The book of bee-keeping : a practical and complete manual on the proper management of bees ... / by W. B. Webster.

  • Webster, W. B.
Date:
[1901]
    from the surface of the combs nearly £in.; thus a provision is made for the greater length of the inmates. 36. Honeycomb.—Both drone and worker comb are used indiscriminately by the bees for the purpose of storing honey. The cells surrounding the brood-nest, on top and on both sides, are used for honey; but they rarely store it below the nest, in close contiguity to same. When honey is stored, wax is used for the cappings. Pollen is also stored in the same cells as honey, but only in worker-combs. When honey is very plentiful, any fresh comb made for its accommodation will be usually built in cells of drone size. The length of honey-cells varies con- siderably ; instead of being about |in. in depth, as for brood, cells of less and also greater depth will be found. We on one occasion saw honey-cells which were 2|in. deep ; when such a depth is attained, the cells will be found to be very irregularly formed. 37. Queen-cells.—These form a portion of the comb at certain seasons. They are composed of wax and pollen mixed, and are totally different in shape to any other cells in the hive. When the bees are about to build queen-cells, they choose the edge of, or, preferably, a hole in, the comb, and after an egg has hatched in a worker-cell, in this position, and been fed a few hours, they construct, by enlarging the side walls, a dome, not unlike an acorn cup ; in this is placed a quantity of food for the larva, which floats, or rather adheres, to this food. During the course of feeding, the cell is gradually elongated downwards, and when it is finished it is capped over, looking then something like a perfect acorn hanging downwards. On some occasions, as in a colony with no worker larvae, the bees will endeavour to rear a queen from drone larvae; in this case, Worker-comb with Queen-cells commenced, before Capping over, and after, showing In- dentations on Surface. Queen-cell with Hinged Cap, after Exit of Queen.
    the cell or cells are built in abnormal shapes, and their surface is smooth, as compared with the indented surface of a normal queen-cell. VI.—MODERN BEE-KEEPING. 38. How to Commence.—Before commencing, the pro- spective bee-keeper should thoroughly study the art, by reading some good modern bee publication. Do not read more than one, as a complexity often mystifies, in order to master which, the assistance of a friend—an adept in the business—should be requisitioned. If it should be the summer season, a few lessons in a good apiary will be of assistance ; these are easily obtain- able. A visit paid to one or two of the numerous agricultural or horticultural shows where bee-keeping forms a portion of the programme, will be time well spent, especially if it is in the company of a bee-keeper who does not mind giving some information respecting the exhibits. Having sufficiently mastered the preliminaries, a hive should be purchased ; now mind, not two or three, but only one. With this hive go through all the details of its management—without the bees—until you have gained a knowledge of all its parts and uses. Then further purchases can be made, as follows: a stock or swarm of bees; a fumigator, or smoker—preferably the former; bee-veil. If you purchase a stock, you will want five sheets of “foundation,” but if only a swarm, ten will be needed. 39. Purchasing Hives.—In the matter of hives, do not, on any account, purchase one that has not Association standard size frames, as another size will only be worth the price of so much firewood. The whole success of the modern bar-frame hive rests upon its interchangeability; therefore, if you have two sizes in your apiary, you might almost as well have all straw skeps, as their non-interchangeability, on account of the different sized frames, nullifies the advantages of the modern system. Let me very strongly emphasise this latter. Do not purchase any hives that the bees have died in, unless you know positively that they have been starved, or have died out from the loss of queen ; if they have died from disease, it is sure to be a contagious one. 40. Purchasing Stocks.—The variety of bees I should strongly recommend to be purchased are pure Italians, as they are much less trouble to handle than English, and are a deal less irritable. If you purchase these from a distance, have them from some responsible and thoroughly reliable person, as perhaps only hybrids may be sent, or diseased stocks ; in the event of the latter, all your prospects of bee-keeping will be destroyed, as well as nearly all the money you have spent in necessaries being wasted. In purchasing stocks, be sure that they are very strong, and endeavour to obtain those with straight
    combs, as, in the event of your wishing to transfer them, they will be found much the best and cheapest. Those skeps having sticks thrust across them will usually be found to have crooked combs. 41. Location.—Choose a good location for the hives to stand in. A south-east aspect is the best, if you can provide shade for them during the middle of the day; this is very essential, unless made with double walls, and painted white or a very light colour. We are obliged, on account of the number we keep, to disregard the service of shade, but have all the hives painted a light stone colour, with white roofs. On not a single occasion have we had an accident from the heat. Do not place them close against a wall, but leave a clear path of at least 3ft. behind, and have the front clear from grass or weeds. It is a very good plan, in order to make this clear space in front, to dig out the earth, and fill in with tar and rubble, sifting some grit sand on the top, to make all neat. This is of great service to the bees, as, when coming home heavily laden, the wind will frequently blow them on the ground ; but by having the front clear they can, after resting, easily take wing again, whereas with damp grass or weeds they get chilled and perish. 42. When to Commence.—The best time of the year is about the commencement of April, if you are going to start with a stock of bees ; but if a swarm, you will have to wait until June; if so, you are very unlikely to get any surplus honey the same season. The English honey season being so short, they will only have time to get sufficient for their winter’s consumption. This does not apply to places where heather or buckwheat honey is obtainable; nor is it always the case, as an early swarm in May will give a very good account of itself if attended to (see par. on “ Swarming ”). We have, on several occasions, taken from aolb. to 3olb. of super honey from a swarm of the current year. Let me here caution my readers to be very careful in purchasing stocks during early autumn, as novices will not infrequently send swarms of that season, whose combs are so soft and laden with honey that they will not bear the rough usage incidental to a journey, and will break down, drowning all the bees ; but if such stocks are very near at hand, no fear need be entertained, if moved carefully at night. VII.—APPLIANCES. 43. Bar-frame Hives.—“ What description of hive would you recommend?” How often this question is asked! The first thing to be considered is the size of the frames. They must be Association standard size, for obvious reasons, men- tioned before. All parts must be made to fit each and every
    hive. There must be no sorting required—as to which rack belongs to No. 2, or what dummy-board belongs to No. 8. If you pick up a portion, it must go into any hive you require it for. We have illustrated a bar-frame hive in which all the complications of several on the market are done away with. It is just a simple affair—can be understood in a few minutes. All parts are not only interchangeable with other hives, but also with itself. No extensive winter packing is required, but just enough thickness to ensure warmth when snow lies thick on the ground. It can be enlarged to any size—not longitu- dinally, as that is not wanted, but horizontally; a good roof, with eaves overlapping, and water-tight joints, preventing that bane to suc- cessful wintering, dampness. We will now give a description of this hive, commencing with the lower por- tion : This, as will be seen in the illustration, has the floor-board and stand in one piece, and is supported by four short legs. Upon this is the body-box, having double walls at the sides, and in the space between the Bar-frame Hive. walls, not occupied by the wood blocking, sawdust or other non-conducting substance is packed. The outer wall is nin. high and |in. thick, and the inner one 84in. by |in. The distance between the two inner walls is 142m. and between the outer 17m. full. The measure- ment from back to front is i8in. All the foregoing are inside measurements ; the outside need not be exact but the inside must be. By having an inner wall on each side of the hive of a lesser height than the outer, the top edge of the former
    forms a rest for the frames to hang upon, as the annexed sectional illustration shows. The outer wall, being 11in. high, reaches above the tops of the frames just over 2in., and thus forms a space for packing the quilts on the top of the latter. Some bee-keepers do not care for this space, using the riser to provide packing accommodation instead, but we prefer it as illustrated. The frames (see p. 26), ten in number, hang in the hive one behind the other from front to back, and are kept at a proper distance apart by distance-keepers called “ metal ends,” which fit on to the “ lugs ” of the frames. If you will compare the size of a frame with the dimensions given above for the inside of the body-box you will find that there is a space of fin. between the sides of the hive and the end-bars of the frames, and a space of fin. between the bottom bar of same and the floor-board of .the hive; this is the “ bee - space,” allowing the bees access to any of the combs or to any part of the hive proper. Behind the last frame is a division, sometimes called a “dummy” board; this fits the inside of the hive, that is, it is 142m. across and 8£in. deep. It has a top bar nailed on as a frame has, and is cleated at both ends to prevent warping. By inserting this at any part of the body-box, from back to front, the capacity of the latter can be adjusted to suit the requirements of the bee-keeper. The front wall of the body-box is fin. shallower than the back, but is nailed in position flush with the top edges of the other three walls ; thus an entrance is formed fin. high right across the hive at the bottom. Above the entrance is a piece of wood “rabbeted” for the two slides (A) to run in. The slides are used for adjusting the size of the entrance. A porch, having a water gutter along its front edge, keeps the rain from blowing in the entrance. The alighting board should be broad, reaching within a short distance of the ground. The next figure in the illustration (p. 23) above the body-box is the “riser.” This consists simply of four pieces of fin. (not thicker) wood nailed together for the purpose of covering the supers when on the hive. It is made just a shade larger than the body-box, so that when the plinths are nailed on the bottom edges, they just fit over the outside edges of the latter, and thus make the junction weather-tight. This must fit fairly loose, so there will be no difficulty in lifting it on or off during wet weather. Any moisture causes the wood to swell to 1 I 1 1 S' : f-S ! 1 I E O' 1 f! k hz Sectional View of Body-box of Frame Hive with Frame adjusted.