1850. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



229 



SEES.— ITo. 4 



HivKs, $ic. — 1 will now give my views in brief on 

 sundry hives in use. | 



Kdsct/s Hive. — This is a hive constructed in an 

 oblonjT sliape, vv'ith a door extending the whole lengtli 

 of the hive. The interior is composed of three sep j 

 arate boxes, with a pane of glass in the front of each i 

 If I am riglitly informed, the inventor claims that ii | 

 this iiive all the ndvantages of obtaining box, or su! 

 plus honey, arc derived ; and at the same time, \>\ a 

 transposition of the different boxes, the bees < au 

 always be kept with new combs, or at least « ilh 

 <-onibs of such age as shall be contlucive to their 

 prosperity. . 



It is true tliat the bees nmy thus be transferred to 

 boxes in which they will build new combs, bin u is 

 «t the cxpeKse of subverting the domestic economy 

 of this insect ; and this process can never be etlecied 

 but at the peril, sooner or later, of losing every 'am- 

 ily of bees that is thus operated on. The reason is 

 this : Where bees are afforded a sett of boxes to 

 woHi in, the lower one is generally selected as a 

 permanent abode, in which they construct mostly 

 hrood cirtiibs ; that is, the combs in which their 

 young are matured. The upper box or boxes are 

 used as store-houses, in which sterc combs alone are 

 generally built. Now, if we take the lower box 

 when filled with bees and combs, built on the fore- 

 going principles, and place it in the position of the 

 second, or next upper box, and put the second box 

 below in the full one's position, the bees will, wliere 

 they have 'become numerous, commence working 

 therein, and will fill the same with new combs . and 

 in the fall of the year, if the then upper box be taken 

 out and the bees dispersed, they will return to the 

 hive, and finding tlje lower section only, they will all 

 enter it ; thus effecting the transfer from old to new 

 £ombs, upon which the inventor {there is nothing 

 about it wortliy of being called an invention,} plac-es 

 so much importance. If one wished to destroy an 

 apiary gradually, he could not adopt a better plan. 

 The bees in working below their permanent resi- 

 /ieace, act to a great ostent on the same principles 

 as they do wh£ji laboring above it ; and instead of 

 tiiin sheets of brood comb, many store combs would 

 be built, generally, which cculd never be used for 

 breediflg purposes : hence, when a family of bees is 

 transferred from their original combs to such as are 

 thus faliricnted, they can not prosper for the want 

 of a proper proportion of brood combs. If all the 

 bees of a lower box be driven into another empty 

 bi)X, they will, in such case, build suitable combs, 

 since there home is there, and not in a box above or 

 below them ; but while the queen is in a separate 

 box, the workers will never construct combs with 

 the same regularity and for the same uses that they 

 do where the queen is present among them. This 

 "is very reasonable. Why should they ? In their 

 permanent dwelling they already have enough brood 

 combs, and consequently they have ao use for more, 

 and brood combs not being suitable to store honey in 

 <o the best advantage, store combs are built. 



There is another serious objection to tijis manner 

 of transferring bees. The queen is most always in 

 that section of the '..ive where the brood is raised, 

 perhaps neyer entering a storage section, unless tem- 

 poraiily driven out during the height of breeding, for 

 the want of room to deposit her eggs, which some- 

 times occurs wiien the honey harvest is very abund- 



ant, and when much of her legitimate room is filled 

 with honey. When the season of transferring on 

 the foregoing plan arrives, she will be in the removed 

 section ; and though the workers may return to the 

 other section, slie will not, for the reason that she is 

 unacquainted with the locality, being always at home 

 within her tenement. In such case the safety of the 

 colony or stock is gi-eatly endangered, since they can 

 do nothing without a queen. At certain seasons the 

 bees can produce a queen in the place of one lost ; 

 but this can not be done in the fall of the year so as 

 to proceed with spring laying in the usual way. If, 

 then, the queen be lost in the transfer, the family of 

 bees is in a very critical condition ; and even if she 

 be not lost, the form of the combs preclude the pos- 

 sibility of the greatest degree of prosperity in the 

 family, and they must sooner or later become extinct. 

 I believe the foregoing statements to be so firmly 

 based on facts, that my position is not susceptible 

 of being overthrown, or even assailed with any tan- 

 gible argument ; yet I hope that apiarians who are 

 skilled in bee-culture will inform the public wherein 

 I err, if I shall state ought but truth. That any 

 written exposition of this subject can tally with every 

 man's exf>erience in all cases, is out of the question ; 

 but general facts can be given, involving general 

 principles, and that is all I can expect to do. 



T. B. Mr.N-ER, 



Author of the American Bee-Keeper's Manual. 

 Clinton, Oneida Co., JV. k'., 1 850. 



ON BEES. -QUERY. 



In the August number of the Genesee Farmer, page 

 181, friend Miner has advanced a theory which is 

 new to me, in relation to queen bees taking an a-rial 

 flight, and that while on the wing coition takes place, 

 and a future race is propagated. This theory con- 

 flicts Bomewiiat with some things that have come 

 under my observation, which i will relate. 



Some few years since I had a swarm of bees come 

 out, (it being a second swarm,) and after slighting 

 as usual, remained but a short time, when they re- 

 turned to the old hive. On examining to ascertain 

 the cause, I found the queen on the ground in front 

 of the old hive, totally disqualified for flying, having 

 bat one wing, and that a mere semblance of a wing, 

 I returned it to the old hive. On the second day 

 they did nearly the same as on the first. On the 

 third day i put the queen (it being in ail respects as 

 it was when I first caught it,) in a hive, and suc- 

 ceeded in getting a few bees in the hive-- a bunch 

 nearly as large as a goose's egg — and they stayed, 

 I placed them away from the other bees, and noted 

 their progress ; and about the usual time the bees 

 began to increase, though very slow for want of 

 comb. In the fall I took them up. The hive then 

 contained about the usual number of bee.s, with al)oijt 

 a dozen pounds of honey. 



And further, for a number of years past, wiieii my 

 bees show signs of disquiet, on hiving them I catch 

 the queen (or queens, if "more than one,) and cut one 

 wing, and then return it to its swarm. This I have 

 practiced with good effect. How is this to be recon- 

 ciled with friend Miner's theory J. D. C, — Locke, 

 JV. Y., Aug,, 1850, 



EvF.av man should strive to be a creator rather 

 than an inhe.-itor — to forge his own weapons rather 

 than rely, on the rusty sword of his forefathers. 



