■\ %A\ 
 
THE 
 
 APIARIAN, 
 
 OR, 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF BEES; 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 BEST METHOD OF PREVENTING THE DEPREDATIONS 
 OF THE BEE MOTH. 
 
 BY WILLIAM M. HALL. 
 
 NEW HAVEN: 
 
 HITCHCOCK <fc STAFFORD, PRINTERS. 
 
 1841. 
 
I * /. 1 S4\ 
 
 E 1053 
 
 ± ?65GG 
 
 Entered, 
 
 According to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, by 
 WILLIAM M, HALL, 
 
 In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Connecticut District. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The design of the compiler of this little 
 volume, is to furnish the practical apiarian 
 with all the information necessary for the 
 successful management of bees, without en- 
 tering into vague speculations or sophistical 
 theories. 
 
 It is particularly designed for an accom- 
 paniment to the Self-protecting Bee-Hive ; 
 to enable the manager to use the hive to the 
 greatest possible profit ; and to render the 
 pursuit agreeable, and one of the most profit- 
 able sources of rural economy. This hive 
 is offered to the public, with the full belief, 
 that it will answer every purpose that can 
 be expected of a bee-hive. 
 
4 
 
 It is sincerely believed, that no arrange- 
 ment can be so successfully employed to 
 discharge the filth, and also to prevent the 
 depredations of the bee moth, as that of the 
 double inclined plane. It has been thorough- 
 ly tested by experience, and has produced the 
 most happy effects. 
 
 Waluxgforb, August, 1840. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction, - -.------7 
 
 The Queen Bee, - - - - -* - - - 11 
 
 The Working Bees, or Neuters, - 18 
 
 Remedy for Stings of Bees, 23 
 
 Of Drones and Workers, - -- -- --23 
 
 Construction of Combs and Cells, ----- 25 
 
 Wax, Honey, and Bee-bread, ------ 27 
 
 Swarming, 29 
 
 The Best Constructed Hive, ------ 32 
 
 Hiving Swarms, and transferring Bees from one Hive to another, 36 
 Artificial Swarms, - -- -- -- -40 
 
 Situation of an Apiary, - -- -- --40 
 
 Best Method of Destroying or Preventing the Ravages of the 
 
 Bee Moth, - -- -- -- -43 
 
 Management of Stock Hives during Winter, - - - 47 
 
 1 * 
 
 1 
 

 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 Cm- 
 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE HONEY BEE. 
 
 The industrious bee has ever been viewed by intelli- 
 gent naturalists, with a great degree of interest. The 
 intelligent mind is never weary of its study ; as it con- 
 templates the mysterious operations of nature, and traces 
 its wonderful phenomena up to nature’s God. Philoso- 
 phers, divines, moralists, and the inquisitive minds of all 
 denominations of men, have had their attention arrested 
 by this subject. The cultivation of this branch of hus- 
 bandry furnishes for our table an innocent luxury, that 
 cannot be excelled ; and it is calculated to raise our 
 contemplation to that divine wisdom, which creates and 
 sustains the infinite variety in the animal world. 
 
 In treating of bees, it is proper to describe their in- 
 stinctive powers, form of government, their combination 
 into communities, and each in its individual capacity. 
 The natural instinct of bees is truly wonderful ; nature 
 has taught them to roam abroad several miles distant in 
 search of food, through numberless windings, and after 
 collecting their fill, rise high into the air, and in a direct 
 
8 
 
 line return to the hive : nature has also endowed them 
 with instinctive powers sufficient to produce snow-white 
 wax, from pure honey, and that too in cells of perfect 
 symmetry, from “ Sultry India to the Pole she has 
 taught the bee to collect honey, prepare wax, perpetu- 
 ate its race, and has endowed it with all that Sagacity, 
 and with those qualities best adapted for its peculiar 
 circumstances, in the sphere of its existence. The bee 
 is no less wonderful in its form of body, than in its in- 
 stinct and sagacity. The proportion and symmetry is 
 perfect ; the harmony in combination of its parts, agree- 
 able to the design of its creation. The bee has a large 
 round eye on each side of its head. It has two strong 
 teeth, which enable it to construct the cells, and to carry 
 from the hive obnoxious substances. Below the teeth 
 is the probossis, and within the mouth a long tongue. 
 The bee has four wings and six legs ; in the third pair 
 of legs are two triangular cavities, to which they attach 
 the pellets of pollen, which they carry to the hive ; a 
 part of the second pair is provided with what resembles 
 brushes, for brushing off the pollen to be deposited in 
 the hive. At the extremity of the six feet are fangs, 
 with which the bees attach themselves to the sides of 
 the hive, and to each other. The probossis is the prin- 
 cipal organ employed in collecting honey ; it is defend- 
 ed by a scaly sheath, when inactive. “ The stomach 
 consists of two parts, connected by a tube somewhat like 
 the crop of the feathered tribe. In the first apartment, 
 the nectar of flowers is elaborated into honey ; in the 
 second, a portion of honey undergoes the action of the 
 digestive powers, and is converted into the use of the 
 

 9 
 
 laborers. The head of the bee is furnished with two 
 antennae, by means of which they reciprocally obtain 
 a knowledge of each other, of their young, and their 
 queen, all communicated by the sense of feeling. It is 
 by these simple organs that they are guided in the dark, 
 and enabled to construct their combs and cells, and to 
 feed their young brood. When deprived of both their 
 antennae, bees can no longer recognize objects ; their 
 instinctive powers are lost ; and, like Samson after his 
 locks were shorn, they are feeble, helpless, and soon 
 perish.” These facts have been demonstrated by that 
 accurate naturalist, Mr. Huber. 
 
 In speaking of a hive of bees, we mean the machine 
 which contains the insects, the swarm, or cluster, de- 
 Signecl to lOTui a new family, and -vrhicli is sometimes 
 called colony. Each perfect hive contains three differ- 
 ent kinds of bees ; females or queens, drones or males, 
 and workers or neuters. Not more than one queen can 
 ever live in one hive, and no hive can subsist long with- 
 out her presence. The drones, of which there are some- 
 times thousands in the same hive, are called males ; 
 and the remainder are called neuters, from being sup- 
 posed to belong to neither sex. From the queen the 
 whole race is perpetuated, she being the only bee in the 
 colony that produces eggs. The workers collect honey, 
 form wax, construct combs, and administer to the wants 
 of the young. The females and workers are furnished 
 with a sting, of which the males are destitute. The 
 sting is furnished with several barbs, like those of a 
 dart, which prevents its retraction from the wound it 
 has inflicted, until the discharge of the poison be effect- 
 
 A 
 
10 
 
 ed. A liquid poison is injected into the wound by the 
 sting, and if the bee is forced away, the sting is re- 
 tained, and the bee dies. Queens are less disposed to 
 sting than the neuters. The three kinds of bees are of 
 different size and appearance, and may be easily recog- 
 nized. The queen bee is much larger than the com- 
 mon bees, or drones, and may be recognized by her 
 length of body and shortness of wings. The common 
 bees and drones are familiar to observers, the latter 
 being much larger and less active. 
 
 
 
PRACTICAL TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF BEES, 
 
 THE CIUEEN BEE. 
 
 The queen bee is much larger than either of 
 the other bees, and of different structure, her abdo- 
 men being much longer than that of the males, or 
 neuters ; she is about eight lines and a half in 
 length, while the drones are seven, and the work- 
 ers six. The queen is furnished with five yellow 
 rings around her abdomen, and with short wings 
 that scarcely reach the third ring. She is slow in 
 her movements, and is characterized with a great 
 degree of gravity in her march. She never leaves 
 the hive except in leading out a swarm. The 
 government of bees is truly monarchical, as the 
 will of the sovereign is law. She is the mother 
 of the three different kinds of bees that inhabit a 
 hive ; and it is to this prerogative that she is in- 
 debted for the extreme affection she enjoys from 
 her subjects. The queen being the parent of the 
 hive, it is from her alone that a complete swarm, 
 
12 
 
 composed of the three different kinds of bees, can 
 proceed ; and without all these different members 
 no colony can long flourish. The queen deposits 
 a small white egg in each cell for breeding, about 
 half a line long“ and of the size of a fine cambric 
 needle. This egg hatches into a small worm or 
 larva, in about three days : a worker remains five 
 days in the vermicular state ; a male six and a 
 half, and a queen five. The worker’s worm oc- 
 cupies thirty-six hours in spinning its cocoon ; in 
 three days it changes to a nymph, and on the twen- 
 tieth day it becomes a perfect winged animal. 
 The queen comes to perfection, after the egg has 
 been laid, in sixteen days ; but the males require 
 twenty-four days. Food is carried to the young 
 as they require it, and great attention is paid to 
 their welfare ; but when ready to be changed to a 
 nymph, the workers are aware that they require 
 it no longer, and prepare to seal up the cell, by a 
 covering of wax of concentric circles, convex, if 
 including males, and flat, if including workers. 
 The same cells may be successively employed 
 for the raising of workers and drones, but every 
 new queen requires a new cell. Immediately on 
 the loss of a queen, the hive is a scene of tumult, 
 and if female eggs are not found in the hive, by 
 which to repair the loss, they must infallibly per- 
 ish. But if female eggs are found, the loss is 
 soon repaired ; they construct one or more royal 
 cells, place the eggs within the cells, and supply 
 them with food, which is not the common farina 
 on which the young workers feed, but a peculiar 
 paste, or jelly, which is reserved for the queens 
 alone. When reached to maturity, a queen comes 
 forth qualified to fulfill every indispensable func- 
 tion, on which so many thousand lives depend. 
 
13 
 
 The workers have the instinctive knowledge 
 that they cannot, as other insects do, exist individ- 
 ually ; they are constructed, therefore, in so admi- 
 rable a manner, as to make every thing subservi- 
 ent to the safety and comfort of the mother of the 
 brood. She is in their estimation as much a part 
 of themselves, as an eye or a limb. Their care 
 of her is a kind of self-preservation, a law im- 
 planted in every living thing. Though the queen 
 lays several eggs that will be transformed into 
 queens, only one can exist in one colony. If two 
 come forth at the same time, one must die for the 
 welfare of the colony. 
 
 Nature has inspired queens with the most deadly 
 animosity towards each other, which nothing but 
 actual death can satisfy. Mr. Huber relates the 
 following remarkable combat of queens : “ In one 
 of his hives fittest for observation, two young 
 queens left their cells almost at the same moment. 
 Whenever they observed each other, they rushed 
 together apparently with great fury, and came into 
 such a position, that the antennas were mutually 
 seized by each other’s fangs. The head, breast, and 
 abdomen of the one were opposed to the head, 
 breast, and abdomen of the other. The extremity 
 of their bodies had only to be curved, that they 
 might be reciprocally pierced with the stiugs, and 
 both fall dead together. But nature has not de- 
 creed that the two combatants should perish in 
 the duel : Avhen in the condition now described, 
 they separate, and retreat with the utmost precip- 
 itation ; and when these rivals felt their extremi- 
 ties about to meet, they disengaged themselves, 
 and each fled away. A few minutes after separa- 
 ting, however, their mutual terror ceased, and they 
 again began to seek each other. Immediately on 
 2 
 
14 
 
 coming in sight, they again rushed together, seized 
 one another, and resumed exactly their former 
 position. The result of this encounter was the 
 same. During all this time, the workers were in 
 great agitation ; and the tumult seemed to increase, 
 when the adversaries separated. Twice they in- 
 terrupted the flight of the queens, seized their 
 limbs, and retained them prisoners about a min- 
 ute. At last, that queen that was the strongest or 
 the most enraged, darted on her rival at a moment 
 when unperceived, and with her latigs took hold 
 of the origin of her wing ; then rising above her, 
 she curved her own body, and inflicted a mortal 
 wound. She withdrew her sting, and likewise 
 quitted her hold of the wing she had seized : the 
 vanquished queen fell down, dragged herself 
 languidly along, and her strength declining, she 
 soon expired.” The antipathy manifested by 
 queens, is not limited to their perfect state, for it 
 extends to nymphs in the cells. That a queen 
 may appear that will dispute her place in the 
 hive, seems to excite suspicion, in a queen already 
 come to maturity. The oldest queen in a hive 
 containing several royal cells, on emerging from 
 her cell, hastens to attack the cells remaining 
 closed, and by dint of labor opens one of the cells, 
 thrusts in her sting, and destroys her approaching 
 rival. When she has left the cell, the bees drag 
 forth the body of a queen scarcely come from the 
 nymphine state. She then attacks and destroys 
 the remaining queens in the royal cells. If two 
 queens hatch about the same time, the workers use 
 every exertion to keep them apart ; knowing, that 
 if they come together, death must be the portion 
 of one of them, they having the same affection for 
 both. If the bees succeed in keeping them apart 
 
15 
 
 for twenty-four hours, one of the queens usually 
 lead out a swarm, to avoid the battle. Queens 
 are not reared in a hive, unless the hive be desti- 
 tute, which may happen from various causes ; the 
 old queen may have led out a swarm, or died 
 from age or some other cause ; in either case, if 
 female eggs are found in the combs, preparation is 
 immediately made to supply the defect, by build- 
 ing royal cells, which always hang perpendicular 
 in the hive ; and this is done by sacrificing three 
 of the horizontal cells, and permitting the royal 
 cell to occupy their place. 
 
 Mr. Schirach, an eminent naturalist, supposes 
 that in certain circumstances the animal destined 
 to become a worker may actually be converted 
 into a queen, and that this conversion is in the 
 power of the bees, by means of a particular mode 
 of treatment bestowed on the worm, while in an 
 early stage. He thence concludes that every 
 queen is originally a worker, which, without the 
 particular treatment bestowed, would have re- 
 mained a worker, but having undergone this treat- 
 ment, it is converted to a queen, and that the bees, 
 to attain this conversion, select a worm when 
 three days old. 
 
 Many celebrated writers on bees have adopted 
 Schirach’s notions with regard to the queen’s ori- 
 gin ; but in so doing we must set aside our reas- 
 oning powers, and admit that the Almighty, in 
 forming the bee, created them male and female 
 only, and that the worker is the male and the 
 drone the female ; and that the bees seeing the de- 
 fect, from the egg of the drone created a sovereign. 
 This may appear to the reader to be rather strong 
 language, but if we admit the one, we must sub- 
 mit to the other. When a queen bee ceases to 
 
16 
 
 animate the hive, the bees are conscious of her 
 loss ; after searching for her through the hive for 
 a day or more, they examine the royal cells, 
 which are of a peculiar construction and reversed 
 in position, hanging vertically, with the mouth 
 underneath. If no eggs or larva are to be found 
 in these cells, they then enlarge several of those 
 which are appropriated to the eggs of neuters, and 
 in which queen eggs have been deposited. They 
 soon attach a royal cell to the enlarged surface, 
 and the queen bee, enabled now to grow, protrudes 
 itself by degrees into the royal cell, and comes out 
 perfectly formed, to the great pleasure of the bees. 
 
 Now this in itself is curious and wonderful. 
 There is no need of adding superhuman powers 
 to an insect, when the simple facts show such sin- 
 gular sagacity. The truth is, that the queen or 
 mother bee lays the neuter eggs in certain cells of 
 a peculiar construction ; in fact, the eggs are laid, 
 at least many of them, as soon as the foundations 
 are begun, before the cells are built. The bees 
 know from the peculiar shape of the egg that it is 
 to have a cell of certain dimensions. When the 
 neuter and drone eggs are deposited, the royal 
 cells are then filled, for abundant observations 
 prove that the queen eggs are laid last. 
 
 If the royal cells are not sufficient to hold the 
 queen eggs, they are laid in the common cells, and 
 in the course of the regular business of the hive, 
 these cells are attended to with the rest. 
 
 When the larva is of a size to fill the cell, a 
 covering of wax is put on, and here ends the life, 
 or rather the embryo, of the queen ; for no longer 
 having room to expand, it perishes, and is dragged 
 out in the nymph form, as soon as the bees dis- 
 cover that animation is extinct. 
 
 
17 
 
 If, during the progress of the egg from the lar- 
 va to the nymph state, the mother queen dies, and 
 there are no eggs in the royal cells, then the bees 
 have recourse to the queen eggs that are laid in 
 the common cells. By enlarging the entrance, 
 and by attaching to it a cell which hangs verti- 
 cally, they continue the life of the larva, and a 
 queen bee is formed. Here is no work of trans- 
 formation. The insect is already formed, and 
 nothing remains to be done but the mere mechan- 
 ical operation of building a habitation which shall 
 be adequate to its wants. 
 
 The peculiar organic construction of the queen 
 bee undoubtedly requires a difference of food, as 
 we perceive it does of dwelling. 
 
 No doubt it is necessary to supply it more 
 abundantly, and with greater care. The very po- 
 sition it is compelled to take, shows that it requires 
 a different kind of nurture, from either the com- 
 mon bee or the drone. It is wonderful that in- 
 stinct is so competent to direct these changes ; but 
 it would be more wonderful if, in addition to this 
 instinct, the bee had the power to construct ncio 
 organs , as it does different cells, and thus to en- 
 dow the insect with a different nature. 
 
 Another point unsettled, and which is likely to • 
 
 remain forever a secret, is, whether the eggs ol the 
 queen are hatched after the manner of the eggs of 
 fish, whether they simply are animated by incuba- 
 tion, or by the care and nourishment bestowed on 
 them by the working or neuter bees. 
 
 On this point, experiment has proved nothing* 
 
 The greatest diversity of opinion exists. There 
 are upwards of a thousand writers on the history 
 and policy of the bee, yet no two have either ob- 
 served or reasoned alike. 
 
 2 * 
 
18 
 
 The fecundity of the queen is surprising. Swam- 
 merdam affirms, that she contains fifty thousand 
 eggs ; and some authors advance that she may be 
 the mother of one hundred thousand bees in one 
 season. She is marked by peculiarities in addi- 
 tion to her propagating young, of the most con- 
 spicuous description. She has every attention 
 paid her that her situation demands. Groups of 
 the workers constantly encircle her ; they brush 
 and lick her limbs, feed her honey ; whenever she 
 moves they accompany her; and, according to 
 the united sentiments of all, who have studied the 
 nature of bees, pay her what would be real hom- 
 age, could we allow them the prerogative of un- 
 derstanding. In short, the only security of the 
 workers, is the permanent existence of a queen. 
 
 THE WORKING BEES, OR NEUTERS. 
 
 The natural history of the bee furnishes much 
 useful instruction to the human mind. The means 
 which the Almighty has chosen for the preserva- 
 tion of bees, is particularly observable. 
 
 TJie mothers, which in almost all other instan- 
 ces are the watchful and tender nurses of their 
 young, we find in this instance, only give them 
 birth. The duty of rearing is committed to sub- 
 stitutes, the workers ; and they are as affectionate 
 towards the young of their species, as real mothers 
 of other animals. The workers have been sup- 
 posed by some to belong to neither sex ; but Reim, 
 Huber, and others, by particular experiments, con- 
 firmed the fact that some of that class may lay 
 fertile eggs, which produce male bees only. 
 
19 
 
 The working bees are much less in size than 
 the queens or drones ; they are armed with a for- 
 midable weapon, a sting, which strikes terror into 
 the heart of man or beast, and when irritated are 
 very free to make use of it. It is the workers on 
 which the welfare of the hive very much depends. 
 Without their aid, the males, females, and even 
 brood, would soon perish. And while the pres- 
 ence of the queen is necessary to their safety, they 
 are no less requisite to her preservation. It is the 
 workers that procure the honey, by their incessant 
 labor, produce the wax, construct the combs, and 
 furnish pollen or bee-bread for the brood. While 
 some are collecting honey, others are collecting 
 pollen, and others guarding the hive ; others 
 seldom or never leave the hive, but seem con- 
 stantly engaged within ; they seem to be endowed 
 with a peculiar instinct, directing each one its dif- 
 ferent task, and without a sufficient number of 
 this class, no colony can possibly prosper. It is 
 the part assigned to the workers also, to clean and 
 prepare the cells appropriated for the embryos, of 
 their own kind, of the queen, and of the drones. 
 After the queen has deposited her eggs, she has no 
 more concern for their welfare, but assigns the 
 task of rearing the young to the workers, which 
 furnish them with pollen, feed them, water, nour- 
 ish, and keep them warm. A certain degree of 
 animal heat is required, to produce the young, 
 which the bees have the power to regulate, in a 
 well constructed hive, by clustering by numbers 
 about the cells, more or less as the temperature of 
 the hive requires. If a stranger bee, wasp, or 
 noxious insect, appear, it is soon repelled, or de- 
 stroyed. It is a part of their economy to procure 
 a resinous substance called propolis, or bee glue, 
 
20 
 
 with whicli they seal all crevices about the hive, 
 to seclude air and insects. Some of them act the 
 part of scavengers, by clearing every thing offen- 
 sive from the hive ; such carcasses as are too large 
 for them to remove they embalm, or cover with a 
 thick layer of wax, or glue, under which they may 
 remain, without causing any offensive effluvia. 
 
 Such is the peculiar instinct of bees, that not a 
 single inhabitant of another hive is allowed to ob- 
 trude himself, but is seized on as a robber and in- 
 stantly killed. Bees have a sort of language 
 among themselves whereby they know each oth- 
 ers’ wants ; as in feeding each other, &c. They 
 also will sound the alarm when any thing disturbs 
 them ; and such sounds will be instantly under- 
 stood, and answered by the whole colony. If 
 swarms are not immediately removed after they 
 alight, messengers are sent to look a suitable dwell- 
 ing place for the colony ; on their return the in- 
 telligence is communicated to the colony, and such 
 is their understanding, that the whole colony rise 
 high into the air, and follow in a direct line with 
 rapid flight, to the place selected by their com- 
 rades; if no place is found suitable for a dwelling, 
 they return at night, and another company are 
 sent in search the next morning. If bees are not 
 allowed to possess any thing analogous to reason, 
 the regard for their queen, and the watchful care 
 of their young, must result from some pleasurable 
 sensations. 
 
 After a particular season of the year, the drones 
 are killed off, by those very workers, which for- 
 merly watched over them so carefully in their 
 cradles. 
 
 It is in the months of July and August that this 
 singular massacre is effected. Iluber, desirous of 
 
21 
 
 witnessing the scene of carnage, placed six hives 
 on a glass table, and placed himself and an assist- 
 ant beneath it. On the fourth of July, the work- 
 ers actually massacred the males in the whole six 
 hives, at the same hour, and with the same pecu- 
 liarities. The glass table was covered with bees, 
 full of animation, which flew on the drones, seized 
 them by their antennae, the wings and limbs, and 
 after having dragged them about, they killed the 
 unfortunate victims, by repeated stings directed 
 between the wi ngs of the abdomen. The moment 
 that the formidable weapon touched them, was the 
 last of their existence; they stretched their wings 
 and expired. Whilst the season continues favor- 
 able for -the collection of honey, bees labor from 
 the dawn of day till evening : that they never 
 cease to fill their magazines with honey, is not 
 from a foreknowledge that a season is approach- 
 ing, when their harvest will he denied them, but 
 they are furnished by nature with tlm means of 
 obtaining their food without thinking, or being 
 capable of thinking of any precautions necessary 
 for that purpose. Their nature requires that they 
 gather honey and wax ; they apply themselves 
 during the season of flowers with the greatest as- 
 siduity, and on the return of winter their combs 
 are filled with the “luscious hoard.” Reaumur 
 has calculated that within one hour three thou- 
 sand bees have returned from their collections to 
 a hive whose population did not exceed eighteen 
 thousand, and Swammerdam found nearly four 
 thousand cells constructed in six days, by a new 
 swarm which did not exceed six thousand bees. 
 It is not uncommon among us, for a single swarm 
 to collect from eighty to one hundred pounds ox 
 
22 
 
 noneyin a favorable season. What astonishing 
 industry ! Bees collect some part of their honey 
 from what is called honey-dew. This is an exu- 
 dation found on the leaves of trees in very hot, 
 sultry weather. The oak and the chestnut are 
 the principal trees which produce this substance 
 in any quantity. Repeated observations prove 
 that the secretion of honey is powerfully influ- 
 enced by the electricity of the atmosphere, and bees 
 never labor more actively than during sultry 
 weather, and when a storm is approaching. The 
 odor exhaled from the hives, and the size of the 
 bees, are sure indications whether the flowers con- 
 tain honey. Bees are able to store up quantities 
 of pollen when the flowers are destitute of honey, 
 which is necessary for feeding their young ; part 
 of it is immediately given to them, and the re- 
 mainder stored up in the cells. The harvest of 
 honey is early or later, more abundant or scarce, 
 in different years, according to season, variety 
 of climate, and situation. Sometimes bees will 
 continue in active labor during September, and 
 collect pollen till late in October, if frost does not 
 prevent. On taking up a hive a few years ago, 
 says a writer, the body of a mouse was found en- 
 tirely encased in propolis, and so effectually em- 
 balmed by their own material as to exclude at- 
 mospheric air, and to obviate the possibility of 
 annoyance from putrefaction. 
 
 “ Embalmed in shroud of glue, the mummy lies — 
 
 No worms invade, no foul miasmas rise.” — E vaks. 
 
23 
 
 REMEDY FOR STINGS OF BEES. 
 
 Stings of bees are not often attended with seri- 
 ous consequences, though, when very numerous, 
 may be considered dangerous. 
 
 The first point to be attended to, is to extract 
 the sting. The poison ejected into the wound is 
 an acid, and is neutralized by alkalies. 
 
 The most simple and effectual remedy is the 
 common table salt. This article may be applied 
 to the wound as soon as the sting is extracted, a 
 little moistened, and it affords immediate relief, 
 and soon abates the swelling. Volatile spirit of 
 ammonia, if applied immediately, relieves the pain 
 almost instantaneously, and if the stings be nume- 
 rous, should be taken internally, in doses of twenty 
 or thirty drops, every few hours. 
 
 OF DRONES AND WORKERS. 
 
 A remarkable irregularity subsists in the num- 
 ber of drones, compared with other inhabitants of 
 a hive. “Swammerdam found 693 along with 
 8494 workers. Previous to the swarming of a 
 large hive, Reaumur counted 700 among 26,000 
 common bees, and one queen. In another, con- 
 taining only 2900 workers, he found 693 drones, 
 lie computed 50,000 cells, in the former of which 
 20,000 were filled with brood. About 2520 cells 
 were appropriated for breeding drones, and above 
 half of them were occupied by larva and nymphs. 
 Thus, including the 700 in the perfect state, he 
 observes that this hive would be provided with 
 above 2000 drones.” 
 
 
24 
 
 An elegant and experienced apiarian in the 
 North American Review for October, 1828, reputed 
 to be Mrs. Mary Griffith, of New Brunswick, 
 New Jersey, observes, that “ the average number of 
 a hive, or swarm, is from fifteen to twenty thou- 
 sand bees. Nineteen thousand four hundred and 
 ninety-nine are neuters, or workers, five hundred 
 are drones, and the remaining one is the queen, or 
 mother.” 
 
 Bees, not unfrequently, rob each other. A 
 courageous swarm will sometimes attack and de- 
 stroy a neighboring colony, even at a considerable 
 distance, and in a single day carry off the whole 
 stock of honey to their own hive, compelling the 
 subjugated bees to assist in the spoil. And it some- 
 times happens, that a swarm deficient in honey 
 abandons its hive and seeks shelter in another, to 
 relieve its necessities. Weak and feeble hives are 
 commonly the objects of attack. Whenever an 
 attack is made on a hive, the planes should be so 
 nearly closed as not to admit of egress or ingress 
 of the bees ; the hive being thus protected, the 
 hive belonging to the robbers should be sought, 
 which may be easily found by sprinkling a little 
 flour upon the robbers about the hive, who will 
 soon return to their own hive, bearing marks of 
 roguery. Then with a stick mutilate the comb of 
 the robbers, by breaking it in different parts of the 
 hive. This being done, the robbers will be occu- 
 pied in repairing their loss at home ; then open 
 the planes of the attacked hive, and suffer the 
 prisoners, if any, to return to their own home. 
 This done, the attacked hive may be removed a 
 few rods from its original standing place, and there 
 remain in perfect safety. 
 
 It seems to be a matter of doubt among apiarians, 
 
ans, whether bees enjoy the sense of hearing ; but 
 their organs of sight appear to be very perfect. A 
 bee, on its departure from the hive, makes several 
 evolutions, and then rising in the air, flies in a 
 straight line to the flowery field, and having made 
 its collection, it again rises aloft, and returns in a 
 perfectly straight line, with great velocity, and 
 recognizes its own hive amid numerous others 
 resembling it. The sense of smell enjoyed by 
 bees, is supposed to answer their purpose in tra- 
 versing the fields in search of flowers, even though 
 several miles distant. Their sense of smell is 
 supposed to be so acute as to scent a field of 
 buckwheat at the distance of five miles. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF COMBS AND CELLS. 
 
 On examining the interior of a bee hive, the 
 view presented to the beholder is of the most in- 
 teresting character. The curious eye can never 
 be weary of examining these curious work-shops, 
 where thousands are employed in the various de- 
 partments, for the common good. We are struck 
 in a particular manner with the regularity and 
 exactness observable in their works ; their maga- 
 zines replenished with every necessary for the 
 support of the society during winter; and we be- 
 hold with wonder and pleasure the young brood 
 in their cradles, and the tender care of their nurs- 
 ing mothers towards them. The construction of 
 these cells, or cradles, is executed with so much 
 art, and the ground-work and form so skillfully 
 contrived, that it must be viewed as an excellent 
 specimen of geometry. The structure of these 
 
26 
 
 cells is the best adapted for containing the greatest 
 possible quantity in the least possible space — and 
 have excited admiration in every contemplative 
 mind. The cells are of a hexagonal form; the 
 circumference of one makes a part of the circum- 
 ference of another ; were they contrived in any 
 other shape, there could not be so many cells of 
 equal capaciousness in the same given space. 
 
 These cells, which are very thin, are strength- 
 ened at the entrance by a fillet of wax, and also 
 at the bottom, by the angle of one falling in the 
 middle of its opposite. 
 
 There are in every hive different sorts of combs, 
 adapted to the different sorts of bees which are to 
 be bred in them. The cells constructed for breed- 
 ing drones are considerable larger than those in- 
 tended for workers. Those intended for females, 
 or queens, are of a very peculiar form, and fash- 
 ioned with great labor and skill. 
 
 The royal cells are of a pyramidal form, with 
 a wide base, and a long diminished top. They 
 hang perpendicular in die hive, the point down- 
 wards. The cells for the drones are three and 
 one third lines in diameter; those of the workers 
 are two and three fifths lines, and these are inva- 
 riably the dimensions observed in all hives. 
 
 A number of cells united constitute the comb, 
 formed in parallel sheets. Reaumur calculated 
 that a comb twelve and a half inches square would 
 contain 9000 cells. The primary object of the 
 cells seems to be for propagating the young; after 
 these have gained maturity, they are cleaned out 
 and filled with honey : but there are cells, also, 
 destined for this purpose from the beginning. The 
 same cells may be employed for several successive 
 broods, and when the whole have come to perfec- 
 
27 
 
 tion, they are appropriated for the winter stores. 
 In the shape and size of the comb, bees are guided 
 by circumstances : a small cavity is totally filled 
 with equal combs, in parallel sheets ; while in one 
 of greater dimensions, there may be some large, 
 and others not one fourth of the size. 
 
 It may appear singular how bees can fill a hori- 
 zontal cell quite full of honey, and yet prevent it 
 from escaping. Perhaps it is partly retained by 
 its own viscosity, and from adhesion to the sides 
 of a tube of such small diameter. Each cell is 
 sealed with a flat covering of wax, most ingeni- 
 ously devised. A circle is formed round the mouth 
 of the cell, which is gradually diminished by oth- 
 er concentric circles, until the aperture remains a 
 point capable of being filled by a single grain of 
 wax. Thus we see the combs and cells constructed 
 with profound skill, seeming to display the work 
 of a geometrician. It is self-evident that here the 
 geometrician is the author of the insect. 
 
 WAX, HONEY, AND BEE BREAD. 
 
 A variety of experiments render it certain that 
 wax is produced from pure honey. In ascertain- 
 ing the mode by which wax was produced from 
 honey, Huber confined a swarm of bees in a straw 
 hive, to an apartment along with a quantity of 
 honey and water, necessary for their subsistence. 
 The honey was exhausted in five days, and five 
 combs of snow-white wax were then found sus- 
 pended from the arch of the hive. Lest this 
 might have been the produce of the farina carried 
 in by the bees when their confinement commenced, 
 
28 
 
 all the combs were removed, and the imprison- 
 ment of the bees repeated. But the result was 
 the same; they formed other five combs of the 
 finest and whitest wax. 
 
 Honey is the richest extracts from the finest 
 flowers. It is a vegetable secretion which appears 
 at different seasons of the year, especially when 
 flowers in general are in blossom. The bees 
 lick it from the flowers with their tongue and 
 probossis; it is swallowed, and on their return 
 to the hive is disgorged, not from the trunk, but 
 from the mouth, into the cells. The best sort of 
 honey is made from the white clover and mign- 
 onette, from which it is produced in great abun- 
 dance; it is of a whitish color, inclining to yellow, 
 of a thick consistence, possessing an agreeable 
 smell, and a pleasant taste. The comb first made 
 by a swarm, is of the purest and most delicate 
 white, and the honey which it contains is light 
 colored, and of delicious flavor, and is called vir- 
 gin honey. 
 
 Honey is the source of wax, and the food of 
 bees. Being a vegetable production, the quantity 
 of honey depends entirely on the nature of the 
 plants from which it is produced. Honey pro- 
 duced from buckwheat is of a reddish color, thin, 
 transparent, and of an unpleasant flavor. It is 
 produced in great abundance. It is not uncom- 
 mon for a single swarm to increase the weight of 
 their hive, during the season of buckwheat, which 
 continues from the first of August to the middle 
 of September, from thirty to forty pounds. 
 
 Bee bread, during the spring, summer, and 
 till late in the fall, is brought home by the bees in 
 the hollow of their legs. This is the farina, or 
 pollen, obtained from various sorts of flowers or 
 plants. This was formerly supposed to be wax ; 
 
29 
 
 but it is now known that no principal of wax 
 resides in pollen : it is collected solely for the pur- 
 pose of feeding the young brood, and the perfect 
 bees never live upon it ; but the workers take it, 
 grain by grain, in their teeth, and transmit it to the 
 mouths of the larva. Honey, in the comb, may 
 be kept in the drawers in which it is made, during 
 the whole winter, allowing it to remain exactly as 
 the bees formed it. To separate honey from the 
 comb, let it be cut in small pieces, and suspended 
 near the fire, in a canvas bag. The wax may be 
 purified by putting the comb, tied up in a linen or 
 woolen bag, into a vessel of water, over the fire ; 
 as the heat increases, the wax liquifies, and esca- 
 ping through the bag, rises to the surface ; it may 
 be skimmed off, while the refuse is retained be- 
 hind. It may be well to place some weight on, or 
 in the bag, to prevent it from rising to the surface. 
 
 SWARMING. 
 
 There seems to^le no satisfactory reason given, 
 by authors, for the swarming of bees. II is gene- 
 rally supposed that swarming ensues in conse- 
 quence ot the hive being overstocked with num- 
 bers, and from a young queen seeking a new dwell- 
 ing, where she may be placed in “ royal state,” at 
 the head of a colony. It is seldom that bees 
 swarm from a hive until it is filled, or nearly filled. 
 Still, the want of room cannot, in all instances, 
 be the sole cause of swarming ; and, instead of a 
 young queen, it is always the old queen that leads 
 out a swarm, and the same old queen that leads 
 out a swarm this year, will lead out a swarm from 
 her new habitation the next year. An old queen 
 never leaves the hive until she has deposited eggs 
 
30 
 
 that will become new queens, nor until her prin- 
 cipal laying of eggs, producing drones, is over. 
 
 Bees usually swarm from the 10th of May to 
 the middle of July ; early swarms are of the most 
 value. A swarm of bees in May, in the Sell-pro- 
 tecting Hive, is worth, to the possessor, at least fifty 
 dollars, the interest of which is at 6 per cent, 
 three dollars. Now, suppose the hive to yield, 
 the first season, thirty pounds of surplus honey, 
 which is always of virgin whiteness, worth in our 
 market twenty-five cents the pound, which is seven 
 dollars and fifty cents. Suppose the hive to cost 
 one dollar and fifty cents, which is the actual cost, 
 if well made, of good materials. We have now 
 a balance of three dollars, after deducting interest 
 and cost of hive. The estimate of surplus honey 
 is very low : I have already taken thirty-five 
 pounds each, (the first oi August.) from many of 
 my May swarms. We have left a balance of 
 three dollars, to pay the trouble of hiving, winter- 
 ing, &c. Suppose our stock of bees to send out 
 a swarm, on the 20th of May^iext ; our stock is 
 now doubled, or worth 100 dollars. It is reason- 
 able to expect second swarms enough to defray 
 subsequent expenses. We may now calculate our 
 stock of bees to double every subsequent season, 
 as well as the surplus honey. Let us calculate 
 this increase of property for five years. On the 
 first of October, the first year, we have two stocks 
 of bees, worth one hundred dollars, or fifty dol- 
 lars each, besides sixty pounds of surplus, or 
 drawer honey ; and by this ratio at the end of five 
 years we have thirty -two stocks of bees, according 
 to the former estimate worth 1600 dollars, besides 
 30 pounds of surplus honey from each hive, each 
 season, amounting to 1860 pounds of virgin honey ; 
 allowing 20 cents a pound to be the wholesale 
 
31 
 
 price, worth 372 dollars, which, added to our stock 
 of bees, is 1972 dollars, — a very handsome capital 
 acquired by judicious management and a very 
 small amount of labor. 
 
 We have now enlarged our stock of bees to as 
 many hives as would be profitable to keep in one 
 apiary. We are now prepared to sell thirty stocks 
 of bees every subsequent season, at the selling 
 price, (not at the real worth,) which is about $10 
 the hive, in the Self-protecting Hive, amounting to 
 $300, together with 900 pounds of virgin honey, 
 at 20 cents, amounting to $180, making a yearly 
 increase of $480. And this may be done by the 
 man that owns one acre of land, as well as by the 
 man that owns one hundred acres. 
 
 The best and most cogent reason given for 
 second swarms is, that after the old queen has led 
 out a swarm, the remaining bees finding them- 
 selves without a leader, prepare to erect royal cells, 
 and raise young queens to repair their loss. They 
 select female eggs, (which the old queen always 
 leaves the hive abundantly supplied with, on lead- 
 ing out a swarm,) and place them in the royal 
 cells, feed them royal jelly, and in about twelve 
 days are supplied with one young queen, or more. 
 If more than one queen is produced, the queen that 
 first leaves the cell, often leads out a second swarm, 
 to avoid a battle with its expected rival. Second 
 swarms usually appear in about twelve days after 
 the first swarm. 
 
 It may be very accurately ascertained whether 
 a second swarm may be expected, by hearkening 
 at the entrance of the hive the evening before the 
 swarm appears. If a second swarm is to issue, a 
 distinct sound will be heard from each of the 
 queens, consisting of monotonous notes, replying 
 to each other, called sounding the alarm. This 
 
32 
 
 sound may usually be heard about eighteen hours 
 before swarming. Third swarms may be expected 
 in about three days after the second swarm, which 
 should always be returned either to the old stock, 
 or to the second swarm. This may be easily done 
 by taking away their queen ; and by placing them 
 at the entrance of either hive, they eagerly enter. 
 
 One chief cause or concomitant of swarming, 
 says Huber, apparently consists in the agitation of 
 the queen. She is suddenly affected, hastily trav- 
 erses the combs, abandoning that slow and steady 
 progression which she ordinarily exhibits ; her 
 agitation is communicated to the bees ; they crowd 
 to the outlet of the hive, and the queen escaping 
 first, they haste to follow her. 
 
 Commonly, the whole take but a short flight, 
 and the queen having alighted, they all cluster 
 around her. This constitutes the new swarm. 
 Huber states that the agitation of the female ex- 
 cites the workers, which increases their animal 
 heat, and raises the temperature of the hive to such 
 an insupportable degree, that they are compelled 
 to leave it. On issuing from the hive, bees appear 
 to have no object in view. 
 
 After rising in the air, it is commonly some 
 shrub or tree that arrests their progress, and when- 
 ever the queen alights, the bees will cluster around 
 her. They hang in this situation, usually, until 
 some cavity or hollow tree has been selected for 
 them to inhabit, when they loose their hold, fly 
 high in the air, and direct themselves in a straight 
 line to their new habitation. 
 
 THE BEST CONSTRUCTED HIVE. 
 
 Hall’s Patent Self-protecting Hive is to be pre- 
 ferred above all others, particularly for an out- 
 
33 
 
 door’s hive. The easy management, the perfect 
 simplicity of its construction, and the happy effects 
 produced by the double inclined plane, in dis- 
 charging all filth that falls upon it, in ventilating 
 the hive, in furnishing an easy and convenient 
 place for the bees to alight and enter at the 
 leeward of the hive, and also the very convenient 
 manner in which the surplus honey may be taken, 
 by means of drawers and sliders, without being 
 exposed to the danger of a single sting, render it 
 highly desirable by every apiarian acquainted 
 with it. 
 
 The above hive is made of seasoned inch boards, 
 twelve inches and a half square on the outside, 
 fourteen inches deep, from the chamber to the pro- 
 tector. The chamber is six inches, and the pro- 
 tector or base is four inches, making the whole 
 height of the hive two feet. . The chamber is 
 furnished with two communicating drawers, with 
 glass ends in front, designed for taking the surplus 
 honey, without destroying a single bee. The 
 drawers, when filled, may be carefully taken out 
 at the rear of the hive, by opening the door and 
 inserting two right angled slides, carefully taking 
 one of the sliders out with the drawer, to prevent 
 the bees from issuing out of the drawer ; and let- 
 ting the other slider remain, to prevent the bees 
 from rushing into the chamber, until an empty 
 drawer is inserted. Carry the drawer taken out 
 into a cellar or some dark place ; then by opening 
 a window, and by placing the communication 
 aperture toward the light, the bees will soon escape 
 and return to the hive, leaving the honey for the 
 owner. The body of the hive consists of a per- 
 pendicular box of the common form, furnished 
 with two cross bars or supporters in the centre ; 
 in the chamber floor are two or more apertures, 
 
34 
 
 corresponding exactly with apertures in the 
 drawers above, to enable the bees to enter the 
 drawers. If the body of the hive is filled, the 
 drawers, if filled, are taken out, and others inserted 
 in their stead ; but if it is not, one or both of the 
 drawers are suffered to remain for the benefit of 
 the bees, according to circumstances. The base 
 or protector consists of a square frame without 
 top or bottom, of the exact size of the hive, about 
 four inches deep, on which the hive rests, being 
 connected and held in place by dowels and hooks. 
 The front and rear sides of the base are narrower 
 by about an inch than the other sides, leaving 
 room at the bottom for the play of the inclined 
 planes, which form a bottom for the hive, consist- 
 ing of two inclined planes, slanting from the top of 
 the base to the bottom. These inclined planes con- 
 sist of boards hung within the box of the base, on 
 pivots passing through the sides near the top edge 
 of the centre of the sides, and extending below the 
 lower edge of the base in front and rear, with a play 
 of about half an inch, to admit freely the egress and 
 ingress of the bees, as well as the discharge of filth. 
 The cap or top of the hive should project about 
 an inch, to discharge the water without injuring 
 the hive. The hive should hang in a frame by 
 cleats, made fast to the sides of the hive and nail- 
 ed to the chamber floor. This frame, in which the 
 hive should be suspended about two feet from the 
 ground, may be made of four posts four feet high, 
 with suitable cleats for the hive to rest upon, and 
 also to brace the posts. 
 
 The above described hive should be made of 
 good deal boards free from flaws and cracks, and 
 perfectly smooth inside and outside, with the ex- 
 ception of the under side of the chamber floor, 
 which should be left rough, that the bees may be 
 
35 
 
 enabled to hold the weight of their swarm, when 
 first entering the hive. If made perfectly smooth 
 the weight of the swarm will cause them to fall’ 
 thereby irritating them, and sometimes causing 
 them to leave the hive. The old fashioned chirm 
 sy hives, so formed that the honey cannot be taken 
 out without destroying the bees, should be forever 
 discarded. 
 
 Much has been said of the fittest size of a hive. 
 The Self-protecting Hive, as described above, is of 
 sufficient size for ordinary purposes. The body 
 of the hive contains about 35 pounds of honey 
 and the drawers about 20 pounds. The body of 
 the hive contains a sufficient quantity to supply 
 the largest swarm during winter, and is of the 
 most suitable size to produce swarms. In very 
 large hives, bees seldom swarm, and if at all, usu- 
 ally very late, rendering the swarm of but little 
 worth. Some are in favor of very large hives, in 
 order to prevent swarming, but such are persons 
 usually of but little experience as apiarians. True 
 some may keep bees merely out of curiosity, but 
 generally the principal object is profit. If, in the 
 cultivation of bees, profit is thought of, they 
 should be suffered to swarm at least once in each 
 season, and be furnished with suitable sized hives 
 for that purpose. Many of my hives swarm twice 
 and I am very glad to have them do so. Second 
 swarms, if obtained by the 10th of June, although 
 small at first, soon increase in numbers, fill their 
 hive, and make as good stocks for wintering as 
 first swarms. 
 
 Nature has designed that bees should swarm. 
 “My own experiment,” says Dr. Thatcher, “the 
 past summer, affords no encouragement to prose- 
 cute the scheme of interrupting the natural swarm- 
 mg of bees. Having placed empty hives in con- 
 
36 
 
 tact with those containing bees, with apertures of 
 communication, they occupied the hives as draw- 
 ing rooms, during the summer, and prevented 
 swarms forming ; but in autumn they all returned 
 to the parent hives, having riinde no comb, except 
 a small quantity in one of the hives. The prin- 
 ciple is a substantial one, that bees will not pros- 
 per unless they are furnished with queens, and I 
 am not endowed with the gracious prerogative of 
 elevating females to thrones.” Let us suppose a 
 swarm of bees to be put into a hive of sufficient 
 capaciousness to prevent its swarming. At the 
 end of five years, allowing the swarm to yield fif- 
 ty pounds of surplus honey each year, which is a 
 fair estimate, we have two hundred and fifty 
 pounds of honey, and one swarm. Now let us 
 compare this with our former estimate, allowing 
 swarms to issue. In our former estimate, allow- 
 ing the bees to swarm, at the end of five years we 
 have thirty-two swarms, besides eighteen hundred 
 and sixtv pounds of surplus honey ; leaving a 
 balance of thirty-one swarms and sixteen hundred 
 and ten pounds of surplus honey in favor of 
 swarming. 
 
 HIVING SWARMS, AND TRANSFERRING BEES 
 FROM ONE IIIVE TO ANOTHER. 
 
 In the season of swarming, constant watchful- 
 ness should be kept over the apiary ; if it consist 
 of a considerable number of hives, several swarms 
 may be expected every fair day. Suitable hives 
 should be in readiness to receive the swarms, fur- 
 nished with drawers, and perfectly tight and clean 
 in every part. Nothing is lost by employing 
 good workmen to make your bee-hives ; they 
 should be made of good materials, and thoroughly 
 
37 
 
 painted. Pine or butternut boards may be con- 
 sidered preferable to any other. It has commonly 
 been the practice of apiarians to rub the inside of 
 the hive with various kinds of herbs, a solution of 
 salt and water, honey, rum, and various other 
 substances. All they require is a clean, dry hive 
 of a proper size. 
 
 Hives and drawers should be made all of one 
 size, so that one drawer may fit every hive ; there- 
 by saving much inconvenience in furnishing the 
 hive with a second set of drawers. Place actable 
 near where the swarm alights, in the shade, and 
 when they are quietly settled on a branch of a 
 tree or shrub, one person may hold the hive with 
 the protector taken off directly under the swarm 
 and an assistant give the branch a sudden shake' 
 by which the bees fall into the hive; or if the 
 branch be small and of little worth, a better way 
 is to place the table directly under the swarm • 
 then with a saw or knife sever the branch from 
 the tree, place it on the table and set the hive im- 
 mediately over it ; the hive should be raised a few 
 inches from the table, by placing sticks upon it, 
 to allow the scattering bees to enter. If the 
 swarm should settle on some inconvenient place, 
 as the post of a fence, trunk of a tree, or eaves 
 ol a house, the bees must be carefully brushed 
 into the hive with a wing or broom, and the hive 
 immediately placed upon the table raised by sticks, 
 as before. It not unfrequently happens, that from 
 some dislike of the hive, the bees return to the 
 branch from which they were taken, even the sec- 
 ond and third time. 
 
 Should they return to the parent hive, they 
 will issue from it again in a few days. It some- 
 times happens that two swarms issue from differ- 
 ent hives at the same time and alight together, 
 
38 
 
 These inay be put into one hive, and the queens 
 decide which shall have the sovereignty. At 
 evening the hive should be carefully placed upon 
 the protector, hooked up, and carried to the place 
 where it is to hang ; the planes should be then 
 unhooked, and opened about half an inch, to ven- 
 tilate the hive, and also to admit the free passage 
 of the bees. Although bees indicate less disposi- 
 tion to sting during swarming than at any other 
 time, persons hiving them should be provided 
 with a dress that will effectually secure them from 
 their stings, and particular care should be taken 
 not to injure or irritate them. The most conven- 
 ient defense will be a covering of millenet or 
 other open stuff, put over a hat enclosing the 
 whole head and neck, and a pair of woolen gloves 
 drawn up over the wrist. When approaching 
 bees, the smoke arising from tobacco or burning 
 leather, is the most effectual means of rendering 
 them mild and harmless. The human breath is 
 very offensive to bees ; breathing on them excites 
 their greatest rage ; but you may blow upon them 
 with bellows without offense. Should bees on 
 any occasion make an assault on a person, it will 
 avail nothing to fight or oppose them, but stand 
 quietly in one position or walk moderately away 
 from them. 
 
 It is very important to have large strong swarms 
 in a hive, and when a swarm is too small, two or 
 more should be united. If the old stock should be 
 in the common box hive, it may be transferred to 
 the hive containing the second swarm, thereby 
 saving the honey in the old hive, and furnishing 
 a good stock of bees for the new. This may be 
 done by turning the old hive bottom upwards, 
 and immediately placing the mouth of the hive 
 containing the second swarm, with the protector 
 
39 
 
 taken off, above the old hive, at the same time 
 corking some tow or rags between the hives, to 
 prevent the bees rushing out, if the mouths do 
 not exactly fit; then by a continued rapping on 
 the sides of the old hive, the bees will ascend and 
 join the young colony. In about the space of 
 half an hour the new hive may be taken off, the 
 protector hooked on and placed in the exact situa- 
 tion of the old hive. The old hive may now be 
 removed a few rods and remain bottom upwards 
 for the night; in the morning, by rapping again 
 upon the sides of the old hive, if any bees remain 
 they will immediately fly to, and enter the new 
 hive, or if the bees refuse to leave the old hive, it 
 may be taken in pieces and the bees carefully 
 brushed from the combs, and the honey removed 
 to some place of deposit; in the last case, the 
 only resort for the bees is to join the new colony, 
 which is immediately done. Bees may be trans- 
 ferred to empty hives in the same manner as to 
 hives containing bees. In either case care should 
 be taken to place the new hive in the exact situa- 
 tion of the old. The prosperity of the colony de- 
 pends much on the time of transferring. The 
 time of transferring to an empty hive, should be 
 in about fifteen days after the first swarm has is- 
 sued, that the hive maybe furnished with a queen 
 to govern the colony. If transferred before the 
 colony is furnished with a queen, the bees will 
 soon disappear — either join a neighboring colony 
 or die. I have this season taken four stocks of 
 bees from my own apiary, and transferred them 
 to empty hives with perfect success. Transfer- 
 ring should be done as early in the season as 
 practicable, that the bees may be enabled to gather 
 honey sufficient for wintering. 
 
 In every apiary, the empty hives should be 
 
 
40 
 
 weighed and marked, that the quantity of honey 
 within may be ascertained. 
 
 The practical directions given by writers for 
 the weight of a good swarm, are not, perhaps, 
 perfectly correct ; writers diifer in regard to the 
 number required to weigh a pound. A swaTm 
 weighing four pounds, is supposed to contain 
 about twenty thousand bees, and the best swarms 
 seldom weigh more than six pounds. 
 
 ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 
 
 Artificial swarms may be produced by talcing 
 brood comb from the lower part of the hive, in 
 the month of April, or first part of May. The 
 comb taken, should contain brood three days old 
 or less ; place it in one or both of the drawers in a 
 perpendicular position, then remove the old hive 
 some distance from the apiary, place the new hive 
 containing the brood, where the old one hung in 
 the apiary. The bees now returning from the 
 field, and finding a hive like that which they had 
 left, lodge themselves there, nourish the brood, 
 and from the brood, produce a queen and prosper. 
 Swarms formed thus early, have all the advan- 
 tages of early blossoms, and although few in 
 numbers at first, after being furnished with their 
 new queen increase rapidly, and in a good season 
 make a tolerable stock hive. 
 
 SITUATION OF AN APIARY. 
 
 An apiary should be situated in a quiet place, 
 where the bees may perform their labors undis- 
 
41 
 
 turbed. It should not be encompassed by high 
 walls, or thickets, which would impede the pro- 
 gress of the bees on their return heavy laden to 
 their hives. The ground about the hives should 
 be kept clear of weeds and grass, which afford a 
 harbor for vermin. The apiary should be situated 
 at a convenient distance from the dwelling-house, 
 that it may receive the required attention* For 
 the facility of swarming and hiving, it is better to 
 have low trees and flowering shrubs, than lofty 
 trees, in the vicinity. It is unimportant whether 
 any particular direction be selected, as bees will 
 flourish and make their collections, whatever be 
 the position of their dwelling. 
 
 Those who desire great profit from an extensive 
 bee establishment, should cultivate in their gar- 
 dens such plants as afford honey in the greatest 
 abundance. The first to be mentioned is mign- 
 onette : this affords honey in great abundance, 
 and of the finest quality. Broomwich, an expe- 
 rienced apiarian, relates that in the year 1779, he 
 planted a great quantity of it in front of two bee- 
 hives, at a considerable distance from any other 
 bees. In September he took the honey and found 
 it to exceed, by above a third, what he obtained 
 from any other two of his best hives, where the 
 bees were obliged to fly further, and it was equal 
 in color and fragrance to honey from any country. 
 Another plant rich in nectary, is the Crocus, in 
 its various species. 
 
 Water is an essential article among bees ; they 
 cannot subsist and nourish the young brood, des- 
 titute of water. When running brooks are not 
 found near an apiary, small shallow rivulets should 
 be provided for their use, with small stones or 
 sticks for them to stand upon. 
 
 The best constructed apiary that has met my 
 4* 
 
42 
 
 eye, is my own. My apiary is three feet wide, 
 with corner posts set about two feet in the ground, 
 to prevent it from blowing over : the posts are 
 about four feet high from the surface of the ground, 
 with plates and double roof; two girders, one oil 
 each side, are placed about two feet four inches 
 from the under side of the plates ; standards are 
 morticed into the girders, with ties on the top for 
 the cleats on the sides of the hives to rest upon ; 
 these standards are thirteen inches apart, to receive 
 the hives between them, and twenty inches high 
 above the girders ; the space between the hives is 
 about twelve inches ; the floor rests upon a groove 
 in the girders, which I take out during the warm 
 season ; at the sides are doors that may be taken 
 away or closed at pleasure : the ends are thorough- 
 ly boarded up as low as the girders, and the whole 
 substantially made of the best materials, and paint- 
 ed. When the whole is closed, it is perfectly dark 
 like night, and secure. In this situation my bees 
 remain during winter. They consume one third 
 less honey, than when exposed to the light; and 
 my hives are better stocked with bees, and swarm 
 earlier, than in the ordinary way. Bees enclosed 
 in the apiary are kept perfectly dry, and remain 
 quiet from November until March, when one of 
 the doors should be removed. I remove the one 
 most exposed to the sun, that the bees may be kept 
 warm as possible in such a situation, during the 
 months of March and April. Bees kept in the 
 apiary during winter, as in every other situation, 
 should be ventilated, by suffering the planes to re- 
 main open about half an inch, to prevent suffoca- 
 tion, and also that the bees that die and other filth 
 may be discharged ; thereby preserving the health 
 of the bees. Bees when exposed to the variety of 
 weather during winter, require at least one third 
 
43 
 
 more food, besides decreasing very much in num- 
 ber. Bees, when exposed, frequently issue from 
 the hive in great numbers, during a sunny day in 
 winter, with the earth clad with snow. Every 
 bee that chances to alight upon snow, is sure to 
 find a cold grave — being immediately chilled, and 
 therefore unable to return to the hive. Those 
 bees that return to the hive, enter with an increased 
 appetite, devouring more honey in one hour, than 
 they would have done in one week, had they re- 
 mained inactive. 
 
 White clover affords the best field pasturage for 
 bees, and it may serve the agriculturist a double 
 purpose, as it affords the richest pasture for fatten- 
 ing cattle, and may with profit be extensively cul- 
 tivated. Buckwheat should be cultivated by every 
 apiarian suitably situated. It may be cultivated 
 to the greatest profit the last part of the season, 
 and it very happily takes the place of white clover. 
 The honey extracted from buckwheat is not so 
 rich and delicate as that from the white clover ; 
 but it answers a very good purpose for the bees to 
 winter on, and is furnished in great abundance. 
 Waldridge, a German writer, states that he saw 
 forty large bee-hives filled with honey, to the 
 amount of seventy pounds each, in one fortnight, 
 by their being placed near a large field of buck- 
 wheat in flower. 
 
 BEST METHOD OF DESTROYING OR PREVENTING 
 THE RAVAGES OF THE BEE MOTH. 
 
 The true bee moth is a native of Europe, but 
 has been transplanted and naturalized in this coun- 
 try. It has been known to exist in this country 
 about sixty years, and it is supposed by some to 
 
44 
 
 have been introduced here, with that filthy, loath- 
 some, and worst of all trees, the Lombardy poplar. 
 Be that as it may, we have it, and are always likely 
 to have it, in greater or less number. Thousands 
 of stocks of bees are destroyed by this little insect 
 in our country annually. The bee moth has be- 
 come so common in New England and the middle 
 and western States, and its success in destroying 
 the bee so complete, that very many apiarians 
 have become discouraged, and abandoned the en- 
 terprise. Much time and money has been spent 
 in devising some plan of destroying the bee moth, 
 and of exterminating its race. But it is generally 
 conceded that the moth cannot be exterminated, as 
 it is not confined exclusively to our apiaries, but is 
 found among bees in cavities of rocks and trees, 
 and sometimes in the nests of the humblebee. 
 Since the extermination of the race cannot be ef- 
 fected, the only alternative for apiarians, is to use 
 every exertion in their power to prevent its rava- 
 ges. This may be effected by using the Self-pro- 
 tecting Hive. 
 
 The double inclined plane at the base of the 
 hive, is undoubtedly the best possible plan of se- 
 curing the bees against the ravages of the moth, 
 without interfering with the natural course of the 
 bee. Many plans have been adopted by apiarians 
 to prevent this loathsome insect from destroying 
 their favorite. But all, except the base of the 
 Self-protecting Hive, have either failed to accom- 
 plish the object of its originator, or interfered 
 with the natural course of the bee. Some have 
 adopted the use of large hives, situated within 
 their dwellings, with the base of the hive some 
 distance below the bees, with the design for apia- 
 rians to brush out the worms, when they shall 
 have been thrown down by the bees. But this 
 
45 
 
 does not have the desired effect. It not only fails 
 to prevent the moth, but interferes with the course 
 of nature : it' interferes with the course of nature 
 in preventing the bees swarming ; and it fails to 
 prevent the destruction by worms, from the fact, 
 that persons cannpt always stand in readiness to 
 brush out the worms, when the bees shall have 
 thrown them down, before they have time to as- 
 cend into the top of the hive among the combs. 
 Some use the single plane suspended below the 
 hive by means of wires, (and this plan is secured 
 by patent ;) this plan operates also against nature, 
 besides it is not so good a conductor of filth, as 
 the double plane, from the fact that it has double 
 the distance to move after reaching the plane ; 
 and cannot consistently be made with the same 
 descent. It operates against nature from the fact 
 that every bee that alights upon the plane, is again 
 obliged to fly to enter the hive, instead of crawl, 
 as it is natural for them to do. Bees, after alight- 
 ing upon the suspended plane, traverse for some 
 length of time, before attempting to fly to the 
 comb, and this is done every time they return to 
 the hive, which is proof conclusive that nature has 
 designed that they should travel, instead of fly, to 
 their comb ; this operates worse upon the bees in 
 the first part of the season, during the months of 
 March and April, when the bees go abroad in 
 search of pollen. On returning to the hive, fre- 
 quently partially benumbed, they wander about 
 the plane in search of some place to crawl to the 
 combs, and finally perish for the want of strength 
 to fly, and this too at a season of the year when 
 their numbers are most wanted to produce animal 
 heat sufficient to propagate the young. 
 
 The moth enters the hive during the night, and 
 deposits its eggs. 
 
46 
 
 This loathsome insect is suffered to enter the 
 hive usually unmolested — it accomplishes its ob- 
 ject, and leaves the hive to die. The moth is of 
 the butterfly form, small size, of a grayish color, 
 and makes its appearance about the first of May, 
 and continues till autumn: usually till about the 
 first of October. The eggs hatch in about two 
 weeks, and produce very small worms, which in 
 a well populated hive are immediately seized by 
 the bees, and thrown to the bottom of the hive ; 
 if this bottom be the double inclined plane, instead 
 of returning to the combs, they are immediately 
 discharged to the ground, from whence they can- 
 not return. On the common platform, in the box 
 hive, the young worm on being thrown down 
 from the combs, immediately crawls up the sides 
 of the hives, and continues to crawl up when 
 thrown down by the bees, until it is of sufficient 
 size to spin its web, when it is no longer assailed 
 by the bees, but suffered to commit its nefarious 
 depredations unmolested — its cocoon being im- 
 penetrable by the bees. By addition of numbers, 
 the brood of the bees is soon destroyed, the bees 
 routed, and the victors take possession of the spoil. 
 They feed on the wax and comb, devouring in 
 their march the cells which contain the eggs and 
 the young brood of bees, until they are wholly 
 destroyed. Having, at length, attained their full 
 size and maturity, the worms are changed into a 
 chrysalis state, their bodies are contracted within 
 their cocoon, they cease to feed, and in due time 
 are transformed into a winged insect, the true bee 
 moth. The length of the worm when full grown, 
 is about an inch ; and I have seen them at their 
 full size early in April. 
 
47 
 
 1 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF HIVES DURING WINTER. 
 
 It has long been a custom for the apiarian, to 
 select a certain number of hives from his apiary, 
 for wintering, and to suffocate the remainder. 
 This practice should be abandoned. It is like 
 killing a favorite horse for his skin; for the bees 
 are usually worth four times as much as the honey 
 obtained. If you have late swarms that do not 
 obtain honey sufficient for wintering, feed them 
 by inserting a drawer of honey, in October, that 
 they may learn a passage to it, before the setting 
 in of winter. A late swarm, if wintered, will the 
 second season fill up their hive and make double 
 the amount of surplus honey that would have been 
 obtained, had the bees been suffocated the first sea- 
 son, besides a good stock of bees, and perhaps one 
 or two swarms. 
 
 It is not only a disagreeable job to suffocate 
 bees, but certainly a great waste of property. 
 
 Various notions prevail with regard to the win- 
 tering of bees. Some prefer to have them remain 
 in the same situation in winter, as they have done 
 through the summer ; some bury them by digging 
 a hole in the side of a sand bank, below frost, then 
 placing a plank in the bottom for the hives to 
 stand upon, carefully covering them with straw, 
 and last of all, thoroughly covering them with 
 dirt. The bees remain in this situation until 
 spring, when they are uncovered, taken out, and 
 placed in the apiary. Bees will undoubtedly live, 
 and consume but very little honey, in this situa- 
 tion ; but the comb is apt to mould and often in- 
 jure the bees. But a much better plan is to take 
 your bees from their hanging frame, carry them 
 to some spare room in your house, place your 
 
48 
 
 hives on benches, to prevent mice from annoying 
 them, open the planes about half an inch, that the 
 hive may be sufficiently ventilated, make your 
 windows quite dark, and in this situation let your 
 bees remain from November until March ; when 
 they may be removed to their hanging frames 
 from whence they were taken. A very suitable 
 frame for suspending a single hive, may be made 
 by setting four small posts, four feet long, about 
 six inches in the ground, two feet square at the 
 bottom ; one way eighteen inches apart at top, and 
 the other way twelve and a half inches, to re- 
 ceive the hive between the posts ; the posts should 
 be furnished with cleats, for the cleats on the hive 
 to rest upon, and thoroughly braced to prevent 
 their spreading. 
 
 If a hive contain twenty-five pounds of honey 
 and comb, in November, no farther attention is 
 required, as respects their food. 
 
 Bees, after once located in the spring, should 
 not be removed, unless at a considerable distance : 
 they may be removed miles with perfect safety, 
 but to remove them a few rods is surely destruc- 
 tive to them ; nature has taught them to return 
 from the field to their old location, and seldom 
 more than one half of the workers find their new 
 situation. I have known whole colonies destroyed 
 by two or three removals during one season. If 
 the bees are not all lost they are reduced so low 
 as to be unable to guard the combs, thereby expo- 
 sing the interior of the hive to their merciless foe, 
 the bee moth, which eagerly enters, and under 
 such circumstances, soon takes possession of the 
 hive. 
 
1