BUTTE PET EET ie | " Views ele i fo > aie bye eg oer Seti HENGEEEE Os s Tee Ss pa sh : ty Pm aa “oe = ~ Kopel ef ps sas \ Eee © SQN of “dle ¥. . : Ss — bars KS e F- = 2S gt as enh Lee tee Fak sae tears a aa — ne =~ te = 4 STE TTA SeDaDanENtehpabeenrraitter Toes secamineeereiee re ETE Brule SA Nie -; a 0a ra — ™ =— — pa LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA Ns) | = ys YS ig ; a AGRI ; i THE Te BEE-KEEPER’S MANUAL: OR PRACTICAL HINTS ON THE MANAGEMENT AND COMPLETE PRESERVATION OF THE HONEY-BEE. BY HENRY TAYLOR. iy THIRD EDITION: To which is added an Appendix, with an Illustrated Description of the Improved “ AMATEUR’s BaR-Hivez,” and Directions for its construction and use, LONDON: R. GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1849. aay TAlb 1G49 PREFACE NS TO THE THIRD EDITION. ; SS aees x goP ERHAPS the original design in offering the _ following pages on the management of the ~ Honey Bee, to the public, may most appropri- ately be explained in the words of the first preface. “On reviewing his experience as an ™ “amateur bee-keeper, the author was led to —~. “believe that the result of it, added to a concise © view of such particulars as are usually spread “over a large surface in works of this nature, ~ “and arranged according to the progressive — “order of the seasons, might be useful to “ others, seeking like himself'occasional relaxa- > “tion from weightier matters in watching over “and protecting these interesting and valuable insects. Step by step this or that defect of “construction in his hives had been remedied, ~» “ and such conveniences added as necessity or the ‘S “spirit of improvement from time to time had = “suggested. These are briefly described in the “following little work. If it have the good for- “tune, though in a small degree, to smooth the bi24i42 ‘¢ AY pe My OE lV. PREFACE. “path (usually a rough and uncertain one) of “the apiarian novice,—of removing ignorance “and prejudice, or of obviating any portion of “the difficulties with which a more general “cultivation of bees has to contend,—why may “not the contribution of this mite be considered “a humble addition to the store of USEFUL ‘““ KNOWLEDGE ?” The sale of two large impressions of his book, affords the most satisfactory proof to the author that the fruits of his experience have not been offered in vain. In its present renewed and somewhat enlarged form, he has still adhered to his principal wish of consulting practical utility, without unnecessary prolixness; availing him- self of the opportunity of another edition to make such corrections, improvements, and additional illustrations, as observation and a continued experience enable him with confi- dence to do. London, April, 1846. INDEX.. APIAry, situation of, 68. Autumnal feeding, 91. Autumnal management, 86. Autumnal unions, 96. Bee, common or working, 1;'8. Bee-dress, 133. Bee, drone, or male, 1, 5. Bee, eggs of, 2, 4, 6, 182. Bee, enemies of, 84. Bee-houses and stands, 22. Bees, increase of, 131. Bee pasturage, 68,71, 116. Bee, queen, 1, 2, 125. Bees, removing of, 69, 115. Bees, stranger, 85, 118. Bees, to transfer, 96, 103. Bell-glasses, 81, 90, 107. Boxes, 12, 15. Box of honey, to take, 87. Brood-bread, 80, 116. Cleaning floor-boards, 113. Collateral hives, 25, 31, 45. Colony of bees, strength of, 72, 181. Comb-knife, 89. Combs, 76, 82, 139. Conclusion, 136. Condensing trough, 105, 115. Damp, to guard against, 105. Disease, 97, 110, 113. Doubling-board, 26. Drones, or males, 1, 5. 68, Durability of a colony, 138. Karly flowers, 71, 100, 116. Eggs of bees, 2, 4, 6, 182. Enemies of bees, 84. Enlargement of hives, 24, 118. Farina, 80, 116. Feeding, 76, 91, 116, 118. Feeding-pan, 65. Floor-boards, 12, 17. Floor-board, to clean, 22, 113. Fumigation, 97. Fumigation-tube, 98. (ilass of honey, to take, 90. Hive, collateral, 25. Hive, improved Nutt’s, 32. Hive, improved White’s, 45. Hive, Nadir, 34, 54. Hive, Nutt’s, 31. Hive, straw, 13. Hive, to stock, 72. Hive, wooden, 15. Hives, 12. Hives, enlargement of, 24, 118. Hives, size of, 15. Honey, 78, 86. Honey-dew, 78. Honey, quantity of, 139. Honey, virgin, 86. Increase of bees, 131. Moisture in winter, 105. Moths, 84. Nadir hive, 54. Vi PRRFACE. Pasturage, 68, 71, 116. Pavilion, 32, 33. Piping, 126. Pollen, 80, 116. Propolis, 78. Queen, or mother-bee, 1, 2, 125. Removing bees, 69, 115. Robber bees, 85, 118. Shade, 83, 119. Situation, 68. Spring feeding, 116. Spring management, 115. Sting, remedy for, 135. Stocking a hive, 72. Stocks, union of, 72, 96, 104. Store of honey, 86, 93. Storifying, 25, 118. Strength of a colony, 72, 131. Suffocation, unnecessary, 96, 103. Summer management, 76, Swarming, 10, 119, 120. Swarms, to unite, 72, 122, 130. Swarms, size and weight of, 72. Swarm, second, 126. Swarm, third, 127. Temperature, 82, 108, 112, 229; Thermometer, 62, 82, 108, 119. Transferring of bees, 96, 103. Union of stocks, 72, 96, 122. Uniting of swarms, 72, 130. Ventilation, 62, 81, 119. Ventilators, 62. Wasps, 84. Water, 83, 119. Wax, 76. Winter guard, 111, 115. Winter management, 105. Winter position, 109. Winter store, 93, 96. a THE BEE-KEEPER’S MANDAL. mere To those who may be unacquainted with the natural history of the domestic Honey Bee, it may be well as a preliminary remark to say that in every family there are three kinds ; A Queen, or Mother Bee, The Common, or Working Bees, J * And (during a part of the year,) the Male, or Drone Bees Yo Y THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. Ina community thus constituted, they dwell toge- ther in great harmony, working for the general good, recognising one another, but permitting the intrusion of no stranger. THE QUEEN OR MOTHER BEE Is very rarely to be seen: she is darker, longer, and more taper than the common bees, has shorter wings, and is of a yellowish brown colour underneath. She is armed. with asting, and reigns supreme in the hive, admitting no rival or equal. Where she goes, the other bees follow; and where she is not, none will long remain. A queen bee has been known to live four or five years; she is the mother of the colony, laying the eggs from which all pro- ceed, whether future queens, drones, or workers. Separate her from her subjects, and she speedily resents the injury, refuses food, pines, and dies. Without a queen, or a prospect of one, labour is suspended, and a dispersion of the colony ensues. To provide for death or ineapacity, preparation is made for a successor, and at the proper season young queens are to be found in various stages of maturity. They are not bred in the hexagonal cells of the common bees, but in much larger ones, which, when complete, = 4 ; e ' e. THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. * 8 present the appearance of an oblong spheroid, generally appended to the sides of the combs, the bottom being downwards. They vary in number from five or six to a dozen, and some- times more. The eggs intended to produce future queens are laid after those of common bees and drones, the young princesses arriving at maturity on the sixteenth day. These are successively cast out of the hive if not required ; but it is a well-established fact, that in case of an emergency the bees have the power (pro- vided there is broodcomb in the hive at the time) of creating a queen. They select one of the grubs in a certain stage, enlarge the cell that contains it, and by a different kind of nurture a sovereign is reared, and all goes on as usual.* THE COMMON OR WORKING BEES Are the least in size, and in point of numbers are variously calculated at twelve to twenty * This curious fact in natural history was discovered by Schirach, a member of a society formed in the middle of the last century, at Little Bautzen, in Upper Lusatia, for the purpose of the study of bees. The celebrated Huber re peatedly, by experiment, confirmed its truth; as have many other later apiarians. . B 2 4. THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. thousand, according to the bulk of the swarm ; though at certain times they are often much more numerous. As regards sex, from the ob- servations of naturalists, there is every reason to believe they are undeveloped females; and, like the Queen or Mother Bee, each has the power of stinging. * Workers’ eggs are deposited in the cells in the centre of the hive, being those first laid by the queen; and are about the size of such as are produced by a butterfly. In four or five days they are hatched, remaining in the larva or erub state four to six days more, during which time they are assiduously fed by the nurse-bees. They then assume the nymph or pupa form, and spin themselves a film or cocoon, the nurses immediately after closing them up with wax. On the twenty-first day from the laying of the egg a perfect bee bursts its confinement. It is speedily cleaned by its companions, and ina few hours has been known to be gathering honey in the fields.* * As soon as the young bee comes forth, the others clear the cell from all impurity, and it again receives an egg; this being often repeated four or five times in the season. After- wards the cell becomes a receptacle for honey; but with all their attention, the cells are found in time to become con- tracted or thickened by this rapid succession of tenants. THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. 5 The working bees have their respective occu- pations; some in secreting and elaborating wax, and constructing the cells in the hive; others in warming the eggs, and rearing the young brood ; in attending on their queen, to whom they are devotedly attached; in guarding and giving notice of attacks or annoyance from without ; and the rest in searching the fields and woods for the purpose of collecting honey and farina for present and future store. ‘The working bees are short-lived; there being no reason for believing that they survive a year; but, on the contrary, itis shewn pretty clearly by Dr. Bevan and others that six or seven months is the limit of their duration. THE DRONE OR MALE BEES Are computed in the spring at one to two thousand, and upwards, in every good stock hive. They are larger than the common bees ; haye no sting, andare easily distinguishable by their louder humming or droning. The drones take no part in the collection of honey, nor in any other operation of the hive. When this takes place it is best to remove the combs, which will soon be replaced with new ones, by the bees. 6 THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. Drone eggs are laid by the queen in cells larger and stronger than those intended for common bees, and further removed from the centre of the hive. They pass through their various stages in about twenty-five or twenty-six days, the drones being seldom seen till about the beginning of May, and then only in warm weather, in the middle of the day. | Of all the theories on the subject of the part allotted to the drones in the constitution of a hive of bees, (and someof these have been suffi- ciently absurd,) that of Huber* is undoubtedly the true one,—the impregnation of the young queens. Perhaps the annual destruction of the drones by the workers is the operation most likely to throw light on the design of their creation. ‘This process varies in point of time according to circumstances. Deprive a_ hive forcibly of the young queens, and, according to Bonner and Huber, no expulsion of drones takes place. They are retained in case of need, for other queens may yet be produced. Where swarming has become unnecessary, as in venti- c * See “Observations on the Natural History of Bees,” by Francis Huber, new edition, Londor, 1841. An invaluable work to the scientific apiarian. THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. y lating hives with abundant space, the young queens are cast out voluntarily by the bees. Then frequently commences an early expulsion of the drones: they arerendered useless, become merely consumers of the wealth of the commu- nity, and as such are driven ignominiously from the hive, to perish miserably, not one surviving ; nor are even those in embryo allowed to escape. This warfare often commences in such hives in the middle, or at any rate towards the end of May, as I have witnessed.* On the contrary, in the common swarming hives this process does not take place till July, or even August. The circumstances differ in the two cases; and the bees in this, as in other parts of their practice, are sufficiently utilitarians to modify their pro- * Bagster, in his work on the “ Managementof Bees,” says * Z =| —_ q : 7 > i = =—>— = “An rE HH iy \ SS Separated Plan. ¢ THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. 39 of ready inspection, and are there less in the way than in the centre of the hive, both in forming the combs, as well as in the operation of emptying a box of honey. This position possesses the further advantage of preventing the bees from placing one of their combs across or in front of the window, by which obstruction a perfect view of the interior is sometimes shut out. The communication between the pavilion and the side boxes is made in each by two lateral openings, half an inch high; one being on a level with the inside top of the side box, and extending the whole distance. Thus situated, it is peculiarly useful, as allowing a passage for a straight carving knife, or spatula, with which to cut the combs from the top when a box of honey is removed,—a difficult matter otherwise, where instruments for the purpose are not at hand. The bottom openings are on the ground level, and ought also to extend all the way. They are stopped, when required, by slides, or dividers of strong well-straightened tin, of an inch and quarter wide, inserted from behind,* let into * The slides need not come through the outer cases, as by bending the extremities a little, there is space enough within for as much projection as is necessary for holding them, when required to be withdrawn. To avoid any difficulty when these 40 THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. the boxes their own thickness, and there loosely kept by cases or strips of tin, cut to correspond with the openings. ‘The tins may be about two and an half inches wide. Their form, and also that of the slides, is shewn below. » In fixing the tin case at the bottom opening, its two lower extremities must be turned or lapped under at each end of the box, as a sup- port to the slide on lifting. In Nutt’s hives no separate dividers are provided to the side boxes; but for greater convenience, I make them in this respect all alike. The tin cases must be ad- justed to the boxes, so as to present a smooth ex- terior surface. This part of the boxes differs from Nutt’s, which have numerous apertures between them. These I have found are not only useless, but practically injurious, as the bees will frequent- ly unite the combs through them. The difficulty of separating them when this is the case is not are used, the pilasters at the back of the pavilion must not project beyond the square of the box; or, otherwise, they may be made moyeable. THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. 41 the least evil; for the queen is often tempted to pass by these points of union into the side boxes and deposit eggs there, which not only gives occasion to much irritation to the bees on the removal of a box of honey, but, by causing a mixture of brood and pollen with it, injures its quality. The inutility of numerous openings is further proved by the fact, that the bees, when wanting the room, will readily take possession of a side box, if even but one opening is pro- vided. : At the entrance door of the pavilion are two slides of perforated zinc, about an inch wide, moving at the back of the panel, and behind the pilasters, right and left, so as to contract the mouth at pleasure. There is nothing better than this, as the aperture may be decreased without diminishing the supply of air. This opening ought not to be less than five or six inches long, and three-eighths of an inch high, the floor-board being cut away in a slanting direction upwards from the rabbet to form it.* * There is nothing to prevent the adoption, in a hive of the kind now described, of the entrance from beneath the floor-board, as described at page 21. In this case the portico and its adjuncts are unnecessary. Some persons also prefer a small opening from each of the side boxes, as an outlet, or ventilator, for the bees, when much crowded, in hot weather. On removing a box of honey, this is also useful. These open- 42 THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. In lieu of the slides, may be substituted, if preferred, a square sheet of well-flattened tin, zinc, or copper, of four equal sides, made to slip down in the grooves of the centre pilasters, behind the moving panel. Each side of the square gives an altered mouth to the pavilion, at pleasure, according as it is turned, being cut with various-sized apertures, and one entirely closed except the perforations for ventilation.* ings are best made at the front extremities, withinside; and may come through the floor-board in a slanting direction, so as to open immediately under its projection. A strip of tin or zine may be pushed under the box, to close the hole at pleasure. * This very simple contrivance may be adapted to any hive of a square front, by the addition of two ribs of wood THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. 43 The floor-board should be one inch and a half thick, and must be prevented from warp- ing by a cross-piece under it. It should pro- ject a little on all sides, with a slope to throw off wet. To make sure that none can get to the boxes, a rabbet of three-eighths of an inch is worked round the floor-board, and on this stand the outside panels and cases, excluding any rays of light, as shown in the annexed section. The pilasters which are attached to the pavi- lion must be made so much longer than the box as to reach to the rabbet. The floor-board is best fitted down to four posts, two and a half inches square, framed together with a rail, like a table, about eighteen inches above the ground, and sunk as much beneath it, as the whole cannot be too firm and steady. In thus fixing the stand, it is not amiss to give a slight inclination forwards, so as to insure a fall for any moisture, which at times will accumulate in the hive, and should be conveyed to the mouth. fastened to the latter, with grooves to admit the plate, it being made the whole width, or of any more convenient size, AA THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. With proper fastenings to the roof, the hive is rendered perfectly secure from depredators of every kind; and if well made, and painted occa- sionally, it will be extremely durable ; but no paint should be put on the floor under the por- tico; and I recommend the inside of the roof and of the panels to be blacked. a3 ESRC CELE AYASSTRI GT OER AS Seem I think in practice, the hive now described will be found to combine many advantages of construction for easier working than those usually made on this principle. With no ab- solute neglect of exterior, the first object in * , * * THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. 45 view was utility, without superfluous expense. Where more embellishment is required, there is doubtless scope left for the artist. After all, situation, and the degree of care and attention bestowed by individuals, vary so much, that it is not to be wondered at that frequent conflicting opinions should have been formed as to the profitable results of this mode of working and managing bees. In all cases of disappointment, great allowance must be made, for the principle that is well adapted to one locality, or season, is ineligible in another. IMPROVED WHITES HIVE. As regards collateral bee boxes, after all, we chiefly owe any advantages they may possess to the Rev. Stephen White, who introduced and described them nearly a century ago.* His plan, however, only requires tio boxes, placed side by side, with communication at pleasure. By these every convenience is obtainable for the required object, with much less outlay, and a greater economy of space, than when ¢hree boxes form a set. Whether Whites plan was * See “Collateral bee-boxes, or a new, easy, and advan~- tageous method of managing bees,” by Stephen White, Holton, Suffolk. London, three editions, 1756, 1763, and 1764, My own copy is of the latter date. 46 THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. extensively followed, I do not know; but his hives, made as he describes them, certainly shewed no great constructive talent, and worked very clumsily. This is not surprising; as he tells us, ‘‘ my deal boards, assisted with all the mechanical skill that I and my ingenious car- penter are masters of, have been jumbled together in such a variety of wrong and ineffec- tual forms, and been almost forty years in making a bee-box.” What the inventor and his “ingenious carpenter” thus so long ineffec- tually laboured at, I have endeavoured to per- fect; and, as improved by me, these hives are extremely simple, being, as I think beyond all others, easy of management; and possessing at the same time certain facilities peculiarly their own. My boxes are made, at least on three sides, in every respect, and with similar windows, like the one described and shewn at pages 15 to 17. Both are alike in their construction; and it is essential to my plan of working them, that their front and back elevations should present pre- cisely the same exterior appearance. They may be ten anda half or eleven inches square, withinside, and nine deep. The sides of com- munication are of half-inch wood, with an opening half an inch high, at the top and bottom, extending the whole distance, for THE BEE-KEEPERS MANUAL. 47 reasons given at pages 39 to 41 ; where will also be detailed the mode in which the communica- tion from box to box is made and cut off; with an illustration of the requisite tin cases and slides. These must be fitted to both boxes, so as each may be removed independently of the other, the slides drawing out at either end at pleasure. Holes should be cut in the top for glasses or caps, and for ventilation. Hach box must have its separate floor-board, and these should, on three sides, be made like the one described and shewn, page 20, and with cross bars underneath. The remaining side is not to be rabetted, but both boards and boxes must be fitted to come level together, as closely as possible. ‘To make this union complete, an upright moveable piece of wood, the height of the boxes, one and three quarters of an inch wide, and half an inch thick, is provided, both at the back and front. By means of pins at the bottom, and a hook and eye across at the top, these uprights serve to connect and fix together the boxes, with their respective floor- boards; and at the same time to close from light and air the space between them.