Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee: A Bee Keeper's Manual
by L. L. Langstroth · English · Gutenberg #24583 · 738,255 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee: A Bee Keeper's Manual
Author: L. L. Langstroth
Release date: February 11, 2008 [eBook #24583]
Language: English
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Credits: Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Constanze Hofmann and the
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LANGSTROTH ON THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE: A BEE KEEPER'S MANUAL ***
Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Constanze Hofmann and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images produced by Core
Historical Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell
University)
[Illustration:
So work the Honey Bees.
Creatures that by a rule in Nature, teach
The art of order to a peopled kingdom.--_Shakspeare._]
[Illustration: Worker. Drone. Queen.
The above are a very accurate representations of the QUEEN, the WORKER
and the DRONE. The group of bees in the title page, represents the
attitude in which the bees surround their Queen or Mother as she rests
upon the comb.]
LANGSTROTH
ON THE
HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE,
A Bee Keeper's Manual,
BY
REV. L. L. LANGSTROTH.
[Illustration: EVERY GOOD MOTHER SHOULD BE THE
HONORED QUEEN OF A HAPPY FAMILY.]
NORTHAMPTON:
HOPKINS, BRIDGMAN & COMPANY.
1853.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
L. L. LANGSTROTH,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.
C. A. MIRICK, PRINTER, GREENFIELD.
PREFACE.
This Treatise on the Hive and the Honey-Bee, is respectfully submitted
by the Author, to the candid consideration of those who are interested
in the culture of the most useful as well as wonderful Insect, in all
the range of Animated Nature. The information which it contains will be
found to be greatly in advance of anything which has yet been presented
to the English Reader; and, as far as facilities for practical
management are concerned, it is believed to be a very material advance
over anything which has hitherto been communicated to the Apiarian
Public.
Debarred, by the state of his health, from the more appropriate duties
of his Office, and compelled to seek an employment which would call him,
as much as possible, into the open air, the Author indulges the hope
that the result of his studies and observations, in an important branch
of Natural History, will be found of service to the Community as well as
to himself. The satisfaction which he has taken in his researches, has
been such that he has felt exceedingly desirous of interesting others,
in a pursuit which, (without any reference to its pecuniary profits,)
is capable of exciting the delight and enthusiasm of all intelligent
observers. The Creator may be seen in all the works of his hands; but in
few more directly than in the wise economy of the Honey-Bee.
"What well appointed commonwealths! where each
Adds to the stock of happiness for all;
Wisdom's own forums! whose professors teach
Eloquent lessons in their vaulted hall!
Galleries of art! and schools of industry!
Stores of rich fragrance! Orchestras of song!
What marvelous seats of hidden alchemy!
How oft, when wandering far and erring long,
Man might learn truth and virtue from the BEE!"
_Bowring._
The attention of Clergymen is particularly solicited to the study of
this branch of Natural History. An intimate acquaintance with the
wonders of the Bee-Hive, while it would benefit them in various ways,
might lead them to draw their illustrations, more from natural objects
and the world around them, and in this way to adapt them better to the
comprehension and sympathies of their hearers. It was, we know, the
constant practice of our Lord and Master, to illustrate his teachings
from the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and the common walks
of life and pursuits of men. Common Sense, Experience and Religion alike
dictate that we should follow his example.
L. L. LANGSTROTH.
_Greenfield, Mass., May 25, 1853._
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION--CHAPTER I.
Deplorable state of bee-keeping. New era anticipated, 13. Huber's
discoveries and hives. Double hives for protection against extremes of
temperature, 14. Necessary to obtain complete control of the combs.
Taming bees. Hives with movable bars. Their results important, 15.
Bee-keeping made profitable and certain. Movable frames for comb. Bees
will work in glass hives exposed to the light. Dzierzon's discoveries,
16. Wagner's letter on the merits of Dzierzon's hive and the movable
comb hive, 17. Superiority of movable comb hive, 19. Superiority of
Dzierzon's over the old mode, 20. Success attending it, 22. Bee-Journal
to be established. Two of them in Germany. Important facts connected
with bees heretofore discredited, 23. Every thing seen in observing
hives, 24.
CHAPTER II.
BEES CAPABLE OF DOMESTICATION. Astonishment of persons at their
tameness, 25. Bees intended for the comfort of man. Properties fitting
them for domestication. Bees never attack when filled with honey, 26.
Swarming bees fill their honey bags and are peaceable. Hiving of bees
safe, 27. Bees cannot resist the temptation to fill themselves with
sweets. Manageable by means of sugared water, 28. Special aversion to
certain persons. Tobacco smoke to subdue bees should not be used.
Motions about a hive should be slow and gentle, 29.
CHAPTER III.
THE QUEEN BEE. THE DRONE. THE WORKER, 30. Knowledge of facts relating to
them, necessary to rear them with profit. Difficult to reason with some
bee-keepers. Queen bee the mother of the colony--described, 31.
Importance of queen to the colony. Respect shown her by the other bees.
Disturbance occasioned by her loss, 32. Bee-keepers cannot fail to be
interested in the habits of bees, 33. Whoever is fond of his bees is
fond of his home. Fertility of queen bees under-estimated. Fecundation
of eggs of the queen bees, 34-36. Huber vindicated. Francis Burnens.
Huber the prince of Apiarians, 35. Dr. Leidy's curious dissections, 37.
Wasps and hornets fertilized like queen bees. Huish's inconsistency, 38.
Retarded fecundation productive of drones only. Fertile workers produce
only drones, 39. Dzierzon's opinions on this subject, 40. Wagner's
theory. Singular fact in reference to a drone-rearing colony.
Drone-laying queen on dissection, unimpregnated. Dzierzon's theory
sustained, 41. Dead drone for queen, mistake of bees, 43. Eggs
unfecundated produce drones. Fecundated produce workers; theory
therefor, 44. Aphides but once impregnated for a series of generations.
Knowledge necessary for success, Queen bee, process of laying, 45. Eggs
described. Hatching, 46. Larva, its food, its nursing. Caps of breeding
and honey cells different, 47. Nymph or pupa, working. Time of
gestation. Cells contracted by cocoons sometimes become too small. Queen
bee, her mode of development, 48. Drone's development. Development of
young bees slow in cool weather or weak swarms. Temperature above 70
deg. for the production of young. Thin hives, their insufficiency. Brood
combs, danger of exposure to low temperature, 49. Cocoons of drones and
workers perfect. Cocoons of queens imperfect, the cause, 50. Number of
eggs dependent on the weather, &c. Supernumerary eggs, how disposed of,
51. Queen bee, fertility diminishes after her third year. Dies in her
fourth year, 52. Drones, description of. Their proper office. Destroyed
by the bees. When first appear, 53. None in weak hives. Great number of
them. Rapid increase of bees in tropical climates, 54. How to prevent
their over production. Expelled from the hive, 55. If not expelled, hive
should be examined. Provision to avoid "in and in breeding," 56. Close
breeding enfeebles colonies. Working bees, account of. Number in a hive,
58. All females with imperfect ovaries. Fertile workers not tolerated
where there are queens, 59. Honey receptacle. Pollen basket. The sting.
Sting of bees, 60. Often lost in using. Penalty of its loss. Sting not
lost by other insects. Labors of workers, 61. Age of bees, 62. Bees
useful to the last, 63. Cocoons not removed by the bees. Breeding cells
becoming too small are reconstructed. Old comb should be removed. Brood
comb not to be changed every year, 64. Inventors of hives too often men
of "one idea." Folly of large closets for bees, 65. Reason of limited
colonies. Mother wasps and hornets only survive Winter. Queen, process
of rearing, 66. Royal cells, 67. Royal Jelly, 68. Its effect on the
larvæ, 69. Swammerdam, 70. Queen departs when successors are provided
for. Queens, artificial rearing, 71. Interesting experiment, 72.
Objections against the Bible illustrated, 73. Huish against Huber, 74.
His objections puerile. Objections to the Bible ditto, 75.
CHAPTER IV.
COMB. Wax, how made. Formed of any saccharine substance. Huber's
experiments, 76. High temperature necessary to its composition, 77. Heat
generated in forming. Twenty pounds of honey to form one of wax. Value
of empty comb in the new hive. How to free comb from eggs of the moth,
78. Combs having bee-bread of great value. How to empty comb and replace
it in the hive, 79. Artificial comb. Experiment with wax proposed, 80.
Its results, if successful. Comb made chiefly in the night. 81. Honey
and comb made simultaneously. Wax a non-conductor of heat. Some of the
brood cells uniform in size, others vary, 82. Form of cells
mathematically perfect, 83. Honey comb a demonstration of a "Great First
Cause," 84.
CHAPTER V.
PROPOLIS OR BEE GLUE. Whence it is obtained. Huber's experiment, 85. Its
use. Comb varnished with it. The moth deposits her eggs in it, 85.
Propolis difficult for bees to work. Curious use of it by bees, 87.
Ingenuity of bees admirable, 88.
CHAPTER VI.
POLLEN OR BEE-BREAD. Whence obtained. Its use. Brood cannot be raised
without it. Pollen nitrogenous. Its use discovered by Huber, 89. Its
collection by bees indicates a healthy queen. Experiment showing the
importance of bee-bread to a colony, 90. Not used in making comb. Bees
prefer it fresh. Surplus in old hives to be used to supply its want to
young hives. Pollen and honey both secured at the same time by bees.
Mode of gathering pollen, 91. Packing down. Bees gather one kind of
pollen at a time. They aid in the impregnation of plants. History of the
bee plain proof of the wisdom of the Creator. Bees made for man, 92.
Virgil's opinion of bees. Rye meal a substitute for pollen. Quantity
used by each colony, 93. Wheat flour a substitute. The improved hive
facilitates feeding bees with meal. The discovery of a substitute for
pollen removes an obstacle to the cultivation of honey bees, 94.
CHAPTER VII.
Fifty-four Advantages which ought to be found in an improved hive,
95-110. Some desirable qualities the movable comb hive does not pretend
to! Is the result of years of study and observation. It has been tested
by experience, 111. Not claimed as a perfect hive. Old-fashioned
bee-keepers found most profit, &c. Simplest form of hive, 112. Bee
culture where it was fifty years ago. Best hives. New hive is submitted
to the judgment of candid bee-keepers, 113.
CHAPTER VIII.
PROTECTION AGAINST EXTREMES OF HEAT, COLD AND DAMPNESS. Many colonies
destroyed by extremes of weather. Evils of thin hives. Bees not torpid
in Winter. When frozen are killed, 114. Take exercise to keep warm.
Perish if unable to preserve suitable degree of warmth. Are often
starved in the midst of plenty. Eat an extra quantity of food in thin,
cold hives, 115. Muscular exertion occasions waste of muscular fiber.
Bees need less food when quiet than when excited. Experiment, wintering
bees in a dry cellar, 116. Protection must generally be given in open
air. None but diseased bees discharge fæces in the hive. Moisture, its
injurious effects. Free air needful in cold weather, with the common
hive, 117. Loss by their flying out in cold weather. Protection against
extremes of weather of the very first importance. Honey, our country
favorable to its production. Colonies in forests strong. Reasons for
this, 118. Russian and Polish bee-keepers successful. Their mode of
management, 119. Objection of want of air answered, 120. Bees need but
little air in Winter if protected. Protection in reference to the
construction of hives. Double hives, preferable to plank. Made warm in
Winter by packing. Double hives, inside may be of glass, 121. Advantages
of glass over wood, 122. Advantages of double glass. Disadvantages of
double hives in Spring. Avoided by the improved hive, 123. Covered
Apiaries exclude the sun in Spring. Reason for discarding them. Sun, its
effect in producing early swarms in thin hives. Protected hives fall for
want of sun. Enclosed Apiaries, nuisances. Thin hives ought to be given
up, they are expensive in waste of honey and bees, 124. Comparative
cheapness of new and old hives, 125. Protector against injurious
weather. Proper location of bees. Preparations for setting hives, 126.
Protector should be open in Summer and banked in Winter. Cheaper than an
Apiary. Summer air of Protector like forest air. In Winter uniform and
mild, 127. Bees will not be enticed out in improper weather. Secures
their natural heat. Dead bees, &c., to be removed in Winter. Temperature
of the Protector, 128. Importance of the Protector. Its economy in food,
129.
CHAPTER IX.
VENTILATION. Artificial ventilation produced by bees. Purity of air in
the hive, 130. Bad air fatal to bees, eggs and larvæ, 131. Bees when
disturbed need much air. Dysentery, how produced. Post mortem condition
of suffocated bees, 132. Great annoyance of excessive heat. Bees leave
the hive to save the comb. Ventilating instinct wonderful, 133. Should
shame man for his neglect of ventilation. Comparative expense of
ventilation to man and bees, 134. Importance of ventilation to man. Its
neglect induces disease, 135. Plants cannot thrive without free air. The
union of warmth and ventilation in Winter an important question.
House-builder and stove-maker combine against fresh air, 136. Run-away
slave boxed up. Evil qualities of bad air aggravated by heat. Dwellings
and public buildings generally deficient in ventilation. Degeneracy will
ensue, 137. Women the greatest sufferers. Necessity of reform, 138.
Public buildings should be required to have plenty of air. Improved
hive, its adaptedness to secure ventilation, 139. Nutt's hive too
complicated. Ventilation independent of the entrance, 140. Hive may be
entirely closed without incommoding the bees. Ventilators should be
easily removable to be cleansed. Ventilation from above injurious except
when bees are to be moved, 141. Variable size of the entrance adapts it
to all seasons. Ventilators should be closed in Spring. Downing on
ventilation, (note,) 142.
CHAPTER X.
SWARMING AND HIVING. Bees swarming a beautiful sight. Poetic description
by Evans. Design of swarming, 143. The honey bee unlike other insects in
its colonizing habits. It is chilled by a temperature below 50 deg.
Would perish in Winter if not congregated in masses. Admirable
adaptation, 144. Swarming necessary. Circumstances in which it takes
place. June the swarming month. Preparations for swarming. Old queen
accompanies the first swarm. No infallible signs of 1st swarming, 145.
Fickleness of bees about swarming. Indications of swarming. Hours of
swarming, 146. Proceedings within the hive before swarming. Interesting
scene. Bells and frying-pans useless, 147. Neglected bees apt to fly
away in swarming. Bees properly cared for seldom do it. Methods of
arresting their flight when started, 148. Conduct of bees in
disagreeable hives, 149. Why bees swarm before selecting a new home.
They rarely cluster without the queen. Interesting experiment, 150.
Scouts to search for new abodes. Scouts sent out before and after
swarming, 151. Bees remain awhile after alighting. Curious incident
stated by Mr. Zollickoffer. Necessity of scouts. Considerations
confirmed, 152. Re-population of the hive, 153. Inability of bees to
find their hive when it has been removed. After swarms, 154. Different
treatment to the cells of dead and living queens. Royal larvæ sometimes
protected against the queens. Anger of the queen at such interference,
155. Second swarming, its indications. Time, 156. Double swarms. Third
swarm. After swarms seriously reduce the strength of the hive. Wise
arrangement, 157. After-swarming avoided by the improved hive.
Impregnation of queens. Dangerous for queens to mistake their own hives,
158. Precautions against this. Proper color for hives. Time of laying
eggs. None but worker eggs, the first season, 159. Directions for
hiving. Hives should be painted and well dried. Bees reluctant to enter
thin warm hives in the sun, 160. Management with the improved hives,
161. Drone combs should never be used as guide comb. Pleasure of bees in
finding comb in their new quarters. Bees never voluntarily enter empty
hives. Rubbing the hive with herbs useless, 162. Small trees or bushes
in front of hives. Inexperienced Apiarian should wear a bee-dress.
Moderate dispatch in hiving needful, 163. Process of hiving particularly
described, 164. Old method of hiving should be abandoned, 166.
Importance of speedy hiving. Should be moved as soon as hived. Curious
fact stated by Dr. Scudamore, (note), 167. How to secure the queen. She
does not sting. Hiving before the hives are ready, 168. Another method
of hiving. Natural swarming profitable. Objections to natural swarming.
Common hive gives inadequate winter protection, 169. With it, the bees
often swarm too much. With the improved hive this is avoided.
Disadvantages of returning after-swarms. Third objection, inability to
strengthen small late swarms, 170. Evils of feeble stocks. Fourth
objection, loss of queen irreparable. By the new hive her loss is easily
supplied, 171. Fifth, common hives inconvenient when bees do not swarm.
This objection removed by the new hive. Sixth, the ravages of the moth
easily prevented by the improved hive. Seventh, the old queen, when
infertile, cannot be removed or replaced. Both can be done by the new
hive, 172.
CHAPTER X.
(Two Chapters numbered x, by error of the Press.)
ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. Numerous efforts to dispense with natural swarming.
Difficulties of natural swarming. First, many swarms are lost, 173.
Second, time and labor required. Sabbath labor, 174. Perplexities to
farmers. Third, large Apiaries cannot be established, 175. Fourth,
uncertainty of swarming. Disappointments from this source, 176. Efforts
to devise a surer method, 178. Columellas's mode of obtaining swarms.
Hyginus. Small success which attended, those efforts, Schirach's
discovery, 179. Huber's directions. Not adapted to general use. Dividing
hives in this country unsuitable. Bees without mature queens make no
preparation to rear workers, 180. Dividing hives to multiply colonies
will not answer, 181. Huber's hive even, inadequate. Common dividing
hives unsuccessful. Multiplying by brood comb in an empty hive, vain,
182. Multiplying by removal and substitution useless. Mortality of bees
in working season, 183. Connecting apartments a failure, 184. Many
prefer non-swarming hives, 185. Profitable in honey but calculated to
exterminate the insect. Improved hive good non-swarmer, if desired.
Disadvantages of non-swarming. Queen bee becomes infertile. Remedied by
the use of the improved hive, 186. Practicable mode of artificial
swarming, 187. Bees will welcome to their hives strange bees that come
loaded. Will destroy such as come empty, 188. Forced swarming requires
knowledge of the economy of the bee-hive. Common hives give no facility
for learning the bee's habits. Equalizing a divided swarm, 190. Bees in
parent hive, if removed, to be confined and watered, 191. Bees removed
will return to their old place. Supplying bees with water by a straw.
Water necessary to prepare food for the larvæ, 192. New forced swarms to
be returned to the place of the old one, or removed to a distance.
Treatment to wont them to new place in the Apiary, 193. Bees forget
their new locations. Objection to forced swarming in common hives, 194.
Forced swarming by the new hives removes the objection. Mode of forcing
swarms by the new hives, 195. Queen to be searched for. Important that
she should be in the right hive, 196. Convenience of forced swarming in
supplying extra queens. Mode of supplying them. Should be done by day
light and in pleasant weather, 197. Honey-water not to be used. Safety
to the operator. Forced swarming may be performed at mid-day. Advantages
of the shape of the new hive, 198. Huber's observation on the effect of
sudden light in the hive. True solution of the phenomenon. Bees at the
top of the hive, less belligerent than those at the bottom, 199. Sudden
jars to be avoided. Removal of honey-board. Sprinkling with sugar-water,
200. Loosening the frames. Removing the comb. Bees will adhere to their
comb, 201. Natural swarming imitated. How to catch the queen. Frames
protected from cold and robbery by bees. Frames returned to the hive.
Honey-cover, how managed. Motions of bee-keeper to be gentle. Bees must
not be breathed on. Success in the operation certain, 202. New colonies
may be thus formed in ten minutes. Natural swarming wholly prevented. If
attempted by the bees cannot succeed. How to remove the wings of the
queens, 203. Precaution against loss of queen by old age. Advantages of
this, 204. Certainty and ease of artificial swarming with the new hive.
After-swarms prevented if desired, 205. Large harvests of honey and
after-swarming impracticable. Danger of too rapid increase of stocks.
Importance of understanding his object, by the bee-keeper, 206. The
matter made plain, 207. Apiarians dissuaded from more than tripling
their stocks in a year. Tenfold increase of stocks attainable, 209.
Certain increase, not rapid, most needed. Cautions concerning
experiments, 210. Honey, largest yield obtained by doubling colonies.
The process, 211. May be done at swarming time. Bees recognize each
other by smell, 213. Importance of following these directions
illustrated. Process of uniting swarms simplified by the new hive, 214.
Very rapid increase of colonies precarious. Mode of effecting the most
rapid increase, 215. Nucleus system, 217. Can a queen be raised from any
egg? Two sorts of workers, wax workers and nurses, 218. Probable
explication of a difficulty, 219. Experimenting difficult work. Swarming
season best time for artificial swarming. Amusing perplexity of bees on
finding their hive changed, 220. Perseverance of bees. Interesting
incident illustrating it, 221. Novel and successful mode of forming
nuclei, 223. Mode of managing nuclei, 225. Danger of over-feeding.
Increasing stocks by doubling hives, 229. Important rule for multiplying
stocks. How to direct the strength of a colony to the rearing of young
bees, 230. Proper dimensions of hives. Reasons therefor, 231. Easy
construction of the improved hive. Precaution of queen bees in their
combats, 234. Reluctance of bees to receive a new queen. Expedient to
overcome this. Queen nursery, 235. Mode of rearing numerous queens, 237.
Control of the comb the soul of good bee-culture. Objection against
bee-keeping answered, 233. No "royal road" to bee-keeping. A prediction,
239.
CHAPTER XI.
ENEMIES OF BEES. Bee-moth, its ravages. Defiance against it, 240. Its
habits. Known to Virgil. Time of appearance. Nocturnal in habits, 241.
Their agility. Vigilance of the bees against the moth. Havoc of sin in
the heart, 242. Disgusting effects of the moth worm in a hive. Wax the
food of the moth larvæ. Making their cocoons, 243. Devices to escape the
bees. Time of development, 244. Habits of the female when laying eggs.
Of the worm when hatched, 245. Our climate favorable to the increase of
the moth. Moth not a native of America, 246. Honey, its former plenty.
Present depressure of its culture. Old mode of culture described, 247.
Depredations of the moth increased by patent hives. Aim of patent hives.
Sulphur or starvation, 249. Feeble swarms a nuisance, 250. Notion
prevailing in relation to breaking up stocks. Improved hives valueless
without improved system of treatment, 251. Pretended secrets in the
management of bees. Strong stocks thrive under almost any circumstances,
252. Stocks in costly hives. Circumstances under which the moth succeeds
in a hive, 253. Signs of worms in a hive, 254. When entrenched difficult
to remove. Method of avoiding their ravages, 255. Combs having moth eggs
to be removed and smoked, 257. Uncovered comb to be removed, 258. Loss
of the queen the most fruitful occasion of ravages by the moth.
Experiments on this point, 259. Attempts to defend a queenless swarm
against the moth useless, 260. Strong queenless colonies destroyed when
feeble ones with queens are untouched. Common hives furnish no remedy
for the loss of the queen. Colonies without queens will perish, if not
destroyed by the moth, 261. Strong stocks rob queenless ones. Principal
reasons of protection, 262. Small stocks should have small space.
Inefficiency of various contrivances, 263. Useful precautions when using
common hives. Destroy the larvæ of the moth early. Decoy of a woolen
rag, 264. Hollow or split sticks for traps. If the queen be lost, and
worms infest the colony, break it up. Provision of the improved hives
against moths, 265. Moth-traps no help to careless bee-keepers.
Incorrigibly careless persons should have nothing to do with bees, 266.
Worms, how removed from an improved hive. Sweet solutions useful to
catch the moths. Interesting remarks of H. K. Oliver, on the bee-moth,
267. Ravages of mice. Birds. Observations on the king-bird, 269.
Inhumanity and injurious effects of destroying birds, 270. Other
enemies of the bee. Precautions against dysentery. Bees not to be fed on
liquid honey late in the season. Foul brood of the Germans, 271.
Produced by "American Honey." Peculiar kind of dysentery, 272.
CHAPTER XII.
LOSS OF THE QUEEN. Queen often lost. Queens of strong hives seldom
perish without providing for successors. Their death commonly occurs
under favorable circumstances, 273. Young queen sometimes matured before
the death of the old one. Superannuated queens incapable of laying
worker eggs. Case of precocious superannuation, 274. Signs that there is
no queen in a hive. Signs of queenless hives, 275. Exhortation to wives,
276. Difficult in common hives, to decide on the condition of the stock.
Always easy with the movable comb hive, 277. Bees sometimes refuse to
accept of aid in their queenless state. Parallel in human conduct. Young
bees in such hives will at once provide for a queen. An appeal to the
young, 278. Hives should be examined early in Spring. Destitute stocks
should be united to others having queens. Reasons therefor. General
treatment in early Spring, 279. Hives should be cleansed in Spring.
Durability and cheapness of hives, 280. Undue regard to mere cheapness.
Various causes destructive of queens, 281. Agitation of the bees on
missing their queen, 282. Treatment of swarms that have lost their
queens, 283. Examination of the hive needful, 284. Examination and
treatment in the Fall. Persons who cannot attend to their bees
themselves, may safely entrust their care to others, 285. Business of
the Apiarian united with that of the gardner. Experiments with queen
bees, 286.
CHAPTER XIII.
UNION OF STOCKS. TRANSFERRING BEES. STARTING AN APIARY. Queenless
colonies should be broken up, Spring and Fall. Small colonies should be
united. Animal heat necessary in a hive. Small swarms in Winter consume
much honey, 287. Colonies to be united, should stand side by side. How
to effect this. Removal of an Apiary in the working season, 288. To
secure the largest quantity of honey from a given number of stocks, 289.
Non-swarming plan. Moderate increase best, 290. Transferring bees from
common, to the movable comb hive, 291. Successful experiment. Should not
be attempted in cold weather. The process of transfer, 292. Best time.
May be done at any season when the weather is warm, 294. Precaution
against robbing, 295. Combs should be transferred with the bees, 296.
Caution on trying new hives, 297. Thrifty old swarms. Conditions of
their thrift, 298. Procuring bees to start an Apiary. New early swarms
best. Signs to guide the inexperienced buyer, 299. Directions for
removing old colonies. For removing new swarms, 300. To procure honey
the first season. Novices should begin in a small way. Neglected Apiary,
303. Superstitions about bees. Cautions to the inexperienced, against
transferring, renewed. Parallel between bees and covetous men, 304.
CHAPTER XIV.
ROBBING. Idleness a great cause of it, 305. Colonies should be examined
and supplied with food in Spring. Appearance of robber bees, 306. Their
suspicious actions. Are real "Jerry Sneaks," 308. Highway robbers, 309.
Bee battles. Subjected bees unite with the conquerors. Cautions against
robbery. Importance of guarding against robbery, 310. Efficiency of the
movable blocks to this end. Comb with honey not to be exposed, 311.
Curious case of robbery, 314.
CHAPTER XV.
DIRECTIONS FOR FEEDING BEES. Feeding greatly mismanaged. Condition of
the bees should be ascertained in the Spring. They should be supplied if
needy, 315. Many perish from want. Connection between feeding and
breeding in the hive, 316. Caution in feeding necessary. Results of over
feeding, 317. Necessary to feed largely in multiplying stocks. How to
feed weak swarms in Spring, 319. Considerations governing the quantity
of food, 320. Main object to produce bees. Proper condition of an Apiary
at close of honey season, 321. Feeding for Winter attended to in August.
Unsealed honey sours. Sour food is unwholesome to bees. Striking
instance, 322. Spare honey to be apportioned among the stocks. Swarms
with overstocks of honey do not breed so well. Surplus honey in Spring
to be removed, 323. Full frames exchanged for empty ones. Feeble stocks
in Fall, to be broken up. Profits all come from strong swarms.
Composition of a good bee-feed, 324. Directions for feeding with the
improved hive, 325. Feeding useless when but little comb in the hive,
326. Top feeding. Feeder described. Importance of water to bees, 328.
Sugar candy a valuable substitute for honey. Summer feeding, 330. Bees
with proper care need but little feeding. Quantity of honey necessary to
winter a stock, 331. Feeding as a source of profit. Selling W. I. honey
a cheat, 332. Honey not a secretion of the bee. Evaporation of its water
the principal change it undergoes, 334. Folly of diluting the feed of
bees too much. Feeders of cheap honey for market, deceivers or deceived,
335. Artificial liquid honey, 336. Improved Maple sugar, 337. Feeding
bees on artificial honey not profitable, 337. Dangerous feeding bees
without floats. Their infatuation for liquid sweets, 339. Like that of
the inebriate for his cups, 340. Avarice in bees and men, 341.
CHAPTER XVI.
HONEY. PASTURAGE. OVERSTOCKING. Honey the product of flowers, 342. Honey
dew. Aphides, 343. Qualities of honey, 345. Poisonous honey. Innoxious
by boiling. Preserving honey, 346. Modes of taking honey from the hive.
Objections to glass vessels, 347. Pasteboard boxes preferred. Honey
should be handled carefully. Pattern comb to be used in the boxes. Honey
safely removed, 348. Should not be taken from the bees in large
quantities during honey harvest. Pasturage, 349. The Willow. Sugar Maple
and other honey-yielding trees, 350. Linden tree as an ornament. White
clover, 351. Recommended by Hon. Frederick Holbrook as a grass crop,
352. Sweet-scented clover, 363. Hybrid clover front Sweden, 354.
Buckwheat. Raspberry, 355. Garden flowers. Overstocking, 356. Little
danger of it. Bee-keepers and Napoleon. No overstocking in this country.
Letter from Mr. Wagner on the subject, 357. Flight of bees for food,
361. Advantages of a good hive in saving time and honey. Energies of
bees limited. Bees injured by winds, 362. Protector saves them from
harm. Estimated profits of bee-culture. Advice to the careless, 363.
Value of Dzierzon's system. Adopted by the government of Norway. Want of
National encouragement to agriculture, (note), 364.
CHAPTER XVII.
ANGER OF BEES. REMEDY FOR THEIR STING. BEE-DRESS. INSTINCTS OF BEES.
Gentleness of the bee, 365. Feats of Wildman. Interesting incident, 366.
Discovery of a universal law. Its importance and results, 367. Cross
bees diseased. Never necessary to provoke a whole colony of bees, 368.
Danger from bees when provoked. A word to females, 369. Kindness of bees
to one another. Contrast with some children, 370. Effects of a sting.
The poison, 371. Peculiar odors offensive to bees. Precautions against
animals and human robbers, 372. Sense of smell in the bee, 373. By this
they distinguish their hive companions. Robbers repelled by odors, 374.
Stocks united by them, 375. Warning given by bees before stinging. How
to act when assaulted by bees, 376. Remedies for the sting, 377.
Bee-dress, 380. Instincts of bees, 381. Distinction between instinct in
animals and reason in men. Remarkable instance of sagacity in bees, 383.
Facilities afforded by the Author's Improved Observing Hive.
Indebtedness of the author to S. Wagner, Esq., 384.
ADVERTISEMENT
L. L. LANGSTROTH'S MOVABLE COMB HIVE.
Patented October 5, 1862.
Each comb in this hive is attached to a separate, movable frame, and in
less than five minutes they may all be taken out, without cutting or
injuring them, or at all enraging the bees. Weak stocks may be quickly
strengthened by helping them to honey and maturing brood from stronger
ones; queenless colonies may be rescued from certain ruin by supplying
them with the means of obtaining another queen; and the ravages of the
moth effectually prevented, as at any time the hive may be readily
examined and all the worms, &c., removed from the combs. New colonies
may be formed in less time than is usually required to hive a natural
swarm; or the hive may be used as a non-swarmer, or managed on the
common swarming plan. The surplus honey may be taken from the interior
of the hive on the frames or in upper boxes or glasses, in the most
convenient, beautiful and saleable forms. Colonies may be safely
transferred from any other hive to this, at any season of the year, from
April to October, as the brood, combs, honey and all the contents of the
hive are transferred with them, and securely fastened in the frames.
That the combs can always be removed from this hive with ease and
safety, and that the new system, by giving the perfect control over all
the combs, effects a complete revolution in practical bee-keeping, the
subscriber prefers to _prove_ rather than assert. Practical Apiarians
and all who wish to purchase rights and hives, are invited to visit his
Apiary, where combs, honey and bees will be taken from the hives;
colonies which may be brought to him for that purpose, transferred from
any old hive; queens, and the whole process of rearing them constantly
exhibited; new colonies formed, and all processes connected with the
practical management of an Apiary fully illustrated and explained.
Those who have any considerable number of bees, will find it to their
interest to have at least one movable comb-hive in their Apiary, from
which they may, in a few minutes, supply any colony which has lost its
queen, with the means of rearing another.
The hive and right will be furnished on the following terms. For an
individual or farm right, five dollars. This will entitle the purchaser
to use and construct for his own use on his own premises, as many hives
as he chooses. The hives are manufactured by machinery, and can probably
be delivered, freight included, at any Railroad Station in New England,
or New York, cheaper than they could be made in small quantities on the
spot. On receipt of a hive, the purchaser can decide for himself,
whether he prefers to make them, or to order them of the Patentee. For
one dollar, postage paid, the book will be sent free by mail. On receipt
of ten dollars, a beautiful hive showing all the combs, (with glass on
four sides,) will be sent with right, freight paid to any railroad
station in New England or New York: a right and hive which will
accommodate _two_ colonies, with glass on each side, for twelve dollars;
for seven dollars, a right and a well made hive that any one can
construct who can handle the simplest tools. In all cases where the
hives are sent out of New England or New York, as the freight will not
be prepaid, a dollar will be deducted from the above prices.
Address
L. L. LANGSTROTH,
_Greenfield, Mass._
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I.
The present condition of practical bee-keeping in this country, is known
to be deplorably low. From the great mass of agriculturists, and others
favorably situated for obtaining honey, it receives not the slightest
attention. Notwithstanding the large number of patent hives which have
been introduced, the ravages of the bee-moth have increased, and success
is becoming more and more precarious. Multitudes have abandoned the
pursuit in disgust, while many of the most experienced, are fast
settling down into the conviction that all the so-called "Improved
Hives" are delusions, and that they must return to the simple box or
hollow log, and "_take up_" their bees with sulphur, in the
old-fashioned way.
In the present state of public opinion, it requires no little courage to
venture upon the introduction of a new hive and system of management;
but I feel confident that a _new era_ in bee-keeping has arrived, and
invite the attention of all interested, to the reasons for this belief.
A perusal of this Manual, will, I trust, convince them that there is a
better way than any with which they have yet been acquainted. They will
here find many hitherto mysterious points in the physiology of the
honey-bee, clearly explained, and much valuable information never before
communicated to the public.
It is now nearly fifteen years since I first turned my attention to the
cultivation of bees. The state of my health having compelled me to live
more and more in the open air, I have devoted a large portion of my
time, of late years, to a careful investigation of their habits, and to
a series of minute and thorough experiments in the construction of
hives, and the best methods of managing them, so as to secure the
largest practical results.
Very early in my Apiarian studies, I procured an imported copy of the
work of the celebrated Huber, and constructed a hive on his plan, which
furnished me with favorable opportunities of verifying some of his most
valuable discoveries; and I soon found that the prejudices existing
against him, were entirely unfounded. Believing that his discoveries
laid the foundation for a more extended and profitable system of
bee-keeping, I began to experiment with hives of various construction.
The result of all these investigations fell far short of my
expectations. I became, however, most thoroughly convinced that no hives
were fit to be used, unless they furnished _uncommon protection_ against
_extremes_ of _heat_ and more especially of COLD. I accordingly
discarded all thin hives made of inch stuff, and constructed my hives of
_doubled_ materials, enclosing a "dead air" space all around.
These hives, although more expensive in the first cost, proved to be
much cheaper in the end, than those I had previously used. The bees
_wintered_ remarkably well in them, and swarmed _early_ and with unusual
_regularity_. My next step in advance, was, while I secured my surplus
honey in the most convenient, beautiful and salable forms, so to
facilitate the entrance of the bees into the honey receptacles, as to
secure the largest fruits from their labors.
Although I felt confident that my hive possessed some valuable
peculiarities, I still found myself unable to remedy many of the
casualties to which bee-keeping is liable. I now perceived that no hive
could be made to answer my expectations unless it gave me the _complete
control of the combs_, so that I might remove any, or all of them at
pleasure. The use of the Huber hive had convinced me that with proper
precautions, the combs might be removed without _enraging_ the bees, and
that these insects were capable of being domesticated or _tamed_, to a
most surprising degree. A knowledge of these facts was absolutely
necessary to the further progress of my invention, for without it, I
should have regarded a hive designed to allow of the removal of the
combs, as too dangerous in use, to be of any practical value. At first,
I used movable slats or bars placed on rabbets in the front and back of
the hive. The bees were induced to build their combs upon these bars,
and in carrying them down, to fasten them to the sides of the hive. By
severing the attachments to the sides, I was able, at any time, to
remove the combs suspended from the bars. There was nothing _new_ in the
use of movable _bars_; the invention being probably, at least, a hundred
years old; and I had myself used such hives on Bevan's plan, very early
in the commencement of my experiments. The chief peculiarity in my
hives, as now constructed, was the facility with which these bars could
be removed without enraging the bees, and their combination with my new
mode of obtaining the surplus honey.
With hives of this construction I commenced experimenting on a larger
scale than ever, and soon arrived at results which proved to be of the
very first importance. I found myself able, if I wished it, to _dispense
entirely_ with _natural swarming_, and yet to multiply colonies with
much greater _rapidity_ and _certainty_ than by the common methods. I
could, in a _short time, strengthen my feeble colonies_, and furnish
those which had _lost their Queen_ with the means of _obtaining
another_. If I suspected that any thing was the matter with a hive, I
could _ascertain_ its _true condition_, by making a thorough examination
of every part, and if the _worms had gained a lodgment_, I could quickly
_dispossess_ them. In short, I could perform all the operations which
will be explained in this treatise, and I now believed that bee-keeping
could be made _highly profitable_, and as much a matter of _certainty_,
as any other branch of rural economy.
I perceived, however, that one thing was _yet_ wanting. The _cutting_ of
the combs from their attachments to the _sides_ of the hive, in order to
remove them, was attended with much loss of _time_ to myself and to the
bees, and in order to _facilitate_ this operation, the construction of
my hive was necessarily _complicated_. This led me to invent a method by
which the combs were attached to MOVABLE FRAMES, and suspended in the
hives, _so as to touch neither the top, bottom, nor sides_. By this
device, I was able to remove the combs at pleasure, and if desired, I
could speedily transfer them, bees and all, _without any cutting_, to
another hive. I have experimented largely with hives of this
construction, and find that they answer most admirably, all the ends
proposed in their invention.
While experimenting in the summer of 1851, with some observing hives of
a peculiar construction, I discovered that bees could be made to work in
glass hives, _exposed to the full light of day_. The notice, in a
Philadelphia newspaper, of this discovery, procured me the pleasure of
an acquaintance with Rev. Dr. Berg, pastor of a Dutch Reformed church in
that city. From him, I first learned that a Prussian clergyman, of the
name of Dzierzon, (pronounced Tseertsone,) had attracted the attention
of crowned heads, by his important discoveries in the management of
bees. Before he communicated the particulars of these discoveries, I
explained to Dr. Berg, my system of management, and showed him my hive.
He expressed the greatest astonishment at the wonderful similarity in
our methods of management, both of us having carried on our
investigations without the slightest knowledge of each other's labors.
Our hives, he found to differ in some very important respects. In the
Dzierzon hive, the combs are not attached to _movable frames_, but to
_bars_, so that they cannot, _without cutting_, be removed from the
hive. In my hive, which is opened _from the top_, any comb may be taken
out, without at all disturbing the others; whereas, in the Dzierzon
hive, which is opened from one of the ends, it is often necessary to
_cut_ and _remove many_ combs, in order to get access to a particular
one; thus, if the _tenth_ comb from the end is to be removed, _nine_
combs must be first _cut and taken out_. All this consumes a large
amount of time. The German hive does not furnish the surplus honey in a
form which would be found most salable in our markets, or which would
admit of safe transportation in the comb. Notwithstanding these
disadvantages, it has achieved a _great triumph_ in Germany, and given a
_new impulse_ to the cultivation of bees.
The following letter from Samuel Wagner, Esq., cashier of the bank in
York, Pennsylvania, will show the results which have been obtained in
Germany, by the new system of management, and his estimate of the
superior value of my hive to those in use there.
YORK, PA., DEC. 24, 1852.
DEAR SIR,
The Dzierzon theory and the system of bee-management based thereon, were
originally promulgated, _hypothetically_, in the "Eichstadt
Bienenzeitung" or Bee-journal, in 1845, and at once arrested my
attention. Subsequently, when in 1848, at the instance of the Prussian
government, the Rev. Mr. Dzierzon published his "Theory and Practice of
Bee Culture," I imported a copy, which reached me in 1849, and which I
translated prior to January 1850. Before the translation was completed,
I received a visit from my friend, the Rev. Dr. Berg, of Philadelphia,
and in the course of conversation on bee-keeping, mentioned to him the
Dzierzon theory and system, as one which I regarded as new and very
superior, though I had had no opportunity for testing it practically. In
February following, when in Philadelphia, I left with him the
translation in manuscript--up to which period, I doubt whether any other
person in this country had any knowledge of the Dzierzon theory; except
to Dr. Berg I had never mentioned it to any one, save in very general
terms.
In September, 1851, Dr. Berg again visited York, and stated to me your
investigations, discoveries and inventions. From the account Dr. Berg
gave me, I felt assured that you had devised substantially the _same
system_ as that so successfully pursued by Mr. Dzierzon; but how far
_your hive_ resembled his I was unable to judge from description alone.
I inferred, however, several points of difference. The coincidence as to
system, and the principles on which it was evidently founded, struck me
as exceedingly singular and interesting, because I felt confident that
you had no more knowledge of Mr. Dzierzon and his labors, before Dr.
Berg mentioned him and his book to you, than Mr. Dzierzon had of you.
These circumstances made me very anxious to examine your hives, and
induced me to visit your Apiary in the village of West Philadelphia,
last August. In the absence of the keeper, as I informed you, I took the
liberty to explore the premises thoroughly, opening and inspecting a
number of the hives, and noticing the internal arrangement of the parts.
The result was, that I came away convinced that though your system was
based on the same principles as Dzierzon's, yet that your hive was
almost totally different from his, in construction and arrangement; that
while the same objects _substantially_ are attained by each, your hive
is more simple, more convenient, and much better adapted for general
introduction and use, since the mode of using it can be more easily
taught. Of its ultimate and triumphant success I have no doubt. I
sincerely believe that when it comes under the notice of Mr. Dzierzon,
he will himself prefer it to his own. It in fact combines all the good
properties which a hive ought to possess, while it is free from the
complication, clumsiness, _vain whims_, and decidedly objectionable
features, which characterize most of the inventions which profess to be
at all superior to the simple box, or the common chamber hive.
You may certainly claim _equal credit_ with Dzierzon for originality in
observation and discovery in the natural history of the honey bee, and
for success in deducing principles and devising a most valuable system
of management from observed facts. But in _invention_, as far as
neatness, compactness, and adaptation of means to ends are concerned,
the sturdy German must yield the palm to you. You will find a case of
similar coincidence detailed in the Westminster Review for October,
1852, page 267, et seq.
I send you herewith some interesting statements respecting Dzierzon, and
the estimate in which his system is held in Germany.
Very truly yours,
SAMUEL WAGNER.
REV. L. L. LANGSTROTH.
The following are the statements to which Mr. Wagner refers.--
"As the best test of the value of Mr. Dzierzon's system, is the
_results_ which have been made to flow from it, a brief account of its
rise and progress maybe found interesting. In 1835 he commenced
bee-keeping in the common way, with 12 colonies--and after various
mishaps, which taught him the defects of the common hives and the old
mode of management, his stock was so reduced that in 1838 he had
virtually to begin anew. At this period he contrived his improved hive
in its ruder form, which gave him the command over all the combs, and he
began to experiment on the theory which observation and study had
enabled him to devise. Thenceforward his progress was as rapid as his
success was complete and triumphant. Though he met with frequent
reverses--about 70 colonies having been stolen from him, sixty destroyed
by fire, and 24 by a flood--yet in 1846 his stock had increased to 360
colonies, and he realized from them that year six thousand pounds of
honey, besides several hundred weight of wax. At the same time most of
the cultivators in his vicinity who pursued the common methods, had
fewer hives than they had when he commenced.
In the year 1848, a fatal pestilence, known by the name of "foul brood,"
prevailed among his bees, and destroyed nearly all his colonies before
it could be subdued--only about ten having escaped the malady, which
attacked alike the old stocks and his artificial swarms. He estimates
his entire loss that year at over 500 _colonies_. Nevertheless he
succeeded so well in multiplying by artificial swarms, the few that
remained healthy, that in the fall of 1851 his stock consisted of nearly
400 colonies. He must, therefore, have multiplied his stocks more than
three fold each year."
The highly prosperous condition of his colonies is attested by the
Report of the Secretary of the Annual Apiarian Convention which met in
his vicinity last spring. This Convention, the fourth which has been
held, consisted of 112 experienced and enthusiastic bee-keepers from
various districts of Germany and neighboring countries, and among them
were some who when they assembled were strong opposers of his system.
They visited and personally examined the Apiaries of Mr. Dzierzon. The
report speaks in the very highest terms of his success, and of the
manifest superiority of his system of management. He exhibited and
satisfactorily explained to his visitors his practice and principles;
and they remarked, with astonishment, the _singular docility_ of his
bees, and the thorough control to which they were subjected. After a
full detail of the proceedings, the Secretary goes on to say:--
"Now that I have seen Dzierzon's method practically demonstrated, I must
admit that it is attended with fewer difficulties than I had supposed.
With his hive and system of management it would seem that bees become at
once more docile than they are in other cases. I consider his system the
simplest and best means of elevating bee-culture to a profitable
pursuit, and of spreading it far and wide over the land--especially as
it is peculiarly adapted to districts in which the bees do not readily
and regularly swarm. His eminent success in re-establishing his stock
after suffering so heavily from the devastating pestilence--in short the
recuperative power of the system demonstrates conclusively, that it
furnishes the best, perhaps the only means of reinstating bee-culture lo
a profitable branch of rural economy.
Dzierzon modestly disclaimed the idea of having attained perfection in
his hive. He dwelt rather upon the truth and importance of his _theory_
and _system_ of _management_."
_From the Leipzig Illustrated Almanac--Report on Agriculture for 1846._
"Bee culture is no longer regarded as of any importance in rural
economy."
From the same for 1851, and 1853.
"Since Dzierzon's system has been made known an entire revolution in bee
culture has been produced. A new era has been created for it, and
bee-keepers are turning their attention to it with renewed zeal. The
merits of his discoveries are appreciated by the government, and they
recommend his system as worthy the attention of the teachers of common
schools.
Mr. Dzierzon resides in a poor sandy district of Middle Silesia, which,
according to the common notions of Apiarians, is unfavorable to
bee-culture. Yet despite of this and of various mishaps, he has
succeeded in realizing 900 dollars as the product of his bees in one
season!
By his mode of management, his bees yield, even in the poorest years,
from 10 to 15 per cent on the capital invested, and where the colonies
are produced by the Apiarian's own skill and labor they cost him only
about one-fourth the price at which they are usually valued. In ordinary
seasons the profit amounts to from 30 to 50 per cent, and in very
favorable seasons from 80 to 100 per cent."
In communicating these facts to the public, I have several objects in
view. I freely acknowledge that I take an honest pride in establishing
my claims as an independent observer; and as having matured by my own
discoveries, the same system of bee-culture, as that which has excited
so much interest in Germany; I desire also to have the testimony of the
translator of Dzierzon to the superior merits of my hive. Mr. Wagner is
extensively known as an able German scholar. He has taken all the
numbers of the Bee Journal, a monthly periodical which has been
published for more than fifteen years in Germany, and is probably more
familiar with the state of Apiarian culture abroad, than any man in this
country.
I am anxious further to show that the great importance which I attach to
my system of management, is amply justified by the success of those who
while pursuing the same system with inferior hives, have attained
results, which to common bee-keepers, seem almost incredible. Inventors
are very prone to form exaggerated estimates of the value of their
labors; and the American public has been so often deluded with patent
hives, devised by persons ignorant of the most important principles in
the natural history of the bee, and which have utterly failed to answer
their professed objects, that they are scarcely to be blamed for
rejecting every new hive as unworthy of confidence.
There is now a prospect that a Bee Journal will before long, be
established in this country. Such a publication has long been needed.
Properly conducted, it will have a most powerful influence in
disseminating information, awakening enthusiasm, and guarding the public
against the miserable impositions to which it has so long been
subjected.
Two such journals are now published monthly in Germany, one of which has
been in existence for more than 15 years--and their wide circulation has
made thousands well acquainted with those principles, which must
constitute the foundation of any enlightened and profitable system of
culture.
The truth is that while many of the principal facts in the physiology of
the honey bee have long been familiar to scientific observers, it has
unfortunately happened that some of the most important have been widely
discredited. In themselves they are so _wonderful_, and to those who
have not witnessed them, often _so incredible_, that it is not at all
strange that they have been rejected as fanciful conceits, or bare-faced
inventions.
Many persons have not the slightest idea that _every thing_ may be
_seen_ that takes place in a bee-hive. But hives have for many years,
been in use, containing only one large comb, enclosed on both sides, by
glass. These hives are darkened by shutters, and when opened, the queen
is exposed to observation, as well as all the other bees. Within the
last two years, I have discovered that with proper precautions, colonies
can be made to work in observing hives, without shutters, and exposed
continually to the _full light of day_; so that observations may be made
at all times, without in the least interrupting the ordinary operations
of the bees. By the aid of such hives, some of the most intelligent
citizens of Philadelphia have seen in my Apiary, the queen bee
depositing her eggs in the cells, and constantly surrounded by an
affectionate circle of her devoted children. They have also witnessed,
with astonishment and delight, all the steps in the mysterious process
of raising queens from eggs which with the ordinary development, would
have produced only the common bees. For more than three months, there
was not a day in which some of my colonies were not engaged in making
new queens to supply the place of those taken from them, and I had the
pleasure of exhibiting all the facts to bee-keepers who never before
felt willing to credit them. As _all_ my hives are so made that each
comb can be taken out, and examined at pleasure, those who use them, can
obtain from them all the information which they need, and, are no longer
forced to take any thing upon trust.
May I be permitted to express the hope that the time is now at hand,
when the number of practical observers will be so multiplied, that
ignorant and designing men will neither be able to impose their conceits
and falsehoods upon the public, nor be sustained in their attempts to
depreciate the valuable discoveries of those who have devoted years of
observation and experiment to promote the advancement of Apiarian
knowledge.
CHAPTER II.
THE HONEY BEE CAPABLE OF BEING TAMED OR DOMESTICATED TO A MOST
SURPRISING DEGREE.
If the bee had not such a necessary and yet formidable weapon both of
offence and defence, multitudes would be induced to enter upon its
cultivation, who are now afraid to have any thing to do with it. As the
new system of management which I have devised, seems to add to this
inherent difficulty, by taking the greatest possible liberties with so
irascible an insect, I deem it important to show clearly, in the very
outset, how bees may be managed, so that all necessary operations may be
performed in an Apiary, without incurring any serious risk of exciting
their anger.
Many persons have been unable to control their expressions of wonder and
astonishment, on seeing me open hive after hive, in my experimental
Apiary, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, removing the combs covered with
bees, and shaking them off in front of the hives; exhibiting the queen,
transferring the bees to another hive, and, in short, dealing with them
as if they were as harmless as so many flies. I have sometimes been
asked if the bees with which I was experimenting, had not been
subjected to a long course of instruction, to prepare them for public
exhibition; when in some cases, the very hives which I was opening,
contained swarms which had been brought only the day before, to my
establishment.
Before entering upon the natural history of the bee, I shall anticipate
some principles in its management, in order to prepare my readers to
receive, without the doubts which would otherwise be very natural, the
statements in my book, and to convince them that almost any one
favorably situated, may safely enjoy the pleasure and profit of a
pursuit, which has been most appropriately styled, "the poetry of rural
economy;" and that, without being made too familiar with a sharp little
weapon, which can most speedily and effectually convert all the poetry
into very sorry prose.
The Creator intended the bee for the comfort of man, as truly as he did
the horse or the cow. In the early ages of the world, indeed until very
recently, honey was almost the only natural sweet; and the promise of "a
land flowing with milk and honey," had then a significance, the full
force of which it is difficult for us to realize. The honey bee was,
therefore, created not merely with the ability to store up its delicious
nectar for its own use, but with certain properties which fitted it to
be domesticated, and to labor for man, and without which, he would no
more have been able to subject it to his control, than to make a useful
beast of burden of a lion or a tiger.
One of the peculiarities which constitutes the very foundation, not
merely of my system of management, but of the ability of man to
domesticate at all so irascible an insect, has never, to my knowledge,
been clearly stated as a great and controlling principle. It may be thus
expressed.
A HONEY BEE NEVER VOLUNTEERS AN ATTACK, OR ACTS ON THE OFFENSIVE, WHEN
IT IS GORGED OR FILLED WITH HONEY.
The man who first attempted to lodge a swarm of bees in an artificial
hive, was doubtless agreeably surprised at the ease with which he was
able to accomplish it. For when the bees are intending to swarm, they
fill their honey-bags to their utmost capacity. This is wisely ordered,
that they may have materials for commencing operations immediately in
their new habitation; that they may not starve if several stormy days
should follow their emigration; and that when they leave their hives,
they may be in a suitable condition to be secured by man.
They issue from their hives in the most peaceable mood that can well be
imagined; and unless they are abused, allow themselves to be treated
with great familiarity. The hiving of bees by those who understand their
nature, could almost always be conducted without the risk of any
annoyance, if it were not the case that some improvident or unfortunate
ones occasionally come forth without the soothing supply; and not being
stored with honey, are filled with the gall of the bitterest hate
against all mankind and animal kind in general, and any one who dares to
meddle with them in particular. Such radicals are always to be dreaded,
for they must vent their spleen on something, even though they lose
their life in the act.
Suppose the whole colony, on sallying forth, to possess such a ferocious
spirit; no one would ever dare to hive them, unless clad in a coat of
mail, at least bee-proof, and not even then, until all the windows of
his house were closed, his domestic animals bestowed in some safe place,
and sentinels posted at suitable stations, to warn all comers to look
out for something almost as much to be dreaded, as a fiery locomotive
in full speed. In short, if the propensity to be exceedingly
good-natured after a hearty meal, had not been given to the bee, it
could never have been domesticated, and our honey would still be
procured from the clefts of rocks, or the hollows of trees.
A second peculiarity in the nature of the bee, and one of which I
continually avail myself with the greatest success, may be thus stated.
BEES CANNOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO FILL
THEMSELVES WITH LIQUID SWEETS.
It would be quite as easy for an inveterate miser to look with
indifference upon a golden shower of double eagles, falling at his feet
and soliciting his appropriation. If then we can contrive a way to call
their attention to a treat of running sweets, when we wish to perform
any operation which might provoke them, we may be sure they will accept
it, and under its genial influence, allow us without molestation, to do
what we please.
We must always be particularly careful not to handle them roughly, for
they will never allow themselves to be pinched or hurt without thrusting
out their sting to resent such an indignity. I always keep a small
watering-pot or sprinkler, in my Apiary, and whenever I wish to operate
upon a hive, as soon as the cover is taken off, and the bees exposed, I
sprinkle them gently with water sweetened with sugar. They help
themselves with the greatest eagerness, and in a few moments, are in a
perfectly manageable state. The truth is, that bees managed on this plan
are always glad to see visitors, and you cannot look in upon them too
often, for they expect at every call, to receive a sugared treat by way
of a peace-offering.
I can superintend a large number of hives, performing every operation
that is necessary for pleasure or profit, and yet not run the risks of
being stung, which must frequently be incurred in attempting to manage,
in the simplest way, the common hives. Those who are timid may, at
first, use a bee-dress; though they will soon discard every thing of the
kind, unless they are of the number of those to whom the bees have a
special aversion. Such unfortunates are sure to be stung whenever they
show themselves in the vicinity of a bee-hive, and they will do well to
give the bees a very wide berth.
Apiarians have, for many years, employed the smoke of tobacco for
subduing their bees. It deprives them, at once, of all disposition to
sting, but it ought never to be used for such a purpose. If the
construction of the hives will not permit the bees to be sprinkled with
sugar water, the smoke of burning paper or rags will answer every
purpose, and the bees will not be likely to resent it; whereas when they
recover from the effect of the tobacco, they not unfrequently remember,
and in no very gentle way, the operator who administered the nauseous
dose.
Let all your motions about your hives be gentle and slow. Accustom your
bees to your presence; never crush or injure them in any operation;
acquaint yourself fully with the principles of management detailed in
this treatise, and you will find that you have but little more reason to
dread the sting of a bee, than the horns of your favorite cow, or the
heels of your faithful horse.
CHAPTER III.
THE QUEEN OR MOTHER-BEE, THE DRONES, AND THE WORKERS; WITH VARIOUS
HIGHLY IMPORTANT FACTS IN THEIR NATURAL HISTORY.
Bees can flourish only when associated in large numbers, as a colony. In
a solitary state, a single bee is almost as helpless as a new-born
child; it is unable to endure even the ordinary chill of a cool summer
night.
If a strong colony of bees is examined, a short time before it swarms,
three different kinds of bees will be found in the hive.
1st. A bee of peculiar shape, commonly called the _Queen Bee_.
2d. Some hundreds, more or less, of large bees called _Drones_.
3d. Many thousands of a smaller kind, called _Workers_ or common bees,
and similar to those which are seen on the blossoms. A large number of
the cells will be found filled with honey and bee-bread; while vast
numbers contain eggs, and immature workers and drones. A few cells of
unusual size, are devoted to the rearing of young queens, and are
ordinarily to be found in a perfect condition, only in the swarming
season.
The _Queen-Bee_ is the only _perfect female_ in the hive, and all the
eggs are laid by her. The _Drones_ are the _males_, and the _Workers_
are _females_, whose ovaries or "egg-bags" are so _imperfectly
developed_ that they are incapable of breeding, and which retain the
instinct of females, only so far as to give the most devoted attention
to feeding and rearing the brood.
These facts have all been demonstrated repeatedly, and are as well
established as the most common facts in the breeding of our domestic
animals. The knowledge of them in their most important bearings, is
absolutely essential to all who expect to realize large profits from an
improved method of rearing bees. Those who will not acquire the
necessary information, if they keep bees at all, should manage them in
the old-fashioned way, which requires the smallest amount either of
knowledge or skill.
I am perfectly aware how difficult it is to reason with a large class of
bee-keepers, some of whom have been so often imposed upon, that they
have lost all faith in the truth of any statements which may be made by
any one interested in a patent hive, while others stigmatize all
knowledge which does not square with their own, as "book-knowledge," and
unworthy the attention of practical men.
If any such read this book, let me remind them again, that all my
assertions may be put to the test. So long as the interior of a hive,
was to common observers, a profound mystery, ignorant and designing men
might assert what they pleased, about what passed in its dark recesses;
but now, when all that takes place in it, can, _in a few moments_, be
exposed to the _full light of day_, and every one who keeps bees, can
_see and examine_ for himself, the man who attempts to palm upon the
community, his own conceits for facts, will speedily earn for himself,
the character both of a fool and an impostor.
THE QUEEN BEE, or as she may more properly be called THE MOTHER BEE, is
the common mother of the whole colony. She reigns therefore, most
unquestionably, by a divine right, as every mother is, or ought to be, a
queen in her own family. Her shape is entirely different from that of
the other bees. While she is not near so bulky as a drone, her body is
longer, and of a more _tapering_, or sugar-loaf form than that of a
worker, so that she has somewhat of a wasp-like appearance. Her wings
are much shorter, in proportion, than those of the drone, or worker; the
under part of her body is of a golden color, and the upper part darker
than that of the other bees. Her motions are usually slow and matronly,
although she can, when she pleases, move with astonishing quickness.
No colony can long exist without the presence of this all-important
insect. She is just as necessary to its welfare, as the soul is to the
body, for a colony without a queen must as certainly perish, as a body
without the spirit hasten to inevitable decay.
She is treated by the bees, as every mother ought to be, by her
children, with the most unbounded respect and affection. A circle of her
loving offspring constantly surround her, testifying, in various ways,
their dutiful regard; offering her honey, from time to time, and always,
most politely getting out of her way, to give her a clear path when she
wishes to move over the combs. If she is taken from them, as soon as
they have ascertained their loss, the whole colony is thrown into a
state of the most intense agitation; all the labors of the hive are at
once abandoned; the bees run wildly over the combs, and frequently, the
whole of them rush forth from the hive, and exhibit all the appearance
of anxious search for their beloved mother. Not being able anywhere to
find her, they return to their desolate home, and by their mournful
tones, reveal their deep sense of so deplorable a calamity. Their note,
at such times, more especially when they first realize her loss, is of
a peculiarly mournful character; it sounds something like _a succession
of wails on the minor key_, and can no more be mistaken by the
experienced bee-keeper, for their ordinary, happy hum, than the piteous
moanings of a sick child can be confounded, by an anxious mother, with
its joyous crowings, when overflowing with health and happiness.
I am perfectly aware that all this will sound to many, much more like
romance than sober reality; but I have determined, in writing this book,
to state facts, however wonderful, just as they are; confident that they
will, before long, be universally received, and hoping that the many
wonders in the economy of the honey bee will not only excite a wider
interest in its culture, but will lead those who observe them, to adore
the wisdom of Him who gave them such admirable instincts. I cannot
refrain from quoting here, the forcible remarks of an English clergyman,
who appears to be a very great enthusiast in bee-culture.
"Every bee-keeper, if he have only a soul to appreciate the works of
God, and an intelligence of an inquisitive order, cannot fail to become
deeply interested in observing the wonderful instincts, (instincts akin
to reason,) of these admirable creatures; at the same time that he will
learn many lessons of practical wisdom from their example. Having
acquired a knowledge of their habits, not a bee will buzz in his ear,
without recalling to him some of these lessons, and helping to make him
a wiser and a better man. It is certain that in all my experience, I
never yet met with a keeper of bees, who was not a respectable,
well-conducted member of society, and a moral, if not a religious
man.[1] It is evident, on reflection, that this pursuit, if well
attended to, must occupy some considerable share of a man's time and
thoughts. He must be often about his bees, which will help to counteract
the baneful effect of the village inn. "_Whoever is fond of his bees is
fond of his home_," is an axiom of irrefragable truth, and one which
ought to kindle in every one's breast, a favorable regard for a pursuit
which has the power to produce so happy an influence. The love of home
is the companion of many other virtues, which, if not yet developed into
actual exercise, are still only dormant, and may be roused into wakeful
energy at any moment."
The fertility of the queen bee has been much under-estimated by most
writers. It is truly astonishing. During the height of the breeding
season, she will often, under favorable circumstances, lay from two to
three thousand eggs, a day! In my observing hives, I have seen her lay,
at the rate of six eggs a minute! The fecundity of the female of the
white ant, is much greater than this, as she will lay as many as sixty
eggs a minute! but then her eggs are simply extruded from her body, to
be carried by the workers into suitable nurseries, while the queen bee
herself deposits her eggs in their appropriate cells.
ON THE WAY IN WHICH THE EGGS OF THE QUEEN BEE ARE FECUNDATED.
I come now to a subject of great practical importance, and one which,
until quite recently, has been _attended_ with apparently insuperable
difficulties.
It has been noticed that the queen bee commences laying in the latter
part of winter, or early in spring, and long before there are any
drones or males in the hive. (See remarks on Drones.) In what way are
these eggs impregnated? Huber, by a long course of the most
indefatigable observations, threw much light upon this subject. Before
stating his discoveries, I must pay my humble tribute of gratitude and
admiration, to this wonderful man. It is mortifying to every scientific
naturalist, and I might add, to every honest man acquainted with the
facts, to hear such a man as Huber abused by the veriest quacks and
imposters; while others who have appropriated from his labors, nearly
all that is of any value in their works, to use the words of Pope,
"Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,
And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer."
Huber, in early manhood, lost the use of his eyes. His opponents imagine
that in stating this fact, they have thrown merited discredit on all his
pretended discoveries. But to make their case still stronger, they
delight to assert that he saw every thing through the medium of his
servant Francis Burnens, an ignorant peasant. Now this ignorant peasant
was a man of strong native intellect, possessing that indefatigable
energy and enthusiasm which are so indispensable to make a good
observer. He was a noble specimen of a self-made man, and afterwards
rose to be the chief magistrate in the village where he resided. Huber
has paid the most admirable tribute to his intelligence, fidelity and
indomitable patience, energy and skill.
It would be difficult to find, in any language, a better specimen of the
true Baconian or _inductive_ system of reasoning, than Huber's work upon
bees, and it might be studied as a model of the only true way of
investigating nature, so as to arrive at reliable results.
Huber was assisted in his investigations, not only by Burnens, but by
his own wife, to whom he was engaged before the loss of his sight, and
who nobly persisted in marrying him, notwithstanding his misfortune, and
the strenuous dissuasions of her friends. They lived for more than the
ordinary term of human life, in the enjoyment of uninterrupted domestic
happiness, and the amiable naturalist scarcely felt, in her assiduous
attentions, the loss of his sight.
Milton is believed by many, to have been a better poet, for his
blindness; and it is highly probable that Huber was a better Apiarian,
for the same cause. His active and yet reflective mind demanded constant
employment; and he found in the study of the habits of the honey bee,
full scope for all his powers. All the facts observed, and experiments
tried by his faithful assistants, were daily reported to him, and many
inquiries were stated and suggestions made by him, which would probably
have escaped his notice, if he had possessed the use of his eyes.
Few have such a command of both time and money as to enable them to
carry on, for a series of years, on a grand scale, the most costly
experiments. Apiarians owe more to Huber than to any other person. I
have repeatedly verified the most important of his observations, and I
take _the greatest delight_ in acknowledging my obligations to him, and
in holding him up to my countrymen, as the PRINCE OF APIARIANS.
My Readers will pardon this digression. It would have been morally
impossible for me to write a work on bees, without saying at least as
much as this, in vindication of Huber.
I return to his discoveries on the impregnation of the Queen Bee. By a
long course of experiments most carefully conducted, he ascertained that
like many other insects, she is fecundated in the open air, and on the
wing, and that the influence of this lasts for several years, and
probably for life. He could not form any satisfactory conjecture, as to
the way in which the eggs which were not yet developed in her ovaries,
could be fertilized. Years ago, the celebrated Dr. John Hunter, and
others, supposed that there must be a permanent receptacle for the male
sperm, opening into the passage for the eggs called the oviduct.
Dzierzon, who must be regarded as one of the ablest contributors of
modern times, to Apiarian science, maintains this opinion, and states
that he has found such a receptacle filled with a fluid, resembling the
semen of the drones. He nowhere, to my knowledge, states that he ever
made microscopic examinations, so as to put the matter on the footing of
demonstration.
In January and February of 1852, I submitted several Queen Bees to Dr.
Joseph Leidy of Philadelphia, for a scientific examination. I need
hardly say to any Naturalist in this country, that Dr. Leidy has
obtained the very highest reputation, both at home and abroad, as a
skillful naturalist and microscopic anatomist. No man in this country or
Europe, was more competent to make the investigations that I desired. He
found in making his dissections, a small globular sac, not larger than a
grain of mustard seed, (about 1/33 of an inch in diameter,)
communicating with the oviduct, and filled with a whitish fluid, which
when examined under the microscope, was found to abound in spermatozoa,
or the animalculæ, which are the unmistakable characteristics of the
seminal fluid. Later in the season, the same substance was compared with
some taken from the drones, and found to be exactly similar to it.
These examinations have settled, on the impregnable basis of
demonstration, the mode in which the eggs of the Queen are vivified. In
descending the oviduct to be deposited in the cells, they pass by the
mouth of this seminal sac or spermatheca, and receive a portion of its
fertilizing contents. Small as it is, its contents are sufficient to
impregnate hundreds of thousands of eggs. In precisely the same way,
the mother wasps and hornets are fecundated. The females alone of these
insects survive the winter, and they begin, single-handed, the
construction of a nest, in which, at first, only a few eggs are
deposited. How could these eggs hatch, if the females which laid them,
had not been impregnated, the previous season? Dissection proves them to
have a spermatheca, similar to that of the Queen Bee.
Of all who have written against Huber, no one has treated him with more
unfairness, misrepresentation, and I might almost add, malignity, than
Huish. He maintains that the eggs of the Queen are impregnated by the
drones, after she has deposited them in the cells, and accounts for the
fact that brood is produced in the Spring, long before the existence of
any drones in the hive, by asserting that these eggs were deposited and
impregnated late in the previous season, and have remained dormant, all
winter, in the hive: and yet the same writer, while ridiculing the
discoveries of Huber, advises that all the mother wasps should be killed
in the Spring, to prevent them from founding families to commit
depredations upon the bees! It never seems to have occurred to him, that
the existence of a permanently impregnated mother wasp, was just as
difficult to be accounted for, as the existence of a similarly
impregnated Queen Bee.
EFFECT OF RETARDED IMPREGNATION ON THE QUEEN BEE.
I shall now mention a fact in the physiology of the Queen Bee, more
singular than any which has yet been related.
Huber, while experimenting to ascertain how the Queen was fecundated,
confined some of his young Queens to their hives, by contracting the
entrances, so that they were not able to go in search of the drones,
until three weeks after their birth. To his amazement, these Queens
whose impregnation was thus unnaturally retarded, _never laid any eggs
but such as produced drones_!!
He tried the experiment again and again, but always with the same
result. Some Bee-Keepers, long before his time, had observed that all
the brood in a hive were occasionally drones, and of course, that such
colonies rapidly went to ruin. Before attempting any explanation of this
astonishing fact, I must call the attention of the reader, to another of
the mysteries of the Bee-Hive,
FERTILE WORKERS.
It has already been remarked, that the workers are proved by dissection
to be females, all of which, under ordinary circumstances, are barren.
Occasionally, some of them appear to be more fully developed than
common, so as to be capable of laying eggs: these eggs, like those of
Queens whose impregnation has been retarded, _always produce drones_!
Sometimes, when a colony has lost its Queen, these drone-laying workers
are exalted to her place, and treated with equal respect and affection,
by the bees. Huber ascertained that these fertile workers were generally
reared in the neighborhood of the young Queens, and he thought that they
received some particles of the peculiar food or jelly on which the
Queens are reared. (See Royal Jelly.) He did not pretend to account for
the effect of retarded impregnation; and made no experiments to
determine the facts, as to the fecundation of these fertile workers.
Since the publication of Huber's work, nearly 50 years ago, no light has
been shed upon the mysteries of drone-laying Queens and workers, until
quite recently. Dzierzon appears to have been the first to ascertain the
truth on this subject; and his discovery must certainly be ranked as
unfolding one of the most astonishing facts in all the range of
animated nature. This fact seems, at first view, so absolutely
incredible, that I should not dare to mention it, if it were not
supported by the most indubitable evidence, and if I had not, (as I have
already observed,) determined to state all important and well
ascertained facts, without seeking, by any concealments, to pander to
the prejudices of conceited, and often, very ignorant Bee-Keepers.
Dzierzon advances the opinion that impregnation is not needed in order
that the eggs of the Queen may produce drones; but, that all impregnated
eggs produce females, either workers or Queens; and all unimpregnated
ones, males or drones! He states that he found drone-laying Queens in
several of his hives, whose wings were so imperfect that they could not
fly, and that on examination, they proved to be unfecundated. Hence he
concluded that the eggs of the Queen Bee or fertile worker, had from the
previous impregnation of the egg which produced them, sufficient
vitality to produce the drone, which is a less highly organized insect,
and one inferior to the Queen or workers. It had long been known, that
the Queen deposits drone eggs in the large or drone cells, and worker
eggs in the small or worker cells, and that she makes no mistakes.
Dzierzon inferred, therefore, that there was some way in which she was
able to decide as to the sex of the egg before it was laid, and that she
must have a control over the mouth of the seminal sac, so as to be able
to extrude her eggs, allowing them to receive or not, just as she
pleased, a portion of its fertilizing contents. In this way he thought
she determined the sex, according to the size of the cells in which she
laid them. Mr. Samuel Wagner of York, Pa., has recently communicated to
me a very original and exceedingly ingenious theory of his own, which he
thinks will account for all the facts without admitting that the Queen
Bee has any special knowledge or will on the subject. He supposes that
when she deposits her eggs in the worker cells, her body is slightly
compressed by the size of the cells, and that the eggs, as they pass the
spermatheca, receive in this manner, its vivifying influence. On the
contrary, when she is egg-laying in drone cells, this compression cannot
take place, the mouth of the spermatheca is kept closed, and the eggs
are, necessarily, unfecundated. This theory may prove to be true, but at
present, it is encumbered with some difficulties and requires further
investigation, before it can be considered as fully established.
Leaving then the question whether the Queen exercises any volition in
this matter, for the present undecided, I shall state some facts which
occurred in the summer of 1852, in my own Apiary, and shall then
endeavor to relieve, as far as possible, this intricate subject from
some of the difficulties which embarrass it.
In the Autumn of 1852, my assistant found, in one of my hives, a young
Queen, the whole of whose progeny was drones. The colony had been formed
by removing part of the combs containing bees, brood and eggs from
another hive. It had only a few combs, and but a small number of bees.
They raised a new Queen in the manner which will hereafter be
particularly described. This Queen had laid a number of eggs in one of
the combs, and the young bees from some of them were already emerging
from the cells. I perceived, at the first glance, that they were drones.
As there were none but worker cells in the hive, they were reared in
them, and not having space for full development, they were dwarfed in
size, although the bees, in order to give them more room, had pieced out
the cells so as to make them larger than usual! Size excepted, they
appeared as perfect as any other drones.
I was not only struck with the singularity of finding drones reared in
worker cells, but with the equally singular fact that a young Queen, who
at first lays only the eggs of workers, should be laying drone eggs at
all; and at once conjectured that this was a case of a drone-laying,
unimpregnated Queen, as sufficient time had not elapsed for her
impregnation to be unnaturally retarded. I saw the great importance of
taking all necessary precautions to determine this point. The Queen was
removed from the hive, and carefully examined. Her wings, although they
appeared to be perfect, were so paralized that she could not fly. It
seemed probable, therefore, that she had never been able to leave the
hive for impregnation.
To settle the question beyond the possibility of doubt, I submitted this
Queen to Dr. Joseph Leidy for microscopic examination. The following is
an extract from his report: "The ovaries were filled with eggs; the
poison sac was full of fluid, and I took the whole of it into my mouth;
the poison produced a strong metallic taste, lasting for a considerable
time, and at first, it was pungent to the tip of the tongue. The
spermatheca was distended with a perfectly colorless, transparent,
viscid liquid, _without a trace of spermatozoa_."
This examination seems perfectly to sustain the theory of Dzierzon, and
to demonstrate that Queens do not need to be impregnated, in order to
lay the eggs of males.
I must confess that very considerable doubts rested on my mind, as to
the accuracy of Dzierzon's statements on this subject, and chiefly
because of his having hazarded the unfortunate conjecture that the place
of the poison bag in the worker, is occupied in the Queen, by the
spermatheca. Now this is so completely contrary to fact, that it was a
very natural inference that this acute and thoroughly honest observer,
made no microscopic dissections of the insects which he examined. I
consider myself peculiarly fortunate in having enjoyed the benefit of
the labors of a Naturalist, so celebrated as Dr. Leidy, for microscopic
dissections. The exceeding minuteness of some of the insects which he
has completely figured and described, almost passes belief.
On examining this same colony a few days later, I obtained the most
satisfactory evidence that these drone eggs were laid by the Queen which
had been removed. No fresh eggs had been deposited in the cells, and the
bees, on missing her, had commenced the construction of royal cells, to
rear if possible, another Queen, a thing which they would not have done,
if a fertile worker had been present, by which the drone eggs had been
laid.
Another very interesting fact proves that _all_ the eggs laid by this
Queen, were drone eggs. Two of the royal cells were, in a short time,
discontinued, and were found to be empty, while a third contained a
worm, which was sealed over the usual way, to undergo its changes from a
worm to a perfect Queen.
I was completely at a loss to account for this, as the bees having an
unimpregnated drone-laying Queen, ought not to have had a single female
egg from which they could rear a Queen.
At first I imagined that they might have _stolen_ it from another hive,
but when I opened this cell, it contained, instead of a queen, _a dead
drone_!
I then remembered that Huber has described the same mistake on the part
of some of his bees. At the base of this cell, was an extraordinary
quantity of the peculiar jelly or paste, which is fed to the young that
are to be transformed into queens. The poor bees in their desperation,
appear to have dosed the unfortunate drone to death: as though they
expected by such liberal feeding, to produce some hopeful change in his
sexual organization!
It appears to me that these facts constitute all the links in a perfect
chain, and demonstrate beyond the possibility of doubt, that
unfecundated queens are not only capable of laying eggs, (this would be
no more remarkable than the same occurrence in a hen,) but that these
eggs are possessed of sufficient vitality to produce drones. Aristotle,
who flourished before the Christian era, had noticed that there was no
difference in appearance, between the eggs producing drones and those
producing workers; and he states that drones only are produced in hives
which have no queen; of course the eggs producing them, were laid by
fertile workers. Having now the aid of powerful microscopes, we are
still unable to detect the slightest difference in size or appearance in
the eggs, and this is precisely what we should expect if the same egg
will produce either a worker or a drone, according as it is or is not
impregnated. The theory which I propose, will, I think, perfectly
harmonize with all the observed facts on this subject.
I believe that after fecundation has been delayed for about three weeks,
the mouth of the spermatheca becomes permanently closed, so that
impregnation can no longer be effected; just as the parts of a flower,
after a certain time, wither and shut up, and the plant is incapable of
fructification. The fertile drone-laying workers, are in my opinion,
physically incapable of being impregnated. However strange it may
appear, or even improbable, that an unimpregnated egg can give birth to
a living being, or that the sex can be dependent on impregnation, we are
not at liberty to reject facts, because we cannot comprehend the reasons
of them. He who allows himself to be guilty of such folly, if he seeks
to maintain his consistency, will be plunged, sooner or later, into the
dreary gulf of atheism. Common sense, philosophy and religion alike
teach us to receive all undoubted facts in the natural and the
spiritual world, with becoming reverence; assured that however
mysterious to us, they are all most beautifully harmonious and
consistent in the sight of Him whose "understanding is infinite."
There is something analogous to these wonders in the bee, in what takes
place in the aphides or green lice which infest our rose bushes and
other plants. We have the most undoubted evidence that a fecundated
female gives birth to other females, and they in turn to others still,
all of which, without impregnation, are able to bring forth young, until
at length, after a number of generations, perfect males and females are
produced, and the series starts anew!
The unequaled facilities, furnished by my hives, have seemed to render
it peculiarly incumbent on me, to do all in my power to clear up the
difficulties in this intricate and yet highly important branch of
Apiarian knowledge. All the leading facts in the breeding of bees ought
to be as well known to the bee keeper, as the same class of facts in the
rearing of his domestic animals. A few crude and hasty notions, but half
understood and half digested, will answer only for the old fashioned bee
keeper, who deals in the brimstone matches. He who expects to conduct
bee keeping on a safe and profitable system, must learn that on this, as
on all other subjects, "knowledge is power."
The extraordinary fertility of the queen bee has already been noticed.
The process of laying has been well described by the Rev. W. Dunbar, a
Scotch Apiarian.
"When the queen is about to lay, she puts her head into a cell, and
remains in that position for a second or two, to ascertain its fitness
for the deposit which she is about to make. She then withdraws her
head, and curving her body downwards,[2] inserts the lower part of it
into the cell: in a few seconds she turns half round upon herself and
withdraws, leaving an egg behind her. When she lays a considerable
number, she does it equally on each side of the comb, those on the one
side being as exactly opposite to those on the other as the relative
position of the cells will admit. The effect of this is to produce the
utmost possible concentration and economy of heat for developing the
various changes of the brood!"
Here as at every step in the economy of the bee our minds are filled
with admiration as we witness the perfect adaptation of means to ends.
Who can blame the warmest enthusiasm of the Apiarian in view of a
sagacity which seems scarcely inferior to that of man.
"The eggs of bees," I quote from the admirable treatise of Bevan, "are
of a lengthened oval shape, with a slight curvature, and of a bluish
white color: being besmeared at the time of laying, with a glutinous
substance,[3] they adhere to the bases of the cells, and remain
unchanged in figure or situation for three or four days; they are then
hatched, the bottom of each cell presenting to view a small white worm.
On its growing so as to touch the opposite angle of the cell, it coils
itself up, to use the language of Swammerdam, like a dog when going to
sleep; and floats in a whitish transparent fluid, which is deposited in
the cells by the nursing-bees, and by which it is probably nourished; it
becomes gradually enlarged in its dimensions, till the two extremities
touch one another and form a ring. In this state it is called a larva or
worm. So nicely do the bees calculate the quantity of food which will be
required, that none remains in the cell when it is transformed to a
nymph. It is the opinion of many eminent naturalists that farina does
not constitute the sole food of the larva, but that it consists of a
mixture of farina, honey and water, partly digested in the stomachs of
the nursing-bees."
"The larva having derived its support, in the manner above described,
for four, five or six days, according to the season," (the development
being retarded in cool weather, and badly protected hives,) "continues
to increase during that period, till it occupies the whole breadth and
nearly the length of the cell. The nursing bees now seal over the cell,
with a light _brown cover_, externally more or less _convex_, (the cap
of a drone cell is more convex than that of a worker,) and thus
differing from that of a honey cell which is _paler_ and somewhat
_concave_." The cap of the brood cell appears to be made of a mixture of
bee-bread and wax; it is not air tight as it would be if made of wax
alone; but when examined with a microscope it appears to be reticulated,
or full of fine holes through which the enclosed insect can have air for
all necessary purposes. From its texture and shape it is easily thrust
off by the bee when mature, whereas, if it consisted wholly of wax, the
young bee would either perish for lack of air, or be unable to force its
way into the world! Both the material and shape of the lids which seal
up the honey cells are different, because an entirely different object
was aimed at; they are of pure wax to make them air tight and thus to
prevent the honey from souring or candying in the cells! They are
concave or hollowed inwards to give them greater strength to resist the
pressure of their contents!
To return to Bevan. "The larva is no sooner perfectly inclosed than it
begins to line the cell by spinning round itself, after the manner of
the silk worm, a whitish silky film or cocoon, by which it is encased,
as it were, in a pod. When it has undergone this change, it has usually
borne the name of _nymph_ or _pupa_. The insect has now attained its
full growth, and the large amount of nutriment which it has taken serves
as a store for developing the perfect insect."
"The _working bee nymph_ spins its cocoon in thirty-six hours. After
passing about three days in this state of preparation for a new
existence, it gradually undergoes so great a change as not to wear a
vestige of its previous form, but becomes armed with a firmer mail, and
with scales of a dark brown hue. On its belly six rings become
distinguishable, which by slipping one over another enables the bee to
shorten its body whenever it has occasion to do so.
"When it has reached the twenty-first day of its existence, counting
from the moment the egg is laid, it comes forth a perfect winged insect.
The cocoon is left behind, and forms a closely attached and exact lining
to the cell in which it was spun; by this means the breeding cells
become smaller and their partitions stronger, the oftener they change
their tenants; and may become so much diminished in size as not to admit
of the perfect development of full sized bees."
"Such are the respective stages of the working bee: those of the royal
bee are as follows: she passes three days in the egg and is five a worm;
the workers then close her cell, and she immediately begins spinning her
cocoon, which occupies her twenty four hours. On the tenth and eleventh
days and a part of the twelfth, as if exhausted by her labor, she
remains in complete repose. Then she passes four days and a part of the
fifth as a nymph. It is on the sixteenth day therefore that the perfect
state of queen is attained."
"The drone passes three days in the egg, six and a half as a worm, and
changes into a perfect insect on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth day
after the egg is laid."
"The _development_ of _each species_ likewise proceeds more slowly when
the colonies are weak or the air cool, and when the weather is very cold
it is entirely suspended. Dr. Hunter has observed that the eggs, worms
and nymphs all require a heat above 70° of Fahrenheit for their
evolution."
In the chapter on protection against extremes of _heat_ and _cold_, I
have dwelt, at some length, upon the importance of constructing the
hives in such a manner as to enable the bees to preserve, as far as
possible, a uniform temperature in their tenement. In thin hives exposed
to the sun, the heat is sometimes so great as to destroy the eggs and
the larvæ, even when the combs escape from being melted; and the cold is
often so severe as to check the development of the brood, and sometimes
to kill it outright.
In such hives, when the temperature out of doors falls suddenly and
severely, the bees at once feel the unfavorable change; they are obliged
in self defence to huddle together to keep warm, and thus large portions
of the brood comb are often abandoned, and the brood either destroyed at
once by the cold, or so enfeebled that they never recover from the
shock. Let every bee keeper, in all his operations, remember that brood
comb must never be exposed to a low temperature so as to become chilled:
the disastrous effects are almost as certain, as when the eggs of a
setting hen are left, for too long a time, by the careless mother. The
brood combs are never safe when taken for any considerable time from the
bees, unless the temperature is fully up to summer heat.
"[4]The young bees break their envelope with their teeth, and assisted,
as soon as they come forth, by the older ones, proceed to cleanse
themselves from the moisture and exuviæ with which they were surrounded.
Both drones and workers on emerging from the cell are, at first grey,
soft and comparatively helpless so that some time elapses before they
take wing.
"With respect to the cocoons spun by the different larvæ, both workers
and drones spin _complete cocoons_, or inclose themselves on every side;
royal larvæ construct only _imperfect cocoons_, open behind, and
enveloping only the head, thorax, and first ring of the abdomen; and
Huber concludes, without any hesitation, that the final cause of their
forming only incomplete cocoons is, that they may thus be exposed to the
mortal sting of the first hatched queen, whose instinct leads her
instantly to seek the destruction of those who would soon become her
rivals.
"If the royal larvæ spun complete cocoons, the stings of the queens
seeking to destroy their rivals might be so entangled in their meshes
that they could not be disengaged. 'Such,' says Huber, 'is the
instinctive enmity of young queens to each other, that I have seen one
of them, immediately on its emergence from the cell, rush to those of
its sisters, and tear to pieces even the imperfect larvæ. Hitherto
philosophers have claimed our admiration of nature for her care in
preserving and multiplying the species. But from these facts we must now
admire her precautions in exposing certain individuals to a mortal
hazard.'"
The cocoon of the royal larva is very much stronger and coarser than
that spun by the drone or worker, its texture considerably resembling
that of the silk worm's. The young queen does not come forth from her
cell until she is quite mature; and as its great size gives her abundant
room to exercise her wings she is capable of flying as soon as she quits
it. While still in her cell she makes the fluttering and piping noises
with which every observant bee keeper is so well acquainted.
Some Apiarians have supposed that the queen bee has the power to
regulate the development of eggs in her ovaries, so that few or many are
produced, according to the necessities of the colony. This is evidently
a mistake. Her eggs, like those of the domestic hen, are formed without
any volition of her own, and when fully developed, must be extruded. If
the weather is unfavorable, or if the colony is too feeble to maintain
sufficient heat, a smaller number of eggs are developed in her ovaries,
just as unfavorable circumstances diminish the number of eggs laid by
the hen; if the weather is very cold, egg-laying usually ceases
altogether. In the latitude of Philadelphia, I opened one of my hives on
the 5th day of February, and found an abundance of eggs and brood,
although the winter had been an unusually cold one, and the temperature
of the preceding month very low. The fall of 1852 was a warm one, and
eggs and brood were found in a hive which I examined on the 21st of
October. Powerful stocks in well protected hives contain some brood, at
least ten months in the year; in warm countries, bees probably breed,
every month in the year.
It is highly interesting to see in what way the supernumerary eggs of
the queen are disposed of. When the number of workers is too small to
take charge of all her eggs, or when there is a deficiency of bee bread
to nourish the young, (See chapter on Pollen,) or when, for any reason,
she judges it not best to deposit them in cells, she stands upon a comb,
and simply extrudes them from her oviduct, and the workers devour them
as fast as they are laid! This I have repeatedly witnessed in my
observing hives, and admired the sagacity of the queen in economizing
her necessary work after this fashion, instead of laboriously depositing
the eggs in cells where they are not wanted. What a difference between
her wise management and the stupidity of a hen obstinately persisting to
set upon addled eggs, or pieces of chalk, and often upon nothing at all.
The workers eat up also all the eggs which are dropped, or deposited out
of place by the queen; in this way, nothing goes to waste, and even a
tiny egg is turned to some account. Was there ever a better comment upon
the maxim? "Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of
themselves."
Do the workers who appear to be so fond of a tit-bit in the shape of a
new laid egg, ever experience a struggle between their appetites and the
claims of duty, and does it cost them some self denial to refrain from
making a breakfast on a fresh laid egg? It is really very difficult for
one who has carefully watched the habits of bees, to speak of his little
favorites in any other way than as though they possessed an intelligence
almost, if not quite, akin to reason.
It is well known to every breeder of poultry, that the fertility of a
hen decreases with age, until at length, she becomes entirely barren; it
is equally certain that the fertility of the queen bee ordinarily
diminishes after she has entered upon her third year. She sometimes
ceases to lay Worker eggs, a considerable time before she dies of old
age; the contents of the spermatheca are exhausted; the eggs can no
longer be impregnated and must therefore produce drones.
The queen bee usually dies of old age, some time in her fourth year,
although instances are on record of some having survived a year longer.
It is highly important to the bee keeper who would receive the largest
returns from his bees, to be able, as in my hives, to catch the queen
and remove her, when she has passed the period of her greatest
fertility. In the sequel, full directions will be given, as to the
proper time and mode of effecting it.
Before proceeding farther in the natural history of the queen bee, I
shall describe more particularly, the other inmates of the hive.
THE DRONES OR MALE BEES.
The drones are, unquestionably, the male bees. Dissection proves that
they have the appropriate organs of generation. They are much larger and
stouter than either the queen or workers; although their bodies are not
quite so long as that of the queen. They have no sting with which to
defend themselves; no proboscis which is suitable for gathering honey
from the flowers, and no baskets on their thighs for holding the
bee-bread. They are thus physically disqualified for work, even if they
were ever so well disposed to it. Their proper office is to impregnate
the young queens, and they are usually destroyed by the bees, soon after
this is completed.
Dr. Evans the author of a beautiful poem on bees thus appropriately
describes them:--
"Their short proboscis sips
No luscious nectar from the wild thyme's lips,
From the lime's leaf no amber drops they steal,
Nor bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal:
On other's toils in pamper'd leisure thrive
The lazy fathers of the industrious hive."
The drones begin to make their appearance in April or May; earlier or
later, according to climate and the forwardness of the season, and
strength of the stock. They require about twenty-four days for their
full development from the egg. In colonies which are too weak to swarm,
none, as a general rule, are reared: they are not needed, for in such
hives, as no young queens are raised, they would be only useless
consumers.
The number of drones in a hive is often very great, amounting, not
merely to hundreds, but sometimes to thousands. It seems, at first, very
difficult to understand why there should be so many, especially since it
has been ascertained that a single one will impregnate a queen for life.
But as intercourse always takes place high in the air, the young queens
are obliged to leave the hive for this purpose; and it is exceedingly
important to their safety, that they should be sure of finding one,
without being compelled to make frequent excursions. Being larger than a
worker, and less quick on the wing, they are more exposed to be caught
by birds, or blown down and destroyed by sudden gusts of wind.
In a large Apiary, a few drones in each hive, or the number usually
found in one, might be amply sufficient. But it must be borne in mind,
that under these circumstances, bees are not in a state of nature.
Before they were domesticated, a colony living in a forest, often had no
neighbors for miles. Now a good stock in our climate, sometimes sends
out three or more swarms, and in the tropical climates, of which the bee
is a native, they increase with astonishing rapidity. At Sydney, in
Australia, a single colony is stated to have multiplied to 300 in three
years. All the new swarms except the first, are led off by a young
queen, and as she is never impregnated until after she has been
established as the head of a separate family, it is important that they
should all be accompanied by a goodly number of drones; and this
renders it necessary that a large number should be produced in the
parent hive.
As this necessity no longer exists, when the bee is domesticated, the
production of so many drones should be discouraged. Traps have been
invented to destroy them, but it is much better to save the bees the
labor and expense of rearing such a host of useless consumers. This can
readily be done by the use of my hives. The cells in which the drones
are reared, are much larger than those appropriated to the raising of
workers. The combs containing them may be taken out, to have their
places supplied with worker's cells, and thus the over production of
drones may easily be prevented. Some colonies contain so much drone comb
as to be nearly worthless.
I have no doubt that some of my readers will object to this mode of
management as interfering with nature: but let them remember that the
bee is not in a state of nature, and that the same objection might be
urged against killing off the super-numerary males of our domestic
animals.
In July or August, soon after the swarming season is over, the bees
expel the drones from the hive. They sometimes sting them, and sometimes
gnaw the roots of their wings, so that when driven from the hive, they
cannot return. If not treated in either of these summary ways, they are
so persecuted and starved, that they soon perish. The hatred of the bees
extends even to the young which are still unhatched: they are
mercilessly pulled from the cells, and destroyed with the rest. How
wonderful that instinct which teaches the bees that there is no longer
any occasion for the services of the drones, and which impels them to
destroy those members of the colony, which, a short time before, they
reared with such devoted attention!
A colony which neglects to expel its drones at the usual season, ought
always to be examined. The queen is probably either diseased or dead. In
my hives, such an examination may be easily made, the true state of the
case ascertained, and the proper remedies at once applied. (See Chapter
on the Loss of the Queen.)
THE PRODUCTION OF SO MANY DRONES NECESSARY, IN A STATE OF NATURE, TO
PREVENT DEGENERACY FROM "IN AND IN BREEDING."
I have often been able, by the reasons previously assigned, to account
for the necessity of such a large number of drones in a state of nature,
to the satisfaction of others, but never fully to my own. I have
repeatedly queried, why impregnation might not just as well have been
effected _in the hive_, as on the wing, in the open air. Two very
obvious and highly important advantages would have resulted from such an
arrangement. 1st. A few dozen drones would have amply sufficed for the
wants of any colony, even if, (as in tropical climates,) it swarmed half
a dozen times or oftener, in the same season. 2d. The young queens would
have been exposed to none of those risks which they now incur, in
leaving the hive for fecundation.
I was unable to show how the existing arrangement is best; although I
never doubted that there must be a satisfactory reason for this seeming
imperfection. To suppose otherwise, would be highly unphilosophical,
since we constantly see, as the circle of our knowledge is enlarged,
many mysteries in nature hitherto inexplicable, fully cleared up.
Let me here ask if the disposition which too many students of nature
cherish, to reject some of the doctrines of revealed religion, is not
equally unphilosophical. Neither our ignorance of all the facts
necessary to their full elucidation, nor our inability to harmonize
these facts in their mutual relations and dependencies, will justify us
in rejecting any truth which God has seen fit to reveal, either in the
book of nature, or in His holy word. The man who would substitute his
own speculations for the divine teachings, has embarked, without rudder
or chart, pilot or compass, upon the uncertain ocean of theory and
conjecture; unless he turns his prow from its fatal course, no Sun of
Righteousness will ever brighten for him the dreary expanse of waters;
storms and whirlwinds will thicken in gloom, on his "voyage of life,"
and no favoring gales will ever waft his shattered bark to a peaceful
haven.
The thoughtful reader will require no apology for the moralizing strain
of many of my remarks, nor blame a clergyman, if forgetting sometimes to
speak as the mere naturalist, he endeavors to find,
"Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
_Sermons_ in '_bees_,' and 'GOD' in every thing."
To return to the point from which I have digressed; a new attempt to
account for the existence of so many drones. If a farmer persists in
what is called "breeding in and in," that is, from the same stock
without changing the blood, it is well known that a rapid degeneracy is
the inevitable consequence. This law extends, as far as we know, to all
animal life, and even man is not exempt from its influence. Have we any
reason to suppose that the bee is an exception? or that ultimate
degeneracy would not ensue, unless some provision was made to counteract
the tendency to in and in breeding? If fecundation had taken place in
the hive, the queen bee must of necessity, have been impregnated by
drones from a common parent, and the same result must have taken place
in each successive generation, until the whole species would eventually
have "run out." By the present arrangement, the young females, when they
leave the hive, often find the air swarming with drones, many of which
belong to other colonies, and thus by crossing the breed, a provision is
constantly made to prevent deterioration.
Experience has proved not only that it is unnecessary to impregnation
that there should be drones in the colony of the young queen, but that
this may be effected even when there are no drones in the Apiary, and
none except at some considerable distance. Intercourse takes place very
high in the air, (perhaps that less risk may be incurred from birds,)
and this is the more favorable to the continual crossing of stocks.
I am strongly persuaded that the decay of many flourishing stocks, even
when managed with great care, is to be attributed to the fact that they
have become enfeebled by "close breeding," and are thus unable to resist
the injurious influences which were comparatively harmless when the bees
were in a state of high physical vigor. I shall, in the chapter on
Artificial Swarming, explain in what way, by the use of my hives, the
stock of bees may be easily crossed, when a cultivator is too remote
from other Apiaries, to depend upon its being naturally effected.
THE WORKERS OR COMMON BEES.
The number of workers in a hive varies very much. A good swarm ought to
contain 15,000 or 20,000; and in large hives, strong colonies which are
not reduced by swarming, frequently number two or three times as many,
during the height of the breeding season. We have well-authenticated
instances of stocks much more populous than this. The Polish hives will
hold several bushels, and yet we are informed by Mr. Dohiogost, that
they swarm regularly, and that the swarms are so powerful that "they
resemble a little cloud in the air." I shall hereafter consider how the
size of the hive affects the number of bees that it may be expected to
produce.
The workers, (as has been already stated,) are all females whose ovaries
are too imperfectly developed to admit of their laying eggs. For a long
time, they were regarded as neither males nor females, and were called
Neuters; but more careful microscopic examinations have enabled us to
detect the rudiments of their ovaries, and thus to determine their sex.
The accuracy of these examinations has been verified by the well-known
facts respecting _fertile workers_.
Riem, a German Apiarian, first discovered that workers sometimes lay
eggs. Huber, in the course of his investigations on this subject,
ascertained that such workers were raised in hives that had lost their
queen, and in the vicinity of the royal cells in which young queens were
being reared. He conjectured that they received accidentally, a small
portion of the peculiar food of these infant queens, and in this way, he
accounted for their reproductive organs being more developed than those
of other workers. Workers reared in such hives, are in close proximity
to the young queens, and there is certainly much probability that some
of the royal jelly may be accidentally dropped into their cells; as, in
these hives, the queen cells when first commenced are parallel to the
horizon, instead of being perpendicular to it, as they are in other
hives. I do not feel confident, however, that they are not sometimes
bred in hives which have not lost their queen. The kind of eggs laid by
these fertile workers, has already been noticed. Such workers are seldom
tolerated in hives containing a fertile, healthy queen, though instances
of this kind have been known to occur. The worker is much smaller than
either the queen or the drone.[5] It is furnished with a tongue or
proboscis, of the most curious and complicated structure, which, when
not in use, is nicely folded under its abdomen; with this, it licks or
brushes up the honey, which is thence conveyed to its honey-bag. This
receptacle is not larger than a very small pea, and is so perfectly
transparent, as to appear when filled, of the same color with its
contents; it is properly the first stomach of the bee, and is surrounded
by muscles which enable the bee to compress it, and empty its contents
through her proboscis into the cells. (See Chapter on Honey.)
The hinder legs of the worker are furnished with a spoon-shaped hollow
or basket, to receive the pollen or bee bread which she gathers from the
flowers. (See Chapter on Pollen.)
Every worker is armed with a formidable sting, and when provoked, makes
instant and effectual use of her natural weapon. The sting, when
subjected to microscopic examination, exhibits a very curious and
complicated mechanism. "It is moved[6] by muscles which, though
invisible to the eye, are yet strong enough to force the sting, to the
depth of one twelfth of an inch, through the thick skin of a man's hand.
At its root are situated two glands by which the poison is secreted:
these glands uniting in one duct, eject the venemous liquid along the
groove, formed by the junction of the two piercers. There are four barbs
on the outside of each piercer: when the insect is prepared to sting,
one of these piercers, having its point a little longer than the other,
first darts into the flesh, and being fixed by its foremost beard, the
other strikes in also, and they alternately penetrate deeper and deeper,
till they acquire a firm hold of the flesh with their barbed hooks, and
then follows the sheath, conveying the poison into the wound. The action
of the sting, says Paley, affords an example of the union of _chemistry_
and mechanism; of chemistry in respect to the _venom_, which can produce
such powerful effects; of mechanism as the sting is a compound
instrument. The machinery would have been comparatively useless had it
not been for the chemical process, by which in the insect's body _honey_
is converted into _poison_; and on the other hand, the poison would have
been ineffectual, without an instrument to wound, and a syringe to
inject it."
"Upon examining the edge of a very keen razor by the microscope, it
appears as broad as the back of a pretty thick knife, rough, uneven, and
full of notches and furrows, and so far from anything like sharpness,
that an instrument, as blunt as this seemed to be, would not serve even
to cleave wood. An exceedingly small needle being also examined, it
resembled a rough iron bar out of a smith's forge. The sting of a bee
viewed through the same instrument, showed everywhere a polish amazingly
beautiful, without the least flaw, blemish, or inequality, and ended in
a point too fine to be discerned."
The extremity of the sting being barbed like an arrow, the bee can
seldom withdraw it, if the substance into which she darts it is at all
tenacious. In losing her sting she parts with a portion of her
intestines, and of necessity, soon perishes.
As the loss of the sting is always fatal to the bees, they pay a dear
penalty for the exercise of their patriotic instincts; but they always
seem ready, (except when they have taken "a drop too much," and are
gorged with honey,) to die in defence of their home and treasures; or as
the poet has expressed it, they
"Deem life itself to vengeance well resign'd,
Die on the wound, and leave their sting behind."
Hornets, wasps and other stinging insects are able to withdraw their
stings from the wound. I have never seen any attempt to account for the
exception in the case of the honey bee. But if the Creator intended the
bee for the use of man, as He most certainly did, has He not given it
this peculiarity, to make it less formidable, and therefore more
completely subject to human control? Without a sting, it would have
stood no chance of defending its tempting sweets against a host of
greedy depredators; but if it could sting a number of times, it would be
much more difficult to bring it into a state of thorough domestication.
A quiver full of arrows in the hand of a skilful marksman, is far more
to be dreaded than a single shaft.
The defence of the colony against enemies, the construction of the
cells, the storing of them with honey and bee-bread, the rearing of the
young, in short, the whole work of the hive, the laying of eggs
excepted, is carried on by the industrious little workers.
There may be _gentlemen_ of leisure in the commonwealth of bees, but
most assuredly there are no such _ladies_, whether of high or low
degree. The queen herself, has her full share of duties, for it must be
admitted that the royal office is no sinecure, when the mother who fills
it, must superintend daily the proper deposition of several thousand
eggs!
AGE OF BEES.
The queen bee, (as has been already stated,) will live four, and
sometimes, though very rarely, five years. As the life of the drones is
usually cut short by violence, it is not easy to ascertain its precise
limit. Bevan, in some interesting statements on the longevity of bees,
estimates it not to exceed four months. The workers are supposed by him,
to live six or seven months. Their age depends, however, very much upon
their greater or less exposure to injurious influences and severe
labors. Those reared in the spring and early part of summer, and on whom
the heaviest labors of the hive must necessarily devolve, do not appear
to live more than two or three months, while those which are bred at the
close of summer, and early in autumn, being able to spend a large part
of their time in repose, attain a much greater age. It is very evident
that "the bee," (to use the words of a quaint old writer,) "is a summer
bird," and that with the exception of the queen, none live to be a year
old.
Notched and ragged wings, instead of gray hairs and wrinkled faces, are
the signs of old age in the bee, and indicate that its season of toil
will soon be over. They appear to die rather suddenly, and often spend
their last days, and sometimes even their last hours, in useful labors.
Place yourself before a hive, and see the indefatigable energy of these
aged veterans, toiling along with their heavy burdens, side by side with
their more youthful compeers, and then say if you can, that _you_ have
done work enough, and that you will give yourself up to slothful
indulgence, while the ability for useful labor still remains. Let the
cheerful hum of their industrious old age inspire you with better
resolutions, and teach you how much nobler it is to meet death in the
path of duty, striving still, as you "have opportunity," to "do good
unto all men."
The age which individual members of the community may attain, must not
be confounded with that of the colony. Bees have been known to occupy
the same domicile for a great number of years. I have seen flourishing
colonies which were twenty years old, and the Abbe Della Rocca speaks
of some over forty years old! Such cases have led to the erroneous
opinion that bees are a long-lived race. But this, as Dr. Evans has
observed, is just as wise as if a stranger, contemplating a populous
city, and personally unacquainted with its inhabitants, should on paying
it a second visit, many years afterwards, and finding it equally
populous, imagine that it was peopled by the same individuals, not one
of whom might then be living.
"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 cocoons spun by the larvæ, are never removed by the bees; they stick
so closely to the sides of the cells, that the knowing bee well
understands that the labor of removal would cost more than it would be
worth. In process of time, the breeding cells become too small for the
proper development of the young. In some cases, the bees must take down
and reconstruct the old combs, for if they did not, the young issuing
from them would always be dwarfs; whereas I once compared with other
bees, those of a colony more than fifteen years old, and found no
perceptible difference. That they do not always renew the old combs,
must be admitted, as the young from some old hives are often
considerably below the average size. On this account, it is very
desirable to be able to remove the old combs occasionally, that their
place may be supplied with new ones.
It is a great mistake to imagine that the brood combs ought to be
changed every year. In my hives, they might, if it were desirable, be
easily changed several times in a year: but once in five or six years is
often enough; oftener than this requires a needless consumption of honey
to replace them, besides being for other reasons undesirable, as the
bees are always in winter, colder in new comb than in old. Inventors of
hives have too often been, most emphatically "men of one idea:" and that
one, instead of being a well established and important fact in the
physiology of the bee, has frequently, (like the necessity for a yearly
change of the brood combs,) been merely a conceit, existing nowhere but
in the brain of a visionary projector. This is all harmless enough,
until an effort is made to impose such miserable crudities upon an
ignorant public, either in the shape of a patented hive, _or worse
still, of an UNPATENTED hive, the pretended RIGHT to use which, is
FRAUDULENTLY sold to the cheated purchaser_!!
For want of proper knowledge with regard to the age of bees, huge "bee
palaces," and large closets in garrets or attics, have been constructed,
and their proprietors have vainly imagined that the bees would fill
them, however roomy; for they can see no reason why a colony should not
continue to increase indefinitely, until at length it numbers its
inhabitants by millions or billions! As the bees can never at one time
equal, still less exceed the number which the queen is capable of
producing in one season, these spacious dwellings have always an
abundance of "spare rooms." It seems strange that men can be thus
deceived, when often in their own Apiary, they have healthy stocks which
have not swarmed for a year or more, and which yet in the spring are not
a whit more populous than those which have regularly parted with
vigorous swarms.
It is certain that the Creator, has for some wise reason, set a limit to
the increase of numbers in a single colony; and I shall venture to
assign what appears to me to have been one reason for His so doing.
Suppose that He had given to the bee, a length of life as great as that
of the horse or the cow, or had made each queen capable of laying
daily, some hundreds of thousands of eggs, or had given several hundred
queens to each hive, then from the Very nature of the case, a colony
must have gone on increasing, until it became a scourge rather than a
benefit to man. In the warm climates of which the bee is a native, they
would have established themselves in some cavern or capacious cleft in
the rocks, and would there have quickly become so powerful as to bid
defiance to all attempts to appropriate the avails of their labors.
It has already been stated, that none, except the mother wasps and
hornets, survive the winter. If these insects had been able, like the
bee, to commence the season with the accumulated strength of a large
colony, long before its close, they would have proved a most intolerable
nuisance. If, on the contrary, the queen bee had been compelled,
solitary and alone, to lay the foundations of a new commonwealth, the
honey-harvest would have disappeared before she could have become the
parent of a numerous family.
In the laws which regulate the increase of bees as well as in all other
parts of their economy, we have the plainest proofs that the insect was
formed for the special service of the human race.
THE PROCESS OF REARING THE QUEEN MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED.
If in the early part of the season, the population of a hive becomes
uncomfortably crowded, the bees usually make preparations for swarming.
A number of royal cells are commenced, and they are placed almost always
upon those edges of the combs which are not attached to the sides of the
hive. These cells somewhat resemble a small ground-nut or pea-nut, and
are about an inch deep, and one-third of an inch in diameter: they are
very thick, and require a large quantity of material for their
construction. They are seldom seen in a perfect state, as the bees
nibble them away after the queen has hatched, leaving only their
remains, in the shape of a very small acorn-cup. While the other cells
open sideways, these always hang with their mouth _downwards_. Much
speculation has arisen as to the reason for this deviation: some have
conjectured that their peculiar position exerted an influence upon the
development of the royal larvæ; while others, having ascertained that no
injurious effect was produced by turning them upwards, or placing them
in any other position, have considered this deviation as among the
inscrutable mysteries of the bee-hive. So it always seemed to me, until
more careful reflection enabled me to solve the problem. The queen cells
open downwards, simply _to save room_! The distance between the parallel
ranges of comb being usually less than half an inch, the bees could not
have made the royal cells to open sideways, without sacrificing the
cells opposite to them. In order to economize space, to the very utmost,
they put them upon the unoccupied edges of the comb, as the only place
where there is always plenty of room for such very large cells.
The number of royal cells varies greatly; sometimes there are only two
or three, ordinarily there are five or six, and I have occasionally seen
more than a dozen. They are not all commenced at once, for the bees do
not intend that the young queens shall all arrive at maturity, at the
same time. I do not consider it as fully settled, how the eggs are
deposited in these cells. In some few instances, I have known the bees
to transfer the eggs from common to queen cells, and this _may_ be their
general method of procedure. I shall hazard the conjecture that the
queen deposits her eggs in cells on the edges of the comb, in a crowded
state of the hive, and that some of these are afterwards enlarged and
changed into royal cells by the workers. Such is the instinctive hatred
of the queen to her own kind, that it does not seem to me probable, that
she is intrusted with even the initiatory steps for securing a race of
successors. That the eggs from which the young queens are produced, are
of the same kind with those producing workers, has been repeatedly
demonstrated. On examining the queen cells while they are in progress,
one of the first things which excites our notice, is the very unusual
amount of attention bestowed upon them by the workers. There is scarcely
a second in which a bee is not peeping into them, and just as fast as
one is satisfied, another pops its head in, to examine if not to report,
progress. The importance of their inmates to the bee-community, might
easily be inferred from their being the center of so much attraction.
ROYAL JELLY.
The young queens are supplied with a much larger quantity of food than
is allotted to the other larvæ, so that they seem almost to float in a
thick bed of jelly, and there is usually a portion of it left unconsumed
at the base of the cells, after the insects have arrived at maturity. It
is different from the food of either drones or workers, and in
appearance, resembles a light quince jelly, having a slightly acid
taste.
I submitted a portion of the royal jelly for analysis, to Dr. Charles M.
Wetherill, of Philadelphia; a very interesting account of his
examination may be found in the proceedings of the Phila. Academy of
Nat. Sciences for July, 1852. He speaks of the substance as "truly a
bread-containing, albuminous compound." I hope in the course of the
coming summer to obtain from this able analytical chemist, an analysis
of the food of the young drones and workers. A comparison of its
elements with those of the royal jelly, may throw some light on subjects
as yet involved in obscurity.
The effects produced upon the larvæ by this peculiar food and method of
treatment, are very remarkable. For one, I have never considered it
strange that such effects should be rejected as idle whims, by nearly
all except those who have either been eye-witnesses to them, or have
been well acquainted with the character and opportunities for accurate
observation, of those on whose testimony they have received them. They
are not only in themselves most marvelously strange, but on the face of
them so entirely opposed to all common analogies, and so very
improbable, that many men when asked to believe them, feel almost as
though an insult were offered to their common sense. The most important
of these effects, I shall now proceed to enumerate.
1st. The peculiar mode in which the worm designed to be reared as a
queen, is treated, causes it to arrive at maturity, about one-third
earlier than if it had been bred a worker. And yet it is to be much more
fully developed, and according to ordinary analogy, ought to have had a
_slower growth_!
2d. Its organs of reproduction are completely developed, so that it is
capable of fulfilling the office of a mother.
3d. Its size, shape and color are all greatly changed. (See p. 32.) Its
lower jaws are shorter, its head rounder, and its legs have neither
brushes nor baskets, while its sting is more curved, and one-third
longer than that of a worker.
4th. Its _instincts_ are entirely changed. Reared as a worker, it would
have been ready to thrust out its sting, upon the least provocation;
whereas now, it may be pulled limb from limb, without attempting to
sting. As a worker it would have treated a queen with the greatest
consideration; whereas now, if placed under a glass with another queen,
it rushes forthwith to mortal combat with its rival. As a worker, it
would frequently have left the hive, either for labor or exercise: as a
queen, after impregnation, it never leaves the hive except to accompany
a new swarm.
5th. The term of its life is remarkably lengthened. As a worker, it
would have lived not more than six or seven months at farthest; as a
queen it may live seven or eight times as long! All these wonders rest
on the impregnable basis of complete demonstration, and instead of being
witnessed by only a select few, may now, by the use of my hive, be
familiar sights to any bee keeper, who prefers to acquaint himself with
facts, rather than to cavil and sneer at the labors of others.[7]
When provision has been made, in the manner described, for a new race of
queens, the old mother always departs with the first swarm, before her
successors have arrived at maturity.[8]
ARTIFICIAL REARING OF QUEENS.
The distress of the bees when they lose their queen, has already been
described. If they have the means of supplying her loss, they soon calm
down, and commence forthwith, the necessary steps for rearing another.
The process of rearing queens artificially, to meet some special
emergency, is even more wonderful than the natural one, which has
already been described. Its success depends on the bees having
worker-eggs or worms not more than three days old; (if older, the larva
has been too far developed as a worker to admit of any change:) the bees
nibble away the partitions of two cells adjoining a third, so as to make
one large cell out of the three. They destroy the eggs or worms in two
of these cells, while they place before the occupant of the third, the
usual food of the young queens, and build out its cell, so as to give it
ample space for development. They do not confine themselves to the
attempt to rear a single queen, but to guard against failure, start a
considerable number, although the work on all except a few, is usually
soon discontinued.
In twelve or fourteen days, they are in possession of a new queen,
precisely similar to one reared in the natural way, while the eggs which
were laid at the same time in the adjoining cells, and which have been
developed in the usual way, are nearly a week longer in coming to
maturity.
I will give in this connection a description of an interesting
experiment:
A large hive which stood at a distance from any other colony, was
removed in the morning of a very pleasant day, to a new place, and
another hive containing only empty comb, was put upon its stand.
Thousands of workers which were out in the fields, or which left the old
hive after its removal, returned to the familiar spot. It was affecting
to witness their grief and despair: they flew in restless circles about
the place which once contained their happy home, entered and left the
new hive continually, expressing, in various ways, their lamentations
over their cruel bereavement. Towards evening, they ceased to take wing,
and roamed in restless platoons, in and out of the hive, and over its
surface, acting all the time, as though in search of some lost treasure.
I now gave them a piece of brood comb, containing worker eggs and worms,
taken from a second swarm which being just established with its young
queen, in a new hive, could have no intention of rearing young queens
that season; therefore, it cannot be contended that this piece of comb
contained what some are pleased to call "royal eggs." What followed the
introduction of this brood comb, took place much quicker than it can be
described. The bees which first touched it, raised a peculiar note, and
in a moment, the comb was covered with a dense mass; their restless
motions and mournful noises ceased, and a cheerful hum at once attested
their delight! Despair gave place to hope, as they recognized in this
small piece of comb, the means of deliverance. Suppose a large building
filled with thousands of persons, tearing their hair, beating their
breasts, and by piteous cries, as well as frantic gestures, giving vent
to their despair; if now some one should enter this house of mourning,
and by a single word, cause all these demonstrations of agony to give
place to smiles and congratulations, the change could not be more
wonderful and instantaneous, than that produced when the bees received
the brood comb!
The Orientals call the honey bee, Deburrah, "She that speaketh." Would
that this little insect might speak, and in words more eloquent than
those of man's device, to the multitudes who allow themselves to reject
the doctrines of revealed religion, because, as they assert, they are,
on their face so utterly improbable, that they labor under an _a priori_
objection strong enough to be fatal to their credibility. Do not nearly
all the steps in the development of a queen from a worker-egg, labor
under precisely the same objection? and have they not, for this very
reason, always been regarded by great numbers of bee keepers, as
unworthy of credence? If the favorite argument of infidels and errorists
will not stand the test when applied to the wonders of the bee-hive, can
it be regarded as entitled to any serious weight, when employed in
framing objections against religious truths, and arrogantly taking to
task the infinite Jehovah, for what He has been pleased to do or to
teach? Give me the same latitude claimed by such objectors, and I can
easily prove that a man is under no obligation to receive any of the
wonders in the economy of the bee-hive, although he is himself an
intelligent eye-witness that they are all substantial verities.
I shall quote, in this connection, from Huish, an English Apiarian of
whom I have already spoken, because his objections to the discoveries
of Huber, remind me so forcibly of both the spirit and principles of the
great majority of those who object to the doctrines of revealed
religion.
"If an individual, with the view of acquiring some knowledge of the
natural history of the bee, or of its management, consult the works of
Bagster, Bevan, or any of the periodicals which casually treat upon the
subject, will he not rise from the study of them with his mind
surcharged with falsities and mystification? Will he not discover
through the whole of them a servile acquiescence in the opinions and
discoveries of one man, however at variance they may be with truth or
probability; and if he enter upon the discussion with his mind free from
prejudice, will he not experience that an outrage has been committed
upon his reason, in calling upon him to give assent to positions and
principles which at best are merely assumed, but to which he is called
upon dogmatically to subscribe his acquiescence as the indubitable
results of experience, skill and ability? The editors of the works above
alluded to, should boldly and indignantly have declared, that from their
own experience in the natural economy of the insect, they were able to
pronounce the circumstances as related by Huber to be directly
_impossible_, and the whole of them based on fiction and imposition."
Let the reader change only a few words in this extract: for "the natural
history of the bee or its management," let him write, "the subject of
religion;" for, "the works of Bagster, Bevan," &c., let him put, "the
works of Moses, Paul," &c.; for, "their own experience in the natural
economy of the insect," let him substitute, "their own experience in the
nature of man;" and for, "circumstances as related by Huber," let him
insert, "as related by Luke or John," and it will sound almost precisely
like a passage from some infidel author.
I resume the quotation from Huish; "If we examine the account which
Huber gives of his invention (!) of the royal jelly, the existence and
efficacy of which are fully acquiesced in by the aforesaid editors, to
what other conclusions are we necessarily driven, than that they are the
dupes of a visionary enthusiast, whose greatest merit consists in his
inventive powers, no matter how destitute those powers may be of all
affinity with truth or probability? Before, however, these editors
bestowed their unqualified assent on the existence of this royal jelly,
did they stop to put to themselves the following questions? By what kind
of bee is it made?[9] Whence is it procured? Is it a natural or an
elaborated substance? If natural, from what source is it derived? If
elaborated, in what stomach of the bee is it to be found? How is it
administered? What are its constituent principles? Is its existence
optional or definite? Whence does it derive its miraculous power of
converting a common egg into a royal one? Will any of the aforesaid
editors publicly answer these questions? and ought they not to have been
able to answer them, before they so unequivocally expressed their belief
in its existence, its powers and administration?"
How puerile does all this sound to one who has _seen_ and _tasted_ the
royal jelly! And permit me to add, how equally unmeaning do the
objections of infidels seem, to those who have an experimental
acquaintance with the divine hopes and consolations of the Gospel of
Christ.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The author of this work regrets that his experience does not enable
him to speak with such absolute confidence as to the character of all
the bee keepers whom he has known.
[2] In this way she is sure to deposit the egg in the cell she has
selected.
[3] If ever there lived a genuine naturalist, Swammerdam was the man. In
his History of Insects, published in 1737, he has given a most beautiful
drawing of the ovaries of the queen bee. The sac which he supposed
secreted a fluid for sticking the eggs to the base of the cells is the
seminal reservoir or spermatheca.
[4] Bevan.
[5] This work being intended chiefly for practical purposes, I have
thought best to use, as little as possible, the technical terms and
minute anatomical descriptions of the scientific entomologist.
[6] Bevan.
[7] Having already spoken of Swammerdam, I shall give a brief extract
from the celebrated Dr. Boerhaave's memoir of this wonderful naturalist,
which should put to the blush, if any thing can, the arrogance of those
superficial observers who are too wise in their own conceit, to avail
themselves of the knowledge of others.
"This treatise on Bees proved so fatiguing a performance, that
Swammerdam never afterwards recovered even the appearance of his former
health and vigor. He was almost continually engaged by day in making
observations, and as constantly engaged by night in recording them by
drawings and suitable explanations."
"This being summer work, his daily labor began at six in the morning,
when the sun afforded him light enough to survey such minute objects;
and from that hour till twelve, he continued without interruption, all
the while exposed in the open air to the scorching heat of the sun,
bareheaded for fear of intercepting his sight, and his head in a manner
dissolving into sweat under the irresistible ardors of that powerful
luminary. And if he desisted at noon, it was only because the strength
of his eyes was too much weakened, by the extraordinary afflux of light
and the use of microscopes, to continue any longer upon such small
objects, though as discernible in the afternoon, as they had been in the
forenoon."
"Our author, the better to accomplish his vast, unlimited views, often
wished for a year of perpetual heat and light to perfect his inquiries,
with a polar night to reap all the advantages of them by proper drawings
and descriptions."
[8] The formation of swarms will be particularly described in another
chapter.
[9] Suppose that we are unable to give a satisfactory answer to any of
these questions, does our ignorance on these points disprove the _fact_
of the existence of such a jelly?
CHAPTER IV.
COMB.
Wax is a natural secretion of the bees; it may be called _their oil or
fat_. If they are gorged with honey, or any liquid sweet, and remain
quietly clustered together, it is formed in small wax pouches on their
abdomen, and comes out in the shape of very delicate scales. Soon after
a swarm is hived, the bottom board will be covered with these scales.
"Thus, filtered through yon flutterer's folded mail,
Clings the cooled wax, and hardens to a scale.
Swift, at the well known call, the ready train,
(For not a buz 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 dependence find."
_Evans._
Huber was the first to demonstrate that wax is a natural secretion of
the bee, when fed on honey or any saccharine substance. Most Apiarians
before his time, supposed that it was made from pollen or bee-bread,
either in a crude or digested state. He confined a new swarm of bees in
a hive placed in a dark and cool room, and on examining them, at the
end of five days, found several beautiful white combs in their
tenement: these were taken from them, and they were again confined and
supplied with honey and water, and a second time new combs were
constructed. Five times in succession their combs were removed, and were
in each instance replaced, the bees being all the time prevented from
ranging the fields, to supply themselves with bee-bread. By subsequent
experiments he proved that sugar answered the same end with honey.
He then confined a swarm, giving them no honey, but an abundance of
fruit and pollen. They subsisted on the fruit, but refused to touch the
pollen; and no combs were constructed, nor any wax scales formed in
their pouches. These experiments are conclusive; and are interesting,
not merely as proving that wax is secreted from honey or saccharine
substances, but because they show in what a thorough manner the
experiments of Huber were conducted. Confident assertions are easily
made, requiring only a little breath or a drop of ink; and the men who
deal most in them, have often a profound contempt for observation and
experiment. To establish even a simple truth, on the solid foundation of
demonstrated facts, often requires the most patient and protracted toil.
_A high temperature_ is necessary for comb-building, in order that the
wax may be soft enough to be moulded into shape. The very process of its
secretion helps to furnish the amount of heat which is required to work
it. This is a very interesting fact which seems never before to have
been noticed.
Honey or sugar is found to contain by weight, about eight pounds of
oxygen to one of carbon and hydrogen. When changed into wax, the
proportions are entirely reversed: the wax contains only one pound of
oxygen to more than sixteen pounds of hydrogen and carbon. Now as
oxygen is the grand supporter of animal heat, the consumption of so
large a quantity of it, aids in producing the extraordinary heat which
always accompanies comb-building, and which is necessary to keep the wax
in the soft and plastic state requisite to enable the bees to mould it
into such exquisitely delicate and beautiful shapes! Who can fail to
admire the wisdom of the Creator in this beautiful instance of
adaptation?
The most careful experiments have clearly established the fact, that at
least _twenty pounds_ of honey are consumed in making a single pound of
wax. If any think that this is incredible, let them bear in mind that
wax is an animal oil secreted from honey, and let them consider how many
pounds of corn or hay they must feed to their stock, in order to have
them gain a single pound of fat.
Many Apiarians are entirely ignorant of the great value of empty comb.
Suppose the honey to be worth only 15 cts. per lb., and the comb when
rendered into wax, to be worth 30 cts. per lb., the bee-master who melts
a pound of comb, loses nearly three dollars by the operation, and this,
without estimating the time which the bees have consumed in building the
comb. Unfortunately, in the ordinary hives, but little use can be made
of empty comb, unless it is new, and can be put into the surplus
honey-boxes: but by the use of my movable frames, every piece of good
worker-comb may be used to the best advantage, as it can be given to the
bees, to aid them in their labors.
It has been found very difficult to preserve comb from the bee-moth,
when it is taken from the bees. If it contains only a _few_ of the eggs
of this destroyer, these, in due time, will produce a progeny sufficient
to devour it. The comb, if it is attached to my frames, may be suspended
in a box or empty hive, and thoroughly smoked with sulphur; this will
kill any _worms_ which it may contain. When the weather is warm enough
to hatch the eggs of the moth, this process must be repeated a few
times, at intervals of about a week, so as to insure the destruction of
the worms as they hatch, for the sulphur does not seem always to destroy
the vitality of the eggs. The combs may now be kept in a tight box or
hive, with perfect safety.
Combs containing bee-bread, are of great value, and if given to young
colonies, which in spring are frequently destitute of this article, they
will materially assist them in early breeding.
Honey may be taken from my hives in the frames, and the covers of the
cells sliced off with a sharp knife; the honey can then be drained out,
and the empty combs returned to be filled again. A strong stock of bees,
in the height of the honey harvest, will fill empty combs with wonderful
rapidity. I lay it down, as one of my _first principles_ in bee culture,
that no good comb should ever be melted; it should all be carefully
preserved and given to the bees. If it is new, it may be easily attached
to the frames, or the honey-receptacles, by dipping the edge into melted
wax, pressing it gently until it stiffens, and then allowing it to cool.
If the comb is old, or the pieces large and full of bee-bread, it will
be best to dip them into melted rosin, which, besides costing much less
than wax, will secure a much firmer adhesion. When comb is put into
tumblers or other small vessels, the bees will begin to work upon it the
sooner, if it is simply crowded in, so as to be held in place by being
supported against the sides. It would seem as though they were disgusted
with such unworkmanlike proceedings, and that they cannot rest until
they have taken it into hand, and endeavored to "make a job of it."
If the bee-keeper in using his choicest honey will be satisfied to
dispense with looks, and will carefully drain it from the beautiful
comb, he may use all such comb again to great advantage; not only saving
its intrinsic value, but greatly encouraging his bees to occupy and fill
all receptacles in which a portion of it is put. Bees seem to fancy _a
good start in life_, about as well as their more intelligent owners. To
this use all suitable drone comb should be put, as soon as it is removed
from the main hive. (See remarks on Drones.)
Ingenious efforts have been made, of late years, to construct
_artificial_ honey combs of porcelain, to be used for _feeding_ bees. No
one, to my knowledge, has ever attempted to imitate the delicate
mechanism of the bee so closely, as to construct artificial combs for
the ordinary uses of the hive; although for a long time I have
entertained the idea as very desirable, and yet as barely possible. I am
at present engaged in a course of experiments on this subject, the
results of which, in due time, I shall communicate to the public.
While writing this treatise, it has occurred to me that bees might be
induced to use old wax for the construction of their combs. Very fine
parings may be shaved off with glass, and if given to the bees, under
favorable circumstances, it seems to me very probable that they would
use them, just as they do the scales which are formed in their wax
pouches. Let strong colonies be deprived of some of their combs, after
the honey harvest is over, and supplied abundantly with these parings of
wax. Whether "nature abhors a vacuum," or not, bees certainly do, when
it occurs among the combs of their main hive. They will not use the
honey stored up for winter use to replace the combs taken from them;
they can gather none from the flowers; and I have strong hopes that
necessity will with bees as well as men, prove the mother of invention,
and lead them to use the wax, as readily as they do the substitutes
offered them for pollen. (See Chapter on Pollen.)
If this conjecture should be verified by actual results, it would exert
a most powerful influence in the cheap and rapid multiplication of
colonies, and would enable the bees to store up most prodigious
quantities of honey. A pound of bees wax might then be made to store up
twenty pounds of honey, and the gain to the bee keeper would be the
difference in price between the pound of wax, and the twenty pounds of
honey, which the bees would have consumed in making the same amount of
comb. Strong stocks might thus during the dull season, when no honey can
be procured, be most profitably employed in building spare comb, to be
used in strengthening feeble stocks, and for a great variety of
purposes. Give me the means of cheaply obtaining large amounts of comb,
and I have almost found the philosopher's stone in bee keeping.
The building of comb is carried on with the greatest activity in the
night, while the honey is gathered by day. Thus no time is lost. If the
weather is too forbidding to allow the bees to go abroad, the combs are
very rapidly constructed, as the labor is carried on both by day and by
night. On the return of a fair day, the bees gather unusual quantities
of honey, as they have plenty of room for its storage. Thus it often
happens, that by their wise economy of time, they actually lose nothing,
even if confined, for several days, to their hive.
"How doth the little busy bee, improve each _shining_ hour!"
The poet might with equal truth have described her, as improving the
gloomy days, and the dark nights, in her useful labors.
It is an interesting fact, which I do not remember ever to have seen
particularly noticed by any writer, that honey gathering, and comb
building, go on simultaneously; so that when one stops, the other ceases
also. I have repeatedly observed, that as soon as the honey harvest
fails, the bees intermit their labors in building new comb, even when
large portions of their hive are unfilled. They might enlarge their
combs by using some of their stores; but then they would incur the risk
of perishing in the winter, by starvation. When honey no longer abounds
in the fields, it is wisely ordered, that they should not consume their
hoarded treasures, in expectation of further supplies, which may never
come. I do not believe, that any other safe rule could have been given
them; and if honey gathering was our business, with all our boasted
reason, we should be obliged to adopt the very same course.
Wax is one of the best non-conductors of heat, so that when it is warmed
by the animal heat of the bees, it can more easily be worked, than if it
parted with its heat too readily. By this property, the combs serve also
to keep the bees warm, and there is not so much risk of the honey
candying in the cells, or the combs cracking with frost. If wax was a
good conductor of heat, the combs would often be icy cold, moisture
would condense and freeze upon them, and they would fail to answer the
ends for which they are intended.
The size of the cells, in which workers are reared, never varies: the
same may substantially be said of the drone cells which are very
considerably larger; the cells in which honey is stored, often vary
exceedingly in depth, while in diameter, they are of all sizes from that
of the worker cells to that of the drones.
The cells of the bees are found perfectly to answer all the most refined
conditions of a very intricate mathematical problem! Let it be required
to find what shape a given quantity of matter must take, in order to
have _the greatest capacity, and the greatest strength_, requiring at
the same time, _the least space, and the least labor_ in its
construction. This problem has been solved by the most refined processes
of the higher mathematics, and the result is the hexagonal or six-sided
cell of the honey bee, with its three four-sided figures at the base!
The shape of these figures cannot be altered, _ever so little, except
for the worse_. Besides possessing the desirable qualities already
described, they answer as _nurseries_ for the rearing of the young, and
as _small air-tight vessels_ in which the honey is preserved from
souring or candying. Every prudent housewife who puts up her preserves
in tumblers, or small glass jars, and carefully pastes them over, to
keep out the air, will understand the value of such an arrangement.
"There are only three possible figures of the cells," says Dr. Reid,
"which can make them all equal and similar, without any useless spaces
between them. These are the equilateral triangle, the square and the
regular hexagon. It is well known to mathematicians that there is not a
fourth way possible, in which a plane may be cut into little spaces that
shall be equal, similar and regular, without leaving any interstices."
An equilateral triangle would have made an uncomfortable tenement for an
insect with a round body; and a square would not have been much better.
At first sight a circle would seem to be the best shape for the
development of the larvæ: but such a figure would have caused a needless
sacrifice of space, materials and strength; while the honey which now
adheres so admirably to the many angles or corners of the six-sided
cell, would have been much more liable to run out! I will venture to
assign a new reason for the hexagonal form. The body of the immature
insect as it undergoes its changes, is charged with a super-abundance of
moisture which passes off through the reticulated cover which the bees
build over its cell: a hexagon while it approaches so nearly the shape
of a circle as not to incommode the young bee, furnishes in its six
corners the necessary vacancies for its more thorough ventilation!
So invariably uniform in size, as well as perfect in other respects, are
the cells in which the workers are bred, that some mathematicians have
proposed their adoption, as the best unit for measures of capacity to
serve for universal use.
Can we believe that these little insects unite so many requisites in the
construction of their cells, either by chance, or because they are
profoundly versed in the most intricate mathematics? Are we not
compelled to acknowledge that the mathematics must be referred to the
Creator, and not to His puny creature? To an intelligent, candid mind, a
piece of honey comb is a complete demonstration that there is a "GREAT
FIRST CAUSE:" for on no other supposition can we account for so
complicated a shape, and yet the only one which can possibly unite so
many desirable requisites.
"On books deep poring, ye pale sons of toil,
Who waste in studious trance the midnight oil,
Say, can ye emulate with all your rules,
Drawn or from Grecian or from Gothic schools,
This artless frame? Instinct her simple guide,
A heaven-taught Insect baffles all your pride.
Not all yon marshall'd orbs, that ride so high,
Proclaim more loud a present Deity,
Than the nice symmetry of these small cells,
Where on each angle genuine science dwells."
_Evans._
CHAPTER V.
PROPOLIS, OR "BEE-GLUE."
This substance is obtained by the bees from the resinous buds and limbs
of trees; and when first gathered, it is usually of a bright golden
color, and is exceedingly sticky. The different kinds of poplars furnish
a rich supply. The bees bring it on their thighs just as they do bee
bread; and I have caught them as they were entering with a load, and
taken it from them. It adheres so firmly that it is difficult to remove
it.
"Huber planted in Spring some branches of the wild poplar, before the
leaves were developed, and placed them in pots near his Apiary; the bees
alighting on them, separated the folds of the largest buds with their
forceps, extracted the varnish in threads, and loaded with it, first one
thigh and then the other; for they convey it like pollen, transferring
it by the first pair of legs to the second, by which it is lodged in the
hollow of the third." The smell of the propolis is often precisely
similar to that of the resin from the poplar, and chemical analysis
proves the identity of the two substances. It is frequently gathered
from the alder, horse-chestnut, birch, and willow; and as some think,
from pines and other trees of the fir kind. I have often known bees to
enter the shops where varnishing was being carried on, attracted
evidently by the smell: and Bevan mentions the fact of their carrying
off a composition of wax and turpentine, from trees to which it had
been applied. Dr. Evans says that he has seen them collect the balsamic
varnish which coats the young blossom buds of the hollyhock, and has
known them to rest at least ten minutes on the same bud, moulding the
balsam with their fore feet, and transferring it to the hinder legs, as
described by Huber.
"With merry hum the Willow's copse they scale,
The Fir's dark pyramid, or Poplar pale,
Scoop from the Aider's leaf its oozy flood,
Or strip the Chestnut's resin-coated bud,
Skim the light tear that tips Narcissus' ray,
Or round the Hollyhock's hoar fragrance play.
Soon temper'd to their will through eve's low beam,
And link'd in airy bands the viscous stream,
They waft their nut-brown loads exulting home,
That form a fret-work for the future comb;
Caulk every chink where rushing winds may roar,
And seal their circling ramparts to the floor."
_Evans._
A mixture of wax and propolis is used by the bees to strengthen the
attachments of the combs to the top and sides of the hive, and serves
most admirably for this purpose, as it is much more adhesive than wax
alone. If the combs, as soon as they are built, are not filled with
honey or brood, they are beautifully varnished with a most delicate
coating of this material, which adds exceedingly to their strength: but
as this natural varnish impairs their delicate whiteness, they ought not
to be allowed to remain in the surplus honey receptacles, accessible to
the bees, unless when they are actively engaged in storing them with
honey.
The bees make a very liberal use of this substance to fill up all the
crevices about their premises: and as the natural summer heat of the
hive keeps it soft, the bee moth selects it as a proper place of deposit
for her eggs. For this reason, the hive should be made of sound lumber,
entirely free from cracks, and thoroughly painted on the inside as well
as outside. When glass is used, there is no risk that the bed moth will
find a place in which she can insert her ovi-positor and lay her eggs.
The corners of the hive, which the bees always fill with propolis,
should have a melted mixture of three parts rosin, and one part bees-wax
run into them, which remains hard during the hottest weather, and bids
defiance to the moth. The inside of the hive may be coated with the same
mixture, put on hot with a brush.
The bees find it difficult to gather the propolis, and equally so to
remove from their thighs, and to work so sticky a material. For this
reason, it is doubly important to save them all unnecessary labor in
amassing it. To men, time is _money_; to bees, it is _honey_; and all
the arrangements of the hive should be such as to economize it to the
very utmost.
Propolis is sometimes put to a very curious use by the bees. "A
snail[10] having crept into one of M. Reaumur's hives early in the
morning, after crawling about for some time, adhered by means of its own
slime to one of the glass panes. The bees having discovered the snail,
surrounded it and formed a border of propolis round the verge of its
shell, and fastened it so securely to the glass that it became
immovable."
"Forever closed the impenetrable door,
It naught avails that in his torpid veins
Year after year, life's loitering spark remains."[11]
_Evans._
"Maraldi, another eminent Apiarian, has related a somewhat similar
instance. He states that a snail without a shell, or slug, as it is
called, had entered one of his hives; and that the bees, as soon as they
observed it, stung it to death: after which being unable to dislodge
it, they covered it all over with an impervious coat of propolis."
"For soon in fearless ire, their wonder lost,
Spring fiercely from the comb the indignant host,
Lay the pierced monster breathless on the ground,
And clap in joy their victor pinions round:
While all in vain concurrent numbers strive,
To heave the slime-girt giant from the hive--
Sure not alone by force Instinctive swayed,
But blest with reason's soul directing aid,
Alike in man or bee, they haste to pour,
Thick hard'ning as it falls, the flaky shower;
Embalmed in shroud of glue the mummy lies,
No worms invade, no foul miasmas rise."
_Evans._
"In these cases who can withhold his admiration of the ingenuity and
judgment of the bees? _In the first case_ a troublesome creature gained
admission to the hive, which, from its unwieldiness, they could not
remove, and which, from the impenetrability of its shell, they could not
destroy: here then their only resource was to deprive it of locomotion,
and to obviate putrefaction; both which objects they accomplished most
skilfully and securely--and as is usual with these sagacious creatures,
at the least possible expense of labor and materials. They applied their
cement where alone it was required, round the verge of the shell. _In
the latter case_, to obviate the evil of decay, by the total exclusion
of air, they were obliged to be more lavish in the use of their
embalming material, and to case over the "slime girt giant" so as to
guard themselves from his noisome smell. What means more effectual could
human wisdom have devised under similar circumstances?"
"If in the insect, Season's twilight ray
Sheds on the darkling mind a doubtful day,
Plain is the steady light her _Instincts_ yield,
To point the road o'er life's unvaried field;
If few these instincts, to the destined goal,
With surer coarse, their straiten'd currents roll."
_Evans._
FOOTNOTES:
[10] Bevan.
[11] Some very extraordinary instances are related of the protraction of
life in snails. After they had lain in a cabinet above fifteen years,
immersing them in water caused them to revive and crawl out of their
shells.
CHAPTER VI.
POLLEN, OR BEE-BREAD.
This substance is gathered by the bees from the flowers, or blossoms,
and is used _for the nourishment of their young_. Repeated experiments
have proved that no brood can be raised in a hive, unless the bees are
supplied with it. It contains none of the elements of wax, but is rich
in what chemists call nitrogenous substances, which are not contained in
honey, and which furnish ample nourishment for the development of the
growing bee. Dr. Hunter dissected some immature bees, and found their
stomachs to contain farina, but not a particle of honey.
We are indebted to Huber for the discovery of the use made by the bees
of pollen. That it did not serve as food for the mature bees, was
evident from the fact that large supplies are often found in hives whose
inmates have starved to death. It was this fact which led the old
observers to conclude that it was gathered for the purpose of building
comb. After Huber had demonstrated that wax is secreted from an entirely
different substance, he was soon led to conjecture that the bee-bread
must be used for the nourishment of the embryo bees. By rigid
experiments he proved the truth of this supposition. Bees were confined
to their hive without any pollen, after being supplied with honey, eggs
and larvæ. In a short time the young all perished. A fresh supply of
brood was given to them, with an ample allowance of pollen, and the
development of the larvæ then proceeded in the natural way.
When a colony is actively engaged in carrying in this article, it may be
taken for granted that they have a fertile queen, and are busy in
breeding. On the contrary, if any colony is not gathering pollen when
others are, the queen is either dead, or diseased, and the hive should
at once be examined.
In the backward spring of 1852, I had an excellent opportunity of
testing the value of this substance. In one of my hives, was an
artificial swarm of the previous year. The hive was well protected,
being double, and the situation was warm. I opened it on the 5th of
February, and although the weather, until within a week of that time,
had been unusually cold, I found many of the cells filled with brood. On
the 23d, the combs were again examined, and found to contain, neither
eggs, brood, nor bee bread. The bees were then supplied with bee bread
taken from another hive: the next day, this was found to have been used
by them, and a large number of eggs had been deposited in the cells.
When this supply was exhausted, egg-laying ceased, and was again renewed
when more was furnished them.
During all the time of these experiments, the weather was unpromising,
and as the bees were unable to go out for water, they were supplied at
home with this important article.
Dzierzon is of opinion that the bees are able to furnish food for the
young, without the presence of pollen in the hive; although he admits
that they can do this only for a short time, and at a great expense of
vital energy; just as the strength of an animal nursing its young is
rapidly reduced, when for want of proper food, the very substance of
its own body as it were, is converted into milk. My experiments do not
corroborate this theory, but tend to confirm the views of Huber, and to
show the absolute necessity of pollen to the development of brood. The
same able contributor to Apiarian science, thinks that pollen is used by
the bees when they are engaged in comb-building; and that unless they
are well supplied with it, they cannot rapidly secrete wax, without very
severely taxing their strength. But as all the elements of wax are found
in honey, and none of them in pollen, this opinion does not seem to me,
to be entitled to much weight. That bees cannot live upon pollen without
any honey, is proved by the fact, that large stores of it are often
found, in hives whose occupants have died of starvation; that they can
live without it, is equally well known; but that the full grown bees
make some use of it in connection with honey, for their own nourishment,
I believe to be highly probable.
The bees prefer to gather _fresh_ bee-bread, even when there are large
accumulations of old stores in the cells. Hence, the great importance of
being able to make the _surplus_ of old colonies supply the _deficiency_
of young ones. (See No. 28, in the Chapter "On the advantages which
ought to be found in an Improved Hive.")
If both honey and pollen can be obtained from the same flower, then a
load of _each_ will be secured by the industrious insect. Of this, any
one may convince himself, who will dissect a few pollen gatherers at the
time when honey is plenty: he will generally find their honey-bags full.
The mode of gathering is very interesting. The body of the bee appears,
to the naked eye, to be covered with fine hairs; to these, when the bee
alights on a flower, the farina adheres. With her legs, she brushes it
off from her body, and packs it in two hollows or _baskets_, one on each
of her thighs: these baskets are surrounded by stouter hairs which hold
the load in its place.
When the bee returns with pollen, she often makes a singular, dancing or
vibratory motion, which attracts the attention of the other bees, who at
once nibble away from her thighs what they want for immediate use; the
rest she deposits in a cell for future need, where it is carefully
packed down, and often sealed over with wax.
It has been observed that a bee, in gathering pollen, always confines
herself to the same kind of flower on which she begins, even when that
is not so abundant as some others. Thus if you examine a ball of this
substance taken from her thigh, it is found to be of one uniform color
throughout: the load of one will be yellow, another red, and a third
brown; the color varying according to that of the plant from which it
was obtained. It is probable that the pollen of different kinds of
flowers would not pack so well together. It is certain that if they flew
from one species to another, there would be a much greater mixture of
different varieties than there now is, for they carry on their bodies
the pollen or fertilizing principle, and thus aid most powerfully in the
impregnation of plants.
This is one reason why it is so difficult to preserve pure, the
different varieties of the same vegetables whose flowers are sought by
the bee.
He must be blind indeed, who will not see, at every step in the natural
history of this insect, the plainest proofs of the wisdom of its
Creator.
I cannot resist the impression that the honey bee was made for the
especial service and instruction of man. At first the importance of its
products, when honey was the only natural sweet, served most powerfully
to attract his attention to its curious habits; and now since the
cultivation of the sugar cane has diminished the relative value of its
luscious sweets, the superior knowledge which has been obtained of its
instincts, is awakening an increasing enthusiasm in its cultivation.
Virgil in the fourth book of his Georgics, which is entirely devoted to
bees, speaks of them as having received a direct emanation from the
Divine Intelligence. And many modern Apiarians are almost disposed to
rank the bee for sagacity, as next in the scale of creation to man.
The importance of pollen to the nourishment of the brood, has long been
known, and of late, successful attempts have been made to furnish a
_substitute_. The bees in Dzierzon's Apiary were observed by him, early
in the spring before the time for procuring pollen, to bring rye meal to
their hives from a neighboring mill. It is now a common practice on the
continent of Europe, where bee keeping is extensively carried on, to
supply the bees, in early spring, with this article. Shallow troughs are
set in front of the Apiaries, which are filled, about two inches deep,
with _finely ground, dry, unbolted rye meal_. Thousands of bees resort
eagerly to them when the weather is favorable, roll themselves in the
meal, and return heavily laden to their hives. In fine, mild weather,
they labor at this work with astonishing industry; and seem decidedly to
prefer the meal to the _old_ pollen stored in their combs. By this
means, the bees are induced to commence breeding _early_, and rapidly
recruit their numbers. The feeding is continued till the bees cease to
carry away the meal; that is, until the natural supplies furnish them
with a preferable article. The average consumption of each colony is
about two pounds of meal!
At the last annual Apiarian Convention in Germany, a cultivator
recommended wheat flour as an excellent substitute for pollen. He says
that in February, 1852, he used it with the best results. The bees
_forsook the honey_ which had been set out for them, and engaged
actively in carrying in large quantities of the wheat flour, which was
placed about twenty paces in front of the hives.
The construction of my hives, permits the flour to be placed, at once,
where the bees can take it, without being compelled to waste their time
in going out for it, or to suffer for the want of it, when the weather
confines them at home.
The discovery of this substitute, removes a serious obstacle to the
successful culture of bees. In many districts, there is a great
abundance of honey for a few weeks in the season; and almost any number
of colonies, which are strong when the honey harvest commences, will, in
a good season, lay up sufficient stores for themselves, and a large
surplus for their owners. In many of these districts, however, the
supply of pollen is often so insufficient, that the new colonies of the
previous year are found destitute of this article in the spring; and
unless the season is early, and the weather unusually favorable, the
production of brood is most seriously interfered with; thus the colony
becomes strong too late to avail itself to the best advantage of the
superabundant harvest of honey. (See remarks on the importance of having
strong stocks early in the Spring.)
CHAPTER VII.
ON THE ADVANTAGES WHICH OUGHT TO BE FOUND IN AN IMPROVED HIVE.
In this chapter, I shall enumerate certain very desirable, if not
necessary, qualities of a good hive. I have neither the taste nor the
time for the invidious work of disparaging other hives. I prefer
inviting the attention of bee-keepers to the importance of these
requisites; some of which, as I believe, are contained in no hive but my
own. Let them be most carefully examined, and if they commend themselves
to the enlightened judgment and good common sense of cultivators, let
them be employed to test the comparative merits of the various kinds of
hives in common use.
1. A good hive should give the Apiarian a perfect control over all the
combs: so that any of them may be taken out at pleasure; and this,
without cutting them, or enraging the bees.
This advantage is possessed by no hive in use, except my own; and it
forms the very foundation of an improved and profitable system of
bee-culture. Unless the combs are at the entire command of the Apiarian,
he can have no effectual control over his bees. They swarm too much or
too little, just as suits themselves, and their owner is almost entirely
dependent upon their caprice.
2. It ought to afford suitable protection against extremes of heat and
cold, sudden changes of temperature, and the injurious effects of
dampness.
In winter, the interior of the hive should be dry, and not a particle of
frost should ever find admission; and in summer, the bees should not be
forced to work to disadvantage in a pent and almost suffocating heat.
(See these points discussed in the Chapter on Protection.)
3. It should permit all necessary operations to be performed without
hurting or killing a single bee.
Most hives are so constructed that it is impossible to manage them,
without at times injuring or destroying some of the bees. The mere
destruction of a few bees, would not, except on the score of humanity,
be of much consequence, if it did not very materially increase the
difficulty of managing them. Bees remember injuries done to any of their
number, for some time, and generally find an opportunity to avenge them.
4. It should allow every thing to be done that is necessary in the most
extensive management of bees, without incurring any serious risk of
exciting their anger. (See Chapter on the Anger of Bees.)
5. Not a single unnecessary step or motion ought to be required of a
single bee.
The honey harvest, in most locations, is of short continuance; and all
the arrangements of the hive should facilitate, to the utmost, the work
of the busy gatherers. Tall hives, therefore, and all such as compel
them to travel with their heavy burdens through densely crowded combs,
are very objectionable. The bees in my hive, instead of forcing their
way through thick clusters, can easily pass into the surplus honey
boxes, not only from any comb in the hive, but without traveling over
the combs at all.
6. It should afford suitable facilities for inspecting, at all times,
the condition of the bees.
When the sides of my hive are of glass, as soon as the outer cover is
elevated, the Apiarian has a view of the interior, and can often at a
glance, determine its condition. If the hive is of wood, or if he wishes
to make a more thorough examination, in a few minutes every comb may be
taken out, and separately inspected. In this way, the exact condition of
every colony may always be easily ascertained, and nothing left, as in
the common hives, to mere conjecture. This is an advantage, the
importance of which it would be difficult to over estimate. (See
Chapters on the loss of the queen, and on the Bee Moth.)
7. While the hive is of a size adapted to the natural instincts of the
bee, it should be capable of being readily adjusted to the wants of
small colonies.
If a small swarm is put into a large hive, they will be unable to
concentrate their animal heat, so as to work to the best advantage, and
will often become discouraged, and abandon their hive. If they are put
into a small hive, its limited dimensions will not afford them suitable
accommodations for increase. By means of my movable partition, my hive
can, in a few moments, be adapted to the wants of any colony however
small, and can, with equal facility, be enlarged from time to time, or
at once restored to its full dimensions.
8. It should allow the combs to be removed without any jarring.
Bees manifest the utmost aversion to any sudden jar; for it is in this
way, that their combs are loosened and detached. However firmly fastened
the frames may be in my hive, they can all be loosened in a few moments,
without injuring or exciting the bees.
9. It should allow every good piece of comb to be given to the bees,
instead of being melted into wax. (See Chapter on Comb.)
10. The construction of the hive should induce the bees to build their
combs with great regularity.
A hive which contains a large proportion of irregular comb, can never be
expected to prosper. Such comb is only suitable for storing honey, or
raising drones. This is one reason why so many colonies never flourish.
A glance will often show that a hive contains so much drone comb, as to
be unfit for the purposes of a stock hive.
11. It should furnish the means of procuring comb to be used as a guide
to the bees, in building regular combs in empty hives; and to induce
them more readily to take possession of the surplus honey receptacles.
It is well known that the presence of comb will induce bees to begin
work much more readily than they otherwise Would: this is especially the
case in glass vessels.
12. It should allow the removal of drone combs from the hive, to prevent
the breeding of too many drones. (See remarks on Drones.)
13. It should enable the Apiarian, when the combs become too old, to
remove them, and supply their place with new ones.
No hive can, in this respect, equal one in which, in a few moments, any
comb can be removed, and the part which is too old, be cut off. The
upper part of a comb, which is generally used for storing honey, will
last without renewal for many years.
14. It ought to furnish the greatest possible security against the
ravages of the Bee-Moth.
Neither before nor after it is occupied, ought there to be any cracks
or crevices in the interior. All such places will be filled by the bees
with propolis or bee-glue; a substance, which is always soft in the
summer heat of the hive, and which forms a most congenial place of
deposit for the eggs of the moth. If the sides of the hive are of glass,
and the corners are run with a melted mixture, three parts rosin, and
one part bees-wax, the bees will waste but little time in gathering
propolis, and the bee-moth will find but little chance for laying her
eggs, even if she should succeed in entering the hive.
My hives are so constructed, that if made of wood, they may be
thoroughly painted inside and outside, without being so smooth as to
annoy the bees; for they travel over the frames to which the combs are
attached; and thus whether the inside surface is glass or wood, it is
not liable to crack, or warp, or absorb moisture, after the hive is
occupied by the bees. If the hives are painted inside, it should be done
sometime before they are used. If the interior of the wooden hive is
brushed with a very hot mixture of the rosin and bees-wax, the hives may
be used immediately.
15. It should furnish some place accessible to the Apiarian, where the
bee-moth can be tempted to deposit her eggs, and the worms, when full
grown, to wind themselves in their cocoons. (See remarks on the
Bee-Moth.)
16. It should enable the Apiarian, if the bee-moth ever gains the upper
hand of the bees, to remove the combs, and expel the worms. (See
Bee-Moth.)
17. The bottom board should be permanently attached to the hive; for if
this is not done, it will be inconvenient to move the hive when bees are
in it, and next to impossible to prevent the depredations of moths and
worms.
Sooner or later, there will be crevices between the bottom board and the
sides of the hive, through which the moths will gain admission, and
under which the worms, when fully grown, will retreat to spin their
webs, and to be changed into moths, to enter in their turn, and lay
their eggs. Movable bottom hoards are a great nuisance in the Apiary,
and the construction of my hive, which enables me entirely to dispense
with them, will furnish a very great protection against the bee-moth.
There is no place where they can get in, except at the entrance for the
bees, and this may be contracted or enlarged, to suit the strength of
the colony; and from its peculiar shape, the bees are enabled to defend
it against intruders, with the greatest advantage.
18. The bottom-board should slant towards the entrance, to assist the
bees in carrying out the dead, and other useless substances; to aid them
in defending themselves against robbers; to carry off all moisture; and
to prevent the rain and snow from beating into the hive. As a farther
precaution against this last evil, the entrance ought to be under a
covered way, which should not, at once lead into the interior.
19. The bottom-board should be so constructed that it may be readily
cleared of dead bees in cold weather, when the bees are unable to attend
to this business themselves.
If suffered to remain, they often become mouldy, and injure the health
of the colony. If the bees drag them out, as they will do, if the
weather moderates, they often fall with them on the snow, and are so
chilled that they never rise again; for a bee generally retains its hold
in flying away with the dead, until both fall to the ground.
20. No part of the interior of the hive should be below the level of the
place of exit.
If this principle is violated, the bees must, at great disadvantage,
drag their dead, and all the refuse of the hive, _up hill_. Such hives
will often have their bottom boards covered with small pieces of comb,
bee-bread, and other impurities, in which the moth delights to lay her
eggs; and which furnished her progeny with a most congenial nourishment,
until they are able to get access to the combs.
21. It should afford facilities for feeding the bees both in warm and
cold weather.
In this respect, my hive has very unusual advantages. Sixty colonies in
warm weather may, in an hour, be fed a quart each, and yet no feeder be
used, and no risk incurred from robbing bees. (See Chapter on Feeding.)
22. It should allow of the easy hiving of a swarm, without injuring any
of the bees, or risking the destruction of the queen. (See Chapter on
Natural Swarming, and Hiving.)
23. It should admit of the safe transportation of the bees to any
distance whatever.
The permanent bottom-board, the firm attachment of the combs, each to a
separate frame, and the facility with which, in my hive, any amount of
air can be given to the bees when shut up, most admirably adapt it to
this purpose.
24. It should furnish the bees with air when the entrance is shut; and
the ventilation for this purpose ought to be unobstructed, even if the
hives should be buried in two or three feet of snow. (See Chapter on
Protection.)
25. A good hive should furnish facilities for enlarging, contracting,
and closing the entrance; so as to protect the bees against robbers, and
the bee-moth; and when the entrance is altered, the bees ought not to
lose valuable time in searching for it, as they must do in most hives.
(See Chapters on Ventilation, and on Robbing.)
26. It should give the bees the means of ventilating their hives,
without enlarging the entrance too much, so as to expose them to moths
and robbers, and to the risk of losing their brood by a chill in sudden
changes of weather. (See Chapter on Ventilation.)
To secure this end, the ventilators must not only be independent of the
entrance, but they must owe their efficiency mainly to the co-operation
of the bees themselves, who thus have a free admission of air only when
they want it. To depend on the opening and shutting of the ventilators
by the bee-keeper, is entirely out of the question.
27. It should furnish facilities for admitting at once, a large body of
air; so that in winter, or early spring, when the weather is at any time
unusually mild, the bees may be tempted to fly out and discharge their
fæces. (See Chapter on Protection.)
If such a free admission of air cannot be given to hives which are
thoroughly protected against the cold, the bees may lose a favorable
opportunity of emptying themselves; and thus be more exposed than they
otherwise would, to suffer from diseases resulting from too long
confinement. A very free admission of air is also desirable when the
weather is exceedingly hot.
28. It should enable the Apiarian to remove the excess of bee-bread from
old stocks.
This article always accumulates in old hives, so that in the course of
time, many of the combs are filled with it, thus unfitting them for the
rearing of brood, and the reception of honey. Young stocks, on the other
hand, will often be so deficient in this important article, that in the
early part of the season, breeding will be seriously interfered with. By
means of my movable frames, the excess of old colonies may be made to
supply the deficiency of young ones, to the mutual benefit of both. (See
Chapter on Pollen.)
29. It should enable the Apiarian, when he has removed the combs from a
common hive, to place them with the bees, brood, honey and bee-bread, in
the improved hive, so that the bees may be able to attach them in their
natural positions. (See directions for transferring bees from an old
hive.)
30. It should allow of the easy and safe dislodgement of the bees from
the hive.
This requisite is especially important to secure the union of colonies,
when it becomes necessary to break up some of the stocks. (See remarks
on the Union of Stocks.)
31. It should allow the heat and odor of the main hive, as well as the
bees themselves, to pass in the freest manner, to the surplus honey
receptacles.
In this respect, all the hives with which I am acquainted, are more or
less deficient: the bees are forced to work in receptacles difficult of
access, and in which, especially in cool nights, they find it impossible
to keep up the animal heat necessary for comb-building. Bees cannot, in
such hives, work to advantage in glass tumblers, or other small vessels.
One of the most important arrangements of my hive, is that by which the
heat ascends into all the receptacles for storing honey, as naturally
and almost as easily as the warmest air ascends to the top of a heated
room.
32. It should permit the surplus honey to be taken away, in the most
convenient, beautiful and salable forms, at any time, and without any
risk of annoyance from the bees.
In my hives, it may be taken in tumblers, glass boxes, wooden boxes
small or large, earthen jars, flower-pots; in short, in any kind of
receptacle which may suit the fancy, or the convenience of the
bee-keeper. Or all these may be dispensed with, and the honey may be
taken from the interior of the main hive, by removing the frames with
loaded combs, and supplying their place with empty ones.
33. It should admit of the easy removal of all the good honey from the
main hive, that its place may be supplied with an inferior article.
Bee-Keepers who have but few colonies, and who wish to secure the
largest yield, may remove the loaded combs from my hive, slice off the
covers of the cells, drain out the honey, and restore the empty combs,
into which, if the season of gathering is over, they can first pour the
cheap foreign honey for the use of the bees.
34. It should allow, when quantity not quality is the object, the
largest amount of honey to be gathered; so that the surplus of strong
colonies may, in the Fall, be
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