Part 2
But if you have any spare space--and there are always nooks and spots available in the smallest garden--sow on these lemon-thyme in abundance, rosemary, lavender, salvia, borage, mignonette, and crocus. Apple-trees, gooseberry and currant-trees, and above all, raspberry-plants, are great favourites with bees; and as their blossoms come early in spring, they are most seasonable and productive. But your chief reliance must be on neighbouring acres of bean-fields and buckwheat or clover meadows, heather and furze, and hedge-blossoms. Lime-trees are very valuable; I wish people would allow thorn-hedges to blossom. Let me urge the cottager to use for the edging of his garden lemon-thyme instead of box or daisies. Do not fear keeping a dozen stocks. I think many apiarians talk nonsense when they allege that a district may be overstocked with bee-hives. If the surrounding country be wholly arable, with little common, and with too good farming, it may be overstocked. But there are still left commons unenclosed, woods and heath, and clover and tiny weeds, which farmers persecute and bee-masters love; and far off are gardens of all sorts and sizes, in which flowers are cultivated for the owners' pleasure, constituting admirable bee-pasture. I only regret there is such a wide-spread rage for double flowers, for bees never touch them. On that magnificent standard rose, so rich in delicious perfume and so very lovely, a bee never alights; but the briar and hedge-rose are favourites and much frequented. On the Clyde, it is usual for bee-proprietors to carry their hives to Arran, Dunoon, and Kilmun, as soon as the heather comes into blossom; and cottagers take charge of them at a shilling apiece. The hives often therefrom receive great and remunerative additions.
Dr. Bevan states:--
"In Lower Egypt, where the flower-harvest is not so early by several weeks as in the upper districts of that country, this practice of transportation is carried on to a considerable extent. About the end of October the hives, after being collected together from the different villages, and conveyed up the Nile, marked and numbered by the individuals to whom they belong, are heaped pyramidally upon the boats prepared to receive them, which, floating gradually down the river, and stopping at certain stages of their passage, remain there a longer or a shorter time, according to the produce which is afforded by the surrounding country. After travelling three months in this manner, the bees, having culled the perfumes of the orange flowers of the Said, the essence of roses of the Faiocum, the treasures of the Arabian jessamine, and a variety of flowers, are brought back about the beginning of February to the places from which they have been carried. The productiveness of the flowers at each respective stage is ascertained by the gradual descent of the boats in the water, and which is probably noted by a scale of measurement. This industry procures for the Egyptians delicious honey and abundance of bees'-wax. The proprietors, in return, pay the boatmen a recompense proportioned to the number of hives which have thus been carried about from one extremity of Egypt to the other."
Richardson sensibly remarks:--
"Water carriage, when procurable, is the best, as it shakes the hives least, but when land carriage must be resorted to, the hives should be carried on poles slung on men's shoulders. The journey should be pursued at night only, and the bees suffered to go forth and feed during the day. Such is their instinct, that they will readily find their way back; but they should not be suffered to go forth until at the distance of upwards of ten or eleven miles from their original home, otherwise they will be lost in endeavouring to regain it--a moderate distance induces them to abandon the idea, and to become reconciled to their new quarters. If travelling by canal, the hives should be removed from the boat, and placed on stands at some distance from the bank, ere the insects are let out, otherwise they will be lost in thousands by falling into the water on their return. The charge made by shepherds for taking care of the hives during a season is from one shilling to eighteen-pence each. It is better to pay a trifle over and above the usual fee, in order to prevent your hives being placed too near to each other, or to those of other parties; for if your weak stocks happen to be placed near the strong ones of some one else, you will stand a fair chance of having them all killed in encounters with their more powerful neighbours. It would be well also to see that your hives are placed in a situation where they will be safe from the attacks of cattle or other foes. Before fetching the hives home again from the heath, it will not be amiss to ascertain their condition and weight, and to take from them what honey they can spare. I must here inform you how to ascertain the state or wealth of a hive."
On the subject of removing bees to the heather in August, Mr. Briggs makes the following useful and practical remarks:--
"In the vicinity of extensive heaths, the bees are removed to them about the beginning or middle of August, according to the season. The usual practice is to raise each hive with small wedges in the evening, to induce the bees to congregate together at the top of the hive. The hives are then firmly fixed to the bottom boards, or tied up in cloths, and conveyed in the night, or very early in the morning, to the garden of a shepherd or other person whose residence adjoins the heath. All hives and swarms are taken, including old and young ones, and the persons who receive them usually charge a shilling for each hive during the season. The hives are thus very frequently crammed together as close as they can stand, and the consequences are that much fighting and loss of life is often caused, and the weak stocks of one person are frequently partly destroyed and robbed of their stores and killed by the stronger ones belonging to other persons. When the blooming of the heath is over, the old stocks are, in general, suffocated on the spot, to obtain possession of the fruits of their labours, and those intended for winter stocks are conveyed home by their respective owners.
"The above system of managing bees at the heather is susceptible of material alterations and improvements. I would suggest that it would be of great advantage to the owners of bees residing within twenty miles' distance, if the proprietors or occupiers of residences adjoining the heath were to extend the accommodation by enclosing a larger extent of ground which is suitable for the purposes desired. It might be cheaply and expeditiously performed by hiring a few dozen of stout stakes, &c., from the neighbouring farmers for the season, and having the bars of them full of coarse thorns, briars, furze, or other convenient or suitable materials, to prevent the inroads of cattle and other depredators.
"I would recommend that none but strong stocks be taken to the heath, until arrangements are made for their convenience and accommodation; and that the collateral system of side hives, &c., be practised with them whilst they are at the heath, as well as on other occasions."
Where there is no water conveyance, a hive may be suspended from each end of a long pole, which may be carried on the shoulder to the neighbourhood of a common, in August, not less than four miles from your garden, and put in charge of a reliable cottager.
"In Yorkshire," says the Rev. Mr. Cotton, that prince of bee-masters, "it is the regular custom of the country to send the stocks to the moors for change of pasture in August and September. Cotters, who have a little garden by the moorside, take in dozens every year, and get a shilling a stock for their trouble. The trouble is a mere nothing--at least not one shilling's worth in all--and the pleasure is surely very great; for what can be a greater pleasure than to have ten additional stocks of bees on a visit to your own, and to cheer you with their glad music whenever you are walking in your garden? To say nothing of the pleasure you must feel at their honied stores, by playing the part of a kind host to these busy bees; and then, what is more, you may have the still greater pleasure of showing your friend (for all bee-masters are, or ought to be, friendly) how to take up his bees who have been your guests so long, as I trust you do your own, that is, without killing them. You and he may do so, if you try; and I, a bee-master like yourself, beg you most earnestly to try. What I have found a very good way with my bees you cannot find a very bad one. The stocks are taken up in the old way as soon as the heather goes out of flower. I hope many a man will learn by my letter to take them up by the fingers, instead of the sulphur match, that ready instrument of bee-murder. In France they put their hives into a boat, some hundreds together, which floats down the stream by night, and stops by day. The bees go out in the morning, return in the evening, and when they are all back and quiet, on the boat floats. I have heard they come home to the ringing of a bell; but I believe they would come home just the same whether the bell rings or no. I should like to see this tried on the Thames, for no river has more bee food near its banks: willows, the best bee food in spring; meadows, clover, beans, and lime-trees, in different places and times, for summer. A handy man, who could make his own boxes, though not up to hard work, might, I am pretty sure, gather _through the mouths of his many thousand bees enough to fill his own one mouth_, though it be somewhat larger. He might float softly _down_ the river, as the flowers go off at one place and come on at another; and any bargeman would be glad, for the small price of one pound of Thames honey, to give him a tow _up_ when he wishes to go back. I should like to see it tried."
But all this is supererogatory at present, and temporary removals are undesirable, unless where surrounding pastures entirely fail in August. It is, at best, supplemental.
Taylor, in his useful _Bee Manual_, says:--
"It is almost needless to say, that in the nature and extent of the vegetable production following in succession in the immediate neighbourhood of an apiary, must mainly depend its prosperity. After every care has been bestowed on all points of housing and management, it is in vain to expect a large harvest of honey where Nature has limited the sources of supply, or restricted them to a particular season of the year."
Payne observes:--
"I have always found the advantage of planting in the vicinity of my hives a large quantity of the common kinds of crocus, single blue hepatica, helleborus niger, and tussilago petasites, all of which flower early, and are rich in honey and farina. Salvia memorosa (of Sir James Smith), which flowers very early in June, and lasts all the summer, is in an extraordinary manner sought after by the bees, and, when room is not an object, twenty or thirty square yards of it may be grown with advantage. Origanum humile, and origanum rubescens (of Haworth), and mignonette may also be grown. Cúscuta sinensis is a great favourite with them; and the pretty little plant anacampseros populifolium, when in flower, is literally covered by them. Garden cultivation beyond this, exclusively for bees, I believe, answers very little purpose."
IV.--THE BEE-HOUSE, AND HOW TO PLACE IT.
Having decided on the furniture of the garden and the flowers it should grow, and the best kind of neighbourhood for pasture, we must now discuss (and it is done from very considerable experience) the structure and aspect of the bee-house under shelter of which your hives are to stand. Taylor remarks:--
"The common wooden bee-houses, as usually constructed, open in front, and closed altogether behind, retaining the sun's heat as an oven, are objectionable. These are frequently the receptacles of dirt and vermin, and most inconvenient to operate in. It would be an improvement to make them deeper backwards; or with a falling front, moving on hinges, so that the hives can be recessed behind it, away from the influence of weather. At the back should be folding doors, opening from top to bottom, allowing a good access to the hives. For greater convenience, it is best to have them only in a single row, with good head room. But a still more desirable plan is to board up the front of the house entirely, making oblong openings through for a passage to the bees, with an exterior alighting-board, a good deal slanted downwards (the bees preferring this to a flat surface). The hives are arranged immediately behind, upon a shelf, the further apart the better, as the bees occasionally mistake their own homes, and fall a sacrifice in consequence."
The following is a sketch of the shed proposed by Dr. Bevan. It is extremely picturesque. My only objection to it is his use of thatch, which shelters vermin--the pests it is hard to keep away in the most favourable circumstances. Dr. Bevan's shed or bee-house is seven feet square in the clear, with three hives on the upper shelves and three on the under.
A very picturesque and efficient bee-shed is presented by Dr. Lardner, about twelve feet long and about nine feet high.
My objection to this bee-house is, that the hives are exposed too much to wind and weather; if of straw, they will soon rot--if of wood, wet and sunshine will rend and split them. Besides, tier above tier is not good, and it need not be adopted.
The shed I prefer is as follows:--Let it be twelve feet six inches in length, six feet in height, and two feet six inches in depth. Let it be made of good, strong, smooth deal. Divide it into six equal compartments, divided off from each other. Let the roof be also of smooth deal, covered first with Croggon's patent felt; and laid over the felt, and nailed down, let there be zinc plates, projecting six or eight inches in front. Let an opening three inches wide extend along the front from end to end, with a continuous landing-board projecting beneath it, and sloping down at an angle of twenty-five degrees. The floor should be about a foot or eighteen inches above the level of the ground, and perfectly smooth. Behind let there be three doors, with hinges attached to the floor, falling back when open, and thereby forming a pleasant platform, when laid down and resting on the ground, for the bee-master to watch and study, and deprive, and otherwise fulfil his mission. When closed, there must be a good padlock, as bee-hive lifters are still too common in every part of the country. In very hot weather, open the doors behind, but only in very hot weather. I have found from experience that the smoother the surfaces of the bee-shed inside, the less they are liable to the operations of the spider, one of the greatest pests of bee-houses. I have unfortunately, and too often, seen a dozen bees entangled of a fine May morning in a spider's web, and most of them excavated in the cleanest manner. Wasps and spiders I have no mercy on; they are thieves and murderers and beasts of prey, as well as vermin. To the former, extermination by brimstone is a just recompense, and to the latter the application of a hard dry brush is a daily duty.
I prefer three of these bee-sheds, located in different parts of my garden, to one very large shed with under and upper tiers of hives: this makes less likelihood of confusion in swarming. I do not like the sheds to be placed under large trees, the drippings of which tend to create damp. Shrubs, raspberry-plants, and even gooseberry-bushes, not nearer than ten or twelve feet, form nice resting-places to the heavy-laden bees. Under and immediately around the hive should be closely-mowed grass. The front of the hive is best due south, and, if convenient, with an inclination to the east. From the east and west a rising ground, or shrubs tolerably high, are a desirable protection; they break the force of the gales. Do not place your bee-shed at a great distance from the house: bees are civilised and domestic, and delight to see children at play while they are at their work; kept out of society, they grow savage. Having selected the position, do not change it, unless imperatively and unavoidably necessary. Gelieu justly observes:--
"I have seen people shift about their hives very inconsiderately; but change of place invariably weakens them, as the bees will return to their old residence, the environs of which are so familiar to them. A hive should remain as fixed to the spot as the ancient oaks, in the hollows of which they delight to establish themselves; where they have their young, their companions, their beloved queen, and all their treasures. When the young bees take wing for the first time, they do it with great precaution, turning round and round, and fluttering about the entrance, to examine the hive well before taking flight. They do the same in returning, so that they may be easily distinguished, conducting themselves nearly after the same manner as the workers of a newly-hived swarm. When they have made a few excursions, they set off without examining the locality; and returning in full flight, will know their own hive in the midst of a hundred others. But if you change its place you perplex them, much the same as you would be if, during a short absence, some one lifted your house and placed it a mile off. The poor bees return loaded, and, seeking in vain for their habitation, either fall down and perish with fatigue, or throw themselves into the neighbouring hives, where they are speedily put to death. When hives are transported to a considerable distance, there is no fear that the bees will return. But this inconvenience would be sure to take place if they were removed only a few hundred paces from the spot they have been accustomed to. The hive may not perish, but it will be greatly weakened. In my opinion, if the situation is to be changed at all, they should be taken at least a mile and a half."
Richardson, who has offered many sensible suggestions on bee-culture, makes some very sensible remarks on this. But I do not agree with him in one of his opinions--that a south-westerly aspect is best, or that a south-eastern aspect is likely to be prejudicial, from its tempting the bees to go out in too cold spring mornings. The early sun in early spring is not excessively seductive. Besides, bees are very good judges of temperature, as they are infallible prophets of weather, and may be safely left in this matter to the exercise of their own good sense. It is also worthy of notice, that the main work of bees is over by four o'clock in the afternoon, and the setting sun is therefore less important. They are early risers, and go early to bed. But his remaining observations on bee-sheds are thoroughly good:--
"Some recommend high trees for the purpose of keeping the air calm, lest the bees should be blown down when returning home. High trees are not advisable; they form an evil themselves of greater magnitude than that which they may be designed to remove. Bees are seldom blown to the ground by mere wind; but even when they are, they can, in a great majority of cases, recover themselves. Whereas, if blown amongst trees, they will be sure to be whipped so violently by the branches, that they are absolutely hurled to the ground with such force as to render their recovery hopeless. The bees also fly low on their return, when they arrive at the immediate neighbourhood of their stand, and, consequently, high trees would be not only useless, but absolutely inconvenient. Whatever trees you wish, therefore, to plant in the immediate vicinity of the hive should be of low size, planted at the sides of the hive, so as to leave the entrance quite free. Wildman recommends them, and, I think, very judiciously, to be 'of the dwarf kind, with bushy heads, in order that the swarms which settle on them may be more easily hived.' Now, although by judicious management swarming will generally be prevented from taking place, yet, despite of our utmost care, it may accidentally occur; or the bees may quit their boxes in a body, from various causes--some of which I shall endeavour hereafter to explain--and, under such circumstances, Mr. Wildman's suggestions will be found valuable. The garden, therefore, in which you fix your stands should be thus planted; and I further, for the same reasons, recommend wall fruit trees and espaliers.
"Avoid a site near mills or other noisy places, or the neighbourhood of bad smells, as factories and the like; and if, as occasionally may happen, your stand be placed against your garden wall, behind which is the farm-yard, let not a dunghill be built against the opposite side. I have witnessed this before now, and in one instance found the consequence to be a desertion of the boxes. Do not place your stand where you see rat or mouse holes, and let your shed be all of wood, never thatched with straw, as that substance harbours mice, moths, and other similar enemies to your stock.
"Water is essential to the well-being of your bees; it must, however, be presented to them judiciously, or it will prove a greater evil than a good. If you can coax a shallow rippling brook through your garden, so much the better; if not, place near the stand small, shallow, earthen pans of water, and put some pebbles in them. This water must be changed daily. It is highly objectionable to have a pond or canal in your neighbourhood: you will lose thousands of your bees through their means every season, as they will be constantly blown into them when returning heavily laden to the hive, especially in the evening, when wearied after the toil of an industriously spent day. The pebbles in the troughs are for the bees to rest on while drinking, and are the recommendation of Columella. I have seen tin plates perforated with holes, and placed over the pans just on the surface of the water, used for drinking-vessels for bees; I, however, prefer the pebbles."
I have found it a very good plan to place two or three soup-plates filled with pure water mixed largely with round pebbles in front of the bee-house; they thus find water to drink and stepping-stones for their tiny feet, which keep their wings out of water. In long-continued dry and hot summers, I have also been in the habit of using a common garden-squirt, with the end perforated by a dozen pin-holes. The water thus showered on the bee-house at noon cools it, and does not strike down the bees, and seems most acceptable to them all.
The shed should be kept scrupulously clean and dry. Earwigs, snails, and spiders will all try hard to establish their quarters under the warmth of the hives, and must be repelled. Nothing but the bee-master's frequent but quiet and undemonstrative use of a good hard painter's brush, perfectly dry, will keep these pests at a distance. I am no advocate of killing a single living thing, but if these unproductive creatures will prey on the most productive of insects, and kill and steal, there is no help for it. The bee-master must keep his bee-sheds particularly clean; and as spiders and earwigs love dust and dirt, and are inseparable from it, they must go with it. At all events, I cannot give them hospitality in my bee-house.