ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

New YorK STATE COLLEGES
OF
AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS

AT

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

 

EVERETT FRANKLIN PHILLIPS

BEEKEEPING LIBRARY

 

 

 

 
BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS
BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS

According to the Syllabus of the Board of
Education for Schools

BY

WALTER. CHITEY, F.S:86:

LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & Co. Lr.

1993
kf €52
PREFACE

THE following little book has been written primarily
for schools and in accordance with the syllabus issued
by the Board of Education, but it is hoped that it
may be found useful to other persons as well. The
Author has kept bees for about twenty-two years, and

"has taught the subject in the Day School, and there-
fore ought to have something to say on the subject.

_ Whether he has done so satisfactorily or otherwise, he
leaves the public to decide. The book has been
written according to the Supplementary Regulations
for Secondary Day Schools and for Evening Schools
(from 1st August 1902 to 31st August 1903), from
which the author takes the following note :—

“The instruction should be accompanied by as
much practical work as possible. Sectzons 2 and 8
may be illustrated by diagrams or lantern slides.
Sections 3, 4, and 9 should be illustrated by practical
in-door work, in which the pupils should take a part,
including demonstrations of the various appliances
and the methods of filling them up and employing
them. Sections 5, 6, and 7 should be accompanied

. by out-door work at the bee-hives at the appropriate
seasons of the year.”

WILCOT, AZay 1903.
CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

ADVANTAGES OF BEE-KEEPING.—USEFULNESS OF BEES: (a)
AS PRODUCERS OF FOOD OTHERWISE WASTED ; (4) As
FERTILISERS, VALUABLE TO THE FARMER OR GARDENER.
—DISTRICTS SUITABLE TO THE INDUSTRY, . ‘ .

CHAPTER II,

LirE HistoRY AND STRUCTURE OF THE BEE.—THE Ecc,
Larva, PUPA, QUEEN, WORKER, DRONE.— VARIETIES OF
THE HONEY-BEE.—CONSTRUCTION OF THE COMB, .

CHAPTER III.

BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES.—STRAW SKEPS.—MODERN APPLI-
ANCES: BAR-FRAME HIVE (DIFFERENT FORMS OF IT),
INCLUDING DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF
A Hive: OuTstDE CAsE, BROOD-CHAMBER, SECTION-
CRATES, ETC, . 5 , ; $ é ; ‘

CHAPTER IV.

OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES (INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION OF
HOW TO FIT SOME OF THEM UP): BAR-FRAMES WITH
Wax FOouNDATION.—SECTIONS, WITH Wax GUIDES.—
FEEDERS. — SMOKERS. — HONEY-EXTRACTORS. — Wax-
EXTRACTORS, - ‘ ‘ : ‘ és : é

PAGE

Il

21

30
viii CONTENTS

PAGE

CHAPTER V.

MANAGEMENT OF BEFS.—How TO QUIET BEES.—TRANSFERR-
ING BEES FROM SKEPS TO BAR-FRAME HIVES,—STOCKING
HIves FROM ‘CONDEMNED BEES,’ z7.c. THOSE WHICH
WOULD HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY THEIR OWNERS IN
TAKING THE HONEY, - ‘ 3 ‘: . 2 , 50

CHAPTER VI.

MANAGEMENT IN BAR-FRAME Hives.—‘SPRING CLEANING’
OF HIVES,—ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.—PREVENTION OF
SWARMING. — TAKING HONEY. — QUEEN REARING. —
UNITING WEAK STOCKS.—FEEDING AND WINTERING
BreEs.—PACKING AND REMOVING BEES, : . 55

CHAPTER VII.

SomE DIFFICULTIES, AND How TO OVERCOME THEM.—
ROBBER-BEES.—ENEMIES OF BEES: Wax Morus, MIcz,
ETC,—DISEASES OF BEES.—How to DEAL witH ACCI-
DENTS ARISING FROM BEES, . . 3 ‘ , 66

CHAPTER VIII.

PREPARATION OF HONEY FOR THE MARKET.—CLEANING
SECTIONS, AND GLAZING WHERE REQUIRED.—EXTRACT-
ING Hongy.—ExTRACTING WAx,—SALE OF HONEY AND
Wax, . ‘ é é * ‘ i 27
BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

 

CHAPTER I.

ADVANTAGES OF BEE-KEEPING.—USEFULNESS OF BEES: (a) AS
PRODUCERS OF FOOD OTHERWISE WASTED; (6) AS FERTIL-
ISERS, VALUABLE TO THE FARMER OR GARDENER.—DISTRICTS
SUITABLE TO THE INDUSTRY.

THERE are many advantages connected with bee-
keeping. Not the least of these is the fact that a
great many of the manipulations must be conducted
in the open air, and thus both health and strength
may be improved. One of the most celebrated bee-
keepers was Lorenzo Lorain Langstroth, an Ameri-
can, who was born in the year 1810. He was
brought up as a clergyman, but owing to ill-health
he was obliged to give up his profession and take
to out-door exercise. He was ever a lover of insects,
and so he took to bee-keeping. His health at once
improved, and he attributes his very long life solely

to bee-keeping. It has often been said that it is a
I
2 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

good thing for a man to have a hoddy. If it is a
paying hobby, so much the better. Bee-keeping is
one of the most paying occupations in existence.
Bees ‘can not only find their own food, but if kept
on intelligent lines will produce a surplus—and a
good surplus—of honey for the owners. Here, then,
are the two chief advantages of bee-keeping—(1)
health ; (2) profit. It is a hobby, moreover, that
will last all the year round, for long winter evenings
may be utilized in making hives and other requisites
for bee-keeping. Many instances of the profits of
bee-keeping might be given. Pettigrew, who was a
very successful bee-keeper, says : ‘‘ My father, James
Pettigrew, was a labouring man, and perhaps the
greatest bee-keeper that Scotland ever produced. He
was so successful and enthusiastic in the management
of his bees that he earned and received the cognomen
of the ‘Bee-man’; and by this name he was well
known for thirty years in a wider circle than the parish
of Carluke, Lanarkshire, in which he resided. The
district of the parish in which he lived when he kept
most hives, took then the name of ‘Honey Bank,’
which it still bears. While a common labouring man
he saved a great deal of money from his bees ; indeed,
it was reported in the Glasgow newspapers that he
realized £100 profit from them one season. The bee-
man saved money enough to purchase the Black Bull
Inn of the village, and therein commence business as
a publican and butcher.”
ADVANTAGES OF BEE-KEEPING. 3

Many other instances might be mentioned, but they
can at any time be obtained.

Advantages to be Derived.—Besides the pecuniary
advantages of keeping bees, there is the fact that they
collect and prepare for the use of man the most
wholesome article of food known. This was dis-
covered in the earliest times. ‘‘My son, eat thou
honey, because it is good,” are the words of the wise
king, and it was used and its qualities were well known
long before him. Honey is not exactly the produce
of the flower nor of the bee, but of the two combined.
There is a sweet liquid secreted in flowers which is
called nectar. This is extracted by the bees, and
swallowed by them. It passes into a sac, and a
chemical transformation takes place as the bee flies
along home, and when disgorged by them into cells,
it is pure honey. But even then it is rather thin, and
the excess of moisture evaporates before the bees seal
it over. It is true that there are many persons who
do not like honey, but even those may ‘acquire’ the
taste, and when acquired, they will find it highly
conducive to health. One of the principal constituents
of our food is sugar, and in honey we have the most
wholesome and nutritious sugar known. It is assimi-
lated at once by persons who could not eat ordinary
sugar without indigestion. Besides being an excellent
food it is also a curative agent of the first water. In
former times honey was about the only sweetening
thing known, and very probably much of the health
4 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

of our forefathers resulted from its use, as we know
that our ancestors did not attend to the cleanliness of
their skin as we do, and so their good health must
have resulted from some other cause. Coughs, colds,
sore throats, etc., are quickly relieved by its use, and
many more serious complaints which commence with
colds are benefited or cured by its use.

There are three small pamphlets written by the
Rev. Gerard W. Bancks on the subject of Honey,
which are well worth perusal, viz., ‘‘ Honey and its
Uses,” ‘‘ Vinegar from Honey,” and ‘‘ Mead, and
How to Make It.” No doubt the readers of this
brochure will buy and read them through, but mean-
while a few extracts are taken :—

‘“Probably few people are aware how delicious,
wholesome, and refreshing a beverage is to be obtained
at comparatively little trouble and cost from honey.
It is really surprising that a beverage actually superior,
both as regards flavour and wholesomeness, to many
of the light foreign wines imported into this country,
should not be more generally known and used... .
It will be best, therefore, to give here three recipes : —

(1) For a light and pleasant beverage, containing a
small percentage of alcohol, and not intended to
be kept for any length of time.

“‘ For every gallon of water take 2 lb. of run honey
and the rinds of two lemons. Boil for half an hour,
taking care to keep well skimmed, and then pour into
ADVANTAGES OF BEE-KEEPING. 5

the cask, straining out the lemon peel. When the
temperature of the liquor has fallen to between go deg.
and 80 deg. Fahr., add a couple of tablespoonfuls of
brewers’ yeast, also, to a nine-gallon cask, 2 oz. of
phosphate of ammonia, and 2 oz. of cream of tartar.
Tack over the bung-hole a piece of cream cloth
or muslin, several folds thick, and let it stand till
fermentation has ceased. As the liquid sinks in the
cask, keep filling up. For a nine-gallon cask, at
least two or three quarts will be required for this
purpose, and should be allowed for at time of making,
and kept in bottles or other stoppered vessel.”

‘*(2) For a good average wine, containing about 15
per cent. of proof spirit, and intended to be
bottled, and kept for several years.

‘*To every gallon of water add 3 |b. of run honey
and the rinds of two lemons, and proceed as above.
When the liquor has quite ceased working, bung up
tightly, and let it remain in the cask for about six
months. Bottle, and cork at once.”

‘*(3) If such a degree of excellence ts desired that the
wine produced may vie with the best of tts kind,
and the palate of the connotsseur be satisfied, we
must again alter our formula, and attend to
some details not, so far, alluded to.

‘*To every gallon of water take 4 Jb. of best run
honey and the rinds of two lemons, Boil, but take
6 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

care not to exceed half an hour. This will suffice to
kill off any undesirable ferments that may be present
in the liquid ; while if a longer time be allowed, the
aroma of the honey will, to a great extent, be lost.
Pour into the cask while still boiling.

‘*With regard to the ferment, it is important that
a suitable one be introduced immediately the tempera-
ture of the liquid admits, viz., when about 90 deg.
Fahr., and that it should develop as quickly as
possible, so as to prevent the possibility of undesirable
ferments making any progress. In Switzerland it is
customary to prepare the ferment from grapes as
follows : Take about a pound, quite ripe, crush them,
carefully filter the juice, and introduce at once into
the cask. Both the receptacle used and also the
cloth for filtering should be sterilized. This can be
conveniently done with boiling water.

‘*This method, though doubtless producing the
most suitable ferment for mead, will be advisable
only under the best conditions of temperature,
etc., or there would probably be more delay in pro-
ducing a vigorous fermentation than with brewers’
yeast.

‘* When fermentation has ceased, fine with isinglass.
Dissolve } oz. in a little boiling water and stir into
the cask ; ina few days it will be clear. Then draw
off into a fresh cask, which must be gute filled.
Bung, taking. care that the air is excluded. Let it
mature for six months, and bottle. It should be well
ADVANTAGES OF BEE-KEEPING. g

corked with sound corks, If these are grainy, the
wine will be liable to be tainted.

“A sparkling mead may be produced by bottling
the wine before the fermentation has quite ceased ; or
by introducing into each bottle of the maturer wine
a small quantity from another cask in process of
fermentation. In this case the corks will, of course,
require stringing or wiring over.”

Thus far Mr. Bancks. There is no doubt that the
reader will desire to make his further acquaintance
and see what a wonderful thing pure honey is, and
what a lot of things can be done with it.

But bees are also of immense use to the gardener
and farmer as fertilizers, and this should be well
understood. Bees are the most useful insects in our
gardens. It is true they have been accused of spoil-
ing fruit, but this is false. A very great authority
on this subject is Professor Cook of the Agricultural
College, Michigan, U.S.A. He says that after very
careful observation, he has come to the conclusion
that bees never attack sound fruit themselves. Wasps
and other insects commence the onslaught, and then
sometimes bees carry it on, but they do not commence
the attack. Bees have especially been blamed for
assaults on grapes, and the learned Professor Cook
knowing this well, caused a large quantity of grapes
to be continually watched. The result was, that the
bees were dismissed without a stain on their character.

Even if they were guilty, their guilt is more than
8 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

compensated by the great aid which the bees afford
the fruit-grower in the great work of cross-fertiliza-
tion, which is imperatively necessary to his success.
It is true that cross-fertilization of the flowers, which
can only be accomplished by insects, and early in the
season by the honey-bee, is often, if not always,
necessary to a full yield of fruit and vegetables. In
dicecious plants, like the willows and most nut-bearing
trees, the stamens that bear the pollen, or male
element, are on one plant or flower, and the pistils
that grow the ovules—the female element—on
another. Here, then, as Cook says, the insects must
act as ‘‘ marriage priests,” that fructification may be
accomplished at all. In other plants, where the
organs are all in the same flower, fertilization is
wholly dependent on insects, of which bees are chief
and foremost. The pollen grains must reach the
stigma. Often this is, from the very structure of the
flower, entirely dependent upon insects. In some
flowers the pollen and stigma are not ripe simultane-
ously, and so pollen must be brought from one flower
to the stigma of another, and this can only be done
by insects. People who are not afraid of bees have
often placed hives here and there amongst currant and
gooseberry bushes, and it has invariably been found
that the bushes nearest to the hives have borne the
finest fruit as well as the greatest quantity. I do not
practise this myself, as I think that bees should be
kept together in a part of the garden not generally
ADVANTAGES OF BEE-KEEPING. 9

used, as a stranger going among the bushes might be
stung. Fruit is invariably better and more plentiful
in the neighbourhood of bees. Many gardeners,
recognizing this fact, have taken a hive of bees into
a greenhouse and let it stop there for some time so
that fertilization can be carried out under ‘Nature’s
laws, which are more perfect than any artificial
fertilization carried on by man.

It has been said that bees may be kept anywhere,
but this requires a little qualification. A great many
years ago there lived a famous bee-keeper in Holborn,
who kept his bees there. He said he could put a
hive on the top of the cross of St. Paul’s Cathedral,
and would guarantee that they would get honey.
He tried experiments to see how far his bees would
go for honey. This is what he did. As the bees
flew out one morning to their daily work, he used a
flour dredger and sprinkled them all with flour.
Then he hastened off to Hampstead Heath, and
found a lot of bees in the flowers there all covered
with flour. Doubtless they were his. Holborn
would be a very bad place for a bee-keeper now, as
would also the neighbourhood of large and smoky
towns. Apple, pear and cherry trees are perfectly
surrounded by bees when they are in bloom, and
cannot be surpassed for honey. The most important
general source of honey in England is white
clover, and the honey is very superior, being pure
white, The following passage from The British
10 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

Bee-keeper's Guide Book, by Thomas William
Cowan, Esq., is quite to the point :—‘‘ Many other
honey-producing plants could be named, blooming at
different seasons, as nearly all single blossoms, with
few exceptions, produce either honey or pollen.
Some of the principal are—sainfoin, lime trees, alsike
clover, buckwheat, mustard or rape, catmint, figwort,
phacelia, borage, etc. Near the hives may be
planted crocuses, Limnanthes Douglasii, arabis,
wallflowers, and other spring flowering plants, as
these all afford the bees early pasturage.” The
above remarks from Mr. Cowan’s valuable book will
be a guide to the best districts for bees. But lucky
is the bee-keeper whose apiary is also near heather,
for he will get honey of a very superior kind long
after other bee-keepers have finished their harvest.
CHAPTER II.

Lire HIsToRY AND STRUCTURE OF THE Brer.—THE Eco, Larva,
Pupa, QUEEN, WoRKER, DRONE.—VARIETIES OF THE HONEY-
BEE.—CONSTRUCTION OF THE COMB,

PROFESSOR COOK, whom we have before mentioned,
says: ‘‘ What in all the realm of Nature is so worthy
to awaken delight and admiration as the astonishing
changes which insects undergo?” Just think of the
sluggish, repulsive caterpillar, dragging its heavy
form over clod or bush, or mining in dirt and filth,
changed, by the wand of Nature’s great magician, first
into the motionless chrysalis, decked with green and
gold and beautiful as the gem that glitters on the finger
of beauty, then bursting forth as the graceful, gorgeous
butterfly which, by its brilliant tints and elegant
poise, outrivals even the birds among the life-jewels
of Nature, and is made fit to revel in all her decorative
wealth. The little fly, too, with wings dyed in rainbow
hues, flitting like a fairy from leaf to flower, was but
yesterday the repulsive maggot, revelling in the veriest
filth of decaying nature. The grub to-day drags its
slimy shape through the slums of earth on which it

Ir
12 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

fattens ; to-morrow it will glitter as the brilliant
setting in the bracelet and eardrops of the gay and
thoughtless belle.

There are four separate stages in the development
of insects: The egg, the larva, the pupa, and the
imago. The eggs of bees are of two kinds, and under
ordinary circumstances and treatment produce two
different kinds of bees. One sort produces drones,
and the other sort produces workers. Workers are
really undeveloped queens, but the eggs of workers if
treated in a different manner will produce perfect
queens. From the egg comes the larva, also called
the grub or maggot. These are worm-shaped usually,
have strong jaws, simple eyes, and the body plainly
marked in ring divisions. In some insects there are
fourteen of these rings or segments, or ten beside the
head and three rings of the thorax. In bees and
nearly all other insects there is one less abdominal
ring. The larvee of bees, as of other insects, are vora-
cious eaters. The next stage is the pupa stage,
during which the bee is in profound repose, as if
resting after its enormous meal. The last form of
all is the winged form, sometimes called the imago
stage.

If a hive of bees was examined in May or June it
would be found to contain three kinds of bees, viz.,
one queen, a few hundred drones, and many thousands
of workers. By looking at fig. 1 it will be seen that
the queen bee is smaller than the drone, but larger
LIFE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE BEE. 13

than the worker bee. In shape she is something like
the worker, but is more beautiful and genteel than
either. Her abdomen is long and gradually tapers to
a point, and she is so different in appearance to the
other bees that she can readily be distinguished in a
hive. She is the mother of all in the hive, and on her
existence depends the prosperity of the hive. If
from any cause a hive loses its queen, and there is no
chance of procuring another, all industry departs, and
the bees become discontented and miserable, and

   

Worker.

Fic, 1.

soon die out. A queen bee may live four to five
years, but it is better that it should be superseded
quite by the end of the third year, as their laying
powers decrease after that time. They are generally
supposed to be at their best during their second year
of life. Queens are fourteen days in being hatched ;
that is to say, perfect queens are produced on the
fourteenth day after eggs have been put into royal
cells. Only fourteen days are required to develop a
princess of the blood royal, while it takes twenty-one
14 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

days for the completion of a worker, and twenty-four
foradrone. This great mystery alone proves the value
of the queen bee. ‘‘When a queen is accidentally
killed, or dies unexpectedly, or is removed from a
hive, the bees have the power to make another. They
take an egg meant for a worker from a common cell,
where, if undisturbed, it would be developed into a
worker in twenty-one days, and place it in a royal
cell, and there convert it into a queen in fourteen
days.” Formerly this fact was -disputed, but it has
long been an established fact, and cannot now be
denied. The power seems to rest in the treatment
and the food, the latter being sometimes called ‘‘ royal
jelly.” The fertilization of the queens is an important
matter, and ought to be understood. A day or two
after the queen leaves her cell she has a strong desire
to get married, and her method of carrying this out is,
like all the rest about her, extremely wonderful. In
the middle of a fine warm day she flies out of the hive
and high up into the air. She is attracted by the
sound of drones (the males) flying about in front of
the hive. As soon as the drones catch sight of the
queen they fly up after her and surround her. She
selects one, and copulation takes place in the air.
During this act the queen and drone twist round and
round in mad excitement and pleasure, the buzz of the
other drones probably adding to the happiness of
the principal actors. At last the queen and drone
give a kind of wrench to each other, which causes the
LIFE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE BEE. 15

male organ to be torn off, and this remains with the
queen. The poor drone falls to the ground dead,
while the happy queen flies home to her hive, never
again to leave it except with a swarm. Copulation
only takes place once. It sometimes happens that
from one cause or another the queen does not arrive
safely home, or goes into the wrong hive and is killed.
To prevent the latter, hives should not be placed too
closely together, or, if they are, should be painted
different colours. It is well known that bees can
distinguish colours, and it is certain they are fond of
blue flowers, as they will often go into them when
there is not a particle of nectar there. In the height
of summer a queen bee will lay as many as 2000 eggs
aday. A queen bee can lay drone eggs or worker
eggs at will. Ifa queen is not mated, it can lay eggs,
but these only produce drones.

The ordinary working bees are twenty-one days
hatching out, and their span of life is from six to nine
months. Probably most of them die long before the
end of nine months from one cause or another. The
limit of their existence has been ascertained by intro-
ducing foreign (mostly Italian) queens after their own
queen has been withdrawn. In such cases not one of
the old bees has been left nine months after the
introduction of the new queen. The working bees are
smaller than either the queens or the drones, and, as
their name denotes, they do all the work of the hive,
and they do it with a zeal that baffles all description.
16 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

They make the wax, build the comb, gather all the
honey and the pollen by day, and store it by night.
They never seem to sleep, though they have been
watched at all hours in observatory hives.

Working bees are undeveloped females, as it has
been proved beyond doubt that workers and queens
are produced from the same eggs treated in different
ways. This is one of the mysteries of Nature, at
present wholly unknown. Besides doing all the work,
they defend their stores when collected by means of
their stings. The ingenuity of man has, however,
caused bees to be harmless in this respect, and they
can be so completely subdued by means of a little
smoke or carbolic acid, that they can be treated as
flies.

The drones seem to be the most unfortunate
creatures in the hive. They are called into existence
in the spring for certain purposes, the principal of
which is the fertilization of the queens. Those that
are chosen by the queens lose their life on their
wedding tour, as inttmated before, while those that
are not required for that purpose are suffered by the
workers to exist till August or September, and when
it is certain that the queens do not require their
services any longer, they are turned out of the hives
and miserably destroyed by the bees themselves.
Though the drones are so much larger than the
workers, they are no match for them in a fight. They
are not only few in numbers, but they have no sting,
Lire HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE BEE, 17

and are defenceless. The writer has often watched
drones being turned out. A wet day is generally
selected for the sport. Some of the drones have
their wings bitten off, and are then rolled out ; others
are stung by the workers, and die in agony. Those
that are wounded and rolled out, crawl in again, only
to meet with more merciless treatment. As far as
the bee-keeper is concerned, he may rest assured that
when drones are turned out, the queen bee is all
right. If drones are permitted to live all the winter
it is a sure proof that the hive is queenless. It might
be asked why so many drones are born if so few are
required? The answer is, the whole existence of the
bees depends on the fertilization of the queen, and
she had better be accompanied by a thousand drones
in her flight than fail to meet one. There may be
some other useful purpose in their creation, and it
has been thought by some that they help to keep up
the warmth of the hive while wax is being made.
The great characteristic of the drone in all ages has
been his laziness. He will not work, and would die
of want rather than do any. His character is the
opposite to the worker, which works itself to death
even as the nightingale is said to sing itself to death.

There are many different kinds of bees. The
principal bees introduced into England are the Italian
bees, Cyprian and Syrian bees, and the Carniolan
bees. Speaking generally, it is supposed that our

English bees have been improved by the introduction
2
18 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

of foreign bees, though that opinion is not universal.
The Italian or Ligurian bee was first introduced into
England in 1859. It is about the same size as our
native black bee, but is lighter in colour and looks
more like a wasp than a bee. Its good qualities are
that it is more prolific than ours, works earlier and
later, and having a longer tongue, it can get nectar
from flowers where ours cannot. In its pure state,
the Ligurian is an amiable creature, but when crossed
with the English bee, the temper is not always
improved. The way to change a hive of English
bees into Italians is to remove the English queen,
and substitute the Italian. The queen being the
mother of all the bees in the hive, the old bees quickly
die off from overwork, or are killed, and after a few
months the whole hive would consist of Italian bees.
The Cyprian and Syrian bees have many of the good
qualities of the Italians, but when they are crossed
with ours, they are frequently very vicious. As far
as their introduction is concerned, sy advice is that
of Punch to those about to get married, ‘‘ Don’t.”
The Carniolan is a totally different bee to the
others. It comes from Carniola in Austria, hence its
name. It is hardy, good-tempered, and makes
beautifully white combs. When crossed with ours,
the temper is on the whole improved, certainly not
the opposite. Its bad qualities are its propensity for
excessive swarming, whether in its pure state or
crossed with others. There are methods of checking
LIFE HISTORY AND STRUCTURE OF THE BEE. 19

this desire to swarm, the chief of which is giving the
bees plenty of room in advance of their requirements
and giving them ventilation.

There are several other kinds of bees, and a remark-
able one in Mexico, which is stingless ; but taking
everything into consideration, the writer is strongly
of the opinion that a good strong stock of English
bees is the best kind of bee for an Englishman.

The construction of the comb is very wonderful.
Comb is made of wax, and the latter oozes from

       
 

POT Te Ce,
a reese

FIc. 2.

the body of the bee. If a swarm of bees was put
into a skep or empty box and the bees could be
seen, they would be found to be hanging in festoons
very close together. This produces a great deal of
heat in the hive, and causes the wax, which is the
fat of the bee, to ooze from the body of the bee in
very small scales. The bees—the workers, of course
—take these little pieces and form them into what
we call comb, with hexagonal cells (fig. 2). This
shows the wonderful instinct of the bee. If the cells
were circular, much room would be wasted ; but being
20 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

hexagonal, every particle of room is used up by the
cells, and the greatest number of eggs could be laid
in a given space, and also the greatest quantity of
honey contained. A// the cells for the drones and
workers are of the same shape, but the drone cells are
made larger. At swarming time bees have a great
desire to build comb, and this is done very quickly ;
sometimes, in the case of a skep, the hive is filled
with comb in a week or ten days. But modern bee-
keepers assist the bees by giving them full sheets of
foundation. This is made of wax, with the cells
impressed on it. The bees have only to draw out
the cells, and then fill them, a lot of valuable time
being thus saved. It is always a saving to use a good
deal of foundation in the spring of the year, and the
amount of money spent on it is sure to be repaid with
compound interest.
CHAPTER III.

BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES, —STRAW SKEPS.—MODERN APPLIANCES:
BAR-FRAME HIVE (DIFFERENT FoRMS OF IT), INCLUDING
DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIOUS PARTS OF A HIVE: OUTSIDE
CasE, BROOD-CHAMBER, SECTION-CRATES, ETC.

THERE is very little doubt that, inconvenient as the
straw skep is in a great many respects, no more
comfortable home has ever been found as far as the
bees are concerned. A very great authority on this
subject was the late Mr. Pettigrew. He was a
thoroughly successful bee-keeper, and made a great
deal of money by bees. He says: ‘‘ Straw hives,
well sewed with split canes or bramble-briers, are
incomparably better for bees than any other kind of
hive yet introduced, Nothing better is needed, and
we believe nothing better will ever be found out. On
the score of cheapness and neatness, lightness and
convenience, suitability and surpassing worth, we
advise all bee-keepers seeking large returns in honey
to use nothing but straw hives as domiciles for bees.”
This is strong language, but there is a great deal of
truth init. One of the chief causes of Mr. Pettigrew’s

2r
22 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS,

success lay in the fact that he used very large hives.
Bee-keepers formerly used small straw hives with
dome-shaped tops, with no opening at the top.
These hives could not therefore be enlarged except
by putting an eke zzder the hive. If straw hives are
made with flat tops (fig. 3) and a round hole for
feeding and supering, a great deal of honey can be
secured by intelligent treatment. Sections or shallow

 

Fic. 3.

frames can be placed over a skep of this sort
and some of the advantages of a bar-frame hive
secured. The principal disadvantages of the skep
consist in the fact that the doings of the bees cannot
be discovered because the combs are fixed. Even if
the skep is turned up, very little can be seen, and
the queen never. Nevertheless, bees always look
BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES. 23

and are comfortable in them, and many of our most
advanced bee-keepers keep at least one or two of
them in remembrance of the past.

Some years ago, it occurred perhaps to more than

Fin
Mii
Hedi it A

ar
TTT
a

 

Fic. 4.—Bar-frame Hive, with each part shown separately.

one intelligent mind, that if bees could be induced to
suspend their combs on bars of wood which could be
lifted out of a box and examined and then put back
in their places, great results might be expected. This
24 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

was the origin of the bar-frame hive, which has more
than answered all expectations. By referring to
fig. 4 a very fair idea of the mysteries of the bar-
frame hive may be obtained. Each part is shewn
separately, but when in use, all these fit down to-
gether. The four legs are shown at a; @ is the floor-
board ; c is the brood chamber. This chamber is
reserved for the use of the queen bee to lay her eggs
and hatch the brood. There is a porch in front, which

 

Cd
Fic. 5.—Queen Excluder.

is very useful to shade the bees and throw off the rain.
Two strips of wood are shown at ¢ which serve to con-
tract the entrance at certain seasons of the year, and
to prevent robbing. The queen can be confined to the
brood chamber by the use of a piece of excluder zinc
(fig. 5). This is laid across the tops of the frames
in the brood chamber ¢ The holes are made so
exact that the queen cannot (as a rule) pass through
them, but the workers can do so easily. If the queen
BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES. oe

is abnormally small she can get through, but this is
not often the case. Sometzmes workers will not
bother to get through, but will rather swarm than do
so. In that case, other devices can be used to urge
them to go through. dis a crate of shallow frames
which can be placed over the excluder, and this will
be filled with pure white honeycomb. e is another
crate shewn here as empty, but it can be filled either
with shallow frames or sections. The latter are little
boxes which hold exactly one pound of honeycomb.

 

Fic. 6.—Double Cone Super Clearer.

J is the cover. The cover is now almost universally
used as a super clearer. It is so in the cover shewn.
In the front, three holes are shewn, and in each of
those three holes a double cone super clearer is fixed
as in fig. 6. There is only room for ove bee to come
out at a time of the hole A, fig. 6. The following
description will show the use of the cones. Go to the
hive some fine morning when the super is full of
honeycomb. Lift up the super and place a piece of
26 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

unbleached calico ander the super and over the frames
of the brood nest. Gently place the super down
again on the calico. The bees in the super are now
cut off from the queen, and will want to get back to
her. The bee-keeper will then lift the covering from
the super and place the cover of the hive again in
position. The bees can now only escape one at a
time through the cone clearers, which they will soon
do, and re-enter the hive at the proper entrance
below. Sometimes a few bees will try to enter the
hive by the cones, but they never find the right place.
The performance thus described can be done in a few
minutes, and the bee-keeper can go about his ordinary
business all day. In the evening the bee-keeper
could go and lift off the cover of the hive and take
his super of honey indoors without a bee being in it.
For the morning performance a few puffs of smoke
or a carbolic rag (to be afterwards described) is quite
sufficient to subdue the bees, and make them tame as
flies. Fig. 4 shews a complete modern hive, but it is
not necessary to have so many parts. Sometimes the
parts a, 6, and ¢ (fig. 4) are made all in one and do
just as well. It is best for a beginner to buy one
hive as a pattern, after he has decided on the pattern,
and then make af the hives alike, so that the parts
may be interchangeable. There is a fixed size for
frames, so that, provided the internal dimensions
are the same, the outside case is not so important,
and need not be the same, though it is preferable
BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES. 27

every part should be alike. Fig. 7 shews a much
simpler and very cheap hive which contains all the
essentials for successful bee-keeping. It can be
bought made up for eight and sixpence, or in the

 

Fic, 7.—The Holborn Hive.

flat for seven shillings, There is also what is called
a makeshift hive which can be bought for three and
sixpence. It is very useful when swarms come out
28 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

quickly, but of course is not a complete hive by itself,
as it requires a cover and more protection for winter.

 

 

Fic, 8.—Bar-frame.

Fig. 8 shews a bar-frame of the standard kind, but
of course drawn to a small scale. A crate of sections
is shewn at fig. 9. The sections are made in the

 

Fic. 9.—Crate of Sections,

flat by machinery, and can easily be folded (fig. 10).
They hold just about a pound of honeycomb, some-
BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES. 29

times being a fraction over sixteen ounces, and some-
times a fraction less. Openings are cut at the top

 

Fic. 10.

and bottom (sometimes at the sides) for the bees to
enter the sections from the brood-chamber,
CHAPTER IV.

OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES (INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION OF HOW
TO FIT SOME OF THEM UP): BAR-FRAMES WITH WAX
FouNDATION.—SECTIONS, WITH Wax GUIDES.— FEEDERS.—
SMOKERS. —HONEY-EXTRACTORS.—WAX-EXTRACTORS.

Ir is not necessary to have a vast number of
appliances, and some of our very best bee-keepers

 

Fic. 11,

have very few, and many of them can be home-made.
Some people use neither veils nor gloves. I use

both. A very clever old bee-keeper used to laugh at
30
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 31

people who used either of them, but his bees killed
him at last. It was done this way. He was getting

very old, and, like some elderly people, he was
rather addicted to keeping his mouth open. He
went out unveiled and ungloved as usual to take a
swarm. He shook them down into the skep, but

 

Fie, 12

one bee entered his opened mouth, and stung him in
the windpipe. He was dead in a very few minutes,
and long before the arrival of a doctor. This could
not possibly have happened if he had used a veil.
Fig. 12 shews a number of appliances which cannot
32 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

be considered unnecessary. Here we have bottles of
various shapes and sizes, sections, section cases, and
honey tins. None of these can be done without. If
honey is done up ina dainty fashion, there is never
much trouble in disposing of it at a good profit ; at
least the writer can always dispose of his in the most
plentiful seasons. Last year it was all disposed of
before the last day of August.

Here is a very useful article called the Rymer
Honey Board (fig. 13) Mr. Rymer attributes a
great deal of his success as a honey producer to this

 

 

 

 

Fic, 13.—Rymer Honey Board.

board, and says, for placing over the brood-chamber
they are invaluable ; they prevent brace combs, and
allow of surplus chambers being taken off clean and
without any difficulty. When working several lots
of wide frames, they entirely prevent one lot being
worked into the other, as is nearly always the case
unless there is some provision of this kind. When
working, the openings cross the frames, and so
provide a ready passage from one set to another ; it
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 33

should be left on for wintering, and provides the best
winter passage-way known. Fig. 14 shews a honey
and fruit press, and is a most useful article. It very
often happens that combs are broken in the extractor,
and if many hives are kept, there are sure to be odd

 

Fic, 14.

pieces of comb. If these are collected and put into
the perforated box A, a few turns of the wheel will
so press the honeycomb that all the honey will ooze
out of the holes and run down into the tray
underneath, while the wax will remain behind, and
can easily be taken out ina cake. A very useful bee
escape is shewn at fig. 15. It is fastened over a hole
in a box, or in the cover of the hive, and a bee is
shewn going towards two little springs which move

very easily. Only one bee can go out at a time, and
3
34 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

wone can return, as the springs close nearly close
together. *This is called the Porter Bee Escape.

 

10

      

     
 

S|

i

i
i
My

   

Fic. 16,

Fig. 16 shews further uses of the straw skep, and as
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 35

there are still some bee-keepers who love a straw
hive, this figure shews how the best results can be
obtained from its use. Moreover, there is nothing
shewn in fig. 16 but what any handy man could
make for himself, except, perhaps, the foundation
and sections. A is a skep floor board, and the
super is full of sections filled with foundation. At
the bottom of this super there is a small piece of

pete cree en peters eecereeee
KEP CNC an Am mete
ee EMWEED+:
ENS? xe eonever ececete?
ere eats Cee reer
oe a FIORE et
: Pee OC ECE

eBUY C2ELE fee >

  

 

é eee
er

Fic, 17.

queen excluder. This cannot be seen in the figure
because of the sections. The sections can be taken
out and the super inverted for winter use. It fits
down well over the skep and helps to keep all
warm and snug. The cover C will fit on the super
whichever way it is up.

Foundation (fig. 17) has been mentioned before.
36 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

The weed foundation bids fair to become the
foundation of the future. It is the invention of an
American, and most of it is made in America. The
cells are a more perfect imitation of those made by
the bee, and the foundation can be made any width
and any length. The writer has now used it two years,

 

 

and found the bees take to it very quickly. The
sketch (fig. 18) shews clearly the simple manner of
fixing and securing foundations. The frame is placed
on a block, having an inner board the half depth
of frame, the sheet is placed on this, the thumb draws
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 37.

open half of top bar, and it slides easily into the
groove ; the bevel bit shewn between thumb and
finger of right hand prevents any possibility of it
splitting off when the half of frame is pulled back ;
two W. B. C. ends slipped on as it remains on
block, and all is tight. If necessary, all can be turned
up on edge, and two nails driven in; this makes
all very firm and rigid. The awl shewn on table is
for piercing holes in bottom bar for paper clips,
which hold foundation perfectly straight till worked
out.

Every part of frame is machine made and
shouldered, cannot get out of shape, and is easily
put together. Many people wzrve their frames to
keep the combs from breaking when put into the
extractor. The writer’s experience of wired frames
is that the bees do not take so readily to them, but at
the same time he is bound to confess that many bee-
keepers use them with great success. Bees seem as
though they had an opinion of their own, and one
lot of bees will often do what another lot refuses
to do.

The foundation used for sections is extremely thin,
as no strength is required in such a small quantity.
Some people only use a strip, or a triangular piece
with the apex downwards. The weight of evidence
seems to point to a free use of good foundation both
in frames and sections. We say good, because there
is foundation avd foundation. Paraffin has sometimes
38 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

been used in its manufacture, much to the disgust of
the bees. The sketch (fig. 19) shews an ordinary crate

 

Fic. 19.

full of sections ready to put on the hive, while fig. 20
shews a crate of hanging sections. Many people

 

FiGe 20,

prefer the latter, as they can be more easily lifted out
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 39

of the crate and examined, or if filled, taken away for
use. There is no doubt that the more tasteful the
honey is prepared for market, the better it will sell ;
and fig. 21 shews a tasteful little box in which the
section can be placed while the comb can be seen
through the glass. It will be observed that there is a
lace edging, and it is necessary to warn those who
intend to compete for prizes in a show, not to make

 

Fic. 21,

this edging too wide, or the honey will be disqualified.
Wide lace hides the pop-holes which the bees often
leave so that they may pass more readily from one
section to another. The pop-holes must not be
hidden.

We come now to feeders and feeding. If no surplus
40 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

was required, most seasons are sufficiently favourable
for the bees to get all they want for c¢hemselves, but
not always. If, on the other hand, we want our bees
to provide us with a lot of honey, and yet have enough
for themselves, feeding will frequently have to be
resorted to. There seems to be little doubt that the
best way is, leave the bees a certain weight—say 20 or
25 lbs.—-of honey in the autumn, and not disturb them
in the spring. If they are short of this weight feed
them up to it. Even then, if the spring is cold, it is
better to give them a little food so as to keep breeding
going on, but not sufficient to store. The great thing
is to have a hive full of bees, so that when the honey
flow comes they will be able to take advantage of it.
Anything given to the bees in the shape of food will
be repaid with compound interest. As for the kind
of food, nothing can be better than the recipes given
at page 167 of The British Bee-keeper's Guide Book,
by Thomas William Cowan, Esq. These are as
follows :—

Spring and Summer Food for Bees.

White lump cane sugar, . . 10 Ibs.
Water, . : : ; . 7 pints.
Vinegar, . : gos OZ:
Naphthol beta Salton fai I,. $02.
Salt, . : : . 102.

Boil for a few minutes.
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 41

clutuimn Food for Bees.

White lump cane sugar, . . 10 Ibs.
Water, . : é ‘ . 5 pints.
Vinegar, . : j : I Oz.
Naphthol beta solution No. 1, . $ oz.
Salt, . ‘ : ; ‘ . $02.

Boil for a few minutes.

 

Fic, 22,

There are various kinds of feeders. Bottle feeders
(fig. 22) are very much used. A bottle is specially
made with a metal cap which screws on to the bottle.
The cap has several holes and an index finger. If the
finger points to 1 the bees can only feed through one
hole ; if it points to 2, through two holes, and so on.
Sometimes these bottles leak, and without very careful
usage they are more or less messy, and other kinds
42 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

are to be preferred. Perhaps a more useful kind is
the Tin Float Feeder (fig. 23). These useful feeders
have been very much improved by Mr. Meadows, who
has invented many useful articles for bee-keepers.
They are, we believe, thoroughly reliable. The
bottom is raised so that bees can get under them.
They can be filled without bees escaping, and the cover
closes all up warm. My favourite feeder is made by
Mr. E. J. Butt of Barnstaple. It is made of porcelain,

 

Fic. 23.

and is everlasting. The only thing that can possibly
be said about it is the price. Possibly, if there was a
greater sale they might be made a little cheaper, but
considering the fact that one of these feeders would
last any length of time, they are cheap. The feeder
shewn at fig. 24 is what is called a Rapid Feeder, and
by its use a lot of bees can be fed quickly with one
dose. With one of these feeders a strong lot of bees
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 43

could be robbed of the whole of their honey, and fed
up to winter strength in a day or two. Moreover, the

 

FIG. 24

syrup indicated on a previous page is as good, or
better, for them than their own honey.

Anything can be done with bees if a few simple rules
are understood and acted upon. I have never found

    

I Fic, 25 2

anything better than a few puffs of smoke from a good
smoker. Here are two (fig. 25). They are both good
44 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

in their way. Personally, I prefer No. 1. The No. 2
is a Bingham, and is said to be an excellent smoker.
Mr. Meadows recommends cotton-wool as fuel, but
the writer nearly always uses rotten wood. Specially
prepared fuel is now mostly sold by the dealers, and
is very useful. To subdue the bees it is only necessary
to puff the smoke in at the entrance and wait a minute
or two. The bees will gorge at once, and are then
good-tempered. Should they not be so, a few more
puffs over the frames will make them so. A rag
soaked in carbolic acid solution is now frequently
used to lay over the frames. The bees will fly from
it. When this is used the rag must not be too wet, or
the honey will taste of the acid.

One of the great advantages of modern _bee-
keeping consists in the fact that the honey can be
extracted from the combs by centrifugal force, and
the combs given back to the bees to be re-filled. It
was said to have been discovered by an Austrian
gentleman who was playing with his children on the
lawn. To amuse them, he swung some honeycomb
round and round. Presently he found that the honey
was swung out of the comb. This led to the invention
of the Honey Extractor, now brought to great per-
fection. Here is an excellent one by our friend Mr.
Meadows, which goes as smoothly and quietly as a
pneumatic bicycle. A frame of honeycomb is taken,
and a long knife, which ought to be a little warm.
The cappings of the honey are cut off from both
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 45

sides, and then the frame and comb are placed in the
cage. Another frame is treated in a similar manner,
and placed in the opposite cage, ‘“‘to make the
balance true.” The handle is turned very carefully
at first, and the honey commences to fly out and run
down the sides of the extractor. When about half

 

the honey has escaped, the machine can be turned
faster and faster till all the honey has escaped. It
can be drawn out of the faucet at leisure. There are
a great many varieties of extractor, but all embrace
the principle of the extractor of honey by centrifugal
force. A very remarkable extractor is shewn at
46 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

fig. 27. Itis the invention of T. W. Cowan, Esq., the
author of the Guzde Book, The extractor shewn will
take four frames at once and the machine is reverszdle :
that is, the frames, by an ingenious contrivance, are
reversed without removal, when the honey is ex-
tracted on one side, and the honey will then be
extracted from the other side. In the machine (fig.

 

 

26) and most others, the frame has to be lifted out
and reversed, which, however, is not a great deal of
trouble.

We come now to the extracting of wax, a most
useful article, and one that will always fetch a good
price. The extractor shewn is the invention of the
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 47

late Mr. Cheshire (fig. 28). The directions for use
are as follows :—Put the extractor on the fire in the
same manner as an ordinary pot, having first filled
lower tank three parts full with water, and the
perforated basket above tank with broken comb, or
whatever material you wish to extract wax from.
The steam passes through the perforated walls of the
basket, melting every particle of wax in the crude

 

Fic. 28.—A, Perforated comb basket ; B, section of extractor ;
c, central cone ; ¢7, tray ; s¢, steam tube.

material ; the wax runs out of the spout for the
purpose. When not in use as an extractor, it is
excellent as a capping can. The cappings drop into
the basket, the honey drains off, leaving the
remainder just where it is wanted to extract from.
In practice I prefer something simpler, and here is
one (fig. 29) well worth notice. The description is as
48 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

follows :—‘‘No special originality of method is claimed
for this little appliance, the plan in various forms
having been long in use ; but we (¢.e., Mr. Meadows)
do claim credit for a simple, economical, and original
application of the known method of wax-extracting.
A round pan or boiler is fitted with an inner vessel
of corrugated iron having a loose top and bottom
of perforated metal, together with a device for
keeping it in middle of the boiler when in use. This

 

Fic. 29.

is the wax-holder. When the latter has been filled
with broken combs—pressed close down and the
loose lid laid over all—the boiler is filled with cold
water until the wax-holder is completely submerged.
As the water heats the wax melts and passes upward
to the surface of water above, on which it floats till
removed when cold, as a solid cake of clean wax, the
débris being retained in the wax-holder The boiler
OTHER MODERN APPLIANCES. 49

can be used for household purposes when not other-
wise wanted.

Lately solar extractors have come into use.
They are very successful—at least some of them—
when we have plenty of King Sol, but not without.
The principle is for the sun shining through glass to
do the work of the steam in the ordinary extractor.

When King Sol is conspicuous by his absence the
solar extractor can be stood before a fire with much
the same results.
CHAPTER V.

MANAGEMENT OF BEES.—How TO QUIET BEES.—TRANSFERRING
BEES FROM SKEPS TO BAR-FRAME Hives.—STOCKING HIVES
FROM ‘CONDEMNED BEES,’ ze. THOSE WHICH WOULD
HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY THEIR OWNERS IN TAKING THE
Honey.

IT has been said previously that the best way to
quiet bees is to puff smoke into the hives, and put
a carbolic rag over the frames. It occasionally
happens that bees will not be subdued with either of
these, owing to the fact that they have been roused
before the smoke, etc., have been applied. The best
advice we can give is this. Put on veil and gloves so
as to inspire confidence, and then go to the bees in a
determined but quiet manner. Don’t jar the hives,
or do things in a noisy manner. This will at once
rouse their anger. Treat them as if you loved them.
If the smoke is applied before the bees know any-
thing about it, they will fill themselves with honey,
and in that state are as harmless as flies. Sometimes
substances have been used with a powerful odour.
Should tobacco be used, a very few puffs would be
enough. Dried puff balls have been recommended

5°
MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 51

by some, the odour of the smoke being very strong.
Again, chloroform has been used. Take Punch’s
advice in another matter, ‘‘ Don’t.” We know a
case to the point. Some years ago a Wiltshire
gardener was asked to go and chloroform some bees
and take their honey. This gardener was very much
afraid of bees. As he was gone some time, the
master of the house went to look after him, and
found him lying down beside the hives with the bees
stinging him proper. In his nervousness, the
gardener had chloroformed himself and not the bees,
and he was badly stung into the bargain. Some bees
are naturally vicious. When this is the case, destroy
the queen, and put another in its place. Of course
it would take time for this to take effect, as the
vicious bees would want a little time to die off.
Many bee-keepers say this is a good plan to cure
vicious bees. Take a scarecrow and make it as much
like a man as possible, and post it near the bees to
be tamed. Smear something or other over the scare-
crow to make it smell disagreeable, and the bees will
go for it. Many bees will lose their stings, not being
able to withdraw them. Those who lose them—
which will, of course, be the worst tempered—will
die. This is well worth trying.

Some years ago, at shows, bees were transferred
from skeps to bar-frame hives in the following way.
The operator smoked the bees, drove them from the
skep into another skep, and then cut out all the
52 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

combs and fastened them with tapes into frames.
The latter were put into a hive and the bees thrown
on them. On the principle that bees never desert
brood, they would fasten the combs to the frames,
and all would probably go on well. There are,
however, several objections to this method. At the
best, it is a very messy job, and the combs from a
skep are frequently very old, and would be better
melted down. Then there is the matter of taking off
the tapes. A very much more convenient method is
now adopted, and this is to make the bees ¢vansfer
themselves. This is how it is done. In the spring
of the year, say about the month of April, take a new
bar-frame hive, and fill all the frames with foundation.
Full sheets are best. Then take a piece of American
cloth—I always use white—large enough to cover
over all the frames, and in the centre cut a hole about
four or five inches square. Take a fine day for the
operation, and see that there are plenty of bees and
that they are working. First move the skep which is
to be operated upon a little way off, and put the bar-
frame hive in its place. Then lift the straw skep up
carefully, and place it over the frames, with the centre
of the skep just over the square hole in the American
cloth. Part of the frames will not be covered by the
skep. Pack all this part up with warm material so
as to make all snug. The bees will soon begin to
work downwards, and as they always store their
honey farthest from the entrance, the queen will go
MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 53

down, and the brood be in the lower hive. As the
bees hatch out in the skep, the latter will be filled
with honey. It is perhaps preferable to leave the
skep on for some time, so as to make sure that the
transfer has taken place. The skep can then easily
be removed full of good honey, and the bees supered.
The latter method of transfer is now adopted as ¢he
best. Some people drive the bees out, and then
put them into the bar-framed hive, but all things
considered, this is not so satisfactory as the way
previously advised.

A very good way of getting good hives of bees is to
get ‘condemned’ bees from cottagers, that is, bees
which would otherwise be destroyed. It used to be
the universal practice to wait till autumn, and then
take some of the hives and destroy the bees by
placing them over burning sulphur. Some people still
do it. This is a foolish plan. When this is about to
be done, it would be a good thing to go to these
persons and ask them to allow you to drive their bees
out of the skeps, and, of course, let them have all the
honey. This is all they would get if the bees were
destroyed. If a bar-frame hive is prepared with full
sheets of foundation, two or three of these lots of bees
could be mixed together and fed. This would in all
probability become a fine stock of bees. The method
of mixing is as follows :—Take the driven bees home
at sunset. We will suppose you have three lots.
Take up one lot and sprinkle them with a little syrup
54 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

mixed with peppermint. Throw this lot of bees
quickly on a sheet in front of the bar-frame hive.
Then quickly treat the second and third in the same
way, throwing them on top of each other. They will
all run in, queens as well, and being scented alike,
they will not know friends from enemies, and will
settle down as one stock. There will be a battle royal
between the queens, which will be settled by the
death of all save one. The fittest will survive. For
feeding such an immense lot it is better to take the
large feeder previously mentioned, and give a large
quantity of syrup at once, They will quickly carry
it down, store it, and seal it. Some of my best stocks
of bees have been obtained this way. The labour of
the bees can further be saved if frames of comb are
given to them instead of sheets of foundation. After
so much knocking about, it somed¢zimes happens that
bees will desert their new quarters, and swarm on a
neighbouring bush. If they do, put them in again,
and they will prodably remain, especially if some syrup
is over the frames. If they still shew a desire to desert
the hive, a frame of honey and brood might be given
them from another hive. On the principle that bees
never desert brood, they will remain. There is,
however, seldom any need for all this trouble.
CHAPTER VI.

MANAGEMENT IN BAR-FRAME HIves.—‘ SPRING CLEANING’ OF
HIves,—ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.~—PREVENTION OF SWARM-
ING.—TAKING HONEY.—QUEEN REARING.—UNITING WEAK
Stocks.—FEEDING AND WINTERING BrEs,—PACKING AND
REMOVING BEEs,

IF it is fine and warm towards the end of March or
beginning of April, the bees should be overhauled in
the middle of a fine day. The first thing to do is to
see that the bees have enough stores to carry on
breeding, and if not, to give them some at once.
This should be given in small quantities, zo¢ for the
purpose of storing, but to keep up the population of
the hive at full working strength. Sefore putting on
the feeder, the tops of the frames should be scraped
with a scraper (fig. 30) to clean them of propolis, etc.
The entrances should also be cleared of dead bees.
But a better method of doing the ‘Spring cleaning ’
is as follows :—During the winter make one or two
new hives if they are required—or likely to be—and
repaint and clean any empty hives, If this is done

some time before they are wanted, they will be clean
55
56 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

and sweet, and the smell of paint gone. Then, when
the time comes to examine the hives, take out a clean
one, and stand it by the side of the one to be exa-
mined. Then take out all the bees and combs, one

 

Fic. 30.—Bee scraper.

comb at a time, and place them in the same order in
the clean hive. The scraping could be done before
lifting the frames out. It would be quite easy to see
if there is enough honey while doing this, The queen
MANAGEMENT IN BAR-FRAME HIVvEs. Bm

could also be interviewed. All this work would have

‘to be done quietly but quickly, or perhaps the brood
would get chilled. Quze¢ness is essential, as sometimes
at this time of the year bees will ‘ ball’ the queen if
they are much disturbed. If each stock can be given
either a clean or new hive, so much the better, and
the hives which the bees have used during the winter
can be taken away for cleaning and painting. This
must never be done on a cold day, and only in the
middle of a warm one.

It often happens that bees are ready to swarm,
but the weather is not satisfactory, and perhaps
this will continue for some days. In cases of this
sort, the bees will be idle, and a great deal of the
most valuable time will be lost. The writer prefers a
natural swarm as a rule to an artificial one, but when
bees will neither swarm nor work, artificial swarming
must be resorted to without delay. The matter is very
simple. The conditions of success are fine weather,
crowded beehives, and the presence of drones. The
process is then as follows :—Take an empty hive and
fill it with frames of foundation, leaving room for one
more frame. Then examine a strong hive, and take
out the frame on which is the queen, and put it in the
hive in the place where one frame was left out. Then
place the new hive on the stand of the old one, moving
the latter some distance off. All the old bees will
flock into the new hive and make the swarm. If left
alone, the old hive having young bees and brood
58 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

would soon make a fresh queen, but much valuable
time would be saved if a ripe queen cell or a new
queen was given twenty-four hours after the other
queen had been removed. Thus two colonies would
be made from one. There is another, and, we think,
much better, method of artificial swarming, and that is
by making three colonies from two. Go to a very
strong stock, and take out five or six frames of brood,
but zo¢ the queen, shaking the bees back into the hive.
Put these frames of brood into an empty hive, filling
it up with full frames of foundation. Then move
another strong stock to a fresh stand, and place the
hive of brood on the spot where the hive which has
been removed stood. The bees will flock to the old
spot, hatch out the brood and make a queen, but time
will again be saved if a queen cell or a queen is given
to them about a day after they discover they are
without one. This is by far the best method, as one
hive supplies the bees and the other the brood.
Natural swarming will thus be checked, and the bees
will all be at work. But the reader might say, Do
not the bees always work? The answer is that bees
never do anything zzvariably, Dr Watts and his
‘“ How doth the little busy bee,” etc., are out of date,
if they were ever in date. Asa rule they will work,
but we have known a hive of bees neither swarm nor
do anything else all the summer, unless made to by
artificial swarming. There are other methods of
artificial swarming, but it is only necessary to say
MANAGEMENT IN BAR-FRAME HIVES. 59

that there is no better method than making three
stocks out of two, as previously explained.

If ith appens that the bee-keeper has stocks enough
and does not wish for swarms, he may usually prevent
swarming, but not always. The reason why bees
swarm is because the hive gets so full of bees as to
become practically unbearable. They will then swarm
out. If more room is given in time—z.e. before they
get the swarm fever—swarming is frequently prevented.
Bees always like to build down to the floor of their
hives. If, therefore, the hive is raised, and a box of
frames with only strips of foundation put under it, the
bees will probably not swarm. If supers are also
added at the same time, they will be still less likely to
swarm. The principle involved seems to be this.
Bees will not swarm while they have unfinished combs
nearest the entrance. Therefore, take care they never
finish them. A noted Russian bee-keeper used to do
this. He took a tall box, and stood it up on end.
In the upper part of the box he introduced a swarm
of bees. The first year they worked about a third
of the way down the box, and the bee-keeper allowed
them all that year’s takings. At the end of the second
year they had worked another third, while the top
part was full of honey. He cut out the top third for
himself, and left the bees the rest. At the end of the
third year the bees had worked to the bottom of the
hive. He then cut out the next (or middle) third,
leaving the bees the bottom lot. When the bees were
60 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

ready to swarm the next year, he turned the hive upside
down, and the process was repeated. He had 2800
of these boxes. His method of bee-keeping was simple,
but he was a wise man, and, by his method, unfinished
comb (or an empty space) was always nearest the
entrance, and thus swarming was controlled. Go
thou and do likewise. The whole principle seems to
be to give the bees plenty of room in advance of their
requirements. Some people advise the cutting out of
queen cells. Wedo not. It fails sometimes. If the
bees do swarm, and you do not want an increase, get
the queen from the swarm and destroy it (or make some
use of it) and give the bees back to the hive from which
they came. Probably they will set to work and not
come out again.

Taking the honey is very pleasant, and not by any
means a difficult operation with good modern hives.
Suppose you wish to remove a crate of sections. A
good time is to go to the hive first thing in the morning.
Gently raise the whole crate, after prizing with a screw-
driver in various parts. A puff or two of smoke can
be given if necessary. Then lift up the crate and put
a cloth under it, thus separating the bees in the sections
from the queen. Then uncover the sections by re-
moving the cloth over them, and replace the cover of
the hive. The bees will soon go out one at a time by
the bee-escape in the roof, and not be able to return
to the sections. In the evening the bee-keeper could
go to the hive, take off the roof, and remove the crate
MANAGEMENT IN BAR-FRAME HIVES. 61

without a bee in it. A box of shallow frames could
be removed in the’ same manner, only, in the latter
case the frames of honeycomb would be uncapped,
and put into the extractor, as explained in a previous
chapter.

Bee escapes are also (and perhaps preferably) put
between the super and the brood chambers (fig. 31).
The bees then escape downwards and cannot return.

~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fic. 31

As the only way to get plenty of honey is to have the
colonies strong, and the only way to keep the colonies
strong is always to have a good queen in each hive, it
is necessary to know the way to rear queens. A
queen bee will live five years, but it is not of much use
62 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

after the third year, some say after the second year.
No doubt a queen bee is in its prime in its second year.
Personally, I prefer queens raised under the swarming
impulse, as superior to all others ; but if swarming is
prevented, as it is largely done now, queens must be
raised to keep up the supply. In early spring go to
your strongest and best stock, and commence stimula-
tive feeding. This is the hive in which to breed queens,
and should be furnished with worker comb only, so as
to prevent drones being raised. It is best to have the
drones from one hive and the queens from another.
Then go to the next best hive, and commence stimula-
tive feeding, and put drone comb in this one when the
hive is strong enough, after which, feed more rapidly.
This will induce the early breeding of drones. As
soon as the drones are found to be hatching out, go to
the other hive and place the best worker comb in the
centre of the brood nest. The queen will at once lay
eggsinthiscomb. Let her do so for about three days,
and then remove her elsewhere. Combs containing
unsealed larvz can also be removed to other colonies,
as it is better that the queens should be raised direct
from the eggs. They will thus be fed longer from the
royal jelly, and will be stronger. As soon as all this
is done, the bees will commence to make queen cells.
You can have these cells almost where you like, but
the edges of the comb will be found the most con-
venient. Take a piece of wood shaped like a cone
and press it into a cell, making it a little larger, and
MANAGEMENT IN BAR-FRAME HIVES. 63

at the same time bruising the other cells round it.
The bees will at once turn all the enlarged cells into
queen cells. A good many cells can be obtained this
way, and after nine days will be ready to cut out.
This operation must be done carefully, and without
any shaking of the comb. _ If the bees are in the way,
sweep them off gently with a feather. When the cells
are cut out they can be introduced to the colonies
requiring them, taking care to remove the old queen
first.

The conditions of success are to have only strong
colonies, and weak ones must be treated with Spartan
severity. If you have, say, ten colonies of strong bees
in the autumn and five weak colonies, take a weak
colony and mix it with a strong colony. This is done
by bringing the two hives to be united closer and
closer together each day. Then smoke the two hives,
and mix up the bees and frames of one hive with the
bees and frames of the other, and then remove the
empty hive some distance away. They will generally
settle down quietly if the work is carefully done. If
there should be too many frames to fill one hive, they
could easily be disposed of. Then treat the other
weak hives in the same way. A strong lot of bees is
the best to go through the winter. They can keep
one another warm, and will eat less. A good Scotch
bee-keeper once said that the best covering for bees in
winter is bees, and he was about right.

Before winter sets in, ze. in September, hives
64 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

should be examined to see if they have enough
stores, and if not, they should be fed up at once.
Liquid food should not be given after October, and if
it is suspected that the bees are short during the
winter months, candy should be given them. A
cake of candy can easily be put over the frames, and
the bees covered up warm. The entrances should be
narrowed for winter, but now and then they should
be cleared of dead bees. Some people advise
turning the front of the hives to the north in winter
time, so that the sun may not entice the bees out in
snowy weather. Sometimes, when the sun shines
brightly on the snow, the bees are tempted out only
to die.

Bees may easily be moved if proper care is taken.
When a swarm of bees is placed for the first time in
a garden, the bees mark the spot, and if the hive is
moved only a few yards away, they will fail to find
it. When bees are flying every day, they must be
moved two miles or more away. They will then
mark the spot again, and find their way home. In
winter time when the bees are at rest, they can be
moved a few yards without any loss. Some care
must be taken with bees when travelling. The writer
has bought swarms of bees from experienced bee-
keepers, only to find them dead with suffocation on
their arrival. Skeps should be stood in a box without
a top, and zzverted. Shavings or paper will easily
make the skep stand firmly. The mouth of the skep
MANAGEMENT IN BAR-FRAME HIVES. 65

should have cheese-cloth firmly tied over it, and a
strip of wood nailed across would make a good
handle. Bees thus treated should stand a good deal
of knocking about, which they would probably get.
Bees are better zo¢ removed in hot summer weather,
as the combs are then very soft. Bar-frame hives of
bees are more easily removed, but it is not advisable
to move them in the hottest part of the summer,
except the frames are wired. The only essential of
success in moving bar-fame hives is to see that the
combs do not swing about. A rack could be made
to prevent this. Some perforated zinc should be
placed over the frames in such a manner that the bees
can walk about and get some air. Perforated zinc
would also have to be placed over the flight hole.
A piece of rope firmly tied would make all secure,
though in every case it would be best to label every
stock live bees, Possibly they might then get more
tender handling.
CHAPTER VII.

Some DIFFICULTIES, AND How TO OVERCOME THEM.—ROBBER-
BEES.—ENEMIES OF BrES: Wax MoTH, Mick, ETC.—
Diseases OF BerEs.—How to DEAL WITH ACCIDENTS
ARISING FROM BEES,

THERE are difficulties, and sometimes losses, con-
nected with bee-keeping as with any live stock, but
they are not insurmountable. When honey begins
to get scarce, and the bees have turned out the
drones, they sometimes engage in another pastime,
z.e. robbing. And fearful robbers bees are when
once they begin. Sometimes a whole apiary has
been destroyed, or nearly so, in a very short space of
time. The evil sometimes arises through a drop or
two of syrup being spilt about when feeding. The
bees will fight for their lives for this syrup, and are
then like tigers who have tasted some warm blood.
They want some more, and will then begin to enter
each other’s hives for it. Once this is fairly
commenced it is most difficult to stop. The
strongest hives and those which have the most honey,

will go to the weakest and rob. The first considera-
66
DIFFICULTIES, AND How TO OVERCOME THEM. 67

tion is never to keep weak hives, but unite them with
others, If, however, robbing has commenced, nearly
close the entrances, so that only one bee can go in
and out atatime. Ifa hive is being robbed, carbolic
rags laid near the entrance will drive many of the
robbers away. If it can be clearly seen which hive
supplies the robbers and which hive is being robbed,
it has been suggested to change the places of the
hives for about an hour. The result would be
ludicrous, because the bees that are robbing would
then steal their own honey and store it in the robbed
hive. Before nightfall the hives could be put on
their own stands again, and the robbers would by
that time have been duly punished. Sometimes
hives are turned round, and this is often successful.
I have frequently found that by nearly closing the
entrances, robbing is soon stopped ; but the best way
to stop it is to avoid the cause, and see that no pieces
of comb or liquid sweets are ever lying about un-
protected.

The greatest enemy of the bee is the wax moth.
It is difficult for the wax moth to enter a strong hive,
but very easy to enter a weak one. Late on a warm
summer evening the moth may be seen flying about
the entrances of hives. If it can get in, it will lay an
egg in a part of the comb—especially an old comb—
not covered by the bees. In due time a grub will
come out of the egg, and it will eat wax, pollen or
honey. The usual phases are gone through, and the
68 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

grub becomes a moth, and the process is repeated.
Sometimes a weak hive is completely destroyed this
way. The cure seems to be: (1) To melt down old
combs at once, and not let them lie about ; (2) do
not let the combs get too old in the hives, but remove
them and melt them ; (3) keep the hives strong,
and the bees will not allow the moth to enter. Asa
proof that it is an essential to keep the hives strong,
it is said that a snail got once into a strong hive.
The bees could not get the snail out, so they stuck it
down to the floor with propolis, and it died in its
shell.

Mice also cause a deal of trouble, provided they
can effect an entrance, as they will eat the wax
and honey and return thanks for it by getting very
fat. If they are already in, set a mouse trap inside
the hive, and take a cat for a walk near the hives.
To prevent them getting in—which is generally in
winter-time—make the entrance as small as possible.

Wasps are a great nuisance to the bee-keeper.
Remedy: Destroy as many queen wasps as you can in
spring. Destroy wasps’ nests wherever you can find
them. Narrow the entrances, and hang up bottles
in the trees with a little sugared beer in them.
Destroy spiders’ webs near the hives to prevent the
following : ‘‘ ‘Come into my parlour,’ said the spider
to the dee.” Tits are very tiresome rascals. They
may be seen tapping the floor of the porch in winter,
and when a bee comes out to inquire the reason of
DIFFICULTIES, AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM. 69

the uproar, he does not return to give the information
obtained to the other bees, but immediately passes
down the bird’s throat, unhonoured and unsung.
Ants may occasionally be seen in large numbers in
the hives, and they are arrant thieves. They object
to the smell of turpentine, which can be rubbed on
the stand. Lucky is the bee-man who has legs to
his hives, as a saucer of water can be placed under
each leg. Bees have other enemies, but the principal
have been named. To cure the birds, fasten a net
over the hives, and let them hear a gun occasion-
ally.

Bees have few diseases as compared with other
living creatures, but one is very serious, and that is
called ‘‘ Foul brood.” No better description can be
given than that by Mr. A. Pettigrew in his Handy
Book of Bees. We says: ‘‘ Foul brood is the great
and incurable malady of bee-hives. From some
cause or other, and in some seasons more than others,
larve, or half-hatched bees (or brood), perish in their
cells, and become a putrid pestilential mass in a hive.
Prosperity departs from a hive whenever this happens,
and sometimes the stench of it has driven the bees
wholly out of their hives, and made them build fresh
combs underneath their boards ; and sometimes they
have gone off as swarms, abandoning their hives in
utter despair and detestation. An experienced bee-
keeper can smell this disease outside the hive in
which it exists, long before it is so fully developed
70 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

as to make the bees forsake their hive, and will not
hesitate to give the bees suffering from it a clean
hive as soon as he wisely can. Foul brood in
a bee-hive is as dangerous and destructive of
health and life as foul air or choke-damp is in a
coal-pit. We are not going to waste time and
space in theorising as to the cause of this distemper
in bee-hives, which is not understood. Long and
elaborate essays on foul brood have been printed
from the pens of great and distinguished apiarians
of both Europe and America during the last few
years, a careful perusal of which will convince
any man of ordinary intelligence that the writers
themselves are not quite certain as to the correctness
of their opinions. The best of them, to say the most,
are but ‘good guesses.’ But the last, and every
attempt made to clear up the mystery of foul brood,
indicates that the person who makes it thinks that
all who have gone before him have failed in their
attempts. Though we are unable to speak with
authority or certainty on this subject, we may be
excused for saying that we are yet to be convinced
that it is in its nature infectious or self-communicat-
ing, or that it is ever carried in honey from one hive
to another. That it spreads in an infected hive of
living bees, all will admit ; but a satisfactory explana-
tion of the law or process by which it spreads we have
never seen. Many single cells of foul brood, far
asunder in a hive, often appear. These cells are
DIFFICULTIES, AND How TO OVERCOME THEM. 71

covered with lids, rather flat, or slightly concave or
scooped, resembling in shape the lids of honey-cells.
The lids of cells containing healthy brood are slightly
raised or convex. The disease spreads—the cells
multiply, apparently not by contact, but singly and
separately, all over the brood-combs, like berries of
a bunch of grapes colouring one by one.” Thus far
Mr. Pettigrew. But he does not seem to say quite
enough. When you are certazu that a hive contains
foul brood, it is the best policy to burn up hive,
combs, and bees at once, and save nothing belonging
to it. This seems a drastic cure, but we firmly
believe in it. How are you to be certain that a hive
contains foul brood? The answer is, that once you
have smelt foul brood, you will not want to smell it
ever again, but you will know it if you do, as the
smell is unmistakable. There is a very effective
picture of ‘‘ Foul brood in an advanced stage” on
page 146 of The British Bee-keeper’s Guide Book, by
Thomas William Cowan, Esq. If the smell of foul
brood and the picture of it will not enable the bee-
keeper to detect it, nothing will, and he had better
call in an expert. Foul brood must not be con-
founded with chilled brood. The latter is caused by
exposure to cold, through taking too long a time to
examine hives in spring time. It is a much more
innocent but undesirable disease. Though the writer
has recommended the destruction by fire of hives
affected with foul brood, this is not always done ; and
72 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

Mr. Cowan, who is a very clever scientist, recommends
several ‘cures.’ No doubt those who wish to pursue
the subject will procure his book.

Sometimes bees are afflicted with dysentery, or, as
it is sometimes called, diarrhcea. Though this is
usually classed as a disease, it is not one in reality, as
the great American Langstroth says, but is a state or
habit of body which is fairly easy to cure if taken in
time, or, which is better, prevented altogether. When
bees are strong and healthy they never void their
excrements in the hive, but do this in the open air.
In the summer this is easy, because of the warmth of
the atmosphere, but in winter-time the affair becomes
more difficult ; and if, through the state of the weather,
the bees are confined for a long time to the hive, an
attack of dysentery, more or less severe, is very likely
to occur. Another cause of dysentery is improper
food. Syrups made from sugar extracted from beet
is very injurious to bees, and so are the juices of fruits,
apples and grapes. We have read somewhere of a
woman who could not afford (or thought she could
not) to give sugar syrup to her bees, and she gave
them very sweet cider, with the result that she lost
them all from dysentery. No food is better for bees
to winter on than syrup made properly from cane
sugar, and if you have any doubt about the veracity
of your grocer, get it at the office of The British Bee
Journal, he sugar obtained there is guaranteed to
be cane sugar, and the writer never gets his anywhere
DIFFICULTIES, AND How TO OVERCOME THEM. 73

else. As prevention is always said to be better than
cure, it will be desirable to see how that is to be
effected. Bees appear to know what kind of honey is
best for themselves ; therefore keep the brood nest
sufficiently large to allow the bees room to store spring
honey in the brood apartment, and don’t extract zt, but
leave it for the bees. It is much better for them than
honey obtained late in the summer. When packing
up the bees for winter, contract the brood apartment
as much as possible, so that the bees may be kept
warm, and see that the roofs are all water-tight. Bees
can endure cold much better than they can damp.
Some persons have recommended that bees should be
brought into a warm room, and a kind of cage placed
over the entrance. The bees would be enticed out of
their hives into the cage, and would fosszbly, though
not certainly, void their excrements in the cage. The
writer has never adopted that plan, nor does he intend
to, as it has many drawbacks. The proper treatment
seems to be (1) keep the bees strong, by uniting weak
lots to others; (2) feed only with cane sugar syrup
when feeding is necessary ; (3) keep the hives snug
and dry, and let the coverings be porous ; (4) don’t
prevent them flying in winter ; better to let a few drop
down from cold than miss a healthy flight. Never
give the bees syrup during the four winter months,
z.e. November, December, January and February. //
they require food, then give them candy properly
made, and not burnt.
74 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

It is difficult to give general advice about what to
do in accidents caused by bees. But a few hints may
be useful. Some time ago the following accident (?)
is said to have happened, though we took it with the
proverbial grain of salt. This is it. A swarm of
bees flew towards a horse which was working quietly
ina field. The queen bee of the swarm went down
alive into the horse’s stomach. All the other bees
loyally followed the queen into the horse’s stomach,
and arriving there, and finding the hive not very
comfortable, commenced giving the horse their
opinion of matters by stinging him wholesale. The
horse kicked about, broke its harness, and after
doing a lot of damage, either died of the stings
or was shot, I forget which. It was a poor man’s
swarm, and he had to pay for the horse. Well, the
remedy for this is, zzswre your bees. This can be
done for one penny a hive, and any damage up to
#30 will be covered by the pennies. Sometimes a
person is stung by a bee when far away from a hive,
and doing nothing to provoke the bees. Sometimes
a single sting has caused death. In such cases the
blood is probably in a very unhealthy condition.
Sometimes, and mostly, the inconvenience and pain
is only temporary. Here is the cure from Exguzre
WVethtn upon Everything :—

“Method of Curing the Stings of Bees and Wasps.—
The sting of a bee is generally more virulent than that
of a wasp, and with some people attended with very
DIFFICULTIES, AND How TO OVERCOME THEM. 75

violent effects. The sting of a bee is barbed at the
end, and consequently always left in the wound ; that
of a wasp is pointed only, so that they can sting more
than once, which a bee cannot do. When any
person is stung by a bee, let the sting, in the first
place, be instantly pulled out, for the longer it remains
in the wound the deeper it will pierce, owing to its
peculiar form, and emit more of the poison. The
sting is hollow, and the poison flows through it,
which is the sole cause of the pain and inflammation.
The pulling out of the sting should be done carefully,
and with a steady hand ; for if any part of it breaks
in, all remedies then, in a great measure, will be
ineffectual. When the sting is extracted, suck the
wounded part, if possible, and very little inflammation,
if any, will ensue. If hartshorn drops are immedi-
ately afterwards rubbed on the part, the cure will be
more complete. All notions of the efficacy of sweet
oil, bruised parsley, burnet, tobacco, etc., appear, on
various trials, to be totally groundless. On some
people the sting of bees and wasps has no effect ;
it is therefore of little consequence what remedy
they apply to the wound. However, the effect
of stings greatly depends on the habit of body a
person is of ; at one time a sting may take little
or no effect, though no remedy is used, which at
another time may be very virulent on the same
person.”

We have had occasion to test this remedy several
76 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

times, and can safely avouch its efficacy. The
exposure to which persons are subjected during
the hot summer months will, no doubt, render this
advice useful, its very simplicity making it more
acceptable.
CHAPTER VIII.

PREPARATION OF HONEY FOR THE MARKET.—CLEANING SECTIONS
AND GLAZING WHERE REQUIRED.—EXTRACTING HoONEY,—
ExTRACTING WAx.—SALE OF HONEY AND Wax,

IF a good price is to be obtained for honey, it must
be done up in a neat and tasteful manner. As soon

 

Fic, 32.—Hughes’s Balance.

as the sections are taken from the hive, they should
have all the propolis neatly scraped off the wood, and
then sorted. The best should fetch the highest price.

77
78 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

It is desirable to know the exact weight, both of
sections and bottles, and Hughes’s Balance (fig. 32)

 

Fic. 33.—Cowan’s travelling crate for sections.

would be found very useful for that purpose. The
sections should then be put in a travelling crate (fig.

      

PREM IS INTC
Fic. 34.—Glazed section cases.

33). That one shewn is the invention of Mr, Cowan,
PREPARATION OF HONEY FOR THE MARKET. 79

and is called the ‘‘ Cowan travelling crate for sections.”
A glance at the figure will shew that sections will travel
with perfect safety in this crate. Sections can either
be glazed or put in glazed section cases. The latter
is the least trouble, and perhaps the most effective.

 

Fic. 35.—Honey label.

Here is a very good one (fig. 34) with glass on one side
only. Perhaps those glazed both sides are preferable,
as the customer can then see there is nothing to hide.
In the case of bottles, it is best to have some kind of
label. There are many varieties of these. One is
shewn at fig. 35. It is printed in four colours,
80 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

and is the design of Mr. George Rose of Liverpool.
It is a new one and we have not used it yet, but
should think it will become very popular. There
are many varieties of bottles and other packages

 

shewn at fig. 12. If expense is not a consideration,
the fancy honey or jam jar (fig. 36) is very pretty.
Mr. W. P. Meadows caters. Very pretty terra-cotta
honey pots are sold by Mr. Taylor of Welwyn.
If honey is daintily packed in the vessels indicated,
PREPARATION OF HONEY FOR THE MARKET. 81

there is no trouble to get a fair price for it, at least the
writer has never found any difficulty in disposing of
his. The present year (1902) having been very un-
favourable for honey gathering, the writer had about
three times the quantity ordered that he could supply,
and that long before he had taken out a pound. The
extracting of honey and wax has been explained in a
previous chapter, but latterly wax moulds have been
introduced. Here is one with explanation from the
catalogue of Mr. W. P. Meadows.

First Prize,—Royal Show, York, rgoo.

ar OL cn
hae ci al ae Za al |
Ahi alii eT Le
cli ae Ad cl )

“ a aaa

tie aan

   
     
   
        

173

            

FIG. 37.

Made in 4 Sizes.

No. Size. Size,
6 by § casts 20 cakes 1I4by1I
6 0 8 a 32 ” Is ” I
9 ” 8 ” 24 oF 2 a? 1k
2

I » 12 » 4B oy 2 4, 14

Nos. 1 and 2 casts I oz. cakes.
» 3 4 95 20% gy

By removing part of divisions larger squares may be obtained, e.g.

6
82 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

remove divisions in Nos, 1 and 2, so that cakes will be 14 by 2; and in
Nos, 3 and 4, 3 by 2; this will give 2 and 4 oz, cakes respectively.

The wax should be weighed before pouring into the mould, first de-
ciding upon the size of cakes required—on the basis of 1 and 2 castings,
1 oz, ; 2and 3, 20z.; and if penny or twopenny cakes are required
arrange weight of wax to suit.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE.

Place the mould perfectly level, raise the divisions slightly so that the
wax may run under them, and as soon as all poured in, press down to
the bottom, After well cleaning and straining the wax, melt in a sauce-
pan having a little water in the bottom; be careful not to boil. Wax
melts at about 180 deg. and should not be made very much hotter
or the sample will be damaged, Use a little more wax than is required,
and be careful not to pour in the dirt and water that settles to the bottom ;
allow this to stand till cool, when the remaining wax may be removed
ina thin sheet. Allow the full moulds to be quite cold before attempt-
ing to remove.

We have now come to the end of the Government
syllabus, and gone over the ground as clearly as we
are able, and trust the instructions given will be found
practical and useful. We therefore conclude with
thirty-three hints from the Catalogue of Messrs.
Brown & Sons of Bristol, and make our bow.
HINTS AND INSTRUCTIONS TO BEGINNERS, 83

HINTS AND INSTRUCTIONS TO BEGINNERS IN BEE
CULTURE,

1. To winter bees successfully, make sure in
September or October that stores are plentiful, that
the stock has a young queen, is sheltered from north
winds, and, above all, see that the hive is damp-proof.

2. Twenty-five to thirty pounds are required to
safely carry a colony through the winter.

3. Do not keep the bees confined to the hive on
sunny winter days, but when snow lies on the ground
it is safer to shade the entrance.

4. Prepare your hives, when possible, long before
you expect to require them, and see that they have a
good-fitting movable ‘dummy,’ and that all the hives
have frames of uniform size.

5. Spring is the season when bees are most in
danger of starvation and dwindling. Watch your
colonies, and feed the destitute right on till the honey
cropopens, Lessen the room by means of the dummy,
and increase the space as it is required.

6. Do not feed at the entrance or out of doors, as
it causes the bees to rob, but always on the top over
the brood nest.

7. When you see many bees hunting around and
trying to get into other hives, be sure robbing is going
on somewhere, or that loose honey has been left within
their reach. Close up entrances of weak hives to just
84 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

sufficient to let a bee out, and sprinkle a weak solution
of carbolic acid about the front of attacked hives or
where bees are crowding.

8. One bee in March is worth many in June, so do
everything possible to forward breeding. Keep the
hives warm—feed if necessary—supply them with
water and pea flour where pollen is scarce.

g. In early spring remove the drone comb, and
replace it with worker or with full sheets of comb
foundation as much as in your power. You will
always leave more drone comb than needed. Too
many drones means a reduced crop of honey.

10. The bees require ten to fourteen pounds of
honey to make oze pound of comb, so it will always
pay you to use full sheets of foundation, although
foundation costs three times the price charged for it.
In addition to saving the bees’ time and honey, you
can only secure straight, easily handled combs by
using it freely.

11. The honey harvest lasts but a few days, or, at
best, a few weeks, so you must have the hives full of
bees, and always ready to take advantage of it when
it does come.

12. Improved methods and foreign competition
have increased the supply of honey so much that it is
absolutely necessary, to ensure a ready sale, to put it
up in small sections enclosed in neat and cleanly
cases.

13. For home consumption, it pays to produce it in
HINTS AND INSTRUCTIONS TO BEGINNERS. 85

larger sections or shallow frames, as the bees will store
more honey in these.

14. By using wrought-out combs and the help of
the extractor, 30 to 50 per cent. more honey can be
produced than in sections. If you have three or four
hives it will pay you to invest in an extractor, anda
good one is cheapest in the end.

15. Honey should not be extracted when first
gathered, as it is watery, unripe, and will become
unfit for using. Give the bees time to ripen it, and
keep them at work with sufficient room ; supply them
with empty comb if possible.

16. When bees are hanging out in front of the hive
it shows that they are uncomfortable in it and have
no room. They should be given more air or more
room according to circumstances. Shading the sun
from the hive in very warm weather is beneficial.

17. If you give your bees plenty of room before the
honey season, and keep them comb building, they will
rarely swarm. If once they find themselves crowded
and get the swarming fever, nothing will keep them
from swarming.

18, Raise queens and drones only from the best
colonies.

19. A queenless stock will raise queens at once if it
has eggs or larvae under three days old. These queens
will hatch within a fortnight.

20, The old queen always goes with the first swarm.

21. By taking only oe early swarm, and with good
86 BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS.

management, you may secure a little surplus honey,
but large harvests can only be taken from hives which
have not swarmed at all.

22. To hive a swarm, first skep it, then place hive
in position, frames being level across. Wedge up
front of hive to form a large entrance, and place a large
board or sheet, one edge resting on alighting board,
the other sloping down slightly from it. Now, give
the swarm a- puff of smoke, and shake them out in
front of the entrance, when, with very little guidance,
they will quickly run under cover. If done towards
evening very few bees will fly.

23. When you open a hive of bees, if you see any
robber bees flying about, you may be sure that there
is no honey in the fields, and you must avoid leaving
the hive open, or exposing honey within their reach.
A robber bee is easily recognised by its quick motions,
and buzzing round the hive doors, and occasionally
trying to settle on the footboard near the entrance.

24. All bees will become robbers if tempted with
exposed sweets in time of scarcity.

25. Decrease the size of the entrance after the honey
crop is past, but be sure and have it very large during
the honey harvest.

26. In seasons of scarcity your bees should be fed,
and they will probably repay you tenfold the following
one.

27. If the bees have to be fed after cold weather sets
in, soft candy should be given them.
HINTS AND INSTRUCTIONS TO BEGINNERS. 87

28. Keep your colonies strong. That is the best
safeguard against robbers and other evils.

29. A good bee smoker and veil are indispensable.
They give a beginner confidence. The bees won’t
tolerate nervous, jerky handling. Handled gently,
and with an occasional puff of smoke, you can do
anything you please with them. Smoke the bees a
little at the entrance before opening a hive.

30. The middle of the day is the best time to handle
your bees, as the old bees are then in the fields.

31. When you get stung do not lose any time, but
scrape the sting off. Do not pull it out, as you are
likely to drive more poison into the wound.

32. There are about 5000 bees in a pound.

33. Before melting o/d comb into wax, it is better
to keep it under rain-water for twenty-four hours. By
doing so you get more and better wax.

PRINTED BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH.
Remember. .

You can Always get what you want for GARDEN,
BEES, and BIRDS, QUICKLY, CHEAPLY,
and of BEST QUALITY, at either of the Shops of

GEORGE ROSE,

14 Moorfields, Exchange, , 3
50, 51, and 53 Great Charlotte Street, LIVERPOOL.

68 Great George Street, . . ; Etc., etc.
44 Fishergate, PRESTON, and
Linden House Apiary, ORMSKIRK.

“EVERYTHING FOR GARDEN AND BEES”

includes all sorts of odds and ends as well as the regular lines.
SEND 4d. FOR ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE,

Complete Outfit for Beginners in Bee-Keeping, consisting
of Bers, Brse-Hive, and all essentials, from 36/- to 60/-.

“British Bee-Keepers’ Guide Book.’’—Attractively written, up-to-date, and
thoroughly practical. March xgo2, new and revised Edition. Cloth gilt, 2/6 ; paper
covers, 1/63; postage 3d.

‘The Honey Bee.’’—Companion book to the Guide, being the Natural History,
Anatomy, and Physiology of the Honey Bee, 2/6; postage 3d.

Root’s ‘‘A.B.C. of Bee-Keeping.’’—Very complete and admirably arranged,
so that when the Bee-keeper wishes to find out what to do in any circumstance, he
can turn to it at once and read full instructions. 500 pages of double column, splen-
didly illustrated throughout. Post free, 5/6.

“Popular Guide to Gardening.’’—Post free, 8d.

HONEY from OUR OWN BEES always ON SALE.

A good selling line for Bazaars isa Sample Jar of Honey, about
two ounces, to sell at 3d. each. My price to you is 2/3 per dozen.

-Ib. Jars, 3/6 dozen ; 4-Ib. Jars, 5/- dozen ; 1-Ib, Jars, 9/9 per dozen.

GEORGE ROSE,

50, 51, and 53 Great Charlotte Street; 14 Moorfields ;
68 Great George Street, LIVERPOOL,
44 Fishergate, PRESTON,
Linden House Gardens, ORMSKIRK, etc., etc.

8

 

 

BEE-KEEPING.]
JAMES LEE & SON,

INVENTORS, MANUFACTURERS,

AND

IMPORTERS OF BEE-HIVES

and APPLIANCES NECESSARY for the PROFITABLE
PRODUCTION of COMB and EXTRACTED HONEY,
for the Student and the Scientist.

OUR OBSERVATORY HIVE

Universally acknowledged to be THE BEST.

An ingenious contrivance added, enabling the observer not only to
watch the action of the Bee’s tongue when fully extended, but to
examine that organ at work through a magnifying glass, or, if
necessary, with a microscope.

For the last four years one of these Observatory Hives with Queen
and Bees has been exhibited at the Museum, 77 High Street,
Whitechapel, and the mysteries of the work of these wonderful insects
shown to a large circle of School Teachers by the Curator.

Arrangements and Terms for the loan of Observatory Hives
with Queen and Bees on application.
Catalogues Post Free, with numerous Illustrations and full
particulars.

HEAD OFFICE AND POWER WORKS:

4 Martineau Road, Drayton Park, Highbury, LONDON, N.

SHOW ROOM:

10 Silver Street, Bury Street, High Holborn, W.C.
APJARY: “Monk’s Acre,” Andover, HANTS.
 

CHAIN-GEAR EXTRACTOR, 28/-
Ne: 17—With Cowan Cog:!Gear, 26/-

TAYLOR’S
ueroonre cui CENTURY HIVE.
Fitted with swarm-preventing chamber, containin;
shallow bars, brood nest with 10 standard bars, porch an
entrances, 6-in. lift containing crate of 21 lb. sections,
6-in, lift for tiering, quilts, roof and legs, etc.

18/= complete.
No. 22 NATURAL 97 OR ROOT F FOUNDATION:

  

 

1to4-lb. 5 to 20-lb, 20 to ra Ib. 56 to 112-lb.
1st Quality Brood 2/- 1/10 9 1/8

 

No scHive,
10/6.

3 E.H. Taylor,

Wholesale and Retail
Manufacturer,
Welwyn, Herts, and
Johannesburg, S.A,

20/- per gross.
No. 32—5-g ross, 11/- per gross.
No. 52—Combined Plain Bottle
$

GIRDER WINTERING DEVICE,
4d. each, 3/6 per Dozen
and Tie-over Jar, 12/= per gross.

No. 51—In 3-gross Cases, 18/-
No. 51—1-Ib. Screw-top Bottle,

  
 

SYSTON,

BAXN _ NEAR
WE LEAD THE way  Leteesten!

We make Stamped Sheet-
For BEE and DAIRY APPLIANCES. Metal Work, Wrought or Cast-
Iron Work, Machined Wood-

Tel ms: ‘‘ MEADOWS,” e work, or Wood and Metal
as Geena: A pot combined, for all Trades.

 

 

 

Hives from 8s. 6d.
Pr acta Royal Ao natur ral Shows

he: Send To

   

| : A
\ ea ree conn

i I
Le i F

  

The Marvel 15/- Guinea Raynor Cowan. — we pay carriage on Orders of £2,
Cornell University Library
SF 523.0543

Bee-keeping for beginners, according to