cover BY Twelve years have elapsed since the original publication of the Bee-keeper’s Manual. For the fourth time the author is called upon to revise his little book, and he still thinks that the leading object in offering it to public notice will best be explained in the words with which it was first introduced. "The existence of the following pages had its origin, some time ago, in the request of a friend, that the author would give him a brief practical compendium of the management of Bees, on the humane or depriving system. Similar applications came from other quarters. The subject is one which has of late acquired increased interest; but the hints following would perhaps never have been prepared for the press, had not the hours of a protracted confinement by illness required some diversity of occupation and amusement. On reviewing his experience as an amateur bee-keeper, the author was led to believe that the result of it, added to a concise view of such particulars as are usually spread over a large surface in works of this nature, and arranged according to the progressive order of the seasons, might be useful to others, seeking like himself occasional relaxation from weightier matters in watching over and protecting these interesting and valuable insects. Step by step this or that defect of construction in his Hives had been remedied, and such conveniences added as necessity or the spirit of improvement from time to time had suggested. These are briefly described in the following little work. If it have the good fortune, though in a small degree, to smooth the path (usually a rough and uncertain one) of the apiarian novice,—of removing ignorance and prejudice, or of obviating any portion of the difficulties with which a more general cultivation of bees has to contend,—why may not the contribution of this mite be considered a humble addition to the store of USEFUL KNOWLEDGE?" In its present renewed form, the author has been induced partially to extend his first design (originally much restricted in its scope), by entering somewhat more at large into the subject of Bee management, and the general details of practice. Although not professing to offer his remarks to any particular class of readers, he is, nevertheless, inclined to think they will frequently be found, in an especial degree, applicable to the position of the amateur Apiarian. For the peculiar use of cottage bee-keepers, tracts and scraps innumerable have been issued,—probably with very uncertain effect. In short, there is little room for doubt that these can be more effectually benefited by example and verbal advice, than by any kind of printed instructions. Be this as it may, putting out of the question the long train of contingencies incident to locality, season, &c., much must often be left to individual judgment and careful observation; and no writer can be expected to meet every supposable case of difficulty in dealing with insects confessedly often so intractable as bees. The author, therefore, must be considered as merely laying down a scheme of general recommendations; aiming much less at novelty than at plain practical utility; not hesitating occasionally to borrow the language of other unexceptionable authorities where it clearly expressed his convictions, or coincided with the results of his own experience; but carefully abstaining from any interference with the dogmatists and hyper-critics in the settlement of the affairs of their peculiar vocation. If some of the details relative to the construction of hives or their appurtenances appear to be tedious to the general reader, it must be borne in mind that these are chiefly addressed to the mechanic, who will not be found to object that his particular department has received the aid of a careful attention to matters of description and direction. On the whole, the author is induced to hope that the improved arrangement, additional information, and variety of illustration now introduced, will render superfluous any apology for a small unavoidable increase in the size of the book. April, 1850. In once more revising the following pages for republication, the author has still kept in view the purpose in which they originated, as referred to in a former preface, and which is again prefixed. He trusts that the intervening period has not been unprofitably occupied in the task of continued investigation and experiment relative to the general economy of the Bee; in the introduction either of original invention or improvement as regards the mechanical requirements of the Apiary; and in maturing the many useful suggestions derived in the course of a pretty widely extended correspondence. The incorporation of matter thus arising must be the apology, if such is needed, for the omission or abridgment, here and there, of some that a later experience had superseded or modified. From these causes the rewriting of many portions of the work became a necessity, together with the introduction of much new illustration,—on the whole resulting in a slightly enlarged volume. Under the circumstances of accumulated materials, condensation was often found more difficult of accomplishment than expansion, had this been thought desirable; but brevity throughout has been the aim, so far as seemed consistent with clear explanation and obvious utility. A work on the Honey-Bee, thus restricted in its object and scope almost entirely to details of a practical bearing, may not entitle it to much literary or scientific consideration, but—without reference to the claims involved in a large circulation—the author will never regret the time and thought bestowed, where the leading aim was the welfare and preservation of one of the most curious of God’s creatures; and the dissemination of knowledge in relation to a pursuit in rural life, of more general interest, probably, than many kindred ones of higher pretensions. August, 1855. A continued, or rather an increasing sale of the Bee-keeper’s Manual has, for the sixth time, rendered a reprint necessary; confirming the belief that a work, first appearing as the amusement of an idle hour, has, in its more recent extended form, not been unappreciated, as supplying a medium between the costly treatises of elaborate investigators and compilers and the class of mere tracts on Bee management, that have, with more or less of pretension, abounded of late years. These are sometimes directed to detached points or portions only in the wide and diversified field of controversy opened in relation to the Honey-Bee, or confined by space to the usual desultory scraps of information for the guidance of the inexperienced tyro, or supposed cottager; communicating just enough to prove the necessity of advancing a step further, by consulting works that take a wider and more systematic view of the subject in its details. The prefaces to the two last editions of the book are again placed before the reader, as showing that, in its successive stages, the author’s purpose has been the condensation of a large amount of useful apiarian knowledge, assisted by an unusual variety of illustration. The present republication professedly follows in the path of its predecessors; such additional matter or remark being occasionally introduced as space permitted, and the onward progress of improvement appeared to demand. May, 1860. What well appointed Commonwealths! where each Adds to the stock of happiness for all; Wisdom’s own forums! where professors teach Eloquent lessons in their vaulted hall: Galleries of art, and schools of industry! Stores of rich fragrance! Orchestras of song! What marvellous seats of hidden alchymy! How oft, when wandering far and erring long, Man might learn Truth and Virtue from the Bee! Bowring. The Hive or domestic Honey Bee of this country is classed entomologically Apis mellifica, order Hymenoptera, as having four wings.[A] The limits to which a Bee-keeper’s Manual of practice is necessarily confined, permits only the remark that these extraordinary insects are, as to origin and history, lost in the mists of a remote antiquity. We know, however, that they, their habits and productions, are alluded to in Scripture, and attracted marked attention and admiration in the early eastern communities, where doubtless was familiar their characteristic Oriental name, Deburah,—“she that speaketh.” Subsequently, the bee has spread itself, or been carried, in spite of clime and temperature, over a large portion of the old continents; following in the wake of civilized man wherever he has placed his foot in the primeval forests of the new world; and later on, in our own time, has been received as a friend and benefactor in the boundless regions of Australasia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. From the time of Aristotle down to our own day, treatises on Bees have ever been popular, and the curious naturalist has no difficulty in collecting a library relative to a subject apparently inexhaustible. But space allows us to notice neither the crude speculations to be met with in ancient literature, the unprofitable disputations too often prevailing among modern Bee-annalists, nor the endless catalogue of hives, possible and impossible, of every period, by which the novice is bewildered. Our present purpose is restricted to a utilitarian view of the subject of apiarian knowledge, where science, invention, and the most competent testimony, have combined to place it in our own day. [A] Although in the following pages the Apis mellifica alone is referred to, it may be well here to state that attention has recently been directed, not only in our own country, but in a still higher degree in Germany, France, and even in the United States of America, to the introduction of the Ligurian Bee, or Apis Ligustica of Italy, the race most probably that was known to Aristotle and Virgil, and, perhaps, to the ancient Greeks. The combs of this species of bee closely resemble those of the common kind, but its outward characteristics exhibit a marked difference; the first rings of the abdomen being of a reddish colour, instead of dark brown. A fertile Ligurian queen is readily accepted in an English stock-hive, from which a common queen has been abstracted, and in due time young Italians are distinguishable, gradually displacing the original inhabitants. Report speaks favorably of the superiority of the strangers over our own bee, as more hardy, more laborious, less irascible, and as swarming earlier. To those who may be unacquainted with the leading characteristic of the Honey Bee, it is necessary to premise that in every family, when fully constituted, its members are of three kinds of individuals; viz.,
Thus associated, they severally perform their allotted functions in great harmony, labouring for the general good, combining in self-defence, recognising one another, but permitting the intrusion of no stranger within the hive. Is darker on the back, longer, and more taper towards the end of her body than the common bees; has longer legs but shorter wings, and is of a tawny or yellowish-brown colour underneath. She is supreme in the hive, admitting no rival or equal; and is armed with a sting, somewhat more curved in form than that of the common bees, which, however, she rarely uses. Where she goes the other bees follow; and so indispensable is her presence to the existence of the commonwealth, that where she is not none will long remain. She is the mother of the entire community, her office being to lay the eggs from which all proceed, whether future queens, drones, or workers. Separate her from the family, and she instinctively resents the injury, refuses food, pines, and dies. Without a Queen, or a prospect of one, the labour of the hive is suspended, and a gradual dispersion or emigration of the community ensues. Those who have examined the appearance of a bee-hive, after it has been filled with combs during a year, will recollect seeing suspended here and there, certain small inverted cup-shaped forms. These are the partially destroyed remains of what were designed for the birthplaces of young queens, and so-called royal cells or cradles. They are much larger than the common hexagonal cells in which the working bees are bred; varying also in their composition, the material of which appears to be a mixture of wax or propolis, and the farina of flowers. Soon after the foundation of one of them has been laid, an egg is deposited in it, the work of completion of the cradle being carried on as required by the increasing growth of its occupant. When finished and closed up, it presents in form the appearance of an oblong spheroid, about an inch long, usually appended like a stalactite perpendicularly to the edge of a comb, the small end or mouth being downwards, a position most favorable to economy of space in the hive. In number the royal cells vary from four or five to a dozen, and sometimes more. They are not peopled till after the usual great spring laying of eggs for the production of working bees, preparatory to swarming; and also those to produce drone bees. The existence of the latter, or in some stage towards existence, is an invariable preliminary to the construction of royal cells, the reason for which will hereafter appear. The affectionate attachment evinced by the nurse-bees towards the royal larvÆ is marvellous, the quantity of food given is profuse, and they arrive severally at maturity on or about the sixteenth day from the laying of each egg; these having usually an interval between them of but a few days. Of the young females or princesses, as they are often called, and the mode of disposing of supernumerary ones, we shall speak more at large when we come to treat of swarming. The duration of life in a Queen bee, under ordinary circumstances, is, by a wise provision for the perpetuation of the species, much more prolonged than is the case with the common bees, and some observers have imagined that it may in some instances have reached to nearly five years. So far as my knowledge extends, the oldest queen bee of which we have an authentic record, existed, in the apiary of Mr. Robert Golding,[B] during the space of three years and eleven months. She died in April or May, showing little sign of decrepitude, judging by her fertility, for previously she had filled the hive with an abundance of brood of every kind. I am, however, inclined to believe that a Queen is oftener changed than we are always aware of, for in nothing in Nature is there displayed a more careful attention to the due preservation of a family of bees than in the provision made for supplying the casual vacancies arising not merely from the natural demise of the sovereign, but from other causes, especially those involving deficient powers or absolute sterility. I should, therefore, discountenance any attempt at direct interference by the forcible removal of a queen, after a prescribed period, as has sometimes been advocated. If, however, it should happen that such removal is absolutely necessary, the bees will accept a successor as soon as they have discovered their loss, which is often not till after the lapse of several hours. If all is right the previous agitation will cease. [B] See the ‘Shilling Bee-book,’ by Robert Golding. And this leads us on to a curious, if not unique fact in relation to the natural history of the Honey bee, which though probably not unknown to the ancients, was rediscovered and promulgated by Schirach, a member of an apiarian society, formed in the middle of the last century at Little Bautzen, in Upper Lusatia. In contradistinction to the usual way in which a young Queen is created, preparatory to the swarming season, by what is denominated the natural process, the details we are about to give show that the same thing may be effected by another mode, or, as it is said, artificially. Whether these terms, as opposed to each other, are rightly applied or not, they at least mark a difference; and being thus practically understood, we shall follow the example of other authors in using them. The fact itself, startling as at first it seemed, has been so clearly authenticated, that any lurking scepticism has disappeared; and, indeed, the principle is now so well understood and carried into general use by the scientific Apiculturist that, in a popular treatise on the Honey bee, our object would he imperfectly accomplished without entering into a few particulars in connection with it. And first, we have the assurance that the prevalent opinion as to any supposed original or generated difference between common eggs and those laid for the especial production of Queen bees, is founded in error; an altered and accelerated mode as to the development of the egg being all that is needed for the maturation of a perfect female. That we may understand the method of procedure on the part of the bees, we have to suppose that a hive has been deprived of its Queen (no matter whether by death or design) at that particular period when eggs and larvÆ are each present in the cells of the combs: such larvÆ being not more than two or three days old, for this is essential. Could we at such a juncture witness the proceedings of the family, a spectacle would be presented of much domestic distress and confusion when it had been discovered that the hive was queenless. Soon, however, the scene changes to the quietude of hope, for the foundation of a queen’s cell (and as a provision against possible failure, often of three or four) is commenced by the bees, usually within twenty-four hours. They select a common grub or larva, and enlarge the cell it occupies, by sacrificing the three contiguous ones, surrounding it with a cylindrical enclosure; the new cradle of royalty presenting in this stage the appearance of an acorn cup. The embryo Princess, for such she has now become, is amply supplied with a nurture, supposed to differ from that given to the common larvÆ (a point questioned by some naturalists); her habitation in the meanwhile receiving elongation to suit her growth. About the fifth day the worm assumes the nymph state, the cell being now worked into its usual pear-shaped figure; the bees quitting it as soon as the lower end is finally closed. About the fourteenth day a perfectly developed female comes forth, in no respect differing from a Queen bred in the natural way. Fecundation and the laying of eggs usually follow in a few days, the economy of the hive then resuming its wonted course. The Queen bee rarely leaves home, or is to be seen, except in hives constructed purposely with a view to observation. In such a one I have frequently watched the proceedings, as she has leisurely traversed the combs, the bees clearing a passage on her approach, their heads turned towards her, and, by repeatedly touching her with their antennÆ, showing a marked attachment, a favour she is occasionally seen to return. Indeed, in some well-authenticated instances, affection has been continued even after her death. The great object of her existence being the perpetuation of the species, her majesty seems intent on nothing more, during these royal progresses, than peeping into the cells as she passes them, ever and anon selecting one, within which she inserts her abdomen, and deposits at the bottom an egg. These are about the size of those produced by a butterfly, but more elongated, and of a bluish-white colour. So prolific are some Queens that I have sometimes witnessed an extraordinary waste of eggs when, as the combs have become in great part filled with brood or honey, she finds a difficulty in meeting with a sufficiency of unoccupied cells. In such an emergency, impelled by necessity, the eggs are dropped at random, and carried off or devoured by the bees. No doubt an early and productive season tends often to this result, and marks the necessity of a timely temporary addition to the storing room of the family. The great laying takes place in April and May, when the number of eggs has been variously estimated by naturalists at 200 to 600 in a day, amounting to an aggregate of 50,000 to 80,000 in the year. “This sounds like a great number,” remarks Dr. Bevan,[C] “but it is much exceeded by some other insects.” Indeed, a wider calculation has been made, in his valuable remarks on bees, by the Rev. Dr. W. Dunbar,[D] who thinks that some Queens (for they are not all equally prolific) produce 100,000 eggs yearly. When we take into account the enormous demand for the supply of swarms, the constant deaths in the course of nature, and the thousands of lives always sacrificed by casualties of various kinds, at home and abroad, I am inclined to lean to the higher estimate. No doubt as the cold weather advances there is a considerable falling off in the number of eggs, but the interval is very short in which the queen, in a flourishing hive, discontinues laying more or less. “Indeed,” observes Mr. Golding, “it appears that at any time when the temperature is not too low for the bees to appropriate the food that is given to them, the Queen will deposit eggs.” [C] See ‘The Honey-Bee, its Natural History, Physiology, and Management.’ By Edward Bevan, M.D. [D] See the ‘Naturalist’s Library,’ vol. xxxiv. Are the least in size, and in point of numbers in a family are variously calculated at twelve to thirty thousand, according to the bulk of the swarm; though under certain circumstances they are sometimes much more numerous. As regards sex, we have seen in the preceding section that there is no reason to doubt they are females, only that the reproductive organs and ovaries are not as fully developed as they are in the case of a perfect Queen; and this has led to the erroneous use of the term neuters, as sometimes applied to the common bees. If any doubt should remain as to their sex, it is removed by the knowledge that, in some rare instances, they have been able to produce eggs. Like the Queen, each has the power of stinging. The use of the sting, however, usually involves a loss of life, for, being barbed like an arrow, the bee has rarely the power of withdrawing it. The eggs for workers are deposited in the common cells in the centre of the hive, being the part first selected for that purpose, the Queen usually laying them equally on each side of a comb, and nearly back to back. In four or five days' time, they are hatched, when a small worm is presented, remaining in the larva or grub state four to six days more, during which period it is assiduously fed by the nurse-bees. The larvÆ then assume the nymph or pupa form, and spin themselves a film or cocoon, the nurses immediately after sealing them up with a substance which Huber[E] calls wax. It is, however, a mixture of wax and pollen, being thicker, more highly coloured, more porous, and less tenacious, probably to afford air, and facilitate the escape of the imprisoned tenant. This takes place about the twenty-first day from the laying of the egg, unless the process has been somewhat retarded by cold weather. The attentive observer may at this time, in a suitable hive, witness the struggles and scrambling into the world, generally by its own exertions, of the now perfect imago, the little grey new-born shaking, brushing, and smoothing itself, preparatory to entering upon the duties of life, and in a day or two, or sooner, it is busily occupied in the fields.[F] [E] See “Observations on the Natural History of Bees,” by Francis Huber; English edition, London, 1841. An invaluable work to the scientific apiculturist. [F] As soon as the young bee comes forth, the others partially clear the cell, and it again receives an egg; this being often repeated four or five times in the season. Afterwards the cells become the receptacles for honey or farina; but they are found in time to become contracted or thickened by this rapid succession of tenants, and the consequent deposits of exuviÆ, excrement, &c. It has been asserted by Huber and other naturalists, that young bees, bred in old contracted cells, are proportionately smaller in size. Such combs should be removed from the hive. Though we have, as I conceive, no actual proof that the occupation of individual bees is at all times unchangeably directed to one point (as some naturalists have imagined), observation shows that the division of labour is one of their leading characteristics. Some are engaged in secreting and elaborating wax for the construction of combs in the hive; others in warming the eggs; in feeding the larvÆ, as also their queen; in ventilating and cleansing the hive; in guarding and giving notice of attacks or annoyance from without; and the rest in searching the fields and woods for the purpose of collecting honey and farina, for present and future store. The longevity of the working bees has often furnished matter for dispute, and erroneous ideas have been engendered where a family has been seen for a series of years to continue in a populous and thriving condition. But during this period the Queen (or more than one in succession) has been incessantly occupied in laying eggs innumerable, to supply by new births the place of the countless thousands of bees that periodically disappear. Their dwelling has remained, but successive generations of tenants have kept its works in repair, giving way in time to fresh occupants. It is shown clearly by Dr. Bevan and other good authorities, both by argument and actual experiment, that six to eight months is the limit of their duration; for, notwithstanding the immense annual increase, the numbers in a hive dwindle down gradually, owing to the chills of autumn and towards the end of the year, to a comparatively few. There is no doubt, therefore, that every bee existing after Christmas was bred during the latter part of the summer or autumn; and this is a sufficient answer to those who sometimes inquire what is to become of the accumulated masses of bees, in hives managed on the depriving system, where neither swarming nor destruction takes place. We might here allude to a prevalent error as to any inherent difference, local or otherwise, in the characteristics of the domestic Honey bee. When we hear it said, that some are “better workers” than others, all that ought to be understood is, that the family has the advantage of being under favorable circumstances as to locality or season; with a fertile Queen, and an abundant population, for without these essentials, every operation goes on sluggishly, and prosperity becomes hopeless. Are computed in the early part of the summer at one to two thousand, and upwards, in a stock hive; but the numbers are irregular, for a weak stock will often have an undue proportion. They possess no sting; are larger, darker, and more hairy than the common bees; easily distinguishable by their heavy motion on the wing, and by their louder humming or droning. After her great spring laying of common eggs has far advanced, and as an invariable preliminary to the construction of royal cells, the Queen proceeds to deposit eggs intended for the production of drones or males, though often without discontinuing those for workers. The drone eggs are laid in cells larger in diameter, and stronger than the others, and usually placed towards the outer extremities of the hive.[G] A longer period is necessary for the development of a male than a female, and the drones pass through their various stages in about twenty-four to twenty-six days, being seldom seen till about the beginning of May (though occasionally earlier), and then only in warm weather, in the middle of the day. These are the produce of the first-laid eggs; for a second smaller laying of drone eggs commonly takes place about two months later, though the males are rarely found after August, unless under certain contingencies. |