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Situation of an Apiary and directions for placing the Hives

Directions for Purchasing Bees

Materials of Which Hives should be made, and the Improved Cottage Hive described

Method of placing the small Hive, Box, or Glass, upon the Improved Cottage Hive, by which means fine Honey may be obtained without destroying the Bees

Proper time for taking away the Box, and how to expel the Bees from it

Method to be pursued in case a Swarm should leave the Hive, after having commenced working in the Box

Method of uniting Second and Third Swarms

Manner of uniting Swarms and Old Stocks in Autumn

Manner of Feeding weak Stocks, and the Time most appropriate for this operation

Food proper for weak Hives

Enemies of Bees, and means of overcoming them

Directions for Hiving Swarms

Description of the Knife for cutting out the Combs

Remedies, proposed as Cures, for the Stings of Bees

Means of preventing the Bees from being Stolen especially in the Country

Method of dislodging Bees from Trees or Buildings, and putting them into hives

Description of Nutt's newly invented Hive for obtaining the Honey without destroying the Bees

The Apiarian's monthly manual, or dints for the management of Bees for every month in the year upon the depriving System

THE APIARIAN'S GUIDE.

I have no hesitation in saying, that a South aspect is decidedly preferable to any other situation for an Apiary. I have tried various aspects, but the Bees in the South I have always found to be the healthiest, and to collect the largest quantity of honey. It is very important that the hives be sheltered from the wind by trees or houses, and that they are not placed in the vicinity of ponds or large rivers, for high winds will dash them into the water, where numbers will perish.

It was the opinion of the ancients, that Bees in windy weather carried weights to prevent them from being driven about by it. Virgil says,

"That with light pebbles, like a balanced boat, Poised through the air on even pinions float."

This is now ascertained to be erroneous, and is ascribed by Swammerdam and Reaumur, to preceding observers having mistaken the Mason Bee, for a Hive Bee; the former builds its nest against a wall, with a composition of gravel and its own saliva, and when freighted with the former article, may easily have led a careless observer into the erroneous opinion alluded to. The Abbe della Rocca appears to have fallen into, and perpetuated, the same error.

Though large ponds are very injurious, a small stream is beneficial to them, which if they are not supplied with, water must be given them, for it is absolutely necessary, and enters, as much as honey and farina, into the composition with which they nourish the brood. The plan that I have for many years adopted, is to fill an unglazed earthen pan, eighteen inches by eight, four inches deep, and square at the sides, with water, upon the surface of which floats a very thin deal board perforated with holes: in Spring and Summer, the Bees may be seen coming in great numbers to drink, or rather to carry water into their hives to mix with the farina they collect so abundantly at this season of the year for food for their young. In my opinion, Dr. Bevan says very justly, that "the Apiary should be near the residence of the proprietor, as well for the purpose of rendering the Bees tractable, and well acquainted with the family, as for affording a good view of their general proceedings."

I am a decided enemy to Bee houses of all kinds for they are the means of causing the ruin of a great number of hives, by affording a home to their worst enemies, viz. mice, moths, spiders, earwigs, and various other insects, thousands die from imprisonment, and many hives are destroyed by humidity. The method of placing several hives upon the same bench is also very injurious, it very much facilitates pilfering, and renders it impossible to operate upon one hive, without disturbing the others.

The hives should be placed upon separate boards, supported by single pedestals four or five inches in diameter, firmly placed in the ground, and standing about fifteen inches from the surface, ; upon the top of this post should be nailed firmly a board nine inches square, upon which should be placed the board the hive stands upon, but not nailed, the double boards will be found very convenient for weighing or removing the hives, without disturbing the Bees.

On no account use clay or mortar as is usually done to secure the hive to the board, the Bees of themselves will do it more effectually; clay or mortar tends very much to decay the hives, and to harbour moths and other insects; each hive should be covered with a large milkpan, and be well painted every year, for hives managed upon the depriving system, are expected to stand from fifteen to twenty years.

The hives should be placed about three feet apart from each other, and in a right line, but should the number be too great to allow of this arrangement, and render two rows necessary, they must not be less that fifteen feet asunder, and those in the front row intersecting the line formed by the hinder one.

The boards on which the hives are placed, should be cleaned about four times in the year, January, March, April and November, much time and trouble will be saved the Bees thereby.

Plants which rise in height equal to or exceeding the entrance of the hives, should not be suffered to grow in their immediate vicinity, and every facility should be removed by which the enemies of the Bees can ascend into the hives.

Still, however, a few shrubs or standard roses of four or five feet may with advantage be placed eight or ten paces in front of the hives, for the Bees to alight upon in their return home when heavily laden with honey and pollen--it saves their falling to the ground from the weight of their load, which they frequently do, and in unfavourable weather to rise no more--it was seeing them rest in this manner that gave rise to the following lines:--

Rest on that Rose's leaf awhile, thou little Busy Bee, Thou hast winged thy way with thousands, the wand'ring, the free, Unwearied with thy ceaseless toil in search for future store, Thou'rt comeback to unlade thy sweets, then sally forth for more.

Thou'st been among the flow'rs of gold, their kiss is on thee yet, And o'er thy richly powdered wings how many hues are met, That tell of revelling at the founts of nectar's luscious tide, Of honey-dews that rest upon each petal's glossy side.

Where hast thou been since the bright morn first saw thee on thy way 'Mong scented brier and glittering heath that woo'd thy lingering stay? Hast thou no voice to tell us of the far off verdant scenes, Of the rich limes thou lov'st so well and of the fresh'ning steams.

Away! away! once more thou'rt up and ev'r the leaf be still'd. To its soft rest from the trembling that thy light form has thrill'd, Thou'lt be again among thy loves, the fragrant, the bright, All jealous of their hidden sweets, in murmuring delight.

I have always found the advantage of planting, in the vicinity of my hives, a large quantity of the common kinds of crocus, single blue hipatica, heleborus niger, and tussilago petasites, all of which flower very early and are rich in honey and farina: salvia nemorosa, which flowers very early in June and lasts all the summer, is in an extraordinary manner sought after by the Bees, and when room is not an object, twenty or thirty square yards of it may be grown with advantage, origanum humile, origanum rubescens, and mignonette may also be grown; cultivation beyond this, exclusively for Bees, I believe answers very little purpose.

Doctor Bevan says: "To those who, residing in towns, may consider it indispensable to the success of an Apiary, that it should be in the immediate vicinity of good pasturage, and be thereby deterred from benefiting and amusing themselves by keeping Bees; it may be satisfactory to learn that the Apiary of the celebrated Bonner was situated in a garret, in the centre of Glasgow, where it flourished for several years, and furnished him with the means of making many interesting and valuable observations which he gave to the world about thirty years ago."

My own experience also proves the truth of the above statement, residing myself for four years in the centre of a large town, in a house without a garden, I kept two stocks of Bees in my study, in glass, and four or five others in the improved cottage hive upon the roof of my house, and I am not aware that they have ever done better, or afforded me a larger quantity of honey in any other situation.

The best time to establish an Apiary is from the middle of February to the middle of March, the stocks will have passed in safety through the winter, the combs are then empty of brood, light of honey, and the removal safe and easy. Stocks should be selected by a competent judge, as the weight alone cannot be relied on, a swarm of the preceding year should be selected, and one that contains not less than twelve pounds of honey; there are few commodities in which a person can be so easily deceived as in a hive of Bees. I would therefore recommend the young Apiarian to take the opinion of some experienced person before he makes his purchase, a hive of the preceding year can only be known by a close inspection of the combs, which but few persons have courage to engage in; if the hive is not of the preceding year its weight is no criterion of its value, for an old hive always contains a large quantity of the pollen or dust of flowers which the Bees carry home on their legs, especially in the Spring and Autumn, it is an essential ingredient in the food with which they nourish their young, but good for nothing else, indeed the Bees will die of hunger upon the combs that are filled with it:--"Yet," says Gelieu, "they lay up useless hoards of it, which they go on augmenting every year, and this is the only point on which they can be accused of a want of that prudence and foresight so admirable in every other respect."

The Bees appear to be aware of the perishable nature of this substance, for they never fill a cell entirely with it, but leave room for a small quantity of honey in each cell containing pollen, before it is sealed up, by this means the air is most effectually excluded, and the pollen preserved for a considerable time; should, however, the Bees be compelled to consume the honey from those cells containing pollen, before they can make use of it for their young, it moulds and becomes of no value, and causes them great labour to remove it. For when in this state, they have no means of displacing it but by eating away the cells in which it is contained, and conveying it out of their hives in small pieces, about the size of peas, hard and mouldy. I have seen the entrance of old hives in the month of April almost filled up with the pellets of mouldy farina. The process is tedious, takes up much time, and the ravages made by it upon the combs appear irreparable; still in a short space of time, if the weather be favourable, the combs are repaired, as if no injury had befallen them, and filled with honey or brood. It is a very heavy substance, so that if weight be the only criterion, farina will be purchased instead of honey, therefore in the purchase of old stocks it will be necessary they should weigh eight pounds more than swarms of the preceding year; in the purchase of swarms less experience is necessary, and by attending to the following rules the young Apiarian will not be imposed upon.

It is very important to observe, that when a swarm of Bees is purchased it must be removed to the place in which it is to remain, upon the evening of the day it swarmed, for should the removal be delayed even till the next day, the combs will in all probability be broken and the stock destroyed.

I should recommend the purchaser to send his own hive to the person of whom he intends to buy a swarm, and to desire him not to put any sticks across the interior of the hive, as is the usual custom, for they cause much trouble to the Bees in forming their combs, and render their extraction almost impossible. The prosperity of the hive will much depend upon its being finally placed upon the evening of the day it swarmed.

Much has been said with respect to the materials of which Hives should be made, and experience has long determined, that straw and wood are the best. Mr. Huish, to whom I am indebted for some useful information in Apiarian science, says, "Of all the materials which have been selected for the formation of a Hive, I conceive no one to be more eligible than straw." Gelieu, to whom experience as an Apiarian I am disposed to pay the greatest respect, and whose work containing Practical Directions for the Management and Preservation of Hives, I would recommend to every keeper of Bees, says, "experience has shown me, that it is a matter of indifference which are employed; except as to price, according as either material may be more or less abundant in different parts of the country." I have for nine years possessed a Nutt's hive, which is made of wood, without being able to discover any difference in the health and activity of the Bees; but the facility and economy in the construction of straw hives, must always be a recommendation, as it is in every article connected with rural economy.

It has always been my practice to paint my Hives, both wood and straw, at least once in the year, and I would strongly recommend all persons to do the same. April I think is the best time, and if done after six o'clock in the evening, not the least inconvenience will arise either to the painter or to the Bees.

I have found great advantage arising from this little apparatus. The finely perforated slider is used to confine the Bees to their hive when snow lies upon the ground, the reflection of which, when the sun shines upon it, never fails to induce them to leave their hives, and falling upon it they perish, for a Bee becomes torpid at a temperature of 32?. The slider with one hole only, is useful both in Spring and Autumn, preventing either robbers or wasps from entering the hives, for three or four Bees will, with the help of this slider, guard the entrance more effectually that ten times the number without it.

Although I have recommended Bees to be confined in their hives so long as snow remains upon the ground, it would, however, be very prejudicial to them if carried on beyond that time, for I never saw Bees healthy and strong after being shut up through the winter.

Gelieu says, "Bees have no real disease, dysentery, about which so much noise has been made, and for which so many remedies have been prescribed, never attacks the Bees of a well-stocked hive, that is left open at all seasons, but those only that are too long and too closely confined. They are always in good health as long as they are at liberty, when they are warm enough and have plenty of food. All their pretended diseases are the result of cold, hunger, or the infection produced by a too close and long confinement during winter."

At the end of April, or very early in the month of May, take the moveable piece of straw, from the top of the Improved Cottage Hive, and place it upon the adapter, then put the Box or small Hive upon this adapter and cover the whole with a milk-pan, to defend them from wet. A glass may be used instead of the small Hive or Box, with equal success, providing it be covered with something that will effectually exclude light; a cover of straw, is perhaps, preferable to any other.

When the Bees are beginning to work in a glass, a cold night generally obliges them to forsake their newly made combs, sends them down into the hive, and compels them to discontinue their labours which are seldom resumed till the middle of the next day; to prevent this delay I would recommend the space between the glass and its cover to be filled with fine tow or wool, the temperature of the glass being thereby kept up, and the Bees enabled to carry on their labours without interruption.

Experience has proved that the milk-pan is the best of all protections for a hive, provided it be six inches in diameter larger than the hive itself.

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