544 



F A Ji M 10 R S ' HE G I S T E R , 



[No. 9 



without any disturbance or interruption ; fiarily 

 i'roni the ^rreater lieat preserved in a roof durinrr 

 summer. Heat is tlio, soul of insects : ihcir action 

 and exertion are directly in pro|)orlion to the tem- 

 perature of the atmospliere ; and cold is the bane 

 of their existence. It is not unliliely, also, that 

 the same cause promoiing the haiching of the 

 brood, contributes to render ilie colony more nu- 

 merous : and if tiieir swarnjing is at all depen- 

 dant on want of room, large ()oi!ions of them 

 have not an equal inducen)ent to seek another 

 dwelling. Pallas tells us, that the Russian pea- 

 sants, in remote parts of ihe empire, hollow out a 

 part of the trunks of trees, 25 or 30 li;et from the 

 surfiice of the earth, lor the |}urpose of hives, and 

 coverihe opening wiih |ilanks, leavuig small aper- 

 tures for the bees. At Cazan, JMr. Bell saw hives 

 of a similar form, which the inhabitants bound to 

 the trees at the side of a wood, in order to secure 

 them from the bears. 



As abundant collections of honey are often 

 made in the common straw liives, we cannot af- 

 firm that they are unsuitable for the [)urpose ; but 

 they are attended wiih the disadvantage of pre- 

 venting the owner li-om an early appropriation of 

 the labor of the bees. One convenience, indeed, 

 lies in the facility of construction, which always 

 merits due appreciation in every branch of rural 

 economy ; and, also, that the cost is inconsidera- 

 ble. Though neither the size nor figure of the 

 hive be important, all modern cultivators seem 

 agreed that it should be susceptible of additions. 

 In the ordinary straw hive, Ihe addition is made 

 by raising it on a circular ring or hoop, either of 

 wood or of the same maierials; a clumsy and 

 awkward expedient, which commonly leads the 

 bees to waste much of their labor in filling u|) 

 crevices. Notwithstanding this, it is adopted in 

 Brittany with some liidc difference, and there 

 called die Scotch hive. The hive itself consists of 

 two pieces, each twelve inches wide, and eleven 

 hiirh, made of rolls of straw. The under one is 

 divided from the other; but a communication hole, 

 fi!teen or eighteen lines in diameter, is left lor the 

 bees. As they work downwards, the under part, 

 which is nothing but one of our conmion eeks, or 

 broad hoops, is next filled. Pyramidal liives have 

 been made several feet in height, and divided into 

 different stages, or compartments ; which the bees, 

 after being lodged in the highest, would succes- 

 sively fill on removal of the floors or stages. Boxes 

 of convenient size and form, placed above each 

 other, have likewise been reconnnended, and 

 which we should suppose well adapted fijr ena- 

 bling the cultivator, at all times, to take the honey 

 with ease. Such boxes are made of well seasoned 

 wood, nine inches long, the same in breadth, and 

 eight inches high ; bat from what we have said, 

 there is no necessity for a rigid adherence to these 

 dimensions. In the roof"there is a comniuidcation 

 liule three inches square, on which is placed an- 

 ollier box of similar structure; others m;iy be raised 

 above this to an indefinite heiirht ; and the bottom 

 of each is open like the mouth of a common hive. 

 When a swarm is lodged in a box, if only two be 

 used, it is immediately to be put over an empty 

 one, as the bees must have more room ; and if 

 more than two are used, a new one is successiv»dy 

 to be supplied below. The bees, beginning from 

 above, will soon fill the upper box with honey; 

 and it is to be then separated from that beneath it^ 



by drawing through a long thin pliable knife, to 

 cut the comb. The communication hole of the 

 lower box must then be covered with a board, and 

 the box sepal ated carried to a distance, where the 

 bees remaining in it may be dislodged, by turning 

 it up and rapping on its sides witi) a small stick. 

 Thf^ projier lime to perform this operation is at 

 sunrise. Collateral boxes have also been sug- 

 gested, from the belief of their being attended 

 with greater advantages to the bees. The size 

 is nearly the same with that above mentioned. 

 There is a communication hole in the side, and an 

 opening low and wide below in the sides applied 

 to each other, to allow the bees more ready pas- 

 sage. Collateral hoops of tvvisted straw or wood 

 were long ago invented, by which means the in- 

 ventor enlarged his hives to an unlimited extent ; 

 and these he kept, with great advantage, in a gar- 

 ret near the roof of his house. Madame Vicat 

 invented a kind of hive, composed of hollow 

 frames of three sides, which are connected to- 

 gether, and can be separately taken out at plea- 

 sure. Each frame is made of three pieces of 

 plank, half an inch thick. Tlie two .*ide pieces 

 are eleven inches high, and five and a half broad; 

 the piece connecting them above is seven inches 

 long, and they are ten inches asunder at the bot- 

 tom. The sides of these ofien frames are applied 

 to each other, and if one of itie four be taken away, 

 on empty one can be introduced, or the remaining 

 ones can be closed together. Somewhat analo- 

 gous to this is the leaf or bovk hive, invented by 

 JM. Huber, some of which construction have re- 

 cently been adopted in Scotland, alter the descrip- 

 tion he gives ol' iu This consists of twelve hol- 

 low frames, twelve inches high, nine or ten in 

 breadth, and filteen lines in width, as it is intended 

 each shall receive only a single comb; These 

 twelve frames, laterally applied to each other, 

 form the whole hive. AH arc connected by 

 means of hinges at the back, so that they divide 

 asunder in opening like turning over the leaves of 

 a book. The ten intermediate frames, between 

 the first and twelfth, are hollow; the outside of 

 these two are covered ; in them, also, is an en- 

 trance for the bees ; there should be one in all the 

 rest, to open at pleasure. On first lodging a swarm 

 in one of these hives, a small piece of comb should 

 be fixed in a division, to guide the direction of 

 those built by the bees, which will be parallel to 

 it ; and as each frame contains but a single comb, 

 it is extremely well adapted lor observation, and it 

 also admits the removal of that comb without af- 

 fecting or deranging the rest. The whole con- 

 tents are exposed to view, the queen is easily 

 found, and whatever should be removed or altered 

 can be selected with great convenience. The in- 

 ventor conceives, that the book hive has the pro- 

 perty of rendering the bees more tractable ; for 

 on opening any of the divisions, the bees rather 

 testily fear than anger, by leliring into the cells as 

 if to conceal themselves. This he ascribes to the 

 efiecl which the sudden introduciion of light has 

 on them ; lor they are less tractable after sun-set 

 and during night than through the day. The di- 

 visions must be separated slowly, and care observ- 

 ed to avoid wounding the bees. If they cluster 

 loo much on the combs, they must be brushed off 

 with a feather, and breathing on them cautiously 

 guarded against. The air which we expire seems 

 to excite their fury j and it certainly possesses 



