. W.,

Uniting weak colonies, 229

37, 42, 49,

50

frame-hive, 134
mode of hiving swarm,

mode

2i6

Ventilation performed by
3o>

bees,

of transferring
swa,rm, 220
hive cover, 174

28s

Ventilators, 124
Vulcanite for feeding-stage, 203

Xenophon's army poisoned with

Wasps, 315
Warder, Dr.,
swarm, 77

Water

honey, 298

experiment

Zinc

for bees, 30, 331

Wax, how produced,

with

103

impressed sheets
secretion of, 302

of,

187

covers, ornamental, 171

plain, 172

rests,

adapters,

140
perforated,

143, 144, 200

Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury.

141,

PRICE LIST
OF

& SONS'
IMPROVED BEE-HIVES
NEIGHBOUR

For taking Honey without

the Destruction

of the Bees.

EXHIBITORS AT THE

Great Exhibition, 1851.

Dublin Exhibition, 1853.

Exposition UuiverseUe, 1855.

International Exhibition, 1862.

Dublin Exhibition, 1866

Paris Exposition Universelle, 1867.

Annual International Exhibition, 1873,

British Bee-Keepers' Shows, Crystal Palace, 1874, 1875.

Alexandra Palace, 1876.

International Philadelphia Exhibition, 1876.

Caledonian Apiarian

Show

at Edinburgh, 1877.

%bt

Wms,

of

No.

....
....

Nutt's Collateral Bee-Hive

Stand for ditto

Single Box Hive

Neighbours'
Super
Cover
Super

New Frame Stock Hive

for ditto

Carr's Bar
S-

27s.

and

and Frame Hive

for ditto

Neighbours' Improved Cottage Hive

Stand for

6.

78.

ditto
Ditto, without Windows

Ladies' Observatory Hive

The Cottager's Hive

9 and

10.

and

12,

II

....
....
.....

Bee Feeders
Fumigators

Honey

each

5s.

and

.,

2s.

,,

15.

Cutters
Improved Cottager's Hive
Honey Extractor for hand use

16.

Woodbury Bar Super

13.

14.

17.

per pair

15s.

and

Neighbours' New Supers, Wood and Glass

Ditto
ditto
Straw and Wood
Taylor's Glass, to contain about 8 lb.
Payne's Glass, witli hole in centre, to afford additional space to supers partly filled
.

18.
I9.

Neighbours' Revolving Indoor Unicomb Hive

New Can

Feeder,

on the

principle of a fountain,
adapted for slow, stimulating feeding (3 pints)
New Frame Stand, to be used when manipulating
23-

24.
2526.
27.
28.

with movable combs

American Sectional Supers
Taylor's Super Glass
Bell Glass, to contain
Ditto
ditto
Ditto
ditto

per set of 14

about 9 lb
51b.

3 lb.
Flat-top Glass, with lid to place on
table inverted
Shallow Glasses, gj in. wide by 4 in. -deep
"
Ditto
,,
13 J in.
4J in.
Bee Dress^ with Sleeves (post free, 3d. extra)
India-rubber Gloves (by post, 2d. extra)
per pair

New Shape

SC-

S2-

SS3436.
3738-

....
.

Common Straw Hives

Small Straw Super Hives
Floor Boards, according to description,
Zinc Cover for Improved Cottage Hive
*

2S., 2s.

Ornamental Zinc Cover

Bee House, to contain two Improved Cottage' Hives
.

39-

6d.

LIST OF PRICES.
No.
42.

Woodbury Bar and Frame Hive

Ditto

44.
45.
46.
47.
49.
51.
52.

57.
58.

59.
60.

Window

Tfie Bottle Feeder

and
WoodbuiT Straw Bar and Frame Hive,
Outdoor Onioomb Hive, to take Woodbury Frames
Stand
Six for
Common Cottage Hive, 5s. 6d. each,
Glass Frame Hive
Improved Wax Sheets
per doz.
Lee's Octagon Straw Hive
Super
Cover and Stand
Lee's Octagon Hive, in Mahoghany
18s. 6d.

53.
54.
55.
56.

18

with

ditto

Cover
Stand

Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto

ditto
ditto
ditto
ditto

Stewarton Hive

New Wood

17
10
10

17
6

Pine
Glass Sides

smaller, in Mahoghany
Sides, Glass Top
(3 Stoclc Boxes, i Honey Box)

12

Wooden

5
I

Bee Feeder

63.
64.

Neighbours' Cottage Frame Hive

per pair
Neighbours' Divisional Super, 3s. 6d.
Cover for Neighbours' Frame Hive
Cottage Frame Hive, Woodbury Frames
Cheshire's Frame Hive, complete Stand, Super, and

65.
66.

Cover, the latter painted

Abbott's ditto ditto
Lanarkshire Stock Hive

61.
62.

Super

17
17
16
6

Roof
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.

73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.

79.

Neighbours' New Bee Veil (by post, 2d. extra)

Flat-top Glass with 3 inch hole in centre (similar to
Payne's), for adding space to Supers
Same construction as above, 6J in. wide, 3 in. deep .
per pair
Lee's Double Super
Cheshire's Nucleus Hive, for Queen Rearing
Cheshire's Transferring Board
Cheshire's Prize Smoker
Cheshire's Drone Trap ,
.

Syrup Can and Shovel .

each 6d. and
Vulcanite Feeding Plates
(Less by the dozen)
each
Quieter
Bligh Bee
IS. and
Queen and Drone Preventers
Crystal Palace Skep
Floor Board

Super
80.

7
6

Neighbours' Straw Frame Hive, with New-shaped

Cover and Stand, grained and varnished
.

LIST OF PRICES.

No.
8i.
82.

New Cottage Frame Stock

New Cover and Stand for

Honey

Neighbours' Cylindrical

83-

Two Wire

84.
8586.
87.

d.

....
Extractor

Cases
One Hive
Renfrewshire Stewarton Movable Comb Hive, consisting of 3 Stock Bo.xes and i Honey Box
Bee Traps, for clearing Bees from Supers
Philadelphia Hive, with Super, Stand, and Cover.

Bee House

for

.....
.....
......

Sectional Supers

the set

New Cover
90.

Hive, with Window

tlie above (painted)

for Cottage Frame Hive

own Stand)
Quinby Smoker

ON

PUBLICATIONS

(carries its

BEES.

....
....

or, Bees, Beehives, and Bee Culture,

by Alfred Neighbour.
Hive and Honey Bee, by Rev. L. L. Langstroth (American).

"TheApiaey;''

A New

Edition
Quinby's Bee-Keeping (American)
Italian

Alp Bee, by Hermann

PRIZE

MEDALS AWARDED AT THE

PHILADELPHIA

AND OTHER EXHIBITIONS.

GEO.

NEIGHBOUR &

SONS'

PRICE CURRENT OF
^,

num^
An

lait

Italian Queen

0i|

in a small

Box, accompanied by a few Worker

Bees, with fuU directions for uniting to English Stocks, each

and May,
October,

12s.

June,

lis.

July,

^n%

jjjguijiait

los.

August,

9s.

from April

September,

8s.

7s.

Orders should be given in advance.

For parcels of

Sji

Queens

at

one time,

is.

each

less.

A Stock,

with genuine Italian Queen, packed so as to travel by rail

with comparatively no risk of damage, including the Straw Frame Hive
with window, ,^\ or if in New;, Cheap Frame Hive, No. 60 or 63,
which has no window, ^^3 5s.

Swarms and

Stocks of English Bees can be obtained.