Part 10

_Winter position._--It is extremely desirable in winter to keep off the influence of the sun from the front of the hives. Some persons recommend moving them from their summer position to a north aspect, or turning them round on their stands. But this shifting of quarters involves the necessity of shutting up the bees close prisoners till the spring; for all that casually left the hive would fly back to the original familiar spot, never more to revisit home. I entirely agree with those who assert that bees are never healthy where confinement has been long continued. "Who shuts up the wild bees in the forests of Lithuania, where they thrive so well?" asks Gelieu. Surely in this, as in other parts of our practice, we cannot do better than follow the guidance of nature. On a fine day, with the thermometer at or not much below 50° (and these are not of unfrequent occurrence in winter), the bees avail themselves of it, sallying forth in evident delight, with certain advantage to health and cleanliness; for they void nothing in the hive, unless compelled by long necessity. This is the point at which disease commences: indeed the retention of their fæces sometimes occasions death. Their impatience of confinement is excessive, and increases as the season advances, so that they will leave the hive at a lower temperature after Christmas than before. But in thus advocating the principle of liberty, I am not insensible to the evil it may bring with it, if not guarded against. The most disastrous consequences follow the flight of bees on a frosty day, when the gleams and deceitful warmth of a winter sun reach their domicile, particularly with snow on the ground, the glare of which allures them out to destruction, for they soon fall down to rise no more. The remedy for this is the screening of the hive in some way from its effects; and it should be done as soon as winter actually sets in. At the same time it is important that no obstruction to the free passage of air is presented, or dysentery among the bees would be the certain consequence. Where the hives stand singly, I have always seen the advantage of fixing before each a wooden screen, nailed to a post, sunk in the ground, and large enough to throw the whole front into shade. This does not interfere with the coming forth of the bees at a proper temperature; and it supersedes any necessity for shutting them up when snow is on the ground. The screen should be fixed a foot or two in advance, and so as to intercept the sun's rays, which will be chiefly in winter towards the west side. Other plans have been tried for effecting the same object, such as blocks placed at the mouth of the hive; but these answer no good end, as the rays of light penetrate underneath and around them. In a bee-house, entirely enclosed at the front, the hives and their boards may sometimes at this season be advantageously shifted a little sideways of the exterior entrance way; with hollowed blocks (see page 96), shaped in accordance, to intercept the light, but not the air.

A screen of the kind we have described has the further tendency to promote the security of the bees, where other enemies than wind, frost, snow, or sun might sometimes endanger them. One of these, at this time, is the blue Titmouse, to which we have before alluded. Old Purchas says, "She will eat ten or twelve bees at a time, and by-and-by be ready for more. When she cometh to the hive and findeth none, she knocketh with her bill at the door, and as soon as the bees come out to inquire the cause, she catcheth first one and then another, until her belly be full." At page 117 we have described a mode of dealing with these marauders.

_Damp in Hives._--Perhaps there is nothing more prejudicial than the moisture often engendered in exposed hives at this time, particularly after frost, and in certain states of the atmosphere. It accumulates on the top and sides, moulding and rendering offensive the combs, and producing disease amongst the bees. For this reason, hives with flat roofs have sometimes been objected to; and perhaps justly, where no provision is made for ventilation. Gelieu obviated the evil by placing caps or small hives (cemented down) over the stocks; the moisture ascending, evaporated through the opening, "as by a chimney," I have tried different experiments, and have found nothing better than the practice of condensing the vapour of the hive as much as possible, and conveying it away. At the beginning of winter, over the hole on the top, a piece of perforated zinc or wood is placed. Upon this let one of the common feeding troughs, already described, be put, from which the glass cover, and, if you please, the perforated bottom, are previously removed; the hole in the pan being placed over the one below. This may be covered with a bell-glass, standing within the pan. As the exhalation rises from the bees below, it is condensed on the glass, and received, often in considerable quantity, in the pan. The hole at the top of the glass may be stopped, opening it occasionally on a fine day, to allow the escape of vitiated air. The change of air in a hive, in mild, dry weather, is always conducive to health, till the early spring breeding begins, when caution against chill to the bees is needed. In the absence of a bell-glass, the glass cover to the trough may be kept in its place as a substitute. We have already recommended the giving to all hives or boxes a slight inclination forwards, as being useful in conveying away the moisture.

Where there is no feeding pan, a bell-glass may be put within a circular leaden or zinc trough, having the centre open, and placed over the hole below.

_Temperature._--With good protection from cutting winds, from wet without, and from damp within, the effects of cold alone, unless of extreme severity, need not be apprehended, for the bees of a strong stock will generate sufficient warmth; and a dry season is often better sustained than a mild, moist one. It is of importance to guard against _sudden changes_ of temperature, often occurring in winter; and experienced bee-keepers have recommended covering each hive with a mat, or something of the kind, as a regulator.

It is certain that less food is consumed at a low than a high temperature, and that the bees are often healthy in proportion. I have known the thermometer down to 32° in a box, with no bad effect to the bees when _clustered together_; but they would become torpid if exposed _singly_ to this, or to a much less degree of cold, especially towards the close of winter; and could then only be recovered by artificial warmth.[W] The action of very severe frost, moreover, has an injurious effect upon the honey, which becomes candied at the extremities of the combs, and sometimes throughout. It is thenceforth useless as food for the bees.[X]

[W] It is frequently the case in winter that a number of bees may be found, apparently dead, about a hive, particularly after sudden disturbance. The greater part of these are merely paralysed on coming out into a lower temperature, and may be recovered by taking them to the fire. But this should be done with caution; for, if placed too near, the bees are not so likely permanently to recover, as when the restoration is gradual. The best way is to put the bees into a large basin, spreading over it a piece of muslin to confine them till they are restored to the hive.

[X] In two stocks which I had an opportunity of examining, at the end of February, 1838, after a very severe winter, I found cells filled with honey in a granulated state, and perfectly white. This was untouched by the bees, though distressed for food. Notwithstanding the unusual severity of the season, there was brood in various stages of progression.

A thermometer is not always a criterion of the state of the hive at this season, as I have often found; for the temperature varies as the bees recede from it, and they frequently shift their quarters, moving in a mass to preserve the warmth. When congregated immediately about the thermometer, I have known it rise as much as 30° on a frosty day; and an increase of temperature always follows any commotion, from whatever cause, or partial activity in the dwelling, resulting in an increased consumption of food.

_Dysentery._--Care should be taken to clear away any dead bees at the mouth of the hive, for these give great offence, besides endangering the safety of the family, by preventing the passage of air. Whilst the bees are in activity, they carefully remove every dead body from the hive; but in winter this service should be occasionally performed for them. In particular it should be attended to if signs of dysentery appear, which may be known by the dark-coloured evacuations, offensive smell in the hive, and frequent deaths. This malady often attacks the strongest hives, too much closed at the mouth, particularly at the latter part of winter or in early spring, the most critical time for bees; and no doubt it is attributable to unnaturally retained fæces in a damp impure atmosphere, with deficient covering and ventilation. It has been thought that the want of water predisposes the bees to dysentery. As soon as the disease is apparent, no time should be lost in lifting the hive from its board, expelling the vitiated air, and scraping and washing away all impurity; repeating the same process, if requisite, on some fine subsequent day. But the board should be dried before the hive is replaced on it; or a fresh one may be at once substituted for it, with less loss of time and annoyance to the bees. I have restored a stock to perfect health by thoroughly cleaning and ventilating it, after a third of the inhabitants had fallen a sacrifice. All remedies, as they are called, by feeding with various prescriptions, do more harm than good. "Bees," says Gelieu, "have no real disease: dysentery, about which so much noise has been made, and for which so many remedies have been prescribed, never attacks the bees of a well-stocked hive that is left open at all seasons, but only those that are too long and too closely confined. They are always in good health as long as they are at liberty; when they are warm enough and have plenty of food. All their pretended diseases are the result of cold, hunger, or the infection produced by a too close and long confinement during the winter."

SPRING MANAGEMENT.

Those who commence an apiary by the purchase of established stock-hives, and who did not secure such in the autumn, can, with the opening of February, and for the five or six weeks ensuing, make a selection of those that have the characteristics of health and strength, which may generally be ascertained on a fine day, by observing the quantity of farina carried into a hive. "The best time," says Payne, "to establish an apiary is from the middle of February to the middle of March. The stocks will have passed through the winter, and the removal is safe and easy. There are few commodities in which a person can be so easily deceived as in a hive of bees. I would, therefore, recommend the young apiarian to take the opinion of some experienced person before he makes his purchase. If the hive is not of the preceding year, its weight is no criterion of its value; for an old stock contains a large quantity of pollen." An examination of the combs, as to discoloration, will often be a useful criterion of age. The selected stocks should be removed to their new quarters by hand, at dusk, to be no more disturbed.

_Cleaning or changing Floor-boards._--All who have been accustomed to the care of bees must have perceived the saving of labour to them, in the early spring, in the cleaning of their floor-boards, by scraping away all filth, removing dead bees, refuse wax, &c., and thoroughly drying them. In many cases the best and quickest plan is to change the board, and particularly when it shows signs of decay, which always leads to mischief.

_Comb-pruning._--In conjunction with an examination of the floor-boards, opportunity can be taken of observing the state of the hives, as respects their combs. Where these are seen to be old, mouldy, mildewed, or infected by moths, they should be cut away; as also when they have become filled with a mass of stale pollen and useless honey; at the same time taking care not to disturb any brood there may be. Hives sometimes contain too large a proportion of drone-combs, which can now be removed with advantage. Some persons use a little smoke, but at this season it must be resorted to sparingly, as the bees are weak. They will speedily fill up the vacancies thus made, and a stock in this way partially renewed may be continued in health several years, provided the hive itself is in good state. Nevertheless, it may be well to recur to an opinion we have already expressed, that it is often more to the interest of the proprietor to allow a stock to swarm rather than to persevere for several succeeding seasons in preventing it, in a hive constantly becoming worse for occupation.

_General directions._--As soon as vegetation begins to appear, with genial weather, all obstructions to the free access to the hives must be removed; and by degrees extended space given at the mouth. The critical time for the bees is now approaching; for in February brood often rapidly increases, requiring greater attention to a uniform warmth. The tops of the hives, therefore, should be closed in, to prevent currents of cold air, often at this time fatal both to the eggs and larvæ, as may be seen by the ejectment of dead grubs. Even much later on in the season the recurrence of cold days will leave certain proofs of mischief; and at such times the mouths of the hives ought again to be contracted and screened; carefully retaining till all danger is past the outer coverings to the hives.

The bees will now, in fine weather, go forth in search of pollen, which they bring into the hive in large or apparently in useless quantity, so as sometimes to render it necessary afterwards to remove it, at a great expense of labour. "This," says Gelieu, "is the only point on which they can be accused of a want of that prudence and foresight, so admirable in every other respect." A supply of pollen, together with water, are the first requirements of the spring, both essential to the brood, and the eagerness of the bees to seek them is a certain indication of health and strength in the hive.[Y] At page 102, a list is given of early flowering plants, which it is desirable to have in the immediate vicinity of the hives. At present the bees are weak, and incapable of a long flight: the weather, too, is often unfavorable for it.

[Y] It is worthy of attention that a distinguished German apiculturist has recently introduced a substitute for pollen in the early year, when the bees have no means of procuring it. Observing that his bees frequented a neighbouring mill, he found them engaged in conveying from thence a quantity of rye meal. Deriving a hint from this discovery, he placed a trough of the meal in front of his apiary, which was eagerly carried to the hives, the bees preferring it to old pollen; and this continued till the opening blossoms supplied the natural article. Some hives consumed as much as two pounds. Subsequent experimentalists, at home, have used the flour of wheat, or other grain, with success. The knowledge that the collection of pollen and the need of water by the bees are simultaneous, led these observers a step further, by giving a supply of both these essentials at the same time. As this assistance has been afforded as early as January, it would seem necessary, in our climate, to place both articles in some accessible part within the hive. In the absence of any better provision, wet sponge or moss has been found to answer; or old combs will suffice as receptacles either of water or flour. Stocks thus treated are said to be greatly forwarded both in breeding and swarming.

An attentive observer will now readily distinguish the strong, healthy stocks; but now and then a family may be seen sluggish in its work, though, perhaps, not deficient in numbers. The cause may generally be traced to an unfruitful Queen, to be got rid of as soon as the season is a little more advanced, and a successor can be reared in the way described under the head _Queen Bee_. Or, it might happen if the Queen dies before the bees have the means of establishing another, when an abandonment of the hive often ensues, though honey may still be plentiful in store. Prudence will at this time point out the expediency of surveying the state of the apiary as to repairs, painting, &c., to be done before the bees have fully entered into a state of activity.

_Spring-feeding._--It is well now to examine the remaining stock of food, for much will shortly be required for the increasing numbers. If needed, some must be given, though in less quantity than in autumn; and it ought to be placed within the hive, either at the top or bottom; but the time is arrived when every precaution should be used to prevent the effects of chill to the brood, by the creation of cold currents. It usually suffices to supply food about three times a week, but the feeding trough must be closely covered, to keep up the temperature, or the bees will not at first enter into it. When this is the case, some proprietors do not hesitate to invert a hive, and pour a cup of honey amongst the combs: the bees will soon lick one another clean. Or, in lieu of a trough, I have used a tin vessel, holding nearly half a pint, open at each end, made somewhat taper downwards, the lower end fitting into a hole on the top of the hive, of about two inches. This part is somewhat loosely tied over with linen cloth, through which the bees suck the food. It may be made cylindrical, if preferred, with a flanch to rest upon. At this season it is well to give the food slightly warmed. Many persons recommend feeding even the strong hives, for it is certain the bees are stimulated by the increased temperature to which it gives rise; and there can be no doubt of the importance of bringing the stocks forward as early as possible. But no feeding, unless from absolute necessity, should be resorted to till a certain degree of animation is visible in the dwelling, otherwise the bees are prematurely put in motion, and numbers perish, unable to reach home. Nor is it of less importance to observe that feeding is not discontinued too soon; for even after warm days there will be a return of ungenial weather, and a stock might perish where a very little additional food would have saved it. But some limit should be put to the quantity as the weather becomes fine and warm; for I have known evil arise where the cells have been filled by the bees with sugared mixtures, at the time when the Queen requires them to deposit eggs. We have already alluded to the advantages of a supply of water withinside, in the very early year, before the bees can go abroad.

Where honey is abundant, it is of course preferable; and it is no worse for being slightly made liquid with water. In other cases various kinds of substitutes have been resorted to. I have used good sound ale, sweetened with sugar and honey, and boiled for a minute or two: the usual proportion is a pint to a pound of refined sugar, adding a fourth part of pure honey, which imparts a flavour the most agreeable to the bees. A tablespoonful of rum still further improves the compound. Mr. Golding recommends a very similar mixture; to which, however, he adds a teaspoonful of salt and a glass of wine. Payne prescribes lump sugar, in the proportion of three pounds to a pint of water, boiled for two or three minutes, and mixed with a pound of honey.

The kind of food we have been describing is that which is most commonly used for bees at this season. I have, however, turned my attention, occasionally, to the saving of trouble that arises where food can be given them in a concrete form, to supersede some of the evils attending the common methods of administering liquids at this season. In one of my feeding troughs I have sometimes put some large lumps of refined sugar, dipped previously in water till pretty well saturated, which the bees will appropriate. Of the various concrete saccharine preparations, however, I have found none entirely combining the needful requisites except that in which the crystallizing properties of the sugar had been altogether destroyed. It is well known that this change can be effected by certain methods of boiling. I believe I am correct in stating that the heat required to convert crystallizable into uncrystallizable sugar is from 320° to 360° of Fahrenheit. If, therefore, to two pounds of loaf sugar half a pint of water is added in a saucepan, it must be boiled up to a temperature not exceeding 360° of heat. This may be pretty well known when the syrup becomes brittle; ascertainable by suddenly cooling a little on a cold substance, or plate, when it begins to assume a pale yellow colour. The longer it is exposed to heat, up to this point, the more perfect is the change produced; but about twenty minutes' boiling is usually sufficient. If, instead of water alone, a fifth to a fourth part of vinegar is mixed with it, the process is expedited; and when thus made, the bees appear to give it a preference. The whole must be poured out gradually upon a cold dish, or a slab of stone, marble, or slate, previously rubbed with a very little fine oil, or other unctuous matter, to prevent adhesion. In a few minutes it is sufficiently stiffened to allow of being cut, with a pair of scissors, into such conveniently-formed pieces as are best adapted for insertion into the hive at its mouth. To those who do not object to the trouble of preparing this kind of bee-food themselves, the cost may be estimated at that of the sugar, as there does not appear to arise any loss in weight. It will be seen that this preparation differs but little from the common confection, familiarly known as barley-sugar. The bees, as lambent insects, have no difficulty, from the deliquescent properties of this concrete, in appropriating it speedily; and in the use of a large quantity I have always found it to be unaccompanied by the usual degree of disturbance, observable when honey is administered. It may be given at any time of the day; and an impoverished family might frequently be saved by inserting a few sticks of barley-sugar within a hive, when any other mode of feeding was impracticable. In fact it would appear that no other artificial food is so acceptable to the bees; and much of it doubtless returns to the proprietor, intermixed with natural honey. By the process we have described, common sugar has now been converted into a substance much resembling in its properties the saccharine matter of certain fruits, as grapes, &c., known as uncrystallizable sugar; probably nearly identical with the honey collected by the bees from the nectaries of flowering plants. After exposure to the action of a moist atmosphere, the concrete soon assumes a dissolved form; and so, thenceforth, remains, as I have proved by keeping it, in any way unaltered, for several years; in short, it becomes a substance very much resembling honey.[Z]