BEES. 



BEES. 



Mr. Luda, of Connecticut. By it the bees are | the cap into the long box. When they are all 



made to build their cells and deposit their ho- 

 ney in the chamber of a dwelling-house appro- 

 priated for the purpose, in neat little drawers, 

 frqm which it may be taken fresh by the 

 owner, without killing the bees. The hive has 

 the appearance of, and is in part, a mahogany 

 bureau or sideboard, with drawers above and 

 a closet below, with glass doors. This case or 

 bureau is designed to be placed in the cham- 

 ber of a house, or any other suitable building, 

 and connected with the open air or outside 

 of the house by a tube passing through the 

 wall. The bees work and deposit their honey 

 in drawers. When these or any of them are 

 full, or it is desired to obtain honey, one or 

 more of them may be taken out, the bees al- 

 lowed to escape into the other part of the hive, 

 and the honey taken away. The glass doors 

 allow the working of the bees to be observed ; 

 and it is said that the spaciousness, cleanli- 

 ness, and even the more regular temperature 

 of such habitations, render them the more in- 

 dustrious and successful. 



A recent plan called the " Kentucky Bee- 

 house," has been highly commended for its 

 successful adaptation, convenience and cheap- 

 ness. One is described in the Farmer's Cabi- 

 net, for June, 1839, by Mr. F. C. Fisher. 



"The building is twelve feet long, eight 

 wide, and seven feet high from the floor to the 

 plate or ceiling (the floor being eighteen inches 

 from the ground), and consists of four posts, 

 eleven feet six inches long, let in the ground 

 three feet, which is weather-boarded round, 

 and covered in so as to prevent the bees from 

 getting in the house, they being confined in six 

 boxes, three on either side of the house, placed 

 fifteen inches one above another. 



between the floor and ground, which are kept 

 filled with water to prevent ants and other 

 insects from getting in the house. Nos. 2, 3, 

 and 4 are tubes eight inches wide, and one-eighth 

 of an inch deep, to convey the bees through 

 the wall into the long boxes, and entering them 

 at the bottom, there being three to each long 

 box. The drawing (fig. 4) represents one 

 side of the house, viewed from the inside. 

 Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are 

 long boxes, eighteen 

 inches wide and 

 twelve deep, extend- 

 ing the whole length 

 of the house, with 

 eight holes, four 

 inches square, in 

 each box, upon which 



is set two gallon caps, with two half inch holes 

 in each, one near the top, the other about the 

 centre of the cap, in which the smoke of a 

 burning rag is blown to drive the bees from 

 166 



in the long box, which can be known by strik- 

 ing the caps, a knife or wire should be drawn 

 under the bottom of the cap to separate the 

 comb from the box. The cap of honey may 

 then be removed, and an empty one put in its 

 place. Nos. 4 and 5 are tubes three inches 

 square, to convey the bees from one box to 

 another, that one swarm of bees may do the 

 whole work, or if one or more swarms be put 

 in each box, that they may become as one, as 

 they will not permit more than one queen when 

 put together, by which they are prevented 

 from destroying themselves by fighting. A 

 house of this description, when the long boxes 

 are filled, will afford, at a moderate calcula- 

 tion, ninety-six gallons of honey in the comb 

 annually." 



A hive under the very pompous name of 

 " Patent Fortified Transparent Royal Bee Pa- 

 lace," invented a few years since by Mr. 

 William Groves, of Cleaveland, Ohio, is said 

 to possess real merits, notwithstanding its un- 

 promising and ridiculous name. It is so con- 

 structed that the bees never swarm, and are 

 enabled to reject and roll off all offensive mat- 

 ters, besides defending themselves against 

 intruders. For the preservation of the bees it 

 is said to be preferable to any other hive, and 

 it admits of the convenient removal of honey 

 in any desirable quantity, at all times without 

 disturbing the bees, which are kept clean, well- 

 ventilated, and healthy. 



A correspondent of the Farmer's Cabinet 

 residing in Western Pennsylvania furnishes 

 the following description of an improved hive, 

 which he says embraces more advantages than 

 any other he has ever seen. Among these are 

 the following : 



" 1. It prevents the ravages of the miller, whose 

 worm is the bee's most fatal enemy. The 

 miller deposits its eggs in the bee dirt; which 

 in the common hive is constantly accumulating 

 on the bottom. This difficulty is obviated by 

 the slanting bottom of the stand ; the dirt fall- 

 ing on this rolls out at P, and the bottom is 

 kept clean. 



"2. The cruel practice of destroying the bees is 

 entirely superseded by the use of this hive. 

 By blowing a small quantity of tobacco smoke 

 into the upper box, through a hole made for 

 that purpose, the bees will descend into the 

 box next below ; the upper box can be remov- 

 ed ; fifty or sixty pounds of honey, entirely free 

 from dead bees and dirt, can thus be taken 

 from a good hive ; and enough remain to win- 

 ter the bees without any risk of loss. 



" 3. The swarming of the bees can be regulated 

 by the rise of this hive, and the new swarms 

 taken at the season of the year when they are 

 most valuable. The bees can be prevented 

 swarming again for the season, by additional 

 boxes as the young bees increase. 



"4. This hive is cheap and requires but little 

 mechanical knowledge in its construction ; any 

 farmer with ordinary tools can make it from 

 the following description:" 



Fig. 5, A, is the stand of Mr. Groves's hive, the 

 legs of which are sixteen inches high, the stand 

 itself eighteen inches square. B represents 

 a three-cornered box, open on the top, will* a 





