The farmers' guide to bee keeping

Front matter

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CONGRESS.

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Preface

In offering this little work to the American public, . the author's object is to supply the great deficiency in reliable apiarian literature : having himself felt the necessity of such information, on many occasions; and fully believing that thousands of others often experience the same want ; he has been induced to compile and arrange all the facts known, in regard to apiculture, up to the present time; together with his own experience which has not been small.

It is his design to present all the necessary practical information for the keeping and culture of the honey bee, together with the secret of making them produce the greatest possible amount of honey, in such a simple and concise form, that any one may readily understand it, and be enabled to profit by it.

We are not writing a book for the critical scientist, or theoretical apiculturist, but for the ordinary bee keepers of the land. So that every individual, who may have but a single colony, may be able to know how to make it the most useful and productive, as well as he who devotes his whole time and energy to the business.

The proper care and culture of bees is becoming every year not only more of a science, but more of a business, and hence the greater the necessity of a brief practical work, which will be within the reach of all, and easily understood by the common people.

Much of the information in regard to bee keeping, as given in the ordinary periodicals of the day, is not reliable, as many persons, with but little knowledge, and less experience, often imagine that they have made some new and wonderful discovery, straightway herald it forth and thereby deceive the inexperienced and unsuspecting, while others having some particular hive, or other article to sell, use their book as an advertising medium, and quite too often mislead and deceive.

The instruction and experience of one who has made it a study, and who has been a practical apiculturist for years, alone should be considered reliable. The author claims that he has presented more real practical information on this important and interesting subject, than can be found in any other work of the size, or that can be purchased in any other way for the same amount of money. We have laid before the public the great advantage of the newly invented machine called the " Honey Extractor," used for removing honey from the comb. A knowledge of this one thing is worth to every bee-keeper many times the price of the book.

Hoping that this little treatise may awaken in the minds of its readers, a new interest, as to the science, pleasure, and profit of collecting and storing the sweets distilled in the alembic of the bright-hued flowers, and assist those already engaged in the business, whether to a greater or less extent, and desiring that the " Little Busy Bee " may be better understood, more highly appreciated, better treated and cared for, it is sent forth upon its mission. H. M. JOHNSON.

Marshall, Mich., Nov. 1871.

MEMOIR OF HUBER.

MEMOIR OF HUBER,

Francis Huber, who was born at Geneva, July, 2d, 1750, is held by all writers on the science of bee culture, to be the prince of apiarians. His father possessed a decided taste for the study of natural science, which taste was transmitted to the son. In boyhood his attention was called to what, in later years, became his sole and engrossing pursuit, an investigation of the habits and economy of the honey-bee, and no writer, either ancient or modern has displayed so much sagacity, perseverance, and accuracy of experiment as Francis Huber.

By his admiration for the writings of Reaumur, and through the assistance and encouragement of his friend Bonnet, he pursued his favorite study with such intense ardor as to superinduce a weakness of the visual organs, which eventually terminated in total blindness. His misfortune, however, did not present an inseperable obstacle to the successful study of his favorite science. He procured the services of Francis Burnens, who is said to have been an uneducated peasant. Huber took great pains in cultivating the naturally acute mind of the young man, in directing his researches, and accustoming him to rigorous accuracy. A single instance will illustrate the precision with which Huber required him to conduct his experiments. On a certain occasion it became necessary to examine separately all the bees in two hives. Burnens spent eleven days in performing

6 MEMOIR OF HUBER.

this work, and during the entire time he allowed himself no relaxation but what was necessary for the relief of his eyes.

Huber was assisted in his researches not only In Burnens but by his own wife ; to whom he was betrothed before the loss of his sight, and who nobly persisted in marrying him, notwithstanding his sad misfortune and the strenuous dissuasions of her friends. She declared to her parents that although she would have readily submitted to their will, if the man of her choice could have done without her ; yet, as he now required the attendance of a person who loved him, nothing should prevent her from becoming his wife ; accordingly as soon as she had attained the age, which she imagined gave her the right to decide for herself, she united her fate with that of Huber. They lived long in the enjoyment of great domestic happiness. She was spared to him over forty years; to him " she was eyes to the blind," his reader, his secretary, his observer. He said in his old age, that during her life, he was not sensible of his misfortune.

The last days of Huber's life were soothed by the affectionate attentions of his daughter, with whom he was then living, and in whose arms he died Dec. 22(1, 1 83 1, in the eighty-first year of his age.

The world owes more to Huber for the advancement of the science of bee keeping than to any other man ; and having myself repeatedly verified his most important observations, I take great delight in holding him up to my countrymen and friends as the Prince of Apiarians.

FUNDAMENTAL POINTS IN BEE KEEPING. 7

Chapter I. Fundamental Points In Bee-keeping

I believe all practical Apiarians of the present day have decided that there are three fundamental points to be observed, in order to render bee-keeping a success. But I think the most of them will agree with me, that fourth has been introduced, which not only insures success, ,but adds greatly to the profit of apiculture \ and upon these four points rests its perfect success, viz : the man ; the movable comb hive ; the season and the honey machine or " Mill Extractor."

The man should be thoroughly acquainted with and understand the nature and working of the bee to enable him to manage them profitably. When I say man, I mean the operator whether it be man or woman, old or young. If you will follow me through this little manual, I pledge you that you will, with a little practice, be able to perform your part.

He should then have a hive that will answer all his needs in every department of bee culture, and in the making or procuring of hives he should aim at simplicity. That is the best motto I have to recommend.

The season we have no control over. If the season is unpropitious, the knowledge of the man, and the perfection of the hive combined, will insure a greater amount of honey than might be expected in a good season with a defective hive and bad management.

The honey machine is acknowledged by all practical bee-keepers to be the greatest improvement to the science, since the invention of the moveable comb hive, by the use of which we claim to double and even thribble the quantity of honey obtained over the old method.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A SWARM OF BEES.

Every prosperous swarm or family of bees must contain one queen, several thousand workers, and a portion of the year, a few hundred, or even thousand drones. If there were present but a pint of bees it would constitute a swarm, or if there were twenty thousand it would be no more than a swarm ; if it contained a queen, workers and drones. They can only flourish when associated in large numbers as in a colony. In a solitary state, a single bee is almost as helpless as a new born child, being paralyzed by the chilling of a cool summer night.

We will now proceed to describe the different bees which constitute a swarm ; how they are raised, their size, shape, color, duties, and the labors of each.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BEES.

Chapter II. Description Of The Queen

The accompanying cut will illustrate the appearance of this most important personage of the industrious colony. She was styled by the ancients the King Bee ; and even at the present day she is called the King by those who know almost nothing of the tiny harvesters who are so in- Queen. dustriously storing their homes with the liquid nectar, which they alone can glean, and who never see the busy workers within the deep recesses of their waxen walls, but who still persist in keeping their bees in the old box hive, never having sight of the Queen except by accident when swarming the new colony.

Careful and scientific observation conducted by men who have made the study of the bee their life-long business, like Huber, have proved that the Queen is the only perfect female bee in the colony, and hence the name was given to her as Queen or Mother Bee. In form, she is longer than either of the other species, although she is larger around than the worker, yet her appearance is slender, compared with the drone and worker.

She is usually of a dark color except the under side of the abdomen, which bears somewhat on the golden shade, while some have a yellow band almost encircling

IO FARMERS GUIDE TO BEE KEEPING.

the abdomen at the joint. All her colors are bright and glossy, and she has but little of the down or hair that is seen on the drones and workers.

Different queens vary much in color, some being darker than others. A still greater variation is observed in the Italian Queens, most of which are of a rich gold color, while a few are even darker than the usual shade of the natives. Her wings are short, reaching a little more than half way back ; her posterior is more pointed, and has the appearance of curving under more than that of the workers. She is rather shy ; generally seeks to hide away among the bees and comb, whenever exposed to view ; her motions are usually slow and matronly, although she can, when she pleases, move with astonishing rapidity. She has a sting, but never uses it except in combat with a rival queen.

THEIR AFFECTION FOR THEIR QUEEN.

The Queen is always treated with the greatest respect and affection by the bees. A circle of her loving offspring constantly surrounds her, testifying in various ways their dutiful regard j some embracing her with their antenna, others offering her honey from time to time, and all politely moving out of her way that she may have a clear path as she moves over the combs, No Crown Prince or Princess of the world is treated with greater respect or defference than the mother bee in her hive. Every member of that numerous family is ever ready to show her that high respect which she commands from her queenly position.

If she is removed from them, the whole colony is

DESCRIPTION OF THE BEES. II

thrown into a state of the most intense agitation. As soon as they ascertain their loss, all the labors of the hive are abandoned, the bees run wildly over the combs, and frequently rush from the hive in anxious search for their beloved mother. If they cannot find her, they return to their desolate home, and by their sorrowful tones manifest their deep sense of so deplorable a calamity. No colony can long exist without the presence of this mother bee, but must surely perish, unless they possess the means of supplying her place.

THE AGE OF THE QUEEN.

The average age of the queen is about three years, but they frequently live to reach the fourth or even the fifth year. I must here say that none of mine are allowed to become over three years of age. Every bee keeper who uses the moveable comb hive, should destroy the queens at that age, and furnish the swarm another in its place, as after that age they often become barren, or, if they do not, frequently deposit only drone eggs, in other words, eggs which produce nothing but drones, and the colony soon wastes away without being replenished with worker brood.

Unlike a large portion of the insect world the bee is forced to live in groups or families, for mutual protection, as well as for the continuation of the species. Individually or independently of each other, the different bees of a colony would soon perish.

Like the drone, the queen never goes to the field to gather honey ; her only duty, being to deposit the egg, both male and female, to populate the hive ; yet she is as dependent upon the workers, as they are upon her, and both are dependent upon the drones, notwithstanding they are the acknowledge idlers of the colony.

Section of Comb, showing Honey, Bee Bread, Brood and Queen

Cells, in their different stages. (K) reperesents comb filled with honey, (h) represents the brood in all stages, (p) represents cells containing bee bread, (g) represents drone brood sealed, (i) represents sealed brood, (a) represents an old Queen cell where a Que^n had formally hatched, (b) represents a cell where the Queen was killed by violence before hatching, (c) represents where a Queen has hatched recently, (d) represents a perfect Queen cell (e) represents a Queen cell just started with a grub about 5 days old.

DEPOSITING THE EGG,

In all well populated hives, with few exceptions, young brood may be found in different stages of devel^ opement, every month in the year. In small colonies, there is usually about two months (November and December) that there is no brood to be found in the combs. When the queen commences to deposit the eggs in

DESCRIPTION OF THE BEES. I3

small swarms, she places the first in the centre of the cluster of bees, (it may not be in the centre of the hive,) and usually in close proximity to their store of honey. It may not be amiss to say, that the reason why she .commences to lay her eggs in the centre of the cluster, is, that it is the warmest place in the hive.

Here then the queen will commence ; in a space perhaps not more than one or two inches in diameter ; this space will be filled, on both sides of the comb alike, in one compact body. If there is sufficient warmth in the hive, produced either by warm weather, or genarated by the bees, she will then

Ovaries of a Queen Bee. fill a Spot On the adjoining

comb, exactly opposite the first, but not quite so large. The circle of eggs in the first comb is then enlarged, and more added to the next and so on continuing to spread, and keeping the distance from the centre to the outside of the space occupied by eggs about equal on all sides until they cover the whole suface of the combs.

Long before the outer edge is occupied the first eggs deposited, are matured, and the queen returns to the centre and uses these cells again. You will seldom find any cells unoccupied by brood, unless they contain honey or bee bread, which are essential in rearing brood, as the bee bread is undoubtedly the principal food of the young bee before it emerges from the cell.

I have removed the bees from the hive and examined them in all stages of developement, and have always found their proceedings as I have described.

The motions of the queen when she is depositing her eggs may be best seen, in a good observatory hive, as the season is advanced and she is using the outside comb for breeding. I have often seen the Italian queen continue depositing eggs, when removed from the hive on the moveable frame, but you will seldom see one of our native species continue her labors when exposed to view unless it be in an observatory hive. (I would here state that every Apiarian should procure a good observatory hive, that he may watch the movements of the queen, the different stages of developement of the brood, the storing of honey and bee bread, and the making of comb, and it is often of great advantage in ascertaining when to look for swarms, &c.) The queen may be seen passing briskly over the combs with the workers, who, anticipating her object among them, move to the right and left, frequently extending to her their antenna by way of salutation. Some assert that she is attended by a retinue of servants as a body-guard, but I think there are no workers especially chosen as such, but they always appear to me to understand their duty, to feed her as she may require, and pay her the usual respect due a mother.

She carefully examines each cell by thrusting her head in before depositing the egg — probably to see if it contains bee-bread or honey, as a cell partly filled she never attempts to use. On withdrawing her head, if she finds

DESCRIPTION OF THE BEES.

the cell clear, she immediately curves her abdomen and inserts it. She remains but a second or two, and then leaves the cell, when an egg about the sixteenth of an inch in length may be seen attached by one end to the base of the cell, usually a little to one side. It is of a grayish white color, slightly oblong, curved a little, rounded at the ends, and bursts upon the slightest pressure.

HATCHING.

The eggs remain unchanged in figure or situation for three or four days. They are then hatched, the bottom of each cell presenting to view a small white worm. On its growing so as to touch the opposite angle of the cell, it coils itself up, like a dog when going to sleep ; and floats in a whitish transparent fluid, which is deposited in the cells by the nursing-bees, and by which it is probably nourished ; it becomes gradually enlarged in its dimensions, till the two extremities touch one another, and form a ring. In this state it is called a larvae, or worm. So nicely do the bees calculate the quantity of food which will be required, that none remains in the cell when it is transformed to a nymph. It is the opinion of many eminent naturalists, that farina does not constitute the sole food of the larvae, but that it consists of a mixture of farina, honey, and water, partly digested in the stomachs of the nursing.bees.

" The larvae having derived its support, in the manner above described, for four, five, or six days, accord- * ing to the season, continues to increase during that period, till it occupies the whole breadth, and nearly the length of the cell. The nursing-bees now seal over the cell with a light brown cover, externally more or less covex, (the cap of a drone-cell being more convex than that of a worker,) and thus differing from a honeycell, which is paler and somewhat concave." The cap of the, brood cell is made not of pure wax, but a mixture of bee-bread and wax ; and appears under the microscope to be full of fine holes, to give air to the inclosed insect. From its texture and shape it is easily thrust off by the bee when mature, whereas if it consisted wholly of wax, the insect would either perish for lack of air, or be unable to force its way into the world. Both the material and shape of the lids which close the honeycells are different; they are of pure wax, and thus air-tight, to prevent the honey from souring or candying in the cells; and are slightly concave, the better to resist the pressure of their contents.

To return to the subject, as soon as the larva is perfectly enclosed, it begins to line the cell, by spinning around itself a whitish silky film or cocoon in which it is encased, (after the manner of the silkworm.) When the cocoon is finished it undergoes a great change, from the larvae or grub, to the nymph or pupa, and does not wear a vestige of its previous form.

It has now attained its full growth, and the large amount of nutriment which it has taken, serves as a store for developing the perfect insect. The drones and workers spin complete cocoons, or enclose themselves on every side, while the royal larvae or queen, construct only imperfect cocoons, enveloping only the head, thorax, and first rings of the abdomen. Huber says without any hesitation that the real cause of this is, that they may be exposed to the mortal sting of the first hatched queen, whose instinct leads her instantly to seek the destruction of those who would soon be her rivals. He says that such is the instinctive enmity of young queens towards each other, that I have seen one of them immediately on its emergence from the cell, rush to those of its sisters, and tear to pieces even the imperfect larvae.

Queens are reared from eggs that would, if deposited in worker cells, produce worker bees. By giving the larvae of such eggs proper capacity of cell and royal jelly, (a substance that is said to be prepared from honey and bee-bread and is found only in royal cells,) queens are developed.

The cell in which a queen is reared differs materially from all others in the hive. At the swarming season, there are usually from five to twenty of them constructed, in which to raise queens, They are, ordinarily built upon the edge of the comb, although when the bees are forced to raise a queen they sometimes construct them upon the side of the comb. Their position is almost vertical, and in appearance they resemble a common sized peanut, with the smallest end hanging downward.

Their dimensions are about one inch in length, and about one third of an inch in diameter. They are not composed entirely of wax, but of a mixture of wax and pollen. Their long cylindrical form is smoothly polished within ; and covered externally with a kind of net 2

1 8 farmers' GUIDE TO BEE iCEEPING.

work, having a rough appearance. In fact, the imposing appearance of this cell, and the profusion of material expended in its construction is- such, that one of them will outweigh one hundred common cells; and points it out as destined for receiving and nourishing the most important personage of the whole colony. After the queen has emerged from the cell, the workers usually gnaw them away, so that nothing is left of them to mark their locality, only a waxen cup, somewhat resembling the shell of an acorn j and may be seen in almost any hive that is one year old.

The time required to raise a queen is three days in the egg, and five days as a worm. The workers then close her cell, and she immediately begins to spin her cocoon which occupies twenty-four hours. On the tenth and eleventh days, she remains in complete repose. She then passes four or five days as a nymph ; therefore, it is on the sixteenth day that she has attained to the perfect state of a queen bee. The working bee comes forth, perfected, in twenty-one days from the time that the egg is deposited.

The time required to bring forth the fully developed drone is twenty-four or five days from the time the eggs are deposited. The drones and workers on emerging from their cells, are at first gray, soft, and comparatively helpless, so that some time elapses before they take wing.

The cocoon of the drone and worker is left behind, and forms a closely attached and exact lining to the cell in which it was spun ; by this means the breeding cells become smaller and their partitions stronger, the oftener they change their tenants ; and may become so much diminished in size, as not to admit of the perfect developement of full-sized bees.

The periods for hatching must be accepted with some degree of allowance, as atmospheric changes vary much the temperature of the hive,

IMPREGNATION OF THE QUEEN.

This subject is one in which we place Huber at the head. By a long course of careful experiments he ascertained that, like many other insects, the queen was fecundated in the open air and on the wing ; and that the influence of this connection continues for several years, or during her natural life. He describes his first observation with his assistant in this wise :

" We placed ourselves opposite to a hive containing an unimpregnated queen five days old. The sun had shone from its rising ; the air was very warm, and the males had begun to leave the hives in large numbers. We then enlarged the entrance of the one selected for observation, and paid particular attention to the bees entering and departing. The males appeared and immediately took flight. Soon afterwards the young queen came to the entrance ; at first she did not fly, but during a little time traversed the board, brushing her belly with her hind legs ; neither males nor workers seemed to take any notice of her, and at last she took flight. When several feet from the hive she returned and approached it, as if to examine the place of her departure, perhaps judging this precaution necessary to recognize it ; she io farmers' guide to bee keeping.

flew away. We immediately contracted the entrance, that she might not return unobserved, and placed ourselves in the centre of the circles which she made on the start of her flight, the more easily to follow her and witness all her motions. But she did not remain long in a situation favorable for our observations, and rapidly rose out of sight. We resumed our place before the hive, and in seven minutes the young queen returned to the hive which she had left for the first time in her life. Having found no external evidence of fecundation we allowed her to enter. In a quarter of an hour she reappeared and brushing herself as before, took flight, then returning to examine the hive, she arose so high that we soon lost sight of her. This second absence was much longer than the first, occupying twenty-seven minutes. We now found her in a state quite different from that in which she was, after her former excursion ; the organs distended by a substance thick and hard, yery much resembling that of the male, the spennatoza. But more evidence than mere resemblance being requisite to establish that the female had returned with the prolific matter of the males, we allowed this queen to enter the hive and confined her there. In two days we found her belly swollen, and she had already laid over a hundred eggs in worker cells. To confirm our discoveries we made several other experiments, and with the same success. On another experiment in July of the same year, the weather being very fine, a large number of males left the hives, and we set at liberty a young virgin queen, eleven days old, (whose hive had always been deprived of drones, or which had never brooded any ;) having quickly left the hive she returned to examine it and then rose out of sight; she came back in a few minutes with evident marks of fecundations, the same as the first one. ' '

It is acknowledged by all apiarians of the present day, that the act of copulation takes place high up in the open air, (unless by artificial fertilization, which will be hereafter described,) and at the expense of life to the drone ; and that it usually is between the fourth and tenth days after the queen leaves the cell. If fertilization does not occur before she is twenty days old, it never takes place and the result is that the eggs deposited will only produce drones, and not workers or those of her own class. The cause of failure to fertilize, may be owing to bad weather, defective wings, or to a scarcity of drones ; but whatever the cause, the result is the same — a drone producing queen. These facts prove that an unimpregnated queen has not only power to lay eggs, but that her eggs have sufficient vitality to produce drones, and only drones, they being less highly organized than either queen or worker.

The anatomy of the queen, the physiological laws governing the sex, and her own knowledge of the sex of her progeny, are themes which we have not room to fully discuss, but will simply state, that a drone laying queen produces only drones let her deposit her eggs wherever she may, the cells having nothing to do with determining the sex in her case; but with the fertilized queen the sex is governed by the cell. Mr. Wagner has advanced a highly ingenious theory, which accounts for all the facts, without admitting that the queen has any special knowledge or will on the subject. He sup-, poses that when she deposits her eggs in the workercells, her body is slightly compressed by their size, thus causing the eggs as they pass the spermatheca to receive its vivifying influence. On the contrary, when she is laying in drone cells, as this compression cannot take place, the mouth of the spermatheca is kept closed, and the eggs are necessarily unfecundated. Every egg deposited by her in the small or worker comb, produces a worker bee or a queen if necessary; while every egg deposited in the large or drone comb produces a drone, which is positive proof that in the case of a fertilized queen, the size of the cell determines the sex, and this law is constant.