Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained Part 5

GLa.s.s BOXES--HOW TO MAKE.

_Directions for making._--Select half-inch boards of pine or other soft light wood, cut the length twelve and three-quarters inches, width six and three-eighths inches, dress down the thickness to three-eighths or less, two pieces for a box, top and bottom, in the bottom bore five holes throughout the centre to match with those in the top of the hive, (the pattern used in marking the top of hives is just the one to mark these). Next, get out the corner posts, five-eighths of an inch square, and five inches in length; with a saw, thick enough to fit the gla.s.s, cut a channel length-wise on two sides, one-fourth of an inch deep, one-eighth from the corner, for the gla.s.s. A small lath nail through each corner of the bottom into the posts will hold them; it is now ready for the gla.s.s--1012 is the right size to get--have them cut through the centre the longest way for the sides, and they are right, and again the other way, five and five-eighths long for the ends. These can now be slipped into the channels of the posts, and the top nailed on like the bottom, and the box is ready.

GUIDE-COMBS NECESSARY.

It will be found a great advantage, previous to nailing on the top, to stick fast to it some pieces of guide-combs in the direction you wish the bees to work. They are also an inducement for them to commence several days sooner, than if they had to start combs for themselves;[5]

a piece an inch square will do; it is well to start every comb you want in the box; two inches apart is about the right distance to look well.

To make these pieces hold fast, melt one edge by the fire, or candle, or melt some bees-wax, and dip one edge in that, and apply it before cooling; with a little practice you can make them stick without difficulty. For a supply of such combs, save all empty, clean, white pieces you can, when removing combs from a hive.

[5] A line of bees-wax made with a guide-plate, or other means, is found to be of but little use.

If you have any way superior to this for making gla.s.s boxes, so much the better, make them so by all means: "The best way is as good as any." I give my method to be used only when better is not convenient.

If you sell honey, I think you will find it an advantage to have gla.s.s boxes made in some way. Two of this size when full weigh 25 lbs. If preferred, four boxes six and three-eighths inches square, can be used for a hive instead of two; the expense of making is a little more for the same number of lbs., yet, when it is in market, a few customers will prefer this size.

WOOD BOXES.

For home consumption, the wood-box will answer equally well for all purposes of obtaining the honey, but will give no chance to watch the progress of the bees, unless a gla.s.s is inserted for the purpose, and then it will need a door to keep it dark, or a cover over the whole like the one for gla.s.s boxes, may be put on. Wood boxes are generally made with open bottom, and set on the top of the hive. A pa.s.sage for the bees out of the box to the open air is unnecessary, and worse than useless. They like to store their honey as far from the entrance as possible. Unless crowded for room, they will not store much there when such entrances are made.

Whether we intend to consume our surplus honey or not, it is as well to have the hives and covers made in a manner that we can use gla.s.s, when we are likely to have some to spare. I am not sure, but it would pay to make hives in this way, even if gla.s.s boxes were never used; the rabbeting prevents light as well as water from pa.s.sing under the cover; imagine a box set on a plain board nailed on for a top, without the rabbeting; the warping or bending admits the light and water, especially when hives are out in the weather, (and I shall not recommend any other way of keeping them.)

COVER FOR HIVES.

I have termed the cap or box a cover; but this should also be covered with a board laid on, if nothing else. A good roof for each hive can be made by fastening two boards together like the roof of a building; let it be about 18 by 24 inches; it being loose, can be changed in accordance with the season; in spring, let the sun strike the hive; but in hot weather let the longest end project over the south side, &c. You can ornament this hive, if you choose, by mouldings or dentals, under the top, where it projects over the body of the hive, also the cap can have the top projected a little and receive the same addition.

JARS AND TUMBLERS--HOW PREPARED.

When jars, tumblers, or other vessels, that are all gla.s.s, are used, it is _absolutely necessary_ to fasten as many pieces of combs as you wish made, in the top, for a beginning, or fasten a piece of wood there; as they seldom commence building on gla.s.s, without a start.

Some of you may have seen paraded at our fairs, or in the public parts of some of our cities, hives containing tumblers, some of them neatly filled, others empty, and this meagre sentence written upon them, _not to be filled_! Pretending to govern the bees, as the juggler sometimes does his tricks, by mysterious incantations! I once encountered an agent of this humbug, and modestly suggested to him that I had a counter charm: that I could put a tumbler on his hive and it would be filled if the others were, however much he might forbid it by written charms! He saw at a glance how the matter stood; I was not the customer he wanted, and intimated that the show was only intended for the extreme verdancy of most visitors. It no doubt a.s.sisted in displaying his profound knowledge in bee management, which he wished to establish, as he had a little work on the subject to sell, also hives, and bees.

The reader no doubt will guess as I did, the reason that those tumblers were not filled, was because no combs were put in for a start.

PERFECT OBSERVATORY HIVE DESCRIBED.

There are many things pertaining to bees that cannot be properly examined and understood, without a gla.s.s hive of some sort. Yet a perfect observatory hive containing but one comb, is not a perfect hive for the bees. We can see very well what the bees are doing, but it is not a tenement they would choose if left to themselves. It forces them to labor in an unnatural manner, is unsuitable for wintering bees, and otherwise but little profit. If the satisfaction of witnessing some of their operations more perfectly than in gla.s.s hives of another kind will not pay, it is doubtful if we get it. I will describe as briefly as possible. Two frames or sashes about two and a half feet square, containing gla.s.s, are so fastened together as to leave room for only one comb between them, about an inch and three-fourths apart. A comb of this size will not support itself by the top and edges; hence, it is necessary to put in numerous cross-bars to a.s.sist in supporting it.

Outside the gla.s.s are doors to keep the whole dark, to be opened when we wish to inspect proceedings. Under the bottom is a board or frame, to keep it in an upright position, &c. Probably but few will be induced to make one. I will therefore describe another; a hive that I think will pay better.

ONE LIKE COMMON HIVE PREFERRED.

If we expect to know what bees are doing in ordinary hives, we must have one similar in every respect, in size, shape, number of bees, &c.

The construction of royal cells will be watched by most observers with the greatest interest; now these are generally on one edge of the combs. The bees leave a s.p.a.ce half an inch or more between the edges of the combs and one side of the hive, near half the length of it, apparently for no other purpose but to have room for these cells, as the other edges of the same combs are generally attached to the hive at the bottom.

WHAT MAY BE SEEN.

Now instead of having one piece or pane of gla.s.s in the side of several hives, I would recommend having one or more with gla.s.s on every side; because we might have it on three sides, and not the fourth; and this might contain all the queen cells, and we should miss an important sight. There are many other things to be witnessed in such a hive. The queen may be often seen depositing her eggs! We may see the workers detach the scales of wax from their abdomen, and apply them to the combs during the process of construction, see them deposit pollen from their legs, store their honey, feed the queen, each other, their young brood, seal over cells containing brood, honey, &c. It is further useful as a guide for putting boxes on other hives, (that is, if it is a good one, which it should be); we can easily ascertain whether our bees are gaining or losing.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING GLa.s.s HIVE.

My method of making them is as follows: The top is like those for other hives, fifteen inches square, adapted to boxes and cover. This hive we want to be as profitable as any, giving us surplus honey, and swarms like others. Four posts are then got out, two inches square, and thirteen in length; care should be taken to have the ends perfectly square.

A frame is then to be made, just fourteen inches square outside, for the bottom; the pieces are one inch thick, by two in width, halved together at the corners. A guage-mark is then made around the under side of the top, half an inch from the edge, a post is then set inside of each corner of this mark, and thoroughly nailed, the bottom is nailed on with the posts even with the outside corners. Four pieces an inch thick, and an inch and a half wide, are fitted between the posts, even with the guage-mark on the top. Sixteen strips, about one quarter by half an inch, are got out, eight to be ten, and eight twelve inches long.

A gauge-mark one inch from posts, bottom, &c., is the place to nail these strips; very small nails or tacks will hold them. The panes of gla.s.s are to rest against them, which are held in their places by small pieces of tin, or brads. The doors are the size of the gla.s.s, 1012, about three-fourths of an inch thick; these doors are cut a little too short, and the pieces, to prevent warping, are nailed on the ends; these are hung to a post on one side, and secured by a b.u.t.ton on the other. On two opposite sides inside the posts, half way up, two strips, half an inch by three quarters, are nailed, with holes in them for the cross-sticks; one way is enough if you have guide-combs for a start, like those recommended for boxes, so that the sheets will be at right angles with them; otherwise, let the sticks cross both ways, about three each way will be needed, as the gla.s.s at the edges is not so good a support as wood.

The cap can be made of half inch boards; the top to project over like the hive, or let it be a little more than half an inch, it will admit a heavier moulding, which should surround it here, as well as at the top of the hive, or if it is prefered, dentals can be used, and look equally well--when no ornament is wanted, omit it. But painting seems necessary for such hives, to prevent warping, and the swelling of the doors in wet weather; these want to open and shut without rubbing or sticking, otherwise we disturb the bees every time a door is stirred.

Putty should not be used to hold the gla.s.s, as the bees in the course of a few years will cover it with propolis; it is then necessary to take it out, and sc.r.a.pe, clean, and return it, when, if fastened with putty, it would be difficult; cold weather is the time for this operation. I am aware that a hive can be more substantially made than the one here described; but I have endeavored to make one as cheap as possible, and if properly made, will answer. The cost will be much less than many patents, and the satisfaction much more, at least, with many.

When our hive contains a swarm of bees, and they are thoroughly in operation, we must not let them pa.s.s out at the bottom on every side, as they are frequently allowed to do from other hives; because, should one come out a little excited in consequence of a slight jar, accidentally given the hive, on opening the door or some other way, and should find our face within a foot of their house, peering in the window among their works, it would be very likely to give us _a gentle hint_ that it was a mark of low breeding, that we were not wanted there at all, and that it was none of our business what they were doing. To prevent this as far as possible, a bottom-board, somewhat different from the common one, is needed. Four posts of chestnut or other lasting wood, about two inches square, are driven into the earth in the form of a square, far enough apart to come under the corners of the bottom-board, (fifteen inches,) and high enough for convenience when looking into the hive. The ends of these posts are to be perfectly level, and to which the bottom is to be nailed fast. As the hive is to sit perfectly close to the board, a pa.s.sage must be made through it, as well as means for ventilation in hot weather, without raising the hive for that purpose. It requires a board about fifteen inches square, planed smooth, the ends clamped to prevent warping or splitting; a portion of the centre is taken out, say six inches by ten, and wire cloth nailed over, four-ounce tacks will hold it, fasten it just enough to keep the bees from getting through; very likely it will want to be taken off occasionally and cleaned from the propolis that will be spread over it. It is easiest done in freezing weather.

Take an edge in each hand, and rock the wires a few times out of square, and it will readily crumble and fall out. In warm weather it must be scalded or burnt off. To close this s.p.a.ce, a moving slide is fixed in grooves under-side, fastened to the posts or board. The slide is to be moved in accordance with the weather, when cold, close it, when hot, withdraw it, and give the bees as much air as possible, without raising the hive, the whole of such s.p.a.ce is as much ventilation as ordinary hives raised an inch. (Wire cloth is needed for other purposes, it is best to procure some, even at considerable trouble and expense.) On the side of the board intended for the front, two inches from the edge of the wire cloth, a pa.s.sage is cut for the bees, three-eights of an inch wide, by eleven in length. "But how is the bees to get to this place, so inconvenient, something is needed to a.s.sist them?" Certainly, Sir; an alighting board, eleven inches wide, and about two feet long, (not planed), is placed at an angle of forty-five degrees, between the two front posts of your stand, the upper end pa.s.sing under the bottom, far enough back; to be just even with the back-side of the pa.s.sage for the bees. The bees alight on this board, and walk up into the hive without difficulty. When the bees are at work pretty freely, and a door of this hive is opened, those that are about departing will be very likely to get on the gla.s.s, instead of through the opening at the bottom; seeing the light through the gla.s.s, they endeavor to escape by the nearest route. When so many gather here as to prevent a good view, and you wish to observe further, shut the door a moment and they will leave through their own pa.s.sage, when you can open your door again, for a short time. After the hive is filled with combs, the number attracted to the gla.s.s on opening a door will be much less.

The plate on the preceding page represents a gla.s.s hive, cover, and stand. The common hive can be made equally ornamental, if you choose; this kind of stand is unnecessary for them. I use such as are recommended on page 138.

CHAPTER III.

BREEDING.

IMPERFECTLY UNDERSTOOD.

The time that bees commence raising their young brood is but imperfectly understood by most people. Many persons that have kept them for years, have bestowed so little attention on this point, that they are unable to tell at what time they commence, how they progress, or when they cease. A kind of an idea that one swarm, and occasionally two or three, are reared sometime in June, or fore part of summer, is about the extent of their reflections on the subject. Whether the drones deposit the eggs, or that a portion of the workers are females, and each raise a young one or two, or whether the "king bee" is the chap for laying eggs, is a matter beyond their ability to answer. It is but a few years since, that a correspondent of a Journal of Agriculture denied the existence of a queen bee, giving the best reasons he had, no doubt, that is, he had never seen one. But bee-keepers of this cla.s.s are so few, it is unnecessary to waste time to convince them; suffice it to say, that a queen exists with every prosperous swarm, and all apiarians with much pretensions to science, acknowledge the fact, also, that she is the mother of the whole family.

The period at which they commence depositing eggs probably depends on the strength of the colony, amount of honey on hand, &c., and not the time they commence gathering food.

GOOD STOCK SELDOM WITHOUT BROOD.

I once removed the bees from a hive on the tenth of January, and found brood amounting to about five hundred, sealed over, and others in every stage of growth down to the egg.

This hive had been in the house, and kept warm; it will doubtless be supposed that being kept warm was the cause; but this is not a solitary instance. A neighbor lost a hive the fourteenth February, in weather cold enough to seal the entrance with ice, and smother the bees. I a.s.sisted to remove the combs, and found young brood in abundance, from the perfect bee, through all stages of growth. This stock had been in the cold all winter. I have further noticed, when sweeping out the litter under the hives early in spring, say the first of March, that young bees would often be found under the best stocks. Hence it appears there is but little time, and perhaps none, when our best stocks have no broods. Yet stocks, when very weak, do not commence till warm weather. It seems that a certain degree of warmth is necessary to perfect the brood, which a small family cannot generate.

HOW SMALL STOCKS COMMENCE.

The first eggs are deposited in the centre of the cl.u.s.ter of bees, in a small family; it may not be in the centre of the hive in _all_ cases; but the middle of the cl.u.s.ter is the warmest place, wherever located.

Here the queen will first commence; a few cells, or a s.p.a.ce not larger than a dollar, is first used, those exactly opposite on the same comb are next occupied. If the warmth of the hive will allow, whether mild weather produces it, or the family be large enough to generate that which is artificial, appears to make no difference; she will then take the next combs exactly corresponding with the first commencement but not quite as large a place is used as in the first comb. The circle of eggs in the first is then enlarged, and more are added in the next, &c., continuing to spread to the next combs, keeping the distance to the outside of the circle of eggs, to the centre or place of beginning, about equal on all sides, until they occupy the outside comb. Long before the outside comb is occupied, the first eggs deposited are matured, and the queen will return to the centre, and use these cells again, but is not so particular this time to fill so many in such exact order as at first. This is the general process of small or medium sized families. I have removed the bees from such, in all stages of breeding, and always found their proceedings as described.

DIFFERENT WITH LARGER ONES.