Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained Part 14

ADVANTAGE OF THE HIVE CLOSE TO THE BOARD.

An inch hole in the side of the hive, a few inches from the bottom, as a pa.s.sage for the bees, is needed, as I shall recommend letting the hive close to the board; it is essential on account of robbing; also, it is necessary to confine as much as possible the animal heat, in most hives, during the season the bees are engaged in rearing young brood; and warmth is necessary to hatch the eggs, and develop the larvae; we all know that when the hive is close, less heat will pa.s.s off than if raised an inch.

OBJECTION ANSWERED.

You object to this, and tell me, "the worms will get between the bottom of the hive and the board." Well, I think they will, and what then? Why I expect if you intend to succeed, that you will get them out, and crush their heads; if you cannot give as much attention as this, better not keep them, or let some one have the care of them that will. I am as willing to find a worm under the edge of the hive, and dispatch it, as to have it creep into some place out of sight, and change to the moth.

I once trimmed off the bottom of my hives to a thin edge, so they did not have this place for their coc.o.o.ns, but now prefer to have them square. _All profit_ is seldom obtained with anything. If you plant a field with corn, you do not expect that the whole work for the crop is finished. Neither should you expect when you set up a stock of bees, that a full yield will be realized without something more. If you are remunerated by keeping the weeds from your corn, be a.s.sured it is equally profitable to weed out your bees.

INSUFFICIENCY OF INCLINED BOTTOM-BOARD.

Now do not be deceived in this matter, and through indolence be induced to get those hives with descending bottom-boards, to throw out the worms as they fall, and hope by that means to get rid of the trouble; (I have already, in another chapter, expressed doubts of this). But we will _now_ suppose such descending bottom-boards capable of throwing every worm that touches it "heels over head" to the ground; what have we gained? His neck is not broken, nor any other _bone_ of his body! As if nothing extraordinary had happened, he quietly gathers himself up, and looks about for snug quarters; he cares not a fig for the hive now; he gormandized on the combs until satisfied, before he left them, and is glad to get away from the bees any how. A place large enough for a coc.o.o.n is easily found, and when he again becomes desirous of visiting the hives, it is not to satisfy his own wants, but to accommodate his progeny; he is then furnished with wings ample to carry him to any height that you choose to put your bees.

A MOTH CAN GO WHERE BEES CAN.

A hive that is proof against the moth, is yet to be constructed. We frequently hear of them, but when they come to be tested, somehow these worms get where the bees are. When your hives become so full of bees, that they cover the board in a cool morning, the worms will be seldom found there, except under the edge of the hive.

TRAP TO CATCH WORMS.

You may now raise it, but you may still catch the worms by laying under the bees a narrow s.h.i.+ngle, a stick of elder split in two lengthwise, and the pith sc.r.a.ped out, or anything else that will afford them protection from the bees, and where they may spin their coc.o.o.ns. These should be removed every few days, and the worms destroyed, and the trap put back. Do not neglect it till they change to the moth, and you have nothing but to remove the empty coc.o.o.n.

BOX FOR WREN.

If you would take the trouble to put up a cage or two for the wren to nest in, he would be a valuable a.s.sistant in this department of your labor. He would be on the lookout when you were away, and many worms, while looking up a hiding-place in some corner, would be relieved from all further trouble by being deposited in his crop. The cage for him need not be more than four inches square; it may be fastened near as possible to the bees; to a post, tree, or side of some building a few feet high. I have seen the skull of some animal (horse or ox) used, and is very convenient for them, the cavity for the brains being used for the nest. A person once told me the wren would not build in one that he had put up. On examination, the stake to support it was found driven into the only entrance. I mention this to show how little some people understand what they do. It is sometimes well enough to know why a thing is to be done, as to know it _must_ be done. I could tell you to do a great many things, but then you would like to know _why_, then _how_ to do it. Now if this prolixity is unnecessary for you, another may need it. You must remember I am endeavoring to teach some few to keep bees, who are not over supplied with ingenuity.

CHAPTER XI.

PUTTING ON AND TAKING OFF BOXES.

Putting on boxes may be considered a duty intermediate between spring and summer management. I cannot recommend putting them on as early as the last of April, or first of May, in ordinary circ.u.mstances. It is possible to find a case that it would be best. But before the hive is full of bees it is generally useless, very likely a disadvantage, by allowing a portion of animal heat to escape that is needed in the hive to mature the brood. Also, moisture may acc.u.mulate until the inside moulds, &c. Some experience and judgment is necessary to know about what time boxes are needed. That boxes _are needed_ at the proper season, I think I shall not need an argument to convince any one, in the present day. Bee-keepers have generally discarded the barbarous practice of killing the bees to obtain the honey. Many of them have learned that a good swarm will store sufficient honey for winter, besides several dollars worth as profit in boxes.

ADVANTAGE OF THE PATENT VENDER.

Here is where the patent vender has taken the advantage of our ignorance, by pretending that no other hive but _his ever obtained such quant.i.ties, or so pure in quality_.

TIME OF PUTTING ON--RULE.

It is probable a great many readers will need the necessary observation to tell precisely when the hive is full of honey; it may be full of bees, and not of honey. And yet the only rule that I can give to be generally applied, is, when the bees begin to be crowded out, but a day or two before would be just the right time, that is, when they are obtaining honey--(for it should be remembered that they do not always get honey when beginning to cl.u.s.ter out). This guide will do in place of a better one, which close observation and experience only can give.

By observing a gla.s.s hive attentively, in those cells that touch the gla.s.s on the edge of the combs, whenever honey is being deposited here abundantly, it is quite evident that the flowers are yielding it just then, and other stocks are obtaining it also. Now is the time, if any cl.u.s.ter out, to put on the boxes. When boxes are made as I have recommended, that is, the size containing 360 solid inches, it is advisable to put on only one at first; when this is full either of bees or honey, and yet bees are crowded outside, the other can be added.

This is before swarming; too much room might r.e.t.a.r.d the swarming a few days, but if crowded outside, it indicates want of room, and the boxes can make but little difference. It is better to have one box well filled than two half full, which might be the case if the bees were not numerous. The object of putting on boxes before swarming, is to employ a portion of the bees, that otherwise would remain idly cl.u.s.tering outside two or three weeks, as they often do, while preparing the young queens for swarming. But when all the bees can be profitably engaged in the body of the hive, more room is unnecessary.

MAKING HOLES AFTER THE HIVE IS FULL.

Whenever it is required to put boxes on a hive that has no holes through the top, it need not prevent your getting a few pounds of the purest honey that may be had, just as well as to have a portion of the bees idle. I always endeavor to ascertain in what direction the sheets of comb are made, and then mark off the row of holes on the top, at right angles with them.

ADVANTAGE OF PROPER ARRANGEMENT.

Two inches being nearly the right distance, each one will be so made that a bee arriving at the top of the hive between any two sheets will be able to find a pa.s.sage into the box, without the task of a long search for it; which I can imagine to be the case when only one hole for a pa.s.sage is made, or when the row of holes is parallel with the combs. A hive might contain eight or ten sheets of comb, and a bee desirous of entering the box might go up between any two, many times, before it found the pa.s.sage. It has been urged that every bee soon learns all pa.s.sages and places about the hive, and consequently will know the direct road to the box. This may be true, but when we recollect that all within the hive is perfect darkness--that this path must be found by the sense of feeling alone--that this sense must be its guide in all its future travels--that perhaps a thousand or two young workers are added every week, and these have to learn by the same means--it would seem, if we studied our own interest, we would give them all the facility possible for entering the boxes. What way so easy for them as to have a pa.s.sage, when they get to the top, between each comb? That bees do not know all roads about the hive, can be partially proved by opening the door of a gla.s.s hive. Most of the bees about leaving, instead of going to the bottom for their exit, where they have departed many times, seem to know nothing of the way, but vainly try to get out through the gla.s.s, whenever light is admitted.

I am so well convinced of this, that I take some pains to accommodate them with a pa.s.sage between each comb; they will then at least lose no time by mistakes between the wrong combs, crowding and elbowing their way back through a dense ma.s.s of bees which impede every step, until again at the top perhaps between the same combs, perhaps right, perhaps farther off than at first; when I suppose they try it again; as boxes are filled sometimes under just such circ.u.mstances.

To a.s.sist them as much as possible, when new hives are used for swarms, I wait till the hive is nearly filled before making the holes to ascertain the direction of the combs. We all know it is uncertain which way the combs will be built, when the swarm is put in, unless guide-combs are used.[15] When holes are made before the bees are put in, guide-combs as directed for boxes should be put in; (of course they should cross at right angles the row of holes).

[15] Perhaps Miner's cross-bar hive would do it.

DIRECTIONS FOR BORING HOLES IN FULL STOCKS.

_To make holes in the top after the combs are made_,--Mark out the top as directed for making hives and boxes. A centre bit or an auger bit with a lip or barb is best, as that cuts down a little faster than the chip is taken out, leaving it smooth; when nearly through, a pointed knife can cut the remainder of the chip loose, and it can be taken out; if it is between the combs, it is well; if directly over the centre of one, it is a little better; with the knife take out a piece as large as a walnut; even if honey is in it, no harm will be done. The bees will then have a pa.s.sage through from either side of the comb.

After you have opened one hole, very likely the bees will want to see what is going on over head, and walk out to reconnoitre. To prevent their interference, use some tobacco-smoke, and send them down out of your way, till your hole is finished. Now lay over this a small stone or block of wood, and make the others in the same way. When all are done, blow in some smoke as you uncover them, and put on your box. This process is not half so formidable as it appears; I have in this way bored hundreds. You will remember my hives are not as high as many others keep them, they are in about as convenient a position as I can get them. This method saves me the trouble of sticking the guide-combs in my hives; also, the necessity of covering or stopping the holes. Dr.

Bevan and some others have made a cross-bar hive, instead of nailing on a top in the usual way; a half-inch board of the right length is cut into strips, some over an inch wide, and half an inch apart, across the top. It is plain that in such a hive a bee can pa.s.s into the box whenever it arrives at the top, without difficulty. I will here repeat the objection to allowing too much room, to pa.s.s into the boxes, that you may see the disadvantages of the extremes of too little and too much room. In these cross-bar hives, the animal heat rises into the box from the main hive, making it as warm as below; the queen goes up with the bees, and finding it warm and convenient for breeding, deposits her eggs; and young brood as well as honey is found there. When we think it full, it is then indispensable to return it, if taken off, till they hatch, (otherwise they spoil it by moulding), which makes the combs dark, tough, &c. Another objection to such open tops is, that open bottom boxes must be used, which are not half as neat for market.

TO BE TAKEN OFF WHEN FILLED.

This advantage attends gla.s.s boxes: while being filled, the progress can be watched till finished, when they should be taken off to preserve the purity of the combs. Every day the bees are allowed to run over them, renders them darker. Consequently, when our bees are a long time filling a box, it is not as purely white as when filled expeditiously.

TIME TAKEN TO FILL A BOX.

Two weeks is the shortest time I ever had any filled and finished.

This, of course, depends on the yield of honey, and size of the swarm; three or four weeks are usually taken for the purpose. I have before said that the first yield of honey nearly fails in this section, usually about the 20th of July; there are some variations, later or earlier, according to the season. In other places it may be much later.

WHEN TO TAKE OFF BOXES PART FULL.

It can be ascertained by occasionally raising the cover to your gla.s.s boxes. When no more is being added, all boxes that are worth the trouble should be taken off; if left longer the comb gets darker, and such cells of honey as are not sealed over, (and sometimes the majority are such,) the bees generally remove down into the hive.

TOBACCO SMOKE PREFERRED TO SLIDES.

When boxes are to be taken off, if a slide of tin, zinc, &c., is used to close the holes, some of the bees are apt to be crushed, others will find themselves minus a head, leg, or abdomen, and all of them be irritable for several days. A little tobacco smoke is preferable, as it keeps all quiet. Just raise the box to be taken off sufficient to puff under it some smoke, and the bees will leave the vicinity of the holes in an instant; the box can then be removed, and another put on if necessary, without exciting their anger in the least.