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APIARIAN'S MANUAL 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 ALL THAT IS IMPORTANT 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY OF BEES, 
 
 OR USEFUL IN THEIR 
 
 PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT. 
 
 By T. M. HOWATSON, 
 
 SCHOOLMASTER OF HUMBIE, EAST LOTHIAN. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ADAM BLACK, NORTH BRIDGE, 
 
 AND WILLIAM TAIT, PRINCE'S STREET. 
 
 PRINTED BY ANDERSON & BRVCE. 
 
 1827. 
 
TO THE 
 
 mg^lmin ^ocittVi ot ^cotlanU, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS HUMBLV DEDICATED 
 
 AS A 
 
 TESTIMONY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HIGH RESPECT OF THE 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 
 148916 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Bees in every age have excited the attention 
 of the curious ; their natural history has al- 
 ways been a subject of interesting investiga- 
 tion to the philosophic naturalist, and the 
 management of the apiary a source of happi- 
 ness and emolument to the rural cottager. 
 The information gained, however, in this de- 
 partment of natural history, has by no means 
 " been proportionate to the multitude of in- 
 " vestigators," and to the time and labour 
 spent in the contemplation. Little additional 
 knowledge was acquired for ages, and not 
 until a comparatively late period was any 
 thing done that could throw much light upon 
 the subject. 
 
 This was not altogether owing to the want 
 of a spirit of inquiry ; but to the impossibility 
 of observing what passed between the combs, 
 even in glass skapes, as they were formerly 
 constructed. In order to obviate this radical 
 defect in the means of observation, Reaumur, 
 
 Norfh '"^'■o'i^R ^.^Me ColU/i« 
 
the celebrated French naturalist, used glass 
 skapes so thin as to contain only two combs. 
 These, however, it is evident, could not wholly 
 remove the difficulty of observation, and the 
 famous Swiss apiarian, Huber, found it abso- 
 lutely necessary to make the frames which he 
 used in his experiments so thin as to leave 
 room for only one comb. Several of these 
 frames placed parallel to each other, and 
 closely connected, constitute what the in- 
 ventor himself styles the leaf ox book-skape, 
 from its opening and shutting somewhat in 
 the manner of the leaves of a book, so that 
 when the different divisions are successively 
 opened, both surfaces of every comb are at 
 pleasure brought fully into view. 
 
 As will readily be imagined, the invention 
 of the leaf-skape enabled M. Huber to prose- 
 cute his experiments with a facility and suc- 
 cess unknown to former naturalists. His dis- 
 coveries are numerous and important, they 
 originated in his own experiments, and most 
 of them have received the concurring testi- 
 mony of later observers. 
 
 " Among the few occupations which come 
 within the sphere of action of the cottager, 
 there is certainly no one which yields a greater 
 profit compared with the disbursement, than 
 the keeping of bees." Instances are not want- 
 ing of persons, who, from small beginnings in 
 
this interesting branch of rural economy, have 
 accumulated considerable sums of money. This 
 would be more generally the case were cotta- 
 gers to increase their stock of bees : but this 
 can hardly be expected, till a skape of an im- 
 proved construction be brought into general 
 use, that will easily enable the cultivator to 
 share with his bees the fruit of their labours ; 
 and thus avoid the no less injudicious than 
 cruel custom of suffocating every year such 
 vast numbers of bees, whose services next sea- 
 son would amply compensate for that portion 
 of their store which a skilful apiarian would 
 allow them to retain. 
 
 In speaking of bees, swarm is applied to 
 those which leave their native abode, at a cer- 
 tain season of the year, like emigrants among 
 men, in quest of a new habitation ; after the 
 swarm is properly lodged, and has commenced 
 operation, it forms a community called a hive ; 
 and the lodging itself is called a skape. 
 
 Every community or hive of bees is com- 
 posed of a single female or queen^ a consider- 
 able number of males ov drones, and workers 
 to the amount of many thousands. The two 
 first propagate the species ; while the workers 
 perform all the other functions of the hive. 
 The female or queen-bee gives birth to every 
 individual of a community, and her presence 
 is indispensably necessary to its prosperity 
 and existence. 
 
 North ra-o'fn=, Cf;,jg ColUne 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 10, line 13, for analogus, read analogousm 
 —— 17, line 28, for nf, read over. 
 —— 48, line 25, for ssign, read assign. 
 .^— 76, line 1 , for thick, read broad. 
 — •— 76, line 2, for 6roae/, read thick. 
 
I THE APIARIAN'S MANUAL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF THE FEMALE OR QUEEN. 
 
 Characteristics. — The cultivator of bees 
 ought to be so familiar with the external 
 form and colour of the queen, that he can 
 readily recognise her among a crowd of 
 either males or workers. She is distinguish- 
 able by the yellowness of her belly, and by 
 the great length of her body, and propor- 
 tional shortness of her wings, which reach 
 only to the third ring of the abdomen, while 
 those of the workers and drones extend the 
 whole length. When full of eggs she is 
 thick and unwieldy, otherwise she is slender, 
 tapering, and active. She has a sting of a 
 bent form, though she has scarcely ever been 
 known to use it, except to kill a rival of her 
 own sex. 
 
 Impregnation, — The eggs of the queen 
 are contained in two ovaries, which unite in 
 
 A 
 
 D. H. HILL LIBRARY 
 North r^r^'in^ c»^te CofU<,« 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 a common oviduct that terminates in the last 
 ring of the abdomen. It was long matter of 
 dispute among naturalists in what man- 
 ner the eggs were fecundated. The drones 
 are evidently males ; but the most careful 
 observers had never been able to detect any 
 thing like sexual intercourse between them 
 and the queen-bees. 
 
 Swammerdam remarking that the drones, 
 at certain seasons, when collected in clusters, 
 exhaled a strong odour, broached an opinion 
 that the odour proceeding from whole clus- 
 ters of drones, was a kind of seminal effluvi- 
 unif which produced fecundation by penetra- 
 ting the body of the female. There are fre- 
 quently fifteen hundred or two thousand 
 males in a hive, while there are only two or 
 three queens to be impregnated in a season ; 
 and Swammerdam seemed to have found, in 
 his hypothesis, an easy explanation of this 
 enormous disproportion in the numbers of 
 the sexes. Reaumur, however, who thought 
 that the queen*s fecundation followed actual 
 union, combated this fanciful doctrine : and 
 M. Huber has confuted it by direct experi- 
 ment. He confined all the drones of a hive 
 in a tin case, perforated with minute holes, 
 sufficient to allow any emanation to escape. 
 This tin case was placed in a populous skape, 
 where there was a young queen, who could 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 not fail to be subjected to the odour, but 
 she remained barren. 
 
 Maraldi was the first to suggest another 
 hypothesis, which apparently possessed a 
 greater degree of probability ; he imagined 
 that the eggs were fecundated by the drones, 
 after being deposited in the cells in a way 
 analogous to the fecundation of the spawn 
 of fishes by the milters. Mr. Debraw of 
 Cambridge (in Phil. Trans. 1777,) strenu- 
 ously supported this doctrine, and gave it a 
 certain degree of plausibility, by referring 
 to numerous experiments : he even affirmed, 
 that the milt-like fluid of the drones might 
 be seen in the cells. The supposition that 
 the drones performed this important office, 
 satisfactorily accounted for the prodigious 
 numbers of them found in a hive. But Mr. 
 Debraw does not seem to have attended to 
 this circumstance — that great numbers of 
 eggs are laid by the queen between the 
 months of September and April, which prove 
 fertile, although in that season there exist no 
 males to supply the milt-like liquor. M. 
 Huber proved by the strictest examination, 
 that the appearance of a fluid was merely an 
 optical illusion, arising from the reflection of 
 the light at the bottom of the cells. He 
 made the direct experiment of rigidly ex- 
 cluding every male from a hive, and yet 
 
4. THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 found the eggs laid by the queen in this in- 
 terval were as fertile as when the males were 
 admitted. Mr. Debraw's opinion, therefore, 
 must be erroneous ; for the fertility of these 
 eggs must have depended on the previous 
 impregnation of the queen herself, and not 
 on any thing that could happen after they 
 were deposited. 
 
 M. Hattorf, in a memoir published in Schi- 
 rach*s work, (Natural History of the Queen 
 Bee, 177^)) endeavoured to show that the 
 queen is impregnated by herself. This was 
 also M. Schirach's opinion ; and it seems to 
 be that of Mr. Bonner. It is an opinion, 
 however, that requires no refutation. The 
 cautious Huber, remarking how much con- 
 fusion had arisen from making experiments 
 with queens taken indiscriminately from the 
 skape, (the source of the error just mention- 
 ed,) thenceforward selected those which 
 were decidedly in a virgin state, and with 
 whose history he was acquainted from the 
 moment they had left the cell.* 
 
 The following experiments not only con- 
 fute the opinion of Maraldi and Debraw, 
 but also, in the most decisive manner, that 
 
 * See the Edin. Review, No. 22, in which there is a full 
 and beautiful analysis of M. Huber's letters to M. Bonnet, 
 which letters now constitute only the half of the former 
 naturalist's observations on Bees. 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 5 
 
 of Hattorf. *' From a very great number 
 of hives," says M. Huber, " I removed all 
 the reigning females, and substituted for 
 each a queen taken at the moment of her 
 birth. The hives were then divided into 
 two classes. All the males, both large and 
 small, were taken from the first, and I adapt- 
 ed a glass tube at the entrance, so narrow 
 that no drone could pass, but large enough 
 for the free passage of the common bees. 
 In the hives of the second class, I left the 
 whole drones belonging to them, and even 
 introduced more ; and to prevent them from 
 escaping, a glass tube, also too narrow for 
 the males, was adapted to their entrance. 
 For more than a month I carefully watched 
 this experiment, made on a large scale j but, 
 much to m.y surprise, every queen Remained 
 sterile. Thus it was proved that queens 
 confined in a hive would continue barren 
 though amidst a seraglio of males. 
 
 *' This result induced me to suspect that 
 the females could not be fecundated in the 
 interior of the hive (skape,) and that it was 
 necessary for them to leave it for receiving 
 the approaches of the male. On the 29th of 
 June, at eleven in the forenoon, we placed 
 ourselves opposite to a hive containing an 
 unimpregnated queen five days old. The 
 sun had shone from his rising ; the air was 
 
 A 2 
 
6 THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 very warm ; and the males began to leave 
 the hives. We then enlarged the entrance 
 of that selected for observation, and paid 
 great attention to the bees entering and de- 
 parting. The males appeared and immedi- 
 ately took flight. Soon afterwards the young 
 queen came to the entrance ; at first she did 
 not fly, but during a little time traversed the 
 board, brushing her belly with her hind legs; 
 neither workers nor males bestowing any no- 
 tice on her. At last she took flight. When 
 several feet from the hive, she returned, and 
 approached it as if to examine the place of 
 her departure, perhaps judging this precau- 
 tion necessary to recognise it ; she then flew 
 away, describing horizontal circles twelve or 
 fifteen feet above the earth. We contracted 
 the entrance of the hive that she might not 
 return unobserved, and placed ourselves in 
 the centre of the circles described in her 
 flight, the more easily to follow her and wit- 
 ness all her motions. But she did not re- 
 main long in a situation favourable for our 
 observations, and rapidly rose out of sight. 
 We resumed our place before the hive ; and 
 in seven minutes the young queen returned 
 to the entrance of a habitation which she 
 had left for the first time. Having found 
 no external evidence of fecundation, we al- 
 lowed her to enter. In a quarter-of-an-hour 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 7 
 
 she re-appeared ; and, after brushing herself 
 as before, took flight. Then returning to 
 examine the hive, she rose so high that we 
 soon lost sight of her. This second absence 
 was much longer than the first ; it occupied 
 twenty-seven minutes. We now found her 
 in a state very different from that in which 
 she was after her former excursion, the or- 
 gans distended by a substance thick and 
 hard, very much resembling the matter in 
 the vessels of the male, completely similar 
 to it indeed in colour and consistence. In 
 two days we found her belly swoln ; and she 
 had already laid nearly a hundred eggs in 
 the workers' cells." What M. Huber here 
 takes for the generative matter, he afterwards 
 discovered to be the male organs left in the 
 body of the female, of which she divests 
 herself with her feet. 
 
 It is obvious, therefore, from the result of 
 these well-ordered experiments, that the 
 young queens are never impregnated so long 
 as they remain in the interior of the skape. 
 To receive the approaches of the male, the 
 queen soars high in the air, choosing that 
 time of the day when the heat has induced 
 the drones to issue from their dwelling; and, 
 except to accompany a swarm, love is now 
 ascertained to be the motive of the only 
 journey which a young queen ever makes. 
 
8 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 From this excursion she returns in the space 
 of about half-an-hour, with the most evident 
 marks of fecundation, actually carrying away 
 with her the genital organs of the poor 
 drone, who never lives to see his offspring, 
 but falls a sacrifice to the momentary bliss of 
 his aerial amour. A wonderful deviation from 
 the ordinary laws of nature ! The most 
 complete proof of these facts is afforded by 
 the detail of a number of concurring expe- 
 riments. 
 
 M. Huber assigns a satisfactory cause for 
 the existence of such a great number of 
 males. " As the queen is obliged to traverse 
 the expanse of the atmosphere, (he observes) 
 it is requisite the males should be numerous, 
 that she may have the chance of meeting 
 some one of them.'* But the reason why 
 impregnation cannot be accomplished within 
 the skape has not yet been ascertained. 
 
 It is curious that our countryman Bonner 
 should have remarked those aerial excursions 
 of the young queens, without ever suspect- 
 ing their real object, or observing the marks 
 of fecundation upon their return to the 
 skape. The worthy bee-master thought they 
 were merely taking an airing. " Often 
 (says he) have I seen young queens take an 
 airing on the second or third day of their 
 age." On the 4th of July 1824, we had the 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 9 
 
 satisfaction of observing the queen of a se- 
 cond swarm that had been thrown on the 
 29th of June, return to her habitation, from 
 her amorous flight : fortunately she did not 
 immediately enter, but alighted on a haw- 
 thorn leaf, where we observed her with the 
 most scrupulous attention. She certainly 
 exhibited the appearance already mentioned, 
 but much more conspicuously than we had 
 anticipated, so much so, indeed, that we 
 could not well conceive how her extraordi- 
 nary appearance, on such occasions, had not 
 caught the inquisitive eye of Mr. Bonner. 
 
 Retarded Impregnation. — In the natural 
 order of things a queen begins to lay the 
 eggs of workers forty-six hours after impreg- 
 nation, and continues during the subsequent 
 eleven months to lay these only ; she then 
 commences the laying of drone eggs also, 
 generally to the amount of from fifteen hun- 
 dred to two thousand ; after which, without 
 any further communication with the male, 
 she resumes the laying of workers' eggs. 
 Indeed M. Huber believes that one union is 
 sufficient to fecundate all the eggs that a 
 queen will lay during her whole life : but he 
 wants absolute proof for more than two 
 years. When, on the contrary, impregna- 
 tion is retarded beyond the twentieth day 
 
10 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 after the queen's birth, she begins to lay 
 forty-six hours, indeed, after fecundation, but, 
 in this case, the eggs produce drones only, 
 and she lays no other kind during her whole 
 life. Our limits do not permit us to detail 
 the interesting experiments of M. Huber on 
 this obscure subject. He occupied himself for 
 more than two years with experiments on re- 
 tarded fecundation, and had constantly the 
 same results. We forbear hazarding any con- 
 jectures on the remote cause of this extraordi- 
 naiy fact. We are unacquainted with any 
 analogiis case in physiology, and Huber him- 
 self acknowledges, that "it is an abyss 
 wherein he is lost." The fact itself, how- 
 ever, is indubitable. 
 
 Brood, — The eggs from which workers 
 are produced are deposited in common hori- 
 zontal cells ; the cells for males are also ho- 
 rizontal, but of larger dimensions ; those 
 destined for queens, however, have a vertical 
 position with the mouth downwards. They 
 are generally attached to the edge of the 
 middle combs, or to the edges of the com- 
 munications or passages through them. The 
 royal cells are of a circular pyramidal form, 
 constructed with a profusion of wax, and, 
 when completed, are about an inch and a 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. H 
 
 quarter long. When only sketched, and very 
 Hke the cup of an acorn, queens lay in them. 
 
 The fecundity of the female bee is so 
 great, that a single individual belonging to a 
 numerous hive, in genial weather, frequently 
 lays 350 eggs in a day ; in weak hives, how- 
 ever, the half of this number is rarely ex- 
 ceeded; and, at a low temperature, laying is 
 altogether suspended. The queen, taught 
 by " a ruling nature," as Shakespear has it, 
 in the choice of the proper cell, inserts the 
 posterior part of her body, and fixes to its 
 bottom her Httle egg, composed of a thin 
 white film, enclosing a whitish liquid. 
 
 At the end of three days the eggs are 
 hatched ; queens and workers then remain 
 five days in the vermicular state, and the 
 drones six and a half. During this stage of 
 their growth, the larvae of males and work- 
 ers are, from time to time, assiduously fed 
 by the working bees with a whitish jelly, in 
 which the fecundating dust, farina, or pollen, 
 found on the stamina of flowers is the prin- 
 cipal ingredient. This jelly is at first taste- 
 less, but as the larvae advance in age, it is 
 suppUed of a taste rather saccharine. The 
 food of the royal larvae is, however, pungent, 
 and much more copiously administered. At 
 lafst the larvae leave off eating, and the work- 
 ers seal up the mouths of the cells with a 
 
12 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 covering of wax, formed of concentric cir- 
 cles begun at the edge, convex, if including 
 males, but flat if including workers. The 
 worms of workers and drones, thus enclosed, 
 soon begin to spin, in the manner of silk- 
 worms, a white silky envelope or coccoon, 
 which completely surrounds their bodies j 
 females, however, on account of the wide- 
 ness of their cell, are unable to spin com- 
 plete coccoons, the greater part of the pos- 
 terior of their abdomen being left uncover- 
 ed. The brood in this enveloped state are 
 called nymphs. 
 
 Reckoning from the moment an Qgg is 
 laid, a queen attains the winged state in six- 
 teen days, a worker in twenty-one, and a 
 drone in twenty-four. All the metamorpho- 
 ses, however, are slower in very small com- 
 munities, or during cold weather. As soon 
 as a young bee escapes from its prison, the 
 working bees immediately clean it out, that 
 it may either be fit for a new inhabitant, or 
 a receptacle for honey. The royal cells are, 
 however, but once inhabited, and, having 
 served their purpose, are generally demolish- 
 ed. 
 
 The Workers are Females. — The working 
 bees are not neuters, as denominated by ma- 
 ny authors. It is equally repugnant to rea- 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 13 
 
 son and adverse to the laws of nature, to 
 suppose that there are animals of any de- 
 scription devoid of sex. The common bees 
 are really females, whose organs of genera- 
 tion are not unfolded ; they are capable, 
 however, of having their organs fully devel- 
 oped, and of becoming perfect fertile females, 
 if reared in spacious cells, and fed with 
 royal food, before the end of the third day 
 of their vermicular state. Hence when a 
 hive loses its queen, the workers have the 
 power of obviating their own ruin, provided 
 there are workers' eggs in the cells, or mag- 
 gots not above three days old. 
 
 This very important fact was the discovery 
 of Schirach, and has since been established 
 beyo^ controversy by Huber, Bonner, and 
 hundreds of others. Bees are soon aware of 
 the loss of their queen, and in a few hours 
 commence the labour necessary to repair 
 their misfortune. They select several cells 
 containing eggs or young larvae, demol- 
 ish three of the cells contiguous to each 
 to afford room, and surround the future 
 queens by a cylindrical enclosure, rendering 
 their cells perfect tubes, which, like the other 
 cells of the comb, are horizontal. When the 
 larvae attain the third day of their age, the 
 bees lengthen the tubes, but work them 
 downwards, at right angles to the part previ- 
 
 B 
 
14 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 ously constructed after the pyramidal fashion 
 of other royal cells. The larvae are copi- 
 ously fed with royal jelly from the beginning, 
 attain maturity in the usual time, and are, in 
 every respect, perfect females. It is not ne- 
 cessary to success, that the eggs or the 
 worms be selected by the bees themselves ; 
 for, as demonstrated by M. Huber, they can 
 procure queens equally well by operating on 
 worms selected for them. 
 
 Another very convincing proof that the 
 workers are of the female sex is, that fertile 
 common bees are always produced in hives 
 that have lost the queen, and these fertile 
 workers are invariably produced in the vicin- 
 ity of the royal cells. The bees, while rear- 
 ing the royal larvae, either by accid^j^t, or 
 by a particular instinct, the principle of 
 which is unknown, drop some particles of 
 royal jelly into the cells contiguous to those 
 containing the worms destined for queens. 
 The larvae of workers that thus receive 
 among their own food, portions of this ac- 
 tive aliment, for no other can unfold the 
 germ, are affected by it, and their ovaries 
 acquire a certain degree of expansion : from 
 the small quantity of royal food which they 
 receive, however, and, owing to the small- 
 ness of their cells, this expansion is only par- 
 tial. Such fertile workers resemble common 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 bees in all the external characteristics, as 
 well as size, and lay only a few eggs ; and 
 these eggs, like those of queens whose im- 
 pregnation has been retarded, produce drones 
 only. This singular discovery was made by 
 M. Reims, and is incontrovertibly confirmed 
 by the experiments of M. Huber, who says, 
 that the result is so uniform, that he can, by- 
 removing the queen from a hive, obtain fer- 
 tile workers whenever he pleases ; and the 
 reason why they are so seldom seen is, that 
 they are attacked and destroyed by the young 
 queens reared in the royal cells. Neither 
 their use in hives, nor their mode of fecun- 
 dation has been ascertained. 
 
 Combats of Queens. — There ought to be 
 but one queen in a hive : therefore it is 
 necessary when a supernumerary one is pro- 
 duced naturally, or is introduced in the 
 course of experiment, that one of the two 
 must be destroyed. The German natural- 
 ists, Schirach and Reims, imagined that the 
 working-bees assailed the stranger, and stung 
 her to death. Reaumur considered it as 
 more probable, that the sceptre was made to 
 depend on the issue of a single combat be- 
 tween the claimants ; and this conjecture is 
 verified by the observations of Huber. The 
 same hostility towards rivals, and destructive 
 
16 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 vengeance against royal cells, animates all 
 queens, whether they be virgins, or in a state 
 of impregnation, or the mothers of nume- 
 rous broods. The working bees, it may be 
 remarked, except during the swarming sea- 
 son, remain quiet spectators of the destruc- 
 tion, by the first hatched queen, of the re- 
 maining royal cells ; they approach only to 
 share in the plunder presented by their ha- 
 vock-making mistress, greedily devouring 
 any food found at the bottom of the cells, 
 and even sucking the fluid from the abdo- 
 men of the nymphs before they toss out the 
 carcasses. 
 
 It has already .been noticed, that the coc- 
 coons of queens are incomplete, leaving un- 
 covered the greater part of the abdomen ; 
 and it remains here to be mentioned, that 
 this is owing to the increased diameter to- 
 wards the base of royal cells ; for common 
 larvae placed in wide cells cannot do other- 
 wise ; while royal larvae placed in cells 
 of small diameter spin complete coccoons. 
 Were the silken envelope to surround com- 
 pletely the bodies of the female larvae, the 
 sting of the queen who seeks their destruction, 
 would be entangled among the threads, and 
 thus not only endanger her own life, but 
 even the existence of the whole community. 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 17 
 
 Nature, however, wisely opposes no obstacle 
 to the massacre. 
 
 The following fact connected with this 
 subject is one of the most curious perhaps 
 in the \vhole history of this wonderful insect. 
 Whenever the workers perceive that there 
 are two rival queens in the hive, numbers of 
 them crowd around each : they seem to be 
 perfectly aware of the approaching deadly 
 conflict, and willing to prompt their amazo- 
 nian chieftains to the battle ; for, as often as 
 the queens show a disinclination to fight, or 
 seem inclined to recede from each other, or 
 to fly off, the bees immediately surround and 
 detain them ; but when either combatant 
 shows a disposition to approach her antago- 
 nist, all the bees forming the clusters instant- 
 ly give way to allow her full liberty for the 
 attack. It seems strange that those bees who, 
 in general, show so much anxiety about the 
 safety of their queen, should, in particular 
 circumstances, oppose her preparations to 
 avoid impending danger, — should seem to 
 promote the battle, and to excite the fury of 
 the combatants. 
 
 *' Bees are not immediately aware of the 
 removal of their queen ; their labours are un- 
 interrupted ; they watch of the young, and 
 perform the whole of their ordinary occupa- 
 tions. But, in a few hours agitation ensues ; 
 
 b2 
 
18 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 all appears a scene of tumult in the hive. A 
 singular humming is heard ; the bees desert 
 their young, and rush over the surface of the 
 combs with delirious impetuosity. Then 
 .they discover that their queen is no longer 
 among them ;" and the rapidity with which 
 the bad news now spreads through the hive, 
 to the opposite side of the combs, is very re- 
 markable. On replacing the queen in the 
 hive, tranquillity is almost instantly restored. 
 The bees, it is worthy of notice, recognise 
 the individual person of their own queen. 
 If another be palmed upon them, they seize 
 and surround her, so that she is either suffo- 
 cated or perishes by hunger ; for it is very 
 remarkable, that the workers are never known 
 to attack a queen bee with their stings. If, 
 however, more than eighteen hours have 
 elapsed before the stranger queen be intro- 
 duced, she has some chance to escape : the 
 bees do at first seize and confine her, but 
 less rigidly ; and they soon begin to disperse, 
 and at length leave her to reign over a hive 
 in which she was at first treated as a prison- 
 er. If twenty-four hours have elapsed, the 
 stranger will be well received from the first, 
 and at once admitted to citizenship, and re- 
 garded as the hope of the community. In 
 short, it appears that the bees when deprived 
 of their Female, are thrown into great agita- 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 19 
 
 tion ; that they wait about twenty hours, ap- 
 parently in hopes of her return ; but that at 
 the end of this time the agitation ceases, and 
 they set about supplying their loss by begin- 
 ning to construct royal cells. It is when 
 they are in this temper, and not sooner, that 
 a stranger queen will be graciously received : 
 and upon her being presented to them, the 
 royal cells, in whatever state of forwardness 
 they may happen to be, are instantly aban- 
 doned, and the larvae destroyed. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE MALES OR DRONES. 
 
 Characteristics. — The Male or Drone bees 
 are readily distinguished by their large size, 
 and heavy " droning flight." They are des- 
 titute of a sting, and their proboscis or trunk 
 not being required for the purpose of col- 
 lecting honey from the flowers, but only for 
 imbibing it from the cells, is shorter than 
 that of the workers ; for nature has assigned 
 them another task than the drudgery of la- 
 bour. 
 
 Little Drones. — It will be recollected that 
 queens, whose impregnation has been retard- 
 
20 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 ed, lay eggs producing drones only ; and it 
 may here be mentioned, that the instinct of 
 such queens is probably defective, for they 
 deposite their eggs indiscriminately in drone 
 and in common cells, and even in royal ones, 
 some of which are always constructed when- 
 ever a queen, either in a natural or retarded 
 state, begins to lay male eggs. Drones pro- 
 duced in royal cells are not above the usual 
 size ; but those produced in common cells are 
 cramped in their growth, only attaining the 
 size of common bees. This accounts for the 
 little drones observed by Debraw and other 
 naturalists, whose assertions are corroborated 
 by the weighty testimony of M. Huber. 
 Mr. Bonner, because he could find none in 
 two small hives, the queens of which were 
 fertile in worler-eggs^ denies the existence 
 of little drones altogether, and speaks of 
 Mr. Debraw in a very sarcastic, unbecoming 
 manner. The candid narrative of an impar- 
 tial naturalist, even when he has the misfor- 
 tune to be mistaken, ought to be received 
 with respect ; but, at all events, his patient 
 investigations, minute researches, and assidu- 
 ous labours in the cause of truth, certainly 
 merit a better reward than bitter jokes. 
 
 Massacre. — The drones enjoy the sweets 
 of life and love but for a short period, gen- 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 21 
 
 erally making their appearance in May, and 
 perishing in August or September. Their 
 early appearance in summer, and destruction 
 in autumn, are certain indications of the 
 prosperity of a hive. The massacre of the 
 males never commences till the season of 
 swarming is past ; but sooner or later the 
 day of death arrives. The drones, harassed 
 and driven from the upper parts of the comb, 
 generally seek safety in flight ; those who 
 return are stung to death on the board in 
 the interior ; in doing which the workers 
 force their stings so deeply into the bodies 
 of their unfortunate victims, that they are 
 obliged to turn two or three times rapidly 
 round on their stings, as on a pivot, before 
 they can disengage themselves. Some, how- 
 ever, are not stung at all, but merely have 
 their wings gnawed and broken at the roots, 
 and, thus disabled, they crawl about on the 
 ground till they, as well as those which fled 
 for safety, perish through cold or famine, or 
 become the prey of birds or other animals. 
 
 Exceptio7is to the general Massacre. — It is 
 not, however, by a blind or indiscriminating 
 instinct that the workers are impelled thus 
 to sacrifice the males ; for if a hive is de- 
 prived of its queen, no massacre of the males 
 takes place in it, while the hottest persecu- 
 
22 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 tion rages in all the surrounding hives. In 
 this case the males are allowed to survive 
 over winter. Mr. Bonner had observed this 
 fact J he supposed, however, that the work- 
 ers thus tolerated the drones for the sake of 
 the additional heat they generated in the 
 hive ; but we now see the true reason to be, 
 that their aid is needed to impregnate a new 
 queen. The drones are also suffered to exist 
 in hives that possess fertile workers, but no 
 proper queen ; and, what is remarkable, they 
 are likewise spared in hives that have a queen 
 whose impregnation has been retarded. 
 Here, then, we perceive a counter instinct 
 opposed to that which would have impelled 
 them to the usual massacre. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE FEMALE NON-BREEDERS OR WORKERS. 
 
 Characteristics. — The characteristics pecu- 
 liar to the working bee are, the basket on the 
 hind legs, the long trunk, and the straight 
 sting. 
 
 Organs. — Most of the organs which we 
 are here to take notice of are, with certain 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 23 
 
 modifications, common to queens and drones, 
 as well as to workers. The body of a bee Ls 
 divided by two tubular ligaments, into the 
 head, breast, and belly or abdomen. The 
 head is furnished with two articulated, flexi- 
 ble horns, called antennce^ the use of which 
 has not been fully ascertained. The most 
 generally received opinion is, that they are 
 the organs of a delicate sort of feeling. The 
 head is also provided with two teeth or man- 
 dibles, which serve instead of hands, on al- 
 most every occasion ; and a proboscis or 
 trunk, an implement of curious construction, 
 with which bees probe the flowers, and ex- 
 tract their sweets : when unemployed it is 
 folded under the head, and properly defend- 
 ed by a scaly sheath or covering. 
 
 The middle portion or breast of a bee sus- 
 tains the wings, which are four in number, 
 together with six legs. The body of a bee 
 is covered with a sort of branchy hair, which 
 arrests the farinaceous particles, while the 
 insect rolls itself, for that purpose, among 
 the stamina in the cups of the flowers. The 
 dust with which the body of the bee thus 
 becomes covered, is brushed together with 
 its middle pair of legs, and kneaded into lit- 
 tle balls, which it carries to its habitation in 
 a small hollow, called by Reaumur " the 
 *^asket," in each of the two hind legs. 
 
g4 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 The exterior of the abdomen is composed 
 of six circular overlapping scales, connected 
 by membranes. Within these scales or rings 
 are the intestines, the honey-bag, the venom- 
 bag, and the sting. The office of the intes- 
 tines, as in other animals, is to digest the 
 food. The honey-bag is a reservoir that con- 
 tains the honey, as it is gradually collected 
 from the flowers, the contents of which are 
 afterwards disgorged into the cells. The 
 sting is composed of a finely pointed sheath 
 and two very small barbed darts : the sheath 
 makes the first penetration, through an open- 
 ing at the point of which are instantly 
 launched the two darts, between which the 
 poison passes along into the wound, from the 
 venom-bag. The animal, it is said, can ele^ 
 vate or depress the barbs of the darts at 
 pleasure ; if this be really true, we cannot 
 well account for bees leaving their sting in 
 the wound which they inflict in the human 
 body, and thus becoming the sacrifice of 
 their own vengeance, unless it be that their 
 fears prompt them to seek safety in a too 
 hasty retreat. 
 
 Precautions against being Stung. — A per- 
 son may sit and observe his bees, or even 
 walk steadily about in his apiary in safety, 
 provided he adopt the precaution of keeping 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 25 
 
 his lips close, breathing gently through his 
 nostrils only, and when a bee approaches his 
 face, let him remain perfectly motionless, 
 and the wary insect will seldom commence 
 actual hostilities. When there is a copious 
 secretion of honey in the flowers, however, 
 and the bees are in full operation, it is dan- 
 gerous to approach them unless properly de- 
 fended ; and this is particularly to be attend- 
 ed to when any operation is to be performed. 
 The best defence for the face and back part 
 of the neck, is a veil of gauze, or such thin 
 material, tied round the hat, and drawn close 
 round the neck below. The brim of the 
 hat will keep it sufficiently off the face. The 
 hands may be protected by a pair of leather 
 gloves : woollen ones, unless very thick, are 
 no defence. 
 
 Remedies for a sting. — The effects of the 
 poison vary according to the constitution of 
 the individual stung, and difl©rent constitu- 
 tions require different remedies. When a 
 person is stung, the sting ought to be imme- 
 diately extracted, and the part pressed with 
 the head of a tobacco pipe, to prevent the 
 poison from being absorbed, and by sucking 
 at the extremity of the stalk the poison will 
 be extracted ; the part may then be washed 
 with vinegar to prevent inflammation. A 
 
26 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 few drops of laudanum, or of olive oil, ap- 
 plied to the wound are said to be very effica- 
 cious remedies, and might easily be kept in 
 constant readiness in a small phial. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OF HONEY. 
 
 Saccharine matter abounds more or less in 
 all vegetables ; their life depends on its pre- 
 sence, and every root and earthly production 
 is nutritious in proportion to the quantity of 
 saccharine principle it contains. When plants, 
 in their respective seasons, put forth their 
 blossoms, part of the circulating saccharine 
 juice exudes into the nectary or honey-cup 
 of the flowers, and is thence collected by the 
 bees, forming what is called honey, 
 
 A moist, sultry atmosphere, charged with 
 electricity, by accelerating the circulation of 
 the vegetable fluids, is most favourable to the 
 secretion of this substance. " Heat too long 
 protracted, however,'* as M. Huber justly 
 observes, " and its concomitant drought, 
 chill rains, and a north wind, entirely sus- 
 pend the elaboration of honey in vegetables.*' 
 If the weather is such, however, as to allow 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 27 
 
 the bees to venture abroad, they will not re- 
 main idle, but will employ themselves dili- 
 sentlv m collectinfij farina as food for their 
 young. 
 
 In the month of July the air is sometimes 
 so sultry that honey is found, not only in the 
 nectary of flowers, but even on the leaves of 
 certain plants and trees. The great heat, as 
 we imagine, attracts the juices, which, per- 
 spiring through the pores of the leaves, are, 
 during the day evaporated, and the current 
 of sap, thus set in motion, continues to flow 
 for a considerable time after the sun is set : 
 but as, during the night, it does not pass off 
 in vapour, the saccharine matter remains on 
 the surface of the leaves, and presents a rich 
 booty to the bees early on the following 
 morning. Such a favourable season, however, 
 does not occur every year, and even when it 
 does, is always of short duration. It is evi- 
 dent, therefore, that the great supply of ho- 
 ney is obtained from the flowers. 
 
 When the state of the country aifords a 
 copious collection of honey, the bees are ex- 
 tremely anxious to collect it. At such an 
 auspicious juncture, let the master dread 
 the consequence of standing in the way of 
 his irritable servants. The entrances of their 
 habitations then exhibit a scene of impetu- 
 ous activity that baffles description j avoiding 
 
28- THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 all delay, the assiduous little animals dart 
 away in quest of their darling sweet with a 
 cheerful, shai*p-sounding buzz j a peculiar 
 aromatic odour emanates from the skapes j 
 and the distended bellies of those returning 
 from the fields, indicate that they are gorged 
 with honey. Such favourable appearances 
 inspire sanguine hopes. The luscious load 
 which a bee has collected in its excursion is 
 disgorged into an appropriate cell, which, by 
 repeated accumulations, is filled, and then 
 sealed up w^ith a thin waxen covering of con- 
 centric circles, begun at the circumference 
 and closed in the centre. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 OF WAX. 
 
 "Wax, as well as honey, is secreted by cer- 
 tain vegetables, and owes its origin to the 
 saccharine principle. It exudes through the 
 fruit and the tender young leaves of certain 
 plants forming a silvery varnish on their sur- 
 face, whereas exudations of honey are never 
 observed but on leaves that have attained 
 their full size. Several plants contain wax 
 in such abundance as to make it worth while 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 29 
 
 to collect it from them. The wax myrtle, 
 (myrica cerifera^) a shrub of North America, 
 produces a berry fruit which affords a pale- 
 green wax in large quantity. A number of 
 other plants afford by decoction a similar in- 
 flammable concrete. It exists, too, in some 
 vegetable products combined with resin. 
 
 But the great supply of wax, and that of 
 the best quality, is secreted in the body of 
 the bee. It transudes in a liquid state 
 through the membranaceous bases of the 
 rinses of the abdomen ; it then coagulates 
 between the plates of the under side of the 
 belly, forming small white scales, great num- 
 bers of which may be observed about the 
 entrance of a skape, in which a swarm has 
 been recently settled, — a sure token that the 
 hive is constructing comb. 
 
 It was long believed that the pellets of fa- 
 rina carried home on the hind legs of the 
 bees were swallowed, and afterwards dis- 
 gorged as wax. It is now put beyond a 
 doubt, however, that the only purpose to 
 which this substance is known to be appro- 
 priated, is the nourishment of the brood. 
 Hence it is not unaptly styled bee-bread. 
 That pollen is not the basis of wax, may be 
 readily conceived from the following consi- 
 derations ; namely, that the pellets are of dif- 
 ferent colours on different bees, but always 
 
 c 2 
 
30 THE apiarian's MANUAL, 
 
 of the same colour on both legs of the same 
 bee ; whereas the shade of new comb is uni- 
 form. The farina is collected with greater 
 avidity for old hives, where the comb is com- 
 plete, than for those where it is only begun, 
 which would hardly be the case were it the 
 elements of wax. Little of this substance 
 is carried by the bees of a new colony until 
 two days elapse, when the number of gather- 
 ers increases, because some cells are then 
 formed wherein to store it up as food for the 
 expected progeny. 
 
 That the saccharine principle, and not fa- 
 rina, is the source of wax, is demonstrated, 
 in the most satisfactory manner, by M. Ru- 
 ber. " On the 24th of May, (says he) we 
 lodged a swarm which had just left the parent 
 stock in a straw hive, (skape) with as much 
 honey and water as necessary for the con- 
 sumption of the bees, and closed the en- 
 trance so as to prevent all possibility of 
 escape, leaving access for renewal of the air. 
 At first the bees were greatly agitated ; but 
 we succeeded in calming them by carrying 
 the hive to a cool dark place, where their 
 captivity lasted five days. They were then 
 allowed to take flight in an apartment, 
 the windows of which were carefully shut, 
 and where the hive could be examined con- 
 veniently. The bees had consumed their 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 31 
 
 whole provision of honey ; but their dwell- 
 ing, which did not contain an atom of wax 
 when we established them in it, had now ac- 
 quired five combs of the most beautiful wax 
 suspended from its arch, of a pure white, and 
 very brittle.'* But as this wax might have 
 been produced from farina collected previ- 
 ously to the confinement of the bees, and as 
 the source was not inexhaustible, they were 
 again imprisoned, with a new portion of ho- 
 ney, and from the evening of the subsequent 
 day, they were observed working in wax as 
 before ; and on examining the hive on the 
 third day, other five combs were found to 
 have been constructed. The combs were re- 
 moved five times successively, the bees being 
 always prevented from leaving the apart- 
 ment ; *' and, during this long interval,'* (M. 
 Huber does not specify the precise time, but 
 it cannot have been less than eleven days,) 
 " the same insects were preserved and fed with 
 honey exclusively. On each occasion that 
 we supplied them with honey they produced 
 new combs, which puts it beyond dispute, 
 that this substance effected the secretion of 
 wax in their bodies without the aid of pol- 
 len ;'* for all supply of this substance, with 
 which the bees could have provided them- 
 selves, must have been wholly exhausted 
 
32 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 long before the termination of their imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 Bees fed with a mixture of honey and 
 sugar, or with sugar alone, produce wax 
 sooner, and in greater abundance, than those 
 fed with honey. Six ounces of dark-brown 
 sugar reduced to syrup yield about one ounce 
 of the whitest wax ; while a like weight of the 
 brightest refined sugar yields about half an 
 ounce ; and though in greater quantity, yet 
 darker than that produced from honey. 
 
 " Mutual relations subsist between honey 
 and wax in their elementary principles, and 
 the one is dependant on the other. Those 
 years unproductive of honey are also ;unpro- 
 ductive of wax." Bees do not construct 
 comb unless they can procure honey in great 
 abundance ; swarms recently lodged ought, 
 therefore, to be copiously supplied, during 
 unfavourable weather, with syrup of brown 
 suffar. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 OF PROPOLIS. 
 
 Propolis is a resinous, odoriferous gum, 
 more tenaceous than wax, and generally of a 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 33 
 
 dark-brown .colour. It is used by the bees 
 in forming a firm basis to their combs, in 
 stopping every unnecessary opening, and in 
 gluing the skape to the board. It is also 
 employed by our sagacious insects in forming 
 an envelope to the dead body of any animal, 
 as a snail or a mouse, which they have stung 
 to death, as the reward of intrusion, but 
 which, from its size, they have not been able 
 to drag out of the skape, as is always done 
 with eveiy manageable nuisance. The de- 
 composition of the body thus goes on, with- 
 in its tomb, without being either offensive or 
 injurious to the community. 
 
 Authors are not agreed as to the origin of 
 propolis, or whence it is procured by the 
 bees. Some are candid enough to acknow- 
 ledge their ignorance of the subject ; others 
 are of opinion that, like wax, it is a se- 
 cretion in the body of the bee ; while many 
 think that the bees collect it from the pop- 
 lar, birch, fir, yew, and willow. M. Huber, 
 whose testimony merits the greatest defer- 
 ence, informs us that, for many years, he 
 had fruitlessly endeavoured to surprise the 
 bees collecting propolis on trees, though he 
 had seen multitudes returniuir with it on 
 their limbs. At last, however, in the month 
 of July, he had the satisfaction of witnessing 
 bees load themselves with this substance from 
 
34. THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 some branches of the wild poplar, that had 
 been cut in spring. Branches recently cut 
 did not seem to attract these insects ; but he 
 assigns as a reason, that their viscous matter 
 had less consistence than those that had been 
 longer cut. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 OF THE COMB. 
 
 Immediately after a swarm is skaped, the 
 bees hasten to construct cells, to receive the 
 eggs of their queen, or to contain honey. 
 The cells are hexagonal tubes, having a hol- 
 low pyramidal bottom, composed of three 
 equal and similar lozenges* uniting in a com- 
 mon centre. This pyramidal cavity in the 
 bottom forms a slight elevation on the other 
 side, there corresponding to three cells par- 
 tially common to the whole. The first row 
 of cells has only five sides of wax, the top 
 of the skape constituting the sixth side. All 
 this, however, will be best understood by in- 
 specting a piece of comb. 
 
 The bees begin by constructing one small 
 
 * A lozenge is a figure like a card-diamond, or, to speak 
 more scientifically, it is a geometrical rhomh. 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 35 
 
 piece of comb, wliich serves as a direction 
 for all the rest ; two other combs are after- 
 wards begun, one on each side of the first, 
 equally removed fi'om it and parallel ; after 
 these are a little advanced, the foundation of 
 other two are laid, in a position parallel to 
 the preceding. All are extended in propor- 
 tion to their earlier origin ; that in the 
 middle being the farthest advanced. 
 
 The combs are fixed to the top of the 
 skape, and carried perpendicularly down- 
 wards. Their average thickness may be 
 stated at about an inch : they are parallel to 
 one another ; and have an interval of one 
 third of an inch between each. These are 
 general laws ; but the bees, under peculiar 
 circumstances, sometimes deviate from them. 
 When there is an opportunity for a very 
 great collection of honey, both the diameter 
 and depth of the cells are greatly augment- 
 eil ; so much so, that, where the space will 
 admit, the combs are made so thick as to ex- 
 ceed an inch and a half. Sometimes, also, 
 instead of being right-lined and parallel, 
 they are bent, diverge from one another, or 
 are placed at right angles ; " But on follow- 
 ing all the minutise of labour, we can, for 
 the most part, assign reasons for the appa- 
 rent anomalies. These insects are obliged 
 to adapt themselves to localities : one irregu- 
 
36 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 larity produces another, and it usually origi- 
 nates in the arrangements which we make 
 them adopt. The inconstancy of the tem- 
 perature of the atmosphere affects the sym- 
 metry of the combs, from frequently inter- 
 rupting the operations of those bees entrust- 
 ed with their construction. We have re- 
 marked, that less perfection is offered by a 
 work resumed, than one of uninterrupted 
 labour." 
 
 When a pane of glass is interposed be- 
 tween the bees and the top of the skape, for 
 they avoid very smooth surfaces, they work 
 the comb upwards from the bottom. When 
 both the top and bottom are covered in like 
 manner, they fabricate the comb horizontally 
 from one side to the other. These cunning 
 architects advance their work quickest in 
 descending, and slowest in ascending ; but 
 in either case the comb is vertical, which is 
 always preferred to the horizontal position. 
 
 The cells on both sides of the comb can 
 thus be filled with honey ; which is retained 
 from escaping by its own viscosity, its affini- 
 ty to wax, and by the upward inclination of 
 the cells from their base ; for the cells are 
 not perfectly horizontal, but deviate from 
 the level of the horizon sometimes above 
 ^0°, and commonly 4 or 5°. The knowledge 
 of this fact enables us to ascertain the origi- 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 3T 
 
 nal position of a comb, though detached. 
 We have observed that the surface of the 
 honey, while in progress of accumulation in 
 the cell, is concave ; and upon this may, 
 perhaps, partly depend its retention in the 
 cells. 
 
 It was before mentioned, when treating of 
 the brood, that there are appropriate cells 
 for males, females, and workers respectively. 
 The combs are never begun with the cells 
 destined for males; but when the queen is 
 ready to lay male eggs, the bees immediately 
 begin to construct larger cells, gradually 
 giving them greater diameter, and finally pre- 
 paring a cradle for the whole masculine race. 
 After building thirty or forty rows of a 
 proper size, they return to the usual pro- 
 portions by similar gradations. 
 
 New comb is white, but it soon becomes 
 yellow ; it grows brown in time, and very 
 old comb has a blackish hue. The source of 
 the subsequent yellowness of wax has not 
 yet been ascertained. It has been generally 
 supposed to be produced by the vapours of 
 the hive, — an opinion rendered doubtful by 
 an experiment of M. Huber. He is inclined 
 to ascribe it to the direct action of different 
 parts of the body of the bees upon the comb. 
 
 D 
 
33 ' THE apiarian's MANUAL- 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 OF THE FORMATION OF SWARMS. 
 
 Bees are not torpid in winter, as some have 
 supposed : when the thermometer in the 
 open air is several degrees below freezing, it 
 stands at 86 and 88° in skapes sufficiently 
 populous. The bees then cluster together, 
 and move to preserve their heat. In strong 
 hives that are well provisioned, and properly 
 covered from cold, brood of all ages may 
 frequently be found, even in the month of 
 January, as experienced by M. Huber when 
 the interior heat was 93°. 
 
 The fecundity of the queen is always in 
 proportion to the temperature of the atmos- 
 phere. During spring, therefore, strong 
 hives receive a very great increase to their 
 working population. About tlie end of 
 \spring or the beginning of summer, the 
 queen having then laid common eggs exclu- 
 sively during eleven months, commences the 
 laying of male eggs also, and continues for 
 about thirty days to lay these and common 
 eggs alternately ; and regularly on the twen- 
 tieth or twenty-first day of the male-laying,. 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 39 
 
 several royal cells are founded, in which the 
 queen deposits eggs, that, in due time, pro- 
 duce other queens. 
 
 In about thirty days the queen, who, a few 
 weeks before could hardly drag herself along, 
 having then finished her laying, becomes 
 lidit and active ; and the larvae, hatched 
 from the eggs laid in the royal cells, being, 
 at that time, ready to transform to nymphs, 
 the queen, from some unknown cause, per- 
 haps the anticipation of rivals, suddenly be- 
 comes agitated, mns heedlessly over the 
 combs, and wherever she goes her disorder 
 is insensibly communicated to the workers. 
 The first that are aroused by her motions, 
 run after her in the same disorderly manner, 
 and, in their passage, excite those still tran- 
 quil on the combs. The track of the queen 
 is evident after she has left it, by the agita- 
 tion created, which is never afterwards 
 quelled. She soon visits every part of the 
 comb, and disseminates a general sensation : 
 if some places still remain tranquil, the bees 
 in agitation arrive, and communicate their 
 diso*xder. The bees cease to watch over the 
 young ; they run about in every different di- 
 rection ; even those returning from the fields, 
 during this confusion, no sooner enter their 
 dwelling, than they participate in these tu- 
 multuous motions. Neglecting to free them- 
 
40 THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 selves of the pellets on their limbs, they 
 hurry blindly about. At last the whole rush 
 precipitately out of the skape, and the queen 
 along with them. 
 
 It is now ascertained beyond dispute, that 
 the old queen uniformly goes off with the 
 first colony, and that instinct should impel 
 her to do so appears necessary ; for that she 
 being the strongest, would never have failed 
 to have destroyed the young queens as they 
 attained maturity, and the species would 
 have become extinct. An old queen, as has 
 been already said, never quits her abode at 
 tlie head of a swarm, till she has finished her 
 laying of male eggs ; but this is of impor- 
 tance, not merely that she may be lighter 
 and fitter for flight, but that she may be 
 ready to begin with the laying of worker 
 eggs in her new habitation, workers being 
 the first needed in order to secure the con- 
 tinuance and prosperity of the newly founded 
 commonwealth. 
 
 It is well to remark that royal cells are 
 prepared by the bees only when the queen 
 lays male eggs, and even not then, unless* the 
 bees be very numerous ; they should be even 
 superabundant : for, if the hive is weak, no 
 royal cells are constructed, and consequently 
 there will be no swarm : the old queen will 
 remain until the following spring ; and if the 
 population is then sufficient, royal cells will 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 41 
 
 be constructed, and after depositing eggs in 
 them, she will issue forth with a colony, be- 
 fore the young queens are produced. 
 
 Second Swarm. — Although all the bees of 
 a hive partake of the agitation preceding 
 swarming, still all those endeavouring to de- 
 part do not become members of the new 
 colony : those that have lately left their cells, 
 and considerable numbers whose wings are 
 moistened by the perspiration caused by the 
 heat during the agitation, are incapable of 
 Hight ; some, after flying off, soon return ; 
 while others, when the greater number have 
 departed, finding their situation now more 
 comfortable, choose rather to remain. But, 
 even when almost all the bees go off, the de- 
 sertion lasts but for a moment : the hive 
 throws only during the finest part of the day, 
 and it is then that the bees are ranging 
 through the country. Those that are out, 
 therefore, cannot participate in the agitation ; 
 having returned, they resume their labours ; 
 and their number is not small, for when the 
 weather is fine, at least a third are employed 
 in the fields at once. 
 
 Here, then, are many recruits to people 
 what we should have thought a deserted 
 habitation ; and as the queen leaves a pro- 
 digious quantity of operative brood, which 
 
 D 2 
 
42 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 soon transforms to bees, the population 
 sometimes becomes almost as great after 
 swarming as before. Thus the hive is per- 
 fectly capable of affording a second colony 
 without being too much impaired. 
 
 The old queen does not lay in all the royal 
 cells on the same day, at least one day inter- 
 venes, and frequently three or four. After 
 she has left her abode with the first colony, 
 the remaining bees take particular care of 
 the royal cells, and prevent the young queens 
 successively hatched from leaving them, un- 
 less at an interval of several days between 
 the departure of each. The necessity of an 
 unclouded sun for swarming is one reason 
 that has induced nature to admit of bees 
 protracting the captivity of their young 
 queens after their final metamorphosis. Ano- 
 ther reason is, that they may be able to fly 
 and depart with a swarm immediately on 
 being liberated ; otherwise, like males and 
 workers, twenty-four or thirty hours would 
 elapse before they were capable of flight. 
 Their confinement is always longer when 
 there is a succession of bad weather, being 
 sometimes protracted eight or ten days; 
 and, when they are set at liberty, it is always 
 according to their age, the oldest being first 
 liberated. 
 
 It is a well known fact, that captive young 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 43 
 
 queens and those that have recently obtained 
 their Hberty, have the faculty of uttering a 
 monotonous sound called piping ; of which 
 some idea may be formed by supposing the 
 word peep several times repeated in rapid 
 succession. 
 
 Sooner or later the female hatched from 
 the first ^g'g laid by the old queen leaves her 
 cell ; the workers then treat her with indif- 
 ference, for no respect is paid to a virgin 
 queen ; but she, immediately yielding to the 
 instinct which urges her to destroy her rivals, 
 seeks the cells where they are enclosed ; yet 
 no sooner does she approach than the bees 
 on guard bite, pull, and harass her, so that 
 she is forced to remove. Sometimes, how- 
 ever, when she is thus maltreated, she pipes, 
 standing, while doing so, with her breast 
 as^ainst a comb, and her winsrs crossed on 
 her back, in motion, but without being un- 
 folded or farther opened. Whatever (says 
 M. Huber) may be the cause of her as- 
 suming this attitude, and emitting this sound, 
 the bees are affected by it ; all hang down 
 their heads, and remain motionless. Ha\'ing 
 thus paralyzed the bees, she again attempts 
 the destruction of the young females ; but, 
 in doing so, she ceases to pipe, the bees re- 
 sume courage, and torment her as before ; 
 and as the royal cells are numerous, scarcely 
 
44 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 can she find a place of rest. Incessantly 
 animated with the desire of attacking the 
 young queens, and as incessantly repelled, 
 she becomes agitated, and hastily traverses 
 the groups of workers, to which she commu- 
 nicates her disorder. The heat becomes in- 
 sufferable, sometimes rising from 95° to 104° 
 during the tumult. At this moment the bees 
 rush towards the aperture of the skape, and, 
 accompanied by the young queen, forsake it 
 to seek another habitation. 
 
 After departure of the second colony, the 
 remaining workers set another queen at li- 
 berty, and treat her with equal indifference as 
 the first. They drive her from the royal cells ; 
 she also, perpetually harassed, becomes agi- 
 tated, departs, and carries a new swarm along 
 with her. When a hive is very strong, this 
 scene may be repeated, with the same cir- 
 cumstances, three or four times during sum- 
 mer. The number of bees being then so 
 much reduced that they are no longer capa- 
 ble of preserving a strict watch o^^er the 
 royal cells, several females are enabled to 
 leave their confinement at once ; they seek 
 each other, fight, and the queen at last vic- 
 torious, remains undisturbed in the skape. 
 A third swarm, however, is not very com- 
 mon, and a fourth is extremely rare. 
 
 The interval between the departure of the 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 45 
 
 first and second swarm is never less than seven 
 days, and very seldom longer than eighteen ; 
 the average time may be from nine to twelve. 
 Three or four days usually intervene between 
 the second and third swarm ; and the fourth 
 sometimes departs on the day after the third. 
 Before closing this section, we would say 
 a few words more regarding the piping of 
 queens. When young queens are kept pri- 
 soners in their cells after their final meta- 
 morphosis, they invariably emit tliis sound. 
 Hence M. Huber conjectures, with much, 
 plausibility, that restraint is the cause of 
 their doing so. This may be one cause, but 
 we have reason to believe that there are 
 others, fear, for instance, and a sense of un- 
 easiness from too great heat. We have seen 
 that young queens, when harassed by the 
 workers, also pipe, and that this sound has 
 the effect of paralizing the bees. We are, 
 therefore, in this case at least, inclined to be- 
 lieve that the sound is caused by fear. But 
 how, it may be asked, can the fear of the 
 queen thus affect the workers ? We would 
 answer, that it may be that the w^orkers are 
 unconscious that the fear manifested by the 
 queen arises from their rough treatment ; on 
 the contrary, they may ascribe her alarm to 
 some other cause, and thus, when the sound 
 is emitted, may they participate in the appre- 
 
4i6 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 hension of danger ; — " they all hang down 
 their heads," says M. Hiiber, ** and remain 
 motionless.'* We infer from analogy that 
 this cowering position is assumed by the 
 workers from an apprehension of harm. 
 When a bird of prey appears over-head, both 
 the turkey and the common hen, by a pecu- 
 liar scream, alarm their young, and apprize 
 them of the danger : the little animals im- 
 mediately squat among the grass, and lie 
 concealed and motionless till the object of 
 their fear has disappeared. 
 
 But from what follows, it would appear 
 that the faculty of piping is not peculiar 
 to young queens, but that old ones also 
 emit a similar sound ; and it also affords evi- 
 dence that either restraint, or fear, or too 
 great a heat, as may be the case when the 
 skape is excessively crowded immediately be- 
 fore swarming, will induce a queen thus to 
 express her feelings. 
 
 An intelligent cultivator assures us, that 
 on one occasion, having dislodged a hive, he 
 held the queen in his hand, and heard her 
 distinctly pipe several times. Another apia- 
 rian informs us that he has often heard 
 piping a night or two previous to the de- 
 parture of a first swarm ; and also at the 
 time the swarm was issuing forth. A corres- 
 pondent, who has paid much attention to this 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 47 
 
 subject says, — " When the season of swarm- 
 ing again arrives, if you pay particular atten- 
 tion you will hear the same peeping before a 
 first swarm comes off, as before a second. It 
 is not so often heard, it is true, before a first ; 
 but the reason, I apprehend, is owing to the 
 greater sound made by such a vast multitude 
 of bees then composing the hive preventing 
 us from hearing it.*' With due deference to 
 our correspondent, we would remark, that, 
 as far as regards the piping heard previous 
 to a first swarm, it is possible he may have 
 been deceived, for if the departure of the 
 old queen is retarded by unfavourable wea- 
 ther or any other cause, the young queens 
 may be prevented by the workers from leav- 
 ing their cells, and, in this case, the sound 
 may proceed from them. But be this as it 
 may, we hope what has just been said will 
 provoke investigation. 
 
 Virgin Swarms. — When the season is fa- 
 vourable, a very strong first swarm, three 
 weeks after being settled, sometimes throws 
 a new colony, which is also conducted by the 
 old queen. Such an occurrence, however, is 
 neither very common nor desirable in our va- 
 riable climate. During the first ten or eleven 
 days after leaving the habitation in which she 
 passed the winter, the queen lays eggs pro- 
 
48 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 dacing workers, she then deposits a few 
 drone eggs in cells prepared for their recep- 
 tion ; the bees construct royal cells ; and 
 the colony so lately established itself throws 
 a swarm. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 PRACTICAL OBSEVATIONS AND DIRECTIONS 
 REGARDING SWARMS. 
 
 Signs of a Fh^st Swarm. — Before a hive 
 throws a swarm, there are certain prognos- 
 tics which forewarn the cultivator of the 
 event, and which enable him to calculate, 
 with tolerable accuracy, the time when it 
 will happen. We have said before that 
 swarming depends on a superabundant popu- 
 lation. Towards the approach of the swarm- 
 ing season, this superabundance is indicated 
 by the condensed vapours of the hive, ap- 
 pearing on cold mornings and evenings, in 
 the form of drops of water, on the board at 
 the entrance of the skape. This water is 
 commonly called sweat. As the time of the 
 swaim's leaving the parent stock approaches, 
 the water ceases to appear, and we cannot 
 well ssign any reason for this circumstance ; 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 49 
 
 unless it be that the increased number of 
 bees then fanning before the entrance, and 
 acting as so many ventilators, waft off the 
 vapours. Be this as it may, it is certain that 
 these insects practice such a method of ob- 
 taining a circulation of air through their 
 habitation. One party expels the air vitiated 
 by the respiration, while another introduces 
 a current of fresh atmospheric air. 
 
 The drones next make their appearance, 
 usually about six or eight days before swarm- 
 ing J but sometimes much longer, and in 
 some seasons, when there has been a succes- 
 sion of fine weather, first swarms will depart 
 without a single drone, and indeed before 
 the drones have left their cells. Such was 
 generally the case in l82ti. On the day of 
 the first appearance of the males, and for 
 several successive days, the working bees 
 may be observed carrying out tliin round 
 scales of wax, which, we have reason to be- 
 lieve, are the covering of drone cells. 
 
 After this, should the bees begin to lie out 
 in clusters on the front of the skape, or un- 
 der the board, let the proprietor hold him- 
 self in readiness ; for the first bright day, or 
 even a gleam of sunshine after a shower, 
 may induce the swarm to rise. 
 
 Clustering, — Such are the principal indica- 
 
so THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 tions of an approaching swarm. With re- 
 gard to clustering, however, it is rather a 
 deceitful precursor ; for many hives swarm 
 without exhibiting this symptom. On other 
 occasions a hive will sometimes lie out, day- 
 after day, for a considerable time, before it 
 rises, and, indeed, we have known many in- 
 stances in which a swarm under such cir- 
 cumstances did not rise at all. This cluster- 
 ing may arise either from a want of room, 
 or, more generally, from the excessive inter- 
 nal heat of the skape. 
 
 The profit is much reduced by allowing the 
 bees to remain idle in this manner. In order 
 to make them swarm, raise the skape by an 
 eke one inch deep ; were it more capacious, 
 the swarm would not, perhaps, rise at all : 
 the skape must likewise be kept as cool as 
 possible, by shading it from the ardent rays 
 of the sun. The skape may even be raised 
 on three small stones, and the space plastered 
 up with lime. Should the cultivator already 
 have as many hives as he wishes, it would be 
 as well to raise the skape by an eke of the 
 full depth ; this will, in general, induce the 
 swarm to remain, but on some occasions it 
 will not ; in either case, however, there will 
 be no loss. A clustering stock, it is said, 
 may be induced to swarm by placing it on a 
 new stand a few paces from its original sta- 
 tion. 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 51 
 
 Swami on the Wing, — Bees commonly 
 swarm on a fine, bright day, seldom or never 
 when the sky is overcast, or during high 
 winds. After the tokens of swarming, be- 
 fore mentioned, have been exhibited, the 
 proprietor ought, especially in line weather, 
 to keep a constant watch from nine morning 
 till four afternoon. To save the trouble of 
 watching, artificial swarms may be formed, 
 provided a skape be used that opens above, 
 but it would be improper to attempt this with 
 the common skape. When the swarm rises, 
 after wheeling about in the air for a little 
 while, the bees generally settle on the nearest 
 hedge or bush. In this case, let no noise, 
 no interruption disturb them ; but, if the 
 swarm seems inclined to rise high in the air, 
 and fly to a distance, w^hich sometimes hap- 
 pens, let handfuls of sand be thrown among 
 the fugitives, -which it is supposed they mis- 
 take for a shower of rain, and they \vill seek 
 safety in a near retreat. The report of a 
 gun has a similar effect. 
 
 Shaping a Swarm. — A swarm sometimes 
 alights on places extremely difficult of ac- 
 cess. If, for example, a swarm should settle 
 on a high tree, at the extremity of a long- 
 slender branch, the method of proceeding is 
 as follows : — let a lofty ladder be placed. 
 
52 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 within reach of the swarm, against the 
 branches, in a position almost perpendicular, 
 having its foot fixed securely in a hole pur- 
 posely dug. For further security, let a rope 
 be tied to about the middle of the ladder, 
 and passed round the trunk of the tree, 
 drawn very tight, and made fast ; and, finally, 
 let a person at the foot of the ladder prevent 
 it from falling to either side. The ladder 
 may now be mounted in perfect safety. The 
 twig to which the swarm is attached must be 
 cut as gently as possible, with a sharp knife, 
 and the colony brought cautiously down. 
 
 We have been thus particular with one, as 
 it is impossible to anticipate every case that 
 may occur ; what has been said, however, it 
 is hoped, may put the cultivator on the way 
 of surmounting all difficulties. It is for- 
 tunate that what we have just supposed is an 
 extreme case. Swarms generally alight on 
 plants of humble growth, such being planted 
 round every well-ordered apiary. Let us 
 suppose the bees to settle on a branch of a 
 gooseberry bush. Press down the branch gent- 
 ly to the ground, and secure it from springing 
 up, or cut it off altogether ; then place the 
 skape in a sloping position, over the swarm, 
 so that one side may rest upon the ground 
 and touch the cluster, while tlie other is held 
 up by the hand, or supported by two or three 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 53 
 
 fork^ed sticks, and the whole is to be shaded 
 with a cloth till the evening, that the bees 
 may not again rise. The cluster is now to 
 be tickled w^th a feather or small branch to 
 urge the bees more speedily up into the 
 skape, other^vise they would, perhaps, not go 
 up at all : the custom of rubbing the inside 
 of the skape with the syrup of honey or 
 sugar to entice the bees we deem quite un- 
 "necessary. When the bees have all gone up, 
 place the skape on its board, carry it cau- 
 tiously to the place where it is to stand, and 
 cement it to the board with lime or clay. 
 
 Fugitive Swarms. — When the weather has 
 been very line some time previous to swarm- 
 ing, it is certain that a hive sometimes sends 
 a party to spy out a commodious habitation 
 for the colony. A vacant skape, a liollow 
 tree, or a space about the roof of a house, 
 especially if bees have wrought there during 
 the preceding summer, is generally selected. 
 Mr. Bonner informs us that at such places 
 he has often seen a considerable number of 
 bees busily employed in clearing away the 
 bees which have died during winter, broken 
 crumbs of wax, and all other rubbish ; and 
 has sometimes observed two swarms laying 
 an equal claim to the newly discovered habi- 
 tation. 
 
 e2 
 
64< THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 This fact accounts for the circumstance of 
 swarms sometimes taking distant flights. 
 Even on the day after being skaped a swarm 
 has been known to desert its habitation, and 
 .fly to one previously selected. In such cases, 
 the direction of the flight must be carefully 
 observed ; for a swarm always flies to its in- 
 tended abode in a straight line. Let the 
 proprietor pursue with all possible speed, 
 taking care, however, even should he lose 
 sight of the swarm, never to deviate from 
 the line at first marked out, and he is almost 
 sure of the prize. 
 
 As fugitive swarms often take up their 
 abode in places where it is impossible to 
 skape them after the usual manner, the owner 
 ought to endeavour to get possession of the 
 queen, and the bees will all follow her. 
 Smoke will be found a very efficacious agent 
 in dislodging a swarm that has pitched its 
 camp in a hollow tree. 
 
 Should the line of flight lead the pursuer 
 to some garden where there is an apiary, and 
 if he should observe about the entry of one 
 of the skapes a quantity of shorn, brown 
 coloured wax, like so much saw dust, it may 
 be presumed that the forerunners of the 
 swarm have cleared it off" the combs ; and, 
 upon turning up the skape, if the cells ap- 
 pear destitute of brood, it is a proof that the 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 55 
 
 present inhabitants have but lately taken pos- 
 session, and is the strongest presumptive 
 evidence that it is the swarm in question ; 
 and, unless the person in whose apiary it is 
 found can show proof to the contrary, it 
 ought to be seized by the person who pur- 
 sued it. 
 
 While bees are swarming, the operator has 
 little to fear from their stings, as they are 
 then less irascible than at any other time. 
 Thorley has recorded an instance of one of 
 his swarms settling on his maid serv'ant's 
 breast and neck j she was, very naturally, 
 much alarmed ; but he got the swarm safely 
 skaped, and the maid received no injury. 
 
 Sig7i of a Second Sxvarm. — The time when 
 a second swarm will come off is known with 
 a great degree of certainty : for the young 
 queen, some time between the eighth and 
 twelfth day after the departure of the first 
 colony, begins to pipe, as already mentioned, 
 and continues doing so, at intervals, till the 
 hive swarms. This sound, which is common- 
 ly called *' the warning," may be heard very 
 distinctly by listening close to the skape in 
 the evening. At first it seems to proceed 
 from about the top of the skape ; it is then 
 low, and not very often repeated ; but gra- 
 dually, as the time of swarming approaches. 
 
56 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 the queen apparently descends, the note 
 swells, and the intervals of silence are short. 
 The swarm seldom rises the next day after 
 the warning is given, even though the wea- 
 ther should be very inviting ; should the 
 second be as favourable, however, it may 
 perhaps come off; but unless the weather is 
 bad, the swarm will, in all probability, leave 
 the parent stock on the third day. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 WEIGHT OF SWARMS. 
 
 It is an indubitable fact, that a certain 
 number of bees forming one community, 
 will collect more honey than the same num- 
 ber divided into two. Experience teaches 
 that a hive can scarcely be too strong. There 
 is no doubt that there is a maximum popula- 
 tion above which a hive cannot multiply ; 
 but on account of the smallness of the stock- 
 skapes in general use, this maximum is rarely 
 attained. The cultivator, however, will find 
 much of his success depend on the strength 
 of his swarms, and in order to procure strong 
 colonies, he must lodge his stock-hives in 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 57 
 
 capacious skapes. The capacity ought to 
 be equal to one solid foot at least. 
 
 A weak hive is a continual source of 
 anxiety, trouble, and expense ; it collects but 
 a scanty store of provision, insufficient for 
 its own sustenance, is unable to defend the 
 little that it has, and ultimately becomes the 
 prey of robbers, or perishes through cold. 
 
 Cultivators judge from the weight whether 
 a hive is sufficiently strong. A moderate 
 swarm weighs from 4 to 5ft). ; when less, it 
 ought either to be returned to the mother- 
 hive, or united with another. Some apiarians 
 have been so fortunate as to obtain swarms 
 so heavy as 8, 10, and even 12tb. Such 
 swarms are, however, very uncommon, and 
 are always thrown by remarkably strong 
 hives that are lodged in very large skapes. 
 
 Authors differ widely regarding the num- 
 ber of bees in a pound weight. Butler esti- 
 mates the number at 4^80, Keys 4640, Wild- 
 man 49'28, and Reaumur at 5366 j but we 
 are inclined to think Mr. Keys nearer the 
 truth than any of the others : this apiarian 
 estimates a swarm of 6ft.. 6oz. 6dr. to con- 
 sist of 29,280 bees, and the solidity of the 
 cluster to be equal to .537|- cubic inches, or 
 a peck of the old Winchester measure, which 
 is about 15 cubic inches less than the impe- 
 rial peck. 
 
58 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 These discrepances seem to arise from the 
 different state of the bees at the time of ex- 
 amination ; for it is certain that they do not 
 always weigh ahke : " This was fully con- 
 firmed to me (says Mr. Keys) by experiments 
 made at different times, which always varied ; 
 but, from the average of the w^hole, the cal- 
 culation given seems nighest the truth, at 
 least it is sufficient for any purpose the prac- 
 titioner may require.'* 
 
 There is no weighing instrument so well 
 adapted to the general purposes of the api- 
 arian as the common spring steel-yard. It 
 may not here, perhaps, be thought irrelevant 
 to hint, once for all, that all the instruments 
 and apparatus used only on certain occasions, 
 may be purchased and held as common pro- 
 perty by several cultivators. A steel-yard 
 that draws out to about 60ft), will, in general, 
 be found quite sufficient ; and may be had 
 in any hardware shop for four or five shil- 
 lings. Before being purchased, both its ac- 
 curacy and its capability of being drawn out 
 the whole length, without breaking, ought to 
 be carefully ascertained. Immediately after 
 the skape containing the swarm is placed on 
 its board, let the whole be suspended from 
 the hook of the steel-yard by three stout 
 cords, uniting at one end in an iron ring, 
 and having at each of the loose ends an iron 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 59 
 
 claw for taking hold of the under side of the 
 board, the rod of the steel-yard will be drawn 
 out and will show the total weight ; from 
 which deduct the weight of the skape, board, 
 and suspension tackle, all previously ascer- 
 tained, and the remainder will be the exact 
 weight of the swarm. These respective 
 weights ought to be accurately noted down 
 for future reference. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 UNITING SWARMS. 
 
 It sometimes happens that a second or 
 third swarm settles in two separate clusters, 
 which shows that two queens have come off 
 with the swarm ; but no single swarm being 
 too large, let the branches on which they 
 settle be cut and laid together, so that both 
 clusters may be lodged at once in the same 
 skape, and the queens themselves will decide 
 upon whom the maternal duties shall devolve. 
 When two weak swarms rise at the same 
 time, if they do not of themselves go toge- 
 ther, which they often do, they ought to be 
 united in a similar manner, as weak swarms 
 are not worthy of keeping by themselves. 
 
60 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 Clusters, as well as weak swarms, that are to 
 be united, frequently alight on places where 
 it is either impossible or inconvenient to do 
 otherwise than lodge each, in the first in- 
 stance, in a separate habitation. In this 
 case, let a cloth be spread on the ground, 
 and lay a stick across it ; set one of the 
 skapes upon the stick, and, by giving a smart 
 blow on the top, all the bees will fall down 
 upon the cloth ; the empty skape is then to 
 be thrown aside, and that which is to be the 
 future habitation of the united community 
 placed over the bees, and they will all ascend 
 and form one family. Others, instead of 
 striking the bees down upon the cloth, place, 
 with its bottom upmost, the skape in which 
 the united swarms are to live, and strike the 
 bees of the other skape down into it. The 
 more they are jostled and disturbed, there is 
 the less danger of warfare. 
 
 It is well known that many hives are so much 
 weakened by the departure of swarms, that 
 they often perish in the course of the ensuing 
 winter or succeeding spring. It is therefore 
 advisable, immediately after the flight of the 
 first swarm, to give the bees more room, 
 which is the most likely means to prevent 
 the departure of a second colony. A third 
 swarm is always a positive loss. 
 
 Notwithstanding all our endeavours to in- 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 61 
 
 duce the bees to remain together, they some- 
 times come off; but if the apiarian has the 
 address to seize the queen, at the moment 
 she is leaving her abode, the bees, on missing 
 her, will all return. Should she pass unob- 
 served, however, the swarm must be skaped 
 as on ordinary occasions, and in the evening 
 returned to the parent stock, in the manner 
 directed for uniting swarms. 
 
 Some allege that the bees of one hive dis- 
 tinguish those of another by the sense of 
 smell, and urge in proof of this, that when 
 the bees of two hives are fumigated or 
 drenched with a syrap of small beer and 
 sugar, the same odour being thus communi- 
 cated to the whole, they unite peaceably. 
 This, we apprehend, is ascribing the effect to 
 a wrong cause. The advocates of this doc- 
 trine, it would appear, take it for granted 
 that each hive has an odour peculiar to itself; 
 but we would ask, if all hives have not the 
 same odour, in what does the difference ori- 
 ginate ? It is unnecessary to waste our time 
 in refuting this fanciful doctrine, it is unsup- 
 ported by analogy ; the species and sex of 
 the combatants are the same, they subsist on 
 the same food, live in contiguous habitations, 
 and these habitations are constructed of the 
 same materials. In short, we are inclined to 
 impute the friendliness of the union, not to 
 
62 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 any similarity in smell, but to the stupifying 
 perturbation, occasioned by the fumes or the 
 liquid, affecting for a time the instinct of the 
 bees. But, " satisfied with facts, let us avoid 
 speculation.'* Whatever be the cause it is 
 an established truth, that when these insects 
 are greatly agitated, either by rapping on 
 their skape, or by applying smoke or a liquid, 
 they lose their irrascibility and their hostile 
 spirit, and will then unite peaceably. As 
 soon, therefore, as two communities are put 
 together, let a considerable quantity of smoke 
 be blown into the skape, and all danger of 
 warfare will be obviated. 
 
 A pretty effectual method of applying the 
 smoke is that adopted by those roguish urchins, 
 who go about on evenings with burning tow 
 in a hollow cabbage stem, and set all their 
 village a-coughing, by blowing the smoke out 
 of these rustic tubes, into the houses, through 
 the key-holes, or other opening in door or 
 window. 
 
 In uniting hives, we use a fumigating box 
 of tin, of the form of which we cannot give 
 a better idea, though rather a ludicrous one, 
 than supposing it an old shoe, with a hole in 
 the toe, and a spur on the heel ; the mouth 
 of this shoe, moreover, is covered with a 
 hinged lid. The spur is a tube communi- 
 cating with the interior, for receiving the pipe 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 63 
 
 of a pair of common hand bellows, the blast of 
 which drives the smoke forward through the 
 hole in the toe into the skape. The burn- 
 ing rags, or other material, for producing 
 the smoke, lies directly under the lid, and a 
 piece of moveable, perforated tin is put in 
 near the mouth, so as to intercept the sparks 
 which would otherwise be emitted, and burn 
 the bees or melt the combs. This fumiga- 
 ting box is ten inches long, and three broad; 
 it is two inches deep at the heel, and tapers 
 gradually down to a quarter at the toe. It 
 is to be particularly attended to in the con- 
 struction, that there be as few joinings as 
 possible, and these are to be fastened with 
 rivets instead of solder. 
 
 On no occasion are the advantages attend- 
 ing tl'e union of two communities more ap- 
 parent than when one of the hives has lost 
 its queen, for if there be neither eggs nor 
 brood in the cells, the hiv e would inevitably 
 come to ruin. It is true, indeed, that ano- 
 ther queen might be substituted by the cul- 
 tivator, in her place ; or he might supply the 
 desponding community with the means of 
 rearing another queen for itself, by taking a 
 piece of comb, containing the eggs of work- 
 ers or young larvae, out of another skape, 
 and putting it into theirs. But unless there 
 were drones in existence to impregnate the 
 
64 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 young queen such a proceeding would be of 
 no service, as she would remain barren. The 
 only resource, then, at certain seasons, is to 
 join the unfortunate hive to one that has a 
 queen. 
 
 A hive may be known to have lost its 
 queen, without the means of raising anotlier, 
 by some of the following symptoms. — When 
 the drones are allowed to live long after they 
 have been destroyed by every other hive ; — 
 when the bees are pretty numerous, and yet 
 do not carry while those of other hives are 
 quite busy ; or, if one now and then does 
 enter half loaded, it soon returns with the 
 balls still on its legs, creeps about, and again 
 takes wing. The bees on returning after an 
 excursion, do not testify their joy, as they 
 would otherwise have done, by vib'>ating 
 with their wings at the entrance ; for bees 
 thus express, not only their agreeable, but also 
 their disagreeable sensations. When a hive 
 wants a queen the skape grows lighter every- 
 day, the bees crowd listlessly about the en- 
 trance, and if the hive has been above twenty- 
 days without a queen, upon searching for 
 brood in the cells, they will be found quite 
 empty. 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 65 
 
 CHAP. XIL 
 
 ON FEEDING. 
 
 The heath honey-gathering commonly 
 ceases about the middle of September. The 
 quantity of honey accumulated by each of 
 the hives ought then to be ascertained, that 
 the proprietor may know whether any of 
 them require feeding. This he will be en- 
 abled to do with sufficient accuracy, by de- 
 ducting from the gross weight, that of the 
 skape, board, suspension tackle, and swarm 
 when first lodged, as already directed when 
 speaking of the weight of swarms. A trifling 
 allowance must also be made for the weig-ht 
 of the combs and farina. 
 
 An ordinary hive consumes eight or nine 
 pounds of honey from the middle of Sep- 
 tember till the end of February, and as much 
 more from that time till the beginning of 
 June, the commencement of the honey sea- 
 son ; consequently 16 or ISife are required 
 in all, and hives having so much are said to 
 be stock-weight. Nevertheless, it is not to 
 be disputed, that a hive having only eight or 
 nine pounds of honey in the fall, may, with 
 proper attention to feeding, provided the 
 
6Q THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 skape be nearly full of combs, prove a good 
 stock, and swarm in the ensuing sumnier. 
 Such light stocks are, however, always preca- 
 rious, and ought to be rejected when better 
 ones can be obtained. 
 
 When a stock-hive in the middle of Sep- 
 tember is found to have less than eight or 
 nine pounds of honey, food ought to be 
 administered every day till the end of the 
 month, but no longer, unless the weather 
 keep mild, and necessity urge, for the tem- 
 perature of the atmosphere then diminishes 
 so much that the bees cannot fly abroad, to 
 ease their bodies, and, if fed, they are forced 
 to retain their feces so long that some cor- 
 ruption ensues ; their excrements, which, in 
 a healthy state, are of a reddish-yellow, be- 
 come black and fetid ; if their confinement 
 is protracted for three or four successive 
 months they lose the faculty of retention 
 altogether, they are seized with a dysentery 
 or looseness ; their own bodies, the combs, 
 and the board, are soiled by the black filth, 
 and the population is greatly reduced by the 
 ravages of the distemper. Fine weather, 
 however, effects a cure. On the first mild 
 day the bees leave their habitation in great 
 numbers, circle the air in all directions, and 
 ease their bodies while on the wing, and in 
 the evening express their comfort by a loud 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 67 
 
 and cheerful humming. Some authors men- 
 tion other diseases than dysentery, to which 
 bees are subject ; they confess, however, that 
 they are of rare occurrence, and are not 
 fatal in their effects ; but, though we are far 
 from discrediting the statements of others on 
 this point, we frankly acknowledge, that no 
 other disease ever came under our observa- 
 tion. 
 
 There is not a better method of making 
 up a great deficiency of a stock-hive, than 
 to supply it with the requisite quantity of 
 honey-comb. Let us suppose the hive to be 
 lodged in a straw skape of the common 
 fashion : in this case, it is to be placed above 
 what is called an eke, of the same material 
 and diameter as the skape itself. The combs 
 are to stand in the eke, in their natural po- 
 sition, upon two or three rods running at 
 right angles j and are to be kept in their 
 places, and at proper distances by slender 
 splits of well seasoned briar thrust through 
 the rolls, and passing along from side to side 
 in the spaces between the combs. 
 
 When a hive is supplied with honey combs 
 in September, the eke ought to remain as 
 many weeks as there are pounds, and if the 
 skape is large it may then be taken away ; 
 but if small, it will not be amiss to let it re- 
 main altogether. " This method (says Mr. 
 
^ THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 Bonner) may be practised at all seasons of 
 the year, and it has this additional advantage, 
 that it may be executed at little expense, and 
 occasion a saving of all the honey in the old 
 combs that will not run out, or that happens 
 to be mixed with the bee-bread, eggs, or 
 young bees." 
 
 The stocks, we have said, ought to be 
 weighed in September j and we must here 
 urge the necessity of again weighing them 
 in February ; because shortly after this, it 
 will be impossible to form any judgement how 
 they stand with regard to provisions, for 
 the queen then begins to deposit her eggs in 
 considerable numbers ; and, on account of 
 the continual multiplication of young in 
 the cells, the weight gradually increases, 
 while in fact the hive may be on the verge 
 of starvation. Indeed, the rapid increase of 
 the population during March, April, and 
 May, greatly increases the consumpt of 
 the store of honey, and as little or none is 
 then to be procured exteriorly to the skape, 
 let the cultivator beware lest his stocks perish 
 on the very eve of the honey season. On 
 the return of spring, therefore, those hives 
 that are in want of provisions must be assi- 
 duously and regularly fed with liquid honey 
 or syrup of sugar, always regulating the 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 69 
 
 supply by the number of bees and the tem- 
 perature of the atmosphere. 
 
 Even hives that are not actually in want 
 are greatly benefitted by receiving a little 
 food twice or thrice a-week, from about the 
 middle of April till they cease to accept of 
 it, which they will do, as soon as honey be- 
 comes abundant in the pastures. Food ought 
 to be again offered, however, on a return of 
 unfavourable weather ; and this is to be par- 
 ticularly observed with regard to swarms re- 
 cently lodged. " The bees are faithful stew- 
 ards," says Mr. Bonner, *' and will not fail 
 to repay their master's generosity with 
 usury." We have the concurrence of Mr. 
 Huish also on this point : — *' Some apiarians 
 (says he) conceive that the feeding of bees 
 renders them lazy and inactive. On what 
 this opinion is grounded, I am at a loss to 
 conceive ; for it is in direct contradiction, 
 not only to my own experience, but also to 
 that of many other apiarians. I consider 
 that a little food granted to even a very po- 
 pulous and well provisioned hive in the 
 spring, is attended with very beneficial con- 
 sequences. It bestows life, animation, and 
 vigour, throughout the whole community ; 
 it accelerates the breeding of the queen, and 
 consequently conduces to the production of 
 early swarms. I invariably give all my hives 
 
70 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 some food in the spring, and I can recom- 
 mend the custom with the greatest certainty 
 of its propriety to every keeper of bees." 
 
 Of all substances for feeding bees, none 
 is equal to honey or sugar made into a syrup 
 with boiling water. This syrup ought not to 
 be quite so thick as honey, and more should 
 not be made at once than is required for 
 present use, as it is apt to candy and fer- 
 ment. 
 
 The best method of administering the 
 food is in a trough, having a thin wooden 
 float, on which the bees may stand in safety, 
 and imbibe the liquid through small holes 
 made in the float for that purpose. When 
 the combs do not reach down to the board, 
 the trough is Usually inserted at the entrance; 
 but should such obstacle be opposed, the 
 skape is placed upon what is called 2i feeding' 
 board, having a groove in its upper surface 
 that the trough may lie fiush, as tradesmen 
 would say. But as this feeding apparatus is 
 well known, is seems unnecessary to enter 
 more into detail, especially as we are about 
 to describe a feeding-trough of an improved 
 construction, and which is less expensive on 
 account of being used with the common 
 board. 
 
 The great objection to the common method 
 of feeding is, that, although the bees, during 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 71 
 
 the night, take the whole of the food given 
 them, the smell of it, nevertheless, on the 
 succeeding day, emanates from the trough ; 
 and even though that were removed and a 
 piece of clean wood put in its place, still as 
 it is almost unavoidable to slide in the trough 
 without spilling some of the syrup, the ob- 
 jection is not obviated ; hence strange bees 
 are attracted by the odour, and the conse- 
 quences are frequently ruinous. The com- 
 mon feeding-board, in short, is inconvenient, 
 unnecessaiily expensive, and, moreover, when 
 it is used, the skape cannot be kept so close 
 and warm as it ought to be. 
 
 Before describing the improved feeding- 
 trough, it may not be amiss to inform the 
 reader that we have seen two different de- 
 scriptions of it, namely, one in ** The Edin- 
 burgh Encyclopaedia," and the other in 
 " The Glasgow Mechanic's Magazine ;" the 
 principle of both, however, is the same, and 
 we would offer a third modification, less com- 
 plicated, and therefore less expensive than' 
 any of the other two, qualities absolutely 
 necessary to its being generally used. 
 
 This trough or box, then, is constructed 
 of the best fir wood, and is nine inches long, 
 three broad, and two deep, all inside mea- 
 sure. It has a moveable glass lid of one or 
 more pieces let into a half-check ; and as it 
 
t2 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 Stands on the outside of the skape, across 
 the flight-board, with its side about half an 
 inch from the entrance, there is an opening 
 three inches long, and half an inch deep, 
 cut out of the middle of the upper edge of 
 one of its sides, by which the bees enter be- 
 tween the glass and the float. The space 
 between the box and the entrance of the 
 skape, as much of it at least as is necessary, 
 must be covered in by three small pieces of 
 wood, that the bees may not be annoyed by 
 wasps, and robbers of their own species ; 
 indeed it will be found best to have these 
 pieces of wood fastened to the feeding box. 
 (See the Plate.) 
 
 The food is to be administered in the 
 evening, and the box removed in the morn- 
 ing, and it is advisable to lay a loose board 
 or a slate over the glass, both to preclude 
 light and ward off rain. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 ENEMIES OF BEES. 
 
 The enemies of bees, according to some 
 writers, are pretty numerous : — ants, spiders, 
 snails, wood lice, called sclaters in Scotland, 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 73 
 
 toads, frogs, swallows, sparrows, and common 
 poultry, are all enumerated among their foes; 
 but the harm done by any of these is certainly 
 very trifling. 
 
 The large nocturnal insect called the 
 death's head hawk-moth CSphinx atropoSy 
 Linne,) is a very formidable enemy to beei^. 
 In the caterpillar state it feeds on potato 
 leaves, and appears on the wing in mild 
 nights during September, when, from its 
 size, it is often mistaken for the bat ; indeed 
 that little animal was blamed for the ravages 
 committed by the sphinx till M. Huber, 
 with his usual sagacity, discovered the true 
 enemy. It is fortunate that this insect is 
 rare in Britain, especially in the northern 
 parts of the island ; it is always advisable, 
 however, to adopt the precaution of using 
 skapes with a very low entrance. Both M. 
 Huber and M. Lombard affirm that when a 
 hive begins to suffer from tlie attack of the 
 sphinx, if the entrance is not such as to pre- 
 vent the access of their enemy, the bees 
 themselves form a veiy curious and effective 
 barricado with a mixture of wax and propo- 
 lis. M. Huber, in the Bibliotheque Britan- 
 nique, has given a drawing of an apian forti- 
 fication. 
 
 Old combs and those of weakly hives are 
 sometimes infested by the larvae of moths, 
 
 o 
 
•74 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 which live upon the heterogeneous matter 
 that abounds on old combs. The insect in 
 the perfect state, effects a surreptitious en- 
 trance into the skape, and lays its eggs on 
 the combs which are most distant from the 
 centre, where they are hatched. The best 
 method, therefore, of checking the depreda- 
 tions of the moth, is to remove the outside 
 combs ; and, as it is always those that are old 
 and foul that are attacked, no stock-hive 
 ought to be kept longer than two years 
 without a complete renewal of all the combs. 
 During winter, when the bees crowd to- 
 gether in the centre of their habitation, mice 
 not unfrequently enter, and commit terrible 
 ravages. In order to obviate such a calamity 
 the entrance must not exceed five sixteenths 
 of an inch in height. Straw skapes, even 
 when the aperture is sufficiently low, are not 
 proof agairist these little thieves, for they 
 have been known to effect an entrance by 
 gnawing a passage through the rolls. " As 
 the mouse (says Mr. Huish) is the principal 
 enemy in winter, every method should be 
 taken for its destruction. I keep constantly 
 round my apiary some traps of the following 
 construction. Let a pea be soaked in water, 
 then draw a thread through it, and tying a 
 stick at each end, place them in the ground, 
 the exact distance of the width of a brick ; 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 75 
 
 the brick is then placed on the thread, and 
 tlie mouse coming to eat the pea, gnaws also 
 the thread, and the support of the brick 
 being then taken away, it falls and kills the 
 mouse." 
 
 Wasps have been known from all antiquity 
 as dreadful enemies to bees ; they are most 
 troublesome in the neighbourhood of plan- 
 tations, commencing their attack upon the 
 weakest hives about the end of August, and 
 their onset is sometimes so furious that the 
 rightful owners have been known to yield 
 their habitation to the invaders. The best 
 time to destroy wasps is when gooseberry 
 bushes come into blossom ; great numbers of 
 the females then frequent the bushes, and 
 every one that is then killed effects the 
 destruction of a whole colony in embryo. 
 Their nests ought to be carefully destroyed, 
 if in the earth, by pouring water down their 
 hole, or kindling a quantity of straw or brush 
 wood around them ; and when they are found 
 on trees, they may either be fired or blown 
 up with gun powder. 
 
 When a hive is attacked by wasps, the en- 
 trance of the skape ought to be contracted 
 by laying a piece of wood on each side of it, 
 with a third piece lying above as a cover to 
 the passage or defile^ formed between the 
 ends of the pieces. Each of the two pieces 
 
"76 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 of wood is two inches long, one incli thick, 
 and half an inch broad. By means of this 
 simple contrivance, the entrance may be 
 widened or contracted at pleasure. Some 
 place bottles of sweetened water in their 
 apiaries for the purpose of entrapping the 
 enemy ; vast numbers are thus destroyed ; 
 but by this method, the voracious insects are 
 attracted by the smell of the liquid to the 
 very place where they are the least welcome; 
 whereas, were the bottles suspended in the 
 nearest plantations, a greater number would 
 perish, and the bees would be less annoyed. 
 : But of all the enemies of bees, none make 
 such havoc as robbers of their own species. 
 A weak hive is sometimes absolutely ruined 
 in a single day ; and, at certain times, it re- 
 quires great prudence and precaution to 
 avert such misfortunes. One method of 
 doing so is, to make all the stoc]:s as 
 nearly equal in point of numbers and riches 
 as possible. A poor hive robs from neces- 
 sity, and ought to be fed ; while one that is 
 rich and powerful seizes the property of its 
 less fortunate neighbour, because it can do 
 so in comparative security. Another method 
 of securing a hive from invasion is to guard 
 the aperture of the skape by the defile re- 
 commended when bees are suffering from 
 wasps. Let it be set no wider than what 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 77 
 
 may be found absolutely necessary, and such 
 a dangerous pass ^\^ll thus be presented to 
 the enemy, that, it is more than probable, 
 they will desist from their hostile attempt. 
 
 Notwithstanding the above precaution, 
 however, should the attack be renewed on 
 the following day, the proprietor ought to 
 shut up his bees in the evening with a perfo- 
 rated tin shutter, or in such a way as to allow 
 them fresh air, and remove the colony to a 
 dark chamber, there to remain all the ensuing 
 day. An empty skape is to be set where the 
 full one stood, to divert the attention of the 
 robbers from attacking any other hive, and, 
 thus disappointed, it is likely they will cease 
 to return, when the assaulted colony may 
 again be set in its proper station. But of 
 all others, the most effectual precaution is to 
 remove the hive that is the object of attack 
 to a distance of one or two miles. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 OF THE APIARY. 
 
 In the establishment of an apiary, the 
 principal requisites are, that it be well shel- 
 tered from wind, and conveniently situated 
 
 G 2 
 
78 THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 for watching during the swarming season. 
 Tlie situation, it is true, with regard to pas- 
 ture is of the first importance, but a choice 
 in this respect is, comparatively speaking, 
 within the reach of few. With a proper 
 degree of care and attention, however, bees 
 prosper in situations apparently very unpro- 
 mising, and there are few cottage gardens in 
 Britain where they might not be kept with 
 advantage. 
 
 The skapes ought to stand on the sunny 
 side of a wall or hedge, as far distant from 
 each other as circumstances will allow : for 
 when placed too close, the bees of one hive 
 are apt to annoy those of another. Notwith- 
 standing this, some, whose room is limited, 
 place their skapes so near each other as one 
 yard without experiencing very prejudicial 
 consequences. 
 
 In most places where the culture of bees 
 obtains that attention which it so well merits, 
 the skapes are kept in shades or hee-houses. 
 This is doubtless a most excellent practice, 
 and, when the shades are of a proper con- 
 struction, cannot be too warmly recom- 
 mended. Those in common use, however, 
 lose most of the advantages which they 
 ought to possess, by being open in front. 
 A bee-house ought to be so fashioned as to 
 secure the skapes from thieves, to shield 
 
, THE apiarian's MANUAL. ^ 
 
 them from rain, and from the extremes of 
 heat and cold j for the heat sometimes melts 
 the combs, and the bees are drowned in 
 their honey, while the cold, during severe 
 winters, candies the luscious store, and ren- 
 ders it useless to them. We have already 
 hinted that the great internal heat of a skape, 
 previously to a swarm's issuing forth, has 
 the effect of forcing the bees to lie out in 
 idle clusters, and it must be evident to every 
 one that when the sun shines upon the 
 skape the evil must be greatly augmented, 
 and we are induced to think so, because we 
 have observed that stocks under shade of a 
 proper bee-house seldom lie out all the day, 
 and even when they do, it is uniformly both 
 for a short time and in small numbers. 
 
 We have shown why skapes ought not to 
 stand too near one another in the apiary, but 
 this is almost unavoidable when they are 
 under cover of a shade of the usual con- 
 struction. Instead of several skapes being 
 placed in one bee-house, we would recom- 
 mend that each should have a separate cover- 
 ing. — Let four stakes be firmly driven into 
 the ground so as to form a square round the 
 skape, rising as high as its top. Seven or 
 eight inches from the ground, let four cross 
 bars be nailed to the inside of the stakes 
 quite round the square, and let the floor or 
 
80 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 rest for the board of the skape be fastened 
 to these cross bars. The stakes are to be 
 connected at the top in the same manner as 
 below by four cross bars. All the spaces 
 between these transverse bars are to be 
 guarded by others runnmg slantly between 
 opposite corners. The diagonal bar on the 
 top, as well as that on the front or back, 
 whichever may be found the more conve- 
 nient, is to be moveable, being fastened at 
 one end by a simple staple-hinge, and both 
 bars are to meet at the same top corner, and 
 be fastened to the same staple by a padlock. 
 A straw rope wrapped tightly round the 
 whole frame renders the shade complete. It 
 a frame of this kind be made either of cast 
 or of malleable iron, and the corner posts 
 fastened with lead into a large flat stone, 
 the difficulty of depredation will be very 
 greatly increased. 
 
 The appearance of the frame just de- 
 scribed, enveloped in straw, may be deemed 
 by one man rude and unsightly, while ano- 
 ther, on the contrary, may be pleased with 
 its rural roughness and simplicity. The 
 tastes of men are proverbially different. Let 
 him who dislikes straw substitute boards ; 
 and, indeed, were it not for the expense, the 
 latter is less exceptionable than ropes, espe- 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 81 
 
 cially when straw skapes are used, on ac- 
 count of being proof against mice. 
 
 Various methods have been contrived to 
 secure the property of the apiarian from 
 being carried off by thieves ; the following 
 we think pretty effectual : — The support of 
 the skape is of malleable iron, having a single 
 stem below, but parted into three, or rather 
 four, branches above ; on the top of which 
 branches the boai^ of the skape rests. The 
 lower part of the stem is fastened with lead 
 into a large shapeless stone, sunk to a level 
 with the surface of the ground. A piece of 
 hoop-iron passes over the top and down the 
 sides of the skape as far as the under side 
 of tlie board, in which notches may be 
 cut that the iron may lie closer. A chain, 
 iixed to one leg of the iron, is passed once 
 round the support at the root of the branches, 
 and the end of this chain is fastened with a 
 padlock to the other leg. But in this state' 
 the fastening might be slipped off at the 
 crown of the skape, and the thief thus ob- 
 tain his booty. To prevent this, one or more 
 hoops, surrounding the skape, must be 
 rivetted to that passing down the sides. 
 
 Before concluding this chapter we may 
 mention that some cultivators have kept their 
 bees in garrets and in out-houses, and have 
 reaped ample profits. A flat pipe, as a pas- 
 
82 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 sage for the insects, connects the entrance 
 of the skape with a hole in the wall, the 
 roof, or a window. Mr. Bonner, whose me- 
 mory is so justly revered by apiarians, *' long 
 laboured," says a writer in the Edinburgh 
 Review, " under a very peculiar and almost 
 incredible disadvantage, that of residing in 
 the midst of a populous city ; for we un- 
 derstand it to be a fact, that his apiary was 
 for some years kept in a garret in Glasgow." 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 OF APIAN PASTURE. 
 
 In most places in Britain there are abun- 
 dance of flowers during summer and the 
 greater part of autumn. " In summer, 
 (says the Spectator) the whole country 
 blooms and is a kind of garden." The early 
 part of spring is, therefore, the only critical 
 period for carrying on a stock of bees, as 
 there are, comparatively speaking, but few 
 flowers, either wild or cultivated, at that 
 season. 
 
 On the return of spring, the queen begins 
 to deposit her eggs in considerable numbers, 
 and on the first mild day of February the 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. j8B 
 
 bees roam abroad in quest of those flowers 
 which yield the farinaceous food of their 
 young. It, therefore, becomes the duty of 
 the cultivator, where a sufficiency of those 
 flowers is not afforded spontaneously to pro- 
 pagate in his garden, and even, where cir- 
 cumstances permit, in its vicinity, a plentiful 
 supply of those plants, the flowers of which 
 experience has taught to be grateful to these 
 insects. 
 
 Yellow and purple crocuses, with a small 
 proportion of snowdrops, ought to be copi- 
 ously propagated, and, if planted in rows, 
 take up little room. The seeds of furze and 
 of broom may be disseminated on the sandy 
 banks of rivulets, and on spots and outskirts 
 otherwise barren. The sides of ditches and 
 moist lands may be turned to good account 
 by planting them with that species of willow 
 called sallows ; it is used for hoops and in 
 coarse basket-work, and the bees will be 
 greatly enriched by the employment they 
 find on the yellow catkins while other flowers 
 are yet scarce. In situations where greens 
 or turnips are allowed to flower, which they 
 do early and continue long in blossom, they 
 afford both honey and farina in great abun- 
 dance. The ^blossom of gooseberry and cur- 
 rant bushes, especially the former, is of infi- 
 ^nite service to bees, being the first source 
 
^4 THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 whence honey is procured in the spring, and 
 when these bushes are planted around the 
 apiary either separately or as a hedge, they 
 not only furnish food to the bees, and afford 
 the means of skaping swarms with facility, 
 but are even valuable on account of their 
 fruit. 
 
 All the flowers we have yet enumerated 
 blow before the middle of May, and some of 
 them as early as the bees can venture abroad. 
 Between the middle of May and the first of 
 June, broom, sycamore, (^plane-tree of Scot- 
 land,) wild mustard, yellow and white clover, 
 thyme, and hundreds of others come into 
 blossom, when the cultivator's anxiety, with 
 regard to pasture, is for a season happily at 
 an end. 
 
 All the pasture just mentioned, with the 
 exception of common garden-thjine, for we 
 allude to that species, is afforded in profusion 
 without any care on the part of the apiarian ; 
 and therefore it is quite unnecessary to cul- 
 tivate flowers expressly for bees at such a 
 season. Thyme, however, is a great favourite 
 with these insects, and ought to be univer- 
 sally used as a walk- edging in every apia- 
 rian's garden. In any other way we would 
 not advise its culture.* '* 
 
 * Thyme may be propagated by parting the roots about 
 the end of March ; but a speedier method of propagation is 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 85 
 
 About the end of July the white clover, 
 which for two months is the delight of the 
 bees, begins to fade, and, where the apiary 
 is farther removed from heath than one mile, 
 the skapes gradually diminish in weight every 
 day after the first week of August. The 
 cultivator, however, who is so far removed 
 from heathy ground as to render it impracti- 
 cable to convey his bees thither, has it in his 
 power to keep up a succession of pasture by 
 sowing mignonette on those small vacant 
 spots and corners which unavoidably occur 
 in every garden. It may also be sown as an 
 edging to temporary walks. A considerable 
 quantity may be sown about the middle of 
 April, from which abundance of seed may- 
 be gathered for sowing next season. But 
 the principal supply for August and Septem- 
 ber may be sown about the beginning of 
 June. There is, perhaps, no flower which 
 more eagerly engages the attention of bees 
 than mignonette, and the honey it affords is 
 surpassed by none. 
 
 to sow the seed at that time upon a bed of light earth, ob- 
 serving not to bury it too deep, which would cause it to rot. 
 The plants will be quite ready for their final destination next 
 spring. In order to save the seed of thyme, which ripens in 
 July, it must be taken without delay, as the first rain would 
 wash it all out of the husks. 
 
 H 
 
86 THE apiafiIan's manual. 
 
 Fresh Pasture. — There are few places so 
 happily situated as to afford a sufficiency of 
 pasture for bees alike during spring, summer, 
 and autumn ; the low country has the advan- 
 tage in the early part of the season, and the 
 upland districts and mountains in autumn. 
 
 The extreme distance to which bees fly for 
 food cannot be easily ascertained. Mr. Huish 
 informs us that he once observed bees busily 
 employed on heath on the Isle of May, which 
 is farther than four miles from any other 
 land, while not a single hive of bees was 
 kept upon the island. However this may be, 
 it is well known, that, after the first week of 
 August, when the white clover and other 
 flowers of the low grounds are decayed, 
 hives cease to improve though situated only 
 one mile and a quarter from an abundance 
 of heath, and if the distance is two miles, 
 their weight diminishes rapidly, while those 
 placed beside this rich pasture on the first of 
 August, in ordinary seasons, make an addi- 
 tion to their weight of from 15 to 30ft. by 
 the middle of September. 
 
 The profit accruing from the removal of 
 bees to the vicinity of heath is now, in most 
 places, duly appreciated. It is proper to 
 mention that the place to which bees are 
 taken ought not to be less than two miles 
 from tlieir former station, otherwise many of 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 87. 
 
 them would return to it, and would inevita- 
 bly perish. 
 
 It will readily suggest itself to any one in 
 the least acquainted with bees, that the night 
 time is the most proper for changing their 
 situation. The manner of removal depends, 
 in a great measure on the length of the 
 journey, and the number of skapes to be 
 transported. A man may carry a light one 
 on his head for a considerable distance ; 
 and by fastening one securely to each end of 
 a pole, to prevent the possibility of slipping 
 oft\ he may remove two at once. But the 
 safest method of conveyance for a few skapes, 
 is to carry them on a light hand-barrow be- 
 tween two persons, using shoulder-belts that 
 their strength may be properly applied. 
 
 The skapes must be tied firmly do^\Ti to 
 their boards, and the entrances stopped with 
 a perforated shutter of wood or tin, or with 
 a piece of gauze clotli, that there may be a 
 free admission of air. When bees are con- 
 veyed from one place to another great care 
 must alv/ays be taken that they are not suffo- 
 cated ; we have known excellent hives de- 
 stroyed through carelessness in this respect ; 
 indeed the strongest hives are aptest to 
 suffer. 
 
 On one occasion, being extremely solici- 
 tous for the safety of our hives when trans- 
 
88 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 porting them, during the night, on a hand- 
 barrow, we had adopted the precaution of 
 using very thin gauze to prevent the escape 
 of the bees ; but after having proceeded 
 about two miles on our way, on halting to 
 recruit our strength, we found that the gauze 
 of one of the skapes had not been properly 
 secured, and that, in consequence of this, 
 the bees were at liberty. We were yet up- 
 wards of a mile from the place of our desti- 
 nation ; but, in this state, we proceeded, and 
 not a single bee left its habitation. Since 
 that time, when transporting our bees on a 
 barrow, we have allowed them perfect liberty, 
 and have taken no other precaution than that 
 of waiting till ten or eleven o'clock at night 
 before starting with our burthen. 
 
 When either the distance is great, or many 
 skapes are to be removed, horse carriage 
 must be resorted to. A spring-cart is to be 
 preferred ; but, when that cannot be pro- 
 cured, they may be transported with safety 
 in a common one, by laying them on a thick 
 layer of straw, and travelling on the smooth- 
 est parts of the road. 
 
 For the safety of the comb, cultivators, 
 especially those who use straw skapes of the 
 common construction, sometimes place their 
 skapes in the cart in an inverted position, 
 and, to avoid the danger of suffocation, some 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 89 
 
 adopt the following precaution : — The same 
 evening on which the bees are to be removed, 
 when they are all returned to their habita- 
 tion, the entrance is closed, and a coarse 
 thin cloth is drawn through between the 
 skape and its board, the corners and edges 
 of the cloth are turned up and bound to the 
 skape with a packing thread, so that the bees 
 may not escape. When the combs are fixed 
 to the board, they must be separated from it 
 by passing a wire with a cross handle at each 
 end, between it and the skape, previously to 
 drawing in the cloth. This plan, however 
 good during fine w^eather, is inadmissible 
 when it rains ; but a little foresight will de- 
 termine the course to be pursued. 
 
 Let it be pressed upon the attention, that, 
 when horse carriage is employed, too much 
 caution cannot be used to prevent the bees 
 from escaping ; as they might sting the horse, 
 and the most distressing events might follow. 
 To avoid such risk, and for other reasons, 
 water carriage is to be preferred, where it 
 can be obtained. 
 
 H ^ 
 
90 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 OF SKAPES. 
 
 Skapes are, in general, constructed either 
 of wood or straw, and in some countries bees 
 are lodged in earthen vessels. In any of 
 these they will carry on their operations with 
 equal success ; pottery ware, however, from 
 its brittleness is scarcely admissible, and cul- 
 tivators who have their skapes to purchase, 
 will, we believe, find those made of boards, 
 when of a suitable construction, much pre- 
 ferable to those of straw. We ourselves give 
 a decided preference to wood ; and, in sup- 
 port of our decision, it may not be amiss to 
 state the opinion of Mr. Bonner on this part 
 of our subject. — " Single box hives, (skapes,) 
 when properly made, (says he) answer very 
 well, and when painted, last long. — They 
 have several advantages above straw hives : 
 They are quite cleanly and always stand up- 
 right ; they are proof against mice, and are 
 cheaper in the end than straw hives ; for 
 one box will last as long as three of them. 
 I have known many bee-masters, who never 
 used any other kind of hives, and whose bees 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 91 
 
 throve very well. I believe, however, they 
 are rather colder in winter, but a proper 
 covering will prevent all danger from that 
 quarter. But straw hives are easiest obtained 
 at first, and have been used and recom- 
 mended by the most of bee-masters." 
 
 Boxes are objected to as being too hot in 
 summer and too cold in winter ; be it so, in 
 this case let a hay or a straw rope be wound 
 closely and tightly about them, or let them 
 be set in bee-houses, any of which precau- 
 tions will completely obviate the objection. 
 This is a little more trouble it is true, " but 
 we are yet to learn the branch of good man- 
 agement, which can be executed with as 
 little trouble as is sustained when the system 
 is slovenly and improvident.'* 
 
 As to straw skapes being easiest obtained 
 at first, as Mr. Bonner alleges, may be so far 
 true, when the cultivator fabricates them for 
 himself; but when purchased, they are very 
 little cheaper than the wooden skapes used 
 by us ; the boxes themselves are indeed 
 dearer, but the boards on which they stand 
 are not more than one third of the price of 
 those required for straw skapes ; so that the 
 first cost of each kind is pretty nearly equal. 
 
 The requisites of a skape for practical pur- 
 poses are, that it afford proper shelter to its 
 inmates ; that its construction be such as to 
 
92 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 allow those combs stored with honey to be 
 at any time taken, without injuring those 
 that are empty or contain brood ; that it 
 present, in short, the means of performing 
 all the necessary operations with facility ; 
 and that it be both cheap and durable. 
 
 Slcape Recommended by M. Bonnet. — For 
 the interesting purpose of observation there 
 is no skape yet invented equal to that recom- 
 mended by the celebrated French philoso- 
 pher M. Bonnet, and used by M. Huber. 
 This naturalist in his first letter to IM. Bon- 
 net says, — " Glass hives, constructed after 
 M. de Reaumur's principles, are of a form 
 unfavourable to the observer, because their 
 width allowing the bees to build two combs 
 parallel, whatever passes between them is 
 concealed from his view. Long experience 
 of this has induced you to recommend hives 
 much flatter or thinner ; the panes of which 
 should be separated by so small an interval, 
 that only a single row of combs could be 
 erected between them. From having felt 
 the same inconvenience, I have profitted by 
 your counsel in providing hives reduced to 
 an inch and a half in width, wherein swarms 
 have been established without any difficulty. 
 Here, however, the charge of constructing 
 a single comb must not be committed to the 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL, 93 
 
 bees : they are taught by nature to make 
 more than one, and all parallel to each other 
 — a law from which they never derogate, 
 unless when constrained by some particular 
 arrangement. Therefore, if left to them- 
 selves in these flat hives, which cannot admit 
 of two combs parallel to the plane of the 
 sides, they will form several small ones per- 
 pendicular to it, and in that case all will be 
 equally lost to the observer. Thus previous 
 dispositions become essential for the direc- 
 tion of the combs. I so contrived that, 
 while they were built perpendicular to the 
 horizon, the lateral surfaces should be three 
 or four lines* from the panes constituting 
 the sides of the hive. This distance in allow- 
 ing sufficient latitude for the motions of the 
 bees, prevented them from collecting in too 
 large clusters on the surface of the comb. 
 By such precautions, they were easily estab- 
 lished in very thin hives, where they pur- 
 sued their labours with the same assiduity 
 and regularity ; and every cell being exposed 
 to view, none of their proceedings could be 
 concealed." 
 
 It is to be regretted that M. Huber has 
 not given us any other dimension of Bon- 
 net's skape than the width, which is an 
 
 * There are 12 lines in one inch. 
 
94 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 inch and a half; but its surface must have 
 been considerable, probably about three feet 
 square ; and it would certainly add to its 
 convenience to have it divided, from top to 
 bottom, into three or four apartments, by 
 wooden partitions, having ten or twelve small 
 holes in each as passages of communication. 
 Each apartment ought to have its own glass 
 doors sliding from the top in grooves, so that 
 admittance may be had to the interior of any 
 apartment at pleasure. The whole must be 
 covered to exclude the light. 
 
 " It is true," says M. Huber, our great 
 jnaster in apian science, " that by compelling 
 these insects to live in a habitation where 
 they could construct only a single row of 
 combs, I had in a certain measure, changed 
 their natural condition, and this circum- 
 stance possibly might have affected their in- 
 stinct. Therefore, to obviate every objec- 
 tion, I invented a kind of hives, which, with- 
 out losing the advantages of those very thin, 
 at the same time approached the figure of 
 common hives where bees form several rows 
 of combs." 
 
 M. Huberts Shape. — The skape invented 
 by M. Huber, and which he calls the Book 
 or Leaf-skape, is composed of several thin 
 frames, placed side by side, each frame, like 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 95 
 
 those already described, being capable of re- 
 ceiving only one comb. None of the frames 
 are glazed j but two panes each fixed into a 
 wooden frame, close the skape at each end, 
 and these should be darkened by a moveable 
 cover, which will also be useful in protecting 
 the skape from the influence of the weather. 
 M. Huber, in his " New Observations on 
 Bees," describes this skape as being com- 
 posed of twelve frames, each '* a foot square, 
 and an inch and a quarter broad ;" but it is 
 probable that he had afterwards found it 
 more convenient to diminish the number of 
 frames and increase their height, as Mr. 
 Huish informs us that it consists of eight 
 frames instead of twelve ; that the height of 
 each is eighteen inches, and breadth twelve, 
 outside measure ; within the height is seven- 
 teen inches and breadth ten. This we con- 
 sider a great improvement. Each frame has 
 two cross bars besides that forming the top, 
 namely, a square one, half an inch thick at 
 an inch from the bottom of the uprights, 
 and another half way between that and the 
 top, of about three quarters broad, and three 
 eighths thick. The frames must all be nicely 
 adapted to each other, and kept closely 
 united by outside bars secured by pins. — As 
 an entrance for the bees, we would recom- 
 mend, that, in the leaf-skape they should 
 
96 THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 enter under the floor-board, and, passing 
 along an inclosed passage, ascend through a 
 hole in the board just within the front of 
 the skape. 
 
 Thus have we given a description of two 
 skapes adapted to observation. An objec- 
 tion was brought against the first of these, 
 namely, that by allowing only one row of 
 combs to be constructed, the instinct of the 
 bees might thereby be effected ; but this evil 
 is imaginary, for M. Huber, speaking of 
 book or leaf-skapes, says, " In these I have 
 repeated all my observations, and obtained 
 exactly the same results as in the thinnest. 
 Thus, I think, already to have obviated any 
 objections that may arise concerning the 
 supposed inconvenience of flat hives." 
 
 A skape, occupied by a hive under experi- 
 ment, ought seldom to stand in the open air. 
 It ought rather to be placed at a window in 
 a house, where the apiarian may sit and ob- 
 serve his bees with much more pleasure and 
 convenience than he could possibly have in 
 the open air. For this purpose, a proper 
 opening must be made in the under part of 
 the window as a passage for the bees. Should 
 the insects at any time, either by accident, 
 or in the course of operation, find their way 
 into the apartment, the window must be 
 opened, and they will fly out and return by 
 the usual entrance. 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 97 
 
 One of the most singular and valuable pro- 
 perties of the two skapes just described is, 
 that on opening them, no stings are to be 
 dreaded. M. Huber ascribes the tranquillity 
 of the bees to the manner in which they are 
 affected by the sudden introduction of light ; 
 then they appear rather to testify fear than 
 anger. Many retire, and entering the cells 
 seem to conceal themselves. This conjec- 
 ture is confirmed by their being less tractable 
 during night, or after sunset, than through 
 the day. Thus we must open the skape 
 while the sun is above the horizon, cautious- 
 ly, and without any sudden shock, taking 
 care to wound none of the bees. If they 
 cluster too much on the combs, it is neces- 
 sary to brush them off with a feather ; and 
 breathing on them is to be anxiously avoided. 
 The air which we expire seems to excite 
 their fury, for if bellows are used they are 
 rather inclined to escape than to sting. 
 
 We, in general, prefer a natural to an arti- 
 ficial swann ; it may happen, however, that 
 the apiarian, in the course of his experiments, 
 may find such necessary ; and as the leaf- 
 skape is well adapted to their formation, we 
 shall here detail the method in M. Huberts 
 own words. 
 
 " Since bees, according to Schirach's dis- 
 covery, can procure another queen after 
 
 I 
 
98 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 having lost their own, provided there be 
 workers' brood in the combs not above three 
 days old, it results that we can produce 
 queens at pleasure, by removing the reigning 
 one. Therefore, if a hive (skape) sufficiently 
 populous be divided into two, one half will 
 retain the old queen, and the other will not 
 be long of obtaining a new one. But to in- 
 sure success, we must choose a propitious 
 moment, which is never certain but in leaf- 
 hives. In these we can see whether the po- 
 pulation is sufficient to admit of division, if 
 the brood is of the proper age, and if males 
 exist or are ready to be produced for impreg- 
 nating the young queens. 
 
 " Suppose the concurrence of all these 
 conditions, the following is the method to 
 be pursued. The leaf-hive is to be separ- 
 ated through the middle without any shock," 
 and two of the panes which serve to close 
 the skape *' insinuated between the halves, 
 which, when exactly applied to each other, 
 are close on the outside. The queen must 
 be sought in one of the halves, and marked 
 to avoid mistake. If she by chance remains 
 in the division with most brood, she is to be 
 transferred to the other wdth less, that the 
 bees may have every possible opportunity of 
 obtaining another female." 
 
 The division wanting the queen must be 
 
n 
 
 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 99 
 
 placed upon a separate board, the entrance 
 closed, yet so as to admit air, and the whole 
 carried into a dark chamber of moderate 
 temperature. When all circumstances are 
 favourable, the bees, after two or three hours' 
 agitation, will begin the same day to labour 
 in procuring another queen. The bees must 
 be kept prisoners for at least twenty-four 
 hours, when the skape may be again returned 
 to the apiary, and the bees set at liberty. In 
 ten or fifteen days after the operation, the 
 young queen will be hatched ; she soon issues 
 forth to seek impregnation, and in two days 
 commences the laying of workers' eggs, when 
 the success of the artificial swarm is insured. 
 Another advantage attends M. Ruber's 
 skape, namely, that " bees may be forced to 
 work in wax, or, which is the same thing, to 
 construct new combs. To accomplish the 
 object, it is only necessary to separate those 
 already built so far asunder that they may 
 construct others in the interval. Suppose 
 that an artificial sw^arm is lodged in a leaf- 
 hive, composed of four divisions, each con- 
 taining a comb, if the young queen is as 
 fertile as she ought to be, the bees will be 
 very active in their labours, and disposed to 
 make great collections of wax. To induce 
 them towards it, an empty frame or division 
 must be inserted between two others, each 
 
J 00 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 containing a comb. As all the frames are of 
 equal dimensions, and of the necessary width 
 for receiving a comb, the bees having suffi- 
 cient space for constructing a new one in 
 the empty division introduced into the hive, 
 will not fail to build it, because they are 
 under the necessity of never leaving more 
 than a third of an inch between them. 
 Without any guide, this new comb will be 
 parallel to the old ones, to preserve that law 
 which establishes an equal distance through- 
 out the whole surface.'* The number of 
 vacancies left must be proportioned to the 
 strength of the swarm, and the goodness of 
 the season ; but an artificial swarm that was 
 at first lodged in four divisions ought not, 
 during the first year, to be forced to fabri- 
 cate more than other four combs. 
 
 Common Straw Skape. — The skape in com- 
 mon use is too well known to require any 
 description ; but the manner of depriving 
 tlie bees lodged in it of their honey without 
 taking away their lives merits particular no- 
 tice. This operation is termed deprivation^ 
 and is performed about the end of July or 
 the beginning of August, when the flowers 
 of the valleys are hastening to decay, and 
 when, therefore, the hives could not any 
 longer add to their store. Instead of adding, 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 101 
 
 indeed, or even remaining stationary, there 
 would be a gradual diminution, and hence 
 the propriety of seizing at this juncture, the 
 contents of the skape. 
 
 But though we appropriate to ourselves 
 the produce, it is not necessary to destroy 
 the labourers ; for the heath now comes into 
 blossom, and, provided the weather prove 
 propitious, presents a rich harvest of honey 
 to the bees, whose wants are thus, partially 
 at \epst, supplied ; and, by the addition of 
 two 'or three pounds of sugar made into 
 syrup and judiciously administered, they will 
 in all probability survive the winter and 
 spring, and swarm on the return of summer. 
 Three important advantages are gained by 
 deprivation, — the honey is secure in our pos- 
 session, the bees are preserved, and, the 
 skapes being lightened, can be transported 
 with facility to fresh pasture, thereby en- 
 abling the cultivator to draw the greatest 
 possible profit from his bees. 
 
 The time allowed to the bees, however, 
 for collecting their winter provender is thus 
 verv limited ; their operations are frequently 
 interrupted by unfavourable weather, and it 
 must not be disguised that failures are com- 
 mon. But though failures often originate in 
 causes over which we have no control, still 
 we do not hesitate to affirm, that they as often 
 
 I 2 
 
102 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 originate in the inconvenient construction of 
 the common straw skape. Certain it is, 
 that this skape is not well adapted to the 
 culture of bees. These insects always store 
 their honey towards the top of the combs, 
 while the brood occupies the lower parts. 
 We cannot, therefore, come at the honey till 
 the rods, which the width of the skape ren- 
 ders necessary, are extracted ; the combs are 
 then cut out, and the bees are at once robbed 
 of their young and of the whole of their 
 provision. ■■ 
 
 Doubtless both these are great grievances; 
 but the loss of their young, if in this case 
 we may judge analogically, is peculiarly dis- 
 tressing. Hence that langour and listless 
 idleness which, after deprivation, we fre- 
 quently observe pervade a hive that before 
 exhibited all the symptoms of industry and 
 activity — hence the reason why the bees of 
 deprived hives sometimes dwindle gradually 
 away till not one remains. 
 
 These are facts with which cultivators are 
 not unacquainted, and we denounce the 
 common skape as their principal cause. Some, 
 indeed, who use this skape, -avert the cala- 
 mities just mentioned. — After all the combs 
 are taken out, the upper parts containing the 
 honey are cut off from the lower containing 
 the brood ; the latter are returned to the 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 103 
 
 skape, and fixed with slender splits of briar, 
 as already directed, (page 67.) 
 
 This is a very laudable practice, and can- 
 not be too warmly recommended to those 
 who are determined, in defiance of common 
 sense and sound argument, to persist in the 
 use of the common skape. By this method 
 the brood is not only preserved, but, though 
 bad weather should immediately succeed the 
 deprivation, the bees do not perish, for if 
 their proprietor has not been too avaricious, 
 a considerable number of cells, filled with 
 honey, will remain in each comb, as a re- 
 source. This operation, however, is very 
 troublesome at first, and in the following 
 autumn the difficulties are renewed j for the 
 combs cannot be extracted without being 
 much broken, and, consequently, much of 
 the honey lost, not to speak of the injury 
 done to the skape by perforating it with so 
 many rods. . 
 
 It is always observed of deprived hives, 
 that such as are weak generally perish, while 
 those that are strong live and flourish. We 
 here repeat what we have already said, that 
 a certain number of bees forming one com- 
 munity, will collect a greater quantity of 
 honey than the same number divided into 
 two ; and, with regard to deprived hives, we 
 say, that six pounds weight of bees lodged 
 
104 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 in the same skape will, in a given time, col- 
 lect as much honey as eight pounds weight 
 of bees divided into two communities of four 
 pounds each. Our assertion is borne out by 
 facts. No hive that has suffered deprivation 
 can be expected to collect a sufficiency of 
 sustenance for the winter and spring, unless 
 it weighs six or seven pounds, but if it 
 weigh eight or ten pounds, its success may 
 be pronounced certain. 
 
 The mode of management, therefore, 
 which we would recommend is, that, about 
 the beginning of August, every hive in the 
 apiary, except such as are judged to have less 
 than five pounds weight of honey, be laid 
 under contribution ; and, in order to form 
 very strong communities for stock-hives, (for 
 these should all be made up at this season,) 
 let two or more of those that have been de- 
 prived be united into one, observing to make 
 them all as nearly equal in strength and 
 riches as possible ; this done, let the wliole, 
 without exception, be transported to the 
 heath pasture.* We would earnestly press 
 upon the attention of cultivators the pro- 
 priety, nay the necessity, of uniting the de- 
 prived hives at this season, when every mo- 
 ment is doubly precious. 
 
 * In countries where there is no lieath, mignonette ought 
 to be culti^•ated upon a large scale. 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 105 
 
 It will readily suggest itself to any one, 
 that before we can plunder a skape of the 
 common construction, the bees must be dis- 
 lodged. This is a troublesome and rather an 
 awkward operation, and is usually effected 
 in the following manner : — The skape that is 
 the subject of operation is placed invertedly, 
 and an empty one of equal diameter, if such 
 can be conveniently obtained, is placed over 
 it mouth to mouth ; a cloth is then wrapped 
 round them to prevent the escape of the 
 bees ; and by drumming with both hands 
 upon the undermost skape, the bees, in dread 
 of danger, will betake themselves to the upper 
 one as a safer habitation. The operator must 
 rather beat quickly than violently, and princi- 
 pally upon those parts of the skape to which 
 the edges of the combs are attached, as, by 
 beating opposite their flat sides, he might lose 
 them, and by their falling together, injure 
 the brood, and crush the bees, or drown 
 them in their honey. By dislodging the bees 
 in this way, an artificial swarm may be formed. 
 
 There are very few authors who have 
 treated on bees who have not condemned the 
 use of the common skape. To its inconve- 
 nient construction must be attributed the 
 custom of suffocating the bees at the end of 
 the season, a measure which all acknow^ledge, 
 tends to diminish the collection of honey 
 
106 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 next year. But it is unnecessary to enume- 
 rate its many defects ; they are felt in the 
 difficulty of performing any operation, and, 
 as we proceed, they will be seen and under- 
 stood. It is not our intention to describe all 
 the skapes that have been invented, this 
 would not only cause us to overstep our 
 limits, but would be unserviceable to the 
 apiarian. The most experienced and best 
 informed cultivators use skapes that open on 
 more sides than one, and to the description 
 of such we shall confine ourselves. 
 
 The Grecian Shape. — The Greeks about 
 Mount Hymettus, as we are informed by 
 Sir George Wheeler, in his " Journey into 
 Greece," use a skape shaped like a flower- 
 pot, that is, wider at the top than the bottom, 
 so that the combs require no cross rods as 
 supports. It is open below like the common 
 skape, and across the top are laid several flat 
 sticks to which the combs are attached ; 
 these sticks are plastered over with clay ; 
 and to secure them from the weather, they 
 are covered with a tuft of straw, as is some- 
 times done in this country. 
 
 Mr. Huish has adopted the Grecian skape 
 under a partial modification. As used by 
 him, the spars at the top, to which the combs 
 are fastened, are seven in number, each an 
 
THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 107 
 
 inch and a half broad, and a quarter thick. 
 Over these is laid a piece of net-work to 
 prevent the bees from working in the spaces 
 between them ; above this a circular cover 
 composed of five boards connected by hinges; 
 in this cover are six apertures closed with 
 plates of tin perforated with small holes, to 
 let out the heated steam of the hive ; and 
 the whole is covered with a straw top, 
 wrought in the same manner as the body of 
 the skape itself. This top is highest in the 
 centre, and has a gradual declivitv towards 
 the circumference, to facilitate the flowmg 
 of the water, produced by the condensation 
 of the vapours of the hive. 
 
 This water, Mr. Huish would have us be- 
 lieve, is so copiously produced as to endan- 
 ger the safety of hives lodged in skapes 
 having a flat top. This apiarian must have 
 forgot, that, in every hive, a certain number 
 of bees continually employ themselves in 
 ventilating their habitation, and that the va- 
 pours are thus expelled at the entrance. 
 This will not be the case, however, unless 
 the skape is close above, for if an opening 
 be left there, the steam will pass off with the 
 current of air thus established ; and, in this 
 case, the cold will penetrate, and we do not 
 dispute that a little moisture may be per- 
 ceived about the vent. The cold in the void 
 
108 THE APIARIAN S MANUAL. 
 
 that is left between the convex top and the 
 hinged cover of Mr. Huish's skape must 
 have a powerful tendency to condense the 
 steam j but that such large quantities of 
 water, as he insinuates, is ever generated in 
 a skape we do not hesitate to deny. A great 
 part round the centre of the roof of almost 
 all the common straw skapes that we have 
 seen is quite flat, and the roof of wooden 
 skapes is perfectly so ; yet it is allowed by 
 all that these are salubrious habitations. We 
 know no reason, then, for giving skapes a 
 convex roof, and we are sorry Mr. Huish 
 should have lent his authority to establish a 
 groundless alarm in the minds of the inex- 
 perienced. 
 
 In the Grecian skape, as it is intended 
 each spar shall be the foundation of a comb, 
 by separating the comb from the sides of the 
 skape, it may be drawn up at the top ; and 
 in this way is the deprivation performed ; 
 choosing the combs at each outside as these 
 are more plentifully stored with honey than 
 those nearer the centre, the lower parts of 
 which are destined for the brood. The up- 
 per parts of the brood combs are, however, 
 filled with honey, which cannot well be taken. 
 The honey, therefore, from this skape is not 
 so abundant as could be wished, and, conse- 
 quently, one great object, the Hghtening 6i' 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 109 
 
 the skapes for the convenience of transpor- 
 tation to the heath pasture, is partly lost. 
 
 Favignanese Shape. — In Favignana, a small 
 island on the west coast of Sicily, bees are 
 lodged in oblong wooden boxes, both ends 
 of which are moveable. Of these boxes we 
 have not learned the dimensions j but we 
 should think ten inches square in the end, 
 and seventeen or eighteen inches long, will 
 give a proper capacity for our climate. This 
 skape, it is probable, is laid horizontally on 
 four props, and the entrance made at the 
 lower part of the end in front. 
 
 If a hive be in possession of any honey at 
 all, it will always be found in the most re- 
 mote part of the dwelling. When honey- 
 combs, therefore, are to be taken from the 
 Favignanese skape, it is removed to a little 
 distance from the apiary, the entrance is 
 shut, the farther end opened, and the bees 
 driven forward by means of smoke, when 
 the honey-combs are cut out, and those 
 which contain a considerable quantity of 
 brood are left untouched ; for the young is 
 the hope of the community, and ought to be 
 held sacred. The skape is then returned to 
 its station, but its position is reversed, the 
 entrance being made in that end from which 
 the combs have been extracted. The bees 
 
 K 
 
110 THE apiarian's MAKUAti 
 
 then replenish the vacancy, and, as soon as 
 the combs farthest from the new entry are 
 divested of brood, they fill them with honey, 
 which, on a future occasion, is again taken, 
 and the skape reversed as before. 
 
 When a swarm is first lodged in one of 
 these boxes, it is probable the proprietor 
 guides the bees in the position of the combs, 
 by fixing one across the skape ; for were 
 they built either obliquely or longitudinally, 
 the difficulty of deprivation would be greatly 
 increased. 
 
 The skape used in Favignana is at once 
 cheap, simple, and excellent. All things 
 taken into consideration, we think it superior 
 to the Grecian skape, but liable to the same 
 objection, as far as regards the lightening for 
 the convenience of carriage. 
 
 Storied Shapes. — The fact, that the upper 
 parts of all the combs are filled with honey, 
 while the lower are reserved for the brood, 
 naturally suggested the idea of employing 
 skapes composed of separate stages, placed 
 one above another ; for, by this means, the 
 bees could be deprived of almost all their 
 honey, with the greatest facility, without mo- 
 lesting the brood, merely by removing the 
 upper story. The principle upon which this 
 skape is constructed is certainly less liable to 
 
THE apiarian's iMANUAL. Ill 
 
 objection, than any other ; and, except that 
 used in Favignana, which some may prefer 
 on account of cheapness, there is no other 
 that will give such satisfaction. 
 
 Storied skapes have been made of botli 
 wood and straw, but the former seems in gene- 
 ral, to have been preferred. Those of wood 
 have generally been of a square form, but 
 they have also, from the idea of better con- 
 centrating the heat for the nourishment of 
 the brood, been used, by different apiarians, 
 of a circular and also of a hexagonal and 
 octagonal form. It is extravagant, however, 
 to increase expense, when no good purpose 
 is served ; and experience warrants the asser- 
 tion that bees thrive equally in square skapes 
 wdth those of any other construction. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Wildman, a celebrated apia- 
 rian, w^ho wrote in the year 1770, effected a 
 great improvement in the construction of 
 storied skapes. Previous to his time, a single 
 hole in the middle of the roof of the lower 
 stage served as a passage of communication 
 between it and the upper one ; but as the 
 combs were carried uninterruptedly through 
 this aperture, a great obstacle was thus pre- 
 sented to the separation of the boxes. To 
 obviate this inconvenience, Mr. Wildman 
 adopted the plan of the Grecian skape, as 
 far as regards the spars on the top, which 
 
112 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 serve as foundations to the combs ; but in- 
 stead of being moveable, he fixed tlie spars 
 with nails, a deviation for which we cannot 
 well account. Over the spars of the upper 
 stage he laid a piece of clean paper, and 
 covered the whole with a flat top, of the 
 same material as the skape. 
 
 In I78O, Mr. Keys published his <* Prac- 
 tical Bee-Master," in which he advocates the 
 superiority of the sparred story-skape, as. it 
 may be called. This apiarian directs, that 
 slips of iron, for which we substitute glass, 
 be used for closing the intervals between the 
 spars of the upper story. This will be found 
 more convenient than a piece of paper laid 
 over them, according to Mr. Wildman's plan. 
 Besides this there are other minute differ- 
 ences between the skape of Keys and that of 
 Wildman ; they agree, however, in principle; 
 and in the construction of the one which we 
 are about to propose, we have combined the 
 advantages of both, while the construction 
 is simplified, and the expense diminished. 
 
 Sparred Storij -shape. Figure 4 is a re- 
 presentation of the skape which we use, 
 composed of two boxes, one above the other, 
 with its floor-board below, and its cover at 
 the top, ready to be placed upon the skape. 
 The cover, it will be perceived, has a down- 
 ward ledge, at least half an inch deep. 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 113 
 
 The boxes are made of fir deal, three quar- 
 ters of an inch thick after being planed. 
 The inside dimensions of each are twelve 
 inches by nine, and eight inches deep ; the 
 whole depth of the skape is, therefore, six- 
 teen inches, and its capacity one solid foot. 
 Each box has eight wooden spars, one inch 
 broad, and three-eighths thick, as a founda- 
 tion to the combs. The length of the upper 
 side of each spar is nine inches and a half, 
 while the under side is only nine inches, a 
 half-cheeky as tradesmen say, of a quarter of 
 an inch being made in the under side at each 
 end, which will be understood by examining 
 the figure in the plate. But the upper side of 
 the spars must he flush with the upper edges of 
 the boxes, wherefore a check must be made 
 to receive the spars in the long side of the 
 boxes also. The intervals between the spars 
 -are exactly half an inch wide, except the 
 first and ninth, which are only one quarter. 
 The intervals between the spars are inten- 
 tionally left wider than those between the 
 combs ; this, however, does not prevent the 
 bees in prosecuting their works from gaining 
 the proper distances. These spaces in the 
 upper box are closed with slips of glass,* the 
 ends of which rest on the same check as the 
 
 * The slips of glass may be procured from any glazier 
 at twopence per dozen, 
 
 K '2. 
 
114 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 spars. In the under box all the intervals are 
 left open, not only that the bees may have a 
 more ready passage up and down, but also 
 that the whole interior air of the skape may 
 be of the same temperature. Mr. Keys also 
 found that in the sparred story-skape the 
 bees, after having filled the upper box, com- 
 mence operation in the lower one more rea- 
 dily than if there were only one opening. 
 *' These examples (says he) prove incontes- 
 tibly the propriety and advantage of bars, 
 over any other construction, the reason seems 
 to be this, the openings between the bars 
 coincide so well with those between the 
 combs, that the bees meeting with no ob- 
 stacle to their ascent, are deceived into a 
 notion that the two boxes are but one j and 
 therefore carry on their works without hesi- 
 tation." 
 
 From what has been said it will be per- 
 ceived that the spars dip three sixteenths 
 below the glass slips, thus presenting a pro- 
 minent surface as a foundation to the combs, 
 which the bees will follow ; and as the spars 
 are moveable, the combs are easily extracted. 
 The entrance for the bees is three inches 
 long and five sixteenths high. 
 
 The floor-board is an oblong fifteen inches 
 by twelve, and three-fourths thick j with 
 these dimensions it will project thr^e quar- 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 115 
 
 ters of an inch beyond the skape on all sides. 
 To prevent its warping it ought to be formed 
 of two pieces, each twelve inches by seven 
 and a half, and have one or two bars nailed 
 along the back to strengthen the whole. 
 For the sake of convenience, when transpor- 
 ting the skapes to the vicinity of fresh pas- 
 ture, but principally for the sake of cheap- 
 ness, the flight-board is moveable, and is 
 formed of a piece of waste board, five inches 
 long and three broad. It is fixed to the 
 middle of one of the long edges of the 
 board by means of two wooden pins fastened 
 into its edge, and there are two corresponding 
 holes to receive them in the board. In short, 
 it is attached to the board in the same way 
 as coopers unite the several pieces composing 
 the ends of a barrel. Those who do not 
 choose to have the flight-board moveable, 
 may form the floor-board of three pieces, 
 the middle one being two inches longer than 
 the other two. 
 
 We would here urge the propriety of 
 making all the covers, boxes, boards, and 
 spars, respectively, of such equal dimensions 
 that any one of these may, indiscriminately, 
 suit any skape. 
 
 Price of our skape as furnished byourtrades- 
 man : — Floor-board complete 4fd ; Cover do. 
 4fd; 16 spars 3d', 9 slips of glass Hd; wood 
 
116 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 for both boxes, best home fir, lOkd; nails 
 lie/; paint 2rf; workmanship 7fi? ; all which 
 items added together gives a total of 2s, 9kd. 
 
 MANNER OF OPERATING WITH THE SPARRED 
 STORY-SKAPE 
 
 Manner of dislodging a Hive^ and seizing 
 the Queen. — rLet two skapes, one of them 
 containing the hive that is to be dislodged^ 
 and the other emptyi be placed upon a table 
 or a large board, with their entrances turned 
 toward each other, but separated by a dis- 
 tance of about one foot. A flat tube one 
 foot long, two inches broad, and five six^ 
 teenths of an inch deep, is to lie between 
 the apertures as a passage of communication; 
 the upper side of this tube is a pane of the 
 clearest glass, a,nd the other three sides are 
 of tin. Remove the cover from the inha- 
 bited skape, raise all the slips of glass, so as 
 to admit smoke, but not so much as to allow 
 the bees to escape. In order to give the 
 smoke a proper direction it is injected into a 
 box placed on the top of the skape. This 
 box, like the skape, is exactly 13^ by 10^ 
 inches on the outside, but only 1^ inch deep 
 within ; it is open below, and has a fast coyer 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 117 
 
 on the top ; there is, moreover, a hole in the 
 middle of one of its sides three inches long 
 and a quarter of an inch wide for receiving 
 the tapering end of the fumigating box de- 
 scribed at page dS, Having laid a weight 
 on the top of the box, to keep it close down 
 to the skape, apply the fumigating box at the 
 hole just mentioned, and with the bellows 
 impel the smoke into the skape, the bees will 
 descend precipitately and rush through the 
 tube into the empty skape. 
 
 When the object of dislodging the bees is 
 to seize the queen, two persons are engaged; 
 one operates with the bellows, while the other 
 observes the bees narrowly as they pass un- 
 der the glass of the tube. Whenever the 
 queen makes her appearance, which may not 
 be till most of the bees have departed before 
 her, she is to be imprisoned by insinuating a 
 small piece of tin at each end of the tube, 
 and another piece of equal size is to be in- 
 troduced between that and the skape to close 
 the entrance, when the tube with its shutters 
 is removed. We can now proceed as we 
 have a mind, for, having taken away the tube 
 with the queen, we can lay another in its 
 place, and, the shutters being removed, the 
 remaining bees may be forced to take refuge 
 with their comrades. 
 
118 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 To form an artificial Swarm. — About the 
 first of June, at eleven o'clock of a bright 
 day, when a great number of the bees are 
 abroad, remove the skape to some distance 
 from its station, and dislodge the bees, to- 
 gether with their queen, by means of smoke 
 applied at the top of the skape as just di- 
 rected. After the bees are dislodged, the 
 stock-skape is to be returned to its place, 
 and the swarm set as distant from it in the 
 apiary as possible, or at once removed several 
 miles. The stock will be repeopled by the 
 bees returning from their excursions ; they 
 will rear a queen for themselves, and dis- 
 charge all the functions of the hive. It is 
 more than probable, indeed, that, so late as 
 the first of June, a young queen is already 
 fast approaching to maturity. 
 
 Feeding, — The feeding trough described 
 at page 7^ is well adapted to our skape. We 
 generally place it on the flight-board as al- 
 ready directed ; but we have sometimes also 
 found it convenient to apply the entrance of 
 the trough to that of the upper box. In 
 this case, the trough is supported on the 
 ends of two upright boards, and the door 
 way at bottom may be left open. Another 
 method of feeding, is to take an empty comb 
 from the poor stock, and a full comb from a 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 119 
 
 rich one, and put the one comb in the place 
 of the other. This last operation is very 
 easily performed with the sparred story- 
 skape, as all the spars are moveable, and the 
 comb may be readily separated from the 
 sides of the box with a knife. 
 
 In the same way may a weak hive be re- 
 inforced in the spring, by exchanging some 
 of its empty combs, for others filled with 
 brood, taken from several strong hives. This 
 is often a most advantageous operation, and 
 in our opinion is the only way in which a 
 hive ought to be re-inforced in the spring. 
 
 Deprivation. — Whoever would make the 
 most of his bees must never let them be in 
 want of room ; whenever there is any ap- 
 pearance of this, to excite their industry, the 
 skape must be eked, by adding a third box 
 below : in short, during the whole honey 
 season, the combs ought never to reach the 
 board. The beginning of August is the 
 season of deprivation ; any brood that may 
 have been in the upper box, is' now hatched, 
 and, unless the season has proved unpropi- 
 tious, all the cells are filled with beautiful 
 vale-honey. 
 
 The method of taking away the upper box 
 is very simple ; the combs being generally 
 fixed to the spars below, are to be separated 
 
120 THE apiahian's manual- 
 
 with a long thin knife, a wire, or a stout 
 thread. Stop the entrance of the skape with 
 a perforated shutter ; cause the bees, by- 
 means of smoke, to betake themselves to the 
 lower part of their habitation ; and the box 
 of honey may then be removed with the 
 greatest facihty. After this the number of 
 stocks that are to be kept over winter must 
 be made up, by placing two under boxes, 
 each containing a hive, as well as the brood, 
 one on the top of the other, and thus will 
 the communities be at once united and pro- 
 vided with a habitation. This is the method 
 which we adopt for imiting hives at the sea- 
 son of deprivation, and we have found it 
 successful. The work of death is left to the 
 queens themselves ; but, if thought prefer- 
 able, one of the queens may be taken prisoner 
 in the manner already pointed out. 
 
 It seldom happens that there are any brood 
 in the upper box at this season ; but even 
 though there were, it can be easily preserved 
 by putting it into some of the skapes. 
 Should the brood, however, be trifling in 
 quantity, it is unnecessary to be at this 
 trouble. 
 
 It is well known that new comb is white, 
 but that it soon becomes yellow, and ulti- 
 mately blackish ; and it is equally notorious 
 that the whitest comb brings the highest 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 121 
 
 price. In order, therefore, to obtain the 
 comb in its primitive whiteness, and at the 
 same time, stored with the most fragrant and 
 beautiful honey, it must be taken in about 
 three weeks after the settlement of the swarm. 
 Immediately after the swarm is skaped, and 
 before it has commenced operation, take out 
 the glasses between the spars, place two half 
 boxes, that is, such as are only four inches 
 deep, above the one containing the bees, and 
 they will rush up to the upper box, which 
 they will soon fill, when it may be removed 
 without injury to the brood, which, in gene- 
 ral, occupies a lower place. The other half 
 box may be taken at the usual time. 
 
 With regard to the disposal of the produce 
 of the bees, we would recommend to sell the 
 produce of the swarms in comb, being 
 whitest, and to eke the stock skapes imme- 
 diately after the departure of the first swarm, 
 that they may be prevented from throwing 
 a second ; and thus be enabled, at the usual 
 season of deprivation, to yield their top box 
 full of honey, which should be run and sold 
 in pots. 
 
 The comb may be sent any distance to 
 market in the half boxes w^ithout receiving 
 any injury, merely by laying them in a cart 
 on a quantity of hay or straw. 
 
 L 
 
122 THE apiarian's manual. 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 manipulation of honey and wax. ^ 
 
 The honey ought to be run immediately 
 after the hive is dislodged. The empty por- 
 tions of comb, and such as contain farina, 
 are laid aside to be afterwards converted into 
 marketable wax. Particular care must be 
 taken of any portions of comb that may hap- 
 pen to be filled with brood ; such pieces must 
 be put into a box and given to one of the 
 weakest hives. The combs stored with honey 
 are cut into slices horizontally through the 
 cells, and several pieces at a time are put 
 into a wooden or a tin frame, of about six 
 inches deep and twice as wide at the top as 
 at the bottom, having within it two moveable 
 wire drainers or sieves, one above the other, 
 with two inches of interval between them. 
 The upper sieve sustains the combs ; its 
 meshes are a quarter of an inch square, while 
 those of the lower are only one sixteenth, 
 that it may arrest all the small particles of 
 wax. A thin muslin bag, of a conical form, 
 that is, wide at top, and tapering to a point 
 at bottom, hangs below the sieves, being at- 
 tached to the frame by means of several 
 
THE apiarian's MANUAL. 123 
 
 small hooks. Through this bag the honey 
 filtrates, and is received into an earthen pot, 
 placed below, quite pure and fit for market. 
 The draining apparatus may be supended be- 
 tween the backs of two chairs. When the 
 honey ceases to run, remove the broken 
 combs and put fresh ones in their place ; and 
 when the whole is gone over in this manner, 
 in order to obtain all the honey, squeeze the 
 combs in a coarse thin towel : the honey 
 thus obtained is less pure, but is very good 
 for feeding poor stocks. Even after all this 
 the squeezed combs may be steeped in water, 
 for the purpose of making weak mead (brag- 
 wort) j but before the combs are put into 
 the water, the whole draining apparatus 
 ought to be washed with it, which will add 
 considerably to the strength of the mead. 
 
 Of all the methods of purifying wax, with 
 which we are acquainted, there is none equal, 
 either in regard to simplicity or efficiency, to 
 that recommended by the Abbe Delia Rocca 
 in his " Complete Treatise on Bees." — The 
 combs, being tied up in a woollen or linen 
 bag of moderate thickness, are put into a pot 
 of boiling water. The heat melts the wax ; 
 it escapes through the bag, and rises to the 
 surface, while the dross is retained. The 
 wax is to be skimmed off and put into a bowl 
 or other vessel, with a wide mouth and nar- 
 
124 THE apiarian's MANUAL. 
 
 row bottom, into which a httle cold water 
 has been previously poured to prevent the 
 wax from sticking ; and to prevent its crack- 
 ing, let it be set in a pretty warm situation 
 that it may cool gradually. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 PRINTED BY ANDERSON & BRYCE, EDINBURGH. 
 

I-'lfj;. 2. 
 
 l-"iv I 
 
 ScalB o^" t il I - V 
 
 =3 Indies 
 
 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 
 
 Fig. 1 . Plan of the Feeding Trough ,- length 9, breadth 3, and 
 depth 2 inches, all inside measure. The thickness of the wood is 
 about three-eighths of an inch. In this figure, the trough is sup- 
 posed to be standing on its bottom in the usual position, and the eye 
 of the observer right above it : he thus, through the glass cover, 
 which rests in a half check at the top of the Trough, sees the Jl on t 
 on which the Bees stand while imbibing the syrup through the 
 holes. The float is nearly one-eighth inch thick, and the holes, 
 marked by the dots, are between a sixteenth and an eighth wide. 
 The projecting piece of wood covers the entrance. 
 
 Fig, 2, This figure exhibits an upright view of the Trough, with 
 its entrance darkly shaded under the thin piece of wood just men- 
 tioned. The passage up the side of the trough from the aperture of 
 the skape, is inclosed by a piece of wood, on each side, reaching to the 
 bottom. The dots are the nails which fasten the pieces of wood to 
 the trough. 
 
 Fig. 3. A full view of the Feeding Trough. 
 
 Fig. 4. The Sparred Storey -Shape, composed of two boxes, one 
 above the other. The cover is raised up, so as to expose the eight 
 moveable spars, to which the combs are attached. The spars are 
 each one inch broad ; they are left white in the figure, and the dark 
 intervals between them represent slips of glass. The skape is drawn 
 as if standing on its board, which has a moveable flight-board. The 
 under entrance is open, the upper one shut. The dotted line and 
 entrance on the upper box is intended to illustrate what was said at 
 page 121, regarding the placing of two half-boxes above the lower 
 one, when honey-comb is to be taken soon after the season of 
 swarming. 
 
 Fig. 5. Is one of the spars of the skape; the under side, to 
 which the comb is fixed, is 9 inches long ; but the upper side is 
 half an-inch longer, namely, a quarter at each end, the spar 
 being half-checked so as to rest in a corresponding half-check in the 
 skape. The whole thickness of each spar is three-eighths, one half 
 of which dips below the glass slips. 
 
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