CHAPTER X.. Leaf Hives.

LEAF HIVES.

Narrow hives, with large glazed doors on each side, have been recommended by apiarian writers, for exposing the operations of bees. That of +Reaumur+ was too wide: it allowed the construction of two parallel combs, by which of course, the apiarian was precluded from making any useful observations, upon the proceedings of the bees, in their interspace. +Bonnet+ recommended the use of a hive, the doors of which should be only so far asunder as to allow the building of one comb between them. This suggestion was successfully adopted by +Huber+; and to prevent the bees from building short transverse combs, instead of a single one, parallel to the sides of the hive, he laid the foundation himself, by fastening a piece of empty comb to the ceiling of the box.

+Huber's+ glass doors had only an interspace of an inch and half betwixt them: in this hive the bees could not cluster upon the surfaces of the comb, and yet had room to pass freely over it. Mr. +John Hunter+ recommended the diameter of these narrow hives to be three inches, and the superficies of the sides to be of sufficient size to afford stowage for a summer's work. Mr. +Dunbar+, with his mirror-hive, constructed somewhat like Huber's, has been able to make some interesting observations on the œconomy of the bee. Vide Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. iii. The distance of his glass doors from each other is one inch and two thirds; the height and width of the hive, according to the plan in the Journal, about a foot. Across the centre of the mirror-hive Mr. Dunbar introduced a light frame, which though apparently dividing the hive into four compartments, allowed the bees a free passage: they were skreened from the light by a pair of folding shutters on each side.

Mr. Dunbar hived a small swarm in one of these narrow boxes, in June 1819: the bees began to build immediately, and he witnessed the whole of their proceedings, every bee being exposed to his view. The narrowness of their limits constrained them, from the very commencement, to work in divisions, so that four separate portions of comb were begun and continued nearly at the same time.

But this arrangement did not sufficiently employ these industrious creatures; for contrary to their usual mode of building, which is from above downwards, they laid two other foundations of comb, upon the upper parts of the cross sticks.

The bees now wrought upwards and downwards at the same time, till the originally separate portions were united and become one comb.

For want of proper precautions, the bees of this hive perished, during the intense cold of January 1820.

On the 25th of March following, Mr. Dunbar introduced another swarm into the same unicomb hive; and so early as the 27th, he saw the queen laying the eggs of workers. This second swarm found plenty of honey and farina in the hive, left by its former tenants. Other particulars reported by Mr. Dunbar are detailed in the Chapters to which they belong.

These hives are of course only useful to the amateur apiarian, who is in quest of information or amusement.

Huber carried the principle of this hive still further: he joined several thin boxes together with hinges: these boxes or wooden frames were without glasses, and the hinges were so contrived as to admit of easy removal. Every box or leaf (as Huber called each separate frame), except the two exterior, was reduced in thickness to an inch and quarter, which, as there was a free communication between all the leaves, afforded the same liberty for the operations of the bees as the single box that was an inch and half wide. This contrivance gave him the power of opening the leaves separately, and inspecting the proceedings of the bees at all times: they soon became accustomed to this treatment, and M. Huber was thus able to examine any one of the divisions, without exciting the anger of the bees. After they had properly secured the pieces of comb which he had attached to the roofs of the boxes, they were subjected to a daily inspection by this indefatigable naturalist.

The preceding sketches may serve to show my readers the progressive proceedings of the bees in the unicomb hive, and the following outline may give them a notion of the compound hive.