QUANTITY OF FOOD REQUISITE
FOR UNITED HIVES.
I have said, in Chapter IX. that each hive must have three pots, or
fifteen pounds of honey, to sustain it during the winter, and until
the bees can find food for themselves again in the spring. For this
reason, I have advised the empty hives to be weighed, before the swarm
is admitted into it, and again in the autumn, when the honey season
is over, in order that we may be assured that there is food enough to
maintain them during the winter.
In doubling the population, I naturally expected that we must also
double the quantity of food, for I had always seen that two or
three families, living together, used more meat than each would
have done singly, however rigid their economy. The more mouths the
more meat, thought I; and, in consequence, I augmented greatly the
amount of provision the first time I doubled a hive; but, to my great
astonishment, when I weighed it again in the spring, I found that the
united swarm had not consumed more than each would have done singly. I
could not believe my eyes, but thought there must be some mistake, nor
could I be convinced, until I had repeated the experiment a hundred
times over, and had always the same result.
I have made a point, in every instance, to mention the reasons of my
advice and proceedings; here, however, I humbly confess my inability
to do so, nor can I conceive how an army of thirty thousand troops
could be served with the same rations allowed for an army of only ten
thousand, supposing the soldiers of both to have an equal appetite, and
to have each wherewith to satisfy it. But the fact exists in regard to
the bees; any one may have it in his power to convince himself of it;
the cause is to me unknown, and must be left to wiser heads than mine
to explain. Does the increase of heat supply, to a certain extent, the
place of nourishment? Does the greater and more uniform heat, in a
well-stocked hive, make the food more nourishing?
These are questions which I propose to naturalists, but which I cannot
answer.
After this discovery, as important as it seems to be inexplicable, I
varied my experiments, not only to convince myself of the fact, but,
if possible, to arrive at more extended results. I joined three hives
in the autumn, by introducing into the middle one, the bees of two
neighbouring hives; and I found, on weighing it in the spring, that its
inhabitants had scarcely used one pound more than those of hives that
had not been united. I went farther: Having a large well-stocked and
amply provided hive, I added to it, in the autumn, without displacing
it, the swarms of four neighbouring hives, two on the right hand and
two on the left, that were so scarce of provisions that the quantity
of honey that would have been necessary to have kept them alive, would
have far exceeded their value, and that all the four would, to a
certainty? have perished. This enormous population produced a heat so
great, that, during the whole of a very severe winter, the bees kept
up a buzzing noise equal to that of a strong and active hive in the
evening of a fine day in spring. The steam expelled by the vibration of
their wings, collected in drops at the door, and formed icicles round
the entrance of the hive during severe frost. The hive was left out all
the winter, and would infallibly have perished had I shut it up; and
what was my astonishment, on weighing it in the spring, to find that,
notwithstanding that it contained five pounds, the total diminution
did not exceed three pounds more than took place in my ordinary hives.
It gave out excellent swarms, long before any of the others, and
recompensed me well for my pains. I have not repeated the experiment to
the same extent, but have limited myself to the union of two, or at
most three deprived hives, and have been very well paid.
What, in these circumstances, becomes of the supernumerary queens,
since their hatred to one another is so great that there can be but
one in each colony? I give myself no trouble to answer the question,
more curious than useful; the aim of my experiments being only to give
practical rules.
I have often been astonished that so important a discovery should not
have been made sooner by some of the superior minds that have taken
an interest in this branch of rural economy; and that, in the course
of their researches, not one of them should have thought of uniting
two or three weak swarms, before winter, to compare them with single
swarms, in order to ascertain how much honey was necessary, according
to both plans, till the end of the winter season. Doubtless they had
believed, as I formerly did, that the more numerous the family the
more provisions would they require, and that little would thus be
gained by uniting them. I should have regretted quitting the world
before publishing this discovery; and it had nearly perished with me;
for, continued and indispensable occupations, as well as a dangerous
illness, prevented me setting about giving it to the public, till now
that I am far advanced in life.