cJ'?~ist^£Jt**£^~x^<~&~^\ 
 
 SF 523 
 .K3 
 *opy 1 
 
 THE 
 
 -^XLl 
 
 APIARIANS GUIDE, | 
 
 BEING 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 pv. 
 
 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF 
 
 BEES 
 
 Q & 
 
 BY WILLIAM R. KELSE7. 
 
 
 SYRACUSE : 
 
 PRINTED BY KINNEY, MARSH & BARNS. 
 
 C-' 1847. 
 
 m 
 
s V 
 
THE 
 
 APIARIAN'S GUIDE, 
 
 BEING 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF 
 
 BEES. 
 
 BY WILLIAM R. KELSEY. 
 
 SYRACUSE: 
 
 PRINTED BY KIKKF.Y, MARSH & BARNfl. 
 
 1817. 
 
SF523 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Office of the Clerk of th 
 Northern District of New- York, in the year 18-16. 
 
TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 CULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF 
 BEES. 
 
 " No branch, perhaps, of agricultural or rather rural occupation, has been 
 -() iaueh neglected in this country as bee culture. Wherever it has been at 
 tempted with care it has always proved profitable ; but many who engage in 
 this business, abandon it, — for the reason that the bee is left to be its own pro- 
 tector against its many enemies, but more particularly against its common 
 enemy the bee moth.*" — Report of H. L- Ellsworth, Commissioner of Paten??, 
 ]>][[.— p. 313. 
 
 That the above remarks are true no person who of late 
 years has had any experience in (he management of bees can 
 deny: and while many and constant experiments have been 
 made by apiarians to overcome the natural obstacles to their 
 success, it is somewhat surprising that an efficient and certain 
 remedy for their difficulties was not sooner discovered and 
 brought into general use. 
 
 Although the number of bee culturists in the United States 
 at the present time far exceeds that of any former period, and 
 notwithstanding the number of persons ordinarily considered 
 as keen observers in all common business affairs whereby 
 "a penny may be earned or gained," one cannot be less sur- 
 prised, nor but regret that more attention has net been paid to 
 tho economy of bees — the dangers to which they are subject- 
 ed, and the causes of the apparent anomalies which are so 
 frequently exhibited in their ordinary management, 
 
Even at the present day when some fifty or sixty volumes 
 have been written upon the subject of bees, and frequent com- 
 munications from practical apiarians have been widely dif- 
 fused bv means of the highly interesting and valuable agri- 
 cultural journals published in the different parts of the Union, 
 and a mass of light and instruction has been shed abroad 
 upon the subject, there are almost as many opinions among 
 the mass of bee culturists in regard to the best modes of 
 rearing and managing them, and also as to the sex, offices and 
 functions of the different members of the respective bee com- 
 munities as there has bgen authors upon the subject. But in 
 the main, one writer has generally followed the assertions of a 
 preceding one, and the mass of true and useful information 
 that has been published is so mixed up with error, and the 
 results of pretended observation, as to be of little or no benefit 
 to the mass of readers, who take assertions for facts without 
 reflection, — even were it easy to distinguish and sift out that 
 which is reliable from that which is theory. 
 
 As I have neither the time nor the desire to ''play the 
 Author," I shall briefly state some few facts in regard to the 
 subject, trusting that they will be received by apiarians, rather 
 as mfmoranda, than as a distinct and orderly Treatise. 
 
 / ougn I shall not attempt to confine myself to the theo- 
 ries or vagaries of any particular author, it, would be ungene- 
 rous in me to refrain from acknowledging my indebtedness 
 to the work published in England by Edward Bcvan, Esq., 
 from which I shall make a few quotation where I deern it 
 adyjeaioje; not because of the originality or novelty of hi« 
 ideas, but of the conciseness and perspicuity of the language. 
 The work referred to, like most others on the subject, although 
 containing much important matter, is so iumbered up with 
 the idea?, writings and qimlations of others, and contains so 
 :xj,?ny opinions of distinguished '•' scientific" men, as to be of 
 comparatively little use {or practical purposes. 
 
 Without further preface therefore, I shall first briefly notice 
 the different classes of bees to be found forming ordinary 
 swarms. Every association of bees comprises three descrip- 
 tions or classes, each distinct, and of peculiar character, vifc : 
 1st. The Queen, who is the mother and mistress of th« 
 hive. She is distinguished from the rest by the great length 
 
of her body, the proportional shortness of her wings and her 
 curved sting. Her body tapers gradually to a point, her ub- 
 derjaws are shorter, her head rounder and her trunk more 
 slender than that of the working bee. Her wings extend only 
 half the length of her body, and lier leg?, though longer, have 
 neither brushes nor baskets. Her upper surface is of a bright 
 black, and her under surface and legs of a dark brown or cop- 
 per color; the hinder legs being somewhat darker than th® 
 rest. 
 
 2d. The working bees. These are by some called neuters 
 or mules, and by frtherS female m^-^VBekerS, or females with 
 undeveloped ovaries. In ordinary swarms these number from 
 10,000 to 20, 000. They arc- the smallest members ef the 
 community, are furnished with long flexible probosces, have a 
 peculiar structure of the legs and thighs, on the latter of which 
 are small bellow baskets to receive the farina and gatherings, 
 and are armed with straight stints. Upon this class devolves 
 ail the labor; they rear the young, guard the entrances, elabo- 
 rate the wax, collect and store the provisions and build the 
 cells. 
 
 3d. The Drones or Males, numbering about one-tenth of 
 the whole population. They make their appearance about 
 the first of May and are not very often seen after the breeding 
 season is ever, or middle of August. They are one-third 
 larger than the working feces, thicker, and of a darker color. 
 They have shorter jaws as well as shorter probosces, and are 
 more blunt at the taiiithiua either the queen or workers ; the 
 last ring of the body is f tinged with hairs extending over the 
 tail, and visible to the naked eye] They make a greater noise 
 in flying, are destitute •:,: on their thighs, and have no 
 
 stings ; are raiher shorter than the queen, but generally much 
 larger. Comparatively, they seldom .come out of the hive. 
 From this description it is readily discovered that they are 
 idle, cowardly and inactive, end we must therefore infer that 
 the only way in which t! Or themselves useful or pro- 
 
 mote the welfare of the hive, is a sexual one. 
 
 Besides these three essential classes, about the commence- 
 ment of the swarming season a (e\v bees may occasionally be 
 seen which present a somewhat singular appearance. They 
 have small light colored top-knots on the centre of their front- 
 
6 
 
 lets, which very much resemble short antennae rising from 
 single roots. In all other respects they resemble the working 
 bees, and appear to take part in the general business of the 
 hive. 
 
 The queen deposites her eggs in cells prepared and con- 
 structed for their reception by the working bees. These cells 
 vary in size, form, and direction, according to the class of 
 bees which is intended to be developed in them. These eggs 
 are deposited separately in such portion of the comb, and in 
 cells opposite to each other, as may have been reserved, for the 
 time being, for brooding comb. When a considerable num- 
 ber are deposited, they are usually about equally divided on 
 each side of the brooding comb directly opposite to each other. 
 
 The eggs of bees are stated by Bevan and other apiarians to 
 be about the size of butterfly eggs upon cabbage leaves, — of 
 a lengthened oval shape slightly curved and of a bluish white 
 color; they are composed of a thin membrane filled with a 
 whitish liquor, and being besmeared at the time of deposit 
 with a glutinous substance adhere to the bases of the cell, 
 where in the progress of development in four or five days they 
 look like small white worms, and float in a whitish transparent 
 iluid which is deposited in their cells by the nursing bees. — 
 These attend to the young bees during the whoietime that they 
 remain in the cells and until 'hatched out.' It is the opinion 
 of many eminent naturalists that farina does not constitute 
 the sole food of the bee larva:, but that it consists of a mix- 
 ture of farina with a certain proportion of honey and water 
 partly digested by the nursing bee, in relative proportions va- 
 rying according to the age of the young. 
 [ Leaving for others to explain the exact length of time that 
 elapses between the different changes that the larvae undergo 
 until fully developed as young bees, and the various minutiae 
 attendant thereupon, as well as the many interesting, but for 
 practical apiarians, comparatively unimportant anomalies that 
 are exhibited by observations of the different classes before 
 maturity, I will simply rem'ark that very little that can be relied 
 upon in regard to the subject is known from recent reliable ob- 
 servations. These explanations as published, have principally 
 been handed down from one writer to another for several ge- 
 nerations or centuries, with no change except a greater mi- 
 
nuteness in description perhaps, than the preceding one hail 
 ventured to give, although every writer quotes his previous au- 
 thor, very little is claimed as the result of his own observation 
 or even on "good authority." 
 
 The usual period required for the developement of young 
 swarms from the egg to the bee state, I have found to be from 
 eight to twenty days, dependent in a measure upon the atmos- 
 phere ; and swarms, the products of young swarms are fre- 
 quently produced, emerge, and are hived, during the heat of 
 summer in fourteen days from the time that their parent 
 swarms were hived. I 
 
 As soon as the young insect has been cleaned from the 
 exuvia and regaled with a little honey by the attendant bees, 
 the latter clean out the cell thoroughly, preparatory to its being 
 occupied by a new tenant or with honey. If a new brood is 
 to be deposited in the same cells, they are all completely coated 
 or lined with a new covering of wax, and this is repeated as 
 often as they may be used for breeding young bees. Experi- 
 ence and observation has clearly proven the fact that after the 
 young bees have emerged, every particle of the "bee bread*' 
 and exuvia in the cells and all impurities of every description 
 are always removed before honey is stored in them. That 
 they again wax over the cells when young swarms are again 
 deposited in them is evident from a slight examination of al- 
 most any piece of old honey comb. The cells when con- 
 structed have very thin walls ; but old comb that has been bred 
 in repeatedly has always very thick walls and the size of the 
 cells is very much diminished. 
 
 As to the origin of the queen bee we know but little, k 
 has been stated by apiarian writers, and the. fallacy is credited 
 by many at the. piesent time, that " bees when deprived of their 
 queen have the power of selecting one or more worker eggs 
 or grubs and converting them into queens" by administering 
 to them, and feeding them with, "a royal jelly, or pungent 
 food 1 ' which is prepared by the working bees exclusively for 
 that purpose ; and while some authors have pretended to de- 
 scribe the whole minutiae, and explain the principles whereby 
 such a radical change can be effected, others have gone so far 
 as to describe the taste of this "pungent food." But notwith- 
 standing the names of the purely scientific men who have 
 
*uopted this theory, it has been fully discussed, and ably refu- 
 te by several equally distinguished practical bee men, and men 
 c* reason. The simple fact of an examination of the seve- 
 ral classes in a hive, will be sufficient toisatisfy even the most 
 skeptical, of the absurdity of such a theorem. That merely by 
 increasing the size and changing the direction of the cell, and 
 feeding the larvae with "a more pungent food" should not on- 
 ly cause the sexual organs to become developed, but should 
 e the shape of her tongue, her jaws and her sting; deprive 
 her of the power of secreting wax and obliterate the baskets 
 which but for these changes would have been formed upon her 
 thighs, as well as change her colors essentially, — is not only 
 beyond the credulity of the least reflecting, but certainly con- 
 trary to every idea of reason. As well might we believe in 
 the possibility and probability of converting a mule into a 
 Weeding mave merely by giving one a large stall and ''more 
 pungent food"! ! or a thorn into a this:! 
 
 The idea of making a queen out of a working bee although 
 it Las been handed down by authors for successive centuries 
 was adopted by Huber the naturalist, but Linneus denied it 
 any weight. The former being a comparatively recent writer 
 upon the subject has been followed by Bevan and other* 
 without giving sufficient weight to the well known fact, 
 that although Huber has been been generally regarded as a man 
 of ''very vivid imagination 1 ' his eye sight was defective, and 
 he was obliged to rely principally upon the report of his hired 
 r.ssistants for the information and statements that he chronicles 
 as his own observations, very little reliance can be placed upon 
 his statements concerning matters requiring such nice and as- 
 siduous observation. 
 
 It has been remarked by entomologists, and from conversa- 
 tions that I have had with several candid practical bee culturists, 
 whose observations and experience as they assured me con- 
 firmed the idea, I am inclined to believe, that working bees 
 have been known occasionally to lay eggs; but it is also a re- 
 markable fact that these fertile workers never lay any but drone 
 eggs. The causes or philosophy of such occurrences I do not 
 attempt to explain, — merely noticing the suggestion as it has 
 been advanced to me. It is said that fertile workers are small- 
 er in the belly and more slender than sterile workers, and thai 
 this is the only discoverable difference between them. 
 
It is now- uniformly admitted and observation convinces me 
 of the fact, that intercourse between the queen and the drones 
 takes place only on the wing; — that impregnation always 
 place in the open air. However, in making this statement I 
 do not wis!) totally to deny the possibilii'j of intercourse else- 
 where, for I am assured by James Roberts, Esq., of Reading, 
 Steuben Co., N. Y., that he has witnessed it under a tumbler 
 where he had succeeded in placing a queen and several drones. 
 Nearly all winged insects have bodily interoharge only on the 
 wing. The flight of the queen is always preceeded by that of 
 the drones. It his been denied that the queen ever leaves tho 
 hive except at the period of swarming; I have frequently wit- 
 nessed her visits to the open air; as has almost every other man 
 who has had € in the bee culture. Her journeys sel- 
 
 dom exceed an hour in duration, and when she loturns is al- 
 ways Mm r than when she went out. There is good 
 cause for be-lieViwg thai the intercourse is of ibelf uruaily fatal 
 to the drones: That impregnation takes place in the air and 
 on the wing, ha.- been proven repeatedly by clipping the wings 
 of the queen bee, who has never been known to deposit more 
 than one swarm in the cells afterwards, i .■ a time e- 
 lapses between ihe periods of impregnation ahd the deposit of 
 eggs has never been satisfactorily determined. The deposit 
 generally take§ place immediately after a suilicient piece of 
 comb is rri '.at any particular refcien^e to the num- 
 ber of da- : the depo: its of the one kind or the other, 
 that I ha-" . : I discover,- ;irc many the- 
 ories and h.»at among bee nicn in regard thereto. 
 
 As i s ■ the jlsHa snfli : those tor 
 
 the piodud ' frs, those for drones, and royal cells. — 
 
 Those fof . re larger, wider and <$ j p< , f ., the ordina- 
 
 ry work ii ells* but dhlerent in no i . eds; and 
 
 all except royal ceils are used for depositing honey when unoc- 
 cupied or net veq-iired for young brood-, indiscriminate}} ; ad- 
 joining celi.- !■.•.. w -ever be ins always used for similar purgx 
 incompa-: . A 11 common i eizontally with 
 
 the situation of the com]), ai I in shape, 
 
 and exhibit thr closest accuracy and workmanship in the re- 
 spective i i sizes ; the walls being always of uniform 
 width and height the one with the other of its own class. 
 
io 
 
 Th3 brood cells of queens are built perpendicular in their 
 relative situations, and are considerably longer than those of 
 working bees or drones. In form they are oblong spheroids, 
 tapering gradually downwards, strongly built at the top, and the 
 mouths or entrances being always at the bottom. 
 
 The period at which the queen begins to lay may be retard- 
 ed by the temperature of the atmosphere, and the young swarms 
 are dependent also in a great measure upon the same cause 
 for early or late development. In this part of the country 
 swarms seldom migrate from the hive earlier than the first or 
 middle of May. In Maine, May swarms are seldom seen, but 
 the further South they may be the earlier are the swarms. Not 
 halt' the bees that are hatched form separate swarms, although 
 coming from the cells about the same time. Many of them 
 mix in and unite with the old stock. 
 
 A first swarm of the season is always led off by the old queen ; 
 uohatched queens being left in the hive, as well as the germs 
 of an entire new swarm. As the life of the queen bee does 
 not "exceed a year, it is easily discovered that there is frequent 
 ; * succession in office" and "change in the administration." 
 
 At the end of August or early part of September, the princi- 
 pal part of the drones — but not all — are killed off' by the work- 
 ing bees or driven away from the hives ; the workers using 
 their stings without fear or mercy in executing their tasks. — 
 However often a drone who may have been wounded or driv- 
 en from the hive may return and strive to enter, he is as often 
 forced away again by the workers or killed at the entrance to 
 the hive ; while drones who left the hive in the morning before 
 the work of destruction commenced, are permitted to re-enter 
 without hindrance or molestation. I have sprinkled a little 
 flour over those that I wished to recognize. What may be the 
 occasion of this partiality unless the queen has her "favorites" 
 I must leave for scientific apiarians to explain ; but I am equal- 
 ly certain from my own observation that all the drones are not 
 always killed off in the fall, nor all the drones in embryo, for I 
 have frequently examined swarms in December and January 
 and found drones in the hive. In two or three instances I be- 
 lieve, I found no drones, which clearly demonstrates, as those 
 hives swarmed early, that drones are not essential to the devel- 
 opement of the embryos, however much they may be required 
 
11 
 
 iii their production ; and that the queen may deposit her first 
 spring swarm from an autumn impregnation, or else that she 
 has intercourse with drones of other hives. 
 
 The usual temperature in a a hive is 74 c Fahrenheit, and 
 has been known as high as 104°. 
 
 The young swarms in old fashioned hives usually remain at 
 least two days — many times a longer period — before issuing or 
 attempting to fly. They never leave the hive permanently un* 
 less accompanied bv a queen. They usually and almost always 
 take a sunshiny day and calm air for their removal. Some- 
 times several swarm will come from a hive in rapid succes- 
 sion. Four ordinary sized swarms have been known to be 
 sent off from one hive in 18 days, and I have known of in- 
 stances where six and even seven swarms, ordinarily good 
 ones, have all been sent from a hive in a single season, viz : 
 from the middle of May to the 1st September. But hives that 
 send forth so many swarms, collect and store but little honey. 
 There is a great difference in the fruitfuhiess of queens ; while 
 some will produce three, four, a^d even five swarms during the 
 season ; others will produce but one or two, and others again 
 not any at all, even though their hives stand side by side with 
 each other. Second and third swarms frequently come out 
 and return again to the hive ; but first ones very seldom. This 
 is owing to the young queens being sometimes unable to fly 
 when they first come out of the hive. 
 
 Where the bees are permitted to swarm out, several queens 
 are sometimes observable amongst them ; these are not the first 
 of the season, but subsequent ones. As before remarked, the old 
 «paeens usually accompany the first swarms when they are per- 
 mitted to swarm out, and are always accompanied with a 'pro- 
 portion of old workers, from which it is reasonable to infer 
 (laying aside the experiments of naturalists) that no swarm of 
 bees consists of all of equal age and generations. I have 
 known of one swarm that lived in an old fashioned hive 14 
 years (the old combs having been sometimes broken out) and 
 sent forth many swarms ; but for the last four years no swarms 
 were produced from that hive. I then transferred them to one 
 of my improved hives, from which they sent forth two very 
 large swarms in two months, as I permitted them to work un- 
 disturbed and to swarm out. 
 
12 
 
 When a queen dies or is lost/ unless there is a, young queen 
 or a royal egg uahatched within the hive, for all practical pur- 
 poses the swarm by itself is destroyed, and they should then be 
 united to a weak hive. But swarms deprived of their queen 
 have been known to work advantageously tor from 5 to 15 
 days (where there was no queen or royal egg in the hive) and 
 then abandon the hive although foil of honey. — Within that 
 period, if there were a royal egg within the eel', it would be 
 hatched out. 
 
 Bees are not strictly hybernating, although many naturalists 
 state that they are. When the season has not been favorable 
 for their operations in the latter. part of the summer* the danger 
 of their failure to survive through the winter is greater than 
 when the production of pollen and farina has been plentiful 
 This latter circumstance is .said by some to arise from a defi- 
 ciency in the quantity of honey stored by the bees; but I have 
 strong reason for believing that it arises chiefly from the bees 
 being in a worse bodily condition, and having but a small 
 quantity of nutriment stored up within thciv own systems, 
 which alone enables them to pass some poition of the winter 
 in a state of repose. 
 
 With these general remarks upon the subject of beet 1 — their 
 characteristics and peculiarities, I shall now proceed to des- 
 cribe fully the method that should be pursued in their manage- 
 ment and culture, and give a fiill d ■■• of the hive in- 
 vented by me, which has been thor ■ ted in every way 
 and meets the universal approval oi all practical bee cuiturists 
 who have tried them. I have perfected it in its present form 
 after several years of continual sindy . vation, aiwl 
 taking into consideration every poii. vi •, i ecess?ry or 
 discoverable in the management ■ ~ ■ 
 
 One main object of my improve;. ;it is to prevent the 
 hatching of the eggs of the Miller or Bee Math, and thereby 
 to protect the bees against that formidable enemy, the ravages 
 of which have put a stop to the attempt to keep bees in most 
 parts of our con ve been made to 
 
 effect this, bat neither of them has been attended with success. 
 I am well assured, however, from lon^ continued experiments, 
 that the mode herein described will be found efTectual. An- 
 other intention of my improvement is to arrange the rcspec- 
 
13 
 
 tive parts of my hive in such manner as that the honey which 
 is taken therefrom shall always be such as has been newly 
 made, and to leave the bees undisturbed in the compartment 
 in which they are working, and also to enable me to form a 
 new swarm from the young brood that has been left in a filled 
 hive. 
 
 In the accompanying drawing, fig. 1, (see last page of the 
 cover) is a perspective representation of a series of boxes or 
 hives, A, B, C, one of which, A, is removed and shown sepa- 
 rately in fig. 2. These boxes slide in and out of their respec- 
 tive cases in the manner of drawers, so that they may be re- 
 moved and replaced when desired. They are entirely open at 
 their lower sides, but have a cover «, #, nt their upper, which 
 is perforated with two or mere holes, 2 inches in diameter, b,b, 
 to allow the bees to pass from one hive or box to the other : e, 
 is a glass in front, through which to observe the interior, lu 
 fig. 1, there is a space a, unoccupied by a box, the box 
 
 jFJg 2 
 
 «sjtppp 
 
14 
 
 which I will suppose to have 
 constituted the uppermost of 
 the tier A, B, C, being as 
 above stated, removed, and 
 the two B and C having been 
 subsequently raised so as to 
 leave the vacant space a at 
 the bottom. This removal 
 of the upper and the laising 
 of the two lower boxes is an 
 important feature of my ar- 
 rangement; I), D, are two 
 lifting rods with which each 
 hive is to be provided ; these 
 slide up and down in grooves 
 made in the sides of the 
 case containing the boxes ; 
 a part of one of these 
 grooves is seen at e, fig* 1 ; 
 fig 2 is a separate view of a 
 pair of these lifting rods, 
 which have spring catches j 
 at their lower ends that catch 
 in recesses g 9 fig. 2, in the 
 lower box, and raise it and 
 the one above it into the po- 
 ipring catches that serve to 
 hold the boxes B, 0, in place, until a fresh one is made to oc- 
 cupy the space A. E, fig. 1, is an inclined plane formed of a 
 sheet of zinc or other metal, up which the bees ascend to the 
 lower box or hive from the back part of the structure ; this plate 
 rests at the back on the stand or platform which supports the 
 hive, which platform is to be of stone or wood covered with 
 sheet metal for a reason to be presently given. F, is the place 
 of entrance of the bees up the inclined metallic plate E. The 
 case containing the boxes or hives shown as resting on the 
 support or platform G, which as above indicated, is to consist 
 of a flat stone or of plank covered with plates of zinc or other 
 metal. Between this platform and the inclined plate E, there 
 is an enclosed space H, the only entrance into which is through 
 
 sision shown at B, C ; h are two 
 
15 
 
 openings seen at I, I, I, fig. 1. Through these openings the 
 Bee Moth will enter and deposite its eggs, and in this situation 
 
 I have fully ascertained that they will not hatch and produce 
 worms, — a result apparently consequent on the moisture re- 
 tained within this space, which is entirely enclosed by metal or 
 by metal and stone, where the germs invariably perish — it ap- 
 pearing that wood or other vegetable matter is necessary to 
 their vitality. On the back of the case behind each series of 
 boxes, there is a vertical groove made for ventilation, and this 
 is covered at its upper end by a perforated plate of metal, the 
 perforations being made small to prevent the entrance of in- 
 sects, and at the back of each box there is a similar ventila- 
 ting plate. 
 
 This apparatus may be varied in size, but I make the boxes 
 A, B, C, each 7 1-2 inches high, and 12 inches in width, and 
 
 II 3-4 inches in depth, and find this size most convenient, not 
 only for the accommodation and management of the bees, but 
 also for the purpose of making hives m large quantities, as 
 suitable lumber can generally be obtained to suit those sizes 
 more readily than any other; and my directions to all my 
 agents and assigns have been to have all hives that are made 
 on my plan, uniform throughout the United States. ' The ad- 
 vantage of this will be discovered when the fact is taken into 
 consideration that a change of boxes (as above suggested) 
 sometimes takes place in the necessary management of bees, 
 as well as the facilities that such a method will afford to those 
 who carry their honey in boxes to market or send off* large 
 quantities, as they can thereby reap the value of the boxes, and 
 virtually save them without disturbing or changing the honey, — 
 for other empty boxes from any hives, if made according to 
 these directions, will fit the hives of one apiarian as well as 
 another. The boxes A, B, C, will each hold from 24 to 26 
 pounds of honey in the comb. 
 
 The outer case should be made of inch boards, viz: sides 
 12 inches wide and 25 1-2 inches high ; the back 14 inches 
 wide and 24 inches long, fitted to the top, but elevated half an 
 inch to allow of the entrance of the bees beneath. But of 
 course it will be understood by the reader, that in regard to th© 
 back, it would be immaterial if it were 25 inches, provided that 
 suitahlo entrances were left for the bees. I merely put that de- 
 
16 
 
 finite size for it to secure the entrance at the proper place. — 
 The top should be 14 by 16 inches square. A base cr sill 1 1-2 
 inch high and one inch and a half wide, beviled off a little to- 
 wards the back, should be fitted in beneath the door, as an ele- 
 vation for the end of the inclined plane or sheet of metal, (let- 
 ter E, fig. 1,) as well as for other purposes. This sheet of 
 metal should be 11 3-4 by 12 1-2 inches square, so as to fit in 
 perfectly and turn up half an inch in front ; two strips of zinc 
 or metal, (each 2 1-2 by 12 inches) are so placed on a line 
 with the upper surface of the sill, one inch from the bottom, 
 (and tacked on) thai while they effectually line the lower edges, 
 they form cleats for the inclined plane E to be choved on and 
 rest upon when necessary, and to pass between the two front 
 ends of them and the sill, so as to form the inclination, as rep- 
 resented in the cut, — so that the sheet of metal E, will be ad- 
 mitted either on a directly level or by an inclination. The un- 
 der part of the front sill should also be lined with a piece of 
 metal 1 1-2 inches wide and 14 inches long. The sliding 
 rods (Fig. 3,) should be half an inch square and two feet long, 
 with springs half an inch by two and a half, or three inches 
 (hoop iron, hammered,) attached as shown in the cut Fig. 3, to 
 catch in the recesses (g*, fig. 2,) in the sides of the boxes. — 
 These rods or slides are let in and work in square grooves cut 
 perpendicularly in the sides, about half way between the front 
 and back. Two pieces of zinc or metal 2 1-2 by 8 inches 
 each, are used £or dividers, to slide in between the boxes when 
 necessary, or to cut off communication, being placed over the 
 holes in the top of the box where it is wished to confine the 
 bees. The holes in the top of the boxes should be at least 
 two inchos in diameter. In the back of each of the boxes 
 should be bored a hole an inch in diameter and covered with a 
 small piece of metal fully perforated with holes for ventilation — 
 being in contact with the perpendicular semi-circular groove 
 (1 1-2 diameter) in the inside of the back of the case. — 
 Two ventilators should be placed in the back, 1 1-2 inches in 
 diameter each, in contact with the last mentioned perpendicular 
 semi-eircular groove, and covered like those in the back of the 
 boxes, with perforated metal. The upper one of these princi- 
 pal back ventilators should be about one inch below the top, 
 and the lower one about 8 inches above the bottom. The 
 
17 
 
 handle on the top, connecting and holding the slides or rods, 
 should be 1 1-2 or two inches square, trimmed down proper! v, 
 and 14 or 15 inches long. 
 
 Great care should be taken to have the boxes slide up and 
 down easily, and it would be well to scant the width of them a 
 little to allow for swelling from moisture, &c, and the rod^ 
 likewise. 
 
 When the bees begin to work in such a hive, it is usual to cut 
 off the communication with the upper box by sliding in a divider 
 above the holes in the top of the middle box, or the one below 
 it, (according to the size of the swarms,) and let the bees com- 
 mence work either in the middle or botiom box. If they com- 
 mence in the middle box, of course when they get it full or 
 nearly so, they will mostly descend and commence work in 
 the box below, — or in the one that may be placed at the bottom 
 by means of the lifting rods, in case they originally commence 
 work in the bottom box. The bees should in all cases be kept 
 at work as near the bottom of the hive as possible, not only 
 for the ease and rapidity with which the bees can work there, 
 but also as affording perfect protection to their labors and works 
 from the ravages of neighboring swarms if attacked by rohbers 
 and insects of any description, but also to facilitate the regular 
 order of their work in the changing of boxes, &c. When they 
 have got a box principally progressed in, the queen and the 
 general inhabitants of the hive will be ready to descend to a 
 lower box, while the one above "ill contain but few, excepting 
 the germs or young in the breeding comb, if any, — or workers 
 sealing up and finishing out the comb. The box at the top. 
 say A, is to be removed when the bees require more room, and 
 placed at the bottom, and then B in succession. In its turn. 
 B, or C, whichever may have been filled first, is of course ele- 
 vated to the top. The box thus first fiiJed is to be removed 
 when more room is required, and for safety should be plaed 
 as the middle one of another vaeant hive, where, if there ar< 
 young bees in breeding comb, they will hatch out and go to 
 work in regular order ;— .having an empty hive or box beneath 
 their hatching place to commence work in, without, in fact, 
 ever being aware of any change in their situation. The same 
 changes can then be repeated from time to time when m 
 cessary, as previously with the parent hive. 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 I m&ke the suggestion of placing a box whenever taken 
 from a full hive into an empty one for two or three days, in 
 ordrr that the culturist may ascertain from observation, and 
 wi*nout danger to his person or his interests, whether there arc 
 young bees in the box. If there should be a young swarm in 
 the box thus removed, they will soon hatch out, being attended by 
 the nursing bees, which never leave them until fully developed. 
 and as I have before said, will go to work in due time. If 
 there should not be a young swarm in the box when removed, 
 of course the few bees that may be there, will in a very short 
 time leave the box and return to their original hive, — when the 
 box of honey can be emptied, and the box placed in its proper 
 hive. As a general thing the practical bee culturist can tell at 
 a glance, by looking through the glass in front of the box, 
 whether there are young bees there. — If there are, and they be 
 yet unhatched, there will be a large number of bees in view 
 almost like a curtain, covering the principal part of the comb 
 towards the glass, and the comb itself will be of a yellowish 
 cast. Should there be a young swarm there, only just hatched 
 but, the appearance of the comb would be nearly the same 
 where visible, while many young bees (easily recognized by 
 their size and their wings) would be seen mixed in with a few 
 old ones. 
 
 If there are no young bees in the box, the color will be almost 
 perfectly white ; and if the box is finished the cells in view 
 will be capped, and very few bees or guards be visible, — for they 
 descend as the work is from time to time completed. This is 
 the only natural 'principle upon which bees will work, as we 
 discover in all their natural habitations. 
 
 Under (his arrangement of the hives or boxes, new honey 
 will always be obtained from them successively, while those in 
 which the bees breed and feed, will also consist of new honey. 
 Some boo culturist s have at times deemed it expedient to 
 bury their hives in trenches, and cover them with straw during 
 the winter; in such cases I have uniformly remarked that the 
 bees have eaten but little honey, comparatively; — but the hives, 
 bs ordinarily constructed, have been found to be then subject- 
 ed to the ravages of mice. When the hives are constructed on 
 my plan, they are, of course, secured from this enemy, by means 
 of the metalic bottom (E ; Fig. 1,) being slipped in level under 
 
19 
 
 the lower box, above the cleats, so as to close it. This metal- 
 ic plate E, -houid always be perforated with plenty of small holes, 
 to allow the air to circulate, while at the same time insects are 
 debarred from the hive. When necessary to remove the hive, 
 the zinc or metalic pinto E, should be shoved in, in the like 
 
 man nor. 
 
 In regard to burying the bees in trenches, I cannot say that 
 1 approve of it. The honey is apt to become mouldy and sour, 
 and worse than that, the health of the bees frequently becomes 
 impaired by it. I prefer that bees in winter should be shut in 
 the hives and not permitted to come out un'il thp spring is well 
 advanced — certainly net until maple trees are in blossom. — 
 They should be kept in a cool and quiet place, not exposed to 
 the storms and snows of winter ; and if not shut in entirely,— 
 in a dark place, where no rays of light of any kind can enter 
 the hive. When this is done, it will be found that they con- 
 sume but little honey, and are uniformly in good plight when 
 let out. They will not move much in the dark. W left out in 
 the open air and permitted to come out during some of the few 
 hours of sunshine that a wintery day sometime safTord?, they will 
 empty themselves repeatedly, and require a proportionally larger 
 ijuantity of honey for their sustenance; besides, many, — very 
 many, — will perish on the snow and ice. The quantity of hon- 
 ey usually required to sustain an ordinary swarm of bees when 
 kept closed in the hive until they can find sufficient stores for 
 themselves i i the Spring, is from 5 to S pounds; — I have nev- 
 er known a swarm when properly shut in my hive and attended 
 to during the winter, to make way with more than the latter 
 quantity. Sometimes, however, I have known instances where 
 fiie bees having been let out too early in the spring — (having 
 wintered well ou a small proportion of the honey hi hive) would 
 U3e all the honey wkhih their, hives, in a very few' days, and then 
 1 require feeding to prevent their starving io death. Even as 
 late as the middle of May, in this latitude, wc frequently have 
 several days of cold chilly and damp weather, in succession. 
 During such - !! always be advisable to shot the 
 
 bees in again, until better weather, as they are then more crit- 
 ically situated in bodily health, and for provisions, than at any- 
 other season of the year. 
 
 Should it be di . I that the bees in a hive Vve n 
 
 B2 
 
20 
 
 ilcient honey to last thern through the winter, more can be 
 added at any time, by putting it on the zinc bottom beneath 
 the lower drawer, or, if there is roorr directly into the box 
 where the main body of the bees is. This should generally 
 be done at night, as the bees are then less inclined to fly out 
 of the hive, — and should, of course., be done cautiously. — 
 When honey cannot be obtained sugar is the next best article 
 that can be fed to them ; a little salt should be mixed with it. 
 
 When removing from the hive a box containing a young 
 swarm, or honey alone, it is advisable to place one of the 
 zinc or metalic slides (3 by 8 inches) over the holes in the 
 top of the box beneath it, and then by slipping in the zinc 
 plate E, above that slide, and immediately below the edge of 
 the box to be removed, it forms a bottom to that box upon 
 which, it may be drawn out separate, while the slide prevents 
 any bees from emerging from the top of the next box. The 
 one above can be removed and not a bee can fly from it as 
 one of those small slides or dividers is, or should be, always 
 kept over the holes in the top box, to prevent the bees from 
 getting out into the case. The bees will usually be found to 
 have fastened down the edges of the top and middle boxes by 
 farina and a little wax, to the top of the box below, for the pur- 
 pose of protecting their stores, to exclude ants and other small 
 insects, &c. ; but iheir combs they do not fasten to the top oj 
 the box belotv. When necessary to remove a box, if fastened 
 down or sealed, a slight jerk upwards will readily loosen it. 
 without disturbing the bees materially. 
 
 Sees should be salted occasionly, during the summer sea- 
 son. Their locality should be free from weeds, spider webs 
 and rubbish of every description. They should be set upon a 
 platform of stone or zinc, about a foot or 15 inches from the 
 ground, for if too low many will be caught and devoured by 
 frogs, toads, field mice, &c. They should not be further than 
 the latter distance, to create moisture around the base of the 
 hive, in order to protect (hem from the bee moth, — of which 
 more hereafter. 
 
 Bees generally thrive best in the neighborhood of streams 
 and rivulets or rivers. They require water in the elaboration 
 of wax for their cells and for their own sustenance. Where 
 water is not nigh, it should be supplied by placing near the 
 
21 
 
 hives shallow pans of clear and clean water, with pebbles in 
 it, for the bees to alight on and save them from drowning 
 
 Wherever the white clover grows most abundantly 
 the bees are always certain to do well. Red clover is good, 
 and together with saintfoin, buckwheat, and the ordinary wild 
 flowers natural to ail parts of the country will, during the sea- 
 son, afford common pasturage in almost any situation. Bees 
 frequently go five, and even ten miles, for farina, &c. Where 
 an abundance of flowers are cultivated, the bees progress with 
 their work more rapidly than elsewhere, as there is then a great 
 saving of time and labor in their collections. It would there- 
 fore be advisable that the gardens where the hives are situated, 
 should be well stocked with suitable plants. The hives should 
 be near the residence of the proprietor, as well for the purpose 
 of familiarizing the bees with his family, as for affording them 
 the necessary attention. The hives should be placed so that 
 the entrance for ike bees should face the East or South, for 
 then the first rays of the morning sun will call them out early, 
 and the hives will be best lighted for a longer period. 
 
 I have called the entrance for the bees the back side of the 
 hive. All hives should be placed in such a situation that the 
 doors will admit of being approached for making observa- 
 tions and examinations, without interfering or coming in 
 contact with the bees, and should be firmly secured^ either by 
 shelter or fastenings, from being blown over by heavy winds. 
 They should stand not less than a foot apart. The platforms 
 should project several inches in front of the entrance, for the 
 bees to alight on when returning to the hive. They should be 
 guarded from the extremes of temperature, not exposed to the 
 drippings of trees, nor in the vicinity of noisome smells, or dis- 
 agreeable noi??s 3 and out of the interruptions occasioned by a 
 public footpath. The least jar, or stepping upon the floor on 
 which they are stationed, produces temporary suspension and 
 confusion in the hive. They should never be very deeply 
 shaded by trees or shrubbery; on the contrary during the 
 breeding season, from 1st May to 1st September, the fullest 
 rays of the sun will tend to expedite the process of hatching ; 
 there being a vacuum between the boxes and the case there 
 will never be any danger of the honey " melting down" — nor 
 will external wet, rains and dews upojj the case, affect them. 
 
22 
 
 The temperature of the boxes is thereby kept safe from the 
 ill effects of the sudden variations to winch the climate of the 
 United States is so liable. After the breeding- season is over it 
 would perhaps be advisable lo shield the bees somewhat -from the 
 sunshine; but the solar rays are useful in preventing any accu- 
 mulation of dampness within the hive or upon the glasses in 
 front of the boxes. The ventilators of course keep up a health- 
 ful circulation of air within the hive. iVo houses, walls, fen- 
 ces, &c, should be permitted to obstruct their issuing or return 
 iua right line, to, or from, the hive. Common?, surrounded 
 by woods, make an apiary p . ductive. 
 
 Some persons suppose that bees will not thrive well in cities 
 or vllages; this is an error, Provided a good locality can be 
 obtained for the hives, they invariably do well, as they always 
 collect abundance of materiel from the sugar and molasses hogs- 
 beads, cultivated flower gardens, the refuse of kitchens, &c. — 
 The principal trees Horn which bees usually gather their stores, 
 are the sugar maple, willow, poplar, sycamore, &c., which can 
 generally be found in or near cities and villages ; besides these, 
 most, if not all kinds of fruit trees, yield large quantities. 
 
 During the season for making honey, bees thrive most when 
 the showers and dews are frequent. Besides the orde 
 dews, during favosabJe weather honey dews frequently occur; 
 several theories exist to account for them. Most naturalists 
 regard them as exudations or secretions from the surface of 
 those leaves upon which it is formed, produced by some atmos- 
 pheric stroke, while some few view them as a kind of vegetable 
 perspiration which trees, plants, &c. emit for their relief in sul- 
 try weather; — its appearance being never observed in an ungen- 
 ial summer. Again, others view them as the exuviae of the in- 
 sect called the aphis, or vine iretter. These insects may be dis- 
 tinctly seen, by means of a magnifying glass, on the under sur- 
 face of the leaves of the cherry, lime, willow, &c, congregated 
 by thousauds, and emitting their exuvia. Honey dew usually 
 appears upon the leaves as a viscid, transparent substance, as 
 sweet as honey itself, sometimes in the form of globules, at 
 others resembling a syrup. It is generally most abundant from 
 the middle of June to the middle of July? and sometimes as 
 late as September. It is found on nearly all kinds of trees and 
 plants. Some years afford but few or no honey dews. 
 
23 
 
 Bees when building their comb generally build it in parallel 
 rows, beginning and fastening it at the top, as was before re- 
 marked, and in working down they always leave sufficient 
 room below for themselves to pass in every direction around 
 and under the comb. 
 
 The earliest swarms of a season are usually the best, and 
 strongest ; subsequent ones more and more diminished in num- 
 bers. A good swarm of bees alone, will weigh from three to. 
 four pounds. Those who are timid may ascertain the strength 
 of a swarm, bv rapping smartly two or three times on the sides 
 of the hive. If it contain a strong family, there will be a loud 
 humming noise within, somewhat protracted; if a weak one, 
 the noise will be sharp and brief. When a swarm is doing well 
 the bees will depart in quick succession, and without lingering 
 about; the hive, however, will be guarded by sentinels, ei- 
 ther immediately in front of, or directly within the entrance. — 
 When the bees return with their legs yellow, or loads upon their 
 thighs, the swarm is doing well, and no apprehensions need be 
 entertained as to their order and regularity; — for if there be 
 any trouble within the hive, the bees will not gather and import 
 their stores to the hive, nor issue and return in quick succes- 
 sion, nor exhibit the evidences of order. 
 
 When a swarm is attacked by neighboring bees, frequent 
 conflicts wili be observed in front of the entrance, and at in- 
 tervals, the robbing bees will be seen with their loads of plun- 
 der, issuing from the hive. By sprinkling a little flour upon 
 the bees as they pass back and forth, the strange bees can be 
 recognized, by observing the entrance a short time. In such 
 case the hive should be closed by shutting the bottom, thereby 
 giving your own bees the advantage in point of numbers, to 
 prevent the robbers inside from doing damage or being rein- 
 forced. About sundown, if the hive be re-opened the robbers 
 will depart, and the bees belonging to the hive thai were out 
 when it was shut, having returned home by that time, can re- 
 enter. The robbers will not suffer themselves to be imprison- 
 ed very often. Should the proprietor be able to discover the 
 robbing hives, and the robbing swarms still persist in their ef- 
 forts, by breaking their comb a little, with a straw or knitting 
 needle, their honey will begin to run out of the cells, and the 
 robbers will have enough to do to stay at home and take care 
 
v 2-1 
 
 of their own stocks ; or they may bo shut in their own hive for 
 a day or two, which is generally attended with the desired re- 
 sult 
 
 The practice with apiarians of fumigating the hives by blow- 
 ing tobacco smoke &c. into them, is always attended with more 
 injury to the swarm than benefit. But sometimes circumstan- 
 ces may warrant the risk of blowing a very little tobacco smoke 
 in the hive, when it is desirable to enliven the bees, and pro- 
 duce forced action, for the purpose of ascertaining their con- 
 dition. The nearer to their natural habits they can be man- 
 aged, the better will be the success attending their culture. 
 
 However populous a hive may be, and however favorable 
 may be the health and situation of the bees, the number ia a 
 hive is always greatly diminished during the fall and winter, on 
 an average more than three-fourths. For instance a swarm 
 that during the working season numbered from 20,000 to 
 25,000, is usually reduced by February to from 3 to 4,000. — 
 This loss is more than replaced by the amazing fecundity of 
 the queen. Hence arises the disposition to throw off" swarms, 
 which of course will issue more or less eaTiy according to the 
 temperature of the season, when the bees are allowed to swarm 
 out. The crowded state of the hive is usually considered suf- 
 iicent to account for the exodus of swarms. 
 
 The queen usually commences depositing her eggs about the 
 Inst of March or first of April, and after the 'first swarm' is 
 hatched the migration soon takes place, although the crowd- 
 ed state of the hive is supposed by many to be the cause of 
 the swarms departing, it is well known that the bees will some- 
 times cluster outside of the hive for weeks together. The 
 usual life of the working bee does not average over five or six 
 months; some few, perhaps, a year. 
 
 In favorable seasons and situations, three swarms from one 
 hive in a single season, are a fair and very usual average ; and 
 from the first and second swarms of a hive, subsequent swarms 
 are commonly obtained, — all ordinarily good. Should swarms 
 be considered as generations, a hive not only sends forth two 
 or three swarms of children, but they, and their children, (to 
 the third generation !) sometimes increase and " multiply" the 
 same season. First swarms are always more particular in se- 
 lecting a fine day for swarming than subsequent ones, for upon 
 
25 
 
 them, as being the most important, principally depends the 
 propagation of the race % The frequent succession of swarms 
 must be owing to the great number of mature princesses that 
 are allowed to quit the ceils. From several obtaining their lib- 
 erty at nearly the same time, two, three or more, will frequent- 
 ly accompany a second or third swarm, and after hiving, 
 struggle for dominion, and but one being left, several dead 
 ones are often seen about the entrance to the hive, within a few 
 hours afterwards. 
 
 One of the strongest symptoms of swarming, or of the ripe- 
 ness of a young swarm, is, that a singular noise, called pi} 
 is heard for two or three nights within the hive. The notes are 
 generally clear, but rather plaintive; sometimes two or more 
 voices, rather more sonorous, respond to each other, — being 
 those of the queen and young princesses not emerged from 
 their cells. But in hives where they are not allowed to swarm 
 out, the above affords a good indication of the condition of the 
 bees and young swarms, IVIien swarms are too small, they 
 may be i: eoitsly, by 'putting iwo or more swarms 
 
 into one hive. All the queens but one will be destroyed, and 
 the bees will '* unanimously" submit to the dictation of the 
 conqueress. The same plan may be adopted for removing, and 
 putting them together, that was before suggested for dividing 
 swarms. All swarms should be kept strong, in point of num- 
 bers, as they will work to better advantage and be more able to 
 take care of themselves. 
 
 Without attempting to make suggestions in regard to the 
 diseases of bees, of which little can be known for certainty, 
 (more than by judging of their condition by general observa- 
 tion founded on experience,) I shall now allude briefly to then- 
 principal enemies. These are chiefly birds, mice, slugs, hor- 
 nets, wasps, ants, spiders, and last — though not least — the Mil- 
 ler or Bee Moth, (Tinea melioneila, of Linnaeus) by some cal- 
 led the ' wax moth.' Wasps are very daring, and will brave a 
 host of bees to procure a little honey ; one of them is a match 
 for three bees, in strength and agility. 
 
 In this country the most destructive enemy of bees is the bee 
 moth. So great have become its ravages, that hundreds and 
 hundreds of apiarians have, of late years, abandoned the 
 bee culture entirely, believing that no efforts or exertions could 
 
26 
 
 ave their swarms. In those sections of the country where bees 
 $ave been kept the longest, and in the greatest numbers, the 
 nillers appear to increase in numbers and destructiveness eve- 
 y year. In the Western States their appearance has given 
 ^reat anxiety to ail bee eulturists, as their ravages and depu- 
 tations are so well known that even their appearance causes 
 heir approach to be dreaded 
 
 The Bee Moth usually appears around weak hives, about the 
 md of April, and is to be seen from that period until the end 
 >f October. It is of tfre papilio tribe, flies only by night, and 
 s of a whitish or brown gray color. A smalt number of these 
 liminutive insects having formed a settlement in a hive, per- 
 orate and break down the cells, and with the fragments conr 
 struct new ediiices or galleries for their own lodgment and ac- 
 commodation. They are very nimble footed, and active in 
 heir movements. At the approach of evening, and on moon- 
 ight nights, as well as almost any evening, during the sum- 
 nor season, by aid of a caudle, these insects wiil be seen hov- 
 • nng around and watching opportunities to enter the hive, 
 vhilst bees that have to guard the entrances, may be seen, like 
 igilant sentinels, extending their antenna? to the utmost, and 
 moving them to the right and left alternately, — as bees require 
 ight to see well. The moths therefore evade the bee senti- 
 iels, and very artfully slide into some crack or crevice out of 
 he reach of the bees, near the base of the hive, or in some 
 )ortion of the comb, if possible, out of sight, where they ef- 
 "ecl lodgments and deposit their eggs. A small caterpillar is 
 brmed some days afterwards, and inclosed in a case of white 
 silk, which it spins around itself. At first the larvaB are like 
 mere threads; but gradually increase in size, and during their 
 growth, if upon honey comb, feed upon the cells that surround 
 them, or derive sustenance from wood or other vegetable sub- 
 stance upon which they may have been deposited. But they 
 :annot come to maturity unless they have honey, wax or ve- 
 getable fibre to subsist upon. Moisture destroys the larvae or 
 smbryos. While the larvae are in the pupa state, the scales or 
 helmets upon their heads and necks, (which are impenetrable 
 o the stings of bees) protect them until they emerge and be- 
 come winged moths or butterflies. The larvaa deposited in 
 the fall remain in the pupa state (unhatched) until about the 
 
27 
 
 first of May succeeding; but arc brought to maturity sooner or 
 later in the season, according to the temperature. The females 
 are remarkably fer'ile, and if their eggs be deposited within the 
 honey comb and permitted to remain undisturbed, will soon 
 overcome and undermine the commonwealth. SucFi is their 
 havoc and surprising increase, that swarms of bees are not only 
 destroyed by them, but frequently large swarms have to aban- 
 don old fashioned or other hives, even though heavily stored 
 with honey, "and commence the world anew." They arc 
 most apt to attack old strong scented comb, and will even 
 force their way ihrougk new comb to reach such as contains ex- 
 uviae and unhatched bees. When they succeed in getting the 
 mastery over a piece of brooding comb, they readily kill all 
 the young bees, and frequently so great is the stench in the hive 
 from their decomposition, that the old bees, queen, drones and 
 all, " have to retire in disgust." 
 
 As a remedy for this principal and growing evil, I trust and 
 feel convinced fiom continued practice, study and experiment, 
 that I have found a perfect and entire remedy and protection, 
 in the hive with the metallic bottom and alternating prin< 
 herein before explained ; for besides what has been' said, I may 
 call attention to the subject in another light. Should a miller 
 succeed in depositing eggs in the comb, (the comb in I 
 hives is always new, comparatively,) and the larvcc of these 
 eggs should winter and hatch in that comb, as they do no dam- 
 age until spring, they can do none then ; for all the comb in 
 the hive through the winter will always be removed early in 
 the spring before the millers could do any damage to it. 
 
 The difficulty with all other hives is, that the bees are obliged 
 to live and breed in the same honey comb year after year. 
 Sometimes they have done well fur three or four years in suc- 
 cession in those hives, but unless the old comb were broken 
 out every year or two, the bees were certain to " run out." or 
 " die ofT." But this practice is attended with so much danger 
 to the person as well as to the swarm, that few either dare pur- 
 sue it, or ever become successful in their endeavors for any 
 considerable length of time. In old fashioned hives they 
 always have to "take up" their swarms to get any honey, un- 
 less they put a cap on the top of the hive and force the bees 
 to work in there after they have got the main body of the hive 
 
28 
 
 IS of honey and comb. In the main part of the hive the swarms 
 la and breed until they die or are taken op. To force them 
 
 work up is as unnatural as for water to run up. The other 
 itent hives amount to little more than the old fashioned hive 
 iith the bees always remaining together in the main part 
 year after year in old comb ,; i) with a few little boxes and 
 ips where the bees bestow the last of their work — that which 
 ey most requires for their winter nourishment and support — 
 id the thickness of wood, one thickness ly directly up- 
 
 s ike other, and the numerous cracks and crevices between, 
 rord secure breeding places for the millers and vermin that at- 
 ck them. In fact all other patent hives embrace the . I 
 d principle — the old fashioned hive with complex machinery, 
 it without definite principles or objects, and not half as good 
 r their additions, — the bees remaining in fact in old comb 
 
 in the old fashioned hives. They, do not go to the founda- 
 )n of success, and change the comb regularly, to allow of the 
 11 development of swarms, and keep them healthy.— By the 
 ;e of my hives, as shown, the bees are always preserved the 
 me as young swarms; the natural life of the bee being but 
 or 8 months, and no swarm ever consisting of all of thd 
 me generation, sufficiently establish the truth of the general 
 id natural principles upon which my hives are constructed, 
 .y hive is in fact the rvarse principle of the old fashioned hive, 
 I may say so; although it is the oldest principle ex f aiit with 
 *es — the principle of nature. If we examine a bee tree, for 
 stance, we will find that the bees have commenced at the up- 
 sr part and continued to work down, work down, — building 
 id storing away honey, or breeding young swarms in the cells 
 id building royal cells, (which are always partially or wholly 
 istroyed after the young queens are hatched) from the upper- 
 ost portion to the latest comb made. Sometimes in such 
 3es we find large quantities of honey, — sometimes candied 
 id discolored by age ; but as long as the swarm has room to 
 work down," they are industrious, and never are the cells or 
 >mb, however old, thick and composed of several coatings or 
 lings; nor will any part of it usually give evidence of hav- 
 g been used more than once for the production of young 
 farms, I am satisfied that bee culturists and bee hive inventors 
 ve not sufficiently studied the natural disposition and charac- 
 
29 
 
 teristics of bees, or one would not have followed the other so 
 ioug, — making no change in reality in the principles of their 
 hives, but only in their shapes.. 
 
 An ordinarily good swarm with common pasturage will usu- 
 ally make from 50 to 75 lbs. of honey in a season, over and 
 above that taken away with young swarms. In the spring all 
 the honey can be taken away, as then the bees no more require 
 it, than a row laj when she can get a plenty of grass ! 
 
 I will now prr practical view of what may be done 
 
 in the way of business, bv the bee culture. As the generality 
 of swarms during a season will bear division, or the abstraction 
 of swarms, once certainly, and a full majority yield two and 
 three swarms each, every season, (without taking into account 
 those that will be obtained from swarms the produce of 
 swarms of the same season — generally quite as mnny more,) 
 the surplus swarms over and above one from each hive that has 
 been kept over the winter, each season, will assuredly be suffi- 
 cient to keep good the,number of the preceding year, and add 
 one where bad fortune or mismanagement may have diminish- 
 ed it; so that to cover all contingencies I will say, only one 
 swarm increase from each hive per annum, and show what 
 would be the number of swarms, the value of the bees and the 
 amount of honey that could be obtained within and at the ex- 
 piration of ten years. The alternating principle of my hives 
 affording the bees, always, plenty of space, they are kept indus- 
 trious the whole season, and the time of none, is wasted in 'ly- 
 ing out' idle, during the greater part of summer, because their 
 hive will contain no more. 
 
 Say two swarms are put into my hives in May; ordinarily, 
 they will each yield a swarm by division, by or before the mid- 
 dle of July, and two boxes of honey during the season. The 
 account would stand thus, should an account be kept of (heir 
 kbors and the number of swarms be kept good, viz : 
 
30 
 
 Ko. of 3w.irn»3. Boxes of H.-n 
 
 1847. May, purchased 2 swarms of Bees 
 ' Aug."] by increase one swarm, and 
 2 boxes of honey from each, 
 . Is/ Season after, By increase one 
 swarm, and 2 boxes of honey 
 from each hive en hand the last 
 autumn,' 
 
 1849. 
 
 2d season, 
 
 i860. 
 
 3d « 
 
 1S5I. 
 
 Uh « • 
 
 1852. 
 
 5//i " 
 
 1853. 
 
 6/& " 
 
 1854. 
 
 7^ « 
 
 Ifc55. 
 
 8/A « 
 
 1856. 
 
 Q'lh « 
 
 1857. 
 
 10 to " 
 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 <( 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 « 
 
 16 
 
 32 
 
 <( 
 
 32 
 
 64 
 
 t£ 
 
 64 
 
 128 
 
 *< 
 
 128 
 
 25G 
 
 ({ 
 
 258 
 
 512 
 
 a 
 
 512 
 
 1024 
 
 a 
 
 1024 
 
 2048 
 
 a 
 
 2048 
 
 4096 
 
 4U9( 
 
 8188 
 
 Tolas 
 
 The value of which would he as follows : 
 For 4096 swarms worth $3 each, $12,288 
 
 For 81S8 boxes' of honey averaging 25 lbs. each 
 say, produce within the period 204,700 lbs., 
 worth at 12% cts. per pound, $25,587 60 
 
 Total value of bees, honey, and incr. for 10 y'rs, $37,875 50 
 Money doubles itself in about the same period, when placed 
 it compound interest. Two swarms of bees, with two of my 
 lives, and an individual right, will cost about $15, which with- 
 n about, ten years will realize to a man a handsome fortune 
 >»er and above all expenses ; when, if the same sum were placed 
 it interest strictly, all the time, it would amount to only 
 ibout $30. The honey obtained each year with proper man- 
 igement would ceitarthly pay the expenses of making the hives. 
 lad amply repay all expenses attendant upon their care and 
 nanagemeut, or the assistance necessary. Therefore 
 n addition to the value of the swarms, and -$1 each for the val- 
 \q of the hives (certainly the value when sold in small lots) the 
 ipiariau weuld be worth $16,384 ? over and above all loss and 
 •xpenses of every kind. 
 
31 
 
 No department of the government hasj of itself, been of 
 more benefit to the people generally, than the Patent offiee, nor 
 been confided to the management of more discreet and scien- 
 tific men. Perhaps it is not generally known that, the Cem- 
 missioner of Patents communicates to Congress annually, a 
 report staling all the proceedings, expenditures, &c, of his of- 
 fice, and the improve merits that may have been made from time 
 to time, in the different departments of science and industry. 
 These reports, as full as they have been for three or four years 
 past, and containing the many suggestions from the Commis- 
 sioners, and men experienced in every branch of scientific or 
 useful occupation, are invaluable, and well worthy of the notice 
 that Congress takes of them. Although the last report contain- 
 ed some 600 large octavo pages, 2S,UU0 copies of it were or- 
 dered printed for distribution. The suggestions and remarks 
 being the results of experience, and coming from a department 
 where all such information centres — where the latest discove- 
 ries become known, or the wants of the different branches of 
 industry become manifest, are entitled to the most earnest at- 
 tention. 
 
 In regard to Insects, Bees, &c, the Commissioner in his re- 
 port for 18-14, page 313, says: 
 
 '• Concerning the destruction of insects, a subject of vital in- 
 terest to farmers, but little has been done. Patents have been 
 granted, from time to time, for preventing the ravages of the 
 wheat fly, and other species of the insect kingdom troublesome 
 
 • iculturists and orehardists — some of them efficacious, but 
 I of them too complicated and expensive for general intro- 
 duction. The failure, in most attempts of this kind, has been 
 probably due to a want of attention to the habits'of the insects 
 in their several stages of existence, viz: the embryo or egg. 
 the larva or ffrsib, and the imago or fly state. This is particu- 
 larly exemplified in the case of the bee-moth, against which no 
 perfect safeguard has yet been invented. 
 
 ii No branch, perhaps, of agricultural, or rather rural occu- 
 pation, has been so much neglected in this country, as bed cul- 
 ture. Wherever it has been attempted with care, it has always 
 
 • d profitable ; but many who engage in this business, 
 Jon it — for the reason that the bee is left to be its own 
 
 : against its many enemies, but more particularly 
 
32 
 
 against its common enemy, the bee-moth. A large number 
 of applications for patents have been made for improvements 
 in bee-hives, most of them with reference to this very point, 
 viz : protection against the moth ; and it might be reasonshly 
 inferred, from the fact that applications are continually being 
 made for this purpose, that, do complete remedy has been de- 
 vised. 
 
 " From the character of many of the inventions, it is obvi- 
 ous that the habits of this insect are not studied ; and it is to 
 be regretted that, while naturalists and apiarians have so long 
 investigated and made themselves familiar with the domestic 
 habits and whole economy of bees, they have neglected to no- 
 tice this their predatory, and ultimately fatal, enemy. In Vir- 
 ginia, it is a common practice to put the hives upon the ground, 
 as a security from the moth : and I can testify to the fact, that 
 the bees in well made hives, protected by a covering from rain 
 and excessive heat, under these circumstances thrive well. The 
 eggs of the bee-moth are deposited usually somewhere about 
 the base of the hive, and, after hatching, the larva? crawl into 
 the hive and commence their work of destruction. It is pre- 
 sumed that the instinct of the insect leads it to deposite its eggs 
 in dry and warm places, and consequently to avoid the ground. 
 The hive is placed upon tiles or bricks, to prevent the approach 
 of mice, &c. 
 
 " The bee readily adapts itself to every climate ; and al- 
 though its period for labor is abridged in the more northern 
 latitudes, yet it seems to thrive equally well wherever it can 
 find an abundance of food. An esteemed friend (H. K. Oli- 
 ver, esq., of Salem, Mass.) has been singularly successful in 
 this culture. I have not space for a detail of his peculiar mode 
 of management, were such proper for this report; but I mar 
 state its result. This gentleman, the care of whose apiary is 
 merely a relaxation from graver pursuits, has taken 3G0 pounds 
 of honey per annum from three boxes; and the average for 
 each of his hives, for several years past, has not been less than 
 than 80 pounds. In 1840 he took from one hive 140 pounds, 
 and left 60 pounds for the bees to winter upon. It is obvious 
 that such continued success cannot be merely fortuitous, but 
 must be the result of proper care and contrivance. As the im- 
 portance of this culture is underrated, or, more properly speak- 
 
33 
 
 ing, but little known, I may be thought to have bestowed more 
 attention to the subject than ii deserves. Among the articles, 
 however, which go to swell the aggregate of the annual exports 
 ef our country, beeswax forms no inconsiderable item at this 
 time, and is capable of being very largely extended. By re- 
 ference to document No. 220, of the House of Representa- 
 tives, (Commerce and Navigation, 1843,) it will be seen that 
 the amount of wax exported the preceding year, was 331,856 
 pounds, valued at $1U3,626. The places to which it was 
 chiefly sent were England, France, Sicily, Venezuela and 
 Chili." 
 
 And again, in his report for 18-15, page 510, speaking ot 
 Bee-hives, he says : 
 
 ' ; A growing interest is evident in this branch of agricul- 
 ture, and a large number of applications have been patented, 
 and a greater number rejected. Most of the alleged improve- 
 ments have claimed to be remedies against the bee-moth, the 
 pest of the apiarian. As bee culture increases, the bee-moth 
 seems to become more numerous and troublesome, and should 
 therefore be vigorously met by vigilance and ingenuity. In 
 this latitude it requires every attention to save the bees from 
 their great enemy; and so formidable has it become from 
 numbers, that the same devices which may, perhaps, be found 
 to give protection further north, will not apply here. 
 
 " Nothing yet seems to be of any value, except placing the 
 hives upon the ground — the hives being made very tis^ht, and 
 the entrance of the bees being as low as possible. 
 
 From the Dundee Record. 
 "We have recently been shown a bee-hive made by Mr. Wm, 
 R. Kelsey, of this town, which is pronounced by many of the 
 most experienced bee culturists in this part of the country, as 
 the most complete hive in every respect, that has ever yet been 
 invented. Mr. K's hive affords positive and complete protec- 
 tion from the bee- moth or miller, and is so arranged as to ad- 
 mit of a free circulation of air through it at all times. The 
 honey can, at any time, be removed from the hive without dis- 
 turbing the bees, or more can be added for the sustenance of 
 the swarm if necessary, while the bees are kept healthy by liv- 
 
 C 
 
34 
 
 ing in new comb, all the time. Bee culturists long since dis- 
 covered that bees, after living in a hive for two or three years, 
 and being obliged to deposite and hatch their eggs in the same 
 cells, year after year, became sickly and died off; and whiie 
 the first swarms from a hive were usually strong and heal- 
 thy, and did well, yet'subsequent ones were each more feeble 
 and diminutive, until finally no swarms were produced at all. 
 This arose from the bees living in the same .honey comb year 
 after year, together with the practice, even by the use of the 
 best patent hives, of taking from them the very honey and 
 comb necessary for their health and comfort, namely, thai 
 which was made last. As the bees wax the cells over each 
 time that they deposite their embryos, it is evident — and an 
 examination of a piece of old honey comb will satisfy any 
 person of the fact — that the cells which, in new comb are 
 large, and capable of receiving the body of a full grown bee, 
 must gradually become smaller and smaller, untill at last the 
 cells can no longer produce as they should. We are satisfied, 
 from an examination of Mr. Kelsey's hive, that it entirely 
 overcomes those difficulties, while its alternating principle, by 
 which the position of the bees can be changed at pleasure, as 
 well as the entire and easy control that a person can have over 
 the swarm, and its facilities for hiving bees, must give it a 
 preference over every other hive now in use. The mode of 
 hiving is similar to that with the old fashioned hives, but more 
 easily and safely accomplishod. Many old fashioned farmers 
 still persist in the cruel and ungrateful, if not. wicked practice 
 of " taking up" or killing their bees, in order to get the boney, 
 A good swarm of bees is worth from $2 to $4 — and the man 
 who li takes up" 1 ' a half dozen swarms at the end of the season, 
 for the sake of obtaining an average quantity of, say 20 lbs. 
 to the hive, destroys $2o worth of bees for 120 lbs. of honey, 
 which at 12 1-2 cents a pound, would be worth $15. Query, 
 how much has he made ? 
 
 "By the use of Mr. Kelsey's hive, there is no necessity for 
 destroying bees, and from their construction, a hive with a 
 swarm of bees shut in, cat) be removed with safety to any dis- 
 tance, (as they have free ventilation,) which is an advantage 
 of which, doubtless, many persons residing in the far western 
 states, wiH gladly avail fhuMaelvcs. In the northern part of 
 
35 
 
 Illinois, and the great prairies of the west, where little or no 
 heavy woodland is found, bees are scarce, and the immense 
 numbers and abundance of wild flowers to be found there, will 
 furnish sustenance and honey without stint, for a few years to 
 come large numbers of bees will doubtless have to be carried 
 there. Persons going west, can purchase any number of 
 swarms, either in Ohio, Michigan, or the southern part of Il- 
 linois. 
 
 "Although we have devoted so much space to this subject, we 
 cannot close without expressing our firm conviction that an 
 examination of Mr. Kelsey's hive, will satisfy those who keep 
 bees, of the superiority of Mr. K's. over other hives now in 
 use, while doubtless many persons who do not keep bees, on 
 ascertaining that by their use, not only from 40 or 50 to 80 
 lbs. oi' honey per annum can be obtained from a hive in one 
 season, but that an extra swarm, and consequently at least 
 double the quantity the following season would be the product, 
 (saying nothing about the wax,)will find it to their interest to 
 keep one or more swarms." 
 
 Having disposed of my interest in the improvement for and 
 within a large section of the Union, to diiTereat individuals who 
 have commenced the introduction of these hives in different 
 parts, it may be proper to make a few suggestions in regard to 
 the prices at which they can be obtained. 
 
 Where those persons to whom I have sold general rights for 
 towns or counties have sold individual rights to make and use 
 them, the uniform price for such individual right is, and has 
 been, about five dollars; for a single hive to use or make by 
 two dollars. 
 
 The whole actual expense of making these hives, zinc or 
 metal, glass, lumber, nails, paint, &c, is generally proportional 
 to the number made up ; for instance to get every thing and 
 hire a man who is not accustomed to making them, but an ordi- 
 narily good workman, to make one or two, the value of his time 
 and the material would cost about $1 75 each. Where ten are 
 made up will, and good lumber can be had for $2 per hundred 
 feet, they would probably cost $15. Fifty could be made for 
 $60, and in larger quantities still cheaper. They should al- 
 ways be well made and painted with a couple of coats of white 
 
36 
 
 lead. The lumber for the cases should be thoroughly seasoned 
 pine ; that for the boxes should be about half seasoned, as they 
 will generally swell or shrink a little. When made up in large 
 quantities lumber of proper sizes can be e * sawed to a bill" 
 at the saw-mills, and thus a great saving be made in getting 
 otit the narrow pieces and rods, as well as in the planing and 
 jointing of the boards, &c. A set of patterns should be cut to 
 work by, so that all pieces for the same purpose shall be uniform. 
 The average amount of lumber used, is about 22 feet in each 
 hive ; where lumber is chsap and advantage is taken in cutting 
 it out, they can be made complete, for $1 each. 
 
 The following is a copy of the claim granted and allowed to 
 me, and annexed to my Patent, dated May 9th 1846 : 
 
 "Having thus fully -described the manner in which I con- 
 struct, arrange and use my combined tiers of hives, what I claim 
 tew therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the 
 manlier of arranging the respective tier of boxes, so that the up- 
 per one of each tier may be removed, and the two lowermost 
 may be elevated and held in place by means of the sliding rods, 
 for the purpose of introducing an empty hive, beneath and in 
 the manner, and for the purpose set forth. I do not* claim the 
 arranging of the boxes in tiers one above the other, and the 
 forming of passages between these boxes, but limit my claim 
 to the particular combination of parts by which this combina- 
 tion is rendered effective, in attaining the proposed end in the 
 manner described. 
 
 I likewise claim the forming of a compartment below the 
 hives surrounded entirely by stone or metal, and so arranged 
 as described, as to induce the bee-moth to deposit its eggs in 
 such compartment, where they necessarily perish, and the bees 
 are consequently protected from this formidable enemy.'* 
 
 The following condensed directions may be found useful 
 by those who adopt the hive : 
 
 1st, To hive a swarm of Bees. — Place a piece of tin or zinc 
 over the holes in the top of the lower or middle box, (according 
 to the size of the swarm allowing them when hived to occupy one 
 or both,) to prevent the bees from going into the box above, — 
 draw out the zinc bottom and hive as in old fashioned hives. 
 
 2d. Stand the hive on stone, brick, or zinc, near the ground, 
 which will create moisture sufficient to prevent the bee moth 
 from hatching. 
 
37 
 
 3d. After the bees have gone to work place the zinc bot- 
 tom through the elects so as to form an inclined plane for thg 
 bees to go in on, 
 
 4th. After they have filled the middle box and fairly com- 
 menced in the bottom one, d>aw out the top box, raise the oth- 
 er boxes by the slides, and put the empty box in the vacant space 
 at the bottom. 
 
 5th. If the hive should be likely to get full before the bees 
 are done breeding young swarms for the season, take a top box 
 from another hive of the same dimensions, and place the top 
 box with the young swarm in it, as the middle box of ike new 
 hive ; then place an empty box from the new hive into the bot- 
 tom space of the other, which will enable the old swarm to con- 
 tinue at work. Repeat this as often as young swarms can be 
 spared until about, the 1st. of August, after which time, boxes 
 of honey can be taken away from the top and emptied and put 
 in the lower space. 
 
 6th. Be careful to leave plenty of honey in the hive through 
 the winter, as what remains can all be taken away in the spring 
 immediately after the bees have commenced work, and the hon- 
 ey can be kept better in the hive than any where else. 
 
 7th. In the fall shut up the hive by the zinc plote at the bot- 
 tom to protect the bees from mice &c. when buried or put in 
 cellars. The sheet of zinc can also be thus used when neces- 
 sary to remove the hive, or to prevent neighboring swarms from 
 robbing it. When removing boxes of honey, or placing 
 swarms in other hives, the sheet of zinc placed between the 
 drawer to be removed and the one below, the zinc being drawn 
 out with the drawer keeps the bees in it, under entire control. 
 
 The following certificates of respectable and disinterested 
 gentlemen who have thoroughly tried, and are well acquainted 
 with these hives, are added for the satisfaction of others : 
 
 " Having received two bee hives of Wm. R. Kelsey, which 
 were by him prepared, in April last, I caused the bees from two 
 old hives to be transferred to the improved hives by Mr. Kel- 
 sey, and thus far the evidence is to me that they are better ar- 
 ranged than any other hives I have used for years past — allow- 
 ing honey to be taken to the extent of the surplus, beyond the 
 wants of the bees in the hive, and would think the chance for 
 
38 
 
 trouble to the bees from worms, would be much less than in 
 hives I have used heretofore, which have, in many cases, been 
 serious, and in others entirely destroyed, I am also of the 
 opinion that if worms should get into the hive, as improved by 
 Mr. Kelsey, that they eould more easily be removed than from 
 other hives that I am acquainted with — which items are of in- 
 terest to those who keep bees. 
 
 L. G. TOWNSEND. 
 Big Stream Point July 1, 1845. 1 ' 
 
 A singular circumstance happened to the bees of Mr. 
 Townsend last spring : He is a very cautious but enterprising 
 merchant and resides at Big Stream Point, on the west shore 
 of Seneca Lake. — Every spring that stream is much swollen 
 by heavy rains and the melting of the i«e formed in the dis- 
 trict of country drained by it, and at such times is very turbu- 
 lent. A few yards from his house the waters of the stream pour 
 over a ledge of rocks perpendicularly, nearly 90 feet. At the 
 time above mentioned Mr. Townsend had bees in several of 
 my hives, besides others in those of different construction, all 
 situated in his door yard, and apparently safe. During the night 
 his garden and premises were overflowed, and all his bees and 
 considerable lumber, &c. were swept off into the lake. About 
 10 o'clock the next morning some of my hives were picked up 
 by Capt. Dakin, of the Steamboat Richard Stevens, while on 
 her trip up from Geneva, and restored to Mr. T. with the honey 
 and bees in them safe, and as little damaged as though they 
 had not taken their aquatic excursion. They were found near- 
 ly three miles from Big Stream Point. The weight of the 
 bottoms had kept the hives erect, and the bees had ascended to 
 the upper part, where they had sufficient air by means of the 
 ventilator. 
 
 "I have been extensively engaged in bee culture for many 
 years, both in this State and in New Jersey. I have also seen 
 most of the bee hives that have been patented, and found them 
 of little or no value. The bee hive recently invented by Mr, 
 Wm. R. Kelsey, of Starkey, Yates county, (one of which I 
 have purchased) is the most complete of any that I have yet 
 seen, and from my experience in the management of bees, I 
 
39 
 
 mink they are the best that can be found. They are cheap and 
 durable, (essential qualities for farmers) and the easy and safe 
 control that a person has over a swarm in one of those hives, 
 as well as the principles upon which they are regulated, must 
 give them the preference over any others now m use. 
 
 MARTIN HOLMES, Sheriff of Yates Co. N. Y. 
 Barrington, Yates Co., N. Y, July 1, 1845. 
 
 I have one of Mr. Kelsey's hives in use, and had others 
 made which I intend using. I think they are the best bee hives 
 in every respect that can be found. I am satisfied that the 
 principle is a correct one. I have had some 35 yeass experi- 
 ence in the management and culture of bees, and have never 
 found any hive that was as complete as Mr. Kelsey's. Bees 
 certainly do the best in new comb, and I think that Mr. Kel- 
 sey's hive is a sure protection to the bees against millers or 
 bee moths. Reading, June 30, 1845. 
 
 JAMES ROBERTS. 
 
 I certify that on the 13th day of June last., about noon, I 
 hived a s\varm of bees in one of Mr. Kelsey's newly invented 
 hives. They immediately went to work, and the two upper 
 hives or drawers, now contain I should judge, between thirty 
 and forty pounds of honey. — It is nice and pure. The bees 
 have commenced work in the lower drawer. The top drawer 
 or hive is entirely full, and the middle one nearly so. I have 
 since hived two others in similar hives, and am satisfied that 
 'they are the best kind of hives now in use, I certainly give 
 them the preference over all others. 
 
 Reading, Steuben Co., N. Y. June 30, 1845. 
 
 JONATHAN E. ABBEY. 
 
 I have kept a large number of swarms of bees for many 
 years past, and have several different patent bee hives in use. 
 I have recently hived two swarms in Mr. Kelsey's improved 
 bee hives, which are doing well, and I believe from the con- 
 struction of the hives, and the experience I have had in the 
 management of bees, that thev aie decidedly the best that can 
 be found. ANDREW RAPLEE, 
 
 Starkey, July 1, 1845. 
 
40 
 
 I have tried bee hives of different patents, and still have some 
 iq use. The bee hives recently invented by Mr. Kelsey, (one 
 of which I have now in use,) I consider superior to any 
 others that I have seen. J recommend them to the public. 
 
 July 1, 1S45. COE S. REEDER. 
 
 I have one of Kelsey's hives in use, and confidently recom- 
 mend them to farmers, as superior articles for general use — 
 being cheap, durable, and a protection against the bee moths. 
 
 MATTHEW HAIR. 
 
 July 1, 1S45. 
 
 i unite with Mr. Hair in his recommendation. July 1, 1845, 
 JAMES C. HENDERSON." 
 
 From a large number of equally strong and important certif- 
 icates which I have received from my patrons during the past 
 season, I have selected the three following as being the most 
 concise. The characters of the gentlemen whose names are 
 appended are sufficient evidence of the truth of their statements. 
 Rev. Fhilander Shedd, (formerly of Truxton, Cortland Co. N. 
 Y., and more recently of Tompkins Co.,) is a talented and dis- 
 tinguished Baptist minister, at present located at Dundee, N. 
 Y. ; Rev. Reed Burritt is too well known in Western New 
 York as an Apiarian, and intelligent correspondent of the Ag- 
 ricultural journals to need any introduction from me. 
 
 I have kept a large number of »warms of bees for many years 
 past — have tried several different kinds of hives, some of which 
 were patented — have Mr. Kelsey's hives in use, am much pleas- 
 ed with them — think if rightly attended to, the moths are easily 
 prevented by them from doing harm and on everv other account 
 are far superior to any other hives. 
 
 REED BURRITT, 
 Pastor Baptist Church, Burdett, N. Y. 
 
 From Elder Shedd, Dundee, N. Y. 
 I have kept bees for a number of years past, and have been 
 confident that very great improvements might be made in those 
 hives that have been in general use, and find all those improve- 
 
41 
 
 tneuty in Mr. Kelsey's improved Bee Hives, and think they 
 cannot fail of coming into general use as it is perfectly easy 
 to divide the swarms at pleasure and with safety, and they will 
 protect the bees against the ravages of the moth and keep them 
 in an active and healthy state. 
 
 PHILANDER SHSDD. 
 Dundee, June 19, 1846. 
 
 From Dr. R. Huson', Dundee, N. Y. 
 i have used Wm. R. Kelsey's Alternating Bee Hives . 
 seasons under his directions and find them all that they are rec- 
 ommended. They are intended for general stock hives for farm- 
 ers and bee culturists, and cannot fail to come into general 
 use immediately wherever introdneed.. They have been thor- 
 oughly tried in this vicinity, and their popularity increases with 
 I have tried the dividing principle with perfect sue-. 
 
 HARD HUSON. 
 Dundee, Yates co„ N. Y;, June IT, 1S46." 
 
 The following notice from the Dundee Record of June 
 1846, was copied and cordially endorsed by the " Syracuse 
 Star," "Fenn-Yan Democrat," "Yatcs'Co. Whig," and man y 
 other newspapers in N. Y. 
 
 "Kelsey's Alternating Bee-Hives. — We are glad to learn 
 that the valuable Bee-Hives invented by our fellow townsman, 
 Wm. R. Kelsey, to which we alluded last season in a general 
 article upon Bees and Insects, were patented to him on the 9th 
 of last month. Every improvement tending to the advantage 
 of the farmer, we deem it our duty to speak of freely : and al- 
 though we bestowed strong commendation on these hives last 
 year, they fully answered that recommendation, and those per- 
 sons who then examined and have used them under the direc- 
 tion of Mr. Kelsey have become fully satisfied that they are con- 
 structed on correct principles. Most of the extensive bee cul- 
 turists in this vicinity have tried and are adopting them. The 
 advantages that they possess over all other hives now in use 
 are so numerous — the protection that they afford against the 
 bee moth, mice and insects so complete — the principle of al- 
 ways keeping the bees in new honey comb, by which they are 
 
42 
 
 kept strong and healthy — the entire control a person has over 
 the bees at all times, and the benefits in dividing swarms which 
 can be done with perfect safety, all combine to render them de- 
 servedly popular. In this vicinity where they are best known 
 and have been thoroughly tested, they are found to answer ad- 
 mirably for stock hives, and we have no hesitation in saying 
 that no farmer or other person who wishes to engage in the bee 
 culture should be without them. They must ultimately come in- 
 to general use, as a good and profitable market can always be 
 found for all good honey that can be raised, and swarms can be 
 multiplied in them with safety, faster than in any other hives; 
 and as it 13 unnecessary to destroy the bees to obtain the honey, 
 they must be the most profitable ones." 
 
 From the Syracuse Daily Star. 
 Kelsey's Alternating Bee Hive. — We observe, by a 
 notice in another column, that Mr. Kelsey, the Patentee of the 
 above mentioned Hive, is again in town. The success that 
 has attended the use of these hives, — their cheapness, simplici- 
 ty, usefulness and durability, and the satisfaction they have giv- 
 en wherever they have been used, are convincing proofs that 
 for the purposes of those farmers and other persons who wish to 
 make money by the bee culture, they are now unrivalled. They 
 stand deservedly high, and we are glad to see that the Inventor 
 meets with the reward that his exertions merit, — a proper ap- 
 preciation of their value. 
 
 ie following article from the Genesee Farmer, for Septem- 
 ber, 1846, appears to have been written by a practical bee cul- 
 turist, and contains some just remarks. I trust that ere this 
 the writer has seen and examined my hives, and satisfied him- 
 self upon the subject : 
 
 Mr. Editor : The Bee culture, which has been so long 
 neglected in this as well as most other coucties in our State, 
 appears to have received a new impetus from recent discove- 
 ries — judging from the attention that the subjoct is now at- 
 tracting. Certain it is that if farmers and bee men could be 
 ■successful in the management of bees for any considerable 
 length of. time, there cannot be found any more profitable 
 
43 
 
 branch of rural occupation. But bee men have learned from 
 sad experience, that the old fashioned box hives are better than 
 the il bee houses," expensive " bee palaces," and all the patent 
 hives hitherto in general use (which, by the bye, are no im- 
 provements in reality,) put together — provided that the old 
 comb be broken out of them every year or two. This proeess 
 I am aware, is a dangerous one, not only to the bees, but to 
 the operator ; but I am satisfied from long observation, and the 
 experience of bee culturists generally confirms the remark, 
 that bees cannot live and hatch young swarms in the same set 
 of cells for more than one season without each subsequent 
 swarm becoming more feeble or smaller than the previous one, 
 owing to their not having been fully developed in the cells, or 
 part of them not hatching out at all. 
 
 These remarks are made because I discover by the papers 
 here that a new hive, called "Kelsey's Alternating Bee-Hive," 
 patented recently, is now offered to the public, which, it is 
 claimed, embraces great advantages over all others now before 
 the public, and to be founded upon entirely new principles, by 
 means of which swarms can be preserved and increased ad 
 infinitum. 
 
 Now I am one of those who wish to be satisfied before I 
 praise or condemn any thing, and I really wish that some of 
 your subscribers or correspondents who may be acquainted 
 with these hives, or the success that has attended their use 
 wherever it may be, (in Yates county I think the advertisement 
 says,) will inform the farmers of this county, through your col- 
 umns, of the practical results and management of bees in 
 them, and wherein their principles are entirely new or worthy 
 of attention. 
 
 There are so many humbugs and failures in bee-hives now 
 in use, that these hives, if any better, should be adopted, and if 
 not the farmers should not be cheated and induced to buy them. 
 Farmers want no fancy hives; — they want good simple and 
 cheap slock hives, such as will be easy of management and 
 control, and will be in some way a preventive to the ravage? 
 of the bee-moth. Let us understand what we buy from prac- 
 tical men, who know something iu regard to the subject. 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 Salina, Onondaga Co., July, 1846. An Apiarian. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 
 Authors on Bees — opinions of, 
 
 . page 4 
 
 Bee Culturists in U. S., 
 
 3 
 
 Bees, different classes of, 
 
 5 
 
 " embryos of, how deposited, 
 
 6 
 
 " not strictly hybernating, 
 
 12 
 
 a cannot see well in the dark, 
 
 19 
 
 " where they thrive best, 
 
 20 
 
 " do well in cities and villages, 
 
 22 
 
 " value and increase of, 
 
 . 30 
 
 " natural principles of, 
 
 28 
 
 " should not be destroyed- see pages . 
 
 30, 34 
 
 Bee Moth — see Millers. 
 
 
 Bevan's work on bees, .... 
 
 4 
 
 Burying bees in trenches. 
 
 IS 
 
 Cells, 
 
 9 
 
 Comb, ....... 
 
 7, 23 
 
 Development of swarms, 
 
 7 
 
 Drones, . ... 
 
 10 
 
 Dividing swarms, ...» 
 
 20 
 
 Directions for managing bees, . 
 
 36 
 
 Embryo, when deposited, 
 
 10 
 
 Early swarms the best, .... 
 
 23 
 
 Fumigating not beneficial, • • • 
 
 24 
 
 First swarms, ..'.-•• 
 
 10 
 
 Hives — remarks on, .... 
 
 . 43 
 
 « how they should be made, 
 
 13, 16, 28 
 
 « how they should be placed, . 
 
 21 
 
 4 < cost of making, 
 
 35 
 
 Honey, quantity produced, 
 
 29 
 
 " how much consumed, 
 
 19 
 
 " sources of, .... 
 
 20 
 
46 
 
 Money Dews, 
 
 Impregnation of Queens, 
 
 Mice — injuries by, 
 
 Management of bees, 
 
 Millers, description of &c, 
 
 New Honey Comb, importance of 
 
 Nursing bees, 
 
 Opinions, 
 
 Old Honey Comb, . 
 
 Prosperity, signs of 
 
 •'Pungent food", 
 
 Profits of keeping bees, 
 
 Preservation of bees, 
 
 Patent Office Reports, 
 
 Queen bees, 
 
 lt " several with some swarms, 
 " et when they deposit embryos, 
 " " when lost or destroyed, . 
 
 Robbing, to prevent bees from . 
 
 Royal Cells, how constructed . 
 
 Swarms, numbers of 
 
 " old workers accompany 
 " decrease in winter, 
 
 Sugar may be fed to bees, 
 
 Temperature of hive3, 
 
 Uudeveloped swarms, 
 
 a " how removed 
 
 Uniting swarai3, 
 
 Water, importance of, to bees . 
 " excurson of bees on 
 
.L22? Y ° F C0 NGRESS 
 
 S&&£! 
 
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 . 
 
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