Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/777

BEE-KEEPING. advantage may be taken of the greatest abundance of flowers. Thus in the south of Scotland beehives are very frequently removed to heath-covered tracts in the beginning of August, and remain there till the heath is out of flower; and this affords in many parts of the country the most plentiful honey-harvest, although in other parts, especially where white clover abounds, the greatest quantity of honey is obtained earlier in summer.

SECTION OF BOX HIVE

As to the form of beehives, and the material of which they should be made, there are great differences both of opinion and practice. Glass hives, and hives with glass windows, which can be covered at pleasure with wooden slides, are employed by those who wish to observe the movements and habits of bees; but for profitable purposes, wood and straw are the materials in common use. In some parts of Europe cylindrical cork hives are much used, made by removing the wood of a portion of the cork-tree, and leaving the bark uninjured; and hives of earthen-ware are common in Greece and Turkey. Frame hives, properly managed, are most successful. The hive which is most used in the United States, and which, with slight modification, has been adopted in England and her colonies, was invented by Langstroth. It is important that the owner should have facilities for giving increased room both above and below the stock-hive; increased room above is required for the reception of pure honeycomb unmixed with brood; and the capability of adding to the hive below, by raising it up an additional story, is often requisite to prevent swarming, which is incompatible with the collection of a large store of surplus honey.

BOX HIVE. Dadant-Quinby form of Langstroth hive, open: a, front of brood apartment; b, alighting board; c, movable entrance block; d, cap; e, straw mat; f, carriage-cloth cover for frames; g, g, frames with combs. (From Langstroth.)

Bees require attention at the time of swarming, that they may not fly away and be lost. They require also to be fed during winter, when, on account of a bad season, the lateness of the swarm, or other cause, they have not enough honey to support them. A common rule is that the weight of the contents of the hive must be at least 20 pounds, that the bees may survive the winter without being fed; and even in this case a supply of food for a short time in spring promotes the activity of the bees and their summer prosperity. The food ordinarily supplied to bees is either the coarser kind of honey or sugar and water. Strong ale and sugar boiled are also frequently given as food. The practice has very largely prevailed of killing bees by fumes of sulphur, in order to take from them their honey in the end of autumn, a portion only of the increase of the stock being kept through the winter. This practice still has its advocates; but the majority of bee-keepers take only what they can by top boxes or supers, or by cutting out combs, preserving all hives which are not so light that there is no good hope of their surviving the winter.

When honey is to be taken from bees, the person doing it must be carefully protected from their stings by gloves, veil, etc. It is best done during the heat of a fine day, when the bees more readily leave the combs of the super that is taken away, and return to their hive. A little gentle tapping generally causes them to leave the combs, and a feather is used for brushing off those which are slow to do so. The smoke of the common puffball causes them to fall down in a stupor, from which they speedily recover, and its use is very convenient. It is gathered and dried for the purpose. Chloroform is also sometimes used for the same purpose; but the effect is apt to be fatal, unless care is taken to choose the morning of a fine day, so that the stupefied bees may have time to recover in the air and sunshine. Objections which might be raised against stupefying substances for smoking bees do not apply to wood for this purpose, such as hickory or hard maple.

Bees are much less apt to sting when swarming than at other times, and in general all the necessary operations are performed without gloves or veil, and with perfect safety. The sting of a bee is to many persons a thing of no great consequence, although in some it causes great local inflammation and swelling, and general derangement of health. The application of a little ammonia usually relieves the pain; or an onion cut through the middle.

The apiary should, of course, be in a sheltered place, and where it enjoys a good amount of sunshine. The hives are very generally placed at small distances in the open ground, but some bee-keepers protect them by a shed. In the former case, each hive is usually covered with a straw hood in winter, to keep away the rain, as dampness is particularly injurious to bees. For