THE FAKMEBS' REOISTEB. 



VOL. I. 



Sia^aiMKDSriDa ^WILII aSQQa 



NO. 2. 



ED3IUND RUFFIN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.— T. W. WHITE, PRINTER. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



ECOIVOIHY AND MAlVAGEMEiVT OF BEES. 



Translated from the Cours Complet d'Agriculture, etc. par 

 I'Abbe Raoier et autres. 



This article is compiled from tlie works of the 

 best authors, who have not only written concern- 

 ing bees, but also have observed their habits, taken 

 care of them, and made numerous experiments in 

 tlieir mana2;ement. These authors are Swammer- 

 dam, Maraldy, Reaumur, Mill (or Wildman,) 

 Schirach, Bonnet, Riems, Hattorf, Needam, the 

 two Rubers, and others : and to the inibrmation 

 derived from all these sources, I have to add the 

 results of my owji experience for eighteen years, 

 during which my attention has been given to this 

 subject. 



CHAPTER I. 



Of the Different Species of Bees. 



There are many species of bees, as the ivood 

 borer, the tapestry bee, the carder, the leaf cutter, 

 the mason bee, &c. all of which are wild and soli- 

 tary, and whose industry, however admiralile, can- 

 not be made beneficial to man. These will not be 

 treated of in this article, which will be devoted to 

 the honey bee. 



The bees which fabricate wax and store up 

 honey, live in societies formed of numerous indi- 

 viduals, and labor in common. These societies are 

 independent of each other, have no connexion or 

 intercourse, and form ^ many separate monarchies, 

 as they may be called, since in each, a single chief 

 directs all the members of the society. This chief 

 is a female, and lias been called the queen. There 

 are also from fifteen hundred to two thousand males, 

 called drones, which do not labor, and live only 

 about two months ; and innumerable bees of a 

 smaller size, called ivorktng bees, which perform 

 all the labors required for the society. 



Many authors maintain that there are in Europe 

 four species of honey bees ; but they all agree that 

 the kind to be preferred is the smallest, which is 

 commonly called the little Dutch bee : I know no 

 other than this, which is the kind that is most com- 

 mon. 



There is in each community only one queen, 

 from fifteen hundred to two thousand drones or 

 males, and the working bees, which are of the 

 feminine sex, but in which nature has not permit- 

 ted the development of the ovary, except in llie 

 case of their receiving a particular kind of nourish- 

 ment during their earliest existence. That is so 

 true, that when the working bees lose their queen, 

 they procure for themselves another — and there are 

 even some of them that lay, Init so imperfectly, that 

 their eggs produce males only. 



The queen has the body longer than the wings; 

 she is heavy [and sluggish] in the time of her prin- 

 cipal laying of eggs for working bees — drags her- 

 self along with difficulty when she begins the lay- 

 ing of drones— is light and brisk when this laying- 

 is finished, and is in a stale to conduct (he first 

 Vor.. I.— 9 



swarm from the hive, as we shall describe : she 

 does not labor — and has a sting. 



The drone has large Avings : he is twice as heavy 

 as the working bee. He is black, and has the ex- 

 tremity of the body very hairy : he docs not labor — 

 is without a sting — and exhales a very strong odour, 

 which in the time of the swarms, is perceived near 

 the hive. 



The working bee is small, brown, and covered 

 with hairs; its wings are as long as its body. The 

 young ones have a white point at the extremity of 

 the belly; those of a year old are more brown, 

 have the white spot effaced, their Avings fringed, 

 have stings, and on the two hinder legs have a little 

 cavity or hollow, in which they bring the pollen 

 which they gather from flowers. 



CHAPTER II. 



Destination of the Queen Bees, Drones, andJVork- 

 ing Bees. 



The queen bees people their hives without ces- 

 sation, except during the time of cold weather, 

 when their laying is suspended. Their principal 

 layuig takes place in the spring. The number of 

 eggs annually layed by each queen, may be esti- 

 mated at from fifty to sixty thousand ; hence pro- 

 ceed those innumerable swarms which perpetuate 

 the race of bees. 



The presence of a queen is absolutely necessary 

 in every hive. They have so great an aversion to 

 each other, that there cannot be two in one hive, 

 without their fighting until one of them is killed. 



The vigilance of the queen is such, that if you 

 strike the hive even moderately, she runs immedi- 

 ately to the place inside, where she lias heard the 

 noise, as if to learn the cause of it. 



The drones are destined solely to impregnate the 

 queens. They first appear at the end of April, and 

 cfo not go out except in the finest weather, to fly 

 about the hive from mid-day to three or four 

 o'clock. 



In July and August, after the young queens liave 

 been impregnated, the males are driven from all 

 the hives, and exterminated by the working bees: 

 not one is left ; and the bees, after having killed 

 them, drag tlieir bodies out of the hive. If drones 

 are seen in any hive after this general destruction 

 by the working bees, it is an indication that the 

 hive is in a declining state. 



The working bees are charged with all the la- 

 bors of the community.^ They go to search for the 

 materials necessary to construct their edifices, 

 which are of wax and divided into combs, lying pa- 

 rallel to each other. The combs are composed of 

 little boxes or cavities that are called cells. The 

 working bees alone construct them, and repair them 

 when they need it. They gather honey for the 

 common subsistence, and pollen for the young bees. 

 They keep the hive clean, and the air pure, by 

 tlirowing out the bodies of dead bees. They guard 

 the entrance of the hive, in order that no enemies 

 may gain access. If the queen dies, and Ihe work- 

 ing bees cannot replace her, llie hive is given up 

 to pillage. The proprietor who perceives it, from 



