HIVES.
Natural Abodes of Wild Bees--Taking Honey from Roof of House--
Straw Skeps--Cottager's Hive--Supering--Nutt's Collateral
Hive--Village Hive--Woodbury Hive--Abbott's Hives--Sectional
Supering--Stewarton Hive--Carr-Stewarton Hive--Observatory
Hives--Bee-houses.
In a state of nature bees avail themselves of hollow trees, crevices in
rocks, or other cavities of various kinds. Swarms escaped from apiaries
will frequently find an entrance to the space between the roof and
upper ceilings of houses, and extraordinary quantities of comb, brood,
and bees have been taken from such places. Two gentlemen, well known
to the writer, have given the following account in _The Bee Journal_
for July 1, 1882, of their successful taking of bees, brood, comb, and
honey, from the roof of a house at Lockinge, near Wantage, Berks.
"The house is very old, and built of lath and plaster in the old style,
with gables. There was a bricklayer at our service to open walls where
suggested. We commenced at the back gable, and the bees were situated,
one lot in the roof, and two others in the walls.
[Illustration]
"No. 1 in the wall was the first opened. There was a space eight or
nine inches wide, and five feet long, and there was disclosed to us a
wonderful sight In front of us were continuous honey and brood-combs,
four feet six inches long, and as wide as the opening. The combs were
four in number. Then we took No. 2 (next above), and in a similar
opening found a quantity of brood, honey, and bees, the combs being
smaller. Then we ascended to No. 3, where the bees entered by the
eaves. After taking some splendid honey, some gathered by a swarm a
month old, the bees took a turn further in the roof, and we left them.
In the front gable we commenced cutting away the lath and plaster of
the top lot, and opened a space six feet long and eight or nine feet
wide; and here we were surprised in the extreme: a comb five feet six
inches long (exactly one foot more than the other) was in front, and
the combs were three feet deep, nearly as wide as the opening. We
captured two queens and a large quantity of bees, and brought away a
lot of brood as well. The whole of this work was done from a ladder;
and had not our time been precious, we should have liked another day
at it, as there were a quantity of bees, &c., still left behind. The
combs were measured in the presence of the host and a friend, as well
as ourselves, and I vouch for the correctness of my statement."
From the time that man learnt the value of the bee as a domesticated
insect, habitations more or less suitable for securing honey have been
furnished to the industrious workers. It is unnecessary to detail the
various kinds of abodes which have been, or still are, in use for the
purpose in different countries. It will be more interesting to our
readers to know what are the principal forms of hives at present in use
among us. Of these the most antiquated, and, we fear we must say, still
the commonest, is the old-fashioned dome-shaped straw skep. We shall
not enlarge upon its merits, though we are prepared to admit some; but,
as it is almost universally condemned in its primitive form by skilled
apiarians, we prefer to speak of some easy modifications of it which
render it less objectionable.
[Illustration: Fig. 43.--Straw Skep.]
In the first place, it must be borne in mind that every system which
requires the slaughter of the bees for securing honey from them, is
radically bad, and therefore _wholly_ to be discountenanced. At the
same time, every bee-keeper expects, and rightly, that he should get
honey; and this can be managed even with straw hives, if they have a
flat top and a perforation in it sufficient to allow the population
to go up into supers, wherein to store their produce. Fig. 44 shows
such an adaptation. The lower and larger receptacle is for brood and
the maintenance of the stock. The top one, much smaller, and not so
high, is for the surplus honey, which the bees will carry up when the
population is becoming crowded below. The middle and smallest is merely
a covering for the other two, and for the sake of keeping all warm,
dry, and snug.
[Illustration: Fig. 44.--Flat-topped Hive and Straw Super.]
An improved Cottager's Hive (Fig. 45) differs from the preceding
chiefly in the substitution of a glass for a straw super, and the
addition of a window at the back,[7] closed by a door, for observing
the internal conditions of the stock portion.
[Footnote 7: In the illustration the hive is turned round on the
floor-board, to show the window.]
[Illustration: Fig. 45.--Neighbour's Improved Cottager's Hive.]
A still better modification is shown on the opposite page (Fig. 46),
and is called, from the inventor and maker, "Neighbour's improved
Cottager's Hive." In this the lower part has a stout wooden top with
three perforations, which may be closed, at the will of the owner, by
a metal slide. Over each opening is placed a bell-glass, and admission
to these is given to the bees either singly, or by two or all three
apertures. In use, the bell-glasses are encased with flannel, felt, or
some other good non-conducting substance, and then the upper hive is
let down over the glasses on to the board. There are three windows in
the lower hive, each closed by a hinged shutter, so that inspection may
be afforded at more points than one.
[Illustration: Fig. 46.--Neighbour's Improved Cottager's Hive.]
Each bell-glass is furnished with a ventilating tube of perforated
zinc, and a ventilating cap is fitted to the top cover. There is also
in the middle of the back window a thermometer fixed, for ascertaining
the temperature of the stock-hive. By these arrangements the affairs of
the community may, to a certain extent, be regulated by the master, and
pure honey, free from bee-bread or brood, may be secured without the
destruction of any of the workers.
The three hives now described are, perhaps, the best for those who
have not the requisite time and skill for the more approved methods of
apiculture. But they should, in other cases, be looked upon as merely
the stepping-stones to systems of bee-management of a really scientific
character.
Passing now to the notice of some of these, we will draw attention
first to "Nutt's Collateral Hive"--named from its first maker, who may
be considered a pioneer in the improved modern methods.
It consists of three boxes side by side, and having thin wooden
partitions, with six or seven perforations, to admit of the passage
of the bees from one compartment to another. These may be stopped by
zinc slides. In the centre of the top is a wooden cover, to contain
a bell-glass for supering. A ventilator over each of the side-boxes
secures the proper temperature of these. "The grand object," as
explained by Mr. Nutt, "is to keep the end boxes and the bell-glass
cooler than the pavilion or middle box, so as to induce the queen to
propagate her species there only, and not in the depriving (_i.e._
honey-storing) part of the hive. By this means the side and upper combs
are in no way discoloured by brood. The queen requires a considerable
degree of warmth. The bees enjoy coolness in the side-boxes, and
thereby the whiteness and purity of the luscious store are increased."
When the centre box is filled, access to the super and one side-box
may be given by opening the slides. The glass is likely to be filled
first, if kept warm by suitable coverings, and can be removed when the
honey is sealed in the combs. If the season be very productive, one or
both of the side-boxes may also be taken before the end of the summer,
if sufficient stores are left in the central stock-portion, or if any
deficiency be made up by judicious feeding.
[Illustration: Fig. 47.--Modern Hives. Nutt's Collateral Hive in the
Foreground.]
The next and most important modification to which we come is the
introduction of movable frames into hives, admitting of separate
removal, either for examination as to conditions, or for the taking of
honey. Bevan whose admirable work on _The Honey Bee_, published nearly
half a century ago, is the foundation of modern systems of apiculture
in this country--speaks of a straw hive with bars, instead of a solid
top, invented by Mr. Golding, and named by him "The Village Hive." Even
now we consider this variety might well be the cottager's introduction
to the more enlightened methods of procedure; and it would, at the same
time, satisfy, in large measure, old-fashioned prejudices in favour
of straw for the material of the stock-hive. If the bars are properly
furnished with "guides," straight and symmetrical combs may be secured,
and the depriving of surplus honey-stores may be easily effected
without murdering the workers.
Previous to this invention, Réaumur, Bonnet, and Huber had suggested,
and tried, the use of boxes with movable bar-frames. The last named
apiarian is said to have borrowed his idea from the inhabitants of
Candia, and he called it the "leaf-hive." In its original form it had
eight frames, secured to each other by hooks and eyes, the external
ones being glazed, and covered with a shutter.
The idea of frames removable separately having once been established,
various improvements were speedily effected. In 1841 Major Munn, an
English-man, obtained a patent in France for his Bar-and-frame Hive,
an account of which was published in this country in 1844. In America,
the distinguished apiarian Langstroth made known his modifications
of Huber's hive, and Dzierzon, in Germany, a little while before,
and quite independently, had adopted the same principle of bars with
certain special features, while Von Berlepsch, in 1853, added frames to
his countryman's bars. In England the _bar-frame_ system was not really
known till its re-introduction by Tegetmeier, in 1860. Mr. Woodbury,
to whom reference has been already made more than once, afterwards
brought out the frame-hive which met with the first general acceptance
by apiarians in this country.
[Illustration: Fig. 48.--The Woodbury Hive.]
[Illustration: Fig. 49.--Woodbury Straw Bar-Frame Hive.]
As originally made, it consisted of a wooden box, 14-1/2 inches square
on the inside, and 9 inches deep. The frames were ten in number, each
13 inches long by 7-1/4 inches high. The ends projected, and fitted
into notches at the back and front; but this arrangement was found to
be objectionable, from the secure manner in which the bees were able to
glue them down with propolis. As facility of lifting without jarring
the frames is of great importance, better means of keeping them in
place had to be, and have been, devised.
Subsequently to his first introduction of the above-described hive,
Mr. Woodbury suggested that the sides, back, and front should be made
of straw, as being a better non-conductor of heat, affording a little
ventilation, and absorbing the moisture of respiration more readily
than wood. We give a figure on page 157 of this modification.
Various improvements on the original of Mr. Woodbury's pattern have
been made. Of these we will mention first Mr. Cheshire's bar-frame
hive, and we had better, perhaps, describe it in his own words:--"It
consists of two main portions--the super-cover, the upper half of
what may be denominated the body, and the hive proper, in the lower
portion of which breeding is carried on, and where the bees pass the
winter. In front of the lower part may be seen the porch, with its
roof consisting of a stout piece of pine, about three inches wide, and
running completely along the hive-face. This is chamfered off towards
the end, the more effectually to carry away drip, and has a channel
near its front edge, which acts as a gutter, by which the rain is
conveyed to its ends. This gutter is shown in the cross-section at E.
The bottom board of the hive projects 2-1/2 inches along the front, so
as to form a very convenient alighting board. Ten inches of the central
part of this is grooved, so that, should it be reached by driving rain,
the convex parts remain free of water, affording the bees a dry passage
to the interior. The flight-hole is ten inches in length, and is formed
by cutting from the hive-wall a piece a full quarter of an inch
deep. There are two sliding shutters (shown in Fig. 50), by which the
entrance-way may be regulated as occasion may require. The super-cover
is hinged, and so contrived by the aid of a chain, that it can only
open until its lines, horizontal when _in situ_, become perpendicular,
and _vice versâ_.
[Illustration: Fig. 50.--Cheshire's Bar-Frame Hive.]
"The walls of the hive are double, and have between them a space
containing dead air. As heat is conducted by air with extreme slowness,
these means prevent the escape of that generated by the bees during
rigorous weather, while they also exclude the ardour of the sun's rays
during summer. In order to give room for the ears of the frames, the
inner skin, front and back, is made an inch shallower than the outer
one. Standing three-eighths of an inch above the former are two strips
of zinc (1 and 2 Fig. 51) each about an inch wide, and which serve to
carry the frames so that they cannot be propolised, while they can be
slid backwards and forwards with the greatest ease during manipulation.
The depth of the hive is 8-3/4 inches, the width 14-1/2 inches inside.
The length will vary with the number of frames used." Fuller details
are to be found in Mr. Cheshire's excellent book called _Practical
Bee-keeping_.
[Illustration: Fig. 51.--Cheshire's Bar-Frame Hive (sectional view).]
Mr. Abbott, the well-known maker of apparatus of all kinds for
apiculture, who was the editor and proprietor of _The Bee Journal_ for
many years, has also made various arrangements and improvements to
secure advantages beyond those of the original Woodbury hive. We cannot
detail all these modifications; but among them may be mentioned that
the ends of his frames are so notched as to render them easily held by
the fingers when it is required to lift them, and to replace them. Mr.
Abbott also makes hives of various degrees of cheapness, according to
the conveniences required and the neatness of workmanship demanded. We
may safely attribute to him a vast influence on scientific bee-keeping,
and a visit to his works and apiary at Southall, not far from London,
on the Great Western Railway, will well repay any one interested in
apiculture.
[Illustration: Fig. 52.--Abbott's Standard Frame.]
[Illustration: Fig. 53.--Abbott's Standard Frame (top view).]
All the hives we have just been describing are adapted for supering,
_i.e._ for getting honey stored in receptacles above the stock portion.
The usual and most convenient form of such receptacles is that of small
oblong cases, without front or back, cut in one flat piece of wood,
and easily folded into shape, their slotted ends fitting, by pressure,
tightly into one another. At the top of each, when folded, a small
piece of guide comb is attached, as a help and an attraction to the
bees in beginning their work in them.
[Illustration: Fig. 54.--Neighbour's Sectional Super (Open).]
[Illustration: Fig. 55.--Frame Super.]
[Illustration: Fig. 56.--Glass Frame Hive, with Super.]
It is usual now to pack a certain number of these into a frame or
"crate," so that they may conveniently be placed upon, or removed from,
the top of a hive. If kept properly warm, and well protected by their
cover, not only do the bees, when needing room for storage, readily
take to them, but they afford means of collecting, in a very neat,
attractive, and convenient form, large quantities of purest and sealed
honey. Thousands of hundred-weights are now annually secured in this
manner in our own country, and tons of such filled sections are every
year imported from America, from which country, we believe, was derived
this ingenious little invention, which has done so much towards the
promotion of the pleasure and profit of bee-keeping among us.
Some people, however, still prefer to secure their super-honey in
bar-frames similar, except in point of depth, to those of the stock
hive. Such an arrangement may be seen on the preceding page, which
represents one made by Messrs. Neighbour and Son.
A form of hive first brought out at Stewarton, in Scotland, and named
after the place of its original manufacture, is a great favourite with
many bee-keepers, and certainly often yields admirable results in the
way of super-honey. We are warranted, therefore, in giving some account
of it.
It consists (see Fig. 57) ordinarily of four octagonal boxes. Three of
these, _A_, _B_, and _C_, are called "body-boxes," and serve as abodes
for the bees, for nurseries and supplies of food, for rearing the young
and for winter use. Each is fourteen inches in diameter in the widest
parts, and five and a-half inches deep inside. Nine bars range along
the top of each. These are not movable, but serve as guides to the bees
for building straight combs. Between them, and beyond the outer ones,
are ten narrow strips made to slide in grooves in the bars, so that the
top is completely and securely covered. The figure represents the way
in which the slides shift. The top box _D_ is that in which the honey
to be taken by the bee-master is stored. It is four inches in depth,
its other dimensions being similar to those of the boxes below it. It
is furnished with only seven or eight, instead of nine bars, the object
being to induce the bees to build longer cells for depositing honey in.
This not only secures a greater quantity for less expenditure of wax,
but prevents the queen laying eggs in them, if she should go up into
the top box.
[Illustration: Fig. 57.--Stewarton Hive.]
For her majesty, finding it impossible to reach the bottom of the cells
to place her eggs as she has been accustomed to do, will retire to the
lower boxes, where she finds places perfectly adapted to her instincts
or her needs. The honey is thus kept free from brood, and it presents
a massive and rich appearance. Bees seem greatly to appreciate this
form of hive, and a strong swarm will often fill the two lower boxes
with comb in ten days. To get the full advantage, however, of this
system, it is best to put a swarm into each of the lower compartments,
or in the first and third, if two colonies of bees cannot be procured
on the same day. If they be kept asunder a few days by slides with
perforations, to let their odours commingle, they may be allowed to
join their forces, and the queens will settle the sovereignty by a
battle, ending in the death of the weaker. When the stock-boxes have
become well filled with bees, admission may be given to the honey-box,
and, in a good season, splendid combs of honey may be secured in
this way. We have seen supers of great weight and beauty taken from
the Stewarton hive. Its merits have been well described from time to
time in _The Journal of Horticulture_ and _The Bee Journal_, by a "A
Renfrewshire Bee-keeper."
Mr. C. W. Smith designed a modification of the above hives which he
named the Carr-Stewarton. In it the square form is substituted for the
octagonal, so as to secure the interchangeability of all combs--an
important matter in the practical affairs of an apiary.
The chief points of recommendation in the Stewarton hive seem to
be, its excellence as winter quarters for its inhabitants, and the
readiness with which large quantities of super-honey are stored in it.
In order that some of the wonders of bee-work may be seen in the
process of performance, various arrangements have been made,
constituting what are called "Observatory Hives." In these glass is
substituted for wood in the sides, shutters being fixed over them to
exclude the light. In some cases Venetian blinds are used instead of
shutters. The frames with the combs are sometimes arranged vertically
in one or two series, and sometimes laterally a dozen or more standing
one behind another. In the latter instance both the top and the sides
are of glass.
[Illustration: Fig. 58.--The Carr-stewarton Hive.]
The whole hive may be made to revolve by means of two iron wheels, the
one fixed to its bottom, the other to a stout board running its whole
length. In the centre of the floor-board there is an opening into a
passage below, which leads to the open air. This arrangement enables
the hive to be turned in any direction without interfering with the
egress and ingress of the bees. If the queen with her attendants cannot
be found on one side of the combs, the other side may be brought into
view by rotating the hive, and the different classes of the population
can be studied, and their work surveyed in security and continuously.
[Illustration: Fig. 59.--Unicomb Observatory Hive.]
The unicomb hive may be stocked in various ways. The simplest plan is
to take from a bar-frame hive the comb on which the queen is, and put
it into the unicomb hive with as many more empty frames as will fill
all the space intended for their reception. In this way new clean comb
will be made, giving a much better appearance to the colony. Another
plan is to take brood-comb in frames sufficient in number to fill the
hive at once. The bees will then make a queen for themselves, and the
interesting process may be watched in all its stages, provided, of
course, that there are some freshly-laid worker-eggs in the cells.
It is not advisable to try to keep the bees alive in an observatory
hive during the winter, because so much heat is lost by absorption
through the glass sides and top. It is best, therefore, to replace the
frames and their tenants, early in the autumn, in the ordinary wooden
hives.
Much discussion has taken place among apiarians as to the merits
of bee-houses. Those who advocate their use do so on the following
grounds: Firstly, the protection afforded by a permanent building to
contain the stocks, secures them from dangers of severe storms of wind,
hail, rain, and snow. The first kind of tempest is apt to overthrow
hives; the second to terrify the bees by the violence of the impact
of the ice-drops; the third to saturate the floor-boards, and even
to penetrate the top coverings; and the last will sometimes choke up
the entrance-holes, and cause the suffocation of the bees. Secondly,
for manipulating purposes in all weathers the shelter of a bee-house
is very convenient, beside diminishing the danger of chilling the
brood under examination. Thirdly, hives under cover of a roof are less
affected by sun and moisture, and last longer without requiring paint,
than if exposed to all weathers.
Those who advocate the placing of each hive on a separate stand in
the open air, allege the following objections to bee-houses: Firstly,
that of expense. Secondly, that they form a shelter for mice, moths,
spiders, &c. Thirdly, that they promote dampness. Fourthly, that they
encourage robbing by the bees. Fifthly, that they are inconvenient
for manipulating, by causing disturbance in neighbouring hives while
operations are going on. Sixthly, that they tend to the loss of young
queens returning from their marriage flight, by the sameness of
appearance in the entrances, and the nearness of the hives to each
other.
We cannot discuss the replies given to most, if not all of these
objections; but must content ourselves with saying that we advise all
who have a shed which can be converted into a bee-house, or who do not
mind the expense of putting up a building, to secure the advantages
of such a shelter, and to take the easy precautions against possible
inconveniences.[8]
[Footnote 8: An able paper, on this subject, by the Rev. G. Raynor, may
be found in The Bee Journal for February 1st, 1882.]