Page:Supplement to the fourth, fifth, and sixth editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica - with preliminary dissertations on the history of the sciences - illustrated by engravings (IA gri 33125011196181).pdf/747



We find from a Notice in the second volume of that useful Geographical Miscellany—the Annals du Voyages, &c. by Malte Brun,—that a complete edition of the works of D’Anville, containing ail the memoirs and tracts above enumerated, had been announced for publication at Paris in 1808. The first volume was to be published in that year, and the work was to consist of 6 volumes 4to, with a Folio Atlas.

APIARY. Under the article, in the Encyclopædia, directions have been given at considerable length as to the management of an apiary; and various methods are there detailed of procuring honey and wax from the hive; without destroying the bees themselves. The most economic mode of attaining these ends, deserves more attention as a national object, than it has in general received in this country. It appears, from the returns of the Custom-House, that England pays annually to the North of Germany from L.40,000 to L.50,000 Sterling, for the wax and honey which are imported from thence, and which might very easily be raised by a more extended and judicious cultivation of bees at home. Greater attention to this useful appendage to the Cottage, would not only be productive of commercial advantage, but would tend to improve the condition of the lower order of Peasantry. It is not generally known, indeed, what profitable returns may be obtained, at a trifling expence of time and labour, by very simple processes. Mr Huish, who has lately published a valuable practical treatise on the management of bees, has made a calculation, from which he infers, that even supposing the first cost of a swarm to be one guinea, which is the price in the places where they are sold the dearest, the Cottager is almost certain, by proper care and management, of clearing, in five years, a net produce of nearly L.60; and of having besides, at the end of that period, ten good stocks of bees in his garden.

The principal objects to be attained in the construction and management of an apiary, are to secure the prosperity and multiplication of the colonies;—to increase the amount of their productive labour;—and to obtain their products with facility, and with the least possible detriment to the stock. The apiary should afford to the bees the best shelter against moisture and the extremes of heat and of cold, and especially against sudden vicissitudes of temperature; it should protect them against their numerous enemies; it should afford them every facility of constructing their combs, and of rearing their young; it should allow of every part of the combs being occasionally inspected, and being capable of removal when requisite; and, while due attention is paid to economy, it should be made of materials that will ensure its durability. Much ingenuity has been displayed by different Apiarians in the construction of hives, which should unite in the greatest possible degree all these advantages. Although it be in vain to hope that every one of these objects can at once be perfectly attained; yet there is still great room for improvement on the hives that are at present in common use; and we shall point out, in this Supplementary article, such modes of construction as have been recommended since the publication of the article , above referred to.

While some Cultivators of bees have been chiefly anxious to promote their multiplication, and to prevent the escape of the swarms in the natural way, by procuring what they have termed artificial swarms,—which they effected by separating a populous hive, previous to its swarming, into two parts, and allowing to each greater room for the extension of their works; others have contemplated only the abundance of the products which they yielded, and the facility of extracting them from the hive, without showing any particular solicitude as to the preservation of the bees themselves. Another class of Apiarians have, on the other hand, had it more particularly in view to facilitate the prosecution of researches in the natural history and economy of bees. The hive invented by Mr Huber is peculiarly calculated for the last of these objects, and its construction is founded on an accurate knowledge of the habits of these insects. He has given it the name of Rache en livre ou en feuillets, from its opening and shutting somewhat in the manner of the leaves of a book. This book or leaf hive is composed of from eight to twelve square wooden frames, placed vertically, and joined together sideways like the hoops of a cask. Each frame consists of two uprights, one inch in thickness, a foot in height, and an inch and a third in width, connected by an upper and lower cross bar, ten inches long, and of the same breadth and thickness as the former; so that all the frames may be joined together, without leaving any interval. The two external frames are closed each by a pane of glass, which is covered by a shutter on the outside: and the whole is properly secured in its place, and further protected by an external cover. An aperture must of course be left in the lower part of one of the frames to serve as a door. In order to determine the bees to construct their combs in the plane of each leaf, a small piece of honey-comb is fixed, by means of pegs, to the top of each in the proper position; as it is well known, that bees always complete their work in the direction in which they find it begun, unless they meet with some insurmountable obstacle. A proper distance is thus preserved between the lateral surfaces of the perpendicular combs; and the external ones, being only three or four lines distant from the glass panes, may be easily inspected by opening the shutters: and also, by opening in succession the different divisions of the hive, both surfaces of every comb may at pleasure be fully brought into view. No difficulty is experienced in introducing swarms into hives of this construction; and after the lapse of a few days, when the colony is fully established, the bees will very patiently submit to be daily inspected.

Mr Huber’s hive is exceedingly well calculated for producing artificial swarms on the principle of Sebirach's discovery, of which a full account will be given in the Article in this Supplement. It allows us to judge by inspection, whether the population is sufficient to admit of division,—if the brood is of the proper age,—and if males exist, or are ready to be produced, for impregnating the young queen; all