Transcriber Note

Text emphasis denoted by _Italics_ and =Bold=.




                              THE APIARY

                                  OR,

                            BEES, BEE-HIVES

                                  AND

                             BEE CULTURE.




                              THE APIARY;

                                  OR,

                           BEES, BEE-HIVES,

                                  AND

                             BEE CULTURE:



     BEING A FAMILIAR ACCOUNT OF THE HABITS OF BEES, AND THE MOST
         IMPROVED METHODS OF MANAGEMENT, WITH FULL DIRECTIONS,
                 ADAPTED FOR THE COTTAGER, FARMER, OR,
                         SCIENTIFIC APIARIAN.



                         By ALFRED NEIGHBOUR.



        "Je connais beaucoup des personnes qu' aiment les abeilles,
        mais ne personnes aiment les mediocrement, ils les
        passionment."--Gelieu.



                                LONDON:

                     KENT AND CO., PATERNOSTER ROW

                       GEO: NEIGHBOUR AND SONS,

              149. REGENT STREET, AND 127, HIGH HOLBORN;

                         AND ALL, BOOKSELLERS.

                                 1865.




TABLE OF CONTENTS.

[Illustration]


  Preface--Introductory                               1


SECTION I.

  The inhabitants of the hive                         2
  The queen                                           2
  The drone                                           6
  The worker bee                                      8
  Eggs of bees                                        8
  Increase of bees                                    9
  Swarming                                           11

SECTION II.--Modern Bee-Hives.

  Nutt's Collateral Hive                             17
  Neighbour's Improved Single Box Hive               24
  Taylor's Amateur Shallow Box or Eight-bar Hive     26
  Taylor's Amateur Seven-bar Hive                    27
  Neighbour's Improved Cottage                       28
  Improved Cottage                                   31
  Ladies' Observatory or Crystal Bee-hive            32
  Cottagers' Hive for taking honey in straw
    caps without the destruction of the bees         34
  Woodbury Bar and Frame Hives:--
    Wood                                             36
    Straw                                            37
    Glass                                            38
    Frame                                            39
    Improved Comb Bar                                39
    Compound Bar and Frame                           40
    Cover                                            41
  Taylor's Improved Cottage Hive                     43
     "     Eight Bar Straw                           43
  Neighbour's Unicomb Observatory Hive               44
  Woodbury       "         "        "                46
  Huber's Hive                                       50


SECTION III.--Exterior Arrangements and Apparatus.


  Bee House to contain two hives                     53
      "        "       twelve hives                  55
      "        "       nine hives                    56
  Evening thoughts in January                        56
  Exterior and interior of an Apiary                 58
  Zinc Cover                                         59
  Ornamental Zinc Cover                              59
  Cover of Zinc                                      60
  Bell Glasses                                       60
  Taylor's Glass                                     60
  Payne's Glass                                      61
  Bell Glass with lid                                61
  Guide Comb for Glasses                             61
  The New Bottle Feeder                              63
  Round Bee Feeder                                   65
  Zinc Fountain Bee Feeder                           65
  Nutt's Drawer Feeder                               66
  Honey Cutters (13)                                 66
  Fumigator (11)                                     66
  Fumigator (12)                                     68
  Bee Dress or Protector                             68
  Engraved Pressing Roller, for the guidance
    of bees in the construction of honey-comb
    on the bars                                      69
  Impressed Wax Sheets for artificial comb           70


SECTION IV.

  Manipulation and uses of Bar and Frame Hives       73
  Putting on Super Hive                              75
  Taking out Frames with Combs                       76
  Artificial Swarming                                79
  Driving                                            84
  Changing Old Stock to new Hives                    86
  Weighing Hives, &c.                                88


SECTION V.--Miscellaneous Information.

  Stings: their Prevention and Cure                  88
  Pollen or Food for Infant Bees                     91
  Propolis or Bees' Cement                           92
  Pasturage for Bees                                 93
  The Ligurian or Italian Alp Bee                    95
  Living Bees at the International Exhibition of
    1862, sending Bees to Australia, &c.            100
  Bee-keeping in London                             102
  Wasps and Moths                                   106
  Draining Honey from the Combs                     110
  General Remarks                                   110
  On the First Flight of Bees in Spring             116


APPENDIX.--Testimonials of the Press.

  Great Exhibition of 1801:--
    From the "Cottage Gardener"                     119
      "      "Illustrated London News"              119
      "      "Express"                              121
  International Exhibition of 1802:--
    From the "Illustrated London News"              121
      "      "Journal of Horticulture"              121
      "      "Illustrated News of the World"        122
      "      "Gardener's Weekly Magazine"           123
  Bath and West of England Agricultural Show at
    Exeter in June, 1863:--
    From the "Journal of Horticulture"              124
      "      "Western Times"                        124
      "      "Devon Weekly Times"                   126
      "      "Exeter Gazette"                       126
  Royal Agricultural Show, Newcastle, 1804:--
    From the "Northern Daily Express"               126

[Illustration]


ERRATA.

  At second line from bottom of page 23, for "cottage" read
     "cottager."

  At page 30, fifth line from bottom, for "last page" read "page 25."

  At page 44, sixteenth line, for "_this_ plates of glass" read
     "_thin_ plates of glass."

  At page 53, fourteenth line, read "bee hive" for "bee house."

[Transcriber Note: Above ERRATA corrections were applied.]


EXPLANATIONS OMITTED.

  At page 62, "Hold the glass horizontally over the flame of the
     candle."

  At page 80, "An empty hive should be placed on the stand when the
     living hive is removed, for the purpose of amusing returning
     bees. If the hive is kept in a bee-house, the entrance should be
     shut down unto the hive is restored, when the clustered bees may
     be at once admitted."

[Transcriber Note: Above EXPLANATIONS were placed.]




PREFACE.

[Illustration]



Our apology for preparing a bee book is a very simple one.
We are so frequently applied to for advice on matters connected with
bees and bee-hives, that it seemed likely to prove a great advantage,
alike to our correspondents and ourselves, if we could point to a
"handy-book" of our own, which should contain full and detailed replies
sufficient to meet all ordinary enquiries. Most of the apiarian manuals
possess some special excellence or other, and we have no wish to
disparage any of them. Yet in all, we have found a want of explanations
relating to several of the more recent improvements.

It has, more especially, been our aim to give explicit and detailed
directions on most subjects connected with the hiving and removing
of bees; and also, to show how, by judicious application of the
"depriving" system, the productive powers of the bees may be enormously
increased.

We need say little here as to the interest that attaches to the apiary
as a source of perennial pleasure for the amateur naturalist. Many
of the hives and methods of management are described with a direct
reference to this class of bee-keepers; so that, besides plain and
simple directions suitable for cottagers with their ordinary hives,
this work will be found to include instructions useful for the
scientific apiarian, or, at least, valuable, for those who desire to
gain a much wider acquaintance with the secrets of bee-keeping than is
now usually possessed. We would lay stress on the term "acquaintance,"
for there is nothing in the management of the various bar-and-frame
hives which is at all difficult when frequent practice has rendered
the bee-keeper familiar with them. Such explicit directions are herein
given as to how the right operations may be performed at the right
times, that a novice may at once commence to use the modern hives.
The word "new-fangled" has done good service for the indolent and
prejudiced; but we trust that our readers will be of a very different
class. Let them give a fair trial to the modern appliances for the
humane and depriving system of bee-keeping, and they will find offered
to them an entirely new field of interest and observation. At present,
our continental neighbours far surpass us as bee-masters; but we trust
that the season of 1865, if the summer be fine, will prove a turning
point in the course of. English bee-keeping. There is little doubt that
a greater number of intelligent and influential persons in this country
will become bee-keepers than has ever been the case before.

Our task would have lost half its interest, did we not hope that it
would result in something beyond the encouragement of a refined and
interesting amusement for the leisurely classes. The social importance
of bee keeping as a source of pecuniary profit for small farmers and
agricultural labourers, has never been appreciated as it deserves.
Yet these persons will not, of themselves, lay aside the bungling and
wasteful plan of destroying the bees, or learn without being taught the
only proper method, that of deprivation. Their educated neighbours when
once interested in bee-keeping, will be the persons to introduce the
more profitable system of humane bee-keeping. The clergy, especially,
as permanent residents in the country, may have great influence in
this respect. There is not a rural or suburban parish in the kingdom
in which bee-keeping might not be largely extended, and the well being
of all but the very poorest inhabitants would be greatly promoted.
Not only would the general practice of bee-keeping add largely to the
national resources, but that addition would chiefly fall to the share
of those classes to whom it would be of most value. Moreover, in the
course of thus adding to their income, the uneducated classes would
become interested in an elevating and instructive pursuit.

It is curious to observe that honey, whether regarded as a manufactured
article or as an agricultural product, is obtained under economical
conditions of exceptional advantage. If regarded as a manufactured
article, we notice that there is no outlay required for "labour," nor
any expense for "raw material." The industrious labourers are eager to
utilize all their strength: they never "combine" except for the benefit
of their master, they never "strike" for wages, and they provide their
own subsistence. All that the master manufacturer of honey has to do
financially, is to make a little outlay for "fixed capital" in the
needful "plant" of hives and utensils--no "floating capital" is needed.
Then, on the other hand, if we regard honey as an agricultural product,
it presents as such a still more striking contrast to the economists'
theory of what are the "requisites of production." Not only is there no
outlay needed for wages and none for raw material, but there is nothing
to be paid for "use of a natural agent." Every square yard of land
in the United Kingdom may come to be cultivated, as in China, but no
proprietor will ever be able to claim "rent" for those "waste products"
of the flowers and leaves, which none but the winged workers of the
hive can ever utilize.

The recent domestication in England of the Ligurian or "Italian Alp"
bee adds a new and additional source of interest to bee-culture. We
have, therefore, gone pretty fully into this part of the subject; and
believe that what is here published with regard to their introduction
embodies the most recent and reliable information respecting them that
is possessed by English apiarians.[1]

[Footnote 1: Some of our apiarian friends may be inclined to be
discouraged from cultivating the Ligurian bees in consequence of the
liability to their becoming hybridised when located in proximity to
the black bees. We can dispel these fears by stating that we have not
unfrequently found that hybrid queens possess the surprising fecundity
of the genuine Italian ones, whilst the English stocks in course of
time become strengthened by the infusion of foreign blood.]

We are under many obligations for the advice and assistance that we
have on many occasions received from Mr. T. W. Woodbury, of Exeter,
whose apiarian skill is unrivalled in this country. Our acknowledgments
are also due to Mr. Henry Taylor, author of an excellent "Bee-Keeper's
Manual," for his help and counsel during the earlier years of our
apiarian experience. Both the before-mentioned gentlemen have freely
communicated to us their contrivances and suggestions, without thought
of fee or reward for them. In common with most recent writers on
bee-culture, we are necessarily largely indebted to the standard works
of Huber and succeeding apiarians. From the more recent volume of
the Rev. L. L. Langstroth we have also obtained useful information.
But having ourselves of later years had considerable experience in
the manipulation and practical management of bees, we are enabled to
confirm or qualify the statement of others, as well as to summarize
information gleaned from many various sources. We should state that our
thanks are due to Mr. W. Martin Wood, who has rendered us valuable aid
in the arrangement of this work.

Let it be understood that we have no _patented devices_ to push: we
are free to choose out of the many apiarian contrivances that have
been offered of late years, and we feel perfectly at liberty to praise
or blame as our experience warrants us in doing. It does not follow
that we necessarily disparage hives which are not described herein;
we have sought, as much as possible, to indicate the _principles_ on
which _good hives_ must be constructed, whatever their outward size or
shape. All through the work, we have endeavoured to adopt the golden
rule of "submission to nature," by reference to which all the fancied
difficulties of bee-keeping may be easily overcome. In none of the
attempts of men to hold sway over natural objects, is the truth of
Bacon's leading doctrine more beautifully illustrated than in the power
that the apiarian exercises in the little world of bees.

There are one or two literary peculiarities of this work to which we
ought to refer. It will be noticed that the numbers affixed to the
names of the various hives and utensils do not follow in regular order.
Those numbers refer to our Illustrated Catalogue, with which most
English apiarians have long been familiar, and we could not alter them
without great inconvenience.

Some persons may consider we have used too many poetical quotations in
a book dealing wholly with matters of fact. We trust, however, that
an examination of the extracts will at once remove that feeling of
objection.

We venture to hope that the following pages contain many valuable hints
and interesting statements which may tend to excite increased and
renewed attention to the most useful and industrious of all insects.
Although bees have neither reason nor religion for their guide, yet
from them man may learn many a lesson of virtue and industry, and may
even draw from them thoughts suggestive of trust and faith in God.

We beg leave to conclude our preface, and introduce the subject, by the
following extract from Shakespeare,--who, without doubt, kept bees in
that garden at Stratford wherein he used to meditate:--

            "So work the honey bees;
    Creatures, that by a rule in Nature, teach
    The art of order to a peopled kingdom.
    They have a king and officers of sorts;
    Where some, like magistrates, correct at home;
    Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;
    Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings.
    Make boot upon the Summer's velvet buds.
    Which pillage they, with merry march, bring home
    To the tent royal of their emperor:
    Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
    The singing masons building roofs of gold;
    The civil citizens kneading up the honey;
    The poor mechanic porters crowding in
    Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate;
    The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum,
    Delivering o'er to executors pale
    The lazy, yawning drone."--

  Shakespeare's _Henry V., Act I., Scene 2._




THE APIARY;

OR

BEES, BEE-HIVES, & BEE CULTURE.

[Illustration]


There are two classes of persons for whom bee-culture should
have a strong interest, and two distinct purposes for which the pursuit
may be followed. First, there is the cottager or small farmer who,
in thousands of instances, might add considerably to his income by
bee-keeping; and secondly, there is the man of "retired leisure" and
refinement, who, in the personal tendance of an apiary would find
an easy and interesting occupation, and one which could not fail to
quicken his faculties of general scientific observation. Moreover,
in contemplating the wonderful skill, industry, and prevision of his
insect artisans, the bee-keeper would find in his apiary constant
illustrations of creative wisdom.

Amongst the humbler classes in the rural districts, the neglect of
bee-keeping is to be attributed to an exaggerated idea of the trouble
needful for the care of a few hives, and also to ignorance of the
easier and more profitable methods of modern management. Many of the
wealthier country or suburban residents, also, are averse to the
personal trouble which they fancy needful in keeping an apiary; and,
perhaps, some gentlemen are more afraid than they would like to own
of that very efficient weapon of defence with which the honey bee is
provided. But the prejudices against bees are quite unnecessary; bees
are as tractable as they are intelligent, and it is the purpose of this
little book to show that bee-culture is an easy and safe, as well as a
deeply interesting, pursuit. Possibly, also, some who do us the favour
to read our detailed explanations, will see how the rural clergyman,
or the benevolent landlord, who keeps an apiary of his own, may be
of signal service to his poorer neighbours in explaining to them the
mysteries of bee-keeping.


I. THE INHABITANTS OF THE HIVE.

Every hive or bee colony comprises three distinct classes of bees, each
class having functions peculiar to itself, and which are essential
to the well-being of the whole community. As each bee knows its own
proper duties, they all work harmoniously and zealously together, for
the common weal. Certain apparent exceptions to the good-fellowship of
the bees will be hereafter noticed, but those arise out of essential
conditions in the social economy of the bee community.

The three classes of bees are:--the queen bee, with the pupæ or embryos
intended for queens; the working bees; and the drones or male bees.

The Queen.--Dr. Evans[2] introduces the queen bee to our
notice thus:--

    First of the throng, and foremost of the whole,
    One 'stands confest the sovereign and the soul.'

[Footnote 2: Dr. Evans,--who may be styled the poet-laureate of the
bees,--lived at Shrewsbury, where he practiced as a physician. His poem
on bees is written with great taste and careful elaboration, and it
describes the habits of bees with a degree of accuracy only attainable
after continuous scientific observation.]

The queen may very readily be distinguished from the rest of the bees
by the greater length of her body, and the comparative shortness of her
wings; her legs are longer, and are not furnished with either brushes
or baskets as those of the working bee, for being constantly fed by
the latter, she does not need those implements; the upper surface of
her body is of a brighter black than the other bees, whilst her colour
underneath is a yellowish brown; her wings, which do not extend more
than half the length of her body, are sinewy and strong; her long
abdomen tapers nearly to a point; her head is rounder, her tongue more
slender, and not nearly so long, as that of the working bee, and her
sting is curved; her movements are measured and majestic, as she moves
in the hive the other bees form a circle round her, none venturing to
turn their backs upon her, but all anxious to show that respect and
attention due to her rank and station. Whenever in the exercise of her
sovereign will the queen wishes to travel amongst her subjects, she
experiences no inconvenience from overcrowding; although the part of
the hive to which she is journeying may be the most populous, way is
immediately made, the common bees tumbling over each other to get out
of her way, so great is their anxiety not to interfere with the royal
progress.

It is the chief function of the queen to lay the eggs from which all
future bees originate, the multiplication of the species being the
purpose of her existence, and she follows it up with an assiduity
similar to that with which the workers construct combs or collect
honey. A queen is estimated to lay in the breeding season from 1,500 to
2,000 eggs a-day, and in the course of one year is supposed to produce
more than 100,000 bees. This is indeed a vast number; but when there
is taken into consideration the great number required for swarms, the
constant lessening of their strength by death in various ways, and the
many casualties attending them in their distant travels in search of
the luscious store, it does not seem that the case is over stated.

In a Glass Unicomb Hive,--which we shall hereinafter describe,--all the
movements of the queen-bee may be traced; she may be seen thrusting
her head into a cell to discover whether it be occupied with an egg or
honey, and if empty, she turns round in a dignified manner and inserts
her long body--so long, that she is able to deposit the egg at the
bottom of the cell; she then passes on to another, and so continues
industriously multiplying her laborious subjects. It not unfrequently
happens when the queen is prolific, and if it be an early season, that
many eggs are wasted for want of unoccupied cells; for in that case
the queen leaves them exposed at the bottom of the hive when they
are greedily devoured by the bees. The queen-bee, unlike the great
majority of her subjects, is a stayer at home; generally speaking, she
only quits the hive twice in her life. The first occasion is on the
all-important day of her marriage, which always takes place at a great
height in the air, and generally on the second or third day of her
princess-life; she never afterwards leaves the hive, except to lead off
an emigrating swarm. Evans, with proper loyalty, has duly furnished a
glowing epithalamium for the queen-bee:--thus.

    When noon-tide Sirius glares on high,
    Young love ascends the glowing sky,
    From vein to vein swift shoots prolific fire.
    And thrills each insect fibre with desire;
    Then Nature to fulfil thy prime decree,
    Wheels round in wanton rings, the courtier Bee;
    Now shyly distant, now with bolder air,
    He woos and wins the all-complying fair;
    Through fields of ether, veiled in vap'ry gloom
    They seek, with amorous haste, the nuptial room;
    As erst the immortal pair, on Ida's height,
    wreath'd round their noon of joy, ambrosial night,

The loyalty and attachment of bees to their queen is one of their most
remarkable characteristics; they constantly supply her with food, and
fawn upon and caress her, softly touching her with their antennæ, a
favour which she occasionally returns. When she moves about the hive,
all the bees through whom she successively passes pay her the same
homage; those whom she leaves behind in her track close together, and
resume their accustomed occupations.

The majestic deportment of the queen-bee and the homage paid to her is,
with a little poetic license, thus described by Evans:--

    But mark of royal port and awful mien.
    Where moves with measured pace the insect Queen!
    Twelve chosen guards, with slow and solemn gait.
    Bend at her nod, and round her person wait.

This homage is, however, only paid to matron queens.
Whilst they continue princesses, they receive no distinctive marks
of respect. Dr. Dunbar, the noted Scotch apiarian, observed a very
striking instance of this whilst experimenting on the combative
qualities of the queen-bee. "So long," says he, "as the queen which
survived the rencontre with her rival, remained a virgin, not the
slightest degree of respect or attention was paid her--not a single bee
gave her food; she was obliged, as often as she required it, to help
herself; and in crossing the honey cells for that purpose, she had to
scramble, often with difficulty, over the crowd, not an individual of
which got out of her way, or seemed to care whether she fed or starved;
but no sooner did she become a mother, than the scene was changed, and
all testified towards her that most affectionate attention, which is
uniformly exhibited to fertile queens."

The queen-bee, though provided with a sting, never uses it on any
account, except in combat with her sister queens. But she admits of
no rival to her throne; almost her first act on coming forth from the
cell, is an attempt to tear open and destroy the cells containing the
pupæ of princesses likely to become competitors. Should it so happen
that another queen of similar age does exist in the hive at the
same time, the two are speedily brought into contact with each other
in order to fight it out and decide by a struggle, mortal to one of
them, which is to be the ruler;--the stronger of course is victorious,
and remains supreme. This, it must be admitted, is a wiser method of
settling the affair than it would be to range the whole band under two
distinct banners, and so create a civil war, killing and destroying
each other for matters with which they individually have little or no
concern: for the bees care not which queen it is, as long as they are
certain of having one to rule over them and perpetuate the community.

After perusing the description given above of the attachment of bees
to their queen, it may be easy to imagine the consternation a hive
is thrown into when deprived of her presence. The bees first make a
diligent search for their monarch in the hive, and then afterwards rush
forth in immense numbers to seek her. When such a commotion is observed
in an apiary, the experienced bee-master will repair the loss by giving
a queen: the bees have generally their own remedy for such a calamity,
in their power of raising a new queen from amongst their larvæ; but
if neither of these means be available, the whole colony dwindles and
dies. The following is the method by which working bees provide a
successor to the throne when deprived of their queen by accident, or in
anticipation of the first swarm, which is always led by the old queen:--

They select, when not more than three days old, an egg or grub
previously intended for a worker-bee, and then enlarge the cell so
selected by destroying the surrounding partitions; they thus form a
royal cradle, in shape very much like an acorn cup inverted. The chosen
embryo is then fed liberally with a peculiar description of nurture,
called by naturalists "royal jelly"--a pungent food, prepared by the
working bees exclusively for those of the larvæ that are destined to
become candidates for the honour of royalty. Should a queen be forcibly
separated from her subjects, she resents the interference, refuses
food, pines, and dies.

The whole natural history of the queen-bee is in itself a subject that
will well repay for continuous study. Those who desire to follow it, we
would refer to the complete works of Huber--the greatest of
apiarians,--Swammerdam, Bevan, Langstroth,
&c. The observations upon the queen-bee needful to verify the above
mentioned facts can only be made in hives constructed for the purpose,
of which our "Unicomb Observatory Hive" is one of the best. In ordinary
hives the queen is scarcely ever to be seen; where there are several
rows of comb, she invariably keeps between them, both for warmth and
to be more secure from danger. The writer has frequently observed in
stocks which have unfortunately died, that the queen was one of the
last to expire; and she is always more difficult to gain possession of
than other bees, being by instinct taught that she is indispensable to
the welfare of her subjects.

The queen enjoys a far longer life than any of her subjects, her age
generally extending to four or even five years. The drones, which are
mostly hatched in the early spring, seldom live more than three or
four months, even if they should escape the sting of the executioner,
to which they generally fall victims. The worker-bee, it is now a
well-ascertained fact, lives from six to eight months, in no case
exceeding the latter; so that we may reckon that the bees hatched in
April and May expire about the end of the year, and it is those of the
autumn who carry on the duties of the hive until the spring and summer,
that being the time when the greatest number of eggs are laid. The
population of a hive is very small during the winter, in comparison
with the vast numbers gathering produce in the summer,--produce which
they themselves live to enjoy but for a short period. So that not only,
as of old, may lessons of industry be learned from bees, but they also
teach self-denial to mankind, since they labour for the community
rather than for themselves. Evans, in describing the age of bees, thus
paraphrases the well known couplet of Homer in allusion to the fleeting
generations of men:--

    Like leaves on trees, the race of bees is found,
    Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
    Another race the spring or fall supplies.
    They droop successive, and successive rise.

The Drone.--The drones are male bees; they possess no sting,
are more hairy and larger than the common bee, and may be easily
distinguished by their heavy motion, thick-set form, and louder
humming. Evans thus describes the drones:--

                       Their short proboscis sips.
    No luscious nectar from the wild thyme's lips;
    From the lime leaf no amber drops they steal.
    Not bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal:
    On others' toils in pampered leisure thrive,
    The lazy fathers of the industrious hive;
    Yet oft, we're told, these seeming idlers share
    The pleasing duties of parental care;
    With fond attention guard each genial cell,
    And watch the embryo bursting from the shell.

But Dr. Evans had been "told" what was not correct when he sought to
dignify drones with the office of "nursing fathers,"--that task is
undertaken by the younger of the working-bees. No occupation falls
to the lot of the drones in gathering honey, nor have they the means
provided them by nature for assisting in the labours of the hive. The
drones are the progenitors of working bees, and nothing more; so far as
is known, that is the only purpose of their short existence.

In a well-populated hive the number of drones is computed at from
one to two thousand. "Naturalists," says Huber, "have been extremely
embarrassed to account for the number of males in most hives, and
which seem only a burden to the community, since they appear to
fulfil no function. But we now begin to discern the object of nature
in multiplying them to such an extent. As fecundation cannot be
accomplished within the hive, and as the queen is obliged to traverse
the expanse of the atmosphere, it is requisite that the males should
be numerous, that she may have the chance of meeting some one of them
in her flight. Were only two or three in each hive, there would be
little probability of their departure at the same instant with the
queen, or that they would meet her in their excursions; and most
of the females might thus remain sterile." It is important for the
safety of the queen-bee that her stay in the air should be as brief
as possible: her large size, and the slowness of her flight, render
her an easy prey to birds. It is not now thought that the queen always
pairs with a drone of the same hive, as Huber seems to have supposed.
Once impregnated,--as is the case with most insects,--the queen-bee
continues productive during the remainder of her existence. It has,
however, been found that though old queens cease to lay worker eggs,
they may continue to lay those of drones. The swarming season being
over, that is about the end of July, a general massacre of the "lazy
fathers" takes place. Dr. Bevan, in the "Honey Bee," observes on this
point, "the work of the drones being now completed, they are regarded
as useless consumers of the fruits of others' labour, love is at once
converted into hate, and a general proscription takes place. The
unfortunate victims evidently perceive their danger, for they are
never, at this time, seen resting in one place, but darting in and
out of the hive with the utmost precipitation, as if in fear of being
seized."

Their destruction is thought, by some, to be caused by their being
harassed until they quit the hive; but Huber says he ascertained that
the death of the drones was caused by the stings of the workers.
Supposing the drones come forth in May, which is the average period
of their being hatched, their destruction takes place somewhere about
the commencement of August, so that three months is the usual extent
of their existence; but should it so happen that the usual development
of the queen has been retarded, or that the hive has in any case
been deprived of her, the massacre of the drones is deferred. But in
any case, the natural term of the life of drone bees does not exceed
four months, so that they are all dead before the winter, and are not
allowed to be useless consumers of the general store.

The Worker Bee.--The working bees form, by far, the most
numerous class of the three kinds contained in the hive, and least of
all require description. They are the smallest of the bees, are dark
brown in colour or nearly black, and much more active on the wing than
are either drones or queens. The usual number in a healthy hive varies
from twelve to thirty thousand; and, previous to swarming, exceeds the
larger number. The worker-bee is of the same sex as the queen, but is
only partially developed. Any egg of a worker-bee,--by the cell being
enlarged, as already described, and the "royal jelly" being supplied
to the larva,--may be hatched into a mature and perfect queen. This,
one of the most curious facts connected with the natural history of
bees, may be verified in any apiary by most interesting experiments,
which may be turned to important use. With regard to the supposed
distinctions between "nursing" and working bees, it is now agreed that
it only consists in a division of labour,--the young workers staying
at home to feed the larvæ until they are themselves vigorous enough
to range the fields in quest of supplies. But, for many details of
unfailing interest, we must again refer our readers to the standard
works on bees that have already been named.

The Eggs of Bees.--It is necessary that some explanation
should be given as to the existence of the bee before it emerges from
the cell.

The eggs of all the three kinds of bees when first deposited are of an
oval shape, and of a bluish-white colour. In four or five days the egg
changes to a worm, and in this stage is known by the names of larva
or grub, in which state it remains four to six days more; during this
period it is fed by the nurse-bees with a mixture of farina and honey,
a constant supply of which is given to it: the next transformation is
to the nymph or pupa form; the nurse-bees now seal up the cell with a
preparation similar to wax; and then the pupa spins round itself
a film or cocoon, just as a silkworm does in its chrysalis state. The
microscope shows that this cradle-curtain is perforated with very
minute holes, through which the baby-bee is duly supplied with air. No
further attention on the part of the bees is now requisite except a
proper degree of heat, which they take care to keep up, a position for
the breeding cells being selected in the centre of the hive where the
temperature is likely to be most congenial.

Twenty-one days after the egg is first laid (unless cold weather should
have retarded it) the bee quits the pupa state, and nibbling its way
through the waxen covering that has enclosed it, comes forth a winged
insect. In the Unicomb Observatory Hive, the young bees may distinctly
be seen as they literally fight their way into the world, for the other
bees do not take the slightest notice, nor afford them any assistance.
We have frequently been amused in watching the eager little new-comer,
now obtruding its head, and anon compelled to withdraw into the cell,
to escape being trampled on by the apparently unfeeling throng, until
at last it has succeeded in making its exit. The little grey creature,
after brushing and shaking itself, enters upon its duties in the hive,
and in a day or two may be seen gathering honey in the fields--some
say on the day of its birth,--thus early illustrating that character
for industry, which has been proverbial, at least, since the days of
Aristotle, and which has in our day been rendered familiar even to
infant minds through the nursery rhymes of Dr. Watts.

Increase of Bees.--Every one is familiar with the natural
process of "swarming," by which bees provide themselves with fresh
space and seek to plant colonies to absorb their increase of
population. But the object of the bee-master is to train and educate
his bees, and in so doing he avoids much of the risk and trouble which
is incurred by allowing the busy folk to follow their own devices. The
various methods for this end adopted by apiarians all come under the
term of the "depriving" system; and they form part of the great object
of humane and economical bee-keeping, which is to save the bees alive
instead of slaughtering them as under the old clumsy system. A very
natural question is often asked,--how it is that upon the depriving
system, where our object is to prevent swarming, the increase of
numbers is not so great as upon the old plan? It will be seen that the
laying of eggs is performed by the queen only, and that there is but
one queen to each hive; so that where swarming is prevented, there
remains only one hive or stock, as the superfluous princesses are not
allowed to come to maturity. Our plan of giving additional store-room
will, generally speaking, prevent swarming; this stay-at-home policy,
we contend, is an advantage, for instead of the loss of time consequent
upon a swarm hanging out preparatory to flight, all the bees are
engaged in collecting honey, and that at a time when the weather is
most favourable and the food most abundant. Upon the old system, the
swarm leaves the hive simply because the dwelling has not been enlarged
at the time when the bees are increasing. The emigrants are always led
off by the old queen, leaving either young or embryo queens to lead off
after swarms, and to furnish a mistress for the old stock, and carry
on the multiplication of the species. Upon the antiquated and inhuman
plan where so great a destruction takes place by the brimstone match,
breeding must, of course, be allowed to go on to its full extent to
make up for such sacrifices. Our chief object under the new system is
to obtain honey free from all extraneous matter. Pure honey cannot be
gathered from combs where storing and breeding are performed in the
same compartment. For fuller explanations on this point, we refer to
the various descriptions of our improved hives in a subsequent section
of this work.

There can now be scarcely two opinions as to the uselessness of the
rustic plan of immolating the poor bees after they have striven through
the summer so to "improve each shining hour." The ancients in Greece
and Italy took the surplus honey and spared the bees, and now for every
intelligent bee-keeper there are ample appliances wherewith to attain
the same results. Mr. Langstroth quotes from the German the following
epitaph which, he says, "might be properly placed over every pit of
brimstoned bees:"--

                              Here Rests,

                      CUT OFF FROM USEFUL LABOUR,

                              A COLONY OF

                           INDUSTRIOUS BEES,

                            BASELY MURDERED

                                BY ITS

                    UNGRATEFUL AND IGNORANT OWNER.


And Thomson, the poet of "The Seasons," has recorded an eloquent poetic
protest against the barbarous practice, for which, however, in his day
there was no alternative:--

    All, see, where robbed and murdered in that pit,
    Lies the still heaving hive! at evening snatched,
    Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night,
    And fix'd o'er sulphur! while, not dreaming ill,
    The happy people, in their waxen cells,
    Sat tending public cares.
    Sudden, the dark, oppressive steam ascends.
    And, used to milder scents, the tender race.
    By thousands, tumble from their honied dome
    Into a gulf of blue sulphureous flame!

It will be our pleasing task in subsequent chapters to show "a more
excellent way."


SWARMING.

The spring is the best period at which to open an apiary, and
swarming-time is a good starting point for the new bee-keeper. The
period known as the swarming season is during the months of May and
June. With a very forward stock, and in exceedingly fine weather, bees
do occasionally swarm in April. The earlier the swarm the greater is
its value. If bees swarm in July, they seldom gather sufficient to
sustain themselves through the winter; though, by careful feeding, they
may easily be kept alive, if hived early in the month.

The cause of a swarm leaving the stock-hive is, that the population has
grown too large for it. Swarming is a provision of nature for remedying
the inconvenience of overcrowding, and is the method whereby the bees
seek for space in which to increase their stores. By putting on "super
hives," the required relief may, in many cases, be given to them; but
should the multiplication of stocks be desired, the bee-keeper will
defer increasing the space until the swarm has issued forth. In May,
when the spring has been fine, the queen-bee is very active in laying
eggs, and the increase in a strong healthy hive is so prodigious that
emigration is necessary, or the bees would cease to work.

It is now a well established fact that the old queen goes forth with
the first swarm, preparation having been made to supply her place as
soon as the bees determine upon the necessity of a division of their
commonwealth. Thus the sovereignty of the old hive, after the first
swarm has issued, devolves upon a young queen.

As soon as the swarm builds combs in its new abode, the emigrant-queen,
being impregnated and her ovaries full, begins laying eggs in the
cells, and thereby speedily multiplies the labourers of the new
colony. Although there is now amongst apiarians no doubt that the old
queen quits her home, there is no rule as to the composition of the
swarm--old and young alike depart. Some show unmistakable signs of age
by their ragged wings, others their extreme youth by their lighter
colour; how they determine which shall stay and which shall go has not
yet been ascertained. In preparation for flight, bees commence filling
their honey bags, taking sufficient, it is said, for three days'
sustenance. This store is needful, not only for food, but to enable
the bees to commence the secretion of wax and the building of combs in
their new domicile.

On the day of emigration the weather must be fine, warm, and clear,
with but little wind stirring; for the old queen, like a prudent
matron, will not venture out unless the day is in every way favorable.
Whilst her majesty hesitates, either for the reasons we have mentioned,
or because the internal arrangements are not sufficiently matured, the
bees will often fly about or hang in clusters at the entrance of the
hive for two or three days and nights together, all labour meanwhile
being suspended. The agitation of the little folk is well described by
Evans:--

    See where, with hurried step, the impassioned throng
    Pace o'er the hive, and seem, with plaintive song,
    T' invite the loitering queen; now range the floor,
    And hang in cluster'd columns from the door;
    Or now in restless rings around they fly,
    Nor spoil thy sip, nor load the hollowed thigh;
    E'en the dull drone his wonted ease gives o'er,
    Haps his unwieldly wings, and longs to soar.

But when all is ready, a scene of the most violent agitation takes
place; the bees rush out in vast numbers, forming quite a dark cloud as
they traverse the air.

The time selected for the departure of the emigrants is generally
between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.; most swarms come off within an hour of
noon. It is a very general remark that bees choose a Sunday for
swarming, and probably this is because then greater stillness reigns
around. It will not be difficult to imagine that the careful bee-keeper
is anxious to keep a strict watch, lest he should lose such a treasure
when once it takes wing. The exciting scene at a bee-swarming has been
well described by the apiarian laureate:--

    Up mounts the chief, and, to the cheated eye,
    Ten thousand shuttles dart along the sky;
    As swift through æther rise the rushing swarms,
    Gay dancing to the beam their sunbright forms;
    And each thin form, still lingering on the sight.
    Trails as it shoots, a line of silver light.
    High poised on buoyant wing, the thoughtful queen,
    In gaze attentive, views the varied scene,
    And soon her far-fetched ken discerns below;
    The light laburuam lift her polished brow.
    Wave her green leafy ringlets o'er the glade.
    Swift as the falcon's sweep, the monarch bends
    Her flight abrupt; the following host descends
    Round the fine twig, like clustered grapes they close
    In thickening wreaths, and court a short repose.

In many country districts it is a time-honoured custom for the good
folks of the village to commence on such occasions a terrible noise
of tanging and ringing with frying pan and key. This is done with
the absurd notion that the bees are charmed with the clangorous din,
and may by it be induced to settle as near as possible to the source
of such sweet sounds. This is, however, quite a mistake; there are
other and better means for the purpose. The practice of ringing was
originally adopted for a different and far more sensible object,
viz., for the purpose of giving notice that a swarm had issued forth,
and that the owner was anxious to claim the right of following, even
though it should alight on a neighbour's premises. It would DC curious
to trace how this ancient ceremony has thus got corrupted from the
original design.

In case the bees do not speedily after swarming manifest signs of
settling, a few handfuls of sand or loose mould may be thrown up in the
air so as to fall among the winged throng; they mistake this for rain,
and then very quickly determine upon settling. Some persons squirt a
little water from a garden engine in order to produce the same effect.

There are, indeed, many ingenious devices used by apiarians for
decoying the swarms. Mr. Langstroth mentions a plan of stringing dead
bees together, and tying a bunch of them on any shrub or low tree upon
which it is desirable that they should alight; another plan is, to
hang some black woven material near the hives, so that the swarming
bees may be led to suppose they see another colony, to which they will
hasten to attach themselves. Swarms have a great affinity for each
other when they are adrift in the air; but, of course, when the union
has been effected, the rival queens have to do battle for supremacy. A
more ingenious device than any of the above, is by means of a mirror to
flash a reflection of the sun's rays amongst a swarm, which bewilders
the bees, and checks their flight. It is manifestly often desirable
to use some of these endeavours to induce early settlement, and to
prevent, if possible, the bees from clustering in high trees or under
the eaves of houses, where it may be difficult to hive them.

Should prompt measures not be taken to hive the bees as soon as the
cluster is well formed, there is danger of their starting on a second
flight; and this is what the apiarian has so much to dread. If the bees
set off a second time, it is generally for a long flight, often for
miles, so that in such a case it is usually impossible to follow them,
and consequently a valuable colony may be irretrievably lost.

Too much care cannot be exercised to prevent the sun's rays falling
on a swarm when it has once settled. If exposed to heat in this way,
bees are very likely to decamp. We have frequently stretched matting or
sheeting on poles so as to intercept the glare, and thus render their
temporary position cool and comfortable.

Two swarms sometimes depart at the same time and join together; in such
a case, we recommend that they be treated as one by putting them into a
hive as before described, taking care to give abundant room, and not to
delay affording access to the super hive or glasses. They will settle
their own notions of sovereignty by one queen destroying the other.
There are means of separating two swarms if done at the time; but the
operation is a formidable one, and does not always repay even those
most accustomed to such manipulation.

With regard to preparations for taking a swarm, our advice to the
bee-keeper must be the reverse of Mrs. Glass's notable injunction as
to the cooking of a hare. Some time before you expect to take a swarm,
be sure to have a proper hive in which to take it, and also every
other requisite properly ready. Here we will explain what was said
in the introduction as to the safety of moving and handling bees. A
bee-veil or dress will preserve the most sensitive from the possibility
of being stung. This article, which may be bought with the hives, is
made of net close enough to exclude bees, but open enough for the
operator's vision. It is made to go over the hat of a lady or cap of a
gentleman; it can be tied round the waist, and has sleeves fastening at
the wrist. A pair of photographer's india rubber gloves completes the
full dress of the apiarian, who is then invulnerable even to enraged
bees. But bees when swarming are in an eminently peaceful frame of
mind; having dined sumptuously, they require to be positively provoked
before they will sting. Yet there may be one or two foolish bees who,
having neglected to fill their honey bags, are inclined to vent their
ill-humour on the kind apiarian. When all is ready, the new hive is
held or placed in an inverted position under the cluster of bees, which
the operator detaches from their perch with one or two quick shakes;
the floorboard is then placed on the hive, which is then slowly turned
up on to its base, and it is well to leave it a short time in the same
place, in order to allow of stragglers joining their companions.

If the new swarm is intended for transportation to a distance, it is
as well for it to be left at the same spot until evening, provided the
sun is shaded from it: but if the hive is meant to stand in or near
the same garden, it is better to remove it within half an hour to its
permanent position, because so eager are newly-swarmed bees for pushing
forward the work of furnishing their empty house, that they sally forth
at once in search of materials.

A swarm of bees in their natural state contains from 10,000 to 20,000
insects, whilst in an established hive they number 40,000 and upwards.
5,000 bees are said to weigh one pound; a good swarm will weigh from
three to five pounds. We have known swarms not heavier than 2½ pounds,
that were in very excellent condition in August as regards store for
the winter.

Hitherto, all our remarks have had reference to first or "prime"
swarms; these are the best, and when a swarm is purchased such should
be bargained for.

Second swarms, known amongst cottage bee-keepers as "casts," usually
issue from the hive nine or ten days after the first has departed.
It is not always that a second swarm issues, so much depends on the
strength of the stock, the weather, and other causes; but should the
bees determine to throw out another, the first hatched queen in the
stock-hive is prevented by her subjects from destroying the other
royal princesses, as she would do if left to her own devices. The
consequence is that, like some people who cannot have their own way,
she is highly indignant; and when thwarted in her purpose, utters, in
quick succession, shrill, angry sounds, much resembling "_peep, peep_,"
commonly called "piping," but which more courtly apiarians have styled
the _vox regalis_.

This royal wailing continues during the evening, and is sometimes so
loud as to be distinctly audible many yards from the hive. When this is
the case, a swarm may be expected either on the next day, or at latest
within three days. The second swarm is not quite so chary of weather as
the first; it was the old lady who exercised so much caution, disliking
to leave home except in the best of summer weather.

In some instances, owing to favourable breeding seasons and prolific
queens, a third swarm issues from the hive, this is termed a "colt;"
and in remarkable instances, even a fourth, which in rustic phrase is
designated a "filly." A swarm from a swarm is called a "maiden" swarm,
and according to bee theory, will again have the old queen for its
leader.

The bee-master should endeavour to prevent his labourers from swarming
more than once; his policy is rather to encourage the industrious
gathering of honey by keeping a good supply of "supers" on the hives.
Sometimes, however, he may err in putting on the supers too early or
unduly late, and the bees will then swarm a second time, instead of
making use of the store-rooms thus provided. In such a case, the clever
apiarian, having spread the swarm on the ground, will select the queen,
and cause the bees to go back to the hive from whence they came. This
operation requires an amount of apiarian skill which, though it may
easily be attained, is greater than is usually possessed.




II. MODERN BEE HIVES.


NUTT'S COLLATERAL HIVE. No. 1.

The late Mr. Nutt, author of "Humanity to Honey Bees," may be
regarded as a pioneer of modern apiarians; we therefore select his
hive wherewith to begin a description of those we have confidence in
recommending. Besides, an account of Mr. Nutt's hive will necessarily
include references to the various principles which subsequent inventors
have kept in view.

[Illustration]

Nutt's Collateral Hive consists of three boxes placed side by side (C.
A. C), with an octagonal box B on the top which covers a bell-glass.
Each of the three boxes is 9 inches high, 9 inches wide, and 11
inches from back to front; thin wooden partitions,--in which six or
seven openings corresponding with each other are made--divide these
compartments, so that free access from one box to the other is afforded
to the bees; this communication is stopped when necessary by a zinc
slide passing down between each box. The octagonal cover B is about 10
inches in diameter and 20 high, including the sloping octagonal roof,
surmounted with an acorn as a finish. There are two large windows in
each of the end boxes, and one smaller one in the centre box; across
the latter is a thermometer scaled and marked, so as to be an easy
guide to the bee-master, showing him by the rise in temperature the
increased accommodation required. This thermometer is a fixture, the
indicating part being protected by two pieces of glass, to prevent the
bees from coming between it and the window, and thereby obstructing the
view.

D D are ventilators. In the centre of each of the end boxes is a
double zinc tube reaching down a little below the middle, the outer
tube is a casing of plain zinc, with holes about a quarter of an inch
wide dispersed over it; the inside one is of perforated zinc, with
openings so small as to prevent the escape of the bees, a flange or
rim keeps the tubes suspended through a hole made to receive it. The
object in having double tubing, is to allow the inner one to be drawn
up and the perforations to be opened by pricking out the wax, or rather
the propolis, with which bees close all openings in their hives. These
tubes admit a thermometer enclosed in a cylindrical glass, to be
occasionally inserted during the gathering season; it requires to be
left in the tube for about a quarter of an hour; and on its withdrawal,
if found indicating 90 degrees or more, ventilation must be adopted to
lower the temperature--the ornamental zinc top D must be left raised,
and is easily kept in that position by putting the perforated part a
little on one side.

The boxes before described are placed on a raised double floor-board,
extending the whole length, viz., about 36 inches. The floor-board
projects a few inches in front. In the centre is the entrance;--as our
engraving only shows the back of the hive, we must imagine it on the
other side,--it is made by cutting a sunken way of about half-an-inch
deep and 3 inches wide, in the floor-board communicating only with
the middle box; it is through this entrance alone that the bees find
their way into the hive,--access to the end boxes and the super
being obtained from the inside. An alighting board is fitted close
under the entrance for the bees to settle upon when returning laden
with honey; this alighting board is removable for the convenience of
packing. The centre, or stock-box, A, called by Mr. Nutt the Pavilion
of Nature, is the receptacle for the swarm; for stocking this, it will
be necessary to tack the side tins so as to close the side openings
in the partition, and to tack some perforated zinc over the holes at
top; the swarm may then be hived into it just the same as with a common
hive. A temporary bottom-board may be used if the box has to be sent
any distance; or a cloth may be tied round to close the bottom (the
latter plan is best, because allowing plenty of air), and when brought
home at night, the bees being clustered at the top, the cloth or
temporary bottom must be removed, and the box gently placed on its own
floor-board, and the hive set in the place it is permanently to occupy.
E E are two block fronts which open with a hinge, a semicircular hole
3 inches long, 2 wide in the middle, is cut in the upper bottom-board
immediately under the window of each box; these apertures are closed by
separate perforated zinc slides; these blocks, when opened, afford a
ready means of reducing the temperature of the side boxes, a current of
air being quickly obtained, and are also useful for allowing the bees
to throw out any refuse.

The centre F is a drawer in which is a feeding trough, so constructed
that the bees can descend through the opening before mentioned on
to a false bottom of perforated zinc; liquid food is readily poured
in by pulling out the drawer a little way, the bees come down on to
the perforated zinc and take the food by inserting their proboscis
through the perforations, with no danger of being drowned. Care must be
exercised that the food is not given in such quantity as to come above
the holes; by this means, each hive has a supply of food accessible
only to the inmates, with no possibility, when closely shut in, of
attracting robber bees from other hives.

The exterior of these hives is _well_ painted with two coats of lead
colour, covered with two coats of green, and varnished. Notwithstanding
this preservation, it is absolutely essential to place such a hive
under a shed or cover of some sort, as the action of the sun and rain
is likely to cause the wood to decay, whilst the extreme heat of a
summer sun might cause the combs to fall from their foundations.

Neat and tasteful sheds may be erected, either of zinc supported by
iron or wooden rods, or a thatched roof may be supported in the same
manner, and will form a pretty addition to the flower garden.

When erecting a covering, it will be well to make it a foot or two
longer, so as to allow of a cottage hive on either side, as the
appearance of the whole is much improved by such an arrangement.

The following directions, with some adaptation, are from "Nutt on Honey
Bees:"--

In the middle box the bees are to be first placed;--in it they should
first construct their beautiful combs, and under the government of
one sovereign--the mother of the hive--carry on their curious work,
and display their astonishing architectural ingenuity. In this box,
the _regina_ of the colony, surrounded by her industrious, happy,
humming subjects, carries on the propagation of her species, deposits
in the cells prepared for the purpose by the other bees, thousands of
eggs, though she seldom deposits more than one egg in a cell at a
time: these eggs are nursed up into a numerous progeny by the other
inhabitants of the hive. It is at this time, when hundreds of young
bees are daily coming into existence, that the collateral boxes are
of the utmost importance--both to the bees domiciled in them, and to
their proprietors; for when the brood become perfect bees in a common
cottager's hive, a swarm is the necessary consequence. The queen,
accompanied by a vast number of her subjects, leaves the colony,
and seeks some other place in which to carry on the work nature has
assigned her. But as swarming may by proper precaution and attention
to this mode of management generally be prevented, it is good practice
to do so; because the time necessarily required to establish a new
colony, even supposing the cottager succeeds in saving the swarm,
would otherwise be employed in collecting honey, and in enriching the
old hive. Here, then, is one of the features of this plan--viz., _the
prevention of swarming_. When symptoms of swarming begin to present
themselves, which may be known by an unusual noise, the appearance
of more than common activity among the bees in the middle box, and,
above all, by a sudden rise of temperature, which will be indicated
by the quicksilver in the thermometer rising to 75 degrees as scaled
on the thermometer in the box; when these symptoms are apparent, the
bee master may conclude that additional space is required. The top
sliding tin should now be withdrawn from under the bell glass, which
will open to the bees a new store-room; this they will soon occupy, and
fill with combs and honey of pure whiteness, if the weather be fine to
allow of their uninterrupted labour. It may be well here to mention,
that if the glass have a small piece of clean worker comb attached to
the perforated ventilating tube, the bees will more speedily commence
their operations in it. When the glass is nearly filled, which in a
good season will be in a very short space of time, the bees will again
require increased accommodation; this will also be indicated by the
thermometer further rising to 85; the end box, as thereon marked,
must now be given them. Previously to drawing up a slide to enlarge
their crowded house, the manager should take off the empty end box
he intends to open to them, carefully and thoroughly cleanse it, and
then smear or dress the inside of it with a little liquid honey. Thus
prepared, he must return the box to its proper situation, and then
withdraw the sliding tin that hitherto has cut it off from the middle
box; by so doing the store-room is again enlarged. The bees will
commence operations in this new apartment. This simple operation, done
at the proper time, generally prevents swarming; by it, the queen
gains a vast addition to her dominions, and, consequently, increasing
space for the multiplying population of her domicile. Provided the
weather continue fine, and the thermometer has risen to 95 degrees, as
marked on the scale, the remaining tin may be also withdrawn, thereby
giving the bees, admittance to another box; there is now no lack of
store-rooms nor of employment for our indefatigable labourers. The
cylinder thermometer is required to be occasionally dropped into the
ventilating tube of the side boxes to ascertain their temperature; for
if exceeding or approaching that of the middle box, it must be reduced
by ventilating; this is done by raising the zinc tops, to allow the air
to pass through the perforations. The grand object of this system is
to keep the end boxes and the bell glass cooler than the pavilion or
middle box, so as to induce the queen to propagate her species there
and there only, and not in the depriving part of the hive; by this
means the side and upper combs are in no way discoloured by brood. The
queen requires a considerable degree of warmth; the middle box does not
require more ventilation than the additional openings afford. The bees
enjoy coolness in the side boxes, and thereby the whiteness and purity
of the luscious store are increased.

After having given directions for the working of the hive, it remains
to be told how to obtain possession of the store, and to get rid of
our industrious tenants from the super and end boxes, of which the
super glass will be almost sure to be filled first, having been first
given to them. The operation of taking honey is best performed in the
middle of a fine sunny day. The best mode that we know of is to pass
an ordinary table-knife all round underneath the rim of the glass to
loosen the cement, properly called propolis; then take a piece of
fine wire, or a piece of string will do, and, having hold of the two
ends, draw it under the glass very slowly, so as to allow the bees
to get out of the way. Having brought the string through, the glass
is now separated from the hive; but it is well to leave the glass in
its place for an hour or so, the commotion of the bees will then have
subsided; and another advantage we find is, that the bees suck up the
liquid and seal up the cells broken by the cutting off. You can then
pass underneath the glass two pieces of tin or zinc; the one may be
the proper slide to prevent the inmates of the hive coming out at
the apertures, the other tin keeps all the bees in the glass close
prisoners. After having been so kept a short time, the apiarian must
see whether the bees in the glass manifest symptoms of uneasiness,
because if they do not, it may be concluded that the queen is among
them. In such a case, replace the glass, and recommence the operation
on a future day. It is not often that her majesty is in the depriving
hive or glass; but this circumstance does sometimes happen, and
the removal at such a time must be avoided. When the bees that are
prisoners run about in great confusion and restlessness, the operator
may then conclude that the queen is absent, and that all is right.
The glass may be taken away a little distance off, and placed in a
flower-pot or other receptacle where it will be safe when inverted and
the tin taken away, then the bees will be glad to make their escape
back to their hive. A little tapping at the sides of the glass will
render their tarriance uncomfortable, and the glass may then be taken
into a darkened room or out-house with only a small aperture admitting
light which must be open; the bees, like all insects, make towards
the light and so escape. The bee-master should brush them off with a
feather from the comb as they can be reached; but on no account, if
there are many bees, should the glass be left, because the bees that
are in the glass will gorge themselves to their full and speedily bring
a host of others from the adjacent hives, who, in a very little time,
would leave only the empty combs. It is truly marvellous how soon they
will carry all the store back again, if allowed to do so. An empty
glass should be put on to the hive in place of the full one, as it will
attract the bees up, thereby preventing the too close crowding of the
hive; and, if the summer be not too far advanced, they will work more
honey-comb in it.

The taking away of the end boxes is a somewhat similar process; but
they should on no account be taken at the same time as the glass, or
indeed at the same time as any other hive may be--_robbed_ we were
going to say, for it is robbery to the bees,--they intended the honey
for their winter food, and are much enraged at being deprived of it.
First shut down the dividing tin; the bees in the end box are now
prisoners separated from the hive, keep them so half an hour, then take
away the box bodily to another part of the garden, or into the dark
out-house as before recommended.

It may not be out of place here to say something respecting the
enthusiastic inventor of the Collateral Hive--Thomas Nutt, who was
an inhabitant of Spalding, in Lincolnshire. Having been disabled
during a considerable period by rheumatic fever, he devoted all his
attention to bees, at a time when bee-culture was but little valued;
and, although it must be admitted that two boxes were used side by side
long before Mr. Nutt's day, still it is due to him to state that the
adoption of three boxes was entirely his own idea, and that as far as
he then knew, the collateral system was his original invention. His
statements have been severely criticised, and it does appear that the
weight of honey which he names as having been produced in one season is
perfectly incredible. But as in the district where he lived there is
grown an immense quantity of mustard seed--the flowers of which afford
excellent forage for bees--the honey harvests there, would doubtless,
be very large. If Mr. Nutt has given his little favourites too much
praise, it will be only charitable, now, to account for his statements
by an excess of zeal and enthusiasm in this his study of bee-culture.
It may be that the golden harvests he spoke and wrote of have been so
far useful that they have induced many to commence bee-keeping, some
of whom, whilst they condemned his statements, have themselves written
really useful and practical works on the subject, which otherwise
might possibly never have appeared. As the monks of old kept the
lamp of religion burning, however dimly, until a more enlightened
age, so Thomas Nutt may have assisted in a somewhat similar manner
by energetically propounding his views, and thereby causing other
apiarians to rise up whose names are now as familiar to us as household
words, and whose works posterity will value. The writer of these pages
has often accompanied Mr. Nutt on his visits to his patrons in the
neighbourhood of London, and seen him perform his operations regardless
of the anger of bees, and free from all fear of their stings. He often
expatiated on the cruelty of the brimstone match and suffocation,
denouncing the barbarous custom in the following terms:--"You may as
well kill the cow for her milk, or the hen for her eggs, as the bee for
its honey; why continue to light the fatal match, when every cottage in
England has the means of saving this most useful and valuable insect?"


NEIGHBOUR'S IMPROVED SINGLE BOX HIVE. No. 2.

[Illustration]

We have introduced the "Single Box Hive" to suit the convenience of
those who, though desirous of keeping bees on the improved principle,
do not wish to incur the expense or devote the space which is necessary
for Nutt's hive.

It consists of a lower or stock-box A., 11 inches square, 9 inches
deep, with three large windows, a thermometer D, as in Nutt's, being
fixed across the front one, protected at the sides by strips of glass
to prevent the bees obscuring the quicksilver from sight. B is a cover
the same size as the lower hive, large enough to allow space for a
bell-glass 9 inches wide, 6 inches deep. E is the ventilator between
the glass and the stock-hive, intended to prevent the queen travelling
into the super hive, and also by cooling the hive to endeavour to
prevent swarming; a sloping pagoda roof with an acorn top completes the
upper story. A floor-board with a block front, as in Nutt's collateral,
forms the base, the entrance being sunk as before described, and
furnished with zinc slides to reduce or close it as may be required.
To stock a hive of this description, it is necessary to send the
stock-box to the party with whom you have agreed for the supply of a
swarm. In the evening of the day the hive is thus tenanted, remove it
to the position it is designed permanently to occupy; if the swarm has
to be procured from a distance, and is transported by rail or other
conveyance, a perforated zinc slide should be substituted for the
plain slide that covers the top, and a large piece of perforated zinc
must also be tacked to the bottom after the swarm has settled in; thus
securely confined, with a free circulation of air throughout, bees that
have been swarmed the day before may be safely sent any distance that
will allow of their being released the day after, because bees, though
they provision themselves for a couple of days, cannot with safety be
confined in an empty hive much longer.

Having now, we will suppose, procured your swarm, and having placed
it in a south or south-east aspect, you may with advantage, if the
weather be wet, give a little liquid food; the feeding in this hive
is performed at the top of stock-box, where the glass is worked. Our
round Feeding Pan or the new Feeding-Bottle may here be used. Any fancy
as to the position may be indulged in, but must be settled on by the
time the bees are set at liberty, because any alteration afterwards
is detrimental to the working of the hive. The bees on first issuing
forth, carefully mark their new abode and the surrounding objects,
so that if a change be made, they are completely thrown out in their
observations, which confuses them not a little, and occasions loss.
Bees always return to the same spot; it is the locality that they know,
and if the hive is moved a less distance than a mile, thousands return
to the spot on which the hive has been accustomed to stand.

Allow your bees to collect honey and build their combs for ten days or
a fortnight. Much now depends on the weather; if fine, by this time
they will require additional room, which will be indicated by the
thermometer D rapidly rising; 100 degrees is the swarming point, the
hive must be kept below this by ventilation.

Access must now be given to the flat bell-glass at the top, which
is done by withdrawing the top slide. In a few hours, sometimes
immediately, the work of comb-building begins in the glass--all the
sooner, if a piece of clean empty comb be placed therein.

It is of service to keep the glass warm by means of a worsted or baize
bag, it prevents the temperature from falling at night when much
comb-building is carried on, providing the heat is not allowed to
escape. Probably, if all goes on well, in three weeks the glass will be
found to be filled with fine white honey-comb. When you find that the
comb is well sealed up, it is time to take it off, but if the cells
are unfilled and unsealed, let the little labourers complete their
work--a little experience will soon enable the bee-keeper to determine
this point.

The plan to be adopted for taking glasses of honey-comb is the same as
described for hive No. 1, page 21.


TAYLOR'S AMATEUR SHALLOW BOX OR EIGHT BAR HIVE. No. 3.

[Illustration]

Taylor's Amateur Hive, as seen by reference to the engraving, consists
of three boxes, the lower one A, is the stock box, in which the swarm
is first placed; B is the first super; and C the centre box; all three
boxes are of the same diameter, viz., 13½ inches square inside; A,
the stock box, is 7½ deep; B, 6½ inches; both are fitted with eight
moveable bars, each bar being 1⅛ wide, with spaces of half an inch
between, and all are easily removed by unscrewing the crown board, in
which are two openings closed by zinc slides; the middle box C has no
bars, and is still shallower than either of the other boxes, being 5
inches deep. In many localities and seasons, the third box may not be
required. Each box has two windows--one at the back and another at the
side, a zinc shutter sliding in a groove, excluding light and retaining
warmth; the box C differs from the others in another respect; instead
of bars it has a grating made by seven openings, each ½ an inch wide
and 9 inches long; these three boxes stand on a stout floor-board, in
which is cut the entrance way, 4 inches wide and ⅜ of an inch high. The
floor-board projects so as to support an outer cover of half-inch wood,
surmounted by a sloping roof. This is an effectual protection from the
weather, and is necessary when hives are exposed; of course, if placed
in a bee-house such protection may be dispensed with. The outer case
is well painted, of a green colour, and when it is used the hive may
be placed in any part of the garden. The dimensions of this hive, with
outside cover, are 18 inches square, 2 feet 6 inches high.

Suitable stands are provided, consisting of a stout pedestal with four
feet. Stakes should be driven into the ground to secure the whole
against wind. Height from the ground, 4 feet 3 inches.

The bars before alluded to are for the purpose of inducing the bees to
build parallel combs; for without this, extraction would be impossible.
It is a great convenience, in many ways, to be able to take out a bar
of comb, it gives such complete control over the hive.

To ensure comb-building on the bars, pieces of clean worker comb should
always be carefully preserved; and before a swarm is put in, either
every bar, or if guide comb is not plentiful, every other bar should
have a piece fixed to it in the following manner: cut a piece of clean
empty comb of the required size, say two inches square, not less;
heat a common flat iron, and slightly warm the bar with it, then melt
a little bees-wax upon it; draw the comb quick over the heated iron,
hold it down on the centre of the bar, giving a very slight movement
backwards and forwards, then leave it to grow cold; and if cleverly
managed, it will be found to be firmly attached. Care must be taken
that the pitch or inclination of the comb be the same as it is in the
hives--upwards from the centre of each comb. A new plan has lately
been introduced by Mr. Woodbury, of Exeter, to facilitate the correct
construction of parallel combs.


TAYLOR'S AMATEUR BAR HIVE. No. 4.

Taylor's Amateur Bar Hive is stocked exactly in the same way as before
described--viz., by hiving the swarm into the lowest box A, as with an
ordinary Cottage Hive, and in a fortnight's time the box B is placed
over it, and the zinc slides withdrawn. After this has been given them,
and is nearly filled, the super B is raised, and the box C is placed
between, immediately over the stock box, to induce the bees to continue
the combs.

This hive consists of three boxes, one above the other, similar to the
No. 3. The boxes are less in diameter than the foregoing, and have
seven moveable bars in each. Recent improvements and observations led
Mr. Taylor to prefer eight bars, and to have the boxes made a little
more shallow.

The mode of stocking and management of this hive are the same as that
last described. There is no outside cover or protection from the
weather, but the wood is additionally thick and is well painted.

We quite concur with Mr. Taylor in recommending a broader and shallower
hive, and advise intending purchasers to select the eight-bar hive in
preference.


NEIGHBOUR'S IMPROVED COTTAGE HIVE. No. 5.

[Illustration]

Our "Improved Cottage Hive" is neatly made of straw bound with cane,
and therefore very durable.[3] The lower hive is covered with a wooden
top having in it three holes, through which the bees convey their honey
into three middle sized bell glasses with ventilators, which when
filled hold about 6 lb. each. There is a hoop at the bottom, another
round the top of the lower hive; to this the wooden crown board is
fastened. These hoops are a great improvement, and are less liable to
harbour insects than if straw alone were used. The floor-board, as
its name implies, is a wooden board, 1¼ inch thick, with a projection
of 3 or 4 inches under the entrance to form an alighting place. This
entrance is cut out of, or sunk in the board.

[Footnote 3: This is the hive referred to by the Bee-Master of the
Times, when he says:--"The second kind of hive I alluded to is made of
straw, and may be purchased at Neighbour's, in Holborn. * * * * It is
so well made that it will last very long. I have had one in constant
use during ten years, and it is still as good us when it was bought."]

There are three windows in the lower hive, each closed with a shutter,
these are very useful and interesting for inspecting the progress made.
Across the centre window is a thermometer, enclosed at the sides by
slips of glass. The window shutters being painted green, add very much
to its appearance. The upper hive, which is merely a cover for the
glasses, is a conical topped hive, also made of straw bound with cane;
a hoop is worked into the straw, and made sufficiently large to allow
the cover to drop over the top hoop of the lower hive, keeping the
whole close, and preventing wet from drifting in. A zinc ventilator,
ornamentally painted, forms the apex: this is useful in letting the
confined hot air pass away in warm weather. The ventilator is opened
by raising it. The dimensions of the lower or stock hive are 15 inches
diameter, 9½ inches deep outside, its weight when empty 7½ lbs., the
cover or top hive is 12 inches deep, and 15 inches in diameter, the
ornamental zinc top being 4 inches deep. The whole is about 24 inches
high. The weight of a hive packed, including glasses, &c., is about 18
lbs.

These hives have a tasteful appearance in the garden, but they require
some further protection from the weather in the form of a cover or of a
bee-house--contrivances that have yet to be described. In extreme cold
weather, a little additional protection by having matting folded round
them will be advisable.

One of the advantages this hive has over the common cottage hive is
that it affords opportunity for the humane management of bees. The
owner has also the power of taking a glass of honey-comb of pure
quality, free from the extraneous matter, known as "bee-bread," instead
of combs that are darkened by having brood hatched in them. By this
system, we have combs newly made and used only for depositing the honey
first put into them, hence the name "virgin honey." These glasses have
a very pretty appearance, and when nicely filled, are very convenient
for home use or for making presents. The lower hive is the receptacle
for the bees; when a swarm is placed in this hive, they immediately
proceed to fill it with combs, in which to store honey for themselves,
and for cells to breed in. This hive remains undisturbed.

The best mode of tenanting a hive of this description is by placing
an early and strong swarm in it, which may be generally procured of
a neighbouring bee-keeper; if from a distance, considerable care is
necessary to admit plenty of air; the shaking attendant upon carriage
irritates the bees so much that, if not well ventilated, there is
danger of the swarm being stifled, and the finer the swarm, the greater
the danger. For the purpose of ventilation, remove the slides and
substitute perforated zinc, wrapping the hive up in a coarse cloth of
open texture (dispensing with the floor-board during transit when the
distance is great).

It is necessary only to send the lower or stock hive to the party
furnishing the swarm, taking the precaution to fix the slides at top
with tacks, as the hive has to be inverted to receive the bees. They
are shaken into it in the usual manner, as they cluster around the
branch of the tree or shrub on which they may have chosen to alight.
After the hiving is accomplished, the hive should be left near to
catch any stragglers, for there will always be a few; towards evening,
close the entrance, and remove them to the exact position they are
intended permanently to occupy. Success depends on this, and also on
their careful removal on the day or evening of swarming. The following
morning the bees labour in the new location, marking well their
habitation before they take flight, and to which they will not fail to
return loaded with luscious store.

A fortnight must be allowed for filling the stock hive; then, if the
weather be fine and warm, they will prepare to swarm again, as will be
indicated by the thermometer rising rapidly to 100 degrees or upwards;
one of the zinc slides on the wooden top must now be withdrawn, and a
bell glass put on covered and protected by the upper hive, the other
glasses may then be given in the same manner; a day or two after which,
should the weather continue favourable, all signs of swarming will at
once disappear, the bees now having increased store room which they
will readily fill with comb. It is often found useful to attach a piece
of clean empty honey comb to the ventilating tube of the glass; it is
an attraction, and induces the bees to commence working in it sooner
than they otherwise would do. The ventilator should also remain open
during the day to allow the hot air to pass away from the interior,
thereby contributing to the whiteness and beauty of the work; the bees
enjoy the refreshment of coolness thereby afforded, and they work the
faster for it. At evening all ventilation should be stopped, and the
glasses wrapped round with flannel or some warm material, for the
reasons mentioned on last page.

The directions for taking honey are also the same as before mentioned.

The holes on the wooden top of this hive are of a peaked shape, being
a preventive against slaughtering any bees whilst pushing the slide
in for the purpose of removing the glass when full; the tacks before
alluded to should be removed from the slides when the hive is fixed in
its place, they are now in the way of cutting off the glass. The hive
entrance has two slides: the perforated one is but seldom required,
the bees object to being closely confined, it is only necessary when
removing, and then for as little time as possible; the other slide
is very serviceable during the winter months to lessen the passage
way, thereby preventing the admission of too much cold air; it is
also occasionally useful on a summer evening, to lessen the entrance
when moths are troublesome, for if there be only a small opening, the
bees can guard it, and easily repulse intruders. During the time of
gathering they require the whole width to remain open.

When the weather is so unfavourable as to prevent the bees leaving home
for a few days after being hived, it will be necessary to feed them.
Bees should not be fed in the midst of winter; the proper time is in
the autumn or in the spring.

The best mode of feeding is at the top of the Stock Hive. This is done
by using the Round Feeder.

The Bottle Feeder may be used instead of the Round Feeder, and in the
same place, by those who give the preference to that method.

The simplicity and easy management of this hive have deservedly
rendered it an especial favourite, combining, as it does, real utility
with many conveniences to satisfy the curious. Not a few bee-keepers
desire to unite the two qualifications, and no hive combines these
advantages in a greater degree than "Neighbour's Improved Cottage Hive."


IMPROVED COTTAGE HIVE. No. 6.

The No. 6 hive is of precisely the same size, construction, and
management as the last mentioned, with the exception that it has no
windows or thermometer in the lower or stock hive. The apiarian with
this hive will have to trust more to his own judgment as regards the
likelihood of swarming, and must watch the appearance the bees present
at the entrance. When it is time to put on supers in order to prevent
swarming, premonition will be given by the unusual numbers crowding
about the entrance, as well as by the heat of the weather, making it
evident that more room is required for the increasing population.

Not being able to form an idea of the state of the hive in spring and
autumn by looking into the stock hive, it will be advisable to adopt
the means of weighing. A stock at Michaelmas should weigh 20 lbs.
exclusive of the hive, or be made up to that weight by feeding.


THE LADIES' OBSERVATORY OF CRYSTAL BEE-HIVE. No. 7.

[Illustration]

This engraving illustrates the construction of the "Ladies Observatory"
hive. The stock hive cylindrical with a flat top and a hole in the
centre; the dimensions 12½ inches inside, 8½ inches deep, the outer
cover being raised, and is made of stout glass, so as not easily to
break.

A support, composed of seven wooden bars fixed on a pedestal from the
floorboard, is very useful for the bees to cling to and attach their
combs, instead of resting wholly against the glass.

The floor-board is of mahogany, the border being French polished. A
middle sized bell-glass for deprivation is placed over the hole; this
hole may be closed by a zinc slide. A cover of straw, 18 inches deep,
15 inches wide, with a zinc ventilating top similar to that affixed to
the No. 5 hive, completes the arrangements. The weight of the stock
hive and board is about 16 lbs.

This hive is well adapted for those persons who are desirous of having
the opportunity of more closely examining the workmanship of these
industrious and interesting insects, as the whole of the interior
may be exposed to view; it is particularly suitable for a window or
an indoor apiary, and also will be found a valuable addition to the
green house. Under these circumstances, the entrance-way should be
covered with a flat piece of glass, and an aperture cut in the sash
corresponding with the entrance to the hive; through the glazed passage
the bees may then find egress and ingress without being able to gain
access to the apartment; an alighting board four inches wide must be
fixed outside on a level with the entrance.

We had a hive of this kind in operation in the Great Exhibitions
of 1851 and 1862, fixed in the manner above described. It answered
admirably, and excited much interest and curiosity, though placed there
under many disadvantages.

When a hive of this kind is to be stocked, procure an early and strong
swarm, which must be temporarily hived in a common straw hive, from
which dislodge the bees into the glass hive, but for this purpose a
little preparation will have to be made. Spread a sheet on the ground,
place the mahogany floorboard on it with the support, put three bricks,
or some solid blocks of about the same substance, upon which the glass
will rest; then with a sharp and sudden blow precipitate the swarm out
of the straw hive on to the floorboard and support, place the glass
hive on the bricks, and the bees will collect under the bars and on
to the pedestal. In about one hour's time the whole will have settled
quietly, and all the stragglers on the board will have collected
together, the swarm hanging pear-shaped from the bar support; the
bricks can now be removed, and the glass put in its right place on the
floorboard. The straw cover being put on the hive, it can be removed to
the place it is destined permanently to occupy.

The light should not be admitted for some days after hiving; if
undisturbed, the bees will speedily build comb, working from the wooden
bars which are placed there for their assistance and support. In ten
days or a fortnight, if the weather continues fine and warm, they will
prepare to swarm again; the opening at the top must now be unstopped,
and the bell-glass put on, guide comb having been previously fixed.
The directions given for the No. 5, Cottage Hive equally apply to the
Ladies' Observatory Hive.

It is advisable in winter to furnish the glass stock hive with more
protection from cold than is afforded by the straw cover alone; some
thick baize or wrapper of wadding, for which there is space between
the glass hive and the cover, will prevent so much moisture condensing
on the sides of the glass. Moisture is injurious, causing the combs
to grow mouldy; a little protection in the way of wrapping very much
prevents this.

The hole at top is used for supplying food should the apiarian fear the
stock of honey is in danger of running short; either the bottle feeder,
or the round feeder, may be used for the purpose.


COTTAGER'S HIVE, No. 8.

FOR TAKING HONEY IN STRAW CAPS WITHOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BEES.

[Illustration]

A very prevalent opinion exists that bees do better in straw than in
hives made of any other material. Another opinion prevails, viz., that
the old fashioned straw hive is the least expensive, the most simple,
and the most productive. Although we cannot go so far as this, we are
willing to admit that a simplified adaptation of the humane system to
the old common straw hive is the most suitable to put into the hands
of that large class of bee-keepers--_Cottagers_. By these the more
fanciful hives will be instantly condemned; besides, the expense puts
them quite beyond the reach of the poorer class. The object aimed at
in planning our Cottager's Hive has been to furnish a depriving hive
that should be at once easy of management, inexpensive, and convenient.
The stock hive, into which the bees are first hived, is a round straw
hive, having a flat top with a hole in the centre. The size of this
lower hive is 7 or 8 inches deep, 14 inches across the bottom, finished
with a wooden hoop, which adds very much to the firmness and durability
of the hive. The floorboard is 1¼ inch thick, with a way sunk therein
for the entrance. A small round mat of straw closes the hole on the
top; this mat may be fixed by wooden pegs. We have now described what
is termed the _stock hive_, which is, in fact, an old fashioned straw
hive adapted, modernised, and improved to the more humane, viz., the
depriving system. The weight of the stock hive with its floorboard is
about 7 lbs.

The super or cap hive is about 7 inches deep, 8 inches in diameter, and
when filled contains about 10 lbs. of honey and comb. A glass window
which is placed at the side is useful for inspecting the progress made
in filling it.

A common straw hive, sufficiently deep to cover, drops over the super,
keeping the window dark and fitting close on to the stock hive.
This cover hive may be made fast by driving in two skewers, one on
either side, to keep the whole firm. Unless placed in a bee-house or
under a shed, the outside should be painted; or a piece of oil-cloth
or waterproof covering of any kind shaped so as to shoot off the
rain, will save the trouble of paint, and answer the purpose. If no
protection of this sort is used, the rain is likely to rot the straw.
As a covering cottagers often use straight stiff thatching straw
sewed together; this contrivance is termed a hackle, and has a pretty
appearance, particularly if a number of hives are in a row. Care has to
be exercised that mice do not make the covering hive a resting place.
Mortar is often used for fastening round the hive at the bottom; this
is a bad plan, as it forms a harbour for insects; the wooden hoop fits
so close as to leave little necessity for anything of the kind.

The principle of the depriving system is so much the same with all our
hives, that a good deal of repetition is necessary in describing in
detail the management of each separate variety. The object aimed at
with the Cottager's Hive, as indeed with all our hives, is to provide
a compartment for the bees to live in with their queen, she being the
mother of all. It is intended, by inducing the queen to remain in her
original apartment, that all breeding should be there performed, as
well as the storing of bee-bread and honey for the winter sustenance
of the bees. The cap hive or upper chamber, known as the "super," is
for the storing of honey which the bee-keeper looks upon as a surplus,
and which, at the close of the honey gathering, or as soon as filled,
he intends to deprive the bees of, and appropriate to his own use,--of
course taking care to leave sufficient in the lower or stock hive for
winter sustenance.

The mode of stocking a hive of this kind is so familiarly known that
any who at all understand the hiving of bees into a common straw hive,
can make no mistake or find any difficulty in performing it. Lest these
pages should fall into the hands of persons who are not so acquainted,
we will refer them to the directions already given.

The hive may be smeared inside with a little honey if at hand; but this
is unimportant, as a clean hive answers well. Some older bee-keepers
prefer to give a little dressing to encourage the bees to like their
new home.

After the swarm has been in the hive two weeks, the straw super hive
may be put on, first removing the straw mat to give the bees access
to it. If the hive be a stock, that is a swarm of the last or previous
years, the super may be put on as soon as the weather is fine and warm
in May. But much depends on the weather and the strength of the hive
as regards the time occupied by the bees in filling the super; in
favourable weather a fortnight suffices.

If, on looking in at the little window, the bee-master sees that the
cells are scaled over, the cap of honey may be removed in the mode
already described. The cells near the window are the last to be filled,
so when they are sealed, it is safe to conclude that the combs in the
unseen parts are also finished.

Sometimes the queen ascends and deposits her eggs; if, on turning up
the super, brood be visible, replace the cap for a few days, until the
young bees quit their cells. When thus emptied, honey will be deposited
in lieu of the brood.

Suitable pedestals for these hives to stand upon may be obtained. It is
important that these be firmly fixed, and the hive also made fast to
the stand, to prevent its being blown over by high winds.


BAR AND FRAME HIVES.

[Illustration]

Mr. Woodbury's Bar and Frame Hive, as originally made, consists of a
wooden box 14½ inches square inside, 9 inches deep. This is a hive of
large size, but the actual habitable space inside is lessened by the
room occupied by the frames, of which there are ten; these rest on a
rabbet a little below the surface, leaving a space of ⅜ of an inch
between the upper side of the bars and the crown board. This allows a
free passage on the top for the bees, entirely obviating the necessity
of making excavations in the crown board, as has hitherto been
recommended. Each frame is ⅞ of an inch wide, and rests in notches,
with a space of ½ an inch between each. The frames extend to within ⅜
of an inch of the floorboard, so as to hang without touching any part,
leaving about the same distance from the sides. It will be seen that
there is a free passage for the bees on every side, and they are thus
kept from coming in contact with the sides of the hive. Our engraving
shows the hive open, and exposes to view the top of the ten bars and
frames as they range from back to front. A window is also shown; this
is placed in the engraving over the entrance, but the proper position
would be just opposite. The drawing is made so as to show back and
front at once. The floorboard is 1¼ inch thick, having two "keys" on
the underside to prevent warping.


STRAW BAR AND FRAME HIVE. No. 45.

[Illustration]

Since the introduction of the wood hive by Mr. Woodbury, that gentleman
has recommended, in the _Journal of Horticulture_, that the stock hive
be made of straw, of exactly the same dimensions; this material being
warmer in winter, slightly ventilating, and allowing of absorption.
Bees during cold weather cluster together to generate the requisite
degree of heat, the temperature of the interior of the hive being thus
so much higher than the external atmosphere, a good deal of moisture
condenses at the top and on the sides of the hive; the straw, as before
stated, prevents this dampness hanging about the hive, and tends to
keep the inmates more healthy. Dampness in a hive is a fruitful source
of mischief, causing empty combs to grow mouldy, and is injurious in
many ways.

The square straw hives, and a machine for making them, exhibited in the
Austrian department of the International Exhibition of 1862, suggested
the idea of employing that material for English bar and frame hives.
We have had made a machine somewhat similar to the one exhibited and
suited to the size of our hives, by which our hive maker is able to
manufacture neat square straw hives. These have a wood frame at top an
inch deep, with the requisite notches to allow the ten comb frames to
hang. A similar frame forms the base, the straw being worked between.
The floorboard is 1¼ inch thick, "keyed" with stout keys as before
mentioned. An inch projection is left on all sides beyond the exterior
of the hive, from which it is slightly chamfered down. An entrance 4
inches wide is cut out of the substance of the board, beginning at the
edge, and continuing on the same level until inside the hive, where it
slopes upwards. This entrance is about ⅜ of an inch high where the hive
crosses it.

These straw hives have been generally made without windows; as Mr.
Woodbury and other scientific apiarians so prefer them. They consider
that glass windows are unsuited for winter, because then moisture
condenses on the glass. There is no doubt that the having a peep
hole or two in a hive adds very agreeably to its value for amateur
bee-keepers, and to meet the wishes of such, we have had straw hives
constructed with windows. It is not every one who would like to lift
out the frames as often as is necessary for an inspection of the state
of the colony, nor, perhaps, is it advisable to be often thus meddling.
The windows have also a very neat appearance. We have hives with one,
and some with two and three windows; of course, a little extra expense
is incurred where these are made; but that is not objected to by those
who approve of the additional convenience. The crown board (if correct
to call a straw top by that name) has, like the hive, a frame of wood
all round, and a square piece of wood in the centre, with a two inch
hole; this hole is for the purpose of administering food in a mode to
be explained hereafter. A circular block of wood, 4 inches in diameter,
closes the opening.


GLASS BAR AND FRAME HIVES.

[Illustration]

Some bee-keepers like to be able to make a full and daily inspection of
the hive; we have therefore prepared a few hives, constructed of wooden
frames enclosed on all sides and on the top with window glass. The
dimensions are precisely the same as those before mentioned, and allow
of the same number of bars and frames (ten). The crown has a round hole
cut in the glass to admit of feeding. The four sides are constructed
of double glass, to preserve the bees from variations of temperature.
We cannot, however, recommend this hive for a winter residence for
the bees; we should prefer lifting the combs out with the bees, and
placing them in a straw hive of similar construction, to pass through
the ordeal of the winter season. A stock of bees might be kept through
the year in a hive of this kind, but would require well wrapping round
to keep out the cold. There should be a small glass over the hole at
top so as to allow the moisture to arise and condense, instead of
doing so in the hive. The operation of exchanging the hive is so easy,
that we should be content to place a stock in one, say, from April to
September, and shift it in the autumn. Such a hive is a very pleasing
object of interest, as in it the whole commonwealth of bees is exposed
to view; and the hive need not be obscured from daylight, provided it
be protected from sun and rain. All the external wood-work is of oak
colour varnished, so that the appearance of the "Glass Bar and Frame
Hive" is extremely neat and much approved of.

[Illustration]

Frame.--As before mentioned, each stock hive has ten of these
frames, each 13 inches long by 7¼ inches high, with a ⅝ inch projection
at either upper end, which rests in the notch, either back or front.
The width both of the bar and frame is ⅞ of an inch; this is less by
¼ of an inch than the bar recommended by the older apiarians. Mr.
Woodbury,--whose authority on the modern plans for keeping bees is of
great weight,--finds the ⅞ of an inch bar an improvement, because with
them the combs are closer together, and require fewer bees to cover
the brood. Then, too, in the same space that eight old fashioned bars
occupied the narrower frames admit of an additional bar, so that, by
using these, increased accommodation is afforded for breeding and the
storing of honey.

[Illustration: Section of bar.]

Improved Comb Bar.--Mr. Woodbury says that this little
contrivance has proved very effectual in securing straight combs when
guide combs are not obtainable. The lower angles are rounded off,
whilst a central rib is added of about ⅛ of an inch in breadth and
depth. This central rib extends to within ½ an inch of each end, where
it is removed in order to admit of the bar fitting into the usual
notch. All that is necessary to insure the regular formation of combs
is, to coat the underneath surface of the central rib with melted wax.
Mr. Woodbury further says, "my practice is to use plain bars whenever
guide-combs are attainable, as these can be attached with much greater
facility to a plain than to a ribbed bar; but whenever I put in a bar
without comb, I always use one of the improved ones. By this method,
crooked and irregular combs are altogether unknown in my apiary."

Most of our bars are made with the ridge; but should any of our
customers prefer the flat ones, we keep a few to supply their
requirements.

With the moveable "bar and frame hive" every comb is available for
extraction, and may easily be taken out of the hive; each comb being
fixed within its frame, there is less disturbance to the bees than if
the combs were fixed to the sides, as is the case with ordinary hives.
A strip of wood, about ½ an inch wide, rests on the floorboard; in this
strip are ten notches, made to receive the lower part of the frames, so
as to retain them in their places at equal distances from each other.
A difficulty is found with a well stocked hive in dropping the frames
into the exact notches, so that it is not necessary to have these
rack works always in use; but when any movement of the hive is made,
it is essential to have the frames firmly fixed by the aid of this
contrivance. It is also advisable to have the frames perpendicularly
supported until the combs are built, so in order that the frames should
hang true, the hive ought to be on the level. A little inclination may
be given to it from back to front, causing the hive slightly to fall
towards the entrance, so as to allow the moisture inside the hive,
caused by the exhalations of the bees, to run off.

[Illustration]

"Compound Bar Frame."--In the _Journal of Horticulture_,
Mr. Woodbury thus describes the compound bar frame. Being his own
adaptation, we cannot do better than use his own words. "This is a
contrivance of my own, which I have found very advantageous in enabling
me to use frames in stock hives and bars in supers, without forfeiting
the advantages arising from the unlimited interchangeability of every
comb in every hive and super in the apiary. Its construction will be
readily understood by an inspection of the annexed sketch, in which the
comb bar is shown slightly raised from its frame. The bar itself is
13¼ inches long by ⅞ of an inch wide and ⅜ of an inch thick. When the
comb bar is in its place, the whole forms a frame 13 inches long by 7¼
inches high (inside measure), with ⅝ of an inch projection at each end,
which rests in its appropriate notch in either the back or front of the
hive. When filled with comb, the bar becomes so firmly cemented to the
frame as to admit of its being handled with facility." This contrivance
is, no doubt, very excellent in the hands of Mr. Woodbury; but in the
hands of the unpractised severe mishaps may arise. In warm weather the
propolis and wax, with which the bees cement the bar to the frame,
becomes soft, consequently in handling the frames, unless dexterity is
used, the comb is likely to drop out. We, therefore, recommend that
the bar and frame be made both in one: greater firmness and simplicity
are thereby gained. Some of these compound bars and frames are kept
in stock at our establishment, though they cannot be recommended for
general use; but should any one prefer them, they can be supplied at
the same price as the common frames.

[Illustration]

In describing the stock hives of wood, straw, and glass, allusion
has frequently been made to the depriving hives, technically called
"supers." These are also made of glass in wood frames, 13 inches
inside, 6 inches deep, with eight bars (without frames). The
accompanying cut represents the super used with the bar and frame hive.

Honey-combs in supers are better when made thicker than those for
breeding, consequently the bars are placed a little further apart than
in the lower or stock hive; they are either the "Woodbury Ribbed,"
contrived to induce the straight building of combs, or flat bars with
guide combs affixed.

Cover.--A loose outer case, forming a complete cover for
the hive, is found very useful. The case is made in two parts for
convenience, the roof is also separate, having an acorn at top which
forms a neat finish. These outside cases are made of wood, and drop
lightly over all; when thus protected and fixed on a pedestal, the
hive may be placed in the open air in such position as fancy may
dictate. The aspect should be south or south-east, and if against a
wall, sufficient space must be allowed for a free passage behind, as it
is from thence all operations must be conducted by the apiarian. The
case and roof with the stand being the only parts exposed to weather,
will be the only portions that require painting; they are sometimes
stained and varnished, and we are inclined to prefer the latter for
appearance. Should the apiarian have a complete bee-hive house, the
cover and stands will not be needed.

[Illustration]

When removing or replacing the covers, care should be taken to do so
very gently, or the bees will be enraged and rush out, and may inflict
stings upon those within their reach. The necessity for lifting off
the cover for the purpose of looking in, either at the window of the
stock hive or of the super, we have obviated by making a door both in
the upper and lower parts of the outside case. These doors, or unglazed
windows, are hinged at the bottom so as to open downwards, rendering
inspection easy without disturbance to the bees.

A wooden range for supporting a number of hives makes a safe and
economical stand; it may be formed by driving firmly into the ground
two rows of posts, each row about 13 inches apart; to these two rails
about 2 inches square are nailed, and upon these the hives firmly rest.
Care should be taken not to have the hives nearer together than 18
inches; the intermediate space will be found very convenient on which
to rest the cover, or for supporting an empty hive during the proper
performance of any operation.

Mr. Woodbury has his hives arranged on rails, somewhat after the plan
before described.

In describing as above the various hives and frames, some hints have
been given as to the methods of handling them. This, however, will not
suffice for an induction to the mysteries of practical bee-keeping; and
we must refer the reader to a subsequent section, wherein the details
as to manipulation will be fully explained, and the results of the
experience of several distinguished apiarians will be embodied.


TAYLOR'S IMPROVED COTTAGE HIVE. No. 14.

[Illustration]

No. 14 hive is similar in principle to No. 8. It is also similar in
size, with the exception of being quite straight at the sides. A zinc
rim affords protection from the weather. Under the upper straw hive a
bell glass is worked. A mahogany adapting board, with a 4 inch hole
in the centre corresponding with that of the hive, supplies an even
surface for the glass to rest on, and facilitates its removal when
full. For particulars for stocking and management see directions for
No. 8 and No. 5 hives.


EIGHT-BAR STRAW HIVE. No. 18.

[Illustration]

This is an ingenious contrivance of Mr. Taylor's. Hoops are worked in
the straw, both at top and bottom of the stock hive, and in the upper
hoop are openings cut to receive eight comb bars; each bar is 1¼ of an
inch wide, with a space of h an inch between. Since the introduction of
square straw bar and frame hives, these have not been much in request.
Considerable inconvenience is found with this hive, because the bars
being of unequal lengths they cannot be interchanged one with the other.

The description given of No. 3 hive, and mode of stocking and
furnishing it with guide comb, apply to this hive. The large straw hive
raised up in the engraving is an outside case; the roof is a large zinc
cover. If placed in a bee-house, the outside case and zinc roof are not
required.


NEIGHBOUR'S UNICOMB OBSERVATORY HIVE. No. 20.

[Illustration]

This hive is well adapted for those persons who are desirous of
having the opportunity of closely examining the workmanship of these
industrious and interesting insects. It is particularly intended
for a window recess or an indoor apiary; and will also be found an
interesting addition to the green house. An aperture should be cut in
the sash corresponding with the entrance to the hive, through which the
bees may find egress and ingress, without being able to gain access to
the apartment, as on the plan in the case of the Ladies' Observatory
Hive.

The Unicomb Hive is constructed of so narrow a width between this
plates of glass that it admits of one comb only to be built, and at the
same time leaves space between the comb and the glass on either side
for the bees to pass and repass. It is thus made so that every bee may
be exposed to view. The queen forming the most prominent feature of
attention, she is readily distinguished by the greater length of her
body, as well as by the attention paid to her by the other bees.

The mode of stocking this hive is as follows:--procure a strong swarm
if practicable, and let it be first hived into a common straw hive in
the usual way. Take care to make the necessary preparations previous
to the operation of stocking; for this purpose first unscrew the top
and take out the bar intended for the foundation of the comb. A sort
of wooden trough, contrived to act as a funnel, is provided with this
hive. It is in separate pieces, so as to be packed conveniently, and
requires screwing together. The funnel must now be attached to the
hive, and care be taken that it is quite firmly fixed--the metal plates
are attached for this purpose. Having made these preparations at dusk,
dash the bees out on to a cloth or sheet spread on the ground, place
four pieces of wood so as to raise the hive a little from the cloth;
then invert the hive so as to have the funnel downwards, placing it
over the bees, and letting it rest on the four pieces of wood just
named. In a short time (say half an hour or an hour) the bees will
ascend into the hive; they will go up more quickly if occasionally
stirred with the feather of a goose quill.

When the bees have ascended into the hive, take off the funnel, replace
the bar, screw on the top board, take it to the place intended for it
permanently to occupy, and which has been prepared for it. It will be
as well to screen the hive from view for a few days until the bees
become settled in their new domicile. Although this hive is constructed
of double glass to keep up a more uniform degree of warmth, still from
the cold nature of glass and the close contact into which the bees
are brought with it, it is advisable to place flannel between the
outer shutters and the glass of the hive on both sides; this is found
essential in winter, and very much adds to the comfort of the bees if
placed so every cold night during most of the year. In the day time
in summer months with the hive being of double glass the whole may be
fully exposed to view. If the temperature of the apartment in which the
hive stands be kept at 60 degrees, this extra attention will not be
so needful. Bees cease to appear disturbed when the exposure to light
is continuous. As soon as the bees are settled, comb building will
immediately commence, and in about two weeks' time there will be one
comb spreading over the whole hive. The queen may be viewed depositing
her eggs, and all the usual operations of the rearing of brood,
storing of honey, and the building of combs, will be open to full
inspection, with perfect ease to the spectator. As an object of lively
and permanent interest for the breakfast parlour or conservatory, the
"Unicomb Observatory Hive" may be regarded as infinitely superior to an
Aquarium or Fernery.

At the Exposition Universelle of 1855 in Paris, we exhibited a hive
of this description in full working order. The bees left London on
the 5th of July of that year, and were placed in the Exposition on
the following morning. An entrance was made for them through the
side of the building, as before explained. Our bees had no national
antipathies, and they immediately sallied forth to their "fresh fields
and pastures new" in the Champs Elysées, the gardens of the Tuileries,
the Luxembourg, &c., whence they soon returned laden with luscious
store from French flowers.

The Jurors of the Exposition awarded us a Prize Medal for bee-hives.


WOODBURY UNICOMB HIVE.

[Illustration]

The "Woodbury Unicomb Hive" has many advantages over hives of this kind
as previously constructed. The engraving shows the interior compartment
divided into six; these are six Woodbury frames. The inner sash opens
to admit of hanging up the frames on the notches prepared for them. The
width of the hive between the glasses of the sashes is just sufficient
to admit of one thickness of comb with space on either side for the
bees to pass and repass, the same as in Neighbour's Unicomb. There
is, however, a great advantage in the use of this hive; with it, any
one possessing a Woodbury box or straw bar and frame hive can readily
commence a Unicomb, and as readily put the combs and bees back into the
square hive again. The outside shutters on either side are composed of
Venetian blinds admitting daylight, but obscuring the rays of the sun.
We had the entrance made at one end, as represented in our drawing;
this alteration was made after the pattern of the hive from which Mr.
Woodbury allowed us to copy. His own was intended to stand wholly out
of doors, and had two central entrances, one on either side at the
bottom, the hive itself turning on a pivot.

When the hive was being examined on one side, the entrance was closed
by a piece of wood inserted in it, and when the other side was brought
round to be inspected, the piece of wood withdrawn and placed in the
opposite entrance. This was a most ingenious contrivance; but it did
not answer our purpose for indoors. When Mr. Woodbury sent us his
hive, we were preparing for the International Exhibition of 1862, and
in placing it against the sides of the building, we followed our old
plan for ingress by having the entrance at the end. Since that time
we have made a considerable improvement by adapting Mr. Woodbury's
cleverly contrived turn-table to suit our own hive. Like Mr. Woodbury's
hive, ours has two iron wheels, the one fixed to the bottom of the
hive, the other fixed to a stout board running the full length of the
hive; on these two wheels the whole hive turns. In the centre there is
an opening into the hive, with a passage-way running underneath, so
that the bees' entrance is in no way affected by the position of the
hive, which revolves to suit the convenience of visitors inspecting it.
Should the queen with her attendants not be visible on one side, the
other side of the comb can be brought into full view, and examined with
the same facility as a picture, or as articles are inspected in a shop
window. Thus, in the Unicomb Observatory Hive, the sovereign mother,
her train of servitors, the drones with their aimless movements, and
the crowd of ever busy workers--either building their combs or storing
honey--may be always seen as presenting a veritable "Tableau vivant."

Another improvement that we have made upon Mr. Woodbury's pattern is
that of accommodating the frames; his was constructed before frame
hives were in use, consequently it is only suitable for combs on bars.
Our adaptation has necessitated an increase in size. The dimensions are
nearly 3 feet square and 7 inches deep from back to front. Provision is
made at top for feeding and for working two small flat top glasses for
deprivation, which are protected by the weather board.

An alighting board is placed at the centre, close under the entrance,
when the hive is located out of doors. When the hive is placed indoors,
a passage-way about 18 inches long, covered with glass, is fixed to the
entrance, the other end communicating with an opening in the wall or
sash; through this the bees find access, an alighting board being fixed
outside the building. It is requisite that the passage-way be about
this length, in order to allow of the hive turning round clear of the
side of the building.

In the summer of 1863 we had ample proof of the success of this hive
during its exhibition at the annual show of the Bath and West of
England Agricultural Society at Exeter. We selected six combs, and
packed them in one of the square box "Woodbury bar and frame" hives,
and on arrival at Exeter, Mr. Woodbury assisted us in taking out the
frames and placing them in the Unicomb. That being fixed against the
boarded side of a shed, we found the covered way a great convenience,
and it answered remarkably well; the bees did not seem to be
inconvenienced by having to travel through so long a passage. A glass
covering admitted a full view of the little labourers as they crowded
in, and the sight of them very much enhanced the interest of visitors
examining the hive.[4]

[Footnote 4: It may require explanation how it was that we took bees
to Exeter, which sounds something like "carrying coals to Newcastle."
The reason was this--the garden of our friend, Mr. Woodbury, at Mount
Radford, from which we could have been supplied, was so near to the
show yard that he was apprehensive a large number of the bees would
return to their old hives. Our bees from a distance would, according to
their nature, return to their own hive, for bees although they may be
moved miles away, take care to mark their new position, and are careful
to return to it. Mr. Woodbury lent us a small stock of his Ligurian
bees, and between it and our own hive the crowd of visitors divided
their attention.]

Since the time before mentioned, we have exhibited bees at the meetings
of the Bath and West of England Agricultural Society at Bristol, and of
the Royal Agricultural Society at Newcastle in 1864. On both occasions
further proof was given that this hive admirably answers the purpose
intended, and it afforded pleasure and interest to many thousands of
visitors.

Mode of Stocking.--The Unicomb hive may be stocked in two
ways, which have been previously referred to. The bee-keeper may either
select the comb upon which the queen is found and put it into the hive,
and so form an artificial swarm; or he may take six brood-combs from a
hive, and so stock the "Unicomb" at once, which we did for the show at
Exeter.

The former plan is, perhaps, the most advisable, because new comb
has to be built within the five frames; for, be it remembered, in
this case five empty frames must be put in. It is a better plan still
if artificial combs are placed in each frame so as to afford an
interesting opportunity of watching the formation of the cells therein.
The combs are sure to be dark in colour when taken from a stock hive;
and new combs being whiter have a better appearance in the hive. The
comb upon which the queen was introduced may be taken away after the
artificial swarm has made combs within some of the other five frames;
when the queen is on one of the new combs, opportunity may easily be
taken for opening the hive and removing the old dark comb. The bees can
easily be shaken or brushed off the comb, and will return to the hive.
The comb with the unhatched brood may be deposited in any square hive
that needs strengthening. We mention this to show how to obtain a hive
with entirely fine white comb.

If the possessor of a square Woodbury frame-hive wishes to start a
strong Unicomb hive, and does not object to appropriate the stock, he
must take out of the Woodbury hive any six combs on the frames, and put
the Unicomb in its place so as to receive all the returning bees that
happen to be abroad; the remaining four combs, supposing there are ten,
may be inserted in any other frame hives in the garden in which are
vacancies for them.

We have had this hive in operation, in the manner last described,
during the summer of 1863, and found it to answer remarkably well. On
a lawn, placed on a suitable ornamental stand, it formed a pleasing
object, besides affording great interest and instruction.

In Unicomb hives stocked with a natural swarm (as is generally the
plan), there is considerable difficulty in keeping the bees alive
through the winter. In a hive where the combs are removeable, no loss
of bees need be occasioned. We do not recommend the hive we are now
describing as a winter residence for bees. For four months in the
year, when bees are most active and when their operations are most
interesting, this hive may be brought into use, either of the two plans
before described being adopted. An artificial swarm should be put in
during May or June, and taken out, in the method before mentioned, and
then placed in the square box during the month of September; sometimes
it may do for a stock to be put in a month or so earlier, but should
never be retained later in this hive. In October we often have cold
nights; the bees and brood being in such close contact with the glass,
and not able to cluster as is their natural wont, suffer from exposure
to the variations of temperature. In some degree to moderate this. Me
have used treble glass with a space between each square; greater warmth
is thus attained, and the view is not intercepted. Opportunity should
be taken for cleaning the Unicomb hive when empty, so as to be ready
for re-stocking as a new hive in the following summer. The "Unicomb
Observatory" hive is one which might have been suggested by the lines
of Evans:--

    By this blest art our ravished eyes behold
    The singing masons build their roofs of gold.
    And mingling multitudes perplex the view,
    Yet all in order apt their tasks pursue;
    Still happier they whose favoured ken hath seen
    Pace slow and silent round, the state's fair queen.


HUBER'S HIVE. No. 19.

To Francis Huber--not improperly styled the "Prince of
Apiarians,"--we are indebted for more extensive and accurate
observations on the habits of the Bee than has been contributed by all
other observers since the time of Aristotle.

During the early period of Huber's investigations, he prosecuted them
by means of single comb hives which allow of each side of the comb
being examined. He found, however, that these had one important defect.
The bees could not in these hives cluster together, which is their
natural method of withstanding the effects of a reduced temperature.
Huber hit upon the ingenious expedient of combining a number of single
comb frames so as to form one complete hive, which could be opened in
order to expose any particular comb, without disturbing the rest. From
the manner of the opening and closing of this hive, it has generally
been called the "Leaf or Book Hive." The division separating each
comb is joined both back and front with "butt hinges," fastened with
a moveable pin, on withdrawing which, at either side, each comb and
the bees on it may be inspected as easily as if in a single comb
hive. Huber's Leaf Hive is thus in appearance as if several of those
"History of England" back-gammon chess boards were set up on end
together. The floorboard on which the hive stands is larger than the
hive when closed, so as to allow of its being opened freely at any
particular "volume." An entrance way for the bees is hollowed out of
the floorboard as in other hives. There is a glass window in each end
of the hive, which is provided with a shutter.

There is, however, one serious objection to Huber's hive, which,
though not noticed by him or his careful assistant, has prevented its
general use. That is, the difficulty there is in closing it without
crushing some of the bees, a catastrophe which, by exasperating their
comrades, is certain to interfere with any experiments. There is no
such risk in the Bar and Frame Hive, whilst in it every facility
possessed by Huber's is retained; so that we strongly recommend
scientific apiarians, in preference to Huber's, that they should use
some kind of Bar and Frame Hive. We have here introduced a description
of Huber's Leaf Hive (and should be glad to exhibit one) for the sake
of its historic interest in connection with apiarian science. The
invention was invaluable for Huber himself, and it suggested to other
apiarians the adoption of the present plan of vertical bars and frames.

The character of Huber, and the circumstances under which he pursued
his observations, are so remarkable, that we need scarcely apologize
for stating a few particulars respecting him here. He was born at
Geneva in July, 1750, his family being in honourable station and noted
for talent. Just as he attained to manhood he lost his sight, and
remained blind to the end of his days. This apparently insuperable
obstacle in the way of scientific observation, was overcome by the
remarkable fidelity with which Burnens, his assistant, watched the
bees, and reported their movements to Huber, Madame Huber also who,
although betrothed to him before his calamity, had remained constant
in her affection, assisted in the investigations with great assiduity
during their long and happy wedded life. We quote the following from
"Memoirs of Huber," by Professor de Candolle:--

"We have seen the blind shine as poets, and distinguish themselves as
philosophers, musicians, and calculators; but it was reserved for Huber
to give a lustre to his class in the sciences of observation, and on
objects so minute that the most clear-sighted observer can scarcely
perceive them. The reading of the works of Reaumur and Bonnet, and
the conversation of the latter, directed his curiosity to the history
of bees. His habitual residence in the country inspired him with the
desire, first of verifying some facts, then of filling some blanks
in their history; but this kind of observation required not only
the use of such an instrument as the optician must furnish, but an
intelligent assistant, who alone could adjust it to its use. He had
then a servant named Francis Burnens, remarkable for his sagacity
and for the devotion he bore for his master. Huber practiced him in
the art of observation, directed him to his researches by questions
adroitly combined, and aided by the recollections of his youth, and by
the testimonies of his wife and friends, he rectified the assertions of
his assistant, and became enabled to form in his own mind a true and
perfect image of the manifest facts. 'I am much more certain,' said he,
smiling, to a scientific friend, 'of what I state than you are, for you
publish what your own eyes only have seen, while I take the mean among
many witnesses.' This is, doubtless, very plausible reasoning, but very
few persons will by it be rendered distrustful of their own eyesight."

The results of Huber's observations were published in 1792, in the form
of letters to Ch. Bonnet, under the title of "Nouvelles Observation
sur les Abeilles." This work made a strong impression upon many
naturalists, not only because of the novelty of the facts stated, and
the excellent inductive reasoning employed, but also on account of the
rigorous accuracy of the observations recorded, when it was considered
with what an extraordinary difficulty the author had to struggle.

Huber retained the clear faculties of his observant mind until his
death, which took place on the 22nd of December, 1831. Most of the
facts relating to the impregnation of the queen, the formation of
cells, and the whole economy of the bee-community as discovered
and described by Huber, have received full confirmation from the
investigations of succeeding naturalists.

[Illustration]




III. EXTERIOR ARRANGEMENTS AND APPARATUS.


BEE-HOUSE TO CONTAIN TWO HIVES. No. 39.

[Illustration: Front View of Bee-House.]

There is no contrivance for protecting hives from the weather so
complete as a bee-house one, which also admits of an easy inspection of
the hives ranged therein. This arrangement is especially convenient for
lady bee-keepers.

The folding doors behind the bee-house have only to be opened, and the
hives are at once exposed to full view. If the cover of the bee-hive
be lifted as well as the shutters opened, the hives and the glasses
may be deliberately inspected, without any danger of molestation from
the bees. Thus the progress made by the busy multitude in building and
filling their combs may be watched by the bee-keeper, from day to day
with great and increasing interest.

[Illustration: Back View of the Interior.]

Here our engraving shows the back view of the bee-house, the interior
being furnished with two of our 'No. 5 cottage hives. Two suspended
weights will be noticed; these are to balance the top hives which cover
the glasses; the cord for each, runs on pulleys, so that the covers can
be easily raised and as easily shut down again when the inspection is
finished. We may here remark, that it is not well to keep the glasses
long exposed to full light and view.

The front of the bee-house being closely boarded, a passage way is
contrived for the bees by which they have egress and ingress, without
being able to gain access to the house. The hives must be kept close
to the front boarding of the house, so as to prevent the opening of
any crevices which the bees might mistake for the entrance to their
hives, and so find their way into the house. The front view of this
bee-house shows the ordinary contrivance for entrance; the sliding zinc
entrances may also be advantageously fixed as shown in the engraving of
a "Bee-house to contain twelve hives." In many parts of the country,
hives and honey are sometimes stolen from the garden; the bee-houses we
furnish have a lock and key to prevent depredations of this kind.

Care must be taken to keep the bee-houses free from spiders and other
insects. In some districts ants are numerous and troublesome. The plan
we recommend for excluding them is to put some pitch round the four
supports of the bee-house; or, better still, strips of loose flannel or
other woollen material that is absorbent, which have previously been
soaked in lamp-oil. We use sperm oil, being the slowest drying oil we
know of. A piece of string will keep the flannel close to the wood,
and then neither ant or any other insect will pass up; so that by this
simple means the hives may, so to speak, be insulated and placed beyond
their reach. As the oil dries up it can easily be renewed. We have
found this an effectual remedy against these insidious enemies of bees.

[Illustration]


BEE-HOUSE TO CONTAIN TWELVE HIVES. No. 40.

[Illustration: Back View of the above, showing the Interior.]

Where economy of room is a consideration, we fit up bee-houses with a
double row of hives, one above the other. Our engravings show the back
and front of a house of this kind, having an ornamental zinc gutter to
prevent the wet from dripping on to the alighting board.

When a number of hives are thus together, we colour the alighting
boards differently, so that bees may have a distinctive mark by which
each may know its own home, and not wander into its neighbour's house.
Bees readily enough receive a honey laden labourer into a hive; but if
the wanderer be poor and empty, he will be promptly repulsed, and may
have to forfeit his life for his mistake. Queens returning from their
wedding trip, are liable to mistake their hive if all the entrances are
so much alike that a noticeable difference is not easily apparent.
A queen entering a hive already supplied with a fruitful sovereign
would be certain to be killed. The loss to the hive to which the queen
belonged is a most serious one. Hives are often made queenless from
this cause, and thereby reduced to utter ruin; the bee-master perhaps
attributing his loss to something altogether different.


BEE-HOUSE TO CONTAIN NINE HIVES. No. 41.

[Illustration]

This engraving represents a bee-house adapted for having a number of
hives in a limited space. Three rows of hives, one above the other.

We do not recommend a bee-house of this construction; it is difficult
to erect one to afford space for super hives, without it being so
inconveniently high as to be liable to be blown over by strong winds.

Hives thus located in a bee-house are not exposed to so much change
of temperature and the stocks generally pass the winter well. Here we
may introduce the meditations of a German apiarian, as he describes
the advantages of a bee-house for the bees, and his own pleasure in
watching over his pets in the winter, as they dwell so comfortably and
safely. It is true that Heer Braun associates still choicer delights
with the simple pleasures of bee-keeping, but as Mr. Woodbury has not
excluded the higher theme from his translation, we need not hesitate to
quote the whole:--

EVENING THOUGHTS IN JANUARY.

(_Translated from the German of_ Adalbert Braun.)

By "A Devonshire Bee-keeper."

    Within my little garden
      Stands also a bee-house,
    And bees therein protected
      From sly tomtit or mouse.

    How quietly they're sitting!
      And little trouble give,
    Beyond the needful watching,
      How undisturb'd they live;

    That all, indeed, are living
      In strong unbroken health,
    And, in the brood-nest hanging,
      Consume their hoarded wealth--

    That in the dwindling store-room
      Sufficient stores remain,
    Until the rape-plant donneth
      Its blossom dress again.

    Thus daily do I visit
      My garden and my bees,
    Neglecting thereby often
      My dinner and my ease.

    Thank God! they all were humming
      Within their hives to-day;
    Nor could I find a symptom
      Of hunger or decay.

    And yet what ardent longing
      I feel, O Spring, for thee!
    My darlings' gleesome frolics
      Are happiness to me!

    How would this anxious longing
      Consume my very breast,
    But for a little being
      So full of love and jest.

    In heat or cold who prattles
      Around me ev'ry day,
    And stills the throes of longing
      By commune blithe and gay.

    Ye bee-keepers can value
      A joy that is complete;
    It is my wife--the darling--
      Whose lips are honey-sweet.

    With e'en the richest bee-stand
      Were joy and pleasure gone,
    If my heart's queen were wanting
      And I left here alone.

    Thus her I love and honour.
      No difference have we,
    But oft-times go together,
      Our little pets to see.

    Her kisses sweet removing
      All sorrow from my breast,
    And honied joys surrounding
      Proclaim us highly blest.

T. W. Woodbury, _Mount Radford, Exeter_.

[Illustration]


[Illustration: Exterior of an Apiary.

As originally erected in the Zoological Gardens, Regents Park.]

[Illustration: Interior of the above.

May be taken as suggestive for the construction or appropriation of
rooms for larger Apiaries in summer houses or other outbuildings.]


ZINC COVER. No. 37.

[Illustration]

This is a simple and inexpensive covering for a No. 5, or other cottage
straw hive when exposed in the garden. It fits close on to the upper
hive, coming sufficiently low to protect from the sun and rain, without
obscuring the whole hive.

These covers are painted green, that colour being generally preferred.


ORNAMENTAL ZINC COVER. No. 38.

[Illustration]

The annexed engraving of the Ornamental Zinc Cover renders but little
description necessary. The illustration shows one of our No. 5 improved
cottage hives on a stand. Three clumps of wood must be driven into the
ground, and the three iron rods supporting the covering made fast to
them with screws. There are screw holes in the feet of the iron rods
for the purpose; when thus secured, but little fear need be entertained
of its being blown over by high winds.

In the roof two pulleys are fixed, so that by attaching a cord, the
upper hive covering the bell glass supers may be raised with facility
for the purpose of observing the progress made by the bees.

The Ornamental Zinc Cover will form a pleasing object in the flower
garden when placed in a suitable position on the grass plot. It is
painted green; the iron rods are of such a length as to support the
roof at a convenient height from the ground.


COVER OF ZINC. No. 29.

[Illustration]

This zinc cover introduced by H. Taylor, Esq., for his cottage hive
(No. 14) will also be found useful as a protection from wet for many
other descriptions of round straw hives.


BELL GLASSES.

[Illustration: 25.]

[Illustration: 26.]

[Illustration: 27.]

25. To contain 10 lbs., 10 inches high, 7 inches wide.

26. To contain 6 lbs., 7 inches high, 5½ inches wide.

27. To contain 3 lbs., 5 inches high, 4 inches wide.

These bell glasses are used in the hives before described. No. 25 is
for Nutt's Hive (No. 1); No. 26 is for our Improved Cottage Hive (No.
5); No. 27 is a very small glass, one that is not often used, and which
we do not recommend. Bees will generally fill a middle sized glass
quite as soon as one so small as this.


BELL GLASSES. No. 24.

[Illustration]

These glasses have been introduced by Mr. Taylor, and are recommended
as preferable to deep narrow glasses.

The drawings will show that they are straight at the sides, flat at the
top inside, with a knob outside to take hold by, through which is an ½
inch opening to admit a ventilating tube.

The larger is 6 inches deep, 12 inches wide; smaller 5 inches deep, 9½
inches wide.

[Illustration]

The late Mr. J. H. Payne, of Bury, author of the "Bee-keeper's Guide,"
introduced another glass. It has a 3 inch hole in the centre, the
purpose of which is to tempt bees to produce additional and larger
stores of honey. It is to be used as follows:--when a bell glass is
half or quite filled, raise it, and place the Payne's glass over the
hole of the stock hive, with the filled glass on it over the 3 inch
hole. The bees will bring their combs through, and thus Mr. Payne found
that they would store more honey than if the bell glass were removed
and another empty one put in its place. Of course the first glass must
be smaller in diameter than the Payne's glass, so as to rest upon it.


BELL GLASS. No. 28.

[Illustration]

This is a glass super to be placed on the hive in a similar way to
the bell glasses already alluded to. It has the advantages of being
straight at the sides, flat at top, and without a knob; so that when
filled it may be brought on to the breakfast table, inverted, on a
plate. The glass lid shown in the engraving forms a cover, and fits
over outside, so as not to interfere with the combs within. These flat
top glasses, like those with a knob, have a hole through which a zinc
ventilating tube is inserted.


GUIDE COMB FOR GLASSES.

In some of our previous allusions to the best mode of inducing bees
to commence working in glasses, we have recommended attaching guide
comb. We will now more particularly explain how this attraction can be
best applied. We have already shown how bees may be induced to make
use of guide combs fixed to bars, and the same principle is applicable
to glasses. These may be filled with great regularity by adopting the
following directions, which we believe have never before appeared in
print:--

Procure a piece of clean new empty worker honey-comb which has not had
honey in it (because honey will prevent adhesion to the glass); cut
it up into pieces of about three quarters of an inch square. Gently
warm the exterior of the glass; this we find is best done by holding
the glass horizontally for a short time over the flame of a candle;
then apply one of the pieces of empty comb inside at the part warmed,
taking care in fixing it that the pitch or inclination of the cells is
upwards--in fact, place the guide comb in the same relative position
that it occupied in the hive or glass from which it was taken. There is
some danger of making the glass too warm, which will cause the comb to
melt, and the wax to run down the side, leaving an unsightly appearance
on the glass; this should be carefully avoided, and a little experience
will soon enable the operator to determine the degree of warmth
sufficient to make the comb adhere without any of it being melted. It
is hardly necessary to state that only the very whitest combs ought to
be used. A short time should be allowed before changing the position
of the glass, so that it may cool sufficiently to hold the comb in its
place. Six or eight pieces may thus be fixed, so that when the glass is
filled, it will present a star shape, all the combs radiating from the
centre. The annexed engraving shows the appearance of a glass as worked
by the bees, in which guide combs were fixed in the manner described
above. The drawing was taken from a glass of our own filled after being
thus furnished.

[Illustration]

In the Old Museum at the Royal Gardens, Kew, may be seen a Taylor's
glass presented by us, some of the combs in which are elongated on
the outside to the breadth of six inches. We believe that not only
does a glass present a much handsomer appearance when thus worked--and
will, on that account, most fully reward the trouble of fixing guide
comb--but that more honey is stored in the same space and in less time
than if the glass be placed on the hive merely in a naked condition for
the bees to follow their own devices.

This mode of fixing guide comb does not solely apply to this shaped
glass, but is equally useful for all kinds of glasses. It is introduced
in connection with No. 28, because that glass having a flat top and no
knob, the regularity is more clearly apparent.

The working of bees in the bell glasses illustrates how tractable their
disposition really is if only scope be allowed for the due exercise
of their natural instinct. They have no secrets in their economy, and
they do not shrink from our constant observation as they daily pursue
their simple policy of continuous thrift and persevering accumulation.
Yet it is only owing to the labours of successive inventors that
we are now enabled to watch "the very pulse of the machine" of the
bee-commonwealth:--

   "Long from the eye of man and face of day,
    Involved in darkness all their customs lay,
    Until a sage well versed in Nature's lore,
    A genius formed all science to explore;
    Hives well contrived, in crystal frames disposed.
    And there the busy citizens disclosed."--Murphy's _Vaniere_.


THE NEW BOTTLE FEEDER. No. 44.

[Illustration]

It has long been acknowledged that the best mode of feeding bees is
through an opening at the top of the stock hive. The "new bottle
feeder" is a simple and good means of administering food when a stock
requires help in that way. Any kind of hive that has an opening at the
top may thus be fed; bees can take the food from it without leaving the
hive. Another important feature is the cleanliness with which liberal
feeding can be accomplished; and few operations require more care than
does feeding. If liquid sweet is left hanging about the hive, it tempts
robber bees, and when once the bees of an apiary have had a taste,
there is no knowing where their depredations will stop; they resolutely
attack and endeavour to rob other hives, fighting and killing one
another to a considerable extent. Even if no hives be completely
destroyed, weakness from loss of numbers will be the portion of most,
if not all, the hives in the garden.

The morals of our favorites are here a good deal at fault, for the
strongest hives, when their inordinate passion is thus stirred up
by the carelessness or want of knowledge of the bee-keeper, attack
and prey upon the weak. To be "forewarned is to be forearmed"--and
"prevention is better than cure." We strongly recommend closely
covering up the feeder; one of the middle size bell glasses put over it
makes a close fitting cover, should the regular cover to the hive not
be sufficiently tight: when bees are not kept in a bee-house--and are
on that account more accessible--this extra care is more particularly
needed. The right time for feeding is in the autumn or spring. A stock
of bees at Michaelmas ought to weigh 20 lbs. exclusive of the hive, and
if then it weigh less, the deficiency should be made up by artificial
food. It is not wise to defer doing this until later in the season,
because it is important that when the food is placed in the cells, the
bees should seal it up, and a tolerably warm temperature is required to
enable them to secrete the wax for the delicately formed lids of the
cells. If the food remain unsealed, there is danger of its turning sour
and thereby causing disease among the bees. It is not well to feed in
mid-winter or when the weather is very cold. Bees at such times consume
but little food, being in a state of torpor, from which it is better
not to arouse them.

A little food in the spring stimulates the queen to lay more
abundantly, for bees are provident, and do not rear the young
so rapidly when the supplies are short. In this particular the
intelligence of bees is very striking; they have needed no Malthus to
teach them that the means of subsistence must regulate the increase of
a prosperous population:

    "The prescient female rears the tender brood
     In strict proportion to the hoarded food."--Evans.

Judgment has, however, to be exercised by the apiarian in
giving food, for it is quite possible to do _mischief by over feeding_.
The bees when over-fed will fill so many of the combs with honey that
the queen in the early spring cannot find empty cells in which to
deposit her eggs, and by this means the progress of the hive is much
retarded, a result that should be guarded against.

The following directions will show how the bottle feeder is to be
used:--Fill the bottle with liquid food, place the net fixed on with an
India-rubber band over the mouth, place the block over the hole of the
stock hive, invert the bottle, the neck resting within the hole in the
block; the bees will put their proboscises through the perforations and
imbibe the food, thus causing the bottle to act on the principle of a
fountain. The bottle being glass, it is easy to see when the food is
consumed. The piece of perforated zinc is for the purpose of preventing
the bees from clinging to the net, or escaping from the hive when the
bottle is taken away for the purpose of refilling. A very good syrup
for bees may be made by boiling 6 lbs. of honey with 2 lbs. of water
for a few minutes; or loaf sugar, in the proportion of 3 lbs. to 2 lbs.
of water, answers very well when honey is not to be obtained.


ROUND BEE FEEDER. No. 10.

[Illustration]

Round bee-feeders are made of zinc and earthenware; 8 inches across, 3
inches deep. The projection outside is a receptacle for pouring in the
food; the bees gain access to the feeder through a round hole, which
is placed either at the centre or nearer one side, whichever may best
suit the openings on the top of the stock hive. The feeder occupies a
similar position to that of the glasses or cap hives in the gathering
season. A circular piece of glass, cut so as to fit into a groove,
prevents the bees escaping and retains the warmth within the hive,
whilst it affords opportunity for inspecting the bees whilst feeding.

The feeders were originally only made of zinc; but some bee-keepers
advised the use of earthenware, and a few have been made to meet the
wishes of those who give the preference to that material.

When the bees are fed from above in this manner, the feeder is kept at
a warm temperature by the heat of the hive. In common hives cottagers
feed the bees by pushing under the hive thin slips of wood scooped
out, into which the food is poured. This plan of feeding can only be
had recourse to at night, and the pieces of wood must be removed in
the morning. By feeding at the top of the stock hive any interruption
of the bees is avoided. For further instructions on this head see the
directions given for using the bottle feeder.


A ZINC FOUNTAIN BEE FEEDER. No. 15.

[Illustration]

We invented the fountain bee-feeder so that a larger supply of liquid
food might be given to a hive than is practicable with the No. 10 round
feeder.

The liquid honey is poured in at the opening, which unscrews; whilst
being filled, the inside slide closing the opening through which
the food passes into the feeding pan, should be shut down. When the
reservoir is filled, the screw is made fast, and the slide being
withdrawn, a wooden float pierced with small holes, through which the
bees take the food, forms a false bottom, and rises and falls with the
liquid. This feeder being on the syphon principle, like a poultry
or bird water-fountain, is supplied from the reservoir until that is
empty. A piece of glass is fixed in the side of the reservoir, in order
that the bee-keeper may see when it is emptied. A flat piece of glass
on the top prevents the bees from escaping, and through it they may be
inspected whilst feeding. The bees find access to the feeder on to the
perforated float through the central round hole, which is placed over a
corresponding hole in the stock hive.


NUTT'S DRAWER FEEDER. No. 9.

[Illustration]

This is the feeding drawer, alluded to in the explanation of the
management of the No. 1 Nutt's Collateral Hive, for feeding at the
bottom of the middle or stock box. The feeder is made of tin, and of a
square form, so as to fit the drawer (see page 19).

HONEY CUTTERS. No. 13.

[Illustration]

Honey Cutters are used for removing comb from boxes and glasses without
damaging it. The flat bladed knife is for disconnecting the combs from
the sides; the hook shaped one is for the same purpose, to be applied
to the top or horizontal part of the box or glass.


FUMIGATOR. No. 11.

[Illustration]

This Fumigator is a tin box, somewhat like a pepper box upon a foot.
It is a simple adaptation of the fumigating apparatus described by Mr.
Nutt, and is used in the following manner. Have a straw hive or other
vessel ready, that will match in circumference the hive intended to be
fumigated. If the empty hive have a conical top, it will not remain
crown downwards without a rest; in this case, it will be convenient to
invert it on a pail. Having ascertained that the hive to be operated
upon and the empty one in its reversed position nearly match in size,
take half a packet of the prepared fungus, fire it well, and place it
in the box or fumigator; placing this in the centre of the empty hive,
then bring the occupied hive directly over, so as to receive the fumes
of smoke. To keep all close, put a wet cloth round the place where
the two hives meet. In a minute or two the bees may be heard dropping
heavily into the lower empty hive, where they lie stupefied. After a
little while, the old hive may be tapped upon to make the bees fall
more quickly. On removing the upper hive, the bees from it will be
found lying quiet at the bottom of the lower one. Place a sheet on the
ground, and spread the bees on it, then with a feather sort them over,
in order to pick out the queen-bee. As soon as the queen is found,
then pour the rest of the lethargic swarm from off the sheet back into
the inverted hive again. The stupefied bees must now be sprinkled
freely with a syrup made of honey and water, or sugar and ale boiled
together. Some apiarians recommend a few drops of peppermint to be
mixed with the syrup, in order to drown the peculiar odour which is
special to each hive of bees,--this is more necessary when two hives
of bees are fumigated and whilst under the influence of smoke are well
mixed together. The hive containing the bees with which it is intended
to unite the stupefied bees, must now be placed on the top of that
containing the latter, just as the hive was from which they have come.
A wet cloth must be fastened round the two hives, so as to prevent
any of the bees from escaping. The hives in this position must be
placed where they are not likely to be knocked down or meddled with.
The fresh bees in the upper hive, attracted by the scent of the bees
besmeared with honey, go down and commence to lick off the sweets from
the sprinkled sleepy ones. The latter gradually revive, when all get
mingled together, and ascend in company to the upper hive, where they
live as if they had not been separate families.

The two hives should be left undisturbed for twenty-four hours, then
the upper hive may be removed and placed immediately on the spot from
whence it was brought. The reason the queen is recommended to be taken
is to prevent any fighting.

The queen should be kept alive and fed as long as she will live, in
case any harm should befall the sovereign of the other community.


THE FUMIGATOR. No. 12.

[Illustration]

The Fumigator is useful for several purposes. When a frame hive has to
be disturbed it is requisite to raise the lid and blow a little smoke
into the hive, so as to check the angry passions of the bees. If it be
desirable to stupefy the bees, ignited fungus must be placed in the
box, and the flattened end applied to the entrance of the hive; the
smoke is then blown in--either with bellows or by applying the mouth
of the operator,--taking care to close all openings through which the
smoke can escape. The bees fall down stupefied, generally in about ten
minutes, but the effect varies according to the populousness of the
hive and the quantity of comb in it. The projected operations must now
be performed speedily, as activity will soon be regained. See preceding
directions.



THE BEE DRESS OR PROTECTOR. No. 31.

[Illustration]

All operations connected with the removal or the hiving of bees
should be conducted with calmness and circumspection. Bees, although
the busiest of creatures, have great dislike to fussiness in their
masters, and become irritable at once if the apiarian lets them see
that he is in a hurry. Hence, there is great advantage in having the
face and hands covered whilst at work amongst the bees; for when the
operator knows he cannot possibly be stung, he can then open his hives,
take out the combs, gather in his swarms, or take the honey, with all
the deliberation of a philosopher. Various kinds of bee dresses have
been contrived; one that we keep ready in stock is of very simple
construction. It is made of strong _black net_, in shape like an
inverted bag, large enough to allow of a gentleman's wide-awake or a
lady's hat being worn underneath. The projection of the hat or cap
causes the dress to stand off from the face; and the meshes of the net,
though much too small for a bee to penetrate, are wide enough to allow
of clear vision for the operator. An elastic band secures the dress
round the waist; the sleeves also--made of durable black calico--are
secured at the wrists by a similar method. The hands of the bee-master
may be effectually protected with a pair of India-rubber gloves, which
should be put on before the dress is fastened round the wrists. This
kind of glove is regularly used by photographers, and allows of perfect
ease in manipulation.

Thus a very simple and inexpensive means of protection will enable
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 "breed" 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 them to a pitch of exasperation. Their
powers of smell are very acute. The best time for most operations is in
the middle of a fine day.


ENGRAVED PRESSING ROLLER. No. 46.

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 like the diagram shown.
The wax having been spread on the flat bar, the roller, heated by being
put into hot water, is then heavily pressed over it. The roller has
two wood handles, so that considerable pressure may be given to it.
The roller is a little less than 2 inches in diameter, ⅞ of an inch
wide, and the length from handle to handle is 6 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 COMB.

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 handy-work 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 fourteen
pounds 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 favorites. 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 bars are 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, join 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 easily be cut off; an opening of full 11
inches long can be made without materially weakening the bar and frame.

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
on bars.

The secretion of wax, and the method of its adaptation by the bees, is
thus admirably described by Evans:--

    Thus filtered through yon flatterer'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.




IV. MANIPULATION AND USES OF BAR AND FRAME HIVES.


Having at page 36, 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 floorboard, 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 sheets 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 permanently to occupy."

No one should attempt these operations without being protected by a
_bee dress_, and a pair of India-rubber gloves,--such as those used
by photographers,--which are sting proof. Some persons also take the
precaution of tying strings round the ankles of the trowsers, 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
trowsers 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. Artificial comb (see page 70) is often used, and has
this advantage, that the combs are certain to be straight and regular,
besides the saving in material to the bees.

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 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 page 71). 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 deprive them of it as before described.

Taking out Frames with Combs.--It is well for a beginner to
practice 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, pour out and
attack the operator. This and all other operations ought be done 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 so as to do better in
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 bill! 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 No.
12 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 introduced by having at hand a little sweetened water,
which may be sprinkled, or rather let drop from a feather or 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, and must be carefully avoided. It,
of course, depends upon what the operation is 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) a little 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, bear 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 the hive from which the comb has been taken,
should 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, so that the bees that are bred in them are
correspondingly reduced in size. After the lapse of say five years, it
may be necessary to begin to remove 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 there
is in watching and expecting a swarm to come forth, fearful lest his
favorites 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 moveable 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.

An empty hive should be placed on the stand when the living hive is
removed, for the purpose of amusing returning bees. If the hive is
kept in a bee-house, the entrance should be shut down unto the hive is
restored, when the clustered bees may be at once admitted.

When such is the state of the hive, the facility of forming an
artificial swarm with a moveable 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 having on bee-dress
and the other appliances ready, may now open the hive as before
described, and proceed to take out the frames, carefully examining
both sides of each comb to find the queen: 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 may be upon it--in the
centre of the empty hive; then 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 artificial swarming; subsequently Mr. Langstroth and others have
described a similar process, no doubt originally, as far as they knew,
therefore still more useful to us as a confirmation of the value of Mr.
Woodbury's discovery.

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.[5]

[Footnote 5: See Section 1, page 5.]

The foregoing account illustrates the successful formation of an
artificial swarm; but with a cottage hive it was quite a matter of
accident to have been able to get possession of the queen. With a
moveable 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 attained 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 to go in the least
degree contrary to nature. We know that when a natural swarm issues
forth it has its impregnated queen, and when located in a new abode
commences building worker combs, and leaves 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 containing the queenless or 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 abode,
which, as before stated, they will do with worker cells.

By adopting the plan above described, the moveable bar and frame hive
will prove far superior to any of the dividing hives, which provide for
equal division of the combs.

Perhaps the greatest advantage the moveable 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 may be 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.

Hives found to be queenless may be supplied either with matured queens
or with queen cells. If the latter are sufficiently numerous, their
introduction may easily be effected by exchanging a comb in each hive;
if they have to be cut out and placed loosely in the new hive, a
triangular piece of comb should then be removed with them, to be used
as a block in preventing any pressure coming on them. A space must be
cut out of the middle in the centre combs of the hive into which they
are to be introduced. Special care must be taken not to bruise the
royal embryos, as they are particularly sensitive to pressure.

A very great advantage that the Woodbury bar and frame-hive possesses,
is the safety and convenience with which a stock of bees can in it
be transported to any part of the kingdom; and, by a few additional
arrangements, stocks have 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 floorboard and a clean hive to breed in, free from insects
that may have harboured in crevices about the hive. 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, that the bees seem to
progress faster. Perhaps a little stirring up may be useful in arousing
them from the winter doze; the time we recommend for doing this is 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 floorboard;
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 No. 12 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 puff's of smoke being blown in
amongst the bees, will cause them to retreat up amongst the combs. The
bee-master will now turn the hive[6] 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.

[Footnote 6: 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 till 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 good 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 to resort to the fumes of
sulphur for the purpose; for the bees from whom their 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. Per 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 60), the other by driving (see page 84). 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. 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, which may be done on the plan
explained in the articles on "Fumigation" and "Driving."

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, and 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 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 pounds, 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.




V. 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; sometimes 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, the
safest and best retreat is a green bush. Thrust your head into this,
and 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. 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. From the sheath
is projected the dart, which is double, each half of it piercing
alternately deeper into the wound made by the sheath. The dart is
barbed on each side, so that the bee when very angry is scarcely ever
able to withdraw it:--

    "Deems life itself to vengeance well resigned;
     Dies on the wound, and leaves the sting behind."

If the patient who receives the sting could only take it patiently, it
would not prove half the inconvenience to him that often is the case.
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 homœpathically 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 larvæ
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. The bee with its fore legs then brushes
it off, and moulds it into the pellet shape suitable for carrying it in
the "baskets" or grooves on its thighs. 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," which 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 nurselings of the hive. A German pastor, Heer
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, most bee-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 so much 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, that it would prove more
fruitful than its fellows. On this account the orchard is a good place
for an apiary, for it seems--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 secreted from the honey in the
bodies of the bees, on which it forms in thin flakes. 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 extracting of the 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
hive 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 on 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 the flowers are that the bees
prefer; and there are certain well established conclusions as to the
kind of district and season 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 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 proboscis 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, the 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--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. 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. 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 "honey-dew,"
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 to them. 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.

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 wasps 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. 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 entrances of other hives.

This season (1864) we have 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 proboscis of the common
bee, 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.[7]

[Footnote 7: 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 Mr. Hermann's offer, we received a
consignment of Italian Alp bees, being 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 Mr. 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 Mr. 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."

Poor Hermann himself did not profit by the discovery of the mine. His
enthusiasm for the culture of the Alpine bee instead of wafting him
to El Dorado appears to have driven him to the prosaic retreat of a
debtor's prison. By the latest accounts we learn that--his ardent
spirit chafing against his incarceration,--he had made an attempt to
escape, and in doing so, fell from the prison walls and broke both
legs. We understand that he has since died.

In the pamphlet referred to, Mr. 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-bee_, or tame
house bees, in contra distinction 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 death of M. Hermann, 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, 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.

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. On the other hand, Mr. Woodbury has
to thank the Ligurian bees for the development of his own skill, for
although prior to this he was a valued correspondent to the before
named Journal, his commencement of scientific bee-keeping must be dated
from the time of their introduction.

We now add to the other testimonies already cited, that of Mr. Woodbury
as to the superior qualities of the Ligurian bees. The following is
extracted from a 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. 88 lbs. of the finest honey-comb,[8] 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 8: This super was exhibited at our stand in the International
Exhibition of 1862.]

After such decided 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.


LIVING BEES AT THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1862, SENDING BEES TO
AUSTRALIA, &c.

[Illustration]

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 a 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.

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, 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 those 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. Many
of his operations with them were regarded as feats of legerdemain
by the uninitiated, as when he appeared before the 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, 2s.; the other seats. 1s."

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 both
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 corner 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 enquiry 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 practiced in many districts, has such a notable effect on the honey
harvest.

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 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 license 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 our 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 last autumn a super of fine honey from the
apiary of Shirley Hibberd, Esq., the proprietor and editor of the
_Gardiner's Weekly Magazine_. It is 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. A friend of ours 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, in 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 year, 1864, 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 No. 5 hive as described at page 31, 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 wasp's 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.

The season of 1864 was most productive for the increase of these prime
pests of the apiary, and many hives have severely suffered by their
depredations. When once wasps in any number have gained an entrance
into a hive, the bees can seldom eject them, and the invaders generally
remain until they have freely regaled themselves from the luscious
store. They not only consume the honey, but cause a good deal of worry
to the legitimate inhabitants of the hive, as well as killing the
foremost defenders of it. Wasps being of so much superior strength, it
requires, at least, three bees to master one of them.

Having suffered loss in our own apiary from the attacks of wasps,
we feel it desirable to give a detailed account of our own troubles
from that cause. One of our Ligurian stocks was besieged and worried
by wasps to such an extent, that the bees deserted it on the 5th
of September, (1864). Fortunately, the bees chose a time for their
departure just as we visited the apiary. An unusual turmoil was heard
in the hive, such as is experienced at the time of swarming, and on
immediately examining the entrance, we observed that the bees were
quitting in tumultuous haste. The usual methods that induce bees to
settle were tried--amongst others, that of throwing sand up into
the air, so as it should fall down amongst the bees on the wing;
but they were dispersed in disorder, and their flight extended over
three adjacent gardens. We only discovered the clustered bees by
diligent search, as the sequel will show. Permission being asked of
our next door neighbour, we searched his garden to see if our bees
had alighted there; but found that they had passed over. Making a
similar application to the owner of the garden adjoining, we entered,
having a straw hive in hand, but no bees were there. After looking
diligently all round, and climbing the wall, thereby gaining a view
of the third garden, we perceived in it unmistakable signs of an
unwonted commotion. The occupiers of the house were intently looking
at a particular part of the garden, and there was a dustpan and a key,
with which the master had been "tanging the bees" to induce them to
settle. We quickly made for the proper entrance to the garden, and
soon discovered our little wanderers clustered to a large flower vase.
Our neighbours, however, were sadly disappointed of their prize, for
the gardener had hastily been dispatched into the town to purchase
a hive for the welcome colonists. In depriving our neighbours of so
unexpected and cheaply acquired a treasure, we could sympathise with
their regret, having been much disheartened half-an-hour before at
our own loss; but, of course, we could do no other than claim our own
bees. We gladly agreed to defray the expense of the straw hive that had
been purchased for the sake of our truant swarm. After brushing the
bees into the hive, and leaving it propped up with a stick, in order
that the stray ones might join, we returned home for an hour or so,
to give them time to settle. Judge of our vexation when on returning
to fetch the hive home, we found that the refractory creatures had
again taken flight, and that all the work was to do over again. The
wasps were not to blame for this second flight of the Ligurians; we
judged that the swarm had been disturbed by visits from a colony of
bees that we discovered were living the life of outlaws under the roof
of an adjoining house. Although much disheartened and perplexed, we
at once renewed our search, and, upon enquiry, found that the missing
bees had taken a southerly course across the turnpike road, and it was
therefore necessary to ask permission to search the gardens of the
houses opposite. From one of these we observed, on looking through the
hedge, that the inhabitants of the next house were on the _qui vive_.
On enquiring whether they had seen a colony of bees, the wary old dame
replied that she "had no bees but her own," and added that "they were
very much excited." Having asked permission to go through the hedge
to look at her bees, we soon discovered our Ligurians on the top of
the old lady's bee-house. There was no difficulty in identifying our
own bees; their yellow rings were as good as a private mark. Quickly
hiving the swarm, we took them home, and replaced them in the hive
they had quitted. It was almost destitute of honey; but by liberal
feeding, and lessening the entrance so that only one bee at a time
could find ingress or egress, we succeeded in inducing them to rest in
their old home. Thus nearly half a day's exertion was needed to save a
fine colony, which would otherwise have been utterly lost by the power
of the relentless wasps.

Much watchfulness is needed to prevent the loss of swarms, and the
foregoing incident may serve to suggest the necessity of having hives
so located as to be constantly within view, either from the dining
room, or of those whose duties oblige them to be near the apiary. If
we had not happened to be at hand at the moment this colony started,
it would have been irretrievably lost to us. Many swarms and colonies
are lost simply because the departure takes place without any one
witnessing it. Let us hope that runaway bees may always fall into
the hands of those who are as capable of taking care of them as our
neighbours appeared to be on the occasion we have described.

Another formidable enemy of bees are the moths. These insects are
creatures of the night, as the bees of the day, and they make their way
into the hives under cover of darkness, in spite of the bee-sentinels.
They deposit their eggs in any crevices in or near the hive that they
can find. There the warmth of the hive or of the sheltered situation,
causes the eggs speedily to hatch, and then the maggots soon work their
way to the comb and larvæ food, which they greedily devour, thereby
often bringing about the gradual but certain destruction of the whole
community of bees. The best way of keeping moths outside the hives
is to lessen the entrance, as before alluded to. Also, in the early
spring, the hives should be lifted from their floorboards, which must
then be made thoroughly clean, and all crevices and corners about the
hive and stand should be scraped, so as to get rid of all eggs of moths
and other insects before the warm weather hatches them or enables them
to do mischief. The bee-moth is not so troublesome in England as it
is in America and some parts of Germany; but still its encroachments
should be carefully guarded against in this country, for if not, it may
easily increase to a very serious extent.


DRAINING HONEY FROM THE COMBS.

Those of our readers who prefer eating "run honey" to honey in the
comb, may be glad of some instruction as to the best way of separating
the two. For this purpose, it is better to let the honey run without
squeezing, in order to preserve both its transparency and flavour.

Take a sharp knife, and slice the combs on both sides, keeping the
knife parallel with the partition wall, so that every cell may be laid
open. Place these broken combs in a sieve, or on a piece of muslin
stretched across and tied round the opening of a pan or large mouthed
jar. Allow the honey to flow out of the combs spontaneously, and
reserve the squeezing process for a separate jar, so that the honey of
the first drained jar may be perfectly pure, both in appearance and
flavour. That which has pressure put on it will be waxy in flavour and
thick. Some persons recommend that the opened combs be placed in the
sun, as the heat will cause the honey to run more freely. The great
disadvantage of this is, the temptation the honey will offer to bees,
who will be eager to gain a share. Honey whilst in the combs keeps
remarkably well when left in the supers; if cut out, the combs should
be folded in writing paper and sealed up, so as effectually to prevent
free entrance of air; they should then be placed in a warm dry closet.

Honey, like most vegetable products, should be fresh every year. It
may easily be kept from one season to another; but when kept beyond
that time, unless very carefully stored in a warm temperature, it will
crystallize in the comb, and it is liable to ferment when in jars
separated from the comb.


GENERAL REMARKS.

Every bee-keeper should be a book-keeper; that is, so far as to have a
permanent record of the events of the apiary and the fortunes of his
bees. A book similar to a tradesman's journal would be very suitable
for the purpose. In it he should note down the date of the first swarm
of the season especially, and those of the other swarms also; and in
autumn, the quantity of honey taken from each hive should be entered,
with remarks on the probable size of the various stocks. These
particulars will not only be interesting for the bee-keeper to turn to
in winter, but will be of practical service in enabling him to know the
exact age and probable strength of each stock. The bee-book may also be
contrived to show the total amount of honey that the bees have produced
for their owner, and the net money profit of the apiary. A simple and
clear account Like this--provided, by the bye, that it does show a
satisfactory balance--will be very useful for inducing cottagers and
farm labourers to start bee-keeping. Nothing like ocular demonstration
for this class. The "humane" apiarian will reason with them in vain
until he shows them a monster "skep" of honey, and mentions the price
that it will fetch in the market. When convinced that the depriving
system will pay, the cottager will gladly adopt it.

A writer in the _Quarterly Review_ gives the following good
advice:--"Don't bore the cottager with long lectures; don't heap upon
him many little books; but give him a hive of the best construction,
show him the management, and then _buy his honey;_ _buy_ all he brings,
even though you should have to give the surplus to some gardenless
widow. But only buy such as comes from an improved hive--and you cannot
easily be deceived in this,--one which preserves the bees and betters
the honey. Then, _when you pay him_, you may read to him, if you will,
the wise rules of old Butler," _exempli gratia_:--

  "If thou wilt have the favour of thy bees that they sting thee not,
  thou must not be unchaste or uncleanly; thou must not come among
  them with a stinking breath, caused either through eating of leeks,
  onions, or garlic, or by any other means, the noisomeness whereof
  is corrected by a cup of beer; thou must not be given to surfeiting
  or drunkenness; thou must not come puffing or blowing unto them,
  neither hastily stir among them, nor violently defend thyself when
  they seem to threaten thee; but, softly moving by, thy hand before
  thy face, gently put them by; and, lastly, thou must be no stranger
  to them. In a word, (or rather, in five words,) be chaste, sweet,
  sober, quiet, familiar; so they will love thee and know thee from
  all others."

Allusion having been made to the profit that may be gained by the
judicious management of bees, we will illustrate that point by relating
an anecdote of a certain French _curé_.[9] It is one which may be
suggestive to some of the rural clergy in this country, who might
almost as easily keep an apiary as they do a garden or an orchard.

[Footnote 9: This story, in a disguised form, or--as the writer would
say--an improved form, was quoted in the Cornhill Magazine some time
ago. In transforming the bee-keeping cure into an English clergyman the
effect was cleverly]

A good French bishop, in paying his annual visit to his clergy, was
very much afflicted by the representations they made to him of their
extreme poverty, which indeed the appearance of their houses and
families corroborated. Deploring the sad state of things which had
reduced them to such a condition, he arrived at the house of a curate
who, living amongst a poorer set of parishioners than any he had yet
visited, would, he feared, be in a still more woful plight than the
rest. Contrary, however, to his expectations, he found the appearance
of this remote parsonage to be superior to those he had already
visited. Everything about the house wore the aspect of comfort and
plenty. The good bishop was amazed. "How is this, my friend," said he,
"you are the first pastor I have met with having a cheerful face and a
plentiful board! Have you any income independent of your cure?" "Yes,
Sire," said the pastor, "I have: my family would starve on the pittance
I receive from the poor people that I instruct. If you will walk into
the garden, I will show you the stock that yields me such excellent
interest." On going into the garden, he showed the bishop a long range
of bee-hives. "There," said he, "is the bank from which I draw an
annual dividend, and it is one that never stops payment." His harvest
of honey enabled him almost to dispense with the use of sugar, leaving
him a considerable quantity of it for disposal in the market; of the
coarser portions he made a tolerable substitute for wine, and the sale
of his wax nearly paid his shoemaker's bill. Ever afterwards, when any
of the clergy complained to the bishop of poverty, he would say to
them "Keep bees! keep bees!" In this succinct advice, extending it to
laity as well as clergy in rural districts, we heartily join, believing
that in this country a ten times greater number of hives might be
successfully kept than are now established. In a very practical sense,
the oft repeated lines of Gray are strictly true:--

    "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
     And waste its fragrance on the desert air."

enhanced, especially as to the dismay of the decorous English
prelate in hearing that his poor brother in the Church had turned
"manufacturer;" but then the _vraisemblance_ of the story, as we have
it, was destroyed. An apiary in the garden of every village clergyman
would afford the means of economising this unclaimed bounty of
Providence.

Bees may be very inexpensively and profitably kept in the Cottager's
hive (see page 34), which will be found a very productive one. It is
true that it has not the appliances of windows and bell glasses; for
the cottager is not supposed so much to care for his hives as a source
of amusement; his object in bee-keeping is simply the profit it may
bring. For those of our readers who wish to have united the facility
of observing the bees with that of the plentiful production of honey,
we would especially recommend the "Improved Cottage" hive, described
at page 28. If inclined to go to a little further expense, the hives
numbered 1, 2, 3, and 7, all afford constant opportunity for inspection
of the bees, and allow of their working freely in the most natural
manner.

There are few hobbies which cost so little outlay as the keeping of
bees. Once the "plant" of hives is purchased, there is little, if any,
additional expense, and always a probability of a fair return. If
honey be obtainable, the bees will find it; they work for nothing, and
provide themselves with sustenance, requiring only a very little labour
from their keepers, and that labour is of a pleasing and instructive
kind.

To the advanced and skilful apiarian we would especially commend the
use of the Bar-and-frame hives. With these, as we have attempted to
show, the bee-keeper has a full command over his hives and bees.
Many mistakes, it is true, have been made by uninitiated bee-keepers
in using the more elaborate hives. Being struck with the remarkable
facilities afforded by these superior hives for the extraction of
any one comb, and, perhaps, fascinated with their easy sway over so
highly organized a community, these new-fangled bee-keepers have
acquired a habit of perpetually and incautiously meddling with the
bees. The inevitable results in such cases are distress to the bees,
impoverishment of the stocks, and loss and vexation to the over zealous
apiarian. All these things may be avoided, if it be remembered that
there are first steps in bee-keeping, as well as in croquet, chemistry,
or cricket. In bee-keeping, as in floriculture it is a great point to
know when to "let well alone." There is no florist, however anxious
for a prize, who would be continually pulling up his plants to see
how their roots were growing. Doubtless, the full control which the
bars and frames afford over the inmost recesses of the hives, is a
great temptation to the bee-keeper; but, if he yields too readily to
it, he will imperil his chance of profit, and deprive himself of that
continuous source of interest, which a judicious apiarian always enjoys.

Many persons who are well informed on most subjects, are
extraordinarily ignorant of the natural history of bees, and the
economy of the bee-hive. Perhaps we might venture to suggest that,
more pains should be taken at schools or by parents to inform young
persons on this, in connection with kindred subjects. As an amusing
illustration of the ignorance referred to, we transcribe an order we
received a short time since from a seminary in the north of England.
The young gentleman thus writes:--"Master ---- presents his compliments
to Messrs. Neighbour, and begs they will send him a swarm of bees; he
encloses _six postage stamps_, and hopes they will send him a _good_
swarm." This embryo naturalist was evidently of a mercantile turn,
and had a mind to buy in the cheapest market, for in a postscript he
adds:--"Please let it be fourpence, if you can!" We need scarcely say
that in reply we endeavoured to enlighten our juvenile correspondent as
to what constituted a swarm of bees, and returned the stamps, with our
thanks.

The culture of bees would be greatly promoted, if a knowledge of it
were considered necessary as one of the regular qualifications of a
gardener. So little time is needed to gain the skill requisite for
the tendance of an apiary, that it seems only reasonable to expect
it of a well taught gardener, and he should feel a pleasure in the
circumstance of its forming a part of his duties. In Germany, where a
country gentleman's table is kept constantly supplied with fresh honey,
the gardeners are expected to understand the management of hives; and
in Bavaria, modern bee culture is taught in the colleges to all the
horticultural students. Travellers in Switzerland will call to mind the
almost invariable practice of placing new honey on the breakfast tables
at hotels in that country.

Some writers on bee-culture attach much importance to the particular
position in which an apiary stands, and the aspect towards which it
faces. A southern, or rather a south-eastern aspect is the one which we
have already recommended. Our reason for this preference is, that we
deem it very important for the bees to have the first of the morning
sun. Bees are early risers, and should have every inducement given
them for the maintenance of so excellent a practice. A few years
since, many strong opinions were expressed in favour of a northern
aspect for hives. The chief reason given for those opinions, though
very plausible, appears to us to be a very partial and inadequate one.
It was said that, when the hives face the south, the bees may, like
the incautious swallow in the fable, be tempted to fly abroad in the
transient winter sunshine, and then perish in the freezing atmosphere
when a passing cloud intervenes. But it is a very easy matter, if
considered needful, to screen the entrance by fixing up matting so
as to intercept the rays of the sun. At our own apiary we make no
alteration in winter, under the belief that the bees will take care of
themselves, and they seldom venture out when the weather is unsuitable.

With hives exposed in the open garden, it is a good practice to wind
hay-bands round them in frosty weather, as such a protection enables
the bees to resist the cold.

When a thaw occurs, everything, both in and out of doors, has a great
deal of dampness about it. The combs of a hive are not exempt from
this, so that it is advisable to have slight upward ventilation in
winter. Holes the size of a pin's head allow of the escape of a good
deal of bad air, which is generated by the exhalations of the bees, as
well as by the dampness before referred to. These holes being small,
do not create sufficient draft through the hives to be pernicious; if
closed up by propolis, are readily reopened with a pin. With wooden
hives in winter, a bell glass is often found to be useful; it should be
placed over the hole in the crown-board, with a zinc trough to receive
the condensed moisture.

In summer bees do much towards ventilating their own stock-hives. The
observant apiarian will not fail to remark how, on a warm day, several
of the little creatures will stand at the entrance with their abdomens
slightly raised, and their twinkling wings in rapid motion, producing a
current of air inwards; while another set are engaged in like manner,
driving the bad air out, so that a supply of pure oxygen is conveyed to
the crowded inmates. In this fanning operation their wings vibrate with
such rapidity, that their shape is as indistinct as are the spokes of a
wheel when revolving in rapid centrifugal motion.

This important office entails great physical exertion on the part of
the bees, and they relieve each other in detachments.

Some bee-keepers find an adapting board convenient for placing
underneath straw supers, as it facilitates their removal. These
boards are made of mahogany half an inch thick, with a hole in the
centre corresponding with that in the stock hive. We do not consider
it necessary to fix cross sticks in the straw stock hives, as is
frequently done; but if the apiarian prefers to have his hives so
furnished, there is no serious objection to it. These observations
refer to our Cottager's hive (page 34).

There is another little matter of detail that should be named here;
that is, the necessity of the bee-keeper always having a common hive in
readiness near the bees, so as to be able to secure any swarm which may
unexpectedly start.

Here our pleasant task must close. We trust that all information has
been given that is needful to enable the practical bee-keeper to begin
business, and the scientific apiarian to commence his observations. By
way of illustrating the two characters combined, we will conclude by
quoting another simple idyl by the German bee-keeper, Herr Braun, whose
winter musings we have already presented to the reader.

[_From "The Journal of Horticulture."_]

ON THE FIRST FLIGHT OF BEES IN SPRING.

_By_ Adalbert Braun, _Translated by_ "A Devonshire
Bee-keeper."

    Hark! what is so gaily humming
      In the little garden there?
    Hark! what is so briskly whizzing
      Through the still and silent air?

    Friend, it is our bees--the darlings--
      Now enliven'd by the Spring;
    Yes, the winter is departed.
      And once more they're on the wing.

    Happy he, who winter's perils
      All his stocks brings safely through;
    Thank Him, of all good the Giver--
      Faithful Watchman He, and true.

    Of my own are none departed.
      All as yet unhurt remain;
    Though no longer rich in honey.
      Yet is Spring returned again!

    Come, and let us view them nearer--
      Enter by the garden gate;--
    So--stand still, and watch their doings--
      Light your pipe, and patient wait.

    See how busily they traverse
      To their pasturage and back,
    That they may by toil unwearied
      Save the commonwealth from wrack.

    Look, O look! what loads of pollen,
      Bring they in with heedful care.
    Nurslings, fear not; for your cravings
      Here's sufficient and to spare.

    How they dart and how they hurtle
      Through the genial balmy air!
    To the mountains--to the meadows--
      'Tis the scent attracts them there!

    There they dexterously rifle
      Nectar from each flow'r in bloom;
    Toil they for our honey harvest,
      For us fill the honey-room.

    Yes, our bees, our precious darlings.
      We salute you all to-day;
    For your life is our enjoyment--
      Winter's sleep has pass'd away.

    Grant prosperity, Heaven!
      To the new-born honey-year--
    Give thy favour--give thy blessing--
      To these objects of our care.

    Now let each attentive guardian
      In devoted service strive
    For the proud, the Matron-monarch--
      Sov'reign of the honey-hive.

    So that we may learn by watching
      Who that in the noon-tide glance,
    Or in midnight's darkest moments.
      Summons her to Hymen's dance.[10]

    Ev'ry bee-hive calls for patience,
      Whilst great Haller's lessons teach
    Without patience Nature's secrets
      None successfully can reach.

T. W. Woodbury, _Mount Radford, Exeter_.

[Footnote 10: This point cannot now be considered doubtful, but it must
be remembered that Herr Braun's verses were written eighteen years
ago.]

In conclusion, we would remind all bee-keepers who earnestly desire
success, and who hope to draw pecuniary profit from their pursuit,
of the golden rule in bee-keeping:--"Keep your stocks strong." In
exercising the assiduous attention and persevering effort, which
that maxim enjoins, they will not only be regarded as _bee-keepers_,
but, as Mr. Langstroth says, will acquire a right to the title of
_bee-masters_.




APPENDIX.

[Illustration]


TESTIMONIALS OF THE PRESS.

[Illustration]

GREAT EXHIBITION 1851.

The "Working Apiary" in the Great Exhibition of 1851, will long live
in remembrance of the many thousand visitors who witnessed with much
interest the matchless industry of its busy occupants.

We extract the following from many notices that appeared in the public
journals relative thereto.

In noticing the hives exhibited in the Crystal Palace, I would say,
first and foremost in my opinion stands Mr. Taylor's Eight-bar
Hive, and Messrs. Neighbour and Son's Improved Cottage Hive,
both exhibited by Messrs. Neighbour.--_J. H. Payne, see
Cottage Gardener, Nos. 169, 170._

_From the "Illustrated London News."_

Messrs. Neighbour's Apiary consists of a large glass
case, with parts of the sides covered with perforated zinc, for
the sake of ventilation. This apiary contains three hives; first
Neighbour's Ventilating Box-Hive, containing from 15,000 to
20,000 bees, which were hived on the 30th of April of the present
year, the day before that of the opening of the Great Exhibition;
Neighbour's Observatory Glass Hive, containing about the same
number as the box-hive; and a two storied square box-hive, with sloping
roof. From this latter, however, the bees decamped within a week after
they had been hived, owing to some disturbance, or perhaps, to the
dislike taken by the bees to their new habitation. The Ventilating
Box-Hive is, in shape, square, having windows and shutters. The
entrance is at the back, enabling the bees to go to Kensington Gardens,
or other resorts, when they please. Above the wooden box is placed
a bell glass, into which the bees ascend to work through circular
opening in, the top of the square box. In the top of the bell-glass is
an aperture through which is inserted a tubular trunk of perforated
zinc, to take off the moisture from within. The Observatory Hive is of
glass, with a superior crystal compartment, an opening being formed
between the two; the bees are at present forming a comb in this upper
glass, which affords a very interesting sight, as generally speaking,
the bees are in such a cluster when at work that one can scarcely view
their mathematically formed cells. A straw cover is suspended over the
upper compartment by a rope over a pulley, which cover is raised up by
the attendant at pleasure. The larger or bottom compartment rests on a
wooden floor, which has a circular groove sinking therein to receive
the bell glass. A landing-place projecting, as usual, with sunken way,
to enable the bees to pass in and out of their habitation, completes
this contrivance.

In addition to Mr. Neighbour's Crystal Apiary, he also
exhibits a Cottager's Straw Hive, Taylor's Amateur Bee-Hive, a Glass
Hive, Nutt's Patent Collateral Hive, the Ladies' Observatory
Hive, Neighbour's Improved Cottage Hive, and Payne's
Cottage Hive.

The Cottager's Hive is simply that of the form we find in use in most
parts of the country, where the industrious cottagers or their wives,
by a little attention to their interesting little labourers, are
enabled to add something to their usually scanty earnings. This kind of
hive is usually made of straw, resting on a circular wooden board, with
part of the board or floor projecting in front as a lauding place for
the bees, which enter under the edge of the straw by means of a sinking
in the floor.

Taylor's Amateur's Bee-Hive consists of three small square
boxes, one above another, with a roof over the top story; the
ventilation being effected by perforations under the eaves; each side
of every story has a window and shutter. The landing place is in front
of the bottom story, and the entrance to the hive is a long slit about
¾ inch high.

The Glass Hive or Ladies' Observatory Hive, is similar to that in
which the bees are at work in Mr. Neighbour's Apiary already
mentioned, but on account of the number of bees at work therein, and
the extent of comb already effected, the interior perches cannot be
seen. These wooden perches are arranged in parallel lines, leaving a
space next the glass all round, the whole being framed together with a
bar at right angles, and resting on an upright support in the middle.

The Improved Cottage Hive of the same exhibitor consists of a straw
circular lower compartment, having windows and outside shutters. A
thermometer is placed just inside one of the windows. The floor is of
wood, with a landing place and sunken way, as already mentioned in
some of the other hives. In the top, which is also of wood, are three
circular perforations, each of about two inches in diameter; above
which are placed as many bell-glasses. There is a small hole in the
top of each of the glasses, through which a perforated tubular trunk
is inserted, for the sake of taking off the moisture from the interior
of the hive. Within the glass is a feeding-trough of zinc, circular
in shape, with a floating perforated floor, on which the bees alight,
and in the winter season regale themselves with the honey which is
found in the various perforations, as it floats up to the level of the
honey, contained in the small filling-trough, through which the honey,
or beer and sugar, is poured. The glasses are covered with a straw cap,
removable at pleasure.

Messrs. Neighbour's contributions are completed with, tin
perforated fumigators, by the use of which the bees are stupefied
for a while, when required to be moved from one hive to another; and
specimens of honey and honey-comb of the season 1850.

_From the "Express."_

Bees and Bee-Hives.--In the North-East Gallery directly under
the Transept are arranged by Messrs. Neighbour, of Holborn,
several descriptions of bee-hives, which it will be interesting to many
of our readers to examine, as this branch of rural economy is claiming
much general and deserved attention throughout the country. The novelty
of these hives consists in the facilities that are afforded in taking
therefrom at any time of the gathering season the purest honey without
destroying or even injuring the bees, thus humanely superseding the
barbarous and hateful system of murdering these interesting insects, to
obtain the produce of their industry.

Immediately adjoining the group of untenanted bee-hives may be observed
living hives with the bees most industriously at work. These useful
little creatures have been highly honoured by the Executive Committee,
for of all the animal workers that contribute to the interest of the
Exhibition they alone are allowed therein to display their matchless
ingenuity and skill. By a simple contrivance the bees are allowed
egress and ingress without in the least degree molesting the visitors,
thus enabling the admirers of the works of nature to view the whole
process of forming the cells and depositing the honey therein.

Within these few days Messrs. Neighbour have added to the
Apiary, a bee-hive constructed entirely of glass, protected by a cover
neatly made of straw, but so contrived, that on application to the
attendant can be removed instantly, thus illustrating more particularly
the curious workmanship of these amusing insects.

Her Majesty the Queen, and the Prince Consort, with the Royal Children,
were some time engaged in watching with deep interest the busy scene
before them, and putting many questions relating to the habits and
economy of the honey bee.


INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION 1861.

_From the "Illustrated London News," August 16, 1862._

One of the most interesting and instructive objects in the Exhibition,
is a transparent hive, in which the bees may be seen at full work.
Among the collection of bee-hives exhibited by Messrs. Neighbour
and Son, is one of glass, stocked with a colony of Italian Alp
bees. Here the queen bee may be seen surrounded by her subjects,
which pay the most deferential attention to their sovereign. Through
an aperture cut in the wall, the busy throng of bees are continually
passing and repassing. They go out at their pleasure into the open
court, fly over the annexe into the grounds of the Horticultural
Society and other adjacent gardens, and return laden with sweets.

_From the "Journal of Horticulture" October 21, 1862._

Neighbour, G. & Sons, 149, Regent Street, and 127, Holborn,
No. 2157, have a very handsome and complete stall, on ascending the
steps of which we found a flourishing stock of Ligurians, apparently
not at all ashamed of the public position which they occupied, and
working vigorously in the full light of day. The queen, one of the
largest and finest-coloured we have met with, was perambulating the
combs and receiving the homage of her subjects, stopping frequently to
deposit an egg in every empty cell. The hive itself was a "Woodbury
Unicomb," handsomely got up in mahogany, invented as its name implies,
by our valued correspondent. "A Devonshire Bee-keeper,"
the construction of which will be most readily understood by an
inspection of the engraving at page 46. Its distinctive features are,
the adaptation of the moveable-bar system to unicomb-hives, by which
any colony in an apiary of "Woodbury-hives" can be placed in the
unicomb-hive in a few minutes, and the use of "outside Venetians,"
or "sun blinds." as they are called, instead of the usual impervious
shutters. By this contrivance light is never excluded, so that when the
hive is open for inspection, all its inmates continue their avocation
with their accustomed regularity, and a quiet and orderly scene is
presented to the spectator, instead of the hubbub and confusion
which ensues in ordinary unicomb-hives. On the left-hand side of the
unicomb hangs a beautifully executed drawing of a Ligurian queen
bee magnified, together with the queen worker and drone of _Apis
Ligustica_, of the natural size. Immediately under the drawing is
placed a square glass super containing nearly 40 lbs. of the finest
honey-comb. On the right of the unicomb-hive is another super of the
same description, containing nearly 30 lbs. of the purest honey.
These supers are, undoubtedly, by far the finest in the Exhibition,
and are the first worked in England by Ligurian bees, being from the
apiary of "A Devonshire Bee-keeper." In addition to these the
most striking objects, are shown Neighbour's Improved Single Box and
Cottage Hives, Taylor's Bar-Hives, Woodbury Frame and Bar-hives, the
new Bottle-feeder, and bee apparatus of every description. It will be
apparent from the foregoing, that Messrs. Neighbour's stall is well
worth inspection, although the various novelties it contains appear to
have met with but scant appreciation by the Jury, who merely awarded
to them that "honourable mention" so lavishly accorded to the far less
deserving objects.

_From the "Illustrated News of the World" September 6, 1862._

One of the most interesting and instructive objects is the honey bee
at full work in transparent hives. In the International Exhibition,
Class 9, Eastern Annexe, Messrs. Neighbour and Son, of Holborn
and Regent-street, exhibit, amongst a collection of the most approved
bee-hives and apparatus, a glass hive, stocked with a colony of Italian
Alp bees; the hive is so constructed as to admit of easily seeing the
queen, surrounded by the working bees. Contrary to the long established
notion that the bees work only in the dark this hive is completely
open to broad daylight. The bees do not manifest the least dislike to
the exposure, and they are not discomfited when light is occasionally
admitted for inspecting them. It is obvious that a knowledge of this
new feature must tend to a more general acquaintance with the habits
and hidden mysteries of the bee than has hitherto been the case. The
queen may be seen depositing the eggs in the cells; in this manner she
goes on multiplying the species, the working bees surrounding her, and
paying the most deferential attention, with their heads always towards
her. Not the least interesting part is to watch the entrance; facility
is afforded for doing so, the sunken way communicating with the hive
being covered with a flat piece of glass; the busy throng, pass and
repass through the aperture cut in the wall, so that the bees go out
at their pleasure into the open court, fly over the Annexe into the
Horticultural and other adjacent gardens, and return laden with crystal
sweets gathered from the flowers. The novelty of being able to inspect
living bees, and those of a new variety, as easily as goods in a shop
window, will well repay the trouble of finding Messrs. Neighbour's
stand. These gentlemen will no doubt cheerfully give any information
that may be required.

_From the "Gardener's Weekly Magazine" September 1, 1862. Conducted by
Shirley Hibberd, Esq., F.R.H.S._

Neighbour and Son, 149, Regent Street, London, (2157).--This
is the most important of the exhibitions in this department. The "Bees
at work" are in hives open to the inspection of visitors, the bees
passing out through tubes to the open air, and not being visible within
the building except through the glass of the hives. The collection of
hives of all kinds is complete and interesting, and we subjoin a figure
of the stand (see page 100) to show how bees as well as hives may be
exhibited conveniently. Amongst the various contrivances exhibited by
Messrs. Neighbour, Nutt's Collateral Hive has an important
place, and though very fancifully got up, and therefore very attractive
to amateur bee-keepers, we must make the same objection to it as we
have above to other forms of the same from different makers. The
Single-box Hive, the Taylor's Shallow Eight-bar Hive, are the best
bee-boxes in this collection, and every way admirable. Here are no
fancy ventilators which the bees will close up, nor provoking side
boxes which they will hesitate to enter, and from which it will be hard
to dislodge them in order to get them to winter in the "pavilion."
Whoever begins bee-keeping with either of these will have a fair chance
of success. The most popular of the hives is that called the "Improved
Cottage." Its popularity no doubt is due to the compromise between wood
and straw which it accomplishes. People cannot get rid of the idea that
a bee-hive _must_ be made of straw, though it is a material so ill
adapted for union of swarms, supering and other operations of advanced
bee culture. The "Cottager's Hive" is well adapted for "those apiarians
who are desirous of setting their poorer neighbours in the way of
keeping bees on the improved system." It consists of stock hive, small
super-hive, and straw cover, and is on the principle of Payne's, which
has been most successful among country people who have got so far as
to prefer keeping, to killing their bees. The "Woodbury Bar and Frame
Hive" is a novel construction, combining all the best features of the
best bar boxes, and adding some new ones of great value and importance.
We recommend every bee-keeper to become possessed of this admirable
contrivance, with which Mr. Woodbury has accomplished wonderful things
in the multiplication of the new race of Ligurian bees. In general form
and proportions it resembles Taylor's and Tegetmeier's boxes, but in
the arrangement of the bars it is unique. The stock box is furnished
with ten moveable bars and frames, after the German plan. Each bar has
a projection running along the under side; this ridge is chosen by the
bees for the foundation of combs, rendering guide combs unnecessary.
The supers have glass sides and eight bars, so that the operator need
never be in doubt when to add another box above or take away the
harvest.

The "Unicomb," or one-comb observatory-hive, is intended solely for
purposes of observation, and though furnished with doors, to keep
up a uniform degree of heat, Messrs. Neighbour have found in their
experience at the Regent's Park Gardens and elsewhere, that the bees
manifest no dislike to a continual exposure to light. As this elegant
contrivance can be placed in the window of a drawing-room, it is
adapted to the amusement and instruction of the family circle, as
well as to the more serious objects of the etomologist and scientific
apiarian. All that is necessary is to connect the outlet with the open
air by means of a length of tubing or wooden tunnel, and the bees pass
in and out without obtaining access to the room, and all the mysteries
of the hive are open to daily observation. There are numerous other
hives, bee-feeders, bee armour, &c., &c., which we have not space to
notice, but which we advise our apiarian friends to inspect, as the
collection of Messrs. Neighbour illustrates fully every department of
this interesting subject.


BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND AGRICULTURAL SHOW AT EXETER, IN JUNE, 1863.

_From the "Journal of Horticulture," June 23, 1863._

A novel feature in the Exhibition of the Bath and West of England
Agricultural Society which took place at Exeter last week, was the
stall of Messrs. Neighbour & Sons, in which were exhibited
bees at work in glass hives, and apiarian appliances of every
description. There were two Ligurian stocks of bees at full work,
one in a full sized Woodbury Unicomb Hive, having been brought from
London for the occasion, and the other in a smaller hive of the
same description being from the neighbouring apiary of our valued
correspondent, "A Devonshire Bee-Keeper." Amongst the hives
exhibited, the Woodbury Frame Hive in straw appeared both novel
and good, whilst amongst the apparatus, artificial combs and the
stereotyped plates for making them, seemed to us the most worthy of
attention.

There was a remarkably curious specimen of artificial combs or
partition wall partially fabricated into complete comb by the bees,
which struck us as being well worth examination, showing, as it did,
the various stages by which this transformation is effected, and being
calculated to throw light on the problem as to the mode in which
bees construct their combs. It is almost unnecessary to state, that
this unique and instructive stall was crowded throughout the week,
and we hope its financial results were such as will lead Messrs.
Neighbour to continue their attendance at the Society's
meetings.

_From the "Western Times" Exeter, June 12, 1863._

For the Little Busy Bee.--Next to the poultry tents, and set
back against the yard fencing, is the exhibition of Mr. George
Neighbour & Sons, 127, High Holborn, and 149, Regent Street,
London, inventors and manufacturers of improved bee-hives for taking
honey without the destruction of the bees. The savage knows where
to find the nest of the wild bee, and how to get at his honey; but
all the improvement upon the covetousness of the savage made by the
long after ages of the world to modern times, was to find means of
luring the pattern of industry to a convenient atelier where he might
be more easily, first murdered and then robbed. Their habits early
attracted the attention of some of the best observers of ancient as
well as modern times; Cicero and Pliny tell of the philosopher Hyliscus
quitting human society and retiring to the desert to contemplate
their peaceful industry. The ancient poet in his _Sic vos non vobis_
plaintively sings over bee and beast, living, or rather dying, not
for themselves, but the lord of creation, yet was it left to modern
times--very modern times--to join the sentiment of humanity to the
rapacity of the barbarian. Mr. Neighbour has a very complete
collection of specimens of the ingenious and successful contrivances
in the construction of hives for the double object of preserving the
honey and the life of the bee; and also, subsidiarily of promoting its
comfort during its busy and useful life. We are not allowed to forget
here, that we have residing in our city one of the first apiarians in
the kingdom--Mr. Thomas Woodbury, of Mount Radford. If the bee
philosophy be his hobby, we may recollect that all great discoveries
and improvements owe their existence to men who have had the power and
the will to concentrate their faculties upon a single object. One proof
of his genius in this his favourite department of action, is seen among
this collection of Mr. Neighbour's in the "Woodbury Unicomb
Hive." It might be when closed up, for ought that appears, a neat case
of books; but on opening two doors of the Venetian blind pattern, back
and front, we see between the glass walls, the insect city exposed to
view with all the population in action. There it may be seen

    How skilfully she builds her cell;
      How neat she spreads her wax;
    And labours hard to store it well
      With the sweet food she makes.

Some of the hives are constructed chiefly for the purpose of promoting
a philosophic observation of the bee's habits and methods of procedure
in his wonderful work. "Neighbour's Unicomb Observatory
Hive" is a great novelty, being constructed with glass sides, the
hidden mysteries of the hive being exposed to the full light of day.
"Huber's Book or Leaf Hive" is constructed to facilitate the
object of the scientific apiarian. But the class of hives which will
most interest those desirous of promoting bee-keeping among the many
will be those for the cottage. There can be no doubt that many a poor
cottager in the country, if he could be made to see the advantage it
would be to him, and were taught the most economical and successful way
of managing this species of "live stock," would add thereby something
considerable to his small earnings in the course of a summer. Members
of Cottage Garden Societies have turned their attention to it very
generally; but to get the thing well afloat, requires in every district
the devotion of some earnest enthusiast who will take up the apostolic
rule of action "This one thing I do." There is the No. 5, "Improved
Cottage Hive," in which three bell glasses are employed, enabling
you to take a glass of the purest honey from the hive in the most
vigorous period of the season. Then there are other hives of simpler
construction and less expensive, but all illustrative of the sentiment
of humanity which seeks to preserve from wanton destruction those
useful and interesting auxiliaries to our luxury and comfort. This
comparatively unimportant stand, in point of size, cannot but attract
the attention of a large number of visitors, especially of the ladies
and the clergy, who are desirous of promoting the cultivation of the
bee among the poor. To heighten the interest for the curious, in one
of Mr. Woodbury's hives the bees are all alive and at it, and
for those who are disposed to go further into the subject, information
is available touching this fashionable, profitable, and domesticated
member of the Apiarian family, the Ligurian and Italian Alp-bee. Our
old dark-coated delver is threatened with supercession, just as the
black rat was driven off by the Norwegian invader, now in possession,
and as the old races of cattle are being metamorphosed into the sleek,
shapely, beef-bearing, small-boned animals of the present time.

_From the "Devon Weekly Times" June 8, 1863._

Bees.--Messrs. Neighbour & Sons, of London, are
exhibitors of two Woodbury Unicomb Hives, showing the royal
and common bees in full work. These hives are very ingeniously
constructed, and were invented by Mr. T. Woodbury, of Mount
Radford. Among other apiarian attractions, we may mention the improved
Cottage and Cottager's Hives, which are well worthy the notice of those
for whom they are designed, and the Ladies' Observatory Hive. The
Messrs. Neighbour also exhibit Ligurian bees.

_From "Woolmer's Exeter Gazette" June 12, 1863._

Improved Bee-Hives.--At a stand near the poultry tents, are
exhibited Neighbour's Improved Bee-hives for the taking of
honey without the destruction of bees. The hives are stocked with the
famous Ligurian bee. The Unicomb Observatory Hive is constructed with
glass sides, so that the whole of the movements of the Apiarian colony
are visible, including the proceedings of the queen and her court. This
and some of the other descriptions of hives manufactured by Messrs.
Neighbour are invented by T. W. Woodbury, Esq. They
are furnished with moveable bars, after the German fashion. Each bar
has a projection along the underside; this ridge being waxed, induces
the bees to build parallel combs--thus obviating the necessity for a
guide comb. This description of hive is best suited for the Ligurian or
Italian Alp-bee. Stocks of this species, now so much in repute, may be
obtained of Messrs. Neighbour 149, Regent Street, London.


ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SHOW, NEWCASTLE, 1864.

_From the "Northern Daily Express" July 22,--(Published at Newcastle.)_

A Model Factory.--Stand 191--G. Neighbour & Sons.
Regent Street, and High Holborn, London. We have heard of model farms
and model lodging houses for the working classes, but it was reserved
for the Royal Agricultural Society's Meeting in 1864 to introduce
to our notice a model factory, where we may see representatives
of the working classes busily engaged in their daily avocations.
The stand which we have quoted above, may afford fruitful study to
such philanthropists as the Earl of Shaftesbury, who make it their
benevolent aim to elevate the masses, and the lesson here given from
actual life will not be lost upon working men themselves. There are
several striking features worthy of notice in the "model factory."
We can clearly perceive that it has been established on a principle
which is essential to the success of any great concern--namely: the
principle of a good understanding amongst the operatives themselves,
and between them and the head of the establishment. What strikes us
in this model factory is the unity of action which reigns throughout.
There is no jostling of rival interests, and no misunderstandings, or
cross purposes. The operatives in this establishment are so numerous
that we question if any one has as yet been able to count their number,
and yet all seem to be working in perfect harmony, their joint labour
continually leading to one beautiful and sublime result. Another
feature specially noticeable in the establishment, in question is the
principle of subordination. Singular to say, that while the operatives
are males[11] the foreman of this model factory is a female; but that
circumstance need not shock the sensibilities of our fair friends
any more than it ought to offend the prejudices of the sterner sex,
inasmuch as the mighty empire of Great Britain is ruled by the gentle
hand of a female; and moreover, in the one case as in the other, the
presiding genius, amids all her official cares and duties, takes care
to preserve the modesty of her sex. She never in the slightest degree
obtrudes herself needlessly on public observation, and probably on
that very account the respect shown to her by her subjects is the more
profound and devoted. There is, however, one particular in which we
would take leave to demur to the idea of this factory being in every
respect regarded as a "model." We have not been able to discover that
there is any particular period of the day in which the operatives are
allowed to take refreshments. We, in England, have been accustomed to
regard the dinner hour somewhat in the light of a sacred institution.
And if the council of the Royal Agricultural Society mean to set this
up as a model institution, we are of opinion that some explanation on
this point is desirable. Indeed we have not been able to discover that
the operatives in this establishment take any refreshment whatever.
If they do, it must be "on the sly," vulgarly speaking. There is one
peculiarity, however, which must tend to popularize this institution,
and which has served to make it one of the most attractive objects on
the show ground. It is the fashion in all the great factories which
abound on the banks of the Tyne and throughout the country generally
to act on the principle of exclusiveness to a very great extent, and
perhaps wisely so. As you approach the door you see an intimation in
legible characters, "No admission except on business." This may be
very proper, but it is rather tantalising. In the model factory which
we are now describing all the operations are open to inspection. Every
action is patent to the eye of the spectator. This has been effected
by a skilful contrivance, and it is this contrivance in fact, which
has entitled the inventor to obtain a place in the show ground for his
model factory, which he describes by the somewhat ambiguous term of "a
new implement." But our readers may wish to learn what is the staple
manufacture of this wonderful workshop. We reply--"honey." The factory
we speak of is nothing more nor less than a bee-hive; or, to quote from
the catalogue, "An Unicomb Observatory Bee-hive," with living Italian
Alpine bees at full work; it was invented by T. W. Woodbury,
of Exeter; and is improved and manufactured by the exhibitors. As
implied by its name this hive has one comb, so that both sides are
fully exposed to the light of day, thus allowing of an easy inspection
of the queen-bee, surrounded by her retinue.

[Footnote 11: The reporter was in error as to the sex of the workers.]




INDEX.

[Illustration]


                                                               PAGE.
  A.

  Adapting board                                        76, 115, 116
  Age of bees                                                      6
  Anger of bees                                               76, 89
  Apiary, best time to set up                                     11
     "    Exterior and interior of                                58
  Artificial Swarming                                             79
    Right time for                                            80, 81
    Directions for performing the operation of                80, 81
  Artificial Swarms, how should be placed                         83
  Aspect                                                25, 114, 115
  Australia, sending bees to                                100, 101

  B.

  Baby bee, cradle of                                              9
      "     emerging from the cell                                 9
  Bath and West of England Journal                            97, 99
      "      "     "       Agricultural Shows  47, 48, 124, 125, 126
  Bee dress                                                   68, 74
      "     Necessity for                                     69, 77
  Bees, reduced size of                                           79
    "   Human breath obnoxious to                                 89
    "   Artificial scent objectionable                            89

       Bee Hives (Modern).

  Neighbour's Cottager's:--
    Description of                                                34
    Putting on super                                          35, 36
    Time for removal of                                           36
    Depositing eggs in super                                      36
  Neighbour's Improved Cottage (No. 5):--
    Description of                                                28
    Directions for                                                29
    Weight                                                        27
  Neighbour's Improved Cottage (No. 6)                            31
  Neighbour's Ladies' Observatory or Crystal Hive:--
    Description of                                                32
    Feeding                                                       33
    Light not to be admitted at first                             33
    Mode of fixing                                            32, 33
       "    stocking                                              33
    Protection from cold                                          33
    Use of frame work                                             33
    Weight                                                        32
  Neighbour's Unicomb Observatory:--
    Construction and application                                  44
    Mode of stocking                                              44
    How kept warm                                                 46
    How exhibited at Paris                                        45
    Prize Medal for                                               45
  Neighbour's Single Box:--
    Description of and directions for                         24, 25
  Nutt's Collateral:--
    Description of                                            17, 18
    Means of ventilation                                          21
    Mode of stocking                                          19, 20
       " taking surplus honey                                 21, 22
    Feeding                                                       19
    Shed necessary                                                19
    The late Thomas Nutt                                          23
  Taylor's Improved Cottage:--
    Description of                                                43
  Taylor's Eight-bar Straw Hive:--
    Description of                                                43
  Taylor's Amateur Eight-bar                                  26, 29
     "        "    Seven-bar                                      27
  Woodbury Bar and Frame:--
    Description of                                                36
    Glass Bar and Frame                                           38
    Straw Bar and Frame, description of                           37
    Special advantage of                                          37
    Origin of                                                     37
    Directions for stocking                                   73, 74
  Woodbury Unicomb:--
    Construction of                                               46
    Inspection of queen                                           47
    How fixed                                                     48
    Answering                                                 48, 49
    Mode of stocking                                          48, 49
    Bees removed before Winter                                     4
  Huber's Book or Leaf, description of                        50, 51

  Bee Houses.
    Advantage of                                              53, 54
    Description of, to contain two hives                          53
    Furnished with lock and key                                   54
    How hives are placed in                                       54
    Plan for excluding insects                                    54
    Description of, to contain twelve hives                       55
    Object of colouring alighting board                           55
    Bees mistaking entrance                                   55, 56
    Loss of queens                                                56
  Bee-house to contain nine hives, why not recommended            56
  Bee-keeping, inexpensive and profitable                        113
  Bee-keeping in London                                          102
    St. James's Place                                            105
    Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park                            105
    St. John's Wood and suburbs of London                        105
    G. Neighbour and Sons' London Apiary                         104
    Seasons, 1863, 1864, favorable for                           106
  Bee-keeper should be a book-keeper                             111

  C.

  Cells, contracted size of                                       79
  Changing old stocks into new hives:--
    Not to be attempted by the inexperienced                      86
    Adaptation of old hive to the depriving system                86
    Directions for transferring stocks into frame hives           87
  Classes for whom bee-keeping is suited                           1
  Combs, artificial                                               70
    Value of                                                      70
    Mode of applying                                          71, 72
    Must not be jarred                                            69
    Taken from bar and frame hives                            75, 79
    Fixing in frames                                              75
    Ensuring regularity of                                        27
  Compound Bar and Frame                                          40
  Cottagers, way to convince of the humane system                111
  Cottagers' hive                                                 34
  Cover for bar and frame hive, description of                41, 42
    Zinc                                                      59, 60
    Ornamental zinc                                               59
    Straw hackle                                                  35
  Crown board                                                 74, 76

  D.

  Dampness in hives in winter injurious                      33, 115
  Depriving System:--
    Special advantages of                                     10, 35
    Practiced in ancient Greece and Italy                         10
    Profit to be derived from                               111, 112
  Dividing hives, reason why they do not answer                   82
  Dressing hives inside with sweet not needful                    35
  Driving bees, directions for                                84, 85
  Drones, sex of                                                   6
    Purpose of                                                     7
    Reason for numbers in hive                                     7
    General massacre of                                            7
    All die before winter                                          8

  E.

  Eggs of bees:--
    Description of                                                 9
    In supers                                                     36
  Entrance to hives                                       18, 31, 37
  Epitaph on murdered bees                                        11
  Evans, note on page, extract from                  3, 4, 5, 12, 13
  Evening thoughts in January, a poem                         56, 57

  F.

  Feeding                                     19, 25, 31, 33, 63, 64
  Feeder (Bottle)                                                 63
         (Nutt's)                                                 66
         (Round)                                                  65
         (Fountain)                                               65
  Frame:--
    Description of                                                39
    Mr. "Woodbury's improvement                                   40
    How kept perpendicular                                    39, 40
    Taking out with combs                                         76
    Direction for handling frames                             77, 78
    Placing frames in hives                                       78
  French Bishop visiting a Cure (anecdote)                  111, 112
  Fructifying flowers, bees useful for                            91
  Fumigation, directions for                              66, 67, 68
  Fumigators                                              66, 67, 68

  G.

  General remarks                                         110 to 116
  Glasses, bell                                           60, 61, 62
  Great Exhibition of 1851, Testimonials of the press  119, 120, 121
  Guide comb                                                      27
      "      for glasses                                      61, 62

  H.

  Hives--see Bee-hives                                           106
    Large number may be kept                                     112
  Hive should be ready for swarm                             15, 115
  Honey cutters                                                   66
  Honey Dew                                                       94
  Honey, directions for draining from combs                      110
    Keeping honey in the comb at a warm temperature              110
    Huber (Francis), extract from Memoirs of                      51

  I.

  Improved cottage hive                                           31
  Improved comb bar                                               39
  Increase of bees                                                 9
  India-rubber gloves                                             74
  Impregnation of queen                                            3
  Insects that are injurious                                 83, 107
  Insects, cleansing hives from                                   83
  Interchange of combs for strengthening weak hives               79
  Italian honey bee                                       93, 94, 95
    Description of                                                96
    Great honey collecting powers                             96, 97
    Opinions of German bee-masters                                96
    Introduction into England                                     97
    Hermann's book on                                         97, 98
    Physical characteristics of                                   98
    Importation of queens in many instances unsuccessful          99
    Transporting stocks to Australia                        100, 101
    At the International Exhibition                     70, 100, 101,
                                                  121, 122, 123, 124

  J.

  Journal of Horticulture                                         99

  K.

  Keeping bell glasses warm                                       25

  L.

  Ligurian honey bee (see Italian bee)
  Loyalty of bees                                                  4

  M.

  Mortar, not necessary for closing crevices                      35
  Moths, how entrance is effected                                109
    How to destroy eggs of                                       109

  N.

  Neglect of bee-keeping                                           1
  Neighbour's hives (see Bee-hives).
  Number of eggs in the season                                     3
  Nutt's hives (see Bee-hives)

  P.

  Pasturage for bees                                          93, 94
    Honey yielding flowers                                    93, 94
    Wild flowers best                                             94
  Pollen, food for infant bees                                    91
    How collected                                                 91
    Rye meal a substitute for farina from flowers                 91
  Propolis, or bees' cement                                       92
    How obtained                                              92, 93
    Application of                                                93
    Anecdote illustrating use of                                  93
  Putting on super hive or bell glasses           20, 25, 29, 36, 75

  Q.

  Queen:--
    Description of                                                 2
    Movements of, laying eggs and marriage day                     3
    Honor to when fertile                                          4
    Combats with her rivals                                     4, 5
    Dismay of bees on loss of                                      5
    Raised from worker embryo                                      5
    Longevity of                                                   6
    Old one goes with first swarm                                 12
    Leaves hive only in fine weather                              12
    In super hives                                            22, 36
    Loss of                                                    5, 56
    View of                                                   44, 47
    Supplying queenless hives with                             5, 83

  R.

  Roller, engraved pressing:--
    Description of                                                69
    Application of                                            69, 70
  Royal Agricultural Society's Show                48, 126, 127, 128

  S.

  Spring, time to begin bee-keeping                               11
  Spring, First flight of bees in, a poem                   116, 117
  Sprinkling bees                                                 77
  Stand for hives, engraving                          24, 28, 36, 42
  Sticks in hives not necessary                                  115
  Super for bar and frame hives                                   41
    Bell glass (see Glasses)
    Straw                                                     35, 36
  Straw hives:
    Advantage of                                                  34
    Preference for                                            34, 37
  Swarming:--
    Usual time of year for                                        11
    Cause of                                                      11
    Agitation before                                              12
    Provisioning for                                              13
    Usual time of day for                                         13
    Poetical description of                                       13
    Ringing on occasion of, needless                              13
    Desirable to prevent                                          16
  Swarms:--
    Devices for inducing settlement of                            13
    Consequences of a second flight                               14
    Means of preventing ditto                                     14
    Two sometimes depart at same time and mingle                  14
    Necessity of having hives in readiness                        14
    Bee dress essential                                           15
    Time for removing                                             15
    Care to be exercised when confined            18, 24, 25, 29, 30
    First swarms most valuable                                    16
    Second, cause of                                              16
    Premonitory symptoms                                          16
    Royal wailing indicative of                                   16
    Numerical composition of                                      16
    Third, name of                                                16
    Fourth, name of                                               16
    Care required to prevent loss of                         14, 109

  T.

  Taking honey, mode of                                       21, 22
  Thomson's " Seasons," extract from, on murdered bees            11

  V.

  Ventilation                                    17, 18, 20, 21, 115

  W.

  Wasps, how to prevent the increase of                     106, 107
    Season 1864 productive of                                    107
  Water essential                                                 94
    Mismanagement of, during voyage                              101
  Weighing hives, importance of                                   88
    Salter's spring balance best                                  88
    How to judge of quantity without                              88
  Windows, objections to                                          38
  Wildman                                                        102
    Marvellous feats of                                          103
    Secret of success                                            103
  Worker bee:--
    Description of                                                 8
    Sex of                                                         8
    Number in hive                                                 8
    Young ones, employment of                                      8


                              NEIGHBOUR'S

                          IMPROVED BEE-HIVES,

                                  FOR

           TAKING HONEY WITHOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE BEES.

[Illustration]

DRAWINGS AND DETAILED LISTS FORWARDED ON RECEIPT OF TWO POSTAGE STAMPS.

   1. Nutt's Collateral Bee-Hive                                  6 15  0
                  Stand for ditto, 16s.

   2. Neighbour's Improved Single-box Hive                        3  3  0
                  Stand for ditto, 10s. 6d.

   3. Taylor's Shallow-box or Eight-bar Hive, complete with cover 3 10  0
                  Stand for ditto, 10s. 6d.

   4. Taylor's Amateur Bar Hive                                   3  5  0
                  Stand for ditto, 10s. 6d.

   5. Neighbour's Improved Cottage Hive                           1 15  0
                  Stand for ditto, 10s. 6d.

   6. An Improved Cottage Hive                                    1  8  0

   7. The Ladies' Observatory or Crystal Hive. Price complete     2  5  0

   8. The Cottager's Hive                                         0 10  6

   9 & 10. Bee Feeders                              each 5/. and  0  4  0

  11 & 12. Fumigators                               each 2/. and  0  2  6

  13. Honey Cutters                                     per pair  0  5  0

  14. Taylor's Improved Cottage Hive                              1  1  0
                  With Stand, £1. 10s.

  15. Fountain Bee Feeder                                         0  6  0

  18. Taylor's Eight-bar Straw Hive, complete                     2 12  0
                  Stock Hive only, 15s.

  19. Huber's Book or Leaf Hive                                   2  5  0

  20. Taylor's Unicomb Observatory Hive                           3  3  0

  24. Taylor's Glasses                                       7/.  0  4  6

      Payne's ditto                                               0  3  0

  25. Bell Glass                                                  0  4  0

  26.     "                                                       0  2  0

  27.     "                                                       0  1  0

  28.     "  without knob and flat top to put on the table
                  inverted, price with lid                        0  4  6

  29. Zinc Cover                                    each 7/6 and  0 10  6

  30. Shallow Glasses (new shape)                   each 5/6 and  0  3  6

  31. Bee Dress and Protector                       5/., by post  0  6  0

  37. Zinc Cover                                                  0 16  6

  38. Ornamental ditto                                            2  5  0

  39. Bee House to contain Two Hives                              3 10  0

  40.     "         "      Twelve Hives                 £15. and 19 10  0

      Woodbury Unicomb Hive

  42.    "     Bar and Frame Hive, complete with outside
                   cover and super                                3  3  0
                  Stand for ditto, 10s. 6d.

  44. Bottle Feeder                                               0  2  6

  45. Woodbury Straw Bar and Frame Hive (Stock Hive)              1  1  0

  46. Engraved Pressing Roller                                    0  7  6

  47. Impressed Wax Sheets or Artificial Combs  per dozen         0  6  0

       *       *       *       *       *


Transcriber Note

Minor typos corrected. The words floor-board and floorboard were both
retained.