,historical ,literature in ,agriculture 7,,chla71 ,cornell ,university7 ,illustration3 ,so work the ,honey ,bees4 ,creatures that by a rule in ,nature1 teach ,the art of order to a peopled kingdom4--,shakspeare4 ,illustration3 ,worker4 ,drone4 ,queen4 ,the above are a very accurate representations of the ,,queen1 the ,,worker and the ,,drone4 ,the group of bees in the title page1 represents the attitude in which the bees surround their ,queen or ,mother as she rests upon the comb4 ,,langstroth ,,on ,,the ,,hive ,,and ,,the ,,honey-,,bee1 ,a ,bee ,keeper's ,manual1 ,,by ,,rev4 ,l4 ,l4 ,,langstroth4 ,illustration3 ,,every ,,good ,,mother ,,should ,,be ,,the ,,honored ,,queen ,,of ,a ,,happy ,,family4 ,,northampton3 ,,hopkins1 ,,bridgman ,,company4 #ahec4 ,entered according to ,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahec1 by ,l4 ,l4 ,,langstroth1 ,in the ,clerk's ,office of the ,district ,court of ,massachusetts4 ,c4 ,a4 ,,mirick1 ,,printer1 ,,greenfield4 ,,preface4 ,this ,treatise on the ,hive and the ,honey-,bee1 is respectfully submitted by the ,author1 to the candid consideration of those who are interested in the culture of the most useful as well as wonderful ,insect1 in all the range of ,animated ,nature4 ,the information which it contains will be found to be greatly in advance of anything which has yet been presented to the ,english ,reader2 and1 as far as facilities for practical management are concerned1 it is believed to be a very material advance over anything which has hitherto been communicated to the ,apiarian ,public4 ,debarred1 by the state of his health1 from the more appropriate duties of his ,office1 and compelled to seek an employment which would call him1 as much as possible1 into the open air1 the ,author indulges the hope that the result of his studies and observations1 in an important branch of ,natural ,history1 will be found of service to the ,community as well as to himself4 ,the satisfaction which he has taken in his researches1 has been such that he has felt exceedingly desirous of interesting others1 in a pursuit which1 7without any reference to its pecuniary profits17 is capable of exciting the delight and enthusiasm of all intelligent observers4 ,the ,creator may be seen in all the works of his hands2 but in few more directly than in the wise economy of the ,honey-,bee4 ,what well appointed commonwealths6 where each ,adds to the stock of happiness for all2 ,wisdom's own forums6 whose professors teach ,eloquent lessons in their vaulted hall6 ,galleries of art6 and schools of industry6 ,stores of rich fragrance6 ,orchestras of song6 ,what marvelous seats of hidden alchemy6 ,how oft1 when wandering far and erring long1 ,man might learn truth and virtue from the ,,bee6 ,bowring4 ,the attention of ,clergymen is particularly solicited to the study of this branch of ,natural ,history4 ,an intimate acquaintance with the wonders of the ,bee-,hive1 while it would benefit them in various ways1 might lead them to draw their illustrations1 more from natural objects and the world around them1 and in this way to adapt them better to the comprehension and sympathies of their hearers4 ,it was1 we know1 the constant practice of our ,lord and ,master1 to illustrate his teachings from the birds of the air1 the lilies of the field1 and the common walks of life and pursuits of men4 ,common ,sense1 ,experience and ,religion alike dictate that we should follow his example4 ,l4 ,l4 ,,langstroth4 ,greenfield1 ,mass41 ,may #be1 #ahec4 ,,contents4 ,,introduction--,,chapter ,i4 ,deplorable state of bee-keeping4 ,new era anticipated1 #ac4 ,huber's discoveries and hives4 ,double hives for protection against extremes of temperature1 #ad4 ,necessary to obtain complete control of the combs4 ,taming bees4 ,hives with movable bars4 ,their results important1 #ae4 ,bee-keeping made profitable and certain4 ,movable frames for comb4 ,bees will work in glass hives exposed to the light4 ,dzierzon's discoveries1 #af4 ,wagner's letter on the merits of ,dzierzon's hive and the movable comb hive1 #ag4 ,superiority of movable comb hive1 #ai4 ,superiority of ,dzierzon's over the old mode1 #bj4 ,success attending it1 #bb4 ,bee-,journal to be established4 ,two of them in ,germany4 ,important facts connected with bees heretofore discredited1 #bc4 ,every thing seen in observing hives1 #bd4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,bees ,,capable ,,of ,,domestication4 ,astonishment of persons at their tameness1 #be4 ,bees intended for the comfort of man4 ,properties fitting them for domestication4 ,bees never attack when filled with honey1 #bf4 ,swarming bees fill their honey bags and are peaceable4 ,hiving of bees safe1 #bg4 ,bees cannot resist the temptation to fill themselves with sweets4 ,manageable by means of sugared water1 #bh4 ,special aversion to certain persons4 ,tobacco smoke to subdue bees should not be used4 ,motions about a hive should be slow and gentle1 #bi4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,queen ,,bee4 ,,the ,,drone4 ,,the ,,worker1 #cj4 ,knowledge of facts relating to them1 necessary to rear them with profit4 ,difficult to reason with some bee-keepers4 ,queen bee the mother of the colony--described1 #ca4 ,importance of queen to the colony4 ,respect shown her by the other bees4 ,disturbance occasioned by her loss1 #cb4 ,bee-keepers cannot fail to be interested in the habits of bees1 #cc4 ,whoever is fond of his bees is fond of his home4 ,fertility of queen bees under-estimated4 ,fecundation of eggs of the queen bees1 #cd-cf4 ,huber vindicated4 ,francis ,burnens4 ,huber the prince of ,apiarians1 #ce4 ,dr4 ,leidy's curious dissections1 #cg4 ,wasps and hornets fertilized like queen bees4 ,huish's inconsistency1 #ch4 ,retarded fecundation productive of drones only4 ,fertile workers produce only drones1 #ci4 ,dzierzon's opinions on this subject1 #dj4 ,wagner's theory4 ,singular fact in reference to a drone-rearing colony4 ,drone-laying queen on dissection1 unimpregnated4 ,dzierzon's theory sustained1 #da4 ,dead drone for queen1 mistake of bees1 #dc4 ,eggs unfecundated produce drones4 ,fecundated produce workers2 theory therefor1 #dd4 ,aphides but once impregnated for a series of generations4 ,knowledge necessary for success1 ,queen bee1 process of laying1 #de4 ,eggs described4 ,hatching1 #df4 ,larva1 its food1 its nursing4 ,caps of breeding and honey cells different1 #dg4 ,nymph or pupa1 working4 ,time of gestation4 ,cells contracted by cocoons sometimes become too small4 ,queen bee1 her mode of development1 #dh4 ,drone's development4 ,development of young bees slow in cool weather or weak swarms4 ,temperature above #gj deg4 for the production of young4 ,thin hives1 their insufficiency4 ,brood combs1 danger of exposure to low temperature1 #di4 ,cocoons of drones and workers perfect4 ,cocoons of queens imperfect1 the cause1 #ej4 ,number of eggs dependent on the weather1 c4 ,supernumerary eggs1 how disposed of1 #ea4 ,queen bee1 fertility diminishes after her third year4 ,dies in her fourth year1 #eb4 ,drones1 description of4 ,their proper office4 ,destroyed by the bees4 ,when first appear1 #ec4 ,none in weak hives4 ,great number of them4 ,rapid increase of bees in tropical climates1 #ed4 ,how to prevent their over production4 ,expelled from the hive1 #ee4 ,if not expelled1 hive should be examined4 ,provision to avoid in and in breeding1 #ef4 ,close breeding enfeebles colonies4 ,working bees1 account of4 ,number in a hive1 #eh4 ,all females with imperfect ovaries4 ,fertile workers not tolerated where there are queens1 #ei4 ,honey receptacle4 ,pollen basket4 ,the sting4 ,sting of bees1 #fj4 ,often lost in using4 ,penalty of its loss4 ,sting not lost by other insects4 ,labors of workers1 #fa4 ,age of bees1 #fb4 ,bees useful to the last1 #fc4 ,cocoons not removed by the bees4 ,breeding cells becoming too small are reconstructed4 ,old comb should be removed4 ,brood comb not to be changed every year1 #fd4 ,inventors of hives too often men of one idea4 ,folly of large closets for bees1 #fe4 ,reason of limited colonies4 ,mother wasps and hornets only survive ,winter4 ,queen1 process of rearing1 #ff4 ,royal cells1 #fg4 ,royal ,jelly1 #fh4 ,its effect on the larv1 #fi4 ,swammerdam1 #gj4 ,queen departs when successors are provided for4 ,queens1 artificial rearing1 #ga4 ,interesting experiment1 #gb4 ,objections against the ,bible illustrated1 #gc4 ,huish against ,huber1 #gd4 ,his objections puerile4 ,objections to the ,bible ditto1 #ge4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,comb4 ,wax1 how made4 ,formed of any saccharine substance4 ,huber's experiments1 #gf4 ,high temperature necessary to its composition1 #gg4 ,heat generated in forming4 ,twenty pounds of honey to form one of wax4 ,value of empty comb in the new hive4 ,how to free comb from eggs of the moth1 #gh4 ,combs having bee-bread of great value4 ,how to empty comb and replace it in the hive1 #gi4 ,artificial comb4 ,experiment with wax proposed1 #hj4 ,its results1 if successful4 ,comb made chiefly in the night4 #ha4 ,honey and comb made simultaneously4 ,wax a non-conductor of heat4 ,some of the brood cells uniform in size1 others vary1 #hb4 ,form of cells mathematically perfect1 #hc4 ,honey comb a demonstration of a ,great ,first ,cause1 #hd4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,propolis ,,or ,,bee ,,glue4 ,whence it is obtained4 ,huber's experiment1 #he4 ,its use4 ,comb varnished with it4 ,the moth deposits her eggs in it1 #he4 ,propolis difficult for bees to work4 ,curious use of it by bees1 #hg4 ,ingenuity of bees admirable1 #hh4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,pollen ,,or ,,bee-,,bread4 ,whence obtained4 ,its use4 ,brood cannot be raised without it4 ,pollen nitrogenous4 ,its use discovered by ,huber1 #hi4 ,its collection by bees indicates a healthy queen4 ,experiment showing the importance of bee-bread to a colony1 #ij4 ,not used in making comb4 ,bees prefer it fresh4 ,surplus in old hives to be used to supply its want to young hives4 ,pollen and honey both secured at the same time by bees4 ,mode of gathering pollen1 #ia4 ,packing down4 ,bees gather one kind of pollen at a time4 ,they aid in the impregnation of plants4 ,history of the bee plain proof of the wisdom of the ,creator4 ,bees made for man1 #ib4 ,virgil's opinion of bees4 ,rye meal a substitute for pollen4 ,quantity used by each colony1 #ic4 ,wheat flour a substitute4 ,the improved hive facilitates feeding bees with meal4 ,the discovery of a substitute for pollen removes an obstacle to the cultivation of honey bees1 #id4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,fifty-four ,advantages which ought to be found in an improved hive1 #ie-aaj4 ,some desirable qualities the movable comb hive does not pretend to6 ,is the result of years of study and observation4 ,it has been tested by experience1 #aaa4 ,not claimed as a perfect hive4 ,old-fashioned bee-keepers found most profit1 c4 ,simplest form of hive1 #aab4 ,bee culture where it was fifty years ago4 ,best hives4 ,new hive is submitted to the judgment of candid bee-keepers1 #aac4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,protection ,,against ,,extremes ,,of ,,heat1 ,,cold ,,and ,,dampness4 ,many colonies destroyed by extremes of weather4 ,evils of thin hives4 ,bees not torpid in ,winter4 ,when frozen are killed1 #aad4 ,take exercise to keep warm4 ,perish if unable to preserve suitable degree of warmth4 ,are often starved in the midst of plenty4 ,eat an extra quantity of food in thin1 cold hives1 #aae4 ,muscular exertion occasions waste of muscular fiber4 ,bees need less food when quiet than when excited4 ,experiment1 wintering bees in a dry cellar1 #aaf4 ,protection must generally be given in open air4 ,none but diseased bees discharge fces in the hive4 ,moisture1 its injurious effects4 ,free air needful in cold weather1 with the common hive1 #aag4 ,loss by their flying out in cold weather4 ,protection against extremes of weather of the very first importance4 ,honey1 our country favorable to its production4 ,colonies in forests strong4 ,reasons for this1 #aah4 ,russian and ,polish bee-keepers successful4 ,their mode of management1 #aai4 ,objection of want of air answered1 #abj4 ,bees need but little air in ,winter if protected4 ,protection in reference to the construction of hives4 ,double hives1 preferable to plank4 ,made warm in ,winter by packing4 ,double hives1 inside may be of glass1 #aba4 ,advantages of glass over wood1 #abb4 ,advantages of double glass4 ,disadvantages of double hives in ,spring4 ,avoided by the improved hive1 #abc4 ,covered ,apiaries exclude the sun in ,spring4 ,reason for discarding them4 ,sun1 its effect in producing early swarms in thin hives4 ,protected hives fall for want of sun4 ,enclosed ,apiaries1 nuisances4 ,thin hives ought to be given up1 they are expensive in waste of honey and bees1 #abd4 ,comparative cheapness of new and old hives1 #abe4 ,protector against injurious weather4 ,proper location of bees4 ,preparations for setting hives1 #abf4 ,protector should be open in ,summer and banked in ,winter4 ,cheaper than an ,apiary4 ,summer air of ,protector like forest air4 ,in ,winter uniform and mild1 #abg4 ,bees will not be enticed out in improper weather4 ,secures their natural heat4 ,dead bees1 c41 to be removed in ,winter4 ,temperature of the ,protector1 #abh4 ,importance of the ,protector4 ,its economy in food1 #abi4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,ventilation4 ,artificial ventilation produced by bees4 ,purity of air in the hive1 #acj4 ,bad air fatal to bees1 eggs and larv1 #aca4 ,bees when disturbed need much air4 ,dysentery1 how produced4 ,post mortem condition of suffocated bees1 #acb4 ,great annoyance of excessive heat4 ,bees leave the hive to save the comb4 ,ventilating instinct wonderful1 #acc4 ,should shame man for his neglect of ventilation4 ,comparative expense of ventilation to man and bees1 #acd4 ,importance of ventilation to man4 ,its neglect induces disease1 #ace4 ,plants cannot thrive without free air4 ,the union of warmth and ventilation in ,winter an important question4 ,house-builder and stove-maker combine against fresh air1 #acf4 ,run-away slave boxed up4 ,evil qualities of bad air aggravated by heat4 ,dwellings and public buildings generally deficient in ventilation4 ,degeneracy will ensue1 #acg4 ,women the greatest sufferers4 ,necessity of reform1 #ach4 ,public buildings should be required to have plenty of air4 ,improved hive1 its adaptedness to secure ventilation1 #aci4 ,nutt's hive too complicated4 ,ventilation independent of the entrance1 #adj4 ,hive may be entirely closed without incommoding the bees4 ,ventilators should be easily removable to be cleansed4 ,ventilation from above injurious except when bees are to be moved1 #ada4 ,variable size of the entrance adapts it to all seasons4 ,ventilators should be closed in ,spring4 ,downing on ventilation1 7note17 #adb4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,swarming ,,and ,,hiving4 ,bees swarming a beautiful sight4 ,poetic description by ,evans4 ,design of swarming1 #adc4 ,the honey bee unlike other insects in its colonizing habits4 ,it is chilled by a temperature below #ej deg4 ,would perish in ,winter if not congregated in masses4 ,admirable adaptation1 #add4 ,swarming necessary4 ,circumstances in which it takes place4 ,june the swarming month4 ,preparations for swarming4 ,old queen accompanies the first swarm4 ,no infallible signs of #ast swarming1 #ade4 ,fickleness of bees about swarming4 ,indications of swarming4 ,hours of swarming1 #adf4 ,proceedings within the hive before swarming4 ,interesting scene4 ,bells and frying-pans useless1 #adg4 ,neglected bees apt to fly away in swarming4 ,bees properly cared for seldom do it4 ,methods of arresting their flight when started1 #adh4 ,conduct of bees in disagreeable hives1 #adi4 ,why bees swarm before selecting a new home4 ,they rarely cluster without the queen4 ,interesting experiment1 #aej4 ,scouts to search for new abodes4 ,scouts sent out before and after swarming1 #aea4 ,bees remain awhile after alighting4 ,curious incident stated by ,mr4 ,zollickoffer4 ,necessity of scouts4 ,considerations confirmed1 #aeb4 ,re-population of the hive1 #aec4 ,inability of bees to find their hive when it has been removed4 ,after swarms1 #aed4 ,different treatment to the cells of dead and living queens4 ,royal larv sometimes protected against the queens4 ,anger of the queen at such interference1 #aee4 ,second swarming1 its indications4 ,time1 #aef4 ,double swarms4 ,third swarm4 ,after swarms seriously reduce the strength of the hive4 ,wise arrangement1 #aeg4 ,after-swarming avoided by the improved hive4 ,impregnation of queens4 ,dangerous for queens to mistake their own hives1 #aeh4 ,precautions against this4 ,proper color for hives4 ,time of laying eggs4 ,none but worker eggs1 the first season1 #aei4 ,directions for hiving4 ,hives should be painted and well dried4 ,bees reluctant to enter thin warm hives in the sun1 #afj4 ,management with the improved hives1 #afa4 ,drone combs should never be used as guide comb4 ,pleasure of bees in finding comb in their new quarters4 ,bees never voluntarily enter empty hives4 ,rubbing the hive with herbs useless1 #afb4 ,small trees or bushes in front of hives4 ,inexperienced ,apiarian should wear a bee-dress4 ,moderate dispatch in hiving needful1 #afc4 ,process of hiving particularly described1 #afd4 ,old method of hiving should be abandoned1 #aff4 ,importance of speedy hiving4 ,should be moved as soon as hived4 ,curious fact stated by ,dr4 ,scudamore1 7note71 #afg4 ,how to secure the queen4 ,she does not sting4 ,hiving before the hives are ready1 #afh4 ,another method of hiving4 ,natural swarming profitable4 ,objections to natural swarming4 ,common hive gives inadequate winter protection1 #afi4 ,with it1 the bees often swarm too much4 ,with the improved hive this is avoided4 ,disadvantages of returning after-swarms4 ,third objection1 inability to strengthen small late swarms1 #agj4 ,evils of feeble stocks4 ,fourth objection1 loss of queen irreparable4 ,by the new hive her loss is easily supplied1 #aga4 ,fifth1 common hives inconvenient when bees do not swarm4 ,this objection removed by the new hive4 ,sixth1 the ravages of the moth easily prevented by the improved hive4 ,seventh1 the old queen1 when infertile1 cannot be removed or replaced4 ,both can be done by the new hive1 #agb4 ,,chapter ,x4 7,two ,chapters numbered x1 by error of the ,press47 ,,artificial ,,swarming4 ,numerous efforts to dispense with natural swarming4 ,difficulties of natural swarming4 ,first1 many swarms are lost1 #agc4 ,second1 time and labor required4 ,sabbath labor1 #agd4 ,perplexities to farmers4 ,third1 large ,apiaries cannot be established1 #age4 ,fourth1 uncertainty of swarming4 ,disappointments from this source1 #agf4 ,efforts to devise a surer method1 #agh4 ,columellas's mode of obtaining swarms4 ,hyginus4 ,small success which attended1 those efforts1 ,schirach's discovery1 #agi4 ,huber's directions4 ,not adapted to general use4 ,dividing hives in this country unsuitable4 ,bees without mature queens make no preparation to rear workers1 #ahj4 ,dividing hives to multiply colonies will not answer1 #aha4 ,huber's hive even1 inadequate4 ,common dividing hives unsuccessful4 ,multiplying by brood comb in an empty hive1 vain1 #ahb4 ,multiplying by removal and substitution useless4 ,mortality of bees in working season1 #ahc4 ,connecting apartments a failure1 #ahd4 ,many prefer non-swarming hives1 #ahe4 ,profitable in honey but calculated to exterminate the insect4 ,improved hive good non-swarmer1 if desired4 ,disadvantages of non-swarming4 ,queen bee becomes infertile4 ,remedied by the use of the improved hive1 #ahf4 ,practicable mode of artificial swarming1 #ahg4 ,bees will welcome to their hives strange bees that come loaded4 ,will destroy such as come empty1 #ahh4 ,forced swarming requires knowledge of the economy of the bee-hive4 ,common hives give no facility for learning the bee's habits4 ,equalizing a divided swarm1 #aij4 ,bees in parent hive1 if removed1 to be confined and watered1 #aia4 ,bees removed will return to their old place4 ,supplying bees with water by a straw4 ,water necessary to prepare food for the larv1 #aib4 ,new forced swarms to be returned to the place of the old one1 or removed to a distance4 ,treatment to wont them to new place in the ,apiary1 #aic4 ,bees forget their new locations4 ,objection to forced swarming in common hives1 #aid4 ,forced swarming by the new hives removes the objection4 ,mode of forcing swarms by the new hives1 #aie4 ,queen to be searched for4 ,important that she should be in the right hive1 #aif4 ,convenience of forced swarming in supplying extra queens4 ,mode of supplying them4 ,should be done by day light and in pleasant weather1 #aig4 ,honey-water not to be used4 ,safety to the operator4 ,forced swarming may be performed at mid-day4 ,advantages of the shape of the new hive1 #aih4 ,huber's observation on the effect of sudden light in the hive4 ,true solution of the phenomenon4 ,bees at the top of the hive1 less belligerent than those at the bottom1 #aii4 ,sudden jars to be avoided4 ,removal of honey-board4 ,sprinkling with sugar-water1 #bjj4 ,loosening the frames4 ,removing the comb4 ,bees will adhere to their comb1 #bja4 ,natural swarming imitated4 ,how to catch the queen4 ,frames protected from cold and robbery by bees4 ,frames returned to the hive4 ,honey-cover1 how managed4 ,motions of bee-keeper to be gentle4 ,bees must not be breathed on4 ,success in the operation certain1 #bjb4 ,new colonies may be thus formed in ten minutes4 ,natural swarming wholly prevented4 ,if attempted by the bees cannot succeed4 ,how to remove the wings of the queens1 #bjc4 ,precaution against loss of queen by old age4 ,advantages of this1 #bjd4 ,certainty and ease of artificial swarming with the new hive4 ,after-swarms prevented if desired1 #bje4 ,large harvests of honey and after-swarming impracticable4 ,danger of too rapid increase of stocks4 ,importance of understanding his object1 by the bee-keeper1 #bjf4 ,the matter made plain1 #bjg4 ,apiarians dissuaded from more than tripling their stocks in a year4 ,tenfold increase of stocks attainable1 #bji4 ,certain increase1 not rapid1 most needed4 ,cautions concerning experiments1 #baj4 ,honey1 largest yield obtained by doubling colonies4 ,the process1 #baa4 ,may be done at swarming time4 ,bees recognize each other by smell1 #bac4 ,importance of following these directions illustrated4 ,process of uniting swarms simplified by the new hive1 #bad4 ,very rapid increase of colonies precarious4 ,mode of effecting the most rapid increase1 #bae4 ,nucleus system1 #bag4 ,can a queen be raised from any egg8 ,two sorts of workers1 wax workers and nurses1 #bah4 ,probable explication of a difficulty1 #bai4 ,experimenting difficult work4 ,swarming season best time for artificial swarming4 ,amusing perplexity of bees on finding their hive changed1 #bbj4 ,perseverance of bees4 ,interesting incident illustrating it1 #bba4 ,novel and successful mode of forming nuclei1 #bbc4 ,mode of managing nuclei1 #bbe4 ,danger of over-feeding4 ,increasing stocks by doubling hives1 #bbi4 ,important rule for multiplying stocks4 ,how to direct the strength of a colony to the rearing of young bees1 #bcj4 ,proper dimensions of hives4 ,reasons therefor1 #bca4 ,easy construction of the improved hive4 ,precaution of queen bees in their combats1 #bcd4 ,reluctance of bees to receive a new queen4 ,expedient to overcome this4 ,queen nursery1 #bce4 ,mode of rearing numerous queens1 #bcg4 ,control of the comb the soul of good bee-culture4 ,objection against bee-keeping answered1 #bcc4 ,no royal road to bee-keeping4 ,a prediction1 #bci4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,enemies ,,of ,,bees4 ,bee-moth1 its ravages4 ,defiance against it1 #bdj4 ,its habits4 ,known to ,virgil4 ,time of appearance4 ,nocturnal in habits1 #bda4 ,their agility4 ,vigilance of the bees against the moth4 ,havoc of sin in the heart1 #bdb4 ,disgusting effects of the moth worm in a hive4 ,wax the food of the moth larv4 ,making their cocoons1 #bdc4 ,devices to escape the bees4 ,time of development1 #bdd4 ,habits of the female when laying eggs4 ,of the worm when hatched1 #bde4 ,our climate favorable to the increase of the moth4 ,moth not a native of ,america1 #bdf4 ,honey1 its former plenty4 ,present depressure of its culture4 ,old mode of culture described1 #bdg4 ,depredations of the moth increased by patent hives4 ,aim of patent hives4 ,sulphur or starvation1 #bdi4 ,feeble swarms a nuisance1 #bej4 ,notion prevailing in relation to breaking up stocks4 ,improved hives valueless without improved system of treatment1 #bea4 ,pretended secrets in the management of bees4 ,strong stocks thrive under almost any circumstances1 #beb4 ,stocks in costly hives4 ,circumstances under which the moth succeeds in a hive1 #bec4 ,signs of worms in a hive1 #bed4 ,when entrenched difficult to remove4 ,method of avoiding their ravages1 #bee4 ,combs having moth eggs to be removed and smoked1 #beg4 ,uncovered comb to be removed1 #beh4 ,loss of the queen the most fruitful occasion of ravages by the moth4 ,experiments on this point1 #bei4 ,attempts to defend a queenless swarm against the moth useless1 #bfj4 ,strong queenless colonies destroyed when feeble ones with queens are untouched4 ,common hives furnish no remedy for the loss of the queen4 ,colonies without queens will perish1 if not destroyed by the moth1 #bfa4 ,strong stocks rob queenless ones4 ,principal reasons of protection1 #bfb4 ,small stocks should have small space4 ,inefficiency of various contrivances1 #bfc4 ,useful precautions when using common hives4 ,destroy the larv of the moth early4 ,decoy of a woolen rag1 #bfd4 ,hollow or split sticks for traps4 ,if the queen be lost1 and worms infest the colony1 break it up4 ,provision of the improved hives against moths1 #bfe4 ,moth-traps no help to careless bee-keepers4 ,incorrigibly careless persons should have nothing to do with bees1 #bff4 ,worms1 how removed from an improved hive4 ,sweet solutions useful to catch the moths4 ,interesting remarks of ,h4 ,k4 ,oliver1 on the bee-moth1 #bfg4 ,ravages of mice4 ,birds4 ,observations on the king-bird1 #bfi4 ,inhumanity and injurious effects of destroying birds1 #bgj4 ,other enemies of the bee4 ,precautions against dysentery4 ,bees not to be fed on liquid honey late in the season4 ,foul brood of the ,germans1 #bga4 ,produced by ,american ,honey4 ,peculiar kind of dysentery1 #bgb4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,loss ,,of ,,the ,,queen4 ,queen often lost4 ,queens of strong hives seldom perish without providing for successors4 ,their death commonly occurs under favorable circumstances1 #bgc4 ,young queen sometimes matured before the death of the old one4 ,superannuated queens incapable of laying worker eggs4 ,case of precocious superannuation1 #bgd4 ,signs that there is no queen in a hive4 ,signs of queenless hives1 #bge4 ,exhortation to wives1 #bgf4 ,difficult in common hives1 to decide on the condition of the stock4 ,always easy with the movable comb hive1 #bgg4 ,bees sometimes refuse to accept of aid in their queenless state4 ,parallel in human conduct4 ,young bees in such hives will at once provide for a queen4 ,an appeal to the young1 #bgh4 ,hives should be examined early in ,spring4 ,destitute stocks should be united to others having queens4 ,reasons therefor4 ,general treatment in early ,spring1 #bgi4 ,hives should be cleansed in ,spring4 ,durability and cheapness of hives1 #bhj4 ,undue regard to mere cheapness4 ,various causes destructive of queens1 #bha4 ,agitation of the bees on missing their queen1 #bhb4 ,treatment of swarms that have lost their queens1 #bhc4 ,examination of the hive needful1 #bhd4 ,examination and treatment in the ,fall4 ,persons who cannot attend to their bees themselves1 may safely entrust their care to others1 #bhe4 ,business of the ,apiarian united with that of the gardner4 ,experiments with queen bees1 #bhf4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,union ,,of ,,stocks4 ,,transferring ,,bees4 ,,starting ,,an ,,apiary4 ,queenless colonies should be broken up1 ,spring and ,fall4 ,small colonies should be united4 ,animal heat necessary in a hive4 ,small swarms in ,winter consume much honey1 #bhg4 ,colonies to be united1 should stand side by side4 ,how to effect this4 ,removal of an ,apiary in the working season1 #bhh4 ,to secure the largest quantity of honey from a given number of stocks1 #bhi4 ,non-swarming plan4 ,moderate increase best1 #bij4 ,transferring bees from common1 to the movable comb hive1 #bia4 ,successful experiment4 ,should not be attempted in cold weather4 ,the process of transfer1 #bib4 ,best time4 ,may be done at any season when the weather is warm1 #bid4 ,precaution against robbing1 #bie4 ,combs should be transferred with the bees1 #bif4 ,caution on trying new hives1 #big4 ,thrifty old swarms4 ,conditions of their thrift1 #bih4 ,procuring bees to start an ,apiary4 ,new early swarms best4 ,signs to guide the inexperienced buyer1 #bii4 ,directions for removing old colonies4 ,for removing new swarms1 #cjj4 ,to procure honey the first season4 ,novices should begin in a small way4 ,neglected ,apiary1 #cjc4 ,superstitions about bees4 ,cautions to the inexperienced1 against transferring1 renewed4 ,parallel between bees and covetous men1 #cjd4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,robbing4 ,idleness a great cause of it1 #cje4 ,colonies should be examined and supplied with food in ,spring4 ,appearance of robber bees1 #cjf4 ,their suspicious actions4 ,are real ,jerry ,sneaks1 #cjh4 ,highway robbers1 #cji4 ,bee battles4 ,subjected bees unite with the conquerors4 ,cautions against robbery4 ,importance of guarding against robbery1 #caj4 ,efficiency of the movable blocks to this end4 ,comb with honey not to be exposed1 #caa4 ,curious case of robbery1 #cad4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,directions ,,for ,,feeding ,,bees4 ,feeding greatly mismanaged4 ,condition of the bees should be ascertained in the ,spring4 ,they should be supplied if needy1 #cae4 ,many perish from want4 ,connection between feeding and breeding in the hive1 #caf4 ,caution in feeding necessary4 ,results of over feeding1 #cag4 ,necessary to feed largely in multiplying stocks4 ,how to feed weak swarms in ,spring1 #cai4 ,considerations governing the quantity of food1 #cbj4 ,main object to produce bees4 ,proper condition of an ,apiary at close of honey season1 #cba4 ,feeding for ,winter attended to in ,august4 ,unsealed honey sours4 ,sour food is unwholesome to bees4 ,striking instance1 #cbb4 ,spare honey to be apportioned among the stocks4 ,swarms with overstocks of honey do not breed so well4 ,surplus honey in ,spring to be removed1 #cbc4 ,full frames exchanged for empty ones4 ,feeble stocks in ,fall1 to be broken up4 ,profits all come from strong swarms4 ,composition of a good bee-feed1 #cbd4 ,directions for feeding with the improved hive1 #cbe4 ,feeding useless when but little comb in the hive1 #cbf4 ,top feeding4 ,feeder described4 ,importance of water to bees1 #cbh4 ,sugar candy a valuable substitute for honey4 ,summer feeding1 #ccj4 ,bees with proper care need but little feeding4 ,quantity of honey necessary to winter a stock1 #cca4 ,feeding as a source of profit4 ,selling ,w4 ,i4 honey a cheat1 #ccb4 ,honey not a secretion of the bee4 ,evaporation of its water the principal change it undergoes1 #ccd4 ,folly of diluting the feed of bees too much4 ,feeders of cheap honey for market1 deceivers or deceived1 #cce4 ,artificial liquid honey1 #ccf4 ,improved ,maple sugar1 #ccg4 ,feeding bees on artificial honey not profitable1 #ccg4 ,dangerous feeding bees without floats4 ,their infatuation for liquid sweets1 #cci4 ,like that of the inebriate for his cups1 #cdj4 ,avarice in bees and men1 #cda4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,honey4 ,,pasturage4 ,,overstocking4 ,honey the product of flowers1 #cdb4 ,honey dew4 ,aphides1 #cdc4 ,qualities of honey1 #cde4 ,poisonous honey4 ,innoxious by boiling4 ,preserving honey1 #cdf4 ,modes of taking honey from the hive4 ,objections to glass vessels1 #cdg4 ,pasteboard boxes preferred4 ,honey should be handled carefully4 ,pattern comb to be used in the boxes4 ,honey safely removed1 #cdh4 ,should not be taken from the bees in large quantities during honey harvest4 ,pasturage1 #cdi4 ,the ,willow4 ,sugar ,maple and other honey-yielding trees1 #cej4 ,linden tree as an ornament4 ,white clover1 #cea4 ,recommended by ,hon4 ,frederick ,holbrook as a grass crop1 #ceb4 ,sweet-scented clover1 #cfc4 ,hybrid clover front ,sweden1 #ced4 ,buckwheat4 ,raspberry1 #cee4 ,garden flowers4 ,overstocking1 #cef4 ,little danger of it4 ,bee-keepers and ,napoleon4 ,no overstocking in this country4 ,letter from ,mr4 ,wagner on the subject1 #ceg4 ,flight of bees for food1 #cfa4 ,advantages of a good hive in saving time and honey4 ,energies of bees limited4 ,bees injured by winds1 #cfb4 ,protector saves them from harm4 ,estimated profits of bee-culture4 ,advice to the careless1 #cfc4 ,value of ,dzierzon's system4 ,adopted by the government of ,norway4 ,want of ,national encouragement to agriculture1 7note71 #cfd4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,anger ,,of ,,bees4 ,,remedy ,,for ,,their ,,sting4 ,,bee-,,dress4 ,,instincts ,,of ,,bees4 ,gentleness of the bee1 #cfe4 ,feats of ,wildman4 ,interesting incident1 #cff4 ,discovery of a universal law4 ,its importance and results1 #cfg4 ,cross bees diseased4 ,never necessary to provoke a whole colony of bees1 #cfh4 ,danger from bees when provoked4 ,a word to females1 #cfi4 ,kindness of bees to one another4 ,contrast with some children1 #cgj4 ,effects of a sting4 ,the poison1 #cga4 ,peculiar odors offensive to bees4 ,precautions against animals and human robbers1 #cgb4 ,sense of smell in the bee1 #cgc4 ,by this they distinguish their hive companions4 ,robbers repelled by odors1 #cgd4 ,stocks united by them1 #cge4 ,warning given by bees before stinging4 ,how to act when assaulted by bees1 #cgf4 ,remedies for the sting1 #cgg4 ,bee-dress1 #chj4 ,instincts of bees1 #cha4 ,distinction between instinct in animals and reason in men4 ,remarkable instance of sagacity in bees1 #chc4 ,facilities afforded by the ,author's ,improved ,observing ,hive4 ,indebtedness of the author to ,s4 ,wagner1 ,esq41 #chd4 ,,advertisement ,l4 ,l4 ,,langstroth',s ,,movable ,,comb ,,hive4 ,patented ,october #e1 #ahfb4 ,each comb in this hive is attached to a separate1 movable frame1 and in less than five minutes they may all be taken out1 without cutting or injuring them1 or at all enraging the bees4 ,weak stocks may be quickly strengthened by helping them to honey and maturing brood from stronger ones2 queenless colonies may be rescued from certain ruin by supplying them with the means of obtaining another queen2 and the ravages of the moth effectually prevented1 as at any time the hive may be readily examined and all the worms1 c41 removed from the combs4 ,new colonies may be formed in less time than is usually required to hive a natural swarm2 or the hive may be used as a non-swarmer1 or managed on the common swarming plan4 ,the surplus honey may be taken from the interior of the hive on the frames or in upper boxes or glasses1 in the most convenient1 beautiful and saleable forms4 ,colonies may be safely transferred from any other hive to this1 at any season of the year1 from ,april to ,october1 as the brood1 combs1 honey and all the contents of the hive are transferred with them1 and securely fastened in the frames4 ,that the combs can always be removed from this hive with ease and safety1 and that the new system1 by giving the perfect control over all the combs1 effects a complete revolution in practical bee-keeping1 the subscriber prefers to prove rather than assert4 ,practical ,apiarians and all who wish to purchase rights and hives1 are invited to visit his ,apiary1 where combs1 honey and bees will be taken from the hives2 colonies which may be brought to him for that purpose1 transferred from any old hive2 queens1 and the whole process of rearing them constantly exhibited2 new colonies formed1 and all processes connected with the practical management of an ,apiary fully illustrated and explained4 ,those who have any considerable number of bees1 will find it to their interest to have at least one movable comb-hive in their ,apiary1 from which they may1 in a few minutes1 supply any colony which has lost its queen1 with the means of rearing another4 ,the hive and right will be furnished on the following terms4 ,for an individual or farm right1 five dollars4 ,this will entitle the purchaser to use and construct for his own use on his own premises1 as many hives as he chooses4 ,the hives are manufactured by machinery1 and can probably be delivered1 freight included1 at any ,railroad ,station in ,new ,england1 or ,new ,york1 cheaper than they could be made in small quantities on the spot4 ,on receipt of a hive1 the purchaser can decide for himself1 whether he prefers to make them1 or to order them of the ,patentee4 ,for one dollar1 postage paid1 the book will be sent free by mail4 ,on receipt of ten dollars1 a beautiful hive showing all the combs1 7with glass on four sides17 will be sent with right1 freight paid to any railroad station in ,new ,england or ,new ,york3 a right and hive which will accommodate two colonies1 with glass on each side1 for twelve dollars2 for seven dollars1 a right and a well made hive that any one can construct who can handle the simplest tools4 ,in all cases where the hives are sent out of ,new ,england or ,new ,york1 as the freight will not be prepaid1 a dollar will be deducted from the above prices4 ,address ,l4 ,l4 ,,langstroth1 ,greenfield1 ,mass4 ,,introduction ,,chapter ,i4 ,the present condition of practical bee-keeping in this country1 is known to be deplorably low4 ,from the great mass of agriculturists1 and others favorably situated for obtaining honey1 it receives not the slightest attention4 ,notwithstanding the large number of patent hives which have been introduced1 the ravages of the bee-moth have increased1 and success is becoming more and more precarious4 ,multitudes have abandoned the pursuit in disgust1 while many of the most experienced1 are fast settling down into the conviction that all the so-called ,improved ,hives are delusions1 and that they must return to the simple box or hollow log1 and take up their bees with sulphur1 in the old-fashioned way4 ,in the present state of public opinion1 it requires no little courage to venture upon the introduction of a new hive and system of management2 but ,i feel confident that a new era in bee-keeping has arrived1 and invite the attention of all interested1 to the reasons for this belief4 ,a perusal of this ,manual1 will1 ,i trust1 convince them that there is a better way than any with which they have yet been acquainted4 ,they will here find many hitherto mysterious points in the physiology of the honey-bee1 clearly explained1 and much valuable information never before communicated to the public4 ,it is now nearly fifteen years since ,i first turned my attention to the cultivation of bees4 ,the state of my health having compelled me to live more and more in the open air1 ,i have devoted a large portion of my time1 of late years1 to a careful investigation of their habits1 and to a series of minute and thorough experiments in the construction of hives1 and the best methods of managing them1 so as to secure the largest practical results4 ,very early in my ,apiarian studies1 ,i procured an imported copy of the work of the celebrated ,huber1 and constructed a hive on his plan1 which furnished me with favorable opportunities of verifying some of his most valuable discoveries2 and ,i soon found that the prejudices existing against him1 were entirely unfounded4 ,believing that his discoveries laid the foundation for a more extended and profitable system of bee-keeping1 ,i began to experiment with hives of various construction4 ,the result of all these investigations fell far short of my expectations4 ,i became1 however1 most thoroughly convinced that no hives were fit to be used1 unless they furnished uncommon protection against extremes of heat and more especially of ,,cold4 ,i accordingly discarded all thin hives made of inch stuff1 and constructed my hives of doubled materials1 enclosing a dead air space all around4 ,these hives1 although more expensive in the first cost1 proved to be much cheaper in the end1 than those ,i had previously used4 ,the bees wintered remarkably well in them1 and swarmed early and with unusual regularity4 ,my next step in advance1 was1 while ,i secured my surplus honey in the most convenient1 beautiful and salable forms1 so to facilitate the entrance of the bees into the honey receptacles1 as to secure the largest fruits from their labors4 ,although ,i felt confident that my hive possessed some valuable peculiarities1 ,i still found myself unable to remedy many of the casualties to which bee-keeping is liable4 ,i now perceived that no hive could be made to answer my expectations unless it gave me the complete control of the combs1 so that ,i might remove any1 or all of them at pleasure4 ,the use of the ,huber hive had convinced me that with proper precautions1 the combs might be removed without enraging the bees1 and that these insects were capable of being domesticated or tamed1 to a most surprising degree4 ,a knowledge of these facts was absolutely necessary to the further progress of my invention1 for without it1 ,i should have regarded a hive designed to allow of the removal of the combs1 as too dangerous in use1 to be of any practical value4 ,at first1 ,i used movable slats or bars placed on rabbets in the front and back of the hive4 ,the bees were induced to build their combs upon these bars1 and in carrying them down1 to fasten them to the sides of the hive4 ,by severing the attachments to the sides1 ,i was able1 at any time1 to remove the combs suspended from the bars4 ,there was nothing new in the use of movable bars2 the invention being probably1 at least1 a hundred years old2 and ,i had myself used such hives on ,bevan's plan1 very early in the commencement of my experiments4 ,the chief peculiarity in my hives1 as now constructed1 was the facility with which these bars could be removed without enraging the bees1 and their combination with my new mode of obtaining the surplus honey4 ,with hives of this construction ,i commenced experimenting on a larger scale than ever1 and soon arrived at results which proved to be of the very first importance4 ,i found myself able1 if ,i wished it1 to dispense entirely with natural swarming1 and yet to multiply colonies with much greater rapidity and certainty than by the common methods4 ,i could1 in a short time1 strengthen my feeble colonies1 and furnish those which had lost their ,queen with the means of obtaining another4 ,if ,i suspected that any thing was the matter with a hive1 ,i could ascertain its true condition1 by making a thorough examination of every part1 and if the worms had gained a lodgment1 ,i could quickly dispossess them4 ,in short1 ,i could perform all the operations which will be explained in this treatise1 and ,i now believed that bee-keeping could be made highly profitable1 and as much a matter of certainty1 as any other branch of rural economy4 ,i perceived1 however1 that one thing was yet wanting4 ,the cutting of the combs from their attachments to the sides of the hive1 in order to remove them1 was attended with much loss of time to myself and to the bees1 and in order to facilitate this operation1 the construction of my hive was necessarily complicated4 ,this led me to invent a method by which the combs were attached to ,,movable ,,frames1 and suspended in the hives1 so as to touch neither the top1 bottom1 nor sides4 ,by this device1 ,i was able to remove the combs at pleasure1 and if desired1 ,i could speedily transfer them1 bees and all1 without any cutting1 to another hive4 ,i have experimented largely with hives of this construction1 and find that they answer most admirably1 all the ends proposed in their invention4 ,while experimenting in the summer of #ahea1 with some observing hives of a peculiar construction1 ,i discovered that bees could be made to work in glass hives1 exposed to the full light of day4 ,the notice1 in a ,philadelphia newspaper1 of this discovery1 procured me the pleasure of an acquaintance with ,rev4 ,dr4 ,berg1 pastor of a ,dutch ,reformed church in that city4 ,from him1 ,i first learned that a ,prussian clergyman1 of the name of ,dzierzon1 7pronounced ,tseertsone17 had attracted the attention of crowned heads1 by his important discoveries in the management of bees4 ,before he communicated the particulars of these discoveries1 ,i explained to ,dr4 ,berg1 my system of management1 and showed him my hive4 ,he expressed the greatest astonishment at the wonderful similarity in our methods of management1 both of us having carried on our investigations without the slightest knowledge of each other's labors4 ,our hives1 he found to differ in some very important respects4 ,in the ,dzierzon hive1 the combs are not attached to movable frames1 but to bars1 so that they cannot1 without cutting1 be removed from the hive4 ,in my hive1 which is opened from the top1 any comb may be taken out1 without at all disturbing the others2 whereas1 in the ,dzierzon hive1 which is opened from one of the ends1 it is often necessary to cut and remove many combs1 in order to get access to a particular one2 thus1 if the tenth comb from the end is to be removed1 nine combs must be first cut and taken out4 ,all this consumes a large amount of time4 ,the ,german hive does not furnish the surplus honey in a form which would be found most salable in our markets1 or which would admit of safe transportation in the comb4 ,notwithstanding these disadvantages1 it has achieved a great triumph in ,germany1 and given a new impulse to the cultivation of bees4 ,the following letter from ,samuel ,wagner1 ,esq41 cashier of the bank in ,york1 ,pennsylvania1 will show the results which have been obtained in ,germany1 by the new system of management1 and his estimate of the superior value of my hive to those in use there4 ,,york1 ,,pa41 ,,dec4 #bd1 #aheb4 ,,dear ,,sir1 ,the ,dzierzon theory and the system of bee-management based thereon1 were originally promulgated1 hypothetically1 in the ,eichstadt ,bienenzeitung or ,bee-journal1 in #ahde1 and at once arrested my attention4 ,subsequently1 when in #ahdh1 at the instance of the ,prussian government1 the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,dzierzon published his ,theory and ,practice of ,bee ,culture1 ,i imported a copy1 which reached me in #ahdi1 and which ,i translated prior to ,january #ahej4 ,before the translation was completed1 ,i received a visit from my friend1 the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,berg1 of ,philadelphia1 and in the course of conversation on bee-keeping1 mentioned to him the ,dzierzon theory and system1 as one which ,i regarded as new and very superior1 though ,i had had no opportunity for testing it practically4 ,in ,february following1 when in ,philadelphia1 ,i left with him the translation in manuscript--up to which period1 ,i doubt whether any other person in this country had any knowledge of the ,dzierzon theory2 except to ,dr4 ,berg ,i had never mentioned it to any one1 save in very general terms4 ,in ,september1 #ahea1 ,dr4 ,berg again visited ,york1 and stated to me your investigations1 discoveries and inventions4 ,from the account ,dr4 ,berg gave me1 ,i felt assured that you had devised substantially the same system as that so successfully pursued by ,mr4 ,dzierzon2 but how far your hive resembled his ,i was unable to judge from description alone4 ,i inferred1 however1 several points of difference4 ,the coincidence as to system1 and the principles on which it was evidently founded1 struck me as exceedingly singular and interesting1 because ,i felt confident that you had no more knowledge of ,mr4 ,dzierzon and his labors1 before ,dr4 ,berg mentioned him and his book to you1 than ,mr4 ,dzierzon had of you4 ,these circumstances made me very anxious to examine your hives1 and induced me to visit your ,apiary in the village of ,west ,philadelphia1 last ,august4 ,in the absence of the keeper1 as ,i informed you1 ,i took the liberty to explore the premises thoroughly1 opening and inspecting a number of the hives1 and noticing the internal arrangement of the parts4 ,the result was1 that ,i came away convinced that though your system was based on the same principles as ,dzierzon's1 yet that your hive was almost totally different from his1 in construction and arrangement2 that while the same objects substantially are attained by each1 your hive is more simple1 more convenient1 and much better adapted for general introduction and use1 since the mode of using it can be more easily taught4 ,of its ultimate and triumphant success ,i have no doubt4 ,i sincerely believe that when it comes under the notice of ,mr4 ,dzierzon1 he will himself prefer it to his own4 ,it in fact combines all the good properties which a hive ought to possess1 while it is free from the complication1 clumsiness1 vain whims1 and decidedly objectionable features1 which characterize most of the inventions which profess to be at all superior to the simple box1 or the common chamber hive4 ,you may certainly claim equal credit with ,dzierzon for originality in observation and discovery in the natural history of the honey bee1 and for success in deducing principles and devising a most valuable system of management from observed facts4 ,but in invention1 as far as neatness1 compactness1 and adaptation of means to ends are concerned1 the sturdy ,german must yield the palm to you4 ,you will find a case of similar coincidence detailed in the ,westminster ,review for ,october1 #aheb1 page #bfg1 et seq4 ,i send you herewith some interesting statements respecting ,dzierzon1 and the estimate in which his system is held in ,germany4 ,very truly yours1 ,,samuel ,,wagner4 ,,rev4 ,l4 ,l4 ,,langstroth4 ,the following are the statements to which ,mr4 ,wagner refers4-- ,as the best test of the value of ,mr4 ,dzierzon's system1 is the results which have been made to flow from it1 a brief account of its rise and progress maybe found interesting4 ,in #ahce he commenced bee-keeping in the common way1 with #ab colonies--and after various mishaps1 which taught him the defects of the common hives and the old mode of management1 his stock was so reduced that in #ahch he had virtually to begin anew4 ,at this period he contrived his improved hive in its ruder form1 which gave him the command over all the combs1 and he began to experiment on the theory which observation and study had enabled him to devise4 ,thenceforward his progress was as rapid as his success was complete and triumphant4 ,though he met with frequent reverses--about #gj colonies having been stolen from him1 sixty destroyed by fire1 and #bd by a flood--yet in #ahdf his stock had increased to #cfj colonies1 and he realized from them that year six thousand pounds of honey1 besides several hundred weight of wax4 ,at the same time most of the cultivators in his vicinity who pursued the common methods1 had fewer hives than they had when he commenced4 ,in the year #ahdh1 a fatal pestilence1 known by the name of foul brood1 prevailed among his bees1 and destroyed nearly all his colonies before it could be subdued--only about ten having escaped the malady1 which attacked alike the old stocks and his artificial swarms4 ,he estimates his entire loss that year at over #ejj colonies4 ,nevertheless he succeeded so well in multiplying by artificial swarms1 the few that remained healthy1 that in the fall of #ahea his stock consisted of nearly #djj colonies4 ,he must1 therefore1 have multiplied his stocks more than three fold each year4 ,the highly prosperous condition of his colonies is attested by the ,report of the ,secretary of the ,annual ,apiarian ,convention which met in his vicinity last spring4 ,this ,convention1 the fourth which has been held1 consisted of #aab experienced and enthusiastic bee-keepers from various districts of ,germany and neighboring countries1 and among them were some who when they assembled were strong opposers of his system4 ,they visited and personally examined the ,apiaries of ,mr4 ,dzierzon4 ,the report speaks in the very highest terms of his success1 and of the manifest superiority of his system of management4 ,he exhibited and satisfactorily explained to his visitors his practice and principles2 and they remarked1 with astonishment1 the singular docility of his bees1 and the thorough control to which they were subjected4 ,after a full detail of the proceedings1 the ,secretary goes on to say3-- ,now that ,i have seen ,dzierzon's method practically demonstrated1 ,i must admit that it is attended with fewer difficulties than ,i had supposed4 ,with his hive and system of management it would seem that bees become at once more docile than they are in other cases4 ,i consider his system the simplest and best means of elevating bee-culture to a profitable pursuit1 and of spreading it far and wide over the land--especially as it is peculiarly adapted to districts in which the bees do not readily and regularly swarm4 ,his eminent success in re-establishing his stock after suffering so heavily from the devastating pestilence--in short the recuperative power of the system demonstrates conclusively1 that it furnishes the best1 perhaps the only means of reinstating bee-culture lo a profitable branch of rural economy4 ,dzierzon modestly disclaimed the idea of having attained perfection in his hive4 ,he dwelt rather upon the truth and importance of his theory and system of management4 ,from the ,leipzig ,illustrated ,almanac--,report on ,agriculture for #ahdf4 ,bee culture is no longer regarded as of any importance in rural economy4 ,from the same for #ahea1 and #ahec4 ,since ,dzierzon's system has been made known an entire revolution in bee culture has been produced4 ,a new era has been created for it1 and bee-keepers are turning their attention to it with renewed zeal4 ,the merits of his discoveries are appreciated by the government1 and they recommend his system as worthy the attention of the teachers of common schools4 ,mr4 ,dzierzon resides in a poor sandy district of ,middle ,silesia1 which1 according to the common notions of ,apiarians1 is unfavorable to bee-culture4 ,yet despite of this and of various mishaps1 he has succeeded in realizing #ijj dollars as the product of his bees in one season6 ,by his mode of management1 his bees yield1 even in the poorest years1 from #aj to #ae per cent on the capital invested1 and where the colonies are produced by the ,apiarian's own skill and labor they cost him only about one-fourth the price at which they are usually valued4 ,in ordinary seasons the profit amounts to from #cj to #ej per cent1 and in very favorable seasons from #hj to #ajj per cent4 ,in communicating these facts to the public1 ,i have several objects in view4 ,i freely acknowledge that ,i take an honest pride in establishing my claims as an independent observer2 and as having matured by my own discoveries1 the same system of bee-culture1 as that which has excited so much interest in ,germany2 ,i desire also to have the testimony of the translator of ,dzierzon to the superior merits of my hive4 ,mr4 ,wagner is extensively known as an able ,german scholar4 ,he has taken all the numbers of the ,bee ,journal1 a monthly periodical which has been published for more than fifteen years in ,germany1 and is probably more familiar with the state of ,apiarian culture abroad1 than any man in this country4 ,i am anxious further to show that the great importance which ,i attach to my system of management1 is amply justified by the success of those who while pursuing the same system with inferior hives1 have attained results1 which to common bee-keepers1 seem almost incredible4 ,inventors are very prone to form exaggerated estimates of the value of their labors2 and the ,american public has been so often deluded with patent hives1 devised by persons ignorant of the most important principles in the natural history of the bee1 and which have utterly failed to answer their professed objects1 that they are scarcely to be blamed for rejecting every new hive as unworthy of confidence4 ,there is now a prospect that a ,bee ,journal will before long1 be established in this country4 ,such a publication has long been needed4 ,properly conducted1 it will have a most powerful influence in disseminating information1 awakening enthusiasm1 and guarding the public against the miserable impositions to which it has so long been subjected4 ,two such journals are now published monthly in ,germany1 one of which has been in existence for more than #ae years--and their wide circulation has made thousands well acquainted with those principles1 which must constitute the foundation of any enlightened and profitable system of culture4 ,the truth is that while many of the principal facts in the physiology of the honey bee have long been familiar to scientific observers1 it has unfortunately happened that some of the most important have been widely discredited4 ,in themselves they are so wonderful1 and to those who have not witnessed them1 often so incredible1 that it is not at all strange that they have been rejected as fanciful conceits1 or bare-faced inventions4 ,many persons have not the slightest idea that every thing may be seen that takes place in a bee-hive4 ,but hives have for many years1 been in use1 containing only one large comb1 enclosed on both sides1 by glass4 ,these hives are darkened by shutters1 and when opened1 the queen is exposed to observation1 as well as all the other bees4 ,within the last two years1 ,i have discovered that with proper precautions1 colonies can be made to work in observing hives1 without shutters1 and exposed continually to the full light of day2 so that observations may be made at all times1 without in the least interrupting the ordinary operations of the bees4 ,by the aid of such hives1 some of the most intelligent citizens of ,philadelphia have seen in my ,apiary1 the queen bee depositing her eggs in the cells1 and constantly surrounded by an affectionate circle of her devoted children4 ,they have also witnessed1 with astonishment and delight1 all the steps in the mysterious process of raising queens from eggs which with the ordinary development1 would have produced only the common bees4 ,for more than three months1 there was not a day in which some of my colonies were not engaged in making new queens to supply the place of those taken from them1 and ,i had the pleasure of exhibiting all the facts to bee-keepers who never before felt willing to credit them4 ,as all my hives are so made that each comb can be taken out1 and examined at pleasure1 those who use them1 can obtain from them all the information which they need1 and1 are no longer forced to take any thing upon trust4 ,may ,i be permitted to express the hope that the time is now at hand1 when the number of practical observers will be so multiplied1 that ignorant and designing men will neither be able to impose their conceits and falsehoods upon the public1 nor be sustained in their attempts to depreciate the valuable discoveries of those who have devoted years of observation and experiment to promote the advancement of ,apiarian knowledge4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,honey ,,bee ,,capable ,,of ,,being ,,tamed ,,or ,,domesticated ,,to ,a ,,most ,,surprising ,,degree4 ,if the bee had not such a necessary and yet formidable weapon both of offence and defence1 multitudes would be induced to enter upon its cultivation1 who are now afraid to have any thing to do with it4 ,as the new system of management which ,i have devised1 seems to add to this inherent difficulty1 by taking the greatest possible liberties with so irascible an insect1 ,i deem it important to show clearly1 in the very outset1 how bees may be managed1 so that all necessary operations may be performed in an ,apiary1 without incurring any serious risk of exciting their anger4 ,many persons have been unable to control their expressions of wonder and astonishment1 on seeing me open hive after hive1 in my experimental ,apiary1 in the vicinity of ,philadelphia1 removing the combs covered with bees1 and shaking them off in front of the hives2 exhibiting the queen1 transferring the bees to another hive1 and1 in short1 dealing with them as if they were as harmless as so many flies4 ,i have sometimes been asked if the bees with which ,i was experimenting1 had not been subjected to a long course of instruction1 to prepare them for public exhibition2 when in some cases1 the very hives which ,i was opening1 contained swarms which had been brought only the day before1 to my establishment4 ,before entering upon the natural history of the bee1 ,i shall anticipate some principles in its management1 in order to prepare my readers to receive1 without the doubts which would otherwise be very natural1 the statements in my book1 and to convince them that almost any one favorably situated1 may safely enjoy the pleasure and profit of a pursuit1 which has been most appropriately styled1 the poetry of rural economy2 and that1 without being made too familiar with a sharp little weapon1 which can most speedily and effectually convert all the poetry into very sorry prose4 ,the ,creator intended the bee for the comfort of man1 as truly as he did the horse or the cow4 ,in the early ages of the world1 indeed until very recently1 honey was almost the only natural sweet2 and the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey1 had then a significance1 the full force of which it is difficult for us to realize4 ,the honey bee was1 therefore1 created not merely with the ability to store up its delicious nectar for its own use1 but with certain properties which fitted it to be domesticated1 and to labor for man1 and without which1 he would no more have been able to subject it to his control1 than to make a useful beast of burden of a lion or a tiger4 ,one of the peculiarities which constitutes the very foundation1 not merely of my system of management1 but of the ability of man to domesticate at all so irascible an insect1 has never1 to my knowledge1 been clearly stated as a great and controlling principle4 ,it may be thus expressed4 ,a ,,honey ,,bee ,,never ,,volunteers ,,an ,,attack1 ,,or ,,acts ,,on ,,the ,,offensive1 ,,when ,,it ,,is ,,gorged ,,or ,,filled ,,with ,,honey4 ,the man who first attempted to lodge a swarm of bees in an artificial hive1 was doubtless agreeably surprised at the ease with which he was able to accomplish it4 ,for when the bees are intending to swarm1 they fill their honey-bags to their utmost capacity4 ,this is wisely ordered1 that they may have materials for commencing operations immediately in their new habitation2 that they may not starve if several stormy days should follow their emigration2 and that when they leave their hives1 they may be in a suitable condition to be secured by man4 ,they issue from their hives in the most peaceable mood that can well be imagined2 and unless they are abused1 allow themselves to be treated with great familiarity4 ,the hiving of bees by those who understand their nature1 could almost always be conducted without the risk of any annoyance1 if it were not the case that some improvident or unfortunate ones occasionally come forth without the soothing supply2 and not being stored with honey1 are filled with the gall of the bitterest hate against all mankind and animal kind in general1 and any one who dares to meddle with them in particular4 ,such radicals are always to be dreaded1 for they must vent their spleen on something1 even though they lose their life in the act4 ,suppose the whole colony1 on sallying forth1 to possess such a ferocious spirit2 no one would ever dare to hive them1 unless clad in a coat of mail1 at least bee-proof1 and not even then1 until all the windows of his house were closed1 his domestic animals bestowed in some safe place1 and sentinels posted at suitable stations1 to warn all comers to look out for something almost as much to be dreaded1 as a fiery locomotive in full speed4 ,in short1 if the propensity to be exceedingly good-natured after a hearty meal1 had not been given to the bee1 it could never have been domesticated1 and our honey would still be procured from the clefts of rocks1 or the hollows of trees4 ,a second peculiarity in the nature of the bee1 and one of which ,i continually avail myself with the greatest success1 may be thus stated4 ,,bees ,,cannot1 ,,under ,,any ,,circumstances1 ,,resist ,,the ,,temptation ,,to ,,fill ,,themselves ,,with ,,liquid ,,sweets4 ,it would be quite as easy for an inveterate miser to look with indifference upon a golden shower of double eagles1 falling at his feet and soliciting his appropriation4 ,if then we can contrive a way to call their attention to a treat of running sweets1 when we wish to perform any operation which might provoke them1 we may be sure they will accept it1 and under its genial influence1 allow us without molestation1 to do what we please4 ,we must always be particularly careful not to handle them roughly1 for they will never allow themselves to be pinched or hurt without thrusting out their sting to resent such an indignity4 ,i always keep a small watering-pot or sprinkler1 in my ,apiary1 and whenever ,i wish to operate upon a hive1 as soon as the cover is taken off1 and the bees exposed1 ,i sprinkle them gently with water sweetened with sugar4 ,they help themselves with the greatest eagerness1 and in a few moments1 are in a perfectly manageable state4 ,the truth is1 that bees managed on this plan are always glad to see visitors1 and you cannot look in upon them too often1 for they expect at every call1 to receive a sugared treat by way of a peace-offering4 ,i can superintend a large number of hives1 performing every operation that is necessary for pleasure or profit1 and yet not run the risks of being stung1 which must frequently be incurred in attempting to manage1 in the simplest way1 the common hives4 ,those who are timid may1 at first1 use a bee-dress2 though they will soon discard every thing of the kind1 unless they are of the number of those to whom the bees have a special aversion4 ,such unfortunates are sure to be stung whenever they show themselves in the vicinity of a bee-hive1 and they will do well to give the bees a very wide berth4 ,apiarians have1 for many years1 employed the smoke of tobacco for subduing their bees4 ,it deprives them1 at once1 of all disposition to sting1 but it ought never to be used for such a purpose4 ,if the construction of the hives will not permit the bees to be sprinkled with sugar water1 the smoke of burning paper or rags will answer every purpose1 and the bees will not be likely to resent it2 whereas when they recover from the effect of the tobacco1 they not unfrequently remember1 and in no very gentle way1 the operator who administered the nauseous dose4 ,let all your motions about your hives be gentle and slow4 ,accustom your bees to your presence2 never crush or injure them in any operation2 acquaint yourself fully with the principles of management detailed in this treatise1 and you will find that you have but little more reason to dread the sting of a bee1 than the horns of your favorite cow1 or the heels of your faithful horse4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,queen ,,or ,,mother-,,bee1 ,,the ,,drones1 ,,and ,,the ,,workers2 ,,with ,,various ,,highly ,,important ,,facts ,,in ,,their ,,natural ,,history4 ,bees can flourish only when associated in large numbers1 as a colony4 ,in a solitary state1 a single bee is almost as helpless as a new-born child2 it is unable to endure even the ordinary chill of a cool summer night4 ,if a strong colony of bees is examined1 a short time before it swarms1 three different kinds of bees will be found in the hive4 #ast4 ,a bee of peculiar shape1 commonly called the ,queen ,bee4 #b;d4 ,some hundreds1 more or less1 of large bees called ,drones4 #c;d4 ,many thousands of a smaller kind1 called ,workers or common bees1 and similar to those which are seen on the blossoms4 ,a large number of the cells will be found filled with honey and bee-bread2 while vast numbers contain eggs1 and immature workers and drones4 ,a few cells of unusual size1 are devoted to the rearing of young queens1 and are ordinarily to be found in a perfect condition1 only in the swarming season4 ,the ,queen-,bee is the only perfect female in the hive1 and all the eggs are laid by her4 ,the ,drones are the males1 and the ,workers are females1 whose ovaries or egg-bags are so imperfectly developed that they are incapable of breeding1 and which retain the instinct of females1 only so far as to give the most devoted attention to feeding and rearing the brood4 ,these facts have all been demonstrated repeatedly1 and are as well established as the most common facts in the breeding of our domestic animals4 ,the knowledge of them in their most important bearings1 is absolutely essential to all who expect to realize large profits from an improved method of rearing bees4 ,those who will not acquire the necessary information1 if they keep bees at all1 should manage them in the old-fashioned way1 which requires the smallest amount either of knowledge or skill4 ,i am perfectly aware how difficult it is to reason with a large class of bee-keepers1 some of whom have been so often imposed upon1 that they have lost all faith in the truth of any statements which may be made by any one interested in a patent hive1 while others stigmatize all knowledge which does not square with their own1 as book-knowledge1 and unworthy the attention of practical men4 ,if any such read this book1 let me remind them again1 that all my assertions may be put to the test4 ,so long as the interior of a hive1 was to common observers1 a profound mystery1 ignorant and designing men might assert what they pleased1 about what passed in its dark recesses2 but now1 when all that takes place in it1 can1 in a few moments1 be exposed to the full light of day1 and every one who keeps bees1 can see and examine for himself1 the man who attempts to palm upon the community1 his own conceits for facts1 will speedily earn for himself1 the character both of a fool and an impostor4 ,,the ,,queen ,,bee1 or as she may more properly be called ,,the ,,mother ,,bee1 is the common mother of the whole colony4 ,she reigns therefore1 most unquestionably1 by a divine right1 as every mother is1 or ought to be1 a queen in her own family4 ,her shape is entirely different from that of the other bees4 ,while she is not near so bulky as a drone1 her body is longer1 and of a more tapering1 or sugar-loaf form than that of a worker1 so that she has somewhat of a wasp-like appearance4 ,her wings are much shorter1 in proportion1 than those of the drone1 or worker2 the under part of her body is of a golden color1 and the upper part darker than that of the other bees4 ,her motions are usually slow and matronly1 although she can1 when she pleases1 move with astonishing quickness4 ,no colony can long exist without the presence of this all-important insect4 ,she is just as necessary to its welfare1 as the soul is to the body1 for a colony without a queen must as certainly perish1 as a body without the spirit hasten to inevitable decay4 ,she is treated by the bees1 as every mother ought to be1 by her children1 with the most unbounded respect and affection4 ,a circle of her loving offspring constantly surround her1 testifying1 in various ways1 their dutiful regard2 offering her honey1 from time to time1 and always1 most politely getting out of her way1 to give her a clear path when she wishes to move over the combs4 ,if she is taken from them1 as soon as they have ascertained their loss1 the whole colony is thrown into a state of the most intense agitation2 all the labors of the hive are at once abandoned2 the bees run wildly over the combs1 and frequently1 the whole of them rush forth from the hive1 and exhibit all the appearance of anxious search for their beloved mother4 ,not being able anywhere to find her1 they return to their desolate home1 and by their mournful tones1 reveal their deep sense of so deplorable a calamity4 ,their note1 at such times1 more especially when they first realize her loss1 is of a peculiarly mournful character2 it sounds something like a succession of wails on the minor key1 and can no more be mistaken by the experienced bee-keeper1 for their ordinary1 happy hum1 than the piteous moanings of a sick child can be confounded1 by an anxious mother1 with its joyous crowings1 when overflowing with health and happiness4 ,i am perfectly aware that all this will sound to many1 much more like romance than sober reality2 but ,i have determined1 in writing this book1 to state facts1 however wonderful1 just as they are2 confident that they will1 before long1 be universally received1 and hoping that the many wonders in the economy of the honey bee will not only excite a wider interest in its culture1 but will lead those who observe them1 to adore the wisdom of ,him who gave them such admirable instincts4 ,i cannot refrain from quoting here1 the forcible remarks of an ,english clergyman1 who appears to be a very great enthusiast in bee-culture4 ,every bee-keeper1 if he have only a soul to appreciate the works of ,god1 and an intelligence of an inquisitive order1 cannot fail to become deeply interested in observing the wonderful instincts1 7instincts akin to reason17 of these admirable creatures2 at the same time that he will learn many lessons of practical wisdom from their example4 ,having acquired a knowledge of their habits1 not a bee will buzz in his ear1 without recalling to him some of these lessons1 and helping to make him a wiser and a better man4 ,it is certain that in all my experience1 ,i never yet met with a keeper of bees1 who was not a respectable1 well-conducted member of society1 and a moral1 if not a religious man4#a ,it is evident1 on reflection1 that this pursuit1 if well attended to1 must occupy some considerable share of a man's time and thoughts4 ,he must be often about his bees1 which will help to counteract the baneful effect of the village inn4 ,whoever is fond of his bees is fond of his home1 is an axiom of irrefragable truth1 and one which ought to kindle in every one's breast1 a favorable regard for a pursuit which has the power to produce so happy an influence4 ,the love of home is the companion of many other virtues1 which1 if not yet developed into actual exercise1 are still only dormant1 and may be roused into wakeful energy at any moment4 ,the fertility of the queen bee has been much under-estimated by most writers4 ,it is truly astonishing4 ,during the height of the breeding season1 she will often1 under favorable circumstances1 lay from two to three thousand eggs1 a day6 ,in my observing hives1 ,i have seen her lay1 at the rate of six eggs a minute6 ,the fecundity of the female of the white ant1 is much greater than this1 as she will lay as many as sixty eggs a minute6 but then her eggs are simply extruded from her body1 to be carried by the workers into suitable nurseries1 while the queen bee herself deposits her eggs in their appropriate cells4 ,,on ,,the ,,way ,,in ,,which ,,the ,,eggs ,,of ,,the ,,queen ,,bee ,,are ,,fecundated4 ,i come now to a subject of great practical importance1 and one which1 until quite recently1 has been attended with apparently insuperable difficulties4 ,it has been noticed that the queen bee commences laying in the latter part of winter1 or early in spring1 and long before there are any drones or males in the hive4 7,see remarks on ,drones47 ,in what way are these eggs impregnated8 ,huber1 by a long course of the most indefatigable observations1 threw much light upon this subject4 ,before stating his discoveries1 ,i must pay my humble tribute of gratitude and admiration1 to this wonderful man4 ,it is mortifying to every scientific naturalist1 and ,i might add1 to every honest man acquainted with the facts1 to hear such a man as ,huber abused by the veriest quacks and imposters2 while others who have appropriated from his labors1 nearly all that is of any value in their works1 to use the words of ,pope1 ,damn with faint praise1 assent with civil leer1 ,and without sneering1 teach the rest to sneer4 ,huber1 in early manhood1 lost the use of his eyes4 ,his opponents imagine that in stating this fact1 they have thrown merited discredit on all his pretended discoveries4 ,but to make their case still stronger1 they delight to assert that he saw every thing through the medium of his servant ,francis ,burnens1 an ignorant peasant4 ,now this ignorant peasant was a man of strong native intellect1 possessing that indefatigable energy and enthusiasm which are so indispensable to make a good observer4 ,he was a noble specimen of a self-made man1 and afterwards rose to be the chief magistrate in the village where he resided4 ,huber has paid the most admirable tribute to his intelligence1 fidelity and indomitable patience1 energy and skill4 ,it would be difficult to find1 in any language1 a better specimen of the true ,baconian or inductive system of reasoning1 than ,huber's work upon bees1 and it might be studied as a model of the only true way of investigating nature1 so as to arrive at reliable results4 ,huber was assisted in his investigations1 not only by ,burnens1 but by his own wife1 to whom he was engaged before the loss of his sight1 and who nobly persisted in marrying him1 notwithstanding his misfortune1 and the strenuous dissuasions of her friends4 ,they lived for more than the ordinary term of human life1 in the enjoyment of uninterrupted domestic happiness1 and the amiable naturalist scarcely felt1 in her assiduous attentions1 the loss of his sight4 ,milton is believed by many1 to have been a better poet1 for his blindness2 and it is highly probable that ,huber was a better ,apiarian1 for the same cause4 ,his active and yet reflective mind demanded constant employment2 and he found in the study of the habits of the honey bee1 full scope for all his powers4 ,all the facts observed1 and experiments tried by his faithful assistants1 were daily reported to him1 and many inquiries were stated and suggestions made by him1 which would probably have escaped his notice1 if he had possessed the use of his eyes4 ,few have such a command of both time and money as to enable them to carry on1 for a series of years1 on a grand scale1 the most costly experiments4 ,apiarians owe more to ,huber than to any other person4 ,i have repeatedly verified the most important of his observations1 and ,i take the greatest delight in acknowledging my obligations to him1 and in holding him up to my countrymen1 as the ,,prince ,,of ,,apiarians4 ,my ,readers will pardon this digression4 ,it would have been morally impossible for me to write a work on bees1 without saying at least as much as this1 in vindication of ,huber4 ,i return to his discoveries on the impregnation of the ,queen ,bee4 ,by a long course of experiments most carefully conducted1 he ascertained that like many other insects1 she is fecundated in the open air1 and on the wing1 and that the influence of this lasts for several years1 and probably for life4 ,he could not form any satisfactory conjecture1 as to the way in which the eggs which were not yet developed in her ovaries1 could be fertilized4 ,years ago1 the celebrated ,dr4 ,john ,hunter1 and others1 supposed that there must be a permanent receptacle for the male sperm1 opening into the passage for the eggs called the oviduct4 ,dzierzon1 who must be regarded as one of the ablest contributors of modern times1 to ,apiarian science1 maintains this opinion1 and states that he has found such a receptacle filled with a fluid1 resembling the semen of the drones4 ,he nowhere1 to my knowledge1 states that he ever made microscopic examinations1 so as to put the matter on the footing of demonstration4 ,in ,january and ,february of #aheb1 ,i submitted several ,queen ,bees to ,dr4 ,joseph ,leidy of ,philadelphia1 for a scientific examination4 ,i need hardly say to any ,naturalist in this country1 that ,dr4 ,leidy has obtained the very highest reputation1 both at home and abroad1 as a skillful naturalist and microscopic anatomist4 ,no man in this country or ,europe1 was more competent to make the investigations that ,i desired4 ,he found in making his dissections1 a small globular sac1 not larger than a grain of mustard seed1 7about #a_/cc of an inch in diameter17 communicating with the oviduct1 and filled with a whitish fluid1 which when examined under the microscope1 was found to abound in spermatozoa1 or the animalcul1 which are the unmistakable characteristics of the seminal fluid4 ,later in the season1 the same substance was compared with some taken from the drones1 and found to be exactly similar to it4 ,these examinations have settled1 on the impregnable basis of demonstration1 the mode in which the eggs of the ,queen are vivified4 ,in descending the oviduct to be deposited in the cells1 they pass by the mouth of this seminal sac or spermatheca1 and receive a portion of its fertilizing contents4 ,small as it is1 its contents are sufficient to impregnate hundreds of thousands of eggs4 ,in precisely the same way1 the mother wasps and hornets are fecundated4 ,the females alone of these insects survive the winter1 and they begin1 single-handed1 the construction of a nest1 in which1 at first1 only a few eggs are deposited4 ,how could these eggs hatch1 if the females which laid them1 had not been impregnated1 the previous season8 ,dissection proves them to have a spermatheca1 similar to that of the ,queen ,bee4 ,of all who have written against ,huber1 no one has treated him with more unfairness1 misrepresentation1 and ,i might almost add1 malignity1 than ,huish4 ,he maintains that the eggs of the ,queen are impregnated by the drones1 after she has deposited them in the cells1 and accounts for the fact that brood is produced in the ,spring1 long before the existence of any drones in the hive1 by asserting that these eggs were deposited and impregnated late in the previous season1 and have remained dormant1 all winter1 in the hive3 and yet the same writer1 while ridiculing the discoveries of ,huber1 advises that all the mother wasps should be killed in the ,spring1 to prevent them from founding families to commit depredations upon the bees6 ,it never seems to have occurred to him1 that the existence of a permanently impregnated mother wasp1 was just as difficult to be accounted for1 as the existence of a similarly impregnated ,queen ,bee4 ,,effect ,,of ,,retarded ,,impregnation ,,on ,,the ,,queen ,,bee4 ,i shall now mention a fact in the physiology of the ,queen ,bee1 more singular than any which has yet been related4 ,huber1 while experimenting to ascertain how the ,queen was fecundated1 confined some of his young ,queens to their hives1 by contracting the entrances1 so that they were not able to go in search of the drones1 until three weeks after their birth4 ,to his amazement1 these ,queens whose impregnation was thus unnaturally retarded1 never laid any eggs but such as produced drones66 ,he tried the experiment again and again1 but always with the same result4 ,some ,bee-,keepers1 long before his time1 had observed that all the brood in a hive were occasionally drones1 and of course1 that such colonies rapidly went to ruin4 ,before attempting any explanation of this astonishing fact1 ,i must call the attention of the reader1 to another of the mysteries of the ,bee-,hive1 ,,fertile ,,workers4 ,it has already been remarked1 that the workers are proved by dissection to be females1 all of which1 under ordinary circumstances1 are barren4 ,occasionally1 some of them appear to be more fully developed than common1 so as to be capable of laying eggs3 these eggs1 like those of ,queens whose impregnation has been retarded1 always produce drones6 ,sometimes1 when a colony has lost its ,queen1 these drone-laying workers are exalted to her place1 and treated with equal respect and affection1 by the bees4 ,huber ascertained that these fertile workers were generally reared in the neighborhood of the young ,queens1 and he thought that they received some particles of the peculiar food or jelly on which the ,queens are reared4 7,see ,royal ,jelly47 ,he did not pretend to account for the effect of retarded impregnation2 and made no experiments to determine the facts1 as to the fecundation of these fertile workers4 ,since the publication of ,huber's work1 nearly #ej years ago1 no light has been shed upon the mysteries of drone-laying ,queens and workers1 until quite recently4 ,dzierzon appears to have been the first to ascertain the truth on this subject2 and his discovery must certainly be ranked as unfolding one of the most astonishing facts in all the range of animated nature4 ,this fact seems1 at first view1 so absolutely incredible1 that ,i should not dare to mention it1 if it were not supported by the most indubitable evidence1 and if ,i had not1 7as ,i have already observed17 determined to state all important and well ascertained facts1 without seeking1 by any concealments1 to pander to the prejudices of conceited1 and often1 very ignorant ,bee-,keepers4 ,dzierzon advances the opinion that impregnation is not needed in order that the eggs of the ,queen may produce drones2 but1 that all impregnated eggs produce females1 either workers or ,queens2 and all unimpregnated ones1 males or drones6 ,he states that he found drone-laying ,queens in several of his hives1 whose wings were so imperfect that they could not fly1 and that on examination1 they proved to be unfecundated4 ,hence he concluded that the eggs of the ,queen ,bee or fertile worker1 had from the previous impregnation of the egg which produced them1 sufficient vitality to produce the drone1 which is a less highly organized insect1 and one inferior to the ,queen or workers4 ,it had long been known1 that the ,queen deposits drone eggs in the large or drone cells1 and worker eggs in the small or worker cells1 and that she makes no mistakes4 ,dzierzon inferred1 therefore1 that there was some way in which she was able to decide as to the sex of the egg before it was laid1 and that she must have a control over the mouth of the seminal sac1 so as to be able to extrude her eggs1 allowing them to receive or not1 just as she pleased1 a portion of its fertilizing contents4 ,in this way he thought she determined the sex1 according to the size of the cells in which she laid them4 ,mr4 ,samuel ,wagner of ,york1 ,pa41 has recently communicated to me a very original and exceedingly ingenious theory of his own1 which he thinks will account for all the facts without admitting that the ,queen ,bee has any special knowledge or will on the subject4 ,he supposes that when she deposits her eggs in the worker cells1 her body is slightly compressed by the size of the cells1 and that the eggs1 as they pass the spermatheca1 receive in this manner1 its vivifying influence4 ,on the contrary1 when she is egg-laying in drone cells1 this compression cannot take place1 the mouth of the spermatheca is kept closed1 and the eggs are1 necessarily1 unfecundated4 ,this theory may prove to be true1 but at present1 it is encumbered with some difficulties and requires further investigation1 before it can be considered as fully established4 ,leaving then the question whether the ,queen exercises any volition in this matter1 for the present undecided1 ,i shall state some facts which occurred in the summer of #aheb1 in my own ,apiary1 and shall then endeavor to relieve1 as far as possible1 this intricate subject from some of the difficulties which embarrass it4 ,in the ,autumn of #aheb1 my assistant found1 in one of my hives1 a young ,queen1 the whole of whose progeny was drones4 ,the colony had been formed by removing part of the combs containing bees1 brood and eggs from another hive4 ,it had only a few combs1 and but a small number of bees4 ,they raised a new ,queen in the manner which will hereafter be particularly described4 ,this ,queen had laid a number of eggs in one of the combs1 and the young bees from some of them were already emerging from the cells4 ,i perceived1 at the first glance1 that they were drones4 ,as there were none but worker cells in the hive1 they were reared in them1 and not having space for full development1 they were dwarfed in size1 although the bees1 in order to give them more room1 had pieced out the cells so as to make them larger than usual6 ,size excepted1 they appeared as perfect as any other drones4 ,i was not only struck with the singularity of finding drones reared in worker cells1 but with the equally singular fact that a young ,queen1 who at first lays only the eggs of workers1 should be laying drone eggs at all2 and at once conjectured that this was a case of a drone-laying1 unimpregnated ,queen1 as sufficient time had not elapsed for her impregnation to be unnaturally retarded4 ,i saw the great importance of taking all necessary precautions to determine this point4 ,the ,queen was removed from the hive1 and carefully examined4 ,her wings1 although they appeared to be perfect1 were so paralized that she could not fly4 ,it seemed probable1 therefore1 that she had never been able to leave the hive for impregnation4 ,to settle the question beyond the possibility of doubt1 ,i submitted this ,queen to ,dr4 ,joseph ,leidy for microscopic examination4 ,the following is an extract from his report3 ,the ovaries were filled with eggs2 the poison sac was full of fluid1 and ,i took the whole of it into my mouth2 the poison produced a strong metallic taste1 lasting for a considerable time1 and at first1 it was pungent to the tip of the tongue4 ,the spermatheca was distended with a perfectly colorless1 transparent1 viscid liquid1 without a trace of spermatozoa4 ,this examination seems perfectly to sustain the theory of ,dzierzon1 and to demonstrate that ,queens do not need to be impregnated1 in order to lay the eggs of males4 ,i must confess that very considerable doubts rested on my mind1 as to the accuracy of ,dzierzon's statements on this subject1 and chiefly because of his having hazarded the unfortunate conjecture that the place of the poison bag in the worker1 is occupied in the ,queen1 by the spermatheca4 ,now this is so completely contrary to fact1 that it was a very natural inference that this acute and thoroughly honest observer1 made no microscopic dissections of the insects which he examined4 ,i consider myself peculiarly fortunate in having enjoyed the benefit of the labors of a ,naturalist1 so celebrated as ,dr4 ,leidy1 for microscopic dissections4 ,the exceeding minuteness of some of the insects which he has completely figured and described1 almost passes belief4 ,on examining this same colony a few days later1 ,i obtained the most satisfactory evidence that these drone eggs were laid by the ,queen which had been removed4 ,no fresh eggs had been deposited in the cells1 and the bees1 on missing her1 had commenced the construction of royal cells1 to rear if possible1 another ,queen1 a thing which they would not have done1 if a fertile worker had been present1 by which the drone eggs had been laid4 ,another very interesting fact proves that all the eggs laid by this ,queen1 were drone eggs4 ,two of the royal cells were1 in a short time1 discontinued1 and were found to be empty1 while a third contained a worm1 which was sealed over the usual way1 to undergo its changes from a worm to a perfect ,queen4 ,i was completely at a loss to account for this1 as the bees having an unimpregnated drone-laying ,queen1 ought not to have had a single female egg from which they could rear a ,queen4 ,at first ,i imagined that they might have stolen it from another hive1 but when ,i opened this cell1 it contained1 instead of a queen1 a dead drone6 ,i then remembered that ,huber has described the same mistake on the part of some of his bees4 ,at the base of this cell1 was an extraordinary quantity of the peculiar jelly or paste1 which is fed to the young that are to be transformed into queens4 ,the poor bees in their desperation1 appear to have dosed the unfortunate drone to death3 as though they expected by such liberal feeding1 to produce some hopeful change in his sexual organization6 ,it appears to me that these facts constitute all the links in a perfect chain1 and demonstrate beyond the possibility of doubt1 that unfecundated queens are not only capable of laying eggs1 7this would be no more remarkable than the same occurrence in a hen17 but that these eggs are possessed of sufficient vitality to produce drones4 ,aristotle1 who flourished before the ,christian era1 had noticed that there was no difference in appearance1 between the eggs producing drones and those producing workers2 and he states that drones only are produced in hives which have no queen2 of course the eggs producing them1 were laid by fertile workers4 ,having now the aid of powerful microscopes1 we are still unable to detect the slightest difference in size or appearance in the eggs1 and this is precisely what we should expect if the same egg will produce either a worker or a drone1 according as it is or is not impregnated4 ,the theory which ,i propose1 will1 ,i think1 perfectly harmonize with all the observed facts on this subject4 ,i believe that after fecundation has been delayed for about three weeks1 the mouth of the spermatheca becomes permanently closed1 so that impregnation can no longer be effected2 just as the parts of a flower1 after a certain time1 wither and shut up1 and the plant is incapable of fructification4 ,the fertile drone-laying workers1 are in my opinion1 physically incapable of being impregnated4 ,however strange it may appear1 or even improbable1 that an unimpregnated egg can give birth to a living being1 or that the sex can be dependent on impregnation1 we are not at liberty to reject facts1 because we cannot comprehend the reasons of them4 ,he who allows himself to be guilty of such folly1 if he seeks to maintain his consistency1 will be plunged1 sooner or later1 into the dreary gulf of atheism4 ,common sense1 philosophy and religion alike teach us to receive all undoubted facts in the natural and the spiritual world1 with becoming reverence2 assured that however mysterious to us1 they are all most beautifully harmonious and consistent in the sight of ,him whose understanding is infinite4 ,there is something analogous to these wonders in the bee1 in what takes place in the aphides or green lice which infest our rose bushes and other plants4 ,we have the most undoubted evidence that a fecundated female gives birth to other females1 and they in turn to others still1 all of which1 without impregnation1 are able to bring forth young1 until at length1 after a number of generations1 perfect males and females are produced1 and the series starts anew6 ,the unequaled facilities1 furnished by my hives1 have seemed to render it peculiarly incumbent on me1 to do all in my power to clear up the difficulties in this intricate and yet highly important branch of ,apiarian knowledge4 ,all the leading facts in the breeding of bees ought to be as well known to the bee keeper1 as the same class of facts in the rearing of his domestic animals4 ,a few crude and hasty notions1 but half understood and half digested1 will answer only for the old fashioned bee keeper1 who deals in the brimstone matches4 ,he who expects to conduct bee keeping on a safe and profitable system1 must learn that on this1 as on all other subjects1 knowledge is power4 ,the extraordinary fertility of the queen bee has already been noticed4 ,the process of laying has been well described by the ,rev4 ,w4 ,dunbar1 a ,scotch ,apiarian4 ,when the queen is about to lay1 she puts her head into a cell1 and remains in that position for a second or two1 to ascertain its fitness for the deposit which she is about to make4 ,she then withdraws her head1 and curving her body downwards1#b inserts the lower part of it into the cell3 in a few seconds she turns half round upon herself and withdraws1 leaving an egg behind her4 ,when she lays a considerable number1 she does it equally on each side of the comb1 those on the one side being as exactly opposite to those on the other as the relative position of the cells will admit4 ,the effect of this is to produce the utmost possible concentration and economy of heat for developing the various changes of the brood6 ,here as at every step in the economy of the bee our minds are filled with admiration as we witness the perfect adaptation of means to ends4 ,who can blame the warmest enthusiasm of the ,apiarian in view of a sagacity which seems scarcely inferior to that of man4 ,the eggs of bees1 ,i quote from the admirable treatise of ,bevan1 are of a lengthened oval shape1 with a slight curvature1 and of a bluish white color3 being besmeared at the time of laying1 with a glutinous substance1#c they adhere to the bases of the cells1 and remain unchanged in figure or situation for three or four days2 they are then hatched1 the bottom of each cell presenting to view a small white worm4 ,on its growing so as to touch the opposite angle of the cell1 it coils itself up1 to use the language of ,swammerdam1 like a dog when going to sleep2 and floats in a whitish transparent fluid1 which is deposited in the cells by the nursing-bees1 and by which it is probably nourished2 it becomes gradually enlarged in its dimensions1 till the two extremities touch one another and form a ring4 ,in this state it is called a larva or worm4 ,so nicely do the bees calculate the quantity of food which will be required1 that none remains in the cell when it is transformed to a nymph4 ,it is the opinion of many eminent naturalists that farina does not constitute the sole food of the larva1 but that it consists of a mixture of farina1 honey and water1 partly digested in the stomachs of the nursing-bees4 ,the larva having derived its support1 in the manner above described1 for four1 five or six days1 according to the season1 7the development being retarded in cool weather1 and badly protected hives17 continues to increase during that period1 till it occupies the whole breadth and nearly the length of the cell4 ,the nursing bees now seal over the cell1 with a light brown cover1 externally more or less convex1 7the cap of a drone cell is more convex than that of a worker17 and thus differing from that of a honey cell which is paler and somewhat concave4 ,the cap of the brood cell appears to be made of a mixture of bee-bread and wax2 it is not air tight as it would be if made of wax alone2 but when examined with a microscope it appears to be reticulated1 or full of fine holes through which the enclosed insect can have air for all necessary purposes4 ,from its texture and shape it is easily thrust off by the bee when mature1 whereas1 if it consisted wholly of wax1 the young bee would either perish for lack of air1 or be unable to force its way into the world6 ,both the material and shape of the lids which seal up the honey cells are different1 because an entirely different object was aimed at2 they are of pure wax to make them air tight and thus to prevent the honey from souring or candying in the cells6 ,they are concave or hollowed inwards to give them greater strength to resist the pressure of their contents6 ,to return to ,bevan4 ,the larva is no sooner perfectly inclosed than it begins to line the cell by spinning round itself1 after the manner of the silk worm1 a whitish silky film or cocoon1 by which it is encased1 as it were1 in a pod4 ,when it has undergone this change1 it has usually borne the name of nymph or pupa4 ,the insect has now attained its full growth1 and the large amount of nutriment which it has taken serves as a store for developing the perfect insect4 ,the working bee nymph spins its cocoon in thirty-six hours4 ,after passing about three days in this state of preparation for a new existence1 it gradually undergoes so great a change as not to wear a vestige of its previous form1 but becomes armed with a firmer mail1 and with scales of a dark brown hue4 ,on its belly six rings become distinguishable1 which by slipping one over another enables the bee to shorten its body whenever it has occasion to do so4 ,when it has reached the twenty-first day of its existence1 counting from the moment the egg is laid1 it comes forth a perfect winged insect4 ,the cocoon is left behind1 and forms a closely attached and exact lining to the cell in which it was spun2 by this means the breeding cells become smaller and their partitions stronger1 the oftener they change their tenants2 and may become so much diminished in size as not to admit of the perfect development of full sized bees4 ,such are the respective stages of the working bee3 those of the royal bee are as follows3 she passes three days in the egg and is five a worm2 the workers then close her cell1 and she immediately begins spinning her cocoon1 which occupies her twenty four hours4 ,on the tenth and eleventh days and a part of the twelfth1 as if exhausted by her labor1 she remains in complete repose4 ,then she passes four days and a part of the fifth as a nymph4 ,it is on the sixteenth day therefore that the perfect state of queen is attained4 ,the drone passes three days in the egg1 six and a half as a worm1 and changes into a perfect insect on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth day after the egg is laid4 ,the development of each species likewise proceeds more slowly when the colonies are weak or the air cool1 and when the weather is very cold it is entirely suspended4 ,dr4 ,hunter has observed that the eggs1 worms and nymphs all require a heat above #gj of ,fahrenheit for their evolution4 ,in the chapter on protection against extremes of heat and cold1 ,i have dwelt1 at some length1 upon the importance of constructing the hives in such a manner as to enable the bees to preserve1 as far as possible1 a uniform temperature in their tenement4 ,in thin hives exposed to the sun1 the heat is sometimes so great as to destroy the eggs and the larv1 even when the combs escape from being melted2 and the cold is often so severe as to check the development of the brood1 and sometimes to kill it outright4 ,in such hives1 when the temperature out of doors falls suddenly and severely1 the bees at once feel the unfavorable change2 they are obliged in self defence to huddle together to keep warm1 and thus large portions of the brood comb are often abandoned1 and the brood either destroyed at once by the cold1 or so enfeebled that they never recover from the shock4 ,let every bee keeper1 in all his operations1 remember that brood comb must never be exposed to a low temperature so as to become chilled3 the disastrous effects are almost as certain1 as when the eggs of a setting hen are left1 for too long a time1 by the careless mother4 ,the brood combs are never safe when taken for any considerable time from the bees1 unless the temperature is fully up to summer heat4 #d,the young bees break their envelope with their teeth1 and assisted1 as soon as they come forth1 by the older ones1 proceed to cleanse themselves from the moisture and exuvi with which they were surrounded4 ,both drones and workers on emerging from the cell are1 at first grey1 soft and comparatively helpless so that some time elapses before they take wing4 ,with respect to the cocoons spun by the different larv1 both workers and drones spin complete cocoons1 or inclose themselves on every side2 royal larv construct only imperfect cocoons1 open behind1 and enveloping only the head1 thorax1 and first ring of the abdomen2 and ,huber concludes1 without any hesitation1 that the final cause of their forming only incomplete cocoons is1 that they may thus be exposed to the mortal sting of the first hatched queen1 whose instinct leads her instantly to seek the destruction of those who would soon become her rivals4 ,if the royal larv spun complete cocoons1 the stings of the queens seeking to destroy their rivals might be so entangled in their meshes that they could not be disengaged4 ',such1' says ,huber1 'is the instinctive enmity of young queens to each other1 that ,i have seen one of them1 immediately on its emergence from the cell1 rush to those of its sisters1 and tear to pieces even the imperfect larv4 ,hitherto philosophers have claimed our admiration of nature for her care in preserving and multiplying the species4 ,but from these facts we must now admire her precautions in exposing certain individuals to a mortal hazard4' ,the cocoon of the royal larva is very much stronger and coarser than that spun by the drone or worker1 its texture considerably resembling that of the silk worm's4 ,the young queen does not come forth from her cell until she is quite mature2 and as its great size gives her abundant room to exercise her wings she is capable of flying as soon as she quits it4 ,while still in her cell she makes the fluttering and piping noises with which every observant bee keeper is so well acquainted4 ,some ,apiarians have supposed that the queen bee has the power to regulate the development of eggs in her ovaries1 so that few or many are produced1 according to the necessities of the colony4 ,this is evidently a mistake4 ,her eggs1 like those of the domestic hen1 are formed without any volition of her own1 and when fully developed1 must be extruded4 ,if the weather is unfavorable1 or if the colony is too feeble to maintain sufficient heat1 a smaller number of eggs are developed in her ovaries1 just as unfavorable circumstances diminish the number of eggs laid by the hen2 if the weather is very cold1 egg-laying usually ceases altogether4 ,in the latitude of ,philadelphia1 ,i opened one of my hives on the #eth day of ,february1 and found an abundance of eggs and brood1 although the winter had been an unusually cold one1 and the temperature of the preceding month very low4 ,the fall of #aheb was a warm one1 and eggs and brood were found in a hive which ,i examined on the #bast of ,october4 ,powerful stocks in well protected hives contain some brood1 at least ten months in the year2 in warm countries1 bees probably breed1 every month in the year4 ,it is highly interesting to see in what way the supernumerary eggs of the queen are disposed of4 ,when the number of workers is too small to take charge of all her eggs1 or when there is a deficiency of bee bread to nourish the young1 7,see chapter on ,pollen17 or when1 for any reason1 she judges it not best to deposit them in cells1 she stands upon a comb1 and simply extrudes them from her oviduct1 and the workers devour them as fast as they are laid6 ,this ,i have repeatedly witnessed in my observing hives1 and admired the sagacity of the queen in economizing her necessary work after this fashion1 instead of laboriously depositing the eggs in cells where they are not wanted4 ,what a difference between her wise management and the stupidity of a hen obstinately persisting to set upon addled eggs1 or pieces of chalk1 and often upon nothing at all4 ,the workers eat up also all the eggs which are dropped1 or deposited out of place by the queen2 in this way1 nothing goes to waste1 and even a tiny egg is turned to some account4 ,was there ever a better comment upon the maxim8 ,take care of the pence1 and the pounds will take care of themselves4 ,do the workers who appear to be so fond of a tit-bit in the shape of a new laid egg1 ever experience a struggle between their appetites and the claims of duty1 and does it cost them some self denial to refrain from making a breakfast on a fresh laid egg8 ,it is really very difficult for one who has carefully watched the habits of bees1 to speak of his little favorites in any other way than as though they possessed an intelligence almost1 if not quite1 akin to reason4 ,it is well known to every breeder of poultry1 that the fertility of a hen decreases with age1 until at length1 she becomes entirely barren2 it is equally certain that the fertility of the queen bee ordinarily diminishes after she has entered upon her third year4 ,she sometimes ceases to lay ,worker eggs1 a considerable time before she dies of old age2 the contents of the spermatheca are exhausted2 the eggs can no longer be impregnated and must therefore produce drones4 ,the queen bee usually dies of old age1 some time in her fourth year1 although instances are on record of some having survived a year longer4 ,it is highly important to the bee keeper who would receive the largest returns from his bees1 to be able1 as in my hives1 to catch the queen and remove her1 when she has passed the period of her greatest fertility4 ,in the sequel1 full directions will be given1 as to the proper time and mode of effecting it4 ,before proceeding farther in the natural history of the queen bee1 ,i shall describe more particularly1 the other inmates of the hive4 ,,the ,,drones ,,or ,,male ,,bees4 ,the drones are1 unquestionably1 the male bees4 ,dissection proves that they have the appropriate organs of generation4 ,they are much larger and stouter than either the queen or workers2 although their bodies are not quite so long as that of the queen4 ,they have no sting with which to defend themselves2 no proboscis which is suitable for gathering honey from the flowers1 and no baskets on their thighs for holding the bee-bread4 ,they are thus physically disqualified for work1 even if they were ever so well disposed to it4 ,their proper office is to impregnate the young queens1 and they are usually destroyed by the bees1 soon after this is completed4 ,dr4 ,evans the author of a beautiful poem on bees thus appropriately describes them3-- ,their short proboscis sips ,no luscious nectar from the wild thyme's lips1 ,from the lime's leaf no amber drops they steal1 ,nor bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal3 ,on other's toils in pamper'd leisure thrive ,the lazy fathers of the industrious hive4 ,the drones begin to make their appearance in ,april or ,may2 earlier or later1 according to climate and the forwardness of the season1 and strength of the stock4 ,they require about twenty-four days for their full development from the egg4 ,in colonies which are too weak to swarm1 none1 as a general rule1 are reared3 they are not needed1 for in such hives1 as no young queens are raised1 they would be only useless consumers4 ,the number of drones in a hive is often very great1 amounting1 not merely to hundreds1 but sometimes to thousands4 ,it seems1 at first1 very difficult to understand why there should be so many1 especially since it has been ascertained that a single one will impregnate a queen for life4 ,but as intercourse always takes place high in the air1 the young queens are obliged to leave the hive for this purpose2 and it is exceedingly important to their safety1 that they should be sure of finding one1 without being compelled to make frequent excursions4 ,being larger than a worker1 and less quick on the wing1 they are more exposed to be caught by birds1 or blown down and destroyed by sudden gusts of wind4 ,in a large ,apiary1 a few drones in each hive1 or the number usually found in one1 might be amply sufficient4 ,but it must be borne in mind1 that under these circumstances1 bees are not in a state of nature4 ,before they were domesticated1 a colony living in a forest1 often had no neighbors for miles4 ,now a good stock in our climate1 sometimes sends out three or more swarms1 and in the tropical climates1 of which the bee is a native1 they increase with astonishing rapidity4 ,at ,sydney1 in ,australia1 a single colony is stated to have multiplied to #cjj in three years4 ,all the new swarms except the first1 are led off by a young queen1 and as she is never impregnated until after she has been established as the head of a separate family1 it is important that they should all be accompanied by a goodly number of drones2 and this renders it necessary that a large number should be produced in the parent hive4 ,as this necessity no longer exists1 when the bee is domesticated1 the production of so many drones should be discouraged4 ,traps have been invented to destroy them1 but it is much better to save the bees the labor and expense of rearing such a host of useless consumers4 ,this can readily be done by the use of my hives4 ,the cells in which the drones are reared1 are much larger than those appropriated to the raising of workers4 ,the combs containing them may be taken out1 to have their places supplied with worker's cells1 and thus the over production of drones may easily be prevented4 ,some colonies contain so much drone comb as to be nearly worthless4 ,i have no doubt that some of my readers will object to this mode of management as interfering with nature3 but let them remember that the bee is not in a state of nature1 and that the same objection might be urged against killing off the super-numerary males of our domestic animals4 ,in ,july or ,august1 soon after the swarming season is over1 the bees expel the drones from the hive4 ,they sometimes sting them1 and sometimes gnaw the roots of their wings1 so that when driven from the hive1 they cannot return4 ,if not treated in either of these summary ways1 they are so persecuted and starved1 that they soon perish4 ,the hatred of the bees extends even to the young which are still unhatched3 they are mercilessly pulled from the cells1 and destroyed with the rest4 ,how wonderful that instinct which teaches the bees that there is no longer any occasion for the services of the drones1 and which impels them to destroy those members of the colony1 which1 a short time before1 they reared with such devoted attention6 ,a colony which neglects to expel its drones at the usual season1 ought always to be examined4 ,the queen is probably either diseased or dead4 ,in my hives1 such an examination may be easily made1 the true state of the case ascertained1 and the proper remedies at once applied4 7,see ,chapter on the ,loss of the ,queen47 ,,the ,,production ,,of ,,so ,,many ,,drones ,,necessary1 ,,in ,a ,,state ,,of ,,nature1 ,,to ,,prevent ,,degeneracy ,,from ,,in ,,and ,,in ,,breeding4 ,i have often been able1 by the reasons previously assigned1 to account for the necessity of such a large number of drones in a state of nature1 to the satisfaction of others1 but never fully to my own4 ,i have repeatedly queried1 why impregnation might not just as well have been effected in the hive1 as on the wing1 in the open air4 ,two very obvious and highly important advantages would have resulted from such an arrangement4 #ast4 ,a few dozen drones would have amply sufficed for the wants of any colony1 even if1 7as in tropical climates17 it swarmed half a dozen times or oftener1 in the same season4 #b;d4 ,the young queens would have been exposed to none of those risks which they now incur1 in leaving the hive for fecundation4 ,i was unable to show how the existing arrangement is best2 although ,i never doubted that there must be a satisfactory reason for this seeming imperfection4 ,to suppose otherwise1 would be highly unphilosophical1 since we constantly see1 as the circle of our knowledge is enlarged1 many mysteries in nature hitherto inexplicable1 fully cleared up4 ,let me here ask if the disposition which too many students of nature cherish1 to reject some of the doctrines of revealed religion1 is not equally unphilosophical4 ,neither our ignorance of all the facts necessary to their full elucidation1 nor our inability to harmonize these facts in their mutual relations and dependencies1 will justify us in rejecting any truth which ,god has seen fit to reveal1 either in the book of nature1 or in ,his holy word4 ,the man who would substitute his own speculations for the divine teachings1 has embarked1 without rudder or chart1 pilot or compass1 upon the uncertain ocean of theory and conjecture2 unless he turns his prow from its fatal course1 no ,sun of ,righteousness will ever brighten for him the dreary expanse of waters2 storms and whirlwinds will thicken in gloom1 on his voyage of life1 and no favoring gales will ever waft his shattered bark to a peaceful haven4 ,the thoughtful reader will require no apology for the moralizing strain of many of my remarks1 nor blame a clergyman1 if forgetting sometimes to speak as the mere naturalist1 he endeavors to find1 ,tongues in trees1 books in the running brooks1 ,sermons in 'bees1' and ',,god' in every thing4 ,to return to the point from which ,i have digressed2 a new attempt to account for the existence of so many drones4 ,if a farmer persists in what is called breeding in and in1 that is1 from the same stock without changing the blood1 it is well known that a rapid degeneracy is the inevitable consequence4 ,this law extends1 as far as we know1 to all animal life1 and even man is not exempt from its influence4 ,have we any reason to suppose that the bee is an exception8 or that ultimate degeneracy would not ensue1 unless some provision was made to counteract the tendency to in and in breeding8 ,if fecundation had taken place in the hive1 the queen bee must of necessity1 have been impregnated by drones from a common parent1 and the same result must have taken place in each successive generation1 until the whole species would eventually have run out4 ,by the present arrangement1 the young females1 when they leave the hive1 often find the air swarming with drones1 many of which belong to other colonies1 and thus by crossing the breed1 a provision is constantly made to prevent deterioration4 ,experience has proved not only that it is unnecessary to impregnation that there should be drones in the colony of the young queen1 but that this may be effected even when there are no drones in the ,apiary1 and none except at some considerable distance4 ,intercourse takes place very high in the air1 7perhaps that less risk may be incurred from birds17 and this is the more favorable to the continual crossing of stocks4 ,i am strongly persuaded that the decay of many flourishing stocks1 even when managed with great care1 is to be attributed to the fact that they have become enfeebled by close breeding1 and are thus unable to resist the injurious influences which were comparatively harmless when the bees were in a state of high physical vigor4 ,i shall1 in the chapter on ,artificial ,swarming1 explain in what way1 by the use of my hives1 the stock of bees may be easily crossed1 when a cultivator is too remote from other ,apiaries1 to depend upon its being naturally effected4 ,,the ,,workers ,,or ,,common ,,bees4 ,the number of workers in a hive varies very much4 ,a good swarm ought to contain #ae1jjj or #bj1jjj2 and in large hives1 strong colonies which are not reduced by swarming1 frequently number two or three times as many1 during the height of the breeding season4 ,we have well-authenticated instances of stocks much more populous than this4 ,the ,polish hives will hold several bushels1 and yet we are informed by ,mr4 ,dohiogost1 that they swarm regularly1 and that the swarms are so powerful that they resemble a little cloud in the air4 ,i shall hereafter consider how the size of the hive affects the number of bees that it may be expected to produce4 ,the workers1 7as has been already stated17 are all females whose ovaries are too imperfectly developed to admit of their laying eggs4 ,for a long time1 they were regarded as neither males nor females1 and were called ,neuters2 but more careful microscopic examinations have enabled us to detect the rudiments of their ovaries1 and thus to determine their sex4 ,the accuracy of these examinations has been verified by the well-known facts respecting fertile workers4 ,riem1 a ,german ,apiarian1 first discovered that workers sometimes lay eggs4 ,huber1 in the course of his investigations on this subject1 ascertained that such workers were raised in hives that had lost their queen1 and in the vicinity of the royal cells in which young queens were being reared4 ,he conjectured that they received accidentally1 a small portion of the peculiar food of these infant queens1 and in this way1 he accounted for their reproductive organs being more developed than those of other workers4 ,workers reared in such hives1 are in close proximity to the young queens1 and there is certainly much probability that some of the royal jelly may be accidentally dropped into their cells2 as1 in these hives1 the queen cells when first commenced are parallel to the horizon1 instead of being perpendicular to it1 as they are in other hives4 ,i do not feel confident1 however1 that they are not sometimes bred in hives which have not lost their queen4 ,the kind of eggs laid by these fertile workers1 has already been noticed4 ,such workers are seldom tolerated in hives containing a fertile1 healthy queen1 though instances of this kind have been known to occur4 ,the worker is much smaller than either the queen or the drone4#e ,it is furnished with a tongue or proboscis1 of the most curious and complicated structure1 which1 when not in use1 is nicely folded under its abdomen2 with this1 it licks or brushes up the honey1 which is thence conveyed to its honey-bag4 ,this receptacle is not larger than a very small pea1 and is so perfectly transparent1 as to appear when filled1 of the same color with its contents2 it is properly the first stomach of the bee1 and is surrounded by muscles which enable the bee to compress it1 and empty its contents through her proboscis into the cells4 7,see ,chapter on ,honey47 ,the hinder legs of the worker are furnished with a spoon-shaped hollow or basket1 to receive the pollen or bee bread which she gathers from the flowers4 7,see ,chapter on ,pollen47 ,every worker is armed with a formidable sting1 and when provoked1 makes instant and effectual use of her natural weapon4 ,the sting1 when subjected to microscopic examination1 exhibits a very curious and complicated mechanism4 ,it is moved#f by muscles which1 though invisible to the eye1 are yet strong enough to force the sting1 to the depth of one twelfth of an inch1 through the thick skin of a man's hand4 ,at its root are situated two glands by which the poison is secreted3 these glands uniting in one duct1 eject the venemous liquid along the groove1 formed by the junction of the two piercers4 ,there are four barbs on the outside of each piercer3 when the insect is prepared to sting1 one of these piercers1 having its point a little longer than the other1 first darts into the flesh1 and being fixed by its foremost beard1 the other strikes in also1 and they alternately penetrate deeper and deeper1 till they acquire a firm hold of the flesh with their barbed hooks1 and then follows the sheath1 conveying the poison into the wound4 ,the action of the sting1 says ,paley1 affords an example of the union of chemistry and mechanism2 of chemistry in respect to the venom1 which can produce such powerful effects2 of mechanism as the sting is a compound instrument4 ,the machinery would have been comparatively useless had it not been for the chemical process1 by which in the insect's body honey is converted into poison2 and on the other hand1 the poison would have been ineffectual1 without an instrument to wound1 and a syringe to inject it4 ,upon examining the edge of a very keen razor by the microscope1 it appears as broad as the back of a pretty thick knife1 rough1 uneven1 and full of notches and furrows1 and so far from anything like sharpness1 that an instrument1 as blunt as this seemed to be1 would not serve even to cleave wood4 ,an exceedingly small needle being also examined1 it resembled a rough iron bar out of a smith's forge4 ,the sting of a bee viewed through the same instrument1 showed everywhere a polish amazingly beautiful1 without the least flaw1 blemish1 or inequality1 and ended in a point too fine to be discerned4 ,the extremity of the sting being barbed like an arrow1 the bee can seldom withdraw it1 if the substance into which she darts it is at all tenacious4 ,in losing her sting she parts with a portion of her intestines1 and of necessity1 soon perishes4 ,as the loss of the sting is always fatal to the bees1 they pay a dear penalty for the exercise of their patriotic instincts2 but they always seem ready1 7except when they have taken a drop too much1 and are gorged with honey17 to die in defence of their home and treasures2 or as the poet has expressed it1 they ,deem life itself to vengeance well resign'd1 ,die on the wound1 and leave their sting behind4 ,hornets1 wasps and other stinging insects are able to withdraw their stings from the wound4 ,i have never seen any attempt to account for the exception in the case of the honey bee4 ,but if the ,creator intended the bee for the use of man1 as ,he most certainly did1 has ,he not given it this peculiarity1 to make it less formidable1 and therefore more completely subject to human control8 ,without a sting1 it would have stood no chance of defending its tempting sweets against a host of greedy depredators2 but if it could sting a number of times1 it would be much more difficult to bring it into a state of thorough domestication4 ,a quiver full of arrows in the hand of a skilful marksman1 is far more to be dreaded than a single shaft4 ,the defence of the colony against enemies1 the construction of the cells1 the storing of them with honey and bee-bread1 the rearing of the young1 in short1 the whole work of the hive1 the laying of eggs excepted1 is carried on by the industrious little workers4 ,there may be gentlemen of leisure in the commonwealth of bees1 but most assuredly there are no such ladies1 whether of high or low degree4 ,the queen herself1 has her full share of duties1 for it must be admitted that the royal office is no sinecure1 when the mother who fills it1 must superintend daily the proper deposition of several thousand eggs6 ,,age ,,of ,,bees4 ,the queen bee1 7as has been already stated17 will live four1 and sometimes1 though very rarely1 five years4 ,as the life of the drones is usually cut short by violence1 it is not easy to ascertain its precise limit4 ,bevan1 in some interesting statements on the longevity of bees1 estimates it not to exceed four months4 ,the workers are supposed by him1 to live six or seven months4 ,their age depends1 however1 very much upon their greater or less exposure to injurious influences and severe labors4 ,those reared in the spring and early part of summer1 and on whom the heaviest labors of the hive must necessarily devolve1 do not appear to live more than two or three months1 while those which are bred at the close of summer1 and early in autumn1 being able to spend a large part of their time in repose1 attain a much greater age4 ,it is very evident that the bee1 7to use the words of a quaint old writer17 is a summer bird1 and that with the exception of the queen1 none live to be a year old4 ,notched and ragged wings1 instead of gray hairs and wrinkled faces1 are the signs of old age in the bee1 and indicate that its season of toil will soon be over4 ,they appear to die rather suddenly1 and often spend their last days1 and sometimes even their last hours1 in useful labors4 ,place yourself before a hive1 and see the indefatigable energy of these aged veterans1 toiling along with their heavy burdens1 side by side with their more youthful compeers1 and then say if you can1 that you have done work enough1 and that you will give yourself up to slothful indulgence1 while the ability for useful labor still remains4 ,let the cheerful hum of their industrious old age inspire you with better resolutions1 and teach you how much nobler it is to meet death in the path of duty1 striving still1 as you have opportunity1 to do good unto all men4 ,the age which individual members of the community may attain1 must not be confounded with that of the colony4 ,bees have been known to occupy the same domicile for a great number of years4 ,i have seen flourishing colonies which were twenty years old1 and the ,abbe ,della ,rocca speaks of some over forty years old6 ,such cases have led to the erroneous opinion that bees are a long-lived race4 ,but this1 as ,dr4 ,evans has observed1 is just as wise as if a stranger1 contemplating a populous city1 and personally unacquainted with its inhabitants1 should on paying it a second visit1 many years afterwards1 and finding it equally populous1 imagine that it was peopled by the same individuals1 not one of whom might then be living4 ,like leaves on trees1 the race of bees is found1 ,now green in youth1 now withering on the ground2 ,another race the ,spring or ,fall supplies1 ,they droop successive1 and successive rise4 ,the cocoons spun by the larv1 are never removed by the bees2 they stick so closely to the sides of the cells1 that the knowing bee well understands that the labor of removal would cost more than it would be worth4 ,in process of time1 the breeding cells become too small for the proper development of the young4 ,in some cases1 the bees must take down and reconstruct the old combs1 for if they did not1 the young issuing from them would always be dwarfs2 whereas ,i once compared with other bees1 those of a colony more than fifteen years old1 and found no perceptible difference4 ,that they do not always renew the old combs1 must be admitted1 as the young from some old hives are often considerably below the average size4 ,on this account1 it is very desirable to be able to remove the old combs occasionally1 that their place may be supplied with new ones4 ,it is a great mistake to imagine that the brood combs ought to be changed every year4 ,in my hives1 they might1 if it were desirable1 be easily changed several times in a year3 but once in five or six years is often enough2 oftener than this requires a needless consumption of honey to replace them1 besides being for other reasons undesirable1 as the bees are always in winter1 colder in new comb than in old4 ,inventors of hives have too often been1 most emphatically men of one idea3 and that one1 instead of being a well established and important fact in the physiology of the bee1 has frequently1 7like the necessity for a yearly change of the brood combs17 been merely a conceit1 existing nowhere but in the brain of a visionary projector4 ,this is all harmless enough1 until an effort is made to impose such miserable crudities upon an ignorant public1 either in the shape of a patented hive1 or worse still1 of an ,,unpatented hive1 the pretended ,,right to use which1 is ,,fraudulently sold to the cheated purchaser66 ,for want of proper knowledge with regard to the age of bees1 huge bee palaces1 and large closets in garrets or attics1 have been constructed1 and their proprietors have vainly imagined that the bees would fill them1 however roomy2 for they can see no reason why a colony should not continue to increase indefinitely1 until at length it numbers its inhabitants by millions or billions6 ,as the bees can never at one time equal1 still less exceed the number which the queen is capable of producing in one season1 these spacious dwellings have always an abundance of spare rooms4 ,it seems strange that men can be thus deceived1 when often in their own ,apiary1 they have healthy stocks which have not swarmed for a year or more1 and which yet in the spring are not a whit more populous than those which have regularly parted with vigorous swarms4 ,it is certain that the ,creator1 has for some wise reason1 set a limit to the increase of numbers in a single colony2 and ,i shall venture to assign what appears to me to have been one reason for ,his so doing4 ,suppose that ,he had given to the bee1 a length of life as great as that of the horse or the cow1 or had made each queen capable of laying daily1 some hundreds of thousands of eggs1 or had given several hundred queens to each hive1 then from the ,very nature of the case1 a colony must have gone on increasing1 until it became a scourge rather than a benefit to man4 ,in the warm climates of which the bee is a native1 they would have established themselves in some cavern or capacious cleft in the rocks1 and would there have quickly become so powerful as to bid defiance to all attempts to appropriate the avails of their labors4 ,it has already been stated1 that none1 except the mother wasps and hornets1 survive the winter4 ,if these insects had been able1 like the bee1 to commence the season with the accumulated strength of a large colony1 long before its close1 they would have proved a most intolerable nuisance4 ,if1 on the contrary1 the queen bee had been compelled1 solitary and alone1 to lay the foundations of a new commonwealth1 the honey-harvest would have disappeared before she could have become the parent of a numerous family4 ,in the laws which regulate the increase of bees as well as in all other parts of their economy1 we have the plainest proofs that the insect was formed for the special service of the human race4 ,,the ,,process ,,of ,,rearing ,,the ,,queen ,,more ,,particularly ,,described4 ,if in the early part of the season1 the population of a hive becomes uncomfortably crowded1 the bees usually make preparations for swarming4 ,a number of royal cells are commenced1 and they are placed almost always upon those edges of the combs which are not attached to the sides of the hive4 ,these cells somewhat resemble a small ground-nut or pea-nut1 and are about an inch deep1 and one-third of an inch in diameter3 they are very thick1 and require a large quantity of material for their construction4 ,they are seldom seen in a perfect state1 as the bees nibble them away after the queen has hatched1 leaving only their remains1 in the shape of a very small acorn-cup4 ,while the other cells open sideways1 these always hang with their mouth downwards4 ,much speculation has arisen as to the reason for this deviation3 some have conjectured that their peculiar position exerted an influence upon the development of the royal larv2 while others1 having ascertained that no injurious effect was produced by turning them upwards1 or placing them in any other position1 have considered this deviation as among the inscrutable mysteries of the bee-hive4 ,so it always seemed to me1 until more careful reflection enabled me to solve the problem4 ,the queen cells open downwards1 simply to save room6 ,the distance between the parallel ranges of comb being usually less than half an inch1 the bees could not have made the royal cells to open sideways1 without sacrificing the cells opposite to them4 ,in order to economize space1 to the very utmost1 they put them upon the unoccupied edges of the comb1 as the only place where there is always plenty of room for such very large cells4 ,the number of royal cells varies greatly2 sometimes there are only two or three1 ordinarily there are five or six1 and ,i have occasionally seen more than a dozen4 ,they are not all commenced at once1 for the bees do not intend that the young queens shall all arrive at maturity1 at the same time4 ,i do not consider it as fully settled1 how the eggs are deposited in these cells4 ,in some few instances1 ,i have known the bees to transfer the eggs from common to queen cells1 and this may be their general method of procedure4 ,i shall hazard the conjecture that the queen deposits her eggs in cells on the edges of the comb1 in a crowded state of the hive1 and that some of these are afterwards enlarged and changed into royal cells by the workers4 ,such is the instinctive hatred of the queen to her own kind1 that it does not seem to me probable1 that she is intrusted with even the initiatory steps for securing a race of successors4 ,that the eggs from which the young queens are produced1 are of the same kind with those producing workers1 has been repeatedly demonstrated4 ,on examining the queen cells while they are in progress1 one of the first things which excites our notice1 is the very unusual amount of attention bestowed upon them by the workers4 ,there is scarcely a second in which a bee is not peeping into them1 and just as fast as one is satisfied1 another pops its head in1 to examine if not to report1 progress4 ,the importance of their inmates to the bee-community1 might easily be inferred from their being the center of so much attraction4 ,,royal ,,jelly4 ,the young queens are supplied with a much larger quantity of food than is allotted to the other larv1 so that they seem almost to float in a thick bed of jelly1 and there is usually a portion of it left unconsumed at the base of the cells1 after the insects have arrived at maturity4 ,it is different from the food of either drones or workers1 and in appearance1 resembles a light quince jelly1 having a slightly acid taste4 ,i submitted a portion of the royal jelly for analysis1 to ,dr4 ,charles ,m4 ,wetherill1 of ,philadelphia2 a very interesting account of his examination may be found in the proceedings of the ,phila4 ,academy of ,nat4 ,sciences for ,july1 #aheb4 ,he speaks of the substance as truly a bread-containing1 albuminous compound4 ,i hope in the course of the coming summer to obtain from this able analytical chemist1 an analysis of the food of the young drones and workers4 ,a comparison of its elements with those of the royal jelly1 may throw some light on subjects as yet involved in obscurity4 ,the effects produced upon the larv by this peculiar food and method of treatment1 are very remarkable4 ,for one1 ,i have never considered it strange that such effects should be rejected as idle whims1 by nearly all except those who have either been eye-witnesses to them1 or have been well acquainted with the character and opportunities for accurate observation1 of those on whose testimony they have received them4 ,they are not only in themselves most marvelously strange1 but on the face of them so entirely opposed to all common analogies1 and so very improbable1 that many men when asked to believe them1 feel almost as though an insult were offered to their common sense4 ,the most important of these effects1 ,i shall now proceed to enumerate4 #ast4 ,the peculiar mode in which the worm designed to be reared as a queen1 is treated1 causes it to arrive at maturity1 about one-third earlier than if it had been bred a worker4 ,and yet it is to be much more fully developed1 and according to ordinary analogy1 ought to have had a slower growth6 #b;d4 ,its organs of reproduction are completely developed1 so that it is capable of fulfilling the office of a mother4 #c;d4 ,its size1 shape and color are all greatly changed4 7,see p4 #cb47 ,its lower jaws are shorter1 its head rounder1 and its legs have neither brushes nor baskets1 while its sting is more curved1 and one-third longer than that of a worker4 #dth4 ,its instincts are entirely changed4 ,reared as a worker1 it would have been ready to thrust out its sting1 upon the least provocation2 whereas now1 it may be pulled limb from limb1 without attempting to sting4 ,as a worker it would have treated a queen with the greatest consideration2 whereas now1 if placed under a glass with another queen1 it rushes forthwith to mortal combat with its rival4 ,as a worker1 it would frequently have left the hive1 either for labor or exercise3 as a queen1 after impregnation1 it never leaves the hive except to accompany a new swarm4 #eth4 ,the term of its life is remarkably lengthened4 ,as a worker1 it would have lived not more than six or seven months at farthest2 as a queen it may live seven or eight times as long6 ,all these wonders rest on the impregnable basis of complete demonstration1 and instead of being witnessed by only a select few1 may now1 by the use of my hive1 be familiar sights to any bee keeper1 who prefers to acquaint himself with facts1 rather than to cavil and sneer at the labors of others4#g ,when provision has been made1 in the manner described1 for a new race of queens1 the old mother always departs with the first swarm1 before her successors have arrived at maturity4#h ,,artificial ,,rearing ,,of ,,queens4 ,the distress of the bees when they lose their queen1 has already been described4 ,if they have the means of supplying her loss1 they soon calm down1 and commence forthwith1 the necessary steps for rearing another4 ,the process of rearing queens artificially1 to meet some special emergency1 is even more wonderful than the natural one1 which has already been described4 ,its success depends on the bees having worker-eggs or worms not more than three days old2 7if older1 the larva has been too far developed as a worker to admit of any change37 the bees nibble away the partitions of two cells adjoining a third1 so as to make one large cell out of the three4 ,they destroy the eggs or worms in two of these cells1 while they place before the occupant of the third1 the usual food of the young queens1 and build out its cell1 so as to give it ample space for development4 ,they do not confine themselves to the attempt to rear a single queen1 but to guard against failure1 start a considerable number1 although the work on all except a few1 is usually soon discontinued4 ,in twelve or fourteen days1 they are in possession of a new queen1 precisely similar to one reared in the natural way1 while the eggs which were laid at the same time in the adjoining cells1 and which have been developed in the usual way1 are nearly a week longer in coming to maturity4 ,i will give in this connection a description of an interesting experiment3 ,a large hive which stood at a distance from any other colony1 was removed in the morning of a very pleasant day1 to a new place1 and another hive containing only empty comb1 was put upon its stand4 ,thousands of workers which were out in the fields1 or which left the old hive after its removal1 returned to the familiar spot4 ,it was affecting to witness their grief and despair3 they flew in restless circles about the place which once contained their happy home1 entered and left the new hive continually1 expressing1 in various ways1 their lamentations over their cruel bereavement4 ,towards evening1 they ceased to take wing1 and roamed in restless platoons1 in and out of the hive1 and over its surface1 acting all the time1 as though in search of some lost treasure4 ,i now gave them a piece of brood comb1 containing worker eggs and worms1 taken from a second swarm which being just established with its young queen1 in a new hive1 could have no intention of rearing young queens that season2 therefore1 it cannot be contended that this piece of comb contained what some are pleased to call royal eggs4 ,what followed the introduction of this brood comb1 took place much quicker than it can be described4 ,the bees which first touched it1 raised a peculiar note1 and in a moment1 the comb was covered with a dense mass2 their restless motions and mournful noises ceased1 and a cheerful hum at once attested their delight6 ,despair gave place to hope1 as they recognized in this small piece of comb1 the means of deliverance4 ,suppose a large building filled with thousands of persons1 tearing their hair1 beating their breasts1 and by piteous cries1 as well as frantic gestures1 giving vent to their despair2 if now some one should enter this house of mourning1 and by a single word1 cause all these demonstrations of agony to give place to smiles and congratulations1 the change could not be more wonderful and instantaneous1 than that produced when the bees received the brood comb6 ,the ,orientals call the honey bee1 ,deburrah1 ,she that speaketh4 ,would that this little insect might speak1 and in words more eloquent than those of man's device1 to the multitudes who allow themselves to reject the doctrines of revealed religion1 because1 as they assert1 they are1 on their face so utterly improbable1 that they labor under an a priori objection strong enough to be fatal to their credibility4 ,do not nearly all the steps in the development of a queen from a worker-egg1 labor under precisely the same objection8 and have they not1 for this very reason1 always been regarded by great numbers of bee keepers1 as unworthy of credence8 ,if the favorite argument of infidels and errorists will not stand the test when applied to the wonders of the bee-hive1 can it be regarded as entitled to any serious weight1 when employed in framing objections against religious truths1 and arrogantly taking to task the infinite ,jehovah1 for what ,he has been pleased to do or to teach8 ,give me the same latitude claimed by such objectors1 and ,i can easily prove that a man is under no obligation to receive any of the wonders in the economy of the bee-hive1 although he is himself an intelligent eye-witness that they are all substantial verities4 ,i shall quote1 in this connection1 from ,huish1 an ,english ,apiarian of whom ,i have already spoken1 because his objections to the discoveries of ,huber1 remind me so forcibly of both the spirit and principles of the great majority of those who object to the doctrines of revealed religion4 ,if an individual1 with the view of acquiring some knowledge of the natural history of the bee1 or of its management1 consult the works of ,bagster1 ,bevan1 or any of the periodicals which casually treat upon the subject1 will he not rise from the study of them with his mind surcharged with falsities and mystification8 ,will he not discover through the whole of them a servile acquiescence in the opinions and discoveries of one man1 however at variance they may be with truth or probability2 and if he enter upon the discussion with his mind free from prejudice1 will he not experience that an outrage has been committed upon his reason1 in calling upon him to give assent to positions and principles which at best are merely assumed1 but to which he is called upon dogmatically to subscribe his acquiescence as the indubitable results of experience1 skill and ability8 ,the editors of the works above alluded to1 should boldly and indignantly have declared1 that from their own experience in the natural economy of the insect1 they were able to pronounce the circumstances as related by ,huber to be directly impossible1 and the whole of them based on fiction and imposition4 ,let the reader change only a few words in this extract3 for the natural history of the bee or its management1 let him write1 the subject of religion2 for1 the works of ,bagster1 ,bevan1 c41 let him put1 the works of ,moses1 ,paul1 c42 for1 their own experience in the natural economy of the insect1 let him substitute1 their own experience in the nature of man2 and for1 circumstances as related by ,huber1 let him insert1 as related by ,luke or ,john1 and it will sound almost precisely like a passage from some infidel author4 ,i resume the quotation from ,huish2 ,if we examine the account which ,huber gives of his invention 767 of the royal jelly1 the existence and efficacy of which are fully acquiesced in by the aforesaid editors1 to what other conclusions are we necessarily driven1 than that they are the dupes of a visionary enthusiast1 whose greatest merit consists in his inventive powers1 no matter how destitute those powers may be of all affinity with truth or probability8 ,before1 however1 these editors bestowed their unqualified assent on the existence of this royal jelly1 did they stop to put to themselves the following questions8 ,by what kind of bee is it made8#i ,whence is it procured8 ,is it a natural or an elaborated substance8 ,if natural1 from what source is it derived8 ,if elaborated1 in what stomach of the bee is it to be found8 ,how is it administered8 ,what are its constituent principles8 ,is its existence optional or definite8 ,whence does it derive its miraculous power of converting a common egg into a royal one8 ,will any of the aforesaid editors publicly answer these questions8 and ought they not to have been able to answer them1 before they so unequivocally expressed their belief in its existence1 its powers and administration8 ,how puerile does all this sound to one who has seen and tasted the royal jelly6 ,and permit me to add1 how equally unmeaning do the objections of infidels seem1 to those who have an experimental acquaintance with the divine hopes and consolations of the ,gospel of ,christ4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,the author of this work regrets that his experience does not enable him to speak with such absolute confidence as to the character of all the bee keepers whom he has known4 #b ,in this way she is sure to deposit the egg in the cell she has selected4 #c ,if ever there lived a genuine naturalist1 ,swammerdam was the man4 ,in his ,history of ,insects1 published in #agcg1 he has given a most beautiful drawing of the ovaries of the queen bee4 ,the sac which he supposed secreted a fluid for sticking the eggs to the base of the cells is the seminal reservoir or spermatheca4 #d ,bevan4 #e ,this work being intended chiefly for practical purposes1 ,i have thought best to use1 as little as possible1 the technical terms and minute anatomical descriptions of the scientific entomologist4 #f ,bevan4 #g ,having already spoken of ,swammerdam1 ,i shall give a brief extract from the celebrated ,dr4 ,boerhaave's memoir of this wonderful naturalist1 which should put to the blush1 if any thing can1 the arrogance of those superficial observers who are too wise in their own conceit1 to avail themselves of the knowledge of others4 ,this treatise on ,bees proved so fatiguing a performance1 that ,swammerdam never afterwards recovered even the appearance of his former health and vigor4 ,he was almost continually engaged by day in making observations1 and as constantly engaged by night in recording them by drawings and suitable explanations4 ,this being summer work1 his daily labor began at six in the morning1 when the sun afforded him light enough to survey such minute objects2 and from that hour till twelve1 he continued without interruption1 all the while exposed in the open air to the scorching heat of the sun1 bareheaded for fear of intercepting his sight1 and his head in a manner dissolving into sweat under the irresistible ardors of that powerful luminary4 ,and if he desisted at noon1 it was only because the strength of his eyes was too much weakened1 by the extraordinary afflux of light and the use of microscopes1 to continue any longer upon such small objects1 though as discernible in the afternoon1 as they had been in the forenoon4 ,our author1 the better to accomplish his vast1 unlimited views1 often wished for a year of perpetual heat and light to perfect his inquiries1 with a polar night to reap all the advantages of them by proper drawings and descriptions4 #h ,the formation of swarms will be particularly described in another chapter4 #i ,suppose that we are unable to give a satisfactory answer to any of these questions1 does our ignorance on these points disprove the fact of the existence of such a jelly8 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,comb4 ,wax is a natural secretion of the bees2 it may be called their oil or fat4 ,if they are gorged with honey1 or any liquid sweet1 and remain quietly clustered together1 it is formed in small wax pouches on their abdomen1 and comes out in the shape of very delicate scales4 ,soon after a swarm is hived1 the bottom board will be covered with these scales4 ,thus1 filtered through yon flutterer's folded mail1 ,clings the cooled wax1 and hardens to a scale4 ,swift1 at the well known call1 the ready train1 7,for not a buz boon ,nature breathes in vain17 ,spring to each falling flake1 and bear along ,their glossy burdens to the builder throng4 ,these with sharp sickle or with sharper tooth1 ,pare each excrescence1 and each angle smooth1 ,till now1 in finish'd pride1 two radiant rows ,of snow white cells one mutual base disclose4 ,six shining panels gird each polish'd round1 ,the door's fine rim1 with waxen fillet bound1 ,while walls so thin1 with sister walls combined1 ,weak in themselves1 a sure dependence find4 ,evans4 ,huber was the first to demonstrate that wax is a natural secretion of the bee1 when fed on honey or any saccharine substance4 ,most ,apiarians before his time1 supposed that it was made from pollen or bee-bread1 either in a crude or digested state4 ,he confined a new swarm of bees in a hive placed in a dark and cool room1 and on examining them1 at the end of five days1 found several beautiful white combs in their tenement3 these were taken from them1 and they were again confined and supplied with honey and water1 and a second time new combs were constructed4 ,five times in succession their combs were removed1 and were in each instance replaced1 the bees being all the time prevented from ranging the fields1 to supply themselves with bee-bread4 ,by subsequent experiments he proved that sugar answered the same end with honey4 ,he then confined a swarm1 giving them no honey1 but an abundance of fruit and pollen4 ,they subsisted on the fruit1 but refused to touch the pollen2 and no combs were constructed1 nor any wax scales formed in their pouches4 ,these experiments are conclusive2 and are interesting1 not merely as proving that wax is secreted from honey or saccharine substances1 but because they show in what a thorough manner the experiments of ,huber were conducted4 ,confident assertions are easily made1 requiring only a little breath or a drop of ink2 and the men who deal most in them1 have often a profound contempt for observation and experiment4 ,to establish even a simple truth1 on the solid foundation of demonstrated facts1 often requires the most patient and protracted toil4 ,a high temperature is necessary for comb-building1 in order that the wax may be soft enough to be moulded into shape4 ,the very process of its secretion helps to furnish the amount of heat which is required to work it4 ,this is a very interesting fact which seems never before to have been noticed4 ,honey or sugar is found to contain by weight1 about eight pounds of oxygen to one of carbon and hydrogen4 ,when changed into wax1 the proportions are entirely reversed3 the wax contains only one pound of oxygen to more than sixteen pounds of hydrogen and carbon4 ,now as oxygen is the grand supporter of animal heat1 the consumption of so large a quantity of it1 aids in producing the extraordinary heat which always accompanies comb-building1 and which is necessary to keep the wax in the soft and plastic state requisite to enable the bees to mould it into such exquisitely delicate and beautiful shapes6 ,who can fail to admire the wisdom of the ,creator in this beautiful instance of adaptation8 ,the most careful experiments have clearly established the fact1 that at least twenty pounds of honey are consumed in making a single pound of wax4 ,if any think that this is incredible1 let them bear in mind that wax is an animal oil secreted from honey1 and let them consider how many pounds of corn or hay they must feed to their stock1 in order to have them gain a single pound of fat4 ,many ,apiarians are entirely ignorant of the great value of empty comb4 ,suppose the honey to be worth only #ae cts4 per lb41 and the comb when rendered into wax1 to be worth #cj cts4 per lb41 the bee-master who melts a pound of comb1 loses nearly three dollars by the operation1 and this1 without estimating the time which the bees have consumed in building the comb4 ,unfortunately1 in the ordinary hives1 but little use can be made of empty comb1 unless it is new1 and can be put into the surplus honey-boxes3 but by the use of my movable frames1 every piece of good worker-comb may be used to the best advantage1 as it can be given to the bees1 to aid them in their labors4 ,it has been found very difficult to preserve comb from the bee-moth1 when it is taken from the bees4 ,if it contains only a few of the eggs of this destroyer1 these1 in due time1 will produce a progeny sufficient to devour it4 ,the comb1 if it is attached to my frames1 may be suspended in a box or empty hive1 and thoroughly smoked with sulphur2 this will kill any worms which it may contain4 ,when the weather is warm enough to hatch the eggs of the moth1 this process must be repeated a few times1 at intervals of about a week1 so as to insure the destruction of the worms as they hatch1 for the sulphur does not seem always to destroy the vitality of the eggs4 ,the combs may now be kept in a tight box or hive1 with perfect safety4 ,combs containing bee-bread1 are of great value1 and if given to young colonies1 which in spring are frequently destitute of this article1 they will materially assist them in early breeding4 ,honey may be taken from my hives in the frames1 and the covers of the cells sliced off with a sharp knife2 the honey can then be drained out1 and the empty combs returned to be filled again4 ,a strong stock of bees1 in the height of the honey harvest1 will fill empty combs with wonderful rapidity4 ,i lay it down1 as one of my first principles in bee culture1 that no good comb should ever be melted2 it should all be carefully preserved and given to the bees4 ,if it is new1 it may be easily attached to the frames1 or the honey-receptacles1 by dipping the edge into melted wax1 pressing it gently until it stiffens1 and then allowing it to cool4 ,if the comb is old1 or the pieces large and full of bee-bread1 it will be best to dip them into melted rosin1 which1 besides costing much less than wax1 will secure a much firmer adhesion4 ,when comb is put into tumblers or other small vessels1 the bees will begin to work upon it the sooner1 if it is simply crowded in1 so as to be held in place by being supported against the sides4 ,it would seem as though they were disgusted with such unworkmanlike proceedings1 and that they cannot rest until they have taken it into hand1 and endeavored to make a job of it4 ,if the bee-keeper in using his choicest honey will be satisfied to dispense with looks1 and will carefully drain it from the beautiful comb1 he may use all such comb again to great advantage2 not only saving its intrinsic value1 but greatly encouraging his bees to occupy and fill all receptacles in which a portion of it is put4 ,bees seem to fancy a good start in life1 about as well as their more intelligent owners4 ,to this use all suitable drone comb should be put1 as soon as it is removed from the main hive4 7,see remarks on ,drones47 ,ingenious efforts have been made1 of late years1 to construct artificial honey combs of porcelain1 to be used for feeding bees4 ,no one1 to my knowledge1 has ever attempted to imitate the delicate mechanism of the bee so closely1 as to construct artificial combs for the ordinary uses of the hive2 although for a long time ,i have entertained the idea as very desirable1 and yet as barely possible4 ,i am at present engaged in a course of experiments on this subject1 the results of which1 in due time1 ,i shall communicate to the public4 ,while writing this treatise1 it has occurred to me that bees might be induced to use old wax for the construction of their combs4 ,very fine parings may be shaved off with glass1 and if given to the bees1 under favorable circumstances1 it seems to me very probable that they would use them1 just as they do the scales which are formed in their wax pouches4 ,let strong colonies be deprived of some of their combs1 after the honey harvest is over1 and supplied abundantly with these parings of wax4 ,whether nature abhors a vacuum1 or not1 bees certainly do1 when it occurs among the combs of their main hive4 ,they will not use the honey stored up for winter use to replace the combs taken from them2 they can gather none from the flowers2 and ,i have strong hopes that necessity will with bees as well as men1 prove the mother of invention1 and lead them to use the wax1 as readily as they do the substitutes offered them for pollen4 7,see ,chapter on ,pollen47 ,if this conjecture should be verified by actual results1 it would exert a most powerful influence in the cheap and rapid multiplication of colonies1 and would enable the bees to store up most prodigious quantities of honey4 ,a pound of bees wax might then be made to store up twenty pounds of honey1 and the gain to the bee keeper would be the difference in price between the pound of wax1 and the twenty pounds of honey1 which the bees would have consumed in making the same amount of comb4 ,strong stocks might thus during the dull season1 when no honey can be procured1 be most profitably employed in building spare comb1 to be used in strengthening feeble stocks1 and for a great variety of purposes4 ,give me the means of cheaply obtaining large amounts of comb1 and ,i have almost found the philosopher's stone in bee keeping4 ,the building of comb is carried on with the greatest activity in the night1 while the honey is gathered by day4 ,thus no time is lost4 ,if the weather is too forbidding to allow the bees to go abroad1 the combs are very rapidly constructed1 as the labor is carried on both by day and by night4 ,on the return of a fair day1 the bees gather unusual quantities of honey1 as they have plenty of room for its storage4 ,thus it often happens1 that by their wise economy of time1 they actually lose nothing1 even if confined1 for several days1 to their hive4 ,how doth the little busy bee1 improve each shining hour6 ,the poet might with equal truth have described her1 as improving the gloomy days1 and the dark nights1 in her useful labors4 ,it is an interesting fact1 which ,i do not remember ever to have seen particularly noticed by any writer1 that honey gathering1 and comb building1 go on simultaneously2 so that when one stops1 the other ceases also4 ,i have repeatedly observed1 that as soon as the honey harvest fails1 the bees intermit their labors in building new comb1 even when large portions of their hive are unfilled4 ,they might enlarge their combs by using some of their stores2 but then they would incur the risk of perishing in the winter1 by starvation4 ,when honey no longer abounds in the fields1 it is wisely ordered1 that they should not consume their hoarded treasures1 in expectation of further supplies1 which may never come4 ,i do not believe1 that any other safe rule could have been given them2 and if honey gathering was our business1 with all our boasted reason1 we should be obliged to adopt the very same course4 ,wax is one of the best non-conductors of heat1 so that when it is warmed by the animal heat of the bees1 it can more easily be worked1 than if it parted with its heat too readily4 ,by this property1 the combs serve also to keep the bees warm1 and there is not so much risk of the honey candying in the cells1 or the combs cracking with frost4 ,if wax was a good conductor of heat1 the combs would often be icy cold1 moisture would condense and freeze upon them1 and they would fail to answer the ends for which they are intended4 ,the size of the cells1 in which workers are reared1 never varies3 the same may substantially be said of the drone cells which are very considerably larger2 the cells in which honey is stored1 often vary exceedingly in depth1 while in diameter1 they are of all sizes from that of the worker cells to that of the drones4 ,the cells of the bees are found perfectly to answer all the most refined conditions of a very intricate mathematical problem6 ,let it be required to find what shape a given quantity of matter must take1 in order to have the greatest capacity1 and the greatest strength1 requiring at the same time1 the least space1 and the least labor in its construction4 ,this problem has been solved by the most refined processes of the higher mathematics1 and the result is the hexagonal or six-sided cell of the honey bee1 with its three four-sided figures at the base6 ,the shape of these figures cannot be altered1 ever so little1 except for the worse4 ,besides possessing the desirable qualities already described1 they answer as nurseries for the rearing of the young1 and as small air-tight vessels in which the honey is preserved from souring or candying4 ,every prudent housewife who puts up her preserves in tumblers1 or small glass jars1 and carefully pastes them over1 to keep out the air1 will understand the value of such an arrangement4 ,there are only three possible figures of the cells1 says ,dr4 ,reid1 which can make them all equal and similar1 without any useless spaces between them4 ,these are the equilateral triangle1 the square and the regular hexagon4 ,it is well known to mathematicians that there is not a fourth way possible1 in which a plane may be cut into little spaces that shall be equal1 similar and regular1 without leaving any interstices4 ,an equilateral triangle would have made an uncomfortable tenement for an insect with a round body2 and a square would not have been much better4 ,at first sight a circle would seem to be the best shape for the development of the larv3 but such a figure would have caused a needless sacrifice of space1 materials and strength2 while the honey which now adheres so admirably to the many angles or corners of the six-sided cell1 would have been much more liable to run out6 ,i will venture to assign a new reason for the hexagonal form4 ,the body of the immature insect as it undergoes its changes1 is charged with a super-abundance of moisture which passes off through the reticulated cover which the bees build over its cell3 a hexagon while it approaches so nearly the shape of a circle as not to incommode the young bee1 furnishes in its six corners the necessary vacancies for its more thorough ventilation6 ,so invariably uniform in size1 as well as perfect in other respects1 are the cells in which the workers are bred1 that some mathematicians have proposed their adoption1 as the best unit for measures of capacity to serve for universal use4 ,can we believe that these little insects unite so many requisites in the construction of their cells1 either by chance1 or because they are profoundly versed in the most intricate mathematics8 ,are we not compelled to acknowledge that the mathematics must be referred to the ,creator1 and not to ,his puny creature8 ,to an intelligent1 candid mind1 a piece of honey comb is a complete demonstration that there is a ,,great ,,first ,,cause3 for on no other supposition can we account for so complicated a shape1 and yet the only one which can possibly unite so many desirable requisites4 ,on books deep poring1 ye pale sons of toil1 ,who waste in studious trance the midnight oil1 ,say1 can ye emulate with all your rules1 ,drawn or from ,grecian or from ,gothic schools1 ,this artless frame8 ,instinct her simple guide1 ,a heaven-taught ,insect baffles all your pride4 ,not all yon marshall'd orbs1 that ride so high1 ,proclaim more loud a present ,deity1 ,than the nice symmetry of these small cells1 ,where on each angle genuine science dwells4 ,evans4 ,,chapter ,v4 ,,propolis1 ,,or ,,bee-,,glue4 ,this substance is obtained by the bees from the resinous buds and limbs of trees2 and when first gathered1 it is usually of a bright golden color1 and is exceedingly sticky4 ,the different kinds of poplars furnish a rich supply4 ,the bees bring it on their thighs just as they do bee bread2 and ,i have caught them as they were entering with a load1 and taken it from them4 ,it adheres so firmly that it is difficult to remove it4 ,huber planted in ,spring some branches of the wild poplar1 before the leaves were developed1 and placed them in pots near his ,apiary2 the bees alighting on them1 separated the folds of the largest buds with their forceps1 extracted the varnish in threads1 and loaded with it1 first one thigh and then the other2 for they convey it like pollen1 transferring it by the first pair of legs to the second1 by which it is lodged in the hollow of the third4 ,the smell of the propolis is often precisely similar to that of the resin from the poplar1 and chemical analysis proves the identity of the two substances4 ,it is frequently gathered from the alder1 horse-chestnut1 birch1 and willow2 and as some think1 from pines and other trees of the fir kind4 ,i have often known bees to enter the shops where varnishing was being carried on1 attracted evidently by the smell3 and ,bevan mentions the fact of their carrying off a composition of wax and turpentine1 from trees to which it had been applied4 ,dr4 ,evans says that he has seen them collect the balsamic varnish which coats the young blossom buds of the hollyhock1 and has known them to rest at least ten minutes on the same bud1 moulding the balsam with their fore feet1 and transferring it to the hinder legs1 as described by ,huber4 ,with merry hum the ,willow's copse they scale1 ,the ,fir's dark pyramid1 or ,poplar pale1 ,scoop from the ,aider's leaf its oozy flood1 ,or strip the ,chestnut's resin-coated bud1 ,skim the light tear that tips ,narcissus' ray1 ,or round the ,hollyhock's hoar fragrance play4 ,soon temper'd to their will through eve's low beam1 ,and link'd in airy bands the viscous stream1 ,they waft their nut-brown loads exulting home1 ,that form a fret-work for the future comb2 ,caulk every chink where rushing winds may roar1 ,and seal their circling ramparts to the floor4 ,evans4 ,a mixture of wax and propolis is used by the bees to strengthen the attachments of the combs to the top and sides of the hive1 and serves most admirably for this purpose1 as it is much more adhesive than wax alone4 ,if the combs1 as soon as they are built1 are not filled with honey or brood1 they are beautifully varnished with a most delicate coating of this material1 which adds exceedingly to their strength3 but as this natural varnish impairs their delicate whiteness1 they ought not to be allowed to remain in the surplus honey receptacles1 accessible to the bees1 unless when they are actively engaged in storing them with honey4 ,the bees make a very liberal use of this substance to fill up all the crevices about their premises3 and as the natural summer heat of the hive keeps it soft1 the bee moth selects it as a proper place of deposit for her eggs4 ,for this reason1 the hive should be made of sound lumber1 entirely free from cracks1 and thoroughly painted on the inside as well as outside4 ,when glass is used1 there is no risk that the bed moth will find a place in which she can insert her ovi-positor and lay her eggs4 ,the corners of the hive1 which the bees always fill with propolis1 should have a melted mixture of three parts rosin1 and one part bees-wax run into them1 which remains hard during the hottest weather1 and bids defiance to the moth4 ,the inside of the hive may be coated with the same mixture1 put on hot with a brush4 ,the bees find it difficult to gather the propolis1 and equally so to remove from their thighs1 and to work so sticky a material4 ,for this reason1 it is doubly important to save them all unnecessary labor in amassing it4 ,to men1 time is money2 to bees1 it is honey2 and all the arrangements of the hive should be such as to economize it to the very utmost4 ,propolis is sometimes put to a very curious use by the bees4 ,a snail#aj having crept into one of ,m4 ,reaumur's hives early in the morning1 after crawling about for some time1 adhered by means of its own slime to one of the glass panes4 ,the bees having discovered the snail1 surrounded it and formed a border of propolis round the verge of its shell1 and fastened it so securely to the glass that it became immovable4 ,forever closed the impenetrable door1 ,it naught avails that in his torpid veins ,year after year1 life's loitering spark remains4#aa ,evans4 ,maraldi1 another eminent ,apiarian1 has related a somewhat similar instance4 ,he states that a snail without a shell1 or slug1 as it is called1 had entered one of his hives2 and that the bees1 as soon as they observed it1 stung it to death3 after which being unable to dislodge it1 they covered it all over with an impervious coat of propolis4 ,for soon in fearless ire1 their wonder lost1 ,spring fiercely from the comb the indignant host1 ,lay the pierced monster breathless on the ground1 ,and clap in joy their victor pinions round3 ,while all in vain concurrent numbers strive1 ,to heave the slime-girt giant from the hive-- ,sure not alone by force ,instinctive swayed1 ,but blest with reason's soul directing aid1 ,alike in man or bee1 they haste to pour1 ,thick hard'ning as it falls1 the flaky shower2 ,embalmed in shroud of glue the mummy lies1 ,no worms invade1 no foul miasmas rise4 ,evans4 ,in these cases who can withhold his admiration of the ingenuity and judgment of the bees8 ,in the first case a troublesome creature gained admission to the hive1 which1 from its unwieldiness1 they could not remove1 and which1 from the impenetrability of its shell1 they could not destroy3 here then their only resource was to deprive it of locomotion1 and to obviate putrefaction2 both which objects they accomplished most skilfully and securely--and as is usual with these sagacious creatures1 at the least possible expense of labor and materials4 ,they applied their cement where alone it was required1 round the verge of the shell4 ,in the latter case1 to obviate the evil of decay1 by the total exclusion of air1 they were obliged to be more lavish in the use of their embalming material1 and to case over the slime girt giant so as to guard themselves from his noisome smell4 ,what means more effectual could human wisdom have devised under similar circumstances8 ,if in the insect1 ,season's twilight ray ,sheds on the darkling mind a doubtful day1 ,plain is the steady light her ,instincts yield1 ,to point the road o'er life's unvaried field2 ,if few these instincts1 to the destined goal1 ,with surer coarse1 their straiten'd currents roll4 ,evans4 ,,footnotes3 #aj ,bevan4 #aa ,some very extraordinary instances are related of the protraction of life in snails4 ,after they had lain in a cabinet above fifteen years1 immersing them in water caused them to revive and crawl out of their shells4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,pollen1 ,,or ,,bee-,,bread4 ,this substance is gathered by the bees from the flowers1 or blossoms1 and is used for the nourishment of their young4 ,repeated experiments have proved that no brood can be raised in a hive1 unless the bees are supplied with it4 ,it contains none of the elements of wax1 but is rich in what chemists call nitrogenous substances1 which are not contained in honey1 and which furnish ample nourishment for the development of the growing bee4 ,dr4 ,hunter dissected some immature bees1 and found their stomachs to contain farina1 but not a particle of honey4 ,we are indebted to ,huber for the discovery of the use made by the bees of pollen4 ,that it did not serve as food for the mature bees1 was evident from the fact that large supplies are often found in hives whose inmates have starved to death4 ,it was this fact which led the old observers to conclude that it was gathered for the purpose of building comb4 ,after ,huber had demonstrated that wax is secreted from an entirely different substance1 he was soon led to conjecture that the bee-bread must be used for the nourishment of the embryo bees4 ,by rigid experiments he proved the truth of this supposition4 ,bees were confined to their hive without any pollen1 after being supplied with honey1 eggs and larv4 ,in a short time the young all perished4 ,a fresh supply of brood was given to them1 with an ample allowance of pollen1 and the development of the larv then proceeded in the natural way4 ,when a colony is actively engaged in carrying in this article1 it may be taken for granted that they have a fertile queen1 and are busy in breeding4 ,on the contrary1 if any colony is not gathering pollen when others are1 the queen is either dead1 or diseased1 and the hive should at once be examined4 ,in the backward spring of #aheb1 ,i had an excellent opportunity of testing the value of this substance4 ,in one of my hives1 was an artificial swarm of the previous year4 ,the hive was well protected1 being double1 and the situation was warm4 ,i opened it on the #eth of ,february1 and although the weather1 until within a week of that time1 had been unusually cold1 ,i found many of the cells filled with brood4 ,on the #bc;d1 the combs were again examined1 and found to contain1 neither eggs1 brood1 nor bee bread4 ,the bees were then supplied with bee bread taken from another hive3 the next day1 this was found to have been used by them1 and a large number of eggs had been deposited in the cells4 ,when this supply was exhausted1 egg-laying ceased1 and was again renewed when more was furnished them4 ,during all the time of these experiments1 the weather was unpromising1 and as the bees were unable to go out for water1 they were supplied at home with this important article4 ,dzierzon is of opinion that the bees are able to furnish food for the young1 without the presence of pollen in the hive2 although he admits that they can do this only for a short time1 and at a great expense of vital energy2 just as the strength of an animal nursing its young is rapidly reduced1 when for want of proper food1 the very substance of its own body as it were1 is converted into milk4 ,my experiments do not corroborate this theory1 but tend to confirm the views of ,huber1 and to show the absolute necessity of pollen to the development of brood4 ,the same able contributor to ,apiarian science1 thinks that pollen is used by the bees when they are engaged in comb-building2 and that unless they are well supplied with it1 they cannot rapidly secrete wax1 without very severely taxing their strength4 ,but as all the elements of wax are found in honey1 and none of them in pollen1 this opinion does not seem to me1 to be entitled to much weight4 ,that bees cannot live upon pollen without any honey1 is proved by the fact1 that large stores of it are often found1 in hives whose occupants have died of starvation2 that they can live without it1 is equally well known2 but that the full grown bees make some use of it in connection with honey1 for their own nourishment1 ,i believe to be highly probable4 ,the bees prefer to gather fresh bee-bread1 even when there are large accumulations of old stores in the cells4 ,hence1 the great importance of being able to make the surplus of old colonies supply the deficiency of young ones4 7,see ,no4 #bh1 in the ,chapter ,on the advantages which ought to be found in an ,improved ,hive47 ,if both honey and pollen can be obtained from the same flower1 then a load of each will be secured by the industrious insect4 ,of this1 any one may convince himself1 who will dissect a few pollen gatherers at the time when honey is plenty3 he will generally find their honey-bags full4 ,the mode of gathering is very interesting4 ,the body of the bee appears1 to the naked eye1 to be covered with fine hairs2 to these1 when the bee alights on a flower1 the farina adheres4 ,with her legs1 she brushes it off from her body1 and packs it in two hollows or baskets1 one on each of her thighs3 these baskets are surrounded by stouter hairs which hold the load in its place4 ,when the bee returns with pollen1 she often makes a singular1 dancing or vibratory motion1 which attracts the attention of the other bees1 who at once nibble away from her thighs what they want for immediate use2 the rest she deposits in a cell for future need1 where it is carefully packed down1 and often sealed over with wax4 ,it has been observed that a bee1 in gathering pollen1 always confines herself to the same kind of flower on which she begins1 even when that is not so abundant as some others4 ,thus if you examine a ball of this substance taken from her thigh1 it is found to be of one uniform color throughout3 the load of one will be yellow1 another red1 and a third brown2 the color varying according to that of the plant from which it was obtained4 ,it is probable that the pollen of different kinds of flowers would not pack so well together4 ,it is certain that if they flew from one species to another1 there would be a much greater mixture of different varieties than there now is1 for they carry on their bodies the pollen or fertilizing principle1 and thus aid most powerfully in the impregnation of plants4 ,this is one reason why it is so difficult to preserve pure1 the different varieties of the same vegetables whose flowers are sought by the bee4 ,he must be blind indeed1 who will not see1 at every step in the natural history of this insect1 the plainest proofs of the wisdom of its ,creator4 ,i cannot resist the impression that the honey bee was made for the especial service and instruction of man4 ,at first the importance of its products1 when honey was the only natural sweet1 served most powerfully to attract his attention to its curious habits2 and now since the cultivation of the sugar cane has diminished the relative value of its luscious sweets1 the superior knowledge which has been obtained of its instincts1 is awakening an increasing enthusiasm in its cultivation4 ,virgil in the fourth book of his ,georgics1 which is entirely devoted to bees1 speaks of them as having received a direct emanation from the ,divine ,intelligence4 ,and many modern ,apiarians are almost disposed to rank the bee for sagacity1 as next in the scale of creation to man4 ,the importance of pollen to the nourishment of the brood1 has long been known1 and of late1 successful attempts have been made to furnish a substitute4 ,the bees in ,dzierzon's ,apiary were observed by him1 early in the spring before the time for procuring pollen1 to bring rye meal to their hives from a neighboring mill4 ,it is now a common practice on the continent of ,europe1 where bee keeping is extensively carried on1 to supply the bees1 in early spring1 with this article4 ,shallow troughs are set in front of the ,apiaries1 which are filled1 about two inches deep1 with finely ground1 dry1 unbolted rye meal4 ,thousands of bees resort eagerly to them when the weather is favorable1 roll themselves in the meal1 and return heavily laden to their hives4 ,in fine1 mild weather1 they labor at this work with astonishing industry2 and seem decidedly to prefer the meal to the old pollen stored in their combs4 ,by this means1 the bees are induced to commence breeding early1 and rapidly recruit their numbers4 ,the feeding is continued till the bees cease to carry away the meal2 that is1 until the natural supplies furnish them with a preferable article4 ,the average consumption of each colony is about two pounds of meal6 ,at the last annual ,apiarian ,convention in ,germany1 a cultivator recommended wheat flour as an excellent substitute for pollen4 ,he says that in ,february1 #aheb1 he used it with the best results4 ,the bees forsook the honey which had been set out for them1 and engaged actively in carrying in large quantities of the wheat flour1 which was placed about twenty paces in front of the hives4 ,the construction of my hives1 permits the flour to be placed1 at once1 where the bees can take it1 without being compelled to waste their time in going out for it1 or to suffer for the want of it1 when the weather confines them at home4 ,the discovery of this substitute1 removes a serious obstacle to the successful culture of bees4 ,in many districts1 there is a great abundance of honey for a few weeks in the season2 and almost any number of colonies1 which are strong when the honey harvest commences1 will1 in a good season1 lay up sufficient stores for themselves1 and a large surplus for their owners4 ,in many of these districts1 however1 the supply of pollen is often so insufficient1 that the new colonies of the previous year are found destitute of this article in the spring2 and unless the season is early1 and the weather unusually favorable1 the production of brood is most seriously interfered with2 thus the colony becomes strong too late to avail itself to the best advantage of the superabundant harvest of honey4 7,see remarks on the importance of having strong stocks early in the ,spring47 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,on ,,the ,,advantages ,,which ,,ought ,,to ,,be ,,found ,,in ,,an ,,improved ,,hive4 ,in this chapter1 ,i shall enumerate certain very desirable1 if not necessary1 qualities of a good hive4 ,i have neither the taste nor the time for the invidious work of disparaging other hives4 ,i prefer inviting the attention of bee-keepers to the importance of these requisites2 some of which1 as ,i believe1 are contained in no hive but my own4 ,let them be most carefully examined1 and if they commend themselves to the enlightened judgment and good common sense of cultivators1 let them be employed to test the comparative merits of the various kinds of hives in common use4 #a4 ,a good hive should give the ,apiarian a perfect control over all the combs3 so that any of them may be taken out at pleasure2 and this1 without cutting them1 or enraging the bees4 ,this advantage is possessed by no hive in use1 except my own2 and it forms the very foundation of an improved and profitable system of bee-culture4 ,unless the combs are at the entire command of the ,apiarian1 he can have no effectual control over his bees4 ,they swarm too much or too little1 just as suits themselves1 and their owner is almost entirely dependent upon their caprice4 #b4 ,it ought to afford suitable protection against extremes of heat and cold1 sudden changes of temperature1 and the injurious effects of dampness4 ,in winter1 the interior of the hive should be dry1 and not a particle of frost should ever find admission2 and in summer1 the bees should not be forced to work to disadvantage in a pent and almost suffocating heat4 7,see these points discussed in the ,chapter on ,protection47 #c4 ,it should permit all necessary operations to be performed without hurting or killing a single bee4 ,most hives are so constructed that it is impossible to manage them1 without at times injuring or destroying some of the bees4 ,the mere destruction of a few bees1 would not1 except on the score of humanity1 be of much consequence1 if it did not very materially increase the difficulty of managing them4 ,bees remember injuries done to any of their number1 for some time1 and generally find an opportunity to avenge them4 #d4 ,it should allow every thing to be done that is necessary in the most extensive management of bees1 without incurring any serious risk of exciting their anger4 7,see ,chapter on the ,anger of ,bees47 #e4 ,not a single unnecessary step or motion ought to be required of a single bee4 ,the honey harvest1 in most locations1 is of short continuance2 and all the arrangements of the hive should facilitate1 to the utmost1 the work of the busy gatherers4 ,tall hives1 therefore1 and all such as compel them to travel with their heavy burdens through densely crowded combs1 are very objectionable4 ,the bees in my hive1 instead of forcing their way through thick clusters1 can easily pass into the surplus honey boxes1 not only from any comb in the hive1 but without traveling over the combs at all4 #f4 ,it should afford suitable facilities for inspecting1 at all times1 the condition of the bees4 ,when the sides of my hive are of glass1 as soon as the outer cover is elevated1 the ,apiarian has a view of the interior1 and can often at a glance1 determine its condition4 ,if the hive is of wood1 or if he wishes to make a more thorough examination1 in a few minutes every comb may be taken out1 and separately inspected4 ,in this way1 the exact condition of every colony may always be easily ascertained1 and nothing left1 as in the common hives1 to mere conjecture4 ,this is an advantage1 the importance of which it would be difficult to over estimate4 7,see ,chapters on the loss of the queen1 and on the ,bee ,moth47 #g4 ,while the hive is of a size adapted to the natural instincts of the bee1 it should be capable of being readily adjusted to the wants of small colonies4 ,if a small swarm is put into a large hive1 they will be unable to concentrate their animal heat1 so as to work to the best advantage1 and will often become discouraged1 and abandon their hive4 ,if they are put into a small hive1 its limited dimensions will not afford them suitable accommodations for increase4 ,by means of my movable partition1 my hive can1 in a few moments1 be adapted to the wants of any colony however small1 and can1 with equal facility1 be enlarged from time to time1 or at once restored to its full dimensions4 #h4 ,it should allow the combs to be removed without any jarring4 ,bees manifest the utmost aversion to any sudden jar2 for it is in this way1 that their combs are loosened and detached4 ,however firmly fastened the frames may be in my hive1 they can all be loosened in a few moments1 without injuring or exciting the bees4 #i4 ,it should allow every good piece of comb to be given to the bees1 instead of being melted into wax4 7,see ,chapter on ,comb47 #aj4 ,the construction of the hive should induce the bees to build their combs with great regularity4 ,a hive which contains a large proportion of irregular comb1 can never be expected to prosper4 ,such comb is only suitable for storing honey1 or raising drones4 ,this is one reason why so many colonies never flourish4 ,a glance will often show that a hive contains so much drone comb1 as to be unfit for the purposes of a stock hive4 #aa4 ,it should furnish the means of procuring comb to be used as a guide to the bees1 in building regular combs in empty hives2 and to induce them more readily to take possession of the surplus honey receptacles4 ,it is well known that the presence of comb will induce bees to begin work much more readily than they otherwise ,would3 this is especially the case in glass vessels4 #ab4 ,it should allow the removal of drone combs from the hive1 to prevent the breeding of too many drones4 7,see remarks on ,drones47 #ac4 ,it should enable the ,apiarian1 when the combs become too old1 to remove them1 and supply their place with new ones4 ,no hive can1 in this respect1 equal one in which1 in a few moments1 any comb can be removed1 and the part which is too old1 be cut off4 ,the upper part of a comb1 which is generally used for storing honey1 will last without renewal for many years4 #ad4 ,it ought to furnish the greatest possible security against the ravages of the ,bee-,moth4 ,neither before nor after it is occupied1 ought there to be any cracks or crevices in the interior4 ,all such places will be filled by the bees with propolis or bee-glue2 a substance1 which is always soft in the summer heat of the hive1 and which forms a most congenial place of deposit for the eggs of the moth4 ,if the sides of the hive are of glass1 and the corners are run with a melted mixture1 three parts rosin1 and one part bees-wax1 the bees will waste but little time in gathering propolis1 and the bee-moth will find but little chance for laying her eggs1 even if she should succeed in entering the hive4 ,my hives are so constructed1 that if made of wood1 they may be thoroughly painted inside and outside1 without being so smooth as to annoy the bees2 for they travel over the frames to which the combs are attached2 and thus whether the inside surface is glass or wood1 it is not liable to crack1 or warp1 or absorb moisture1 after the hive is occupied by the bees4 ,if the hives are painted inside1 it should be done sometime before they are used4 ,if the interior of the wooden hive is brushed with a very hot mixture of the rosin and bees-wax1 the hives may be used immediately4 #ae4 ,it should furnish some place accessible to the ,apiarian1 where the bee-moth can be tempted to deposit her eggs1 and the worms1 when full grown1 to wind themselves in their cocoons4 7,see remarks on the ,bee-,moth47 #af4 ,it should enable the ,apiarian1 if the bee-moth ever gains the upper hand of the bees1 to remove the combs1 and expel the worms4 7,see ,bee-,moth47 #ag4 ,the bottom board should be permanently attached to the hive2 for if this is not done1 it will be inconvenient to move the hive when bees are in it1 and next to impossible to prevent the depredations of moths and worms4 ,sooner or later1 there will be crevices between the bottom board and the sides of the hive1 through which the moths will gain admission1 and under which the worms1 when fully grown1 will retreat to spin their webs1 and to be changed into moths1 to enter in their turn1 and lay their eggs4 ,movable bottom hoards are a great nuisance in the ,apiary1 and the construction of my hive1 which enables me entirely to dispense with them1 will furnish a very great protection against the bee-moth4 ,there is no place where they can get in1 except at the entrance for the bees1 and this may be contracted or enlarged1 to suit the strength of the colony2 and from its peculiar shape1 the bees are enabled to defend it against intruders1 with the greatest advantage4 #ah4 ,the bottom-board should slant towards the entrance1 to assist the bees in carrying out the dead1 and other useless substances2 to aid them in defending themselves against robbers2 to carry off all moisture2 and to prevent the rain and snow from beating into the hive4 ,as a farther precaution against this last evil1 the entrance ought to be under a covered way1 which should not1 at once lead into the interior4 #ai4 ,the bottom-board should be so constructed that it may be readily cleared of dead bees in cold weather1 when the bees are unable to attend to this business themselves4 ,if suffered to remain1 they often become mouldy1 and injure the health of the colony4 ,if the bees drag them out1 as they will do1 if the weather moderates1 they often fall with them on the snow1 and are so chilled that they never rise again2 for a bee generally retains its hold in flying away with the dead1 until both fall to the ground4 #bj4 ,no part of the interior of the hive should be below the level of the place of exit4 ,if this principle is violated1 the bees must1 at great disadvantage1 drag their dead1 and all the refuse of the hive1 up hill4 ,such hives will often have their bottom boards covered with small pieces of comb1 bee-bread1 and other impurities1 in which the moth delights to lay her eggs2 and which furnished her progeny with a most congenial nourishment1 until they are able to get access to the combs4 #ba4 ,it should afford facilities for feeding the bees both in warm and cold weather4 ,in this respect1 my hive has very unusual advantages4 ,sixty colonies in warm weather may1 in an hour1 be fed a quart each1 and yet no feeder be used1 and no risk incurred from robbing bees4 7,see ,chapter on ,feeding47 #bb4 ,it should allow of the easy hiving of a swarm1 without injuring any of the bees1 or risking the destruction of the queen4 7,see ,chapter on ,natural ,swarming1 and ,hiving47 #bc4 ,it should admit of the safe transportation of the bees to any distance whatever4 ,the permanent bottom-board1 the firm attachment of the combs1 each to a separate frame1 and the facility with which1 in my hive1 any amount of air can be given to the bees when shut up1 most admirably adapt it to this purpose4 #bd4 ,it should furnish the bees with air when the entrance is shut2 and the ventilation for this purpose ought to be unobstructed1 even if the hives should be buried in two or three feet of snow4 7,see ,chapter on ,protection47 #be4 ,a good hive should furnish facilities for enlarging1 contracting1 and closing the entrance2 so as to protect the bees against robbers1 and the bee-moth2 and when the entrance is altered1 the bees ought not to lose valuable time in searching for it1 as they must do in most hives4 7,see ,chapters on ,ventilation1 and on ,robbing47 #bf4 ,it should give the bees the means of ventilating their hives1 without enlarging the entrance too much1 so as to expose them to moths and robbers1 and to the risk of losing their brood by a chill in sudden changes of weather4 7,see ,chapter on ,ventilation47 ,to secure this end1 the ventilators must not only be independent of the entrance1 but they must owe their efficiency mainly to the co-operation of the bees themselves1 who thus have a free admission of air only when they want it4 ,to depend on the opening and shutting of the ventilators by the bee-keeper1 is entirely out of the question4 #bg4 ,it should furnish facilities for admitting at once1 a large body of air2 so that in winter1 or early spring1 when the weather is at any time unusually mild1 the bees may be tempted to fly out and discharge their fces4 7,see ,chapter on ,protection47 ,if such a free admission of air cannot be given to hives which are thoroughly protected against the cold1 the bees may lose a favorable opportunity of emptying themselves2 and thus be more exposed than they otherwise would1 to suffer from diseases resulting from too long confinement4 ,a very free admission of air is also desirable when the weather is exceedingly hot4 #bh4 ,it should enable the ,apiarian to remove the excess of bee-bread from old stocks4 ,this article always accumulates in old hives1 so that in the course of time1 many of the combs are filled with it1 thus unfitting them for the rearing of brood1 and the reception of honey4 ,young stocks1 on the other hand1 will often be so deficient in this important article1 that in the early part of the season1 breeding will be seriously interfered with4 ,by means of my movable frames1 the excess of old colonies may be made to supply the deficiency of young ones1 to the mutual benefit of both4 7,see ,chapter on ,pollen47 #bi4 ,it should enable the ,apiarian1 when he has removed the combs from a common hive1 to place them with the bees1 brood1 honey and bee-bread1 in the improved hive1 so that the bees may be able to attach them in their natural positions4 7,see directions for transferring bees from an old hive47 #cj4 ,it should allow of the easy and safe dislodgement of the bees from the hive4 ,this requisite is especially important to secure the union of colonies1 when it becomes necessary to break up some of the stocks4 7,see remarks on the ,union of ,stocks47 #ca4 ,it should allow the heat and odor of the main hive1 as well as the bees themselves1 to pass in the freest manner1 to the surplus honey receptacles4 ,in this respect1 all the hives with which ,i am acquainted1 are more or less deficient3 the bees are forced to work in receptacles difficult of access1 and in which1 especially in cool nights1 they find it impossible to keep up the animal heat necessary for comb-building4 ,bees cannot1 in such hives1 work to advantage in glass tumblers1 or other small vessels4 ,one of the most important arrangements of my hive1 is that by which the heat ascends into all the receptacles for storing honey1 as naturally and almost as easily as the warmest air ascends to the top of a heated room4 #cb4 ,it should permit the surplus honey to be taken away1 in the most convenient1 beautiful and salable forms1 at any time1 and without any risk of annoyance from the bees4 ,in my hives1 it may be taken in tumblers1 glass boxes1 wooden boxes small or large1 earthen jars1 flower-pots2 in short1 in any kind of receptacle which may suit the fancy1 or the convenience of the bee-keeper4 ,or all these may be dispensed with1 and the honey may be taken from the interior of the main hive1 by removing the frames with loaded combs1 and supplying their place with empty ones4 #cc4 ,it should admit of the easy removal of all the good honey from the main hive1 that its place may be supplied with an inferior article4 ,bee-,keepers who have but few colonies1 and who wish to secure the largest yield1 may remove the loaded combs from my hive1 slice off the covers of the cells1 drain out the honey1 and restore the empty combs1 into which1 if the season of gathering is over1 they can first pour the cheap foreign honey for the use of the bees4 #cd4 ,it should allow1 when quantity not quality is the object1 the largest amount of honey to be gathered2 so that the surplus of strong colonies may1 in the ,fall1 be given to those which have not a sufficient supply4 ,by surmounting my hive with a box of the same dimensions1 the combs may all be transferred to this box1 and the bees1 when they commence building1 will descend and fill the lower frames1 gradually using the upper box1 as the brood is hatched out1 for storing honey4 ,in this way1 the largest possible yield of honey may be secured1 as the bees always prefer to continue their work below1 rather than above the main hive1 and will never swarm1 when allowed in season1 ample room in this direction4 ,the combs in the upper box1 containing a large amount of bee-bread and being of a size adapted to the breeding of workers1 will be all the better for aiding weak colonies4 #ce4 ,it should compel1 when desired1 the force of the colony to be mainly directed to raising young bees2 so that brood may be on hand to form new colonies1 and strengthen feeble stocks4 7,see ,chapter on ,artificial ,swarming47 #cf4 ,it ought1 while well protected from the weather1 to be so constructed1 that in warm1 sunny days in early spring1 the influence of the sun may be allowed to penetrate and warm up the hive1 so as to encourage early breeding4 7,see ,chapter on ,protection47 #cg4 ,the hive should be equally well adapted to be used as a swarmer1 or non-swarmer4 ,in my hives bees may be allowed1 if their owner chooses1 to swarm just as they do in common hives1 and be managed in the usual way4 ,even on this plan1 the great protection against the weather which it affords1 and the command over all the combs1 will be found to afford great advantages4 7,see ,natural ,swarming47 ,non-swarming hives managed in the ordinary way are liable1 in spite of all precautions1 to swarm very unexpectedly1 and if not closely watched1 the swarm is lost1 and with it the profit of that season4 ,by having the command of the combs1 the queen in my hives can always be caught and deprived of her wings2 thus she cannot go off with a swarm1 and they will not leave without her4 #ch4 ,it should enable the ,apiarian1 if he allows his bees to swarm1 and wishes to secure surplus honey1 to prevent them from throwing more than one swarm in a season4 ,second and third swarms must be returned to the old stock1 if the largest quantities of surplus honey are to be realized4 ,it is troublesome to watch them1 deprive them of their queens1 and restore them to the parent hive4 ,they often issue with new queens again and again2 and waste1 in this way1 both their own time1 and that of their keeper4 ,an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure4 ,in my hives1 as soon as the first swarm has issued1 and been hived1 all the queen cells except one1 in the hive from which it came1 may be cut out1 and thus all after-swarming will very easily and effectually be prevented4 7,see ,chapter on ,artificial ,swarming1 for the use to which these supernumerary queens may be put47 ,when the old stock is left with but one queen1 she runs no risk of being killed or crippled in a contest with rivals4 ,by such contests1 a colony is often left without a queen1 or in possession of one which is too much maimed to be of any service4 7,see ,chapter on the ,loss of the ,queen47 #ci4 ,a good hive should enable the ,apiarian1 if he relies on natural swarming1 and wishes to multiply his colonies as fast as possible1 to make vigorous stocks of all his small after-swarms4 ,such swarms contain a young queen1 and if they can be judiciously strengthened1 usually make the best stock hives4 ,if hived in a common hive1 and left to themselves1 unless very early1 or in very favorable seasons1 they seldom thrive4 ,they generally desert their hives1 or perish in the winter4 ,if they are small1 they cannot be made powerful1 even by the most generous feeding4 ,there are too few bees to build comb1 and take care of the eggs which a healthy queen can lay2 and when fed1 they are apt to fill with honey1 the cells in which young bees ought to be raised2 thus making the kindness of their owner serve only to hasten their destruction4 ,my hives enable me to supply all such swarms at once with combs containing bee-bread1 honey and brood almost mature4 ,they are thus made strong1 and flourish as well1 nay1 often better than the first swarms which have an old queen1 whose fertility is generally not so great as that of a young one4 #dj4 ,it should enable the ,apiarian to multiply his colonies with a certainty and rapidity which are entirely out of the question1 if he depends upon natural swarming4 7,see ,chapter on ,artificial ,swarming47 #da4 ,it should enable the ,apiarian to supply destitute colonies with the means of obtaining a new queen4 ,every ,apiarian would find it1 for this reason1 if for no other1 to his advantage to possess1 at least1 one such hive4 7,see ,chapters on ,physiology1 and loss of ,queen47 #db4 ,it should enable him to catch the queen1 for any purpose2 especially to remove an old one whose fertility is impaired by age1 that her place may be supplied with a young one4 7,see ,chapter on ,artificial ,swarming47 #dc4 ,while a good hive is adapted to the wants of those who desire to enter upon bee-keeping on a large scale1 or at least to manage their colonies on the most improved plans1 it ought to be suited to the wants of those who are too timid1 too ignorant1 or for any reason indisposed1 to manage them in any other than the common way4 #dd4 ,it should enable a single individual to superintend the colonies of many different persons4 ,many would like to keep bees1 if they could have them taken care of1 by those who would undertake their management1 just as a gardener does the gardens and grounds of his employers4 ,no person can agree to do this with the common hives4 ,if the bees are allowed to swarm1 he may be called in a dozen different directions1 and if any accident1 such as the loss of a queen1 happens to the colonies of his customers1 he can apply no remedy4 ,if the bees are in non-swarming hives1 he cannot multiply the stocks when this is desired4 ,on my plan1 gentlemen who desire it1 may have the pleasure of witnessing the industry and sagacity of this wonderful insect1 and of gratifying their palates with its delicious stores1 harvested on their own premises1 without incurring either trouble or risk of injury4 #de4 ,all the joints of the hive should be water-tight1 and there should be no doors or slides which are liable to shrink1 swell1 or get out of order4 ,the importance of this will be sufficiently obvious to any one who has had the ordinary share of vexatious experience in the use of such fixtures4 #df4 ,it should enable the bee-keeper entirely to dispense with sheds1 and costly ,apiaries2 as each hive when properly placed1 should alike defy1 heat or cold1 rain or snow4 7,see ,chapter on ,protection47 #dg4 ,it should allow the contents of a hive1 bees1 combs and all1 to be taken out2 so that any necessary repairs may be made4 ,this may be done1 with my hives1 in a few minutes4 ,a stitch in time saves nine4 ,hives which can be thoroughly overhauled and repaired1 from time to time1 if properly attended to1 will last for generations4 #dh4 ,the hive and fixtures should present a neat and attractive appearance1 and should admit1 when desired1 of being made highly ornamental4 #di4 ,the hives ought not to be liable to be blown down in high winds4 ,my hives1 being very low in proportion to their other dimensions1 it would require almost a hurricane to upset them4 #ej4 ,it should enable an ,apiarian who lives in the neighborhood of human pilferers1 to lock up the precious contents of his hives1 in some cheap1 simple and convenient way4 ,a couple of padlocks with some cheap fixtures1 will suffice to secure a long range of hives4 #ea4 ,a good hive should be protected against the destructive ravages of mice in winter4 ,it seems almost incredible that so puny an animal should dare to invade a hive of bees2 and yet not unfrequently they slip in when the bees are compelled by the cold to retreat from the entrance4 ,having once found admission1 they build themselves a nest in their comfortable abode1 eat up the honey1 and such bees as are too much chilled to make any resistance2 and fill the premises with such an abominable stench1 that on the approach of warm weather1 the bees often in a body abandon their desecrated home4 ,as soon as the cold weather approaches1 all my hives may have their entrances either entirely closed1 or so contracted that a mouse cannot gain admission4 #eb4 ,a good hive should have its alighting board constructed so as to shelter the bees against wind and wet1 and thus to facilitate to the utmost their entrance when they come home with their heavy burdens4 ,if this precaution is neglected1 much valuable time and many lives will be sacrificed1 as the colony cannot be encouraged to use to the best advantage the unpromising days which so often occur in the working season4 ,i have succeeded in arranging my alighting board in such a manner that the bees are sheltered against wind and wet1 and are able to enter the hive with the least possible loss of time4 #ec4 ,a well constructed hive ought to admit of being shut up in winter1 so as to consign the bees to darkness and repose4 ,nothing can be more hazardous than to shut up closely an ill protected hive4 ,even if the bees have an abundance of air1 it will not answer to prevent them from flying out1 if they are so disposed4 ,as soon as the warmth penetrating their thin hives tempts them to fly1 they crowd to the entrance1 and if it is shut1 multitudes worry themselves to death in trying to get out1 and the whole colony is liable to become diseased4 ,in my hives as soon as the bees are shut up for ,winter1 they are most effectually protected against all atmospheric changes1 and never desire to leave their hives until the entrances are again opened1 on the return of suitable weather4 ,thus they pass the ,winter in a state of almost absolute repose2 they eat much less honey#ab than when wintered on the ordinary plan2 a much smaller number die in the hives2 none are lost upon the snow1 and they are more healthy1 and commence breeding much earlier than they do in the common hives4 ,as some of the holes into the ,protector are left open in ,winter1 any bee that is diseased and wishes to leave the hive can do so4 ,bees when diseased have a strange propensity to leave their hives1 just as animals when sick seek to retreat from their companions2 and in ,summer such bees may often be seen forsaking their home to perish on the ground4 ,if all egress from the hive in ,winter is prevented1 the diseased bees will not be able to comply with an instinct which urges them ,to leave their country for their country's good4 #ed4 ,it should possess all these requisites without being too costly for common bee-keepers1 or too complicated to be constructed by any one who can handle simple tools3 and they should be so combined that the result is a simple hive1 which any one can manage who has ordinary intelligence on the subject of bees4 ,i suppose that the very natural conclusion from reading this long list of desirables1 would be that no single hive can combine them all1 without being exceedingly complicated and expensive4 ,on the contrary1 the simplicity and cheapness with which my hive secures all these results1 is one of its most striking peculiarities1 the attainment of which has cost me more study than all the other points besides4 ,as far as the bees are concerned1 they can work in this hive with even greater facility than in the simple old-fashioned box1 as the frames are left rough by the saw1 and thus give an admirable support to the bees when building their combs2 and they can enter the spare honey boxes1 with even more ease than if they were merely continuations of the main hive4 ,there are a few desirables to which my hive makes not the slightest pretensions6 ,it promises no splendid results to those who purchase it1 and yet are too ignorant1 or too careless to be entrusted with the management of bees4 ,in bee-keeping1 as in other things1 a man must first understand his business1 and then proceed on the good old maxim1 that the hand of the diligent maketh rich4 ,it possesses no talismanic influence by which it can convert a bad situation for honey1 into a good one2 or give the ,apiarian an abundant harvest whether the season is productive or otherwise4 ,it cannot enable the cultivator rapidly to multiply his stocks1 and yet to secure1 the same season1 surplus honey from his bees4 ,as well might the breeder of poultry pretend that he can1 in the same year1 both raise the greatest number of chickens1 and sell the largest number of eggs4 ,worse than all1 it cannot furnish the many advantages enumerated1 and yet be made in as little time1 or quite as cheap as a hive which proves1 in the end1 to be a very dear bargain4 ,i have not constructed my hive in accordance with crude theories1 or mere conjectures1 and then insisted that the bees must flourish in such a fanciful contrivance2 but ,i have studied1 for many years1 most carefully1 the nature of the honey-bee2 and have diligently compared my observations with those of writers and practical cultivators1 who have spent their lives in extending the sphere of ,apiarian knowledge2 and as the result1 have endeavored to adapt my hive to the actual wants and habits of the bee2 and to remedy the many difficulties with which ,i have found its successful culture to be beset4 ,and more than this1 ,i have actually tested by experiments long continued and on a large scale1 the merits of this hive1 that ,i might not deceive both myself and others1 and add another to the many useless contrivances which have deluded and disgusted a credulous public4 ,i would1 however1 most earnestly repudiate all claims to having devised a perfect bee-hive4 ,perfection can belong only to the works of the great ,creator1 to whose ,omniscient eye1 all causes and effects with all their relations1 were present1 when he spake1 and from nothing formed the universe and all its glorious wonders4 ,for man to stamp upon any of his own works1 the label of perfection1 is to show both his folly and presumption4 ,it must be confessed that the culture of bees is at a very low ebb in our country1 when thousands can be induced to purchase hives which are in most glaring opposition not only to the true principles of ,apiarian knowledge1 but often1 to the plainest dictates of simple common sense4 ,such have been the losses and disappointments of deluded purchasers1 that it is no wonder that they turn from everything offered in the shape of a patent bee-hive1 as a miserable humbug1 if not a most bare-faced cheat4 ,i do not hesitate to say that those old-fashioned bee-keepers1 who have most steadily refused to meddle with any novelties1 and who have used hives of the very simplest construction1 or at least such as are only one remove from the old straw hive1 or wooden box1 have1 as a general thing1 realized by far the largest profits in the management of bees4 ,they have lost neither time1 money nor bees1 in the vain hope of obtaining any unusual results from hives1 which1 in the very nature of the case1 can secure nothing really in advance of what can be accomplished by a simple box-hive with an upper chamber4 ,a hive of the simplest possible construction1 is only a close imitation of the abode of bees in a state of nature2 being a mere hollow receptacle in which they are protected from the weather1 and where they can lay up their stores4 ,an improved hive is one which contains1 in addition1 a separate apartment in which the bees can be induced to lay up the surplus portion of their stores1 for the use of their owner4 ,all the various hives in common use1 are only modifications of this latter hive1 and1 as a general rule1 they are bad1 exactly in proportion as they depart from it4 ,not one of them offers any remedy for the loss of the queen1 or indeed for most of the casualties to which bees are exposed3 they form no reliable basis for any new system of management2 and hence the cultivation of bees1 is substantially where it was1 fifty years ago1 and the ,apiarian as entirely dependent as ever1 upon all the whims and caprices of an insect which may be made completely subject to his control4 ,no hive which does not furnish a thorough control over every comb1 can be considered as any substantial advance on the simple improved or chamber hive4 ,of all such hives1 the one which with the least expense1 gives the greatest amount of protection1 and the readiest access to the spare honey boxes1 is the best4 ,having thus enumerated the tests to which all hives ought to be subjected1 and by which they should stand or fall1 ,i submit them to the candid examination of practical1 common sense bee-keepers1 who have had the largest experience in the management of bees1 and are most conversant with the evils of the present system2 and who are therefore best fitted to apply them to an invention1 which1 if ,i may be pardoned for using the enthusiastic language of an experienced ,apiarian on examining its practical workings1 introduces1 not simply an improvement1 but a revolution in bee-keeping4 ,,footnotes3 #ab ,a writer in the ,new ,england ,farmer for ,march1 #ahec1 estimates that the mild winter has been worth in the saving of fodder to the farmers of ,new ,hampshire alone1 two and a half millions of dollars6 ,by suitable arrangements1 bees even in the very coldest climates can have all the advantages of a mild winter4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,protection ,,against ,,extremes ,,of ,,heat ,,and ,,cold1 ,,sudden ,,and ,,severe ,,changes ,,of ,,temperature1 ,,and ,,dampness ,,in ,,the ,,hives4 ,i specially invite a careful perusal of this chapter1 as the subject1 though of the very first importance in the management of bees1 is one to which but little attention has been given by the majority of cultivators4 ,in our climate of great and sudden extremes1 many colonies are annually injured or destroyed by undue exposure to heat or cold4 ,in ,summer1 thin hives are often exposed to the direct heat of the sun1 so that the combs melt1 and the bees are drowned in their own sweets4 ,even if they escape utter ruin1 they cannot work to advantage in the almost suffocating heat of their hives4 ,but in those places where the ,winters are both long and severe1 it is much more difficult to protect the bees from the cold than from the heat4 ,bees are not1 as some suppose1 in a dormant1 or torpid condition in ,winter4 ,it must be remembered that they were intended to live in colonies1 in ,winter1 as well as ,summer4 ,the wasp1 hornet1 and other insects which do not live in families in the ,winter1 lay up no stores for cold weather1 and are so organized as to be able to endure in a torpid state1 a very low temperature2 so low that it would be certain death to a honey-bee1 which when frozen1 is as surely killed as a frozen man4 ,as soon as the temperature of the hives falls too low for their comfort1 the bees gather themselves into a more compact body1 to preserve to the utmost1 their animal heat2 and if the cold becomes so great that this will not suffice1 they keep up an incessant1 tremulous motion1 accompanied by a loud humming noise2 in other words1 they take active exercise in order to keep warm6 ,if a thermometer is pushed up among them1 it will indicate a high temperature1 even when the external atmosphere is many degrees below zero4 ,when the bees are unable to maintain the necessary amount of animal heat1 an occurrence which is very common with small colonies in badly protected hives1 then1 as a matter of course1 they must perish4 ,extreme cold1 when of long continuance1 very frequently destroys colonies in thin hives1 even when they are strong both in bees and honey4 ,the inside of such hives1 is often filled with frost1 and the bees1 after eating all the food in the combs in which they are clustered1 are unable to enter the frosty combs1 and thus starve in the midst of plenty4 ,the unskilfull bee-keeper who finds an abundance of honey in the hives1 cannot conjecture the cause of their death4 ,if the cold merely destroyed feeble colonies1 or strong ones only now and then1 it would not be so formidable an enemy2 but every year1 it causes many of the most flourishing stocks to perish by starvation4 ,the extra quantity of food which they are compelled to eat1 in order to keep up their heat in their miserable hives1 is often the turning point with them1 between life and death4 ,they starve1 when with proper protection1 they would have had food enough and to spare4 ,but some one may say1 ,what possible difference can the kind of hives in which bees are kept make in the quantity of food which they will consume8 ,enough1 ,i would reply1 in some single winters1 to pay the difference between a good hive and a bad one6 ,i cannot move my finger1 or wink my eye-lids without some waste of muscle1 however small2 for it is a well-ascertained law in our animal economy1 that all muscular exertion is attended with a corresponding waste of muscular fibre4 ,now this waste must be supplied by the consumption of food1 and it would be as unreasonable to expect constant heat from a stove without fresh supplies of fuel1 as incessant muscular activity from an insect1 without a supply of food proportioned to that activity4 ,if then we can contrive any way to keep our bees in almost perfect quiet during the ,winter1 we may be certain that they will need much less food than when they are constantly excited4 ,in the cold ,winter of #ahea-b1 ,i kept two swarms in a perfectly dry and dark cellar1 where the temperature was remarkably uniform1 seldom varying two degrees from #ej of ,fahrenheit2 and ,i found that the bees ate very little honey4 ,the hives were of glass1 and the bees1 when examined from time to time1 were found clustered in almost death-like repose4 ,if these bees had been exposed in thin hives in the open air1 they would1 in all probability1 have eaten four times as much2 for whenever the sun shone upon them1 or the atmosphere was unusually warm1 they would have been roused to injurious activity1 and the same would have been the case1 when the cold was severe4 ,exposed to sudden changes and severe cold1 they would have been in almost perpetual motion1 and must have been compelled to consume a largely increased quantity of food4 ,in this way1 many colonies are annually starved to death1 which if they had been better protected1 would have survived to gladden their owner with an abundant harvest4 ,this protection1 as a general thing1 must be given to them in the open air1 for it is a very rare thing1 to meet with a cellar which is dry enough to prevent the combs from moulding1 and the bees from becoming diseased4 ,bees never1 unless diseased1 discharge their fces in the hive2 and the want of suitable protection1 by exciting undue activity1 and compelling them to eat more freely1 causes their bodies to be greatly distended with accumulated fces4 ,on the return of warm weather1 bees in this condition being often too feeble to fly1 crawl from their hives1 and miserably perish4 ,i must notice another exceedingly injurious effect of insufficient protection1 in causing the moisture to settle upon the cold top and sides of the interior of the hive1 from whence it drips upon the bees4 ,in this way1 many of their number are chilled and destroyed1 and often the whole colony is infected with dysentery4 ,not unfrequently1 large portions of the comb are covered with mould1 and the whole hive is rendered very offensive4 ,this dampness which causes what may be called a rot among the bees1 is one of the worst enemies with which the ,apiarian in a cold climate1 has to contend1 as it weakens or destroys many of his best colonies4 ,no extreme of cold ever experienced in latitudes where bees flourish1 can destroy a strong colony well supplied with honey1 except indirectly1 by confining them to empty combs4 ,they will survive our coldest winters1 in thin hives raised on blocks to give a freer admission of air1 or even in suspended hives1 without any bottom-board at all4 ,indeed1 in cold weather1 a very free admission of air is necessary in such hives1 to prevent the otherwise ruinous effects of frozen moisture2 and hence the common remark that bees require as much or more air in ,winter than in ,summer4 ,when bees1 in unsuitable hives1 are exposed to all the variations of the external atmosphere1 they are frequently tempted to fly abroad if the weather becomes unseasonably warm1 and multitudes are lost on the snow1 at a season when no young are bred to replenish their number1 and when the loss is most injurious to the colony4 ,from these remarks1 it will be obvious to the intelligent cultivator1 that protection against extremes of heat and cold1 is a point of the ,,very ,,first ,,importance2 and yet this is the very point1 which1 in proportion to its importance1 has been most overlooked4 ,we have discarded1 and very wisely1 the straw hives of our ancestors2 but such hives1 with all their faults1 were comparatively warm in ,winter1 and cool in ,summer4 ,we have undertaken to keep bees1 where the cold of ,winter1 and the heat of ,summer are alike intense2 and where sudden and severe changes are often fatal to the brood3 and yet we blindly persist in expecting success under circumstances in which any marked success is well nigh impossible4 ,that our country is eminently favorable to the production of honey1 cannot be doubted4 ,many of our forests abound ,with colonies which are not only able to protect themselves against all their enemies1 the dreaded bee-moth not excepted1 but which often amass prodigious quantities of honey4 ,nor are such colonies found merely in new countries4 ,they exist frequently in the very neighborhood of cultivators whose hives are weak and impoverished1 and who impute to a decay of the honey resources of the country1 the inevitable consequences of their own irrational system of management4 ,it will not be without profit1 to consider briefly under what circumstances these wild colonies flourish1 and how they are protected against sudden and extreme changes of temperature4 ,snugly housed in the hollow of a tree whose thickness and decayed interior are such admirable materials for excluding atmospheric changes1 the bees in ,winter are in a state of almost absolute repose4 ,the entrance to their abode is generally very small in proportion to the space within2 and let the weather out of doors vary as it may1 the inside temperature is very uniform4 ,these natural hives are dry1 because the moisture finds no cold or icy top1 or sides1 on which to condense1 and from which it must drip upon the bees1 destroying their lives1 or enfeebling their health1 by filling the interior of their dwelling with mould and dampness4 ,as they are very quiet1 they eat but little1 and hence their bodies are not distended and diseased by accumulated fces4 ,often they do not stir from their hollows1 from ,november until ,march or ,april2 and yet they come forth in the ,spring1 strong in numbers1 and vigorous in health4 ,if at any time in the winter season1 the warmth is so great as to penetrate their comfortable abodes1 and to tempt them to fly1 when they venture out1 they find a balmy atmosphere in which they may disport with impunity4 ,in the ,summer1 they are protected from the heat1 not merely by the thickness of the hollow tree1 but by the leafy shade of overarching branches1 and the refreshing coolness of a forest home4 ,the ,russian and ,polish bee-keepers1 living in a climate whose winters are much more severe than our own1 are among the largest and most successful cultivators of bees1 many of them numbering their colonies by hundreds1 and some even by thousands6 ,they have1 with great practical sagacity1 imitated as closely as possible1 the conditions under which bees are found to flourish so admirably in a state of nature4 ,we are informed by ,mr4 ,dohiogost1 a ,polish writer1 that his countrymen make their hives of the best plank1 and never less than an inch and a half in thickness4 ,the shape is that of an old-fashioned churn1 and the hive is covered on the outside1 halfway down1 with twisted rope cordage1 to give it greater protection against extremes of heat and cold4 ,the hives are placed in a dry situation1 directly upon the hard earth1 which is first covered with an inch or two of clean1 dry sand4 ,chips are then heaped up all around them1 and covered with earth banked up in a sloping direction to carry off the rain4 ,the entrance is at some distance above the bottom1 and is a triangle1 whose sides are only one inch long4 ,in the winter season1 this entrance is contracted so that only one bee can pass at a time4 ,such a hive1 with us1 as it does not furnish the honey in convenient1 beautiful and salable forms1 would not meet the demands of our cultivators4 ,still1 there are some very important lessons to be learned from it1 by all who keep bees in regions of cold winters1 and hot summers4 ,it shows the importance which some of the largest ,apiarians in the world1 attach to protection2 practical1 common sense men1 whose heads have not been turned1 as some would express it1 by modern theories and fanciful inventions4 ,they cultivate their bees almost in a state of nature1 and their experience on what we would term a gigantic scale1 ought to convince even the most incredulous1 of the folly of pretending to keep bees1 in the miserably thin and unprotected hives to which we have been accustomed4 ,but how1 it will be asked1 can bees live in ,winter1 in a hive so closely shut up as the ,polish hive8 ,they do live in such hives1 and prosper1 just as they do in hollow trees1 with only one small entrance4 ,it is well known that bees have flourished when their hives were buried in ,winter1 and under circumstances in which but a very small amount of air could possibly gain admission to them4 ,bees1 when kept in a dry place1 in properly protected hives and in a state of almost perfect repose1 need only a small supply of air2 and the objection that those cultivators among us1 who shut up their colonies very closely in ,winter1 are almost sure to lose them1 is of no weight2 because the majority of our hives are so deficient in protection1 that if they are too closely shut up1 the breath of the bees1 condensing and freezing upon the inside1 and afterwards thawing1 causes the combs to mould1 and the bees to become diseased2 just as many substances mould and perish when kept in a close1 damp cellar4 ,we are now prepared to discuss the question of protection in its relations to the construction of hives4 ,we have seen how it is furnished to the bees in the ,polish hives1 and in the decayed hollows of trees4 ,if the ,apiarian chooses1 he can imitate this plan by constructing his hives of very thick plank3 but such hives would be clumsy1 and with us1 expensive4 ,or he may much more effectually reach the same end1 by making his hives double1 so as to enclose an air space all around1 which in ,winter may be filled with charcoal1 plaster of ,paris1 straw1 or any good non-conductor1 to enable the bees to preserve with the least waste1 their animal heat4 ,i prefer to pack the air-space with plaster of ,paris1 as it is one of the very best non-conductors of heat1 being used in the manufacture of the celebrated ,salamander fire-proof safes4 ,hives may be constructed in this way1 which without great expense1 may be much better protected than if they were made of six-inch plank4 ,as the price of glass is very low1 ,i prefer to construct the inside of my doubled hives of this material4 ,when a number of hives are to be made1 as the lowest price glass will answer every purpose1 ,i can furnish a given amount of protection cheaper with glass than wood1 while the glass possesses some most decided advantages over any other material4 ,the hives are lighter and more compact1 than when made of doubled wood1 and can be more easily moved1 while the ,apiarian can gratify his rational curiosity1 and inspect at all times1 the condition of his stocks4 ,the very interest inspired by being able to see what they are doing1 will go far to protect them from that indifference and neglect1 which is so often fatal to their prosperity4 ,the way in which ,i make my hives1 not only protects the bees against extremes of heat and cold1 but it guards them very effectually1 against the injurious and often fatal effects of condensed moisture4 ,by means of my movable frames1 the combs are prevented from being attached to the sides1 top or bottom of the hive2 they are in fact1 suspended in the air4 ,if now the dampness can be prevented from condensing any where1 over the bees1 so that it may not drip upon their combs1 and if it can be easily discharged from the hive wherever it may collect1 it cannot1 under any circumstances1 seriously annoy them4 ,such are the arrangements in my hives1 that but very little moisture forms in them1 and all that does1 is deposited on the sides in preference to any other part of the interior2 just as it is upon the colder walls or windows1 rather than the ceiling of a room4 ,but as the combs are kept away from the sides1 this moisture cannot annoy the bees2 nor can it penetrate the glass as it does unpainted wood or straw1 thus causing a more protracted dampness2 it must run down their smooth surfaces1 and fall upon the bottom-board1 from whence it can be easily discharged from the hive4 ,by packing in winter1 the necessary amount of protection is secured for the top and sides of the hive1 and the very worst property of glass1 7its parting so rapidly with heat17 is changed into one of the very best for the purposes of a bee-hive4 ,i prefer not only to make the sides of my hive of glass1 but of double glass1 with an air space of about an inch between the two panes of glass4 ,the extra cost#ac of this construction will be amply repaid by the additional protection given to the bees4 ,it will be absolutely impossible for any frost ever to penetrate through this air space1 and the packing between the outside case and the main hive4 ,the combs in such a hive cannot be melted down1 even if the hive is exposed to the reflected and concentrated heat of a blazing sun3 the same construction which secures them against the cold of ,winter1 equally protecting them from the heat of ,summer4 ,there is one disadvantage to which all well protected hives of the ordinary construction1 are exposed4 ,in the ,spring of the year1 it is exceedingly desirable that the warmth of the sun should penetrate the hives1 to encourage the bees in early breeding2 but the very arrangement which protects them from cold1 often interferes with this4 ,a bee-hive is thus like a cellar1 warm in ,winter1 and cool in ,summer2 but often unpleasantly cool in the early ,spring1 when the atmosphere out of doors is warm and delightful4 ,in my hive1 this difficulty is easily remedied4 ,in the ,spring1 as soon as the bees begin to fly1 on warm1 sun-shiny days1 the upper part of the outside case is removed1 so that the genial heat of the sun can penetrate to every part of the hive4 ,the cover must be replaced while the sun is still shining1 so that the hives may be shut up while they are warm4 ,the labor of doing this1 need occupy only a few minutes daily1 and as soon as warm weather fairly sets in1 it may be dispensed with4 ,it may be performed without any risk1 by a woman or a boy4 ,if the hive is of glass1 it will warm up all the better1 and as the combs are on frames1 they cannot be melted or injured by the heat4 ,it is a serious objection to most covered ,apiaries1 that they do not permit the hives to receive the genial heat of the sun at a period of the year when instead of injuring the bees1 it exerts a most powerful influence in developing their brood4 ,this is one among many reasons why ,i have discarded them1 and why ,i prefer to construct my hives in such a manner that they need no extra covering1 but stand exposed to the full influence of the sun4 ,i have known strong colonies which have survived the ,winter in thin hives1 to increase rapidly and swarm early1 because of the stimulating effect of the sun2 while others1 deprived of this influence1 in dark bee houses and well protected hives1 have sometimes disappointed the hopes of their owners4 ,although my glass hives are very beautiful1 and most admirably protected1 still hives of doubled wood may often be built to better advantage by those who construct their own hives1 and they can be made to furnish any desirable amount of protection4 ,enclosed ,apiaries are at best but nuisances3 they soon become lurking-places for spiders and moths2 and after all the expense wasted on their construction1 afford1 but little protection against extreme cold4 ,i have been thus particular on the subject of protection1 in order to convince every bee keeper who exercises common sense1 that thin hives ought to be given up1 if either pleasure or profit is sought from his bees4 ,such hives an enlightened ,apiarian could not be persuaded to purchase1 and he would consider them too expensive in their waste of honey and bees1 to be worth accepting1 even as a gift4 ,many strong colonies which are lodged in badly protected hives1 often consume in extra food1 in a single hard winter1 more than enough to pay the difference between the first cost of a good hive over a bad one4 ,in the severe winter of #ahea-b1 many cultivators lost nearly all their stocks1 and a large part of those which survived1 were too much weakened to be able to swarm4 ,and yet these same miserable hives1 after accomplishing the work of destruction on one generation of bees1 are reserved to perform the same office for another4 ,and this some call economy6 ,i am well aware of the question which many of my readers have for some time been ready to ask of me4 ,can you make one of your well protected hives as cheaply as we construct our common hives8 ,i would remind such questioners1 that it is hardly possible to build a well protected house as cheaply as a barn4 ,and yet by building my hives in solid structures1 three together1 ,i am able to make them for a very moderate price1 and still to give them even better protection than when they are constructed singly4 ,if they are not built of doubled materials they can be made for as little money as any other patent hive1 and yet afford much greater protection2 as the combs touch neither the top1 bottom nor sides of the hive4 ,i recommend however a construction1 which although somewhat more costly at first1 is yet much cheaper in the end4 ,such is the passion of the ,american people for cheapness in the first cost of an article1 even at the evident expense of dearness in the end1 that many1 ,i doubt not1 will continue to lodge their bees in thin hives1 in spite of their conviction of the folly of so doing2 just as many of our shrewdest ,yankees build thin wooden houses1 in the cold climate of ,new ,england1 or plaster their stone or brick ones directly on the wall1 when the extra cost of fuel to warm them1 far exceeds the interest on the additional expense which would be necessary to give them the requisite protection2 to say nothing of the doctors' bills1 and fatal diseases which can be traced often to the dreary barns or damp vaults which they build1 and call houses6 ,,protector4 ,i attach very great importance to the way in which ,i give the bees effectual protection against extremes of heat and cold1 and sudden changes of temperature1 without removing them from their stands1 or incurring the expense and disadvantages of a covered ,bee-,house4 ,this ,i accomplish by means of what ,i shall call a ,protector which is constructed substantially as follows4 ,select a dry and suitable location for the bees1 where they will not be disturbed1 or prove an annoyance to others4 ,if possible1 let it be in full sight of the sitting room1 so that they may be seen in case of swarming2 and let it face the ,south-,east1 and be well protected from the force of strong winds4 ,dig a trench1 about two feet deep2 its length should depend upon the number of hives to be accommodated2 and its breadth should be such that when it is properly walled up1 it should measure from the outside top of one wall to another1 just sufficient to receive the bottom of the hive4 ,the walls1 may be built of refuse brick or stones1 and should be about four feet high from the foundation2 the upper six inches being built of good brick1 and the back wall about two inches higher than the front one1 so as to give the bottom-board of the hives1 the proper slant towards the entrance4 ,at one end of this ,protector1 a wooden chimney should be built1 and if the number of hives is great1 there should be one at each end1 admitting air in ,winter1 and yet excluding rain and snow4 ,the earth which is thrown out in digging1 should be banked up against the walls as high as the good brick1 and in a slope which1 when grassed over1 may be easily mowed with a common scythe4 ,the slope on the back should be more perpendicular than in front so as not to be in the way when operating upon the hives4 ,the bottom may be covered with an inch or two of clean sand and in winter with straw4 ,in ,summer1 the ends are left open1 so that a free current of air may pass through1 while in ,winter1 they are properly banked up2 and straw1 evergreen boughs1 or any other material1 suitable for excluding frost1 may if necessary1 be placed all around the outside of the ,protector4 ,such an arrangement will be found very cheap1 when compared with a ,bee-,house or covered ,apiary1 and may be made both neat and highly ornamental4 ,it may be constructed of wood by those who desire something still cheaper1 and any one who can handle a spade1 hammer1 plane and saw1 can make for himself a structure on which a hundred hives may stand1 at less expense than would be necessary to build a covered ,apiary for ten4 ,as the ventilators of the hive open into this ,protector1 the bees are1 in ,summer1 supplied with a cool and refreshing atmosphere1 as closely as possible resembling that which they find in a forest home2 while in ,winter1 the external entrances of the hives may be safely closed1 and they will receive a supply of air remarkably uniform and never much below the freezing point4 ,as the hives themselves are double1 no frost can penetrate through them1 and thus their interior will almost always be perfectly dry4 ,when the weather suddenly moderates1 and bees in the common hives fly out1 and are lost on the snow1 those arranged in the manner described1 will not know that any change has taken place1 but will remain quiet in their winter quarters1 unless the weather is so warm that their owner judges it safe to open the entrances1 so that the warmth may penetrate their hives1 and tempt them to fly1 and discharge their fces4 ,let it be remembered that the object of this arrangement is not to warm up the hives by artificial heat2 but merely to enable the bees to retain to the utmost their own animal heat1 to secure the advantages set forth in this ,chapter on ,protection4 ,once or twice during the ,winter1 the blocks which regulate the entrances to my hives should be removed1 and as the frames are kept about half an inch from the bottom-board1 by means of a stick or wire1 all the dead bees and filth may1 in a few moments1 be removed3 or as the entrance of the hives by removing the blocks1 may be so enlarged as to offer no obstruction to its introduction or removal1 an old newspaper can be kept on the bottom-board1 and drawn out from time to time1 with all its contents4 ,a movable board of the same thickness and length with the bottom-boards of the hive and about six inches wide1 separates the hives from each other1 as they stand upon the ,protector4 ,i have made numerous observations upon the temperature of a ,protector made substantially on the plan described1 and find that it is wonderfully uniform4 ,the lowest range of the thermometer during the months of ,january and ,february1 #ahec1 in the ,protector1 was #bh2 in the open air1 #ad below zero2 the highest in the ,protector #cb2 in the open air #ef4 ,it will thus be seen that while the thermometer out of doors had a range of #gj1 in the ,protector it had a range of only #d4 ,while bees in common hives during some warm days flew out and perished in large numbers on the snow2 the bees over the ,protector were perfectly quiet4 ,to this arrangement ,i attach an importance second only to my movable frames1 and believe that combined with doubled hives1 it removes the chief obstacle to the successful cultivation of bees in cold latitudes4#ad ,in the coldest regions where bees can find supplies in ,summer1 they may during a ,winter that lasts from ,november to ,may1 and during which the mercury congeals1 be kept as comfortable as in climates which seem much more propitious for their cultivation4 ,the more snow the better1 as it serves more the effectually to exclude the cold from the ,protector4 ,however long and dreary the ,winter1 the bees in their comfortable quarters feel none of its injurious influences2 and actually consume less1 than those which are kept where the winters are short1 and so mild that the bees are often tempted to fly1 and are in a state of almost continual excitement4 ,it is in precisely such latitudes1 in ,poland and ,russia1 that bees are kept in the largest numbers1 and with the most extraordinary success4 ,in the chapter on ,pasturage1 ,i shall show that some of the coldest places in ,new ,england1 and the ,middle ,states1 are among the most favored spots for obtaining the largest supplies of the very purest honey4 ,having thoroughly tested the practicability of affording the bees by my ,protector1 complete protection against heat and cold1 at a very small expense1 and in a way which may be made highly ornamental1 the proper steps will be taken to secure a patent right for the same2 although no extra charge will be made for this1 or for any other subsequent improvement1 to those who purchase the right to use my hive4 ,,footnotes3 #ac ,the cost of the glass for one hive so as to give the air space all around1 if purchased at the wholesale prices will not exceed #be cts4 ,where three hives are made in one structure1 the glass for the three will cost less than #ej cents2 if double glass is not used1 the expense would be less by one half4 #ad ,the observations to test the temperature of the ,protector were made in ,greenfield1 ,massachusetts1 in latitude #db deg4 #cf min4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,ventilation ,,of ,,the ,,hive4 ,if a populous hive is examined on a warm ,summer day1 a considerable number of bees will be found standing on the alighting board1 with their heads turned towards the entrance1 the extremity of their bodies slightly elevated1 and their wings in such rapid motion that they are almost as indistinct as the spokes of a wheel1 in swift rotation on its axis4 ,a brisk current of air may be felt proceeding from the hive1 and if a small piece of down be suspended by a thread1 it will be blown out from one part of the entrance1 and drawn in at another4 ,what are these bees expecting to accomplish1 that they appear so deeply absorbed in their fanning occupation1 while busy numbers are constantly crowding in and out of the hive8 and what is the meaning of this double current of air8 ,to ,huber1 we owe the first satisfactory explanation of these curious phenomena4 ,these bees plying their rapid wings in such a singular attitude1 are performing the important business of ventilating the hive2 and this double current is composed of pure air rushing in at one part1 to supply the place of the foul air forced out at another4 ,by a series of the most careful and beautiful experiments1 ,huber ascertained that the air of a crowded hive is almost1 if not quite1 as pure as the atmosphere by which it is surrounded4 ,now1 as the entrance to such a hive1 is often1 7more especially in a state of nature17 very small1 the interior air cannot be renewed without resort to some artificial means4 ,if a lamp is put into a close vessel with only one small orifice1 it will soon exhaust all the oxygen1 and go out4 ,if another small orifice is made1 the same result will follow2 but if by some device a current of air is drawn out from one1 an equal current will force its way into the other1 and the lamp will burn until the oil is exhausted4 ,it is precisely on this principle1 of maintaining a double current by artificial means1 that the bees ventilate their crowded habitations4 ,a body of active ventilators stands inside of the hive1 as well as outside1 all with their heads turned towards the entrance1 and by the rapid fanning of their wings1 a current of air is blown briskly out of the hive1 and an equal current drawn in4 ,this important office is one which requires great physical exertion on the part of those to whom it is entrusted2 and if their proceedings are carefully watched1 it will be found that the exhausted ventilators1 are1 from time to time1 relieved by fresh detachments4 ,if the interior of the hive will admit of inspection1 in very hot weather1 large numbers of these ventilators will be found in regular files1 in various parts of the hive1 all busily engaged in their laborious employment4 ,if the entrance at any time is contracted1 a speedy accession will be made to the numbers1 both inside and outside2 and if it is closed entirely1 the heat of the hive will quickly increase1 the whole colony will commence a rapid vibration of their wings1 and in a few moments will drop lifeless from the combs1 for want of air4 ,it has been proved by careful experiments that pure air is necessary not only for the respiration of the mature bees1 but that without it1 neither the eggs can be hatched1 nor the larv developed4 ,a fine netting of air-vessels covers the eggs2 and the cells of the larv are sealed over with a covering which is full of air holes4 ,in ,winter1 as has been stated in the ,chapter on ,protection1 bees1 if kept in the dark1 and neither too warm nor too cold1 are almost dormant1 and seem to require but a small allowance of air2 but even under such circumstances1 they cannot live entirely without air2 and if they are excited by being exposed to atmospheric changes1 or by being disturbed1 a very loud humming may be heard in the interior of their hives1 and they need quite as much air as in warm weather4 ,if at any time1 by moving their hives1 or in any other way1 bees are greatly disturbed1 it will be unsafe to confine them1 especially in warm weather1 unless a very free admission of air is given to them1 and even then1 the air ought to be admitted above1 as well as below the mass of bees1 or the ventilators may become clogged with dead bees1 and the swarm may perish4 ,under close confinement1 the bees become excessively heated1 and the combs are often melted down4 ,when bees are confined to a close atmosphere1 especially if dampness is added to its injurious influences1 they are sure to become diseased2 and large numbers1 if not the whole colony1 perish from dysentery4 ,is it not under circumstances precisely similar1 that cholera and dysentery prove most fatal to human beings8 ,how often do the filthy1 damp and unventilated abodes of the abject poor1 become perfect lazar-houses to their wretched inmates8 ,i examined1 last ,summer1 the bees of a new swarm which had been suffocated for want of air1 and found their bodies distended with a yellow and noisome substance1 just as though they had perished from dysentery4 ,a few were still alive1 and instead of honey1 their bodies were filled with this same disgusting fluid2 though the bees had not been shut up1 more than two hours4 ,in a medical point of view1 ,i consider these facts as highly interesting2 showing as they do1 under what circumstances1 and how speedily1 disease may be produced4 ,in very hot weather1 if thin hives are exposed to the sun's rays1 the bees are excessively annoyed by the intense heat1 and have recourse to the most powerful ventilation1 not merely to keep the air of the hive pure1 but to carry off1 as much as possible1 its internal warmth4 ,they often leave the interior of the hive1 almost in a body1 and in thick masses1 cluster on the outside1 not simply to escape the close heat within1 but to guard their combs against the danger of being dissolved4 ,at such times they are particularly careful not to cluster on the combs containing sealed honey2 for as most of these combs have not been lined with the cocoons of the larv1 they are1 for this reason1 as well as on account of the extra amount of wax used for their covers1 much more liable to be melted1 than the breeding cells4 ,apiarians have often noticed the fact1 that as a general thing1 the bees leave the honey cells almost entirely bare1 as soon as they have sealed them over2 but it seems to have escaped their observation1 that in hot weather1 there is often an absolute necessity for such a course4 ,in cool weather1 on the contrary1 the bees may often be found clustered among the sealed honey-combs1 because there is then no danger of their melting down4 ,few things in the range of their wonderful instincts1 are so well fitted to impress the mind with their admirable sagacity1 as the truly scientific device1 by which these wise little insects ventilate their dwellings4 ,i was on the point of saying that it was almost like human-reason1 when the painful and mortifying reflection presented itself to my mind that in respect to ventilation1 the bee is immensely in advance of the great mass of those who consider themselves as rational beings4 ,it has1 to be sure1 no ability to make an elaborate analysis of the chemical constituents of the atmosphere1 and to decide how large a proportion of oxygen is essential to the support of life1 and how rapidly the process of breathing converts this important element into a deadly poison4 ,it has not1 like ,leibig1 been able to demonstrate that ,god has set the animal and vegetable world1 the one over against the other2 so that the carbonic acid produced by the breathing of the one1 furnishes the aliment of the other2 which1 in turn1 gives out its oxygen for the support of animal life2 and that1 in this wonderful manner1 ,god has provided that the atmosphere shall1 through all ages1 be as pure as when it first came from ,his creating hand4 ,but shame upon us6 that with all our intelligence1 the most of us live as though pure air was of little or no importance2 while the bee ventilates with a scientific precision and thoroughness1 that puts to the blush our criminal neglect4 ,to this it may be replied that ventilation in our case1 cannot be had1 without considerable expense4 ,can it be had for nothing1 by the industrious bees8 ,those busy insects1 which are so indefatigably plying their wings1 are not engaged in idle amusement2 nor might they1 as some would-be utilitarian may imagine1 be better employed in gathering honey1 or in superintending some other department in the economy of the hive4 ,they are at great expense of time and labor1 supplying the rest of the colony with pure air1 so conducive in every way1 to their health and prosperity4 ,i trust that ,i shall be permitted to digress1 for a short time1 from bees to men1 and that the remarks which ,i shall offer on the subject of ventilation in human dwellings1 may make a deeper impression1 in connection with the wise arrangements of the bee1 than they would1 if presented in the shape of a mere scientific discussion2 and that some who have been in the habit of considering all air1 except in the particular of temperature1 as about alike1 may be thoroughly convinced of their mistake4 ,recent statistics prove that consumption and its kindred diseases are most fearfully on the increase1 in the ,northern1 and more especially in the ,new ,england ,states2 and that the general mortality of ,massachusetts exceeds that of almost every other state in the ,union4 ,in these ,states1 the tendency of increasing attention to manufacturing and mechanical pursuits1 is to compel a larger and larger proportion of the population to lead an in-door life1 and to breathe an atmosphere more or less vitiated1 and thus unfit for the full development of vigorous health4 ,the importance of pure air can hardly be over-estimated2 indeed1 the quality of the air we breath1 seems to exert an influence much more powerful1 and hardly less direct1 than the mere quality of our food4 ,those who1 by active exercise in the open air1 keep their lungs saturated as it were1 with the pure element1 can eat almost anything with impunity2 while those who breath the sorry apology for air which is to be found in so many habitations1 although they may live upon the most nutritious diet1 and avoid the least excess1 are incessantly troubled with head-ache1 dyspepsia1 and various mental as well as physical sufferings4 ,well may such persons1 as they witness the healthy forms and happy faces of so many of the hardy sons of toil1 exclaim with the old ,latin poet1 ,oh dura messorum illia6 ,it is with the human family very much as it is with the vegetable kingdom4 ,take a plant or tree1 and shut it out from the pure air1 and the invigorating light1 and though you may supply it with an abundance of water and the very soil1 which by the strictest chemical analysis1 is found to contain all the elements that are essential to its vigorous growth1 it will still be a puny thing1 ready to droop1 if exposed to a summer's sun1 or to be prostrated by the first visitation of a winter's blast4 ,compare now1 this wretched abortion1 with an oak or maple which has grown upon the comparatively sterile mountain pasture1 and whose branches1 in ,summer are the pleasant resort of the happy songsters1 while1 under its mighty shade1 the panting herds drink in a refreshing coolness4 ,in ,winter it laughs at the mighty storms1 which wildly toss its giant branches in the air1 and which serve only to exercise the limbs of the sturdy tree1 whose roots deep intertwined among its native rocks1 enable it to bid defiance to anything short of a whirlwind or tornado4 ,to a population1 who1 for more than two-thirds of the year1 are compelled to breathe an atmosphere heated by artificial means1 the question how can this air be made1 at a moderate expense1 to resemble1 as far as possible1 the purest ether of the skies is1 7or as ,i should rather say ought to be17 a question of the utmost interest4 ,when open fires were used1 there was no lack of pure air1 whatever else might have been deficient4 ,a capacious chimney carried up through its insatiable throat1 immense volumes of air1 to be replaced by the pure element1 whistling in glee1 through every crack1 crevice and keyhole4 ,now the house-builder and stove-maker with but few exceptions#ae seem to have joined hands in waging a most effectual warfare against the unwelcome intruder4 ,by labor-saving machinery1 they contrive to make the one1 the joints of his wood-work1 and the other1 those of his iron-work1 tighter and tighter1 and if it were possible for them to accomplish fully their manifest design1 they would be able to furnish rooms almost as fatal to life as the black hole of ,calcutta4 ,but in spite of all that they can do1 the materials will shrink1 and no fuel has yet been found1 which will burn without any air1 so that sufficient ventilation is kept up1 to prevent such deadly occurrences4 ,still they are tolerably successful in keeping out the unfriendly element2 and by the use of huge cooking-stoves with towering ovens1 and other salamander contrivances1 the little air that can find its way in1 is almost as thoroughly cooked1 as are the various delicacies destined for the table4 ,on reading an account of a run-away slave1 who was for a considerable time1 closely boxed up1 a gentleman remarked that if the poor fellow had only known that a renewal of the air was necessary to the support of life1 he could not have lived there an hour without suffocation3 ,i have frequently thought that if the occupants of the rooms ,i have been describing1 could only know as much1 they would be in almost similar danger4 ,bad air1 one would think1 is bad enough3 but when it is heated and dried to an excessive degree1 all its original vileness is stimulated to greater activity1 and thus made doubly injurious by this new element of evil4 ,not only our private houses1 but our churches and school-rooms1 our railroad cars1 and all our places of public assemblage1 are1 to a most lamentable degree1 either unprovided with any means of ventilation1 or1 to a great extent1 supplied with those which are so wretchedly deficient that they ,keep the word of promise to our ear1 ,and break it to our hope4 ,that ultimate degeneracy must surely follow such entire disregard of the laws of health1 cannot be doubted2 and those who imagine that the physical stamina of a people can be undermined1 and yet that their intellectual1 moral and religious health will suffer no eclipse or decay1 know very little of the intimate connection between body and mind1 which the ,creator has seen fit to establish4 ,the men may1 to a certain extent1 resist the injurious influences of foul air2 as their employments usually compel them to live much more out of doors3 but alas1 alas6 for the poor women6 ,in the very land where women are treated with more universal deference and respect than in any other1 and where they so well deserve it1 there often1 no provision is made to furnish them with that great element of health1 cheerfulness and beauty1 heaven's pure1 fresh air4 ,in ,southern climes1 where doors and windows may be safely kept open for a large part of the year1 pure air is cheap enough1 and can be obtained without any special effort3 but in ,northern latitudes1 where heated air must be used for nearly three-quarters of the year1 the neglect of ventilation is fast causing the health and beauty of our women to disappear4 ,the pallid cheek1 or the hectic flush1 the angular form and distorted spine1 the debilitated appearance of a large portion of our females1 which to a stranger1 would seem to indicate that they were just recovering from a long illness1 all these indications of the lamentable absence of physical health1 to say nothing of the anxious1 care-worn faces and premature wrinkles1 proclaim in sorrowful voices1 our violation of ,god's physical laws1 and the dreadful penalty with which ,he visits our transgressions4 ,our people must1 and ,i have no doubt that eventually they will be most thoroughly aroused to the necessity of a vital reform on this important subject4 ,open stoves1 and cheerful grates and fire-places will again be in vogue with the mass of the people1 unless some better mode of warming shall be devised1 which1 at less expense1 shall make still more ample provision for the constant introduction of fresh air4 ,houses will be constructed1 which1 although more expensive in the first cost1 will be far cheaper in the end1 and by requiring a much smaller quantity of fuel to warm the air1 will enable us to enjoy the luxury of breathing air which may be duly tempered1 and yet be pure and invigorating4 ,air-tight and all other lung-tight stoves will be exploded1 as economizing in fuel only when they allow the smallest possible change of air1 and thus squandering health and endangering life4 ,the laws very wisely forbid the erection of wooden buildings in large cities1 and in various ways1 prescribe such regulations for the construction of edifices as are deemed to be essential to the public welfare2 and the time cannot1 ,i trust1 be very far distant1 when all public buildings erected for the accommodation of large numbers1 will be required by law1 to furnish a supply of fresh air1 in some reasonable degree adequate to the necessities of those who are to occupy them4 ,i shall ask no excuse for the honest warmth of language which will appear extravagant only to those who cannot1 or rather will not1 see the immense importance of pure air to the highest enjoyment1 not only of physical1 but of mental and moral health4 ,the man who shall succeed in convincing the mass of the people1 of the truth of the views thus imperfectly presented1 and whose inventive mind shall devise a cheap and efficacious way of furnishing a copious supply of pure air for our dwellings and public buildings1 our steamboats and railroad cars1 will be even more of a benefactor than a ,jenner1 or a ,watt1 a ,fulton1 or a ,morse4 ,to return from this lengthy and yet ,i trust not unprofitable digression4 ,in the ventilation of my hive1 ,i have endeavored1 as far as possible1 to meet all the necessities of the bees1 under the varying circumstances to which they are exposed1 in our uncertain climate1 whose severe extremes of temperature impress most forcibly upon the bee-keeper1 the maxim of the ,mantuan ,bard1 ,utraque vis pariter apibus metuenda4 ,extremes of heat or cold1 alike are hurtful to the bees4 ,in order to make artificial ventilation of any use to the great majority of bee-keepers1 it must be simple1 and not as in ,nutt's hive1 and many other labored contrivances1 so complicated as to require almost as constant supervision as a hot-bed or a green-house4 ,the very foundation of any system of ventilation should be such a construction of the hive that the bees shall need a change of air only for breathing4 ,in the ,chapter on ,protection1 ,i have explained the construction of my hives1 and of the ,protector by which the bees being kept warm in ,winter1 and cool in ,summer1 do not require1 as in thin hives1 a very free introduction of air1 in hot weather1 to keep the combs from softening2 or a still larger supply in ,winter1 to prevent them from moulding1 and to dry up the moisture which runs from their icy tops and sides2 and which1 if suffered to remain1 will often affect the bees with dysentery1 or as it is sometimes called1 the rot4 ,the intelligent ,apiarian will perceive that ,i thus imitate the natural habitation of the bees in the recesses of a hollow tree in the forest1 where they feel neither the extremes of heat nor cold1 and where through the efficacy of their ventilating powers1 a very small opening admits all the air which is necessary for respiration4 ,in the ,chapter on the ,requisites of a good hive1 ,i have spoken of the importance of furnishing ventilation1 independently of the entrance4 ,by such an arrangement1 ,i am able to improve upon the method which the bees are compelled to adopt in a state of nature4 ,as they have no means of admitting air by wire-cloth1 and at the same time1 of effectually excluding all intruders1 they are obliged in very hot weather1 and in a very crowded state of their dwellings1 to employ a larger force in the laborious business of ventilation1 than would otherwise be necessary2 while in ,winter1 they have no means of admitting air which is only moderately cool4 ,i can keep the entrance so small1 that only a single bee can go in at once1 or ,i can1 if circumstances require1 entirely close it1 and yet the bees need not suffer for the want of air4 ,in all ordinary cases1 the ventilators will admit a sufficient supply of duly tempered air from the ,protector1 and the bees can1 at any time1 increase their efficiency by their own direct agency1 while yet they will1 at no time1 admit a strong current of chilly air1 so as to endanger the life of the brood4 ,as bees are1 at all times1 prone to close the ventilators with propolis1 they must be placed where they can easily be removed1 and cleansed1 by soaking them in boiling water4 ,as respects ventilation from above1 as well as from below1 so as to allow a free current of air to pass through the hive1 ,i am decidedly opposed to it1 as in cool and windy weather1 such a current often compels the bees to retire from the brood1 which in this way is destroyed by a fatal chill4 ,in thin hives1 ventilation from above may be desirable in ,winter1 to carry off the superfluous moisture1 but in properly constructed hives1 standing over a ,protector1 there is1 as has already been remarked1 little or no dampness to be carried off4 ,the construction of my hives will allow1 if at all desirable1 of ventilation from above2 and ,i always make use of it1 when the bees are to be shut up for any length of time1 in order to be moved2 as in this case1 there is always a risk that the ventilators on the bottom-board may be clogged by dead bees1 and the colony suffocated4 ,as the entrance of the hive1 may in a moment1 be enlarged to any desirable extent1 without in the least perplexing the bees1 any quantity of air may be admitted1 which the necessities of the bees1 under any possible circumstances1 may require4 ,it may be made full #ah inches in length1 but as a general rule1 in ,summer1 in a large colony1 it need not exceed six inches3 while in ,spring and ,fall1 two or three inches will suffice4 ,in ,winter1 it should be entirely closed2 unless in latitudes so warm1 that even with the ,protector1 the bees cannot be kept quiet4 ,the bee-keeper should never forget that it is almost certain destruction to a colony1 to confine them when they wish to fly out4 ,the precautions requisite to prevent robbing1 will be subsequently described4 ,in ,northern latitudes1 in the months of ,april and ,may1 ,i prefer to keep the ventilators entirely closed2 as the air of the ,protector1 at such times1 like the air of a cellar in ,spring1 is uncomfortably cool1 and has a tendency to interfere with breeding4 ,,note4--,since the remarks on the neglect of ventilation were put in type1 my attention has been called by ,hon4 ,m4 ,p4 ,wilder1 of ,dorchester1 to an article on the same subject1 in the ,nov4 number of the ,horticulturist1 for #ahej1 from the pen of the lamented ,downing4 ,it seems to have been written shortly after his return from ,europe1 and when he must have been most deeply impressed by the woful contrast1 in point of physical health between the women of ,america and ,europe4 ,while he speaks in just and therefore glowing terms of the virtues of our countrywomen1 he says3 ,but in the signs of physical health and all that constitutes the outward aspect of the men and women of the ,united ,states1 our countrymen and especially countrywomen1 compare most unfavorably with all but the absolutely starving classes on the other side of the ,atlantic4 ,close stoves he has most appropriately styled little demons1 and impure air ,the favorite poison of ,america4 ,his article concludes as follows3 ,pale countrymen and countrywomen rouse yourselves6 ,consider that ,god has given us an atmosphere of pure health-giving air #de miles high1 and ventilate your houses4 ,,footnotes3 #ae ,the beautiful open or ,franklin stoves1 manufactured by ,messrs4 ,jagger1 ,treadwell and ,perry1 of ,albany1 deserve the highest commendation3 they economize fuel as well as life and health4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,natural ,,swarming1 ,,and ,,hiving ,,of ,,swarms4 ,the swarming of bees has been justly regarded as one of the most beautiful sights in the whole compass of rural economy4 ,although1 for reasons which will hereafter be assigned1 ,i prefer to rely chiefly on artificial means for the multiplication of colonies1 ,i should be very unwilling to pass a season without participating1 to some extent1 in the pleasing excitement of natural swarming4 ,up mounts the chief1 and to the cheated eye ,ten thousand shuttles dart along the sky2 ,as swift through ther rise the rushing swarms1 ,gay dancing to the beam their sun-bright forms2 ,and each thin form1 still ling'ring on the sight1 ,trails1 as it shoots1 a line of silver light4 ,high pois'd on buoyant wing1 the thoughtful queen1 ,in gaze attentive1 views the varied scene1 ,and soon her far-fetch'd ken discerns below ,the light laburnum lift her polish'd brow1 ,wave her green leafy ringlets o'er the glade1 ,and seem to beckon to her friendly shade4 ,swift as the falcon's sweep1 the monarch bends ,her flight abrupt2 the following host descends4 ,round the fine twig1 like cluster'd grapes1 they close ,in thickening wreaths1 and court a short repose4 ,evans4 ,the swarming of bees1 by making provision for the constant multiplication of colonies1 was undoubtedly intended both to guard the insect against the possibility of extinction1 and to make its labors in the highest degree useful to man4 ,the laws of reproduction in those insects which do not live in regular colonies1 are such as to secure an ample increase of numbers4 ,the same is true in the case of hornets1 wasps and humble-bees which live in colonies only during the warm weather4 ,in the ,fall of the year1 all the males perish1 while the impregnated females retreat into winter quarters and remain dormant1 until the warm weather restores them to activity1 and each one becomes the mother of a new family4 ,the honey bee differs from all these insects1 in being compelled1 by the laws of its physical organization1 to live in communities1 during the entire year4 ,the balmy breezes of ,spring will quickly thaw out the frozen veins of a torpid ,wasp2 but the bee is incapable of enduring even a moderate degree of cold3 a temperature as low as #ej speedily chills it1 and it would be quite as easy to recall to life the stiffened corpses in the charnel house of the ,convent of the ,great ,st4 ,bernard1 as to restore to animation1 a frozen bee4 ,in cool weather1 they must therefore associate in large numbers1 in order to maintain the animal heat which is necessary to their preservation2 and the formation of new colonies1 after the manner of wasps and hornets1 is clearly impossible4 ,if the young queens left the parent stock in ,summer1 and were able1 like the mother-wasps1 to lay the foundations of a new colony1 they could not maintain the warmth requisite for the development of their young1 even if they were able1 without any baskets on their thighs1 to gather bee-bread for their support4 ,if all these difficulties were surmounted1 they would still be unable to amass any treasures for our use1 or even to lay up the stores requisite for their own preservation4 ,how admirably are all these difficulties obviated by the present arrangement6 ,their domicile is well supplied with all the materials for the rearing of brood1 and long before any of the insects which depend upon the heat of the sun1 are able to commence breeding1 the bees have added thousands in the full vigor of youth to their already numerous population4 ,they are thus able to send off in season1 colonies sufficiently powerful to take advantage of the honey-harvest1 and provision the new hive against the approach of ,winter4 ,from these considerations1 it is very evident that swarming1 so far from being1 as some ,apiarians have considered it1 a forced or unnatural event1 is one1 which in a state of nature1 could not possibly be dispensed with4 ,let us now inquire under what circumstances it ordinarily takes place4 ,the time when swarms may be expected1 depends of course1 upon climate1 season1 and the strength of the stocks4 ,in the ,northern and ,middle ,states1 bees seldom swarm before the latter part of ,may2 and ,june may be considered as the great swarming month4 ,the importance of having powerful swarms early in the season1 will be discussed in another place4 ,in the ,spring1 as soon as a hive well filled with comb and bees1 becomes too much crowded to accommodate its teeming population1 the bees begin the necessary preparations for emigration4 ,a number of royal cells are commenced about the time that the drones first make their appearance2 and by the time that the young queens arrive at maturity1 the drones are always found in the greatest abundance4 ,the first swarm is invariably led off by the old queen1 unless she has previously died from accident or disease1 in which case1 it is accompanied by one of the young queens reared to supply her loss4 ,the old mother leaves soon after the royal cells are sealed over1 unless delayed by unfavorable weather4 ,there are no signs from which the ,apiarian can1 with certainty1 predict the issue of a first swarm4 ,i devoted annually1 much attention to this point1 vainly hoping to discover some infallible indications of first swarming2 until taught by further reflection that1 from the very nature of the case1 there can be no such indications4 ,the bees1 from an unfavorable state of the weather1 or the failure of the blossoms to yield an abundant supply of honey1 often change their minds1 and refuse to swarm1 even after all their preparations have been completed4 ,nay more1 they sometimes send out no new colonies that season1 when a sudden change of weather has interrupted them on the very day when they were intending to emigrate1 and after they had taken a full supply of honey for their journey4 ,if on a fair1 warm day in the swarming season1 but few bees leave a strong hive1 while other colonies are busily at work1 we may1 unless the weather suddenly prove unfavorable1 look with great confidence for a swarm4 ,as the old queens1 which accompany the first swarm1 are heavy with eggs1 and fly with considerable difficulty1 they are shy of venturing out1 except on fair1 still days4 ,if the weather is very sultry1 a swarm will sometimes issue as early as #g o'clock in the morning2 but from #aj to #b1 is the usual time1 and the majority of swarms come off from #aa to #a4 ,occasionally1 a swarm will venture out as late as #e ,p4 ,m4 ,an old queen is seldom guilty of such a piece of indiscretion4 ,i have in repeated instances witnessed the whole process of swarming1 in my observing hives4 ,on the day fixed for their departure1 the queen appears to be very restless1 and instead of depositing her eggs in the cells1 she travels over the combs1 and communicates her agitation to the whole colony4 ,the emigrating bees fill themselves with honey1 some time before their departure3 in one instance1 ,i noticed them laying in their supplies1 more than two hours before they left4 ,a short time before the swarm rises1 a few bees may generally be seen1 sporting in the air1 with their heads turned always to the hive1 occasionally flying in and out1 as though they were impatient for the important event to take place4 ,at length1 a very violent agitation commences in the hive3 the bees appear almost frantic1 whirling around in a circle1 which continually enlarges1 like the circles made by a stone thrown into still water1 until at last the whole hive is in a state of the greatest ferment1 and the bees rush impetuously to the entrance1 and pour forth in one steady stream4 ,not a bee looks behind1 but each one pushes straight ahead1 as though flying for dear life1 or urged on by some invisible power1 in its headlong career4 ,the queen often does not come out1 until a large number have left1 and she is frequently so heavy1 from the large number of eggs in her ovaries1 that she falls to the ground1 incapable of rising with the colony into the air4 ,the bees are very soon aware of her absence1 and a most interesting scene may now be witnessed4 ,a diligent search is immediately made for their missing mother2 the swarm scatters in all directions1 and ,i have frequently seen the leaves of the adjoining trees and bushes1 almost as thickly covered with the anxious explorers1 as they are with drops of rain after a copious shower4 ,if she cannot be found1 they return to the old hive1 though occasionally they attempt to enter some other hive1 or join themselves to another swarm if any is still unhived4 ,the ringing of bells1 and beating of kettles and frying-pans1 is one of the good old ways more honored by the breach than the observance2 it may answer a very good purpose in amusing the children1 but ,i believe that as far as the bees are concerned1 it is all time thrown away2 and that it is not a whit more efficacious than the custom practiced by some savage tribes1 who1 when the sun is eclipsed1 imagining that it has been swallowed by an enormous dragon1 resort to the most frightful noises1 to compel his snake-ship to disgorge their favorite luminary4 ,if a swarm has selected a new home previous to their departure1 no amount of noise will ever compel them to alight1 but as soon as all the bees which compose the emigrating colony have left the hive1 they fly in a direct course1 or bee-line1 to the chosen spot4 ,i have noticed that when bees are much neglected by those who pretend to take care of them1 such unceremonious leave-taking is quite common2 on the contrary1 when proper attention is bestowed on them1 it seldom occurs4 ,it can seldom if ever occur to those who manage their bees according to my system2 as ,i shall show in the ,chapter on ,artificial ,swarming4 ,if the ,apiarian perceives that his swarm instead of clustering begins to rise higher and higher in the air1 and evidently means to depart1 not a moment is to be lost3 instead of empty noises1 he must resort to means much more effective to stay their vagrant propensities4 ,handfulls of dirt cast into the air1 or water thrown among them1 will often so disorganize them as to compel them to alight4 ,of all devices for stopping them1 the most original one that ,i have ever heard of1 is to flash the sun's rays among them1 by the use of a looking glass6 ,i have never had occasion to try it1 but the anonymous writer who recommends it1 says that he never knew it to fail4 ,if they are forcibly prevented from eloping1 then special care must be taken or they will be almost sure soon after hiving1 to leave for their selected home4 ,the queen should be caught and confined for several days in a way which will be subsequently described4 ,the same caution must be exercised1 when new swarms abandon their hive4 ,if the queen cannot be caught1 and there is reason to dread a desertion1 the bees may be carried into the cellar1 and confined in total darkness1 until towards sun-set of the third day after they swarmed1 being supplied in the mean time with water and honey to build their combs4 ,if a colony decides to go1 they look upon the hive in which they are put as only a temporary stopping place1 and seldom trouble themselves to build any comb in it4 ,if the hive is so constructed as to permit inspection1 ,i can tell by a glance whether bees are disgusted with their new residence1 and mean before long to clear out4 ,they not only refuse to work with that energy so characteristic of a new swarm1 but they have a peculiar look which to the experienced eye at once proclaims the fact that they are staying only upon sufferance4 ,their very attitude1 hanging as they do with a sort of dogged or supercilious air1 as though they hated even so much as to touch their detested abode1 is equivalent to an open proclamation that they mean to be off4 ,my numerous experiments in attempting from the moment of hiving1 to make the bees work in observing hives exposed to the full light of day1 instead of keeping them as ,i now do in darkness for several days1 have made me quite familiar with all their graceless1 do-nothing proceedings before their departure4 ,bees sometimes abandon their hives very early in the ,spring1 or late in ,summer or ,fall4 ,they exhibit all the appearance of natural swarming2 but they leave1 not because the population is crowded1 but because it is either so small1 or the hive so destitute of supplies1 that they are discouraged or driven to desperation4 ,i once knew a colony to leave the hive under such circumstances1 on a springlike day in ,december6 ,they seem to have a presentiment that they must perish if they stay1 and instead of awaiting the sure approach of famine1 they sally out to see if something cannot be done to better their condition4 ,at first sight1 it seems strange that so provident an insect should not always select a suitable domicile before venturing on so important a step as to abandon the old home4 ,often before they are safely housed again1 they are exposed to powerful winds and drenching rains1 which beat down and destroy many of their number4 ,i solve this problem in the economy of the bee1 in the same manner that ,i have solved so many others1 by considering in what way1 this arrangement conduces to the advantage of man4 ,the honey-bee would have been of comparatively little service to him1 if instead of tarrying until he had sufficient time to establish them in a hive in which to labor for him1 their instinct impelled them to decamp1 without any delay1 from the restraints of domestication4 ,in this1 as in many other things1 we see that what on a superficial view1 appeared to be a very obvious imperfection1 proves1 on closer examination1 to be a special contrivance to answer important ends4 ,to return to our new swarm4 ,the queen sometimes alights first1 and sometimes joins the cluster after it has commenced forming4 ,it is a very rare thing for the bees ever to cluster1 unless the queen is with them2 and when they do1 and yet afterwards disperse1 ,i believe that usually the queen1 after first rising with them1 has been lost by falling into some spot where she is unnoticed by the bees4 ,in two instances1 ,i performed the following interesting experiment4 ,perceiving a hive in the very act of swarming1 ,i contracted the entrance so as to secure the queen when she made her appearance4 ,in each case1 at least one third of the bees came out1 before the queen presented herself to join them4 ,when ,i perceived that the swarm had given up their search for her1 and were beginning to return to the parent hive1 ,i placed her1 with her wings clipped1 on the limb of a small evergreen tree3 she crawled to the very top of the limb1 as if for the purpose of making herself as conspicuous as possible4 ,a few bees noticed her1 and instead of alighting1 darted rapidly away2 in a few seconds1 the whole colony were apprised of her presence1 flew in a dense cloud to the spot1 and commenced quietly clustering around her4 ,i have often noticed the surprising rapidity with which bees communicate with each other1 while on the wing4 ,telegraphic signals are hardly more instantaneous4 7,see ,chapter on the ,loss of the ,queen47 ,that bees send out scouts to seek a suitable abode1 it seems to me1 can admit of no serious question4 ,swarms have been traced to their new home1 either in their flight directly from their hive1 or from the place where they have clustered2 and it is evident1 that in such instances1 they have pursued the most direct course4 ,now such a precision of flight to a terra incognita1 an unknown home1 would plainly be impossible1 if some of their number had not previously selected the spot1 so as to be competent to act as guides to the rest4 ,the sight of the bees for distant objects1 is wonderfully acute1 and after rising to a sufficient elevation1 they can see the prominent objects in the vicinity of their intended abode1 even although they may be several miles distant4 ,whether the bees send out their scouts before or after swarming1 may admit of more question4 ,in cases where the colony flies without alighting1 to its new home1 they are unquestionably dispatched before swarming4 ,if this were their usual course1 then we should naturally expect all the colonies to take the same speedy departure4 ,or if1 for the convenience of the queen over fatigued by the excitement of swarming1 or for any other reason1 they should see fit to cluster1 then we should expect that only a transient tarrying would be allowed4 ,instead of this1 they often remain until the next day1 and instances of a more protracted delay are not unfrequent4 ,the cases which occur1 of bees stopping in their flight1 and clustering again on any convenient object1 are not inconsistent with this view of the subject2 for if the weather is hot1 and the sun shines directly upon them1 they will often leave before they have found a suitable habitation2 and even when they are on the way to their new home1 the queen being heavy with eggs1 and unaccustomed to fly1 is sometimes from weariness1 compelled to alight1 and her colony clusters around her4 ,queens1 under such circumstances1 sometimes seem unwilling to entrust themselves again to their wings1 and the poor bees attempt to lay the foundations of their colony1 on fence rails1 hay-stacks1 or other most unsuitable places4 ,i have been informed by ,mr4 ,henry ,m4 ,zollickoffer of ,philadelphia1 a very intelligent and reliable observer1 that he knew a swarm to settle on a willow tree in that city1 in a lot owned by the ,pennsylvania ,hospital2 it remained there for sometime1 and the boys pelted it with stones1 to get possession of its comb and honey4 ,the absolute necessity for scouts or explorers1 is evident from all the facts in the case1 unless we admit that bees have the faculty of flying in an air-line to a hollow tree1 or some suitable abode which they have never seen1 though they cannot find their hive1 if1 in their absence1 it is moved only a few rods from its former position4 ,these obvious considerations are abundantly confirmed by the repeated instances in which a few bees have been noticed prying very inquisitively into a hole in a hollow tree or the cornice of a building1 and have been succeeded1 before long1 by a whole colony4 ,the importance of these remarks will be more obvious1 when ,i come to discuss the proper mode of hiving bees4 ,having described the common method of procedure pursued by the new swarm1 when left without interference to their natural instincts1 it is time to return to the parent stock from which they emigrated4 ,in witnessing the immense number which have abandoned it1 we might naturally suppose that it must be almost entirely depopulated4 ,it is sometimes asserted that as bees swarm in the pleasantest part of the day1 the population is replenished by the return of large numbers of workers that were absent in the fields2 this1 however1 can seldom be the case1 as it is rare for many bees to be absent from the hive at the time of swarming4 ,to those who limit the fertility of the queen to #bjj1 or at most #djj eggs per day1 the rapid replenishing of the hive after swarming1 must ever be a problem incapable of solution2 but to those who have ocular demonstration that she can lay from one to three thousand eggs a day1 it is no mystery at all4 ,a sufficient number of bees is always left behind1 to carry on the domestic operations of the hive1 and as the old queen departs only when the population of the hive is super-abundant2 and when thousands of young bees are hatching daily1 and often #cj1jjj or more1 are rapidly maturing1 in a short time the hive is almost as populous as it was before swarming4 ,those who assert that the new colony is composed of young bees which have been forced to emigrate by the older ones1 have certainly failed to use their eyes to much advantage1 or they would have seen1 in hiving a new swarm1 that it is composed of both young and old2 some1 having wings ragged from hard work1 while others are evidently quite young4 ,after the tumult of swarming is entirely over1 not a bee that did not participate in it1 seeks afterwards to join the new colony1 and not one that did1 seeks to return4 ,what determines some to go1 and others to stay1 we have no certain means of knowing4 ,how wonderfully abiding the impression made upon an insect1 which in a moment causes it to lose all its strong affection for the old home in which it was bred1 and which it has entered1 perhaps hundreds of times2 so that when established in another hive1 though only a few feet distant1 it never afterwards pays the slightest attention to its former abode6 ,often1 when the hive into which the new swarm is put1 is not removed from the place where the bees were hived1 until some have gone to the fields1 on their return1 they fly for hours1 in ceaseless circles about the spot where the missing hive stood4 ,i have often known them to continue the vain search for their companions until they have1 at length1 dropped down from utter exhaustion1 and perished in close proximity to their old homes6 ,it has been already stated that the old queen1 if the weather is favorable1 generally leaves about the time that the young queens are sealed over1 to be changed into nymphs4 ,in about eight days more1 one of these queens hatches1 and the question must now be decided whether any more colonies are to be sent out that season1 or not4 ,if the hive is well filled with bees1 and the season in all respects promising1 this question is generally decided in the affirmative2 although colonies often refuse to swarm more than once when they are very strong1 and when we can assign no reason for such a course2 and they sometimes swarm repeatedly1 to the utter ruin of both the old stock1 and the after-swarms4 ,if the bees decide to swarm again1 the first hatched queen is allowed to have her own way4 ,she rushes immediately to the cells of her sisters1 and1 7as was described in the ,chapter on ,physiology17 stings them to death4 ,from some observations that ,i have made1 ,i am inclined to think that the other bees aid her in this murderous transaction3 they certainly tear open the cradles of the slaughtered innocents1 and remove them from the cells4 ,their dead bodies may often be found on the ground in front of the hive4 ,when a queen has emerged in the natural way from her cell1 the bees usually nibble away the now useless abode1 until only a small acorn cup remains2 but when by violence she has met with an untimely end1 they take down entirely the whole of the cell4 ,by counting these acorn-cups1 it can always be ascertained how many young queens have hatched in a hive4 ,before the queens emerge from their cells1 a fluttering sound is frequently heard1 which is caused by the rapid motion of their wings1 and which must not be confounded with the piping notes which will soon be described4 ,if the bees of the parent stock decide to swarm again1 the first hatched queen is prevented from killing the others4 ,a strong guard is kept over their cells1 and as often as she approaches them with murderous intent1 she is bitten1 or otherwise rudely treated1 and given to understand by the most uncourtier-like demonstrations1 that she cannot1 in all things1 do just as she pleases4 ,when thus repulsed1 like men and women who cannot have their own way1 she is highly offended and utters an angry sound1 given forth in a quick succession of notes1 and which sounds not unlike the rapid utterance of the words1 peep1 peep4 ,i have frequently1 by holding a queen in the closed hand1 caused her to make the same noise4 ,to this angry note1 one or more of the queens still unhatched1 will respond1 in a somewhat hoarser key1 just as chicken-cocks1 by crowing1 bid defiance to each other4 ,these sounds are entirely unlike the usual steady hum of the bees1 and when heard1 are the almost infallible indications that a second swarm will soon issue4 ,they are occasionally so loud that they may be heard at some distance from the hive4 ,about a week after first swarming1 the ,apiarian should1 early in the morning or at evening1 when the bees are still1 place his ear against the hive1 and he will1 if the queens are piping1 readily recognize their peculiar sounds4 ,if their notes are not heard1 at the very latest1 sixteen days after the departure of the first swarm1 by which time the young queens are mature1 even if the first colony left as soon as the eggs were deposited in the royal cells1 it is an infallible indication that the first hatched queen is without rivals in the hive1 and that swarming is over1 in that stock1 for the season4 ,the second swarm usually issues on the second or third day after this sound is heard3 although ,i have known them to delay coming out1 until the fifth day1 in consequence of a very unfavorable state of the weather4 ,occasionally1 the weather is so unfavorable1 that the bees permit the oldest queen to kill the others1 and refuse to swarm again4 ,this is a rare occurrence1 as the young queens1 unlike the old ones1 do not appear to be very particular about the weather1 and sometimes venture out1 not merely when it is cloudy1 but even when rain is falling4 ,on this account1 if a very close watch is not kept1 they are often lost4 ,as piping ordinarily commences about eight or nine days after first swarming1 the second swarm generally issues ten or twelve days after the first4 ,it has been known to issue as early as the third day after the first1 and as late as the seventeenth4 ,such cases1 however1 are of rare occurrence4 ,it frequently happens in the agitation of swarming1 that several of the young queens emerge from their cells at the same time1 and accompany the colony3 when this is the case1 the bees often alight in two or more separate clusters4 ,young queens not having their ovaries burdened with eggs1 are much more quick on the wing1 than old ones1 and fly frequently much farther from the parent stock1 before they alight2 though ,i never knew a second swarm to depart to the woods without clustering at all4 ,after the departure of a second swarm1 the oldest of the remaining queens leaves her cell2 and if another swarm is to be sent forth1 piping will still be heard1 and so before the issue of each swarm after the first4 ,i once had five stocks issue from one swarm1 and they all came out in about two weeks4 ,in warm latitudes more than twice this number of swarms have been known to issue in one season from a single stock4 ,the third swarm commonly makes its appearance on the second or third day after the second swarm1 and the others1 at intervals of about a day4 ,after-swarms1 or casts1 7these names are given to all swarms after the first17 reduce very seriously the strength of the parent stock2 for after the departure of the old queen1 no more eggs are deposited in the cells1 until all swarming is over4 ,it is a very wise arrangement that the second swarm does not ordinarily issue until all the eggs left by the first queen are hatched1 and the young fed and sealed over1 so as to require no further care4 ,the departure of the second swarm earlier than this1 would leave too few laborers to attend to the wants of the young bees4 ,as it is1 if the weather after swarming1 suddenly becomes chilly1 and the hives are thin and admit too much air1 the bees are too much reduced in numbers1 to maintain the heat requisite for the proper development of the brood1 and numbers are destroyed4 ,in the ,chapter on ,artificial ,swarming1 ,i shall discuss the effect of too frequent swarming1 on the profits of the ,apiary4 ,if the bee-keeper desires to have no casts1 he can1 by the use of my hives1 very easily1 prevent their issue4 ,as soon as the first swarm is hived1 the parent stock may be opened1 and all the queen cells except one removed4 ,how much better this is1 than to attempt to return the after-swarms to the parent hive1 can only be appreciated by one who has thoroughly tried both plans4 ,if the ,apiarian desires the most rapid multiplication of colonies possible1 where natural swarming is relied on1 full directions will be furnished1 in the sequel1 for building up all after-swarms1 however small1 into vigorous stocks4 ,it will be remembered that both the parent stock from which the swarm issues1 and all the colonies except the first1 have a young queen4 ,these queens never leave the hive for impregnation1 until after they have been established as the acknowledged heads of independent families4 ,they generally go out for this purpose1 the first pleasant day after they are thus acknowledged1 early in the afternoon1 at which hour the drones are flying in the greatest numbers4 ,on first leaving their hive1 they always fly with their heads turned towards it1 and enter and depart often several times before they finally soar up into the air4 ,such precautions on the part of a young queen1 are highly necessary that she may not mistake her own hive on her return1 and lose her life by attempting to enter that of another colony4 ,mistakes of this kind are frequently made when the hives stand near1 and closely resemble each other1 and are fatal1 not only to the queen1 but to her whole colony4 ,in the new hive there is no brood at all1 and in the old one it is too far advanced towards maturity to answer for raising new queens4 ,such calamities1 in my hive1 admit of a very easy remedy1 as ,i shall show in the ,chapter on the ,loss of the ,queen4 ,to guard the young queen against such frequent mistakes1 ,i paint the covered fronts of my hives1 with the alighting boards1 and blocks guarding the entrance1 of different colors4 ,this answers the same purpose as to paint the whole surface of the boxes1 some of one color1 and some of another4 ,the only proper color for a hive when exposed to the weather1 is a perfect white2 any shade of color will absorb the heat of the sun1 so as to warp the wood-work of the hive1 besides exposing the bees to a pent and suffocating heat4 ,when a young queen leaves the hive for the purpose above mentioned1 the bees1 on missing her1 are often filled with alarm1 and rush from the hive1 just as though they were intending to swarm4 ,their agitation soon calms down1 if she returns to them in safety4 ,i shall give through the medium of the ,latin tongue1 some statements which are important only to the scientific naturalist1 and entomologist4 ,post coitum fucus statim perit4 ,penis ejectio1 ut ego comperi1 lenem compressionem fuci ventris1 consequitur2 et fucus extemplo similis fulmine tacto1 moritur4 ,dominus ,huber spe videbat fuci organum post congressum1 in corpore femin hsisse4 ,vidi semel tam firme inhrens1 ut nisi disruptione regin ventris1 non possim divellere4 ,the queen commences laying eggs1 about two days after impregnation1 and for the first season1 lays none but the eggs of workers2 no males being needed in colonies which will throw no swarm till another season4 ,it is seldom until after she has commenced replenishing the cells with eggs1 that she is treated with any special attention by the bees2 although if deprived of her before this time1 they show1 by their despair1 that they thoroughly comprehended her vast importance to their welfare4 ,i shall now give such practical directions for the easy hiving of swarms1 as will1 ,i trust1 greatly facilitate the whole operation1 not merely to the novice1 but even to many experienced bee-keepers2 and ,i shall try to make these directions sufficiently minute1 to guide those who having never seen a swarm hived1 are very apt to imagine that the process must be a formidable one1 instead of being1 as it usually is to those who are fond of bees1 a most delightful entertainment4 ,experience in this1 as in other things1 will speedily give the requisite skill and confidence2 and the cry of the bees are swarming1 will soon be hailed with greater pleasure than an invitation to the most sumptuous banquet4 ,the hives for the new swarms should all be in readiness before the swarming season begins1 and should be painted long enough beforehand1 to have the paint most thoroughly dried4 ,the smell of fresh paint is well known to be exceedingly injurious to human beings1 and is such an abomination to the bees1 that they will often desert a new hive sooner than put up with it4 ,if the hives cannot be painted in ample season1 then such paints should be used1 as contain no white lead1 and they should be mixed in such a manner as to dry as quickly as possible4 ,thin hives ought never to stand in the sun1 and then1 when heated to an insufferable degree1 be used for a new swarm4 ,bees often refuse to enter such hives at all1 and at best1 are very slow in taking possession of them4 ,it should be borne in mind1 that bees1 when they swarm1 are greatly excited1 and unnaturally heated4 ,the temperature of the hive1 at the moment of swarming1 rises very suddenly1 and many of the bees are often drenched with such a profuse perspiration that they are unable to take wing and join the departing colony4 ,the attempt to make bees enter a heated hive in a blazing sun1 is as irrational as it would be to try to force a panting crowd of human beings into the suffocating atmosphere of a close garret4 ,if bees are to be put in hives through which the heat of the sun can penetrate1 the process should be accomplished in the shade1 or if this cannot conveniently be done1 the hive should be covered with a sheet1 or shaded with leafy boughs4 ,if a hive with my movable frames is used1 these should all be furnished1 or at least1 every other one1 with a small piece of worker-comb1 attached to the center of the frame1 with melted wax or rosin4 ,without such a guide comb1 the bees will almost always work some of the combs out of the true direction1 and this will interfere with their easy removal4 ,a sheet of comb1 not larger than five inches square1 will answer for all the frames of one hive4 ,if even so small a piece of comb as this cannot be procured1 let a thin line of melted wax be drawn1 lengthwise1 over the middle of each frame1 and let the colony be examined1 on the second day after hiving1 and all the frames which contain irregular comb1 be removed4 ,this comb may be cut off1 and attached so as to serve as a proper guide to the bees4 ,the possession of six frames containing good worker comb1 and wrought with perfect accuracy1 may be made by the following device1 to answer a most admirable end4 ,put them into a hive with six empty frames2 first a frame with comb1 then an empty one1 c4 ,after the bees have had possession of this hive two or three days1 visit them1 and very politely inform them that the full frames were intended as a loan1 and not as a gift2 and that having served to set them an example how they should work1 you must now have them to teach other young swarms the same useful lesson2 and that the new combs which they have built with such admirable regularity1 are beautiful patterns for the empty ones which you must give them4 ,in this way1 the same combs may be made to answer for many successive swarms4 ,drone combs should never be attached to the frames as a guide1 unless it is desired to have the bees follow the pattern1 and build large ranges of drone comb1 to breed a vast horde of useless consumers4 ,such comb1 if white1 may be used to great advantage in the surplus honey-boxes2 if old and discolored1 it should be melted for wax4 ,i am now engaged in a course of experiments1 which ,i hope1 will enable me to dispense with the necessity of guide-combs for my frames1 as they are sometimes difficult to be procured by those who have just commenced bee-keeping4 ,as a general thing1 however1 every one1 after a few weeks' experience1 may have enough and to spare1 for such purposes4 ,every piece of good worker-comb1 if large enough to be attached to a frame1 should be used both for its intrinsic value1 and because bees are so wonderfully pleased when they find such unexpected treasures in a hive1 that they will seldom desert it4 ,a new swarm has been known to take possession of an old hive without any occupants1 but well stored with comb4 ,though dozens of empty hives may be in the ,apiary1 they never unless under such circumstances1 enter a hive1 of their own accord4 ,it might seem as though an instinct impelling them to do so1 would have been a most admirable one1 and so doubtless1 it may seem to some that it would have been much better for man1 if the earth had only brought forth spontaneously all things requisite for the support of man and beast1 without any necessity for the sweat of the brow4 ,the first and last frames in my hive1 are placed about a quarter of an inch from the ends1 and the others just half an inch apart4 ,when first put in1 it will be advisable to attach them slightly with a very little glue or melted wax1 to keep them in their places1 until they are fastened with propolis1 by the bees4 ,the rubbing of hives with various kinds of herbs or washes1 has always seemed to me1 useless1 and often positively injurious4 ,there ought always to be some small trees near the hives1 on which the swarms can cluster1 and from which they can be easily gathered4 ,if there are none1 limbs of trees about six feet high1 7evergreens are best17 may be fastened into the ground1 a few rods in front of the hives1 and they will answer a very good temporary purpose4 ,it will inspire the inexperienced ,apiarian with much greater confidence1 to remember that almost all the bees in a swarm1 have filled themselves with honey1 before leaving the parent stock1 and are therefore in a very peaceable mood4 ,if he is at all timid1 or liable1 as some are1 to suffer severely from the sting of a single bee1 he should1 by all means1 furnish himself with the protection of a bee-dress4 7,see ,bee-,dress47 ,i shall1 in another place1 give the best remedies for the relief of a sting4 ,as soon as the bees have quietly clustered around their queen1 preparation should be made to hive them without any unnecessary delay4 ,the headlong haste of some ,apiarians1 which1 by throwing them into a profuse perspiration1 renders them very liable to be stung1 is altogether unnecessary4 ,the very fact that the bees have clustered1 after leaving the parent stock1 is almost equivalent to a certainty that they will not leave1 for at least one or two hours4 ,all convenient despatch should be used1 however1 lest other colonies issue before the first one is hived1 and attempt to add themselves1 as they frequently do1 to the first swarm4 ,the proper course to be pursued1 in such a case1 will be subsequently explained4 ,if my hives are used1 the entrance on the whole front must be opened1 so that the bees may have every chance to enter as rapidly as possible2 and a sheet must be fastened to the alighting-board1 to keep the bees from being separated from each other or soiled by dirt1 for a bee thoroughly covered with dust or dirt1 is almost sure to perish4 ,unless the bees cluster at a considerable distance from the place where they are intended to be permanently stationed1 the new hive which receives them may stand on the ,protector in its proper place1 with the sheet tacked or pinned to the alighting-board1 and spread out over the mound in front of the entrance4 ,if the common hives are used1 they must generally be carried to the swarm1 and propped up on the sheet1 so as to give the bees a free admission4 ,when the bees alight where they can be easily reached from the ground1 the limb on which they have clustered1 should1 with one hand1 be shaken1 so that they may gently fall into a basket held under them1 by the other4 ,if the basket is sufficiently open to admit the air freely1 and not so open as to allow the bees to get through the sides1 it will answer all the better4 ,the bees should now be carried very slowly to their new home1 and be gently shaken1 or poured out1 on the sheet1 in front of it4 ,if they seem at all reluctant to enter1 take up a few of them in a large spoon1 7a cup will answer equally well17 and shake them close to the entrance4 ,as they go in1 they will fan with their wings1 and raise a peculiar note1 which communicates the joyful news that they have found a home1 to the rest of their companions2 and in a short time1 the whole swarm will enter1 and they are thus safely hived1 without injury to a single bee4 ,when bees are once shaken down on the sheet1 the great mass of them are very unwilling to take wing again2 for they are loaded with honey1 and like heavily armed troops1 they desire to march slowly and sedately to the place of encampment4 ,if the sheet hangs in folds1 or is not stretched out1 so as to present an uninterrupted surface1 they are often greatly confused1 and take a long time to find the entrance to the hive4 ,if it is desired to have them enter sooner than they are sometimes inclined to do1 they may be gently separated1 with a feather1 or leafy twig1 when they cluster in bunches on the sheet4 ,on first shaking them down into the basket1 multitudes will again take wing1 and multitudes more will be left on the tree1 but they will speedily form a line of communication with those on the sheet1 and enter the hive with them2 for many of them will follow the ,apiarian1 as he slowly carries the basket to the hive4 ,it sometimes happens that the queen is left on the tree3 in this case1 the bees will either refuse to enter the hive1 or if they go in1 will speedily come out1 and all take wing again1 to join their queen4 ,this happens much more frequently in the case of after-swarms1 whose young queens1 instead of exhibiting the gravity of the old matron1 are apt to be constantly flying about1 and frisking in the air4 ,when the bees cluster again on the tree1 the process of hiving must be repeated4 ,if the ,apiarian has a pair of sharp pruning-shears1 and the limb on which the bees have clustered1 is of no value1 and so small1 that it can be cut without jarring them off1 this may be done1 and the bees carried on it and then shaken off on the sheet4 ,if the bees settle too high to be easily reached1 the basket should be fastened to a pole1 and raised directly under the swarm2 a quick motion of the basket will cause the mass of the bees to fall into it1 when it may be carried to the hive1 and the bees poured out from it on the sheet4 ,if the bees light on the trunk of a tree1 or any thing from which they cannot easily be gathered in a basket1 place a leafy bough over them1 7it may be fastened with a gimlet17 and if they do not mount it of their own accord1 a little smoke will compel them to do so4 ,if the place is inaccessible1 and this is about the worst case that occurs1 they will enter a basket well shaded by cotton cloth fastened around it1 and elevated so as to rest with its open top sideways to the mass of the bees4 ,when small trees1 or limbs fastened into the ground1 are placed near the hives1 and there are no large trees near1 there will seldom be found any difficulty in hiving swarms4 ,if two swarms light together1 ,i advise that they should be put into one hive1 and abundant room at once be given them1 for storing surplus honey4 ,this can always be readily done in my hives4 ,large quantities of honey are generally obtained from such stocks1 if the season is favorable1 and they have issued early4 ,if it is desired to separate them1 place in each of the hives which is to receive them1 a comb containing brood and eggs1 from which1 in case of necessity1 a new queen may be raised4 ,shake a portion of the bees in front of each hive1 sprinkling them thoroughly1 both before and after they are shaken out from the basket1 so that they will not take wing to unite again4 ,if possible1 secure the queens1 so that one may be given to each hive4 ,if this cannot be done1 the hives should be examined the next day1 and if the two queens entered the same hive1 one will have killed the other1 and the queenless hive will be found building royal cells4 ,it should be supplied with a sealed queen nearly mature1 taken from another hive1 not only to save time1 but to prevent them from filling their hive with comb unfit for the rearing of workers4 7,see ,artificial ,swarming47 ,of course1 this cannot be done with the common hives1 and if the ,apiarian does not succeed in getting a queen for each hive1 the queenless one will refuse to stay1 and will go back to the old stock4 ,the old-fashioned way of hiving bees1 by mounting trees1 cutting and lowering down large limbs1 7often to the injury of valuable trees17 and placing the hive over the bees1 frequently crushing large numbers1 and endangering the life of the queen1 should be entirely abandoned4 ,a swarm may be hived in the proper way with far less risk and trouble1 and in much less time4 ,in large ,apiaries managed on the swarming plan1 where a number of swarms come out on the same day1 and there is constant danger of their mixing1#af the speedy hiving of swarms is an object of great importance4 ,if the new hive does not stand where it is to remain for the season1 it should be removed to its permanent stand as soon as the bees have entered2 for if allowed to remain to be removed in the evening1 or early next morning1 the scouts which have left the cluster1 in search of a hollow tree1 will find the bees when they return1 and will often entice them from the hive4 ,there is the greater danger of this1 if the bees have remained on the tree1 a considerable time before they were hived4 ,i have invariably found that swarms which abandon a suitable hive for the woods1 have been hived near the spot where they clustered1 and allowed to remain to be moved in the evening4 ,if the bees swarm early in the day1 they will generally begin to work in a few hours 7or in less time1 if they have empty comb17 and many more may be lost by returning next day to the place where they were hived1 than would be lost1 by removing them as soon as they have entered2 in this latter case1 the few that are on the wing1 will generally be able to find the hive if it is slowly moved to its permanent stand4 ,if the ,apiarian wishes to secure the queen1 the bees should be shaken from the hiving basket1 about a foot from the entrance to the hive1 and if a careful look-out is kept1 she will generally be seen as she passes over the sheet1 to the entrance4 ,care must be taken to brush the bees back from the entrance when they press forward in such dense masses that the queen is likely to enter unnoticed4 ,an experienced eye readily catches a glance of her peculiar form and color4 ,she may be taken up without danger1 as she never stings1 unless engaged in combat with another queen4 ,as it will sometimes happen1 even to careful bee-keepers1 that swarms will come off when no suitable hives are in readiness to receive them1 ,i shall show what may be done in such an emergency4 ,take any old hive1 box1 cask1 or measure1 and hive the bees in it1 placing them with suitable protection against the sun1 where their new hive is to stand2 when this is ready1 they may1 by a quick jerking motion1 be easily shaken out on a sheet1 and hived in it1 just as though they were shaken from the hiving basket4 ,if they are to remain in the temporary hive over the second day1 they ought to be shaken out on a sheet1 and after their comb is taken from them1 allowed to enter it again1 or else there will be danger of crushing the queen by the weight of the comb4 ,i have endeavored1 even at the risk of being tedious1 to give such specific directions as will qualify the novice to hive a swarm of bees1 under almost any circumstances2 for ,i know the necessity of such directions and how seldom they are to be met with1 even in large treatises on ,bee-,keeping4 ,vague or imperfect directions always fail1 just at the moment that the inexperienced attempt to put them into practice4 ,before leaving this subject1 ,i will add to the directions for hiving already given1 a method which ,i have practiced with good success4 ,when the situation of the bees does not admit of the basket being easily elevated to them1 the bee-keeper may carry it with him to the cluster1 and then after shaking the bees into it1 may lower it down by a string1 to an assistant standing below4 ,that ,natural ,swarming may1 with suitable hives1 be made highly profitable1 ,i cannot for a moment question4 ,as it is the most simple and obvious way of multiplying colonies1 and the one which requires the least amount of knowledge or skill1 it will undoubtedly1 for many years at least1 be the favorite method with a large number of bee-keepers4 ,i have therefore1 been careful to furnish suitable directions for its successful practice2 and before ,i discuss the question of ,artificial ,increase1 ,i shall show how it may be more profitably conducted than ever before2 many of the most embarrassing difficulties in the way of its successful management being readily obviated by the use of my hives4 #a4 ,the common hives fail to furnish adequate protection in ,winter1 against cold1 and those sudden changes to unseasonable warmth1 by which bees are tempted to come out and perish in large numbers on the snow2 and the colonies are thus prevented from breeding on a large scale1 as early as they otherwise would4 ,under such circumstances1 they can make no profitable use of the early honey-harvest2 and they will swarm so late1 if they swarm at all1 as to have but little opportunity for laying up surplus honey1 while often they do not gather enough even for their own use1 and their owner closes the season by purchasing honey to preserve them from starvation4 ,the way in which ,i give the bees that amount of protection in ,winter1 which conduces most powerfully to early swarming1 has already been described in the ,chapter on ,protection4 #b4 ,another serious objection to all the ordinary swarming hives1 is the vexatious fact that if the bees swarm at all1 they are liable to swarm so often as to destroy the value of both the parent stock and the after-swarms4 ,experienced bee-keepers obviate this difficulty1 by uniting second swarms1 so as to make one good colony out of two2 and they return to the parent stock all swarms after the second1 and even this if the season is far advanced4 ,such operations consume much time1 and often give much more trouble than they are worth4 ,by removing all the queen cells but one1 after the first swarm has left1 second swarming in my hives will always be prevented2 and by removing all but two1 provision may be made for the issue of second swarms1 and yet all after-swarming be prevented4 ,the process of returning after-swarms is not only objectionable1 on account of the time it requires1 having often to be repeated again and again before one queen is allowed to destroy the others2 but it also causes a large portion of the gathering season to be wasted2 for the bees seem unwilling to work with energy1 so long as the pretensions of several rival queens are unsettled4 #c4 ,another very serious objection to ,natural ,swarming1 as practiced with the common hives1 is the inability of the ,apiarian who wishes rapidly to multiply his colonies1 to aid his late and small swarms1 so as to build them up into vigorous stocks4 ,the time and money which are ordinarily spent upon small colonies1 are almost always thrown away2 by far the larger portion of them never survive the ,winter1 and the majority of those that do1 are so enfeebled1 as to be of little or no value4 ,if they escape being robbed by stronger stocks1 or destroyed by the moth1 they seldom recruit in season to swarm1 and very often the feeding must be repeated1 the second ,fall1 or they will at last perish4 ,i doubt not that many of my readers will1 from their own experience1 endorse every word of these remarks1 as true to the very letter4 ,all who have ever attempted to multiply colonies by nursing and feeding small swarms1 on the ordinary plans1 have found it attended with nothing but loss and vexation4 ,the more a man has of such stocks1 the poorer he is3 for by their weakness1 they are constantly tempting his strong swarms to evil courses2 so that at last1 they prefer to live as far as they can1 by stealing1 rather than by habits of honest industry2 and if the feeble colonies escape being plundered1 they often become mere nurseries for raising a plentiful supply of moths1 to ravage his whole ,apiary4 ,i have already shown1 in what way by the use of my hives1 the smallest swarms that ever issue1 may be so managed as to become powerful stocks4 ,in the same way the ,apiarian can easily strengthen all his colonies which are feeble in ,spring4 #d4 ,as the loss of the young queens in the parent stock after it has swarmed1 and in the after-swarms1 is a very common occurrence1 a hive which like mine1 furnishes the means of easily remedying this misfortune1 will greatly promote the success of those who practice natural swarming4 ,a very intelligent bee-keeper once assured me1 that he must use at least one such hive in his ,apiary1 for this purpose1 even if in other respects it possessed no superior merits4 #e4 ,bees1 as is well known1 often refuse to swarm at all1 and most of the swarming hives are so constructed1 that proper accommodations for storing honey1 cannot be furnished to the super-abundant population4 ,under such circumstances1 they often hang for several months1 in black masses on the outside of the hive2 and are worse than useless1 as they consume the honey which the others have gathered4 ,in my hives1 an abundance of room for storing honey can always be given them1 not all at once1 so as to prevent them from swarming1 but by degrees1 as their necessities require3 so that if they are indisposed1 for any reason to swarm1 they may have suitable receptacles easily accessible1 and furnished with guide comb to make them more attractive1 in which to store up any amount of honey that they can possibly collect4 #f4 ,in the common hives1 but little can be done to dislodge the bee-moth1 when once it has gained the mastery of the bees2 whereas in mine1 it can be most effectually rooted out when it has made a lodgment4 7,see ,remarks on ,bee-,moth47 #g4 ,in the common hives1 nothing can be done except with great difficulty1 to remove the old queen when her fertility is impaired2 whereas in my hives1 7as will be shown in the ,chapter on ,artificial ,swarming17 this can easily be effected1 so that an ,apiary may constantly contain a stock of young queens1 in the full vigor of their re-productive powers4 ,i trust that these remarks will convince intelligent ,apiarians1 that ,i have not spoken boastfully or at random1 in asserting that natural swarming can be carried on with much greater certainty and success1 by the use of my hives1 than in any other way2 and that they will see that many of the most perplexing embarrassments and mortifying discouragements under which they have hitherto prosecuted it1 may be effectually remedied4 ,,footnotes3 #af ,dr4 ,scudamore1 an ,english physician who has written a small tract on the formation of artificial swarms1 says that he once knew as many as ten swarms go forth at once1 and settle and mingle together1 forming literally a monster meeting6 ,instances are on record of a much larger number of swarms clustering together4 ,a venerable clergyman1 in ,western ,massachusetts1 related to me the following remarkable occurrence4 ,in the ,apiary of one of his parishioners1 five swarms lit in one mass4 ,as there was no hive which would hold them1 a very large box was roughly nailed together1 and the bees were hived in it4 ,they were taken up by sulphur in the ,fall1 when it was perfectly evident that the five swarms had occupied the same box as independent colonies4 ,four of them had commenced their works1 each one near a corner1 and the fifth one in the middle1 and there was a distinct interval separating the works of the different colonies4 ,in ,cotton's ,my ,bee ,book1 there is a cut illustrating a hive in which two colonies had built in the same manner4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,artificial ,,swarming4 ,the numerous efforts which have been made for the last fifty years or more1 to dispense with natural swarming1 plainly indicate the anxiety of ,apiarians to find some better mode of increasing their colonies4 ,although ,i am able to propagate bees by natural swarming1 with a rapidity and certainty unattainable except by the complete control of all the combs in the hive1 still there are difficulties in this mode of increase1 inherent to the system itself1 and therefore entirely incapable of being removed by any kind of hive4 ,before describing the various methods which ,i employ to increase colonies by artificial means1 ,i shall first enumerate these difficulties1 in order that each individual bee-keeper may decide for himself1 in which way he can most advantageously propagate his bees4 #a4 ,the large number of swarms lost every year1 is a powerful argument against natural swarming4 ,an eminent ,apiarian has estimated that one fourth of the best swarms are lost every season6 ,this estimate can hardly be considered too high1 if all who keep bees are taken into account4 ,while some bee-keepers are so careful that they seldom lose a swarm1 the majority1 either from the grossest negligence1 or from necessary hindrances during the swarming season1 are constantly incurring serious losses1 by the flight of their bees to the woods4 ,it is next to impossible1 entirely to prevent such occurrences1 if bees are allowed to swarm at all4 #b4 ,the great amount of time and labor required by natural swarming1 has always been regarded as a decided objection to this mode of increase4 ,as soon as the swarming season begins1 the ,apiary must be closely watched almost every day1 or some of the new swarms will be lost4 ,if this business is entrusted to thoughtless children1 or careless adults1 many swarms will be lost by their neglect4 ,it is very evident that but few persons who keep bees1 can always be on hand to watch them and to hive the new swarms4 ,but1 in the height of the swarming season1 if any considerable number of colonies is kept1 the ,apiarian1 to guard against serious losses1 should either be always on the spot himself1 or have some one who can be entrusted with the care of his bees4 ,even the ,sabbath cannot be observed as a day of rest2 and often1 instead of being able to go to the ,house of ,god1 the bee-keeper is compelled to labor among his bees1 as hard as on other days1 or even harder4 ,that he is as justifiable in hiving his bees on the ,sabbath1 as in taking care of his stock1 can admit of no serious doubt2 but the very liability of being called to do so1 is with many1 a sufficient objection against ,apiarian pursuits4 ,the merchant1 mechanic and professional man1 are often so situated that they would take great interest in bees1 if they were not deterred from their cultivation by inability to take care of them1 during the swarming season2 and they are thus debarred from a pursuit1 which is intensely fascinating1 not merely to the lover of ,nature1 but to every one possessed of an inquiring mind4 ,no man who spends some of his leisure hours in studying the wonderful habits and instincts of bees1 will ever complain that he can find nothing to fill up his time out of the range of his business1 or the gratification of his appetites4 ,bees may be kept with great advantage1 even in large cities1 and those who are debarred from every other rural pursuit1 may still listen to the soothing hum of the industrious bee1 and harvest annually its delicious nectar4 ,if the ,apiarian could always be on hand during the swarming season1 it would still1 in many instances1 be exceedingly inconvenient for him to attend to his bees4 ,how often is the farmer interrupted in the business of hay-making1 by the cry that his bees are swarming2 and by the time he has hived them1 perhaps a shower comes up1 and his hay is injured more than his swarm is worth4 ,in this way1 the keeping of a few bees1 instead of a source of profit1 often becomes rather an expensive luxury2 and if a very large stock is kept1 the difficulties and embarrassments are often most seriously increased4 ,if the weather becomes pleasant after a succession of days unfavorable for swarming1 it often happens that several swarms rise at once1 and cluster together1 to the great annoyance of the ,apiarian2 and not unfrequently1 in the noise and confusion1 other swarms fly off1 and are entirely lost4 ,i have seen the ,apiarian so perplexed and exhausted under such circumstances1 as to be almost ready to wish that he had never seen a bee4 #c4 ,the managing of bees by natural swarming1 must1 in our country1 almost entirely prevent the establishment of large ,apiaries4 ,even if it were possible1 in this way1 to multiply bees with certainty and rapidity1 and without any of the perplexities which ,i have just described1 how few persons are so situated as to be able to give almost the whole of their time in the busiest part of the year1 to the management of their bees4 ,the swarming season is with the farmer1 the very busiest part of the whole year1 and if he purposes to keep a large number of swarming hives1 he must not only devote nearly the whole of his time1 for a number of weeks1 to their supervision1 but at a season when labor commands the highest price1 he will often be compelled to hire additional assistance4 ,i have long been convinced that1 as a general rule1 the keeping of a few colonies in swarming hives1 costs more than they are worth1 and that the keeping of a very large number is entirely out of the question1 unless with those who are so situated that they can afford to devote their time1 for about two months every year1 almost entirely to their bees4 ,the number of persons who can afford to do this must be very small2 and ,i have seldom heard of a bee-keeper1 in our country1 who has an ,apiary on a scale extensive enough to make bee-keeping anything more than a subordinate pursuit4 ,multitudes have tried to make it a large and remunerating business1 but hitherto1 ,i believe that they have nearly all been disappointed in their expectations4 ,in such countries as ,poland and ,russia where labor is deplorably cheap1 it may be done to great advantage2 but never to any considerable extent in our own4 #d4 ,a serious objection to natural swarming1 is the discouraging fact that the bees often refuse to swarm at all1 and the ,apiarian finds it impossible to multiply his colonies with any certainty or rapidity1 even although he may find himself in all respects favorably situated for the cultivation of bees1 and may be exceedingly anxious to engage in the business on a much more extensive scale4 ,i am acquainted with many careful bee-keepers who have managed their bees according to the most reliable information they could obtain1 never destroying any of their colonies1 and endeavoring to multiply them to the best of their ability1 who yet have not as many stocks as they had ten years ago4 ,most of them would abandon the pursuit1 if they looked upon bee-keeping simply in the light of dollars and cents1 rather than as a source of pleasant recreation2 and some do not hesitate to say that much more money has been spent1 by the mass of those who have used patent hives1 than they have ever realized from their bees4 ,it is a very simple matter to make calculations on paper1 which shall seem to point out a road to wealth1 almost as flattering1 as a tour to the gold mines of ,australia or ,california4 ,only purchase a patent bee-hive1 and if it fulfills all or even a part of the promises of its sanguine inventor1 a fortune must1 in the course of a few years1 be certainly realized2 but such are the disappointments resulting from the bees refusing often to swarm at all1 that if the hive could remedy all the other difficulties in the way of bee-keeping1 it would still fail to answer the reasonable wishes of the experienced ,apiarian4 ,if every swarm of bees could be made to yield a profit of #bj dollars a year1 and if the ,apiarian could be sure of selling his new swarms at the most extravagant prices1 he could not1 like the growers of mulberry trees1 or the breeders of fancy fowls1 multiply his stocks so as to meet the demand1 however extensive2 but would be entirely dependent upon the whims and caprices of his bees2 or rather1 upon the natural laws which control their swarming4 ,every practical bee-keeper is well aware of the utter uncertainty of natural swarming4 ,under no circumstances1 can its occurrence be confidently relied on4 ,while some stocks swarm regularly and repeatedly1 others1 strong in numbers and rich in stores1 although the season may1 in all respects1 be propitious1 refuse to swarm at all4 ,such colonies1 on examination1 will often be found to have taken no steps for raising young queens4 ,in some cases1 the wings of the old mother will be found defective1 while in others1 she is abundantly able to fly1 but seems to prefer the riches of the old hive1 to the risks attending the formation of a new colony4 ,it frequently happens1 in our uncertain climate1 that when all the necessary preparations have been made for swarming1 the weather proves unpropitious for so long a time1 that the young queens coming to maturity before the old one can leave1 are all destroyed4 ,this is a very frequent occurrence1 and under such circumstances1 swarming is almost certain to be prevented1 for that season4 ,the young queens are frequently destroyed1 even although the weather is pleasant1 in consequence of some sudden and perhaps only temporary suspension of the honey-harvest2 for bees seldom colonize even if all their preparations are completed1 unless the flowers are yielding an abundant supply of honey4 ,from these and other causes which my limits will not permit me to notice1 it has hitherto been found impossible1 in the uncertain climate of our ,northern ,states1 to multiply colonies very rapidly1 by natural swarming2 and bee-keeping1 on this plan1 offers very poor inducements to those who are aware how little has been accomplished1 even by the most enthusiastic1 experienced and energetic ,apiarians4 ,the numerous perplexities which have ever attended natural swarming1 have for ages1 directed the attention of practical cultivators1 to the importance of devising some more reliable method of increasing their colonies4 ,columella1 who lived about the middle of the first century of the ,christian ,era1 and who wrote twelve books on husbandry 7,de re rustica17 has given directions for making artificial colonies4 ,he says1 you must examine the hive1 and view what honey-combs it has2 then afterwards from the wax which contains the seeds of the young bees1 you must cut away that part wherein the offspring of the royal brood is animated3 for this is easy to be seen2 because at the very end of the wax-works there appears1 as it were1 a thimble-like process 7somewhat similar to an acorn17 rising higher1 and having a wider cavity1 than the rest of the holes1 wherein the young bees of vulgar note are contained4 ,hyginus1 who flourished before ,columella1 had evidently noticed the royal jelly2 for he speaks of cells larger than those of the common bees1 filled as it were with a solid substance of a red color1 out of which the winged king is at first formed4 ,this ancient observer must undoubtedly have seen the quince-like jelly1 a portion of which is always found at the base of the royal cells1 after the queens have emerged4 ,the ancients generally called the queen a king1 although ,aristotle says that some in his time called her the mother4 ,swammerdam was the first to prove by dissection that the queen is a perfect female1 and the only one in the hive1 and that the drone is the male4 ,for reasons which ,i shall shortly mention1 the ancient methods of artificial increase appear to have met with but small success4 ,towards the close of the last century1 a new impulse was given to the artificial production of swarms1 by the discovery of ,schirach1 a ,german clergyman1 that bees are able to rear a queen from worker-brood4 ,for want1 however1 of a more thorough knowledge of some important principles in the economy of the bee1 these efforts met with slender encouragement4 ,huber1 after his splendid discoveries in the physiology of the bee1 perceived at once1 the importance of multiplying colonies by some method more reliable than that of natural swarming4 ,his leaf or book hive consisted of #ab frames1 each an inch and a half in width2 any one of which could be opened at pleasure4 ,he recommends forming artificial swarms1 by dividing one of these hives into two parts2 adding to each part six empty frames4 ,after using a ,huber hive for a number of years1 ,i became perfectly convinced that it could only be made servicable1 by an adroit1 experienced and fearless ,apiarian4 ,the bees fasten the frames in such a manner1 with their propolis1 that they cannot1 except with extreme care1 be opened without jarring the bees1 and exciting their anger2 nor can they be shut without constant danger of crushing them4 ,huber nowhere speaks of having multiplied colonies extensively by such hives1 and although they have been in use more than sixty years1 they have never been successfully employed for such a purpose4 ,if ,huber had only contrived a plan for suspending his frames1 instead of folding them together like the leaves of a book1 ,i believe that the cause of ,apiarian science would have been fifty years in advance of what it now is4 ,dividing hives of various kinds have been used in this country4 ,after giving some of the best of them a thorough trial1 and inventing others which somewhat resembled the ,huber hive1 ,i found that they could not possibly be made to answer any valuable end in securing artificial swarms4 ,for a long time ,i felt that the plan ought to succeed1 and it was not until ,i had made numerous experiments with my hive substantially as now constructed1 that ,i ascertained the precise causes of failure4 ,it may be regarded as one of the laws of the bee-hive1 that bees1 when not in possession of a mature queen1 seldom build any comb except such as being designed merely for storing honey1 is too coarse for the rearing of workers4 ,until ,i became acquainted with the discoveries of ,dzierzon1 ,i supposed myself to be the only observer who had noticed this remarkable fact1 and who had been led by it1 to modify the whole system of artificial swarming4 ,the perusal of ,mr4 ,wagner's manuscript translation of that author1 showed me that he had arrived at precisely similar results4 ,it may seem at first1 very unaccountable that bees should go on to fill their hives with comb unfit for breeding1 when the young queen will so soon require worker-cells for her eggs2 but it must be borne in mind1 that bees1 under such circumstances1 are always in an unnatural state4 ,they are attempting to rear a new queen in a hive which is only partially filled with comb2 whereas1 if left to follow their own instincts1 they never construct royal cells except in hives which are well filled with comb1 for it is only in such hives that they make any preparations for swarming4 ,it must be confessed that they do not show their ordinary sagacity in filling a hive with unsuitable comb2 but if it were not for a few instances of this kind of bad management1 we should perhaps1 form too exalted an idea of their intelligence1 and should almost fail to notice the marked distinction between reason in man1 and even the most refined instincts of some of the animals by which he is surrounded4 ,the determination of bees1 when they have no mature queen1 if they build any comb at all1 to build such as is suited only for storing honey1 and unfit for breeding1 will show at once1 the folly of attempting to multiply colonies by the dividing-hives4 ,even if the ,apiarian has been perfectly successful in dividing a colony1 and the part without a queen takes the necessary steps to supply her loss1 if the bees are sufficiently numerous to build a large quantity of new comb1 7and they ought to be in order to make the artificial colony of any value17 they will build this comb in such a manner that it will answer only for storing honey1 while they will use the half of the hive with the old comb1 for the purposes of breeding4 ,the next year1 if an attempt is made to divide this hive1 one half will contain nearly all the brood and mature bees1 while the other1 having most of the honey1 in combs unfit for breeding1 the new colony formed from it will be a complete failure4 ,even with a ,huber hive1 the plan of multiplying colonies by dividing a full hive into two parts1 and adding an empty half to each1 will be attended with serious difficulties2 although some of them may be remedied in consequence of the hive being constructed so as to divide into many parts2 the very attempt to remedy them1 however1 will be found to require a degree of skill and knowledge far in advance of what can be expected of the great mass of bee-keepers4 ,the common dividing hives1 separating into two parts1 can never1 under any circumstances1 be made of the least practical value2 and the business of multiplying colonies by them1 will be found far more laborious1 uncertain and vexatious1 than to rely on natural swarming4 ,i do not know of a solitary practical ,apiarian1 who1 on trial of this system1 has not been compelled to abandon it1 and allow the bees to swarm from his dividing hives in the old-fashioned way4 ,some ,apiarians have attempted to multiply their colonies by putting a piece of brood comb containing the materials for raising a new queen1 into an empty hive1 set in the place of a strong stock which has been removed to a new stand when thousands of its inmates were abroad in the fields4 ,this method is still worse than the one which has just been described4 ,in the dividing hive1 the bees already had a large amount of suitable comb for breeding1 while in this having next to none1 they build all their combs until the queen is hatched1 of a size unsuitable for rearing workers4 ,in the first case1 the queenless part of the dividing hive may have had a young queen almost mature1 so that the process of building large combs would be of short continuance2 for as soon as the young queen begins to lay1 the bees at once commence building combs adapted to the reception of worker eggs4 ,in some of my attempts to rear artificial swarms by moving a full stock1 as described above1 ,i have had combs built of enormous size1 nearly four inches through6 and these monster combs have afterwards been pieced out on their lower edge1 with worker cells for the accommodation of the young queen6 ,so uniformly do the bees with an unhatched queen1 build in the way described1 that ,i can often tell at a single glance1 by seeing what kind of comb they are building1 that a hive is queenless1 or that having been so1 they have now a fertile young queen4 ,when a new colony is formed1 by dividing the old hive1 the queenless part has thousands of cells filled with brood and eggs1 and young bees will be hourly hatching1 for at least three weeks3 and by this time1 the young queen will be laying eggs1 so that there will be an interval of not more than three weeks1 during which no accessions will be made to the numbers of the colony4 ,but when a new swarm is formed by moving1 not an egg will be deposited for nearly three weeks2 and not a bee will be hatched for nearly six weeks2 and during all this time1 the colony will rapidly decrease1 until by the time that the progeny of the young queen begins to emerge from their cells1 the number of bees in the new hive will be so small1 that it would be of no value1 even if its combs were of the best construction4 ,every observing bee-keeper must have noticed how rapidly even a powerful swarm diminishes in number1 for the first three weeks after it has been hived4 ,in many cases1 before the young begin to hatch1 it does not contain one half its original number2 so very great is the mortality of bees during the height of the working season4 ,i have most thoroughly tested1 in the only way in which it can be practiced in the ordinary hives1 this last plan of artificial swarming1 and do not hesitate to say that it does not possess the very slightest practical value2 and as this is the method which ,apiarians have usually tried1 it is not strange that they have almost unanimously pronounced ,artificial swarming to be utterly worthless4 ,the experience of ,dzierzon on this point has been the same with my own4 ,another method of artificial swarming has been zealously advocated1 which1 if it could only be made to answer1 would be1 of all conceivable plans the most effectual1 and as it would require the smallest amount of labor1 experience1 or skill1 would be everywhere practiced4 ,a number of hives must be put in connection with each other1 so as to communicate by holes which allow the bees to travel from any one apartment to the others4 ,the bees1 on this plan1 are to colonize themselves1 and in time1 a single swarm will1 of its own accord1 multiply so as to form a large number of independent families1 each one possessing its own queen1 and all living in perfect harmony4 ,this method so beautiful and fascinating in theory1 has been repeatedly tried with various ingenious modifications1 but in every instance1 as far as ,i know1 it has proved an entire failure4 ,it will always be found if bees are allowed to pass from one hive to another1 that they will still1 for the most part1 confine their breeding operations to a single apartment1 if it is of the ordinary size1 while the others will be used1 chiefly for the storing of honey4 ,this is almost invariably the case1 if the additional room is given by collateral or side boxes1 as the queen seldom enters such apartments for the purpose of breeding4 ,if the new hive is directly below that in which the swarm is first lodged1 then if the connections are suitable1 the queen will be almost certain to descend and lay her eggs in the new combs1 as soon as they are commenced by the bees2 in this case1 the upper hive is almost entirely abandoned by her1 and the bees store the cells with honey1 as fast as the brood is hatched1 as their instinct impels them always1 if they can1 to keep their stores of honey above the breeding cells4 ,so long as bees have an abundance of room below their main hive1 they will never swarm1 but will use it in the way that ,i have described2 if the room is on the sides of their hive1 and very accessible1 they seldom swarm1 but if it is above them1 they frequently prefer to swarm rather than to take possession of it4 ,but in none of these cases1 do they ever1 if left to themselves1 form separate and independent colonies4 ,i am aware that the ,apiarian1 by separating from the main hive with a slide1 an apartment that contains brood1 and directing to it by some artificial contrivance a considerable number of bees1 may succeed in rearing an artificial colony2 but unless all his hives admit of the most thorough inspection1 as he can never know their exact condition1 he must always work in the dark1 and will be much more likely to fail than succeed4 ,success indeed can only be possible when a skillful ,apiarian devotes a large portion of his time to watching and managing his bees1 so as to compel them to colonize1 and even then it will be very uncertain2 so that this plausible theory to be reduced to even a most precarious practice1 requires more skill1 care1 labor and time1 than are necessary to manage the ordinary swarming hives4 ,the failure of so many attempts to increase colonies by artificial means1 as well in the hands of scientific and experienced ,apiarians1 as under the direction of those who are almost totally ignorant of the physiology of the bee1 has led many to prefer to use non-swarming hives4 ,in this way1 very large harvests of honey are often obtained from a powerful stock of bees2 but it is very evident that if the increase of new colonies were entirely discouraged1 the insect would soon be exterminated4 ,to prevent this1 the advocates of the non-swarming plan1 must either have their bees swarm1 to some extent1 or rely upon those who do4 ,my hive may be used as a non-swarmer1 and may be made more effectually to prevent swarming1 than any with which ,i am acquainted3 as in the ,spring1 7,see ,no4 #cd4 p4 #ajd17 ample accommodations may be given to the bees1 below their main works1 and when this is seasonably done1 swarming will never take place4 ,there are certain objections however1 which must always prevent the non-swarming plan from being the most successful mode of managing bees4 ,to say nothing of the loss to the bee-keeper1 who has1 after some years1 only one stock1 when if the natural mode of increase had been allowed1 he ought to have a number1 it is usually found that after bees have been kept in a non-swarming hive for several seasons1 they seem to work with much less vigor than usual4 ,of this1 any one may convince himself1 who will compare the industrious working of a new swarm1 with that of a much more powerful stock in a non-swarming hive4 ,the former will work with such astonishing zeal1 that to one unacquainted with the facts1 it would be taken to be by far the more powerful stock4 ,as the fertility of the queen decreases by age1 the disadvantage of using non-swarming hives of the ordinary construction1 will be obvious4 ,this objection to the system can be remedied in my hive1 as the old queen can be easily caught and removed2 but when hives are used in which this cannot be done1 the ,apiary1 instead of containing a race of young queens in the full vigor of their reproductive powers1 will contain many that have passed their prime1 and these old queens may die when there are no eggs in the hive to enable the bees to replace them1 and thus the whole colony will perish4 ,if the bee-keeper wishes to winter only a certain number of stocks1 ,i will1 in another place1 show him a way in which this can be done1 so as to obtain more honey from them1 than from an equal number kept on the non-swarming plan1 while at the same time1 they may all be maintained in a state of the highest health and vigor4 ,i shall now describe a method of artificial swarming1 which may be successfully practiced with almost any hive1 by those who have sufficient experience in the management of bees4 ,about the time that natural swarming may be expected1 a populous hive1 rich in stores is selected1 and what ,i shall call a forced swarm is obtained from it1 by the following process4 ,choose that part of a pleasant day1 say from #aj ,a4 ,m4 to #b ,p4 ,m41 when the largest number of bees are abroad in the fields2 if any bees are clustered in front of the hive1 or on the bottom-board1 puff among them a few whiffs of smoke from burning rags or paper1 so as to force them to go up among the combs4 ,this can be done with greater ease1 if the hive is elevated1 by small wedges1 about one quarter of an inch above the bottom-board4 ,have an empty hive or box in readiness1 the diameter of which is as nearly as possible1 the same with that of the hive from which you intend to drive the swarm4 ,lift the hive very gently1 and without the slightest jar1 from its bottom-board2 invert it and carry it in the same careful manner1 about a rod from its old stand1 as bees are always much more inclined to be peaceable1 when removed a short distance1 than when any operation is performed on the familiar spot4 ,if the hive is carefully placed on the ground1 upside down1 scarcely a single bee will fly out1 and there will be little danger of being stung4 ,timid and inexperienced ,apiarians will1 of course1 protect themselves with a bee-dress1 and they may have an assistant to sprinkle the hive gently with sugar-water1 as soon as it is inverted4 ,after placing the hive in an inverted position on the ground1 the empty hive must be put over it1 and every crack from which a bee might escape1 must be carefully closed with paper or any convenient material4 ,the upper hive ought to be furnished with two or three slats1 about an inch and a half wide1 and fastened one third of the distance from the top1 so as to give the bees every opportunity to cluster4 ,as soon as the ,apiarian is perfectly sure that the bees cannot escape1 he should place an empty hive upon the stand from which they were removed1 so that the multitudes which return from the fields may enter it1 instead of dispersing to other hives1 where some of them may meet with a very unkind reception2 although as a general rule1 a bee with a load of freshly gathered honey1 after the extent of his resources is ascertained1 is almost always1 welcomed by any hive to which he may carry his treasures2 while a poor unfortunate that ventures to present itself empty and poverty stricken1 is generally at once destroyed6 ,the one meets with as friendly a reception as a wealthy gentleman who proposes to take up his abode in a country village1 while the other is as much an object of dislike as a pauper who is suspected of wishing to become a parish charge6 ,to return to our imprisoned bees4 ,beginning at the top1 or what is now1 7as the hive is upside down17 the bottom1 their hive should be beaten smartly with two small rods on the front and back1 or on the sides to which the combs are attached1 so as to run no risk of loosening them4 ,if the hive when removed from its stand was put upon a stool or table1 or something not so solid as the ground1 the drumming will cause more motion1 and yet be less apt to start any of the combs4 ,these rappings which certainly are not of a very spiritual character1 produce nevertheless1 a most decided effect upon the bees3 their first impulse is to sally out and wreak their vengeance upon those who have thus rudely assailed their honied dome2 but as soon as they find that they are shut in1 a sudden fear that they are to be driven from their treasures1 seems to take possession of them4 ,if the two hives have glass windows1 so that all the operations can be witnessed1 the bees1 in a few moments1 will be seen most busily engaged in gorging themselves with honey4 ,during all this time1 the rapping must be continued1 and in about five minutes1 nearly every bee will have filled itself to its utmost capacity1 and they are now prepared for their forced emigration2 a prodigious hum is heard1 and the bees begin to mount into the upper box4 ,in about ten minutes from the time the rapping began1 the mass of the bees with their queen will have ascended1 and will hang clustered1 just like a natural swarm4 ,the box with the expelled bees must now be gently lifted off1 and should be placed upon a bottom-board with a gauze wire ventilator1 so that the bees may be confined1 and yet have plenty of air4 ,a shallow vessel or a piece of old comb containing water1 ought to be first placed on the bottom-board4 ,if no gauze wire bottom-board is at hand1 the hive must be wedged up1 so as to admit an abundance of air1 and be set in a shady place4 ,the hive from which the bees were driven1 must now be set1 without crushing any of the bees1 on its old spot1 in the place of the decoy hive1 that all the bees which have returned from abroad1 may enter4 ,before this change is made1 these bees will be running in and out of the empty hive1 7,see p4 #gb17 but as soon as the opportunity is given them1 they will crowd into their well-known home1 and if there are no royal cells started1 will proceed1 almost at once1 to construct them1 and the next day they will act as though the forced swarm had left of its own accord4 ,when the operation is delayed until about the season for natural swarming1 the hive will contain immature queens1 if the bees were intending to swarm1 and a new queen will soon take the place of the old one1 just as in natural swarming4 ,if it is performed too early1 and before the drones have made their appearance1 the young queen may not be seasonably impregnated1 and the parent stock will perish4 ,it will be obvious that this whole process1 in order to be successfully performed1 requires a knowledge of the most important points in the economy of the bee-hive2 indeed the same remark may be made of almost any operation1 and those who are willing to remain ignorant of the laws which regulate the breeding of bees1 ought not to depart in the least1 from the old-fashioned mode of management4 ,all such deviations will only be attended with a wanton sacrifice of bees4 ,a man may use the common swarming hives a whole life-time1 and yet remain ignorant of the very first principles in the physiology of the bee1 unless he gains his information from other sources2 while1 by the use of my hives1 any intelligent cultivator may1 in a single season1 verify for himself1 the discoveries which have only been made by the accumulated toil of many observers1 for more than two thousand years4 ,the ease with which ,apiarians may now1 by the sight of their own eyes1 gain a knowledge of all the important facts in the economy of the hive1 will stimulate them most powerfully1 to study the nature of the bee and thus to prepare themselves for an enlightened system of management4 ,in giving directions for the creation of forced swarms1 ,i advised that it should be done during the pleasantest part of the day1 when the largest number of bees are foraging abroad4 ,if the operation is performed when all the bees are at home1 and they are all driven into the empty hive1 the old hive will be so depopulated that many of the young will perish for want of suitable attention1 and the parent stock will be greatly deteriorated in value4 ,if only a part of the bees are expelled1 the queen may be left behind1 and the whole operation will be a failure1 and at best it will be difficult to make a suitable division of the bees between the two hives4 ,indeed1 under any circumstances1 this is the most difficult part of the process1 and it often requires no little judgment to equalize the two colonies4 ,some recommend placing the forced swarm on the old stand1 and removing the parent hive with the bees that are deemed sufficient1 to a new place4 ,if this is done1 and the bees have their liberty1 so many of them will leave for the familiar spot1 that the hive will be almost deserted1 and a very large proportion of its brood will perish4 ,the bees in this hive1 if it is to be set in a new place1 must have water given to them1 and be so shut up as to have an abundance of air1 until late in the afternoon of the third day1 when the hive may be opened1 and they will take wing1 almost as though they were intending to swarm4 ,some will even then1 return to the place where they originally stood1 and join the forced swarm1 but the most of them1 after hovering in the air for a short time1 will re-enter the hive4 ,during the time that they have been shut up1 thousands of young bees will have emerged from their cells1 and these1 knowing no other home1 will aid in taking care of the larv1 and in carrying on the work of the hive4 ,instead of trying to make an equitable division at the time of driving out the bees1 ,i prefer to expel all that ,i can1 and to rely upon the bees returning from their gatherings1 to replenish the old stock4 ,if the number appears to be too small1 ,i open temporarily the entrance of the hive containing the forced swarm1 and permit as many as ,i judge best1 to come out and enter their old abode4 ,it must here be borne in mind1 that bees which are thus ejected from a hive1 do not1 in all respects1 act like a natural swarm1 which having left the parent stock1 of its own accord1 never seeks1 unless it has lost its queen1 to return2 whereas1 many of the forced swarm1 as soon as they leave the hive into which they have been driven1 will return to their former abode4 ,the same is true of bees which are moved to any distance not far enough to be beyond the limits of their previous excursions in search of food4 ,if we could only make our bees when moved1 or forced to swarm1 adhere to their hives as faithfully as a natural swarm1 many difficulties which now perplex us1 would be at once removed4 ,having ascertained that the parent hive contains a sufficient number of bees to carry on operations1 about sun-set1 after the bees are all at home1 it may be removed to a new stand1 and the bees1 after being supplied with water1 must be shut up1 according to the directions previously given4 ,if the hive is so constructed that water cannot be conveniently given them1 the following plan ,i have found to answer most admirably4 ,bore a small hole towards the top on the front side1 and with a straw1 water may be injected with scarcely any trouble4 ,a mouthful once or twice a day1 will be sufficient4 ,if the bees are confined without water1 they will not be able to prepare the food for the larv1 and multitudes of them must necessarily perish4 ,the expelled colony must be placed1 on the same evening1 precisely where the hive from which they were driven stood1 and have their liberty given to them4 ,the next morning1 they will work with as much vigor as though they had swarmed in the natural way4 ,the directions which have here been given for creating forced swarms1 will be found to differ in some important respects from any which other ,apiarians have previously furnished4 ,i have already shown that it is difficult to secure the right number of bees for the parent stock1 unless it is set temporarily on its old stand1 so as to catch up the returning bees4 ,the common plan has been to try to leave in it1 as many bees as are needed1 and then to shut it up for a few days1 having placed it in a new spot1 while the forced swarm is immediately replaced so that all the stragglers may be added to it4 ,if we could always be sure of driving out the queen1 and with her1 as many bees as we want and no more1 this would undoubtedly be the simplest plan2 but for the reasons already assigned1 it will be found a very precarious operation4 ,some ,apiarians recommend putting the forced swarm in a new place in the ,apiary2 but as large numbers of the bees will be sure1 when they go out to work1 to return to the familiar spot1 the new colony will often be so seriously depopulated as to be of but little value4 ,if the ,apiarian can remove his forced swarms1 some two or three miles off1 he may give them their liberty at once1 and in the course of a few weeks1 he can1 without risk1 bring them back to his ,apiary4 ,if he chooses1 he may allow the parent stock to remain on the old stand1 and confine the forced swarm1 until about an hour before sun set of the third day4 ,they must in the mean time be supplied with both honey and water1 and if they cannot be kept cool and quiet1 they should be removed into the cellar until they are placed in their new position4 ,many will even then return to the old spot1 but not enough to interfere seriously with their prosperity4 ,if the bees cannot1 as in my hives1 be kept cool and dark1 they will be excessively uneasy1 and may suffer very seriously from so long confinement3 hence the very great importance of setting them in the cellar4 ,it may seem strange1 that bees1 when their hive is moved1 or when they are forcibly expelled from it1 should not adhere to the new spot1 just as when they have swarmed of their own accord4 ,in each case1 as soon as a bee leaves its new place1 it flies with its head turned towards the hive1 in order to mark the surrounding objects1 that it may be able to return to the same spot2 but when they have not emigrated of their own accord1 many of them seem1 when they rise in the air1 or return from work1 entirely to forget that their location has been changed2 and they return to the place where they have lived so long1 and if no hive is there1 they often die on the deserted and desolate1 yet home-like spot4 ,if1 on the contrary1 they swarmed of their own accord1 they seldom1 if ever1 make such a mistake4 ,it may truly be said that ,a 'bee removed' against its will ,is of the same opinion still4 ,i have been thus minute in describing the whole process of creating forced swarms1 not merely on account of the importance of the plan in multiplying colonies1 but because the driving or drumming out of bees from a common hive1 is employed with great success in a variety of ways which will be hereafter specified4 ,i doubt not that many bee-keepers1 on reading this mode of creating colonies1 are ready to object that it not only requires more skill1 but more time and labor1 than to allow them to swarm1 and then to hive them in the old-fashioned way4 ,as practiced with ordinary hives1 it is undoubtedly liable to this serious objection1 and ,i would easily with my basket hiver1 undertake to hive four natural swarms1 in the time that it would require to create one forced swarm2 to say nothing of the care which must be bestowed upon the artificial swarms1 with their parent stocks1 after the driving process has been completed4 ,for this reason1 ,i do not advise the bee-keeper to force his swarms from the common hives1 until he has first ascertained that they are not likely to swarm in tolerably good season1 of their own accord1 unless he is afraid that they will come out during his absence1 and decamp to the woods4 ,by the aid of my hives1 this process may be most expeditiously performed4 ,an empty hive1 with its frames furnished with guide combs1 must be in readiness4 ,the cover of the full hive should be removed1 and the bees gently sprinkled with sugar-water from a watering pot that discharges a fine stream4 ,in about two minutes1 the frames may be taken out1 and the bees1 by a quick motion1 shaken on a sheet directly in front of their hive4 ,as fast as a comb is deprived of its bees1 it should be set in a proper position in the new hive1 and an empty frame put in its place4 ,two or three of the combs containing brood1 eggs1 c41 should be left in the old hive1 as well to give them greater encouragement1 as to prevent them from being dissatisfied if their queen should1 by any possibility1 be taken from them4 ,in removing the frames with the bees1 ,i always look for the queen1 and if ,i see her1 as ,i generally do1 ,i return to the hive the frame which contains her1 without shaking off the bees4 ,in that case1 ,i put several of the necessary combs into the new hive1 with all the bees upon them4 ,in dislodging the bees upon the sheet1 ,i do not shake them all off from the frames2 but leave about one quarter of them on1 and put them with the combs into the new hive4 ,i never knew the queen to be left on a frame after it was shaken so that the larger portion of the bees would fall off4 ,as soon as the operation is completed1 and the necessary number of bees have been transferred with their comb to the new hive1 it should be managed according to the directions previously given1 in the case of the old hive from which a swarm was drummed out4 ,if in the operation the ,apiarian does not see the queen1 he must1 in the course of the third day1 examine the hive having the larger portion of bees1 and if they have commenced building royal cells among the combs given to them1 he may be certain that she is in the other hive4 ,the comb containing the royal cells may then be transferred to that hive1 and the queen searched for1 and returned with the combs on which she is found1 to her proper place4 ,a little experience1 however1 will enable the operator to be sure from the first1 that the queen is with the right division4 ,to most persons1 it would seem to be of little consequence1 in which hive the queen is placed3 but if the bees which have only a few frames of comb1 are compelled to rear another1 they will be sure to fill their hive with comb unfit for breeding purposes1 and will also be so long before they can have additions to their number1 as to be of but little value4 ,if many swarms are to be created in this manner1 and the operation is delayed until near swarming time1 in some of them1 numerous royal cells will be found1 so that each stock which has no queen1 may have one nearly mature1 given to it1 and thus much valuable time may be saved4 ,by making a few forced swarms1 about a week or ten days before the time in which the most will be made1 the ,apiarian may be sure of having an abundance of sealed queens almost mature1 so that every swarm may have one4 ,if he can give each hive that needs it1 an unhatched queen1 without removing her from her frame1 so much the better2 but if he has not enough frames with sealed queens1 while some of them contain two or more queens1 he must proceed as follows3 ,with a very sharp knife1 carefully cut out a queen cell1 on a piece of comb an inch or more square2 cut a place in one of the combs of the hive to which this cell is to be given1 just about large enough to receive it in a natural position1 and if it is not secure1 put a little melted wax with a feather1 where the edges meet4 ,the bees will soon fasten it1 so as to make all right4 ,unless very great care is used in transferring these royal cells1 the enclosed queens will be destroyed2 as their bodies1 until they are nearly mature1 are so exceedingly soft1 that a very slight compression of their cell often kills them4 ,for this reason1 ,i prefer not to remove them1 until they are within three or four days of hatching4 ,as the forcing of a swarm may always be conducted1 with my hives1 in such a manner that the ,apiarian can be sure to effect a suitable division of the bees1 the process may be performed at any time when the sun is above the horizon1 and the weather is not too unpleasant4 ,it ought not to be attempted when the weather is so cool as to endanger the destruction of the brood1 by a chill2 and never unless when there is not only sufficient light to enable the ,apiarian to see distinctly1 but enough for the bees that take wing1 to see the hive1 and direct their flight to its entrance4 ,if hives are meddled with1 when it is dark1 the bees are always more irascible1 and as they cannot see where to fly1 they will constantly be alighting upon the person of the bee-keeper1 who will be almost sure to receive some stings4 ,i have seldom attempted night-work upon my bees1 without having occasion most thoroughly to rue my folly4 ,if the weather is not too cool1 early in the morning1 before the bees are stirring1 will be the best time1 as there will be less danger of annoyance from robber-bees4 ,if honey-water is used instead of sugar-water in sprinkling the bees when the hive is first opened1 the smell will be almost certain to entice marauders from other hives to attempt to take possession of treasures which do not belong to them1 and when they once commence such a pilfering course of life1 they will be very loth to lay it aside4 ,when the honey harvest is abundant1 7and this is the very time for forcing swarms17 bees1 with proper precautions1 are seldom inclined to rob4 ,i have sometimes found it difficult to induce them to notice honey-combs which ,i wished them to empty1 even when they were placed in an exposed situation4 ,this subject1 however1 will be more fully treated in the remarks on ,robbing4 ,perhaps some of my readers will hardly be able to convince themselves that bees may be dealt with after the fashion ,i have been describing1 without becoming greatly enraged2 so far is this from being the case1 that in my operations1 ,i often use neither sugar-water nor bee-dress1 although ,i do not recommend the neglect of such precautions4 ,the artificial swarm may be created with perfect safety1 even at mid-day1 when thousands of bees are returning to the hive3 for these bees being laden with honey1 never venture upon making an attack1 while those at home may be easily pacified4 ,i find a very great advantage in the peculiar shape of my hive1 which allows the top to be easily removed1 and the sugar-water to be sprinkled upon the bees1 before they attempt to take wing4 ,if like the ,dzierzon hive1 it opened on the end1 it would be impossible for me to use the sweetened water1 so as to make it run down between all the ranges of comb1 and ,i should be forced1 as he does1 to employ smoke1 in all my operations4 ,huber thus speaks of the pacific effect produced upon the bees by the use of his leaf hive4 ,on opening the hive1 no stings are to be dreaded1 for one of the most singular and valuable properties attending my construction1 is its rendering the bees tractable4 ,i ascribe their tranquility to the manner in which they are affected by the sudden admission of light1 they appear rather to testify fear than anger4 ,many retire1 and entering the cells1 seem to conceal themselves4 ,i will admit that ,huber has here fallen into an error which he would not have made1 had he used his own eyes4 ,the bees do indeed enter the cells when the frames are exposed1 but not to conceal themselves2 they imagine that their sweets1 thus unceremoniously exposed to the light of day1 are to be taken from them1 and they fill themselves to their utmost capacity1 in order to save all that they can4 ,i always expect them to appropriate the contents of the open cells1 as soon as ,i remove their frames from the hive4 ,it is not merely the sudden admission of light1 but its introduction from an unexpected quarter1 that seems for the time to disarm the hostility of the bees4 ,they appear for a few moments1 almost as much confounded as we should be1 if without any warning the roof and ceiling of a house should suddenly fly off into the air4 ,before they recover from their amazement1 the sweet libation is poured out upon them1 and surprize is quickly converted into pleasure rather than anger4 ,i believe that in the working season1 almost all the bees near the top are gorged with honey1 and that this is the reason why opening the hive from ,,above is so easily effected4 ,the bees below that are disposed to resent any intrusions1 are met in their threatening ascent1 with an avalanche of nectar which like a soft answer1 most effectually turneth away wrath4 ,who would ever be willing to use the sickening fumes of the disgusting weed1 when so much pleasure instead of pain may be given to his bees4 ,that bees never seem to be prepared to make an instant assault from the top of their hive1 but only near the entrance1 any one may be convinced of1 who will put my frames into a suspended hive with a movable bottom which may be made to drop at pleasure4 ,if now1 for any purpose1 he attempts to meddle with the combs from below1 he will find that unless he uses smoke1 the bees will be almost1 if not quite unmanageable4 ,i shall now give some directions1 which will greatly assist the ,apiarian in his operations4 ,he must bear in mind that nothing irritates bees more than a sudden jar1 and that this must1 in all cases1 be most carefully avoided4 ,the inside cover of the hive1 or as ,i shall term it1 the honey-board1 because the surplus honey receptacles stand upon it1 can never be very firmly attached by the bees3 it may always be readily loosened with a thin knife1 or better still1 with an apothecary's spatula1 which will be very useful for many purposes in the ,apiary4 ,when the honey-board is removed1 its lower surface will be usually covered with bees1 and it should be carefully set on end1 so as not to crush them4 ,there is not the least danger that one of them will offer to sting1 as they are completely bewildered by the sudden introduction of light1 and their removal from the hive4 ,as soon as the cover is disposed of1 the ,apiarian should sprinkle the bees with the sweet solution4 ,this should descend from the watering-pot in a fine stream1 so as not to drench the bees1 and should fall upon the tops of the frames1 as well as between the ranges of comb4 ,the bees will at once1 accept the proffered treat1 and will begin lapping it up1 as peaceably as so many chickens helping themselves to corn4 ,while they are thus engaged1 the frames must be very gently pried by a stick1 from their attachments to the rabbets on which they rest2 this may be done without any jar and without wounding or enraging a single bee4 ,they may all be loosened preparatory to removing them1 in less than a minute4#ag ,by this time1 the sprinkled bees will have filled themselves1 or if all have not done so1 the grateful intelligence that sweets have been furnished them1 will diffuse an unusual good nature through all the honied realm4 ,the ,apiarian should now remove one of the outside frames1 taking hold of its two ends which rest upon the rabbets1 and carefully lifting it out without inclining it from its perpendicular position1 so as not to injure a single bee4 ,the removal of the next comb1 and of all the succeeding ones1 will be more easily effected1 as there will be more room to operate to advantage4 ,if bees were disposed to fly away at once from their combs1 as soon as they were taken out1 it would be very difficult to manage them1 but so far are they from doing this1 that they adhere to them with most wonderful tenacity4 ,i have sometimes removed all the combs1 and arranged them in a continued line1 and the bees have not only refused to leave them1 but have stoutly defended them against the thieving propensities of other bees4 ,by shaking off the bees from the combs upon a sheet1 and securing the queen1 ,i can1 on any pleasant day1 exhibit nearly all the appearances of natural swarming4 ,the bees1 as soon as they miss their queen1 will rise into the air1 and by placing her on the twig of a tree1 they will soon cluster around her in the manner already described4 ,a word as to the manner of catching the queen4 ,i seize her very gently1 as ,i espy her among the bees1 and by taking care to crush none of them1 run not the least risk of being stung4 ,the queen herself never stings1 even if handled ever so roughly4 ,in removing the frames from the hive1 it will be found very convenient to have a box with suitable rabbets in which they may be temporarily put1 and covered over with a piece of cotton cloth4 ,they may thus be very easily protected from the cold1 and from robbing bees1 if they are to be kept out of the hive for some time2 and such a box will be very convenient to receive frames that are lifted out for examination4 ,in returning the frames to a hive1 care must be taken not to crush the bees where their ends rest upon the rabbets2 they must be put in slowly1 so that a bee1 when he feels the slightest pressure may have a chance to creep from under them1 before he is hurt4 ,the honey-cover1 for convenience1 is generally in two pieces3 these cannot be laid down on the hive1 without danger of killing many bees2 they are therefore very carefully slid on1 so that any bees which may be in the way1 are pushed before them1 instead of being crushed4 ,if any bees are upon such parts of the hive as to be imprisoned if the outside cover is closed1 it should be left a little open1 until they have flown to the entrance of the hive4 ,it cannot be too deeply impressed upon the bee-keeper1 that all his motions must be slow and gentle1 and that the bees must not be injured or breathed upon4 ,if he will carefully follow the directions ,i have given1 he may soon open a hundred hives and perform any necessary operation upon them1 without any bee-dress1 and yet with very little risk of being stung1 but ,i almost despair of being able to convince even the most experienced ,apiarians1 of the ease and safety with which bees may be managed on my plan1 until they have actually been eye-witnesses of its successful operation4 ,i can make an artificial colony in the way above described in ten minutes from the time that ,i open the hive1 and if ,i see the queen as quickly as ,i often do1 in not more than five minutes4 ,fifteen minutes will be a very liberal allowance of time to complete the whole work4 ,if ,i had an ,apiary of a hundred colonies1 in less than a week1 if the weather was pleasant1 ,i could without any assistance easily finish the business of swarming for the whole season4 ,but how can the ,apiarian1 if he delays the formation of artificial swarms until nearly the season for natural swarming1 be sure that his bees will not swarm in the usual way8 ,must he not still be constantly on hand1 or run the risk of losing many of his best swarms8 ,i come now to the entirely novel plan by which such objections are completely obviated4 ,if the ,apiarian decides that he can most advantageously multiply his colonies by artificial swarming1 he must see that all his fertile queens are deprived of their wings1 so as to be unable to lead off new swarms4 ,as an old queen never leaves the hive except to accompany a new swarm1 the loss of her wings does not1 in the least interfere with her usefulness1 or with the attachment of the bees4 ,occasionally1 a wingless queen is so bent on emigrating1 that in spite of her inability to fly1 she tries to go off with a swarm2 she has a will1 but contrary to the old maxim she can find no way1 but helplessly falls upon the ground instead of gaily mounting into the air4 ,if the bees succeed in finding her1 they will never desert her1 but cluster directly around her1 and may thus be easily secured by the ,apiarian4 ,if she is not found1 the bees will return to the parent stock to await the maturity of the young queens4 ,the ,apiarian will ordinarily be prepared to form his artificial colonies before any of these young queens are hatched4 ,the following is the best plan for removing the wings from the queens4 ,every hive which contains a young queen1 ought to be examined about a week after she has hatched1 7see ,chapter on ,loss of the ,queen17 in order to ascertain that she has been impregnated1 and has begun to lay eggs4 ,some of the central combs or those on which the bees are most thickly clustered1 should be first lifted out1 for she will almost always be found on one of them2 the ,apiarian when he has caught her1 should remove the wings on one side with a pair of scissors taking care not to hurt her4 ,on examining his hives next season1 let him remove one of the two remaining wings from the queen4 ,the third season1 he may deprive her of her last wing4 ,bees always have four wings1 a pair on each side4 ,this plan saves him the trouble of marking his hives so as to know the age of the queens they contain4 ,as the fertility of the queen generally decreases after the second year1 ,i prefer1 just before the drones are destroyed1 to kill all the old queens that have entered their third year4 ,in this way1 ,i guard against some of my stocks becoming queenless1 in consequence of the queen dying of old age1 when there is no worker-brood in the hive1 from which they can rear another3 or of having a worthless1 drone-laying queen whose impregnation has been retarded4 ,these old queens are removed at that period of the year when their colony is strong in numbers2 and as the honey-harvest is by this time1 nearly over1 their removal is often a positive benefit1 instead of a loss4 ,the population is prevented from being over crowded at a time when the bees are consumers and not producers1 and when the young queen1 reared in the place of the old one matures1 she will rapidly fill the cells with eggs1 and raise a large number of bees to take advantage of the late honey-harvest1 and to prepare the hive to winter most advantageously4 ,the certainty1 rapidity and ease of making artificial swarms with my hives1 will be such as to amaze those most who have had the greatest experience and success in the management of bees4 ,instead of weeks wasted in watching the ,apiary1 in addition to all the other vexations and embarrassments which are so often found to attend reliance on natural swarming1 the ,apiarian will find not only that he can create all his new colonies in a very short time1 but that he can1 if he chooses1 entirely prevent the issue of all after-swarms4 ,in order to do this1 he ought to examine the stocks which are raising young queens1 in season to cut out all the queen cells but one1 before the larv come to maturity4 ,if he gave them a sealed queen nearly mature1 they will raise no others1 and no swarming1 for that season1 will take place4 ,if the ,apiarian wishes to do more than to double his stocks in one season1 and is favorably situated for practicing natural swarming1 he can allow the stocks that raise young queens to swarm if they will1 and he can strengthen the small swarms by giving to them comb with honey and maturing brood from other hives4 ,or he can1 after an interval of about three weeks1 make one swarm from every two good ones in his ,apiary1 in a way that will soon be described4 ,i do not know that ,i can find a better place in which to impress certain highly important principles upon the attention of the bee-keeper4 ,i am afraid1 that in spite of all that ,i can say1 many persons as soon as they find themselves able to multiply colonies at pleasure1 will so overdo the matter1 as to run the risk of losing all their bees4 ,if the ,apiarian aims at obtaining a large quantity of honey in any one season1 he cannot at the furthest1 more than double the number of his stocks3 nor can he do this1 unless they are all strong1 and the season favorable4 ,the moment that he aims1 in any one season1 at a more rapid increase1 he must not only renounce the idea of having any surplus honey1 but must expect to purchase food for the support of his colonies1 unless he is willing to see them all perish by starvation4 ,the time1 food1 care and skill required to multiply stocks with very great rapidity1 in our short and uncertain climate1 are so great that not one ,apiarian in a hundred can expect to make it profitable2 while the great mass of those who attempt it1 will be almost sure1 at the close of the season1 to find themselves in possession of stocks which have been so managed as to be of very little value4 ,before explaining some other methods of artificial swarming1 which ,i have employed to great advantage1 ,i shall endeavor to impress upon the mind of the bee-keeper1 the great importance of thoroughly understanding each season1 the precise object at which he is aiming1 before he enters on the work of increasing his colonies4 ,if his object is1 in any one season1 to get the largest yield of surplus honey1 he must at once make up his mind to be content with a very moderate increase of stocks4 ,if1 on the contrary1 he desires to multiply his colonies1 say1 three or four fold1 he must be prepared1 not only to relinquish the expectation of obtaining any surplus honey1 if the season should prove unfavorable1 but to purchase food for the support of his bees4 ,rapid multiplication of colonies1 and large harvests of surplus honey cannot1 in the very nature of things1 be secure in our climate1 in any one season4 ,if the number of colonies is to be increased to a large extent1 then the bees in the ,apiary will be tasked to the utmost in building new comb1 as well as in rearing brood4 ,for these purposes1 they must consume the supply of honey which1 under other circumstances1 they would have stored up1 a part for their own use in the main hive1 and the balance for their owner1 in the spare honey-boxes4 ,to make this matter perfectly plain1 let us suppose a colony to swarm4 ,if the new hive1 into which the swarm is put1 holds1 as it ought1 about a bushel1 it will require about two pounds of wax to fill it with comb1 and at least forty pounds of honey will be used in its manufacture6 ,if the season is favorable1 and the swarm was large and early1 they may gather1 not only enough to build this comb and to store it with honey sufficient for their own use1 but a number of pounds in addition1 for the benefit of their owner4 ,if the old stock does not swarm again1 it will rapidly replenish its numbers1 and as it has no new comb to build in the main hive which already contains much honey1 it will be able to store up a generous allowance in the upper boxes4 ,these favorable results are all on the supposition that the season was ordinarily productive in honey1 and that the hive was so powerful in numbers as to be able to swarm early4 ,if the season should prove to be very unfavorable1 the first swarm cannot be expected to gather more than enough for its own use1 while the parent stock will yield only a small return4 ,the profits of the bee-keeper1 in such an unfortunate season1 will be mainly in the increase of his stocks4 ,if the swarm was late1 in consequence of the stock being weak in ,spring1 the early part of the honey-harvest will pass away1 and the bees will be able to obtain from it1 but a small share of honey4 ,during all this time of comparative inactivity1 the orchards may present ,one boundless blush1 one white empurpled shower ,of mingled blossoms1 and tens of thousands of bees from stronger stocks1 may be engaged all day1 in sipping the fragrant sweets1 so that every gale which fans its odoriferous wings about their dwellings1 dispenses ,native perfumes1 and whispers whence they stole#ah ,those balmy spoils4 ,by the time that the feeble stock is prepared to swarm1 if it swarm at all that season1 the honey-harvest is almost over1 and the new colony will seldom be able to gather enough for its own use1 so that unless fed1 it must perish the succeeding ,winter4 ,bee-keeping with colonies feeble in the ,spring1 is most emphatically nothing but folly and vexation of spirit4 ,i have shown how the bee-keeper1 with a strong stock-hive which has swarmed early and but once1 may in a favorable season realize handsome profits from his bees4 ,if the parent stock throws a second swarm1 then1 as a general rule1 unless this swarm was very early1 and the honey season good1 if managed on the ordinary plan1 it will seldom prove of any value4 ,it will almost always perish in the ,winter1 if it does not desert its hive in the ,fall1 and the family from which it issued1 will not only gather no surplus honey1 7unless it was secured before the first swarm issued17 but will very often perish likewise4 ,thus the inexperienced owner who was so delighted with the rapid increase of his colonies1 begins the next season with no more colonies than he had the year before1 and has very often lost all the time he has bestowed upon his bees4 ,i can1 to be sure1 on my plan1 prevent the death of the bees1 and can build up all the feeble colonies1 so as to make them strong and powerful3 but only by giving up all idea of obtaining a single pound of honey4 ,from the first swarm1 ,i must take combs containing maturing brood1 to strengthen my weak swarms1 and this first swarm however powerful or early1 instead of being able to store its combs with honey1 will be constantly tasked in building new combs to replace those taken away1 so that when the honey harvest closes1 it will have scarcely any honey1 and must be fed to prevent it from starving4 ,any man who has sense enough to be entrusted with bees1 can1 from these remarks1 understand exactly why it is impossible to multiply colonies rapidly in any one season1 and yet obtain from them large supplies of honey4 ,even the doubling of stocks in one season1 will very often be too rapid an increase1 if the greatest quantity of spare honey is to be obtained from them2 and when the largest yield of honey is desired1 ,i much prefer to form1 in a way soon to be described1 only one new stock from two old ones2 this will give even more from the three1 than could have been obtained from the two1 on the ordinary non-swarming plan4 ,i would very strongly dissuade any but experienced ,apiarians1 from attempting at the furthest1 to do more than to triple their stocks in one year4 ,in order to furnish directions for very rapid multiplication1 sufficiently full and explicit to be of any value to the inexperienced1 ,i should have to write a book on this one topic2 and even then1 the most of those who should undertake it1 would be sure at first to fail4 ,i have no doubt that with ten strong stocks of bees in a good location1 in one favorable season1 ,i could so increase them as to have1 on the approach of ,winter1 one hundred good colonies3 but ,i should expect to feed hundreds of pounds of honey1 to devote nearly all my time to their management1 and to bring to the work1 the experience of many years1 and the wisdom acquired by numerous failures4 ,after all1 what we most need1 in order to be successful in the cultivation of bees1 is a certain1 rather than a rapid multiplication of stocks4 ,it would require but a very few years to stock our whole country with bees1 if colonies could only be doubled annually2 and an increase of even one third1 would before long1 give us bees enough4 ,this rate of increase ,i should always encourage in the swarming season1 even if1 in the ,fall1 ,i reduced my stocks 7see ,union of ,stocks7 to the ,spring number4 ,in the long run1 it will keep the colonies in a much more prosperous condition1 and secure from them the largest yield of honey4 ,i have never myself hesitated to sacrifice one or more colonies1 in order to ascertain a single fact1 and it would require a separate volume quite as large as this1 to detail the various experiments which ,i have made on the subject of ,artificial ,swarming4 ,the practical bee-keeper1 however1 should never1 for a moment1 lose sight of the important distinction between an ,apiary managed principally for the purposes of experiment and discovery1 and one conducted almost exclusively with reference to pecuniary profit4 ,any bee-keeper can easily experiment with my hives3 but ,i would recommend him to do so1 at first1 on a small scale1 and if profit is his object1 to follow the directions furnished in this treatise1 until he is sure that he has discovered others which are preferable4 ,these cautions are given to prevent persons from incurring serious losses and disappointments1 if they use hives which1 if they are not on their guard1 may tempt them into rash and unprofitable courses1 by allowing so easily of all manner of experiments4 ,let the practical ,apiarian remember that the less he disturbs the stocks on which he relies for surplus honey1 the better4 ,after they are properly lodged in their new hive1 they ought by all means to be allowed to carry on their labors without any interruption4 ,the object of giving the control over every comb in the hive1 is not to enable him to be incessantly taking them in and out1 and subjecting the bees to all sorts of annoyances4 ,unless he is conducting a course of experiments1 such interference will be almost as silly as the conduct of children who pull up the seeds which they have planted1 to see whether they have sprouted1 or how much they have grown4 ,if after these cautions1 any still choose to disregard them1 the blame of their losses will fall1 not upon the hive1 but upon their own mismanagement4 ,let me not1 for a moment1 be understood as wishing to discourage investigation1 or to intimate that perfection has been so nearly attained that no more important discoveries remain to be made4 ,on the contrary1 ,i should be glad to learn that many who have the time and means1 are disposed to use the facilities furnished by hives which give the control of each comb1 to experiment on a large scale2 and ,i hope that every intelligent bee-keeper who follows my plans1 will experiment at least on a small scale4 ,in this way1 we may soon expect to see1 more satisfactorily elucidated1 some points in the ,natural ,history of the bee1 which are still involved in doubt4 ,having described the way in which forced swarms are made1 both in common hives and in my own1 when the ,apiarian wishes in one season merely to double his colonies1 ,i shall now show in what way he can secure the largest yield of honey1 by forming only one new colony from two old ones4 ,early in the season1 before the bees fly out1 or better still1 after they ceased to fly in the previous ,fall1 the two hives from which the new colony is to be formed1 should be placed near each other1 unless they are already1 not more than a foot apart4 ,when the time for forming the artificial colony has arrived1 these hives should be removed from their stand1 and the bees driven from them1 precisely in the manner already described4 ,if all the bees are at home1 ,i sometimes shut up the hives on their stand1 and drum long enough to cause the bees to fill themselves before the hive is removed4 ,timid ,apiarians may find some advantage in this course1 as the bees will all be quiet after they are well drummed1 and the hive may then be removed with greater safety4 ,in five minutes ,i can in this way reduce any swarm to a peaceable condition4 ,after the forced swarms are secured1 the removed hives are replaced1 in order to catch up all the returning bees1 and the forced swarms must be shut up1 until towards sunset2 unless it is judged best to keep the entrances temporarily open1 so as to secure the return of a sufficient number of bees to the parent stocks4 ,the old stocks are now moved to a new place1 and managed according to the previous directions4 ,if neither of the expelled swarms was driven into the hive intended for the new colony1 then the proper hive must be placed1 as near as possible1 in the center of the space previously occupied by the original colonies4 ,one of the swarms must now be shaken out upon a sheet1 in front of this hive which should be elevated1 so as to enable the bees to enter it readily4 ,as soon as they are shaken out1 they should be gently sprinkled with sugar-water scented with peppermint1 or any other fragrant odor4 ,diligent search must now be made for the ,queen1 and if found1 she should be carefully removed1 and given to the hive to which she belongs4 ,if the queen of the first swarm has been found1 the second colony may be shaken out1 and sprinkled in the same way1 and allowed to enter without any further trouble4 ,if the queen of the first colony was not found1 then that of the second one must be sought for2 if neither can be found1 7though this1 after a little experience1 will very seldom happen17 one of the ,queens will soon kill the other1 and reign over the united family4 ,the next day1 the doubled colony will be found working with amazing vigor1 and it will not only fill its main hive1 but will1 in any ordinary season1 gather large quantities of surplus honey besides4 ,the ,apiarian who relies upon natural swarming1 can double his new colonies if they issue at the same time1 by hiving them together1 or if this cannot be done1 he may hive them in separate hives1 and then1 towards evening1 set one hive on a sheet1 and shake down the bees from the other1 so that they can enter and join the first4 ,it may be safely done1 even if several days have elapsed before the second colony swarms2 although in this case1 ,i prefer after turning up their hive to sprinkle the oldest swarm with scented sugar-water1 and then to give the new swarm the same treatment4 ,i have doubled natural swarms in this way1 repeatedly1 and have never1 when they were early1 failed to secure from them a large quantity of honey4 ,in sprinkling bees1 let the operator remember that they are not to be drenched1 or almost drowned1 as in this case1 they will require a long time to enter the hive4 ,bees seem to recognize each other by the sense of smell2 and when they are made to have the same odor1 they will always mingle peaceably4 ,this is the reason why ,i use a few drops of peppermint in the sugar-water4 ,if one of the queens of the forced swarms can be returned to her own colony1 it will of course1 save them the time which would otherwise be lost in raising another4 ,i do not know that ,i can better illustrate the importance of the inexperienced ,apiarian following carefully my directions1 than by supposing him to return the queen to the colony to which she does not belong4 ,now ,i can easily imagine that some bee-keeper may do so1 conceiving that ,i am foolishly precise in my directions1 and that the queen might be just as well given to one hive as to the other4 ,but if this is done before at least #bd hours have elapsed since they were deprived of their own1 she will almost certainly be destroyed4 ,the bees do not sting a queen to death1 but have a curious mode of crowding or knotting around her1 so that she is soon smothered2 and while thus imprisoned1 she will often make the same piping note which has already been described4 ,in all this treatise1 ,i have constantly aimed to give no directions which are not important2 and while ,i utterly repudiate the notion that these directions may not be modified and improved1 ,i am quite certain that this cannot be done by any but those who have considerable experience in the management of bees4 ,the formation of one new swarm from two old colonies1 may1 of course1 be very much simplified by the use of my hives4 ,the two old hives are first opened and sprinkled1 and the bees taken from them and put into the new hive in the same way in which the process was conducted when only one colony was expelled1 some brood comb being given to the united family4 ,there will be no difficulty in rightly proportioning the bees2 one queen may always be caught and preserved1 and the operation may be performed at any time when the sun is above the horizon4 ,i have no doubt that those who have a strong stock of bees1 and who are anxious to realize the largest profits in honey1 will find this mode of increase1 by far the simplest and best4 ,if judiciously practiced1 they will find that their colonies may always be kept powerful1 and that they may be managed with very great economy in time and labor4 ,as ,apiarians may be so situated as to wish to increase their bees quite rapidly1 ,i shall give such methods as from numerous experiments1 many of them conducted on a large scale1 ,i have found to be the best4 ,i wish it however to be most distinctly understood1 that ,i do not consider very rapid multiplication as likely to succeed1 except in the hands of skillful ,apiarians2 and under ordinary circumstances it requires too much time1 care and honey1 to be of very great practical value4 ,its chief merit consists in the short time which it requires to build up an ,apiary4 ,after trying my mode of management for a few seasons1 a bee-keeper may find out1 that he is in all respects1 favorably situated for taking care of a large stock of bees4 ,suppose him to have acquired both skill and confidence1 and that he has ten powerful colonies4 ,if he is willing to do without surplus honey for one season1 and the honey-harvest should be very productive1 he may without feeding1 and without very much labor1 safely increase his ten colonies to thirty4 ,if he chooses to feed largely1 he may possibly end the season with fifty or sixty1 or even more2 but he will probably end it in such a manner as most thoroughly to disgust him with his folly1 and to teach him that in bee-keeping1 as well as in other things1 ,haste makes waste4 ,on the supposition that by the time the fruit-trees are in blossom1 the ,apiarian has1 in hives of my construction1 ten powerful colonies1 let him select four of the strongest1 and make from each a forced swarm4 ,he will now have four queenless colonies1 which will at once1 proceed to supply themselves with a young queen4 ,in about ten days1 he may make from his other six stocks1 six more forced swarms4 ,he will probably find in making these1 many sealed queens1 if he has delayed the operation until about swarming time2 so that he may give to each of the six stocks from which he has expelled a swarm1 the means of soon obtaining another4 ,if he has not enough for this purpose1 he must take the required number from the four stocks which are raising young queens1 the exact condition of which ought to have been previously ascertained4 ,some of these stocks will be found to contain a large number of queen cells4 ,huber1 in one of his experiments1 found twenty-four in one hive1 and even a larger number has sometimes been reared by a single colony4 ,as the ,apiarian will always have many more queens than are wanted1 he ought to select those combs which contain a sealed queen1 so as to secure say1 about fifteen combs1 each of which has one or more queens4 ,if necessary1 he can cut out some of the cells1 and adjust them in the manner previously described4 ,each comb containing a sealed queen must be put with all the bees adhering to it1 into an empty hive2 and by a divider1 or movable partition1 they must be confined to about one quarter of the hive2 water should be given to them1 and honey1 if none is contained in the comb4 ,i always prefer to select a comb which contains a large number of workers almost mature1 and some of which are just beginning to hatch1 so that even if a considerable number of the bees should return to the parent stock1 after their liberty is given them1 there will still be a sufficient number hatched1 to attend to the young1 and especially to watch over the maturing queens4 ,if the comb contains a large number of bees just emerging from their cells1 ,i prefer to confine them only one day1 otherwise ,i keep them shut up until about an hour before sunset of the third day4 ,the hives containing the small colonies1 ought1 if they are not well protected by being made double1 to be set where they are thoroughly sheltered from the intense heat of the sun2 and the ventilators should give them an abundance of air4 ,they should also be closed in such a manner1 as to keep the interior in entire darkness1 so that the bees may not become too uneasy during their confinement4 ,i accomplish this by shutting up their entrance1 and replacing their front board1 just as though ,i were intending to put them into winter quarters4 ,these small colonies ,i shall call nuclei1 and the system of forming stocks from them1 my nucleus system2 and before ,i describe this system more particularly1 ,i shall show other ways in which the nuclei can be formed4 ,if the ,apiarian chooses1 he can take a frame containing bees just ready to mature1 and eggs and young worms1 all of the worker kind1 together with the old bees which cluster on it1 and shut them up in the manner previously described2 even if he has no sealed queen to give them4 ,if all things are favorable1 they will set about raising a queen in a few hours4 ,i once took not more than a tea-cup full of bees and confined them with a small piece of brood comb in a dark place1 and found that in about an hour's time1 they had begun to enlarge some of the cells1 to raise a new queen6 ,if the ,apiarian has sealed queens on hand1 they ought1 by all means1 to be given to the nuclei1 in order to save all the time possible4 ,i sometimes make these nuclei as follows4 ,the suitable comb with bees c41 is taken from a stock-hive1 and set in an empty one1 made to stand partly in the place of the old hive1 which1 of course1 must previously be moved a little on one side4 ,in this way1 ,i am able to direct a considerable number of the bees from the old stock to my nucleus1 and the necessity of shutting it up1 is done away with4 ,if the bees from the old stock do not enter the small one1 in sufficient numbers1 ,i sometimes close their hive1 so that the returning bees can find no other place to enter4 ,my object is not to catch up a large number of bees4 ,for reasons previously assigned1 ,i do not want enough to build new comb1 but only enough to adhere to the removed comb1 and raise a new queen from the brood1 or develop the sealed one which has been given them4 ,a short time after one nucleus has in this way1 been formed1 another may be made by moving the old hive again1 and so a third or fourth1 if so many are wanted4 ,this plan requires considerable skill and experience1 to secure the right number of bees1 without getting too many4 ,if bees are to be made to enter a new hive1 by removing the old one from its stand1 it will always be very desirable not only to have the new one contain a piece of comb1 but a considerable number of bees clustered on that comb4 ,i repeatedly found my bees1 after entering the hive1 refuse to have anything to do with the brood comb1 and for a long time1 ,i was unable to conjecture the cause2 until ,i ascertained that they were dissatisfied with its deserted appearance1 and that1 by taking the precaution to have it well covered with bees1 ,i seldom failed to reconcile them to my system of forced colonization4 ,i can usually tell1 in less than two minutes1 whether the operation will succeed or not4 ,if the returning bees are content1 they will1 however much agitated at first1 soon begin to join the cluster on the comb2 while if they are dissatisfied1 they will abandon the hive1 and nearly all the bees that were originally on the comb1 will leave with them4 ,they seem capricious in this matter1 and are sometimes so very self-willed1 that they refuse to have anything to do with the brood comb1 when ,i can see no good reason why they should be so rebellious4 ,i shall here state some conjectures which have occurred to me on this subject4 ,is it absolutely certain that bees can raise a queen from any egg or young larva which would produce a worker8 ,or if this is possible1 is it certain that any kind of workers can accomplish this8 ,huber ascertained to his own satisfaction that there were two kinds of workers in a hive4 ,he thus describes them4 ,one of these is1 in general1 destined for the elaboration of wax1 and its size is considerably enlarged when full of honey2 the other immediately imparts what it has collected to its companions1 its abdomen undergoes no sensible change1 or it retains only the honey necessary for its own subsistence4 ,the particular function of the bees of this kind is to take care of the young1 for they are not charged with provisioning the hive4 ,in opposition to the wax workers1 we shall call them small bees or nurses4 ,although the external difference be inconsiderable1 this is not an imaginary distinction4 ,anatomical observations prove that the capacity of the stomach is not the same--experiments have ascertained that one of the species cannot fulfil all the functions shared among the workers of a hive4 ,we painted those of each class with different colors1 in order to study their proceedings2 and these were not interchanged4 ,in another experiment1 after supplying a hive deprived of a queen with brood and pollen1 we saw the small bees quickly occupied in nutrition of the larv1 while those of the wax working class neglected them4 ,small bees also produce wax1 but in a very inferior quantity to what is elaborated by the real wax workers4 ,now if these statements can be relied on1 and thus far ,i have nearly always found ,huber's statements1 where-ever ,i had an opportunity to test them1 to be most wonderfully reliable1 then it may be that when bees refuse to cluster on the brood comb and to proceed at once to rear a new queen1 it is because they find that some of the conditions necessary for success are wanting4 ,either there may not be a sufficient number of wax-workers1 to enlarge the cells1 or a sufficient number of nurses to take charge of the larv2 or it may be that the cells contain only young wax-workers which cannot be developed into queens1 or only young nurses1 which may be in the same predicament4 ,if any of my readers imagine that the work of carefully experimenting1 in order to establish facts upon the solid basis of complete demonstration1 is an easy work1 let them attempt now to prove or disprove the truth of any or all of my conjectures upon this single topic4 ,they will probably find the task more difficult than to blot over whole quires and reams of paper with careless assertions4 ,all operations of any kind which interfere in the very least1 with the natural mode of forming colonies1 are best performed in the swarming season3 or at least1 at a time when the bees are breeding freely1 and are able to bring in large stores of honey from the fields4 ,at other times1 they are very precarious1 and unless under the management of persons who have great experience1 they will in most cases1 end in nothing but vexatious losses and disappointments4 ,it is quite amusing to see how bees act1 when they find1 on their return from foraging abroad1 that their hive has been moved1 and another put in its place4 ,if the new hive is precisely similar to their own1 in size and outward appearance1 they enter it as though all was right2 but in a few moments1 they rush out in violent agitation1 imagining that they have made a prodigious mistake and have entered the wrong place4 ,they now take wing again in order to correct their blunder1 but find to their increasing surprise1 that they had previously directed their flight to the familiar spot2 again they enter1 and again they tumble out1 in bewildered crowds1 until1 at length1 if they can find the means of raising a new queen1 or one is already there1 they seem to make up their minds that if this is not home1 it not only looks like it1 but stands just where their home ought to be1 and is at all events the only home they are likely to get4 ,no doubt they often feel that a very hard bargain has been imposed upon them1 but they seem generally determined to make the best of it4 ,there is one trait in the character of bees1 for which ,i feel1 not merely admiration1 but the most profound respect4 ,such is their indomitable energy and perseverance1 that under circumstances apparently the most despairing1 they will still labor to the utmost1 to retrieve their losses1 and sustain the sinking state4 ,so long as they have a queen1 or any prospect of raising one1 they struggle most vigorously against impending ruin1 and never give up1 unless their condition is absolutely desperate4 ,in one of my observing hives1 ,i once had a colony of bees1 the whole of which might have been spread out on my two hands1 busy at work in raising a new queen1 from a small piece of brood comb4 ,for two long weeks1 they adhered with unfailing perseverance and industry1 to their forlorn hope3 until at last1 one of the two queens which they raised1 came forth1 and destroyed the other while still in her cell4 ,the bees had now dwindled away to less than half their original number1 and the new queen had wings so imperfect that she was unable to fly4 ,i watched their proceedings with great interest2 they actually paid very unusual attention to this crippled queen1 and treated her more as they are wont to treat a fertile one4 ,in the course of a week1 there were not more than a dozen left in the hive1 and in a few days more1 ,i missed the queen1 and saw only a few disconsolate wretches crawling over the deserted comb6 ,shame upon the faint-hearted and cowardly of our own race1 who1 if overtaken by calamity1 instead of nobly breasting the dark waters of affliction1 and manfully buffetting with their tumultuous waves1 meanly resign themselves to their ignoble fate1 and sink and perish where they might have lived and triumphed2 and double shame upon those who thus faint in the day of adversity1 when living in a ,christian land1 they might1 if they would only receive the word of ,god1 and open the eye of faith1 behold a bow of promise spanning the still stormy clouds1 and hear a voice bidding them1 like the great apostle of the ,gentiles1 learn not merely to rejoice in hope of the glory of ,god1 but to glory in tribulations also4 ,i have been informed by ,mr4 ,wagner1 that ,dzierzon has recently devised a plan of forming nuclei1 substantially the same with my own4 ,his book1 however1 contemplates having two ,apiaries1 three or four miles apart1 and his plans for multiplying colonies1 as there described1 were based upon the supposition that the ,apiarian will have two such establishments4 ,such an arrangement would no doubt very greatly facilitate many operations4 ,our forced swarms might all be removed from the ,apiary where they were formed1 to the other1 and our nuclei treated in the same way1 and there would be no necessity for confining the bees after their removal4 ,there are however1 weighty objections to such an arrangement1 which will prevent it1 at least for some time1 from being extensively adopted4 ,the labor of removing the bees backwards and forwards1 is a serious objection to the whole plan2 and in addition to this1 the necessity of having a skillful ,apiarian at each establishment1 puts its adoption out of the question1 with most persons who keep bees4 ,it might answer1 however1 if two bee-keepers1 sufficiently far apart1 would enter into partnership1 and manage their bees as a joint concern4 ,dzierzon's new plan of creating nuclei1 is as follows4 ,towards evening1 remove a piece of brood comb1 with eggs and bees just hatching1 and put it1 with a sufficient number of mature bees1 into an empty hive2 there must be enough to keep the brood from being chilled over night4 ,if the operation is performed so late that the bees are not disposed to take wing and leave the hive1 by morning a sufficient number will have hatched1 to supply the place of those which may abandon the nucleus4 ,in my numerous experiments last ,summer1 in the formation of artificial swarms1 ,i tried this plan and found that it answered a good purpose2 the chief objection to it1 is the difficulty often of selecting the suitable kind of comb1 if the operation is delayed until late in the afternoon4 ,i prefer1 therefore1 to perform it1 when the sun is an hour or two high1 and to confine the bees until dark4 ,if there are not a sufficient number of bees on the comb1 ,i shake off some from another frame1 directly into the hive1 and shut them all up1 giving them a supply of water4 ,sealed queens if possible1 should be used in all these operations4 ,i shall now give a novel mode of creating nuclei1 which ,i have devised1 and which ,i find to be attended with great success4 ,hive a new swarm in the usual manner1 in an old box1 and as soon as the bees have entered it1 shut them up and carry them down into the cellar4 ,about an hour before sunset1 take combs suitable to form as many nuclei as you judge best1 say five or six1 or even eight or ten if the swarm was large1 and you need as many4 ,bring up the new swarm and shake it out upon a sheet1 sprinkling it gently with sugar-water4 ,with a large tumbler or saucer1 scoop up without hurting any of the bees1 a pint or more of them1 and place them before the mouth of one of the hives containing a brood comb2 repeat the process1 until each nucleus has1 say1 a quart of bees4 ,if you see the queen1 you may give the hive in which you put her1 three or four times as many bees as any other2 and the next day it may be strengthened with a few combs containing brood1 just ready to mature4 ,if you did not find her1 at the time of forming the nuclei1 when you afterwards examine them1 the one which contains her may be properly reinforced with bees and comb1 so as to enable it to work to the best advantage4 ,if this plan of forming nuclei1 were attempted earlier in the afternoon it would be difficult to prevent the bees from communicating on the wing1 and all going to the hive which contained their queen4 ,if however1 the bees when first shaken out of the temporary hive1 are so thoroughly sprinkled1 as not to be able to take wing and unite together1 this mode of forming colonies may be practiced at any hour of the day2 and an experienced ,apiarian may prefer to do it1 as soon as he has fairly hived the new swarm4 ,when the bees are shaken out in front of a hive which has a sealed queen1 or eggs from which they can raise one1 having a whole night in which to accustom themselves to their new situation1 they will be found1 the next day1 to adhere to the place where they were put1 with as much tenacity as a natural swarm does to their new hive4 ,how wonderful that the act of swarming should so thoroughly impress upon the bees1 an absolute indisposition to return to the parent stock4 ,if this were a fixed and invariable unwillingness1 a sort of blind1 unreasoning instinct1 it would not be so surprising1 but we have already seen that in case the bees lose their queen1 they return in a very short time to the stock from which they issued6 ,if the nuclei formed in the manner just described1 found in their new hive1 no means of obtaining a queen1 they would all return1 next morning1 to the parent stock4 ,when the ,apiarian can obtain a natural swarm from any other ,apiary1 it may be divided into nuclei in the same way1 and even a forced swarm1 if brought from a distance1 will answer equally well4 ,if the ,apiarian wishes to form colonies earlier than the season of natural swarming1 and cannot conveniently obtain a forced swarm from an ,apiary1 at least a mile distant1 he may1 before the bees begin to fly out in the ,spring1 transport one of his stocks to a neighbor's1 and force from it a swarm at the desired time4 ,even if it is moved not more than half a mile off1 the operation will be almost sure to succeed4 ,of all modes of forming the nuclei1 this ,i believe will be found to be the neatest1 simplest and best4 ,having thus described the various ways in which ,i have successfully formed my nuclei1 ,i shall now show how they may be all built up into powerful stocks4 ,it will be very obvious that on the ordinary plan of management1 they would be absolutely worthless1 even if it were possible to form them with the common hives4 ,if they were not fed1 they would be unable to collect the means of building new comb1 and would gradually dwindle away1 just as third or fourth swarms which issue late in the season2 nor could they be saved even by the most generous feeding1 as they would only use their supplies to fill up the little comb they had2 so that when the queen was ready to lay1 there would be no empty cells to receive her eggs1 and too few bees to build any1 even if they had all the honey that they required4 ,such small colonies must gradually waste away1 unless they can be speedily and effectually supplied with the requisite number of bees1 and this can be done only by hives which give the control of all the combs4 ,with such hives1 ,i can speedily build up my nuclei1 7provided ,i have not formed too many17 to the strength necessary to make them powerful stocks4 ,the hives containing them1 ought if possible1 to stand at some distance from other hives1 say two or three feet3 and if this cannot conveniently be done1 they should in some way1 be so distinguished from the adjoining hives1 that the young queens when they are hatched and go out to seek the drones1 will not be liable to lose their lives by entering a wrong hive on their return4 ,a small leafy twig fastened on the alighting board of such hives1 when they stand near to others1 will be almost sure to prevent such a catastrophe3 if they stand near to each other1 some may be marked in this way1 and others with a piece of colored cloth4 7,see ,page #aei47 ,to guard them against robbers1 c41 the entrances to these nuclei should be contracted1 so that only a few bees can enter at once4 ,those which were confined1 should be examined1 the day after their liberty is given to them2 the others1 the day after they were formed1 when1 if they were not supplied with a sealed queen1 they will be found actively engaged in constructing royal cells4 ,a new range of comb should now be given to each one1 and it should contain no old bees1 but brood rapidly maturing1 and if possible1 eggs and worms only a few days old4 ,this new addition of strength will greatly encourage the nuclei1 and give them the means of starting young queens1 if they have not succeeded in doing so with the first comb4 ,i have very frequently found that for some cause which ,i have not yet ascertained1 they often start a large number of queen cells1 which in a few days1 are all discontinued and untenanted4 ,the second attempt seldom fails4 ,does practice in this thing make them more expert8 ,but ,i will simply state the fact1 referring to my conjectures on page #bah2 and remarking that when they make a second attempt1 they seem frequently disposed to start a much larger number than they otherwise would have done4 ,in two or three days after giving them the first piece of comb1 ,i give them another1 if their queen is nearly mature1 and ,i now let them alone until she ought to be depositing eggs in the hive4 ,i then give them1 at intervals of a few days1 two or three combs more1 and they will now be sufficiently powerful in bees1 to gather large quantities of honey1 and fill the empty part of their hive4 ,the young queen is supplying with thousands of worker-eggs1 the cells from which the brood has emerged1 and also the new ones built by the bees1 and the new colony will soon be one of the best stock hives in the ,apiary4 ,if some of the full frames are moved1 and empty ones placed between them1 as soon as the bees begin to build powerfully1 there need be no guide combs on the empty frames1 and still the work will be executed with the most beautiful regularity4 ,but what1 in the mean time1 is the condition of the hives from which we are taking so many brood combs for the proper development of our nuclei2 are they not weakened so much as to become quite enfeebled8 ,i come now to the very turning point of the whole nucleus system4 ,if due judgment has not been used1 and the sanguine bee-keeper has endeavored to multiply his colonies too rapidly1 a most grievous disappointment awaits him4 ,either his nuclei cannot be strengthened at the right time1 or this can be done1 only by impoverishing the old stocks1 and the result of the whole operation will be a most decided failure1 and if he is in the vicinity of sugar-houses1 confectionaries1 or other tempting places of bee resort1 he will find the population of his colonies very seriously diminished1 and will have to break up the most of the nuclei which he had formed1 and incur the danger of losing nearly the whole of his stock4 ,i lay it down as a fundamental principle in my nucleus system1 that the old stocks must never be so much weakened by the removal of brood-comb and bees that they are not able to keep their numbers sufficiently strong to refill rapidly all the vacancies among their combs4 ,if the ,apiarian attempts to multiply his stocks so rapidly that this cannot be done1 ,i will ensure him ample cause to repent at leisure of his folly4 ,if however1 the attempt at very rapid multiplication is made only by those who are favorably situated1 and who have skill in the management of bees1 a very large gain may be made in the number of stocks1 and they may all be strong and flourishing4 ,if a strong stock of bees in a hive of moderate size1 which admits of thorough inspection1 is examined at the height of the honey harvest1 nearly all the cells will often be found filled with brood1 honey or bee-bread4 ,the great laying of the queen1 according to some writers1 is now over1 not however as they erroneously imagine1 because her fertility has decreased1 but merely because there is not room in the hive for all her eggs4 ,she may often be seen restlessly traversing the combs1 seeking in vain for empty cells1 until finding none1 she is compelled to extrude her eggs only to be devoured by the bees4 7,see p4 #eb47 ,if some of the full combs are removed1 and empty ones substituted in their place1 she will speedily fill them1 laying at the rate of two or three thousand a day6 ,when my strong stocks are from time to time deprived of one or two combs1 if honey can easily be procured1#ai the bees proceed at once to replace them1 and the queen commences laying in the new combs as soon as the cells are fairly started4 ,if the combs are not removed too fast1 and care is taken not to deprive the stock of so much brood that the bees cannot keep up a vigorous population1 a queen in a hive so managed1 will lay her eggs in cells to be nurtured by the bees1 instead of being eaten up2 and thus1 in the course of the season1 she may become the mother of three or four times as many bees1 as are reared in a hive under other circumstances4 ,by careful management1 brood enough may1 in this way1 be taken from a single hive1 to build up a large number of nuclei4 ,towards the close of the season however1 as such a hive has been constantly tasked in building comb and feeding young bees1 almost all its honey will have been used for these purposes1 and although it may be very populous1 unless it is liberally fed1 it will be sure to perish4 ,since the discovery that unbolted rye flour will answer so admirably as a substitute for pollen1 we can supply the bees not only with honey1 when none can be obtained from the blossoms1 but with an abundance of bee-bread1 when pollen is scarce4 ,as ,i am writing this chapter1 7,march #bi1 #ahec17 my bees are zealously engaged in taking the flour from some old combs in front of their hives1 and they can be seen most beautifully moulding the little pellets on their thighs4 ,by my movable combs1 ,i can give them the flour at once in their hives1 as it can easily be rubbed into an empty comb4 ,the importance of ,dzierzon's discovers of a substitute for pollen1 can hardly be over-estimated4 ,if he had done nothing more for the cause of ,apiarian science1 no true-hearted bee-keeper would ever allow his name to be forgotten4 ,in the ,chapter on ,feeding1 ,i shall give more specific directions as to the way in which the cultivator must feed his bees1 when he aims at increasing1 as rapidly as possible1 the number of his stocks4 ,unless this work is done with great judgment1 he will find often that the more he feeds1 the less bees he has in his hives1 the cells being all occupied with honey instead of brood4 ,such is the passion of bees for storing away honey1 that large supplies of it will always most seriously interfere with breeding1 unless the bees are sufficiently numerous to build new comb in which the queen can find room for her eggs4 ,i have no doubt that some who have but little experience in the management of bees1 are ready to imagine that they could easily strike out a simpler and better way of increasing the number of colonies4 ,for instance3 let a full hive have half its comb and bees put into an empty hive1 and the work of doubling1 is without further trouble1 effectually accomplished4 ,but what will the queenless hive do1 under such circumstances8 ,why1 build of course1 queen cells1 and rear another4 ,but what kind of comb will they fill their hives with1 before the young queen begins to breed8 ,of that1 perhaps1 you had never thought4 ,let me now lay down the only safe rule for all who engage in the multiplication of artificial swarms4 ,never1 under any circumstances1 take so much comb and brood from your stock hives1 as seriously to reduce their numbers4 ,this should be to the ,apiarian1 as the law of the ,medes and ,persians1 which altereth not4 ,suppose that ,i divide a populous stock1 about swarming season1 into four or five colonies2 the strong probability is1 that not one of them1 if left to themselves1 will be strong enough to survive the ,winter4 ,if fed in the ordinary way1 and yet not supplied with combs and bees1 their ruin will often be only accelerated4 ,if1 on the contrary1 ,i had taken1 from time to time1 combs sufficient to form three or four nuclei1 and had strengthened the new colonies1 in such a way as not to draw too severely upon the resources of the parent stock1 ,i might expect to see them all1 in due time1 strong and flourishing4 ,in the ,spring of the year1 if ,i desire to determine the strength of a colony principally to raising young bees1 ,i can easily effect it by the following plan4 ,a box is made1 of the same inside dimensions with the lower hive1 into which the combs and bees of a full hive can all be transferred1 as soon as the bees are gathering honey enough to build new combs4 ,this box is now set over the old hive1 which contains its complement of frames with guide combs1 or better still1 with empty combs4 ,as soon as the bees begin to build1 they take possession of the lower hive1 through which they go in and out1 and the queen descends with them1 in order to lay her eggs in the lower combs4 ,as soon as the old apartment becomes pretty well filled1 a large number of combs with maturing bees1 may be taken from the upper one1 and when the hive below is full1 they may all be safely removed4 ,if none of the upper combs are removed1 they will be filled with honey1 as soon as the brood is hatched2 and as they will contain large stores of bee-bread1 they will answer admirably for replenishing stocks which have an insufficient supply4 ,in no other way1 so far as ,i know1 can so much honey be secured1 and if quantity1 not quality1 is aimed at1 or if the test of quality is its fitness for the use of the bees1 ,i would recommend this mode as superior to any other4 ,if two swarms are hived together1 or a very powerful stock is lodged in a hive1 so that at once they can have access to the upper apartment1 an extraordinary quantity of honey can be secured1 and of a very excellent quality4 ,as soon as the bees have raised one generation of young1 in the combs of the upper box1 or rather in a part of them1 they will use it chiefly for storing honey1 and all that it contains may be taken from them4 ,in flavor1 it will be found to be nearly as good as honey stored in what is called virgin comb4 ,in the ,chapter on the ,requisites of a good hive1 ,i have said that in size it should be adapted to the natural instincts of the bee1 and yet admit of enlarging or contracting1 according to the wants of the colony placed in it4 ,i never use a hive1 the main apartment of which1 holds less than a ,winchester bushel4 ,if small colonies are placed in such a hive1 it must be temporarily partitioned off1 to suit the size of its inmates2 for if bees have too much room given to them1 they cannot concentrate their animal heat1 and are so much discouraged that they often abandon their hive4 ,i am aware that many judicious ,apiarians recommend hives of much smaller dimensions1 and ,i shall now give my reasons for using one so large4 ,if a hive is too small1 then in the ,spring1 the combs are soon filled with honey1 bee-bread and brood1 and the surprising fertility of the queen bee1 can be turned to no efficient account4 ,if the honey-harvest in any year1 is deficient1 such a colony is very apt to perish in the succeeding ,winter2 whereas in a large hive1 the honey stored up in a fruitful season1 is a reserve supply1 in time of need4 ,in very large hives1 ,i have seen large accumulations of honey which have been untouched for years1 while on the same stand1 stocks of about the same age1 in small hives have perished by starvation4 ,a good early swarm in any situation at all favorable1 will fill1 the first season1 a hive that holds a bushel3 and if there is any location in which they cannot do this1 a doubled swarm should be put into the hive1 or bee-keeping may1 as far as profit is concerned1 be abandoned4 ,but it may be objected that if the swarm was not sufficiently strong to fill their hive1 the bees often suffer from the cold in ,winter1 and become too much reduced in numbers1 to build early and rapidly in the ensuing ,spring4 ,this is undoubtedly true1 and hence the great importance of putting a generous allowance of bees into a hive at the first start1 unless1 as on my plan1 the requisite strength can be given to them1 at a subsequent period4 ,the hive1 if large1 should be all the more carefully protected from extremes of cold1 in order to give the bees an opportunity of developing their natural powers of re-production1 to the best advantage4 ,in such a hive1 the queen will be able to breed almost every month in the year1 even in the coldest climates where bees flourish1 and on the return of ,spring1 thousands of young bees will be found in it1 which could not have been bred in a small1 or badly protected hive4 ,the ,polish hives described by ,mr4 ,dohiogost1 have already been referred to4 ,some of these hold about three bushels1 and yet the bees swarm from them with great regularity1 and the swarms are often of immense size4 ,these hives are admirably protected1 and at the time of hiving at least four times the number of bees are lodged in them1 that are ordinarily put into one of our hives4 ,the queen bee1 in such a hive1 has ample room to lay her three thousand eggs1 or more1 daily3 and a prodigious colony is raised1 which often stores enormous supplies of honey4 ,as all the frames in my hives are of the same dimensions1 the size of the hive may be conveniently varied1 to suit the views of different bee-keepers2 for they may be large or small1 according to the number of frames designed to be used4 ,i hope1 before long1 to experiment with hives as large again1 as those that ,i now use2 or rather1 with such1 as by containing an upper box1 may be made to accommodate twice as many bees4 ,this whole subject of the proper size of hives1 certainly needs to be taken entirely out of the region of conjecture1 and to be put upon the basis of careful observations4 ,unquestionably the size will require1 in some respects1 to be modified by the more or less favorable character of the country for bee-keeping2 but ,i am satisfied that small hives will be found of but little profit1 and that large ones1 unless well stocked with bees1 from the first1 and thoroughly protected1 will often fail to answer any good end4 ,if ,i should find on further experiment1 that the very large hives of which ,i have spoken1 are better1 my hives are at present so constructed that without any alteration of existing parts1 they can easily be supplied with the required additions4 ,i have already mentioned that ,i sometimes build my hives1 three in one structure1 in order to save expense in their construction4 ,i do not however1 wish to be considered as recommending such hives as the best for general use4 ,for some purposes a single hive is unquestionably the best1 as it can be easily moved by one person2 and this1 will many times be found to be a point of great importance4 ,the double hives1 or two in one1 are for most purposes1 decidedly the best1 as well as the cheapest4 ,i have quite recently contrived a plan of constructing my wooden hives in such a manner as to give them very great protection against extremes of heat and cold1 while at the same time they can be easily and cheaply made1 by any one who can handle the simplest mechanical tools4 ,it has been previously stated that the queen bee cannot be induced to sting1 by any kind of treatment however severe4 ,the reason of this strange unwillingness to use her natural and powerful weapon1 will be obvious1 when we consider how indispensable the preservation of her life is to the very existence of the colony1 and that her single sting1 the loss of which would be her death1 could avail but little for their defence1 in case of an attack4 ,she never uses her weapon1 except when engaged in mortal combat with another queen4 ,as soon as the two rivals come together1 they clinch1 at once1 with every demonstration of the most vindictive hatred4 ,why then1 are not both of them often destroyed8 and why are not hives1 in the swarming season1 almost certain to become queenless8 ,we can never sufficiently admire the provision so simple and yet so effectual1 by which such a calamity is prevented4 ,the queen bee never stings unless she has such an advantage in the combat1 that she can curve her body under that of her rival1 in such a manner as to inflict a deadly wound1 without any risk of being stung herself6 ,the moment that the position of the two combatants is such that neither has the advantage1 and that both are liable to perish1 they not only refuse to sting1 but disengage themselves1 and suspend their conflict for a short time6 ,if it were not for this peculiarity of instinct1 such combats would very often terminate in the death of both the parties1 and the race of bees would be in danger of becoming extinct4 ,the unwillingness of a swarm of bees1 which has been deprived of its queen1 to receive another1 until after some time has elapsed1 must always be borne in mind1 by those who have anything to do with making artificial swarms4 ,about #bd hours must elapse before it will be safe to introduce a strange mother into a queenless hive2 and even then1 if she is not fertile1 she will run a great risk of being destroyed4 ,to prevent such losses1 ,i adopt the ,german plan of confining the queen1 in what they call1 a queen cage4 ,a small hole1 about as large as a thimble1 may be gouged out of a block1 and covered over with wire gauze1 or any other kind of perforated cover1 so that when the queen is put in1 the bees cannot enter to destroy her4 ,before long1 they will cultivate an acquaintance1 by thrusting their antenn through to her2 so that1 when she is liberated the next day1 they will gladly adopt her in place of the one they have lost4 ,if a hole large enough for her to creep out1 is closed with wax1 they will gnaw the wax away1 and liberate her themselves1 from her confinement4 ,queens that seem bent on departing to the woods1 may be confined in the same way1 until the colony has given up all thoughts of forsaking its hive4 ,a small paste-board box with suitable holes1 or a wooden match-box thoroughly scalded1 ,i have found to answer a very good purpose4 ,i shall here describe what may be called a ,queen ,nursery which ,i have contrived to aid those who are engaged in the rapid multiplication of colonies by artificial means4 ,a solid block about an inch and a quarter thick1 is substituted for one of my frames2 holes1 about one and a half inches in diameter1 are bored through it1 and covered on both sides1 with gauze wire slides2 the wire ought to be such as will allow a common bee to pass through1 but should be too small to permit a queen to do the same4 ,any kind of perforated cover may be made to answer the same purpose as the gauze wire4 ,if a number of sealed queens are on hand1 and there is danger that some may hatch1 and destroy the others1 before the ,apiarian can make use of them in forming artificial swarms1 he may very carefully cut out the combs containing them1 and place them each in a separate cradle6 ,the bees having access to them1 will give them proper attention1 and as soon as they are hatched1 will supply them with food1 and thus they will always be on hand for use when they are needed4 ,this ,nursery must of course1 be established in a hive which has no mature queen1 or it will quickly be transformed into a slaughter house by the bees4 ,i have not yet tested this plan so thoroughly as to be certain that it will succeed2 and ,i know so well the immense difference between theoretical conjectures and practical results1 that ,i consider nothing in the bee line1 or indeed in any other line1 as established1 until it has been submitted to the most rigorous demonstrations1 and has triumphantly passed from the mere regions of the brain to those of actual fact4 ,a theory on any subject may seem so plausible as almost to amount to a positive demonstration1 and yet when put to the working test1 it is often found to be encumbered by some unforeseen difficulty1 which speedily convinces even its sanguine projector1 that it has no practical value4 ,nine things out of ten may work to a charm1 and yet the tenth may be so connected with the other nine1 that its failure renders their success of no account4 ,when ,i first used this ,nursery1 ,i did not give the bees access to it1 and ,i found that the queens were not properly developed1 and died in their cells4 ,perhaps they did not receive sufficient warmth1 or were not treated in some other important respects1 as they would have been if left under the care of the bees4 ,in the multiplicity of my experiments1 ,i did not repeat this one under a sufficient variety of circumstances1 to ascertain the precise cause of failure2 nor have ,i as yet1 tried whether it will answer perfectly1 by admitting the bees to the queen cells4 ,last ,spring1 ,i made one queen supply several hives with eggs1 so as to keep them strong in numbers while they were constantly engaged in rearing a large number of spare queens4 ,two hives which ,i shall call ,a and ,b1 were deprived at intervals of a week1 each of its queen1#bj in order to induce them to raise a number of young sealed queens for the use of the ,apiary4 ,as soon as the queens in ,a1 were of an age suitable to be removed1 ,i took them away and gave the colony a fertile queen from another hive1 ,c2 as soon as she had laid a large number of eggs in the empty cells1 ,i removed the queen cells now sealed over1 from ,b1 and gave them the loan of this fertile mother1 until she had performed the same necessary office for them4 ,by this time1 the queen cells in ,c1 were sealed over2 these were now removed1 and the queen restored2 she had thus made one circuit1 and laid a very large number of eggs in the two hives which were first deprived of their queens4 ,after allowing her to replenish her own hive with eggs1 ,i sent her out again on her perambulating mission1 and by this new device was able to get an extraordinary number of young queens from the three hives1 and at the same time to preserve their numbers from seriously diminishing4 ,two queens may in this way1 be made in six hives to furnish all the supernumerary queens which will be wanted in quite a large ,apiary4 ,it will be perfectly obvious to every intelligent and ingenious ,apiarian1 that the perfect control of the comb1 is the soul of an entirely new system of practical management1 and that it may be modified to suit the wants of all who wish to cultivate bees4 ,even the advocate of the old fashioned plan of killing the bees1 can with one of my hives1 destroy his faithful laborers1 by shaking them into a tub of water1 almost1 if not quite as speedily as by setting them over a sulphur pit2 while after the work of death is accomplished1 his honey will be free from disgusting fumes1 and all the labor of cutting it out of the hive1 may be dispensed with4 ,i am now prepared to answer an objection which doubtless has been present in the minds of many1 all the time that they have been reading the various processes on which ,i rely for the multiplication of colonies4 ,a very large number of persons who keep bees1 or who wish to keep them1 are so much afraid of them that they object entirely even to natural swarming1 because they are in danger of being stung in the process of hiving the bees4 ,how are such persons to manage bees on my plan1 which seems like bearding a lion in its very den6 ,the truth is that some persons are so very timid1 or suffer so dreadfully from the sting of a bee1 that they are every way disqualified from having anything to do with them1 and ought either to have no bees upon their premises1 or to entrust the care of them to some suitable person4 ,by managing bees according to the directions furnished in this treatise1 almost any one can learn1 by using a bee-dress1 to superintend them1 with very little risk2 while those who are favorites with them1 may dispense entirely with any protection4 ,i find in short1 that the risk of being stung is really diminished by the use of my hives2 although it will be hard to convince those who have not seen them in use1 that this can be so4 ,there is still another class who either keep bees or can be induced to keep them1 and who are anxiously inquiring for some new hive or new plan by which1 with little or no trouble1 they may reap copious harvests of the precious nectar4 ,this is emphatically the class to seize hold of every new device1 and waste their time and money to fill the coffers of the ignorant or unprincipled4 ,there never will be a royal road to profitable bee-keeping4 ,if there is any branch of rural economy which more than all others demands care and experience1 for its profitable management1 it is the keeping of bees2 and those who have a painful consciousness that the disposition to put off and neglect1 was1 so to speak1 born in them1 and has never been got out of them1 will do well to let bees alone1 unless they hope1 by the study of their systematic industry1 to reform evil habits which are well nigh incurable4 ,while ,i feel very sanguine that my system of management will be used extensively and very advantageously1 by careful and skillful ,apiarians1 ,i know too much of the world to expect that it will1 with the masses1 very speedily supercede other methods1 even if it were so absolutely perfect1 as to admit of no possible improvement4 ,i hope1 however1 that ,i may1 without being charged with presumption1 be permitted to put on record the prediction1 that movable frames will in due season1 be almost universally employed2 and this1 whether bees are allowed to swarm naturally1 or are increased by artificial means1 or are kept in hives in which they are not expected to swarm at all4 ,,note4--,the very day on which ,i first contrived the plan1 so perfectly simple1 and yet so efficacious1 of gaining the control of the combs by these frames1 ,i not only foresaw all the consequences which would follow their adoption1 but wrote as follows1 in my ,bee-,journal4 ,the use of these frames will1 ,i am persuaded1 give a new impulse to the easy and profitable management of bees2 and will render the making of artificial swarms an easy operation4 ,,footnotes3 #ag ,i have often spent more than ten minutes in opening and shutting a single frame in the ,huber hive1 and even then1 have sometimes crushed some of the bees4 #ah ,the scent of the hives1 during the height of the gathering season1 will usually inform us from what sources the bees have gathered their supplies4 #ai ,if they cannot obtain it1 the ,apiarian must himself furnish it4 #bj ,the queens taken from such hives may be advantageously used in forming artificial colonies4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,the ,,bee-,,moth1 ,,and ,,other ,,enemies ,,of ,,bees4 ,,diseases ,,of ,,bees4 ,of all the numerous enemies of the honey-bee1 the ,bee-,moth 7,tinea mellonella17 in climates of hot ,summers1 is by far1 the most to be dreaded4 ,so wide spread and fatal have been its ravages in this country1 that thousands have abandoned the cultivation of bees in despair1 and in districts which once produced abundant supplies of the purest honey1 bee-keeping has gradually dwindled down into a very insignificant pursuit4 ,contrivances almost without number1 have been devised1 to defend the bees against this invidious foe1 but still it continues its desolating inroads1 almost unchecked1 laughing as it were to scorn1 at all the so-called moth-proof hives1 and turning many of the ingenious fixtures designed to entrap or exclude it1 into actual aids and comforts in its nefarious designs4 ,i should feel but little confidence in being able to reinstate bee-keeping in our country1 into a certain and profitable pursuit1 if ,i could not show the ,apiarian in what way he can safely bid defiance to the pestiferous assaults of this1 his most implacable enemy4 ,i have patiently studied its habits for years1 and ,i am at length able to announce a system of management founded upon the peculiar construction of my hives1 which will enable the careful bee-keeper to protect his colonies against the monster4 ,the ,,careful bee-keeper1 ,i say3 for to pretend that the careless one1 can by any contrivance effect this1 is a snare and a delusion2 and no well-informed man1 unless he is steeped to the very lips1 in fraud and imposture1 will ever claim to accomplish any thing of the kind4 ,the bee-moth infects our ,apiaries1 just as weeds take possession of a fertile soil2 and the negligent bee-keeper will find a moth-proof hive1 when the sluggard finds a weed-proof soil1 and ,i suspect not until a consummation so devoutly wished for by the slothful has arrived4 ,before explaining the means upon which ,i rely1 to circumvent the moth1 ,i will first give a brief description of its habits4 ,swammerdam1 towards the close of the #agth century1 gave a very accurate description of this insect1 which was then called by the very expressive name of the bee-wolf4 ,he has furnished good drawings of it1 in all its changes1 from the worm to the perfect moth1 together with the peculiar webs or galleries which it constructs and from which the name of ,tinea ,galleria or gallery moth1 has been given to it by some entomologists4 ,he failed1 however1 to discriminate between the male and female1 which1 because they differ so much in size and appearance1 he supposed to be two different species of the wax-moth4 ,it seems to have been a great pest in his time2 and even ,virgil speaks of the dirum tine genus1 the dreadful offspring of the moth2 that is the worm4 ,this destroyer usually makes its appearance about the hives1 in ,april or ,may2 the time of its coming1 depending upon the warmth of the climate1 or the forwardness of the season4 ,it is seldom seen on the wing1 7unless startled from its lurking place about the hive17 until towards dark1 and is evidently1 chiefly nocturnal in its habits4 ,in dark cloudy days1 however1 ,i have noticed it on the wing long before sunset1 and if several such days follow in succession1 the female oppressed with the urgent necessity of laying her eggs1 may be seen endeavoring to gain admission to the hives4 ,the female is much larger than the male1 and her color is deeper and more inclining to a darkish gray1 with small spots or blackish streaks on the interior edge of her upper wings4 ,the color of the male inclines more to a light gray2 they might easily be mistaken for different species of moths4 ,these insects are surprisingly agile1 both on foot and on the wing4 ,the motions of a bee are very slow in comparison4 ,they are1 says ,reaumur1 the most nimble-footed creatures that ,i know4 ,if the approach to the ,apiary#ba be observed of a moonlight evening1 the moths will be found flying or running round the hives1 watching an opportunity to enter1 whilst the bees that have to guard the entrances against their intrusion1 will be seen acting as vigilant sentinels1 performing continual rounds near this important post1 extending their antenn to the utmost1 and moving them to the right and left alternately4 ,woe to the unfortunate moth that comes within their reach6 ,it is curious1 says ,huber1 to observe how artfully the moth knows how to profit1 to the disadvantage of the bees1 which require much light for seeing objects2 and the precautions taken by the latter in reconnoitering and expelling so dangerous an enemy4 ,the entrance of the moth into a hive1 and the ravages committed by her progeny1 forcibly remind one of the sad havoc which sin often makes of character and happiness1 when it finds admission into the human heart1 and is allowed to prey unchecked1 upon all its most precious treasures2 and he who would not be so enslaved by its power1 as to lose all his spiritual life and prosperity1 must be constantly on the defensive1 and ever on the watch against its fatal intrusions4 ,only some tiny eggs are deposited by the moth1 and they give birth to a very delicate1 innocent-looking worm2 but let these apparently insignificant creatures once get the upper hand1 and all the fragrance of the honied dome1 is soon corrupted by their abominable stench2 every thing beautiful and useful1 is ruthlessly destroyed2 the hum of happy industry is stilled1 and at last1 nothing is left in the desecrated hive1 but a set of ravenous1 half famished worms1 knotting and writhing around each other1 in most loathsome convolutions4 ,wax is the proper aliment of the larv of the bee-moth3 and upon this seemingly indigestible substance1 they thrive and fatten4 ,when obliged to steal their living as best they can1 among a powerful stock of bees1 they are exposed1 during their growth1 to many perils1 and seldom fare well enough to reach their natural size3 but if they are rioting at pleasure1 among the full combs of a feeble and discouraged population1 they often attain a size and corpulency truly astonishing4 ,if the bee-keeper wishes to see their innate capabilities fully developed1 let him rear a lot for himself among some old combs1 and if prizes were offered for fat and full grown worms1 he might easily obtain one4 ,in the course of a few weeks1 the larva like that of the silk-worm1 stops eating1 and begins to think of a suitable place for encasing itself in its silky shroud4 ,in hives where they reign uncontrolled1 this is a work of but little difficulty2 almost any place will answer their purpose1 and they often pile their cocoons1 one on top of another1 or join them in long rows together3 but in hives strongly guarded by healthy bees1 this is a matter not very easily accomplished2 and many a worm while it is cautiously prying about1 to see where it can find some snug place in which to ensconce itself1 is caught by the nape of the neck1 and very unceremoniously served with an instant writ of ejection from the hive4 ,if a hive is thoroughly made1 of sound materials1 and has no cracks or crevices under which the worm can retreat1 it is obliged to leave the interior in search of such a place1 and it runs a most dangerous gantlet1 as it passes1 for this purpose1 through the ranks of its enraged foes4 ,even in the worm state1 however1 its motions are exceedingly quick2 it can crawl backwards or forwards1 and as well one way as another3 it can twist round on itself1 curl up almost into a knot1 and flatten itself out like a pancake6 in short1 it is full of stratagems and cunning devices4 ,if obliged to leave the hive1 it gets under any board or concealed crack1 spins its cocoon1 and patiently awaits its transformation4 ,in most of the common hives1 it is under no necessity of leaving its birth place for this purpose4 ,it is almost certain to find a crack or flaw into which it can creep1 or a small space between the bottom-board and the edges of the hive which rest upon it4 ,a very small crevice will answer all its purposes4 ,it enters1 by flattening itself out almost as much as though it had been passed under a roller1 and as soon as it is safe from the bees1 it speedily begins to give its cramped tenement1 the requisite proportions4 ,it is utterly amazing how an insect apparently so feeble1 can do this2 but it will often gnaw for itself a cavity1 even in solid wood1 and thus enlarge its retreat1 until it has ample room for making its cocoon6 ,the time when it will break forth into a winged insect1 depends entirely upon the degree of heat to which it is exposed4 ,i have had them spin their cocoons and hatch in a temperature of about #gj1 in ten or eleven days1 and ,i have known them to spin so late in the ,fall1 that they remained all ,winter1 undeveloped1 and did not emerge until the warm weather of the ensuing ,spring6 ,if they are hatched in the hive1 they leave it1 in order to attend to the business of impregnation4 ,in the moth state1 they do not actually attack the hives1 to plunder them of food1 although they have a sweet tooth in their head1 and are easily attracted by the odor of liquid sweets4 ,the male1 having no special business in the hive1 usually keeps himself at a safe distance from the bees3 but the female1 impelled by an irresistible instinct1 seeks admission1 in order to deposit her eggs where her offspring may gain the readiest access to their natural food4 ,she carefully explores all the cracks and crevices about the bottom-board1 and if she finds a suitable place under them1 lays her eggs among the parings of the combs1 and other refuse matter which has fallen from the hive4 ,if she enters a feeble or discouraged stock1 where she can act her own pleasure1 she will lay her eggs among the combs4 ,in a hive where she is too closely watched to effect this1 she will insert them in the corners1 into the soft propolis1 or in any place where there are small pieces of wax and bee-bread1 which have fallen upon the bottom-board1 and which will furnish a temporary place of concealment for her progeny1 and also the requisite nourishment1 until they have strength and enterprise enough to reach the main combs of the hive1 and fortify themselves there4 ,as soon as hatched1#bb the worm encloses itself in a case of white silk1 which it spins around its body2 at first it is like a mere thread1 but gradually increases in size1 and during its growth1 feeds upon the cells around it1 for which purpose it has only to put forth its head1 and find its wants supplied4 ,it devours its food with great avidity1 and consequently increases so much in bulk1 that its gallery soon becomes too short and narrow1 and the creature is obliged to thrust itself forward and lengthen the gallery1 as well to obtain more room as to procure an additional supply of food4 ,its augmented size exposing it to attacks from surrounding foes1 the wary insect fortifies its new abode with additional strength and thickness1 by blending with the filaments of its silken covering1 a mixture of wax and its own excrement1 for the external barrier of a new gallery1 the interior and partitions of which are lined with a smooth surface of white silk1 which admits the occasional movements of the insect1 without injury to its delicate 787 texture4 ,in performing these operations1 the insect might be expected to meet with opposition from the bees1 and to be gradually rendered more assailable as it advanced in age4 ,it never1 however1 exposes any part but its head and neck1 both of which are covered with stout helmets or scales impenetrable to the sting of a bee1 as is the composition of the galleries that surround it4 ,as soon as it has reached its full growth1 it seeks in the manner previously described1 a secure place for undergoing its changes into a winged insect4 ,before describing the way in which ,i protect my hives from this deadly pest1 ,i shall first show why the bee-moth has so wonderfully increased in numbers in this country1 and how the use of patent hives has so powerfully contributed to encourage its ravages4 ,it ought to be borne in mind that our climate is altogether more propitious to its rapid increase1 than that of ,great ,britain4 ,our intensely hot summers develop most rapidly and powerfully1 insect life1 and those parts of our country where the heat is most protracted and intense1 have1 as a general thing1 suffered most from the devastations of the bee-moth4 ,the bee is not a native of the ,american continent2 it was first brought here by colonists from ,great ,britain1 and was called by the ,indians1 the white man's fly4 ,with the bee1 was introduced its natural enemy1 created for the special purpose1 not of destroying the insect1 on whose industry it thrives1 and whose extermination would be fatal to the moth itself1 but that it might gain its livelihood as best it could in this busy world4 ,finding itself in a country whose climate is exceedingly propitious to its rapid increase1 it has multiplied and increased a thousand fold1 until now there is hardly a spot where the bees inhabit1 which is not infested by its powerful enemy4 ,i have often listened to the glowing accounts of the vast supplies of honey obtained by the first settlers1 from their bees4 ,fifty years ago1 the markets in our large cities were much more abundantly supplied than they now are1 and it was no uncommon thing to see exposed for sale1 large washing-tubs filled with the most beautiful honey4 ,various reasons have been assigned for the present depressed state of ,apiarian pursuits4 ,some imagine that newly settled countries are most favorable for the labors of the bee3 others1 that we have overstocked our farms1 so that the bees cannot find a sufficient supply of food4 ,that neither of these reasons will account for the change1 ,i shall prove more at length1 in my remarks on ,honey1 and when ,i discuss the question of overstocking a district with bees4 ,others lay all the blame upon the bee-moth1 and others still1 upon our departure from the good old-fashioned way of managing bees4 ,that the bee-moth has multiplied most astonishingly1 is undoubtedly true4 ,in many districts1 it so superabounds1 that the man who should expect to manage his bees with as little care as his father and grandfather bestowed upon them1 and yet realize as large profits1 would find himself most wofully mistaken4 ,the old bee-keeper often never looked at his bees after the swarming season1 until the time came for appropriating their spoils4 ,he then carefully hefted all his hives so as to be able to judge as well as he could1 how much honey they contained4 ,all which were found to be too light to survive the ,winter1 he at once condemned2 and if any were deficient in bees1 or for any other reason1 appeared to be of doubtful promise1 they were1 in like manner1 sentenced to the sulphur pit4 ,a certain number of those containing the largest supplies of honey1 were also treated in the same summary way3 while the requisite number of the very best1 were reserved to replenish his stock another season4 ,if the same system precisely1 were now followed1 a number of colonies would still perish annually1 through the increased devastations of the moth4 ,the change which has taken place in the circumstances of the bee-keeper1 may be illustrated by supposing that when the country was first settled1 weeds were almost unknown4 ,the farmer plants his corn1 and then lets it alone1 and as there are no weeds to molest it1 at the end of the season he harvests a fair crop4 ,suppose1 however1 that in process of time1 the weeds begin to spread more and more1 until at last1 this farmer's son or grandson finds that they entirely choke his corn1 and that he cannot1 in the old way1 obtain a remunerating crop4 ,now listen to him1 as he gravely informs you that he cannot tell how it is1 but corn with him has all run out4 ,he manages it precisely as his father or grandfather always managed theirs1 but somehow the pestiferous weeds will spring up1 and he has next to no crop4 ,perhaps you can hardly conceive of such transparent ignorance and stupidity2 but it would be difficult to show that it would be one whit greater than that of a large number who keep bees in places where the bee-moth abounds1 and who yet imagine that those plans which answered perfectly well fifty or a hundred years ago1 when moths were scarce1 will answer just as well now4 ,if however1 the old plan had been rigidly adhered to1 the ravages of the bee-moth would never have been so great as they now are4 ,the introduction of patent hives has contributed most powerfully1 to fill the land with the devouring pest4 ,i am perfectly aware that this is a bold assertion1 and that it may1 at first sight1 appear to be very uncourteous1 if not unjust1 to the many intelligent and ingenious ,apiarians1 who have devoted much time1 and spent large sums of money1 in perfecting hives designed to enable the bee-keeper to contend most successfully against his worst enemy4 ,as ,i do not wish to treat such persons with even the appearance of disrespect1 ,i shall endeavor to show just how the use of the hives which they have devised1 has contributed to undermine the prosperity of the bees4 ,many of these hives have valuable properties1 and if they were always used in strict accordance with the enlightened directions of those who have invented them1 they would undoubtedly be real and substantial improvements over the old box or straw hive1 and would greatly aid the bee-keeper in his contest with the moth4 ,the great difficulty is that they are none of them1 able to give him the facilities which alone can make him victorious4 ,no hive1 as ,i shall soon show1 can ever do this1 which does not give the complete and easy control of all the combs4 ,i do not know of a single improved hive which does not aim at entirely doing away with the old-fashioned plan of killing the bees4 ,such a practice is denounced as being almost as cruel and silly as to kill a hen for the sake of obtaining her feathers or a few of her eggs4 ,now if the ,apiarian can be furnished with suitable instructions1 and such as he will practice1 for managing his bees so as to avoid this necessity1 then ,i admit the full force of all the objections which have been urged against it4 ,i have never read the beautiful verses of the poet ,thompson1 without feeling all their force3 ,ah1 see1 where robbed and murdered in that pit ,lies the still heaving hive6 at evening snatched1 ,beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night1 ,and fixed o'er sulphur6 while1 not dreaming ill1 ,the happy people1 in their waxen cells1 ,sat tending public cares2 ,sudden1 the dark oppressive steam ascends1 ,and1 used to milder scents1 the tender race1 ,by thousands1 tumble from their honied dome6 ,into a gulf of blue sulphureous flame4 ,the plain matter of fact however1 is1 that in our country1 as many bees1 if not more1 die of starvation in their hives1 as ever were killed by the fumes of sulphur4 ,commend me rather to the humanity of the old-fashioned bee-keeper1 who put to a speedy and therefore merciful death1 the poor bees which are now1 by millions1 tortured by slow starvation among their empty combs6 ,at the present time1 7,april #ahec17 ,i am almost daily hearing of swarms which have perished in this way1 during the last ,winter2 and ,i know of only one person who was merciful enough to kill his weak stocks1 rather than suffer them to die so cruel a death4 ,if the use of the common patent hives could only keep the stocks strong in numbers1 and if the bee-keepers would always see that they were well supplied with honey1 then ,i admit that to kill the bees would be both cruel and unnecessary4 ,such however1 are the discouragements and losses necessarily attending the use of any hive which does not give the control of the combs1 that there will be few who do not continually find that some of their stocks are too feeble to be worth the labor and expense of attempting to preserve them over ,winter4 ,how many colonies are annually wintered1 which are not only of no value to their owner1 but are positive nuisances in his ,apiary2 being so feeble in the ,spring1 that they are speedily overcome by the moth1 and answer only to breed a horde of destroyers to ravage the rest of his ,apiary4 ,the time spent upon them is often as absolutely wasted1 as the time devoted to a sick animal incurably diseased1 and which can never be of any service1 while by nursing it along1 its owner incurs the risk of infecting his whole stock with its deadly taint4 ,if1 on the score of kindness1 he should shut it up1 and let it starve to death1 few of us1 ,i imagine1 would care to cultivate a very intimate acquaintance with one so extremely original in the exhibition of his humanity6 ,ever since the introduction of patent hives1 the notion has almost universally prevailed1 that stocks must not1 under any circumstances1 be voluntarily broken up2 and hence1 instead of ,apiaries1 filled in the ,spring1 with strong and healthy stocks of bees1 easily able to protect themselves against the bee-moth1 and all other enemies1 we have multitudes of colonies which1 if they had been kept on purpose to furnish food for the worms1 could scarcely have answered a more valuable end in encouraging their increase4 ,the simple truth is1 that improved hives1 without an improved system of management1 have done on the whole more harm than good2 in no country have they been so extensively used as in our own1 and no where has the moth so completely gained the ascendency4 ,just so far as they have discouraged bee-keepers from the old plan of killing off all their weak swarms in the ,fall1 just so far have they extended aid and comfort to the moth1 and made the condition of the bee-keeper worse than it was before4 ,that some of them might be managed so as in all ordinary cases1 to give the bees complete protection against their scourge1 ,i do not1 for a moment1 question2 but that they cannot1 from the very nature of the case1 answer fully in all emergencies1 the ends for which they were designed1 ,i shall endeavor to prove and not to assert4 ,the kind of hives of which ,i have been speaking1 are such as have been devised by intelligent and honest men1 practically acquainted with the management of bees3 as for many of the hives which have been introduced1 they not only afford the ,apiarian no assistance against the inroads of the bee-moth1 but they are so constructed as positively to aid it in its nefarious designs4 ,the more they are used1 the worse the poor bees are off3 just as the more a man uses the lying nostrums of the brazen-faced quack1 the further he finds himself from health and vigor4 ,i once met with an intelligent man who told me that he had paid a considerable sum1 to a person who professed to be in possession of many valuable secrets in the management of bees1 and who promised1 among other things1 to impart to him an infallible remedy against the bee-moth4 ,on the receipt of the money1 he very gravely told him that the secret of keeping the moth out of the hive1 was to keep the bees strong and vigorous6 ,a truer declaration he could not have made1 but ,i believe that the bee-keeper felt1 notwithstanding1 that he had been imposed upon1 as outrageously1 as a poor man would be1 who after paying a quack a large sum of money for an infallible1 life-preserving secret1 should be turned off with the truism that the secret of living forever1 was to keep well6 ,there is not an intelligent1 observing ,apiarian who has been in the habit of carefully examining the operations of bees1 not only in his own ,apiary1 but wherever he could find them1 who has not seen strong stocks flourishing under almost any conceivable circumstances4 ,they may be seen in hives of the most miserable construction1 unpainted and unprotected1 sometimes with large open cracks and clefts extending down their sides1 and yet laughing to defiance1 the bee-moth1 and all other adverse influences4 ,almost any thing hollow1 in which the bees can establish themselves1 and where they have once succeeded in becoming strong1 will often be successfully tenanted by them for a series of years4 ,to see such hives1 as they sometimes may be seen1 in possession of persons both ignorant and careless1 and who hardly know a bee-moth from any other kind of moth1 may at first sight well shake the confidence of the inquirer1 in the necessity or value of any particular precautions to preserve his hives from the devastations of the moth4 ,after looking at these powerful stocks in what may be called log-cabin hives1 let us examine some in the most costly hives1 which have ever been constructed2 in what have been called real ,bee-,palaces2 and we shall often find them weak and impoverished1 infested and almost devoured by the worms4 ,their owner1 with books in his hand1 and all the newest devices and appliances in the ,apiarian line1 unable to protect his bees against their enemies1 or to account for the reason why some hives seem1 like the children of the poor1 almost to thrive upon ill-treatment and neglect1 while others1 like the offspring of the rich and powerful1 are feeble and diseased1 almost in exact proportion to the means used to guard them against noxious influences1 and to minister most lavishly to all their wants4 ,i once used to be much surprised to hear so many bee-keepers speak of having good luck1 or bad luck with their bees2 but really as bees are generally managed1 success or failure does seem to depend almost entirely upon what the ignorant or superstitious are wont to call luck4 ,i shall now try to do what ,i have never yet seen satisfactorily done by any writer on bees2 viz43 show exactly under what circumstances the bee-moth succeeds in establishing itself in a hive2 thus explaining why some stocks flourish in spite of all neglect1 while others1 in the common hives1 fall a prey to the moth1 let their owner be as careful as he will1 ,i shall finally show how in suitable hives1 with proper precautions1 it may always be kept from seriously annoying the bees4 ,it often happens1 when a large number of stocks are kept1 that in spite of all precautions1 some of them are found in the ,spring1 so greatly reduced in numbers1 that if left to themselves1 they are in danger of falling a prey to the devouring moth4 ,bees1 when in feeble colonies1 seem often to lose a portion of their wonted vigilance1 and as they have a large quantity of empty comb which they cannot guard1 even if they would1 the moth enters the hive1 and deposits a large number of eggs1 and thus before the bees have become sufficiently numerous to protect themselves1 the combs are filled with worms1 and the destruction of the colony speedily follows4 ,the ignorant or careless bee-keeper is informed of the ravages which are going on in such a hive1 only when its ruin is fully completed1 and a cloud of winged pests issues from it1 to destroy if they can1 the rest of his stocks4 ,but how1 it may be asked1 can it be ascertained that a hive is seriously infested with the all-devouring worms8 ,the aspect of the bees1 so discouraged and forlorn1 proclaims at once that there is trouble of some kind within4 ,if the hive be slightly elevated1 the bottom-board will be found covered with pieces of bee-bread1 c4 mixed with the excrement of the worms which looks almost exactly like fine grains of powder4 ,as the bees in ,spring1 clean out their combs1 and prepare the cells for the reception of brood1 their bottom-board will often be so covered with parings of comb and with small pieces of bee-bread1 that the hive may appear to be in danger of being destroyed by the worms4 ,if1 however1 none of the black excrement is perceived1 the refuse on the bottom-board1 like the shavings in a carpenter's shop1 are proofs of industry and not the signs of approaching ruin4 ,it is highly important1 however1 to keep the bottom-boards clean1 and if a piece of zinc be slipt in1 7or even an old newspaper17 by removing and cleansing it from time to time1 the bees will be greatly assisted in their operations4 ,as soon as the hive is well filled with bees1 this need no longer be done4 ,even the most careful and experienced ,apiarian will find1 too often1 that although he is perfectly well aware of the plague that is reigning within1 his knowledge can be turned to no good account1 the interior of the hive being almost as inaccessible as the interior of the human body4 ,the way in which ,i manage1 in such cases1 is as follows4 ,having ascertained1 in the ,spring1 as soon as the bees begin to fly out1 that a colony although feeble1 has a fertile queen1 ,i take the precaution at once to give it the strength which is indispensable1 not merely to its safety1 but to its ability for any kind of successful labor4 ,as a certain number of bees are needed in a hive1 in order as well to warm and hatch the thousands of eggs which a healthy queen can lay1 as to feed and properly develop the larv after they are hatched1 ,i know that a feeble colony must remain feeble for a long time1 unless they can at once be supplied with a considerable accession of numbers4 ,even if there were no moths in existence to trouble such a hive1 it would not be able to rear a large number of bees1 until after the best of the honey-harvest had passed away3 and then it would become powerful only that its increasing numbers might devour the food which the others had previously stored in the cells4 ,if the small colony has a considerable number of bees1 and is able to cover and warm at least one comb in addition to those containing brood which they already have1 ,i take from one of my strong stocks1 a frame containing some three or four thousand or more young bees1 which are sealed over in their cells1 and are just ready to emerge4 ,these bees which require no food1 and need nothing but warmth to develop them1 will1 in a few days1 hatch in the new hive to which they are given1 and thus the requisite number of workers1 in the full vigor and energy of youth1 will be furnished to the hive1 and the discouraged queen1 finding at once a suitable number of experienced nurses#bc to take charge of her eggs1 deposits them in the proper cells1 instead of simply extruding them1 to be devoured by the bees4 ,while bees often attack full grown strangers which are introduced into their hive1 they never fail to receive gladly all the brood comb that we choose to give them4 ,if they are sufficiently numerous1 they will always cherish it1 and in warm weather1 they will protect it1 even if it is laid against the outside of their hive6 ,if the bees in the weak stock1 are too much reduced in numbers1 to be able to cover the brood comb taken from another hive1 ,i give them this comb with all the old bees that are clustered upon it1 and shut up the hive1 after supplying them with water1 until two or three days have passed away4 ,by this time1 most of the strange bees will have formed an inviolable attachment to their new home1 and even if a portion of them should return to the parent hive1 a large number of the maturing young will have hatched1 to supply their desertion4 ,a little sugar-water scented with peppermint1 may be used to sprinkle the bees1 at the time that the comb is introduced1 although ,i have never yet found that they had the least disposition1 to quarrel with each other4 ,the original settlers are only too glad to receive such a valuable accession to their scanty numbers1 and the expatriated bees are too-much confounded with their unexpected emigration1 to feel any desire for making a disturbance4 ,if a sufficient increase of numbers has not been furnished by one range of comb1 the operation may1 in the course of a few days1 be repeated4 ,instead of leaving the colony to the discouraging feeling that they are in a large1 empty and desolate house1 a divider should be run down into the hive1 and they should be confined to a space which they are able to warm and defend1 and the rest of the hive1 until they need its additional room1 should be carefully shut up against all intruders4 ,if this operation is judiciously performed1 the bees will be powerful in numbers1 long before the weather is warm enough to develop the bee-moth1 and they will thus be most effectually protected from the hateful pest4 ,a very simple change in the organization of the bee-moth would have rendered it almost if not quite impossible to protect the bees from its ravages4 ,if it had been so constituted as to require but a very small amount of heat for its full development1 it would have become very numerous early in the ,spring1 and might then have easily entered the hives and deposited its eggs among the combs1 without any let or hindrance2 for at this season1 not only do the bees at night maintain no guard at the entrance of their hive1 but there are large portions of their comb bare of bees1 and of course1 entirely unprotected4 ,how does every fact in the history of the bee1 when properly investigated1 point with unerring certainty to the power1 wisdom and goodness1 of ,him who made it6 ,if there is reason to apprehend that the combs which are not occupied with brood1 contain any of the eggs of the moth1 these combs may be removed1 and thoroughly smoked with the fumes of burning sulphur2 and then1 in a few days1 after they have been exposed to the fresh air1 they may be returned to the hive4 ,i hope ,i may be pardoned for feeling not the slightest pity for the unfortunate progeny of the moth1 thus unceremoniously destroyed4 ,bees1 as is well known to every experienced bee-keeper1 frequently swarm so often as to expose themselves to great danger of being destroyed by the moth4 ,after the departure of the after-swarms1 the parent colony often contains too few bees to cover and protect their combs from the insidious attacks of their wily enemy4 ,as a number of weeks must elapse before the brood of the young queen is mature1 the colony1 for a considerable time1 at the season when the moths are very numerous1 are constantly diminishing in numbers1 and before they can begin to replenish the exhausted hive1 the destroyer has made a fatal lodgment4 ,in my hives1 such calamities are easily prevented4 ,if artificial increase is relied upon for the multiplication of colonies1 it can be so conducted as to give the moth next to no chance to fortify itself in the hive4 ,no colony is ever allowed to have more room than it needs1 or more combs than it can cover and protect2 and the entrance to the hive may be contracted1 if necessary1 so that only a single bee can go in and out1 at a time1 and yet the bees will have1 from the ventilators1 as much air as they require4 ,if natural swarming is allowed1 after-swarms may be prevented from issuing1 by cutting out all the queen cells but one1 soon after the first swarm leaves the hive2 or if it is desired to have as fast an increase of stocks1 as can possibly be obtained from natural swarming1 then instead of leaving the combs in the parent hive to be attacked by the moth1 a certain portion of them may be taken out1 when swarming is over1 and given to the second and third swarms1 so as to aid in building them up into strong stocks4 ,but ,i have not yet spoken of the most fruitful cause of the desolating ravages of the bee-moth4 ,if a colony has lost its queen1 and this loss cannot be supplied1 it must1 as a matter of course1 fall a sacrifice to the bee-moth3 and ,i do not hesitate to assert that by far the larger proportion of colonies which are destroyed by it1 are destroyed under precisely such circumstances6 ,let this be remembered by all who have any thing to do with bees1 and let them understand that unless a remedy for the loss of the queen1 can be provided1 they must constantly expect to see some of their best colonies hopelessly ruined4 ,the crafty moth1 after all1 is not so much to blame1 as we are apt to imagine2 for a colony1 once deprived of its queen1 and possessing no means of securing another1 would certainly perish1 even if never attacked by so deadly an enemy2 just as the body of an animal1 when deprived of life1 will speedily go to decay1 even if it is not1 at once1 devoured by ravenous swarms of filthy flies and worms4 ,in order to ascertain all the important points connected with the habits of the bee-moth1 ,i have purposely deprived colonies in some of my observing hives1 of their queen1 and have thus reduced them to a state of despair1 that ,i might closely watch all their proceedings4 ,i have invariably found that in this state1 they have made little or no resistance to the entrance of the bee-moth1 but have allowed her to deposit her eggs1 just where she pleased4 ,the worms1 after hatching1 have always appeared to be even more at home than the poor dispirited bees themselves1 and have grown and thrived1 in the most luxurious manner4 ,in some instances1 these colonies1 so far from losing all spirit to resent other intrusions1 were positively the most vindictive set of bees in my whole ,apiary4 ,one especially1 assaulted every body that came near it1 and when reduced in numbers to a mere handful1 seemed as ready for fight as ever4 ,how utterly useless then1 for defending a queenless colony against the moth1 are all the traps and other devices which have been1 of late years1 so much relied upon4 ,if a single female gains admission1 she will lay eggs enough to destroy in a short time1 the strongest colony that ever existed1 if once it has lost its queen1 and has no means of procuring another4 ,but not only do the bees of a hive which is hopelessly queenless1 make little or no opposition to the entrance of the bee-moth1 and to the ravages of the worms1 but by their forlorn condition1 they positively invite the attacks of their destroyers4 ,the moth seems to have an instinctive knowledge of the condition of such a hive1 and no art of man can ever keep her out4 ,she will pass by other colonies to get at the queenless one1 for she seems to know that there she will find all the conditions that are necessary to the proper development of her young4 ,there are many mysteries in the insect world1 which we have not yet solved2 nor can we tell just how the moth arrives at so correct a knowledge of the condition of the queenless hives in the ,apiary4 ,that such hives1 very seldom1 maintain a guard about the entrance1 is certain2 and that they do not fill the air with the pleasant voice of happy industry1 is equally certain2 for even to our dull ears1 the difference between the hum of the prosperous hive1 and the unhappy note of the despairing one1 is sufficiently obvious4 ,may it not be even more obvious to the acute senses of the provident mother1 seeking a proper place for the development of her young8 ,the unerring sagacity of the moth1 closely resembles that peculiar instinct by which the vulture and other birds that prey upon carrion1 are able to single out a diseased animal from the herd1 which they follow with their dismal croakings1 hovering over its head1 or sitting in ill-omened flocks1 on the surrounding trees1 watching it as its life ebbs away1 and stretching out their filthy and naked necks1 and opening and snapping their blood-thirsty beaks that they may be all ready to tear out its eyes just glazing in death1 and banquet upon its flesh still warm with the blood of life6 ,let any fatal accident befall an animal1 and how soon will you see them1 first from one quarter of the heavens1 and then from another1 speeding their eager flight to their destined prey1 when only a short time before1 not a single one could be seen or heard4 ,i have repeatedly seen powerful colonies speedily devoured by the worms1 because of the loss of their queen1 when they have stood1 side by side with feeble colonies which being in possession of a queen1 have been left untouched6 ,that the common hives furnish no available remedy for the loss of the queen1 is well known3 indeed1 the owner cannot1 in many cases1 be sure that his bees are queenless1 until their destruction is certain1 while not unfrequently1 after keeping bees for many years1 he does not even so much as believe that there is such a thing as a queen bee6 ,in the ,chapter on the ,loss of the ,queen1 ,i shall show in what way this loss can be ascertained1 and ordinarily remedied1 and thus the bees be protected from that calamity which more than all others1 exposes them to destruction4 ,when a colony has become hopelessly queenless1 then moth or no moth1 its destruction is absolutely certain4 ,even if the bees retained their wonted industry in gathering stores1 and their usual energy in defending themselves against all their enemies1 their ruin could only be delayed for a short time4 ,in a few months1 they would all die a natural death1 and there being none to replace them1 the hive would be utterly depopulated4 ,occasionally1 such instances occur in which the bees have died1 and large stores of honey have been found untouched in their hives4 ,this1 however1 but seldom happens3 for they rarely escape from the assaults of other colonies1 even if after the death of their queen1 they do not fall a prey to the bee-moth4 ,a motherless hive is almost always assaulted by stronger stocks1 which seem to have an instinctive knowledge of its orphanage1 and hasten at once1 to take possession of its spoils4 7,see ,remarks on ,robbing47 ,if it escape the ,scylla of these pitiless plunderers1 it is soon dashed upon a more merciless ,charybdis1 when the miscreant moths have ascertained its destitution4 ,every year1 large numbers of hives are bereft of their queen1 and every year1 the most of such hives are either robbed by other bees1 or sacked by the bee-moth1 or first robbed1 and afterwards sacked1 while their owner imputes all the mischief that is done1 to something else than the real cause4 ,he might just as well imagine that the birds1 or the carrion worms which are devouring his dead horse1 were actually the primary cause of its untimely end4 ,how often we see the same kind of mistake made by those who impute the decay of a tree1 to the insects which are banqueting upon its withering foliage2 when often these insects are there1 because the disease of the tree has both furnished them with their proper aliment1 and deprived the plant of the vigor necessary to enable it to resist their attack4 ,the bee keeper can easily gather from these remarks1 the means upon which ,i most rely1 to protect my colonies from the bee-moth4 ,knowing that strong stocks supplied with a fertile queen1 are always able to take care of themselves1 in almost any kind of hive1 ,i am careful to keep them in the state which is practically found to be one of such security4 ,if they are weak1 they must be properly strengthened1 and confined to only as much space as they can warm and defend3 and if they are queenless1 they must be supplied with the means of repairing their loss1 or if that cannot be done1 they should be at once broken up1 7,see ,remarks on ,queenlessness1 and ,union of ,stocks17 and added to other stocks4 ,it cannot be too deeply impressed upon the mind of the bee-keeper1 that a small colony ought always to be confined to a small space1 if we wish the bees to work with the greatest energy1 and to offer the stoutest resistance to their numerous enemies4 ,bees do most unquestionably1 abhor a vacuum1 if it is one which they can neither fill1 warm nor defend4 ,let the prudent bee-master only keep his stocks strong1 and they will do more to defend themselves against all intruders1 than he can possibly do for them1 even if he spends his whole time in watching and assisting them4 ,it is hardly necessary1 after the preceding remarks1 to say much upon the various contrivances to which so many resort1 as a safeguard against the bee-moth4 ,the idea that gauze-wire doors1 to be shut daily at dusk1 and opened again at morning1 can exclude the moth1 will not weigh much with one who has seen them flying and seeking admission1 especially in dull weather1 long before the bees have given over their work for the day4 ,even if the moth could be excluded by such a contrivance1 it would require1 on the part of those who rely upon it1 a regularity almost akin to that of the heavenly bodies in their courses2 a regularity so systematic1 in short1 as either to be impossible1 or likely to be attained but by very few4 ,an exceedingly ingenious contrivance1 to say the least1 to remedy the necessity for such close supervision1 is that by which the movable doors of all the hives are governed by a long lever in the shape of a hen-roost1 so that the hives may all be closed seasonably and regularly1 by the crowing and cackling tribe1 when they go to bed at night1 and opened at once when they fly from their perch1 to greet the merry morn4 ,alas6 that so much ingenuity should be all in vain6 ,chickens are often sleepy1 and wish to retire sometime before the bees feel that they have completed their full day's work1 and some of them are so much opposed to early rising1 either from ill-health1 or downright laziness1 that they sit moping on their roost1 long after the cheerful sun has purpled the glowing ,east4 ,even if this device were perfectly successful1 it could not save from ruin1 a colony which has lost its queen4 ,the truth is1 that almost all the contrivances upon which we are instructed to rely1 are just about equivalent to the lock carefully put upon the stable door1 after the horse has been stolen2 or to attempts to prevent corruption from fastening upon the body of an animal1 after the breath of life has forever departed4 ,are there then no precautions to which we may resort1 except by using hives which give the control over every comb8 ,certainly there are1 and ,i shall now describe them in such a manner as to aid all who find themselves annoyed by the inroads of the bee-moth4 ,let the prudent bee-master be deeply impressed with the very great importance of destroying early in the season1 the larv of the bee-moth4 ,prevention is1 at all times1 better than cure3 a single pair of worms that are permitted to undergo their changes into the winged insect1 may give birth to some hundreds which before the close of the season1 may fill the ,apiary with thousands of their kind4 ,the destruction of a single worm early in the ,spring1 may thus be more efficacious than that of hundreds1 at a later period4 ,if the common hives are used1 these worms must be sought for in their hiding places1 under the edges of the hive2 or the hive may be propped up1 on the two ends1 with strips of wood1 about three eighths of an inch thick2 and a piece of old woolen rag put between the bottom-board and the back of the hive4 ,into this warm hiding place1 the full grown worm will retreat to spin its cocoon1 and it may then be very easily caught and effectually dealt with4 ,hollow sticks1 or split joints of cane may be set under the hives1 so as to elevate them1 or may be laid on the bottom-board1 and if they have a few small openings through which the bees cannot enter1 the worms will take possession of them1 and may easily be destroyed4 ,only provide some hollow1 inaccessible to the bees1 but communicating with the hive and easily accessible to the worms when they want to spin1 and to yourself when you want them1 and if the bees are in good health1 so that they will not permit the worms to spin among the combs1 you can1 with ease1 entrap nearly all of them4 ,if the hive has lost its queen1 and the worms have gained possession of it1 you can do nothing for it better than to break it up as soon as possible1 unless you prefer to reserve it as a moth trap to devastate your whole ,apiary4 ,i make use of blocks of a peculiar construction1 in order both to entrap the worms1 and to exclude the moth from my hives4 ,the only place where the moth can enter1 is just where the bees are going in and out1 and this passage may be contracted so as to suit the size of the colony3 the very shape of it is such that if the moth attempts to force an entrance1 she is obliged to travel over a space which is continually narrowing1 and of course1 is more and more easily defended by the bees4 ,my traps are slightly elevated1 so that the heat and odor of the hive pass under them1 and come out through small openings into which the moth can enter1 but which do not admit her into the hive4 ,these openings1 which are so much like the crevices between the common hives and their bottom-boards1 the moth will enter1 rather than attempt to force her way through the guards1 and finding here the nibblings and parings of comb and bee-bread1 in which her young can flourish1 she deposits her eggs in a place where they may be reached and destroyed4 ,all this is on the supposition that the hive has a healthy queen1 and that the bees are confined to a space which they can warm and defend4 ,if there are no guards and no resistance1 or at best but a very feeble one1 she will not rest in any outer chamber1 but will penetrate to the very heart of the citadel1 and there deposit her seeds of mischief4 ,these same blocks have also grooves which communicate with the interior of the hives1 and which appear to the prowling worm in search of a comfortable nest1 just the very best possible place1 so warm and snug and secure1 in which to spin its web1 and bide its time4 ,when the hand of the bee-master lights upon it1 doubtless it has reason to feel that it has been caught in its own craftiness4 ,if asked how much will such contrivances help the careless bee-man1 ,i answer1 not one iota2 nay1 they will positively furnish him greater facilities for destroying his bees4 ,worms will spin and hatch1 and moths will lay their eggs1 under the blocks1 and he will never remove them3 thus instead of traps he will have most beautiful devices for giving more effectual aid and comfort to his enemies4 ,such persons1 if they ever attempt to keep bees on my plans1 should use only my smooth blocks1 which will enable them to control1 at will1 the size of the entrance to the hives1 and which are exceedingly important in aiding the bees to defend themselves against moths and robbers1 and all enemies which seek admission to their castle4 ,let me1 however1 strongly advise the thoroughly and incorrigibly careless1 to have nothing to do with bees1 either on my plan of management1 or any other2 for they will find their time and money almost certainly thrown away2 unless their mishaps open their eyes to the secret of their failure in other things1 as well as in bee-keeping4 ,if ,i find that the worms1 by any means have got the upper hand in one of my hives1 ,i take out the combs1 shake off the bees1 route out the worms and restore the combs again to the bees3 if there is reason to fear that they contain eggs and small worms1 ,i smoke them thoroughly with sulphur1 and air them well before they are returned4 ,such operations1 however1 will very seldom be required4 ,shallow vessels containing sweetened water1 placed on the hives after sunset1 will often entrap many of the moths4 ,pans of milk are recommended by some as useful for this purpose4 ,so fond are the moths of something sweet1 that ,i have caught them sticking fast to pieces of moist sugar-candy4 ,i cannot deny myself the pleasure of making an extract from an article#bd from the pen of that accomplished scholar1 and well-known enthusiast in bee-culture1 ,henry ,k4 ,oliver1 ,esq4 ,we add a few words respecting the enemies of bees4 ,the mouse1 the toad1 the ant1 the stouter spiders1 the wasp1 the death-head moth1 7,sphinx atropos17 and all the varieties of gallinaceous birds1 have1 each and all1 a sweet tooth1 and like1 very well1 a dinner of raw bee4 ,but the ravages of all these are but a baby bite to the destruction caused by the bee-moth1 7,tinea mellonella47 ,these nimble-footed little mischievous vermin may be seen1 on any evening1 from early ,may to ,october1 fluttering about the apiary1 or running about the hives1 at a speed to outstrip the swiftest bee1 and endeavoring to effect an entrance into the door way1 for it is within the hive that their instinct teaches them they must deposit their eggs4 ,you can hardly find them by day1 for they are cunning and secrete themselves4 ,they love darkness rather than light1 because their deeds are evil4 ,they are a paltry looking1 insignificant little grey-haired pestilent race of wax-and-honey-eating and bee-destroying rascals1 that have baffled all contrivances that ingenuity has devised to conquer or destroy them4 ,your committee would be very glad indeed to be able to suggest any effectual means1 by which to assist the honey-bee and its friends1 against the inroads of this1 its bitterest and most successful foe1 whose desolating ravages are more lamented and more despondingly referred to1 than those of any other enemy4 ,various contrivances have been announced1 but none have proved efficacious to any full extent1 and we are compelled to say that there really is no security1 except in a very full1 healthy and vigorous stock of bees1 and in a very close and well made hive1 the door of which is of such dimensions of length and height1 that the nightly guards can effectually protect it4 ,not too long a door1 nor too high4 ,if too long1 the bees cannot easily guard it1 and if too high1 the moth will get in over the heads of the guards4 ,if the guards catch one of them1 her life is not worth insuring4 ,but if the moths1 in any numbers1 effect a lodgment in the hive1 then the hive is not worth insuring4 ,they immediately commence laying their eggs1 from which comes1 in a few days1 a brownish white caterpillar1 which encloses itself1 all but its head1 in a silken cocoon4 ,this head1 covered with an impenetrable coat of scaly mail1 which bids defiance to the bees1 is thrust forward1 just outside of the silken enclosure1 and the gluttonous pest eats all before it1 wax1 pollen1 and exuvi1 until ruin to the stock is inevitable4 ,as says the ,prophet ,joel1 speaking of the ravages of the locust1 the land is as the garden of ,eden before them1 and behind them a desolate wilderness4 ,look out1 brethren1 bee lovers1 and have your hives of the best unshaky1 unknotty stock1 with close fitting joints1 and well covered with three or four coats of paint4 ,he who shall be successful in devising the means of ridding the bee world of this destructive and merciless pest1 will richly deserve to be crowned ,king ,bee1 in perpetuity1 to be entitled to a never-fading wreath of budding honey flowers1 from sweetly breathing fields1 all murmuring with bees1 to be privileged to use1 during his natural life1 night tapers from their waxen thighs1 best wax candles1 7two to the pound67 to have an annual offering from every bee-master1 of ten pounds each1 of very best virgin honey1 and to a body guard1 for protection against all foes1 of thrice ten thousand workers1 all armed and equipped1 as ,nature's law directs4 ,who shall have these high honors8 ,it might seem highly presumptuous for me1 at this early date1 to lay claim to them1 but ,i beg leave to enroll myself among the list of honorable candidates1 and ,i cheerfully submit my pretensions to the suffrages of all intelligent keepers of bees4 ,in the chapter on ,requisites1 ,i have spoken of the ravages of the mouse1 and have there described the way in which my hives are guarded against its intrusion4 ,that some kinds of birds are fond of bees1 every ,apiarian knows1 to his cost2 still1 ,i cannot advise that any should1 on this account1 be destroyed4 ,it has been stated to me1 by an intelligent observer1 that the ,king-bird1 which devours them by scores1 confines himself always1 in the season of drones1 to those fat and lazy gentlemen of leisure4 ,i fear however1 that this1 as the children say1 is too good news to be true1 and that not only the industrious portion of the busy community fall a prey to his fatal snap1 but that the luxurious gourmand can distinguish perfectly well1 between an empty bee in search of food1 and one which is returning full laden to its fragrant home1 and whose honey-bag sweetens the delicious tit-bit1 as the crushed unfortunate1 all ready sugared1 glides daintily down his voracious maw6 ,still1 ,i have never yet been willing to destroy a bird1 because of its fondness for bees2 and ,i advise all lovers of bees to have nothing to do with such foolish practices4 ,unless we can check among our people1 the stupid1 as well as inhuman custom of destroying so wantonly1 on any pretence1 and often on none at all1 the insectivorous birds1 we shall soon1 not only be deprived of their aerial melody1 among the leafy branches1 but shall lament over the ever increasing horde of destructive insects1 which ravage our fields and desolate our orchards1 and from whose successful inroads1 nothing but the birds can ever protect us4 ,think of it1 ye who can enjoy no music made by these winged choristers of the skies1 except that of their agonizing screams1 as they fall before your well-aimed weapons1 and flutter out their innocent lives before your heartless gaze6 ,drive away as fast and as far as you please1 from your cruel premises1 all the little birds that you cannot destroy1 and then find1 if you can1 those who will sympathize with you1 when the caterpillars weave their destroying webs over your leafless trees1 and insects of all kinds riot in glee1 upon your blasted harvests6 ,i hope that such a healthy public opinion will soon prevail1 that the man or boy who is armed with a gun to shoot the little birds1 will be scouted from all humane and civilized society1 and if he should be caught about such contemptible business1 will be too much ashamed even to look an honest man in the face4 ,i shall close what ,i have to say about the birds1 with the following beautiful translation of an old ,greek poet's address to the swallow4 ,attic maiden1 honey fed1 ,chirping warbler1 bear'st away1 ,thou the busy buzzing bee1 ,to thy callow brood a prey8 ,warbler1 thou a warbler seize8 ,winged1 one with lovely wings8 ,guest thyself1 by ,summer brought1 ,yellow guest whom ,summer brings8 ,wilt not quickly let it drop8 ',tis not fair1 indeed 'tis wrong1 ,that the ceaseless warbler should ,die by mouth of ceaseless song4 ,merivale's ,translation4 ,i have not the space to speak at length of the other enemies of the honied race3 nor indeed is it at all necessary4 ,if the ,apiarian only succeeds in keeping his stocks strong1 they will be their own best protectors1 and if he does not succeed in this1 they would be of little value1 even if they had no enemies ever vigilant1 to watch for their halting4 ,nations which are both rich and feeble1 invite attack1 as well as unfit themselves for vigorous resistance4 ,just so with the commonwealth of bees4 ,unless amply guarded by thousands ready to die in its defence1 it is ever liable to fall a prey to some one of its many enemies1 which are all agreed in this one opinion1 at least1 that stolen honey is much more sweet than the slow accumulations of patient industry4 ,in the ,chapters on ,protection and ,ventilation1 ,i have spoken of the fatal effects of dysentery4 ,this disease can always be prevented by proper caution on the part of the bee-keeper4 ,let him be careful not to feed his bees1 late in the season1 on liquid honey1 7see ,chapter on ,feeding17 and let him keep them in dry and thoroughly protected hives4 ,if his situation is at all damp1 and there is danger that water will settle under his ,protector1 let him build it entirely above ground2 otherwise it may be as bad as a damp cellar1 and incomparably worse than nothing at all4 ,there is one disease1 called by the ,germans1 foul brood1 of which ,i know nothing1 by my own observation1 but which is1 of all others1 the most fatal in its effects4 ,the brood appear to die in the cells1 after they are sealed over by the bees1 and the stench from their decaying bodies infects the hive1 and seems to paralyze the bees4 ,this disease is1 in two instances1 attributed by ,dzierzon1 to feeding bees on ,american ,honey1 or1 as we call it1 ,southern ,honey1 which is brought from ,cuba1 and other ,west ,india ,islands4 ,that such honey is not ordinarily poisonous1 is well known3 probably that used by him1 was taken from diseased colonies4 ,it is well known that if any honey or combs are taken from a hive in which this pestilence is raging1 it will most surely infect the colonies to which they may be given4 ,no foreign honey ought therefore to be extensively used1 until its quality has been thoroughly tested4 ,the extreme violence of this disease may be inferred from the fact1 that ,dzierzon in one season1 lost by it1 between four and five hundred colonies6 ,as at present advised1 if my colonies were attacked by it1 ,i should burn up the bees1 combs1 honey1 frames1 and all1 from every diseased hive2 and then thoroughly scald and smoke with sulphur1 all such hives1 and replenish them with bees from a healthy stock4 ,there is a peculiar kind of dysentery which does not seem to affect a whole colony1 but confines its ravages to a small number of the bees4 ,in the early stages of this disease1 those attacked are excessively irritable1 and will attempt to sting any one who comes near the hives4 ,if dissected1 their stomachs are found to be already discolored by the disease4 ,in the latter stages of this complaint1 they not only lose all their irascibility1 but seem very stupid1 and may often be seen crawling upon the ground unable to fly4 ,their abdomens are now unnaturally swollen1 and of a much lighter color than usual1 owing to their being filled with a yellow matter exceedingly offensive to the smell4 ,i have not yet ascertained the cause of this disease4 ,,footnotes3 #ba ,bevan4 #bb ,bevan4 #bc ,a bee1 a few days after it is hatched1 is as fully competent for all its duties1 as it ever will be1 at any subsequent period of its life4 #bd ,report on bees to the ,essex ,county ,agricultural ,society1 #ahea4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,loss ,,of ,,the ,,queen4 ,that the queen of a hive is often lost1 and that the ruin of the whole colony soon follows1 unless such a loss is seasonably remedied1 are facts which ought to be well known to every observing bee-keeper4 ,some queens appear to die of old age or disease1 and at a time when there are no worker-eggs1 or larv of a suitable age1 to enable the bees to supply their loss4 ,it is evident1 however1 that no very large proportion of the queens which perish1 are lost under such circumstances4 ,either the bees are aware of the approaching end of their aged mother1 and take seasonable precautions to rear a successor2 or else she dies very suddenly1 so as to leave behind her1 brood of a suitable age4 ,it is seldom that a queen in a hive that is strong in numbers and stores1 dies either at a period of the year when there is no brood from which another can be reared1 or when there are no drones to impregnate the one reared in her place4 ,in speaking of the age of bees1 it has already been stated that queens commonly die in their fourth year1 while none of the workers live to be a year old4 ,not only is the queen much longer lived than the other bees1 but she seems to be possessed of greater tenacity of life1 so that when any disease overtakes the colony1 she is usually among the last to perish4 ,by a most admirable provision1 their death ordinarily takes place under circumstances the most favorable to their bereaved family4 ,if it were otherwise1 the number of colonies which would annually perish1 would be very much greater than it now is2 for as a number of superannuated queens must die every year1 many1 or even most of them might die at a season when their loss would necessarily involve the ruin of their whole colony4 ,in non-swarming hives1 ,i have found cells in which queens were reared1 not to lead out a new swarm1 but to supply the place of the old one which had died in the hive4 ,there are a few well authenticated instances1 in which a young queen has been matured before the death of the old one1 but after she had become quite aged and infirm4 ,still1 there are cases where old queens die1 either so suddenly as to leave no young brood behind them1 or at a season when there are no drones to impregnate the young queens4 ,that queens occasionally live to such an age as to become incapable of laying worker eggs1 is now a well established fact4 ,the seminal reservoir sometimes becomes exhausted1 before the queen dies of old age1 and as it is never replenished1 7see p4 #dd17 she can only lay unimpregnated eggs1 or such as produce drones instead of workers4 ,this is an additional confirmation of the theory first propounded by ,dzierzon4 ,i am indebted to ,mr4 ,wagner for the following facts4 ,in the ,bienenzeitung1 for ,august1 #aheb1 ,count ,stosch gives us the case of a colony examined by himself1 with the aid of an experienced ,apiarian1 on the #adth of ,april1 previous4 ,the worker-brood was then found to be healthy4 ,in ,may following1 the bees worked industriously1 and built new comb4 ,soon afterwards they ceased to build1 and appeared dispirited2 and when1 in the beginning of ,june1 he examined the colony again1 he found plenty of drone brood in worker cells6 ,the queen appeared weak and languid4 ,he confined her in a queen cage1 and left her in the hive4 ,the bees clustered around the cage2 but next morning the queen was found to be dead4 ,here we seem to have the commencement1 progress and termination of super-annuation1 all in the space of five or six weeks4 ,in the ,spring of the year1 as soon as the bees begin to fly1 if their motions are carefully watched1 the ,apiarian may even in the common hives1 generally ascertain from their actions1 whether they are in possession of a fertile queen4 ,if they are seen to bring in bee-bread with great eagerness1 it follows1 as a matter of course1 that they have brood1 and are anxious to obtain fresh food for its nourishment4 ,if any hive does not industriously gather pollen1 or accept the rye flour upon which the others are feasting1 then there is an almost absolute certainty either that it has not a queen1 or that she is not fertile1 or that the hive is seriously infested with worms1 or that it is on the very verge of starvation4 ,an experienced eye will decide upon the queenlessness1 7to use the ,german term17 of a hive1 from the restless appearance of the bees4 ,at this period of the year when they first realize the magnitude of their loss1 and before they have become in a manner either reconciled to it1 or indifferent to their fate1 they roam in an inquiring manner1 in and out of the hive1 and over its outside as well as inside1 and plainly manifest that something calamitous has befallen them4 ,often those that return from the fields1 instead of entering the hive with that dispatchful haste so characteristic of a bee returning well stored to a prosperous home1 linger about the entrance with an idle and very dissatisfied appearance1 and the colony is restless1 long after the other stocks are quiet4 ,their home1 like that of the man who is cursed rather than blessed in his domestic relations1 is a melancholy place3 and they only enter it with reluctant and slow-moving steps6 ,if ,i could address a friendly word of advice to every married woman1 ,i would say1 ,do all that you can to make your husband's home a place of attraction4 ,when absent from it1 let his heart glow at the very thought of returning to its dear enjoyments2 and let his countenance involuntarily put on a more cheerful look1 and his joy-quickened steps proclaim1 as he is approaching1 that he feels in his heart of hearts1 that there is no place like home4 ,let her whom he has chosen as a wife and companion1 be the happy and honored ,queen in his cheerful habitation3 let her be the center and soul about which his best affections shall ever revolve4 ,i know that there are brutes in the guise of men1 upon whom all the winning attractions of a prudent1 virtuous wife1 make little or no impression4 ,alas that it should be so6 but who can tell how many1 even of the most hopeless cases1 have been saved for two worlds1 by a union with a virtuous woman1 in whose tongue was the law of kindness1 and of whom it could be said1 the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her1 for she will do him good and not evil1 all the days of her life4 ,said a man of large experience1 ,i scarcely know a woman who has an intemperate husband1 who did not either marry a man whose habits were already bad1 or who did not drive her husband to evil courses1 7often when such a calamitous result was the furthest possible from her thoughts or wishes17 by making him feel that he had no happy home4 ,think of it1 ye who find that home is not full of dear delights1 as well to yourselves1 as to your affectionate husbands6 ,try how much virtue there may be in winning words and happy smiles1 and the cheerful discharge of household duties1 and prove the utmost possible efficacy of love and faith and prayer1 before those words of fearful agony are extorted from your despairing lips1 ,anywhere1 anywhere ,out of the world2 when amid tears and sighs of inexpressible agony1 you settle down into the heart-breaking conviction that you can have no home until you have passed into that habitation not fashioned by human hands1 or inhabited by human hearts6 ,is there any husband who can resist all the sweet attractions of a lovely wife8 who does not set a priceless value upon the very gem of his life8 ,if such there be1 go mark him well2 ,high though his titles1 proud his fame1 ,boundless his wealth as wish can claim1 ,the wretch1 concentered all in self1 ,living1 shall forfeit fair renown1 ,and doubly dying1 shall go down ,to the vile dust from whence he sprung ,unwept1 unhonored1 and unsung4--,scott4 ,i trust my readers1 remembering my profession1 will pardon this long digression to which ,i felt myself irresistibly impelled4 ,when the bees commence their work in the ,spring1 they give1 as previously stated1 reliable evidence either that all is well1 or that ruin lurks within4 ,in the common hives however1 it is not always easy to decide upon their real condition4 ,the queenless ones do not1 in all cases1 disclose their misfortune1 any more than all unhappy husbands or wives see fit to proclaim the full extent of their domestic wretchedness3 there is a vast amount of seeming even in the little world of the bee-hive4 ,one great advantage in my mode of construction is that ,i am never obliged to leave anything to vague conjecture2 but ,i can1 in a few moments1 open the interior1 and know precisely what is the real condition of the bees4 ,on one occasion ,i found that a colony which had been queenless for a considerable time1 utterly refused to raise another1 and devoured all the eggs which were given to them for that purpose6 ,this colony was afterwards supplied with an unimpregnated queen1 but they refused to accept of her1 and attempted at once to smother her to death4 ,i then gave them a fertile queen1 but she met with no better treatment4 ,facts of a similar kind have been noticed1 by other observers3 thus it seems that bees may not only become reconciled1 as it were1 to living without a mother1 but may pass into such an unnatural state as not only to decline to provide themselves with another1 but actually to refuse to accept of one by whose agency they might be rescued from impending ruin6 ,before expressing too much astonishment at such foolish conduct1 let us seriously inquire if it has not often an exact parallel in our obstinate rejection of the provisions which ,god has made in the ,gospel for our moral and religious welfare4 ,if a colony which refuses to rear another queen1 has a range of comb given to it containing maturing brood1 these poor motherless innocents1 as soon as they are able to work1 perceive their loss1 and will proceed at once1 if they have the means1 to supply it6 ,they have not yet grown so hardened by habit to unnatural and ruinous courses1 as not to feel that something absolutely indispensable to their safety is wanting in their hive4 ,a word to the young who may read this treatise4 ,although enjoined to remember your ,creator in the days of your youth1 you are constantly tempted to neglect your religious duties1 and to procrastinate their performance until some more convenient season4 ,like the old bees in a hive without a queen1 that seek only their present enjoyment1 forgetful of the ruin which must surely overtake them1 so you may find that when manhood and old age arrive1 you will have even less disposition to love and serve the ,lord than you now have4 ,the fetters which bind you to sinful habits will have strengthened with years until you find both the inclination and ability to break them continually decreasing4 ,in the ,spring1 as soon as the weather becomes sufficiently pleasant1 ,i carefully examine all the hives which do not present the most unmistakable evidences of health and vigor4 ,if a queen is wanting1 ,i at once1 if the colony is small1 break it up1 and add the bees to another stock4 ,if however1 the colony should be very large1 ,i sometimes join to it one of my small stocks which has a healthy queen4 ,it may be asked why not supply the queenless stock with the means of raising another8 ,simply because there would be no drones to impregnate her1 in season2 and the whole operation would therefore result in an entire failure4 ,why not endeavor then to preserve it1 until the season for drones approaches1 and then give it a queen8 ,because it is in danger of being robbed or destroyed by the moth1 while the bees1 if added to another stock1 can do me far more service than they could1 if left to idleness in their old hive4 ,it must be remembered that ,i am not like the bee-keepers on the old plan1 extremely anxious to save every colony1 however feeble3 as ,i can1 at the proper season1 form as many as ,i want1 and with far less trouble and expense than are required to make anything out of such discouraged stocks4 ,if any of my colonies are found to be feeble in the ,spring1 but yet in possession of a healthy queen1 ,i help them to combs containing maturing brood1 in the manner already described4 ,in short1 ,i ascertain1 at the opening of the season1 the exact condition of all my stock1 and apply such remedies as ,i find to be needed1 giving to some1 maturing brood1 to others honey1 and breaking up all whose condition appears to admit of no remedy4 ,if however1 the bees have not been multiplied too rapidly1 and proper care was taken to winter none but strong stocks1 they will need but little assistance in the ,spring2 and nearly all of them will show indubitable signs of health and vigor4 ,i strongly recommend every prudent bee-keeper who uses my hives1 to give them all a most thorough over-hauling and cleansing1 soon after the bees begin to work in the ,spring4 ,the bees of any stock may1 with their combs1 c41 all be transferred1 in a few minutes1 to a clean hive2 and their hive1 after being thoroughly cleansed1 may be used for another transferred stock2 and in this way1 with one spare hive1 the bees may all be lodged in habitations from which every speck of dirt has been removed4 ,they will thus have hives which can by no possibility1 harbor any of the eggs1 or larv of the moth1 and which may be made perfectly free from the least smell of must or mould or anything offensive to the delicate senses of the bees4 ,in making this thorough cleansing of all the hives1 the ,apiarian will necessarily gain an exact knowledge of the true condition of each stock1 and will know which have spare honey1 and which require food3 in short1 which are in need of help in any respect1 and which have the requisite strength to lend a helping hand to others4 ,if any hive needs repairing1 it may be put into perfect order1 before it is used again4 ,hives managed in this fashion1 if the roofs and outside covers are occasionally painted anew1 will last for generations1 and will be found1 on the score of cheapness1 preferable1 in the long run1 to any other kind4 ,but ,i ought to beg pardon of the ,genius of ,american cheapness1 who so kindly presides over the making of most of our manufactures1 and under whose shrewd tuition we are fast beginning to believe that cheapness in the first cost of an article1 is the main point to which our attention should be directed6 ,let us to be sure1 save all that we can in the cost of construction1 by the greatest economy in the use of materials2 let us compel every minute to yield the greatest possible practical result1 by the employment of the most skillful workmen and the most ingenious machinery2 but do let us learn that slighting an article1 so as to get up a mere sham1 having all the appearance of reality1 with none of the substance1 is the poorest possible kind of pretended economy2 to say nothing of the tendency of such a system1 to encourage in all the pursuits of life1 the narrow and selfish policy of doing nothing thoroughly1 but everything with reference to mere outside show1 or the urgent necessities of the present moment4 ,we have yet to describe under what circumstances1 by far the larger proportion of hives1 become queenless4 ,after the first swarm has gone out with the old mother1 then both the parent stock and all the subsequent swarms1 will have each a young queen which must always leave the hive in order to be impregnated4 ,it sometimes happens that the wings of the young female are1 from her birth1 so imperfect that she either refuses to sally out1 or is unable to return to the hive1 if she ventures abroad4 ,in either case1 the old stock must1 if left to its own resources1 speedily perish4 ,queens1 in their contests with each other1 are sometimes so much crippled as to unfit them for flight1 and sometimes they are disabled by the rude treatment of the bees1 who insist on driving them away from the royal cells4 ,the great majority1 however1 of queens which are lost1 perish when they leave the hive in search of the drones4 ,their extra size and slower flight make them a most tempting prey to the birds1 ever on the watch in the vicinity of the hives2 and many in this way1 perish4 ,others are destroyed by sudden gusts of winds1 which dash them against some hard object1 or blow them into the water2 for queens are by no means1 exempt from the misfortunes common to the humblest of their race4 ,very frequently1 in spite of all their caution in noticing the position and appearance of their habitation1 before they left it1 they make a fatal mistake on their return1 and are imprisoned and destroyed as they attempt to enter the wrong hive4 ,the precautions which should be used1 to prevent such a calamity1 have been already described4 ,if these are neglected1 those who build their hives of uniform size and appearance1 will find themselves losing many more queens than the person who uses the old-fashioned boxes1 hardly any two of which look just alike4 ,the bees seem to me1 to have1 as it were1 an instinctive perception of the dangers which await their new queen when she makes her excursion in search of the drones1 and often gather around her1 and confine her1 as though they could not bear to have her leave6 ,i have repeatedly noticed them doing this1 although ,i cannot affirm with positive certainty1 why they do it4 ,they are usually excessively agitated when the queen leaves1 and often exhibit all the appearance of swarming4 ,if the queen of an old stock is lost in this way1 her colony will gradually dwindle away4 ,if the queen of an after-swarm fails to return1 the bees very speedily come to nothing1 if they remain in the hive2 as a general rule1 however1 they soon leave and attempt to add themselves to other colonies4 ,it would be highly interesting to ascertain in what way the bees become informed of the loss of their queen4 ,when she is taken from them under such circumstances as to excite the whole colony1 then we can easily see how they find out that she is gone2 for when greatly excited1 they always seek first to assure themselves of her safety2 just as a tender mother in time of danger forgets herself in her anxiety for her helpless children6 ,if however1 the queen is carefully removed1 so that the colony is not disturbed1 it is sometimes a day1 or even more1 before they realize their loss4 ,how do they first become aware of it8 ,perhaps some dutiful bee feels that it is a long time since it has seen its mother1 and anxious to embrace her1 makes diligent search for her through the hive6 ,the intelligence that she cannot anywhere be found1 is soon noised abroad1 and the whole community are at once alarmed4 ,at such times1 instead of calmly conversing by merely touching each other's antenn1 they may be seen violently striking as it were1 their antenn together1 and by the most impassioned demonstrations manifesting their agony and despair4 ,i once removed a queen in such a manner as to cause the bees to take wing and fill the air in search of her4 ,she was returned in a few minutes1 and yet1 on examining the colony1 two days after1 ,i found that they had actually commenced the building of royal cells1 in order to raise another6 ,the queen was unhurt and the cells were not tenanted4 ,was this work begun by some that refused for a long time to believe the others1 when told that she was safe8 ,or was it begun from the apprehension that she might again be removed8 ,every colony which has a new queen1 should be watched1 in order that the ,apiarian may be seasonably apprised of her loss4 ,the restless conduct of the bees1 on the evening of the day that she fails to return1 will at once inform the experienced bee-master of the accident which has befallen his hive4 ,if the bees cannot be supplied with another queen1 or with the means of raising one1 if an old swarm it must be broken up1 and the bees added to another stock2 if a new swarm it must always be broken up1 unless it can be supplied with a queen nearly mature1 or else they will build combs unfit for the rearing of workers4 ,by the use of my movable comb hives1 all these operations can be easily performed4 ,if any hives have lost their young queen1 they may be supplied1 either with the means of raising another1 or with sealed queens from other hives1 or1 7if the plan is found to answer17 with mature ones from the ,nursery4 ,as a matter of precaution1 ,i generally give to all my stocks that are raising young queens1 or which have unimpregnated ones1 a range of comb containing brood and eggs1 so that they may1 in case of any accident to their queen1 proceed at once1 to supply their loss4 ,in this way1 ,i prevent them from being so dissatisfied as to leave the hive4 ,about a week after the young queens have hatched1 ,i examine all the hives which contain them1 lifting out usually1 some of the largest combs1 and those which ought to contain brood4 ,if ,i find a comb which has eggs or larv1 ,i am satisfied that they have a fertile queen1 and shut up the hive2 unless ,i wish to find her1 in order to deprive her of her wings1 7see p4 #bjc47 ,i can thus often satisfy myself in one or two minutes4 ,if no brood is found1 ,i suspect that the queen has been lost1 or that she has some defect which has prevented her from leaving the hive4 ,if the brood-comb which ,i put into the hive1 contains any newly-formed royal cells1 ,i know1 without any further examination1 that the queen has been lost4 ,if the weather has been unfavorable1 or the colony is quite weak1 the young queen is sometimes not impregnated as early as usual1 and an allowance of a few days must be made on this account4 ,if the weather is favorable1 and the colony a good one1 the queen usually leaves1 the day after she finds herself mistress of a family4 ,in about two days more1 she begins to lay her eggs4 ,by waiting about a week before the examination is made1 ample allowance1 in most cases1 is made4 ,early in the month of ,september1 ,i examine carefully all my hives1 so as to see that in every respect1 they are in suitable condition for wintering4 ,if any need feeding1 7,see ,chapter on ,feeding17 they are fed at this time4 ,if any have more vacant room than they ought to have1 ,i partition off that part of the hive which they do not need4 ,i always expect to find some brood in every healthy hive at this time1 and if in any hive ,i find none1 and ascertain that it is queenless1 ,i either at once break it up1 or if it is strong in numbers supply it with a queen1 by adding to it some feebler stock4 ,if bees1 however1 are properly attended to1 at the season when their young queens are impregnated1 it will be a very rare occurrence to find a queenless colony in the ,fall4 ,the practical bee-keeper without further directions1 will readily perceive how any operation1 which in the common hives1 is performed with difficulty1 if it can be performed at all1 is reduced to simplicity and certainty1 by the control of the combs4 ,if however1 bee-keepers will be negligent and ignorant1 no hive can possible make them very successful4 ,if they belong to the fraternity of no eyes1 who have kept bees all their lives1 and do not know that there is a queen1 they will probably derive no special pleasure from being compelled to believe what they have always derided as humbug or book-knowledge2 although ,i have seen some bee-keepers very intelligent on most matters1 who never seem to have learned the first rudiments in the natural history of the bee4 ,those who cannot1 or will not learn for themselves1 or who have not the leisure or disposition to manage their own bees1 may yet with my hives1 entrust their care to suitable persons who may1 at the proper time1 attend to all their wants4 ,practical gardeners may find the management of bees for their employers1 to be quite a lucrative part of their profession4 ,with but little extra labor and with great certainty1 they may1 from time to time1 do all that the prosperity of the bees require2 carefully over-hauling them in the ,spring1 making new colonies1 at the suitable period1 if any are wanted1 giving them their surplus honey receptacles1 and removing them when full2 and on the approach of ,winter1 putting all the colonies into proper condition1 to resist its rigors4 ,the business of the practical ,apiarian1 and that of the ,gardener1 seem very naturally to go together1 and one great advantage of my hive and mode of management is the ease with which they may be successfully united4 ,some ,apiarians after all that has been said1 may still have doubts whether the young queens leave the hive for impregnation2 or may think that the old ones occasionally leave1 even when they do not go out to lead a swarm4 ,such persons may1 if they choose1 easily convince themselves by the following experiments of the accuracy of my statements4 ,about a week after hiving a second swarm1 or after the birth of a young queen in a hive1 and after she has begun to lay eggs1 open the hive and remove her3 carry her a few rods in front of the ,apiary1 and let her fly2 she will at once enter her own hive and thus show that she has previously left it4 ,if1 however1 an old queen is removed a short time after hiving the swarm1 she will not be able to distinguish her own hive from any other1 and will thus show that she has not left it1 since the swarm was hived4 ,if this experiment is performed upon an old queen1 in a hive in which she was put the year before1 when unimpregnated1 the same result will follow2 for as she never left it after that event1 she will have lost all recollection of its relative position in the ,apiary4 ,the first of these experiments has been suggested by ,dzierzon4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,union ,,of ,,stocks4 ,,transferring ,,bees ,,from ,,the ,,common ,,hive4 ,,starting ,,an ,,apiary4 ,frequent allusions have been made to the importance1 for various reasons1 of breaking up stocks and uniting them to other families in the ,apiary4 ,colonies which in the early ,spring1 are found to be queenless1 ought at once to be managed in this way1 for even if not speedily destroyed by their enemies1 they are only consumers of the stores which they gathered in their happier days4 ,the same treatment should also be extended to all that in the ,fall1 are found to be in a similar condition4 ,as small colonies1 even though possessed of a healthy queen1 are never able to winter as advantageously as large ones1 the bees from several such colonies ought to be put together1 to enable them by keeping up the necessary supply of heat1 to survive the ,winter on a smaller supply of food4 ,a certain quantity of animal heat must be maintained by bees1 in order to live at all1 and if their numbers are too small1 they can only keep it up1 by eating more than they would otherwise require4 ,a small swarm will thus not unfrequently1 consume as much honey as one containing two or three times as many bees4 ,these are facts which have been most thoroughly tested on a very large scale4 ,if a hundred persons are required to occupy1 with comfort1 a church that is capable of accommodating a thousand1 as much fuel or even more will be required1 to warm the small number as the large one4 ,if the stocks which are to be wintered1 are in the common hives1 the condemned ones must be drummed out of their old encampment1 sprinkled with sugar-water scented with peppermint1 or some other pleasant odor1 and added to the others1 7see p4 #bab47 ,the colonies which are to be united ought if possible1 to stand side by side1 some time before this process is attempted4 ,this can almost always be effected by a little management1 for while it would not be safe to move a colony all at once1 even a few yards to the right or left of the line of flight in which the bees sally out to the fields1 7especially if other hives are near17 they may be moved a slight distance one day1 and a little more the next1 and so on1 until we have them at last in the desired place4 ,as persons may sometimes be obliged to move their ,apiaries1 during the working season1 ,i will here describe the way by which ,i was able to accomplish such a removal1 so as to benefit1 instead of injuring my bees4 ,selecting a pleasant day1 ,i moved1 early in the morning1 a portion of my very best stocks4 ,a considerable number of bees from these colonies1 returned in the course of the day to the familiar spot2 after flying about for some time1 in search of their hives1 7if the weather had been chilly many of them would have perished17 they at length entered those standing next to their old homes4 ,more of the strongest were removed1 on the next pleasant day3 and this process was repeated1 until at last only one hive was left in the old ,apiary4 ,this was then removed1 and only a few bees returned to the old spot4 ,i thus lost no more bees1 in moving a number of hives1 than ,i should have lost in moving one3 and ,i conducted the process in such a way1 as to strengthen some of my feeble stocks1 instead of very seriously diminishing their scanty numbers4 ,i have known the most serious losses to result from the removal of an ,apiary1 conducted in the manner in which a change of location is usually made4 ,the process of uniting colonies in my hive1 is exceedingly simple4 ,the combs may1 after the two colonies are sprinkled1 be at once lifted out from the one which is to be broken up1 and put with all the bees upon them1 directly into the other hive4 ,if the ,apiarian judges it best to save any of his very small colonies1 he can confine them to one half or one third of the central part of the hive1 and fill the two empty ends with straw1 shavings1 or any good non-conductor4 ,any one of my frames1 can1 in a few minutes1 by having tacked to it a thin piece of board or paste-board1 or even an old newspaper1 be fashioned into a divider1 which will answer all practical purposes1 and if it is stuffed with cotton waste1 c41 it will keep the bees uncommonly warm4 ,if a very small colony is to be preserved over ,winter1 the queen must be confined1 in the ,fall1 in a queen cage1 to prevent the colony from deserting the hive4 ,i shall now show how the bee-keeper who wishes only to keep a given number of stocks1 may do so1 and yet secure from that number the largest quantity of surplus honey4 ,if his bees are kept in non-swarming hives1 he may undoubtedly1 reap a bounteous harvest from the avails of their industry4 ,i do not however1 recommend this mode of bee-keeping as the best3 still there are many so situated that it may be much the best for them4 ,such persons1 by using my hives1 can pursue the non-swarming plan to the best advantage4 ,they can by taking off the wings of their queens1 be sure that their colonies will not suddenly leave them2 a casualty to which all other non-swarming hives are sometimes liable2 and by taking away the honey in small quantities1 they will always give the bees plenty of spare room for storage1 and yet avoid discouraging them1 as is so often done when large boxes are taken from them4 7,see ,chapter on ,honey47 ,by removing from time to time1 the old queens1 the colonies can all be kept in possession of queens1 at the height of their fertility1 and in this way a very serious objection to the non-swarming1 or as it is frequently called1 the storifying system1 may be avoided4 ,if at any time1 new colonies are wanted1 they may be made in the manner already described4 ,in districts where the honey harvest is of very short continuance1 the non-swarming plan may be found to yield the largest quantity of honey1 and in case the season should prove unfavorable for the gathering of honey1 it will usually secure the largest returns from a given number of stocks4 ,i therefore prefer to keep a considerable number of my colonies1 on the storifying plan1 and am confident of securing from them1 a good yield of honey1 even in the most unfavorable seasons4 ,if bee-keepers will pursue the same system1 they will not only be on the safe side1 but will be able to determine which method it will be best for them to adopt1 in order to make the most from their bees4 ,as a general rule1 the ,apiarian who increases the number of his colonies1 one third in a season1 making one very powerful swarm from two1 7,see p4 #baa17 will have more surplus honey from the three1 than he could have obtained from the two1 to say nothing of the value of his new swarms4 ,if1 at the approach of ,winter1 he wishes to reduce his stocks down to the ,spring number1 he may unite them in the manner described1 appropriating all the good honey of those which he breaks up1 and saving all their empty comb for the new colonies of the next season4 ,the bees in the doubled stock will winter most admirably2 will consume but little honey1 in proportion to their numbers1 and will be in most excellent condition when the ,spring opens4 ,it must not1 however1 be forgotten1 that although they eat comparatively little in the ,winter1 they must be well supplied in the ,spring2 as they will then have a very large number of mouths to feed1 to say nothing of the thousands of young bees bred in the hive4 ,if any old-fashioned bee-keeper wishes1 he can thus pursue the old plan1 with only this modification2 that he preserves the lives of the bees in the hives which he wishes to take up2 secures his honey without any fumes of sulphur1 and saves the empty comb to make it worth nearly ten times as much to himself1 as it would be1 if melted into wax4 ,let no humane bee-keeper ever feel that there is the slightest necessity for so managing his bees as to make the comparison of ,shakespeare always apposite3 ,when like the ,bee1 tolling from every flower ,the virtuous sweets2 ,our thighs packed with wax1 our mouths1 with honey1 ,we bring it to the hive2 and like the bees1 ,are murdered for our pains4 ,while ,i am an advocate for breaking up all stocks which cannot be wintered advantageously1 ,i never advise that a single bee should be killed4 ,self interest and ,christianity alike forbid the unnecessary sacrifice4 ,,transferring ,,bees ,,from ,,the ,,common ,,hive ,,to ,,the ,,movable ,,comb ,,hive4 ,the construction of my hive is such1 as to permit me to transfer bees from the common hives1 during all the season that the weather is warm enough to permit them to fly2 and yet to be able to guarantee that they will receive no serious damage by the change4 ,on the #ajth of ,november1 #aheb1 in the latitude of ,northern ,massachusetts1 ,i transferred a colony which wintered in good health1 and which now1 ,may1 #ahec1 promises to make an excellent stock4 ,the day was warm1 but after the operation was completed1 the weather suddenly became cold1 and as the bees were not able to leave the hive in order to obtain the water necessary for repairing their comb1 they were supplied with that indispensable article4 ,they went to work very busily1 and in a short time mended up their combs and attached them firmly to the frames4 ,the transfer may be made of any healthy colony1 and if they are strong in numbers1 and the hive is well provisioned1 and the weather is not too cool when the operation is attempted1 they will scarcely feel the change4 ,if the weather should be too chilly1 it will be found almost impossible to make a colony leave its old hive1 and if the combs are cut out1 and the bees removed upon them1 large numbers of them will take wing1 and becoming chilled1 will be unable to join their companions1 and so will perish4 ,the process of transferring bees to my hives1 is performed as follows4 ,let the old hive be shut up and well drummed#be and the bees1 if possible1 be driven into an upper box4 ,if they will not leave the hive of their own accord1 they will fill themselves1 and when it is ascertained that they are determined1 if they can help it1 not to be tenants at will1 the upper box must be removed1 and the bees gently sprinkled1 so that they may all be sure to have nothing done to them on an empty stomach4 ,if possible1 an end of the old box parallel with the combs1 must be pried off1 so that they may be easily cut out4 ,an old hive or box should stand upon a sheet1 in place of the removed stock1 and as fast as a comb is cut out1 the bees should be shaken from it1 upon the sheet2 a wing or anything soft1 will often be of service in brushing off the bees4 ,remember that they must not be hurt4 ,if the weather is so pleasant that many bees from other hives1 are on the wing1 great care must be taken to prevent them from robbing4 ,as fast therefore as the bees are shaken from the combs1 these should be put into an empty hive or box1 and covered with a cloth1 or set in some place where they will not be disturbed4 ,as soon as all the combs have been removed1 the ,apiarian should proceed to select and arrange them for his new hive4 ,if the transfer is made late in the season1 care must be taken1 of course1 to give the bees combs containing a generous allowance of honey for their winter supplies2 together with such combs as have brood1 or are best fitted for the rearing of workers4 ,all coarse combs except such as contain the honey which they need1 should be rejected4 ,lay a frame upon a piece of comb1 and mark it so as to be able to cut it a trifle larger1 so that it will just crowd into the frame1 to remain in its place until the bees have time to attach it4 ,if the size of the combs is such1 that some of them cannot be cut so as to fit1 then cut them to the best advantage1 and after putting them into the frames1 wind some thread around the upper and lower slats of the frame1 so as to hold the combs in their place1 until the bees can fasten them4 ,if however1 any of the combs which do not fit1 have no honey in them1 they may be fastened very easily1 by dipping their upper edges into melted rosin4 ,when the requisite number of combs are put into the frames1 they should be placed in the new hive1 and slightly fastened on the rabbets with a mere touch of paste1 so as to hold them firmly in their places2 this will be the more necessary if the transfer is made so late in the season that the bees cannot obtain the propolis necessary to fasten them1 themselves4 ,as soon as the hive is thus prepared1 let the temporary box into which the bees have been driven1 be removed1 and their new home put in its place4 ,shake out now the bees from the box1 upon a sheet in front of this hive1 and the work is done2 bees1 brood1 honey1 bee-bread1 empty combs and all1 have been nicely moved1 and without any more serious loss than is often incurred by any other moving family1 which has to mourn over some broken crockery1 or other damage done in the necessary work of establishing themselves in a new home6 ,if this operation is performed at a season of the year when there is much brood in the hive1 and when the weather is cool1 care must be taken not to expose the brood1 so that it may become fatally chilled4 ,the best time for performing it1 is late in the ,fall1 when there is but little brood in the hive2 or about ten days after the voluntary or forced departure of a first swarm from the old stock4 ,by this time1 the brood left by the old queen1 will all be sealed over1 and old enough to bear exposure1 especially as the weather1 at swarming time1 is usually quite warm4 ,a temperature1 not lower than #gj1 will do them no harm1 for if exposed to such a temperature1 they will hatch1 even if taken from the bees4 ,i have spoken of the best time for performing this operation4 ,it may be done at any season of the year1 when the bees can fly without any danger of being chilled1 and ,i should not be afraid to attempt it1 in mid-winter1 if the weather was as warm as it sometimes is4 ,let me here earnestly caution all who keep bees1 against meddling with them when the weather is cool4 ,irreparable mischief is often done to them at such times2 they are tempted to fly1 and thus perish from the cold1 and frequently they become so much excited1 that they cannot retain their fces1 but void them among the combs4 ,if nothing worse ensues1 they are disturbed when they ought to be in almost death-like repose1 and are thus tempted to eat a much larger quantity of food than they would otherwise have needed4 ,let the ,apiarian remember that not a single unnecessary motion should be required of a single bee3 for all this1 to say nothing else1 involves a foolish waste of food4 7,see p4 #aaf47 ,in all operations involving the transferring of bees1 it is exceedingly desirable that the new hives to which they are transferred should be put1 as near as possible1 where the old ones stood4 ,if other colonies are in close proximity1 the bees may be tempted to enter the wrong hives1 if their position is changed only a little2 they are almost sure to do this if the others resemble more closely than the new one1 their former habitation4 ,if will be often advisable1 to transport to the distance of one or two miles1 the stocks which are to be transferred2 so that the operation may be performed to the best advantage4 ,in a few weeks they may be brought back to the ,apiary4 ,in hiving swarms1 and transferring stocks1 care must be taken to prevent the bees from getting mixed with those of other colonies4 ,if this precaution is neglected many bees will be lost by joining other stocks1 where they may be kindly welcomed1 or may at once be put to death4 ,it is exceedingly difficult1 to tell before hand1 what kind of a reception strange bees will meet with1 from a colony which they attempt to join4 ,in the working season they are much more likely to be well received1 than at any other time1 especially if they come loaded with honey3 still new swarms full of honey1 that attempt to enter other hives1 are often killed at once4 ,if a colony which has an unimpregnated queen seeks to unite with another which has a fertile one1 then almost as a matter of course they are destroyed6 ,if by moving their hive1 or in any other way1 bees are made to enter a hive containing an unimpregnated queen1 they will often destroy her1 if they came from a family which was in possession of a fertile one6 ,if any thing of this kind is ever attempted1 the queen ought first to be confined in a queen cage4 ,if while attempting a transfer of the bees to a new hive1 ,i am apprehensive of robbers attacking the combs1 or am pressed for want of time1 ,i put only such combs as contain brood into the frames1 and set the others in a safe place4 ,the bees are now at once allowed to enter their new hive1 and the other combs are given to them at a more convenient time4 ,the whole process of transferal need not occupy more than an hour1 and in some cases it can be done in fifteen minutes4 ,if the weather is hot1 the combs must not be exposed at all to the heat of the sun4 ,until ,i had tested the feasibility of transferring bees from the old hives1 by means of my frames1 ,i felt strongly opposed to any attempt to dislodge them from their previous habitation4 ,if they are transferred in the usual way1 it must be done when the combs are filled with brood2 for if delayed until late in the season1 they will have no time to lay in a store of provision against the ,winter4 ,who can look without disgust1 upon the wanton destruction of thousands of their young1 and the silly waste of comb1 which can be replaced only by the consumption of large quantities of honey8 ,in the great majority of such cases1 the transfer1 unless made about the swarming season1 and previous to the issue of the first swarm1 will be an entire failure1 and if made before1 at best only one colony is obtained1 instead of the two1 which are secured on my plan4 ,i never advise the transfer of a colony into any hive1 unless their combs can be transferred with them1 nor do ,i advise any except practical ,apiarians1 to attempt to transfer them even to my hives4 ,but what if a colony is so old that its combs can only breed dwarfs8 ,when ,i find such a colony1 ,i shall think it worth while to give specific directions as to how it should be managed4 ,the truth is1 that of all the many mistakes and impositions which have disgusted multitudes with the very sound of patent hive1 none has been more fatal than the notion that an old colony of bees could not be expected to prosper4 ,thousands of the very best stocks have been wantonly sacrificed to this ,chimera2 and so long as bee-keepers instead of studying the habits of the bee1 prefer to listen to the interested statements of ignorant1 or enthusiastic1 or fraudulent persons1 thousands more will suffer the same fate4 ,as to old stocks1 the prejudice against them is just as foolish as the silly notions of some who imagine that a woman is growing old1 long before she has reached her prime4 ,many a man of mature years who has married a girl or a child1 instead of a woman1 has often had both time enough1 and cause enough to lament his folly4 ,it cannot be too strongly urged upon all who keep bees1 either for love or for money1 to be exceedingly cautious in trying any new hive1 or new system of management4 ,if you are ever so well satisfied that it will answer all your expectations1 enter upon it1 at first1 only on a small scale2 then1 if it fulfills all its promises1 or if you can make it do so1 you may safely adopt it3 at all events1 you will not have to mourn over large sums of money spent for nothing1 and numerous powerful colonies entirely destroyed4 ,let well enough alone1 should1 to a great extent1 be the motto of every prudent bee-keeper4 ,there is1 however1 a golden mean between that obstinate and stupid conservatism which tries nothing new1 and1 of course1 learns nothing new1 and that craving after mere novelty1 and that rash experimenting on an extravagant scale1 which is so characteristic of a large portion of our ,american people4 ,it would be difficult to find a better maxim than that which is ascribed to ,david ,crockett2 ,be sure you're right1 then go ahead4 ,what old bee-keeper has not had abundant proof that stocks eight or ten years old1 or even older1 are often among the very best1 in his whole ,apiary1 always healthy and swarming with almost unfailing regularity6 ,i have seen such hives1 which for more than fifteen years1 have scarcely failed1 a single season1 to throw a powerful swarm4 ,i have one now ten years old1 in admirable condition1 which a few years ago1 swarmed three times1 and the first swarm sent off a colony the same season4 ,all these swarms were so early that they gathered ample supplies of honey1 and wintered without any assistance6 ,i have already spoken of old stocks flourishing for a long term of years in hives of the roughest possible construction2 and ,i shall now in addition to my previous remarks assign a new reason for such unusual prosperity4 ,without a single exception1 ,i have found one or both of two things to be true1 of every such hive4 ,either it was a very large hive1 or else if not of unusual size1 it contained a large quantity of worker-comb4 ,no hive which does not contain a good allowance of regular comb of a size adapted to the rearing of workers1 can ever in the nature of things1 prove a valuable stock hive4 ,many hives are so full of drone combs that they breed a cloud of useless consumers1 instead of the thousands of industrious bees which ought to have occupied their places in the combs4 ,it frequently happens that when bees are put into a new hive1 the honey-harvest is at its height1 and the bees finding it difficult to build worker comb fast enough to hold their gatherings1 are tempted to construct long ranges of drone comb to receive their stores4 ,in this way1 a hive often contains so small an allowance of worker-comb1 that it can never flourish1 as the bees refuse to pull down1 and build over any of their old combs4 ,all this can be easily remedied by the use of the movable comb hive4 ,,procuring ,,bees ,,to ,,start ,,an ,,apiary4 ,a person ignorant of bees1 must depend in a very great measure1 on the honesty of those from whom he purchases them4 ,many stocks are not worth accepting as a gift3 like a horse or cow1 incurably diseased1 they will only prove a bill of vexatious expense4 ,if an inexperienced person wishes to commence bee-keeping1 ,i advise him1 by all means1 to purchase a new swarm of bees4 ,it ought to be a large and early one4 ,second swarms and all late and small first swarms1 ought never to be purchased by one who has no experience in ,apiarian pursuits4 ,they are very apt1 in such hands1 to prove a failure4 ,if all bee-keepers were of that exemplary class of whom the ,country ,curate speaks1 7see p4 #cc17 it would be perfectly safe to order a swarm of any one keeping a stock of bees4 ,this however1 is so far from being true1 that some offer for sale1 old stocks which are worthless1 or impose on the ignorant1 small first swarms1 and second and even third swarms1 as prime swarms worth the very highest market price4 ,if the novice purchases an old stock1 he will have the perplexities of swarming1 c41 the first season1 and before he has obtained any experience4 ,as it may1 however1 be sometimes advisable that this should be done1 unless he makes his purchase of a man known to be honest1 he should select his stock himself1 at a period of the day when the bees1 in early ,spring1 are busily engaged in plying their labors4 ,he should purchase a colony which is very actively engaged in carrying in bee-bread1 and which1 from the large number going in and out1 undoubtedly contains a vigorous population4 ,the hive should be removed at an hour when the bees are all at home4 ,it may be gently inverted1 and a coarse towel placed over it1 and then tacked fast1 when the bees are shut in4 ,have a steady horse1 and before you start1 be very sure that it is impossible for any bees to get out4 ,place the hive on some straw1 in a wagon that has easy springs1 and the bees will have plenty of air1 and the combs1 from the inverted position of the hive1 will not be so liable to be jarred loose4 ,never purchase a hive which contains much comb just built2 for it will be next to impossible to move it1 in warm weather1 without loosening the new combs4 ,if a new swarm is purchased1 it may be brought home as follows4 ,furnish the person on whose premises it is to be hived1 with a box holding at the very least1 a cubic foot of clear contents4 ,let the bottom-board of this temporary hive be clamped on both ends1 the clamps being about two inches wider than the thickness of the board1 so that when the hive is set on the bottom-board1 it will slip in between the upper projections of the clamps1 and be kept an inch from the ground1 by the lower ones1 so that air may pass under it4 ,there should be a hole in the bottom-board1 about four inches in diameter1 and two of the same size in the opposite sides of the box1 covered with wire gauze1 so that the bees may have an abundance of air1 when they are shut up4 ,three parallel strips1 an inch and a half wide1 should be nailed1 about one third of the way from the top of the temporary hive1 at equal distances apart1 so that the bees may have every opportunity to cluster2 a few pieces of old comb1 fastened strongly in the top with melted rosin1 will make the bees like it all the better4 ,a handle made of a strip of leather1 should be nailed on the top4 ,let the bees be hived in this box1 and kept well shaded2 at evening1 or very early next morning1 the temporary hive which was propped up1 when the bees were put into it1 may be shut close to its bottom-board1 and a few screws put into the upper projection of the clamps1 so as to run through into the ends of the box4 ,in such a box1 bees may be safely transported1 almost any reasonable distance3 care being taken not to handle them roughly1 and never to keep them in the sun1 or in any place where they have not sufficient air4 ,if the box is too small1 or sufficient ventilators are not put in1 or if the bees are exposed to too much heat1 they will be sure to suffocate4 ,if the swarm is unusually large1 and the weather excessively warm1 they ought to be moved at night4 ,unless great care is taken in moving bees1 in very hot weather1 they will be almost sure to perish2 therefore always be certain that they have an abundance of air4 ,if they appear to be suffering for want of it1 especially if they begin to fall down from the cluster1 and to lie in heaps on the bottom-board1 they should immediately be carried into a field or any convenient place1 and at once be allowed to fly3 in such a case they cannot be safely moved again1 until towards night4 ,this will never be necessary if the box is large enough1 and suitably ventilated4 ,i have frequently made a box for transporting new swarms1 out of an old tea-chest4 ,when a new swarm is brought in this way to its intended home1 the bottom-board may be unscrewed1 and the bees transferred at once1 to the new hive2 7,see p4 #afh47 ,in some cases1 it may be advisable to send away the new hive4 ,in this case1 if one of my hives is used1 the spare honey-board should be screwed down1 and all the holes carefully stopped1 except two or three which ought to have some ventilators tacked over them3 the frames should be fastened with a little paste1 so that they will not start from their place1 and after the bees are hived1 the blocks which close the entrance should be screwed down to their place1 keeping them however1 a trifle less than an eighth of an inch from the entrance1 so as to give the bees all the air which they need4 ,i very much prefer sending a box for the bees3 one person can easily carry two such boxes1 each with a swarm of bees2 and if he chooses to fasten them to two poles1 or to a very large hoop1 he may carry four1 or even more4 ,if the ,apiarian wishes1 to be sure the first season1 of getting some honey from his bees1 he will do well to procure two good swarms1 and put them both into one hive4 7,see p4 #bac47 ,to those who do not object to the extra expense1 ,i strongly recommend this course4 ,not unfrequently1 they will in a good season1 obtain in spare honey from their doubled swarm1 an ample equivalent for its increased cost3 at all events1 such a powerful swarm lays the foundations of a flourishing stock1 which seldom fails to answer all the reasonable expectations of its owner4 ,if the ,apiary is commenced with swarms of the current season1 and they have an abundance of spare room in the upper boxes1 there will be no swarming1 that season1 and the beginner will have ample time to make himself familiar with his bees1 before being called to hive new swarms1 or to multiply colonies by artificial means4 ,let no inexperienced person commence bee-keeping on a large scale2 very few who do so1 find it to their advantage1 and the most of them not only meet with heavy losses1 but abandon the pursuit in disgust4 ,by the use of my hives1 the bee-keeper can easily multiply very rapidly1 the number of his colonies1 as soon as he finds1 not merely that money can be made by keeping bees1 but that he can make it4 ,while ,i am certain that more money can be made by a careful and experienced bee-keeper in a good situation1 from a given sum invested in an ,apiary1 than from the same money invested in any other branch of rural economy1 ,i am equally certain that there is none in which a careless or inexperienced person would be more sure to find his outlay result in an almost entire loss4 ,an ,apiary neglected or mismanaged1 is far worse than a farm overgrown with weeds1 or exhausted by ignorant tillage3 for the land is still there1 and may1 by prudent management1 soon be made again to blossom like the rose2 but the bees1 when once destroyed1 can never be brought back to life1 unless the poetic fables of the ,mantuan ,bard1 can be accepted as the legitimate results of actual experience1 and swarms of bees1 instead of clouds of filthy flies1 can once more be obtained from the carcases of decaying animals6 ,i have seen an old medical work in which ,virgil's method of obtaining colonies of bees from the putrid body of a cow slain for this special purpose1 is not only credited1 but minutely described4 ,a large book would hardly suffice to set forth all the superstitions connected with bees4 ,i will refer to one which is very common and which has often made a deep impression upon many minds4 ,when any member of a family dies1 the bees are believed to be aware of what has happened1 and the hives are by some dressed in mourning1 to pacify their sorrowing occupants6 ,some persons imagine that if this is not done1 the bees will never afterwards prosper1 while others assert1 that the bees often take their loss so much to heart1 as to alight upon the coffin whenever it is exposed6 ,an intelligent clergyman on reading the sheets of this work1 stated to me that he had always refused to credit this latter fact1 until present at a funeral where the bees gathered in such large numbers upon the coffin1 as soon as it was brought out from the house1 as to excite considerable alarm4 ,some years after this occurrence1 being engaged in varnishing a table1 and finding that the bees came and lit upon it1 he was convinced that the love of varnish1 7see p4 #he17 instead of sorrow or respect for the dead1 was the occasion of their gathering round the coffin6 ,how many superstitions in which often intelligent persons most firmly confide1 might if all the facts were known1 be as easily explained4 ,before closing this ,chapter1 ,i must again strongly caution all inexperienced bee-keepers1 against attempting to transfer colonies from an old hive4 ,i am determined that if any find that they have made a wanton sacrifice of their bees1 they shall not impute their loss to my directions4 ,if they persist in making the attempt1 let them1 by all means1 either do it at break of day1 before the bees of other hives will be induced to commence robbing2 or better still1 let them do it not only early in the morning1 but let them carry the hive on which they intend to operate1 to a very considerable distance from the vicinity of the other hives1 and entirely out of sight of the ,apiary4 ,i prefer myself this last plan1 as ,i then run no risk of attracting other bees to steal the honey1 and acquire mischievous habits4 ,the bee-keeper is very often reminded by the actions of his bees of some of the worst traits in poor human nature4 ,when a man begins to sink under misfortunes1 how many are ready not simply to abandon him1 but to pounce upon him like greedy harpies1 dragging1 if they can1 the very bed from under his wife and helpless children1 and appropriating all which by any kind of maneuvering1 they can possibly transfer to their already overgrown coffers6 ,with much the same spirit1 more pardonable to be sure in an insect1 the bees from other hives1 will gather round the one which is being broken up1 and while the disconsolate owners are lamenting over their ruined prospects1 will1 with all imaginable rapacity and glee1 bear off every drop which they can possibly seize4 ,,footnotes3 #be ,instead of using sticks1 ,i much prefer to make the drumming with the open palms of my hands4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,robbing4 ,bees are exceedingly prone to rob each other1 and unless suitable precautions are used to prevent it1 the ,apiarian will often have cause to mourn over the ruin of some of his most promising stocks4 ,the moment a departure is made from the old-fashioned mode of managing bees1 the liability to such misfortunes is increased1 unless all operations are performed by careful and well informed persons4 ,before describing the precautions which ,i successfully employ1 to guard my colonies from robbing each other1 or from being robbed by bees from a strange ,apiary1 ,i shall first explain under what circumstances they are ordinarily disposed to plunder each other4 ,idleness is with bees1 as well as with men1 a most fruitful mother of mischief4 ,hence1 it is almost always when they are doing nothing in the fields1 that they are tempted to increase their stores by dishonest courses4 ,bees are1 however1 much more excusable than the lazy rogues of the human family2 for the bees are idle1 not because they are indisposed to work1 but because they can find nothing to do4 ,unless there is some gross mismanagement1 on the part of their owner1 they seldom attempt to live upon stolen sweets1 when they have ample opportunity to reap the abundant harvests of honest industry4 ,in this chapter1 ,i shall be obliged1 however much against my will1 to acknowledge that some branches of morals in my little friends1 need very close watching1 and that they too often make the lowest sort of distinction1 between mine and thine4 ,still ,i feel bound to show that when thus overcome by temptation1 it is almost always1 under circumstances in which their careless owner is by far the most to blame4 ,in the ,spring1 as soon as the bees are able to fly abroad1 innatus urget amor habendi1 as ,virgil has expressed it2 that is1 they begin to feel the force of an innate love of honey-getting4 ,they can find nothing in the fields1 and they begin at once1 to see if they cannot appropriate the spoils of some weaker hive4 ,they are often impelled to this1 by the pressure of immediate want1 or the salutary dread of approaching famine3 but truth obliges me to confess that not unfrequently some of the strongest stocks1 which have more than they would be able to consume1 even if they gathered nothing more for a whole year1 are the most anxious to prey upon the meager possessions of some feeble colony4 ,just like some rich men who have more money than they can ever use1 urged on by the insatiable love of gain1 oppress the hireling in his wages1 the widow and the fatherless1 and spin on all sides1 their crafty webs to entrap their poorer neighbors1 who seldom escape from their toils1 until every dollar has been extracted from them1 and as far as their worldly goods are concerned1 they resemble the skins and skeletons which line the nest of some voracious old spider4 ,when ,i have seen some powerful hive of the kind just described1 condemned by its owner1 in the ,fall1 to the sulphur pit1 or deprived unexpectedly of its queen1 its stores plundered1 and its combs eaten up by the worms1 ,i have often thought of the threatenings which ,god has denounced against those who make dishonest gains their hope1 and say unto the fine gold1 ,thou art my confidence4 ,in order to prevent colonies from attempting to rob1 ,i always examine them in the ,spring1 to ascertain that they have honey and are in possession of a fertile queen4 ,if they need food they are supplied with it1 7see ,chapter on ,feeding17 and if they are feeble or queenless1 they are managed according to the directions previously given4 ,bees seem to have an instinctive perception of the weakness of a colony1 and like the bee-moth1 they are almost certain to attack such stocks1 especially when they have no queen4 ,hence ,i can almost always tell that a colony is queenless1 by seeing robbers constantly attempting to force an entrance into it4 ,it requires some knowledge of the habits of bees1 to tell from their motions1 whether they are flying about a strange hive with some evil intent1 or whether they belong to the hive before which they are hovering4 ,a little experience however1 will soon enable us to discriminate between the honest inhabitants of a hive1 and the robbers which so often mingle themselves among the crowd4 ,there is an unmistakable air of roguery about a thieving bee1 which to the observing ,apiarian1 proclaims the nature of his calling1 just as truly as the appearance of a pickpocket in a crowd1 enables the experienced police officer to distinguish him from the honest folks1 on whom he intends to exercise his skill4 ,there is a certain sneaking look about a rogue of a bee1 almost indescribable1 and yet perfectly obvious4 ,it does not alight on the hive1 and boldly enter at once like an honest bee which is carrying home its load4 ,if they could only assume such an appearance of transparent honesty1 they would often be allowed by the unsuspecting door-keepers to enter unquestioned1 to see all the sights within1 and to help themselves to the very fat of the land4 ,but there is a sort of nervous haste1 and guilty agitation in all their movements3 they never alight boldly upon the entrance board1 or face the guards which watch the passage to the hive2 they know too well that if caught and overhauled by these trusty guardians of the hive1 their lives would hardly be worth insuring2 hence their anxiety to glide in1 without touching one of the sentinels4 ,if detected1 as they have no password to give1 7having a strange smell17 they are very speedily dealt with1 according to their just deserts4 ,if they can only effect a secret entrance1 those within take it for granted that all is right1 and seldom subject them to a close examination4 ,sometimes bees which have lost their way1 are mistaken by the inexperienced1 for robbers2 there is however1 a most marked distinction between the conduct of the two4 ,the arrant rogue when caught1 attempts with might and main1 to pull away from his executioners1 while the poor bewildered unfortunate shrinks into the smallest compass1 like a cowed dog1 and submits to whatever fate his captors may see fit to award him4 ,the class of dishonest bees which ,i have been describing1 may be termed the ,jerry ,sneaks of their profession1 and after they have followed it for some time1 they lose all disposition for honest pursuits1 and assume a hang-dog sort of look1 which is very peculiar4 ,constantly employed in creeping into small holes1 and daubing themselves with honey1 they often lose all the bright feathers and silky plumes which once so beautifully adorned their bodies1 and assume a smooth and almost black appearance2 just as the hat of the thievish loafer1 acquires a seedy aspect1 and his garments1 a shining and threadbare look4 ,dzierzon is of opinion that the black bees which ,huber describes1 as being so bitterly persecuted by the rest1 are nothing more than these thieving bees4 ,i call them old convicts1 dressed in prison garments1 and incurably given up to dishonest pursuits4 ,bees sometimes act the part of highway robbers2 some half dozen or more of them1 will waylay and attack a poor humble-bee which is returning with a sack full of honey to his nest1 like an honest trader1 jogging home with a well filled purse4 ,they seize the poor bee1 and give him at once to understand that they must have the earnings of his industry4 ,they do not slay him4 ,oh no6 they are much too selfish to endanger their own precious persons2 and even if they could kill him1 without losing their weapons1 they would still be unable to extract his sweets from the deep recesses of his honey bag3 they therefore begin to bite and teaze him1 after the most approved fashion1 all the time singing in his ears1 not your money1 but1 your honey or your life2 until utterly discouraged1 he delivers up his purse1 by disgorging his honey from its capacious receptacle4 ,the graceless creatures cry hands off1 and release him at once1 while they lick up his spoils and carry it off to their home4 ,the remark is frequently made that were rogues to spend half as much time and ingenuity in gaining an honest living1 as they do1 in seeking to impose upon their fellow-men1 their efforts would often be crowned with abundant success4 ,just so of many a dishonest bee4 ,if it only knew its true interests1 it would be safely roving the smiling fields1 in search of honey1 instead of longing for a tempting and yet dangerous taste of forbidden sweets4 ,bees sometimes carry on their depredations on a more magnificent scale4 ,having ascertained the weakness of some neighboring colony1 through the sly intrusions of those who have entered the hive to spy out all the nakedness of the land1 they prepare themselves for war1 in the shape of a pitched battle4 ,the well-armed warriors sally out by thousands1 to attack the feeble hive against which they have so unjustly declared a remorseless warfare4 ,a furious onset is at once made1 and the ground in front of the assaulted hive is soon covered with the dead and dying bodies of innumerable victims4 ,sometimes the baffled invaders are compelled to sound a retreat2 too often however1 as in human contests1 right proves but a feeble barrier against superior might2 the citadel is stormed1 and the work of rapine and pillage forthwith begins4 ,and yet after all1 matters are not nearly so bad1 as at first they seem to be4 ,the conquered bees1 perceiving that there is no hope for them in maintaining the unequal struggle1 submit themselves to the pleasure of the victors2 nay more1 they aid them in carrying off their own stores1 and are immediately incorporated into the triumphant nation6 ,the poor mother however1 is left behind in her deserted home1 some few of her children which are faithful to the last1 remaining with her1 to perish by her side1 amid the sad ruins of their once happy home6 ,if the bee-keeper is unwilling to have his bees so demoralized1 that their value will be seriously diminished1 he will be exceedingly careful to do all that he possibly can to prevent them from robbing each other4 ,he will see that all queenless colonies are seasonably broken up in the ,spring1 and all weak ones strengthened1 and confined to a space which they can warm and defend4 ,if once his bees get a taste of forbidden sweets1 they will seldom stop until they have tested the strength of every stock1 and destroyed all that they possibly can4 ,even if the colonies are able to defend themselves1 many bees will be lost in these encounters1 and a large waste of time will invariably follow2 for bees whether engaged in attempting to rob1 or in battling against the robbery of others1 are1 to a very great extent1 cut off both from the disposition and the ability to engage in useful labors4 ,they are like nations that are impoverished by mutual assaults on each other3 or in which the apprehension of war1 exerts a most blighting influence upon every branch of peaceful industry4 ,i place very great reliance on the movable blocks which guard the entrance to my hive1 to assist colonies in defending themselves against robbing bees1 as well as the prowling bee-moth4 ,these blocks are triangular in shape1 and enable the ,apiarian to enlarge or contract the entrance to the hive1 at pleasure4 ,in the ,spring1 the entrance is kept open only about two inches1 and if the colony is feeble1 not more than half an inch4 ,if there is any sign of robbers being about1 the small colonies have their entrances closed1 so that only a single bee can go in and out at once4 ,as the bottom-board slants forwards1 the entrance is on an inclined plane1 and the bees which defend it1 have a very great advantage over those which attack them2 the same in short1 that the inhabitants of a besieged fortress would have in defending a pass-way similarly constructed4 ,as only one bee can enter at a time1 he is sure to be overhauled1 if he attempts ever so slyly to slip in3 his credentials are roughly demanded1 and as he can produce none1 he is at once delivered over to the executioners4 ,if an attempt is made to gain admission by force1 then as soon as a bee gets in1 he finds hundreds1 if not thousands1 standing in battle array1 and he meets with a reception altogether too warm for his comfort4 ,i have sometimes stopped robbing1 even after it had proceeded so far that the assaulted bees had ceased to offer any successful resistance1 by putting my blocks before the entrance1 and permitting only a single bee to enter at once3 the dispirited colony have at once recovered heart1 and have battled so stoutly and successfully1 as to beat off their assailants4 ,when bees are engaged in robbing a hive1 they will often continue their depredations to as late an hour as possible1 and not unfrequently some of them return home so late with their ill-gotten spoils1 that they cannot find the entrance to their own hive4 ,like the wicked man who deviseth mischief on his bed1 and setteth himself in a way that is not good1 they are all night long1 meditating new violence1 and with the very first peep of light1 they sally out to complete their unlawful doings4 ,sometimes the ,apiarian may be in doubt whether a colony is being robbed or not1 and may mistake the busy numbers that arrive and depart1 for the honest laborers of the hive2 but let him look into the matter a little more closely1 and he will soon ascertain the true state of the case3 the bees that enter1 instead of being heavily laden1 with bodies hanging down1 unwieldy in their flight1 and slow in all their movements1 are almost as hungry looking as ,pharaoh's lean kine1 while those that come out1 show by their burly looks1 that like aldermen who have dined at the expense of the ,city1 they are filled to their utmost capacity4 ,if the ,apiarian wishes to guard his bees against the fatal propensity to plunder each other1 he must be exceedingly careful not to have any combs filled with honey unnecessarily exposed4 ,an ignorant or careless person attempting to multiply colonies on my plan1 will be almost sure to tempt his bees to rob each other4 ,if he leaves any of the combs which he removes1 so that strange bees find them1 they will1 after once getting a taste of the honey1 fly to any hive upon which he begins to operate1 and attempt to appropriate a part of its contents4 7,see p4 #cjd47 ,i have already stated that when they can find an abundance of food in the fields1 bees are seldom inclined to rob2 for this reason1 with proper precautions1 it is not difficult to perform all the operations which are necessary on my plan of management1 at the proper season1 without any danger of demoralizing the bees4 ,if however1 they are attempted when honey cannot be obtained1 they should be performed with extreme caution1 and early in the morning1 or late in the evening2 or if possible1 on a day when the bees are not flying out from their hives4 ,i have sometimes seen the most powerful colonies in an ,apiary1 either robbed and destroyed1 or very greatly reduced in numbers1 by the gross carelessness or ignorance of their owner4 ,he neglects to examine his hives at the proper season1 and the bees begin to rob a weak or queenless stock3 as soon as they are at the very height of their nefarious operations1 he attempts to interfere with their proceedings1 either by shutting up the hive1 or by moving it to a new place4 ,the air is now filled with greedy and disappointed bees1 and rather than fail in obtaining the expected treasures1 they assail with almost frantic desperation1 some of the neighboring stocks3 in this way1 the most powerful colonies are sometimes utterly ruined1 or if they escape1 thousands of bees are slain in defending their treasures1 and thousands more of the assailants meet with the same untimely end4 ,if the ,apiarian perceives that one of his colonies is being robbed1 he should at once contract the entrance1 so that only a single bee can get in at a time2 and if the robbers still persist in entering1 he must close it entirely4 ,in a few minutes the outside of the hive will be black with the greedy cormorants1 and they will not abandon it1 until they have explored every crevice1 and attempted to force themselves through even the smallest openings4 ,before they assail a neighboring colony1 they should be sprinkled with cold water1 and then instead of feeling courage for new crimes1 they will be glad to escape1 thoroughly drenched1 to their proper homes4 ,unless the bees that are shut up can1 as in my hives1 have an abundance of air1 it will be necessary to carry them at once into a dark and cool place4 ,early next morning the condition of the hive should be examined1 and the proper remedies if it is weak or queenless should be applied2 or if its condition is past remedy1 it should at once be broken up1 and the bees united to another stock4 ,i have been credibly informed of an exceedingly curious kind of robbing among bees4 ,two colonies1 both in good condition1 seemed determined to appropriate each other's labors3 neither made any resistance to the entrance of the plundering bees2 but each seemed too busily intent upon its own dishonest gains1 to notice#bf that the work of subtraction kept pace with that of addition4 ,an intelligent ,apiarian stated to me this singular fact as occurring in his own ,apiary4 ,this is a very near approximation to the story of the ,kilkenny cats4 ,alas6 that there should be so much of equally short-sighted policy among human beings2 individuals1 communities and nations seeking often to thrive by attempting to prey upon the labors of others1 instead of doing all that they can1 by industry and enterprise1 to add to the common stock4 ,i have never1 in my own experience1 met with an instance of such silly pilfering as the one described2 but ,i have occasionally known bees to be carrying on their labors1 while others were stealing more than the occupants of the hive were gathering1 without their being aware of it4 ,,footnotes3 #bf ,the bees in each colony had probably contracted the same smell1 and could not distinguish friends from foes4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,,directions ,,for ,,feeding ,,bees4 ,few things in the practical department of the ,apiary1 are more important and yet more shamefully neglected1 or grossly mismanaged1 than the feeding of bees4 ,in order to make this subject as clear as possible1 ,i shall begin with the ,spring examination of the hives1 and furnish suitable directions for feeding during the whole season in which it ought to be attempted4 ,in the movable comb hives1 the exact condition of the bees with regard to stores1 may be easily ascertained as soon as the weather is warm enough to lift out the frames4 ,in the common hives1 this can sometimes be ascertained from the glass sides2 but often no reliable information can be obtained4 ,even if the weight of the hive is known1 this will be no sure criterion of the quantity of honey it contains4 ,the comb in old hives1 is often very thick1 and of course1 unusually heavy2 while vast stores of useless bee-bread have frequently been accumulated1 which entirely deceive the ,apiarian1 who attempts to judge of the resources of a hive from its weight alone4 ,on my system of bee-culture1 such an injurious surplus of bee-bread1 is easily prevented2 7,see p4 #ajb47 ,if the bee-keeper ascertains or even suspects1 in the ,spring1 that his bees have not sufficient food1 he must at once supply them with what they need4 ,bees1 at this season of the year1 consume a very large quantity of honey3 they are stimulated to great activity by the returning warmth1 and are therefore compelled to eat much more than when they were almost dormant among their combs4 ,in addition to this extra demand1 they are now engaged in rearing thousands of young1 and all these require a liberal supply of food4 ,owing to the inexcusable neglect of many bee-keepers1 thousands of swarms perish annually after the ,spring has opened1 and when they might have been saved1 with but little trouble or expense4 ,such abominable neglect is incomparably more cruel than the old method of taking up the bees with sulphur2 and those who are guilty of it1 are either too ignorant or too careless1 to have any thing to do with the management of bees4 ,what would be thought of a farmer's skill in his business1 who should neglect to provide for the wants of his cattle1 and allow them to drop down lifeless in their stalls1 or in his barn-yard1 when the fields1 in a few weeks1 will be clothed again with the green mantle of delightful ,spring6 ,if any farmer should do this1 when food might easily be purchased1 and should then1 while engaged in the work of skinning the skeleton carcasses of his neglected herd1 pretend that he could not afford to furnish1 for a few weeks1 the food which would have kept them alive1 he would not be a whit more stupid than the bee-keeper attempting to justify himself on the score of economy1 while engaged in melting down the combs of a hive1 starved to death1 after the ,spring has fairly opened6 ,let such a person blush at the pretence that he could not afford to feed his bees1 the few pounds of sugar or honey1 which would have saved their lives1 and enabled them to repay him tenfold for his prudent care4 ,i always feed my bees a little1 even if ,i know that they have enough and to spare4 ,there seems to be an intimate connection between the getting of honey1 and the rapid increase of breeding1 in a hive2 and the taste of something sweet1 however small1 to be added to their hoards1 exerts a very stimulating effect upon the bees2 a few spoonsfull a day1 will be gratefully received1 and will be worth much more to a stock of bees in the ,spring1 than at any other time4 ,by judicious early feeding1 a whole ,apiary may be not only encouraged to breed much faster than they otherwise would have done2 but they will be inspired with unusual vigor and enterprise1 and will afterwards increase their stores with unusual rapidity4 ,great caution must be exercised in supplying bees at this time with food1 both to prevent them from being tempted to rob each other1 or to fill up with honey1 the cells which ought to be supplied with brood4 ,only a small allowance should be given to them1 and this from time to time1 unless they are destitute of supplies2 and as soon as they begin to gather from the fields1 the feeding should be discontinued4 ,feeding1 intended merely to encourage the bees1 and to promote early breeding1 may be done in the open air4 ,no greater mistake can be made than to feed largely at this season of the year4 ,the bees take1 to be sure1 all that they can1 and stow it up in their cells1 but what is the consequence8 ,the honey which has been fed to them1 fills up their brood combs1 and the increase of population is most seriously interfered with2 so that often when stocks which have not been over-fed1 are prepared not only to fill all the store combs in their main hive1 but to take speedy possession of the spare honey boxes1 a colony imprudently fed1 is too small in numbers1 to gather even as much as the one which was not fed at all6 ,the inexperienced ,apiarian has thus often made a worse use of his honey than he would have done1 if he had actually thrown it away6 while all the time1 he is deluding himself with the vain expectation of reaping some wonderful profits1 from what he considers an improved mode of managing bees4 ,such conduct in its results1 appears to me very much like the noxious influences under which too many of the children of the rich are so fatally reared4 ,with every want gratified1 pampered and fed to the very full1 how often do we see them disappoint all the fond expectations of parents and friends1 their money proving only a curse1 while not unfrequently beggared in purse1 and bankrupt in character1 they prematurely sink to an ignoble or dishonored grave4 ,think of it1 ye who are slaving in the service of ,mammon1 that ye may leave to your sons1 the overgrown wealth which usually proves a legacy of withering curses1 while you neglect to train them up in those habits of stern morality and steady industry1 and noble self-reliance1 without which the wealth of ,croesus would be but a despicable portion6 ,think of it1 as you contrast its results in the bitter experience of thousands1 with the happier influences under which so many of our noblest men in ,church and ,state1 have been nurtured and developed1 and then pursue your sordid policy1 if you can4 ,there is that withholdeth from good objects1 more than is meet1 and it tendeth to poverty3 yes1 to poverty of ,christian virtue and manliness1 and of those treasures which we are all entreated by ,god himself1 to lay up in the store-house of ,heaven4 ,call your narrow-mindedness and gross deficiencies in ,christian liberality1 nothing more than a natural love of your children1 and an earnest desire to provide for your own household4 ,little fear there may be that you will ever incur the charge of being worse than an infidel on this point2 but lay not on this account1 any flattering unction to your souls2 look within1 and see if the base idolatry of gold has not more to do with your whole course of thinking and acting1 than any love of wife or children1 relatives or friends6 ,another sermon6 does some one exclaim8 ,would then that it might be to some of my readers a sermon indeed2 a word fitly spoken1 like apples of gold in pictures of silver4 ,the prudent ,apiarian will always regard the feeding of bees1 except the little1 given to them by way of encouragement1 as an evil to be submitted to1 only when absolutely necessary2 and will very much prefer to obtain his supplies from what ,shakspeare has so beautifully termed the merry pillage of the blooming fields1 than from the more costly stores of the neighboring grocery4 ,if not engaged in the rapid increase of stocks1 he will seldom see a season so unfavorable as to be obliged to purchase any food for his bees1 unless he chooses to buy a cheaper article1 to replace the choice honey of which he has deprived them4 ,just as soon as the ,apiarian begins to multiply his stocks with very great rapidity1 he must calculate upon feeding great quantities of honey to his bees4 ,before he attempts this on a large scale1 let me once more give him a friendly caution1 and if possible1 persuade him to try very rapid multiplication with only a few of his stocks4 ,in this way1 he may experiment to his heart's content1 without running the risk of seriously injuring his whole ,apiary1 and he may not only gain the skill and experience which will enable him subsequently to conduct a rapid increase1 on a large scale1 but may learn whether he is so situated that he can profitably devote to it the time and money which it will inevitably require4 ,before giving directions for feeding bees when a rapid increase of colonies is aimed at1 ,i shall first show in what manner the bee-keeper may feed his weak swarms in the ,spring4 ,if they are in the common hives1 a small quantity of liquid honey may1 at once be poured among the combs in which the bees are clustered3 this may be done by pouring it into the holes leading to the spare honey boxes1 but a much better way is to invert the hives1 and pour in about a tea-cup full at once4 ,the ,apiarian can then see just where to pour it2 he need not fear that the bees will be hurt by it2 any more than a child will be either hurt or displeased by the sweets which adhere to its hands and face1 as it feasts upon a generous allowance of the best sugar candy6 ,when the bees have taken up all that has been poured upon them1 the hive may be replaced1 and the operation repeated in a few days3 the oftener it is done1 the better it will suit them4 ,if the weather is sufficiently warm to allow the bees to fly without being chilled1 the food may be put in some old combs1 or in a feeder1 and set in a sunny place1 a rod or more from their hives4 ,if placed too near1 the bees may be tempted to rob each other4 ,with my hives1 ,i can pour the honey into some empty comb1 and then put the frame containing it1 directly into the hive2 or ,i can set the feeder or honey in the comb1 in the hive near the frames which contain the bees4 ,i have already stated1 7see p4 #bbe17 that unless a colony can be supplied with a sufficient number of bees1 it cannot be aided by giving it food4 ,if the bees are not numerous enough to take charge of the eggs which the queen can lay1 or at least1 of a large number of them1 they can seldom1 unless they have a tropical season before them1 increase rapidly enough to be of any value4 ,if they are numerous enough to raise a great many young bees1 but too few to build new comb1 they must be fed very moderately1 or they will be sure to fill up their brood comb with honey1 instead of devoting themselves to the rapid increase of their numbers4 ,if the ,apiarian has plenty of empty worker comb which he can give them1 he ought to supply them quite sparingly with honey1 even when they are considerably numerous1 in order to have them breed as fast as possible2 not so sparingly however1 as to prevent them from storing up any honey in sealed cells2 or they will not be encouraged to breed as fast as they otherwise would4 ,if he has no spare comb1 and the hive is populous enough to build new comb1 it must be supplied moderately1 and by all means1 regularly with the means of doing this2 the object being to have comb building and breeding go together1 so as mutually to aid each other4 ,if the feeding is not regular1 so as to resemble the natural supplies when honey is obtained from the blossoms1 the bees will not use the food given to them1 in building new comb1 but chiefly in filling up all the cells previously built4 ,if honey can be obtained regularly1 and in sufficient quantities from the blossoms1 the small colonies or nuclei will need no feeding until the failure of the natural supplies4 ,in all these operations1 the main object should be to make every thing bend to the most rapid production of brood2 give me the bees1 and ,i can easily show how they may be fed1 so as to make strong and prosperous stocks2 whereas if the bees are wanting1 every thing else will be in vain3 just as a land where there are many stout hands and courageous hearts1 although comparatively barren1 will in due time1 be made to bud and blossom as the rose1 while a second ,eden1 if inhabited by a scanty and discouraged population1 must speedily be overgrown with briars and thorns4 ,if strong stocks are deprived of a portion of their combs1 so that they cannot from natural sources1 at once begin to refill all vacancies1 they too must be fed4 ,i have probably said enough to show the inexperienced that the rapid multiplication of colonies is not a very simple matter1 and that they will do well not to attempt it on a large scale4 ,by the time the honey harvest ordinarily closes1 all the colonies in the ,apiaries of all except the skillful1 ought to be both strong in numbers and in stores2 at least the aggregate resources of the colonies should be such that when an equal division is made among them1 there will be enough for them all4 ,this may ordinarily be effected1 and yet the number of the colonies be tripled in one season2 and in situations where buckwheat is extensively cultivated1 a considerable quantity of surplus honey may even then be frequently obtained from the bees4 ,early in the month of ,september1 or better still1 by the middle of ,august1 if the colonies are sufficiently strong in numbers1 ,i advise that if feeding is necessary to winter the bees1 it should be thoroughly attended to4 ,if delayed later than this1 in the latitude of our ,northern ,states1 the bees may not have sufficient time to seal over the honey fed to them1 and will be almost sure to suffer from dysentery1 during the ensuing ,winter4 ,unsealed honey1 almost always1 in cool weather1 attracts moisture1 and sours in the combs1 and if the bees are compelled to feed upon it1 they are very liable to become diseased4 ,this is the reason why bees when fed with liquid honey1 late in the ,fall1 or during the ,winter1 are almost sure to suffer from disease4 ,a very interesting fact confirming these views as to the danger resulting from the use of sour food1 has come under my notice this ,spring4 ,a colony of bees were fed for some time with suitable food1 and appeared to be in perfect health1 flying in and out with great animation4 ,their owner1 on one occasion1 before leaving for the day1 gave them some molasses which was so sour1 that it could not be used in the family4 ,on returning1 at evening1 he was informed that the bees had been dropping their filth over every thing in the vicinity of the hive4 ,on examining them1 next day1 they were all found dead on the bottom-board and among the combs6 ,the acid food had acted upon them as a violent cathartic1 and had brought on a complaint of which they all died in less than #bd hours3 the hive was found to contain an ample allowance of honey and bee-bread4 ,if the ,apiarian1 on examining the condition of his stocks1 finds that some have more than they need1 and others not enough1 his most prudent course will be to make an equitable division of the honey1 among his different stocks4 ,this may seem to be a very ,agrarian sort of procedure1 and yet it will answer perfectly well in the management of bees4 ,those that were helped1 will not spend the next season in idleness1 relying upon the same sort of aid2 nor will those that were relieved of their surplus stores1 remember the deprivation1 and limit the extent of their gatherings to a bare competency4 ,with men1 most unquestionably1 such an annual division1 unless they were perfect1 would derange the whole course of affairs1 and speedily impoverish any community in which it might be attempted4 ,i always prefer to take away a considerable quantity of honey from my stocks1 which have too generous a supply1 and to replace it with empty combs suitable for the rearing of workers2 as ,i find that when bees have too much honey in the ,fall1 they do not ordinarily breed as fast in the ensuing ,spring1 as they otherwise would4 ,a portion of this honey should be carefully put away in the frames1 and kept in a close box1 safe against all intruders1 and where it will not be exposed to frost2 so that if any colonies in the ,spring1 are found to be in want of food1 they may easily be supplied4 ,in the ,spring examination1 if any colonies have too much honey1 a portion of it ought by all means to be taken away4 ,such a deprivation1 if judiciously performed1 will always stimulate them to increased activity4 ,every strong stock1 as soon as it can gather enough honey to construct comb1 ought to have one or two combs which contain no brood removed1 and their places supplied with empty frames1 in order that they may be induced to exert themselves to the utmost4 ,an empty frame inserted between full ones1 will be replenished with comb very speedily1 and often the combs removed will be so much clear gain4 ,if at any time there is a sudden supply of honey1 and the bees are reluctant to enter the boxes1 or it is not probable that the supply will continue long enough to enable them to fill them1 the removal of some of the combs from the main hive so as to have empty ones filled1 will often be highly advantageous4 ,if in the ,fall of the year1 the bee-keeper finds that some of his colonies need feeding1 and if they are not populous enough to make good stock hives in the ensuing ,spring1 then instead of wasting time and money on them1 he should at once1 break them up2 7,see p4 #cbb47 ,they will seldom pay for the labor bestowed on them1 and the bees will be much more serviceable1 if added to other stocks4 ,the ,apiarian cannot be too deeply impressed with the important truth1 that his profits in bee-keeping will all come from his strong stocks1 and that if he cannot manage so as to have such colonies early1 he had better let bee-keeping alone4 ,if liquid honey is fed to bees1 it should always1 7see p4 #cbb17 be given to them seasonably1 so that they may seal it over before the approach of cold weather4 ,west ,india honey has for many years1 been used to very good advantage1 as a bee-feed4 ,it should never be used in its raw state1 as it is often filled with impurities1 and is very liable to sour or candy in the cells1 but should be mixed with about two parts of good white sugar1 to three of honey and one of water1 and brought to the boiling point2 as soon as it begins to boil1 it should be set to cool1 and all the impurities will rise to the top1 and may be skimmed off4 ,if it is found to be too thick1 a little more water may be added to it2 it ought however1 never to be made thinner than the natural consistence of good honey4 ,such a mixture will cost for a small quantity1 about seven cents a pound1 and will probably be found the cheapest liquid food1 which can be given to bees4 ,brown sugar may be used with the honey1 but the food will not be so good4 ,if one of my hives is used1 the bee-keeper may feed his bees at the proper season1 without using any feeder at all1 or rather he may use the bottom-board of the hive as a feeder4 ,on this plan1 the bees should be fed at evening2 so as to run no risk of their robbing each other4 ,the hive which is to be fed1 should have the front edge of its bottom-board elevated on a block1 so as to slant backwards1 and the honey should be poured into a small tin gutter inserted at the entrance2 one such will answer for a whole ,apiary1 and may be made by bending up the edges of any old piece of tin4 ,as the frames in my hive are kept about half an inch above the bottom-board1 which is water-tight1 the honey runs under them1 and is as safe as in a dish1 while the bees stand on the bottom of the frames1 and help themselves4 ,the quantity poured in1 should of course1 depend upon the size and necessities of the colony2 no more ought to be given at one time than the bees can take up during the night1 and the entrance to the hive ought always to be kept very small during the process of feeding1 to prevent robber bees from getting in2 a good colony will easily take up a quart4 ,it is desirable to get through the feeding as rapidly as possible1 as the bees are excited during the whole process1 and consume more than they otherwise would2 to say nothing of the demand made upon the time of the ,apiarian1 by feeding in small quantities4 ,if the bees cannot1 in favorable weather1 dispose of at least a pint at one time1 the colony must be too small to make it worth while to feed them1 if they are in hives by which they can be readily united to stronger stocks4 ,if the bees have not a good allowance of comb1 it will not1 as a general rule1 pay to feed them4 ,this will be obvious to any one who reflects that at least #bj pounds of honey are required to elaborate one pound of wax4 ,i know that this estimate may to some1 appear enormous2 but it is given as the result of very accurate experiments1 instituted on a large scale1 to determine this very point4 ,the ,country ,curate says1 ,having driven the population of four stocks1 on the #eth of ,august1 and united them together1 ,i fed them with about #ej pounds of a mixture of sugar1 honey1 salt and beer1 for about five weeks4 ,at that time1 the box was only #af pounds heavier than when the bees were put into it4 ,he then makes an estimate that at least #be pounds of the mixture were consumed in making about half a pound of wax66 ,no one who has ever tried it1 will undertake to feed bees for profit1 when they are destitute of both comb and honey4 ,if the weather is cool when bees are fed1 it will generally be necessary to resort to top feeding4 ,for this1 my hive is admirably adapted3 a feeder may be put over one of the holes in the honey-board directly over the mass of the bees1 into which the heat of the hive naturally arises1 and where the bees can get at their food without any risk of being chilled4 ,this is always the best place for a feeder1 as the smell of the food is not so likely to attract the notice of robbing bees4 ,i shall here describe the way in which a feeder can at small expense1 be made to answer admirably every purpose4 ,take any wooden box which will hold1 say1 at least one quart2 make it honey-tight1 by pouring into the joints the melted mixture1 7see p4 #ii17 and brush the whole interior with the mixture1 so that the honey may not soak into the wood4 ,make a float of thin wood1 filled with quarter inch holes1 with clamps nailed on the lower sides to prevent warping1 and to keep the float from settling to the bottom of the box1 so as to stick fast3 it should have ample play1 so that it may settle1 as fast as the bees consume the honey4 ,tacks on the clamps will always be sure to prevent sticking4 ,before you waste any time in making small holes1 for fear the bees will be drowned in the large ones1 try a float made as directed4 ,in one corner of the box1 fasten with the melted mixture1 a thin strip of wood1 about one inch wide2 let it project above the top of the box about an inch1 and be kept about half an inch from the bottom2 this answers as a spout for pouring the honey into the feeder1 and when not in use1 it should be stopped up4 ,have for the lid of the box1 a piece of glass with the corner cut off next the spout1 so as to cover the feeder and keep the bees in1 and at the same time allow the bee-keeper to see when they have consumed all their food4 ,the feeder is now complete1 with one important exception2 it has1 as yet no way of admitting the bees4 ,on the outside corners of one of the ends1 glue or tack two strips1 inch and a half wide1 extending down to the bottom of the box1 and half an inch from the top2 fasten over them a piece of thin board1 7paste-board will answer47 ,you have now a shallow passage without top or bottom1 outside of your feeder2 give it a top of any kind2 cut out just below the level of this top1 a passage into the feeder for the bees4 ,it is now complete1 and when properly placed over any hole on the top of the hive1 will admit the bees from the hive1 into the shallow passage which has no bottom1 and through this into the feeder4 ,such a feeder will not only be cheap1 but it might almost be made by a child1 and yet it will answer every purpose most admirably4 ,if you have no wooden box that will answer1 a feeder may be made of pasteboard1 and if brushed with the melted mixture it will be honey-tight4 ,by packing cotton or wool around it1 it might be used in most hives1 even in the dead of ,winter4 ,bees however1 ought never to need feeding in ,winter1 and if they do1 it will always be unsafe at this season to feed them with liquid honey4 ,i ought here to speak of the importance of water to the bees4 ,it is absolutely indispensable when they are building comb1 or raising brood4 ,in the early ,spring1 they take advantage of the first warm weather1 to bring it to their hives1 and they may be seen busily drinking around pumps1 drains1 and other moist places4 ,as they are not noticed frequenting such spots much1 except in the early part of the season1 many suppose that they need water only at this period4 ,this is a great mistake1 for they need it1 and must have it1 during the whole breeding season4 ,but as soon as the grass starts1 and the trees are covered with leaves1 they prefer to sip the dew from them4 ,if a few cold days come on1 after the bees have commenced breeding1 so as to prevent them from going abroad for water1 a very serious check will be given to their operations4 ,even when it is not so cold as to prevent their leaving the hive1 many become so chilled in their search for water1 that they are not able to return4 ,every wise bee-keeper will see that his bees have an abundant supply of water4 ,if he has not some warm and sunny spot where they can safely obtain it1 he will furnish them with shallow wooden troughs or vessels filled with pebbles1 from which they can drink1 without any risk of drowning1 and where they will be sheltered from cold winds1 and warmed by the genial rays of the sun4 ,i believe that the reason why bees very much prefer the impure water of barn-yards and drains1 is not because they find any medicinal quality in it1 but because as it is near their hives and warm1 they can fill themselves without being fatally chilled4 ,i have used water feeders of the same construction with my honey feeders1 with great success4 ,the bees are able to enter them at all times1 as they are filled with the warm air of the hive1 and thus breeding goes on1 without interruption1 and the lives of many bees are saved4 ,the same end may be obtained1 by pouring daily1 a few table spoonsfull of water into the hive1 through one of the holes leading to the spare honey boxes4 ,as soon as the weather becomes warm1 and the bees can supply themselves from the dew on the grass and leaves1 it will not be worth while to give them water in their hives4 ,when supplied with water in their hives1 ,i advise that enough honey or sugar be added to it1 to make it tolerably sweet4 ,they will take it with greater relish1 and it will stimulate them more powerfully to the raising of brood4 ,i come now to mention a substitute for liquid honey1 the value of which has been extensively and thoroughly tested in ,germany1 and which ,i have used with great advantage4 ,it was not discovered by ,dzierzon1 although he speaks of its excellence1 in the most decided terms4 ,the article to which ,i refer1 is plain sugar candy1 or as it is often called1 barley candy4 ,it has been ascertained that about four pounds of this1 will sustain a colony during the ,winter1 when they have scarcely any honey in their hive6 ,if it is placed where they can get access to it without being chilled1 they will cluster upon it1 and gradually eat it up4 ,it not only goes further than double the quantity of liquid honey which could be bought for the same money1 but is found to agree with the bees perfectly2 while the liquid honey is almost sure to sour in the unsealed cells1 and expose them to dangerous1 and often fatal attacks of dysentery4 ,i have sometimes1 in the old-fashioned box hives1 pushed sticks of candy between the ranges of comb1 and have found it even then to answer a good purpose4 ,in any hive which has surplus honey boxes1 the candy may be put into a small box1 which after being covered thoroughly with cotton or wool1 may have another box put over it1 the outside of which may be also covered4 ,unless great precautions are used1 the boxes will be so cold1 that the bees will not be able to enter them in ,winter1 and may thus perish in close proximity to abundant stores4 ,in my hives1 the candy may be laid on the top of the frames1 in the shallow chamber between the frames and the honey-board2 it will here1 if the honey-board is covered with straw1 be always accessible to the bees1 even in the coldest weather4 ,i sometimes put it directly into a frame1 and confine it with a piece of twine1 or fine wire4 ,i have made a very convenient use of sugar candy1 as a bee-feed in the ,summer1 when ,i wished to give small colonies a little food1 and yet not to be at the trouble to use a feeder1 or incur the risk of their being robbed by putting it where strange bees might be attracted by the scent4 ,a small stick of candy1 slid in on the bottom-board1 under the frames1 answers admirably for such a purpose4 ,if a little liquid food must be used in warm weather1 ,i advise that it be the best white sugar1 dissolved in water2 this makes an admirable food2 costs but little more than brown sugar1 and has no smell to tempt robbers to try to gain an entrance into the hive4 ,if the ,apiarian is skillful1 and attends to his bees1 at the proper time1 they will rarely need much feeding2 if he manages them in such a manner that this is frequently and extensively needed1 ,i can assure him1 if he has not already found it out to his sorrow1 that his bees will be nothing but a bill of cost and vexation4 ,the question how much honey a colony of bees needs1 in order to carry them safely through the perils of ,winter1 is one to which it is impossible to give an answer which will be definite1 under all circumstances4 ,very much will depend upon the hive in which they are kept1 and the forwardness of the ensuing ,spring2 7see ,chapter on ,protection47 ,it is often absolutely impossible in the common hives1 to form any reliable estimate1 as to the quantity of honey which they contain1 for the combs are often so heavy with bee-bread1 as entirely to deceive even the most experienced bee-keeper4 ,i should always wish to leave at least #bj lbs4 of honey in a hive2 and as ,i can examine each comb1 ,i am never at a loss to know how much a colony has4 ,if ,i have the least apprehension that their supplies may fail1 ,i prefer to put a few pounds of sugar candy where they can easily get access to it1 in case of need4 ,in my hive1 the careful bee-keeper may not only know the exact extent of the resources of each hive1 in the ,fall1 but he may1 very early in the ,spring1 ascertain precisely how much honey is still on hand1 and whether his bees need feeding1 in order to preserve their lives4 ,it is a shameful fact that a large number of colonies perish after they have begun to fly out1 and when1 they might easily have been saved1 in any kind of hive4 ,,feeding1 ,,to ,,make ,a ,,profit ,,by ,,selling ,,the ,,honey ,,stored ,,up ,,by ,,the ,,bees4 ,for many years1 ,apiarians have attempted to make the feeding of bees on a large scale1 profitable to their owners4 ,all such attempts however1 must1 from the very nature of the case1 meet with very limited success4 ,if large quantities of cheap ,west ,india honey are fed to the bees in the ,fall1 they are induced to fill their hives to such an extent1 that in the ,spring1 the queen does not find the necessary accommodations for breeding4 ,if they are largely fed in the ,spring1 the case is still worse2 7,see p4 #cbj47 ,it must therefore be obvious that the feeding of cheap honey can only be made profitable where it serves as a substitute for an equal quantity of choice honey taken from the bees4 ,in the latter part of ,summer1 the ,apiarian may take away from the main hive1 some of the combs which contain the best honey1 and replace them with combs into which he has poured the cheaper article2 or if he has no spare combs on hand1 he may slice off the covers of the cells1 drain out the honey1 fill the empty combs with ,west ,india honey1 and return them to the bees3 giving them at the same time1 the additional food which they need to elaborate wax to seal them over4 ,if he attempts to take away their full combs1 and gives them honey in order to enable them1 first to replace their combs1 and then to fill them1 the operation1 7see p4 #cbf17 will result in a loss1 instead of a gain4 ,i am aware that for a number of years1 persons have attempted to derive a profit from supplying the markets of some of our large cities1 with an article professing to be the best of honey1 but which has been nothing more than the cheap ,west ,india honey fed to the bees1 and stored up by them in new comb4 ,in the ,city of ,philadelphia1 large quantities of such honey have been sold at the highest prices1 and perhaps at some profit to the persons who have fed it to their bees4 ,within the last two years1 however1 the article has become so well known that it can hardly be sold at any price2 as those who purchase honey1 instead of paying #be cents per pound for ,west ,india honey in the comb1 much prefer to buy it1 7if they want it at all17 for #f or #g cents1 in a liquid state6 ,it must be perfectly obvious that to sell a cheap and ill-flavored article at a high price1 under the pretence that it is a superior article1 is nothing less than downright cheating4 ,i am perfectly well aware that many persons imagine that if any thing sweet is fed to bees1 they will quickly transmute it into the purest nectar4 ,there is1 however1 no more truth in such a conceit1 than there would be in that of a man who supposed that he had found the veritable philosopher's stone2 and that he was able to change all our copper and silver coins into the purest gold6 ,bees to be sure1 can make white and beautiful comb1 from almost any kind of sweet2 and why8 because wax is a natural secretion of the bee1 7see p4 #gf17 and can be made from any sweet2 just as fat can be put upon the ribs of an ox1 by any kind of nourishing food4 ,but1 some of my readers may ask1 do you mean to assert that bees do not secrete honey out of the raw material which they gather1 or which is furnished to them1 just as cows secrete milk from grass and hay8 ,i certainly do mean to assert that they can do nothing of the kind1 and no intelligent man who has carefully studied their habits1 will for a moment1 venture to affirm that they can1 unless for the sake of filthy lucre1 he is attempting to deceive an unwary community4 ,what bee-keeper does not know1 or rather ought not to know that the quality of honey depends entirely upon the sources from whence it is gathered2 and that the different kinds of honey can easily be distinguished by any one who is a judge of the article4 ,apple-blossom honey1 white clover honey1 buckwheat honey1 and all the different kinds of honey1 each has its own peculiar flavor1 and it is utterly amazing how any sensible man1 acquainted with bees1 can be so deluded as to imagine any thing to the contrary4 ,but as this is a matter of great practical importance1 let us examine it more closely4 ,when bees are engaged in rapidly storing up honey in their combs1 they may be seen1 as soon as they return from the fields1 or from the feeding boxes1 putting their heads at once into the cells1 and disgorging the contents of their honey-bags4 ,now that the contents of their sacs undergo no change at all1 during the short time that they remain in them1 ,i will not absolutely affirm1 because ,i have endeavored1 through this whole treatise1 never to assert positively when ,i had not positive evidence for so doing3 but that they can undergo but a very slight change1 must be evident from the fact that when thus stored up1 the different kinds of honey or sugar can be almost if not quite as readily distinguished as before they were fed to the bees4 ,the only perceptible change which they appear to undergo in the cells1 is to have the large quantity of water evaporated from them1 which is added from thoughtlessness1 or from the vain expectation that it will be just so much water sold for honey1 to the defrauded purchaser6 ,this evaporation of the water from the honey by the heat of the hive1 is about the only marked change that it appears to undergo1 from its natural state in the nectaries of the blossoms2 and it is exceedingly interesting to see how unwilling bees are to seal up honey1 until it is reduced to such a consistency that there is no danger of its souring in the cells4 ,they are as careful as to the quality of their nectar1 as the good lady of the house is1 to have the syrup of her preserves boiled down to a suitable thickness to keep them sweet4 ,let all who for any purpose whatever1 feed bees1 keep this fact in mind1 and never add to the food which they give them1 more water than is absolutely necessary4 ,to do so1 is a piece of as great stupidity as to pour a barrel of water into the sugar pans1 for every barrel of sap from the maples1 or juice from the canes6 ,if a strong colony is set upon a platform scale1 it will be found on a pleasant day1 during the height of the honey harvest1 to gain a number of pounds2 if examined again1 early next morning1 it will be found to have lost considerably1 during the night4 ,this is owing to the evaporation of the water from the freshly gathered honey1 and it may often be seen running down in quite a stream from the bottom-board4 ,those who feed cheap honey to sell it in the market at a high advance over its first cost1 are either deceivers or deceived2 if any of my readers have been deceived by the plausible representations of ignorant or unprincipled men1 ,i trust they will be able from these remarks1 to see exactly how they have been deceived1 and they will no longer persist in an adulteration1 the profits of which can never be great1 and the morality of which can never be defended4 ,a man who offers for sale1 inferior honey1 or sugar which he calls honey1 and which he is able to sell because it is stored in white comb1 to those who would never purchase it if they knew what it was1 or once had a taste of it1 is not a whit more honest1 if he understands the nature of the article in which he deals1 than a person engaged in counterfeiting the current coin of the realm3 for poor honey in white comb1 is no less a fraud than eagles or dollars1 golden to be sure1 on their honest exteriors1 but containing a baser metal within6 ,the ,golden ,age of bee-keeping1 in which inferior honey can be quickly transmuted into such balmy spoils as are gathered by the bees of ,hybla1 has not yet dawned upon us2 or at least only in the fairy visions of the poet who saw ,a golden hive1 on a ,golden ,bank1 ,where golden bees1 by alchemical prank1 ,gathered ,gold instead of ,honey4 ,if a pound of ,west ,india honey costs about #f cents1 and the bees use1 as they will1 about one pound to make the comb in which it is stored1 it costs the producer at least #ab cents a pound1 and if to this1 he adds1 say #e cents more1 for extra time and labor in feeding1 then his inferior honey costs him at least as much as the market price of the very best honey on the spot where it is produced6 ,if the bee-keeper allows his bees to make what they will1 from the blossoms1 and then begins to feed1 after he has harvested the produce from the natural supplies1 the advance over the first cost will hardly pay for the trouble1 even if it were fair to palm off such inferior honey as a first-rate article4 ,if1 however1 bees are fed on this food very largely in the latter part of ,summer1 they will fill up their hive with it1 before they put it into the spare honey boxes1 and the production of brood will often be most seriously interfered with1 at a season of the year when it is important to have the hives well stocked with bees1 that they may winter to the best advantage4 ,if ,apiarians are anxious to have large quantities of choice honey1 let them manage their bees so as to have powerful stocks in the early ,spring1 and they will then be able to have heavy purses and light consciences into the bargain4 ,i shall now show how liquid honey1 exceedingly beautiful to the eye1 and tempting to the taste1 may be made to great advantage4 ,dissolve two pounds of the purest white sugar1 in as much hot water as will be just necessary to reduce it to a syrup2 take one pound of the nicest white clover honey1 7any other light colored honey of good flavor will answer17 and after warming it1 add it to the sugar syrup1 and stir the contents4 ,when cool1 this compound will be pronounced1 even by the best judges of honey1 to be one of the most luscious articles which they ever tasted2 and will be1 by almost every one1 preferred to the unmixed honey4 ,refined loaf sugar is a perfectly pure and inodorous sweet1 and one pound of honey will communicate the honey flavor1 in high perfection1 to twice that quantity of sugar3 while the new article will be destitute of that smarting taste which honey alone1 so often has1 and will be often found to agree perfectly with those who cannot eat the clear honey with impunity4 ,if those engaged in the artificial manufacture of honey1 never brought any thing worse than this1 to the market1 the purchasers would have no reason to complain4 ,as however1 the compound can be furnished much cheaper than the pure honey1 many may prefer to purchase the materials1 and mix them themselves4 ,if desired1 any kind of flavor may be given to the manufactured article2 thus it may be made to resemble in fragrance1 the classic honey of ,mount ,hymettus1 by adding to it the fine aroma of the lemon balm1 or wild thyme2 or it may have the flavor of the orange groves1 or the delicate fragrance of beds of roses washed with dew4 ,i have recently ascertained that if two pounds of the best refined sugar be added to one of common maple sugar1 the compound will be a light colored article1 retaining perfectly the maple taste1 and yet far superior to the common maple sugar4 ,after making this discovery1 ,i learned that a large part of the very nicest maple sugar is made in this way6 ,attempts have been made to feed to bees1 to be stored in the honey boxes1 a mixture of the whitest honey and loaf sugar2 but the result shows a loss rather than a gain4 ,the mixture1 before it is fed1 will cost about #aj cents per pound4 ,at the very furthest1 not more than one half of what is fed1 can be secured in the comb1 for it requires about one pound of honey1 to manufacture comb enough to hold a pound of honey4 ,the actual cost of the honey in the comb1 will therefore be1 at least #bj cents per pound2 and the pure white clover honey can be bought for less than that4 ,those who desire to have something exceedingly beautiful to the eye1 and delicate to the taste1 at a season when the bees are not storing up honey from the blossoms1 and in situations where the natural supply is of an inferior quality1 if they do not regard expense1 can place upon their tables1 something which will be pronounced by the best judges1 a little superior to any thing they ever tasted before4 ,i have repeatedly spoken of the great care which is necessary to prevent bees from getting a taste of forbidden sweets1 so as to be tempted to engage in dishonest courses4 ,the experienced ,apiarian will fully appreciate the necessity of these cautions1 and the inexperienced1 if they neglect them1 will be taught a lesson that they will not soon forget4 ,let it be remembered that the bee was intended to gather its sweets from the nectaries of flowers3 to use the exquisitely beautiful language of him whose wonderful writings supply us on almost every subject1 with the richest thoughts and happiest illustrations1 they were created to ,make boot upon the ,summer's velvet buds1 ,which pillage they with merry march bring home ,to the tent royal of their emperor3 ,who1 busied in his majesty1 surveys ,the singing masons1 building roofs of gold4--,shakspeare4 ,when thus engaged1 the bees work in perfect accordance with their natural instincts1 and seem to have little or no disposition to meddle with property that does not belong to them4 ,if however1 their incautious owner tempts them with liquid food1 especially at times when they can obtain nothing from the blossoms1 they seem to be so infatuated with such easy gatherings1 as to lose all discretion1 and they will perish by thousands1 if the vessels which contain the food are not furnished with floats1 on which they can stand and help themselves in safety4 ,the fly was intended to feed1 not upon the blossoms1 but upon food in which1 without care1 it could easily be drowned2 and hence it alights most cautiously1 on the edge of any vessel containing liquid food1 and warily helps itself3 while the poor bee1 without any caution1 plunges right in and speedily perishes4 ,the sad fate of their unfortunate companions1 does not in the least1 deter others who approach the tempting lure3 but they madly alight on the bodies of the dying and the dead1 to share the same miserable end6 ,no one can understand the full extent of their infatuation1 until after seeing a confectioner's shop1 assailed by thousands and tens of thousands of hungry bees4 ,i have seen thousands strained out from the syrups in which they had perished2 thousands more alighting even upon the boiling sweets2 the floors covered1 and windows darkened with bees1 some crawling1 others flying1 and others still1 so completely daubed as to be able neither to crawl nor fly2 not one bee in ten able to carry home its ill-gotten spoils1 and yet the air filled with new hosts of thoughtless comers4 ,it will be for the interest of all engaged in the manufacture of candy and syrups1 to fit gauze wire windows and doors to their premises1 and thus save themselves from constant loss and annoyance3 for if only one bee in a hundred escapes with his load1 the confectioner will be subjected in the course of the season to serious loss4 ,i once furnished such an establishment1 after the bees had commenced their depredations1 with such protection2 and when they found themselves excluded1 they lit on the wire by thousands1 and fairly squealed with vexation and disappointment1 as they tried to force a passage through the meshes4 ,at last as they were daring enough to descend the chimney1 reeking with sweet odors1 even although the most who attempted it1 fell with scorched wings into the fire1 it became necessary to put wire gauze over the top of the chimney also6 ,how often1 as ,i have seen thousands of bees1 in such places destroyed1 and thousands more deprived of all ability to fly1 and hopelessly struggling in the deluding sweets1 and yet thousands more blindly hovering over them1 all unmindful of their danger1 and apparently eager to share the same destruction1 how often has the spectacle of their infatuation seemed to me1 to be an exact picture of the woful delusion of those who surrender themselves to the fatal influences of the intoxicating cup4 ,even although they see the miserable victims of this degrading vice1 falling all around them1 into premature and dishonored graves1 they still press on1 madly trampling as it were1 over their dead and dying bodies1 that they too may sink into the same abyss of agonies1 and that their sun may also go down in darkness and hopeless gloom4 ,even although they know that the next cup may send them1 with all their sins upon their heads1 to the dread tribunal of their ,god1 that cup of bitter sorrows and untold degradation1 they will drain even to its most loathsome dregs4 ,the avaricious bee that despised the slow process of extracting nectar from every opening flower1 and plunged recklessly into the tempting sweets1 has ample time to bewail its folly4 ,even if it has not paid the forfeit of its life1 but has been able to obtain its fill1 it returns home with all its beautiful plumage sullied and besmeared1 and with a woe-begone look1 and sorrowful note1 in marked contrast with the bright hues and merry sounds with which the industrious bee returns from its happy rovings amid the budding honey flowers1 and sweetly breathing fields4 ,just so1 has many a pilgrim from the golden shores of ,california and ,australia1 returned2 enfeebled in body and mind1 bankrupt often in character and happiness1 if not in purse1 and unfitted in every way1 for the calm and sober pursuits of common industry2 while thousands1 yes1 and tens of thousands too1 shall never more behold their once happy homes4 ,bibles and ,sabbaths1 altars and firesides1 parents and friends1 wife and children1 how often have all these been wantonly abandoned1 in the accursed greed for gain1 by those who might have been happy and prosperous at home1 and who wandered from its sacred precincts only because they were determined to make the possession of wealth1 the chief object of life1 but whose bones now lie amid the coral reefs of the ocean1 or moulder in the howling wastes of the overland passage2 just as the bones of the unbelieving ,israelites whitened the sands of the desert4 ,of those who have reached the land of golden promise1 how many have died in despair1 or worse still1 are living so besotted by vice1 so lost to all power of virtuous resolutions1 that they shall never more see the happy homes from which they so thoughtlessly wandered1 never more hear the soft accents of loving friends2 never more worship ,god1 in a peaceful ,sanctuary1 or ever again behold an opened ,bible6 ,gold6 ,gold6 ,gold6 ,gold6 ,bright and yellow1 hard and cold1 ,molten1 graven1 hammer'd1 and roll'd2 ,heavy to get1 and light to hold2 ,hoarded1 barter'd1 bought1 and sold1 ,stolen1 borrow'd1 squander'd1 doled3 ,spurn'd by the young1 but hugg'd by the old ,to the very verge of the churchyard mould2 ,price of many a crime untold2 ,gold6 ,gold6 ,gold6 ,gold6 ,good or bad a thousand-fold6 ,how widely its agencies vary-- ,to save--to ruin--to curse--to bless-- ,as even its minted coins express1 ,now stamp'd with the image of ,good ,queen ,bess1 ,and now of a ,bloody ,mary6 ,hood4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,honey4 ,,pasturage4 ,,overstocking4 ,in the chapter on ,feeding1 it has already been stated that honey is not a natural secretion of the bee1 but a substance obtained from the nectaries of the blossoms2 it is not therefore1 made1 but merely gathered by the bees4 ,the truth is well expressed in the lines so familiar to most of us from our childhood1 ,how doth the little busy bee ,improve each shining hour1 ,and gather honey all the day ,from every opening flower4 ,bees not only gather honey from the blossoms1 but often obtain it in large quantities from what have been called honey dews2 a term applied to those sweet1 clammy drops that glitter on the foliage of many trees in hot weather4 ,two different opinions have been zealously advocated as to the origin of honey-dews4 ,by some1 they are considered a natural exudation from the leaves of trees1 a perspiration as it were1 occasioned often by ill health1 though sometimes a provision to enable the plants to resist the fervent heats to which they are exposed4 ,others insist that this sweet substance is discharged from the bodies of those aphides or small lice which infest the leaves of so many plants4 ,unquestionably they are produced in both ways4 ,messrs4 ,kirby and ,spence1 in their interesting work on ,entomology1 have given a description of the kind of honey-dew furnished by the aphides4 ,the loves of the ants and the aphides have long been celebrated2 and that there is a connection between them1 you may1 at any time in the proper season1 convince yourself2 for you will always find the former very busy on those trees and plants on which the latter abound2 and if you examine more closely1 you will discover that the object of the ants1 in thus attending upon the aphides1 is to obtain the saccharine fluid secreted by them1 which may well be denominated their milk4 ,this fluid1 which is scarcely inferior to honey in sweetness1 issues in limpid drops from the abdomen of these insects1 not only by the ordinary passage1 but also by two setiform tubes placed1 one on each side1 just above it4 ,their sucker being inserted in the tender bark1 is without intermission employed in absorbing the sap1 which1 after it has passed through their system1 they keep continually discharging by these organs4 ,when no ants attend them1 by a certain jerk of the body1 which takes place at regular intervals1 they ejaculate it to a distance4 ,mr4 ,knight once observed1 says ,bevan1 a shower of honey-dew descending in innumerable small globules1 near one of his oak-trees1 on the #ast of ,september2 he cut off one of the branches1 took it into the house1 and holding it in a stream of light1 which was purposely admitted through a small opening1 distinctly saw the aphides ejecting the fluid from their bodies with considerable force1 and this accounts for its being frequently found in situations where it could not have arrived by the mere influence of gravitation4 ,the drops that are thus spurted out1 unless interrupted by the surrounding foliage1 or some other interposing body1 fall upon the ground2 and the spots may often be observed1 for some time1 beneath and around the trees affected with honey-dew1 till washed away by the rain4 ,the power which these insects possess of ejecting the fluid from their bodies1 seems to have been wisely instituted to preserve cleanliness in each individual fly1 and indeed for the preservation of the whole family2 for pressing as they do upon one another1 they would otherwise soon be glued together1 and rendered incapable of stirring4 ,on looking steadfastly at a group of these insects 7,aphides ,salicis7 while feeding on the bark of the willow1 their superior size enables us to perceive some of them elevating their bodies and emitting a transparent substance in the form of a small shower4 ,nor scorn ye now1 fond elves1 the foliage sear1 ,when the light aphids1 arm'd with puny spear1 ,probe each emulgent vein1 till bright below1 ,like falling stars1 clear drops of nectar glow4 ,evans4 ,the willow accommodates the bees in a kind of threefold succession2 from the flowers they obtain both honey and farina2--from the bark propolis2--and the leaves frequently afford them honey-dew at a time when other resources are beginning to fail4 ,honey-dew usually appears upon the leaves as a viscid1 transparent substance1 as sweet as honey itself1 sometimes in the form of globules1 at others resembling a syrup2 it is generally most abundant from the middle of ,june to the middle of ,july1 sometimes as late as ,september4 ,it is found chiefly upon the oak1 the elm1 the maple1 the plane1 the sycamore1 the lime1 the hazel1 and the blackberry2 occasionally also on the cherry1 currant1 and other fruit trees4 ,sometimes only one species of trees is affected at a time4 ,the oak generally affords the largest quantity4 ,at the season of its greatest abundance1 the happy humming noise of the bees may be heard at a considerable distance from the trees1 sometimes nearly equalling in loudness the united hum of swarming4 ,in some seasons1 extraordinary quantities of honey are furnished by the honey-dews1 and bees will often1 in a few days1 fill their hives with it4 ,if at such times1 they can be furnished with empty combs1 the amount stored up by them1 will be truly wonderful4 ,no certain reliance1 however1 can be placed upon this article of bee-food1 as in some years1 there is scarcely any to be found1 and it is only once in three or four years1 that it is very abundant4 ,the honey obtained from this source1 is generally of a very good quality1 though seldom as clear as that gathered from the choicest blossoms4 ,the quality of honey is exceedingly various1 some being dark1 and often bitter and disagreeable to the taste1 while occasionally it is gathered from poisonous flowers1 and is very noxious to the human system4 ,an intelligent ,mandingo ,african informed a lady of my acquaintance1 that they do not in his country1 dare to eat unsealed honey1 until it is first boiled4 ,in some of the ,southern ,states1 all unsealed honey is generally rejected4 ,it appears to me highly probable that the noxious qualities of the honey gathered from some flowers1 is1 for the most part1 evaporated1 before it is sealed over by the bees1 while the honey is thickening in the cells4 ,boiling the honey1 would1 of course1 expel it much more effectually1 and it is a well ascertained fact that some persons are not able to eat even the best honey with impunity1 until after it has been boiled6 ,i believe that if persons who are injured by honey would subject it to this operation1 they would usually find it to exert no injurious influence on the system4 ,honey is improved by age1 and many are able to use with impunity1 that which has been for a long time1 in the hive1 and which seems to be much milder than any freshly gathered by the bees4 ,honey1 when taken from the bees1 should be carefully put where it will be safe from all intruders1 and where it will not be exposed to so low a temperature as to candy in the cells4 ,the little red ant1 and the large black ant are extravagantly fond of it1 and unless placed where they cannot reach it1 they will soon carry off large quantities4 ,i paste paper over all my boxes1 glasses1 c41 so as to make them air-tight1 and carefully store them away for future use4 ,if it is drained from the combs1 it may be kept in tight vessels1 although in this state it will be almost sure to candy4 ,by putting the vessels in water1 and bringing it to the boiling point1 it will be as nice as when first strained from the comb4 ,in this way1 ,i prefer to keep the larger portion of my honey4 ,the appearance of white honey in the comb1 is however1 so beautiful1 that many will prefer to keep it in this form1 especially1 if intended for sale4 ,in my hives1 it may be taken from the bees1 in a great variety of ways4 ,some may prefer to construct the main hive in such a form1 that the surplus honey can be taken from it1 on the frames4 ,others will prefer to take it on frames put in an upper box2 7see p4 #bca47 ,glass vessels of almost any size or form will make beautiful receptacles for the spare honey4 ,they ought always1 however1 to have a piece of comb fastened in them1 before they are given to the bees2 7see p4 #afa7 and if the weather is cool1 they must be carefully covered with something warm1 or they will part with their heat so quickly1 as to discourage the bees from building in them4 ,unless warmly covered1 glass vessels will often be so lined with moisture1 as to annoy the bees4 ,this is occasioned by the rapid evaporation of the water from the newly gathered honey1 7see p4 #cce47 ,all hives during the height of the gathering season1 abound in moisture1 and this no doubt furnishes the bees1 for the most part1 with the water they then need4 ,honey1 when stored in a pint tumbler1 just large enough to receive one comb1 has a most beautiful appearance1 and may be easily taken out whole1 and placed in an elegant shape upon the table4 ,the expense of such glass vessels is one objection to their use2 the ease with which they part with their heat1 another1 and a more serious objection still1 is the fact that the shallow cells1 so many of which must be made in a round vessel1 require as large a consumption of honey for their wax covers1 as those which hold more than twice their quantity of honey4 ,i prefer rectangular boxes made of pasteboard1 to any other3 they are neat1 warm and cheap2 and if a small piece of glass is pasted in one of their ends1 the ,apiarian can always see when they are full4 ,when the honey is taken from the bees1 the box has its cover put on1 and is pasted tight1 so as to exclude air and insects4 ,in this form1 honey may be packed1 and sent to market very conveniently3 and when the boxes are opened1 the purchaser can always see the quality of the article which he buys4 ,the box in which these small boxes of honey are packed in order to be sent to market1 should be furnished with rope handles1 so that it can be easily lifted1 without the least jarring4 ,honey should be handled with just as much care as glass4 ,a box1 four inches wide1 will admit of two combs1 and if small pieces of comb are put in the top1 the bees will build them1 of the proper dimensions1 and will thus make them too large for brood combs1 and of the best size to contain their surplus honey4 ,the use of my hives enables the ,apiarian to get access to all the comb which he needs for such purposes1 and he will find it to his interest1 never to give the bees a box which does not contain some comb1 as well for encouragement as for a pattern4 ,i have never seen the use of pasteboard boxes suggested1 but after experimenting with a great many materials1 ,i believe they will be found1 all things considered1 preferable to any others4 ,wooden boxes1 with a piece of glass1 are very good for storing honey3 but they are much more expensive than those made of pasteboard1 and the covers cannot be removed so conveniently4 ,honey may be safely removed from the surplus honey boxes of my hives1 even by the most timid4 ,when the outside case which covers the boxes1 is elevated1 a shield is thrown between the ,apiarian and the bees which are entering and leaving the hive4 ,before removing a vessel or box1 a thin knife should be carefully passed under it1 so as to loosen the attachments of the comb to the honey-board1 without injuring the bees2 then a small piece of tin or zinc may be pushed under to prevent the bees that are below1 from coming up1 when the honey is removed4 ,the ,apiarian should now tap gently on the box1 and the bees in it1 perceiving that they are separated from the main hive1 will at once proceed to fill themselves1 so as to save as much as possible1 of their precious sweets4 ,in about five minutes1 or as soon as they are full1 and run over the combs1 trying to get out1 the glass or box may at once be removed1 and they will fly directly to the hive with what they have been able to secure4 ,bees under such circumstances1 never attempt to sting1 and a child of ten years1 may remove1 with ease and safety1 all their surplus stores4 ,if a person is too timid to approach a hive when any bees are flying1 the honey may be removed towards evening1 or early in the morning1 before the bees are flying1 in any considerable numbers4 ,in performing this operation1 it should always be borne in mind1 that large quantities of honey should never be taken from them at once1 unless when the honey-harvest is over4 ,bees are exceedingly discouraged by such wholesale appropriations1 and often refuse entirely1 to work in the empty boxes1 even although honey abounds in the fields4 ,not unfrequently when large boxes are removed1 and being found only partially filled1 are returned1 the bees will carry every particle of honey down into the main hive6 ,if1 however1 the honey is removed in small boxes1 one at a time1 and an empty box with guide comb is put instantly in its place1 the bees1 so far from being discouraged1 work with more than their wonted energy1 and usually begin in a few hours1 to enlarge the comb4 ,i would here repeat the caution already given1 against needlessly opening and shutting the hives1 or in any way meddling with the bees so as to make them feel insecure in their possessions4 ,such a course tends to discourage them1 and may seriously diminish the yield of honey4 ,if the ,apiarian wishes to remove honey from the interior of the hive1 he must remove the combs1 as directed on page #aie1 and shake the bees off1 on the alighting board1 or directly into the hive4 ,,pasturage4 ,some blossoms yield only pollen1 and others only honey2 but by far the largest number1 both honey and pollen4 ,since the discovery that rye flour will answer so admirably as a substitute1 before the bees are able to gather the pollen from the flowers1 early blossoms producing pollen alone1 are not so important in the vicinity of an ,apiary4 ,willows are among the most desirable trees to have within reach of the bees3 some kinds of willow put out their catkins very early1 and yield an abundance of both bee-bread and honey4 ,all the willows furnish an abundance of food for the bees2 and as there is considerable difference in the time of their blossoming1 it is desirable to have such varieties as will furnish the bees with food1 as long as possible4 ,the ,sugar ,maple furnishes a large supply of very delicious honey1 and its blossoms hanging in drooping fringes1 will be all alive with bees4 ,the ,apricot1 ,peach1 ,plum and ,cherry are much frequented by the bees2 ,pears and ,apples furnish very copious supplies of the richest honey4 ,the ,tulip tree1 ,liriodendron1 is probably one of the greatest honey-producing trees in the world4 ,in rich lands this magnificent tree will grow over one hundred feet high1 and when covered with its large bell-shaped blossoms of mingled green and golden yellow1 it is one of the most beautiful trees in the world4 ,the blossoms are expanding in succession1 often for more than two weeks1 and a new swarm will frequently fill its hive from these trees alone4 ,the honey though dark in color1 is of a rich flavor4 ,this tree has been successfully cultivated as a shade tree1 even as far ,north as ,southern ,vermont1 and for the extraordinary beauty of its foliage and blossoms1 deserves to be introduced wherever it can be made to grow4 ,the ,winter of #ahea-b1 was exceedingly cold1 the thermometer in ,greenfield1 ,mass4 sinking as low as #cj below zero1 and yet a tulip tree not only survived the ,winter uninjured1 but was covered the following season with blossoms4 ,the ,american ,linden or ,bass ,wood1 is another tree which yields large supplies of very pure and white honey4 ,it is one of our most beautiful native trees1 and ought to be planted much more extensively than it is1 in our villages and country seats4 ,the ,english ,linden is worthless for bees1 and in many places1 has been so infested by worms1 as to make it necessary to cut it down4 ,the ,linden blossoms soon after the white clover begins to fail1 and a majestic tree covered with its yellow clusters1 at a season when very few blossoms are to be seen1 is a sight most beautiful and refreshing4 ,here their delicious task1 the fervent bees ,in swarming millions tend3 around1 athwart1 ,through the soft air the busy nations fly1 ,cling to the bud1 and with inserted tube1 ,suck its pure essence1 its etherial soul4 ,thomson4 ,our villages would be much more attractive1 if instead of being filled as they often are1 almost exclusively with maples and elms1 they were adorned with a greater variety of our native trees4 ,the remark has often been made1 that these trees are much more highly valued abroad than at home1 and that to see them in perfection1 we must either visit their native forests1 or the pleasure grounds of some wealthy ,english or ,european gentleman4 ,of all the various sources from which the bees derive their supplies1 white clover is the most important4 ,it yields large quantities of very white honey1 and of the purest quality1 and wherever it flourishes in abundance1 the honey-bee will always gather a rich harvest4 ,in this country at least1 it seems to be the most certain reliance of the ,apiary4 ,it blossoms at a season of the year when the weather is usually both dry and hot1 and the bees gather the honey from it1 after the sun has dried off the dew3 so that its juices are very thick1 and almost ready to be sealed over at once in the cells4 ,every observant bee-keeper must have noticed1 that in some seasons1 the blossoms of various kinds yield much less honey than in others4 ,perhaps no plant varies so little in this respect1 as the white clover4 ,this clover ought to be much more extensively cultivated than it now is1 and ,i consider myself as conferring a benefit not only on bee-keepers1 but on the agricultural community at large1 in being able to state on the authority of one of ,new ,england's ablest practical farmers1 and writers on agricultural subjects1 ,hon4 ,frederick ,holbrook1 of ,brattleboro'1 ,vermont1 that the common white clover may be cultivated on some soils to very great profit1 as a hay crop4 ,in an article for the ,new ,england ,farmer1 for ,may1 #ahec1 he speaks as follows3-- ,the more general sowing of white clover-seed is confidently recommended4 ,if land is in good heart at the time of stocking it to grass1 white clover sown with the other grass-seeds will thicken up the bottom of mowings1 growing some eight or ten inches high and in a thick mat1 and the burden of hay will prove much heavier than it seemed likely to be before mowing4 ,soon after the practice of sowing white clover on the tillage-fields commences1 the plant will begin to show itself in various places on the farm1 and ultimately gets pretty well scattered over the pastures1 as it seeds very profusely1 and the seeds are carried from place to place in the manure and otherwise4 ,the price of the seed per pound in market is high2 but then one pound of it will seed more land1 than two pounds of red clover seed2 so that in fact the former is the cheaper seed of the two1 for an acre4 ,red-top1 red clover and white clover seeds1 sown together1 produce a quality of hay universally relished by stock4 ,my practice is1 to seed all dry1 sandy and gravelly lands with this mixture4 ,the red and white clover pretty much make the crop the first year2 the second year1 the red clover begins to disappear1 and the red-top to take its place2 and after that1 the red-top and white clover have full possession and make the very best hay for horses or oxen1 milch cows or young stock1 that ,i have been able to produce4 ,the crop per acre1 as compared with herds-grass1 is not so bulky2 but tested by weight and by spending quality in the ,winter1 it is much the most valuable4 ,herds-grass hay grown on moist uplands or reclaimed meadows1 and swamps of a mucky soil1 or lands not overcharged with silica1 is of good quality2 but when grown on sandy and gravelly soils abounding in silex1 the stalks are hard1 wiry1 coated with silicates as with glass1 and neither horses nor cattle will eat it as well1 or thrive as well on it as on hay made of red-top and clover2 and as for milch cows1 they winter badly on it1 and do not give out the milk as when fed on softer and more succulent hay4 ,by managing white clover1 according to ,mr4 ,holbrook's plan1 it might be made to blossom abundantly in the second crop1 and thus lengthen out1 to very great advantage1 the pasture for the bees4 ,for fear that any of my readers might suspect ,mr4 ,holbrook of looking at the white clover1 through a pair of bee-spectacles1 ,i would add that although he has ten acres of it in mowing1 he has no bees1 and has never particularly interested himself in this branch of rural economy4 ,when we can succeed in directing the attention of such men to bee-culture1 we may hope to see as rapid an advance in this as in some other important branches of agriculture4 ,sweet-scented clover1 7,mellilotus ,leucantha17 affords a rich bee-pasturage4 ,it blossoms the second year from the seed1 and grows to a great height1 and is always swarming with bees until quite late in the ,fall4 ,attempts have been made to cultivate it for the sake of its value as a hay crop1 but it has been found too coarse in its texture1 to be very profitable4 ,where many bees are kept1 it might however1 be so valuable for them as to justify its extensive cultivation4 ,during the early part of the season1 it might be mowed and fed to the cattle1 in a green and tender state1 and allowed to blossom later in the season1 when the bees can find but few sources to gather from4 ,for years1 ,i have attempted to procure1 through botanists1 a hybrid or cross between the red and white clover1 in order to get something with the rich honey-producing properties of the red1 and yet with a short blossom into which the honey-bee might insert its proboscis4 ,the red clover produces a vast amount of food for the bumble-bee1 but is of no use at all to the honey-bee4 ,i had hoped to procure a variety which might answer all the purposes of our farmers as a field crop4 ,quite recently ,i have ascertained that such a hybrid has been originated in ,sweden1 and has been imported into this country1 by ,mr4 ,b4 ,c4 ,rogers1 of ,philadelphia4 ,it grows even taller than the red clover1 bears many blossoms on a stalk which are small1 resembling the white1 and is said to be preferred by cattle1 to any other kind of grass1 while it answers admirably for bees4 ,buckwheat furnishes a most excellent ,fall feed for bees2 the honey is not so well-flavored as some other kinds1 but it comes at a season when it is highly important to the bees1 and they are often able to fill their hives with a generous supply against ,winter4 ,buckwheat honey is gathered when the dew is upon the blossoms1 and instead of being thick1 like white clover honey1 is often quite thin2 the bees sweat out a large portion of its moisture1 but still they do not exhaust the whole of it1 and in wet seasons especially1 it is liable to sour in the cells4 ,honey gathered in a dry season1 is always thicker1 and of course more valuable than that gathered in a wet one1 as it contains much less water4 ,buckwheat is uncertain in its honey-bearing qualities2 in some seasons1 it yields next to none1 and hardly a bee will be seen upon a large field1 while in others1 it furnishes an extraordinary supply4 ,the most practical and scientific agriculturists agree that so far from being an impoverishing crop1 it is on many soils1 one of the most profitable that can be raised4 ,every bee-keeper should have some in the vicinity of his hives4 ,the raspberry1 it is well known1 is a great favorite with the bees2 and the honey supplied by it1 is very delicious4 ,those parts of ,new ,england1 which are hilly and rough1 are often covered with the wild raspberry1 and would furnish food for numerous colonies of bees4 ,it will be observed that thus far1 ,i have said nothing about cultivating flowers in the garden1 to supply the bees with food4 ,what can be done in this way1 is of scarcely any account2 and it would be almost as reasonable to expect to furnish food for a stock of cattle1 from a small grass plat1 as honey for bees1 from garden plants4 ,the cultivation of bee-flowers is more a matter of pleasure than profit1 to those who like to hear the happy hum of the busy bees1 as they walk in their gardens4 ,it hardly seems expedient1 at least for the present1 to cultivate any field crops except such as are profitable in themselves1 without any reference to the bees4 ,mignonnette is excellent for bees1 but of all flowers1 none seems to equal the ,borage4 ,it blossoms in ,june1 and continues in bloom until severe frost1 and is always covered with bees1 even in dull weather1 as its pendant blossoms keep the honey from the moisture2 the honey yielded by it1 is of a very superior quality4 ,if any plant which does not in itself make a valuable crop1 would justify cultivation1 there is no doubt that borage would4 ,an acre of it would support a large number of stocks4 ,if in a village those who keep bees would unite together and secure the sowing of an acre1 in their immediate vicinity1 each person paying in proportion to the number of stocks kept1 it might be found profitable4 ,the plants should have about two feet of space every way1 and after they covered the ground1 would need no further attention4 ,they would come into full blossom1 cultivated in this manner1 about the time that the white clover begins to fail1 and would not only furnish rich pasture for the bees1 but would keep them from the groceries and shops in which so many perish4 ,if those who are engaged in adorning our villages and country residences with shade trees1 would be careful to set out a liberal allowance of such kinds as are not only beautiful to us1 but attractive to the bees1 in process of time the honey resources of the country might be very greatly increased4 ,,overstocking ,a ,,district ,,with ,,bees4 ,i come now to a point of the very first importance to all interested in the cultivation of bees4 ,if the opinions which the great majority of ,american bee-keepers entertain1 are correct1 then the keeping of bees must1 in our country1 be always an insignificant pursuit4 ,i confess that ,i find it difficult to repress a smile1 when the owner of a few hives1 in a district where as many hundreds might be made to prosper1 gravely imputes his ill success1 to the fact that too many bees are kept in his vicinity6 ,the truth is1 that as bees are frequently managed1 they are of but little value1 even though in a land flowing with milk and honey4 ,if in the ,spring1 a colony of bees is prosperous and healthy1 7see p4 #bjg7 it will gather abundant stores1 even if hundreds equally strong1 are in its immediate vicinity1 while if it is feeble1 it will be of little or no value1 even if there is not another swarm within a dozen miles of it4 ,success in bee-keeping requires that a man should be in some things1 a very close imitator of ,napoleon1 who always aimed to have an overwhelming force1 at the right time and in the right place2 so the bee-keeper must be sure that his colonies are numerous1 just at the time when their numbers can be turned to the best account4 ,if the bees cannot get up their numbers until the honey-harvest is well nigh gone1 numbers will then be of as little service as many of the famous armies against which the soldier of ,europe contended2 which1 after the fortunes of the campaign were decided1 only served to swell the triumphant spoils of the mighty conqueror4 ,a bee-keeper with feeble stocks in the ,spring1 which become strong only when there is nothing to get1 is like a farmer who contrives to hire no hands to reap his harvests1 but suffers the crops to rot upon the ground1 and then at great expense1 hires a number of stalworth laborers to idle about his premises and eat him out of house and home6 ,i do not believe that there is a single square mile in this whole country1 which is overstocked with bees1 unless it is one so unsuitable for bee-keeping as to make it unprofitable to attempt it at all4 ,such an assertion will doubtless1 appear to many1 very unguarded2 and yet it is made advisedly1 and ,i am happy to be able to confirm it1 by reference to the experience of the largest cultivators in ,europe4 ,the following letter from ,mr4 ,wagner1 will ,i trust1 do more than ,i can possibly do in any other way1 to show our bee-keepers how mistaken they are in their opinion as to the danger of overstocking their districts1 and also what large results might be obtained from a more extensive cultivation of bees4 ,,york1 ,march #af1 #ahec4 ,,dear ,,sir3 ,in reply to your enquiry respecting the overstocking of a district1 ,i would say that the present opinion of the correspondents of the ,bienenzeitung1 appears to be that it cannot readily be done4 ,dzierzon says1 in practice at least1 it never is done2 and ,dr4 ,radlkofer1 of ,munich1 the ,president of the second ,apiarian ,convention1 declares that his apprehensions on that score were dissipated by observations which he had opportunity and occasion to make1 when on his way home from the ,convention4 ,i have numerous accounts of ,apiaries in pretty close proximity1 containing from #bjj to #cjj colonies each4 ,ehrenfels had a thousand hives1 at three separate establishments indeed1 but so close to each other that he could visit them all in half an hour's ride2 and he says that in #ahja1 the average net yield of his ,apiaries was #b per hive4 ,in ,russia and ,hungary1 ,apiaries numbering from #bjjj to #ejjj colonies are said not to be unfrequent2 and we know that as many as #djjj hives are oftentimes congregated1 in ,autumn1 at one point on the heaths of ,germany4 ,hence ,i think we need not fear that any district of this country1 so distinguished for abundant natural vegetation and diversified culture1 will very speedily be overstocked1 particularly after the importance of having stocks populous early in the ,spring1 comes to be duly appreciated4 ,a week or ten days of favorable weather1 at that season1 when pasturage abounds1 will enable a strong colony to lay up an ample supply for the year1 if its labor be properly directed4 ,mr4 ,kaden1 one of the ablest contributors to the ,bienenzeitung1 in the number for ,december1 #aheb1 noticing the communication from ,dr4 ,radlkofer1 says3 ,i also concur in the opinion that a district of country cannot be overstocked with bees2 and that1 however numerous the colonies1 all can procure sufficient sustenance if the surrounding country contain honey-yielding plants and vegetables1 in the usual degree4 ,where utter barrenness prevails1 the case is different1 of course1 as well as rare4 ,the ,fifteenth ,annual ,meeting of ,german ,agriculturists was held in the ,city of ,hanover1 on the #ajth of ,september1 #aheb1 and in compliance with the suggestions of the ,apiarian ,convention1 a distinct section devoted to bee-culture was instituted4 ,the programme propounded sixteen questions for discussion1 the fourth of which was as follows3-- ,can a district of country embracing meadows1 arable land1 orchards1 and woodlands or forests1 be so overstocked with bees1 that these may no longer find adequate sustenance and yield a remunerating surplus of their products8 ,this question was debated with considerable animation4 ,the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,kleine1 7nine-tenths of the correspondents of the ,bee-,journal are clergyman17 ,president of the section1 gave it as his opinion that it was hardly conceivable that such a country could be overstocked with bees4 ,counsellor ,herwig1 and the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,wilkens1 on the contrary1 maintained that it might be overstocked4 ,in reply1 ,assessor ,heyne remarked that whatever might be supposed possible as an extreme case1 it was certain that as regards the kingdom of ,hanover1 it could not be even remotely apprehended that too many ,apiaries would ever be established2 and that consequently the greatest possible multiplication of colonies might safely be aimed at and encouraged4 ,at the same time1 he advised a proper distribution of ,apiaries4 ,i might easily furnish you with more matter of this sort1 and designate a considerable number of ,apiaries in various parts of ,germany1 containing from #be to #ejj colonies4 ,but the question would still recur1 do not these ,apiaries occupy comparatively isolated positions8 and at this distance from the scene1 it would obviously be impossible to give a perfectly satisfactory answer4 ,according to the statistical tables of the kingdom of ,hannover1 the annual production of bees-wax in the province of ,lunenburg1 is #cjj1jjj lbs41 about one half of which is exported2 and assuming one pound of wax as the yield of each hive1 we must suppose that #cjj1jjj hives are annually brimstoned in the province2 and assuming further1 in view of casualties1 local influences1 unfavorable seasons1 c41 that only one-half of the whole number of colonies maintained1 produce a swarm each1 every year1 it would require a total of at least #fjj1jjj colonies1 7#ada1 to each square mile17 to secure the result given in the tables4 ,the number of square miles stocked even to this extent1 in this country1 are1 ,i suspect1 few and far between4 ,the ,shakers at ,lebanon1 have about #fjj colonies2 but ,i doubt whether a dozen ,apiaries equally large can be found in the ,union4 ,it is very evident1 that this country is far from being overstocked2 nor it is likely that it ever will be4 ,a ,german writer alleges that the bees of ,lunenburg1 pay all the taxes assessed on their proprietors1 and leave a surplus besides4 ,the importance attached to bee-culture accounts in part for the remarkable fact that the people of a district so barren that it has been called the ,arabia of ,germany1 are almost without exception in easy and comfortable circumstances4 ,could not still more favorable results be obtained in this country under a rational system of management1 availing itself of the aid of science1 art and skill8 ,but1 ,i am digressing4 ,my design was to furnish you with an account of bee-culture as it exists in an entire district of country1 in the hands of the common peasantry4 ,this ,i thought would be more satisfactory1 and convey a better idea of what may be done on a large scale1 than any number of instances which might be selected of splendid success in isolated cases4 ,very truly yours1 ,,samuel ,,wagner4 ,,rev4 ,l4 ,l4 ,,langstroth4 ,the question how far bees will fly in search of honey1 has been very differently answered by different ,apiarians4 ,i am satisfied that they will fly over three miles in search of food1 but ,i believe as a general rule1 that if their food is not within a circle of about two miles in every direction from the ,apiary1 they will be able to store up but little surplus honey4 ,the nearer1 the better4 ,in all my arrangements1 7see p4 #if47 ,i have made it a constant study to save every step for the bees that ,i possibly can1 economizing to the very utmost1 their time1 which will all be transmuted into honey2 an inspection of the ,frontispiece of this treatise will exhibit the general aspect of the alighting board of my hives1 and will show the intelligent ,apiarian1 with what ease bees will enter such a hive1 even in very windy weather4 ,by such arrangements1 they will be able to store up more honey1 even if they have to go a considerable distance in search of it1 than they would in many other hives1 when the honey abounded in their more immediate vicinity4 ,such considerations are entirely overlooked1 by most bee-keepers1 and they seem to imagine that they are matters of no importance4 ,by the utter neglect of any kind of precautions to facilitate the labors of their bees1 you might suppose that they imagined these delicate insects to be possessed of nerves of steel and sinews of iron or adamant2 or else that they took them for miniature locomotives1 always fired up and capable of an indefinite amount of exertion4 ,a bee cannot put forth more than a certain amount of physical exertion1 and if a large portion of this is spent in absolutely fighting against difficulties1 from which it might easily be guarded1 it must be very obvious to any one who thinks on the subject at all1 that a great loss must be sustained by its owner4 ,if some of these thoughtless owners returning home with a heavy burden1 were compelled to fall down stairs half a dozen times before they could get into the house1 they might perhaps think it best to guard their industrious workers against such discouraging accidents4 ,if bees are tossed violently about by the winds1 as they attempt to enter their hives1 they are often fatally injured1 and the whole colony so discouraged1 to say nothing more1 that they do not gather near so much as they otherwise would4 ,the arrangement of my ,protector is such that the bees1 if blown down1 fall upon a sloping bank of soft grass1 and are able to enter the hives without much inconvenience4 ,just as soon as our cultivators can be convinced1 by practical results1 that bee-keeping1 for the capital invested1 may be made a most profitable branch of rural economy1 they will see the importance of putting their bees into suitable hives1 and of doing all that they can1 to give them a fair chance2 until then1 the mass of them will follow the beaten track1 and attribute their ill success1 not to their own ignorance1 carelessness or stupidity1 but to their want of luck1 or to the overstocking of the country with bees4 ,i hope1 before many years1 to see the price of good honey so reduced that the poor man can place it on his table and feast upon it1 as one of the cheapest luxuries within his reach4 ,on page #bj1 a statement was given of ,dzierzon's experience as to the profits of bee-keeping4 ,the section of country in which he resides1 is regarded by him as unfavorable to ,apiarian pursuits4 ,i shall now give what ,i consider a safe estimate for almost any section in our country2 while in unusually favorable locations it will fall far below the results which may be attained4 ,it is based upon the supposition that the bees are kept in properly constructed hives so as to be strong early in the season1 and that the increase of stocks is limited to one new one from two old ones4 ,under proper management1 one year with another1 about ten dollars worth of honey may be obtained for every two stocks wintered over4 ,the worth of the new colonies1 ,i set off as an equivalent for labor of superintendence1 and interest on the money invested in bees1 hives1 fixtures1 c4 ,a careful1 prudent man who will enter into bee-keeping moderately at first1 and extend his operations only as his skill and experience increase1 will1 by the use of my hives1 find that the preceding estimate is not too large4 ,even on the ordinary mode of bee-keeping1 there are many who will consider it rather below than above the mark4 ,if thoroughly careless persons are determined to try their luck1 as they call it1 with bees1 ,i advise them by all means1 in mercy to the bees1 to adopt the non-swarming plan4 ,improved methods of management with such persons will be of little or no use1 unless you could improve their habits first1 and very often their brains too6 ,every dollar that such persons spend upon bees1 unless with the slightest possible departure from the old-fashioned plans1 is a dollar worse than thrown away4 ,in those parts of ,europe where bee-keeping is carried on upon the largest scale1 the mass adhere to the old system2 this they understand1 and by this they secure a certainty1 whereas in our country1 thousands have been induced to enter upon the wildest schemes1 or at least to use hives which could not furnish them the very information needed for their successful management4 ,a simple box furnished with my frames1 will enable the masses1 without departing materially from the common system1 to increase largely the yield from their bees4 ,in addition to the information given in the ,introduction1 respecting the success of ,dzierzon's system of management1 ,i have recently ascertained that one of its ablest opponents in ,germany1 has become thoroughly convinced of its superior value4 ,the ,government of ,norway has appropriated #cjj1 per annum1 for the ensuing three years1 towards diffusing a knowledge of ,dzierzon's method1 in that country2 having previously despatched ,mr4 ,hanser1 ,collector of ,customs1 to ,silesia to visit ,mr4 ,dzierzon1 and acquire a practical knowledge of his system of management4 ,he is now employed in distributing model hives1 in the provinces1 and imparting information on improved bee-culture4 ,,note4--,the time has hardly come when the attention of any of our ,state authorities can be attracted to the importance of bee-culture4 ,it is only of late that they have seemed to manifest any peculiar interest in promoting the advancement of agricultural pursuits4 ,a ,department of ,agriculture ought to have been established1 years ago1 by the ,national ,government at ,washington4 ,let us hope that the ,administration now in power1 will establish a lasting claim to the gratitude of posterity1 by taking wise and efficient steps to advance the agricultural interests of the country4 ,a ,national ,society to promote these interests has recently been established1 and much may be hoped from its wisdom and energy4 ,until some disinterested tribunal can be established1 before which all inventions and discoveries can be fairly tested1 honest men will suffer1 and ignorance and imposture will continue to flourish4 ,lying advertisements and the plausible misrepresentations of brazen-faced impostors1 will still drain the purses of the credulous1 while thousands1 disgusted with the horde of impositions which are palmed off upon the community1 will settle down into a dogged determination to try nothing new4 ,a society before which every thing1 claiming to be an improvement in rural economy1 could be fairly tested1 would undoubtedly be shunned by ignorant and unprincipled men1 who now find it an easy task to procure any number of certificates1 but who dread nothing so much as honest and intelligent investigation4 ,the reports of such a society after the most thorough trials and examinations1 would inspire confidence1 save the community from severe losses1 and encourage the ablest minds to devote their best energies to the improvement of agricultural implements4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,anger ,,of ,,bees4 ,,remedy ,,for ,,their ,,sting4 ,,bee-,,dress4 ,,instincts ,,of ,,bees4 ,if the bee was disposed to use1 without any provocation1 the effective weapon with which it has been provided1 its domestication would be entirely out of the question4 ,the same remark however1 is equally true of the ox1 the horse or the dog4 ,if these faithful servants of man were respectively determined to use1 to the very utmost their horns1 their heels and their teeth1 to his injury1 he would never have been able to subject them to his peaceful authority4 ,the gentleness of the honey-bee1 when kindly treated1 and managed by those who properly understand its instincts1 has in this treatise been frequently spoken of1 and is truly astonishing4 ,they will1 especially in swarming time1 or whenever they are gorged with honey1 allow any amount of handling which does not hurt them1 without the slightest show of anger4 ,for the gratification of others1 ,i have frequently taken them up1 by handfuls1 suffered them to run over my face1 and even smoothed down their glossy backs as they rested on my person6 ,standing before the hives1 ,i have1 by a rapid sweep of my hands1 caught numbers of them at once1 just as though they were so many harmless flies1 and allowed them1 one by one1 to crawl out1 by the smallest opening1 to the light of day2 and ,i have even gone so far as to imitate many of the feats which the celebrated ,english ,apiarian1 ,wildman1 was accustomed to perform2 who having once secured the queen of a hive1 could make the bees cluster on his head1 or hang1 like a flowing beard1 in large festoons1 from his chin4 ,wildman1 for a long time1 made as great a mystery of his wonderful performances1 as the spirit-rappers of the present day1 do of theirs2 but at last1 he was induced to explain his whole mode of procedure2 and the magic control which he possessed over the bees1 and which was1 by the ignorant1 ascribed to his having bewitched them1 was found to be owing entirely to his superior acquaintance with their instincts1 and his uncommon dexterity and boldness4 ,such was the spell1 which round a ,wildman's arm ,twin'd in dark wreaths the fascinated swarm2 ,bright o'er his breast the glittering legions led1 ,or with a living garland bound his head4 ,his dextrous hand1 with firm yet hurtless hold1 ,could seize the chief1 known by her scales of gold1 ,prune 'mid the wondering train her filmy wing1 ,or o'er her folds the silken fetter fling4 ,evans4 ,m4 ,lombard1 a skillful ,french ,apiarian narrates the following interesting occurrence1 which shows how peaceable bees are in swarming time1 and how easily managed by those who have both skill and confidence4 ,a young girl of my acquaintance1 he says1 was greatly afraid of bees1 but was completely cured of her fear by the following incident4 ,a swarm having come off1 ,i observed the queen alight by herself at a little distance from the ,apiary4 ,i immediately called my little friend that ,i might show her the queen2 she wished to see her more nearly1 so after having caused her to put on her gloves1 ,i gave the queen into her hand4 ,we were in an instant surrounded by the whole bees of the swarm4 ,in this emergency ,i encouraged the girl to be steady1 bidding her be silent and fear nothing1 and remaining myself close by her2 ,i then made her stretch out her right hand1 which held the queen1 and covered her head and shoulders with a very thin handkerchief4 ,the swarm soon fixed on her hand and hung from it1 as from the branch of a tree4 ,the little girl was delighted above measure at the novel sight1 and so entirely freed from all fear1 that she bade me uncover her face4 ,the spectators were charmed with the interesting spectacle4 ,at length ,i brought a hive1 and shaking the swarm from the child's hand1 it was lodged in safety1 and without inflicting a single wound4 ,the indisposition of bees to sting1 when swarming1 is a fact familiar to every practical bee-keeper3 but ,i have not in all my reading or acquaintance with ,apiarians1 ever met with a single observation which has convinced me that the philosophy of this strange fact was thoroughly understood4 ,as far as ,i know1 ,i am the only person who has ever ascertained that when bees are filled with honey1 they lose all disposition to volunteer an assault1 and who has made this curious law the foundation of an extensive and valuable system of practical management4 ,it was only after ,i had thoroughly tested its universality and importance1 that ,i began to feel the desirableness of obtaining a perfect control over each comb in the hive2 for it was only then that ,i saw that such control might be made available1 in the hands of any one who could manage bees in the ordinary way4 ,the result of my whole system1 is to make the bees unusually gentle1 so that they are not only peaceable when any necessary operation is being performed1 but at all other times4 ,even if ,i could open hives and safely manage at pleasure1 still if the result of such proceedings was to leave the bees in an excited state1 so as to make them unusually irritable1 it would all avail but very little4 ,there is1 however1 one difficulty in managing bees so as not to incur the risk of being stung at all1 which attaches to every system of bee-culture4 ,if an ,apiary is approached when the bees are out in great numbers1 thousands and tens of thousands will continue their busy pursuits without at all interfering with those who do not molest them4 ,frequently1 however1 there will be a few cross bees which come buzzing around our ears1 and seem determined to sting without the very slightest provocation4 ,from such lawless bees no person without a bee-dress is absolutely safe4 ,by repeated examinations ,i have ascertained that disease is the cause of such unreasonable irritability4 ,i am never afraid that a healthy bee will attack me unless unusually provoked2 and am always sure as soon as ,i hear one singing about my ears that it is incurably diseased4 ,if such a bee is dissected it will be found to exhibit the unmistakable evidence that a peculiar kind of dysentery has already fastened upon its system4 ,in the first stages of this complaint the insect is very irritable1 refuses to labor1 and seems unable or unwilling to distinguish friend from foe4 ,as the disease progresses1 it becomes stupid1 its body swells up1 and is filled with a great mass of yellow matter1 and being unable to fly1 it crawls on the ground1 in front of the hive1 and speedily perishes4 ,i have never been able to ascertain the cause of this singular malady1 nor can ,i suggest any remedy for it4 ,i hope that some scientific ,apiarians will investigate it closely1 for if it could only be remedied1 we might have hundreds of colonies on our premises and in our gardens1 and yet be perfectly safe4 ,a person thoroughly acquainted with the leading principles of bee-culture as they are set forth in this ,manual1 will never under any circumstances find it necessary to provoke to fury a colony of bees4 ,let it be remembered that nothing can be more terribly vindictive than a family of bees when thoroughly aroused by gross abuse or unskillful treatment4 ,let their hive be suddenly overthrown or violently jarred1 or let them be provoked by the presence of a sweaty horse1 or any animal offensive to them1 so that the anger at first manifested by a few1 is extended to the whole community1 and the most severe and sometimes dangerous consequences may ensue4 ,in the same way in the management of the animals most useful to man1 by ignorance or abuse1 they may be roused to a state of frantic desperation1 and limbs may be broken1 and often lives destroyed2 and yet no one possessed of common sense1 attributes such calamities1 except in very rare instances1 to any thing else than carelessness or want of skill4 ,let it be remembered that even the most peaceable stock of bees can1 in a very few days1 by abusive treatment be taught to look on every living thing as an enemy1 and to sally forth with the most spiteful intentions1 as soon as any one approaches their domicile4 ,how often does it happen that the vicious beast1 which its owner so passionately belabors1 is far less to blame for its obstinacy1 than the equally vicious brute who so unmercifully beats it6 ,a word now to those timid females who are almost ready to faint1 or to go into hysterics if a bee enters the house1 or approaches them in the garden or fields4 ,such alarm is entirely uncalled for4 ,it is only in the vicinity of their homes1 and in resistance to what they consider an evil design upon their very altars and firesides that these insects ever volunteer an attack4 ,away from home1 they are as peaceably inclined as you could desire4 ,if you attack them1 they are much more eager to escape than to offer you any annoyance1 and they can be induced to sting1 only when they are compressed1 either by accident or design4 ,let not any of my readers think that they have even a slight encouragement1 from this conduct of the bee1 to reserve all their sweet smiles and honied words for the world abroad1 while they give free vent1 in the sacred precincts of home1 to ill-natured looks and ill-tempered language2 for towards the occupants of its honied dome1 the bee is all kindness and affection4 ,in the experience of many years ,i never saw an instance in which two bees1 members of the same family1 ever seemed to be actuated by any but the very kindest feelings toward each other4 ,in their busy haste they often jostle against each other1 but where every thing is well meant1 every thing is well received3 tens of thousands all live together in the sweetest harmony and peace1 when very often if there are only two or three children in a family1 the whole household is tormented by their constant bickerings and contention4 ,among the bees the good mother is the honored queen of her happy family2 they all wait upon her steps with unbounded reverence and affection1 make way for her as she moves over the combs1 smooth and brush her beautiful plumes1 offer her food from time to time1 and in short do all that they possibly can to make her perfectly happy2 while too often children treat their mothers with irreverence or neglect1 and instead of striving with loving zeal to lighten their labors and save their steps1 they treat them more as though they were servants hired only to wait upon every whim and to humor every caprice4 ,let us pause for a moment1 and contemplate further the admirable arrangement by which the instinct of the bee which disposes it to defend its treasures1 is made so perfectly compatible with the safety both of man and the domestic animals under his care4 ,suppose that away from home1 bees were as easily provoked1 as they are in the immediate vicinity of their hives1 what would become of our domestic animals among the clover fields in the pastures8 ,a tithe of the merry gambols they now so safely indulge in1 would speedily bring about them a swarm of these infuriated insects4 ,in all our rambles among the green fields1 we should constantly be in peril2 and no jocund mower would ever whet his glittering scythe1 or swing his peaceful weapon1 unless first clad in a dress impervious to their stings4 ,in short1 the bee1 instead of being the friend of man1 would be one of his most vexatious enemies1 and as has been the case with the wolves and the bears1 every effort would be made for their utter extermination4 ,the sting of a bee often produces very painful1 and upon some persons1 very dangerous effects4 ,i am persuaded1 from the result of my own observation1 that the bee seldom stings those whose systems are not sensitive to its venom1 while it seems to take a special and malicious pleasure in attacking those upon whom it produces the most painful effects6 ,it may be that something in the secretions of such persons both provokes the attack1 and causes its consequences to be more severe4 ,i should not advise persons upon whose system the sting of a bee produces the most agonizing pain1 and violent1 if not dangerous symptoms1 to devote any attention to the practical part of an ,apiary2 although ,i am acquainted with a lady who is thus severely affected1 and who yet1 strange to say1 is a great enthusiast in ,apiarian pursuits6 ,i have met with individuals1 upon whom a sting produced the singular effect of causing their breath to smell like the venom of the enraged insect6 ,the smell of the poison resembles almost perfectly that of a ripe banana4 ,it produces a very irritating effect upon the bees themselves2 for if a minute drop of it is extended to them1 on a stick1 they at once manifest the most decided anger4 ,it is well known that the bee is a lover of sweet odors1 and that unpleasant ones are very apt to excite its anger4 ,and here ,i may as well speak plainly1 and say that bees have a special dislike to persons whose habits are not cleanly1 and particularly to those who bear about them1 a perfume not in the very least resembling those ,sabean odors ,from the spicy shores of ,araby the blest1 of which the poet so beautifully discourses4 ,those who belong to the family of the great unwashed1 will find to their cost that bees are decided foes to all of their tribe4 ,the peculiar odor of some persons1 however cleanly1 may account for the fact that the bees have such a decided antipathy to their presence1 in the vicinity of their hives4 ,it is related of an enthusiastic ,apiarian1 that after a long and severe attack of fever1 he was never able to take any more pleasure in his bees2 his secretions seem to have undergone some change1 so that the bees assailed him as soon as he ventured to approach their hives4 ,nothing is more offensive to bees than the impure breath exhaled from human lungs2 it excites them at once to fury4 ,would that in their hatred for impure air1 human beings had only a tithe of the sagacity exercised by bees6 ,it would not be long before the thought of breathing air loaded with all manner of impurities from human lungs1 to say nothing of its loss of oxygen1 would excite unutterable loathing and disgust4 ,as the smell of a sweaty horse is very offensive to the bees1 it is never safe to allow these animals to go near a hive1 as they are sometimes attacked and killed by the furious insects4 ,those engaged in bee-culture on a large scale1 will do well to enclose their ,apiaries with a strong fence1 so as to prevent cattle from molesting the hives4 ,if the ,apiary is enclosed by a high fence1 with sharp and strong pickets1 and the door is furnished with a strong lock1 it will prevent the losses which in some localities are so common from human pilferers4 ,such losses may be guarded against1 by fastening a wrought iron ring into the top of each hive1 well clinched on the inside2 an iron rod may run through these rings1 and thus with two padlocks and fixtures1 7one at each end17 a dozen or more hives may be secured4 ,i am happy to say that in most localities such precautions are entirely unnecessary4 ,a place in which the stealing of honey and fruit is practiced by any except those who are candidates for ,state's ,prison1 is in a fair way of being soon considered as a very undesirable place of residence4 ,if owners of ,apiaries1 gardens and orchards1 could be induced to pursue a more liberal policy1 and not be so meanly penurious as they often are1 ,i am persuaded that they would find it conduce very highly to their interests4 ,the honey and fruit expended with a cheerful1 hearty liberality1 would be more than repaid to them in the good will secured1 and in the end would cost much less than bars and bolts4 ,reader6 do not imagine that ,i have the least idea that a thoroughly selfish man1 can ever be made to practice this or any other doctrine of benevolence4 ,demonstrate it again and again1 until even to his narrow and contracted view it seems almost as clear as light1 still he will never find the heart to reduce it to practice4 ,you might almost as well expect to transform an incarnate fiend into an angel of light1 by demonstrating that ,wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness1 while the path of the transgressor is hard1 as to attempt to stamp upon a heart encrusted with the adamant of selfishness1 the noble impress of a liberal spirit4 ,of all the senses1 that of smell in the bee1 seems to be the most perfect4 ,huber has demonstrated its exceeding acuteness1 by numerous interesting experiments4 ,if honey is placed in vessels from which the odor can escape1 but in which it cannot be seen1 the bees will soon alight upon them and eagerly attempt to find an entrance4 ,it is by this sense1 unquestionably1 that they recognize the members of their own community1 although it seems to us very singular that each colony should have its own peculiar scent4 ,not only can two colonies be safely united by giving them the same odor1 but in the same way any number of colonies may be made to live in perfect peace4 ,if hundreds of hives are all connected by gauze wire ventilators1 so that the air passes freely from one to another1 the bees will all live in absolute harmony1 and if any bee attempts to enter the wrong hive1 he will not be molested4 ,the same result can often be attained by feeding colonies from a common vessel4 ,i have seen literally hundreds of thousands of bees that after being treated in this way so as to acquire the same odor1 were always gentle towards each other1 while if a single bee from a strange ,apiary1 lit upon the feeder1 it was sure to be killed4 ,i have described1 7p4 #bac17 the use which ,i make of peppermint1 in order to prevent bees from quarreling when they are united4 ,the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,kleine1 7see p4 #cei17 in a recent number of the ,bienenzeitung1 has recommended the use of another article1 which he finds to be very useful in preventing robbing4 ,his statement would have come in more appropriately in the ,chapter on ,robbing1 but was not received until too late4 ,he says that the most convenient and effectual mode of arresting and repelling the attacks of robbers1 is1 to impart to the attacked hive some intensely powerful and unaccustomed odor4 ,he effects this most readily1 by placing a small portion of musk in the attacked hive1 late in the evening1 when all the robbers have retreated4 ,on the following morning1 the bees1 7provided they have a healthy queen17 will promptly and boldly meet their assailants1 and these in turn are non-plussed by the unwonted odor1 and if any of them enter the hive and carry off some of the coveted booty1 they will not be recognized nor received at home on their return1 on account of their strange smell1 but will be at once seized as strangers1 and killed by their own household4 ,thus the robbing is speedily brought to a close4 ,in combination with my blocks1 this device might be made very effectual4 ,when the ,apiarian perceives that a hive is being robbed1 let him shut up the entrance3 before dusk he can open it and allow the robbers to go home1 and then3 put in a small piece of musk3 the entrance next day may be kept so contracted that only a single bee can enter at once4 ,in the union of stocks the same substance might be used advantageously4 ,a short time before the process is attempted1 each colony might have a small dose of musk 7a piece of musk tied up in a little bag17 and they would then be sure to agree4 ,i prefer1 however1 in most cases1 the use of scented sugar-water4 ,by using my double hives1 and putting a small piece of gauze-wire on an opening made in the partition1 the two colonies having the same scent will always agree2 this will be very convenient where they are compelled to live as such near neighbors1 and enables the ,apiarian at any time to unite them and appropriate their surplus stores4 ,these double hives are admirably adapted to the wants of those who wish to make the smallest possible departure from the old system1 as they need make no change1 except to unite the stocks instead of killing the bees4 ,i have already remarked that no operation should ever be attempted upon bees1 by which a whole colony is liable to be excited to an ungovernable pitch of fury4 ,such operations are never necessary2 and a skillful ,apiarian will1 by availing himself of the principles laid down in this ,treatise1 both easily and safely do everything that is at all desirable1 even to the driving of a powerful colony from an old box hive4 ,when bees are improperly dealt with1 they will compass their assailant about1 with the most savage ferocity1 and woe be to him if they can creep up his clothes1 or find on his person a single unprotected spot6 ,on the contrary1 when not provoked by foolish management or wanton abuse1 the few who are bent on mischief1 appear to retain still some touch of grace1 amid all their desperation4 ,like the thorough bred scold1 who by the elevated pitch of her voice1 often gives timely warning to those who would escape from the sharp sword of her tongue1 a bee bent upon mischief raises its note almost an octave above the peaceable pitch1 and usually gives us timely warning1 that it means to sting1 if it can4 ,even then1 it will seldom proceed to extremities1 unless it can leave its sting somewhere upon the face of its victim1 and usually as near as possible to the eye2 for bees and all other members of the stinging tribe1 seem to have1 as it were1 an intuitive perception that this is the most vulnerable spot upon the human face divine4 ,if the head is quietly lowered1 and the face covered with the hands1 they will often follow a person for some rods1 all the time sounding their war note in his ears1 taunting him for his sneaking conduct1 and daring him1 just for one single moment1 to look up and allow them to catch but a glimpse of his coward face6 ,if a person is suddenly attacked by angry bees1 no matter how numerous or vindictive they may be1 not the slightest attempt should ever be made to act on the offensive4 ,if a single bee is violently struck at1 a dozen will soon be on hand to avenge the insult1 and if the resistance is still continued1 hundreds and at last thousands will join in the attack4 ,the assailed party should quickly retreat from the vicinity of the hives1 to the protection of a building1 or if none is near1 he should hide himself in a clump of bushes1 and lie perfectly still1 with his head covered1 until the bees leave him4 ,,remedies ,,for ,,the ,,sting ,,of ,a ,,bee4 ,if only a few of the host of remedies1 so zealously advocated1 could be made effectual1 few persons would have much reason to dread being stung4 ,most of them1 however1 are of no manner of use whatever4 ,like the prescriptions of the quack1 they are absolutely worse than doing nothing at all4 ,the first thing to be done after being stung1 is to pull the sting out of the wound as quickly as possible4 ,even after it is torn from the body of the bee1 7see p4 #fj17 the muscles which control it1 are in active operation1 and it penetrates deeper and deeper into the flesh1 injecting continually more and more of its poison into the wound4 ,every ,apiarian should have about his person1 or close at hand1 a small piece of looking-glass1 so that he may be able with the least possible delay to find and remove a sting4 ,in most cases if it is at once removed1 it will produce no serious consequences2 whereas if suffered to empty all its vials of wrath1 it may cause great inflammation and severe suffering4 ,after the sting is removed1 the utmost possible care should be taken1 not to irritate the wound by the very slightest rubbing4 ,however intense the smarting1 and of course the disposition to apply friction to the wound1 it should never be done1 as the poison will at once be carried through the circulating system1 and severe consequences may ensue4 ,as most of the popular remedies are rubbed in1 they are of course worse than nothing4 ,be careful not to suck the wound as so many persons do2 this produces irritation in the same way with rubbing4 ,who does not know that a musquito bite1 even after the lapse of several days1 may be brought to life again1 by violent rubbing or sucking8 ,the moment that the blood is put into a violent and unnatural circulation1 the poison is quickly diffused over a considerable part of the system4 ,if the mouth is applied to the wound1 other unpleasant consequences may ensue4 ,while the poison of most snakes and many other noxious animals affects only the circulating system1 and may therefore be swallowed with impunity1 the poison of the bee acts powerfully1 not only upon the circulating system1 but upon the organs of digestion4 ,the most distressing head-aches are often produced by it4 ,from my own experience1 ,i recommend cold water as the very best remedy with which ,i am acquainted1 for the sting of a bee4 ,it is often applied in the shape of a plaster of mud1 but may be better used by wetting cloths and holding them gently to the wound4 ,cold water seems to act in two ways4 ,the poison of the bee being very volatile1 is quickly dissolved in water2 and the coldness of the water has also a powerful tendency to check inflammation and to prevent the virus from being taken up by the absorbents and carried through the system4 ,the leaves of the plantain1 crushed and applied to the wound1 will answer as a very good substitute when water cannot at once be procured4 ,the broad-leafed plantain1 or as some call it1 the toad plantain1 is regarded by many as possessing a very great efficacy4 ,bevan recommends the use of spirits of hartshorn1 applied to the wound1 and says that in cases of severe stinging its internal use is beneficial4 ,whatever remedy is applied1 should be used if possible1 without a moment's delay4 ,the immediate extraction of the sting1 will be found1 even if nothing more is done1 much more efficacious than any remedy that can be applied1 after it has been allowed to remain and discharge all its venom into the wound4 ,it may be some comfort to those who are anxious to cultivate bees1 to know that after a while the poison will produce less and less effect upon their system4 ,when ,i first became interested in bees1 a sting was quite a formidable thing1 the pain often being very intense1 and the wound swelling so as sometimes to obstruct my sight4 ,at present1 the pain is usually slight1 and if ,i can only succeed in quickly extracting the sting1 no unpleasant consequences ensue1 even if no remedies are used4 ,huish speaks of seeing the bald head of ,bonner1 a celebrated practical ,apiarian1 lined with bee stings which seemed to produce upon him no unpleasant effects4 ,like ,mithridates1 king of ,pontus1 he seemed almost to thrive upon poison itself6 ,i have met with a highly amusing remedy very gravely propounded by an old ,english ,apiarian4 ,i mention it more as a matter of curiosity1 than because ,i imagine that any of my readers will be likely to make trial of it4 ,he says1 let the person who has been stung1 catch as speedily as possible1 another bee1 and make it sting on the same spot6 ,it requires some courage even in an enthusiastic disciple of ,huber1 to venture upon such a singular homeopathic remedy2 but as this old writer had previously stated that the oftener a person was stung1 the less he suffered from the venom1 and as ,i had proved1 in my own experience1 the truth of this assertion1 ,i determined to make trial of his remedy4 ,i allowed a bee to sting me upon the finger and suffered the sting to remain until it had discharged all its venom4 ,i then compelled another bee to insert its sting as near as possible in the same spot4 ,i used no remedies of any kind1 and had the satisfaction1 in my zeal for new discoveries1 of suffering more from the pain and swelling1 than ,i had previously experienced for years4 ,an old writer recommends a powder of dried bees1 for distressing cases of stoppages2 and some of the highest medical authorities have recently recommended a tea made by pouring boiling water upon bees1 for the same complaint1 while the homeopathic physicians employ the poison of the bee1 which they call apis1 for a great variety of maladies4 ,that it is capable of producing intense head-aches any one who has been stung1 or who has tasted the poison1 very well knows4 ,,bee-,,dress4 ,timid ,apiarians1 and all who are liable to suffer severely from the sting of a bee1 should by all means furnish themselves with the protection of a bee-dress4 ,the great objection to gauze-wire veils or other materials of which such a dress has been usually made1 is that they obstruct clear vision1 so highly important in all operations1 besides producing such excessive heat and perspiration1 as to make the ,apiarian peculiarly offensive to the bees4 ,i prefer to use what ,i shall call a bee-hat1 of entirely novel construction4 ,it is made of wire cloth1 the meshes of which are too fine to admit a bee1 and yet coarse enough to allow a free circulation of air1 and to permit distinct sight4 ,the wire cloth should first be fastened together in a circular shape1 like a hat1 and large enough to go very easily over the head2 its top may be of cotton cloth1 and it should have the same material fastened around its lower edge1 and furnished with strings to draw it so closely around the neck and shoulders that a bee cannot creep under it4 ,woolen stockings may then be drawn over the hands1 or better still1 ,india ,rubber gloves1 such as are now in very common use1 may be worn2 these gloves are impenetrable to the sting of a bee1 and yet are so soft and pliant as scarcely in the least to interfere with the operations of the ,apiarian4 ,if it were not for the diseased bees of which ,i have several times spoken1 such precautions would be entirely unnecessary4 ,the best ,apiarians as it is1 dispense with them1 even at the cost of a sting now and then4 ,,instincts ,,of ,,bees4 ,this treatise has already grown to such a length1 that ,i must be exceedingly brief on a point peculiarly interesting to all who delight in investigating the wonders of the insect world4 ,in the preceding parts of the work1 numerous proofs have been given of the refined instincts of the bee4 ,it is impossible always to draw the line between instinct and reason1 and very often some of the actions of animals and insects appear to be the result of a process of reasoning apparently almost the same with the exercise of the reasoning faculty in man4 ,there is this difference says ,mr4 ,spence1 between intellect in man1 and the rest of the animal creation4 ,their intellect teaches them to follow the lead of their senses1 and to make such use of the external world as their appetites or instincts incline them to1--and this is their wisdom3 while the intellect of man1 being associated with an immortal principle1 and connected with a world above that which his senses reveal to him1 can1 by aid derived from ,heaven1 control those senses1 and render them obedient to the governing power of his nature2 and this is his wisdom4 ,this subject has seldom been more happily expressed than by ,mr4 ,spence4 ,the line of distinction between man and the lower orders of creation1 is not the mere fact that he reasons and they do not1 but that he has a moral and accountable nature1 while they have nothing of the kind4 ,it will be evident1 says ,bevan1 that though ,i make a distinction between the instinct and the reason of bees1 ,i do not confound their reason with the reason of man4 ,but to obviate all possibility of misconception1 ,i will at once define my meaning1 when ,i use the terms insect reason and instinct4 ,by reason1 ,i mean the power of making deductions from previous experience or observation1 and thereby of adapting means to ends4 ,instinct ,i regard as a disposition and power to perform certain actions in the same uniform manner1 depending upon nice mechanism and having no reference either to observation or experience2 operating on the means1 without anticipation of the end1 incited by no hope1 controlled by no foreboding4 ,those who have attended to this subject1 will be aware that insect reason1 as above defined1 is more restricted in its functions than the reason of man2 to which is superadded the power of distinguishing between the true and the false1 and1 according to some metaphysicians1 between right and wrong4 ,reason1 in man1 has a regular growth and a slow progression2 all the arts he practices evince skill and dexterity1 proportioned to the pains which have been taken in acquiring them4 ,in the lower links of creation1 but little of this gradual improvement is observable2 their powers carry them almost directly to their object4 ,they are perfect1 as ,bacon says1 in all their members and organs from the very beginning4 ,far different ,man1 to higher fates assign'd1 ,unfolds with tardier step his ,proteus mind1 ,with numerous ,instincts fraught1 that lose their force ,like shallow streams1 divided in their course2 ,long weak1 and helpless1 on the fostering breast1 ,in fond dependence leans the infant guest1 ,till reason ripens what young impulse taught1 ,and builds1 on sense1 the lofty pile of thought2 ,from earth1 sea1 air1 the quick perceptions rise1 ,and swell the mental fabric to the skies4 ,evans4 ,i shall here narrate a very remarkable instance of sagacity which seems to approach as near to human reason1 as any thing in the bee which has ever fallen under my notice4 ,in the year #ahea1 ,i had a small model hive constructed1 into which ,i temporarily placed a swarm of bees4 ,the particular object which ,i had in view1 was to test the feasibility of some plans which ,i had recently devised1 for facilitating the storing of honey in small tumblers4 ,the bees1 in a short time1 filled the hive and stored about a dozen glasses with honey4 ,i was called away from them1 for a few days1 and was much surprised1 on my return1 to find that the honey which had been stored up in the hive and sealed over for ,winter use1 was all gone1 and the cells filled with eggs and young worms6 ,the hive stood in a covered bee house1 and the bees had built a large quantity of comb on the outside of the hive1 into which they had transferred the honey taken from the interior4 ,the object of this unusual procedure was1 beyond all question1 to give the poor queen a place within the hive for laying her eggs3 for this purpose they uncapped and emptied all the cells so carefully sealed over1 instead of using the new comb on the outside for the brood4 ,those who wish to study the ,natural ,history of the honey-bee1 to the best advantage1 will derive great aid in their investigations1 from the use of my ,observing ,hives4 ,each comb in these hives is attached to a movable frame1 and they all admit of easy removal4 ,in this respect the construction of the hive is entirely new1 and while it greatly facilitates the business of observation1 it enables the ,apiarian1 on the approach of cool weather1 to transfer his bees from a hive in which they cannot winter1 to one of the common construction4 ,as soon as the weather in the ,spring is sufficiently warm1 they may again be placed in the observing hive1 in which1 7as both sides of every comb admit of inspection17 every bee can be seen1 and all the wonders of the hive are exposed to the full light of day2 7see p4 #bd47 ,in the common observing hives experiments are often conducted with great difficulty1 by cutting away parts of the comb1 whereas in mine1 they can all be performed by the simple removal of one of the frames1 and if the colony becomes reduced in numbers1 it may1 in a few moments1 be strengthened by helping it to maturing brood from one of the other hives4 ,a very intelligent writer in a description of the different hives exhibited at the ,world's ,fair1 in ,london1 lamented that no method had yet been devised of enabling bees to cluster1 in cool weather1 in an observing hive1 and that it was found next to impossible to preserve them in such hives over ,winter4 ,by the use of the movable frames1 this difficulty is entirely obviated4 ,i cannot allow this work to come to a close1 without acknowledging my great obligations to ,mr4 ,samuel ,wagner1 of ,york1 ,pennsylvania4 ,to him ,i am indebted for a knowledge of ,dzierzon's discoveries1 and for many valuable suggestions scattered throughout the ,treatise4