THE CULTIVATOR 
37 
1852. 
Honey Bees—The Apiary. 
The old system of keeping honey bees has always ap¬ 
peared to me to be very defective. It is but one small 
remove from the state of nature—-just so much of an im¬ 
provement as to induce the bees to accept of it and serve 
in it in preference to their old hollow trees, and no more. 
Numerous experiments have proved that bees can be 
managed upon systematic and economical principles, just 
as well as cows, and other domestic animals can, and 
that the per centage of profit on the outlay and labor is 
far greater. An examination of the plan of an apiary, 
invented by Mr. Gilmore, of the state of Maine, has 
afforded me much pleasure, and led to a desire to call 
public attention to the improvement of this valuable de¬ 
partment of rural economy. Before proceeding, howev¬ 
er, to speak’of the apiary, I will say a few words as to 
the habits of the honey bee. Many, nearly everybody, 
supposes that the bee collects honey from the nectar of 
the flowers, and simply carries it to its cell in the hive. 
This is not correct. The nectar he collects from the flow¬ 
er, is a portion of its food or drink; the honey it deposits 
in its cell is a secretion from its mellific, or honey secret¬ 
ing glands, (analogous to the milk secreting glands of 
the cow and other animals.) If they were the mere col¬ 
lectors and transporters of honey from the flowers to the 
honey-comb, then we should have the comb frequently 
filled with molasses, and whenever the bees have fed at a 
molasses hogshead! The honey-bag in the bee performs 
the same functions as the cow’s bag or udder, merely re¬ 
ceives the honey from the secreting glands, and retains it 
till a proper opportunity presents for its being deposited 
in its appropriate store-house, the honev-comb. Anoth¬ 
er error is, that the bee collects pollen from the flowers 
accidentally, while it is in search of honey. Quite the 
contrary is the fact. The bee, when in search of nectar, 
or honey, as it is improperly called, does not collect pol¬ 
len. It goes in search of pollen specially, and also spe¬ 
cially for nectar. When the pollen of the flower is ripe, 
and fit for the uses of the bee, there is no nectar; when 
there is nectar, there is no pollen fit for use in the flower. 
It is generally supposed, also, that the bee collects the 
wax from which it constructs its comb, from some vege¬ 
table substance. This is also an error. The wax is a 
secretion from its body, as the honey is; and it makes its 
appearance in small scales or flakes, under the rings of 
the belly, and is taken thence by other bees, rendered 
plastic by mixture with the saliva of the bees’ mouth, and 
laid on the walls of the cell with the tongue, very much 
in the way a plasterer uses his trowel. 
Now, by a proper understanding of these facts, the 
reader will be able to judge of the propriety of the im¬ 
provements in the apiary. They must understand that 
the bee will make honey, no matter what food it may 
feed upon, if the food be such as is appropriate for the 
bee, and it will noteat it if otherwise. The flavor of the 
honey is derived from the aroma of the flowers or other 
food, but the article will be honey, and not molasses or 
sugar, whether the bees feed on flowers, or molasses, or 
sugar. 
The apiary, therefore, should be constructed in such a 
way, and should be managed on such principles as to af¬ 
ford the bees the best accommodation, and fullest supply 
of food, at the least expense of time and labor to the 
bees, and the least cost to the proprietor. Gilmore’s' 
plan seems to the writer to afford all these advantages to 
a greater extent than any other. He constructs a bee- 
house of the size that will accommodate as many hives 
as he intends to keep. The house is made tight, with a 
window to afford light to the attendant. Inside frames 
are arranged to receive the hives. The hives are made 
in three divisions, one above onother, so that when the 
upper division is full of honey, it can be removed, and 
another put under the lower one. The tops of the seve¬ 
ral divisions are so arranged that the bees can pass 
through them to the division above. When the bees 
have multiplied sufficiently to require more room, a fresh 
hive is set by the sides of the old one, and the bees that 
on the old plan would have u swarmed,” and probably 
have been lost, go to work in the new apartment, with a 
queen at their head. 
This secures all the advantages of the old single hive 
system, with a queen to each family, and the communi¬ 
ty system, which prevents swarming, and the loss of bees. 
It is a curious fact, that although the bees of all the 
hive live and work in one common large community, yet 
the queens all remain in their several separate apart¬ 
ments, never leaving them like troublesome neighbors. 
The whole community form a large republic composed 
of numerous separate states, in a perfect confederacy. 
But the greatest improvement of Gilmore is his plan 
of feeding the bees. He has prepared a kind of liquid 
food, which is placed in a feeding trough, under or near 
the hives, in the house, at which the bees feed, instead 
of going out in search of flowers; so that they only have 
to go out when they require “ bread” in search of pol¬ 
len. This saves much time, and enables the bees to pro¬ 
duce much more honey than they do on the old plan. 
The going out after pollen, is just enough to afford them 
necessary exercise and fresh air, and in wet weather they 
have their regular supply of food, and are not obliged to 
fall back upon their stored honey. Though Gilmore has 
made no claim to the discovery, it is certain that the ar¬ 
tificial food maybe flavored with vanilla or lemon, or 
any other aromatic, so that the honey will partake of it, 
and honey of any flavor may be produced. The injuri¬ 
ous qualities of wild and West India honey—that pre¬ 
vent so many people from eating it—may also, by this 
artificial feeding, be mainly, if not entirely avoided, as it 
is pretty well known that these qualities are derived from 
the wild plants which the bees feed upon, just as the flesh 
of pheasants and wild animals, are often rendered poison¬ 
ous by the wild berries and foliage they feed upon; and 
as cow’s milk is rendered garlicky and bitter, by what 
she feeds upon. The advantages of Gilmore’s plan, 
therefore, are very great, and it is believed that there is 
no appendage to the farm that would pay so well, for so 
small a capital, as a snug apiary, constructed on those 
principles. 
The annoyance of the bee moth, for a remedy for which 
so much trouble has been taken, and so many inventions 
made, it is believed is more effectually provided against 
by this plan, than by any other. In the first place, the 
external house acts to a great extent, as a shield, the 
