Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/488

 468 BEE-KEEPING dots. They live in the wax, eating it, and fill- ing the comb with webs. They protect them- selves from the bees by a sort of silken sack, which they spin, and in which they lodge. Vhen they have attained their full size, which 1 requires about three weeks, they spin their | cocoons ; in these they remain enclosed some i time, and change to chrysalids of a light brown , color, with a dark elevated line along the j back. A few days afterward they are trans- formed to winged moths and issue from the co- , coons. Rats and mice do not attack the hives : except in winter, unless the comb is unprotect- ed by bees. Spiders sometimes spin their webs upon and around the hives. There is a dis- ease called foul brood, which is very destruc- tive to the young bees in the larva state ; they die in the cells, and become black and putrid. The disease appears to be in a measure infec- tious. The only remedy is to drive out the bees into a new clean hive. It is the practice in some parts of Germany to put the bees into a temporary hive, and let them remain 24 hours, without food, in the dark, before settling them in the new hive. The disease is attributed sometimes to feeding the bees with foreign honey; the infection being conveyed by the honey, which, to be safely fed, should be previ- ously scalded. In wintering bees it is necessary to protect them especially from freezing and starving. The latter happens when they col- lect together closely, in the coldest weather, and the comb becomes covered with frost and ice, excluding them from the honey. This is obviated by putting straw in the cover, after the removal of the boxes, to collect the moisture. The entrance to the hive is liable to be stopped with ice, and the bees thus suffocated. The bee never passes into the actually torpid state in winter, like some other insects. It re- quires less food when kept warm and com- fortable. If the hives are to be carried into a house or cellar, the place for them should be cool, dry, and dark. The best method is to house them, unless sufficient protection can be given them on the stands. Russian and Polish bee-keepers winter their hives on the stands ; hut they make them of inch and a half plank, and wind the upper part with twisted straw or cordage. If left on the stands, hives made of common boards need additional covering ; the entrance should also be narrowed so as to leave only space enough for a single bee to pass. Light snow may cover the hive with- out danger. The time for carrying bees out from their winter quarters is in March, except in very backward seasons. A few bright cold days will riot be more destructive to them than too long confinement. If new snow has fallen, and the weather is not sufficiently warm for them to venture into the air safely, the hive may bo shaded from the sun, or the bees confined in the hive. If they are to stand very near each other, it is not well to carry out too many hives at once, the bees at first not readily distinguishing their own. The hives should be raised from the bottom board only on one side, if at all. Many prefer, if the bees are not especially numerous, to let the hive rest entirely on the board, allowing less room for passage, and securing greater defence against intruders. More ventilation than this affords may be required in warm weather, when, if liable to suffer from heat, the hive may be raised entirely, proper means being furnished for the bees to ascend from the bot- tom board. European apiarians have devised means for weighing hives so as to show the in- j crease in the weight of honey from day to day ; but the use of glass boxes and movable frames } for combs permits inspection of the progress of the work at any time and renders weighing un- necessary. Bee-keeping has in some instances- been made very profitable. It is, however, un- certain. Much depends on the season and on the pasturage. Mr. M. Quimby, in " Mysteries of Bee-Keeping Explained" (New York, 1865), says that an area of a few square miles in the vicinity of St. Johnsville, N. Y., in some favor- able seasons has furnished for market more than 20,000 Ibs. of surplus honey ; and it is estimated that in good localities every acre in the country would yield a pound. A single colony has been known to give a profit of $85 in a season ; 90 stocks have given $900 profit ; and a New York apiarian reports for 130 hives $1,800 profit in a single season. Owing to the difference in the seasons, it is impossible to know how many stocks can be kept in given localities in Tin.- United States. One of the provinces in Hol- land has an average of 2,000 hives to the square mile. In an area of 45 square miles in Attica, Greece, it was estimated in 1865 that there- were 20,000 hives. In all ages the abundance of flowers in Attica has made Hymettus famous for its honey; and as long ago as 1681, when Sir George Wheler visited the monks of Men- deli, a monastery of Pentelicus, they had 5,000 hives. In 1860 a few colonies of the Italian or Ligurian bee (op-is ligvstica), which had long been a favorite with European apiarians, were imported into the United States, where they are now among the most popular, prolific, and profitable bees kept in the country. Their su- periority over the native bee appears in their larger size and greater beauty ; they are more prolific, longer-lived, more industrious, less sen- sitive to cold, and they swarm earlier and more frequently, and continue later than common bees. The Rev. L. L. Langstroth, author of a well-known "Practical Treatise on the Hive and the Honey Bee," says his Italian colonies gathered more than twice as much honey as the swarms of the common bee ; and Mr. Quimby, a practical bee-keeper of many years' experience, says he has not received a single unfavorable report of them. They are said to be a valuable acquisition to localities of high altitude, and are peculiarly adapted to the climate of Washing- ton, Oregon, and the mountainous regions of California. The introduction of these bees into j the United States has led to the Italianizing of