BEE MANIPULATION.
§ I. HIVING SWARMS.
THE spring is the best period at which to commence
an apiary, and swarming time is a good starting-point for the new
bee-keeper. The period known as the swarming season is during the
months of May and June. With a very forward stock, and in exceedingly
fine weather, bees do occasionally swarm in April. The earlier the
swarm the greater is its value. If bees swarm in July they seldom
gather sufficient to sustain themselves through the winter, though by
careful feeding they may easily be kept alive if hived early in the
month.
The cause of a swarm leaving the stock hive is that the population
has grown too large for it. Swarming is a provision, of Nature for
remedying the inconvenience of overcrowding, and is the method whereby
the bees seek for space in which to increase their stores. By putting
on "super hives" the required relief may, in many cases, be given
to them; but should the multiplication of stocks be desired, the
bee-keeper will defer increasing the space until the swarm has issued
forth.
In many country districts it is a time-honoured custom for the good
folks of the village to commence on such occasions a terrible noise
of tanging and ringing with frying-pan and key. This is done with
the absurd notion that the bees are charmed with the clangorous din,
and may by it be induced to settle as near as possible to the source
of such sweet sounds. This is, however, quite a mistake: there are
other and better means for the purpose. The practice of ringing was
originally adopted for a different and far more sensible object--viz.,
for the purpose of giving notice that a swarm had issued forth, and
that the owner was anxious to claim the right of following, even
though it should alight on a neighbour's premises. It would be curious
to trace how this ancient ceremony has thus got corrupted from the
original design.
In case the bees do not speedily after swarming manifest signs of
settling, a few handfuls of sand or loose mould may be thrown up into
the air so as to fall among the winged throng; they mistake this for
rain, and then very quickly determine upon settling. Some persons
squirt a little water from a garden engine with the same object. There
are, indeed, many ingenious devices used by apiarians for decoying the
swarms. Mr. Langstroth mentions a plan of stringing dead bees together,
and tying a bunch of them on any shrub or low tree upon which it is
desirable that they should alight; another plan is to hang some black
woven material near the hive, so that the swarming bees may be led to
suppose they see another colony, to which they will hasten to attach
themselves. Swarms have a great affinity for each other when they are
adrift in the air; but, of course, when the union has been effected,
one of the rival queens has to be disposed of. A more ingenious device
than any of the above is by means of a mirror to flash a reflection of
the sun's rays amongst a swarm, which bewilders the bees and checks
their flight. It is manifestly often desirable to use some of these
endeavours to induce early settlement, and to prevent, if possible, the
bees from clustering in high trees or under the eaves of houses, where
it may be difficult to hive them.
Should prompt measures not be taken to hive the bees as soon as the
cluster is well formed, there is danger that within one or two hours
they may start on a second flight; and this is what the apiarian has so
much to dread. If the bees set off a second time it is generally for
a long flight, often for miles, so that in such a case it is usually
impossible to follow them, and consequently a valuable colony may be
irretrievably lost.
Too much care cannot be exercised to keep off the sun from a swarm when
it has once settled. If exposed to heat in this way, bees are very
likely to decamp. We have frequently stretched matting or sheeting on
poles so as to intercept the glare, and thus render their temporary
position cool and comfortable. For the same reason the hive used to
take them in should not have been standing in the sun.
Two swarms sometimes depart at the same time, and join together; in
such a case we recommend that they be treated as one, by putting them
into a hive as before described, taking care to give abundant room and
not to delay affording access to the super hive or glasses. They will
settle their own notions of sovereignty by one queen being destroyed.
There are means of separating two swarms, but the operation is a
formidable one, and does not always repay even those most accustomed
to such manipulation. If after one swarm has started there are signs
of another setting out which might mix with it, means may be taken for
securing the queen of the second, or sheets may be thrown over the hive.
With regard to preparations for taking a swarm, our advice to the
bee-keeper must be the reverse of Mrs. Glass's notable injunction as
to the cooking of a hare. Some time before you expect to take a swarm,
be sure to have a suitable hive in which to take it, and also every
other requisite properly ready. A bee veil or dress will preserve the
most sensitive from the possibility of being stung. This article is
fully described on page 209. But bees when swarming are in an eminently
peaceful frame of mind; having dined sumptuously, they require to be
strongly provoked before they will sting. Yet there may be one or two
foolish bees who, having neglected to fill their honey-bags, are
inclined to vent their ill-humour on the apiarian; or, what is far more
likely, the bees of neighbouring hives may be incensed if they see him
manifesting unusual excitement. When all is ready the new hive (a straw
skep is the most convenient in the first instance, but if that is not
at hand a box or anything else will serve as a substitute) is held or
placed in an inverted position under the cluster of bees, which the
operator detaches from their perch with one or two quick shakes; the
floor-board is next placed on the hive, which is then slowly turned up
on to its base, and it is well to leave it a short time in the same
place, in order to allow of stragglers joining their companions. The
operator should make sure that he has not left the queen behind on the
branch, as in that case the bees would return to her.
Sometimes swarms alight on trunks of trees or on walls, where it may be
difficult to shake or brush them off. The late Mr. Woodbury mentioned
an instance of this kind. A swarm clustered among the large branches
of a pear tree, just at their point of union with the trunk. In this
case he merely supported a straw hive just over the swarm with the left
hand, whilst he struck the trunk of the tree with the open palm of the
right. The vibration thus produced sent the bees up into the hive with
great rapidity, and the entire swarm was speedily hived in the most
satisfactory manner. Mr. Langstroth in a similar case fastened a leafy
branch above the bees with a gimlet, and then smoked them upwards
till clustered upon it. It should be borne in mind that they have
always a readier tendency to ascend than to descend. A feather dipped
in carbolic acid will very promptly move them, and as they can readily
escape from its fumes there is no objection in this case to its use.
Another case of settling in an awkward spot is mentioned above (page
78).
If the new swarm is intended for transportation to a distance, it is
as well for it to be left at the same spot until evening, provided the
sun is shaded from it; but if the hive is meant to stand in or near
the same garden, it is better to remove it within half an hour to its
permanent position, because so eager are newly swarmed bees for pushing
forward the work of furnishing their empty house that they sally forth
at once in search of materials. If the removal has been made after they
have gone forth they will be unable to find their home in its altered
position, in which case they will circle about for hours till they fall
and die from exhaustion. But by prompt transference, only the first
despatch of scouts will be lost, and these are a good loss, as they
might entice the whole colony to desert.
The bee-master should always seek to prevent his labourers from
swarming more than once; his policy is rather to encourage the
industrious gathering of honey, by keeping a sufficient supply of
supers on the hives. Sometimes, however, he may err in putting on the
supers too early or unduly late, and the bees will then swarm a second
time, instead of making use of the storerooms thus provided. In such a
case the clever apiarian, having spread the swarm on the ground, will
select the queen, and cause the bees to go back to the hive from whence
they came. But this operation requires an amount of apiarian skill
which, though it may easily be attained, is greater than is usually
possessed.
For a description of the theory and phenomena of swarming, with
the signs by which its imminence may be gathered, and a variety of
information referring chiefly to the habits and life of the insect, the
reader is referred to an earlier article in this work (Chap. I. § xi.).
§ II. TRANSFERRING SWARMS.
Where the permanent hive is of the skep description the swarm may of
course be hived into it at once. But with many of the hives now in
approved use a process of transference will be necessary. To effect
this, place the straw hive, into which we will suppose the bees have
been shaken, on the ground, propped up on one side with a brick or
a flower-pot, or anything of the sort that may be handy, in order
that straggler bees may join the swarm. The spot selected for this
should be as shady a one as can be found, near to the place where the
swarm settled; or it may be shaded from the rays of the sun by fixing
matting on two poles, so as to prevent the heat falling on the hive.
Spread a sheet or cloth on the ground where an even surface can be
obtained; stake this sheet down at the four corners, to prevent ruts
and inequalities, which are great hindrances to the bees going into the
hive (Mr. Cheshire's swarming-board, which is simply a large square
board to rest on the hive-stand, has its advantages); place the frame
hive upon the sheet, without its floor-board, having its front raised
on blocks or sticks rather more than an inch long--not more, otherwise
the bees will cluster, and attach themselves to the lower part of the
frames, instead of going up between. These preparations will perhaps
occupy ten minutes, by which time the swarm will have become settled
and tolerably quiet. Then, with a sharp rap, precipitate the bees out
of the straw hive on to the sheet immediately in front of the frame
hive; give the straw hive another knock, so as to dislodge all the
bees, and then take it quite away, otherwise they may, if it be left
near, perversely choose to go into that, instead of the one desired. In
an hour or so, more or less, the whole swarm will have clustered within
the frames.
In some cases, as when the swarm has to be brought from a distance
and procured from a cottager about whose skill in carrying out these
directions there may be misgivings, it is best to give instructions
that the swarm be brought home after sunset, and then the foregoing
directions for inducing the bees to tenant the frame hive may be better
carried out. For ourselves, we much prefer the evening for the purpose.
Not after dusk however--in fact no operation of the kind ought to be
attempted when it is so dark that the bees, if they should fly, are
unable to see where to fly to, for in that case they will be sure to
settle upon the operator. A little water sprinkled over them from a
watering-pot is likely to induce them to quit the ground and go up
into the hive more quickly; a little smoke, or a touch with a twig or
feather, may answer the same purpose, and if the feather be dipped
in diluted carbolic acid it will more speedily do its work. With a
goose wing they may conveniently be swept up. The operator should be
protected with the bee dress and other precautions described on page
209.
Mr. Langstroth writes: "If they seem at all reluctant to enter [the
new hive], gently scoop up a few of them with a large spoon and shake
them close to its entrance. As they go in with fanning wings, they
will raise a peculiar note, which communicates to their companions the
joyful news that they have found a home; and in a short time the whole
swarm will enter, without injury to a single bee." On catching the note
the queen speedily follows, and, being longer in limb, she outstrips
the others in the race.
In the _Journal of Horticulture_, Mr. Woodbury says: "If combs be fixed
in the frames, the crown-board may be removed and the cluster knocked
out of the straw hive on to the top of the exposed frames. The bees
will disappear between them with the utmost alacrity, delighted to have
met with a ready-furnished dwelling, and the top, or crown-board,
having been replaced, the hive should at once be removed to the
position it is intended to permanently occupy."
Bees occasionally manifest a dislike to their new hive. The operator
will, however, in a very short time be able to ascertain their
intentions. If on putting his ear to the hive he catches sounds like
gnawing or rubbing, he may be sure that they have commenced work; but
if all is still, or they go listlessly about, and hang, as Langstroth
puts, it, "with a sort of dogged or supercilious air," it may be
gathered that they intend to be off at the first opportunity. In such
case, either catch the queen and put her in a cage (page 198), or keep
the whole hive in darkness for three days, supplying food, water, and
ventilation the while.
If the weather be wet the next day or so after hiving, it will be well
to give a little assistance to the new colony in the shape of food, for
although, when a swarm leaves a hive, almost every bee composing it
has filled itself with honey, we have known not a few instances, in
case of very wet weather, in which the whole swarm has been starved for
the want of this small but most timely help. A little should be given
the first night even in fine weather. Of course, the first work of the
bees is to build themselves combs, and these combs being produced by
the secretion of wax from honey, a great drain upon their resources
immediately begins, and any little outlay at this juncture is therefore
abundantly compensated.
§ III. TRANSFERRING OLD STOCKS.
We frequently find that the possessor of a stock of bees in a
cottager's _common_ straw hive is desirous of removing the whole stock,
with brood and comb, into one of our improved hives, in which the
honey may be obtained without the destruction of the bees. We mostly
discourage such a transfer, attended as it is with much labour, and
requiring a considerable amount of apiarian skill. An old-fashioned
hive may very readily be turned into a humane one, simply by cutting
out the middle of the top of the hive with a sharp-pointed knife; a
piece may thus easily be taken out, so as to leave a round hole two or
three inches in diameter, taking care that the knife does not penetrate
much below the straw, lest it reach the comb or the bees. There should
be ready a round adapting-board, with a corresponding hole, which
may be secured on the top by putting four long nails through the
same number of holes in the board; then a cap-hive or a glass may be
placed on the top, for the purpose of admitting the bees, who will
soon crowd therein to work. This hive or glass will form a super or
depriving-hive, and can be worked as profitably as most of the improved
hives. For the sake of more sightly appearance, an outside case, either
of zinc, straw, or wood, may now be dropped over all, and then, if well
painted, the whole will form no disfigurement to any flower-garden.
This is, beyond doubt, the easiest way of overcoming the difficulty,
but as it may not satisfy all, we will now proceed to describe how a
complete transfer of colonies may be effected. No hive offers such
facilities for the placing of the combs in a perfectly upright position
as does the frame hive. As before remarked, we should be slow to
recommend any one to attempt the operation who is not already pretty
well accustomed to the handling of bees and acquainted with their
habits; but by carefully carrying out the following directions an apt
bee-keeper may successfully perform the feat. The first thing is to get
the bees away from the combs: there are two ways of doing this--one
is by fumigation (see page 207), the other by driving (page 226).
Whichever plan may be resorted to, place the bees in the temporary
hive on their old stand until you are quite ready to admit them into
the frame hive. Have in readiness all the necessary appliances. These
consist of a large knife for cutting the hive, a good-sized table on
which to lay the brood combs, a basin of water--for washing off honey
which may besmear the hands--tape or string to fasten the combs in
their frames, a pair of honey-cutters (page 193) for cutting out the
combs, jars to hold the honey that runs out, and a feather for brushing
off any bees that may remain. It is necessary that the operator should
have on his bee dress and india-rubber gloves. If the old skep is
not valued the operation will be facilitated by cutting it in half
vertically between the two middle combs; but the honey-cutters will
accomplish the object without this destruction if it is not desired.
Mr. Cheshire's transferring board (page 192) comes in useful here. If
one is possessed the frames may be laid upon it, and the combs, which
should be cut as large as possible, must then be placed within these.
Of course they will not exactly fit, but they must be adjusted, piece
by piece, till they bind each other together; the few interstices the
bees will soon fill up. If in any of the frames there is not sufficient
comb, supply empty comb if it is to hand, and in default of such,
fix an additional bottom bar inside the frame--a false bottom as it
may be called--at whatever height the supply of comb requires. Drone
comb, however, should be used very sparingly, and this only for the
outside frames, in which it is not likely to be selected by the queen
for breeding purposes, but left for storage of honey. Both filled and
partly filled frames must now be made secure by tying pieces of tape
or pliable wire (even string will answer) round the whole from top bar
to bottom or false bottom; there should be two of these to a frame, or
perhaps three if the pieces of comb are small. In two days or so the
bees will have made all firm enough for the tape to be dispensed with,
which should accordingly be done, as it is in the bees' way. To effect
this, dismember first the cells from the tape by means of a sharp
knife, and then cut the tape and draw it out. Care should be taken that
the combs occupy the same position in the frames as in the hive from
which they were extracted, for the cells are not exactly horizontal,
but inclined slightly upwards. Supply guide-comb or wax strips to any
frames that are wholly unoccupied.
The frames now filled are placed in the hive, when the bees may be
let into it in the manner Mr. Woodbury recommends for a swarm (see
page 220). It may be as well to keep them confined a few hours, giving
them water at the top, by means of a soaked sponge laid on perforated
zinc, until they make the combs secure; the object of this being to
exclude the bees from other hives, who, if feloniously inclined, might
come to rob. For the same reason the operation of adjusting the combs
should not be performed in the open air, or the bees from surrounding
hives will be sure to come in great numbers to obtain a share of the
honey necessarily exposed. It should be done inside a room with the
temperature at about 70 degrees--not cold enough to chill the brood,
nor yet hot enough to soften the combs. An expert apiarian could
perform the operation in less than three-quarters of an hour, and
with little loss. A week or so after a swarm has left the old stock
is perhaps the very best time for such a removal. In some instances a
routing of this kind has a beneficial effect; old stocks of hives that
have previously appeared to be dwindling are often aroused to activity
by their removal into a fresh domicile. After the winter's doze this is
especially the case, say if done on a warm day early in April. We have
ourselves frequently shifted the stock from a well-occupied frame hive
to a fresh one, in which the bees find a clean floor-board and walls,
as well as freedom from insects that may have harboured in crevices
during the winter.
§ IV. DRIVING.
Driving is an operation by which bees are induced to vacate an, old
settled hive and to enter an empty one. Many apiarians prefer this mode
of effecting an exchange of hives to the plan of fumigating the bees.
The greatest success attending such a transfer will be in the case of
hives well filled with combs that are worked nearly to the floor-board;
and it may be remarked that bees are generally so far provident that
they leave an open space in which to pass underneath their combs over
all the floor of the hive. When the old hive is inverted the bees crawl
up the combs, and thus more easily pass up into the new hive, which the
operator places over the old one with the intent that they should enter
it.
The best time for performing this operation is about the middle of
the day, and when the weather is warm: It is essential that the
operator be protected with a bee dress and gloves, as before described;
and previous to commencing his task he must provide all necessary
implements. These are--a couple of hives, both of which should
correspond in shape and size with the hive from which the bees are to
be driven; a cloth to tie round at the juncture when the new hive is
placed on the old one; some string to keep the cloth in its place;
an empty pail to receive the top of the old hive, if one of the old
conical shape, but if the stock of bees is in a square box-hive with
a flat top, a firm stool will be the best; and a tube fumigator with
some fungus, which will complete the material of war. The bucket or
stool must be placed securely on the ground, about a yard from the
place where the full hive stands; then a few puffs of smoke, blown in
amongst the bees, will cause them to retreat up amongst the combs. The
bee-master must now turn the hive[25] upside down very gently, letting
it rest in the pail or on the stool; he then quickly places the empty
hive over the full one, and ties the cloth round it, to prevent any
escape of the bees. If the cloth be damped it will cling the closer to
the hives. The third hive, which should resemble the old one even in
colour, is intended to be placed on the stand formerly occupied by the
stock, so as to retain the few returning bees which had been absent
in the fields. Care must be taken that all crevices through which it
is possible for the bees to escape from the united hives should be
effectually closed. When the two are fairly united, the operator will
proceed by rapping the full hive gently with the hands or a couple of
sticks, more particularly on that side where the combs are the most
thickly placed--that is, if the hive be not equally filled on all
sides. A stock is in the best condition for driving twenty-one days, or
thereabouts, after a first swarm has issued; the brood will then have
hatched out, the bees will quit more readily, and there will be no loss
of larvæ in the cells.
[Footnote 25: Care should be exercised in turning the hive over to keep
the combs vertical by turning it in the direction in which they hang,
and not crossways, or they are likely to break from their foundations.]
It generally happens that in ten or fifteen minutes the bees regularly
commence the ascent; their exodus will be known by the distinct rushing
sound which is always noticed when a colony of bees is on the move.
The first thing bees do when disturbed is to fill their honey-bags, as
they invariably do at swarming time; consequently, after the first rush
into the new hive is over, as in the case of a swarm, the "flitting"
bees are not much disposed to take wing. When the noise made by the
ascending bees has been heard, and has in a great degree subsided, the
cloth may be removed, and the old hive, now deserted, may be taken
indoors; and if a few bees yet remain they may be brushed off with a
feather. An experienced apiarian, on first hearing the rushing noise
before mentioned, will not hesitate to tilt the top hive over a little
on one side, so that he may watch the bees during the ascent; the queen
maybe seen passing up, and if the operator desires to take her away he
can secure her by gently taking her between thumb and finger. Those
who have become experienced in this operation find that it can safely
be performed with the hives fixed open from the first. This is called
"open driving," and can be effected with increased facility by sticking
two skewers through the ruin of the lower hive in such manner that
they shall act as props to keep the upper in a fixed position. Mr.
Hunter has, however, devised an improvement upon this, consisting in a
wire hinge to connect the two hives, and wire rods to prop them open.
The operator thus has both his hands at liberty for other parts of the
work.
If the taking of the honey be, the object of the bee-master, then
"driving" is manifestly a better plan than resorting to the fumes of
sulphur for the purpose; for the bees from whom the store is taken
can be joined to stocks that are weak in numbers, with considerable
advantage to the future prosperity of the apiary (see next section).
§ V. UNITING COLONIES.
A weak colony may frequently with advantage be added to another, or
three may be made into two. And not only may this be done with new
swarms, but in autumn, when there is no brood in the combs, it may be
carried out also with stocks, the combs that are extracted being taken
care of for use when required. After working hours is the best time
for this operation. It is not, however, altogether a simple one, as
strange bees will not intermix unless measures are taken to overcome
their natural hostility to each other. Whatever be the number of hives
in an apiary, the bees of each know the smell of their own companions.
A single bee that enters the wrong hive will be stung to death, unless
possessed of a good booty wherewith to disarm animosity. Similarly on
the admixture of entire colonies, if one has some distinct ground of
advantage over the other, there must be a method hit upon to deprive
it of this or else to purchase its goodwill, for otherwise there
will ensue a ferocious and disastrous slaughter. If both are alike
frightened all will go well, and the same if both are upon the wing
in search of a home; but quite otherwise if one is self-possessed and
active in its own abode, while the others are frightened strangers and
gorged, and it may be still further demoralised by having lived under
an unfertile queen, or with none at all. But if both are cowed alike by
a good drumming on the hives, they may be sprinkled so as to possess
the same scent, and then taken to a third position and shaken out on to
a sheet together, when they will enter the offered hive in harmony. If
each colony has a queen, one of them may be searched for and removed.
A slight variation upon this method consists in driving the bees of
the one hive (see last section) straightway into the other, having
first terrified the bees of the latter by drumming until by their
changed note they may be concluded to be thoroughly subdued, and as
a consequence gorged with honey; then, before their equanimity is
recovered, the others must be joined to them. A third plan is the
one usually practised with the Stewarton hive (page 151), and which
can be imitated with other hives, by means of ekes or nadirs; this
is usually carried out in the evening, when the quietude appears
efficacious in settling all differences without the necessity of any
other precautions. A fourth is as follows: At dusk, dislodge the bees
on to a cloth, sprinkle them with sweet syrup scented with essence of
peppermint (as a means of bribing their new hosts to receive them), and
place the hive to which it is intended to join them over the mass; they
will gradually ascend into the hive placed for them, and early next
morning the hive, with its slender stock thus augmented, may be removed
to its stand. Should the operator not have been successful in gaining
possession of the queen, he may leave it to the bees themselves to
decide which queen they will have.
Many persons feel more secure from stinging if they first stupefy the
bees by fumigation. These should proceed as follows: Having used the
fumigator upon the bees in one hive, as described under that article
(page 207), place a sheet on the ground and spread the bees on it;
then, with a feather, sort them over, in order to pick out the queen.
As soon as she is found, pour the rest of the lethargic swarm from
off the sheet back into the inverted hive again. The stupefied bees
must now be sprinkled freely with a syrup made of honey and water, or
sugar and ale boiled together. Some apiarians recommend a few drops of
peppermint to be mixed with the syrup, in order to drown the peculiar
odour which is special to each hive of bees; this is more necessary
when both hives are fumigated, and whilst under the influence of
smoke are well mixed together upon the sheet or board. Such course can
be adopted if preferred, and no further instructions will be needed
than what are here given; but we will suppose as before that only one
is thus operated upon. The hive containing the non-stupefied bees
must now be placed on the top of the inverted one, just as the hive
was from which the bees in the latter have come. A wet cloth must be
fastened round the two hives, so as to prevent any of the bees from
escaping. The hives in this position must be placed where they are not
likely to be knocked down or meddled with. The fresh bees in the upper
hive, attracted by the scent of the bees besmeared with honey, go down
and commence licking off the sweets from the sleepy ones. The latter
gradually revive, when all get mingled together and ascend in company
to the upper hive, where they live as if they had not been separate
families. The two hives should be left undisturbed for twenty-four
hours, when the upper hive may be removed and placed immediately on the
spot from whence it was brought.
The removed queen should be kept alive and fed as long as she will
live, in case any harm should befall the sovereign of the other
community. If three hives are to be incorporated in two, the only
difference will be that the stupefied colony upon the sheet is divided
into _two_ empty skeps, the one being covered securely over till the
other is adjusted.
§ VI. ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.
Every bee-keeper knows the anxiety he feels in watching and expecting a
swarm to come forth, fearful lest his favourites should, "like riches,
take wing and fly away"--a mischance that it is desirable to prevent.
In our description of natural swarming this will be found fully treated
of; we propose here merely to point out how, especially with movable
frames, this work of Nature may be assisted. We call it assisted,
because artificial swarming should, as nearly as possible, resemble
natural swarming; that is, it should be performed at the same time of
the year, and when the populous state of the hive makes a division
desirable. This is easily known to be the case when bees hang out in
clusters at the entrance, wasting their time in enforced idleness
instead of being abroad gathering honey. It is also necessary that
there should be drones about at the date chosen.
When such is the state of the hive, the advantages of movable-frame
hives are strikingly manifested. With the others the bees will often
persist in wasting their time as just stated when a swarm would put
all to rights; while they are often just as awkward the other way and
will send out swarm after swarm which the strength of the hive cannot
spare and which in themselves are unable to form colonies capable of
self-support and of repelling robber bees. The great expenditure of
time and labour by the bee-keeper, with the fear that after all the
swarm may come off at a time when he is absent, and thus be perhaps
lost, are additional objections to depending upon the natural process.
An apiarian may if he pleases give the bees their chance, and then if
they do not swarm readily he may resort to artificial means. But if he
wishes to dispense with the former altogether he will have to adopt
measures of prevention against it, as his forced colony must not be
procured till the proper time of natural swarming. Some clip the wings
of the queen, which seems a clumsy proceeding at the best--though
recommended by high authorities from Virgil to Langstroth--as the royal
mother may still wander forth and thus fall to the ground and be lost.
Others block the entrance of the hive with some obstruction which only
workers can pass, by which means the drones will also be kept at home.
If this be the method pursued care must be taken that the obstructions
are removed both after sunset and before sunrise to permit of the
dragging out of the bodies of such as have fallen among the hourly
victims of the gathering season.
The best time for performing the operation is about ten o'clock in
the morning of a fine summer's day. The following directions should
be carried out: Place ready a counter or bench that is firm and
strong, and which has space on it for the inhabited--or, rather, the
over-inhabited--frame hive, and the empty one, which is about to be
made the receptacle of a separate stock. The operator, attired in
his bee dress, and having the other appliances ready, may now open
the hive[26] (as described at page 270), and proceed to take out
the frames, carefully examining both sides of each comb to find the
queen:[27] she is generally in the centre of the hive, so that it is
not always needful to take out every one of the frames. As these are
examined they may be put into the empty hive, and when the object of
the bee-master's search is found he must carefully remove the frame
containing her majesty, and may place it temporarily in the empty hive,
at one end by itself, or he may make use of the bar-frame holder (Chap.
IV. § xi.). Next he must proceed to put the frames back into the old
hive, closing up the vacancy caused by the removal of the comb with
the queen on it, and leave the empty frame at the end. Then he may
place the frame containing the queen, with the few bees that may be
upon it, in the centre of the empty hive; and, finally, putting all the
other empty frames in, and replacing the lid, he will place this hive
in the exact position occupied by the old stock. The bees that are on
the' wing will go to the old spot, and, finding the queen there, they
will rally round her, and if a time is chosen when a large number are
abroad, they will on their return very soon form a sufficient number
to constitute a swarm; comb-building will at once begin, the frames
will, in a week or so, be filled, and a satisfactory stock will thus be
established.
[Footnote 26: Bees are apt to take the interference more quietly if the
stock is moved a little distance from its accustomed Stand; in such
case, put an empty hive in its place, to amuse returning bees. These
can be shaken out when the hive it is desired they should inhabit is
restored. If this is kept in a closed bee-house the entrance should be
shut down until the hive is replaced, when the clustered bees may be at
once admitted.]
[Footnote 27: Italian queens are more easily detected, being of a
brighter colour, and, generally, larger than English queens.]
This operation we once performed--exactly as described above except
that there was no frame-extracting--with one of our improved cottage
hives. Whilst inspecting our bees we caught sight of the queen on the
comb in one of the bell glasses. This was a chance not to be missed,
and we immediately resolved to form an artificial swarm, for the hive
was very full of bees. Besides, being obliged to be away from the
apiary most of the week, we were glad of the opportunity of so easily
establishing a colony without the uncertainty and trouble of hiving a
natural swarm. In the first place we slid a tin under the bell glass,
and, removing the stock hive from underneath, we took it a few feet
away; then we placed an empty improved cottage hive where the old
stock had stood, and put the glass of comb containing the queen and a
few bees over one of the holes in the crown of this new empty hive.
The bees that were left abroad belonging to the old stock returned
as usual to their old entrance as they supposed; soon a sufficient
number formed a large cluster in the hive and began comb-building, the
queen remaining in the glass until the cells below were sufficiently
numerous for her to deposit her eggs in them. The experiment answered
exceedingly well. Both hives prospered: the old hive either had some
princesses coming forward to supply the loss of the queen, or the bees
used the power that they possess of raising a queen from worker brood
in the manner we have previously described (page 16).
The foregoing account illustrates the successful formation of an
artificial swarm; but, with a cottage hive, gaining possession of the
queen is on this method quite a matter of chance. With a movable-frame
hive she can at any suitable time be found.
Precisely the same plan is to be adopted with the old stock in the
frame hive as we have described in the case of the cottage, that is,
to remove it some few paces off: when the hives are in a bee-house a
similar result may be obtained by placing the new swarm for a day or
two so as to be reached by the same entrance as the old stock, and the
latter may be removed to one close by. Some apiarians recommend that
a space be left between the two hives, by arranging them on the right
and left of the old entrance, in order that too large a proportion
of bees should not enter the new hive at the old position, to the
impoverishment of the other. But we have found the mode adopted with
the cottage hive answer so well that we see no reason for recommending
any different plan.
It is the office of the bee-master to assist, not in the least degree
to oppose, Nature. We know that when a natural swarm issues forth it
has its queen, and when located in a new abode it commences building
worker combs, leaving the building of the few requisite drone combs
to a later period. But if a division of the hive should be made, by
putting _half the combs_ in one hive and half in another, the hive that
is either queenless or contains an embryo queen will busy itself with
building only drone comb (see page 17); thus a number of receptacles
for useless bees are provided, while all the time the colony is rapidly
dying off from the wear-and-tear of the working season.
In the plan we have recommended for forming two separate families we
nearly follow the natural course of things; the comb that the queen
is upon is the only one that is taken from the hive, and this vacancy
should be filled in by moving the frames together, so as to leave
the empty frame at the end. The swarm under the government of the
queen construct the combs, and furnish their new abode, as before
stated, with worker cells. By adopting the plan above described,
the movable-frame hive will prove far superior to any of the
dividing-hives, which provide for equal division of the combs.
There are, however, quite a host of other modes of procedure more or
less varied from the above, and their number is doubtless capable of
almost unlimited extension. Mr. Langstroth, in the tenth chapter of his
"Honey Bee," describes a considerable variety of them, nearly all of
which are accomplished wholly or in part by the process of driving.
The following he particularly recommends as approaching nearest of any
to natural swarming. Two hives exactly alike are placed one above the
other with their entrances different ways; they have holes made through
their floor-boards to allow of communication from the crown-board of
whichever for the time occupies the lower position. Free passage being
thus given from one to the other, a number of the young bees will use
the upper entrance. After some ten days a swarm is driven from the
lower and received into the upper, upon which the positions of the
hives are reversed, the forced swarm being put below. Most of the
mature bees will unite with the swarm from association with the lower
entrance; but the young ones which have habituated themselves to the
upper one will now cling to the parent stock and form a sufficient
strength to keep it properly going. In the course of a few days the
upper hive may be placed by the side of the lower, and then, by
successive short steps, removed to any other part of the apiary. If it
was found that either hive was too weak the positions should be again
reversed.
When driving is the method resorted to, it becomes absolutely
essential, in forcing a swarm, that the queen should go with the
new colony; but on the other hand it is not in this case the object
to drive _all_ the bees from the parent stock, but to leave, say, a
quarter to preserve warmth for the brood and to raise a new queen. If
therefore the queen is not observed in the ascent of the bees after
the drumming, those in the swarm must be turned and shaken over in
the skep in order to find her (they will not attempt to fly, but only
crawl). An inexperienced eye may still fail to detect her, and in
that case it will be best to set both hives upon stands for a short
time--the new one on the old stand and the old on some other--when
within half an hour the one which is fairly quiet may be judged to be
possessed of the royal presence. Should this be the old hive it must
be again drummed, or the swarm may be returned to it and the operation
renewed on a following day. It is, however, only with skep hives that
any difficulty of this kind need be apprehended--there is always the
power of capturing and transferring the queen from movable frames. When
at last she is in the desired hive the swarm is secured, and the after
measures depend on the number of bees that have accompanied her. If
the stock retains one-half it may be moved to a new position and the
swarm take its place upon the old stand. Whichever occupies this latter
post will detach largely from the strength of the other, so that the
reduction undergone by the parent stock will not be more than it will
probably be able to sustain.
As detailed in the above article on "Driving" (page 226), there is
a third hive made use of in this case, which has received the bees
that returned home during the operation, and these are now added to
whichever hive may most require them. Should too many have gone over
with the swarm, this latter may be taken away and set in a cool airy
place, while the old hive is carefully restored to its old stand, when
the bees which were distractedly flitting in and out of the third
hive will at once rush into it, and the impression made upon them by
the occurrence will be such that they will now cling to it wherever
it is placed. It must be forthwith removed to its intended permanent
position, but if still short of bees this must be close at hand, so
that if the forced swarm is kept where it is for a day or two a good
number may desert to the old stock; its entrance should be closed
until sunset as a precaution against robbers, but not so as to stop
ventilation. The forced swarm, if not in their permanent hive, must now
be treated as an ordinary transfer, and their fixed abode be brought in
the evening to the old stand. Some additional covering may be needed at
first, and in very cool weather the operation should not be attempted
at all. There is no fear of all the bees deserting in the arrangement
just suggested, and if inconvenient to complete the operation at once
the swarm may be so left, even if there appears no need on account of
the old stock.
The process of driving is the only method of obtaining artificial
swarms from cottage hives, except in such rare cases of good fortune
as the one mentioned on page 236; but even with frame hives it is
often practised for the sake of its rapidity. But with an experienced
operator the same result can be achieved by simply taking out the
frames one by one and jerking off the bees on to the sheet in front
of the new permanent hive; that on which the queen is found will be
inserted therein just as it is--queen, brood, and workers. If the swarm
is being collected in a skep the queen must be taken with the fingers
and deposited therein, while the bees from as many frames as are
needful must be shaken in after her.
There is sometimes a doubt whether a hive is strong enough to yield
a swarm, though apparently overstocked. In such cases there is an
excellent plan, devised by Mr. Langstroth and strongly approved by Mr.
Cheshire, for obtaining a single swarm out of two hives. On a suitable
morning, when large numbers are upon the wing, drum a strong stock till
every bee has left it. Place the forced swarm on the old stand: this
of course consists of bees in an unfurnished hive, while the old hive
has lost _all_ its bees, but retains its brood. Remove this hive to
the stand of another strong stock, the hive of which goes to a third
spot with the bees inside it at the time. Those of this last which were
upon the wing will enter and remain with the first hive and raise a
new queen; while sufficient will be transferred with the second stock
hive to protect its brood also. Thus the first stock gives no bees to
the swarm, but the whole of its brood; the second gives the larger half
of its bees. If frame hives are the ones used, the shaking process
of the last paragraph may be substituted for drumming; but as it may
not be possible to shake off every bee without damaging the combs, a
goose wing should be employed to brush off the more tenacious of the
occupants.
Other modifications consist in either obtaining one swarm out of four
or five hives, or else one less than their own number out of the same.
For the former (frame hives) two combs may be taken from each and
placed in a new hive, which is then set upon the stand of some strong
stock. For the latter, a swarm is forced, after or before working
hours, from each of these hives, while another swarm, that has been
procured from some bee-keeper a mile or two off, and has been kept in
a cool place, is now shaken on to a sheet, sprinkled to keep it from
taking wing, and softly scooped up with a saucer and divided equally or
as required among the hives that have yielded the swarms. The distance
that these bees have come will prevent them from returning to their own
home.
§ VII. QUEEN-REARING.
Perhaps the greatest advantage the movable-frame hive possesses is,
that a full knowledge, can be attained of its exact state as regards
the queen, the population, and the quantity of food in stock. During
weather of a genial temperature the combs may on any fine day be
inspected, and thus, a knowledge being gained of the deficiency
existing in a hive, the necessary means may be adopted for supplying
the want. Sometimes such an examination will verify the fears of the
bee-keeper, when, having observed that his bees have ceased to carry
in pollen, he has thereby received warning that the queen has been lost
at some juncture when no successor to the throne could be provided.
Such a hive has entered on a downward course and will dwindle away
entirely, unless a queen should be given to it, or else some combs
containing young brood not many days old (see page 16). By the latter
method the bee-keeper will gain an opportunity of seeing the bees set
about their wonderful process of raising a queen from the brood thus
provided for them. If neither means is practicable the colony must be
united to some other hive.
[Illustration]
An ingenious little contrivance has been brought into use by
continental bee-keepers, especially by Herr Kleine, a German pastor, to
prevent the destruction alluded to. It consists of a small wire cage
(in fact, a pipe cover), as represented in the annexed illustration,
placed over a queen cell to protect it from the mother bee's animosity.
It also serves to prevent the young queen, when hatched, from
escaping; for she will have the same jealous feeling towards her sister
princesses, should there be more in the hive. The bee-master may thus
carefully remove and appropriate her.
Particular attention will have to be exercised to affix the cage into
the comb by pressure, as far as the middle wall, but at no point must
it touch the royal cell itself. As the cage will probably project so as
to touch the adjoining comb, a little incision and removal of a portion
may be necessary to allow space for it.
This covering need not be put over the cell until the egg is a little
more than a week old. The animosity of the reigning queen does not
generally manifest itself until the royal brood approaches maturity.
These cells are unmolested on the tenth day, but on the eleventh day
they may be found tenantless. Notwithstanding the apiarian's care and
skill, many disappointments are frequently experienced in endeavouring
to establish fertile young queens at the head of colonies.
Hives found to be queenless may be supplied either with matured queens
or with queen cells. If the latter are sufficiently numerous, their
introduction may easily be effected by exchanging a comb in each hive;
if they have to be cut out and placed loosely in the new hive, a
triangular piece of comb should then be removed with them, to be used
as a block in preventing any pressure coming on them. A space must be
cut out of the middle in the centre combs of the hive into which they
are to be introduced. They must not be so loose as to be in danger of
falling out, but if such seems likely a little melted wax should be
applied with a feather. Special care must be exercised not to bruise
the royal embryos, as a very slight pressure is likely to be fatal. It
is important not to perform the operation till they are within three or
four days of coming forth, which may be known to be the case from the
brown look of the tops of the cells, the wax having been removed.
It is always easier to introduce royal brood into queenless hives
than matured queens, because bees are reluctant to receive stranger
queens, whilst they will tolerate one hatched in the hive, who will
speedily depart to seek a drone. Bee-masters mostly use small hives for
queen-rearing, as explained in the section on "Nucleus Hives" (page
197). It is not however indispensable to use other than the ordinary
hives, and Mr. Langstroth gives the following as the very best mode
of procedure. Place an empty hive on the top of a well-filled one,
giving communication through crown and floor boards and turning their
entrances opposite ways (one of his plans, by the bye, for procuring an
artificial swarm). The young bees will many of them take to the upper
hive--if not they must be enticed into it by food--and when there are
sufficient of them, a brood comb with adhering bees must be inserted
and the connection closed. After a few days this nucleus hive may be
removed, a few steps at a time, and another, if desired, take its
place and be raised in the same way. Queen-rearing operations must be
confined to warm weather and when drones are abundant.
Royal cells are often built so close together that it is difficult to
remove one without injuring another. As a remedy for this Dr. Dzierzon
has made the important discovery that any convenient worker cell may be
made to produce a queen by the removal to it of some of the royal jelly
from an unsealed cell; by placing this on the inner margin of the cell
selected, the bees will adopt and rear the larva as desired.
§ VIII. INTRODUCING NEW QUEENS.
This is an operation that is continually being practised for the
purpose of Italianising a colony, though there are other occasions for
its adoption, as on the loss or the superannuation of the old queen.
We will in the first place describe the mode of procedure with a frame
hive.
Should the old queen be remaining in the hive, she has first to be
removed. Having discovered her, by lifting out and examining the frames
(see page 271), place a wineglass over her whilst on the comb, and,
with a card passed very carefully underneath, she may, with a few of
her subjects, be made a prisoner and easily removed. She should be
preserved in a small box till the success of the new introduction is
ascertained. Then, having enclosed the new queen, with such of her
retinue if any as are with her, in the domed wire cage described at
page 199, place this cage upon the comb in a spot where there is a
little honey, so that she may be independent of the bees for food,
and as near the brood as may be; press it into the comb as far as the
middle, and close the hive and leave the bees undisturbed for three
days--less will mostly suffice, but it is best to be on the safe side.
The royal cells that are sure to have been commenced should now be cut
away with a penknife, and then the new queen may be carefully released.
If the hive is one that permits it, her reception should be watched. If
the bees make way for her and caress her with their antennæ, all will
be well, and the comb may be gently restored to its position and the
hive shut up. But if they cluster in a ball around her, her death is
intended; and if they cannot readily be induced to separate they should
be taken out and dropped into lukewarm water (which will hurt none of
them), and the queen re-encaged for another day or so--that is, if she
has not already met her doom, which is all uncertain: Mr. Langstroth
says he has had _several_ queens stung to death before they had quitted
his fingers! We prefer effecting her release, then shutting up the hive
and leaving the bees quietly to themselves.
We may remark here with regard to these acts of surrounding a new
queen, that they evidently arise from a great number rushing upon her
at once for the purpose of stinging her, but that very frequently
such purpose is frustrated by the immovable position in which the
inner bees are held. Suffocation however will soon effect the same
end if the ball be not dispersed. There are cases, on the contrary,
in which friendly bees surround a queen to protect her from others,
and sometimes the knot is made up of members of both parties, perhaps
without enclosing the queen at all. The hissing note will at once
distinguish a hostile onset from a protecting rally.
With the Renfrewshire cage (page 199 as above) all the variation needed
is to place the cage between instead of within the combs, so as to
permit of the queen's release at the bottom. The inventor considers
that this gives an advantage in introducing her majesty in the first
place to those bees that have been engaged in feeding her; but, as
already noticed, it is not the feeding, but the familiarising with
her presence, which is the great point, and that is surely quite as
well accomplished with the other cage as this. There is also here no
opportunity, as in the other case, of being certain whether she is well
received or not, so that we always put a good-sized board under the
entrance, and examine the next day whether she has been thrown out dead
or not.
In effecting the exchange with cottage hives, the bees must first be
driven out into another hive (as described at page 226), and after
the old queen is removed they must be sprinkled with a little water
flavoured with a drop of extract of peppermint (to be obtained of any
chemist), which overcomes the particular hive-scent, and makes all
smell alike; then throw the new queen in among them and place the mass
of them back in the hive. If preferred, an eke (page 186) may be
placed on the stand, the bees precipitated into it, and the hive of
combs placed above, when the bees will ascend. If this is done in the
evening the queen will in most cases be well received. As there is no
opportunity of excising queen cells, the process should be performed,
say, in the middle of October, when breeding has ceased. Stupefying
the bees with fungus is a method devised by Huber as applicable in any
kind of hive, and it has been highly approved of and declared to be
infallible.
A strange queen is generally well received by young bees, whether
she be Italian or English--for we have never found the slightest
difference in reception, though Mr. Wagner (Langstroth's "Honey Bee,"
page 325) was of opinion that there is more opposition in the case of
the foreigner. The difficulty is to have a sufficient number of such
young bees. In the middle of a hot summer's day a stock may be divided
and the part with the old queen left in its former position, while the
other part, with as many brood combs as it is prudent to take, may be
removed a few yards off. The old bees that have been brought with the
latter will in three or four hours have most of them returned to their
former abode, and the new queen may then with safety be given to the
remainder without caging, taking care to introduce her to the young
bees on the combs. This task must only be attempted on a warm midsummer
day and when the night temperature need not be feared for the young
brood in its deserted condition. Stocks may be divided and artificial
swarms formed in this way--from the end of May to the beginning of
July--if the apiarian has queens in readiness.
§ IX. ITALIANISING.
It requires a considerable amount of apiarian skill to accomplish the
union of Italian with common bees, so that we find by experience it
is best to send out complete stocks or swarms of the former. This is
particularly desirable now that the packing of whole hives is so easily
accomplished by us with the aid of bars and frames. We have sent a
great number of stocks to all parts by rail. Still, as the introduction
of fertile Italian queens is a frequent practice, and we are ourselves
large importers of the same, it is only right to add some directions
as to the course to be pursued where such union is resolved upon.
These queens come over during the summer months, from May to October.
They are packed in wooden boxes about five inches square, with a comb
of sealed honey in a frame in the centre to feed the queen and the
few workers that accompany her on the journey. The old queen should
first be removed from the hive, but carefully preserved till it is
ascertained whether all goes well with the stranger. The box containing
the latter must now be prised open, and this should be done within
doors, lest the queen should fly and be lost. On discovering her she
must be placed in a queen-cage and gradually introduced to her new
subjects in the manner explained under that article (pages 198 and 247).
If this is successfully accomplished all is right so far; but unless
considerable pains be taken the off-coming swarms will certainly
produce mongrel bees. If none of the neighbouring residents are
bee-keepers, the risk may be considerably narrowed by destroying the
drones and drone comb in the other hives and rearing Italian queens to
place at the head of each of these as speedily as possible. Every one
of these queens, even if impregnated from an undesired source, will
still produce _drones_ as purely Italian as herself (see page 64), and
thus in another year the chance of Italian mates being found for the
queens will be further increased: indeed the peculiarity of Italian
queens in laying drone eggs in there _first_ year will probably produce
this result more speedily. But should some hybrids be the result,
as in all probability will be the case, even these are much to be
preferred to the common black bee--some say (see page 53) that they are
even better than pure Italians for honey-gathering, but they are more
irascible.
This course is undoubtedly in opposition to the design of Nature to
avoid interbreeding, but we find even Mr. Hunter recommending it,
though showing in another place that he perceives it to be a violation
of his "law." By commencing with two Italian queens there might be more
chance given of escape from the evil--if it really is an evil when
not several times repeated. Von Berlepsch, however, informs us of
the following method, devised by Dathe and others, by which even this
objection _may_ be avoided:--
"When the young queen has left the cell, she is transferred after
forty-eight hours, or even earlier, into a cellar or some other dark
and cool place. If the drones, by one of which the impregnation is to
be accomplished, are not among the colony of the queen, they also must
of course be inserted. We now wait for a sunny day free from wind, when
the thermometer in the shade is at least 17° above zero [70° Fahr.];
the bees in question, towards five in the afternoon, _when drones have
completely ceased from flight_, are fetched out of their prison, and
set up in any spot, if possible where isolated and with the flight-hole
exposed to the sun; then, by means of a small syringe or in any other
way, direct some liquid honey into the flight-hole. In a minute or two
the bees will sport in numbers in the front, and it will not be long
before the queen and drones also fly out. At evening the colony is
brought back into custody, and the manœuvre is repeated till the young
queen has commenced laying, or till her accomplished fructification is
made sure by expansion of the abdomen, or, upon return from a flight,
by having the more or less torn-off drone penis upon her extremity."
Some essential particulars are not here specified, but we interpret
the instructions to refer to a _nucleus_ hive in which the queen is
hatched with several workers, but with no drones present except those
specially introduced. By choosing these, also from their birth, from
the progeny of a different queen from the mother of the one in the
nucleus, all may apparently be made as straightforward as could be
desired. Even Von Berlepsch, who is no friend to the Italians, praises
this method as a "beautiful discovery:" it dates only from 1867.
§ X. GENERAL HINTS ON FRAME HIVES.
It may not unnaturally be asked by some, Why all this trouble about
frame hives? No one, however, who has carefully read the previous
sections of this chapter, and especially those on "Artificial Swarming"
and "Queen-Rearing," can require any further answer to such question.
Briefly, frame hives stand immeasurably above others from the full
command over the bees which they afford. The facility of inspection
for ascertaining the strength of the colony or the stock of its honey,
or for incidental purposes, such as the detection of disease and the
extirpation of enemies such as the bee-moth, and again the facilities
provided for giving ventilation or for contracting the dimensions to
suit a small population, are among the minor but still great advantages
which the use of these hives secures. In skilful hands these advantages
may be used successfully; though in the hands of the unpractised and
unskilful the contrary may be the result.
It is a great desideratum that all the bars and frames in an apiary
should be of precisely the same dimensions, so as to fit every hive.
A hive that is weakly may often be advantageously strengthened by
having put into it a comb of brood from a populous stock, to which
an empty frame from the weak one may be given; no bees must be on
the brood-comb--these should be shaken off or gently dislodged with
a feather into the hive from which the comb is taken. The frames of
combs should then be, one by one, placed so as to fill in the vacancy,
leaving, the empty frame nearest the side.
In the _British Bee Journal_ of March 1875, Mr. Cowan gives the
following excellent description of his system of working frame hives.
He says: "The method is very simple, but is one that requires much
attention, which is, however, well repaid by the extra quantity of
honey obtained. The hives I use are the ten-frame Woodbury, and
thirteen-frame on the Woodbury plan, only longer. In the autumn I
transfer the bees into clean hives and leave them seven or eight
frames, and should they be short of food or of bees I add those I
may take from the cottagers in the neighbourhood. I feed with sugar
and water of the strength of two pounds of sugar to a pint of water
boiled a few minutes. They are fed up to a weight of thirty pounds.
During winter they have ample ventilation--the hives being raised about
one-eighth of an inch from the floor-board, and the top board is also
raised about the same height, so that there is a constant current of
air through the hive. While I am on the subject of wintering I may
mention that I have tried several plans. With the above I have always
been free from mouldy combs. I have also tried wintering without
crown-boards, by merely placing an empty super on the top, and I have
done so successfully--in fact, the hive which produced the largest
quantity of honey last year was wintered in this way. Condensers I
have tried, but give the preference to crown-boards without them. I
am trying the quilts on some of my hives, but must reserve my opinion
about them until later on.
"I generally supply my bees with plenty of food in the autumn, so that
they require no further attention until about the end of February,
when, if the weather is fine, the bees are all thoroughly roused into
activity and induced to commence and continue breeding until the
honey-gathering season commences, by which time every frame in the hive
is filled with brood, and the hives are so strong that it is easy to
make an artificial swarm and to ensure a good supply of honey besides.
If the weather is fine, about the end of February (or if cold, then I
defer a little longer) the bees are transferred into clean hives; and
in this way I get to know the exact state of the community. Now suppose
it is a ten-frame Woodbury hive. I do not return the whole of the eight
frames which the bees had for wintering on, but only from five to
six of the centre ones, and contract the size of the hive to the six
frames. I then unseal the honey-cells of two of the frames, and allow
the honey to run down inside the hive. This thoroughly rouses the bees;
and the queen at once begins to lay. The running honey is very soon
collected and stored; and in a few days I do the same with a couple
more frames, and so on until all the frames have been unsealed. I find
this a great advantage, as much of the honey that has granulated, and
which the bees will not touch, is removed by them out of the hive, and
gives them increased space.
"I now commence very gentle feeding, for which purpose I use the very
fine strainers found in Loysell's coffee-percolators, and allow each
hive from a quarter to half a pint of food a day, of the strength
of about three pounds of sugar to a quart of water. When there is
sealed brood in three or four of the frames I add two more--making
eight--and serve them in the same manner as the rest; then when there
are six with sealed brood, the colony will be sufficiently strong to
have the remaining frames added. The same plan is adopted with the
thirteen-frame hive. They must be constantly watched so as not to
allow them to store too much food, which would diminish the space
for egg-laying; and if such is found to be the case, food should be
withheld for a day or two, or until they are getting short of it. In
this way I keep them going from day to day; watch them carefully, or it
might happen that a hive full of bees--and at swarming point--might, if
not watched and supplied with requisite food for existence, swarm or
decamp. So by the time there is an abundance of honey abroad the hives
are completely filled with bees and contain brood in every frame hive;
and then it is that I put on my supers and discontinue stimulative
feeding.
"In the place of the crown-board I place a sheet of five-thirty-second
perforated zinc, and supers same size as hive and five inches deep. The
supers are provided with bars which are sawn down the centre, enabling
me to fix a strip of impressed wax sheet without any difficulty. The
bees generally take to these supers at once; and in a day or two the
crown-board of super is removed, and I place a second super without
top board between the first one and stock hive. The supers are also
provided with traps [page 201] to enable bees to leave after they have
deposited their load, instead of passing through the stock hive. Now
it sometimes happens that for some days the weather is fine and the
bees begin storing a large quantity of honey in the supers (as they
have no room in the stock hive), when suddenly the weather changes and
cold sets in. As soon as this happens I remove the supers and watch
the bees, and if they require small quantities of food I give it them,
and when the fine weather returns they go again into the supers when
replaced on top. In this way it sometimes takes only a week to fill a
thirty-eight or forty pound super with some of the best honey that can
be obtained in this part of the country [Horsham]. I discard old queens
and generally select young and prolific egg-layers."
Agreeing as we do very much with the hints Mr. Cowan gives, we commend
them to the careful carrying out of intelligent and painstaking
apiarians.
§ XI. REMOVING BEES.
A very great advantage that frame hives afford is the safety and
convenience with which a stock of bees can be transported in them to
any part of the kingdom or abroad: by a few additional arrangements
stocks have even been sent in them to distant countries. In many
districts hives are removed to moors and heaths in autumn, for the
purpose of gathering heather honey. In this operation the frames
are a great support to the combs, very much lessening the risk of a
break-down and consequent loss.
The proper course to pursue in this case is to remove the crown-board,
and nail across from side to side two strips of wood with smaller
pieces fastened on them so as to secure each frame in position. Then
nail a sheet of perforated zinc over the top; or in default of that
the crown-board may be screwed down, when, if the two strips are not
over an eighth Of an inch in thickness, they will secure ventilation
without allowing the bees to escape. The combs must be scrupulously
carried _lengthways_, or they will break; and if they are new and the
weather is warm, even with that precaution any but the most careful
hand carriage is nearly certain to ruin them. If not going far it is
best for the hive to be borne between two; but if this is impracticable
the vehicle used must at any rate have springs.
It is most urgent in making such a transfer that the most ample
ventilation should be allowed. The bees are of course gorged at the
time, and in that condition they are most particularly in need of air;
while on the other hand the fact of their imprisonment, together with
the shaking attendant on carriage, irritates them and causes them to
make such a commotion, that without stringent precautions they would
very probably be stifled, and of course the finer the colony the
greater is the danger.
With an ordinary skep this supply of air cannot be ensured at the
top, so that it becomes necessary, if the journey is to last longer
than an hour or two, to invert the hive. This must be done with
great caution and always in the direction in which the combs run. A
sheet of perforated zinc on a board, or a piece of coarse canvas or
cheese-cloth, may then be nailed or otherwise fastened with string over
the base, thus taking the place of the floor-board, and it is needless
to say that this should be done in such a manner that not a single bee
can escape. If the journey is likely to be one of more than a few hours
it will not do to employ any soft material, as it would in that time be
gnawed through; but wire-cloth would answer as well as perforated zinc.
As a preliminary to any remove, smoke should be blown in at the
entrance repeatedly during half an hour, after which it may be judged
that all on the wing will have returned. For carrying a swarm, either a
skep or box or anything will serve, and it must be secured and carried
mouth upwards in the same way.
§ XII. SUPPLYING NATURAL COMB.
We have spoken above (page 187) of the great value of sheets or strips
of wax for assisting the bees in the building of their combs. But
when, through another hive having lost its bees at an early stage, the
combs themselves can be supplied them in good and clean condition, the
advantage is very much greater. Such combs may be fixed in frame hives
exactly in the same plan as is adopted on transferring full honeycomb
(page 224).
Generally speaking the bee-keeper may be satisfied if he can simply
insert pure white guide-comb with which to start the bees. Every bar,
or if the comb is not plentiful, every other bar, should have a piece
fixed to it in the following manner: Cut a piece of clean empty comb of
the required size, say two inches square, not less; heat a common flat
iron, with which slightly warm the bar; then melt a little bees'-wax
upon it; draw the comb quickly over the heated iron, hold it down on
the centre of the bar, giving a very slight movement backwards and
forwards; then leave the wax to grow cold, and, if cleverly managed,
the guide will be found firmly attached. Care must be taken that
the pitch or inclination of the comb is the same as it is in the
hives--upwards from the centre of each comb.
When a hive has been in use many years the combs become very black,
and every bee that is bred in a cell leaves a film behind. It may be
understood how in this way the cells become contracted, and the bees
that are bred in them correspondingly reduced in size. After the lapse
of, say, five years it may be necessary to begin removing the old
combs. This may be done by cutting away the combs, or by substituting
an empty frame for one with old black comb, gradually moving the frames
towards each other. By taking two away in this manner in the spring or
summer of every season, the combs in course of five years may all be
reconstructed, and fresh clean ones be secured for breeding in, instead
of the old black ones that otherwise would remain as long as the stock
could live in the hive.
Guide-combs can also be used with glasses. These may be filled, with
great regularity, by adopting the following directions, which, we
believe, have never before appeared in print:--
Procure a piece of clean, new, empty, worker honeycomb, which has not
had honey in it (because honey will prevent adhesion to the glass);
cut it into pieces of about three-quarters of an inch square. Gently
warm the exterior of the glass (this we find is best done by holding
the glass horizontally for a short time over the flame of a candle);
then apply one of the pieces of empty comb inside at the part warmed,
taking care, in fixing it, that the pitch or inclination of the cells
is upwards--in fact, place the guide-comb in the same relative position
that it occupied in the hive or glass from which it was taken. There
is some danger of making the glass too warm, which will cause the wax
to melt and run down the side, leaving an unsightly appearance on the
glass; but a little experience will enable the operator to determine
the degree of warmth sufficient to make the comb adhere without any of
it being melted. It is hardly necessary to state that only the very
whitest combs ought to be used. A short time should be allowed before
changing the position of the glass, so that it may cool sufficiently
to hold the comb in its place. Six or eight pieces may thus be fixed,
so that, when the glass is filled, it will present a star shape, all
the combs radiating from the centre. The annexed illustration shows the
appearance of a glass as worked by the bees, in which guide-combs were
fixed in the manner described above. The drawing was taken from a glass
of our own, filled after being thus furnished. In the Old Museum at the
Royal Gardens, Kew, may be seen a Taylor's glass, presented by us, some
of the combs in which are elongated on the outside to the breadth of
six inches.
[Illustration]
We believe that not only does a glass present a much handsomer
appearance when thus worked--and will, on that account, most fully
reward the trouble of fixing guide-comb--but that more honey is stored
in the same space and in less time than if the glass be merely placed
on the hive in a naked condition for the bees to follow their own
course. This mode of fixing guide-comb does not solely apply to the
above-shaped glass, but is equally useful for all kinds of glasses. It
is introduced in connection with this glass because, from its having a
flat top and no knob, the regularity is more clearly apparent.
The working of bees in the bell glasses illustrates how tractable their
disposition really is if only scope is allowed for the due exercise
of their natural instinct. They have no secrets in their economy, and
they do not shrink from our constant observation as they daily pursue
their simple policy of continuous thrift and persevering accumulation.
Yet it is only owing to the labours of successive inventors that we
are now enabled to watch "the very pulse of the machine" of the bee
commonwealth.
"Long from the eye of man and face of day,
Involved in darkness all their customs lay,
Until a sage well versed in Nature's lore,
A genius formed all science to explore,
Hives well contrived in crystal frames disposed,
And there the busy citizens disclosed."
Murphy's Vanière.
§ XIII. APPLYING SUPERS.
Supposing the hive to be a stock (page 81), the super should be
applied at the early part of the season, say, if fine and warm, at
the latter end of April or beginning of May; but if the weather is
then unfavourable it is better to delay doing so until a more genial
temperature. If the colony is a swarm of the present year, two or
three weeks should be allowed to elapse from the time of tenanting
a hive before putting on the super; this delay is necessary to give
the bees the opportunity of building combs in their new domicile, and
of getting a store of honey for themselves before working for their
master. The exact time[28] will, however, depend much upon the weather,
and the same applies to the subsequent time occupied by the bees in
filling the super. They will be the more incited to commence their
work, and having commenced to continue it, if some warm covering is
placed over the glass; at night, when much comb-building goes on, it is
important to wrap it in flannel or worsted, or some warm material (a
baize bag is convenient for bell glasses). A further inducement will
be offered by the fixing of a piece of comb to the bars or ventilating
tube, as the case may be. The cells on the outside or by the window are
always the last to be filled, so that when these are sealed over it is
safe to conclude that the rest are also complete.
[Footnote 28: There is the nick of time before bees make their internal
arrangements for swarming, but the difficulty is to know precisely when
this is.]
When it is wished to use a super with a frame hive, _the crown-board or
roof of the stock hive must be taken away, the thin adapting or honey
board, or perforated zinc adapter, taking its place_--excepting of
course where the crown-board is provided with openings for the purpose.
The two long slits at the sides are to give admission to the super.
The bees will begin sooner, and work faster, if the bars are each
furnished with guide-comb (as described in the previous section). Combs
that have been left unfilled may be fixed to the bars, but these must
be white and clean, as dark comb should not be used for super hives.
§ XIV. REMOVING SUPERS.
The operation of taking honey is best performed on a fine sunny
day. The combs may be extracted singly, if wished, for consumption,
substituting an empty bar or comb; or, should the bee-keeper desire
to see a handsome super, he must wait until the bees have filled and
sealed up all the combs, and then he may proceed to disconnect the
super. If a bell glass, he will first pass a table-knife round it
underneath the rim; then with a piece of string or fine wire, one end
in each hand, he will very slowly sever the remaining connection with
the board, so as to allow of the bees getting out of the way. Wait an
hour or so for the commotion to subside and to give the bees time to
repair broken cells and suck up spilt honey. Then raise the glass and
blow in a little smoke, after which the slide that closes the roof of
the hive may be inserted, and above it another piece of zinc that will
cover the base of the super and hold the bees in it close prisoners.
After having confined them in the glass for a short time you must see
whether they manifest symptoms of uneasiness, because, if they do not,
it may be concluded that the queen is among them. In such a case,
replace the glass, and recommence the operation on a future day. It
is not often that her majesty is in the depriving-hive or glass; but,
this circumstance does sometimes happen, and the removal at such a time
must be avoided. When the bees that are prisoners run about in great
confusion and restlessness, the operator may conclude that the queen
is absent, and that all is right. The glass may be taken away a little
distance off, and placed in a flower-pot or other receptacle, where it
will be safe when inverted and the tin taken away; the bees will then
be glad to make their escape back to their hive. A little tapping at
the sides of the glass will render their tarriance uncomfortable, and
the glass may then be taken into a darkened room or outhouse, with only
a small aperture admitting light, which must be open; the bees, like
all insects, make towards the light, and so escape (see description
of "Bee-Traps," Chap. IV. § xviii.). The bee-master should brush them
off with a feather from the comb as they can be reached; but on no
account should the glass or other super be left exposed and unwatched,
because the bees that have the opportunity will gorge themselves to
their full, and speedily bring a host of others from the adjacent
hives, who, in a very little time, would leave only the empty combs.
It is truly marvellous how soon they will carry all the store back
again, if allowed to do so. Unless the honey season is over, an empty
glass should be put on to the hive in place of the full one, as it will
attract the bees up, thereby preventing the too close crowding of the
hive, and starting them to work more honeycomb.
If a bar or frame super, the first process is with a spatula to loosen
the adapting-board from the stock hive after which the string is passed
between them as above, putting in wedges on each side to follow the
string. The smoking and expulsion of the bees follow as before. Another
super will take the place of the one removed, or else the crown-board
must be replaced.
Some apiarians, however, are of opinion that deprivation is more easily
accomplished by disconnecting the super over night. In this case, after
smoking the bees, wedge the super up all round about an inch from the
board. Do this just before dusk, and leave it so for the night. The
opening in the board remains unclosed, to allow of the bees joining the
stock hive below, which they will naturally do for warmth. The super
should receive its usual cover, and quite early in the morning, before
the bees are much about, it will be ready for removal. The few bees
that remain within may be speedily induced to quit. With a super that
has an opening at the top it will be worth while to insert the nozzle
of a pair of bellows, when a few puffs will be very efficacious in
driving the occupants out.
§ XV. REMOVING FRAMES.
It is well for a beginner to practise the directions for opening and
shutting up hives, by using an empty hive until he becomes familiar
with the handling of the frames. The first thing to do is to loosen the
crown-board, or lid, with a knife, drawing a piece of string underneath
it, to divide the wax or cement with which the bees make all secure.
All this should be done very slowly, so as not to irritate the bees.
In hot weather the crown-board may be loosened by a lateral movement;
but sometimes, for want of care, this loosening of the lid disturbs the
bees, and, as soon as it is removed, a number of them, enraged thereby,
rush out and attack the operator. Especial care should be taken not
to prise the lid upwards, by way of wrenching it off, for the frames
and combs are generally secured thereto, and there is a liability of
rending the combs with it; this will greatly irritate the bees, and be
otherwise injurious. When a hive of bees is really enraged there is
little chance of pacifying them; if the first tokens of anger cannot be
appeased it is best to "give in" at once, and not attempt to perform
any operation, but to shut the hive up and beat a retreat, benefiting
by the experience in order to do better a day or so afterwards. There
are various devices for intimidating or conciliating the bees, and one
of these, already spoken of, is smoke. So next time the experimenter
makes his attempt let him raise the lid an inch or so, and blow a few
puffs of smoke into the hive, which will cause the bees to retreat.
Previous to this he may give a puff or two at the entrance, which will
help to produce the quieting effect. This is best done by using our
tube fumigator, with a little of the prepared fungus lighted. Pipes
or cigars are not convenient to use for this purpose when the head is
enveloped in the dress. As soon as the lid is removed a few bees will
fly out to learn the cause of such an interference. Conciliation should
then be offered by having at hand a little sweetened water, which may
be sprinkled, or rather let drop, from a feather or a brush.[29] The
sudden motion of the hand required in the act of sprinkling irritates
the bees, so that, instead of making them our friends, they may
become our foes. Mr. Langstroth recommends that a fine watering-pot,
containing sweetened water, be used for the purpose. Care must be
taken not to drench the bees; only just sufficient should be given
to run down the sides of the combs, as well as sprinkle the top. As
soon as the insects really understand that syrup is being given them,
they feast upon it, instead of angrily attacking the operator. Thus
pacified, and with gentle treatment, but little difficulty will be
found in proceeding with the work required. But the unskilled operator
should on no account neglect to put on a bee dress and gloves, as
described above. We would err on the side of caution, although there is
an old saying that "a cat in gloves catches no mice;" and the apiarian
will find that his fingers are not so free to work as he would like,
for gloves make them rather clumsy in drawing up the frames.
[Footnote 29: An objection to, this is that robber bees are liable to
be attracted from surrounding hives.]
These must now be gently prised up from front to rear; this may be done
with a small screw-driver or other stout instrument with a wedged end
to go into the notches. They fit loosely so as to permit of a slight
movement from back to front; a lateral or sideway movement might
kill the queen, or, if not so fatal as that, might crush some of the
bees and injure the brood combs, which must be carefully avoided. Of
course much depends upon the nature of the operation that has to be
performed, whether or no all the frames should be thus loosened. If
it be for making artificial swarms, or for any purpose that requires
an interview with her majesty, the whole of them must be loosened,
because it may happen that all the combs have to be examined, sometimes
twice over, before she can be discovered. Bees are very apt to build
their combs in a slightly waving form, and in extracting one it will
be needful to make room both for the comb and bees upon it to pass
without scraping the next comb, and there will be a difficulty if the
apiarian attempts to draw out one comb whilst the other frames are
located in their appropriate places. Where a dummy frame is provided
the operation becomes simple; but if there is none, let the operator
gently proceed to lift, say, the third frame slightly nearer to the
fourth frame (allowing it to lodge on the little block that divides
the notches),[30] and the second nearer the third, so as to admit of
sufficient space to lift out the end one. Very carefully and slowly
he should lift the frame by taking hold, with thumb and finger, of
the projecting shoulders that rest in the notch; and he must not let
it touch or scrape the next frame or the sides of the hive, so as to
crush, or irritate any bees.
[Footnote 30: Many hives are now made without notches, so that it is
necessary only to slide the frames.]
After the end comb is thus removed it will be easy to extract the
others, as there will now be plenty of room for drawing them out. If
the bar-frame holder (page 192) is not at hand an empty hive of the
same size will serve; and care should be taken that each comb occupies
the same relative position that it did in the hive so that the same
order may be afterwards retained when they are replaced.
In handling the frames it should be borne in mind that they are to be
held perpendicularly. To gain a view of both sides of the comb when
searching for the queen, or for any purpose requiring full inspection,
the reverse side may, with a little dexterity in twirling the frame
round, be brought to face the operator, without letting the comb break
away by its own weight and so fall out of the frame, which it may do
if allowed to deviate from its upright or downright position. If the
beginner could see an experienced person perform the operation he would
quickly understand how combs may thus be handled without any risk of a
smash.
The bee-keeper should be on his guard not to tempt the avarice of
bees by exposing honey, either in the comb or liquid, and also to be
very tardy of opening frame hives in the spring or autumn. If needful
to do so, soon after sunrise is the safest, because there will be few
bees about, and the hive should be taken, if convenient, to a quiet
corner of the garden, many yards away from the other hives, and what is
requisite done speedily, so as not to expose the honey to the scent of
a host of robbers, who will most unceremoniously pillage and cause a
terrible commotion.
When replacing frames in the hive, care must be taken not to crush
a bee, and on no account must the frame be let down with a jerk, or
the insects will become exceedingly fierce; it should be so slowly
deposited in its place that a bee on feeling the slightest pressure may
be able to escape unhurt. The crown-board should be replaced by first
resting its front edge along the back, and then sliding it forward, so
that any bee upon it is pushed away instead of being crushed. Should
the hive have its super on, the same directions may be followed. The
super with its honey-board may be bodily taken away, and so placed and
confined for a time that robber bees cannot find an entrance, and also
be far enough from the apiarian to be out of danger of being broken or
overturned by him.
It will be sometimes found, in cases in which the bees have not
had sufficient storage-room, that they have carried their building
operations outside and above the frames, or across from comb to comb.
Such cells must be severed and the materials melted down for wax. There
are also cases in which fine white combs of honey can be taken from the
end frames of the stock hive; but probably not more than one comb could
be removed in a season without impoverishing the bees.
§ XVI. EXTRACTING HONEY.
Those of our readers who prefer eating "run honey" to honey in the comb
may be glad of some instruction as to the best method of separating
the two. Beyond all question they will find this in the use of the
honey-extractor (page 193), but in default of such, and for extracting
honey from combs made in supers, the following should be the course
pursued:--
Take a sharp knife, and slice the combs on both sides, keeping the
knife parallel with the partition wall, so that every cell may be laid
open. Place these broken combs in a sieve, or on a piece of muslin
stretched across and tied round the opening of a pan or large-mouthed
jar. Allow the honey to flow out of the combs spontaneously, and
reserve the squeezing process for a separate jar, so that the honey of
the first-drained jar may be perfectly pure, both in appearance and
flavour. That which has pressure put on it will be waxy in flavour and
thick. Some persons recommend that the opened combs be placed in the
sun, as the heat will cause the honey to run more freely. The great
disadvantage of this is the temptation the honey offers to bees,
who will be eager to gain a share. Honey, whilst in the combs, keeps
remarkably well when left in the supers; if cut out, the combs should
be folded in writing paper, and sealed up, so as to effectually prevent
the free entrance of air; they should then be placed in a warm dry
closet.
§ XVII. MELTING COMBS DOWN.
Comb for which there is no use as such should be melted down into cake
wax. Brood comb which has undergone its five years or so of service
will probably not repay the trouble, and should therefore be thrown
away. But if in good condition it should be put into a clean saucepan
with plenty of soft water, and gently boiled or simmered over a clear
fire till it is melted, when, the wax will rise to the top. It must
then be run through a strainer (never mind a little water going with
it) into a stoneware or earthen pan, the sides of which have beep
greased to prevent adhesion. The refuse is then collected in a coarse
bag and boiled again, a flat iron or other heavy weight being placed
upon it to hold it down, and a plate or other false bottom beneath
it to prevent its burning. By working this about with a rod or ladle
a quantity more of wax will be brought out from it, and more still
by applying to the bag a wet rolling-pin upon a board also wet; the
additional wax thus obtained may be added to the other, and the whole
boiled again with a very little clean water and over a slow fire. Skim
off the dross as fast as it appears, and then pour the whole again into
the greased pan, and, after letting it cool slowly, scrape off the
settlings. The above is in the main Mr. Cheshire's method. Another is
that of Mr. Payne, who would pour the original boil into a canvas bag
of about a quart, which should be laid on an inclined board in a tub,
with cold water in it below the reach of the bag; then, applying the
roller, the wax is all expressed at one process, and may be collected
on the water and boiled again as before. The operation must be carried
on where the bees will not be able to get admittance, or the odour will
bring them in great numbers.
Virgin comb, being free from cocoons or other rubbish, will not require
the squeezing process, but may simply be melted into the pan, gradually
cooled, and melted again. If the cooling is artificially delayed the
wax will be all the clearer. If bleaching is desired, melt it again and
pour it out so as to form thin streams or plates, and then lay these
for a few days in the sun; take care however that they are not melted.
§ XVIII. WEIGHING HIVES.
One of the most effectual modes of ascertaining the condition of a hive
is by weighing it. Such knowledge is most important at the close of the
gathering season, in order that the bee-keeper may determine whether he
ought to give his bees artificial food to enable them to live through
the dreary winter. A knowledge of the numerical strength of the colony
is also useful in enabling the bee-keeper to decide which hives will
be benefited by being joined together, on the method explained in the
article on "Uniting Hives."
[Illustration]
A hive can very easily be weighed if a Salter's spring balance be
suspended near the apiary. The hive, having a strap or cord passed
under and over it, crossing at right angles on the top, may be
hooked on to the balance, so that the weight will be indicated on
the dial. The annexed illustration represents a tripod stand, with a
weighing-machine of the above-named construction, to which a hive with
a super is attached. Such an arrangement will be found convenient for
those bee-keepers who may not possess suitable sheds in their gardens
where a hive could be thus suspended from a beam. To prevent the hive
being swayed to and fro by the wind, three cords (gear ropes) might be
attached therefrom to the three legs of the stand. The height of such
a stand need not exceed four feet.
This contrivance is both portable and simple, and can be used from
time to time; or, if the apiarian desires to have the hive constantly
suspended, a water-proof covering might easily be made to drop
over, and adapted so as to admit of being raised occasionally for
ascertaining the weight shown on the dial. Much interest might be
derived by watching the daily or hourly increasing store brought into a
hive during the gathering season. Mr. George Fox, of Kingsbridge, and
Mr. S. Bevan Fox, of Exeter, have for some years each kept one stock
attached to a "Salter's Circular Spring Balance," suspended from a beam
under a shed, and, from experience, found that from a hive so balanced
a criterion may be formed of what other hives in the apiary are doing
through the day.
Some interesting observations have been made upon this point. Baron von
Berlepsch has had stocks which brought in twelve pounds of honey in a
day; Kader in Mentz had days when one stock brought twenty-one pounds;
Pastor Stein in Mentz had days when one stock brought twenty-eight
pounds. The sap which a bee's honey-bag holds weighs but a grain,
so that the bees, in this last case, must have made in one day over
160,000 journeys.
Many ingenious contrivances will, no doubt, suggest themselves for the
observation of hives in this manner. For instance, instead of the cord
being tied round the hive, three or four strong irons, with a screw
at one end and a ring at the other (known by ironmongers as "eyes"),
could be screwed into the floor-boards, to which the attachments might
be made fast. It will scarcely be necessary to hint that great care is
necessary that full provision should be made securely to support the
increasing weight; a fall would be most ruinous, and terribly enrage
the bees.
The weight of the hive should be marked on it when empty, so that
the exact amount of its contents may at any time be ascertained.
Experienced apiarians are able to judge of the weight of a hive by
lifting it a few inches from the stand; or by looking in at the window
of a stock hive a conclusive opinion may be formed as to the state of
the colony. If the combs within view be well filled and sealed, it will
be safe to consider that the hive contains sufficient stores to carry
the bees through the winter.
§ XIX. FEEDING.
The bee-keeper, after the honey harvest, should ascertain the state
of the stock hive, because it sometimes happens that hives which were
very strong and productive during summer have been left poorly off for
the winter. The bees, no doubt under the impression that those nicely
filled supers would prove to them an ample sustenance, have given up
the whole stock hive to the queen for breeding. If this be not looked
after and rectified the colony will starve off; or possibly on some
mild day in winter--even before all is exhausted--they will decamp as
if for a swarm.
The apiarian must therefore ascertain the state of the stock hive at
Michaelmas by means of a weighing machine. The weight, exclusive of
the hive, ought to be from twenty to twenty-four pounds, and if not
so, the bees must be fed till that weight is reached. This is done by
the feeders above described (page 202), from which they suck the syrup
as if honey-gathering, and then store it away, a quart in a day or so.
The time of doing this should not be deferred later, as it is important
that the food should be placed in the cells and sealed up, and they
cannot secrete the wax for this purpose without a warm temperature; if
it remained unsealed it would be liable to turn sour and cause disease.
Again, at mid-winter and in very cold weather, bees, though they never
become torpid like wasps, are in a state of dormant inactivity from
which it is better not to arouse them.
On the return of spring it will again be essential to attend to feeding
the bees, and this precaution must be exercised till May, when they
will be able to take care of themselves. A little food in the spring,
even when the store is not all expended, is of value as stimulating
the queen to lay more abundantly, for bees are provident and do not
rear the young rapidly when supplies are short. In this particular
their intelligence is very striking; they have needed no Malthus to
teach them that the means of subsistence must regulate the increase of
population.
"Part of the wondrous whole by Heaven designed,
Blest with some portion of ethereal mind,[31]
The prescient female rears her tender brood
In strict proportion to the hoarded food."
Evans.
[Footnote 31:
"His quidam signis, atque hæc exempla secuti,
Esse apibus partem divinæ mentis, et haustus
Æthereos dixere."--_Virgil_, G. iv. 219.
]
Judgment has, however, to be exercised to avoid _over-feeding_, or else
so many cells will be filled with honey that the queen can find none in
which to deposit her eggs, and thus the progress of the hive will be
seriously interfered with. It may also lead to the formation of drone
cells--a thing to be avoided under any circumstances. But if the hive
is thoroughly impoverished a more rapid process of feeding becomes
necessary, and the honey should be poured between the combs. The bees
will lick each other clean after this.
A very good syrup can be made by boiling three pounds of loaf sugar
with nearly two pints of water. Sugar-candy and barley-sugar have also
been each highly recommended for winter and early spring feeding, when
small pieces can easily be pushed in at the top of the stock hive a
little at a time. They have the advantage of being unlikely to turn
sour or to cause dysentery, as liquid food does when the bees are
confined by bad weather.
It is of the most urgent importance that the bees should have water
supplied them as soon as laying recommences, which should be early in
January; if the weather is such as to prevent their leaving the hive,
they must have it given them within. "For preparing the nourishment for
the brood," says Dzierzon, "water is to the bees indispensable. Sooner
could they dispense for a considerable time with pollen." It is also
needful to them for the preparation of wax, and, adds the same writer,
"when the egg-laying commences, some amount of wax is usually produced
equally soon, the bees requiring it for the covering of the brood
cells." For a double reason therefore water must be supplied them; but
in their eagerness to obtain it they are often drowned, so that It is
well to give it them in shallow vessels containing pebbles for them to
alight on. Salt also, says Dr. Bevan, is eagerly partaken of during
the early part of the breeding season till the beginning of May, after
which they seem wholly indifferent to it.
Such are the instructions for the regular process of feeding, though
even this, with good management, should not be needed unless in
exceptional circumstances. It has been remarked in the section on
"Swarming" that a supply of food is advisable at such occasions also,
but this is but an incidental trifle as compared with the other. The
task of bringing a hive safely through the winter will undoubtedly
dismay some of the inexperienced, and perhaps incline them to a
preference for the fire-and-brimstone quieters. But a little attention
to directions at the first will soon make the process tolerably simple;
while as to the relative profits of the two methods, it must be
recollected that the honey left in the stock hive for winter sustenance
is not much of it of a saleable quality, and the value of it and of any
extra syrup supplied will be far more than made up when in May a swarm
comes off, and two colonies are possessed where on the old system there
would have been none at all.
§ XX. WINTER PRECAUTIONS.
The most important of these is the one discussed in the preceding
section. There are, however, several other points which it is of
consequence for the apiarian to observe.
First of all the hive itself must be suitably protected against
climate, and if it be not of a description adapted to preserve warmth,
a transfer must be made to one that is. Matting or other fencework
may be erected to keep off piercing winds, and hay bands may be wound
around the hives. Some hives constructed Of glass are unsuited for
winter occupation--even when kept within doors success is difficult
and doubtful. They must be well wrapped up and covered in, and yet
ventilation be allowed, for unless the moisture can pass off it will
condense upon the inside of the glass, thus causing the combs to grow
mouldy and directly interfering with the health of the bees. The use
of such hives as the unicomb is best restricted to four months in the
year, when bees are most active and interesting in their operations.
An artificial swarm should be put into such a hive in May or June, and
taken out again in September--never later, for there are often cold
nights in October, when, the bees and brood being in near contact with
the glass, and not being able to cluster as is their natural wont, they
suffer greatly from the variations of temperature.
The population of each hive must also be well looked to, and if needful
the uniting processes (page 229) must be carried out before the
Michaelmas feeding. Hives that are to be so united should be gradually
brought near together, if not so already.
The innermost combs, having been the ones most employed for breeding,
will now be the ones least occupied with honey. It is therefore
advisable to transpose them with fuller ones, in order to keep the bees
clustered in the centre. They must not, however, have drone comb thus
given them. In order to give them communication through the combs,
"the apiarian should," says Langstroth, " late in the fall, cut with a
penknife a hole an inch in diameter in the centre of each comb, about
one-third from the top." This is for the purpose of allowing the bees
in cold weather to move in a body, without going outside the frames,
from combs where they have consumed the food to others that have honey
within reach.
Ventilation is of great moment, but if the hive allows of its being
given at the top, the entrance may then be narrowed so as only just
to give free passage to the bees. Holes the size of a pin's head will
allow the moisture to escape, and these must be reopened as fast as
they are propolised by the bees. The occurrence of a thaw is the time
when ventilation is needed in its highest degree. It is a good plan to
place a bell glass over the hole in the crown-board of a wooden hive,
with a zinc trough round it to receive the condensed moisture. It is
also requisite to clean the floor-board, say in February; but in this
and other operations the bees should not be disturbed, for if they
leave the hive when they are unable to fly properly, as is the case in
very cold weather, they are likely to be lost.
What further directions belong to this head will be found in the next
chapter under "Diseases" and "Enemies."' Mr. Langstroth has this
comprehensive sentence, the italics in which are his own. "_If the
colonies are strong in numbers and stores, have upward ventilation,
easy communication from comb to comb, and water when needed, and the
hive entrances are sheltered from piercing winds_, they have all the
conditions essential to wintering successfully in the open air."
[Illustration]