52 



THE AMEEIOAN BEE JOUENAL. 



the plains of Africa. Mungo Park, in his last 

 expedition, twice saw his caravan dispersed by- 

 swarms, and seven beasts killed. In the east- 

 ern regions I lost in one day three asses, and 

 witnessed the capture of a village by bees. 



Deprivation and Suffocation. 



There is no species of stock which produces 

 so great a profit with so small an outlay as bees, 

 and the question then arises, in what manner 

 can that profit be rendered the greatest, whether 

 by depriving the hives of their superfluous store, 

 or suffocating them at the end of the season? 

 This question has been discussed by almost 

 every apiarian, particularly the French; and 

 whilst each system has met with its enthusi- 

 astic advocates, the one supported by human- 

 ity, the other by prejudice and antiquated cus- 

 toms, we find that the question stands nearly 

 as it did at the commencement, in an undeter- 

 mined and unsettled state. We have met with 

 many bee masters, who, on the score of human- 

 ity, showed themselves most anxious to adopt 

 the system of deprivation; but who were actu- 

 ally deterred from it by the almost insuperable 

 obstacles with which deprivation is attended in 

 the common cottage hive. To contend with a 

 few thousands of infuriated insects appears to 

 be an act nearly allied to madness, when the 

 same if not a greater share of profit can be ob- 

 tained by a half-penny worth of sulphur. We 

 therefore" consider it utterly hopeless to intro- 

 duce the system of deprivation into this coun- 

 try, so long as the common straw hive is in 

 general use. 



The process of deprivation appears at the first 

 to be one of a most formidable nature; but it is 

 in reality not so much so as it seems to be. The 

 operator has always in smoke a most powerful 

 auxiliary, by which he can in a moment quell 

 a hive of bees, in the utmost state of irasci- 

 bility; and with this potent aid at hand, the 

 most timid person may fearlessly extract the 

 combs even from the cottage hive. The fol- 

 lowing is the process to be adopted: The first 

 point "is to ascertain the weight of the hive, 

 from which a correct estimate may be formed 

 of the quantity that can with safety to the bees 

 be taken from them. A difiierent calculation, 

 however, is to be observed between an old and a 

 new hive, and the particular season of the year 

 must be taken into the account, in which the 

 deprivatien takes place. The weight of an old 

 hive is not always a correct criterion of the 

 quantity of honey, as in all old hives there is a 

 superabundance of bee bread, which is the most 

 ponderous substance in a hive. Take fifty cells 

 filled with bee bread, and fifty cells filled with 

 honey, and tlie Aveight of the former compared 

 with that of the latter will be as three to two. 

 If the hive weighs thirty pounds, which is by 

 no means an unusual weight, if deprived in the 

 spring, it can well afford to lose ten pounds, 

 but if in the autumn, we would not recommend 

 more than five to be taken. The operation of 

 deprivation should be always yjcrformed in the 

 evening, when it is supposed that all the bees 

 have returned from their labors; for if per- 



formed in the middle of the day the operator is so 

 dreadfully annoyed by the bees returning from 

 the fields, that he is surrounded by hosts of an- 

 gry insects, and the whole apiary perhaps put 

 into confusion. The hive must be gently lifted 

 from the pedestal, and placed with the combs 

 upwards on the ground. The entii-e surface of 

 it will appear a living mass, and the timid ope- 

 rator dreads the consequences Avhich might en- 

 sue to him, were only a thousandth part of the 

 insects to wreak their vengeance upon him. 

 Calling, however, to his assistance the fumi- 

 gating belloAvs, he proceeds to pour upon them 

 a Vesuvian smoke, and, in a moment, the ut- 

 most alarm prevails, and the bees hurry to the 

 furthest extremity of the hive in order to pro- 

 tect themselves from such an unexpected nui- 

 sance. The absence of the bees will give the 

 operator a full opportunity of examining the 

 state of the combs, and determining on which 

 side to begin the operation. The extraction of 

 the first comb is usually attended with the great- 

 est difiiculty; the second is more easily extract- 

 ed on account of the space which has been left 

 by the extraction of the first. Should the bees 

 show a disposition to be troublesome, repeat 

 the application of the smoke, and their inter- 

 ference will be checked in a moment. In cut- 

 ting out the combs, particular care should be 

 paid not to cut into two combs at once, but, if 

 possible, to extract one completely, before a 

 second one be cut into. Here, however, steps 

 in the chief obstacle to a clean and expeditious 

 extraction of the combs, which is the sticks that 

 are almost universally placed in the hive, with 

 the intent of keeping the combs from falling. 

 The extraction of a complete conib becomes 

 under those circumstances, a direct impossi- 

 bility. The combs must be cut into pieces in 

 order to disengage them from the sticks; the 

 operation becomes unpleasant and dishearten- 

 ing from the hands being covered with honey, 

 independently of the great loss which is sus- 

 tained by it flowing from the combs. In some 

 instances, we have found it impossible to cut 

 out a comb to its very foundation at the top. 

 and the bees then in the hive being returned to 

 the pedestal are literally drowned in their OAvn 

 sweets. We cannsttoo strenuously recommend 

 the omission of these sticks. They are by no 

 means required for the support of the combs, 

 as the bees know well how to give their combs 

 all the support they require, and in all opera- 

 tions connected with the interior of the hive, 

 they are a direct and iusufi"erable nuisance. 



The requisite amount ef honey being ex- 

 tracted, the hive may be returned to its pedes- 

 tali but it should not at first be placed directly 

 upon it, but let it be supported by a stone or 

 two about an inch from it, whereby the lives 

 of animiber of bees will be saved, which would 

 otherwise be crushed between the hive and the 

 pedestal; the supporters, however, must bcrc- 

 maved the same night, or on the following 

 morning the proprietor will have the mortifica- 

 tion of bch®lding the hive, that has afforded 

 him so rich a harvest, the prey of a host of rob- 

 bers, who, scenting the honey that has been 

 spilled, will attack it from>vcry 'quarter. 



