Any humane person must be unwilling to keep what may be termed "pets," when, as is very often the case, they are taken from the freedom which nature has given them, to be pent up in cages, hutches, and round-about boxes. It is not a part of good moral training to encourage children to deprive anything of liberty, and the keeping of rabbits, guinea-pigs, birds, gold and silver fish, white mice, pigeons and squirrels, is not only attended with a vast deal of trouble and expense, but with a great many bad smells, filth, and dirt. Such matters, have, therefore, been excluded from this volume, as being by no means calculated to improve either the minds or morals of young persons, but rather to have a contrary tendency.

These objections do not, however, lie against the keeping of bees, which afford at all times lessons of industry, of order, of contrivance, of perseverance, and of many other virtues, which are great ornaments to little boys and girls, as well as to grown men and women. We shall, therefore, give as copious an account of this interesting insect as we can, and, at the same time, show the best methods of managing it with advantage to its possessor.

Bee is the English name for an extensive genera of insects,—apis or the section anthophla or mellifera of modern classification. The common domestic bee, of which it is now our business to treat, is the apis mellifica of LinnÆus; and it may be as well to state, for the guidance of the young reader, that the Hive-bee is distinguished from all other species of bees,—by having the shanks of the hind legs furnished with a smooth and concave pollen-plate on the outer surface, and destitute of spines at the extremity,—by the basal joint of the torsi in the working bees, of an oblong form, with its inner surface clothed with fine hairs, disposed in transverse layers,—by the oblong shape of its body,—and by the feelers at the sheath of the tongue being almost obsolete and formed of a single point.

The Hive-bee may be regarded as one of the most perfectly social species of insects, and one whose economy is regulated by the possession of a more remarkable degree of instinct than is perhaps possessed by any other insect. Another peculiarity regarding bees is, that there are not simply males and females among them, but mules or workers, or female non-breeders, as they have been termed, which constitute the great mass of the population of a hive. They are smaller, as regards size, than the males or the female bees, and it is to them that the internal economy of the hive is committed, and upon them the whole labour of the community devolves. Moreover, it is their duty to guard and protect the hive and the queen, to feed the young, and to kill the drones at the appointed time.

In a single hive there are sometimes not fewer than thirty thousand of these individuals. They are distinguished from the breeding females by having a longer lip, the jaws not notched at the tip, and the sting straight. The male bees, of which there are several hundreds, sometimes even two thousand in a full hive, are idle creatures, doing no work. They are generally termed drones, and they are of a more bulky size than the other bees, and they are not armed with a sting.

Such are the inhabitants of the hive; the chief products of which are bees-wax and honey. The former is secreted by the worker-bees, by a peculiar apparatus on the under side of the belly, as occasion requires, and is employed for constructing the combs in which the family provision and the young brood are deposited.

Honey is obtained by bees from the nectaries of flowers, which, it is well known, are constantly secreting a sweet thick fluid. This is sucked up by the tongue of the insect, and a portion of it is consumed at once for its support, but the greater part of the supply, although taken into the stomach of the bee, is again brought up (regurgitated, to use a hard word), and poured into the cells of the hives for the food of the grubs and the use of the community through the winter.

The cells into which the honey is poured for store are placed in the most inaccessible parts of the hive, and are fitted with waxen lids, but the honey destined for the use of the nurses, workers, and drones, is deposited in unclosed cells. In each honey-cell there is a cream-like layer or covering of a thicker consistency than the honey itself. This layer is perforated by the bee with its fore-legs, and is closed before the bee flies away.

Having thus noticed the inhabitants of the hive, we will now turn our attention to the hive itself. The most profound philosopher, as well as the most incurious observer, is struck with astonishment on inspecting the interior of a bee-hive. He beholds a city in miniature. He sees this city divided into regular streets; and these streets composed of houses constructed on the most exact geometrical principles and the most symmetrical plan; some serving as store-houses for food, others for the habitations of the citizens, and a few, much more extensive than the rest, destined for the palace of their sovereign. He perceives that the substance of which the city is built, is one which man with all his skill is unable to fabricate, and that the edifices in which it is employed are such as the most expert architect would find himself incompetent to erect.The nest, as constructed by the insects, consists of a continued series of combs, arranged vertically, each of which consists of a vast number of cells, forming two ranges backed against each other, and, consequently, placed in a horizontal position. A sufficient space is left between each of these double layers of cells to allow a couple of bees, engaged upon the opposite cells, to work without incommoding each other. In addition to these spaces, the combs are perforated in various places, so as to allow the bees a passage from one street to another, thus saving them much time. But it is in the construction of the cells themselves that the most admirable instinct is displayed. Geometricians are aware, that in order to occupy a given space with solid objects of equal size and similar form, without any useless interstices, three figures only can be adopted, namely, the equilateral triangle Triangle , the square or cube Square , and the regular hexagon Hexagon . Of these three geometrical figures, the hexagon most completely unites.

It is a remarkable circumstance, that in a new colony the design of every comb is sketched out, and the first rudiments laid, by a single bee, which having disengaged itself from the swarm, commences the building of cells, which is then taken up by the other wax-makers, and, subsequently, by the nurse bees, which give the finishing stroke to the cells; and so quick are the bees at their work, that a comb, twenty-seven inches long, by seven or eight inches wide, is built in four and twenty hours, and in five or six days they will fill the hive. The combs are attached to the roof and sides of the dwelling,—the hives or boxes to the floors and roofs.

There are three sorts of cells: the first one for the larvÆ of workers, and for containing the honey,—these are of the ordinary form; the second are for the grubs of the males or drones, being considerably larger and more substantial,—they usually appear near the bottom of the combs; the third are the cells for the females, of which there are usually three or four, and these are generally attached to the ceiling part of the comb, having very little wax in their composition. One of these cells considerably exceeds in height the ordinary ones, and they are not interwoven with them, but suspended perpendicularly, their sizes being nearly parallel to the mouths of the common cells, several of which are sacrificed to support them. After the queen bee has quitted her cell, it is destroyed by the workers, and its place occupied by a range of common cells. The queen bee deposits her eggs separately at the bottom of each cell: the egg is of a lengthened oval shape, with a slight curve, and of a bluish colour. The worker's eggs, which are the only ones laid by the queen during the first eleven months, hatch in a few days, and become little white maggots. Each is now fed with bee bread by the workers, very assiduously, and, at the expiration of six days, having attained its full size, it is roofed in by the workers, spins a silken cocoon, which occupies it for thirty-six hours, and then becomes a nymph or pupa, and, eleven days after this, quits its case, eats through the roof of the cell, and comes forth a perfect working bee.

For nearly twelve months, the queen bee deposits only workers' eggs; after which period, however, she commences laying those of drones. As soon as this change takes place, the workers begin to construct the royal cells, in which, without discontinuing to lay male eggs, she deposits now and then, about once in three days, an egg destined to produce a future queen. The food of the royal grubs has been termed "royal jelly." It is a pungent food prepared by the workers for the express purpose of feeding the grubs that are to be future queens, and is more stimulating than the food given to the common grubs.

Should it happen, as is sometimes the case, that the queen bee be killed, or the hive in any manner be deprived during the first eleven months of her existence, and before she has deposited any royal eggs, the most extraordinary circumstances occur. After a little while, a hubbub commences, work is abandoned, the whole hive is in an uproar, every bee traverses the hive at random, with the most evident want of purpose. This state of confusion sometimes continues for several days, then the bees gather in knots and clusters of a dozen or so, as though engaged in consultation; shortly after which, a resolution appears to have been taken by the whole population. Some of the workers select one of the worker-eggs, which had been previously deposited by the lost sovereign. Three cells are thrown into one for its reception,—the eggs in the two other cells being destroyed. The grub when hatched is fed with the royal jelly, and a queen is produced. Even if the grub had been hatched and partly fed as a worker, and had only received two or three days' allowance of the royal food, the result would be the same,—they emerge from the pupa perfect queens whereas, had they remained in the cells which they originally inhabited, they would have turned out workers.

We now come to that period of the year when the queen insects, having undergone the change to the pupa state, are nearly ready to burst into life. It is now that the old queen mother, losing all her parental feelings, becomes infuriated: she rushes to the cells wherein are deposited the future queens, and instantly begins to tear them open. The guards which surround the cells make way for her approach, and suffer her to act as she pleases, whereupon she slaughters the inmates with her sting, without remorse, and, after a short time, a great portion of the working bees accompanying her, rushes out of the hive, and seeks another dwelling. This is called "swarming."

Something very like concerted action and foresight seems to belong to these proceedings. It is always in calm weather, when the sky is serene, between nine in the morning and four in the afternoon, when they quit their habitation. After flying about for some time in a cluster, by degrees they fix themselves on a branch, form a group there by hooking themselves one to another with their feet, and remain perfectly tranquil. Then it is that the proprietor may secure them, and form a new colony.

In this manner several swarmings take place in the course of the summer between the months of April and August. A good stock of bees usually produces three swarms in a favourable season: each swarm containing not only the young bees recently hatched, but also a portion of the old inhabitants. The duration of life of the different individuals is various: the male bees only live a few months, the workers only one or two years, and the queen only four or five. Such is, in brief, the birth, parentage, education, life, character, and behaviour of the honey-bee, and it will be only necessary now to say a few words regarding the management of these insects, with a view to instruction, amusement, and profit.

HOW TO GET A STOCK OF BEES.

They must be purchased, and the purchaser must take care and procure them of some one upon whom he may depend. This will save a great deal of trouble. The hive should be weighed before and after a swarm is placed in it, and a note kept of its weight, a judgment may then be formed of the quantity of honey it contains in the autumn.

The hives should be sheltered by a wall, a hedge, or a tuft of trees, in order that the bees may get to the door of the hives with ease. This they cannot do if there are gusts of air sweeping round it, in which case, numbers of them will fall to the ground about the hive, from which, perhaps, they will not be able to rise before the chill and damp of the evening comes on and destroys them.

There must be water near the hives, as the working bees drink a great deal in the spring, and they are very fond of walking along straws which float in the water and sipping as much as they want. The door of the hive should look towards the forenoon sun, and the hive should not be raised above eighteen inches from the ground.We will now suppose that your bees have laid up their winter store, and that you wish to share it with them. We say share it, because we do not suppose you are so cruel and foolish as to wish to kill your bees. You might as well kill a cow for the purpose of getting milk. The more bees you have, the more honey,—that is certain.

About the latter end of September, the flowering season is over, and few flowers remain for the bees to get honey from. This is the best time to ascertain what honey they can spare; therefore, weigh every hive, and deduct from it the weight of the hive and the bees, as ascertained when the swarm entered it at first, as above directed.

To live through the winter, a hive must have at least sixteen pounds of honey, and if you wish it to swarm early, it ought to have twenty-five or even thirty pounds.

When you determine on taking away the honey from a hive, either for your own use or for distributing it to other hives, proceed as follows:—

The first fine calm morning after the honey season is over, go to your hive provided with a tobacco-pipe in your mouth, a large dish for the honey in one hand, and a long knife with the point bent, and a goose or turkey feather in your other. Blow two or three full puffs of smoke in at the door, then turn the hive upside down on the ground, so as to stand steadily, and immediately give the bees, who will collect on the edge of the comb to see what is going on, a little more smoke. This will stupify them so completely, that not above one or two will be able to fly out, and they will be so sick, that they will not dream of stinging you. Begin at one side of the hive, and cut out a comb, having first sent down a puff of smoke to make the bees go away to the middle and the other side. Proceed thus,—sweeping the bees off every comb back into the hive with the feather, till you come to the centre comb. The only nicety consists in blowing away the bees to prevent any of them being crushed. If the operation be neatly done, scarcely any bees will be killed. Take the hive now and replace it on its stand as before.

The next thing to be done is to join the bees, from which the honey has been so taken, to another hive in which you wish them to be accommodated, which may be done as follows:—In the evening, if you look into the hive which has been deprived of its honey, you will find all the bees hanging in the centre, just like a new swarm. Bring the hive near the one to which they are to be joined,—get about a table spoonful of raw honey or syrup, so thin as to pour easily, and have it in a jug beside the hive which is to receive the strangers,—blow a few whiffs of tobacco smoke in the door of the hive, then turn it up and give them an additional puff or two, and pour the honey or syrup from the jug all over the bees between the combs, so that they may be quite smeared over. Then spread a clean linen cloth on the ground in front of the hive, with one edge of it placed on the floor of the hive and secured there by two stones, to prevent its falling, and which will also serve to keep the hive a little raised from its floor on that side; now replace the hive so that the edge of the cloth may be under it while the two stones keep it raised about an inch; next take the hive containing the bees, hold it steadily over the cloth, and by one sudden blow, knock out all the bees upon the cloth in a lump. They will immediately begin to climb up and enter the new hive. If they were to be united without previously smearing one of them with honey or syrup, the chance is, that half of both hives would be killed by fighting.

Hives may be either of straw or wood. Bees thrive equally well in either. In winter the hives should be placed in a northern exposure, or, at any rate, the sun should not be allowed to shine too much on them, as it entices the bees out, who often perish by sudden cold.

You ought to keep at least three hives: Nos. 1, 2 & 3. No. 1 is the first or old one, say, of last year; Nos. 2 & 3 of this year's swarming, and these must be so managed as to supply you with honey and the bees with food. This is well explained in a little book called the "Farmer," which those who wish to keep bees ought to study.

Such are the most important facts regarding the bee and its management. There are many little works on the subject to be obtained, but the few directions in the work above named will be ample information for the young bee-breeder, and ensuring him lots of honey, lots of lessons of economy, and lots of amusement.