UNITING SWARMS OR STOCKS.
The union of swarms with their stocks, and of swarms or stocks with
each other, in case of their being or becoming weak, has been attempted
in various ways, and with various success, depending perhaps, in
some degree, upon the skill and adroitness of the operator. Upon the
storifying plan this operation will rarely be necessary, excepting in the
case of weak stocks, as it is not a very common occurrence for storified
bees to swarm, and when they do so, they generally throw off strong
swarms. Still the object may occasionally be desirable, and it is worthy
of attention, for _the tenants of well filled hives are always the most
active_.
The three usual methods by which union has been attempted, and indeed
their advocates say, accomplished, are _fuming them, immersing them
in water_, and _aspersing them with sugared or honeyed ale_. To these
I may add a fourth, namely _operating upon their fears_, by confining
them for a time, and then alarming them by drumming smartly upon the
outside of their domicile. It was operating on their fears that enabled
Wildman to perform such extraordinary feats with bees. When under a
strong impression of fear, says he, they are rendered subservient to our
wills, to such a degree as to remain long attached to any place they
afterwards settle upon, and will become so mild and tractable, as to
bear any handling which does not hurt them, without the least show of
resentment. "Long experience has taught me, that as soon as I turn up a
hive, and give some taps on the sides and bottom, the queen immediately
appears." "Being accustomed to see her, I readily perceive her at the
first glance; and long practice has enabled me to seize her instantly,
with a tenderness that does not in the least endanger her person." "Being
possessed of her, I can, without exciting any resentment, slip her into
my other hand, and returning the hive to its place, hold her, till the
bees missing her, are all on the wing, and in the utmost confusion." When
in this state, he could make them alight wherever he pleased; for on
whatever spot he placed the queen, the moment a few of them discovered
her, the information was rapidly communicated to the rest, who in a few
minutes were all collected round her. In this way he would sometimes
cause them to settle on his head, or to hang clustered from his chin, in
which state they somewhat resembled a beard. Again he would transfer them
to his hand, or to any other part of his body, or if more agreeable to
the spectators before whom he exhibited, he would cause them to settle
upon a table, window, &c. Prior to making his secret generally known, he
deceived his spectators by using words of command; but the only magic
that he employed was the summoning into activity for his purpose the
strong attachment of the bees to their queen.
"Such was the spell, which round a Wildman's arm
Twin'd in dark wreaths the fascinated swarm;
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.
Prune, 'mid the wondering train, her filmy wing.
Or, o'er her folds, the silken fetter fling."
+Evans.+
Cautioning his readers as to the hazard of attempting, what he himself
accomplished only by long experience and great dexterity, Wildman
concludes his account with a parody of the reply of C. Furius Cresinus, a
liberated Roman slave, who, being accused of witchcraft in consequence of
his raising more abundant crops than his neighbours, and therefore cited
before a Roman tribunal, produced his strong implements of husbandry,
his well-fed oxen, and a hale young woman his daughter; and pointing
to them, said, "_These, Romans! are my instruments of witchcraft; but
I cannot show you my toil, my sweats, and anxious cares._" "So," says
Wildman, "may I say, _These, Britons! are my instruments of witchcraft;
but I cannot show you my hours of attention to this subject, my anxiety
and care for these useful insects; nor can I communicate to you my
experience, acquired during a course of years_."
_The neatest and most scientific mode_ with which I am acquainted _of
uniting weak families together in harmony_ was invented by my friend
The +Rev. Richard Walond+, whom I had occasion to mention in a former
chapter, and whose experience in the management of bees, for nearly half
a century, entitle his opinions concerning them to great respect. His
theory and practice upon this subject are as follow. Bees, says he, emit
a peculiar odour, and it is by no means improbable that every family of
bees emits an odour peculiar to itself: if so, as their vision seems
to be imperfect, and their smell acute, it may be by this distinctive
and peculiar odour that they are enabled to discriminate betwixt the
individuals of their own family and those of a stranger hive. Upon
this supposition, if the odours of two separate stocks or swarms can
be so blended as to make them completely merge into each other, there
will then probably be no difficulty in effecting the union of any two
families that it may be desirable to unite. To accomplish this end
therefore, Mr. Walond had recourse to a very ingenious contrivance: he
procured a plate of tin, the size of a divider, and thickly perforated
with holes, about the size of those in a coarse nutmeg-grater. Having
confined in their respective hives or boxes, the two families to be
united, and placed them over each other, with only a divider between
them; he introduced his perforated tin plate upon the divider, which
was then withdrawn. Immediately the bees began to cluster with hostile
intentions, one family clinging to the upper, the other to the under
side of the perforated plate; when after remaining in this state for
about twenty-four hours, they had so far communicated to each other
their respective effluvia, and so completely commixed were the odours in
both hives, that on withdrawing the perforated plate, the bees mingled
together as one family, no disturbance being excited, but such as arose
from the presence of two queens, the custom being always, in such case,
to dethrone one of them. According to Huber this is effected by single
combat between the queens: which subject will be adverted to in a future
chapter. +Keys+ has observed that _these incorporations seldom turn to
account unless they be effected in summer_; and when it is considered
that the principal gathering months are May and June, (excepting in those
neighbourhoods that abound in lime, sycamore, and other trees that are
apt to be affected with honey-dew,) we cannot, of course, expect them to
be very successful. I have entered fully into this subject, when speaking
of early and late swarms, page 115.
To obviate the consequences there apprehended, some apiarians have had
recourse to the practice of removing their bees to fresh pasture; to
districts where buckwheat is cultivated, or to the neighbourhood of
heaths, or to any other place where such late blossoming flowers abound
as afford honey. Mr. +Isaac+ assures us that he once had a poor swarm of
a month's standing, which only weighed five pounds four ounces, and that
on the 30th of July he had it removed to _Dartmoor Heath_, from whence it
was brought home, two months afterwards, increased in weight twenty-four
pounds and a half. He moreover states that the increase of others, that
were sent there, was nearly proportional, and is of opinion that the
whole addition was made during the month of August.
In +Lower Egypt+, where the flower harvest is not so early as in the
upper districts of that country, this practice of _transportation_ is
carried on to a considerable extent. The hives after being collected
together from the different villages, and conveyed up the Nile marked and
numbered by the individuals to whom they belong, are heaped pyramidally
upon the boats prepared to receive them, which floating gradually down
the river and stopping at certain stages of their passage, remain there
a longer or shorter time, according to the produce which is afforded by
the surrounding country. "After traveling three months in this manner,
the bees, having culled the perfumes of the orange flowers of the Said,
the essence of roses[G] of the Faicum, the treasures of the Arabian
jessamine, and a variety of flowers, are brought back to the places from
which they had been carried. This industry procures, for the Egyptians,
delicious honey, and abundance of bees-wax. The proprietors, in return,
pay the boatmen a recompence proportioned to the number of hives which
have been thus carried about from one extremity of Egypt to the other."
+Latreille+ states that between Cairo and Damietta a convoy of 4000 hives
were seen upon the Nile by +Niebuhr+, on their transit from the upper to
the lower districts of that country. Floating bee-hives were formerly
common also in +France+. One barge was capable of containing from 60 to
100 hives, which, floating gently down their rivers, enabled the bees
to gather the honey which is afforded by the flowers on their banks.
+Reaumur+ likewise states it to have been the practice in some districts
to transport them with similar views, by land, in vehicles contrived
for the purpose. In +Savoy+, +Piedmont+, and other parts of +Italy+, the
practice is also common. It is indeed of very ancient origin. Columella
speaks of it as a very general custom among the Greeks, who used annually
to send their bee-hives from Achaia into Attica.
[Footnote G: Whatever inducement the bees of Egypt may have to ply the
roses of that country, with us they pay very little attention to those
beautiful flowers.]
These, however, are advantages which very few situations can afford;
probably but few of my readers may reside in the neighbourhood of heaths,
and still fewer may be disposed to incur the trouble and expense of
removal. If therefore incorporation be desirable in any particular case,
I can only recommend that attention be paid to feeding the bees with
sugared ale; by the assistance of which, indeed, I should not be afraid
of carrying, even a weak stock, very safely through the winter and early
spring. "Give your bees," says Mr. Isaac, "two harvests in one summer"
(alluding to the practice of transportation), "and you may make almost
any swarm rich enough to live through the following winter." This second
harvest may be very efficiently supplied by an attention to feeding,
during mild weather in winter, and particularly in the early spring,--for
the management of which, see, Chap. XXIII. on Feeding.