A Manual or an Easy Method of Managing Bees.

by John M. Weeks.

PREFACE.

It appears to the writer of the following pages, that a work of this description is much needed in our country.

The cultivation of the bee (Apis Mellifica) has been too long neglected in most parts of the United States.

This general neglect has unquestionably originated from the fact, that the European enemy to the bees, called the moth, has found its way into this country, and has located and naturalized itself here; and has made so much havoc among the bees, that many districts have entirely abandoned their cultivation. Many Apiarians, and men of the highest literary attainments, as well as experience, have nearly exhausted their patience, in examining the peculiar nature and habits of this insect; and have tried various experiments to devise some means of preventing its depredations. But, after all that has been done, the spoiler moves onward with little molestation, and very few of our citizens are willing to engage in the enterprize of cultivating this most useful and profitable of all insects, the honey-bee.

The following work is comprised in a set of plain, concise rules, by which, if strictly adhered to and practised, any person, properly situated, may cultivate bees, and avail himself of all the benefits of their labors.

If the Apiarian manages strictly in accordance with the following rules, the author feels confident that no colony will ever materially suffer by the moth, or will ever be destroyed by them.

The author is aware of the numerous treatises published on this subject; but they appear to him, for the most part, to be the result not so much of experience as of vague and conjectural speculation, and not sufficiently embodying what is practical and useful.

This work is intended as an accompaniment to the Vermont hive, and will be found to be the result of observation and experience, and it is thought comprises all that is necessary to make a skilful Apiarian.

THE AUTHOR.

RULE I.

ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BEE-HIVE.

A bee-hive should be made of sound boards, free from shakes and cracks; it should also be planed smooth, inside and out, made in a workmanlike manner, and painted on its outside.

REMARKS.

That a bee-hive should be made perfect, so as to exclude light and air, is obvious from the fact, that the bees will finish what the workman has neglected, by plastering up all such cracks and crevices, or bad joints, as are left open by the joiner. The substance they use for this purpose is neither honey nor wax, but a kind of glue or cement of their own manufacturing, and is used by the bees to fill up all imperfect joints and exclude all light and air. This cement or glue is very congenial to the growth of the moth in the first stages of its existence.

The moth miller enters the hive, generally, in the night--makes an incision into the glue or cement with her sting, and leaves her eggs deposited in the glue, where it remains secure from the bees; it being guarded by the timber on its sides. Thus, while a maggot, (larva) the moth uses the cement for food until it arrives so far towards a state of maturity as to be able to spin a web, which is more fully explained in remarks on Rule 10.

The size of a hive should be in accordance with the strictest rules of economy, and adapted to the peculiar nature and economy of the honey-bee, in order to make them profitable to their owner.

The lower apartment of the hive, where they store their food, raise their young bees, and perform their ordinary labors, should hold as much as a box thirteen inches and one half or fourteen inches square in the clear.

If the hive is much larger than the one described above, with the chamber in proportion, which should hold about two-thirds as much as the lower apartment, the bees will not be likely to swarm during the season.

Bees in large hives never swarm; and those in hives much less than the one already described, do but little else than raise young bees and lay up a sufficient quant.i.ty of food to supply them through the coming winter, and are more liable to be robbed.

All hives of bees that swarm are liable to swarm too much, and reduce their colonies so low in numbers as to materially injure them, and is frequently the cause of their destruction by the moth, which is more particularly explained in remarks on Rule 2.

The changer of the hive should be made perfectly tight, so as to exclude all light from the drawers.

Drawers should be small like No. 2, for all purposes except such as are used for multiplying colonies and transferring, which should always be large like No. 1.

Hives should have elects on their sides, so as to suspend them in the air some distance from the floor of the apiary, the better to secure the bees from destruction by mice, reptiles, and other vermin.

The back side or rear of the lower apartment of the hive should slant forward, so as to render the same smallest at the bottom, the better to secure the combs from falling when cracked by frost or nearly melted in hot weather.

No timbers or boards should be placed very near the lower edge of the hive, because it facilitates the entrance of depredators. That the back side should slant forward, is obvious from the fact, that bees generally rest one edge of their combs on that side, and build towards the front in such a manner as to enter upon the same sheet where they intend to deposit their stores, when they first enter the hive, without being compelled to take any unnecessary steps.

The bottom of the hive should slant downward from rear to front, so as to afford the greatest facility to the bees to clear their tenement of all offensive substances, and let the water, which is occasioned by the breath and vapor of the bees, run off in cold water. It also aids the bees very much in preventing the entrance of robbers.

The bottom board should be suspended by staples and hooks near each corner of the hive, in such a manner as to afford a free entrance and egress to the bees on all its sides, which will better enable them to keep their tenement clear of the moths.

There should be a b.u.t.ton attached to the lower edge of the rear of the hive, so as to enable the apiarian to govern the bottom board in such a manner as to give all the air they need, or close the hive at pleasure.

The hive should have two sticks placed at equal distances, extending from front to rear, resting on the rear, with a screw driven through the front into the end of the stick, which holds it fast in its place, and a ventilator hear the top of the lower apartment of the hive, to let off the vapor which frequently causes the death of the bees in the winter by freezing.

The door to the chamber should be made to fit in the rabitings of the same against the jambs, in such a manner as to exclude the light from the windows of the drawers, and also to prevent the entrance of the little ants. It should also be hung by b.u.t.ts, or fastened by a bar, running vertically across the centre of the door, and confined by staples at each end. There should be three sheet-iron slides, one of which should be nearly as wide as the chamber, and one or two inches longer than the length of the chamber. The other two should be the same length of the first, and half its width only.

All hives and all their appendages should be made exactly of a size and shape in the same apiary. The trouble of equalizing colonies is far less than it is to accommodate hives to swarms. Much perplexity and sometimes serious difficulties occur, where the apiarian uses different sized hives and drawers. But this part of the subject will be more fully discussed under its proper rule.

RULE II.

ON SWARMING AND HIVING.

The apiarian, or bee-owner, should have his hives in readiness, and in their places in the apiary, with the drawers in their chambers bottom up, so as to prevent entrance.

When a swarm comes forth and has alighted, cut off the limb if convenient--shake it gently, so as to disengage the bees, and let them fall gently on to the table, board, or ground, (as the case may be,) place the hive over them before many rise into the air, taking care at the same time to lay one or more sticks in such a manner as to raise the hive so as to give the bees rapid ingress and egress. If the bees act reluctantly in taking possession of their new habitation, disturb them by brushing them with a goose-quill or some other instrument, not harsh, and they will soon enter. In case it is found necessary to invert the hive to receive the bees, (which is frequent, from the manner of their alighting,) then, first secure the drawers down to the floor by inserting a handkerchief or something above them; now invert the hive and shake or brush the bees into it; now turn it gently right end up on the table, or other place, observing the rule aforesaid.

REMARKS.

Bees swarm from nine o'clock in the morning to three o'clock in the afternoon on a fair day, differing in the season according to the climate.

In Vermont they generally swarm from the middle of May to the fifteenth of July; in late seasons some later. I have known them to swarm as early as seven in the morning and as late as four in the afternoon. I have also known them to come forth when it rained so hard as nearly to defeat them by beating down many to the ground which were probably lost from their colony; and I once had a swarm come forth on the sixteenth day of August.

Experience and observation have taught that the Queen leaves the old stock first, and her colony rapidly follow. They fly about a few minutes, apparently in the greatest confusion, until the swarm is princ.i.p.ally out of the hive. They then alight, generally on the limb of some tree, shrub, or bush, or some other place convenient for them to cl.u.s.ter in a bunch not far from the old stock, and make their arrangements for a journey to a new habitation. Perhaps not one swarm in a thousand knows where they are going until after they have left the old stock, alighted, and formed into a compact body or cl.u.s.ter; and not then until they have sent off an emba.s.sy to search out a place for their future residence. Now if the bees are hived immediately after they have alighted, before they send off their emba.s.sy to seek a new tenement, they will never fly away, admitting they have sufficient room, (for it is want of room that makes them swarm in the first place,) and their hive is clear of every thing that is offensive to them.

The old custom of washing hives with salt and water and other substances, to give them a pleasant effluvia, should be speedily abolished. Nothing but bees should ever be put into a hive.

When bees die, the hive should be cleared of its contents, and sc.r.a.ped out clean, and the chamber rubbed with cloth wet in clean water; then set it in its place in the apiary, and there let it stand until wanted for use.

An old hive, thus prepared, is as good as a new one for the reception of a swarm. The apiarian should examine before using to see that the hive is free from spiders and cobwebs.

When bees are not hived immediately after they have cl.u.s.tered in a body, they should be removed to the apiary, or several rods from the place where they alighted, as soon as they can be hived, to prevent their being found on the return of the emba.s.sy. Since I have thus practised, I have never lost a swarm by flight.

Experience has taught that it is best to remove the new swarm to the place where it is intended to stand during the season, immediately after hiving.

Fewer bees are lost by a speedy removal, than when permitted to stand until evening, because they are creatures of habit, and are every moment establishing themselves in their location. It also prevents their being found by the emba.s.sy when they return. The longer bees stand in the place where they are hived, the greater will be the number lost when removed.

But more of this hereafter.