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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.

When the Box is filled with honey and the combs partially sealed, or when the Bees are seen to cluster at the mouth of the Hive at nine or ten o'clock in the morning, let no time be lost in lifting up the Box, and placing between it and the Stock-hive another Box with a hole in the top; the adapter will be found very useful in this operation. It is necessary to use this precaution at all times, but more especially in a rainy season as a greater disposition amongst the Bees to swarm then prevails. "Dry weather makes plenty of honey, and moist, of swarms." However incorrect this position may at first sight appear, the attentive observer will quickly become convinced of its truth.

Since the publication of the first edition of this little Treatise, many persons have said to me, "their Bees would swarm, although the small hive had been placed on as directed above, and sometimes after they had commenced working in it," the reason for which in my opinion is, that the second small hive was not supplied soon enough, for the like has never in a single instance occurred with my own Bees. I have not had a swarm these twenty years from any of the hives worked upon the Depriving System, occasionally I have compelled a hive to swarm, to fill up a vacancy in my number, where the Queen has died, or some other accident destroyed the stock.

"The Ventilator I use, says Mr. Taylor, consists of double tubes, both resting on a flauch in the holes prepared for them, the outer tube is of one inch diameter and six inches long, with six half inch holes dispersed over it.

It is soon fixed down in its place by the Bees, and so must remain, the inner tube is of perforated zinc, with a tin projecting top as a handle, and a cap to put on or off this as required. The Bees will stop up the inner tube where they can get at it, when it may be turned round a little to present a new surface. When wholly stopped, it may be withdrawn from its place, and a clean tube substituted. This may be done without the least danger to the operator, but it should be inserted carefully, to avoid crushing any Bees that may have crept within the outer tube, an exit to these is afforded by the hole at the bottom. The substance with which Bees glue up all crevices and attach their combs is called Propolis--a resinous exudation from certain trees, of a fragrant smell, and removable by the aid of hot water.

In order occasionally to know the temperature of any of the boxes, a thermometer made to fit the ventilator may be inserted in it. This is chiefly useful as a matter of precaution towards the swarming season.

Some have thought it necessary to cut holes in the floor-board, or have placed drawers underneath, to aid the ventilation, but I have always found the mouth of the hive sufficient for all purposes."

All operations except joining swarms or stocks, should be performed upon a fine day, about noon, they may then be done with much less annoyance to the Bees, as well as with less chance of danger to the operator.

I have for some years past performed almost all the operations required in this system without the defence, even of gloves, but I would not recommend any person to attempt it, until he has had several years experience in the management of Bees.

The being perfectly defended in every part against their stings, gives that coolness and confidence to the operator, upon which the happy accomplishment of his intentions so much depends. I cannot too strongly urge, that coolness and confidence on the part of the operator are essential qualifications, for anything approaching to hurry irritates them beyond measure; indeed whilst engaged with them the hand ought never to be hastily removed from one position to another. Dr. Bevan says, "quietness is the surest protection against being stung."

The best defence is a mask of wire, very similar to, but much finer than a fencing mask, with a rim of tin made to fit the head, to which a silk handkerchief is attached, a pair of thick worsted gloves, and stockings or gaiters of the same material; stout leather gloves are as good protection as those of worsted, but leather, from the closeness of its texture, will not allow the Bees to withdraw their stings from it and the consequence is, that many perish.

It is recommended to persons during their operations on Bees, to carefully avoid breathing upon, them, as nothing is more offensive, or more irritating to them than the human breath; this however, is partially obviated by closing the mouth, and suffering the breath to pass gently through the nose, by which means a full current is not allowed to fall upon them.

When the Box is filled with honey and the combs all sealed up, it may be taken off, or it may remain till the one placed beneath it is also sealed up, which in all probability will be completed by the first week in August.

Upon the very strong and populous hives, it is necessary in some seasons to place even a third, which must be removed with great caution, for at this time of the year every stock should contain at least twenty pounds of honey; should however the stock have that quantity, it may be safely removed and placed upon a weaker one, for the combs not being all sealed, the honey therefore is not saleable. The Box taken off, must be lifted very gently at noon, upon a fine day, and carried forty or fifty yards from the hive; place it upon a board or table, raising it a little that room may be given to the Bees to make their escape, which they will do in a very short time.

The box being thus placed, a loud humming noise is first heard, and the Bees are then seen to leave it within five or six minutes, , but should the Queen be in the Box, quite a different appearance presents itself, no noise will be heard, or a Bee scarcely seen to leave it, but the hive from which it has been taken will in a very short time appear in great confusion. Whenever this occurs, the Box must be returned immediately, and taken off again the next day.

When a hive or glass of honey is taken, it ought not to be left till the Bees are all out of it, for it is very likely to be attacked by robbers, thus a great part of it will be carried away in a short time, and what is left rendered unfit for sale, on account of the cells being opened, from which the honey will drain out upon the position of the hive being changed.

Robbers may be known by their desire to enter the hive or glass, the Bees belonging to it, being separated from their Queen, fly home immediately upon leaving it.

In taking off a box of honey it will be found convenient to pass a very thin knife, or fine wire, between the hives or boxes intended to be separated; if that precaution be not taken, a piece of comb frequently projects from the top of the one left, or the bottom of that taken, which causes much trouble to the operator: two adapters placed between the boxes will be found very convenient, for the knife or wire will only have to be passed between them, and the danger of breaking the combs will be obviated--they should be made of mahogany, for it will allow of being worked very thin, without the risk of warping.

To expel the bees from the box or hive when taken off, Gelieu says, "Take a hive or box of the same size, place it over the full one that is turned upside down, bind them round with a napkin, to intercept all passage to the bees, and force them to ascend into the empty box, by tapping gently on the full one. They soon go up into the empty box, and when they are all housed, replace them on the parent hive, whence they were withdrawn; and if the season is favourable and the honey abundant, they soon set to work again."

Honey taken by this method is acknowledged to be very superior in quality to that obtained by the usual barbarous and unprofitable manner of burning the Bees, which arises from the combs in which it is deposited being new and perfectly white, the early period at which it is collected, and from its being unmixed with honey gathered later in the season as well as from the Queen very rarely ascending through the opening at the top of the improved cottage hive, that neither brood nor farina are found amongst it.

This honey sells readily at two shillings a pound, whilst that obtained by burning the Bees, is scarcely saleable at eightpence.

It is usual to obtain from every good stock twenty or perhaps thirty pounds of honey annually. I once obtained forty-five pounds, leaving the stock rich in honey.

It is frequently asked what becomes of the Bees managed on this system, if they are never suffered to swarm nor are destroyed;--the hives will never contain them? To which I would reply, that it is well known to those who are conversant in the care of Bees, that their numbers decrease greatly in Autumn, not only by the destruction of the drones, but also by the unavoidable deaths of many of the working Bees, owing to the thousand accidents they meet with in the fields, and to age; a much less space therefore is wanted for them in the winter than was necessary in the summer.

That the old Queen accompanies the first swarm is established beyond a doubt; that many Queens are bred in a hive, a number sometimes exceeding thirty in one year, is also ascertained; and that the Bees have the power of producing a Queen from an egg deposited in the combs of the working Bees, by treating it in a different manner to those that are to become workers, has also been satisfactorily proved, all that has been said beyond this, regarding their natural history, must, I believe, be considered principally conjecture.

It is, however, says a modern Author, "not the least interesting part of the study of the Bee, that this apparently insignificant insect has hitherto baffled all the research and ingenuity of man to discover the manner of its propagation; analogy presents no guide to the solution of this secret, and the result of every anatomical experiment has tended rather to mystify the subject, than to conduct us to the road to truth," and Purchas, who I have before quoted says, "God humbles us with ignorance in many things, not only divine but natural and in common use, in the nature of Bees how blind are we, notwithstanding all our observations and labour in the production and continuance of the Queen Bee, in the generation of other Bees, and generally in the forms of all things."

Two Casts or weak Swarms may be joined in the same manner, although one of them may have swarmed some days or even weeks later than the other, taking care however not to make the first one enter the second, but the second the first, a third and a fourth parcel of Bees may be joined to them at different times till the stock becomes strong.

It is almost impossible sufficiently to impress upon the mind of every person who keeps Bees the necessity of having his stocks all strong, for weak stocks are very troublesome, very expensive, and seldom, if ever, afford any profit.

Mr. Taylor says, "the stronger the colony at the outset the better the Bees will work, and the more prosperous it will become. I never knew a weak one do well long, and a little extra expense and trouble at first are amply rewarded by succeeding years of prosperity and ultimate profit;" and again, "thus strength in one year begets it in succeeding ones, and this principle ought to be borne in mind by those who imagine that the deficient population of one season will be made up in the next, and that the loss of Bees in the winter is of secondary consequence, forgetting how influential is their warmth to the earlier and increased productive powers of the Queen, and how important it is in the opening spring to be able to spare from the home duties of the hive a number of collectors, to add to the stores, which would otherwise not keep pace with the cravings of the rising generation."

It is a remarkable fact, that two weak stocks joined, will collect double the quantity of honey, and consume much less than two of the same age and strength kept separately. Stocks must be joined after sunset upon the day that one of them has swarmed, or before sunrise the next morning, and the doubled stock must be placed upon the stand it previously occupied. Great care must be taken not to shake the hive, nor must it be turned up, the combs being new, and tender, will easily break, and the stock by that means be destroyed.

For this very useful information I am indebted to that excellent Apiarian, Gelieu; I have tried it upon some of my own stocks, as well as upon those of my friends, and have found it in every instance fully to answer my expectations. Persons possessing these instructions should not allow a weak stock to remain through the winter.

The operation is performed very easily and without danger: I have frequently accomplished it without any protection whatever, and I will give the method in the words of Gelieu--"When the swarms have not been able to lay up a sufficient provision during the fine weather, I weigh them at the end of the season, and knowing the weight of each empty hive, I can tell exactly the quantity of honey they have in store. If they are three, four, five or six pounds too light, I preserve them and feed them in the manner I am about to detail. When the swarms have only about one-third or one half of the quantity of honey which would suffice to feed them, I might keep them alive by giving them as much more as they require. I have frequently done so, but I have already remarked that this plan costs too much honey, and gives too much trouble: and, therefore, I generally join them into one. For this purpose, I leave the heaviest swarm untouched, and, in the morning of a fine day in September, or the beginning of October, I commence by blowing a few whiffs of tobacco-smoke with my pipe in at the door of the hive of the lightest swarm, to disperse the sentinels; then turning up the hive, and placing it on its top on the ground, I give it a little more smoke, to prevent the Bees from becoming irritated, and to force them to retire within the combs--I proceed to cut out all the combs in succession, beginning with the smallest, sweeping the Bees with a feather off each piece back into the hive; and then I place the combs, one after another, into a large dish beside me, keeping it, at the same time, carefully covered over with a napkin, or small table cloth, to prevent the Bees returning to their combs, or the smell of the honey attracting others that may be flying about. The last comb is the most difficult to come at, being completely covered over with Bees. I detach it, however, in the same way as the others, but with greater precaution, sweeping the Bees off very gently with the feather until there is not one left on it. This operation, I perform without gloves, or any other protection, armed only with my pipe; and, for ten times that I treat them after this fashion, I seldom receive one sting, even when I act unassisted.

The combs being all removed, the swarm remains as completely destitute of food as it was on the day of its emigration, and I replace it on its board in the same spot it occupied when full, and leave it till the evening, by which time the Bees will be clustered together like a new swarm. During the whole of the day, which I shall suppose to be fine, they occupy themselves with great earnestness cleansing their house, and making such a noise in removing the little fragments of wax that have fallen on the board, that any one who did not know it had been emptied, would take it for the best and strongest of the hives. Before night, when they are all quiet, I throw a few whiffs of smoke in at the door of the hive which I mean my deprived swarm to enter, and which should be its next neighbour, on the right hand or the left; then, turning it up and resting it on the ground, I sprinkle it all over with honey, especially between the combs where I perceive the greatest number of Bees: five or six table-spoonfuls generally suffice; at other times three or four times as many are required. If too little were given, the new comers might not be well received; there might be some fighting; and, by giving too much, we run the risk of drowning them.--One should cease the sprinkling when the Bees begin to climb up above the combs, and shelter themselves on the sides of the hive, this done, I replace the hive on its board, which should jut out about seven or eight inches, raising the hive up in the front with two little bits of stick, so as to leave a division of an inch between it and the boards to give free access to the Bees. I also spread a table cloth upon the ground before it, raising and fixing one end of it on the boards by means of two bits of stick, that are placed as a temporary support to the hive. I then take the hive that was deprived of its combs in the morning, and with one shake, throw the Bees out of it upon the table-cloth, which they instantly begin to ascend; while, by the help of a long wooden spoon, I guide them to the door of the one that is placed for their reception. A few spoonfuls of the Bees raised and laid down at the door of the hive will set the example, they enter at once, and the others follow quickly flapping their wings and sipping with delight the drops of honey that come in their way, or officiously licking and cleaning those first inhabitants that have received the sprinkling, and with whom they mingle and live henceforth on good terms, one division of the new comers always cluster on the front of the hive, which they enter during the night without disturbance, much pleased to join their companions.

Next morning, early, it is necessary to take away the table-cloth and the bits of stick that were placed to raise up the hive and facilitate the entrance of the bees, and for some days the door should be left open as wide as possible. The hive should also be moved a little to the right or left, that it may stand precisely in the centre of the place they both occupied before the union.

I have frequently united three swarms in the same manner, and with the same success, taking care only to empty in the morning those on each side, and to make the bees enter the middle one in the evening, after it has been sprinkled with honey. In this case I do not remove the one that unites the three swarms."

I have adhered strictly to these directions except in "raising and fixing the table-cloth to the board,"--making the bees ascend, I have always found to be a slow process, but placing the hive they are to join over them when heaped upon the cloth, is much quicker and equally successful.

Old stocks that are rendered weak by swarming, or by having too much honey taken from them, may be united in the same manner, with this difference only, that double the quantity of honey should be used in sprinkling.

If a stock of Bees containing fifteen or twenty pounds of honey in September, be carefully managed during the winter, which consists in narrowing the entrance to exclude robbers, carefully covering the hive with a milk-pan, and raising it from the board every month or six weeks to clean it, no doubt can be entertained to its affording a good box of honey.

Autumn and Spring are the most proper seasons for supplying weak stocks with food. Bees ought never to be fed during the winter, as food given at that time, not only causes disease, but induces them to go out of their hives, when many of them perish from cold.

If the honey be much candied it maybe placed over a fire for a few minutes till it becomes liquid--another plan of feeding is to prepare a rim of straw, or a wooden hoop, the exact size of the hive, and four inches deep, within which place the dish of honey, and put the hive over it, making the union secure with a napkin.

In the Spring, Bees should be fed sparingly, three or four ounces of honey twice in the week, will be found amply sufficient; the easiest method of giving these small quantities is by a vessel of tin, upon the same principle as a bird's fountain, holding about a pound or a pound and half the projecting trough or mouth, must be put in at the entrance of the hive, it is one inch and three quarters wide, and three inches and a half long, covered with a perforated tin: this vessel being filled with honey, has only to be placed in the hive at night, and removed in the morning, the feeder itself effectually stopping up the entrance of the hive.

Some persons feed their Bees at the top of the hive, but it is much too tedious and sparing a way, in my opinion for Autumn feeding, in the Spring it does very well. This feeder is of wood with a cover of glass, it has a hole through its centre, corresponding with one at the top of the hive, which enables the Bees to pass into it, and take the honey--I believe it was invented by Wildman.

The proportions would be, one pound of sugar, or half a pound of honey, to two pints of strong wort.

Gelieu says, "that nothing is more prejudicial to Bees than ignorant attention, their most formidable enemies are, perhaps, their possessors, who busy themselves to torment them, and weaken and kill them by too much care. In Winter, they hurt them by shutting them up, and in Spring, the giving them a little honey is not always attended to, neither is the guarding them from moths, which, at that time, make the greatest havoc, nor is the narrowing of the entrances to prevent them being robbed. Some people suffocate them in Autumn, that they may possess themselves of their provisions; and others take out the best of the honey, and often too much of it, and so expose them to die of hunger.

"I therefore place, in the foremost rank of their enemies, those of their possessors, who, by their own ignorance and inexperience, hinder them from prospering and multiplying."--To all this I am sorry to say that I can bear testimony.

Amongst the enemies of Bees are enumerated, ants, moths, birds, poultry, mice, wasps, and spiders. Ants perhaps are their least dangerous enemies, for though they cannot sting them, they carry them to a distance.

Ants may be destroyed by pouring boiling water into their nests, and the operation will be greatly assisted by making holes into them with a sharp stick, so as to allow the water to flow readily to the bottom of them. Mr. Huish says, "to preserve my Bees from these vermin, I always fasten a piece of sheep's skin, with its wool on round the bottom of the pedestal," it has been said, that these insects dislike both garlick and shalots and they will not harbour in the ground in which these vegetables are grown.

From mice, the surest safeguard is the single pedestal .

The destruction of Queen Wasps in the Spring, and wasps nests in the Summer, will prove the best security against these formidable enemies: Queen Wasps are seen in April and May, and are very easily captured, every one which is then destroyed, would probably have been the founder of a nest, which may be computed at 30,000, at least.

In Autumn, it is very common for Bees to rob and plunder each other's hives the best remedy for this evil, as well as to guard against wasps, is to contract the entrances; to effect this object, I would recommend a copper guard to be attached to each hive; the wooden one of Espenasse, as well as Huish's tin guard, I have found very inconvenient, which induced me to construct the one referred to. It is made of thin copper and stitched to the hive with copper wire, it has two sliders, one pierced with a number of small holes, and the other having one only, but large enough to allow the passage of one Bee through it. The advantages of this, above all other guards, arises from its not projecting beyond the hive, the alighting board not being encumbered by it, and the angles formed by Huish's with the hive, so annoying to the Bees, being avoided.

Bees managed upon the Depriving System, rarely swarm and are seldom found clustering at the mouth of the hive, for every bright hour during the honey season they seem to turn to profit, when however Clustering or Swarming takes place, it generally arises from the Box not having been put on sufficiently early in the season, or for the want of a second Box; if a swarm should from these causes be compelled to leave the hive, let it be put into a new improved Cottage Hive, in the usual manner.

I have always adopted the plan of placing my swarms where they are to remain, within ten or fifteen minutes after the time of their being hived, and in this practice Gelieu agrees with me, for he says, "most people who have Bees allow their Swarms to remain till the evening in the place where they have alighted, and do not move them to the Apiary till after sunset, this method has many inconveniences.

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