Humanity to honey-bees or, practical directions for the management of honey-bees upon an improved and humane plan : by which the lives of bees may be preserved, and abundance of honey of a superior quality may be obtained

Front matter

HUMANITY TO HONEY-BEES:

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS

THE MANAGEMENT OF HONEY-BEES

Dedication

iv

I should fail to express myself dutifully, gratefully, properly; though 1 am not with¬ out hope that your Majesty’s goodness will graciously extend to the Author that degree of indulgence of which he is sensible he stands so much in need, especially as nothing unbecoming a dutiful subject to write, or improper for a gracions Sovereign to read, is intended to be here expressed.

As, however, every colony of Bees, when¬ ever domiciled, whether in a box, or in a cottage-hive, in the roof of a house, or in the trunk of a hollow-tree, is under an admirable government, the presiding head and Sovereign of which is a QUEEN,—as no colony of Bees, deprived of its QUEEN, ever prospers, or long survives such loss,—as this insect government, or government of insects, dedication.

Preface

viii

gentlemen, and fellow-labourers in the same work of humanity, their more extensive learn¬ ing will hardly be brought to bear against me with rancour and violence. Should any one of them, or of any other class of writers, so far degrade himself, I shall have the advantage of the following preliminary observation, viz. that one set of my collateral-boxes, placed in a favourable situation, and duly and properly attended to, for one season only, will outweigh all the learning and arguments that can be adduced against my Bee-practice,—will be proof positive, visible, tangible, that there is in my pretensions something more than empty boast. Luckily for me, there are plenty of those proofs to be met with in the country, and there are some—several, not far from town; they are at Blackheath, at Kensington, at Clapham, and at other places. As hundreds of the Nobility and Gentry of this country will recollect, there was one of these incon¬ trovertible proofs of the truth of what I am stating, exhibited for several weeks at the National Repository last autumn, where it was seen, examined, admired, and, I may without any exaggeration add, universally approved. Practice, which has resulted from more than ten years’ experience in the management of an

PREFACE. ix

apiary, and from innumerable experiments, carried on, and a hundred times repeated, during that period, is what I ground the utility of my discoveries upon. To theory I lay no claim. Born and brought up in the fens of Lincolnshire, where I have spent the greater part of my life amidst difficulties, misfortunes, and hardships, of which I will not here complain, though I am still smarting under the effects of some of them, my preten¬ sions to learning are but small: for, though sent to the respectable Grammar School at Horncastle in my boyhood, my education was not extended beyond writing, arithmetic, and merchants’ accompts. As soon as it was thought that I had acquired a competent knowledge of these useful branches of educa¬ tion, it was my lot to be bound apprentice to learn the trades and mysteries of grocer, draper, and tallow-chandler. Whilst en¬ deavouring to gain an honest livelihood as a grocer and draper, at Moulton-Chapel, in 1822, I was afflicted with a severe illness, which, after long-protracted suffering, left me as helpless as a child, the natural use and strength of my limbs being gone; and, though supported by and tottering between my crutches, it was a long time before I was able

PREFACE.

to crawl into my garden. Fatigued and exhausted with the exercise of journeying the length of a garden-walk of no great extent, it was my custom to rest my wearied limbs upon a bench placed near my Bees. Seated on that bench, I used to while away the lingering hours as best I could, ruminating now on this subject, now on that, just as my fancy chanced to fix. Among other things my Bees one day caught my attention: I watched their busy movements,—their activity pleased me,—their humming noise long-listened to became music to my ears, and I often fancied that I heard it afterwards' when I was away from them. In short, I became fond of them and of their company, and visited them as often as the weather and my feebleness would permit. When kept from them a day or two, I felt uneasy, and less comfortable than when I could get to them. The swarming season arrived; and with it ideas took posses¬ sion of my mind which had not until then possessed it:—I conceived that swarming was an act more of necessity than of choice,— that as such it was an evil; but how to provide a remedy for it-^how to prevent it—was a problem that then puzzled me. I studied it for a long time, and to very little purpose.

PREFACE.

xi

The old-fashioned method of eking did not by any means satisfy my mind; it might answer the purpose for one season, but how to proceed the next did not appear. Then the time for taking honey was approaching: to get at that treasure without destroying my little friends that had collected it, and that had, moreover, so often soothed me in my sorrow and my sufferings, was another problem that long engaged my mind. After some years’ unremitted attention to my Bees, for I had formed a sort of attachment to them during the first stage of my convalescence, which never left me, an accident aided my studies by directing my attention to the effects of ventilation, as will be found related in the body of this work, and I began to make experiments, which being repeated, varied, improved, and then gone through again, have gradually led to the development of my im¬ proved mode of Bee-management, attempted to be explained in the following pages.

At the time I have been speaking of, I had not read one single book on Bees; nor had I then one in my possession. Whatever my practice may be, it has resulted from my own unaided experience and discoveries. To books I am not indebted for any part of it: nay, had b

PREFACE.

Xll

I begun to attempt to improve the system of Bee-management by books, I verily believe, I never should have improved it at all, nor have made one useful discovery. The Bees them¬ selves have been my instructors. After I had so far succeeded as to have from my apiary glasses and boxes of honey of a superior quality, to exhibit at the National Repository, where, with grateful thanks to the Managers of that Institution for their kindness to me, I was encouraged to persevere, Bee-books in profusion were presented to me, some of them by friends with names, some by friends whose names I have yet to learn. I have read them all: but nowhere find, in any of them, clear, practical directions, how honey of the very purest quality, and in more considerable quantity than by any of the plans heretofore proposed, may be taken from Bees, without recourse to any suffocation whatever, or any other violent means;—how all the Bees may be preserved uninjured-—and how swarming may be prevented. These are the grand features in my plan; and minute directions for the accomplishment of these most desirable objects are laid down in this book.

I by no means maintain that my system of Bee-management is incapable of improvement;

PREFACE.

Xlll but I do think that the principles upon which it is founded are right ,—that the foundation is here properly laid,—and that every apiarian, who may hereafter conform to, or improve upon, my practice, will be instrumental in contributing a part towards raising the super¬ structure—namely—an asylum or sanctuary for Honey-Bees.

I cannot close this preface without acknow¬ ledging myself to be under the greatest obligations to the Rev. T. Clark, of Gedney- Hill. But for his assistance the following work would not have made its appearance in its present form ; if indeed it had appeared at all. He has revised, corrected, connected, and arranged the materials of which it is composed; and he has, moreover, gratuitously added much that is original and valuable from his own rich stores of knowledge. To him I am indebted for the selection of the Latin mottos. As an apiarian he is one of my most improved and skilful pupils, and bids fair to become an ornament to the science of Bee-management. As a mechanic he is ingenious enough to make his own Bee-boxes, and has actually made some of the very best I have yet seen. To his knowledge of mechanics it is owing that the description and explanation b 2

Xiv PREFACE.

of each of the different boxes, of all the other parts of my Bee-machinery, and of my obser¬ vatory-hive, in particular, are more detailed, clearer, and more intelligible than they would have been in my hands. As a scholar there are passages in the following work that afford no mean specimen of his abilities. I have only to regret that the reward for the pains he has taken with it must be my thanks—that it is not in my power to remunerate him for his kind labours more substantially than by this public acknowledgement of the obligations I am under, and of my sense of the debt of gratitude that is due to him.

Preface To The Second Edition

“ O ut of print,” though a somewhat laconic, might be a not inappropriate preface to this second edition, and of itself a quaint apology for its appearance. Out of print is certainly exhilarating news to the author anxious for the success of a work inculcating a new system of Bee-management, in which not only is his reputation as an apiarian involved and evolved, but, it may be, the very means of his subsis¬ tence are bound up in it; the oftener therefore he hears the bibliopolist expression —out of print —the more animating and welcome it becomes; because its reiteration can hardly fail to be considered by him an indication that the demand for his book continues.—that his system is progressing,—or, at any rate, that either curiosity respecting it, or some higher

Xvi PREFACE TO THE

and more laudable motive, is still existent in the public mind. Thus cheered on, thus, as it were, encored, it has become his duty to the public no less than to himself to proceed forthwith to the publication of a new edition.

Previously, however, to stating what altera¬ tions, emendations, &c. have been introduced in order to render the work, as far as I am yet able to render it, worthy a continuance of public patronage, I consider it to be my duty to record my grateful thanks for the success and encouragement I have already received.

To the scientific and literary press, and to the several gentlemen of scientific attainments connected therewith, who, by their influence and kind professional assistance, and promp¬ titude in the furtherance of my interest, have greatly contributed to my success, my best thanks are due, and are hereby respectfully tendered : amongst these I have sincere pleasure in particularizing Dr. Birbeck —the talented President of the London Mechanics’ Institu¬ tion,—Dr. Hancock —Fellow of the Medico- Botanical Society—a veteran of high and esteemed attainments,—and Mr. Booth— the popular Lecturer on Chemistry—a youngman of first-rate abilities.

SECOND EDITION. Xvii

To J. C. Loudon—the erudite editor of the Gardeners’ Magazine,—to E. J. Robertson, Esq.—the able and ingenious editor of the Mechanics’ Magazine,—to Richard Newcomb —the editor and publisher of the Stamford Mercury,—and to the several editors of the Metropolitan and Provincial Press, who have made favourable mention of my labours, my public thanks are justly due,—and particularly to the editor of the Cambridge Quarterly Review, for a highly commendatory notice of my work, evidently written by a practical apiarian, and with competent knowledge of his subject, which appeared in No. 3 of that Review, published in March 1834. Also to my long-tried, worthy Friend —George Neigh¬ bour—it is gratifying to me to have this opportunity of offering my sincere thanks for his valuable services in my behalf;—and to the conductors of those excellent and useful institutions—the National Gallery of Practical Science, Adelaide Street,—and the Museum of National Manufactures, Leicester Square, London, I gratefully acknowledge myself to be under no slight obligations for the advan¬ tageous opportunities which I have there possessed of extending the knowledge of my xviii PREPACE TO THE

system, and of exhibiting, year after year, to thousands of visitors, the products of my apiary.

With the view of making “ The Humane Management of Honey-Bees” more interesting, the dialogue, which formed the introductory chapter in the first edition, has been withdrawn, and in its place have been substituted some valuable remarks of Dr. Birbeck, Dr. Hancock, and Mr. Booth, respecting Bees, honey, wax, &c. of course the first chapter is new; as is chapter X. giving an account of the apiary of the Most Noble the Marquess of Blandford, at Delabere Park, which can hardly fail of being interesting to every reader: it is principally from the able pen of Mr. Booth. Chapter XVIII. on Apiarian Societies, is new also. And, besides these three entire chapters, not short paragraphs merely, but whole pages of new matter havebeen introduced interspersedly by my most respected friend—the Rev.T. Clark, of Gedney-Hill, who has revised, corrected, and re-arranged the whole; and who has not only bestowed much time and pains upon the improvement of my work, but in the kindest and most disinterested manner has, in super¬ intending this and the former edition through

SECOND EDITION. xix

the press, actually travelled upwards of eight hundred miles. The friendly performer of services so generous, so laborious, and so perseveringly attended to, without any stipulation for fee or reward, merits from me, and has from me, every expression of my gratitude, and, were it in my power, should have one expression more.

c

. • •

Table Of Contents

Chapter

I. Introductory Matters .....

II. Bee-Boxes and Management of

Index To The Engravings

Frontispiece., to face title. . Page

Octagonal-Cover for the Pavilion.................. 16 ..

Collateral-Boxes apart ..... 17 ^

Ditto closed... 29 y .

Ditto with additions. 118

Fumigator .. 123

Tower at Delabere ....to face 1491i

The Three Bees______ 157^**

Honey-Comb .. 213 ’

MANAGEMENT OF BEES.

Chapter I. Introductory Matters

The object of the generality of persons who keep Bees, is—profit: and that profit might be indefinitely augmented were Bees properly managed, and their lives preserved—were the still extensively-practised, cruel, and destruc¬ tive system superseded by a conservative one. Some few there may be in the higher ranks of life, who cultivate bees from motives of curiosity—for the gratification of witnessing and examining the formation and progress of their ingenious and most beautiful works, and with a view to study the instinct, habits, propensities, peculiarities, or, in one word, the A nature of these wonderful, little insects, in order to improve their condition, and to gain additional knowledge respecting their natural history ,hitherto,itmustbe confessed,enveloped

in much uncertainty, and very imperfectly un¬ derstood. To this class of Bee-masters and Bee-friends the system of management to be explained in the following pages, will, it is hoped, unfold discoveries and impart facilities and improvements hitherto unknown in apia¬ rian science. And they, whose sole object in keeping Bees is profit, may derive incalculable advantage from conforming to the mode of management, and strictly attending to the practical directions hereinafter to be detailed : because as their profits are expected to arise principally from honey and wax, it evidently must be for their interest to know how to obtain those valuable Bee-productions in their purest state and in the greatest quantity. The quan¬ tity obtained in a good honey-year (viz. 1826) from a well-stocked and exceedingly prosperous colony—still in existence, and still flourishing, u. e. in 1834) was so considerable, and so far beyond anything ever realized from a common straw-hive colony, that my statements respect¬ ing it have been doubted by some, and totally s discredited by others, unacquainted with ray (I trust I may say) improved system of Bee-management. With respect to the purity of the honey taken according to my plan, and the general properties and medical virtues, and, of course, value of honey when pure, I have much pleasure in being enabled to submit to the reader the opinions of my scientific friends—Dr. Birkbeck, Mr. Abraham Booth, Lecturer on Chemistry, and Dr. Hancock; because their opinions may safely be considered as unimpeachable authority on this subject, viz. the uses and medical virtues of pure honey.

In some observations on the effect of the temperature of Bee-hives on the quality of honey, published in a scientific journal, Mr. Booth observes —“ notwithstanding the ade¬ quate justice which has been done to Mr. Nutt’s improved and admirable system of Bee-man¬ agement, there is one point which does not appear to have elicited much attention—the superiority in quality both of the honey and the wax. It does not appear to me that the whole of this superiority consists in freedom from extraneous animal or vegetable matters, a point of very great importance, however, as a 2 its dietetic purpbses are e®M , em«d^5bJijt that it greatly depends upon the modified degree of- temperature at which the Bees effect their labours, and which is insufficient to produce any chemical changes in the constitution of these substances ; whereas under the old system, the continued high temperature of the hive is sufficient to induce those changes which impart the colour that so materially deteriorates the quality as well as the value of the: products. From Mr. Nutt’s hives we obtain pure honey, as it is actually secreted by the Bee, which cannot be ensured by any other mode of management.” j.

To my very intelligent friend and patron*. Dr. Birkbeck, whose uniform liberality and kindness, from the infancy of my pursuits*. I have reason to appreciate, I am indebted for introducing this subject in a Lecture* at the London Institution, Moorfields, on the appli¬ cation of the oxy-hydrogen light to illustrate the economy and structure of the insect world. In the course of his observations, on referring to the tongue of the Bee, the learned Doctor made copious allusions to my system, and the advantages which would in his view result * Delivered April |3d 1334. -• , from its general extension. He observed that “ so small is the supply that we derive from the labours of Bees in this country, that the production of wax does not even more than equal its consumption in the simple article of lip-salve. Under this improved system, we may however hope that the advantages of ©eemanagement may be more generally diffused throughout the kingdom,—that Bee-hives will be multiplied, and that the choicest flowers of the field and'. forest will no longer ‘ waste their sweetness'in the desert'air.’ In a dietetic point of view, it'is of great importance that a saccharine, secreted by one of the most beau¬ tiful processes of nature, should he substituted for one produced by the most imperfect and complicated process of art, whilst the more salutary properties .of the former would recom¬ mend it as far more eligible for use. He could not but hope that in this view the system would soon receive that extension in practice to* which its merits fitted it.”*

• * Dr. Birkbeck related the following instance of the power of recognition possessed by Bees to myself and Mr. Booth, wbich-Icanqotsuffpr t0 P ass unnoticed. When ahoy,he was accustomed to coyer his hand with honey, and gp to the front of one of the hives In his father’s garden. His hand was soon covered by the Bees.ban^uetting On the proffered sweets, and

Some very important observations on honey, in a medical point of view, are those which were contained in a paper written by my very learned and valued friend, Dr. Hancock, and read before the Medico-Botanical Society at their sitting November 26th 1833.*

An abstract of this important paperf* I shall communicate for the information of my readers.

“ The great objects which recommend Mr. Nutt’s plan, consist in the great improvement in quality and augmentation of honey pro¬ duced, and that without destroying the Bees— a discovery equally creditable to Mr. Nutt, as a man of benevolent mind, and to his industry and indefatigable research.

“ The cultivation of Honey-bees is of remote antiquity. The Bee was regarded as the em¬ blem of royalty with the ancient Egyptians, and Bees have been held in the highest esteem

the whole of it was speedily removed. The Bees appeared to recognize the learned Doctor ever afterwards when he ap¬ peared in the garden, his hand being always surrounded by them in expectation of there finding their accustomed boon.

* For a copy of the first edition of this work, with speci¬ mens of honey, &c. the author received the thanks of the Society; and he has since been honoured with a diploma, which constitutes him a corresponding member thereof.

t A.n abstract of the paper was published in the Lancet and several other journals.

by all nations, whether barbarous or civilized, yet the united experience of ancients and moderns has never hitherto led to the happy results, which, by a connected series of experi¬ ments, patient research, and logical induction, have in twelve years been achieved by Mr. Nutt. In the course of his observation he saw, not only that the destruction of the Bees was barbarous in the extreme, but that this cruelty was equally subversive of the crops of honey; his inquiries were hence directed to find how this destructive system cOuld be exchanged for a conservative one. In this he has com¬ pletely succeeded, and by preserving the Bees has been enabled to increase their produce many-fold, and that too, in a far more salutary and improved quality. It is equal even to the samples usually obtained from yoUng hives called virgin honey, which is scarce, dear, and seldom to be had genuine.

“ Owing to the want of knowledge on the subject, the consequent impurities, and the great price of foreign honey, together with the adulterations practised, the use of this valuable article has been nearly abandoned in this country, whether as an article of the materia medica or of domestic economy; and for the reasons just stated, the preparations of honey have even been expunged from-'the Edinburgh Pharmacopeia. From the recent improvement, however, by the gentleman just mentioned, we have reason to hope its use will be restored in a condition vastly improved, and that at a great reduction in price, the facilities of production being greatly enhanced, and such as to render it in time available to all classes of society^ <

“ Pure honey was justly considered by the ancients to possess the most valuable balsamic and pectoral properties—as a lenitive, ecoprotic, and detergent; and it is well known to dissolve viscid phlegm and promote .expecto¬ ration. As a medium for other remedies, it ig in its pure state far superior to sirups, as being less liable to run into the acetous fermentation. It appears that honey procured on Mr. Nutt’s plan is not excelled, by the finest and most costly samples from the continent, as that of Minorca, Narbonne, or Montpelier. The va¬ rious impurities and extraneous matter usually contained in honey, cause it in many castes to produce griping pains, or uneasy sensations in the stomach and bowels; this however has no such effect, unless it be taken to an imprudent .extent. ■ ■ _.

• ’ f'Pure honey, though in its ultimate elements Similar to refined sugar, yet differs considerably in its physiological effects on the body, being a lenitive , aperient or gentle laxative, and hence incomparably more beneficial in costive habits. It has in a dietetic or medicinal point of view been recommended in gravel or calculous com¬ plaints; of this however I have no knowledge, but its utility in asthma I have experienced in my own person as well as in others;—as also as an efficacious remedy in hooping cough, taken with antimonial wine, camphor, and opium. For sedentary persons and those troubled with constipation of the bowels, there is no dietetic or medicinal substance so useful as pure honey, whether taken in drink or with bread and butter, &c. It is well known sals a detergent of foul sores, and I have often found it to succeed in healing deep-seated sinuous or fistulous ulcers, and thus to obviate the necessity of surgical operations, iIn South America and amongst the Span¬ iards, honey is considered as one of the best detergents for sloughing sores and foul ulcer¬ ations,isoit was formerly in Europe. Its uses m a surgical point of view have'in this country long been lost sight of. Its detergent power is such, that it was formerly denominated a vegetable soap, as we may see in the older writers. It is still made the basis of cosmetics, and this empirical practice goes to prove its efficacy—to those at least who have experienced its effects in cleansing and healing sinuous ulcers, its stimulating property producing withal the sanitary adhesive inflammation. A species of wine made from honey, called metheglin and mead—the mulsum of the an¬ cients—was formerly much in use in this country, and most deservedly so from its pleasant taste and salutary properties. By the perfection of honey, this may now be obtained no doubt of equal excellence here, and a rich mellifluous species of wine of the most wholesome kind will be acquired, and open a new source of national industry.

“ It has been said, that where the air is •clear and hot, honey is better than where it is variable and cold, and this seems to have served as an apology for the inferiority of much of the honey contained in this country. It is a position, which 1 am persuaded is not well founded; for the honey in hot climates, not¬ withstanding the fragrance of the flowers, is mostly inferior to the commonest samples produced here. This inferiority, however, may be entirely owing to the difference in the Bees—-for I speak here of the wild or native honey—and it is probable that th eapis mellijiea might, in South America, on Mr. Nutt’s plan, produce the best of honey, and in very great abundance, because it would there work all the year, and the product therefore would be greatly increased.

“ I have seen honey taken in the forests of South America from several different species of Bees; they were always destitute of a sting, although entomologists consider it as one of the generic characters of apis. It is also singular that their wax is always black, or dark brown, although the pollen of the flowers, which is said to give colour, is equally yellow as in this country. Bees obtain honey from most kinds of flowers, but appear in general to prefer the labiati or lip flowers, as those of sage, marjoram, mint, thyme, lavender, &c.

“ Mr. Nutt, in the course of his observation, has noticed the curious fact, that the nectar or honey obtained from different plants is carefully deposited by the Bees in separate cells, or at least that the nectar from different genera of plants is kept distinct.

It appears indeed, that the produce of the flowers is classed by them, and arranged with a- precision not inferior to that of the most accurate botanist. What but a hand Divine could guide these little insects thus to mock the boasted power of human reason! This consideration too, coupled with our own inter¬ ests, should operate as a'po w erful argument in favour of Mr. Nutt’s new conservative system of management, and against the reckless de¬ struction of the Bees. Mr. Nutt has already been patronised by the Royal Family and several of the nobility, and no doubt his plan will be adopted by all persons of intelligence, who engage in this pursuit, whether for profit or the most rational amusement.”

When 1 first entered into my apiarian pursuits, I felt convinced of the great and profitable extent to which they might be carried; and of this I have been all along since confirmed as success has crowned my efforts. If I could demonstrate—and I have repeatedly demonstrated—how much honey might be in¬ creased in quantity, its superior quality also struck me as a point of no less importance; and in this I am now most satisfactorily confirmed by the sanction of those scientific friends whose valuable opinions have been above quoted. With alacrity and pleasure I will therefore proceed, without further intro¬ duction, to give a description of my Bee-boxes, and other hives, and of all my Bee-machinery, —and directions for the proper construction of them,—and also for the proper ordering and management of Bees in them.

Chapter II. Bee-boxes And Management Of Bees In Them

The schemes and contrivances, and ways and means, to which apiarians have had recourse, in order to deprive Bees of their honey, with¬ out at the same time destroying their lives, have been various, and someof them ingenious; but hitherto not one of them has been crowned With the desired success. The leaf-hives of Dunbar and of Huber—Huish’s hive with cross-bars,—the piling of hive upon hive, or box upon box, (called storifying), and several other contrivances, have all had this great object in view,—have all had their patrons and admirers,—have all had fair trials,—but have, notwithstanding, all failed of fully ac¬ complishing it.

Whether my inventions may merit and may meet with a similar or with a better fate, it is not for me to predict,—time will show. 1 feel warranted, however, in asserting of my COLLATERAL BOX-HIVE, which I am now about to explain,—of my INVERTED HIVE, and of my OBSERVATORY HIVE, of which in their proper places minute descrip¬ tions will be given,—I feel, I say, warranted in asserting that these—my inventions—pos¬ sess such conveniences and accommodations both for Bees and Bee-masters, that the pure treasure stored in them by those industrious, little insects may at any time be abstracted from [them, not only without destroying the Bees, but without injuring them in the least, or even incommoding their labours by the operation;—that they afford accommodations to the Bees which greatly accelerate the pro¬ gress of their labours in the summer-season;— and that the Bees never leave them in disgust, as it were, as they not unfrequently do leave other hives, after being deprived of their stores; but, as if nothing had happened to them, continue day by day to accumulate fresh treasures, the quantity of which has astonished the beholders, and not only the quantity, but the quality also.