A treatise on the nature, economy, and practical management, of bees; in which the various systems of the British and foreign apiarians are examined, and the most improved methods laid down for effectually preserving the lives of the bees. Containing also an accurate description, illustrated by plates, of the hives invented by Lombard, Ducouedic, Huber, Vicat, l'abbé della Rocca, and other foreign apiarians; and of a newly invented hive for the purpose of depriving the bees of their honey, with safety and expedition: forming the most complete guide to the study and management of those valuable insects

Front matter

Qlljr 1. 1. Ml iGtbrarg

148479

This book may be kept out TWO WEEKS ONLY, and is subject to a fine of FIVE CENTS a day thereafter. It is due on the day indicated below:

Preface

Notwithstanding the numerous Works which have appeared in this Country, and in France and Germany in particular, relative to the Management of Bees, still, the foundation stone only may be said to be laid towards an accurate and distinct knowledge of the internal Economy of those surprising Insects. Many prejudices require to be extirpated, and an entirety new feature given to this interesting part of Agricultural Science, before those national advantages, with which it is so pregnant, can be derived from it. The Natural History of Bees, and the method of managing them, have, it is true, exercised the skill and ingenuity of both ancient and modern Authors of every class and of every age. Some have applied themselves principally to the study of their Police, to the investigation of their respective Operations, and

VI PREFACE.

to the development of those Mysteries, which are so essentially connected with their Natural Economy : amongst these, the Ancients certainly claim precedence, who, to a few truths joined a considerable number of fabulous stories. Others have written only on Bees, in regard to the manner of rearing them, and to the -plus or minus of Profit to be extracted from them. If in their Works some Traits of the History of these Insects present themselves, they are confounded with romantic Anecdotes, Prodigies, and Wonders, of which no proof is exhibited, and which never existed, but in the Georgics of Virgil, or in the exuberant imagination of certain Ancients, whose Commentators are merely the echo of an echo. These are the Authors of those numerous little Treatises, the whole merit of which consists often in the repetition of what is generally known, or in the enumeration of certain Experiments or particular Observations on the ordinary method of managing Bees. Certain Authors finally and successfully united Practice and Theory, Truth and Speculation ; but able and skilful as those Authors shewed themselves, they have left a number of objects indefinitely explained, which repeated Experiments would have confirmed, owing to an inability of dedicating to that particular Study all the time and application

PREFACE. Vll

which were requisite. M. de Reaumur, in particular, assisted by the Experience of his Predecessors, has brought the Natural History of the Bee to a high state of perfection, or at least as high as could be expected from a Person, whose entire application to that particular branch of Physiology, did not exceed four or five years ; but notwithstanding all the light which was cast upon the subject by that able Naturalist, there is an obscurity thrown over certain parts, and a Vacuum observed in regard to certain Minutiae, the repletion of which gave ample scope to the skill and perseverance of his Successors. Reaumur is very defective in the precepts which he lays down for the practical Management of Bees; and it is on this particular point in which (I may almost call it) a culpable ignorance prevails in this Country. Notwithstanding the laudable efforts of many Individuals, and the Premiums offered by many of our Agricultural Societies, the Culture of the Bee is most glaringly neglected, as if neither profit nor advantage were to be derived from it. What is begun by Ignorance is completed by Superstition, and it is an anomaly in the History of the most enlightened People of the World, that a considerable national advantage is entirely lost by the blasting influence of Superstition. I can affirm, that I know a

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number of Persons who would keep Bees, provided they could have a Stock given to them : but who, were they to purchase it, would consider their Money fruitlessly expended, owing to the ridiculous prejudice, that a purchased Hive never prospers. It was this circumstance that first gave rise to the idea in my mind of establishing an Apiarian Society, for the purpose of giving Hives to those prejudiced Persons, and in return obliging them to dispose of the Produce of their Apiaries to the Society alone, and in a given time to refund the Hive or Hives, with which they had been originally furnished; or the Plan of the Apiarian Society of Vienna might have been adopted, of having general Apiaries in different Districts, which are placed under the superintendence of a skilful Person, and in which the Peasants have the liberty of depositing their Hives, on paying a small Sum towards the Expense of the Establishment. Excepting the Spanish, I know of no Nation which entertains such superstitious prejudices, in regard to Bees, as the English. It will hardly be credited, that in some parts of England the Bees are not permitted to leave the Hive on a Friday, and this is founded on a religious scruple : — can it then be expected that the Culture of the Bee can flourish, or be augmented in a Country where such deplorable

PREFACE. IX

prejudices exist? It is not however verbal nor written Instruction which can remedy those evils; the cure must be effected by the powerful influence of example, and the obstinate and prejudiced Cottager must be led to actual truth by a perspicuous display of practical Science.

If we take a view of the modern Authors, with the exception of Bonner, we shall find their Works burthened with Precepts, difficult, if not impossible in the execution, and which tend rather to instill a dislike and aversion to the Culture of the Bee, than a desire to promote it. Hypothesis has been heaped upon hypothesis, and the ebullitions of fancy have been taken for the sober dictates of truth. It is only from the Authors of this Country, or of France or German)*, that any expectation can be formed of the impediments being removed, which at present throw such a chilling influence over an extended Culture of the Bee. In Italy, the People appear to be wrapped in the darkest cloak of ignorance on every point connected with Bees ; for excepting the Work of Joseph Falchini, printed at Florence in 1747, and that of Jerome Maroni, printed at Verona in 1761, both of which are filled with mythological fooleries, the Italians are wholly destitute of any practical Treatise, b}r which Apiarian Sci-

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ence can be extended, and in the present degraded state of Literature and the Arts in that Country, no rational hope of an improvement can be founded.

In regard to the Work now offered to the Public, any Eulogium on my part would be indecorous. My aim has been to simplify the mechanical Operations of the Apiary, to stimulate those who are already engaged in the Culture of the Bee to greater exertions, and to induce others to undertake it, from a full exposure of the great advantages to be derived from it, not only in an individual but national point of view ; and finally, to render this Country independent of all foreign supply of the Produce of the Bee.

PREFACE

TO THE

SECOND EDITION.

Previously to my entering upon any investigation of those points connected with the Natural History of the Bee, which have particularly excited the attention of Apiarians, and respecting which, my individual sentiments, as expressed in the former Edition, have been canvassed by the Reviewers, I shall briefly expose the state of Apiarian Science, and the progress which it has made since the first appearance of this Work. Proud indeed I am to acknowledge, that the ignorance and prejudices which have so long had a depressing influence on the culture of the Bee in this country, are rapidly dispersing, and the brightest prospects present themselves of this country being soon made independent of all foreign supply of the produce of the Bee. It is not

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however, my own exertions which could have produced this pleasing issue to my efforts, had I not met with a corresponding degree of unremitting attention, of the closest application, and the most disinterested action, on the part of several patriotic individuals, who, above being deterred by trivial obstacles, and discarding those unfortunate prejudices which have hitherto blasted the growth of Apiarian Science, have co-operated with me in the prosecution of an extensive plan, which will in time render the culture of the Bee a national benefit, and a positive source of individual profit.

Whilst an enormous sum is annually paid to Germany and France for honey and wax, the people of this country are discouraged from keeping Bees, by the difficulty of procuring a market for their produce. I have been lately informed by several persons residing in Hampshire, that the whole of their honey is made into mead, from a want of purchasers for the honey itself: then what encouragement have those people to extend the culture of the Bee, when even the present produce of their Apiaries is regarded by them as a superfluity, and bringing with it no positive remuneration ? Yet it is not that the produce of this country in honey is adequate to the demand or to the consumption of the article, or why import those great quantities from foreign parts ? and with regard to the

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quality, with the exception of the Mediterranean honey, the produce of this country is by no means inferior to either that of Germany or the north of France : on the contrary, it is in many respects superior, for there is little or no honey which is imported, that is not mixed with farinaceous and other noxious substances, for the purpose of increasing the weight. The depot which is now forming in the metropolis for the sale of native produce only, will, I trust, in time supersede the necessity of importation, and give a stimulus to the keeper of Bees, as he will then experience a positive satisfaction in their management, knowing that a market is open for the immediate sale of his produce.

In these times of unexampled difficulty and distress, when the landed interest is labouring under the deepest depression, and the rental of the kingdom may be considered as merely nominal, it becomes the duty of every landed proprietor to point out to his tenants every source by which an amelioration of their situation can be effected, and of the advantages of which they have hitherto been kept in ignorance. In recommending a greater degree of attention to the management of Bees, than that which has been hitherto observed, I mean not to induce the farmer or the cottager to exclude any of the other branches of agricultural pursuit to which a certain degree of profit is attached, merely as it maybe called, for the purposeof making room

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for the Apiary, but I wish the management of the Bee to be considered as an integral part of the occupation of the farmer or the cottager, and that it should become a matter of regular study, equal to that of any other department of Agricultural Science.

The objection which has been frequently urged to me as a reason for not keeping Bees, namely, that they are subject to so many accidents, which occasion a total failure in the produce, is not a valid one. It must be allowed that every species of stock is more or less exposed to accident, but that it is prevented or remedied according to the knowledge which prevails of the mode of management, of the incidental diseases and their cure, and the positive symptoms of prosperity or decay. If therefore, a certain degree of ignorance prevails in regard to the management of Bees, and a failure should attend the first efforts of the Apiarian, it should not be attributed to the stock itself, but to the utter want of knowledge of the treatment of it. The individual, who thinks to manage an Apiary from the supposed possession of intuitive knowledge, will certainly fail in the attempt. If he disdains to be guided by the hand of experience, and will venture to be his own leader through the intricate labyrinth of science, without being even acquainted with the road which leads to it, his failure is by no means problematical, for it is fixed and determined at his very outset.

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When I view the faulty and destructive manner in which Bees are managed in this country, especially by the cottagers, in open defiance of every principle of Science, my surprise is excited— not at the smallness of the profit which is obtained, but that any profit is obtained at all. It may appear a bold assertion, but it is nevertheless founded on truth, that I never yet met with a cottager, who managed his Bees with any regard to an established system, or in consistency with those rules which he might have gained from the experience of others. If he has stumbled by chance on the right method of treatment in one particular case, he adopts a faulty one in twenty others. If he happens to have given his Hives a right aspect, he will be found to have placed them on the ground, or so close to it, that every species of reptile and insect can crawl into the hive at pleasure ; and then to what is the ruin of the Hive to be attributed— to the extreme liability of the Bees to failure, or to the ignorance of the proprietor in the mode of management ?

It is to eradicate this gross ignorance in the management of Bees, that my present exertions are directed. I am well aware, that in regard to prejudices, I have an Augean stable to cleanse, but I am not to be deterred by the sneers of the ignorant, nor the obstacles which may be thrown in my way by interested individuals ; I shall coolly pursue my course, and will turn xvi PREFACE.

into every bye path in which I can hope to obtain the slightest scintillation of truth. I shall ever be open to conviction, where the proof is established by the test of experience, but I shall always look with a suspicious eye upon the splendid though baseless theories of the closet Apiarian.

This naturally brings me to an investigation of the objections which have been brought forward, especially by the Monthly Reviewers, to the system as laid down in the former Edition of this work, respecting the fecundation of the Queen Bee. To enter into an elaborate analysis of the various grounds on which I have been induced to differ from Huber, on this important point of the Natural History of the Bee, would far exceed the limits of a prefatory discourse ; 1 shall therefore briefly confine mj'self to those particular points on which a dissentient opinion has been expressed by the Reviewer.

1 am well aware of the infallibility of two things — His Holiness the Pope, and the opinion of a Reviewer. I could never expect to convince the former, that he is not the deputy of St. Peter, nor does the slightest expectation rest on m}' mind, that any argument which I may adduce will bring conviction to the Reviewer, that although in his study he may have observed the embraces of the common domestic fly whilst on the wing, not the slightest analogy exists between that insect and the Queen Bee,

PREFACE. XV11

in regard to sexual union. I certainly did treat the idea of the Queen Bee mo?itant sur le dos du male " with contemptuous sneers," but I am now informed that it is an appointment of nature, as in the words of the Reviewer, " any one may be convinced, who will attentively watch the proceedings of the common domestic fly/' But barring the mistake in which the Reviewer has fallen in regard to the sexual union of the common fly being in a reversed position, can any just inference thence be drawn, supported by the most distant analogy, that the sexual union of the Queen Bee and Drone takes place in a reversed position, and exterior to the Hive, whilst on the wing? This idea may appear plausible to those who are ignorant of the cloistered life of the Queen Bee; but it will only excite " the contemptuous sneers" of those who, by positive experience, grounded on repeated experiments producing the same results, are convinced that the only periods when a Queen Bee leaves the Hive are, when she, as the founder of a new colony, puts herself at the head of a swarm, or when she is constrained to quit her ancient domicile, on account of the ravages of the Moth or other obnoxious circumstance, and at that time all her subjects follow her to her new abode.

I give to Huber all the credit which he deserves ; he has done much and more than any of his predecessors in removing the veil which has so long hung over the Natural History of the b

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Bee. I acknowledge to have profited by his discoveries, but I am not so wilfully blind to his errors, as to adopt every thing which he asserts, as mathematically demonstrated, when my own experience positively denies it. I will not even put my abilities in the scale with those of Huber ; but having acknowledged two infallibilities, I am not much disposed to admit another in the person or in the opinion of Mr. Huber.

The sentiments which I have so unequivocally expressed regarding the fecundation of the Queen, are not the result of a day's reflection, nor of a single year's experience in the practical management of the Apiary ; and certainly it must be admitted, that two more discordant opinions cannot be entertained on one subject, supposed by many to be easy of solution, than those entertained by Huber and myself on the fecundation of the Queen Bee. Both of us however, found our arguments on conjecture and slight analogical reasoning, and not on actual observation. The Reviewer calls the hypothesis advanced by myself, as inconsistent with the analogies of Nature. I may not indeed be so thoroughly versed in the analogies of Nature as the Reviewer, but so far as my own experience extends, I cannot discover the slightest degree of inconsistency. The fish deposits its roe, which is afterwards fecundated by the melt. The Queen Bee lays her egg, which is afterwards impregnated by the Drone. Where then is the

PREFACE. XIX

inconsistency of the latter hypothesis with the analogies of Nature ?

Mr. Huber was aware of the dilemma into which he would be thrown by making the Queen Bee and the Drone copulate in the Hive ; and he therefore gives her a roving commission to search the woods for her paramour. Now, to quote the words of the Reviewer : " At all events human reasoning and conjectures, on the propriety and fitness of any particular mode of animal re-production, can never for a moment be put in competition with ascertained facts f that this is a clear and positive truth must be admitted by every one, but is it, on the part of Mr. Huber, an ascertained fact that the Queen is impregnated in the open air? Neither he nor his assistant, Francois Beurnens, who has certainly witnessed some prodigies respecting the natural economy of the Bee, and which no other person will ever witness again, can, with any regard to veracity, depone that they have actually witnessed the amours of the Queen Bee and the Drone in the woods, or in any situation exterior to the Hive. It therefore follows that positive truth cannot be applied to the system of Huber, and that it does not deserve that implicit faith with which some of his adherents regard it. The Reviewer, however, and many thanks to him for it, has, in order to reconcile the conflicting sentiments on this subject, devised a new method, by which both b2

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Huber and myself come off in a triumphant manner: and this is, that the eggs shall not only be fecundated by sexual union in the body of the Queen, but that they shall be further vivified by the addition of a fluid in the breeding cells. — Excellent! we have here two distinct operations for the Drones to perform, and a species of double duty, for which I am certain the Drones will not consider themselves under any obligation to the Reviewer for imposing upon them. The adoption of this method would, however, be a positive abuse of Nature, and inconsistent with its analogies. I will therefore give it the meed of originality, and say no more about it.

Notwithstanding the support which is given by the Reviewer to the fortifications of the Bees, engendered in the head of Mr. Huber, and ushered into the world as a wonderful abortion of genius, I must be excused if the smile of derision should always sit upon my countenance whenever they are mentioned. The Genevese Bees may indeed, according to the suggestions of the Reviewer, be gifted with a greater portion of ingenuity than our less-favoured English Bees ; and the art of creating these fortifications may not yet have travelled further north than the Lake of Geneva. It is certain, from the report of the Abbe della Rocca, that the art is not known in the Archipelago ; and I have examined the Hives of France, Germany, of

PREFACE. XXI

Russia, Denmark, and Sweden, I have conversed with the most intelligent Apiarians of those countries, and their Bees were all ignorant of the art of erecting gates, battlements, and defiles, to protect them from the encroachment of their enemies. The patent must be therefore vested in the Bees of Geneva, or those which are so fortunate as to come under the immediate care of Mr. Huber.

The sphinx atropos is very common in the southern part of Germany ; but not a single gate has ever been constructed by any of the German Bees to prevent the ingress of that insect to their stores ; but the Reviewer, for the purpose of invalidating that statement, informs us, that the Bees on the other side of the water, as he elegantly expresses himself, did actually make these fortifications, but that the proprietors ; not possessing the sagacity and penetration of Mr. Huber, omitted to notice them. I believe I could enumerate thirty celebrated foreign Apiarians who possess an equal skill with Huber in the management of an apiary, but whose discoveries have not been made public, yet who consider the erection by the Bees of any " temporary fences" as a protection against the Hawk-moth, to be ridiculous and delusive. I requested the opinion of the most celebrated Apiarian of Vienna on the subject ; and, in his answer, dated 23d December, 1816, he says, " You may well express your disbelief

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in the fortifications erected by the Bees, as described by Huber, to protect them from the attack of the Hawk-moth. We have that insect in great numbers in the environs of this city ; and the ravages which it commits on the Hives are very considerable ; but, during the whole course of my experience, which has lasted above forty years, during which period I have regularly had under my care from sixty to one hundred Hives, I never could discover any erection made by the Bees, intended as a protection against the ravages of the Hawk-moth; on the contrary, we are so convinced that the Bees possess in themselves no positive means of defence against this insect, that we place lighted torches in the vicinity of our Apiaries for the purpose of entrapping it."

In a letter from W. F. Schlegel, an active Member of several of the Agricultural Societies of Germany, dated Munich, January 18, 1817, he says, " Your Work is now translating into German, and I am certain it will not be much admired by Huber and the adherents of his fortifications. I hope you will not relax in your exertions to explode one of the most singular fancies which distinguish this age of discovery."

On laying aside all irony on the subject, and viewing it with a dispassionate eye, I trust it is not the lively imagination of the French and Italian writers, as expressed by the Reviewer, which will induce the sober minded English

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Apiarian to convert a bit of the Combs, fallen by chance from the upper works, into bastions and demi-bastions, into a counterscarp and glacis, and to form the Bees into a military people, when their natural habits, like those of a certain European nation made military also, are those of industry and economy, and possessing at the same time an ardent attachment to their excellent constitution.

It merely now remains for me to justify some errors which have been ascribed to me in the genuine spirit of hypercriticism, and the discovery of which reflects the greatest credit on the critical acumen of the Reviewer. Fair and legitimate criticism is an admirable occupation ; and the liberal mind will always thank the preceptor who will point out his errors to him, that they may not occur again in future ; but, when the critic descends to make a false quotation, for the purpose of transcribing an error, or will convert a typographical error into a grammatical one, and attach it indiscriminately to the Author as his own, his office then loses all its dignity, and sinks into insignificance and puerility. As an instance of false quotation, for the purpose of attaching an error to me, the Reviewer copies part of a sentence, the construction of which in itself is correct, but, being mutilated by the Reviewer, is wrong. He thus quotes, as an error, " boats resembling the manner of the Egyptians." The text is ; " they load the boats resembling the manner of the Egyptians!'

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Where is the error now, thou sapient Reviewer ? The construction of the sentence, I grant, might be amended, as it is in the present edition, but it is its mutilation, of which I may with the greatest propriety complain. Suppose I were called upon to criticise a Work, in which appeared the following passage : — The opponents of the Monthly Reviewer are fools, and in the full spirit of the critic, hunting after grammatical errors, I were to mutilate the passage, and quote it — the Monthly He-viewer are fools, would it be fair criticism ? My readers, I am told by the Reviewer, will inquire what are the antilhe of a Bee. Being myself ignorant, I cannot answer the question. It is merely one of those typographical errors which will creep into every printed Work, in the same manner as enthusiam is printed for enthusiasm, and hithero for hitherto, in the 80th vol. pages 10 and 106 of the Monthly Review !

I shall not enter into any further justification of the errors which have been imputed to me by the Reviewer, some of which would disgrace a school boy, and ought not to have been attributed to ignorance, but to an oversight in the correction of the proof-sheets.

I cannot close this Preface without publicly acknowledging the obligation which I am under to Sir Thomas Clarges, Bart, to G. I. Call, Esq. of TaplowHill; to J. II. Payne, Esq. of Bury St. Edmunds ; to G. Williams, Esq. of Bangor;

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to H. Drummond, Esq. of Hcrnehill; and to several other scientific individuals, for the zeal and spirit with which they have seconded my apiarian plans ; supported by their talents and interest, every obstacle will in a short time be surmounted, and, at the close of my labours, it will be a pleasing reflection to me that I have promoted the interests of my country, and been the humble instrument of establishing a permanent source of emolument to the humble cottager or the more opulent farmer.

I solicit information from every one who may have it in his power to transmit it to me, and, on the other hand, I profess my perfect readiness to impart whatever knowledge I may possess in the management of an apiary to any person who will favour me with the application. My aim is general utility, and the establishment of a national advantage.

I

Contents

JUDICATION 1U

Preface v

Chap. I. 6n Bees In General

Natural History of Bees, imperfectly known. — Simplified by Swammerdam, Maraldi and Reaumur. — Various species of Bees. — Activity of Bees. — Honey solely produced by them. — Different substances on which they feed. — Flowers fecundated by them. — Governed by a Queen. — Know the Persons who work in the Apiary.— Dislike certain Persons. — Experiment to ascertain that fact. — The Ancients not ignorant of the Attachment of the Bees to their Queen. — Extent of their Lives not yet ascertained.— Their Cleanliness. — Their instinctive sense of Labour

Chap. II. Description Of The Queen Bee

Her make.' — Fecundity. — Various Systems of the Manner of her Fecundation. — The Queen knows not coition. — Reluctance of the Queen to sting.— Attachment of the Bees to the Queen. — Her importance to the Hive. — Supernumerary Queens massacred at the end of the Season. — Description of the Queen's Cell.— Erroneous Opinion of certain Naturalists respecting the Fructification of the Eggs.— Method of laying her Eggs.— Analogy of the Queen Bee and the Wasp. — Experiment to ascertain the existence of Eggs during the Winter. — Method of driving a Hive explained 17

XXV11I CONTENTS.

Chap. III. On The Drones

Page Characteristics of tlic Drones. — Number of Drones in a Hive. — Possess no Sting'.— The Eggs of the Queen fructified by them. — Natural make of the Drone. — Not brooding Bees. — Refutation of the Opinion of Reaumur and Debraw, respecting two kinds of Drones. — No Swarms produced, if a Deficiency of Drones. — A Remedy for this Disadvantage. — Experiment to prove its Efficacy.— Drones massacred at the End of the Season. — Opinion of Keys. — Drones always found in a Swarm. — Manner in which they are killed. — Bees should be assisted in this Operation. — Not killed by the Sting. — The Opinion of L'Abbe della Rocca examined.— The Drones not starved by the Bees 28