Part 13

It will naturally occur, that to carry out the design of a _Dividing Hive_ every part must have its duplicate, so that four halves, boards, &c., are necessary; each made so precisely alike as to fit and be attached to any other half-box. We must suppose the time of year to be arrived (usually in May) when the combs are well filled with brood, both of worker and drone bees. In the middle, or, as some would prefer, the evening, of a fine day, the two halves of the hive can be separated. To effect this with as little disturbance as possible, two _dividers_ may be used. These are made of strong, well-flattened sheet zinc or tin, the full size of the box, in length; and deep enough to include the hive-board, besides an inch at the top edge to spare. This latter part should be turned back, as a rim or flanch, at a right angle, as seen in the illustration. Commence by withdrawing the wooden tongue underneath the hive-board, and removing the centre-board; then, with a thin knife-blade, the half-boxes can be loosened at their point of junction; not allowing the knife to enter beyond the thickness of the wood. This done, gently insert one of the dividing plates horizontally from behind, its whole length; there being no obstruction, unless the combs are worked across the bars. The other divider is to be pushed in in a similar way, the flanches resting respectively right and left on the upper edge of each half-box. The latter may then be moved apart on their boards in safety. An empty half-box is to be adjusted to each of the full halves, when the dividers may be withdrawn. We have thus two families, which must be moved some distance apart. The Queen will, of course, be in one of them; and, probably, Queen larvæ in the other, or in both halves. A little tapping will serve to show the position of the Queen, as the bees will soon become quiet where she is, whilst in the queenless box confusion will continue to prevail. The latter should then be put on the original stand, to receive the foraging bees as they return home; whilst the presence of the old Queen will secure a sufficiency in the other hive, which may be placed at a little distance. In about twenty-four hours, preparation will have commenced for founding one or more royal cells, if required, in the queenless half-hive; and thus a new colony will arise, without swarming.[AD]

[AD] The dividing hive, and some other inventions described in the 'Bee-keeper's Manual,' may be seen at Messrs. Neighbour and Sons, 127, High Holborn, and 149, Regent Street, London.

BEE-PROTECTOR.

It ought to be remarked that, in general, all important operations on bees should be conducted in the middle of the day, that being the time when it is least annoying to them, and the safest to the operator, as a large portion are then engaged abroad. Indeed, the bees are always more suspicious and irascible by night. On their homeward way they are not disposed to attack, any more than they are when at work in the fields. The defence of _home_ is their actuating principle; and the danger arises from the bees furiously darting out on any supposed enemy, from within the hive. Make as little bustle and disturbance as possible, and have at hand an assistant and whatever is likely to be wanted, for a very trifling matter will often mar an operation irretrievably. Let all things be done coolly and quietly, and without hurried motions of any kind, which cause suspicion and irritation. Avoid breathing on the bees; and, above all, be careful to kill none, for the smell of the wounded body exasperates them exceedingly: in short, the aim should be to do what is needed without the bees being conscious of it. Another precaution may be mentioned, which is, in operating, not to employ any one known to be obnoxious to bees; for without going the length of saying with some that certain individuals are recognised by them, it is well known that, from their nice discrimination of scent, the persons of others are objects of constant and very marked dislike.

Security from attack, however, is essential to self-possession, and I know of no covering so effectual as an envelope I devised of a kind of light net, or gauze, sometimes called _leno_. It should be so made at the top as to go over a hat or cap; with sleeves, tied at the wrists, and strings at the bottom to draw and fasten round the waist. The sleeves may be made of some stronger material. (See preceding page.) The entire upper part of the person is in this way enveloped, as seen in our engraving annexed. The projection of the hat keeps the dress clear of the face, and it is sufficiently transparent. A thick pair of gloves, which some think are best made of buck-skin, is all that is further necessary to complete protection.

REMEDY FOR THE STING OF A BEE.

If attacked by a bee, the best plan is not to offer resistance, but to walk away and thrust your head into a neighbouring shrub or bush, when the enemy will in all probability retire. However, an accidental sting may now and then be received, for which various remedies have been prescribed. In the first place, the sting should at once be removed, but without rubbing the part. My own experience leads me to recommend, in preference to anything else, the immediate application of _liquor potassæ_ to the spot, as a powerful alkali, to neutralize the poison of the sting, which is an acid. It should be used in small quantity, on a point of some kind, as a needle, introduced into the wound. In the absence of this, _pure liquid ammonia_ is said on good authority to succeed, if properly applied. Keep it in a close-stopped, small-necked bottle, which should be turned bottom upwards, and held very tight over the part. Some persons have found relief from an immediate application of cold water. Indeed, any remedy to be efficacious must be speedily resorted to; and particularly in the warm months, for then the poison is much more active than in winter.

CONCLUSION.

In the foregoing pages I have given an outline of my own experience in the general management of bees, freely availing myself of such further information, derived from the most trustworthy sources, as seemed most likely to interest and instruct the reader. My aim, however, has been restricted primarily to matters of a _practical_ bearing, passing over the obsolete speculations of by-gone periods, and relying on the superior intelligence of a later day. Those who wish to enter more fully into the natural history and physiology of the bee may consult a variety of works, at the head of which it is usual to place that of Huber; followed by the later comprehensive and highly satisfactory one, 'The Honey Bee,' of the late Dr. Bevan; both publications to which we have often had occasion to refer. That portion of the subject relating to the structure and arrangement of their combs and cells is treated of at considerable length by Lord Brougham, in his 'Dissertations on Subjects of Science connected with Natural Theology.' Perhaps the accurate observations and elaborate mathematical demonstrations of the noble author have left little more to be desired in the particular department to which he has devoted the energies of his powerful mind. With his summary of the progress of apiarian knowledge, we may not inappropriately close the 'Bee-keeper's Manual.'

"The attention," says Lord Brougham,[AE] "which has been paid at various times to the structure and habits of the bee is one of the most remarkable circumstances in the history of science. The ancients studied it with unusual minuteness, although being, generally speaking, indifferent observers of fact, they made but little progress in discovering the singular economy of this insect. Of the observations of Aristomachus, who spent sixty years, it is said, in studying the subject, we know nothing; nor of those which were made by Philissus, who passed his life in the woods, for the purpose of examining this insect's habits; but Pliny informs us that both of them wrote works upon it. Aristotle's three chapters on bees and wasps[AF] contain little more than the ordinary observations, mixed up with an unusual portion of vulgar and even gross errors. How much he attended to the subject is, however, manifest from the extent of the first of these chapters, which is of great length. Some mathematical writers, particularly Pappus, studied the form of the cells, and established one or two of the fundamental propositions respecting the economy of labour and wax resulting from the plan of the structure. The application of modern naturalists to the inquiry is to be dated from the beginning of the eighteenth century, when Maraldi examined it with his accustomed care; and Reaumur afterwards, as we have seen, carried his investigations much farther. The interest of the subject seemed to increase with the progress made in their inquiries; and about the year 1765 a society was formed at Little Bautzen in Upper Lusatia, whose sole object was the study of bees. It was formed under the patronage of the Elector of Saxony. The celebrated Schirach was one of its original members; and soon after its establishment he made his famous discovery of the power which the bees have to supply the loss of their Queen, by forming a large cell out of three common ones, and feeding the grub of a worker upon royal jelly; a discovery so startling to naturalists, that Bonnet, in 1769, earnestly urged the society not to lower its credit by countenancing such a wild error, which he regarded as repugnant to all we know of the habits of insects; admitting, however, that he should not be so incredulous of any observations tending to prove the propagation of the race of the Queen-bee, without any co-operation of a male,[AG] a notion since shown by Huber to be wholly chimerical. In 1771 a second institution, with the same limited object, was founded at Lauter, under the Elector Palantine's patronage, and of this Riem, scarcely less known in this branch of science than Schirach, was a member.

[AE] Vol. i, pp. 333-36.

[AF] Hist. An., lib. ix, cap. 40, 41, 42.

[AG] Oeuvres, x, 100, 104.

"The greatest progress, however, was afterwards made by Huber, whose discoveries, especially of the Queen-bee's mode of impregnation, the slaughter of the drones or males, and the mode of working, have justly gained him a very high place among naturalists. Nor are his discoveries of the secretion of wax from saccharine matter, the nature of propolis, and the preparation of wax, for building, to be reckoned less important. To these truths the way had been led by John Hunter, whose vigorous and original genius never was directed to the cultivation of any subject without reaping a harvest of discovery."

* * * * *

In conclusion, whatever may be the degree of ignorance or doubt in which on certain points respecting the Honey-bee we are still involved (and these are probably not often practically important), there are few but may receive instruction and example from these wonderful little creatures, in the duties of persevering industry, prudence, economy, and peaceful subordination; whilst all may be taught, by their perfect organization and faultless adaptation of means to an end, a lesson of humility; and, finally, by the contemplation of their beautiful works, "to look from Nature up to Nature's God."

INDEX

Adapter, 31. After-swarms, 186, 188, 190, 195. Ancient bee observers, 213. Apiarian authors, 212. societies, 214. Apiary, management in summer, 106. autumn, 124. winter, 157. spring, 166. Apiary, plan of, 94, 95. position and aspect, 97. repairs of, 170. size of, 103. to commence, 106, 152, 166. Apis Ligustica, 1. Mellifica, 1. Artificial food, 172. swarming, 199, 204, 206. Aspect, 97. Authors on Bees, 212. Autumnal management, 124. feeding, 132. unions, 140.

Bar hive, 54, advantages of, 55, 69, 195. dividing, 204. double, 66. glass or observatory, 72. single, 66. straw, 73. wooden box, 54. Bar system, 54. Bars, size of, 57, 58. Bee, Queen, or mother, 3, 4, 170, 181, 184, 186, 190, 214. common or working, 3, 11. drone or male, 3, 15, 16, 180. authors, 212. boxes, size of, 52. duration of life, 14, 151. eggs, 6, 10, 12, 16. flowers, 102. food, 137, 172. ligurian, 1. pasturage, and number of hives, 101, 156. protector, 208. sex of, 12, 17. sheds and houses, 94. sting, 4, 12, 210. Bees, confinement of, 148, 158. destruction of, 28, 149. driving of, 152, 201. enemies of, 116, 175. fighting, 131. flight of, 103. fortification of, 117. fuming of, 140. humming of, 177. increase of, 10. longevity of, 14, 150. number of, 11. removal of, 100, 107, 167, 198. to hive, 196. to unite, 140, 192. various occupations of, 13. weather-wise, 178. working, 11. Bell-glasses, 120. Blocks, 43, 44, 96, 160. Box hive, 51. Brood, 12, 126, 151, 168.

Cells, common, 13, 111. drone, 15, 112. royal, 4, 180, 182, 187, 195, 200, 201, 208. Cement, 38. Circular wooden hives, 75. Cleaning or changing hive-boards, 165, 167. Cocoons, 12. Collateral system, 24, 78. hive, White's, 81. Nutt's, 82. Colony of bees, 106, 152. Comb-knives, 130. pruning, 147, 167, 189. Combs, 5, 29, 109, 147. and wax, 109. and cells, construction of, 109. Common, or working bees, 3, 11. straw hives, 27. Condensing trough, 161. Confinement of bees, 148, 158. Covers to hives, 37. Crown-boards, 35.

Damp, 157. Deprivation, 23, 125, 148. Depriving hives, 30, 51. system, 21, 23. Destroying of bees, 28, 149. Directions on swarming, 196. Disease, 159. Dividers, 36. Dividing bar-hive, 204. Doubling-board, 78. Driving, 152, 201. Drone, or male bee, 3, 15, 180, 181, 183. cells, 16, 112. Drones, destroying of, 18, 19. expulsion of, 18. number of, 20. office of, 17. Duplet, 24. Dysentery, 159.

Eggs, 8, 9, 10, 16, 151. Eke, 25, 122. Enemies of bees, 116, 175. Evaporation, 161.

Farina, or pollen, 113, 168. substitute for, 169. Feeding in autumn, 132, 137. in spring, 170. swarms, 108, 199. Feeding troughs, 133. Flight of bees, 103. Floor- or hive-boards, 42. to clean or change, 165, 167. Food, artificial, 172. Fortification, 117. Frame-bar, 58. Fumigation, 140, 146. Fuming bees, 140, 148. material, 143. tube, 142. Fungus, 143.

Gauge, 57, 74, 76. General directions in operations on bees, 209. on swarming, 196. Glasses, 120. to remove, 128. Glass or light-hive, 72. Guide-combs, 69, 120, 206.

Hive, bar, 54. dividing, 204. double, 66. observatory, 72. single, 66. straw, 73. wooden, 54. boards, 42. circular wooden, 75. common straw, 27. covers, 37. nadir, 25, 87. nether, 91. Hive, Nutt's collateral, 82. protector, 41. range, 49. shade, 39. stands or pedestals, 46. White's collateral, 81. Hives, collateral, 81. number of, 101. shape of, 28. size of, 29, 31. super, 24, 119, 176. wooden box, 51. Hiving, 196. Honey, 113, 128, 175, 178. comb, 5, 109. dew, 113. harvest, 128, 149. season, 178. store of, 132, 138. to strain, 129. virgin, 124. Hornets, 116. Humming, 177.

Imago, 13. Impregnation, 17, 19. Increase of bees, 10. Italian bee, 1.

Journal, 106.

Knives, 71, 130.

Larvæ, 12. Light in hives, 53, 72. or observatory hive, 72. Ligurian bee, 1. Longevity of bees, 14, 150.

Maiden swarms, 196. Male bee, 3, 15, 180, 181, 183. Management in summer, 106. autumn, 124. winter, 157. spring, 166. Moisture in hives, 161. Moths, wasps, hornets, and other enemies, 116. Moving of bees, 100, 106, 166, 203.

Nadir, 25, 62, 87, 119, 122. drawer, 89. Nadir-hive, 87. Nadiring, 25, 87, 89, 119, 122. Nether-hive, 91. Number of hives, 101. Nutt's collateral hive, 82. Nymph, or Pupa, 12.

Observatory, or light hive, 72. Odour of bees, 194. Office of drones, 17.

Painting, 37, 54. Pasturage, 101, 156. Pattern gauge, 57, 74, 76. Pedestals, or stands for hives, 46. Piping, 186. Pollen, or farina, 113, 168. substitute for, 169. Population, 107, 139, 150. Position and aspect, 97, 158. Prevention of after-swarms, 195. Princesses, 6, 185, 186, 192. Propolis, 112. Protectors, 208. Pruning combs, 147, 167, 189.

Queen, or mother bee, 3, 4, 170, 181, 183, 184, 190. cells, 4, 5, 180, 182, 185, 187, 195, 201, 208. Queens, combats of, 186, 190. duration of life, 6. fertility of, 10. impregnation of, 17. piping of, 186. Queens, reared artificially, 7, 208, 214. unfruitful, 170.

Range for Lives, 49. Remedy for the sting of a bee, 210. Removal of bees, 106, 167, 203. Removal of a box or super-hive, 125. Removing of swarms, 106, 198, 203. Returning of swarms, 183, 186. Robber bees, 127, 131. Robbers, 134, 175. Royal cells, or cradles, 4, 5, 176, 180, 186, 195, 200.

Screen in winter, 159. Sex, 12. Shade, 115, 178. Single hiving, 21. Snow, to clear, 158. Song of the bees, 109. Spring feeding, 170. flowers, 102, 169. management, 166. Stands for hives, 46. Sting, 4, 12, 210. Stocks, 152, 166. to strengthen, 194. Store of honey, 128, 132, 137. Storifying, 24. Straw bar-hive, 73. common hives, 27, 28. depriving hives, 30. Straw hives, painting of, 37. Strength of a colony, 107, 192. Stupefying bees, 140, 143. Suffocation, 28, 149. Summary of apiarian knowledge, 213. Summer management, 106. Super-hiving, 119. Supers, 24, 31, 34, 119, 125, 176. to remove, 125, 128. Swarming, 21, 180, 182, 191, 196. artificial, 199. Swarms, 180, 186. maiden, 196. removing of, 106, 198, 203. to feed, 108, 199. to return, 183, 184, 189, 195. to strengthen, 107, 198. to unite, 192. weight of, 183.

Tanging bees, on swarming, 196. Temperature, 13, 83, 119, 122, 139, 151, 158, 168, 170, 177, 182. Temperature and weather, 177. Thermometer, 83, 163, 182. Titmouse, 117, 160. Top-feeding, 133, 170. Transferring bees, 140. Triplets, 24, 32, 122. Triplets and Nadirs, 122. Trough, feeding, 133. Tube for fuming, 142.

Uniting bees, 107, 140, 192. Uniting swarms, 107, 189, 192.

Ventilation, 83, 119, 121, 161, 177. Ventilators, 85. Virgin honey, 124.

Wasps, &c., 116, 117, 175. Water, 115, 169, 178. Wax and combs, 109. Wax moth, 116. White's collateral hive, 81. Winter management, 157. position, 158. screens, 159. store, 132, 138. Wooden bar-boxes, 54. circular hives, 75. hives, 51. Worker cells, 13, 111.

Printed by J. E. Adlard, Bartholomew Close, London.

* * * * *

I.

_Fcap. 8vo, Illustrated, price 5s., with a Memoir of the Author,_

HOME INFLUENCE;

A TALE FOR MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS.

By GRACE AGUILAR.

"Grace Aguilar wrote and spoke as one inspired; she condensed and spiritualized, and all her thoughts and feelings were steeped in the essence of celestial love and truth. To those who really knew Grace Aguilar, all eulogium falls short of her deserts, and she has left a blank in her particular walk of literature, which we never expect to see filled up."--_Pilgrimages to English Shrines, by Mrs. Hall._

"A clever and interesting tale, corresponding well to its name, illustrating the silent, constant influence of a wise and affectionate parent over characters the most diverse."--_Christian Lady's Magazine._

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"'Home Influence' will not be forgotten by any who have perused it."--_Critic._

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II.

THE SEQUEL TO HOME INFLUENCE.

_Fcap. 8vo, with a Portrait of the Author and other Illustrations, price 6s._,

THE

MOTHER'S RECOMPENSE;

A SEQUEL TO

"Home Influence, a Tale for Mothers and Daughters."

By GRACE AGUILAR.

"Grace Aguilar belonged to the school of which Maria Edgeworth was the foundress. The design of the book is carried out forcibly and constantly. 'The Home Influences' exercised in earlier years being shown in active germination."--_Atlas._

"The writings of Grace Aguilar have a charm inseparable from productions in which feeling is combined with intellect; they go directly to the heart. 'Home Influence,' the deservedly popular story to which this is a Sequel, admirably teaches the lesson implied in its name. In the present tale we have the same freshness, earnestness, and zeal--the same spirit of devotion, and love of virtue--the same enthusiasm and sincere religion which characterised that earlier work. We behold the mother now blessed in the love of good and affectionate offspring, who, parents themselves, are, after her example, training their children in the way of rectitude and piety."--_Morning Chronicle._

"This beautiful story was completed when the authoress was little above the age of nineteen, yet it has the sober sense of middle age. There is no age nor sex that will not profit by its perusal, and it will afford as much pleasure as profit to the reader."--_Critic._

"The same kindly spirit, the same warm charity and fervour of devotion which breathes in every line of that admirable book, 'Home Influence,' will be found adorning and inspiring 'The Mother's Recompense.'"--_Morning Advertiser._

"The good which she (Grace Aguilar) has effected is acknowledged on all hands, and it cannot be doubted but that the appearance of this volume will increase the usefulness of one who may yet be said to be still speaking to the heart and to the affections of human nature."--_Bell's Messenger._

"It will be found an interesting supplement, not only to the book to which it specially relates, but to all the writer's other works."--_Gentleman's Magazine._

"'The Mother's Recompense' forms a fitting close to its predecessor, 'Home Influence.' The results of maternal care are fully developed, its rich rewards are set forth, and its lesson and its moral are powerfully enforced."--_Morning Post._

"We heartily commend this volume; a better or more useful present to a youthful friend or a young wife could not well be selected."--_Herts County Press._

III.

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WOMAN'S FRIENDSHIP;

A STORY OF DOMESTIC LIFE.

By GRACE AGUILAR.