SECURING HONEY FROM THE MOTH.
TWO THINGS TO BE PREVENTED.
When the boxes are free from the bees, two things are to be prevented,
if we wish to save our honey till cold weather. One is to keep out the
worms, the other to prevent souring. The last may be new to many, but
some few of us have had it caused by dampness in warm weather. The
combs become covered with moisture, a portion of the honey becomes thin
like water, and instead of the saccharine qualities we have the acid.
Remedy: keep perfectly dry and cool, if you can, but dry at any rate.
APT TO BE DECEIVED ABOUT THE WORMS.
But the worms, you can surely keep them out, you think, since you can
seal up the boxes perfectly close, preventing the moth or even the
smallest ant from entering! Yes, you may do this effectually, but the
worms will often be there somehow, unless in a very low temperature,
such as a very cool cellar, or in house, and then you have dampness to
guard against. I have a little experience in this matter that spoils
your theory entirely. I have taken off glass jars, and watched them
till the bees were all out, and was _certain the moth did not come
near_ them, then immediately sealed them up; absolutely preventing
access afterwards, (I could do this with a jar more effectually than a
box which is made of several pieces,) I then felt quite sure that I was
ahead, and should have no trouble with the worms, as had often been the
case before. I was sadly mistaken.
THEIR PROGRESS DESCRIBED.
In a few days, I could see at first a little white dust, like flour, on
the side of the combs, and on the bottom of the jar. As the worms grew
larger, this dust was coarser. By looking closely at the combs, a small
white thread-like line was first perceptible, enlarging as the worm
progressed.
When combs are filled with honey, they go only on the surface, eating
nothing but the sealing of the cells; seldom penetrating to the centre,
without an empty cell to give the chance. Disgusting as they seem to
be, they dislike being daubed with honey. _Wax, and not honey, is their
food._
The reader would like to know how these worms came in the jars, when,
to all appearance, it _was a physical impossibility_. I would like to
tell positively, but cannot. But I will guess, if you will allow it. I
will first premise, that I do not suppose they are generated
spontaneously! Their being found there, then, would indicate some agent
or means not readily perceived.
A SOLUTION OFFERED.
The hypothesis that I offer is original and new, and therefore open for
criticism; if there is a better way to account for the mystery, I would
be glad to know it.
From the first of June till late in the fall, the moth may be found
around our hives, active at night, but still in the day. The only
object probably is to find a suitable place to deposit its eggs, that
the young may have food; if no proper and convenient place is found,
why, I suppose it will take up with such as it _can_ find; their eggs
_must_ be deposited somewhere, it may be in the cracks in the hive, in
the dust at the bottom, or outside, as near the entrance as they dare
approach. The bees running over them may get one or more of these eggs
attached to their feet or bodies, and carry it among the combs, where
it may be left to hatch. It is not at all probable that the moth ever
passed through the hive among the bees, to deposit her eggs in the jars
before mentioned. Had these jars been left on the hive, not a worm
would have ever defaced a comb; because, when the bees are numerous,
each worm as soon as it commences its work of destruction will be
removed, that is, when it works on the surface, as in the boxes of
honey--in breeding combs, they get in the centre and are more difficult
to remove. By taking off these jars and removing the bees, it gave all
the eggs that happened to be there a fair chance. Many writers finding
the combs undisturbed when left on the hive till cold weather,
recommend that as the only safe way, preferring to have the combs a
little darker, than the risk of being destroyed by the worms. But I
object to dark combs, and leaving the boxes will effectually prevent
empty ones taking their places, which are necessary to get all the
profits. I will offer a few more remarks in favor of my theory, and
then give my remedy for the worms. I have found in all hives where the
bees have been removed in warm weather, say between the middle of June
and September, (and it has been a great many,) moth eggs enough among
the combs to destroy them in a very short time, unless kept in a very
cool place; this result has been uniform. Any person doubting this, may
remove the bees from a hive that is full of combs in July or August;
and close it to prevent the _possibility_ of a moth entering, set it
away in a temperature ranging from sixty to ninety, and if there are
not worms enough to satisfy him that this is correct, he will have
better success than I ever did. Yet, no such result will follow, when
the bees are left among the combs, unless the swarm be very small; then
the injury done will be in proportion. A strong stock may have as many
moth eggs among the combs as a weak one, yet one will be scarcely
injured, while the other may be nearly or quite destroyed.
Now, if this theory be correct, and the bees do actually carry these
eggs among the combs, is there not a great deal of lost labor in trying
to construct a moth-proof hive? The moth, or rather the worms, are ever
present to devour the combs, whenever the bees have left them in this
season.
METHOD OF KILLING WORMS IN BOXES.
Now, whether you are satisfied or not with the foregoing, we will
proceed with the remedy. Perhaps you may find one box in ten that will
have no worms about it, others may contain from one to twenty when they
have been off a week or more. All the eggs should have a chance to
hatch, which in cool weather may be three weeks. They should be
watched, that no worms get large enough to injure the combs much,
before they are destroyed. Get a close barrel or box that will exclude
the air as much as possible; in this put the boxes, with the holes or
bottom open. In one corner leave a place for a cup or dish of some
kind, to hold some sulphur matches while burning. (They are made by
dipping paper or rags in melted sulphur.) When all is ready, ignite the
matches, and cover close for several hours. A little care is required
to have it just right: if too little is used, the worms are not killed;
if too much, it gives the combs a green color. A little experience will
soon enable you to judge. If the worms are not killed on the first
trial, another dose must be administered. Much less sulphur will adhere
to paper or rags, if it is very hot, when dipped, than when just above
the temperature necessary to melt it; this should be considered, as
well as the number of boxes to be smoked, size of the vessel used in
smoking them, &c.
Whether this gas from burning sulphur will destroy the eggs of the moth
before the worm appears, I have not tested sufficiently to decide; but
I do know that it is an effectual quietus for the larvae!
FREEZING DESTROYS THEM.
Boxes taken off at the end of warm weather, and exposed in a freezing
situation through the winter, appear to have all the worms as well as
eggs for them destroyed by the cold; consequently, all boxes so
exposed, may be kept any length of time; the only care being necessary,
to shut out the moth effectually. But don't forget to look out for all
combs from which the bees have been removed in warm weather. I prefer
taking off all boxes at the end of the first yield of honey, even when
I expect to put them on again for buckwheat honey. The bees at this
season collect a great abundance of propolis, which they spread over
the inside of the boxes as well as hive; in some instances it is spread
on the glass so thick as to prevent the quality of honey being seen.
There is no necessity for boxes on a hive at any season when there is
no yield of honey to fill them. Sometimes even in a yield of buckwheat
honey, a stock may contain too few bees to fill boxes, but just a few
may go into them and put on the propolis; this should not be allowed,
as it makes it look bad when used another year. At this season,
(August) some old stocks may be full of combs, and but few bees, but
swarms when they have got the hive full in time, are very sure to have
bees enough to go into the boxes to work. I have known them to do so in
three weeks after being hived.
OBJECTION TO USING BOXES BEFORE THE HIVE IS FULL.
Some put on boxes at the time of hiving the bees. In such cases the box
is often filled first, and nearly as often will contain brood. I
consider it no advantage, and often a damage to do so; as I want the
hive full any way--and then if they have time let them into boxes,
although it may be buckwheat, instead of clover honey that we get.