Mysteries of Bee-Keeping Explained

CHAPTER II.. Hives.

HIVES.

Hives to be thoroughly made, 13 Different opinions about them, 14 The Author has no Patent to recommend, 14 Speculators supported long enough, 15 Prefix of Patent a bad recommendation, 15 Ignorance of affairs and committees, 15 Opposition to simplicity, 16 By gaining one point produce another evil, 16 First Delusion, 17 Chamber Hive, 17 Mrs. Griffith's Hive, 18 Weeks' Improvement, 18 Inclined Bottom-Boards do not throw out all the worms, 19 Objections to suspended hives, 19 See bees often, 20 Hall's Patent, 21 Jones's Patent, 21 An Experiment, 21 Reason of failure in dividing hive, 22 Cause of starving in such hives, 23 Advantages of the changeable hive considered, 24 Variation of these hives, 25 Expense in constructing changeable hives, 25 The surplus honey will contain bee-bread, 26 Description of Cutting's changeable hive, 26 First objection cost of construction, 28 Hives can be made with less expense, 29 Old breeding cells will last a long time, 29 Cells larger than necessary at first, 30 Expense of renewing combs, 30 Best to use old combs as long as they will last, 31 Method for Pruning when necessary, 31 Tools for Pruning, 32 Use of Tobacco Smoke, 33 Further objections to a sectional hive, 34 Non-Swarmers, 35 Contrast of profit, 35 Principle of swarming not understood, 36 Not to be depended upon, 37 Hives not always full before swarming, 37 Size of hives needed, 37 An Experiment, 37 Bees do not increase if full after the first year in same hive, 38 Gillmore's system doubted, 39 Utility of moth-proof hives doubted, 39 Instincts of the bee always the same, 40 Profit the object, 41 Common hive recommended, 42 Size Important, 42 Small hives most liable to accidents, 42 Apt to deceive, 43 Unprofitable if too large, 43 Correct size between two extremes, 43 Size for warm latitudes, 44 Larger hives more safe for long Winters or backward Spring, 44 2,000 inches safe for this section, 45 Kind of Wood, width of Board, &c., 46 Shape of little consequence, 46 Directions for making hives, 47 Size of cap and boxes, 48 Miner's Hive, 48 Directions for making holes, 49 A Suggestion, 50 Glass boxes preferred, 51 Glass boxes--how made, 51 Guide-combs necessary, 52 Wood Boxes, 53 Cover for Hives, 54 Jars and Tumblers--how prepared, 54 Perfect Observatory Hive described, 55 One like Common Hive preferred, 56 What may be seen, 56 Directions for making Glass Hive, 57 Plate for Hive, 61

CHAPTER III.. Breeding.

BREEDING.

Imperfectly Understood, 62 Good stocks seldom without brood, 63 How small stocks commence, 64 Different with larger ones, 65 How Pollen is stored in the breeding season, 65 Operation of Laying, and the Eggs described, 66 Time from the Egg to the perfect Bee, 67 Rough treatment of the young Bee, 67 Guess-work, 68 Terms applied to young Bees, 69 Discrepancy in time in rearing brood as given by Huber, 70 The number of Eggs deposited by the Queen guessed at, 71 A test for the presence of a Queen, 73 When Drones are reared, 74 When Queens, 74 Liability of being destroyed, 76 Drones destroyed when honey is scarce, 77 Old Queen leaves with the first swarm, 78 A young Queen takes the place of her mother in the old stock, 79 Other Theories, 80 Subject not understood, 80 Necessity for further observation, 84 Two sides of the question, 85

CHAPTER IV.. Bee Pasturage.

BEE PASTURAGE.

Substitute for Pollen, 88 Manner of packing it, 89 Alder yields the first, 89 Fruit Flowers important in good weather, 91 Red Raspberry a favorite, 91 Catnip, Mother-wort and Hoarhound, are sought after, 92 Singular fatality attendant on Silkweed, 93 Large yield from Basswood, 96 Garden Flowers unimportant, 97 Honey-dew, 97 Singular Secretion, 98 Secretions of the Aphis, 98 Advantages of Buckwheat, 101 Amount of honey collected from it, 101 Do Bees injure the crop? 102 Are not Bees an advantage to vegetation? 103 A test for the presence of Queen doubted, 106 An extra quantity of Pollen not always detrimental, 107 What combs are generally free from Bee-bread, 108 Manner of packing stores, 108 Philosophy in filling a cell with honey, 109 Long cells sometimes turned upward, 110 Is a dry or wet season best for honey? 111 How many Stocks should be kept, 112 Three principal sources of honey, 112

CHAPTER V.. Wax.

WAX.

Is Pollen converted into Wax? 115 How is it obtained? 115 Huber's account of a commencement of comb, 117 Best time to witness comb-making, 118 Manner of working Wax, 119 Are crooked Combs a disadvantage? 120 Uncertainty in weight of Bees, 122 Some wax wasted, 124 Water necessary in Comb-making, 124 Remarks, 126

CHAPTER VI.. Propolis.

PROPOLIS.

What used for, 128 Is it an elaborate or natural substance? 129 Huber's Opinion, 129 Further Proof, 129 Remarks, 132

CHAPTER VII.

THE APIARY.

Its location, 132 Decide Early, 133 Bees mark their location on leaving the hive, 134 Changing stand attended with loss, 134 Can be taken some distance, 135 Danger of setting Stocks too close, 135 Space between Hives, 136 Small Matters, 136 Economy, 137 Cheap arrangement of stands, 138 Canal Bottom-board discarded, 139 Some advantage in being near the earth, 139 Utility of Bee-Houses doubted, 141

CHAPTER VIII.. Robberies.

ROBBERIES.

Not properly understood, 142 Improper Remedies, 143 Difficulty in deciding, 144 Weak families in most danger, 144 Their Battles, 145 Bad policy to raise in Hives, 146 Indications of Robbers, 146 A Duty, 147 A Test, 147 Robbing usually commences on a warm day, 148 Remedies, 149 Common Opinion, 149 A case in point, 149 Further Directions, 150 Common cause of commencing, 151 Spring the worst time, 152 No necessity to have Bees plundered in the fall, 153

CHAPTER IX.. Feeding Bees.

FEEDING BEES.

Should be a last resort, 154 Care needed, 154 Apparent contradiction when feeding causes starvation, 155 How long it will do to wait before feeding, 156 Directions for feeding, 157 Whole Families may desert the Hive, 158 Objections to general feeding, 159 Arrangement for feeding, 159 Feeding to induce early swarms, 161 What may be fed, 162 Is candied honey injurious? 162

CHAPTER X.. Destruction of Worms.

DESTRUCTION OF WORMS.

Some in the best Stocks, 164 How Found, 165 A tool for their destruction, 165 Mistaken Conclusions, 167 Objections to suspended Bottom-board, 167 Advantage of the Hive close to the board, 168 Objection Answered, 169 Insufficiency of inclined Bottom-board 169 A Moth can go where Bees can, 170 Trap to catch Worms, 170 Box for Wren, 171

CHAPTER XI.. Putting on and Taking Off Boxes.

PUTTING ON AND TAKING OFF BOXES.

Advantage of the Patent Vender, 172 Time of putting on--Rule, 172 Making holes after the Hive is full, 174 Advantage of proper arrangement, 174 Directions for boring holes in full Stock, 176 To be taken off when filled, 177 Time taken to fill a box, 178 When to take off boxes part full, 178 Tobacco Smoke preferred to Slides, 178 Manner of disposing of the Bees in the boxes, 179 Bees disposed to carry away honey, 179 Not disposed to sting, 180 Rule, 181

CHAPTER XII.. Securing Honey From the Moth.

SECURING HONEY FROM THE MOTH.

Two things to be prevented, 181 Apt to be deceived about the Worms, 182 Their progress described, 182 A Solution offered, 183 Method of killing Worms in boxes, 185 Freezing destroys them, 186 Objection to using Boxes before the Hive is full, 187

CHAPTER XIII.. Swarming.

SWARMING.

Time to expect them, 187 All Bee-Keepers should understand it as it is, 188 Means of understanding it, 188 Inverting a stock rather formidable at first, 189 Requisites before preparation of Queen's cells, 189 State of Queen-cell when used, 190 State when swarms issue, 190 Clustering outside not always to be depended upon, 191 Examinations--the result, 191 Remarks, 192 Conflicting Theories, 192 Both Old and Young leave with swarms, 192 Cause of the Queen's inability to fly suggested, 193 Evidence of the Old Queen's leaving, 193 Mr. Weeks's Theory not satisfactory, 194 Particular directions for testing the matter, 196 Empty Hives to be ready, 197 Bottom-boards for hiving, 197 Description of swarm issuing, 198 Manner of hiving can be varied, 199 Usual Methods, 199 When out of reach, 200 When they cannot be shaken off, 202 All should be made to enter, 203 Should be taken to the stand immediately, 203 Protection from the Sun necessary, 203 Clustering Bushes, 204 How swarms are generally managed that leave for the woods, 205 Nothing but Bees needed in a Hive, 206 Seldom go off without clustering, 207 Do swarms choose a location before swarming? 207 Means of arresting a swarm, 208 Some Compulsion, 208 How far will they go in search of honey? 209 Two or more swarms liable to unite, 211 Disadvantage, 211 Can often be prevented, 212 Indications of swarming inside the Hive, 212 Preventing a swarm issuing for a time, 213 To prevent swarms uniting with those already hived, 213 When two have united--the method of separating, 214 No danger of a sting by the Queen, 215 Some precautions in hiving two swarms together, 216 How to find Queen when two strangers are together, 217 Boxes for double swarms immediately, 218 Returning a part to the old stock, 218 Method of uniting, 219 When care is necessary, 219 Swarm-Catcher, 220 Swarms sometimes return, 222 Repetition prevented, 222 Liability to enter wrong stocks, 223 First issues generally choose fair weather, 224 After Swarms, 225 Their Size, 225 Time after the first, 225 Piping of the Queen, 225 May always be heard before and after swarm, 226 Time of continuance varies, 226 Time between second and third issues, 227 Not always to be depended upon, 227 A Rule for the time of these issues, 228 When it is useless to expect more swarms, 229 Plurality of Queens destroyed, 229 The Manner, 230 Theory doubted, 231 After-swarms different in appearance from the first, when about to issue, 232 Time of day, weather, &c., 233 Swarms necessary to be seen, 233 Returning after-swarms to the old stock, 235 When they should be returned, 235 Method of doing it, 235 More care needed by After-swarms when hived, 237 Two may be united, 237

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