Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained Part 33

The hive is inverted, and the cloth put over, neatly folded, and fastened with a tack at the corners, and another in the middle. The tack is crowed in about two-thirds of its length, it then presents the head convenient to pull out. If the bees are to go a great distance, and require to be shut up several days, the muslin will be hardly sufficient, as they would probably bite their way out. Something more substantial would then be required. Take a board the size of the bottom, cut out a place in the middle, and cover with wire cloth, (like the one recommended for hiving,) and fasten it with tacks. This board is to be nailed on the hive. After the nails are driven, with the hammer start it off about the eighth of an inch; it will admit a little air around the sides as well as the middle, quite necessary for heavy stocks. But very small families might be safe without the wire cloth; air enough would pa.s.s between the hive and board, except in warm weather. New combs break easier than old.

BEST CONVEYANCE.

Probably the best conveyance is a wagon with elliptic springs. But a wagon without springs is bad, especially for young stocks. Yet I have known them moved safely in this way, but it required some care in packing with hay, or straw, under and around them, and careful driving.

Good sleighing will answer very well, and by some thought to be the best time.

HIVE TO BE INVERTED.

Whatever conveyance is employed, the hive should be inverted. The combs will then all rest closely on the top, and are less liable to break than when right end up, because then the whole weight of the combs must depend upon the fastenings at the top and sides for support, and are easily detached and fall. When moving bees, so reversed, they will creep upward; in stocks part full, they will often nearly all leave the combs, and get upon the covering. In a short time after being set up, they will return, except in very cold weather, when a few will sometimes freeze; consequently a warm room is required to put them in for a short time.

After carrying them a few miles, the disposition to sting is generally gone, yet there are a few exceptions. In moderate weather, when bees are confined, they manifest a persevering determination to find their way out, particularly after being moved, and somewhat disturbed. I have known them to bite holes through muslin in three days. The same difficulty is often attendant on attempting to confine them to the hive by muslin when in the house in the winter, except when kept in a cold situation. Should any combs become broken, or detached from their fastenings, in hives not full, by moving or other accident, rendering them liable to fall when set up, the hive may remain inverted on the stand till warm weather, if necessary, and the bees have again fastened them, which they do soon after commencing work in the spring. If they are so badly broken that they bend over, rolls of paper may be put between them to preserve the proper distance till secured. When they commence making new combs, or before, it is time to turn the right end up. While the hive is inverted, it is essential that a hole is in the side, through which the bees may work. A board should fit close over the bottom, and covered, to effectually prevent any water from getting among the bees, &c.

CONCLUSION.

In conclusion I would say, that the apiarian who has followed me attentively, and has added nothing of value to his stock of information, possesses an enviable experience that all should strive to obtain.

It has been said that "three out of five who commence an apiary must fail;" but let us suppose it is through ignorance or inattention, and not inherent with the bees. To the beginner then I would say,--if you expect to succeed in obtaining one of the most delectable of sweets for your own consumption, or the profit in dollars and cents, you will find something more requisite than merely holding the dish to obtain the porridge. "SEE YOUR BEES OFTEN," and know at all times their actual condition. This one recipe is worth more than all others that can be given; it is at the head of the cla.s.s of duties; _all others begin here_. Even the grand secret of successfully combating the worms,--KEEP YOUR BEES STRONG, must take its rise at this point. With the above motto acted upon, carried out fully, and with perseverance, you cannot well fail to realize all reasonable expectations. Avoid over-anxiety for a rapid increase in stocks; try and be satisfied with one good swarm from a stock annually, your chances are better than with more; do not antic.i.p.ate the golden harvest too soon. You will probably be necessitated to discard some of the _extravagant_ reports of profits from the apiary. Yet you will find one stock trebling, perhaps quadrupling its price or value in products, while the one beside it does nothing. In some seasons particularly favorable your stocks collectively will yield a return of one or two hundred per cent.--in others, hardly make a return for trouble. The proper estimate can be made only after a number of years, when, if they have been judiciously managed, and your ideas have not been too extravagant, you will be fully satisfied. I have known a single stock in one season to produce more than twenty dollars in swarms and honey, and ninety stocks to produce over nine hundred dollars, when a few of the number added not a farthing to the amount. I do not wish to hold out inducements for any one to commence bee-keeping, and end it in disgust and disappointment.

But I would encourage all suitable persons to try their skill in bee management. I say suitable persons, because there are many, very many, not qualified for the charge. The careless, inattentive man, who leaves his bees unnoticed from October till May, will be likely to complain of ill success.

Whoever cannot find time to give his bees the needed care, but can spend an hour each day obtaining gossip at the neighborhood tavern, is unfit for this business. But he who has a home, and finds his affections beginning to be divided between that and his companions of the bar-room, and wishes to withdraw his interest from unprofitable a.s.sociates, and yet has nothing of sufficient power to break the bond, to what can he apply with a better prospect of success, than to engage in keeping bees? They make ample returns for each little care.

Pecuniary advantages are not all that may be gained--a great many points concerning their natural history are yet in the dark, and many are disputed. Would it not be a source of satisfaction to be able to contribute a few more facts to this interesting subject, adding to the science, and holding a share in the general fund? Supposing all the mysteries pertaining to their economy discovered and elucidated, precluding all chance of further additions, would the study be dry and monotonous? On the contrary, the verification witnessed by ourselves would be so fascinating and instructive, that we cannot avoid pitying the condition of that man who finds gratification only in the gross and sensual. It has been remarked, that "he who cannot find in this and other branches of natural history a salutary exercise for his mental faculties, inducing a habit of observation and reflection, a pleasure so easily obtained, unalloyed by any debasing mixture--tending to expand and harmonize his mind, and elevate it to conceptions of the majestic, sublime, serene, and beautiful arrangements inst.i.tuted by the G.o.d of nature, must possess an organization sadly deficient, or be surrounded by circ.u.mstances indeed lamentable." I would recommend the study of the honey-bee as one best calculated to awaken the interest of the indifferent. What can arrest the attention like their structure--their diligence in collecting stores for the future--their secretion of wax and moulding it into structures with a mathematical precision astonis.h.i.+ng the profoundest philosophers--their maternal and fraternal affection in regarding the mother's every want, and a.s.siduous care in nursing her offspring to maturity--their unaccountable display of instinct in emergencies or accidents, filling the beholder with wonder and amazement? The mind thus contemplating such astonis.h.i.+ng operations, cannot well avoid looking beyond these results to their divine Author. Therefore let every mind that perceives one ray of light from nature's mysterious transactions, and is capable of receiving the least enjoyment therefrom, pursue the path still inviting onward in the pursuit. Every new acquisition will bring an additional satisfaction, and a.s.sist in the next attempt, which will be commenced with a renewed and constantly increasing zest; and will arise from the contemplation a wiser, better, and a n.o.bler being, far superior to those who have never soared beyond the gratifications of the mere animal, grovelling in the dark. Is there, in the whole circle of nature's exhaustless storehouse, any one science more inviting than this? What more exalting and refining, and at the same time making a return in profits as a pecuniary reward?

What would be the result in the aggregate of all the honey produced in the flowers of the United States annually? Suppose we estimate the productions of one acre to be one pound of honey, which is but a small part of the real product in most places; yet, as a great many acres are covered with water and forest,[22] this estimate is probably enough for the average. This State (New York) contains 47,000 square miles; 640 acres in a square mile will multiply into a little more than 30,000,000, and each acre producing its pound of honey, we have the grand result of 30,000,000 lbs. of honey. If we add the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, we have an amount of over 126,000,000 lbs. What it might be by including all the States, those disposed may ascertain. Enough for our purpose is made clear, and that is, a small item only of an enormous amount is now secured.

[22] It should not be forgotten that forest trees are valuable, especially when there is ba.s.swood, or even maple.

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