1910 



GLEAXIX<ib IN BEE CULTURE 



()So 



General Correspondence 



BEE-KEEPING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



BY THOS. J. COOK. 



Bee-keeping, here, there, and everywhere, 

 should, with sUght modiScatious, be based 

 on standard Hnes. There is no need to en- 

 large upon the statement which has long 

 been recognized as an insurmountable fact; 

 and that fact is, the keeping of the indus- 

 trious little insects in modern hives, and 

 devoting scientific study to their peculiari- 

 ties, with a view to securing a reasonable 

 remuneration from their labor. Therefore it 

 is with much regret that I pen a description 

 of the orthodox methods generally observed 

 in South Africa in the keeping of bees. It 

 is certainly not bee-keeping, notwithstand- 

 ing the good work of the very few up-to- 

 date apiarists residing in various parts of 

 the sub-continent. I have read a good deal 

 concerning the use of box hives in other 

 countries; but, generally speaking, I do not 

 think other countries are especially conspic- 

 uous in this respect. 



>OT ON A COMMERCIAL BASIS. 



From north to south and east to west, the 

 idea of bee-keeping is regarded with more 

 or less contempt — a hobby for a schoolboy, 

 perhaps, but certainly not an industry 

 worthy of consideration by the older fry, 

 and thus the bees go a-begging at swarm- 

 ing time for want of sympathetic care- 

 takers, so seldom does their swarming-note 

 appeal to the multitude. As a matter of 

 fact, the popular idea of bees and honey is 

 associated with an afternoon picnic party 

 trekking to the veld, armed with a spade, 

 pick, sacking, matches, and sundry other 

 paraphernalia with which to rob a bee-nest 

 when other forms of diversion have grown 

 stale. It is then that preparations are made 

 for "lining" the bees, and this is quite an 

 easy method beside your American method 

 (the comb-box plan). The entire party, to 

 a man, simply crouches down, and, with 

 heads turned toward the setting sun, they 

 mark the flight of the honey-laden bees re- 

 turning homeward. Or it may happen that 

 the "honey-bird" (as the species is called 

 out here) is heard piping near a wild hive. 

 This bird, by the way, has a high rei)uta- 

 tion for directing the steps of bee-hunters, 

 and it has never yet been known to raise 

 a false alarm. Whichever cause actuates 

 the party, it is not long before a line of 

 march is decided upon; and in most cases in 

 a few minutes — say from a quarter to half an 

 hour — the hive is located, generally in an 

 ant-heap (there are few trees suitable for 

 bees in South Africa) . At the precise mo- 

 ment of commencing operations the leader 

 of the expedition lights the sacking, and, 

 without more ado — no thought for irascible 

 home-coming bees — the spade is brought 



into commission with a right good will. 

 The angry onslaught of the bees will soon 

 be manifest, but the work of digging goes 

 on abated. These old-timers have remark- 

 able hides. I have seen a Dutchman, bare- 

 headed, barearmed, with open shirt front 

 and minus socks, take terrible punishment 

 inside half an hour, without making undue 

 mention of the fact. The burning sacking 

 is never rightly brought into use; but as it 

 is thought to be part and parcel of the work, 

 each man follows the precedent. On such 

 occasions as this, bees simply swarm up the 

 trousers legs of the ofTending visitor; but, as 

 I have previously said, tliese old stagers 

 have remarkable hides. They would laugh 

 to scorn the very idea of wearing a veil; and 

 as for gloves — well, their contempt for such 

 would be illimitable. 



However, notwithstanding the apparent 

 familiarity of such persons with the habits 

 of the honey-bee, they are ignorant to a de- 

 gree of the knowledge which up-to-date bee- 

 keepers acknowledge to be indispensable to 

 success. After the excitement of the first 

 stages of the operation has abated some- 

 what, some one brings a bowl to the scene 

 of ignorance, dirt, anger, and disaster — dis- 

 aster to bees and hunter alike — and what re- 

 mai,.s of the demented bees' handiwork is 

 placed in the bowl, the whole mass being 

 more typical of an earthquake than that of 

 God's masterpiece — man. Alas! there may 

 be seen scores — aye, hundreds— of mangled 

 insects — those that have toiled for the pleas- 

 ure of the hunter and the ignominy of such 

 untimely end — budding brood in all stages 

 of development, and dirt galore. The whole 

 scene is one of complete disaster. Probably 

 not more than five per cent of the colonies 

 robbed in this way are able to migrate with 

 their queen, if she be still alive; and when, 

 as is often the case, she is killed, there is no 

 place left in the old hive in which to com- 

 mence housekeeping; for these bee-hunters 

 perform their task with persistency, and al- 

 low no corner of the hive to escape" their no- 

 tice; and then, again, these upheavals are 

 always timed to take place at the close of 

 the season, and thus the life-cycle of anoth- 

 er swarm is ignominiously terminated. 

 Ah! would that such primitive minds un- 

 derstood the great work of these immortal 

 insects! 



Occasionally, however, one meets with 

 one who is more up-to-date in his primitive- 

 ness, and who will point with pride to his 

 half-dozen or so kerosene-cases doing duty 

 as hives. An individual of this kind is 

 hard to convince as to the relative merits of 

 his structures and the modern hive. He af- 

 firms that bee-keeping does not pay, and 

 that his idea in having so many hives is in 

 order to be sure of having a plenteous sup- 

 ply of the choicest nectar for his own table. 

 He complains that a moth (the wax-moth) 

 comes into his hives, and scares away the 

 bees and usurps the combs, among which 

 the new comer thrives and increases his 

 kind. He regards one's explanation of the 

 circumstances with genuine suspicion, and 



