even a novice in bee-keeping to make his observations and conduct his
experiments under a sense of perfect security. Still, he need not
be careless as to the feelings of his bees; his success and their
comfort will be promoted by his "handling them gently, and as if he
loved them." "Familiarity" between bees and their master "breeds" not
"contempt," but affection.
Any sudden or clumsy movement, which jars the combs or frames, will
excite the bees, and if but one should be crushed, the odour of their
slaughtered comrade rouses the inhabitants of the hive to a pitch of
exasperation. Their powers of smelling are very acute. The human breath
is abomination to them; therefore, when operating upon bees, be careful
to close the mouth and breathe only through the nostrils. The best time
for most operations is in the middle of a fine day.
ENGRAVED PRESSING ROLLER FOR THE GUIDANCE OF BEES IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF HONEY-COMB ON THE BARS.
[Illustration]
This is an engraved metal roller, which, when applied to the coated
underside of a comb-bar, leaves an impression as shown in the diagram.
The wax having been spread on the flat bar, the roller, heated by
being put into hot water, is heavily pressed over it. The roller has
two wooden handles, so that considerable pressure may be given to it.
The roller is a little less than two inches in diameter, seven-eighths
of an inch wide, and the length from handle to handle is six inches.
The diagram shows the full size of the impressions as left on the
wax, after passing the roller along the comb-bar, in the manner above
described. It is a contrivance invented in Switzerland, and exhibited
in the International Exhibition of 1862, when the pattern roller was
purchased by ourselves.
The bars of a hive prepared with these markings in wax afford
ready-made foundations for regular combs, which very much facilitate
the operations of the bees.
IMPRESSED WAX SHEETS FOR ARTIFICIAL COMBS.
These artificial partition walls for combs are sheets of genuine
wax, about the substance of thin cardboard. They receive rhomboidal
impressions by being pressed between two metal plates, carefully and
mathematically prepared and cast so that the impressions are exactly
the same size as the base of the cells of a honey-comb. An inspection
of a piece of comb will show that the division of the opposite cells
is made by a thin partition wall, common to both. Now the substance
of this is said to be only the one hundred and eightieth part of an
inch, whilst the artificial ones we are recommending are between the
thirtieth and fortieth part of an inch, more than four times the
thickness of the handiwork of the bees themselves. It would, indeed, be
vain to attempt to furnish sheets of wax at all approaching their own
delicate fabric; the impressed sheets are quite as thin as they can be
to bear the handling which is requisite for fixing them in the hives.
We find, however, that the thickness is no disadvantage; the bees
speedily excavate and _pare the artificial sheet_ so as to suit their own
notions of the substance required; then, with admirable economy, they
use the surplus thus obtained for the construction of the cells. After
a sheet has been partly worked at by the bees, it is interesting to
hold it up to the light and observe the beautiful transparency of that
part of it, contrasted with the opaqueness of the part not yet laboured
upon.
When it is considered, as writers tell us, that more than 14 lbs. of
honey are required for the secretion and elaboration of a single pound
of comb, it will not be difficult to form a just estimate of the value
of this invention, which thus furnishes cheap and excellent assistance
to our industrious favourites. It also shows the bee-keeper that all
clean empty combs should be carefully preserved and considered as
valuable stock. Another great advantage that it affords us is, that it
renders us independent of _guide-comb_, which is not always obtainable.
When a sheet or a strip of this impressed wax is properly fixed to the
comb-bar, it is _certain_ to be the guide and foundation of a straight
comb. This invention has been derived from Germany, where it has been
adopted many years with success. At the International Exhibition of
1862, we purchased the metal plates or castings, so as to manufacture
the impressed sheets with which we are now able to supply our
customers; and, after the careful trials we have made, we have great
confidence in recommending them.
In the season of 1863 we furnished a Woodbury glass super, with the wax
sheets fixed to the bars, in the manner hereafter to be explained, and
it was truly astonishing to see the rapidity with which these sheets of
wax were worked into comb. Receptacles were quickly made ready for the
storing of honey, and the new combs soon became beautifully white; for,
although the artificial wax has a yellow tinge, yet, after being worked
at and made thinner, it is as good in colour as ordinary combs. For
supers we cut the wax plates in half, making one serve for two bars.
We have received from Germany the following directions for the
fastening of the artificial plates to the comb-bars. Hereafter will
be described a plan which we have adopted, and to which preference is
given.
(_Translation._)--"The unstamped edge of the plate receives incisions
half an inch distant from one another, made with a sharp knife, the
plate having been a little warmed; then it is pinched between two
equally strong ledges, which have been well moistened. The projecting
edge of the plate which received the incisions is alternately bent
to the right and to the left. The comb-bar is well besmeared with
artificial sticking wax (a mixture of two parts of wax and one part
of American resin), and is well warmed at a fire. Afterwards the
besmeared side is laid upon the bent end of the plate, and pressed to
it as firmly as possible. A small wooden ledge, besmeared with sticking
wax, and fastened by means of pressure to the lower edge of the plate,
prevents it from bending, which sometimes happens when the bees work
it."
To carry out the directions here given, it is necessary to warm the
besmeared comb-bar at a fire; the wax plate has also to be warmed.
Having tried this plan, and found inconvenience attending it,
especially from the wax curling with the heat and the difficulty of
making it stick firm, to say nothing of the uncomfortableness of
performing the operation before a fire on a hot day in July, we began
to consider if a little carpentering might not do the work better and
more pleasantly, and adopted the following plan:--We split or cut the
comb-bars of the Woodbury super in half, lengthways, and, taking the
unstamped edge between the two strips, joined them together again
by small screws at the side, confining the wax plate tightly in the
centre, with no possibility of its falling down. Where frames are used,
of course the bar could not be cut in two (except with the "compound
bar and frame," where the bar being loose, it might be as easily
managed). The plan we adopt with an ordinary frame is to saw out an
opening, about an inch or an inch and a half from either end, where the
sides are morticed in; this opening we make with a keyhole-saw. Through
it the wax plate is easily put, and, with a heated iron passed over the
upper side of the bar, is made sufficiently firm. If the wax plates are
too large, a portion may be cut off; an opening of full eleven inches
long can be made without materially weakening the bar and frame.
Another, and perhaps the simplest, plan is, to fix a strip of wood with
brads to the underside of the top frame or bar: place the wax sheet
against this, then wedge another strip close to it, and thus hold the
wax sheet firmly in the centre of the frame, taking care also to make
the second strip of wood fast with brads.
The wax plates must not extend to the bottom of the frame; a space
of at least one inch should be left for expansion, because the bees,
in working the plate, stretch it down lower. We also use a few pins
firmly pressed into the frames, and long enough to reach the edge of
the plate; for by fixing three or four pins on either side, both at the
sides and at the bottom, the plate may be held in an exactly central
position within the frame. As before mentioned, when these directions
are carried out, there is no fear of being troubled with crooked combs
or bars.
The secretion of wax, and the method of its adaptation by the bees, is
thus admirably described by Evans:--
"Thus filtered through your flutterer's folded mail
Clings the cooled wax, and hardens to a scale.
Swift at the well-known call, the ready train
(For not a buzz boon Nature breathes in vain)
Spring to each falling flake, and bear along
Their glossy burdens to the builder throng.
These, with sharp sickle, or with sharper tooth,
Pare each excrescence and each angle smooth,
Till now, in finish'd pride, two radiant rows
Of snow-white cells _one mutual base_ disclose;
Six shining panels gird each polish'd round,
The door's fine rim, with waxen fillet bound,
_While walls so thin, with sister walls combined,
Weak in themselves, a sure dependance find._
* * * * *
Others in firm phalanx ply their twinkling feet,
Stretch out the ductile mass, and form the street.
With many a cross-way, path, and postern gate,
That shorten to their range the spreading state."
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
MANIPULATION AND USES OF BAR AND FRAME HIVES.
Having, at page 84, given a description of the mechanical arrangements
of bar and frame hives, the next thing is, to describe the mode of
introducing the bees, and of thus bringing the humane and scientific
hives into operation. The swarm should be first hived into a common
straw hive from the bough or shrub upon which they may have alighted;
place this 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 an
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 bar and frame hive;
place the latter upon the sheet, without its floor-board, having its
front raised on blocks or sticks rather more than an inch,--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 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. A little water sprinkled over them from a watering-pot is
likely to induce the bees to quit the ground and go up into the hive
more quickly.
Mr. Langstroth, in his admirable book, "The Hive and Honey Bee,"
writes:--"If they are too dilatory in entering the new hive, they
may be gently separated with a spoon or leafy twig where they gather
in bunches on the sheet, or they may be carefully 'spooned up' and
shaken out close to the front of the hive. As these go in with fanning
wings, they will raise a peculiar note, which communicates to their
companions that they have found a home, and in a short time the whole
swarm will enter, without injury to a single bee." 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."
No one should attempt these operations without being protected by a
bee dress and a pair of india-rubber gloves, which are sting-proof.
Some persons also take the precaution of tying strings round the ancles
of the trousers, lest some straggler should determine to attack the
outposts of the enemy, which, to say the least, might perplex the
operator in the midst of his task. Elastic india-rubber bands are
good for this purpose, or a pair of "knickerbockers" would be useful.
If Wellington boots are worn, the trousers may be tucked within the
leather, in which case no bee can molest the operator, and no string
or band will be needed. Practice makes perfect in bee-tending, as in
other matters, and when a light hand is gained, there is little danger
of the apiarian being stung.
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 fills 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 little timely help. 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
abundantly compensated by its enabling these industrious emigrants the
more quickly to push forward the furnishing of their new home.
Clean combs from hives that may have lost their bees are readily
accepted, and cause a great saving in time and; material to the bees;
these combs may easily be fixed by cutting them the proper size to fit
within the frames, and making them firm by tying with tape or fixing
them with pliable wire. In any case where the combs are too small to
fit within the frame, a temporary bar may be fixed, and held firm by
being sprung within the two upright sides of a frame, and thus pushed
up until it presses the comb; then a piece of tape wound round, or a
clip made of tin or zinc shaped to the top bar, prevents its falling
out. All these supports may be removed[15] as soon as the bees have
made the foundation secure; the comb will then be added to. In this
way, every loose piece of comb may be economised.[16]
[Footnote 15: They should be first dismembered from the comb by running
a penknife between.]
[Footnote 16: Artificial comb may be advantageously used, especially
if a little time (say a couple of days) be allowed to elapse before it
is put into the hive; because, at first, so eager is a swarm to push
forward the work of comb-building, that the sheets are liable to become
mutilated. For guide-comb, cut the sheets in strips of rather more than
an inch in depth, and fix them as mentioned at page 154.]
These preparations must be made prior to 'the bees being hived, so
that when a hive is so prepared, a swarm may begin to adapt whatever
advantages they find ready for them; and it is truly marvellous what a
swarm will do when thus furnished with combs in their new habitation.
In these the queen can immediately begin to deposit her eggs, and
the workers to store their honey, without having to wait for the
construction of combs, which is a laborious occupation for the bees.
In some cases, fine white combs of honey may be taken from the
stock-hive; the end frames are always the most free from brood. Care
must be exercised not to rob this part of the hive too much; one
comb may, perhaps, be removed in the course of the season without
impoverishing the bees, but it is not wise to take more.
PUTTING ON SUPER HIVE.
A colony established a year or more is called a "stock," by way of
distinction from a swarm of the present year. Supposing the hive to
be a stock, the super should be given them at the early part of the
season, say, if fine and warm, at the latter end of April or beginning
of May; if the weather be then unfavourable, it is better to delay
doing so until a more genial temperature. If the colony be a swarm
of the present year, two 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.
When it is wished to use a super, _the crown-board or roof of the
stock-hive must be taken away, the thin adapting or honey-board taking
its place_. The two long slits at the sides are to give admission to
the super. The bees will begin sooner, and work faster, if the eight
bars are each furnished with artificial comb (as described at page
152). We have had depriving-hives very quickly filled when the bees
were thus assisted. Combs that have been left unfilled may be fixed to
the bars as before described; these must be white and clean, as dark
comb should not be used for super hives. The combs, when filled, may be
taken out singly, if desired 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 by drawing a string or
wire _between the adapting-board and the stock-hive_. After waiting a
short time for the commotion to subside, the operator must raise the
super on its board and blow in a little smoke. The bees may be induced
to quit by adopting either of the means described at pages 58 and 73.
When the super has been removed, another may be put on; but if the
honey-gathering be over, the crown-board should be replaced.
TAKING OUT FRAMES WITH COMBS.
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. This string should be drawn
through 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. This and all other operations ought
to be performed very carefully and gently. 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 enraged,
there is little chance of pacifying them; it is best, under such
circumstances, 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
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. 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, filled with 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 sprinkling the top. As soon as the bees 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.
The frames must now be gently prised 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. The frames fit loosely so as to allow of
a little movement from back to front; a lateral or side-way 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 requiring
an interview with her majesty, the whole of them must be loosened,
because it often happens 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 notches. Let the operator gently proceed
to lift, say, the third frame (allowing it to lodge on the little block
that divides the notches) slightly nearer to the fourth frame, 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.
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. A
hive of exactly the same size should be at hand; and in case it be
desired to remove the combs and bees into another hive, care should be
taken that each comb occupies the same relative position that it did in
the old hive.
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,
with a little dexterity in twirling the frame round, the reverse side
may 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 will
do if allowed to deviate from its upright or downright position. If
the operator could see an experienced person perform the operation, he
would quickly understand how combs may thus be handled without any risk
of a smash.
When placing frames in the hive, care must be taken not to crush a
bee between the projecting shoulders of the frame and the rabbets or
notches on which they rest, and on no account must the frame be let
down with a jerk, or the bees will become exceedingly fierce: the frame
should be so slowly deposited in its place that a bee on feeling the
slightest pressure may have the opportunity of escaping unhurt thereby.
The crown-board should be replaced by first resting its front edge in
its place, and then slowly lowering the after part, looking carefully
under, and momentarily raising it when necessary to avoid crushing a
bee. 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.
ADVANTAGES OF BAR AND FRAME HIVES.
It will be asked, Why all this trouble about bar and frames with
straight combs built upon them? We have shown the full command which
the bee-keeper has over a hive so constituted, and we now proceed to
show how, in skilful hands, these advantages may be used successfully;
though; in the hands of the unpractised and unskilful, the contrary may
be the result.
All the bars and frames in an apiary ought to be of precisely the
same dimensions, so as to fit every hive. This is essential for the
strengthening of weak hives. 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. 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 at least,
say, five years, it may be necessary to begin removing the old combs.
This may be done by cutting away the comb, 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.
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, with the movable
frames, this work of Nature may be assisted--we say 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 the hive contain
drones.
When such, is, the state of the hive, the facility of affording an
artificial swarm with a movable frame-hive is a decided advantage.
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[17] as before described, and proceed to take out the frames,
carefully examining both sides of each comb to find the queen;[18]
she is generally in the centre of the hive, so that it is not always
needful to take out all the ten frames. As they are examined, the
frames 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. 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 maybe
upon it, in the centre of the empty hive; and, finally, putting all the
other frames in, and replacing the lid, the bee-master 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 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. By doing this, at the right time, just before the bees
are about to swarm, or when there are many drones, all the trouble of
watching and waiting for them is saved. Mr. Woodbury claims the honour
of having originated this mode of swarming.
[Footnote 17: Bees are apt to take the interference more kindly if the
stock be moved a little distance from its accustomed stand; in such
case, place 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 the hive be 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 18: Italian queens are more easily detected, being of a
brighter colour and, generally, larger than English queens.]
This operation we performed, exactly as described above, with one of
our improved cottage-hives, one afternoon at the latter end of May,
1862. 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 division 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 a
power that they possess of raising a queen from worker-brood in the
manner we have previously described.[19]
[Footnote 19: See Section I, page 9.]
The foregoing account illustrates the successful formation of an
artificial swarm; but, with a cottage-hive, gaining possession of the
queen is 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-hive, 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 to the entrance used by the bees when with the old stock, and
the old stock may be removed to an approximate entrance. Some apiarians
recommend that a space be left between the two hives, by placing the
hives 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 impregnated queen, and, when located in a new abode, it
commences building worker-combs, leaving the building of the few
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; thus a number of receptacles for
useless bees is provided, which tends to weakness, and eventually to
loss of the hive.
In the plan we have recommended for forming two separate families, we
nearly follow the natural state 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 bees, under the government of the
impregnated queen, construct the combs and furnish their new above, as
before stated, with worker-cells.
By adopting the plan above described, the movable bar and frame-hive
will prove far superior to any of the dividing hives, which provide for
equal division of the combs.[20]
[Footnote 20: At page 143 of Mr. Langstroth's "Honey Bee," other
methods of artificial swarming are described, the perusal of which will
well repay the scientific bee-keeper.]
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 more than three days old. 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.
When a bee-keeper has become skilful in his calling, he maybe desirous
to encourage the breeding of queens, or rather of preventing their
destruction. He will seek to use the propagating instincts of the
worker-bees as a set-off against that innate hatred of rivalry which
prompts the reigning queen to kill the tender royal brood.
[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 above engraving, placed
over a queen-cell to protect it from the mother-bee's animosity,
and it also serves to prevent the young queen, when hatched, from
escaping; for she will have the same jealous feeling toward 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. It can, however, be squeezed
into any shape to suit the position required.
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.
It is said that these cells are unmolested on the tenth day, but that
on the eleventh day they may be found tenantless. Notwithstanding
the apiarian's care and skill, many disappointments are frequently
experienced in endeavouring to establishing 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 place 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. Special care must be taken not to bruise
the royal embryos, as they are particularly sensitive to pressure. It
is sometimes best to introduce royal brood into queenless hives in
preference to matured _unimpregnated_ queens, because, as mentioned at
page 8, bees are reluctant to receive virgin 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, consisting
of, say, four combs. By extracting from a populous hive four such
frames of combs (with the bees on them), and having eggs in the first
stage (see page 9), or better still a royal embryo, the bees will rear
a queen or queens therefrom. Care will have to be exercised to ensure
that there is a sufficient number of bees to mature the brood brought
from the hive.[21]
[Footnote 21: These weak little colonies should have small entrances,
so as to be better able to defend themselves from the attacks of
robber-bees, and they will require to be assisted and strengthened by
feeding.]
A colony of this character is technically called a "nucleus."
Such operations as queen-rearing should only be attempted in warm
summer weather, and when drones are abundant.
A very great advantage that the Woodbury bar and frame hive affords,
is the safety and convenience with which a stock of bees can in
it be transported to any part of the kingdom: by a few additional
arrangements, stocks have even been sent in it 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.
From a hive that has been inhabited all the winter, we have not
unfrequently lifted out the frames and removed the stock to a clean
hive; and we believe that the change has always been useful The bees
find a clean floor-board and a clean hive to breed in, free from
insects that may have harboured in crevices about their former abode.
When the change has been made, the old hive can be thoroughly cleaned
and used in the same way for making the exchange with another stock.
The process for handling will, of course, be the same as before
described. We have found that, where this plan has been carried out,
the bees seem to progress faster. Perhaps a little stirring up may be
useful in arousing them from their winter doze. The time we recommend
for doing this is in the beginning of April, but a fine warm day should
be chosen.
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, one 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 junction 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[22] 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 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. 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 22: Care should be exercised in turning the hives over
to keep the combs vertical, or they are likely to break from their
foundations.]
It generally happens that, in about 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
may be seen passing up, and if the operator desires to take her away,
he can secure her by placing a wine-glass over her. This expedient is
often resorted to in the autumn, when stocks are to be united, for in
such a case the removal of the queen prevents some fighting.
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.
When the removed bees are to be joined to another stock, the operator
will proceed as follows:--At dusk, dislodge the bees on to a cloth,
sprinkle them with sweet syrup, 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, or not sufficiently skilful to gain
possession of the queen, he may leave it to the bees themselves to
decide which queen they will have.
By this plan of "driving," artificial swarms may be secured by
an "expert" even in common hives, though those do not afford the
facilities for such a purpose as do the bar or bar-and-frame hives.
CHANGING OLD STOCKS TO NEW HIVES.
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 of
bees 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 rendered a humane one, simply by cutting out with a
sharp-pointed knife the middle of the top of the hive; a piece may thus
easily be taken out, so as to leave a round hole two or three inches
in diameter, but care must be taken that the knife does not penetrate
much below the straw, lest it reach the comb or the bees--and it will
be safer for the operator to have a bee-dress on. 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 an
improved appearance, an outside case, either of zinc, straw, or wood,
may 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 now proceed to describe how a
complete transfer may be made. No hive offers such facilities for
the correct placing of the combs in a perfectly upright position as
does the bar-and-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 any
one 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 145), the other by driving (see page 179).
Whichever plan may be resorted to, have the bees confined in the old
hive on their stand until you are quite ready to admit them into the
bar-and-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 cotton string to fasten
the combs in their frames, a pair of honey-cutters 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. Then begin by slicing
off a piece of the hive with a sharp table-knife; carefully cut out
the working combs--cut them large, so that they will squeeze into the
frames; and, to be more secure, wind some of the tape round to keep
them in position until made fast by the bees. After a few days, these
fastenings may be removed. Care should be taken that the combs occupy,
the same position in the frames as in the hive from which they were
extracted. Having thus prepared the hive, the bees may be let into it,
in the manner Mr. Woodbury recommends for a swarm (see page 159). It
may be as well to keep them confined a few hours, giving them water
at the top, until they make the combs secure; the new hive will then
be less likely to offer an attraction to bees from other hives, who,
if feloniously inclined, might come to rob. This transfer should be
made when the weather is such that the bees can fly about: when not
warm enough, it should be done in a room at a temperature of about 70
degrees. 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. Should the operation be performed in the open air, the
bees from surrounding hives will be sure to come in great numbers to
obtain a share of the honey necessarily exposed, for they delight in
plunder. In order, therefore, to avoid annoyance to the operator, and
the excitement which is certain to be induced in surrounding hives, it
is better to conduct the dissection in some building with closed doors.
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.
WEIGHING HIVES, &c.
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 plan
explained in the articles on "Fumigation" and "Driving."
[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 engraving 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.
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.
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.
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, find that from a hive so balanced a criterion may be formed
of what other hives in the apiary are doing through the day.
Many ingenious contrivances will, no doubt, suggest themselves to the
apiarian for suspending 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 iron
mongers 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. A colony
of bees at Michaelmas ought to weigh from 20 to 24 lbs., that is,
exclusive of the hive; if falling short of that weight, the hive should
be made up to it by the artificial means before recommended.
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 windows
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.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
VI. MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION.
STINGS: THEIR PREVENTION AND CURE.
Some of our readers may deem us neglectful in having, as it were,
left them to struggle through their bee-keeping novitiate without
informing them how to avoid being stung by their docile but well-armed
flock. Of course, having described the bee-dress, we have supposed
that the apiarian was clad, if not "in complete steel," at least in
the head-gear and gloves, which will render him invulnerable. The
best safeguard from the anger of bees--as, indeed, from the malice
of men--is a quiet and peaceable spirit. The apiarian will learn to
handle his bees not only as "if he loved them,"--as the quaint angler
says--but as if he fully believes that the bees love _him_. This they
will do whenever he approaches and treats them gently. There are some
cases of exception to this generally peaceable disposition of the bee;
perchance a few bees are dyspeptic, and refuse to be pacified, let
their master seek to bribe them never so wisely. Then, too, sometimes
the bee-master himself may be dyspeptic, which the unerring olfactory
sense of the bees speedily detects, and their anger is immediately
aroused. Some few persons, owing to constitutional peculiarities in
their breath or insensible perspiration, are objects of constant
animosity with bees, who, by driving them from the apiary, are giving
a physician's advice without charge for a fee. Some of the choicest
perfumes used by ladies are offensive to bees; and one may feel very
certain that the "fine puss gentleman," who disgusted the brave
Hotspur with his "pouncet-box" and praise of "'parmaceti for an inward
bruise," would have been speedily driven from an apiary in ignominious
flight. Occasionally, even a skilful apiarian may inadvertently crush
a single bee; such a mischance is detected by the community with much
more facility than by any "crowner's quest," and their prompt verdict
decrees the summary punishment of the offender. There would be much
less fear of stings if it were always remembered that bees are never
aggressive. "Defence, not defiance," is their motto. They scarcely ever
attempt to sting when away from the hive, and very seldom indeed at the
time of swarming, for then they are gorged with honey. When molested
by angry bees, do not attempt to beat them off; the safest and best
retreat is a green bush. Thrust your head into this, or if no such
refuge be near, in an emergency, throw yourself on the ground, and,
with face downwards, the bees will soon leave you.
Yet some people appear to think they must inevitably be stung if they
meddle with bees and for their sakes it is needful to explain why it
is that a sting is painful, and how the wound inflicted by the bee
may be cured. Those familiar with the usual microscopic objects will
know how marvellously delicate, and yet effective, is the mechanical
structure of a bee's sting. (See page 46.) This weapon, as we see it
with our naked eye--finer than a needle's point--is only the sheath,
which lengthens or contracts like the tubes of a telescope. The dart,
as before said, is barbed on each side, so that the bee, when _very_
angry, is scarcely ever able to withdraw it, but
"Deems life itself to vengeance well resigned;
Dies on the wound, and leaves the sting behind."
There are, indeed, some happy mortals whose "blood such an even tenour
keeps," that a bee-sting is to them simply a puncture, and nothing
more. Dr. Bevan has suggested that lovers should subject themselves
to the ordeal of a bee-sting, in order to prove, we suppose, that
their temper is proof against "the stings and arrows of any outrageous
fortune" that matrimony can bring.
It is the homoeopathically minute tincture of poison injected by the
bee which causes inflammation. The first thing to do is, to remove
the sting, which, even when detached from the bee, will continue to
penetrate still further into the wound. Next, press the hollow point
of a watch-key exactly over the place stung; this will express a
considerable portion of the virus. Then dip the hand, or bathe the part
with cold or tepid water, for the poison is volatile, and will thereby
be dissipated to a great extent. On no account whatever should the part
affected be rubbed; to do that will diffuse the poison and increase
the inflammation. The specific remedy for a bee-sting is taught us
by chemistry: the venom is an acid which an alkali will immediately
neutralize when brought into contact with it. Spirits of hartshorn
will generally be found effectual for the purpose, and should always
be kept in an apiary. There are also several other remedies more or
less effectual, according to the special constitution of the patient. A
strong infusion of tobacco-water applied to the wound after the sting
has been extracted is a specific for many persons; others find relief
from the application of a sliced onion.
We have heard the remark from several who have kept bees for years,
that the poison from a sting has little or no effect on them; after
receiving many inflictions, their flesh appears to become so little
affected, that the swelling and pain at one time experienced no longer
trouble them.
POLLEN, OR FOOD FOR INFANT-BEES.
Bees, when fully grown, feed almost wholly on honey; but the larvae
require for their development a more substantial kind of nourishment.
Such solid fare is found by the bees in the _pollen_ of flowers, a
farina which contains some of those nitrogenous elements in which
honey is deficient. The body of a worker-bee is covered with hairs, to
which the pollen adheres when, by contact with the bee, it is rubbed
from the anthers and stamens of flowers (see page 41). Dewy mornings
or humid bowers suit the bees for the gathering of the pollen. If
the atmosphere be too dry for kneading it into pellets, they roll
themselves in the blossoms and trust to the good offices of the bees
at home, who, on their return, brush off the farina into the cells
intended for it. A portion of this "bee-bread" is taken at once by the
"nursing bees," who are supposed to subject it to some change before
offering it to the larvæ; but the greater part of the pollen is stored
away and sealed over in the cells for future use. In April and May,
the bees are frequently busy "all the day" in gathering pollen, and
often one community of bees will collect about twenty pounds weight of
"bee-bread" in one season.
One of the objects of the apiarian is to assist the bees in providing
for the nurslings of the hive. A German pastor, Herr Dzierzon, first
suggested the plan of providing the bees with "unbolted rye meal,"
as a substitute for the farina of flowers. He had observed that, in
early spring, before the flowers were open, his bees had entered a
neighbouring corn mill, from whence they returned laden with rye flour.
Since his discovery, some keepers, in early spring, place either rye or
wheat meal near the apiaries; to this artificial store the bees repair
by thousands, and seem to rollick in the enjoyment of such plenty,
many of them returning to the hive as dusty as millers. The object in
thus supplying them is, that the brood may be rapidly brought forward,
and early swarming induced. In this way, a few pounds of rye meal, at
one penny per pound, may tend to the production of very many pounds of
honey of twelve times the price.
In gathering pollen from flowers, bees are doing more than merely
providing for their own community. Whilst humming through our gardens
they are assisting to propagate our flowers, and their merry buzz in
our orchards indicates that the blossoms of spring will in autumn
fulfil their promise by abundance of fruit. In Mr. Darwin's remarkable
work, "The Fertilization of Orchids," the mystery of the fructification
of flowers is scientifically explained; but before the subject was
so fully understood, it was quite believed that bees, in passing
from flower to flower, performed some important service. Owners of
fruit-trees have noticed, in a season generally unfavourable for the
orchard, that if during only one fine forenoon the bees had spread
freely amongst the blossoms of a particular tree, it would prove more
fruitful than its fellows. On this account, the orchard is a good
place for an apiary, for it seems that, more abundant the honey, more
plentiful will be the fruit. Bees bear the fructifying matter from one
_sex_ of flowers to the other, but they confine their attention to
one _kind_ of flower during each excursion; and the careful observer
may see how the colour of the pollen on the bodies of the bees will
vary from yellow to red and brown, according to the kind of flowers
from which it has been gathered. The gathering of pollen, its use by
the nursing bees, and the storing of it in the cells, afford to the
bee-keeper opportunity for observations of exceeding interest.
PROPOLIS, OR BEES' CEMENT.
The old notion that wax is gathered by bees from flowers, as they
gather honey, has long since been set aside by the discoveries of
Hornbostel and Huber. Wax is an oily substance, as described at
page 45; but there is "a resinous substance, very tenacious and
semi-transparent," which is indispensable for the bees as a cement
wherewith to fix their combs and fortify their hives against intruders,
and this is "propolis." The bees, in working the propolis, often soften
it by blending it with a portion of wax; but they have to extract it in
its natural state directly from the bark and buds of certain trees.
The bark of the willow, the leaf-buds of the poplar and alder, and the
unopened blossoms of the hollyhock are very usual sources of propolis.
In the case of a new swarm, as bees must have this glue before they can
begin to build their combs, they will resort to most unlikely places
to obtain it. Sometimes they will enter a paint shop and attack the
varnish, and it is said they have been seen to obtain propolis from the
pitch and rigging of a ship. These circumstances afford intelligible
hints to the apiarian, who, if his bees have not easy access to firs,
poplars, or willows, will provide some glutinous or resinous matter
which may serve for a substitute. The extraction of propolis costs
the bees very considerable labour, which they should be relieved of
as much as possible, in order to facilitate their great work of honey
gathering. Bees choose the warmer part of the day during which to
gather propolis, as then it does not so rapidly stiffen, frequently,
when they arrive at the hive, it has become so hard that the other bees
are scarcely able to gnaw it from their thighs.
With propolis bees fasten down their hives, stop up crevices to exclude
moths and ants, and sometimes use it to narrow the entrance of their
hives against the invasion of wasps. Extraordinary anecdotes are told
of the prompt and ingenious use they make of this substance. Reaumur
relates, that a snail having been observed by the bees oh the window
of the hive, they proceeded to glue the shell to the glass, and there
sealed down the intruder in hopeless durance. In another case, that of
a slug, or snail without a shell, the bees, having slain it with their
stings, were quite unable to remove it from the hive. With wonderful
foresight, they then proceeded to secure their community from the
noxious effects likely to arise from the decay of the carcase; and
this they did by completely enveloping it with a coating of impervious
varnish. Huish relates a similar occurrence in the case of a mouse
caught in a hive by bees. Propolis yields benzoic acid, and contains
some aromatic properties.
PASTURAGE FOR BEES.
"Bees work for man; and yet they never bruise
Their master's flower, but leave it, having done.
As fair as ever, and as fit for use."
Apiarians generally agree in the opinion that very little can be done
in the way of providing any special forage for bees. Yet bee-fanciers
are always interested in observing which are the flowers that the bees
prefer; and there are certain well-established conclusions as to the
kind of district and seasons which are the likeliest to produce a good
honey-harvest. There is an old saying, that a country which produces
the finest wool also yields the best honey; and a pastoral district is
decidedly better than one under tillage. The principle of the matter
is, that the bees are best suited with a long dry-season--an early
spring, a hot summer, and a late autumn. As not one of these blessings
can be commanded by the apiarian, his art must be applied to provide
some mitigation of the injury suffered by the bees when the season is
short or wet. For early spring, the crocus, the blue hepatica, and the
violet all afford good supplies of pollen and honey, and, if cultivated
near the apiary, will be of great service when the wild flowers
are backward. All varieties of the willow and poplar furnish early
supplies, of honey, as well as of the propolis of which we have spoken;
the blossoms of the gooseberry and currant are very useful for the bees
in May. Wet, when it enters flowers of any kind, prevents the tongue
of the bee from reaching the secret source of honey. On this account,
it is well to know, as does the bee, that the drooping blossoms of the
raspberry escape the effect of the showers, and honey is gathered from
them when other flowers are drenched within as well as without. For a
similar reason, borage (_Borago officinalis_) is valuable for bees; and
also because that plant continues to flower until the frosts set in.
The honey both from raspberry blossoms and borage is very superior. Mr.
Langstroth says, that "the precipitous and rocky lands of New England,
which abound with the wild red raspberry, might be made almost as
valuable as some of the vine-clad terraces of the mountain districts
of Europe." The "golden rod" and also asters afford superior honey
for autumn gathering. Dzierzon strongly recommends buck-wheat being
sown in the winter stubbles on behalf of the bees, and he tries hard
to persuade farmers that it is to their interest to cultivate it. It
should be named that all the ordinary fruit blossoms, especially those
of the apple, supply abundant store for bees.
It is, however, to wild or field flowers that the bee-master must
chiefly look for the raw material on which his myriad artisans shall
exert their skill. The white clover of the pasture[23]--the wild thyme
on the hill--the heather on the moors--the furze and the broom on the
sandy waste--offer exhaustless stores for a greater number of bees
than can ever be located near them. Lime-trees, when in blossom, and
mignonette are also' most valuable resources. There are also two or
three peculiar sources of honey which one would not have suspected,
as, for instance, the blossoms of the onion plant, of turnips, and, in
still greater degree, the flower of the mustard plant.
[Footnote 23: It is a good practice to induce the owners of adjacent
fields to sow clover-seed.]
In those districts of England where mustard seed is cultivated so
extensively, it would be well worth while for the farmers to keep large
colonies of bees. Another, but a very uncertain, source of honey is the
"honeydew," which, in some seasons, appears in large quantities on the
leaves of the oak, the lime, and some other trees.
It is important to mention that bees, in the principal breeding season,
require a plentiful supply of water. Owing either to their carelessness
or eagerness, they are frequently drowned when drinking from any large
quantity of water; the bee-keeper should, therefore, place near the
hives shallow vessels of water containing pebbles, on which the bees
may alight to take frequent but temperate draughts.
THE LIGURIAN OR ITALIAN ALP BEE.
A new, or rather a re-discovered, variety of bee has recently been
brought into practical use amongst apiarians in Germany and America, as
well as in this country. The ordinary bee is the _Apis mellifica_ of
naturalists; the new kind is the _Apis ligustica_. It was also named
"the Ligurian Bee" by the Marquis de Spinola, who found it in Piedmont
in 1805; and he considered it to be the principal species known to the
Greeks, who speak of the "best kind" of bee as being of a red colour.
Leading apiarians agree in pronouncing these bees to be justly entitled
to the high character given them. (See coloured engraving, Plate I.,
figs, 1, 2, 3.) Their special advantages are--greater fecundity of the
queens, less irascibility, and a more handsome appearance, for, being
of a golden colour, they are prettier than our black bees.
Tennyson most probably refers to these Ligurian bees in the following
stanza of his beautiful poem "Eleanore":--
"Or the _yellow banded bees_,
Through half-open lattices,
Coming in the scented breeze,
Fed thee, a child, lying alone,
With whitest honey in fairy gardens culled:
A glorious child, dreaming alone
In silk soft folds, upon yielding down,
With the hum of swarming bees
Into dreamful slumbers lulled."
Our own experience with the Italian Alp bee enables us to corroborate
the statements which have been made in favour of this new variety.
We find the queens more prolific than those of the common kind, and
the quantity of honey produced is greater. These two facts stand as
cause and effect: the bees being multiplied more quickly, the store
of honey is accumulated more rapidly, and the Italian bees consume,
if anything, less food than the common, kind. When of pure Italian
blood, these bees are, by some apiarians, thought to be hardier than
our own. That they forage for stores with greater eagerness, and have
little hesitation in paying visits to other hives, we can testify from
our own observation. The following anecdote will illustrate their
intrusive propensities:--Another bee-keeper living in the neighbourhood
of our apiary, when inspecting our hives, observed the yellow bees: he
exclaimed, "Now, I have found out where those strange-looking bees
come from; for," said he, "these yellow-jackets are incessant visitors
to my hives. I thought they were a species of wasp that had come to
rob, and until now I have been unable to account for their appearance
at the entrance of my hive, so that I have killed them by hundreds."
This was not at all pleasing intelligence for us, and we trust that
our neighbour has been more lenient to "the yellow-jackets" since
his visit, for such summary capital punishment was wholly unmerited,
because, when a bee is peaceably received (see page 127), it becomes
naturalized, and works side by side with the others in its fresh abode.
We are inclined to believe that more visiting takes place amongst
bees of different hives than bee-keepers have been accustomed to
suppose: where the Italian and black bees are kept near each other, the
foreigners being conspicuous by their lighter colour, there is less
difficulty in identifying them when at the entrance of other hives.
In the season of 1864, we had more honey from a Ligurian stock than
from any one of our colonies of black bees. From this Ligurian hive
we have taken a glass super containing 40 lbs. nett of honey, besides
having drawn from it an artificial swarm; and, after all, it remains
the strongest hive in our apiary.
The Baron Von Berlepsch and Pastor Dzierzon, who are probably the two
most intelligent and skilful bee-keepers of Germany, award to the
Italian a very decided preference over the common bees. The Baron says
that he has found:--"1. That the Italian bees are less sensitive to
cold than the common kind. 2. That their queens are more prolific. 3.
That the colonies swarm earlier and more frequently. 4. That they are
less apt to sting, 5. They are more industrious. 6. That they are more
disposed to rob than common bees, and more courageous and active in
self-defence. They strive, whenever opportunity offers, to force their
way into colonies of common bees; but when strange bees attack their
hives, they fight with great fierceness and with incredible adroitness."
It is said that the Italian bee can extract honey from some flowers
which the common bee is unable to penetrate. For instance, the blossom
tubes of the red clover being too deep for the probosces of the common
bees, that flower is useless to them, although so plentiful; but, says
Mr. Langstroth, the American apiarian, the Italian bee visits the red
clover assiduously, and draws large quantities of honey from it.[24]
[Footnote 24: This opinion is not held by the closest observer of
Italian bees in England.]
The introduction of this new variety of bee into England was through
our agency. M. Hermann, a bee-cultivator at Tamins-by-Chur, Canton
Grison, Switzerland, wrote to us on the 5th July, 1859, offering to
supply us with Italian Alp queen-bees. This letter, or an extract from
it, appeared in the current number of the _Journal of Horticulture_
(then called the _Cottage Gardener_), a periodical that regularly opens
its columns to apiarian subjects. Prior to this the Italian Alp, or,
as it has been named, the "Ligurian" bee, was unknown in this country,
except to a few naturalists. The letter referred to attracted the
attention of that intelligent apiarian, T. W. Woodbury, Esq., now so
well known as the "Devonshire Bee-Keeper." On the 19th of July, that
is, a fortnight after M. Hermann's offer, we received a consignment
of Italian Alp bees,--the first imported into England. With these
Mr. Woodbury also received one queen-bee and a few workers, which
he introduced into a hive of English bees from which the queen had
been taken. His efforts were very successful, and "the spring of 1860
found him in possession of four Ligurianized stocks." His subsequent
experience with the Italian Alp bee he has fully described in a
communication to the _Bath and West of England Agricultural Journal_.
Subsequently, M. Hermann sent us a copy of his pamphlet, entitled "The
Italian Alp Bee; or, the Gold-Mine of Husbandry," with the request that
we should have it translated from the German, and that copies of it
should be printed in the English language. The pamphlet was speedily
published by us, and although singular as a literary production, it may
be useful for the advanced apiarian.
Certainly the bees are partially of an orange or golden colour, and if
one could believe the golden anticipations indulged in by M. Hermann
respecting them, it would be sufficient to identify the Italian Alp bee
as the species described by Hood in "Miss Kilmansegg";--those which
dwelt in
"A golden hive, on a golden bank,
Where golden bees, by alchemical prank,
Gather gold instead of honey."
If we are correctly informed, poor Hermann himself has not yet greatly
profited by the discovery of the mine. He appears to have quitted
Switzerland, and travelled to America, as, by the latest accounts, we
learn that he is now in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, prosecuting
his favourite calling with his accustomed ardour, among the apiaries
of amateur bee-keepers. We are glad that M. Hermann is thus engaged,
for report had reached us that he was dead--a report to which we gave
currency in our first edition.
In the pamphlet referred to, M. Hermann gives the following description
of what he insists on designating as _Apis Helvetica_:--"The yellow
Italian Alp bee is a mountain insect; it is found between two
mountain chains to the right and left of Lombardy and the Rhetian
Alps, and comprises the whole territory of Tessins, Veltlin, and
South-Graubunden. It thrives up to the height of 4,500 feet above the
level of the sea, and appears to prefer the northern clime to the
warmer, for in the south of Italy it is not found. The Alps are their
native country, therefore they are called Yellow Alp-bees, or tame
house-bees, in contradistinction to the black. European bees, whom we
might call common forest bees, and who, on the slightest touch, fly
like lightning into your face. (?)
"As all good and noble things in the world are more scarce than common
ones, so there are more common black bees than of the noble yellow
race, which latter inhabit only a very small piece of country, while
the black ones are at home everywhere in Europe, and even in America."
Notwithstanding the emigration of M. Hermann from his native land,
we shall in future be able to supply all bee-keepers who may wish to
possess stocks of the genuine yellow Alpine bees.
The Italian varies but little from the common bees in its physical
characteristics. The difference in appearance consists in the first
rings of the abdomen, except the posterior edge, and the base of
the third, being of an orange colour instead of a deep brown. These
orange-coloured parts are transparent when closely examined with the
sun shining on them. The Italian bees are more active than common bees
when on the wing.
During the summers of 1859 and 1860 we had over from the Continent a
great number of Ligurian queens; these were sent to all parts of the
kingdom. We regret to say that but few were successfully united to
English stocks. It requires a considerable amount of apiarian skill to
accomplish the union,[25] so that we find by experience it is best to
send out complete Ligurian stocks. 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.
[Footnote 25: The plan of uniting an Italian queen to an English stock
is, first, to discover the queen by lifting out the frames, then take
her away. This, we find, is best done by putting a wine-glass over her
whilst on the comb, and, with a card a little larger than the diameter
of the glass, very carefully and gently passed underneath, so as not
to injure her majesty, she is thus, with a few of her subjects, made a
prisoner, and easily removed. Be careful to cut away with a penknife
all queen-cells. Let the hive remain queenless for twenty-four hours,
and then place the Italian queen in a small wire cage, the openings of
which must be large enough to enable her to receive the attentions of,
and to communicate with, her new subjects, and, at the same time, to
defend her from the animosity with which bees regard a stranger-queen,
that has a scent different from that of her new home. Three or four
days' intercourse through the wire meshes generally has a reconciling
effect, and the Italian queen may be let go free to become the monarch
of the hive. Sometimes, even with all this precaution, the foreigner
is slain, so that it is well to preserve the black queen alive (with
a few of her own subjects), by feeding and keeping her warm until the
result is known. The wire cage containing the new queen is made of a
flat shape, so as to be pressed down between the combs, against some
honey-cells, in order that, should the inhabitants of the hive be
inattentive, her majesty need not starve, but have food within reach.
As it is generally considered that the queen is fed by working bees, it
is always necessary to put about half a dozen of _her own subjects_ in
the cage with her, to pay her the requisite attention.]
Mr. Woodbury, owing to his knowledge and skill in bee-keeping, was
eminently successful in propagating the Ligurian bees first imported
into this country; and we would recommend all who may be interested in
the subject to peruse the interesting articles written by him in the
_Journal of Horticulture_. He has shown great patience and energy by
his labours in the rearing of queens and the multiplication of stocks,
for which he merits all praise.
We now add to the testimonies already cited that of Mr. Woodbury, as
to the superior qualities of Ligurian bees. The following is extracted
from the paper contributed by him to the _Bath and West of England
Agricultural Journal_:--"From my strongest Ligurian stock I took eight
artificial swarms in the spring, besides depriving it of numerous
brood-combs. Finding, in June, that the bees were collecting honey so
fast that the queen could not find an empty cell in which to lay an
egg, I was reluctantly compelled to put on a super. When this had been
filled with 38 lbs. of the finest honeycomb,[26] I removed it, and
as the stock-hive (a very large one) could not contain the multitude
of bees which issued from it, I formed them into another very large
artificial swarm. The foregoing facts speak for themselves; but as
information on this point has been very generally asked, I have no
hesitation in saying that I believe the Ligurian honey-bee infinitely
superior in every respect to the only species that we have hitherto
been acquainted with."
[Footnote 26: This super was exhibited at our stand in the
International Exhibition of 1862.]
In a private letter received from Mr. Langstroth, he informs us that he
has, in the season of 1865, bred over 300 Ligurian queens; these he has
disseminated to various bee-masters on the American continent, and the
united opinion of apiarians in that country is increasingly in favour
of the decided advantage of the cultivation of the Italian bee.
After such emphatic testimony as this, corroborated, as it is, by many
other observers, there seems every reason to expect that the Ligurian
bee will gradually supersede the common kind throughout the United
Kingdom. The honey-bee of the Holy Land is the Ligurian.
The Rev. H. B. Tristram, M.A., in his valuable book, "The Land of
Israel," has the following interesting account of the bees in that
country:--In Palestine bee-keeping is not an unimportant item of
industry, and every house possesses a pile of bee-hives in its yard.
Though similar in its habits, the hive-bee of Palestine is a different
species to our own. "We never," he says, "found _Apis mellifica_, L.,
our domestic species, in the country, though it very possibly occurs
in the north; but the common Holy Land insect, _Apis ligustica_, is
amazingly abundant; both in hives, in rocks, and in old hollow, trees.
It is smaller [?] than our bees, with brighter yellow, bands: on the
thorax and abdomen, which, is rather wasp-like in shape, and with very
long antennæ. In its habits, and especially in the immense population
of neuters in each community, and in the drones cast forth in autumn,
it resembles the other species. Its sting, also, is quite as sharp.
The hives are very simple, consisting of large tubes of sun-dried mud,
like gas-pipes, about four feet long, and closed with mud at each
end, leaving only an aperture in the centre, large enough for two or
three bees to, pass at a time. The insects appear to frequent both
doors equally. The tubes are laid in rows horizontally, and piled in a
pyramid. I counted one of these colonies, consisting of seventy-eight
tubes, each a distinct hive. Coolness being the great object, the
whole is thickly plastered over with mud, and covered with boughs,
while a branch is stuck in the ground at each end, to assist the bees
in alighting. At first we took these singular structures for ovens or
hen-houses. _The barbarous practice of destroying the swarms for their
honey is unknown._ When the hives are fully, the clay is removed from
the ends of the pipes, and the honey extracted with an iron hook; those
pieces of comb which contain young bees being carefully replaced, and
the hives then closed up again. Everywhere during our journey we found
honey was always to be purchased; and it is used by the natives for
many culinary purposes, and especially for the preparation of sweet
cakes. It has the delicate aromatic flavour of the thyme-scented honey
of Hybla or Hymettus.
"But, however extensive are the bee-colonies of the villages, the
number of wild bees of the same species is far greater. The innumerable
fissures, and clefts of the limestone rocks, which everywhere flank
the valleys, afford in their recesses secure shelter for any number
of swarms; and many of the Bedouin, particularly in the wilderness
of Judæea, obtain: the subsistence by bee-hunting, bringing into
Jerusalem jars of that wild, honey on which John the Baptist fed in
the wilderness, and which Jonathan had long before unwittingly tasted,
when the comb had dropped on the ground from the hollow tree in which
it was suspended. The visitor to the Wady Kurn, when he sees the busy
multitudes of bees about its cliffs, cannot but recall to mind the
promise, 'With honey out of the stony rock would I have satisfied
thee.' There is no epithet of the Land of Promise more true to the
letter, even to the present day, than this, that it was 'a land flowing
with milk and honey."
Does not evidence such as this point to the conclusion that the bees
which Sampson found in the carcase of the lion were _Ligurian_; and may
we not further speculate that the ribs of the carcase constituted the
first _bar-hive?_ Surely, "there is no new thing under the sun."
[Illustration]
LIVING BEES AT THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1862, SENDING BEES TO
AUSTRALIA, &c.
The engraving represents our stand in the Agricultural Department of
the International Exhibition of 1862. The space granted us in the
World's Great Fair was somewhat limited; but we were able to exhibit
a tolerably complete stock of apiarian apparatus, and all the more
important bee-hives. Amongst these was an unicomb hive stocked with
the Yellow Alpine or "Ligurian" bee. This was an object of great
attention, and daily hundreds of visitors flocked round our stand, in
order to watch the movements of the Italian queen, with her gay and
busy subjects. The entrance-way for the bees being in the "Open Court,"
to which all visitors had access, it was necessary to place the hive in
an elevated position, so as for it to be beyond the reach of incautious
passers-by, and to obviate any chance of annoyance to the vast crowds
of people continually around.
Among others who took a deep interest in our exhibition was Mr. Edward
Wilson, President of the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria. This
gentleman requested us to pack four stocks of the Ligurian bees for
conveyance to Melbourne. With the assistance of Mr. Woodbury--whose
aid was, indeed, essential--these stocks were sent off on the 25th
of September, 1862, by the steam ship Alhambra, so as to arrive at
the colony during the Austral summer. The hives were Woodbury frame
hives, having ample space and ventilation, as well as the means of
supplying water to their inmates during the voyage; there was, also, a
sufficient store of honey to last until the following March. The bees
arrived at Melbourne, where they were released after an imprisonment of
seventy-nine days, and have since rapidly multiplied, the climate and
pasturage of Australia greatly favouring the increase of this superior
variety of the bee.
Mr. Wilson was so well pleased with the careful manner in which these
stocks were fitted out for their voyage across the seas, that he
subsequently instructed us to prepare him three more hives, which were
sent out in a sailing vessel. Owing to the mismanagement of the water
supply during the voyage, only one stock survived in this instance. Mr.
Wilson informs us that one of these hives contained 136 lbs. of honey,
on the 25th of December, 1864 (Midsummer in Australia).
Upwards of twenty years ago, we sent a Nutt's hive stocked with bees
to New Zealand. We then adopted the plan of fixing the hive in a meat
safe, so that the bees could fly about a little, and also cleanse
the hive of their dead, for bees are very attentive to sanitary
arrangements; they always remove the dead ones from their midst, and do
not void excrement within the hive.
When bees are shut up in their hives too long, even with adequate
ventilation, they are apt to be attacked by a disease called by
apiarians dysentery. Sometimes, when confined by the unfavourableness
of the weather in winter, or the lateness of spring, this disease
produces serious mischief amongst the bees. Various remedies have been
recommended; but we believe, the best is to see that there is wholesome
food within the hive, and plenty of it, and, when fine weather returns,
the health of the bees will return with it. Dampness of the hives,
and too late feeding in the autumn, are also frequent causes of this
disease.
BEE-KEEPING IN LONDON.
There are many persons now in this noisy city pent, who frequently
remember the days of childhood, when, among pastures of clover, or
amidst flowery heath and woodlands, they listened to the cheerful hum
of bees. Partly from a desire to revive these old associations, and
also from a natural liking for the tendance of living creatures, such
persons would be glad to keep bees if they thought it possible to do so
in London or its suburbs with any chance of success. We do not wonder
that many should doubt even the possibility of bees feeding themselves
amidst such an "endless meal of brick;" but we can easily prove that
bees, if not placed too near to smoky chimneys, are able to produce
honey, both for themselves and for their masters. To make this plain,
we will mention some special instances of metropolitan bee-keeping.
About ninety years ago, a Mr. Wildman kept a bee-house and honey
warehouse, near to Middle Row, Holborn. He was not only a tradesman,
but was also the apiarian of his day. He kept hives of thriving bees on
the roof of his house in Holborn, and many of the nobility and gentry
used to mount thither, in order to inspect the apiary. At that period,
St. Pancras was a "village two miles north-west of London," and what
is now the Regent's Park was open country. It was then much easier for
London bees to find their favourite forage, but Mr. Wildman believed
that his hives were filled with stores from a considerable distance.
Whilst enjoying his country rambles on Hampstead Heath, he had a shrewd
suspicion that many of the bees he there observed gathering honey were
labourers from his own apiary. In order to identify his own flock
amongst the rest, he hit upon a homely but very effective expedient.
Having borrowed Mrs. Wildman's "dredging box," he stationed himself
near the entrance of his hives, and gently dusted his bees with flour
as they issued forth. He then betook himself to Hampstead, where he
found his previous surmise confirmed, for there were numbers of his
bees in their livery of white.
Wildman became noted for the remarkable control he obtained over his
bees, many instances of which he exhibited before the public. Several
of his operations with them were regarded as feats of legerdemain by
the uninitiated, as when he appeared before King George III., with
a swarm of bees hanging in festoons from his chin, or suspended in
a cluster at arm's length. The _Journal of Horticulture_ recently,
in alluding to Wildman, gives the following particulars as to his
performances:--
"Near the 'Three Hats,' Islington, was a place of popular
entertainment called 'Dobney's Tea Gardens,' kept by Mrs. Ann
Dobney. These gardens occupied the ground between White Lion Street
and Winchester Place, and were established as far back as 1728. In
1771, the house was taken for a short time as a boarding school;
but it was soon changed to its original purpose as a place of
amusement, for, in 1772, Daniel Wildman exhibited bees here. This
is a copy of the advertisement:--
"'June 20, 1772. Exhibition of bees on horseback! at the Jubilee
Gardens, Islington (late Dobney's), this and every evening, until
further notice (wet evenings excepted).
"'The celebrated Daniel Wildman will exhibit several new and
amazing experiments, never attempted by any man in this or any
other kingdom before. The rider standing upright, one foot on
the saddle and one on the neck, with a mask of bees on his head
and face. He also rides standing upright on the saddle with the
bridle in his mouth, and, by firing a pistol, makes one part of
the bees march over the table, and the other swarm in the air and
return to their hive again, with other performances too tedious to
insert. The doors open at six; to begin at a quarter before seven.
Admittance:--Box and gallery, 2_s._; the other seats, 1_s._'"
The secret of Wildman's skilful manipulation is well understood now; it
consisted in a careful holding and disposal of the queen, together with
confidence in the generally inoffensive disposition of bees. Dr. Evans,
whom we have often quoted for his correct information in apiarian
matters, thus speaks of his feats:--
"Such was the spell which, round a Wildman's arm,
Twined in dark wreaths the fascinated swarm;
Bright o'er his breast the glittering legions led,
Or with a living garland bound his head.
His dextrous hand, with firm, yet hurtless hold,
Could seize the chief, known by her scales of gold,
Prune, 'mid the wondering train, her filmy wing,
Or o'er her folds the silken fetter fling."
To recur to our subject. After the days of Wildman, our own
establishment in Holborn became widely known for bee-hives and honey.
Although we never attempted to start a London apiary at all approaching
in extent that of our predecessor, we have occasionally kept bees on
the house-top, both in Holborn and Regent Street. At each of those
situations, we have noticed that the bees bring "pollen" as well as
honey into their hives. Last summer, there was brought under our
notice an illustration of the acuteness of the scent of bees and of
their diligent search for food, proving, too, that if sweets can be
obtained even from unusual sources, the bees will find them out. A poor
woman, who, at the comer of an adjacent street, vends "brandy balls,"
"toffee," "rock," and other saccharine compounds--all well known to and
appreciated by most juveniles,--used to receive frequent visits from
our bees. Their visits to the old dame's domain were at first rather
interesting, and if the few pioneers who had the sagacity to find such
a store had kept the secret only to themselves, their company would
not have been objected to. Such selfish policy does not, however,
accord with the social instinct of bees, and these soon informed their
companions of the good fortune provided for them in an archipelago
of sugar islands. Day by day the swarms of these uninvited visitors
increased, until all legitimate customers were beaten off; and the old
dame had to see, not only her hope of gain destroyed, but her stock of
"goodies" sensibly diminishing by the thefts of these brigands of the
air. She could not, or dare not attempt to, drive the intruders away,
so made diligent inquiry as to where the robbers were harboured. Having
traced them to our establishment in Regent Street, she came to implore
of us to move the bees if possible, or she would have to move her
stall, and so lose her "connection" in the "toffee" and "rock" trade.
Wishing not to hinder the poor woman in gaining her livelihood, we
decided on removing our bees into the country.
It is difficult to assign an exact limit to the distance that bees
will go in search of honey-yielding blossoms. It has been proved by
various experiments that they will fly, say, five or six miles, if the
supplies are scanty within a shorter radius; but bees well understand
that first of all economies, the saving of time, and if they can find
forage near at hand, they prefer it. Hence, other things being equal,
the quantity of honey stored will be in proportion to the contiguity of
good pasturage. In this way it is that the systematic removal of hives,
as practised in many districts, has such a notable effect on the honey
harvest.
A novel sight for Londoners to witness occurred in June, 1865. A
swarm, having been ordered to be sent into the country the following
morning, was temporarily placed on the leads at the back of our house,
149, Regent Street. The sun shining hot on the hive, or some other
cause, induced the inmates to decamp. A passer-by called in to inform
us that some bees had arrested the progress of a cab. We at once
conjectured that they were those of our missing swarm, the absence
of which had previously puzzled us not a little; so we sent our man
with a straw-hive to bring the truants back, which he succeeded in
doing, followed to the door by a crowd, who were amazed at the sight
of the "'oney-bees," as the Cockney lads called them. Cabby had to be
compensated for the loss of his fare, for the affrighted passengers
had left him in a hurry, so that, altogether, no little commotion
was caused--a crowd so soon collects in London streets. Among the
lookers-on appears to have been a reporter from the _Times_ newspaper,
for, two days afterwards, the following paragraph appeared in the
leading journal:--
"A Swarm of Bees in Burlington Street.--On Wednesday afternoon,
about five o'clock, not a little excitement and astonishment was
caused in New Burlington Street, Regent Street, by the circumstance
of a swarm of bees alighting on a cab which had just drawn up at
the Burlington Restaurant. A man having procured a hive, set to
work, and, with assistance, succeeded in securing the whole of
the unexpected visitors, and took them away. A swarm of bees is
rarely, if ever, seen in the streets of London, but it is not an
uncommon occurrence for a swarm to stray considerable distances."
The reporter was, of course, unaware that, instead of the bees having
"strayed" so far as he represented, they were brought into London by
rail, and had made but a short flight from their temporary home.
During several years we kept bees in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's
Park, and have there frequently taken full and handsome glasses of
honey. The position of our apiary was on the site now occupied by the
new monkey house. The Society promise to erect a new building for
an apiary in the course of the ensuing summer. The visitors to the
gardens found considerable, interest in watching the bees in our glass
hives, and are now much disappointed at the absence of so entertaining
an exhibition. A collection of these hives are now exhibited by the
Acclimatisation Society of Great Britain, with living bees in them,
at the Fish Department of the Royal Horticultural Gardens, South
Kensington.
A gentleman residing in St. James's Place has, for some considerable
time past, kept bees in his garden, there. He uses our improved
cottage-hives, and his, bee-keeping is decidedly successful, as he
generally takes, some fine glasses, of honey each season, besides,
leaving sufficient as winter store for the bees. For a London
situation, St. James's Place is a very favourable one; the gardens
behind the houses pleasantly face the Green Park, so that the bees have
an uninterrupted flight to start with. They are also within easy range
of the richly-flowered gardens of Buckingham Palace and those of the
nobility and gentry who reside around the Parks. To those, gardens,
the bees of St. James's Place resort, without waiting for any licence
or certificate from the royal and noble owners of the honey-yielding
preserves. Being within a short distance of our establishment, when
this gentleman's bees swarm, he generally sends to us for assistance in
hiving them.
The neighbourhood of St. John's Wood and, indeed, almost all the
suburbs of London are favourable for the production of honey. We
mention St. John's Wood because, from the fact of having kept bees
there ourselves, we are able to prove by experience that they do well
in that locality. We have several customers on nearly all sides of the
town, who have each had this year a considerable surplus of honey in
their "supers," after leaving sufficient for the: bees themselves, in
the lower or stock hives.
We exhibited in our window, in the autumn of 1864, a super of fine
honey from the apiary of Mr. Shirley Hibberd, the proprietor and editor
of the _Gardeners' Weekly Magazine_. It consisted of a box containing
20 lbs. nett weight of honey, and was produced at Stoke Newington, only
3¼ miles from the General Post Office.
The _Times'_ "Bee-Master," whose letters from Tunbridge Wells have
awakened so much interest in this pleasing pursuit, also commissioned
us to exhibit a "super," produced under his own management in that
locality. Mr. S. B. Fox, at Exeter, had, upwards, of 400 lbs; of honey,
of excellent quality, though one of his apiaries is quite within the
city.
The last has been an excellent honey-yielding season; our own bees, at
Dorking, Surrey, have produced us large quantities, and the accounts
from nearly all parts of the country coincide in stating that the bees
have, in the years 1864 and 1865; enjoyed unusual opportunities for
accumulation. In not a few localities, the season of 1863 was even more
abundant.
WASPS AND MOTHS.
Bees, have few enemies more formidable, than wasps. The most effectual
method of checking their invasion of hives is to have, as narrow an
entrance, as the bees can do with. If a stock be not, very weak in
numbers, the bees will be well able to guard a small aperture, and can
repel the attacks of those insidious, and merciless robbers. On this
account, the entrance to our cottager-hive, as described at page 74,
may be used.
The bee-keeper is interested in preventing the increase of wasps; it
is, therefore, a good practice for him to set a price on queen-wasps in
the spring the death of one of them at that time being equivalent to
the destruction of a whole nest.
Should nests be found in the neighbourhood of an apiary, their
annihilation must be accomplished, either by blowing them up with
gunpowder, an operation well understood by most country, lads, or any,
other effectual method. The late Mr. Payne recommended, that a small
quantity of gas tar should be put into the mouth of a wasps' nest, and
if then covered with earth, the total destruction of the wasps will
be accomplished without further trouble. But to use blazing straw for
the purpose is always dangerous in country districts. We have lately
heard of a very ingenious and successful mode of entrapping and killing
wasps. Place some sugar or strongly-sweetened compound on the ground
in a garden, and place over it a square hand-glass, wedged up an inch
or so all round. On this glass, which should have an opening at the
apex, lodge another, but a sound one. The wasps, attracted, by the
sweets, will soon crowd under the lower glass, and, when they have well
feasted, will ascend into the upper one; there, between the two, they
soon become scorched and perish by the heat of the sun shining on the
outer glass.