CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



of this strange fact, by which nature seems to 

 point to the plan of autumnal unions as the best 

 possible for both bees and bee-keepers, is yet 

 unknown. 



The combs, by whatever process procured, 

 should be deprived of the honey at once, while a 

 natural warmth remains in them. The honey 

 which runs off naturally without breaking down 

 the combs, and passes through muslin, is the 

 finest. A second kind is procured by cutting the 

 combs in pieces, and letting the honey pass through 

 a drainer, under exposure to a gentle heat. A 

 third quality is procured by subsequently putting 

 the combs in a vessel placed on a fire ; the pro- 

 duct strained through canvas, is used in feeding 

 bees. The separated wax of the combs is intro- 

 duced into a woollen bag, firmly tied at the mouth, 

 and put into boiling water. The -pure wax oozes 

 through, and is skimmed off the surface, where it 

 floats. It is then to be allowed to cool slowly. 

 The best honey is supposed to be that formed 

 from heath. The famous bees of Hymettus were 

 nourished by that plant 



Honey is used as a condiment at the table, and 

 is also employed in medicine. Its value is rarely 

 under 2s. a pound. In Britain alone, about 

 .120,000 is annually spent for foreign supply ; and 

 if we add to this a large home production, and 

 consider that in other countries the article is even 

 more liberally made use of, we shall arrive at some 

 conception of the economical value of the bee. 

 But it is not the honey alone ; we import 10,000 

 hundredweight of wax each year ; and when we 

 state that the price varies from $ to 10, IDS. a 

 hundredweight, it will be seen that its value is all 

 but equivalent to that of honey. 



Winter and Spring Management. 



In winter and early spring, bees require to be 

 tended with great care. In the case of those hives 

 which have been entirely deprived of their honey, 

 systematic feeding is of course indispensable in 

 winter ; but few bee-keepers of any experience 

 ever willingly follow any other plan than that of 

 leaving to bees a winter supply of their own pro- 

 duce. Some bee-keepers remove their hives into 

 the house in winter ; but this seems an unwise 

 practice, as the bees must then be kept continually 

 in confinement. Though the door of the hive 

 should be carefully narrowed or shut up in very 

 cold weather, at which time every bee that issues 

 perishes, yet advantage should be taken of every 

 fine day to let them abroad. On this point, how- 

 ever, great difference of opinion exists many 

 contending that the bee naturally becomes torpid 

 in winter, object to their exposure to sunshine 

 altogether, and for that purpose recommend 

 screens and coverings. One thing is certain, that 

 a moderate degree of warmth is necessary, and 

 that this warmth should be as equable as possible ; 

 while at the same time there should be the most 

 thorough precautions against damp. It is damp 

 more than cold which kills our hives in winter ; 

 and he who protects them from cold and wet by a 

 thorough covering of straw, fern, flax refuse, or the 

 like, plastered over with Roman cement, is sure to 

 have the healthiest apiary. 



Proceeding on the ' dormancy' theory, a singular 

 device for winter preservation has been resorted to 

 by some bee-masters namely, burying the hives. 



686 



When this is to be attempted, the hive should be 

 buried in a cool, dry, shady place, among leaves 

 about a foot deep, and the interment should be 

 performed during the first or second week of 

 November. Mr Briggs, who first made public 

 this device, records the following experiments : ' A 

 friend in the vicinity of Hitchin buried a hive 

 of bees in the first week of November, about a 

 foot deep among dry leaves, &c. and disinterred 

 it in the last week of February, when it was just 

 two pounds lighter than it was in November, and 

 the bees in a lively and healthy state. Another 

 person, residing in Leicester, immured a hive of 

 bees in the earth, four feet deep, in the second 

 week in November, and at the end of January it 

 was removed, and weighed only three ounces less 

 than it did before it was buried! 



Where feeding is necessary, the following rules 

 have been laid down for the management of hives 

 in winter and early spring : Bees must be fed only 

 when the weather is fine and warm, to prevent 

 the temperature of the hive from being injured; 

 and a large quantity should never be given at once. 

 The quantity of food which ought to be given to a 

 hive may be calculated in the proportion of two 

 pounds a month ; but if the weather be very cold, 

 a less quantity will suffice. When a hive is fed in 

 the spring, it should always be after sunset, when 

 the bees have returned from the fields ; otherwise, 

 the most disastrous consequences may ensue, from 

 the robberies committed by the bees of other hives. 

 If fed in the morning, it must be before sunrise, 

 and the entrance instantly stopped, to keep out 

 depredators ; for as bees leave the hive on the 

 very first appearance of daylight, a later period 

 would prevent the return of those which had 

 left the hive previous to the entrance being 

 secured. 



Relative to the substances which are proper for 

 the feeding of bees, many different opinions exist ; 

 but the following may be considered among the 

 most beneficial as well as economical articles 

 of diet : To two quarts of good ale put one pound 

 of moist sugar ; boil them until the sugar is wholly 

 dissolved, carefully skimming it ; when it is cold, 

 it will be found of the consistency of honey, and it 

 may be given to the bees in the following manner : 

 If the bees are in the plain cottage-hive, an eke of 

 the same diameter as the hive must be provided, 

 and from three to four hands in height. When the 

 sun is set, and the bees have retired, let the hive 

 be gently raised, and the eke placed on the stool ; 

 then, having filled a soup-plate with the food, place 

 it in the eke, and put down the hive. To prevent 

 the bees being drowned in the liquid, it is neces- 

 sary to place some straws over the plate, and over 

 the straws a piece of paper, either thickly perfo- 

 rated or cut into nicks ; these nicks, however, must 

 not run parallel with the straws, but either across 

 or diagonally ; the entrance must then be closed, 

 and the plate removed on the following morning, 

 when the whole of the liquid will have been trans- 

 ferred to the combs. In order to avoid lifting up 

 the hive for the purpose of feeding, some recently 

 invented hives have a drawer under the bottom 

 board, into which a shallow vessel containing the 

 food is put, access to it being opened for the bees 

 by drawing out a tin slide in the bottom board. 

 The food is covered with a float of thin cork or 

 wood, pierced with holes. In others, the feeding- 

 saucer is placed on the top of the hive, under a 



