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 A TREATISE ON 
 
 BEE-CULTURE, 
 
 B Y 
 
 j. McDonald. 
 
 When the Creator placed man upon the earth, he 
 put all living thngs in subjection under him, and said, 
 f ‘Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the 
 fowls of the air, and over every living thing that creep- 
 eth upon the earth.” He also established certain laws 
 of nature, and gave man a reasoning, and inventive fac- 
 ulty, that he might discover the principles, and put 
 them into use for his own benefit. The unalterable 
 law of gravity has been made to serve him in various 
 ways: in the construction of that wonderful piece of 
 mechanism, the clock ; in the wheel that is turned by 
 the effort of water, to seek its level, controlled by the 
 same law, &c., &e. He has compelled the fickle wind 
 to waft him safely to a desired destination ; he has ap- 
 plied the wonderful power of steam to do the sam- 
 thing, besides a multitude of offices, and ho has even 
 chained the lightning and made it carry his messages 
 from continent to continent. He has tamed the most 
 savage denizens of the jungle and made them obedient 
 to his will. He puts a bridle into the horse’s mouth 
 and leads him where he will, and of the fowls of the 
 air, the natural instinct of the carrier dove, has been 
 ma ! e to do man an important service. 
 
 Shall the “little busy bee” which indeed has been 
 
2 
 
 tamed , still baffle tlie efforts of man to put it into com- 
 plete subjection ? There have been many systems of 
 bee culture, and innumerable “patent hives,” invented 
 to effect this, but none of them has attained to perfec- 
 tion. The system explained in this little work, does 
 not, however, claim absolute perfection, but it does 
 claim to be an improvement that ranks higher than any- 
 thing which has been heretofore attempted. 
 
 We would say in the first place, that to be successful 
 in bee culture we must be able to carry over from one 
 year to the other the work our bee does, together with 
 the bees, without unnecessary loss. To do this we must 
 know something of the nature and habit of the bees. 
 If we have a proper hive we may do this, and the Mc- 
 Donald Hive is just what the common bee master wants. 
 
 1st. — It is simple in its construction and costs no more 
 than a hive should cost to put bees in. Every bee master 
 should have some little pride about what he puts his 
 bees in when they will pay him well for all the money 
 and labor he bestows on them. It has been said that 
 there is no excellence without great labor but there 
 may be great profit with but very little labor, it it is 
 done understandingly in bee culture. Wc say there is 
 some things that a man must know of the habits of bees 
 if he makes the culture profitable ; and there are a few 
 things that he must do and they must be done in time, 
 and at the time. The common method of colonizing 
 bees is attended with much uncertainty and danger ot 
 loss to the bee raiser. Sometimes a colony will stay 
 with the old hive two weeks longer than it should in 
 the very best time for gathering honey, it then comes off 
 and you put it in an empty hive ; if the I’cmaining sea- 
 son should prove unfavorable, it will die during the 
 next winter ; another one will come off and go to the 
 woods and it is lost, and then the old colony will 
 throw off some times as many as five colonies and they 
 are not worth having, and while the old hive is weak 
 from over-swarminc, the miller takes advantage and 
 destroys them. So you can see you must govern 
 your bees or there is no success. Now if you will take 
 
3 
 
 the system explained in this little work, and adopt the 
 McDonald Improved Bee Hive, you may meet all these 
 difficulties ana govern and control your bees the same 
 as you do your horse, or sheep, or any other part of na- 
 ture over which God has given man dominion. 
 
 The first that the bee-raiser should know is that it 
 takes a Queen and fifty thousand workers to make a 
 perfect colony of bees, and that it takes a box that 
 contains thirty-four hundred and fifty-six cubic inches 
 to contain that many bees, together with the comb nce- 
 essary for that number. 
 
 The bee raiser must bring his colonies up to this de- 
 gree of strength before he can either take stock or hon- 
 ey from them. You might as well say that a fanner 
 can do his work on his farm with his two year old colts 
 successfully as to say that the bee raiser can be success- 
 ful in keeping his bees in boxes that will only contain 
 a half colony. We say this is absolutely impossible.— 
 Therefore to be successful we must conform to the 
 above rule. 
 
 The McDonald Hive is made in two sections, precise- 
 ly alike ; each being one cubic foot inside. When 
 these two sections are brought together, they make the 
 hive above named. We make the hive in sections that 
 we may have the complete control of our bees. As 
 soon as a colony fills one section the other must be ad- 
 ded ; when both are full the bee-master may then pro- 
 ceed to divide his bees instead of letting them swarm 
 the natural way. Directions for doing this will be 
 given hereafter. 
 
 If you adopt the McDonald Hive and your bees are in 
 good condition in the old hive you may let them swarm. 
 We do not advise transferring unless your bees arc in 
 a bad condition in the old hive. If you th nk you will 
 lose them ; then, we say, transfer them, directions for 
 doing which will be given hereafter. 
 
 If the bee raiser uses the McDonald Hive he will hane 
 them ready, and as the swarm comes off hive them in 
 it. One section is all you need, when-your colony first 
 comes off but you must add the other section as soon 
 
4 
 
 as the first is full, as it takes both sections to make one 
 perfect hive. Each section is made one cubic foot in- 
 side. Across the top of each section .there will be 
 eight bars or comb bearers. These answer a double 
 purpose ; one is to separate the sections, the other is to 
 guide your bees in building their comb so it will be 
 adapted to raising worker bees only. These are both 
 absolutely necessary in successful bee culture. Thick 
 heavy comb is only adapted to breeding drone bees. — 
 Colonies often raise so many drones by having so much 
 drone comb in the hive that they destroy the colony. — 
 Drones are only oonsum ers and not gatherers of honey 
 You will find by counting the cells in which drone bees 
 are bred that there are only sixteen on one inch square, 
 while there are twenty-five worker cells on one inch 
 square; lienee you will see the great necessity of giving 
 your bees a guide to build their'eomb by. 
 
 The Queen carries a little sack in her hinder parts 
 that is filled by thedrone. When she puts her hind parts 
 in a drone cell, the cell is large and does not fit her 
 close, so when she passes the egg it does not touch this 
 fecundated sack, therefore it will be a drone, not hav- 
 ing touched this fecundated sack. When she puts her 
 hind parts in a worker cell, the cell is small and fits her 
 close and tight. She cannot pass the egg without its 
 touching this sack ; this fecundates the egg and gives it 
 its sex. This has been proved by bringing the eggs un- 
 der the magnifying glass. The drone egg has always 
 been found to be a clear white, while the worker egg 
 has shown a little streak that proves it has touched 
 this fecundated sack. Queens have been dissected and 
 this sack has been found empty in those that have not 
 had connection with the drone bee. In others that 
 have had connection with the male it has been found 
 full, and as my aim is not to explain the nature and 
 habits of the honey bee in full, only to give a few hints 
 that will waken up an interest on this subject, I 
 would advise bee keepers to purchase Langstroth’s 
 work on bee-culture, or some other work that has 
 treated the subject in full, that you may be posted in 
 
5 
 
 the nature and habits of that very interesting and prof- 
 itable little insect, the honfiy-bee ; and as my object in 
 this little work is to explain the McDonald System and 
 Hive I will try to do so in as plain and brief a mauner 
 as possible. 
 
 s 
 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE SYSTEM AnL ^IlIVE 
 
 In the above diagram we represent the double hive 
 ready to divide. The hive as it now stands on the mid- 
 dle of the bench, which is three feet and four inches 
 long, and one foot aud two inches wide, is capable of 
 holding two hives, side by side. This bench has strips 
 tacked down on each edge one-fourth inch thick, one 
 inch wide, so that two sides of the hive will rest on 
 these strips. These will close the two sides and at the 
 same time raise the hive sufficiently to let (he bees pass 
 in aud out on each side of the hive This bench must 
 be placed so the bees will be free to form the habit of 
 working out and in on both sides of the hive. You 
 will find that about an equal number of the bees have 
 formed the above habit by the 20th of May. 
 
6 
 
 _ There must be a cross board fitted in between the 
 side strips three inches wide, and one-fourth of an inch 
 thick. This will be tacked down across the centre of 
 the bench to cut off the connection between the two 
 sections when they are separated. 
 
 This bench may be made of an inch or inch and a 
 half board by sawing oft' two pieces of scantling three 
 or four inches square and one foot long. 
 
 Take the board above named and nail these two 
 
 E ieees of scantling securely across it about eight inches 
 ■om either end. Bore two holes in each piece of 
 scantling and put in good strong legs about, fifteen in- 
 ches long and yo i have the bench above described. — 
 Bore two two-inch holes about ten in lies apart on each 
 side of your cross board so that when there is but one 
 hive on the bench, it will stand over both holes, and 
 when you divide you will have one ventilator under 
 each hive, for these holes are for ventilation. Now 
 take two pieces of tin each large enough to cover one of 
 these veutilators, punch them full of holes and tack 
 them over the ventilators and you will have a bench 
 ready for use. 
 
 The McDonald Hive is made in two sections. These 
 will be made precisely alike. If you was making 
 one hundred you would make them all alike. Take 
 poplar or pine boards, dress them true to twelve 
 inches wide, so that your pieces will be true and square ; 
 this will make your boxes square so they will fit oue on 
 top ol the other. You are now ready to saw it in pieces. 
 You will need three pieces. Two of them will be cut 
 twelve inches square ; the back will be twelve by four- 
 teen inches ; the front will be made by dressing two 
 pieces two and a quarter inches wide and fourteen inch- 
 es long. These will be nailed on the front, one at. the 
 top the other at the bottom. You will fill up the sides 
 with the same width this will give you an opening that 
 will take in an 8x10 glass. You will put the glass on 
 the inside by cutting a rabbet, the same as for sash. 
 
 At the top of the section there will be eight bars, 
 or guides. These are made by taking an inch board 
 
7 
 
 ripping first into pieces one inch square then ripping 
 them diagonally across from corner to corner. It will 
 take eight of these bars to fill up the top leaving one- 
 fourth inch space between them for the bees to pass 
 from one section to the other. The bars are fastened 
 in their place by driving two and one-half inch sprigs 
 in each end, these bars will be cut twelve inches long 
 placed inside the hive, at the top with the end to the 
 glass and driving llie sprigs through the hive in the 
 end of the bars. You will then take your plane and 
 dress off the top of the bars so your lid will fit down 
 tight on them, make a lid fifteen inches square of threo 
 fourth inch board, plain it bevel and fasten down on the 
 top by driving in eight screws. It will not do to nail 
 the lid down as you will want to take it off some times. 
 You will need one lid for two sections. 
 
 You will now make your door to fit over the glass. 
 Guage your door in one and one-half inches take it off 
 one-fourth of an inch with your plane leaving it high in 
 the middle. This will make it look like panel work.— 
 Hang with small hinges and your section is ready foi 
 use except, that you will need an aperture cut across the 
 top of your lid six inches long by three-fourths wide 
 to let your bees pass up in the cap or honey box. 
 
 You will take your surplus liouey by placing a small 
 box over the aperture cut in the lid of your top section, 
 that will hold from fifteen to twenty pounds of honey, 
 This you may remove and empty as often as your bees 
 fill it, after they have filled the two large sections. The 
 comb and liouey in the two large sections will belong 
 to the bees for their winter store, and to raise their 
 young brood. 
 
 SYSTEM OP DIVIDING WHEN YOUR TWO 
 SECTIONS ARE PULL OF COMBS AND BEES. 
 
 The 15th of March is the time to move the bees from 
 their winter quarters, for we do not suppose that any 
 bee master iu this enlightened age will leave his bees 
 to winter on the stand without any protection. Then we 
 
say the 15th of March is the time to place your bees on 
 the bench, preparatory for dividing when the proper 
 time comes, which is from the^oth of May up to the 
 15th of June. This the bee master’s own judgment 
 must decide, as it depends on the season and the condi- 
 tion of your bees. When the time comes and the bees 
 are apparently numerous the bee-master will proceed to 
 make two distinct colonies in the following manner: 
 The double hive now stands on the middle of the 
 bench and the bees having formed the habit of working 
 from two sides of the hive, there will be about an equal 
 number working from each side of your roof, (for you 
 must protect your bees with a roof, directions for do- 
 ing which will be given hereafter.) 
 
 In the evening between sun-down and dark you will 
 move the double hive towards one end of your bench 
 on the edge of your cross board. You will then close 
 the fly hole so the bees cannot get out, then with a stick 
 beat about three minutes on the lower section. The 
 old Queen will pass from the noise to the top section. 
 Wrftui ppose the youn^ Queens will be in the lower sec- 
 tion. You will then press a small chisel in the joint and 
 break the clinches, then lift the top section, piace it by 
 the side of the bottom section, one side resting on 
 the opposite side of the cross-board and supply the 
 lower section with a lid placing a flat stone on it to 
 hold it in place for the pre-cut, replace the roof and the 
 work is done for the present We say this Hive will 
 divide seven times out of fen. The common bee-master, 
 if he adopts the McDonald llive will have advantages 
 that he can have in no other hive. You will notice 
 your bees the next day. If the divide is a success 
 your bees will be working as naturally as before you 
 divided them all the bees that formed the habit of 
 working from the east side will now be entering the sec- 
 tion that is now east, and those that formed the habit of 
 entering on the west will be entering the section that is 
 west so you have two perfect colonies, as they were one 
 perfect double hive when they were together by having 
 a proper hive and educating them to do what you want- 
 
9 
 
 ed them to do, without any confusion to them, or in- 
 terfering with the natural habits of the bees. If the 
 bees appear confused you have only to replace them 
 and there is no harm done. You may try it over in a 
 few days. If you are satisfied the divide is all right-, 
 in forty-eight hours after they have been divided, take 
 two empty sections without lids, raise the two full sec- 
 tions, place the empty ones beneath and place your roof 
 over them and the work is done for the season. Drive 
 the screws in the lid, before you add your empty sec- 
 tions. . 
 
 The roof adapted to the McDonald Hive is made by 
 planting one row of posts five feet high and nine feet 
 apart. Saw a notch, eighteen inches from the toj) of 
 the posts and let in a piece of three inch scantling, four 
 feet long, in the form of a cross This will bear up 
 your roof. Make it in sections so you can move it when 
 you work with your bees. 
 
 With the McDonald Hive you may put two colonies 
 together with safety. In the fall you may have some 
 weak colonies that will not winter, you can add them to 
 a stronger, and thus save them over for the next season’s 
 operation. To do this draw the screws from the lid of 
 the weak colony, remove the lid, take one table spoonful 
 of alcohol, four of honey or sugar, (add a little water 
 if you use sugar) mix iu a tumbler with a spoon, pour it 
 on the top of the bars and it will run dowu over the 
 comb and bees. Now place the strong colony on top. 
 The bees from the top liive will go down to lick up the 
 honey and the two colonies will thus become mixed. — 
 The scent of the alcohol will scent the bees aud combs 
 and they will merge and go together the same as if they 
 had worked together all summer You will then have 
 a strong colony ready to divide the next season. 
 
 If a colony die during the winter you have only to 
 remove the lid, add a section with bees in it, aud you 
 save the comb over the next season. This is carrying 
 overall the work the bees do without unnecessary loss. 
 All this you can do if you adopt the McDonald Im- 
 proved Bee Hive. You will see the greater necessity 
 
10 
 
 for this when you learn that it takes twenty pounds of 
 honey before they can build one pound of comb, just 
 as certain as that a hop must eat one bushel of corn to 
 take on ten pounds of fat. Now, you see how valuable 
 comb already made is to bees, then, we say, away with 
 the idea that the comb must be changed every three or 
 four years. You might as well say that a man will 
 prosper better by burning up his cabin every three or 
 four years. Our advice is not to change the comb short 
 of ten years, and you may leave it even longer with per- 
 fect safety. 
 
 WINTERING BEES. 
 
 _ One thing is certain bees must have sufficient fresh 
 air. They take in oxygen from the air and give out car 
 bouic acid gas and unless this is allowed to pass off, and 
 fresh air to take its place the bees are poisoned by it and 
 die. Thousands of dollars worth ot' bees are lost an- 
 nually for the want of fresh air. The McDonald Hive 
 provides for this. 
 
 Bees must be protected, in this climate, in the winter 
 from the sudden changes from heat to cold. A man in 
 Iowa, says that he came to the conclusion that what 
 was good to keep ice in the summer would be good to keep 
 bees in the winter and he built him an ice house suffi- 
 ciently ventilated, and out of c’ghty-five stand of bees 
 that he wintered in it he did not lose a single colony. — 
 Some of them were very weak, so that lie did not ex- 
 pect to winter them over, and he says he lost the winter 
 before forty out of sixty-five, wintered on the stand 
 without any protection. This house he says cost him 
 forty dollars but, you say, we cannot afford to go to that 
 expense for a few stand of bees. We grant all that but 
 this need not hinder you from adopting some cheaper 
 plau. 
 
 In using the McDonald Hive and bench, late in the 
 fall, in the first cold spell, when the bees will have no 
 disposition to fly, we place our benches about six inch- 
 es apart, one double hive on each bcueh with the back 
 
11 
 
 of thellive to tlie south-east, and the front to the north 
 west. We then take hay or good straw, press it in be- 
 tween the hives and on the back, and then take fodder 
 and tie it up in sheaves and set them up close together 
 on the back of the hives. This protects the bees from the 
 rays of the sun and keeps a regular temperature in the 
 hives and the bees are not tempted out when it is too 
 cold for them. There are more bees lost in winter 
 from the heat of the sun than from the cold. 
 
 The back edge of the hive will rest, on the crossboard 
 on your bench. This will close the hive at the back. — 
 You will now close the front so as to leave about two 
 inches for your bees to work out at but so small that a 
 mouse can not get in. You will have your ventilator 
 in your bench all right, then place an empty cap over 
 the aperture in the lid of the hive, with a small wedge 
 under the side so some air will pass in and out. "S ou 
 will now set fodder in front, bound in sheaves, being 
 careful to have one sheaf right in front of each hive so 
 you can take it down to give your bees egress and in- 
 
 f ress when the temperature is warm enough for your 
 ees to fly, placing it back when it is cold. This, I 
 think, is a very good and cheap way to winter bees in 
 the climate of Ohio. The bee keeper should notice his 
 bees every two or three weeks through the winter. 
 
 FEEDING BEES. 
 
 We say this may be done, but we never try to bring 
 weak colony through the winter if we can add them to 
 a strong one in the fall. This you may do with the Mc- 
 Donald Hive, but when we do feed, wc do it in the fol- 
 lowing manner. Take strained or inferior honey or 
 the best of sugar, run it into molasses, boil and skim 
 it then bake a loaf of corn bread one and one-half 
 inches thick, split it through the middle, bake with 
 Borne salt, and no grease. Then pour your molasses on 
 the bread place it on a plate, put it uuder the bees so 
 the comb will touch the bread and close your hives to 
 prevent robbers from carrying it away. This should be 
 
12 
 
 attended to in the fall so that the bees may save their 
 honey for the cold weather in the winter and be sure 
 to attend to it in the spring for there arc many weak 
 colonies lost by neglect at that season. 
 
 SYSTEM OF TRANSFERRING. 
 
 The above cut represents a frame necessary for trans- 
 ferring a part of the comb and honey with the bees. — 
 This frame is attached to the bar that goes across the 
 top of the section, it will be eight inches wide and elev- 
 en inches long one-fourth ot an inch thick and one 
 inch wide. The sharp corner of your bar may be taken 
 off inside the frame. Drive a sprig through the bar in 
 the ends of the sides of your frame, put a piece across 
 the bottom and you have the frame you need. Fasten 
 in the top of the section by driving in a one and one- 
 fourth screw instead of the sprig as in the common sec- 
 tion. Transferring should be done only in April, if the 
 swarm is strong but later in the season if the colony be 
 a weak one. 
 
 Take up the hive to be transferred, and place it up- 
 side down, some distance from its original position, 
 place another box where it stood to catch the bees that 
 are out; then have a box of the same size as the hive 
 from which the bees are to be removed, and place it 
 upon the top of the hive, mouth to mouth; tic a cloth 
 around the two where they join to prevent any bees 
 
13 
 
 from flying out, then with a stick gently beat upon the 
 box containing the bees, about twenty minutes, when 
 it will be fouud that nearly all of the bees have gone 
 into the upper box. Remove the box now containing 
 the bees, and place it on the old stand. Now carefully 
 remove the combs from the hive, and selecting those 
 which contain the worker brood, (the combs containing 
 the drone brood, are easily distinguished by their cells 
 being larger than the cells in which the working bees 
 arc bred,) with a sharp kuife, cut the combs as near as 
 possible the size of the frames, press them m carefully 
 with the hand, and fasten in place by tying a piece of 
 twine or tape around the frames. Then place the 
 frames in the new hive in order, being careful to have 
 the same edge of the comb upward as was up in the 
 hive from whence they were taken. Now place the 
 hive in its proper position upon the alighting board, 
 take up the hive containing the bees, and with a quick 
 jerk, shake them upon the alighting board by the side 
 of the hive. This side of the hive may be lifted a little, 
 a few of the bees placed at the entrance, and m a few 
 minutes all of them will have entered. Screw down 
 your lid and place the hive where the old hive stood. 
 
 SOCIAL ORGANIZATION. 
 
 Bees are never known to live in a solitary state. 
 They proceed upon the principle that it is not good for 
 them to be alone. In this respect they differ widely in 
 their habits from the wasp, the hornet and various 
 kinds of flies. There is a reason for this which 1 do 
 
 not recollect to have seen stated. _ The material which 
 is used iu the construction of their nests or cells, is dir 
 ferent from that which is employed for the same pur- 
 pose, by solitary insects, and this material cannot be 
 used’ except at a high degree of temperature. The in- 
 struments to be employed in ciDmb-building are small, 
 and the wax must be softened in order that it may be 
 spread. A solitary bee cannot come and deposit his 
 quantum of wax, and thus enlarge the cell. I he de- 
 
14 
 
 gvee of warmth which is necessary for comb-building 
 is produced by the clustering together of the bees.— 
 Tbeir animal heat, when they collect together in a mas 3 
 is sufficient for this purpose. Hence wc are able to un- 
 derstand why it is they cluster very compactly together 
 and remain quiet for the most part for several days af- 
 ter swarming, when the foundations are to be laid, and 
 comb is to be built in their new home. The comb is 
 built the most rapidly during the night, when all are at 
 home, because the temperature is then the highest, or 
 the animal heat is the greatest. It is observed that 
 the temperature of the hive is at a higher point during 
 the season of comb- building, than at any other time — 
 Ihe naked hand placed upon the glass will be sufficient 
 to convince any one of the fact, without the aid of a 
 thermometer. They have the power of increasing or 
 concentrating their own animal heat whenever itis nec- 
 essary for the purposes just specified. 
 
 MEMBERS OP THE FAMILY. 
 
 A colony or swarm of Bees is composed of the Queen, 
 
 * c ic?i ei j s ’ ?, n< ^ Drones. Each has distinct offices 
 to ful fill, and all are important in their bearing upon the 
 welfare of the society, or body politic which they form. 
 1 hey never revolt. They remain true to their organi- 
 zation, until death separates them. 
 
 The Queen is the mother of the whole family, of 
 which she by instinct and by common consent is consti- 
 tuted the head. She is distinguished from the other 
 bees both by her shape, color, and size. Sbe is larger 
 every way than the common worker, and longer even 
 than the drone, and different in her proportions from 
 either. The rings of the abdomen are less fully devel- 
 oped, or less visible. She has a more delicate structure 
 than the drone, is more wasp like in her appearance, 
 with an abdomen more nicely tapered, or pointed at its 
 extremity. She is of a darker color upon the back 
 especially upon the back part of the abdomen, than 
 j wor ^ e r or drone. Upon the lower side of 
 the abdomen she presents a yellowish, or semi-orange 
 
15 
 
 appearance. Her wings, when compared with those of 
 the worker or drone, are wider, stouter, and shorter, in. 
 proportion to the length of her body. She is seldom 
 on the wiug, and is seldom seen except at the time ot 
 swarming, and when she comes forth in the open air to 
 be impregnated by the males. She laysall the eggs from 
 which the increase of the colony proceeds, lhe num- 
 ber of eggs which she deposits in the cells during a sin- 
 gle season is truly astonishing, amounting to hundreds 
 and even to thousands in a single day, as may be witness- 
 ed by those who use observatory hives. 
 
 Whenever she is taken away or lost, there is no tur- 
 ther increase of the colony, and gradually, as daily loss- 
 es occur, the colony becomes extinct. Many colonics 
 are lost annually from this cause alone. If, however, 
 she is lost during the breeding season, when there are 
 newly laid worker-eggs in the hive, the loss is repaired 
 by the production of another Queen. lhe usual pro- 
 cess is to destroy several worker-cells around a worker- 
 egg, and construct in their stead a queen cell. L have 
 known queen-cells to be partially constructed in an ob 
 servatory hive during a single night, after I have taken 
 the Queen from the hive. After the cell is constructed 
 or partially constructed, the same course is pursued as 
 if a queen-egg had been originally deposited in a queen- 
 cell, and in sixteen days another Queen is produed and 
 takes the place of the one which is lost. . 
 
 This result is secured because the worker is ot the 
 same sex as the Queen, and all that is wanting to render 
 it a propagating female is a proper development. 
 
 The workers are so called because they perform all 
 the labor of the colony. They seem to have no other 
 propensity excep* to labor in various ways and to ac- 
 cumulate stores for the subsistence of the family, and 
 such is their propensity in this direction that, they ol- 
 ten accumulate much more than is needful lor their 
 own supplies, and arc able, and, I doubt not, are willing 
 to furnish a liberal quantum of honey to their keeper 
 to defray their necessary expenses, such as house-rent 
 and the time which is bestowed upon them, lhey uni- 
 
16 
 
 form ly pay better for a good tenement than for a poor 
 one. They like to work to advantage, and never like 
 to be m debt, and if they are, it is not so much their 
 fault as that of the keeper, who fails to place them in 
 favorable circumstances, in which they can give full 
 scope to their natural instincts. Their industry is pro* 
 verbial. home are employed during the working sea- 
 son as sentinels, some in comb-building, some in gath- 
 ering and storing up honey, some in nursing or feeding 
 the young, some in pasting over, mason-like, the crev- 
 ices and joints of the hive, some in removing from the 
 hive offending substances, and others like a kind of 
 bodyguard, seem to bestow special attention upon the 
 gueen. W hether the principle of the division of labor 
 is strictly adhered to by them, or separate classes of 
 bees perform constantly the same kind of labor, or 
 whether they are employed alternately or promiscu- 
 ously in different departments of labor, is a point 
 which is not satisfactorily settled by any observations or 
 experiments which have hitherto been made. Their 
 number varies in different swarms, from twelve to forty 
 thousand according to circumstances, the size of the 
 hive or the degree of prosperity which they enjoy. They 
 are styled neuters, but are really females of dwarfish 
 s ! ze - J,j ie ce '' u ? which they are raised determines their 
 size, they are imperfectly developed incize, and their 
 female organs and propensities are in like manner im- 
 perfectly developed, because raised in a contracted cell 
 except in some few instances. In consequence of a 
 more perfect development than is usual, they have been 
 known to lay drone eggs. That they are really females 
 and not mongrels is proved by the fact that when a 
 queen is lost or removed from the hive in the hatching 
 season, a newly aid worker egg is taken from the cell 
 in which it has been deposited, and transferred into a 
 queeu cell, which is prepared for the purpose, and by a 
 peculiar feed, called royal jelly, it becomes a perfectly 
 developed queen or mother. 
 
 The drone, like the queen and worker, is appropriate- 
 ly named. He is larger, stouter and more bulky than 
 
17 
 
 the worker and not so long as the queen. The drones 
 
 Y® n“] y T ,a CS m , tlie ^ ve ' T , hey are hatched from 
 April to July, and usually number from three to four 
 hundred in a single colony. They are literally “gen- 
 tlemen of leisure. They add nothing to the stores of 
 the family .perform no labor, and do not even gather 
 their own food, but live on the labor of others They 
 
 verv limited "m' 1 f ° r , Propagation. Their days are 
 very limited. '' hen the work of impregnating the 
 
 queen is performed for the following season the! are 
 
 oufthTf - by - tl } e ":°>' k fi's, who seen, intent on carVying 
 
 « l ha i ie t hat w l? ] Dot work shall not 
 
 eat. .this general slaughter of dronfes usually takes 
 place during the month of August, sometimes a little 
 
 No nenf d ° n ley 1 ! ve lon " cr ^an four months. 
 
 JNone of them are allowed to survive the winter. 
 
 CLAIMS. 
 
 tohself Ul T U t T? ' S an enterpr , ip S w hieh has claims peculiar 
 to itself. It is recommended to our attention bv eon- 
 
 S'S’I Ca " f ppr ? priate ]y bc urged, relative 
 and nro/taKil’ th | r e u tei ' p nse8. It is both interesting 
 
 cfve to fi me b nf li and «onducted, is condu- 
 
 cive to mental and moral improvement. There is so 
 
 much which is truly wonderful in the instincts and 
 ean 1 h° ,J $ e tlle honey-bee, that the most stupid 
 
 wben‘^ d i y * al1 1° be » tt,acted hy their curious economy 
 distinehffr tl ? atment or 111 ode of proceedure is brought 
 distincly to view, as may be done at any time bv the use 
 of an observatory hive. The inquisitiVe, the emdous 
 the philosophical and the refined, are, as a matter of 
 n?r lr f®’. most deeply interested in their operations — 
 
 ont?fi ’ S t0 ° mu - C l V' u ? Philosophy, and too much sci- 
 on tfic accuracy in their work, to allow it to nass 
 
 “ larger a " d r U “ a f ,nir 4 Tbe faet «>at their work pays 
 Van .?nv P A • age °t V vofit 011 the capital invested 
 han any other is no slight commendation especially to 
 
 Vombtl- WIsb to be paid for their pains', orwh o 
 combine interest with profit. Those who engage in 
 
18 
 
 bee-culture with a view to understand it must study and 
 think much, and this is conducive to mental improve- 
 ment. It is an enterprise in which it is scarcely possi- 
 ble to engage without discovering the wisdom of the In- 
 finite One, and by those ideas which naturally arise in 
 the mind of the attentive observer, the heart, almost as 
 a matter of course, is made better. He finds 
 
 “Sermons in ‘Bees,’ and ‘God’ in everything.” 
 
 Bee-culture has claims upon the intelligent and sci- 
 tijic. "Professional men should study the instincts and 
 wonderful economy of the honey-bee, that they may be 
 able to throw light upon their operations and thus aid 
 their less intelligent neighbors. It has claims upon the 
 sturdy yeoman as a kind of pastime, by means of which 
 he can reach ample profits with very little expenditure 
 of time and capital. It has claims upon the young as a 
 means of extending their knowledge of natural history 
 and cultivating within them the love of natural objects. 
 It has claims upon the aged , who, as they retire from 
 the active and busy scenes of life, need just such objects 
 of contemplation to occupy their minds. It has claims 
 
 also upon the attention of females. Mrs. B , of 
 
 New Jersey, by her careful observations and economical 
 management, and valuable writings relative to the op- 
 eration of the honey-bee, secured to herself a liveli- 
 hood, an education to her children, and gained much 
 celebrity as a scientific writer. Females are amongour 
 very best apiarians. When the principle of domesti- 
 cation, which is found to exist in the honey-bee, is 
 properly understood, they will be kept on a much larger 
 scale than at present. 
 
 /j 
 
 jffi 
 
 r/W 
 
 /C / 
 
19 
 
 TESTIMONIALS. 
 
 Claysville, P. 0., Ohio, July 15th, ’68: 
 Mr. McDonald— Dear Sir .—I have divided three 
 colouies of bees that I had in your Improved Hive and 
 
 they work like JOHN HAWS. 
 
 Claysville, P. 0., Ohio, Aug. 2d, ’68. 
 Mr. McDonald— Dear Sir.— I divided three colouies 
 of bees with your Hive and they work just as you said 
 they would. E. KELLEY. 
 
 Claysville, P. 0., Ohio, Sep. 10th, ’68. 
 Mr. McDonald— Dear Sir .—I divided one of your 
 Hives and they have done well considering the season. 
 
 WM McKEE. 
 
 We the undersigned certify that we have been ac- 
 quainted with J. McDonald who has applied and ob- 
 tained letters patent on an Improved Bee Hive and 
 that he has considerable experience in bee culture.— 
 We have examined the hive and system believe it to be 
 an improvement worthy the patronage of bee keepers. 
 
 REV. W. J. KE1L, Sr. 
 WM. E. KEIL, Jr. 
 THOMAS FRAME, 
 DAVID SEC11EST, 
 HENRY RHODES. 
 
V