Having decided on the furniture of the garden and the flowers it should
grow, and the best kind of neighbourhood for pasture, we must now discuss
(and it is done from very considerable experience) the structure and
aspect of the bee-house under shelter of which your hives are to stand.
Taylor remarks:--
"The common wooden bee-houses, as usually constructed, open in
front, and closed altogether behind, retaining the sun's heat as an
oven, are objectionable. These are frequently the receptacles of
dirt and vermin, and most inconvenient to operate in. It would be an
improvement to make them deeper backwards; or with a falling front,
moving on hinges, so that the hives can be recessed behind it, away
from the influence of weather. At the back should be folding doors,
opening from top to bottom, allowing a good access to the hives. For
greater convenience, it is best to have them only in a single row,
with good head room. But a still more desirable plan is to board up
the front of the house entirely, making oblong openings through for
a passage to the bees, with an exterior alighting-board, a good deal
slanted downwards (the bees preferring this to a flat surface). The
hives are arranged immediately behind, upon a shelf, the further apart
the better, as the bees occasionally mistake their own homes, and fall
a sacrifice in consequence."
The following is a sketch of the shed proposed by Dr. Bevan. It is
extremely picturesque. My only objection to it is his use of thatch, which
shelters vermin--the pests it is hard to keep away in the most favourable
circumstances. Dr. Bevan's shed or bee-house is seven feet square in the
clear, with three hives on the upper shelves and three on the under.
[Illustration]
A very picturesque and efficient bee-shed is presented by Dr. Lardner,
about twelve feet long and about nine feet high.
[Illustration]
My objection to this bee-house is, that the hives are exposed too much to
wind and weather; if of straw, they will soon rot--if of wood, wet and
sunshine will rend and split them. Besides, tier above tier is not good,
and it need not be adopted.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The shed I prefer is as follows:--Let it be twelve feet six inches in
length, six feet in height, and two feet six inches in depth. Let it be
made of good, strong, smooth deal. Divide it into six equal compartments,
divided off from each other. Let the roof be also of smooth deal, covered
first with Croggon's patent felt; and laid over the felt, and nailed down,
let there be zinc plates, projecting six or eight inches in front. Let an
opening three inches wide extend along the front from end to end, with a
continuous landing-board projecting beneath it, and sloping down at an
angle of twenty-five degrees. The floor should be about a foot or eighteen
inches above the level of the ground, and perfectly smooth. Behind let
there be three doors, with hinges attached to the floor, falling back when
open, and thereby forming a pleasant platform, when laid down and resting
on the ground, for the bee-master to watch and study, and deprive, and
otherwise fulfil his mission. When closed, there must be a good padlock,
as bee-hive lifters are still too common in every part of the country. In
very hot weather, open the doors behind, but only in very hot weather. I
have found from experience that the smoother the surfaces of the bee-shed
inside, the less they are liable to the operations of the spider, one of
the greatest pests of bee-houses. I have unfortunately, and too often,
seen a dozen bees entangled of a fine May morning in a spider's web, and
most of them excavated in the cleanest manner. Wasps and spiders I have no
mercy on; they are thieves and murderers and beasts of prey, as well as
vermin. To the former, extermination by brimstone is a just recompense,
and to the latter the application of a hard dry brush is a daily duty.
I prefer three of these bee-sheds, located in different parts of my
garden, to one very large shed with under and upper tiers of hives: this
makes less likelihood of confusion in swarming. I do not like the sheds to
be placed under large trees, the drippings of which tend to create damp.
Shrubs, raspberry-plants, and even gooseberry-bushes, not nearer than ten
or twelve feet, form nice resting-places to the heavy-laden bees. Under
and immediately around the hive should be closely-mowed grass. The front
of the hive is best due south, and, if convenient, with an inclination to
the east. From the east and west a rising ground, or shrubs tolerably
high, are a desirable protection; they break the force of the gales. Do
not place your bee-shed at a great distance from the house: bees are
civilised and domestic, and delight to see children at play while they are
at their work; kept out of society, they grow savage. Having selected the
position, do not change it, unless imperatively and unavoidably necessary.
Gelieu justly observes:--
"I have seen people shift about their hives very inconsiderately;
but change of place invariably weakens them, as the bees will return
to their old residence, the environs of which are so familiar to
them. A hive should remain as fixed to the spot as the ancient oaks,
in the hollows of which they delight to establish themselves; where
they have their young, their companions, their beloved queen, and
all their treasures. When the young bees take wing for the first
time, they do it with great precaution, turning round and round, and
fluttering about the entrance, to examine the hive well before taking
flight. They do the same in returning, so that they may be easily
distinguished, conducting themselves nearly after the same manner
as the workers of a newly-hived swarm. When they have made a few
excursions, they set off without examining the locality; and returning
in full flight, will know their own hive in the midst of a hundred
others. But if you change its place you perplex them, much the same as
you would be if, during a short absence, some one lifted your house
and placed it a mile off. The poor bees return loaded, and, seeking in
vain for their habitation, either fall down and perish with fatigue,
or throw themselves into the neighbouring hives, where they are
speedily put to death. When hives are transported to a considerable
distance, there is no fear that the bees will return. But this
inconvenience would be sure to take place if they were removed only a
few hundred paces from the spot they have been accustomed to. The hive
may not perish, but it will be greatly weakened. In my opinion, if the
situation is to be changed at all, they should be taken at least a
mile and a half."
Richardson, who has offered many sensible suggestions on bee-culture,
makes some very sensible remarks on this. But I do not agree with him
in one of his opinions--that a south-westerly aspect is best, or that
a south-eastern aspect is likely to be prejudicial, from its tempting
the bees to go out in too cold spring mornings. The early sun in early
spring is not excessively seductive. Besides, bees are very good judges
of temperature, as they are infallible prophets of weather, and may be
safely left in this matter to the exercise of their own good sense. It is
also worthy of notice, that the main work of bees is over by four o'clock
in the afternoon, and the setting sun is therefore less important. They
are early risers, and go early to bed. But his remaining observations on
bee-sheds are thoroughly good:--
"Some recommend high trees for the purpose of keeping the air calm,
lest the bees should be blown down when returning home. High trees
are not advisable; they form an evil themselves of greater magnitude
than that which they may be designed to remove. Bees are seldom blown
to the ground by mere wind; but even when they are, they can, in a
great majority of cases, recover themselves. Whereas, if blown amongst
trees, they will be sure to be whipped so violently by the branches,
that they are absolutely hurled to the ground with such force as to
render their recovery hopeless. The bees also fly low on their return,
when they arrive at the immediate neighbourhood of their stand, and,
consequently, high trees would be not only useless, but absolutely
inconvenient. Whatever trees you wish, therefore, to plant in the
immediate vicinity of the hive should be of low size, planted at the
sides of the hive, so as to leave the entrance quite free. Wildman
recommends them, and, I think, very judiciously, to be 'of the dwarf
kind, with bushy heads, in order that the swarms which settle on them
may be more easily hived.' Now, although by judicious management
swarming will generally be prevented from taking place, yet, despite
of our utmost care, it may accidentally occur; or the bees may quit
their boxes in a body, from various causes--some of which I shall
endeavour hereafter to explain--and, under such circumstances, Mr.
Wildman's suggestions will be found valuable. The garden, therefore,
in which you fix your stands should be thus planted; and I further,
for the same reasons, recommend wall fruit trees and espaliers.
"Avoid a site near mills or other noisy places, or the neighbourhood
of bad smells, as factories and the like; and if, as occasionally may
happen, your stand be placed against your garden wall, behind which
is the farm-yard, let not a dunghill be built against the opposite
side. I have witnessed this before now, and in one instance found the
consequence to be a desertion of the boxes. Do not place your stand
where you see rat or mouse holes, and let your shed be all of wood,
never thatched with straw, as that substance harbours mice, moths, and
other similar enemies to your stock.
"Water is essential to the well-being of your bees; it must, however,
be presented to them judiciously, or it will prove a greater evil than
a good. If you can coax a shallow rippling brook through your garden,
so much the better; if not, place near the stand small, shallow,
earthen pans of water, and put some pebbles in them. This water must
be changed daily. It is highly objectionable to have a pond or canal
in your neighbourhood: you will lose thousands of your bees through
their means every season, as they will be constantly blown into them
when returning heavily laden to the hive, especially in the evening,
when wearied after the toil of an industriously spent day. The pebbles
in the troughs are for the bees to rest on while drinking, and are the
recommendation of Columella. I have seen tin plates perforated with
holes, and placed over the pans just on the surface of the water, used
for drinking-vessels for bees; I, however, prefer the pebbles."
I have found it a very good plan to place two or three soup-plates
filled with pure water mixed largely with round pebbles in front of
the bee-house; they thus find water to drink and stepping-stones for
their tiny feet, which keep their wings out of water. In long-continued
dry and hot summers, I have also been in the habit of using a common
garden-squirt, with the end perforated by a dozen pin-holes. The water
thus showered on the bee-house at noon cools it, and does not strike down
the bees, and seems most acceptable to them all.
The shed should be kept scrupulously clean and dry. Earwigs, snails, and
spiders will all try hard to establish their quarters under the warmth of
the hives, and must be repelled. Nothing but the bee-master's frequent but
quiet and undemonstrative use of a good hard painter's brush, perfectly
dry, will keep these pests at a distance. I am no advocate of killing a
single living thing, but if these unproductive creatures will prey on the
most productive of insects, and kill and steal, there is no help for it.
The bee-master must keep his bee-sheds particularly clean; and as spiders
and earwigs love dust and dirt, and are inseparable from it, they must go
with it. At all events, I cannot give them hospitality in my bee-house.
For people to whom expense is no object, the bee-houses of Messrs.
Neighbour are perfect--as ornamental as they are efficient.