BEE-FEEDING.
Neglected generally, as is the management of Bees by their
cottage possessors, there is no part of it less attended to, nor more
slovenly performed, when performed at all, than that of feeding. The
cottager commonly takes up, as he terms it, his best hives for the sake
of the treasures they contain, or are supposed to contain. This is
destroying Bees because they are rich! He also takes up the lightest and
poorest--of course the late swarms--and those that are the least likely
to live through the winter; because if he get from one of these but two
or three pounds of honey, though he seldom gets so much, and a few ounces
of wax, he thinks that that is all clear gain: and, if he get neither
honey nor wax, he, at any rate, gets rid of the _expense_ and _trouble_
of feeding _his good-for-nothing swarms_, which, in his opinion, however
fed, would never come to any good. A pennyworth of brimstone will do
the job at once, and is more easily paid for than a pound of sugar, and
after that another, and perhaps another. Such is the reasoning, and
calculation, and cruel practice of the generality of cottage Bee-keepers!
Such is the destruction annually dealt out to hundreds of poor swarms,
and thousands and millions of _poor_ Bees!! I do from my heart pity
and deplore the untimely fate of these suffocated, innocent, valuable
insects. To destroy Bees because they are rich is a _barbarous_ practice,
and ought by all means to be discountenanced and discontinued;--to
destroy Bees because they are poor and may need support, is cruel---is
inhuman--is shocking, however little may be thought of it by those who
still adhere to this practice. Even with the common straw-hives, this
terrible havoc among poor stocks and late swarms might be prevented,
if they, who happen to have them, would so far improve themselves in
the practical management of an apiary, as to be able to fumigate, and
to take such Bees out of the hives containing them, and to join them
to their richer stock-hives, in the latter end of August, or any time
in September. This is by far the best plan that can be adopted with
poor hives; and there really is no difficulty in the operation. This
strengthens the population of rich stocks, and causes them to swarm
early in the ensuing spring, _it preserves the Bees_, which is of
itself, independently of the advantages accruing from it afterwards, a
consideration that never should be lost sight of,--it leaves the contents
of the fumigated hive, as absolutely in the possession of the Bee-owner,
as if the Bees had been suffocated and destroyed,--and in most cases it
entirely does away with the necessity of feeding. I confess I should
rejoice greatly, and flatter myself that every friend of humanity would
rejoice with me, to see this mode of disposing of weak hives universally
adopted; because, it may be presumed, that the next step in the way of
improvement would be to take away the superabundant treasure of the Bees
and _still preserve them_.
Notwithstanding, under certain circumstances it will always be necessary,
and judicious in Bee-masters, to have recourse to _feeding_. If, for
instance, after an early swarm is put into a hive, or into a box, two or
three or more cold, ungenial days should follow, and more particularly if
those days should happen to be rainy also, by feeding such a swarm you
will assist your impoverished labourers, not only with _necessary food_,
but with materials and treasure, which, unfortunately for them, they
cannot at such an unfavourable juncture get abroad to collect elsewhere.
Different apiarians have adopted and recommended different ways of
feeding Bees, none of which, in my opinion, possess any great merit; in
order, therefore, to improve this part of Bee-management, my endeavours
have been directed to the contrivance and construction of a feeding
department; which is attached to my collateral-hives in so convenient a
manner, that I can feed my Bees, at any time when feeding is required--in
spring, in autumn, or in winter, without disturbing the position of the
hive, and without changing its interior temperature; which temperature
cannot be kept equable and comfortable, where a hive is frequently lifted
up from its stand, and its interior is suddenly exposed to the action of
perhaps an extremely cold atmosphere. Besides, a hive cannot be lifted up
without breaking the propolis by which it has been cemented all round
and made fast to its stool. In sharp, cold weather, disruption of the
hive from its stool is a serious mischief done to the Bees; because,
however carefully it maybe set down again, there will have been made many
vents and crevices between the edge of the hive and the stool, which
will occasion various currents of air, cold, frosty, or other--proper or
improper--to be continually passing through the lower part of the hive.
And should Bees be tempted by food, or urged by hunger, to descend into
these currents in sharp, frosty weather, but few of them will get away
alive; the keen air acting upon them whilst feeding, paralyzes and kills
them. I am an advocate for keeping Bees cool in winter--yes, _cool and
still also:_ let them not be disturbed nor disunited,--let them not be
forced nor tempted to (if I may so say) uncluster themselves. I have no
objection to a current of air passing through the lower part of a hive
in winter, _provided the Bees be not disturbed--be not exposed singly to
its nipping influence;_ but I strongly object to the feeding of Bees in
such currents, because, in that case, feeding is prejudicial to them.
The cottager seldom protects his hives in winter with any other covering
than that which a pot, called a pancheon, whelmed over each hive, forms;
capped with this unsightly piece of earthenware, his hives are exposed
to all weathers; consequently the less he disturbs them the better. He
therefore should give his weak stocks _a copious feeding_, in September
at the latest,--not molest them during the severity of winter,--but in
the spring, as soon as the Bees begin to make their appearance at the
mouth of his hives, introduce his wooden trough furnished with a _little_
Bee-sirup, and then close up the entrance,--withdraw the trough in the
morning, and return it replenished every evening, as long as feeding is
necessary. Tearing off a hive at Christmas, and scattering a few ounces
of brown sugar upon the stand, and then setting down the hive again,
deserves not the name of feeding; though it is all the bounty that is
bestowed on some stocks; and is even more than others are treated with.
It need not then be wondered at that so many stocks of Bees perish in the
winter, and in the spring of every year. _By judicious feeding, at proper
seasons, almost any stock of Bees may be preserved: by injudicious
feeding_, at an improper season, even good stocks--stocks that would
survive, if not fed at all, nor molested, during the depth and severity
of winter, may be seriously injured--may be totally destroyed. The
peasant Bee-keeper, however, does not often subject himself to the charge
_complimental_ of being accessary to the death of his Bees _through
mistaken kindness_.
The sum and substance of my directions, as respects Bee-feeding, are
these:--
1. In spring feed _sparingly_.
2. In autumn feed _plentifully_.
3. In winter _do not feed at all_.
4. Feed swarms, if unseasonable weather immediately follow the act of
swarming.
5. Preserve the Bees of weak stocks, and prevent a great deal of the
necessity for feeding, by adding them to those that are rich and able
to support them. This last is the best and cheapest, nay--it is even a
_profitable_ method of feeding Bees.
Early swarming, where swarming is necessary as in the straw-hive
colonies, is of great advantage to the watchful apiarian, but not to the
inattentive and slothful manager. I have seen in a cottager's garden a
swarm of Bees on the 10th of May, which was considerably weaker in the
month of August, than was a swarm on the 10th of July, and that solely on
account of not being fed and properly attended to.
If early swarms are judiciously fed, and supported by a natural heat
within, they will be greatly benefitted thereby, and eventually prosper.
But, notwithstanding what has been already said, the cottager may
probably ask--"how can I feed my Bees without lifting up their hive?" I
again and again request him to examine my collateral box-hive; and he
will perceive that he may easily feed the Bees in his cottage-hive in
the same easy manner, if he have but ingenuity enough to attach a proper
feeder to the stool or floor of his hive.
Mr. Huish advises apiarians to make choice of a fine and warm day in
which to feed Bees, he says, the danger to be apprehended from the
change of the temperature in the hive will thereby be obviated. This, I
grant, is rational and humane, and in some degree a confirmation of my
already expressed opinion, respecting the mischiefs resulting from the
inconsiderate practice of exposing the interior of a hive to sudden
and extreme alternations of temperature. But it matters not what sort
of weather it may be, if my mode of feeding be adopted. I feed my Bees
in their native temperature, without disturbing them or exposing their
food to the temptation of robbers, which feeding in the ordinary way so
frequently encourages, during the spring and autumnal seasons; and it is
at these times that Bees stand in most need of assistance.
In the year 1828, I purchased a cottage-hive of a neighbour, it was
a large hive, and well-stocked with Bees, but extremely light; I was
fearful for the safety of its inmates, and, therefore, placed it over one
of my feeders; in order to give them support by feeding, I placed the
sirup intended for their food beneath the hive; but to my great surprise
the Bees refused to take the proffered bounty. I persevered in my
endeavours to induce them to feed for four days, but they would not touch
the well-intended boon: I therefore resolved to ascertain the cause of
their refusal, and on turning up the hive I discovered that thousands of
the Bees were in a dying state, I had the curiosity to take the whole of
them out singly. After several hours' particular attention and patient
search, I found the Queen was dead. I then united the weak, enfeebled
Bees to a rich stock, and they nearly all recovered their strength.
Their numbers greatly assisted in the labour of the hive to which they
were joined. Certain it is, that if any accident befal their Queen in
winter, it is total _ruin_ to that stock of Bees: where such a death is
discovered, feeding will avail nothing, the Bees dwindle away and perish.
Mr. Huish says--and he is perfectly correct in saying--that there are
some persons who defer the feeding of their Bees until the moment they
suppose that they may be in actual want. This is a most reprehensible
plan; for should feeding be too long delayed, the Bees will become so
weak and debilitated, that they will be unable to convey the food into
their cells: the food ought to be administered to poor stocks, three
weeks or a month before they may be supposed to be in actual want;
it will then be conveyed with the greatest despatch into the cells,
and the hive will be saved from a death of famine. He then goes on to
observe--that some apiarians conceive that the feeding of Bees in the
spring renders them lazy and inactive. On what this opinion is grounded
he is at a loss to conjecture, as must be every practical apiarian;
for it is in direct contradiction, not only to Mr. Huish's experience,
but also to that of many other apiarians. A little food granted to
a populous, and even well-provisioned box or hive in the spring, is
attended with very beneficial consequences. It diffuses animation and
vigour throughout the whole community;--it accelerates the breeding
of the Queen--and consequently conduces to the production of early
swarms, where room is not previously given in order to prevent swarming
altogether.
BEE-FOOD.
Artificial food proper for Bees may be made by mixing _coarse_, raw
sugar, and good, sound ale, in the following proportions:--
To a quart of ale add a pound and a half of sugar, gently boil them, in
a sweet, well-tinned saucepan, over a fire clear from smoke, for five or
six minutes, or until the sugar be dissolved and thoroughly incorporated
with the ale; and, during the process of boiling, skim off the dross
that rises to the surface. Some persons boil these ingredients much
longer, and until they become, when cool, a thick, clammy sirup; this
not only diminishes the quantity of the mixture, but renders it rather
disadvantageous, to weak Bees in particular, by clogging and plaguing
them, if, as they are almost sure to do, they get their legs or wings
daubed with it. I prefer sirup in a more liquid state.
For spring feeding, I advise--that not more than a pound of sugar be put
to a quart of ale, or sweet wort, if it can be obtained, and that a small
quantity of common salt be added. By a _small quantity_ I mean--a drachm
or two at the most to a quart of the sirup. Salt, it has been said, is
conducive to the health of Bees, and the most efficacious remedy for the
dysentery, which sometimes affects Bees in the spring; therefore, it may
not be amiss to put a little salt into their food, by way of preventive,
rather than to have recourse to it afterwards as a remedy.
Speaking of the substances which are proper for the feeding of Bees,
Mr. Huish says[I]--"he is perfectly convinced that honey alone is very
injurious to Bees, as it in general gives them the dysentery." Whether
by this _extraordinary passage_ Mr. Huish has, or has not, subjected
himself to the lash of his own ridicule, it would be hypercritical and
unbecoming in me to determine. As an apiarian I respect him; in no other
character am I acquainted with him. His work on the management of Bees
I have read, and have derived information and occasionally assistance
from some of its pages. There are in it, nevertheless, several untenable
positions, of which I consider the above-quoted passage to be one: and,
if what he has remarked somewhat sarcastically, in a note at the foot of
page 31, be read in conjunction with this passage, it will be for the
candid reader, apiarian, or other, to decide whether Mr. Huish in propriâ
personâ does not, oddly enough, exemplify his own remark. It is there
said--that "there is no wonder in nature which an apiarian has not seen."
Professedly an apiarian himself, he must have seen some, at least, of
_the wonders in nature_, otherwise he never could have been "_perfectly
convinced_"--that honey--"_honey alone_"--the very substance which Bees,
guided by the instinct of their nature, collect with so much industry,
and store up with so much care, for their subsistence, should be "very
injurious to them, and in general give them the dysentery." From this
it seems that the substance, which is the natural food for one stock of
Bees, is physic for another, if not poison!! I cannot but express my
astonishment that a gentleman, so acute and experienced as Mr. Huish
undoubtedly is, should have asserted in the most unqualified manner--that
"honey alone is very injurious to Bees." Were this the fact, rich stocks,
and all stocks that subsist upon "honey alone" during winter, would "in
general" be affected with dysentery in the spring, which certainly is
not the case. "In general" rich stocks are healthy and strong in the
spring. Poverty is the predisposing cause of dysentery among Bees: a
regular supply of their natural--their peculiar food, does not induce
dysentery or disease of any sort. Had Mr. Huish analyzed the honey given
to Bees as food, and which induced dysentery, he would, I suspect, have
discovered that it was not "honey alone," but--_medicated honey_--_honey
and brimstone_, or honey strongly tinctured either with brimstone or
tobacco. That honey, tinctured with the pernicious qualities of those
substances, should have a laxative effect upon impoverished, debilitated
Bees, is no more than might be expected: but then it is not the honey
that has the "injurious" effect, but the essence of the brimstone or of
the tobacco that is administered along with it. What effect honey, that
has not been stoved and saturated with brimstone or with tobacco, may
have upon _weak_ Bees, when given to them for _spring food_, I pretend
not to determine, because I have never tried the experiment. But I do
say that before the arrival of spring, honey, that has been drained or
expressed from the comb, undergoes fermentation, and that fermentation
may, for aught I know, impart to it physical properties, which in its
pure, liquid, unchanged state, in the warm hive, it does not possess. I
am not chemist enough to venture to assert that it is so, but I think
it highly probable that fermentation may alter the properties of honey,
and perhaps may render it unwholesome to Bees. But fresh, unfermented
honey, even that in the blackest and oldest combs--the very refuse, and
all such as the cottage-housewife makes into common mead, if spread upon
large dishes and placed in an apiary, will be banqueted upon by the Bees
in the most eager manner, and is apparently much enjoyed by them. They
soon carry into their hives what they do not consume on the spot, and
suffer no inconvenience whatever from the treat. I have feasted my Bees
in this way scores of times, and esteem it the very best mode of autumnal
feeding, and the most profitable way of disposing of broken combs and
refuse honey. "Honey alone" is the natural food of Bees, and if given
to them pure and untainted, in its primitive, limpid state, so far from
being injurious, it is highly beneficial to them; of this I have not the
shadow of a doubt. For autumnal feeding, I prefer honey to all other
substances, and recommend it as the most proper food that can be given to
them.
[Footnote I: Huish on Bees, page 272.]