780 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15. 



"But, won't the bees eat out a semicircle in 

 the lower side before cold weather?" 



"Possibly; but, likely as not, they won't, 

 especially as they are not breeding much late 

 in the fall." 



" I might uncap a semicircle in the lower part 

 of the combs, and extract before putting them 

 in." 



" Yes, I have done that in some cases; but 

 you can accomplish the same object by mashing 

 the capping, and you will then have the honey 

 all in the hive, as the bees will remove it and 

 store it elsewhere. But I must be going. Come 

 over to my place some time, neighbor A., and 

 we'll compare notes again." 



" Thank you, neighbor Fowls. I believe I will, 

 for I like this kind of bee-keepers' convention in 

 which all take part." 



"Yes, so do I; and think we remember ideas 

 picked in this way much better than if simply 

 read over in a journal. Chalon Fovv^ls. 



Oberlin, O. 



THOSE OLD BEE-BOOKS. 



ANOTHER PEEP AT THE "GOOD OLD TIMES." 



In 1796 there appeared in London a bee-book 

 entitled " The Ancient Bee-master's Farewell." 

 It was written by John Keys, and printed in 

 Paternoster Row, as might be presumed. It 

 contains 373 pages the size of this. The print is 

 excellent, and a real relief to the i^yes after 

 reading some of the very shiny magazines. The 

 cuts used are the old-fashioned copperplates : 

 and for distinctness and beauty they are ahead 

 of any thing now in vogue. They are not 

 numerous, however. The writer comprises in 

 this book the best conclusions of all the authors 

 whose works I have so far reviewed. This 

 book is marked on the titlepage as "very 

 scarce." and the price is high. Probably that 

 accounts for the fact that two copies of it have 

 tumbled into our sanctum here, just back of 

 where Ernest sits. What lover of old books 

 wants one ? 



There is an air of freshness about Mr. Keys' 

 style that is pleasing, for it combines good sense 

 with vivacity. How's this? 



" The most likely means to establish the bee 

 art. I believe, will not be accomplished without 

 the patronage of agricultural societies." 



The idea is, apparently, to have apiculture 

 recognized as a handmaid to agriculture; but 

 the trouble now is. in some parts, to get the 

 agriculturists to see it in that light. 



Here is a vigorous and well -deserved slap at 

 the misers of 179(; as well as those of today: 



" Rnral curates might considerably augment 

 their two frequently niggardly stipends by the 

 cultivation of bees, and act at the same "time 

 consonantly with their clerical profession, as it 

 is an innocent amusement, both healthy and 

 profitable." 



It may be interesting to notice some of the 

 terms used by Mr. Keys: "Apiator" is now 

 called apiarist; " bee-herd," one who watches 

 the rising of swarms ; " casts," second and 

 third swarms; "duplet." the hive set over or 

 under another; "fume-box," now called smo- 

 ker ; " hackel," or " coppet," a straw covering 

 set over a hive to shelter It; " nadir," the hive 

 which is set under another; "storify" — still 

 used in England, but called "tiering-up" in 

 the United ;States; " triplet," a stock that has 

 three hives. 



One paragraph shows how strangely men 

 sometimes change their mind, and that, too, for 

 the worse. The suffocation of bees had, at 

 that time, been almost universally condemned; 

 but Mr. Keys says, " The suffocation of bees in 



common [single] hives is not prejudicial to the 

 interest of the owners." This was contrary to his 

 previous principles, prejudices, and practice; 

 but he condemns the practice very severely 

 where tiered-up hives are used. In the single 

 hive, he says, but few bees would be left till 

 winter, and they would die anyhow. Surely 

 we have improved since then. 



By a happy coincidence, straw hives are 

 spoken of and shown in another part of this 

 number in a very conspicuous manner. It may 

 be of interest to quote a few words from what 

 Mr. Keys says of them. Of course, they may 

 not apply to those Mr. Carr is using, but yet 

 assist us somfi-what. He says straw is a good 

 material, as it is a practical non-conductor of 

 heat, and keeps dry if exposed to the air. Un- 

 thrashed rye straw is best, cutting the heads 

 off in a straw-cutter. Bees dislike shaggy 

 straw. These hives are the shape of a half- 

 bushel, 9 inches high and 13 wide in the clear. 

 Three of these are used for each stock. 



Mr. Keys says he lost bees heavily in Hert- 

 fordshire (see cuts on page 773), but in Pem- 

 brokeshire (Wales), near the sea, he never lost 

 one from dysentery in winter. 



Just here I discover that Mr. Keys winds sp 

 his book with a review of Mr. Bonner's work, 

 which I described in the previous issue. Now, 

 please turn back and see what Mr. B. said 

 about doubling colonies every year for a certain 

 number of years, and then read the following 

 as to what Mr. Keys says: 



" On the supposition that bees will increase 

 double every year, and therefore that five hives 

 the first year may increase to ten the second 

 year, etc., I will not dispute; but will there be 

 double the quantity of honey and ^vax? I doubt 

 it; for, supposing the five hives (the bees of 

 them) can collect from the vicinage, as far as 

 their flight for pastui'age usually extends, only 

 enough to fill their five hives; the second year 

 being increased to ten, the same quantity of 

 flowers will yield only the same quantity of 

 honey, admitting the season similar to the first. 

 I infer, therefore, that the produce will be no 

 more, though double the number of bees. To 

 this we may add (which friend B. acknowl- 

 edges) that seasons are often bad ; rendering 

 hives impoverished instead of increasing, and 

 they often die in winter. The second link of 

 this golden chain being broke, down falls the 

 whole mass of honey and wax appending there- 

 to, and there I leave it. 



" No ! say its advocates, that is not fair ! We 

 can increase the flowers in proportion to the 

 number of bees. Can the cottagers extend their 

 land ? or will they extirpate from their little 

 allotment the vegetables of their daily support, 

 to give place for bee-flowers ? Will gentlemen 

 (whom B. chiefly addresses) plow up their grass 

 and corn lands, to cultivate such flowers? 

 Surely corn and cattle are of more value than 

 honey ! We had better be without honey than 

 bread. But B. has a resource in heath, which 

 covers, he says, more than half of Britain! If 

 true, I am sorry to hear it; and hope most part 

 of it will speedily be plowed up for corn, 

 though it should prove the ruin of this new 

 plan of increasing of hces. I should sooner 

 prefer Virgil's method of raising bees from a 

 dead heifer, or of Samson's procuring honey 

 from a dead lion. 



"I sincerely hope, as Mr. B. has been a practi- 

 tioner for twenty-six years, he has accumulated 

 a snug fortune, to compensate for his labors 

 and ingenious discoveries. But as his native 

 land so much abounds in white clover, heath, 

 furze, etc., it is wonderful that honey sells at 

 ten -pence and twelve-pence per pound, at 

 Edinburgh. It is also observable that he gives 

 no account of the produce of his own apiary, 



