be left exposed to the mid-day and afternoon sun in sultry weather; the
heat not only rendering the bees extremely irascible, but subjecting
the combs to melting, and especially in wooden boxes, with most
disastrous consequences. In all such cases it is well, therefore, to
give the comfort of a mat, or something of the kind, thrown over them.
In the words of Gelieu, "they delight best in thick forests, because
they there find a uniform temperature and a propitious shade. It is a
mistake to suppose that bees exposed to the sun produce the earliest
and strongest swarms: I have often experienced the reverse. Bees like
the shade when working, and the sun only when in the fields."
_Moths, Wasps, Hornets, and other Enemies._--In the warm summer
evenings, bees are often much annoyed by the attempted inroads of
moths, particularly the small _Wax Moth (Tinea Mellonella)_, of
a whitish gray colour. These are sometimes formidable foes, and
their appearance at dusk on the alighting-board is the signal for a
commotion. It is difficult to eject them if they obtain a footing in a
hive, where they will deposit their eggs, spinning their silken webs,
and they now and then increase so as to cause its entire destruction.
When these vermin have established themselves, there is no remedy but
driving the bees into another hive. To prevent the ingress of these
troublesome invaders, it is sometimes desirable for an hour or two in
an evening to close the entrance, by placing before it a screen of
gauze, wire-grating, or perforated zinc, to be removed at dark.[Q]
[Q] A difficulty sometimes occurs when it is necessary to confine bees,
or drive them into the hive, as the alighting-board is often covered
with them in an evening, and the numbers are increased on the least
alarm. In this case take a small watering-pot, and gently sprinkle the
board and entrance, when the bees, mistaking this for rain, will retire
withinside.
Poultry, and some kinds of birds, are destroyers of bees; and many,
that from weakness or other causes fall to the ground, become a
sacrifice to them. In particular, that little marauder, the Blue Tomtit
or Titmouse (_Parus major_ of Linnæus), must not be tolerated. In
summer he will devour bees, and feed his young with them; and in winter
he will even try to force an entrance into the hive.[R] Rats and mice
must also be guarded against, as well as slugs and snails.
[R] In some parts these birds are very numerous; and poison has been
found efficacious, placed at the hive mouth, in little balls of lard,
oatmeal, and nux vomica, mixed together.
The nests of wasps ought to be destroyed: from their superiority in
strength and activity, they are very annoying, and often destructive,
to bees towards the end of summer; and the nuisance must forthwith
be met by contracting the entrance to the hive, when the passage
is more readily defended.[S] In this place it may be well to draw
attention to a very simple mode of dealing with wasps attacking a
hive. We shall have occasion hereafter to notice the fondness of bees
for barley-sugar: let a piece of this be laid across, or just within,
the entrance of the hive, so as greatly to narrow it. This is so
attractive to the bees, that they muster at the door in greater force
than the wasps durst venture to assail. As fast as the fortification
is devoured, it ought to be renewed, and the out-generalled enemy will
retire from a hopeless contest.
[S] Amongst well-informed apiculturists an apology might seem to be
necessary in referring to so bigoted an author as Huish; but Huber's
observations on some of the habits of bees have frequently been the
subject of his ignorant ridicule; and particularly where he says that
they occasionally erect barricades, for greater security. Mr. Golding
has given a confirmation of Huber's assertion. He says, "At the end of
summer, a kind of curtain, apparently a compound of wax and propolis,
and about a sixteenth of an inch thick, was erected before the entrance
of one of my hives; about two inches and a half in length, and half
an inch in height, with the exception of a small aperture at each
end." Dr. Bevan, in the 'Honey-Bee,' exhibits a drawing of this piece
of fortification. My own experience is perfectly conclusive, as the
following extract from my journal will show:--"July 31, 1842. Weather
fine. Removed a box of honey from a collateral hive. The wasps had been
troublesome for some days, and as the entrance to the centre box was
left fully open, the bees had contracted it for better defence. A thin
wall of what appeared to be propolis was attached from the upper edge
of the doorway, extending along its centre, and closing all up but a
space of about three quarters of an inch at each end. I never witnessed
a more convincing proof of the sagacity of the bees than this beautiful
proceeding." So runs my journal; to which I may add, that the entrance
to the box, so contracted, was five inches in length, and three eighths
of an inch high; or double that of Mr. Golding's. From the hint thus
derived from the bees themselves, I constructed the moveable blocks or
mouth-pieces described and shown at page 44.
Insects of all kinds, as earwigs, spiders, wood-lice, &c., should be
cleared away from the hives and stands, and ants' nests destroyed.
Cobwebs must not be permitted to remain, or numerous deaths would ensue
to the bees from entanglement in them. In short, we may sum up by a
general recommendation of cleanliness, in every way, and the removal of
whatever serves as a harbour to dirt and vermin.
_Super-hiving._--Should the weather continue favorable for
honey-gathering, the colony must be inspected in about three weeks from
the time of hiving. Indeed in sultry weather, and where the swarm is a
large one, it is often politic to place a glass or small super upon it
very soon, as a ventilator, to moderate the temperature, and prevent
the clustering of the bees at the mouth of the hive. If the combs are
worked pretty nearly down to the floor, and the cells in a good measure
filled, no time should be lost in supplying additional working-room;
more especially if symptoms of crowding are apparent, for by this time
young bees are coming forth. We may here observe that many experienced
bee-keepers object to supering in the case of a new colony, preferring
to give the requisite room at the bottom, by means of a _Nadir_; which,
as the bees carry their stores upwards, often ensures abundance in
the stock-hive, the nadir being removed in the autumn. Under the head
_Depriving System_, are some remarks as to the mode of using nadirs;
as also under that of _Nadir Hive_, and _Nadiring Stocks_.
[Illustration]
_Bell-glasses._--As these are commonly formed, nothing can be more
objectionable: inconveniently high and narrow, a few misshapen combs
are all that can be packed into the space; and these are afterwards
only to be extracted by a general mash. The same remark applies to
all supers, of any material, where breadth of surface enough is not
afforded for a large number of bees to cluster and labour at one time.
Can it be a matter of wonder, that a chimney-formed vessel should be
twice as long in being filled (supposing that the bees do not forsake
it) as a broad one, in which a genial warmth is concentrated, and
where several combs can be in progress simultaneously? A reversal of
the usual proportions, both in straw and glass supers, is therefore to
be recommended. The latter may advantageously be from nine to eleven
inches across; the depth being about half the diameter: straight at
the sides, and flat on the top. A piece or two of guide-comb, slightly
melted, and fixed by its edge to the top of the glass, previously made
warm, will serve as an attraction; or in a large glass, four or eight
pieces, radiating from the centre uniformly, will direct the bees in
working with a regular design, producing a pleasing effect. A useful
adjunct to a glass is a small circular tube of perforated zinc, having
a rim round its upper end, by which it is held suspended within a small
hole on the top. It should be long enough to reach nearly down to the
level of the floor. To the tube, when a little warmed, a narrow piece
of guide-comb will adhere, and act as an attraction to the bees: it
will be further useful as a central support to the loaded combs.
Whatever may be said as to the pleasing appearance of glass supers,
it is doubtful whether in point of utility and economy they can
compete with those of straw, made as directed under the head of
"Straw Depriving Hives," and which can readily be packed and sent to
a distance, if needed: or shallow supers, as wide as the stock-hive
admits, may be cheaply made by means of a wood hoop, three or four
inches deep, on which is fixed a thin top, by two or three small
screws. These are readily withdrawn, when the top can be lifted up with
the combs suspended. Under the head _Circular Wooden Hives_ are some
remarks on the subject of wood supers.
In the use of Glasses it is always well at first to prevent the escape
of warmth, especially at night, till the bees are well established in
their new work-room; and the admission of light is best avoided. A
little ventilation afterwards, in sultry weather, is desirable; which
may be given by slightly wedging up the lower edge of the super. If
a double adapter is in use, it is easy to insert a slip or two of tin
or zinc between the two boards, so as to keep them a little separated,
for the passage of air, when it seems necessary. Sometimes it is even
advisable to introduce between the stock and the super a very shallow
box, as a moderator of the temperature. I have found, by experiment
with the thermometer, that at a temperature between 95 and 100, the
combs will soften so much as to be in danger of collapsing.
_Triplets and Nadirs._--In good seasons and localities, the first super
is sometimes filled in time to admit of the introduction of another (or
triplet), on an adapter, observing the rules laid down at page 32. But
even where the first super is completely filled, it is often politic
not to remove it for a few days, as its attraction induces the bees to
occupy the triplet. On the other hand, if from any cause a super has
been left only partially filled upon one hive, it may be removed (the
bees being first ejected), and placed upon some other for completion.
Instead of a separate triplet, an addition may often be made to the
first super, especially if of straw, by placing beneath it an eke,
consisting merely of two or three bands of the same material; in fact a
hoop. This will save the bees the labour of laying the foundations of
fresh combs, as they have but to continue the old ones downwards. We
may here call attention to what has been said at page 62, respecting
the use of box, No. 3, of the bar-hive, and of Nadiring.
After the main honey season is over, which is usually as soon as the
dry July weather sets in, it is useless, in most localities, to give
any further extension of working room; and, indeed, from the end
of this month there is, under common circumstances, often rather a
diminution than an increase of store.
In proportion to the wealth of the colony is the determination of
the bees to defend it; and their irascibility and vigilance are now
greater than heretofore, the strongest stocks showing it the most. The
work of the year being pretty well over, all their attention is turned
towards home. They become more and more suspicious, and the less they
are approached or annoyed the better; for they are slow to forget or
forgive an injury.
AUTUMNAL MANAGEMENT.
Much of what has been said in the preceding section is equally
applicable in practice to the later periods of the summer. The month
of August is usually associated with the collection of harvest.
Though this may often hold good as regards honey, yet the storified
or doubled stocks of the spring are commonly ready for deprivation at
an earlier period, occasionally in May, and so on throughout July;
the spring-gathered honey being usually to be preferred in point of
quality. I know of no better rule as to the fitness of a super, or
side hive, for removal, than an observation of the state of the combs
and cells, which ought to be completely filled and sealed over, to
prevent a loss of honey by running out. In this stage the sooner
it is appropriated the better, as a longer continuance only leads
to discoloration. As respects a colony of the same year, Dr. Bevan
remarks, "as a general rule, no honey should be taken from a colony the
first season of its being planted, though there may be an extraordinary
season now and then, which may justify a departure from this rule:" the
produce in such a case is usually denominated _virgin honey_, though
that term is often applied indiscriminately to any in combs free from
brood. But in any event the stock-hive should be previously examined,
for there is a disposition in bees to carry their stores into a super,
though afterwards they sometimes remove it into the stock-hive. In
cases where doubt exists as to a sufficiency of winter store, it is
often well to allow them to do this; recollecting the further advice of
Dr. Bevan, that, "it should be an invariable rule never to remove an
upper box or hive till an under one be quite full; nor to diminish the
weight of a stock-box below seventeen or eighteen pounds, exclusive of
the box itself."
_To remove a full Box or Super._--The middle of a sunny day may be
recommended as the best time to take away for deprivation a box or
glass of honey. The mode usually adopted is at once to remove it from
its position to a distance from the stock-hive, and there get rid
of the bees. I have often found it well to reverse this proceeding.
Whether the box to be taken is a collateral or storified one, let the
communication from the parent hive be previously cut off, and without
any jarring. Entire quietness is the main requisite. Gently lift up
the super on one side, inserting under it a small wedge or two, so as
just to allow an exit for the bees. The position of the queen bee will
soon become apparent. If she is not in the super (and she seldom is
there after it is filled), the silence that at first prevailed will be
exchanged for a murmuring hum, attended by a commotion among the bees;
and they shortly after begin to quit the super, without attempting any
attack. Should the queen be present, however, a very different scene
would ensue, and a hubbub would then commence in the stock-hive; though
the loss of their queen is sometimes not discovered by the bees for a
considerable time. In such a case, the box must be reinstated in its
former position, and the communication reopened till some other day.
The process might happen to be complicated by the presence of brood,
for this the bees leave very reluctantly, and often not at all. In an
emergency of this kind, it is best to restore matters to their previous
state, and let the super remain till the brood is perfected. A little
patience is sometimes necessary: but all attempts at ejection of the
bees by tapping, smoking, or driving usually do more harm than good.
So long as they continue to leave the super, it may remain where it
is, for on these occasions young bees are sometimes numerous; and if
the super is removed, though only to a short distance, these are in
part lost, not having become sufficiently acquainted with the position
of their home; or, if they enter a wrong hive, they pay the penalty
with their lives. This freedom from disturbance has the further good
effect of preventing in a great degree the intrusion of robber bees,
readily distinguishable from the others by their hovering about the
box, instead of flying from it. These are strangers from various
quarters, immediately attracted by the scent attending the removal of
a full box or glass. Should a few of these plunderers once obtain a
taste or sample of the honey, they speedily convey the good news to
their associates, when large reinforcements from every hive in the
neighbourhood will be at once on the alert, and quickly leave nothing
behind but empty combs. Let the separated super, therefore, not be
left or lost sight of, but if scented out by robbers, be conveyed into
some room or out-building to prevent a general battle; and which might
extend itself to all the neighbouring hives. The remaining bees may
here be brushed out, escaping by the window or door. Mr. Golding has
sometimes found the advantage of using for the purpose a darkened room,
with the exception of a very small aperture, to which the bees will fly
and make their exit. Others like to remove a super at once to a short
distance from the stock-hive, leaving it shut up in perfect darkness,
for an hour or two. Its edge is then raised up, when the bees will
evacuate it. In the case of a bar-hive super, after most of the bees
have left it, it can be placed across a couple of rails or sticks,
when the top cover may be unscrewed and detached. It is then readily
cleared of bees by brushing them downwards between the bars, with a
feather or a twig.
The same general directions apply when a full glass is to be removed.
If it stands on a double adapter, a piece of tin or zinc can be
inserted between them, and the upper part then lifted with the glass.
Payne, however, says, "I have found the process much simplified by
placing an empty box between the glass and the parent hive, and leaving
it a few hours. The bees by that time have quitted the glass, and by
this plan robbing is entirely prevented, whilst the bees are less
irritated." It might occasionally happen that a piece of comb had
been worked upwards, so as to be connected with the underneath hive,
and thus causing a difficulty on attempting a separation. There is no
better way of meeting such an emergency than by passing a bit of fine
wire beneath the lower edge of the super, from side to side, and thus
cutting through the obstruction. It may be well to observe that on
removal, the box or glass ought to be kept in its original position, to
prevent the honey, which at first is thin and fluid, from running out
of the cells, and especially in hot weather.
_Honey Harvest._--As regards the quantity of honey to be taken from
a hive in any one year, there can, in our uncertain climate, be no
general rule, though now and then I have known a very large amount
obtained by deprivation.
Payne says, as the result of his own experience with depriving hives,
"It is usual to obtain from every good stock twenty or perhaps thirty
pounds of honey annually." This would be thought too high an estimate,
in many districts; as in my own, near London. It must be remembered
that honey thus harvested sells at a higher rate than that procured
by suffocating the bees, as in the common single hives; for then the
brimstone not only imparts a disagreeable flavour, but there is no
means of preventing the intermixture with the honey more or less of
pollen and brood. After deprivation, the sooner the honey is drained
from the comb the better, as it soon thickens, particularly if not kept
warm. For the purpose of straining it off, a hair sieve is commonly
used, within which the combs are inverted; the waxen seals on both
sides being first sliced off. The honey will of course run off the
sooner if placed before a fire, but exposure to heat is injurious to
fine flavour. We may here resort to the advice of Payne, who says,
"the honey should be put into jars, quite filled, and tied down with
a bladder; for exposure to the air, even for a few hours, very much
deteriorates its flavour. I may observe that honey in the combs keeps
remarkably well, if folded in writing paper, sealed up to exclude the
air, and kept dry."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
_Comb-knives._--A difficulty sometimes arises in extracting the combs
from common hives or boxes. A large spatula will separate them from the
sides, but to detach them from the top, an instrument of a different
kind is requisite. The one often preferred is simply a bar of steel
about fourteen inches in total length, half an inch wide, and an
eighth of an inch thick. At one end it is bent at a right angle with
the handle, and at the other at an angle of 80° or 90°. The part thus
turned up is in both cases an inch and a half long, rather less than
half an inch wide, and made spear-pointed, or lancet-shaped; sharp on
both sides, to cut either way. The one end is used when the top of
the hive is flat; and the other is adapted to the common dome-formed
roof. Another useful instrument is the one employed in detaching the
combs from the bar-hives, made as recommended by Mr. Golding, with a
double-edge blade, an inch and a half long, and three eighths of an
inch wide; turned at right angles from the end of a rod, which may be
of quarter-inch square iron. For occasional convenience, the other end
may be turned the flat way, sharpened at both edges.
_Robbers._--Should an attack upon a hive from strange bees take place,
which sometimes occurs at this season (the strong robbing the weak),
no time ought to be lost in narrowing the entrance, for if allowed to
continue a day or two the ruin of the family might be the consequence.
Indeed, it is always well gradually to do this as the working season
draws to a close. An assault from robber bees is often a much more
formidable evil than one from wasps, although it is said that one of
these is a match for three bees. Unless the colony is very weak, they
are usually soon expelled, if the methods pointed out at page 117 are
resorted to. Not so with bees, for if but one or two strangers gain
admittance into a hive they will return again and again, always with an
accession of force; and for a day or two it is often necessary entirely
to close the entrance against them, opening it only at night. In such
case the robber bees will sometimes collect in vast numbers at the
mouth of the hive, when a shower from a watering-pot will send them
away to dry themselves. The thieves are generally distinguishable; and
they are often cunning enough to commence their marauding practices
early in the morning and late at night. A supply of honey given on
the top, or even sprinkled among the combs of contending hives, will
often divert the attention of the combatants; or smoke is sometimes
effectual, puffed into both hives. If fighting recommences on the
succeeding day, the smoking should be repeated, followed by a feed of
honey. Others have found it advantageous to remove for some days a
plundered hive to a distance; or even to make the belligerent hives
change places in the apiary; which, as a friend remarked to me, "gives
a new turn to their ideas of meum and tuum." A German proprietor,
after removing an attacked stock, put in its place a hive filled with
wormwood leaves, so distasteful to the robbers that they forsook the
spot, when the stock was brought back again.
_Autumnal Feeding._--All labour is now usually suspended for the year,
and it remains to see that ample provision is laid up for the coming
winter and spring. There ought not to be less than seventeen to twenty
pounds of honey in a hive of the same year; but in the case of an old
one, eight or ten pounds more must be allowed in estimating the weight;
for old combs are much heavier than new ones; besides that they are
a good deal filled with stale pollen, and sometimes contain candied
honey, of no use to the bees.[T] In a healthy stock there should be no
scarcity of food, if the season has been tolerable. The worst, however,
must be provided for; and if, from any cause, it should be necessary,
recourse must be had to supplying the deficiencies of nature. "A stock
of bees," observes Dr. Bevan, "generally consumes from a pound to a
pound and a half of honey per month, betwixt the first of October and
the first of March. From this time to the end of May, they will consume
double that quantity."
[T] In reference to this part of our subject, it may be useful to quote
the following estimate, as given by Dr. Dunbar:--"A common straw hive
weighs, when empty, from five to six pounds; an ordinary swarm about
four pounds; the wax of a full hive of the current year, nearly two
pounds; of the preceding year, at least three pounds; and the farina in
the cells, not less than one pound; making in all about fifteen pounds.
A stock, therefore, to be secure, ought to be double that weight in
the gross; that is, should contain not less than fifteen pounds of
honey."--_Naturalists' Library._
The requisite feeding to make up the winter store ought not to be
delayed later than the beginning of October, and the weather should be
fine. Food must never be placed in the open air, but under a cover;
otherwise the smell would attract wasps or, what is worse, strange
bees; in the latter case a battle generally following.