Transcriber Note
Original text lacked a Table of Contents.
Text emphasis denoted as _Italics_ and =Bold=. WHole and fractional
parts of numbers as 12-3/4.
THE
BEE-KEEPER'S MANUAL
[Illustration]
THE
BEE-KEEPER'S MANUAL,
OR
PRACTICAL HINTS
ON THE
MANAGEMENT AND COMPLETE PRESERVATION
OF
THE HONEY-BEE;
WITH
A DESCRIPTION OF THE MOST APPROVED HIVES,
AND OTHER APPURTENANCES OF THE APIARY.
BY
HENRY TAYLOR.
SIXTH EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS.
ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS.
LONDON:
GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW.
MDCCCLX.
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
The Bee-Keeper’s Manual. 1
The Queen or Mother Bee 4
The Common or Working Bees 11
Swarming (or Single Hiving) and Depriving Systems 21
Common Straw (or Single) Hives 27
Straw Depriving Hives 30
Hive-Covers 37
Floor or Hive-Boards 42
Hive-Stands, or Pedestals 37
Wood Box Hives 51
Wood Bar Boxes 54
Bar Glass Hives 72
Straw Bar-Hives 73
Circular Wooden Hives 75
Collateral System 78
White’s Collateral Hive 81
Nutt’s Collateral Hive 82
Nadir Hive 87
Bee Sheds and Houses 94
Position and Aspect 97
Bee Passage and Number of Hives 101
Summer Management. 106
Wax and Combs 109
Propolis 112
Honey 113
Pollen and Farina 113
Water 115
Shade 115
Moths, Wasps, Hornets, and Other Enemies 116
Super-hiving 119
Bell-glasses 120
Triplets and Nadirs 122
Autumnal Management. 124
Remove a Full Box or Super 125
Honey Harvest 128
Comb-Knives 130
Robbers 131
Autumnal Feeding 132
Feeding-troughs 133
Bee Food 137
Winter Store 138
Autumnal Unions, Fuming, and Transferring Bees 140
Driving of Bees 152
Winter Management. 157
Winter Positioning 158
Damp in Hives 161
Temperature 162
Dysentery 164
Spring Management. 166
Cleaning or Changing Floor-boards 167
Comb-pruning 167
General Directions 168
Spring Feeding 170
Enemies and Robbers 175
Super-hives 176
Temperature and Weather 177
Swarming 180
Returning of Swarms 183
After-swarms 186
Uniting of Swarms 192
Prevention of After-swarms 193
Maiden Swarms 196
General Directions on Swarming 196
Artificial Swarming 199
Dividing Bar-Hive 204
Bee-Protector 208
Remedy for the Sting of a Bee 210
Conclusion. 212
Index. 217
PREFACE
TO
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Twelve years have elapsed since the original publication of the
Bee-keeper's Manual. For the fourth time the author is called upon to
revise his little book, and he still thinks that the leading object in
offering it to public notice will best be explained in the words with
which it was first introduced. "The existence of the following pages
had its origin, some time ago, in the request of a friend, that the
author would give him a brief practical compendium of the management of
Bees, on the humane or depriving system. Similar applications came from
other quarters. The subject is one which has of late acquired increased
interest; but the hints following would perhaps never have been
prepared for the press, had not the hours of a protracted confinement
by illness required some diversity of occupation and amusement. On
reviewing his experience as an amateur bee-keeper, the author was led
to believe that the result of it, added to a concise view of such
particulars as are usually spread over a large surface in works of
this nature, and arranged according to the progressive order of the
seasons, might be useful to others, seeking like himself occasional
relaxation from weightier matters in watching over and protecting these
interesting and valuable insects. Step by step this or that defect of
construction in his Hives had been remedied, and such conveniences
added as necessity or the spirit of improvement from time to time had
suggested. These are briefly described in the following little work.
If it have the good fortune, though in a small degree, to smooth the
path (usually a rough and uncertain one) of the apiarian novice,--of
removing ignorance and prejudice, or of obviating any portion of the
difficulties with which a more general cultivation of bees has to
contend,--why may not the contribution of this mite be considered a
humble addition to the store of USEFUL KNOWLEDGE?"
In its present renewed form, the author has been induced partially to
extend his first design (originally much restricted in its scope), by
entering somewhat more at large into the subject of Bee management,
and the general details of practice. Although not professing to offer
his remarks to any particular class of readers, he is, nevertheless,
inclined to think they will frequently be found, in an especial degree,
applicable to the position of the amateur Apiarian. For the peculiar
use of cottage bee-keepers, tracts and scraps innumerable have been
issued,--probably with very uncertain effect. In short, there is
little room for doubt that these can be more effectually benefited by
example and verbal advice, than by any kind of printed instructions.
Be this as it may, putting out of the question the long train of
contingencies incident to locality, season, &c., much must often be
left to individual judgment and careful observation; and no writer can
be expected to meet every supposable case of difficulty in dealing
with insects confessedly often so intractable as bees. The author,
therefore, must be considered as merely laying down a scheme of general
recommendations; aiming much less at novelty than at plain practical
utility; not hesitating occasionally to borrow the language of other
unexceptionable authorities where it clearly expressed his convictions,
or coincided with the results of his own experience; but carefully
abstaining from any interference with the dogmatists and hyper-critics
in the settlement of the affairs of their peculiar vocation.
If some of the details relative to the construction of hives or their
appurtenances appear to be tedious to the general reader, it must be
borne in mind that these are chiefly addressed to the mechanic, who
will not be found to object that his particular department has received
the aid of a careful attention to matters of description and direction.
On the whole, the author is induced to hope that the improved
arrangement, additional information, and variety of illustration now
introduced, will render superfluous any apology for a small unavoidable
increase in the size of the book.
_April, 1850._
PREFACE
TO
THE FIFTH EDITION.
In once more revising the following pages for republication, the
author has still kept in view the purpose in which they originated,
as referred to in a former preface, and which is again prefixed. He
trusts that the intervening period has not been unprofitably occupied
in the task of continued investigation and experiment relative to the
general economy of the Bee; in the introduction either of original
invention or improvement as regards the mechanical requirements of
the Apiary; and in maturing the many useful suggestions derived
in the course of a pretty widely extended correspondence. The
incorporation of matter thus arising must be the apology, if such
is needed, for the omission or abridgment, here and there, of some
that a later experience had superseded or modified. From these causes
the rewriting of many portions of the work became a necessity,
together with the introduction of much new illustration,--on the whole
resulting in a slightly enlarged volume. Under the circumstances of
accumulated materials, condensation was often found more difficult of
accomplishment than expansion, had this been thought desirable; but
brevity throughout has been the aim, so far as seemed consistent with
clear explanation and obvious utility. A work on the Honey-Bee, thus
restricted in its object and scope almost entirely to details of a
practical bearing, may not entitle it to much literary or scientific
consideration, but--without reference to the claims involved in a
large circulation--the author will never regret the time and thought
bestowed, where the leading aim was the welfare and preservation of
one of the most curious of God's creatures; and the dissemination of
knowledge in relation to a pursuit in rural life, of more general
interest, probably, than many kindred ones of higher pretensions.
_August, 1855._
PREFACE
TO
THE SIXTH EDITION.
A continued, or rather an increasing sale of the Bee-keeper's Manual
has, for the sixth time, rendered a reprint necessary; confirming
the belief that a work, first appearing as the amusement of an idle
hour, has, in its more recent extended form, not been unappreciated,
as supplying a medium between the costly treatises of elaborate
investigators and compilers and the class of mere tracts on Bee
management, that have, with more or less of pretension, abounded
of late years. These are sometimes directed to detached points or
portions only in the wide and diversified field of controversy opened
in relation to the Honey-Bee, or confined by space to the usual
desultory scraps of information for the guidance of the inexperienced
tyro, or supposed cottager; communicating just enough to prove the
necessity of advancing a step further, by consulting works that take
a wider and more systematic view of the subject in its details. The
prefaces to the two last editions of the book are again placed before
the reader, as showing that, in its successive stages, the author's
purpose has been the condensation of a large amount of useful apiarian
knowledge, assisted by an unusual variety of illustration. The present
republication professedly follows in the path of its predecessors; such
additional matter or remark being occasionally introduced as space
permitted, and the onward progress of improvement appeared to demand.
_May, 1860._
What well appointed Commonwealths! where each
Adds to the stock of happiness for all;
Wisdom's own forums! where professors teach
Eloquent lessons in their vaulted hall:
Galleries of art, and schools of industry!
Stores of rich fragrance! Orchestras of song!
What marvellous seats of hidden alchymy!
How oft, when wandering far and erring long,
Man might learn Truth and Virtue from the Bee!
Bowring.
THE
BEE-KEEPER'S MANUAL.
The Hive or domestic Honey Bee of this country is classed
entomologically _Apis mellifica_, order _Hymenoptera_, as having four
wings.[A] The limits to which a Bee-keeper's Manual of practice is
necessarily confined, permits only the remark that these extraordinary
insects are, as to origin and history, lost in the mists of a remote
antiquity. We know, however, that they, their habits and productions,
are alluded to in Scripture, and attracted marked attention and
admiration in the early eastern communities, where doubtless was
familiar their characteristic Oriental name, _Deburah_,--"she that
speaketh." Subsequently, the bee has spread itself, or been carried,
in spite of clime and temperature, over a large portion of the old
continents; following in the wake of civilized man wherever he has
placed his foot in the primeval forests of the new world; and later on,
in our own time, has been received as a friend and benefactor in the
boundless regions of Australasia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean.
From the time of Aristotle down to our own day, treatises on Bees have
ever been popular, and the curious naturalist has no difficulty in
collecting a library relative to a subject apparently inexhaustible.
But space allows us to notice neither the crude speculations to be met
with in ancient literature, the unprofitable disputations too often
prevailing among modern Bee-annalists, nor the endless catalogue of
hives, possible and impossible, of every period, by which the novice is
bewildered. Our present purpose is restricted to a utilitarian view of
the subject of apiarian knowledge, where science, invention, and the
most competent testimony, have combined to place it in our own day.
[A] Although in the following pages the _Apis mellifica_ alone is
referred to, it may be well here to state that attention has recently
been directed, not only in our own country, but in a still higher
degree in Germany, France, and even in the United States of America,
to the introduction of the Ligurian Bee, or _Apis Ligustica_ of
Italy, the race most probably that was known to Aristotle and Virgil,
and, perhaps, to the ancient Greeks. The combs of this species of
bee closely resemble those of the common kind, but its outward
characteristics exhibit a marked difference; the first rings of the
abdomen being of a reddish colour, instead of dark brown. A fertile
Ligurian queen is readily accepted in an English stock-hive, from which
a common queen has been abstracted, and in due time young Italians are
distinguishable, gradually displacing the original inhabitants. Report
speaks favorably of the superiority of the strangers over our own bee,
as more hardy, more laborious, less irascible, and as swarming earlier.
To those who may be unacquainted with the leading characteristic of the
Honey Bee, it is necessary to premise that in every family, when fully
constituted, its members are of three kinds of individuals; viz.,
A _Queen_, or _Mother Bee_, [Illustration]
The _Common_, or _Working Bees_; [Illustration]
And (during a part of the year)
the _Male_, or _Drone Bees_. [Illustration]
Thus associated, they severally perform their allotted functions
in great harmony, labouring for the general good, combining in
self-defence, recognising one another, but permitting the intrusion of
no stranger within the hive.
THE QUEEN OR MOTHER BEE
Is darker on the back, longer, and more taper towards the end of her
body than the common bees; has longer legs but shorter wings, and is
of a tawny or yellowish-brown colour underneath. She is supreme in the
hive, admitting no rival or equal; and is armed with a sting, somewhat
more curved in form than that of the common bees, which, however, she
rarely uses. Where she goes the other bees follow; and so indispensable
is her presence to the existence of the commonwealth, that where she is
not none will long remain. She is the mother of the entire community,
her office being to lay the eggs from which all proceed, whether
future queens, drones, or workers. Separate her from the family, and
she instinctively resents the injury, refuses food, pines, and dies.
Without a Queen, or a prospect of one, the labour of the hive is
suspended, and a gradual dispersion or emigration of the community
ensues.
[Illustration]
Those who have examined the appearance of a bee-hive, after it has
been filled with combs during a year, will recollect seeing suspended
here and there, certain small inverted cup-shaped forms. These are the
partially destroyed remains of what were designed for the birthplaces
of young queens, and so-called royal cells or cradles. They are much
larger than the common hexagonal cells in which the working bees are
bred; varying also in their composition, the material of which appears
to be a mixture of wax or propolis, and the farina of flowers. Soon
after the foundation of one of them has been laid, an egg is deposited
in it, the work of completion of the cradle being carried on as
required by the increasing growth of its occupant. When finished and
closed up, it presents in form the appearance of an oblong spheroid,
about an inch long, usually appended like a stalactite perpendicularly
to the edge of a comb, the small end or mouth being downwards, a
position most favorable to economy of space in the hive. In number
the royal cells vary from four or five to a dozen, and sometimes
more. They are not peopled till after the usual great spring laying
of eggs for the production of working bees, preparatory to swarming;
and also those to produce drone bees. The existence of the latter,
or in some stage towards existence, is an invariable preliminary to
the construction of royal cells, the reason for which will hereafter
appear. The affectionate attachment evinced by the nurse-bees towards
the royal larvæ is marvellous, the quantity of food given is profuse,
and they arrive severally at maturity on or about the sixteenth day
from the laying of each egg; these having usually an interval between
them of but a few days. Of the young females or princesses, as they are
often called, and the mode of disposing of supernumerary ones, we shall
speak more at large when we come to treat of swarming. The duration
of life in a Queen bee, under ordinary circumstances, is, by a wise
provision for the perpetuation of the species, much more prolonged than
is the case with the common bees, and some observers have imagined
that it may in some instances have reached to nearly five years. So
far as my knowledge extends, the oldest queen bee of which we have an
authentic record, existed, in the apiary of Mr. Robert Golding,[B]
during the space of three years and eleven months. She died in April
or May, showing little sign of decrepitude, judging by her fertility,
for previously she had filled the hive with an abundance of brood of
every kind. I am, however, inclined to believe that a Queen is oftener
changed than we are always aware of, for in nothing in Nature is there
displayed a more careful attention to the due preservation of a family
of bees than in the provision made for supplying the casual vacancies
arising not merely from the natural demise of the sovereign, but from
other causes, especially those involving deficient powers or absolute
sterility. I should, therefore, discountenance any attempt at direct
interference by the forcible removal of a queen, after a prescribed
period, as has sometimes been advocated. If, however, it should happen
that such removal is absolutely necessary, the bees will accept a
successor as soon as they have discovered their loss, which is often
not till after the lapse of several hours. If all is right the previous
agitation will cease.
[B] See the 'Shilling Bee-book,' by Robert Golding.
And this leads us on to a curious, if not unique fact in relation to
the natural history of the Honey bee, which though probably not unknown
to the ancients, was rediscovered and promulgated by Schirach, a member
of an apiarian society, formed in the middle of the last century at
Little Bautzen, in Upper Lusatia. In contradistinction to the usual way
in which a young Queen is created, preparatory to the swarming season,
by what is denominated the _natural_ process, the details we are about
to give show that the same thing may be effected by another mode, or,
as it is said, _artificially_. Whether these terms, as opposed to each
other, are rightly applied or not, they at least mark a difference;
and being thus practically understood, we shall follow the example of
other authors in using them. The fact itself, startling as at first it
seemed, has been so clearly authenticated, that any lurking scepticism
has disappeared; and, indeed, the principle is now so well understood
and carried into general use by the scientific Apiculturist that, in
a popular treatise on the Honey bee, our object would he imperfectly
accomplished without entering into a few particulars in connection with
it. And first, we have the assurance that the prevalent opinion as to
any supposed original or generated difference between common eggs and
those laid for the especial production of Queen bees, is founded in
error; an altered and accelerated mode as to the development of the
egg being all that is needed for the maturation of a perfect female.
That we may understand the method of procedure on the part of the
bees, we have to suppose that a hive has been deprived of its Queen
(no matter whether by death or design) at that particular period when
eggs and larvæ are each present in the cells of the combs: such larvæ
being not more than two or three days old, for this is essential.
Could we at such a juncture witness the proceedings of the family, a
spectacle would be presented of much domestic distress and confusion
when it had been discovered that the hive was queenless. Soon, however,
the scene changes to the quietude of hope, for the foundation of a
queen's cell (and as a provision against possible failure, often of
three or four) is commenced by the bees, usually within twenty-four
hours. They select a common grub or larva, and enlarge the cell it
occupies, by sacrificing the three contiguous ones, surrounding it
with a cylindrical enclosure; the new cradle of royalty presenting in
this stage the appearance of an acorn cup. The embryo Princess, for
such she has now become, is amply supplied with a nurture, supposed to
differ from that given to the common larvæ (a point questioned by some
naturalists); her habitation in the meanwhile receiving elongation to
suit her growth. About the fifth day the worm assumes the nymph state,
the cell being now worked into its usual pear-shaped figure; the bees
quitting it as soon as the lower end is finally closed. About the
fourteenth day a perfectly developed female comes forth, in no respect
differing from a Queen bred in the natural way. Fecundation and the
laying of eggs usually follow in a few days, the economy of the hive
then resuming its wonted course.
The Queen bee rarely leaves home, or is to be seen, except in hives
constructed purposely with a view to observation. In such a one I have
frequently watched the proceedings, as she has leisurely traversed
the combs, the bees clearing a passage on her approach, their heads
turned towards her, and, by repeatedly touching her with their antennæ,
showing a marked attachment, a favour she is occasionally seen to
return. Indeed, in some well-authenticated instances, affection has
been continued even after her death. The great object of her existence
being the perpetuation of the species, her majesty seems intent on
nothing more, during these royal progresses, than peeping into the
cells as she passes them, ever and anon selecting one, within which she
inserts her abdomen, and deposits at the bottom an egg. These are about
the size of those produced by a butterfly, but more elongated, and of a
bluish-white colour. So prolific are some Queens that I have sometimes
witnessed an extraordinary waste of eggs when, as the combs have become
in great part filled with brood or honey, she finds a difficulty in
meeting with a sufficiency of unoccupied cells. In such an emergency,
impelled by necessity, the eggs are dropped at random, and carried off
or devoured by the bees. No doubt an early and productive season tends
often to this result, and marks the necessity of a timely temporary
addition to the storing room of the family. The great laying takes
place in April and May, when the number of eggs has been variously
estimated by naturalists at 200 to 600 in a day, amounting to an
aggregate of 50,000 to 80,000 in the year. "This sounds like a great
number," remarks Dr. Bevan,[C] "but it is much exceeded by some other
insects." Indeed, a wider calculation has been made, in his valuable
remarks on bees, by the Rev. Dr. W. Dunbar,[D] who thinks that some
Queens (for they are not all equally prolific) produce 100,000 eggs
yearly. When we take into account the enormous demand for the supply of
swarms, the constant deaths in the course of nature, and the thousands
of lives always sacrificed by casualties of various kinds, at home
and abroad, I am inclined to lean to the higher estimate. No doubt as
the cold weather advances there is a considerable falling off in the
number of eggs, but the interval is very short in which the queen, in a
flourishing hive, discontinues laying more or less. "Indeed," observes
Mr. Golding, "it appears that at any time when the temperature is not
too low for the bees to appropriate the food that is given to them, the
Queen will deposit eggs."
[C] See 'The Honey-Bee, its Natural History, Physiology, and
Management.' By Edward Bevan, M.D.
[D] See the 'Naturalist's Library,' vol. xxxiv.
THE COMMON OR WORKING BEES
Are the least in size, and in point of numbers in a family are
variously calculated at twelve to thirty thousand, according to
the bulk of the swarm; though under certain circumstances they are
sometimes much more numerous. As regards sex, we have seen in the
preceding section that there is no reason to doubt they are females,
only that the reproductive organs and ovaries are not as fully
developed as they are in the case of a perfect Queen; and this has led
to the erroneous use of the term _neuters_, as sometimes applied to the
common bees. If any doubt should remain as to their sex, it is removed
by the knowledge that, in some rare instances, they have been able to
produce eggs. Like the Queen, each has the power of stinging. The use
of the sting, however, usually involves a loss of life, for, being
barbed like an arrow, the bee has rarely the power of withdrawing it.
The eggs for workers are deposited in the common cells in the centre
of the hive, being the part first selected for that purpose, the Queen
usually laying them equally on each side of a comb, and nearly back to
back. In four or five days' time, they are hatched, when a small worm
is presented, remaining in the larva or grub state four to six days
more, during which period it is assiduously fed by the nurse-bees. The
larvæ then assume the nymph or pupa form, and spin themselves a film or
cocoon, the nurses immediately after sealing them up with a substance
which Huber[E] calls wax. It is, however, a mixture of wax and pollen,
being thicker, more highly coloured, more porous, and less tenacious,
probably to afford air, and facilitate the escape of the imprisoned
tenant. This takes place about the twenty-first day from the laying
of the egg, unless the process has been somewhat retarded by cold
weather. The attentive observer may at this time, in a suitable hive,
witness the struggles and scrambling into the world, generally by its
own exertions, of the now perfect _imago_, the little grey new-born
shaking, brushing, and smoothing itself, preparatory to entering upon
the duties of life, and in a day or two, or sooner, it is busily
occupied in the fields.[F]
[E] See "Observations on the Natural History of Bees," by Francis
Huber; English edition, London, 1841. An invaluable work to the
scientific apiculturist.
[F] As soon as the young bee comes forth, the others partially clear
the cell, and it again receives an egg; this being often repeated
four or five times in the season. Afterwards the cells become the
receptacles for honey or farina; but they are found in time to become
contracted or thickened by this rapid succession of tenants, and the
consequent deposits of exuviæ, excrement, &c. It has been asserted by
Huber and other naturalists, that young bees, bred in old contracted
cells, are proportionately smaller in size. Such combs should be
removed from the hive.
Though we have, as I conceive, no actual proof that the occupation of
individual bees is at all times unchangeably directed to one point (as
some naturalists have imagined), observation shows that the division
of labour is one of their leading characteristics. Some are engaged
in secreting and elaborating wax for the construction of combs in the
hive; others in warming the eggs; in feeding the larvæ, as also their
queen; in ventilating and cleansing the hive; in guarding and giving
notice of attacks or annoyance from without; and the rest in searching
the fields and woods for the purpose of collecting honey and farina,
for present and future store.
The longevity of the working bees has often furnished matter for
dispute, and erroneous ideas have been engendered where a family
has been seen for a series of years to continue in a populous and
thriving condition. But during this period the Queen (or more than
one in succession) has been incessantly occupied in laying eggs
innumerable, to supply by new births the place of the countless
thousands of bees that periodically disappear. Their dwelling has
remained, but successive generations of tenants have kept its works
in repair, giving way in time to fresh occupants. It is shown clearly
by Dr. Bevan and other good authorities, both by argument and actual
experiment, that six to eight months is the limit of their duration;
for, notwithstanding the immense annual increase, the numbers in a hive
dwindle down gradually, owing to the chills of autumn and towards the
end of the year, to a comparatively few. There is no doubt, therefore,
that every bee existing after Christmas was bred during the latter
part of the summer or autumn; and this is a sufficient answer to those
who sometimes inquire what is to become of the accumulated masses of
bees, in hives managed on the depriving system, where neither swarming
nor destruction takes place.
We might here allude to a prevalent error as to any inherent
difference, local or otherwise, in the characteristics of the domestic
Honey bee. When we hear it said, that some are "better workers" than
others, all that ought to be understood is, that the family has the
advantage of being under favorable circumstances as to locality or
season; with a fertile Queen, and an abundant population, for without
these essentials, every operation goes on sluggishly, and prosperity
becomes hopeless.
THE DRONE OR MALE BEES
Are computed in the early part of the summer at one to two thousand,
and upwards, in a stock-hive; but the numbers are irregular, for
a weak stock will often have an undue proportion. They possess no
sting; are larger, darker, and more hairy than the common bees; easily
distinguishable by their heavy motion on the wing, and by their louder
humming or _droning_.
After her great spring laying of common eggs has far advanced, and
as an invariable preliminary to the construction of royal cells, the
Queen proceeds to deposit eggs intended for the production of drones
or males, though often without discontinuing those for workers. The
drone eggs are laid in cells larger in diameter, and stronger than
the others, and usually placed towards the outer extremities of the
hive.[G] A longer period is necessary for the development of a male
than a female, and the drones pass through their various stages in
about twenty-four to twenty-six days, being seldom seen till about
the beginning of May (though occasionally earlier), and then only in
warm weather, in the middle of the day. These are the produce of the
first-laid eggs; for a second smaller laying of drone eggs commonly
takes place about two months later, though the males are rarely found
after August, unless under certain contingencies.
[G] A curious question for the naturalist arises as to the instinct
which directs a Queen bee invariably to deposit the proper eggs in the
proper cells. The most accurate microscopic observation cannot detect
any difference between the egg of a worker, that of a drone, or of
a Queen, all proceeding indiscriminately from the same ovaries and
oviduct. Ingenious theories have been advanced as to the possibility
of what some call impregnated and unimpregnated eggs being laid at
the option of the Mother bee. Huber's opinion, "that nature does not
allow the Queen the choice of the eggs she is to lay," only adds to the
difficulty of arriving at any satisfactory conclusion.
The drones take no part in the collection of stores, nor in any
operation or process of the hive, for which they have proverbially
suffered much ignorant and absurd reproach, since Nature has denied
them the necessary means, and in their creation has allotted them
a distinct office. Indeed, their flights from the hive are only
occasional short ones, and they rarely alight during such excursions.
They are of the male sex, their presence in a hive being only required
at that particular period when the young queens are arriving at
maturity; for of all the theories that have been entertained as to
the functions of the drones, that of Huber is undoubtedly the true
one,--impregnation.
"Naturalists," says Huber, "have been extremely embarrassed to account
for the number of males in most hives, and which seem only a burden
on the community, since they appear to fulfil no function. 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 atmosphere, it is
requisite that the males should be numerous, that she may have the
chance of meeting some one of them. Were only two or three in each
hive, there would be little probability of their departure at the same
instant with the Queen, or that they would meet in their excursions;
and most of the females might thus remain sterile."
Were any doubt to remain on the subject, perhaps the annual destruction
of the drones by the workers throws the most satisfactory light on
the design of their creation. This process varies in point of time,
according to circumstances. Deprive a hive forcibly of its Queen, and,
according to Bonner and Huber, no expulsion of drones takes place.
"In such cases," says the latter, "they are tolerated and fed, and
many are seen even in the middle of January." They are retained under
the inspiration of hope, for a contingency might arise to require
their presence. Where a necessity for swarming has been in any way
superseded, there are either no royal cells constructed, or the young
queens meet with premature destruction. Then frequently commences an
early expulsion of the drones, thus rendered purposeless: they become
mere consumers, an incumbrance in the hive, and as such the common bees
instinctively wage fierce war upon them, ending in total annihilation:
nor are even the male larvæ allowed to remain in their cells. This
expulsive process often commences, under such circumstances, in the
middle, or at any rate towards the end of May, as I have repeatedly
witnessed, and not unfrequently is again resorted to later on in the
season. On the other hand, in the case of swarming hives it does not
take place till July, or even later, according to season and locality,
when all the royal brood is disposed of. The circumstances differ
in the two cases; and the bees in this, as in other parts of their
practice, are sufficiently utilitarians to modify their proceedings
accordantly. In the one instance, the office of the males is rendered
void, and in the other it is indispensable to the young queens. Such of
these as go forth with swarms become fertilized in two or three days
after (though sometimes it is later than this), followed by the laying
of eggs in about a similar distance of time. Thenceforth they remain
fruitful, if not ever after (as is the case with some other insects),
at all events for a year, for young bees are produced, without the
subsequent presence of a single male in the family, till the following
spring. The destruction of the drones, therefore, be it sooner or
later, may be considered an indication that the hive contains no queen
brood, and, consequently, that no swarming is to be expected.
Conflicting opinions have been formed as to the desirableness of
assisting the working bees in the task of expelling the drones--often a
protracted process--for although the latter are not armed, like their
more numerous opponents, yet their superior size and strength dispose
them often to make a stout resistance. If it can be done at once,
without undue annoyance to the family, much fighting and valuable time
may doubtless be saved by interfering; but no advice can be worse than
that of attempting to accomplish the work piecemeal. When attacked,
the drones, to stave off the impending storm, will congregate together
in a remote part of the hive. Observation led me to think they would
at such a time be glad to retreat for still greater safety into a
separate box, so placed as to be accessible to them. Accordingly,
on the 14th of June, in one of my collateral stock-hives, where the
drones for a day or two had been hard pushed by the others, I opened
a communication on the ground floor into an empty side box. My theory
was completely realised, for the poor drones gladly made their way
into this, where they remained clustered at the top like a swarm,
not a single common bee accompanying them, and would probably have
been starved. The following morning I took away the box of drones and
destroyed them, counting rather more than 2200, besides some few that
had escaped; altogether a greater number than the usual estimate gives
to a family. I did not find among them a solitary working bee; nor
could I discover in the parent stock-hive one remaining drone. The bees
peaceably at once recommenced work, and did well; as if glad in this
wholesale way to be rid of their late unprofitable inmates. What was
the cost of their daily maintenance? And what proportion to the entire
population of the hive did the drones bear? After this apparently large
abstraction, no sensible difference was observable in the crowding.
In this hive the usual second laying of drone eggs took place, and a
good many more drones were expelled at the end of July. I have not been
enabled to repeat this experiment, but have no doubt it would always
succeed under similar circumstances.
SWARMING (OR SINGLE HIVING) AND DEPRIVING SYSTEMS.
The multiplication of families or colonies of bees, in the natural
manner, is accomplished by the secession of a portion of the
inhabitants of a stock-hive, which has become over-peopled, with
insufficient room for the breeding and storing departments. This act
of emigration or swarming is sometimes an affair of expediency only;
and by a timely enlargement and decrease in the temperature of the
hive it may often be prevented. As soon as warm weather sets in, a
common sized hive becomes crowded and heated to excess; and at length a
separation of the family becomes a matter of necessity. In anticipation
of this event, royal cells are constructed and tenanted for the rearing
of young queens, for without these no swarming occurs. A crowded
dwelling therefore naturally prompts to this preliminary; whilst on the
contrary, a large hive has the effect of retarding the formation of
such cells, and the migration of which they are the precursor. In the
words of Gelieu,[H] "in the swarming season the strong hives are almost
entirely filled with brood-combs. At that time also honey becomes
abundant; and when fine days succeed each other, the working bees amass
an astonishing quantity. But where is it to be stored? Must they wait
till the young bees have left the brood-cells, by which time the early
flowers will be withered? What is to be done in this dilemma? Mark the
resources of the industrious bees. They search in the neighbourhood[I]
for a place where they may deposit their honey, until the young shall
have left the combs in which they were hatched. If they fail in this
object, they crowd together in the front of their habitation, forming
prodigious clusters. It is not uncommon to see them building combs on
the outside."
[H] See 'The Bee-Preserver,' by Jonas de Gelieu, translated from
the French; Edinburgh, 1829. This valuable little work contains the
substance of sixty-four years' experience.
[I] The word here translated _neighbourhood_ seems, with some, to
have given rise to a misconception as to the meaning intended to be
conveyed by it. From the context it is clear Gelieu only meant to
imply some place of deposit in proximity to the parent hive, and not
anything actually apart from it. He distinctly says, "provided there be
an accessible way of communication between them." That bees do, in a
degree, leave their usual domicile for the temporary storing of honey
is evident, when from necessity they construct combs (often in the open
air) on the underneath side of their floor; or work in a separate hive
or box, placed against the original one.
In general, honey-gathering is altogether suspended, necessarily,
under the circumstances we have stated; and, after a long course of
inaction, in the very best part of the season, swarming follows. Indeed
there always appears to be a connexion between swarming and idleness,
induced by a succession of interregnums in the government, causing
a suspension of breeding, when little or no store of any kind is
collected. The proprietor must therefore make his election as to his
course. If the multiplication of stocks is his object, his bees may
thus be impelled to throw off swarms, but he must abandon the prospect
of a large harvest of honey under such circumstances. This method of
bee management is usually called _single hiving_, and is that commonly
followed by cottagers, as on the whole the least expensive. On the
general subject of swarming we shall enter more at large under the head
of "Spring Management."
_Depriving system._--Opposed to the mode of management in which
swarming is systematically encouraged, is that whereby, under ordinary
circumstances, it may be often prevented, and much valuable time, in
the most productive part of the year, be rendered available for the
purposes of adding to the wealth of the family. Let us observe the
natural instinct of these little animals, and at the proper season
provide them with such an occasional addition of storing-room as will
enable them uninterruptedly to go on constructing fresh combs, to
be filled with honey, unmixed with brood or other substances. This
temporary receptacle, though in communication with the stock-hive, can
at pleasure, in the way which will hereafter be described, be detached
from it, without injury to the bees; these returning to their original
habitation, in which the mother bee (although she may occasionally
perambulate every part of her dominion,) ought exclusively to carry on
the work of breeding. The honey obtained by this act of _Deprivation_
is always supposed to be in excess of what is required for the wants
of the family, and almost invariably pure in quality. Various have
been the contrivances for effecting the separation of the storing
and breeding departments in a hive. The bees, when pressed for room,
will extend their operations almost in any direction, whether the
accommodation is given above (which is termed _storifying_), at the
bottom (_nadiring_), or _collaterally_. Equally indifferent are they
to the material of the temporary receptacle. A second hive, box, or
glass, placed over the stock, is termed a _duplet_, or more commonly
a _super_; by which general name, as we proceed, any kind of storing
vessel so placed will be designated. A productive season sometimes
admits of a second super (usually introduced between the first and the
stock), called in such case a _triplet_. An empty box or hive, pushed
beneath a full one, is denominated a _Nadir_,--a mode of practice
not always advisable except in the case of swarms of the same year,
or towards the latter end of very abundant seasons. A still smaller
addition to a common hive consists merely of a few bands of straw,
on which it is raised temporarily, and this constitutes an _eke_.
When either this or a nadir is used, and to facilitate its subsequent
removal, a board ought to be placed between the stock-hive and the
nadir, to prevent the combs from being worked down into it. The board
may either be pierced with good-sized holes, throughout, or it may be
cut into the form of parallel bars, as a grate, with about half an inch
of space between them. The entrance to the stock-hive must be stopped,
and one made at the bottom of the eke or nadir. We shall hereafter
describe a modification of the Nadir principle, which, by way of
distinction, I have called _Nethering_.
In contrasting, as we have done, the Swarming and Depriving systems,
it should not be understood that either of them can invariably be
advantageously carried out exclusively. An occasional change of system
is desirable. In all large apiaries there is always a necessity
for renewals both of Stocks and of Hives, by swarming; and it is
seldom profitable, more especially as respects a common straw hive,
to continue to work it on the depriving plan beyond a few seasons
consecutively. Moreover, the cost of a new hive will be well repaid
by an entire occasional renovation of the colony, stimulated thus to
increased exertion, and with the advantage probably of a changed Queen.
The preference given to either of the two schemes of Bee management
we have just detailed, must direct the proprietor in the choice of
his hives, and we shall proceed to describe such of them as have
found most favour among modern practitioners; premising that in using
the term _Hive_, we intend its general acceptation, no matter of
what material it is made. Neither is it our object unduly to magnify
the advantages of wooden hives at the expense of those of straw:
prejudice exists on both sides the question. They are each valuable
according to circumstances, and their intended uses. Moreover, he only
deceives himself and others who imagines he has discovered a system
or a hive by which to command an abundance, or an improved quality of
Honey, at pleasure. A favorable season may crown with success some
cherished theory or mechanical device, to be followed in the next
by disappointment; for he has little studied the natural habits of
bees, who believes they can be made at will to conform, under all
circumstances, to any settled scheme of practice we may devise for
them. The attempt has led to the Babel of contrarieties too frequently
exhibited amongst apiarian professors, to the confusion of the novice;
each deprecating everything except the mode of procedure he has found
applicable to his own case or district, and with which of course he
is most familiar. In the words of Mr. Golding, "Let my readers repel
the quackery which would have them believe that it was the _kind of
hive_ which commanded the honeyed store. No; that will be ruled by the
productiveness of the season and the locality." Having taken the Honey
bee under our especial protection, we are bound to provide for its due
preservation from the effects of climate, &c., and perhaps, in addition
to the ordinary attentions, the most that can be done with permanent
advantage is to furnish our intelligent little workmen with a dwelling,
convenient in its form and arrangement for the intended purposes;
bearing in mind, as a general rule, that these are best consulted by an
attention to simplicity in its details.
COMMON STRAW (OR SINGLE) HIVES.
In their wild state, bees have most usually found a secure residence
in the decayed trunks of the thick forest trees. Where they are
domesticated, the kinds and shapes, as well as the materials of
bee-hives, vary according to climate and locality, or the purse of
the proprietor. Those used in many parts of this country are made of
straw, of a bell-shape, and being intended for single hiving, are
usually without any means of enlargement. At the end of the second or
third year, they are too often placed over the pit of destruction;
and thus, with a little impure honey, flavoured with brimstone, the
scene closes. Is it surprising that an unpleasant association is
thus connected with the use of such hives? Happily for the cause
of humanity, experience has decided that this consequence is not
inevitable; and I trust I shall hereafter point out the method by
which it may be avoided, and make it appear to be the interest of the
proprietor _never to kill_ his bees, let the hive be of what kind it
may.