[I83i) 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



653 



however, would reduce the owner to the necessity I are not torpid in that season, provided they be nu- 

 of feedinrr them durini? v/iutor, whence an earlier merous, and then they chisler together towards 



season is generally chosen for it, that the bees may 

 still have time to lay in winter provender. The 

 highest part of a hive being always filled first, 

 und with honey of the finest quality, it may be 

 talven in the midst of summer if the bees are kept 

 in boxes, simply by removing the upper one, and 

 substituting another below, if that be required. As 

 every comb is seen in the leal hive, any one of 

 the whole can be removed at will, and new divi- 

 sions inserted. The stores of the bees should be 

 moderately partitiojied with ihem, and due regard 

 always paid to the advancement of the season, 

 and the state o/' the atmosphere. We cannot tell 

 how much they will produce. Thorley declares, 

 that, in some summers, he has taken two boxes 

 fiom the hive, each containing thirty pounds of 

 honey. We hear of hives weighing seventy, 

 eighty, or even a hundred pounds; but these bear 

 no comparison vviih what JM. Duhamel relates. 

 A clergyman in France, who had placed a well 

 stocked hive over an inverted tub with a hole in the 

 bottom, obtained no less than 420 pounds of ho- 

 ney and six of wax from it. The cultivator should 

 know the exact weight of his hives, and mark their 

 gradual increase or diminution, which will enable 

 him to ascertain the proper time of taking the ho- 

 ney. Bonner judiciously observes, that "the har- 

 vest of honey, like that of corn, is earlier or later, 

 more plentiful or scarce, in different years, accord- 

 ing to the weather and the climate, and the vari- 

 ety of the seasons and situations." Sometimes 

 he has known a hive become gradually lighter al- 

 ter the first week of August; at other times, in 

 favorable weather, hives situated near heath have 

 contitmed working actively during the whole of 

 August, and the greaic'r part of September, and 

 daily became heavier. 



Of the practical separation of honey and wax 

 we need say little, as it is universally understood 

 by those who cultivate bees for profit. That ho- 

 ney which is most fluid, and runs most easily from 

 the comb, is considered the best and finest. To 

 promote the separation of the rest, the combs 

 should be cut into very small portions, and ex- 

 posed before a fire, to render the honey more liquid; 

 the product will be honey of the second degree of 

 fineness; and the remainder should be heated still 

 more in a vessel over a Ore, and then squeezed 

 through a canvas hag, which will produce a 

 coarser kind, well adapted for feeding bees. It fa- 

 cilitates the operation, to erect a stage of three or 

 four sieves, one always finer than the other from 

 the top, and in a short time the separation is ef- 

 fected. Honey-comb, wrapped in paper, and 

 kept in a cool place, may be preserved entire du- 

 ring a whole winter or longer. To purify the 

 wax, nothing more is necessary than boiling the 

 empty combs, and those deprived of the honey, 

 in water, and removing the scum which will rise 

 in the sucessivc meltings. The Abbe della Rocca 

 proposes to put a quantity of comb, tied up in a 

 linen or woollen bag, into a cauldron of water; as 

 the heat increases, the wax liquefies, and, esca- 

 ping through the interstices of the bag, rises to 

 the surfice, while the refuse is retained behmd. 

 This is a simple, and, as we conceive, very effec- 

 tual method. 



We apprehend that very few precautions are 

 necessary for preserving bees in winter. They 

 Vol. VU— 70 



the top of the hive, lint, like other insects, they 

 are liable to torpidity when single, or where there 

 are i'ew collected together, and that torpidity, by 

 an extraordinary increase of cold, will end ni 

 death. With the view of saving their provision, 

 it has been proposed to keep bees torpid, or in an 

 ice-house all the winter. It is undoubted that in a 

 certain degree of cold they cease to consume ho- 

 ney, and animals may live an mdefinite time in a 

 state of torpidity. The hives ought not to be ex- 

 posed to sunshine in the depth of winter; for bees 

 are induced to go out, and the sudden cold that fol- 

 lows deprives them of the power of returning. 



The cultivation of bees forms one considerable 

 branch of rural economy, and we could wish to 

 see it much farther extended. This country is ca- 

 pable of supporting at last four or five times the 

 number of hives now kept in if; and, without in- 

 dulging in the speculations of extravagant profit, 

 which are generally entertained by the authors 

 who write on the subject, we will confidently af- 

 firm, that every one who attempts keeping bees 

 on a moderate scale, and pays them some atten- 

 tion, will find it advantageous. The re are repeated 

 instances of bees swarming naturally three times 

 during the season; and in the [tresent year, lylO, 

 we have known five swarms come from a single 

 hive. Bonner calculates, that 20 stock hives in 

 each parish of Scotland, or 16,000 in all, would in 

 seven years, by each merely producing one swarm, 

 augment to above two millions and forty-eight 

 thousand. He allows a deduction of forty-eight 

 thousand for losses, which leaves two millions of 

 stock hives. The loss, however, would be mucli 

 more considerable; but from the parishes being 

 about a fifth above what he supposes, the diflijr- 

 ence will not hs proportionally <jreat. Such an 

 increase could hardly follow, and some unfavor- 

 able years might be destrucliveof most of the stock; 

 yet, on the whole, the hives would be numerous 

 compared with what they were in the outset. By 

 another calculation, he supposes an individual 

 purchasing five hives at II. each, will obtain, in 

 ten years, 2560 swarms, which, valued at 10s. 

 each, makes a profit of 1280/. lie supposes that 

 each hive gives one swarm annually ; if they give 

 more, that the latter are to bea'lovved for expenses 

 and incidental losses. But in similar calculations 

 we should hardly look flirtlicr than three years; 

 and it is quite moderate enough to say, that each 

 hive will give one swarm, which may be preserved 

 until the end of the third year. Tlierefore, as the 

 price of hives m this year, 1810, is 21. 2s., supjios- 

 ing a slock of ten is obtained, it is far from impro- 

 bable, that, at the end of the ihird year, it will bo 

 found to have increased to eighty; and it is likelv, 

 aiso, that other thirty or forty swarms have left the 

 stock hives, or tliat first swarms have sent out a 

 colony. The reasons we have already given show 

 why an excessive number of' bees cannot be main- 

 tained in one place; and speculations in rearini; 

 them should be divided among several imlividuaid 

 residing in different districts. The trade of fbreiLMi 

 countries in wax is very consiilerable; and the 

 increasing demand for it may render the culiure of 

 bees more worthy of noiice at home. In the year 

 1806, there was exported li'om llie port of iVloga- 

 dore, in Africa, 234,555 pounds of bees wax. 

 The honey bee is frequent ia lite wild state io, 



