CHAPTER V.. Manufacture of Honey by the Hive Bee.

MANUFACTURE OF HONEY BY THE HIVE BEE.

Many and various are the trees, shrubs, and plants, yielding blossoms rich in honey, which have been recommended to be cultivated in the neighbourhood of bee-hives; and no one can have watched the proceedings of the industrious inhabitants without observing that the early blossoms of the sallow and of the horse-chestnut seem peculiarly acceptable, and later in the season those of the lime; while mignonette, thyme, rosemary, lavender, and various other flowers, are assiduously visited by these diligent collectors. But the best stores of our gardens yield a scanty supply compared with the treasures of the fields, such as bean blossoms, and clover blossoms. The latter crop (especially the white Dutch clover called honeysuckle) is so rich in sweet juices, that when there is plenty of it, a good supply of honey is also pretty certain.

THE PASSION-FLOWER.

(Passiflora Cærulea.) ]

In autumn, bees attack fruit after birds or snails have removed the outer skin. They also consume honey-dew, the sweet fluid which is dropped by the aphis. At this season also the Passion-flower affords a seasonable supply of liquid honey. The fondness of the bee for the honey of this flower is thus noticed by Mr. Wailes in the Entomological Magazine. He says, “Against the south front of our house, several plants of the Passiflora Cærulea are trained, which cover it to the height of some twenty feet, or thereabouts; and, from July to November, the constant succession of its beautiful flowers attract great numbers of the hive bee, especially during autumn, when flowers productive of much honey are scarce. Every one knows the passion-flower, and need hardly be told that one series of the rays of the nectary closely surrounds the stipes or shaft, whilst other two are beautifully spread over the horizontal leaves of the corolla; but perhaps few are aware that the tube of the calyx contains several drops of pure and delicious honey. On the arrival of each bee, I can at once tell whether it has been a prior visitor or not, by its mode of procedure. Should it be a first visit, the little busy creature is for a time quite at a loss; it, of course, scents the honey, but cannot discover the entrance to the storehouse. Convinced that there is plenty of the object of its search in the flower, the bee hurries over the surface in all directions, now running its head fast between the corolla and the outer double series of the rays of the nectary, now entangling itself amongst the beautiful rays themselves, and anon mounting the stipes, and ransacking the parts of fructification. At length, after a bustling scene, which frequently lasts for two or three minutes, and which the bee’s certainty that honey is concealed somewhere in the neighbourhood prevents its quitting in despair, sometimes apparently by mere chance, at others by running the scent home, its indefatigable labours are rewarded. Now, with its tongue inserted amongst the rays surrounding the shaft, and past the projecting rim which almost closes the entrance to the tube of the calyx, it drinks its fill, and flies off for the hive, to deposit its treasure, and profit by experience on a future trip. Far different is the manner of the bee that has been at the work before; it wastes not a moment of the time which the approach of winter renders doubly valuable, but at once alights on the flower, runs to its centre, and plunging its tongue into the liquid sweet, hurries back loaded to the hive.”

Ancient writers speak of the practice of removing bees to fresh pastures every autumn, as common in their times; and this practice is still continued in many parts of the world with great advantage to bee-keepers. Towards the end of August, when wild flowers have almost disappeared, and gardens are fading, and clover is no longer in blossom, it is very desirable to find some fresh pasturage for the bees. The autumnal transportation of bees is approved of in the east, and also in many parts of the European continent; but in England it is seldom adopted. Nevertheless, it is almost universal in Scotland. “About five miles from Edinburgh,” says Dr. Bevan, “at the foot of the Pentland hills stands Logan House, supposed the former residence of Sir W. Worthy, celebrated by Allan Ramsay, in his ‘Gentle Shepherd.’ The house is now occupied by a shepherd, who, during July and August, receives about a hundred bee-hives from his neighbours beyond the hills, that their bees may gather the honey from the luxuriant blossoms of the mountain heather.” This is only one instance out of numbers, for in this way our careful northern neighbours manage to double their harvest of honey, taking not unfrequently almost the whole store from their hives before transporting them to the moors, and reaping an ample quantity again on their return in three weeks’ time.

A writer on this subject regrets that our own moorlands are not made available to this end. “The very air,” he says, “is often redolent with the rich perfume, while here and there a solitary bee is seen or heard, labouring with wearied wing among the inexhaustible stores of nature, and scarcely able to regain its lonely shieling in the distant vale. When we consider the poverty of our mountaineers, and their frequent want of occupation, it is the more to be lamented that so easy a source of emolument should lie open to them in vain.” From the Journal of Agriculture we learn that Poland is, perhaps, the greatest honey-producing country in Europe. In the provinces of Podolia, Ukraine and Volhynia in particular, the cultivation of the honey-bee has long formed an object of national importance; and these bee-gardens are not only very numerous and extensive, but they are also common in other parts of the kingdom. There are cottages in Poland, with very small portions of land attached to them, on which are to be seen as many as fifty hives; while there are farmers and landed proprietors who are in possession of from one hundred to ten thousand hives. There are some farmers who collect annually more than 200 barrels of fine honey, each barrel weighing from 400 to 500 lbs., exclusive of the wax. A tenant is often in this way enabled to pay his rent and taxes, to defray other domestic expenses, and often to accumulate handsome dowries for his daughters.

The middle of September is about the time for the honey-harvest, or in-gathering of the stores of the hive. Those hives which are designed for winter stock must be set apart and weighed. A common straw hive when empty weighs from five to six pounds, an ordinary swarm about four pounds, the wax of a full hive two or three pounds, the farina in the cells one pound, making in all fifteen pounds. A stock, therefore, to be secure, must weigh double that amount, that is, it should not contain less than fifteen pounds of honey. The bees, it is true, may exist through the winter on a smaller quantity than this, but this would depend very much on the nature of the season; whereas with fifteen pounds they are considered safe, so far as food is concerned, whatever the temperature may be. These stock-hives being selected, the cultivator now proceeds to take the honey from the rest of the hives.

There are three ways of taking honey, known as “partial deprivation,” “suffocation,” and “driving.” For the first of these, hives of two stories are mostly employed. Immediately after the swarming season another story, or box, is added, either above or below, and one of those filled with honey is taken away. If this be done early enough in the season, there will be time for the bees to fill the empty story before winter; but if it be delayed, as is sometimes the case, until the beginning or middle of September, then the bees, having no opportunity of replacing what has been taken away, will be starved before the winter is over. This method of taking honey is by no means general, apparently because, from an error as to the time of performing the operation, it has frequently failed.

The second, or suffocating process, is effected by taking strips of linen rag, dipping them in melted brimstone, and placing them on a few sticks in a hollow place in the ground: then light is set to the rags, and the hive quickly set over them. Every hole being stopped up to prevent the escape of the sulphur fumes, the bees are soon suffocated, and the combs discoloured. This cruel and objectionable practice is, perhaps, the most common of any, being the least troublesome, though not the most economical mode of getting at the honey.

The third, or driving system, saves the lives of the bees, by turning them out into a well-stored stock-hive, and need not give any great amount of additional trouble. It is thus described in the Naturalists’ Library:—“In the evening, when all are quiet, turn up the hive which is to be operated upon, fixing it in a chair from which the stuffed bottom has been removed; place an empty hive above it, wrap a cloth round the point of junction, to prevent the bees from coming out and annoying the operator; then, with a short stick or stone in each hand, beat round the sides, but gently, for fear of loosening the combs. In five minutes the panic-struck insects will hastily mount into the empty hive, with a loud humming noise, expressive of their trepidation. The hives are then separated; that containing the bees is placed on its usual pedestal, and the other, containing the honey, is carried off. The union is next to be effected. Turn up the stock-hive which is to receive the addition to its population,—with a bunch of feathers, or a small watering-pan, such as is used for watering flower-beds, drench them with a solution of ale and sugar, or water and sugar made a little warm. Do the same to the expelled bees; and then placing these last over the stock, mouth to mouth, a smart rap on the top of the hive will drive them down among the bees and combs of the undermost hive. Place this last on its pedestal, and the operation is completed. The strong flavour of the solution will prevent them from distinguishing between friend and stranger; and their first movement after recovering from their panic will be to lick the liquid from one another’s bodies. It will be an advantage, though a little additional trouble, to search for and destroy the queen of the expelled bees before the union takes place.”

When the bees have been removed from the hives by one of the above processes, the operation of extracting the honey must commence immediately, while the hive is yet warm. The warmth may also be kept up by allowing it to flow in a room where there is a fire. The comb should be kept from the air as much as possible, for which purpose some cultivators make use of a tin-covered vessel, pierced with holes at the bottom, and made to fit into another similar vessel fit to receive the honey. Pieces of comb, sliced horizontally, are put into this covered vessel, and the honey filters through the bottom, being first passed through a filter of wire-cloth or muslin placed at a little distance above the other. This upper filter prevents the vessel from becoming clogged with particles of wax, and increases the purity of the honey. A spigot in the lower vessel allows the honey to pass out into store jars.

Such are some of the processes by which the honey and wax of bees are made available to our use. Honey is of less importance to mankind since the discovery of sugar; but it will always rank among the wholesome and agreeable luxuries of life; while in countries where sugar is not so easily obtained as it is among ourselves, it holds a much more important position. In the Ukraine, some of the peasants have four or five hundred bee-hives, and make more profit of their bees than of their corn. In Spain, also, the number of bee-hives is said to be immense, a single parish priest having been known to possess five thousand.

Rock-honey, found in some parts of America, is thin and clear as water, and is the produce of wild bees, which suspend thirty or forty waxen cells, resembling a bunch of grapes, to a rock.

Green honey, found in the Isle of Bourbon, and exported to India, where it fetches a high price, is the produce of a bee much esteemed in that island. It produces sweet and fragrant honey, of the consistency of oil, and of a green colour.

ANOTHER INTERIOR OF A BEE-HIVE. ]

MALE COCHINEAL INSECT.—(Magnified.) ]

FEMALE.—Upper surface. ]

FEMALE.—Under surface. ]