BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Of course in bee-keeping, as in other things, there may be unavoidable failures. There are often bad seasons for bees, and there are summers cold and wet, when but little honey can be gathered, but perseverance, as I have said, will win the day at last. It is said that George Stephenson, the great engineer, when addressing young men, was accustomed to sum up his best advice to them in these words, 'Do as I have done--persevere.'
**CHAPTER XXX.**
FIRST PRINCIPLES OF BEE-KEEPING.
**1** will now tell you a little about bee-keeping, but you must quite understand that this book is not intended as a guide-book. Such a book, you will have to get;and I especially recommend one called _The British Bee-keepers' Guide-book_, by T. W. Cowan, or another called _Nddern Bee-keeping_, published at _6d._, by the British Bee-Keepers' Association.
All that I can now tell you about bee-keeping will be the chief principles on which you must act. I want you so to understand these first principles that you never do anything simply because a book tells you, but rather because from what it tells you--you understand why you are to do it, and why it is the best way.
And now talking of first principles, the first great rule to be observed is, of course, Never to kill the bees for the sake of the honey. The old-fashioned way of murder in the sulphur-pit must entirely be done away with ; you know, from what has been said before, what a cruel, foolish, and improvident way it is, and I need say no more on the subject.
But the next great principle I must explain more fully. It is, Always to take care to have a great number of bees in every hive--to keep the colonies strong. This is called 'the golden rule' of bee-keeping. You will learn that this can be done, and how best to do it, at a future time from guide-books. Now I only ask you to remember it as a great principle of successful bee-keeping, that the greater number of bees there are in the hive, the better the work goes on. And this is the case, not only because there are more workers to bring in honey, and'many hands make light work,' but because a better heat is kept up, and the bees work with greater spirit. It is also a curious fact, as I will explain at a future time, that in winter a great number of bees in a hive will eat less food than a smaller number.
I can also explain the advantage of a number of bees in another way. Suppose I have a hive that contains 40,000 bees; and of these, we will say, 30,000 go out to gather honey, and 10,000 stay at home to keep it warm. And then--to compare with this strong hive--I have two others, each containing just half the number of bees, namely, 20,000. In each of these two hives the same heat must be kept up, as in the first hive, and, to effect this, the same number of bees--namely, 10,000--must remain at home, and so only 10,000 can go out from each hive to gather honey ; that is to say,--adding these gatherers together,--we have only 20,000 gatherers from both hives, whereas we had 30,000 from the one hive at first ; so that we have actually 10,000 more gatherers from the one strong hive than we have from the two weak ones put together. Always remember, then,'the golden rule.'
And now if you are going to 'keep bees' you very likely ask, What kind of bees shall I keep? Are they to be Italians, or the common bees? And, what kind of hive am I to get? If you ask my advice, I would say that you had better not trouble yourself with such questions at first. You will learn, after a time, that Italians are the best and most profitable, and you will learn a great deal about hives, but never mind all this at present. Probably you want to begin without spending much money, and if so, your best plan will be, as I have said, to buy a stock of common bees in a straw skep, and wait a year, and see what you can do with it.
If you can get the constant advice of some near neighbour who understands the modern hive, you may begin with one ; but, generally speaking, it will be better for the first year to stick to the straw sleep ; and if you manage well, you will by that time have gained valuable experience, and also a little money with which to buy a better hive, and to begin more thoroughly. Only take care, when you buy the stock, that you get a good, strong, and healthy one ; and one that is not more than a year or two old, and one that has a young queen. Ask some beekeeper of experience to help you in your purchase. You will also do well to get it early in the year, even if you give a little more for it ; for then you will soon get a swarm from it, and so almost begin with two hives instead of one.
In the next place, be a little particular about the shape of the straw sleep. It ought generally to be one of medium size--although this may vary according to locality ; and have a good hole at the top,closed with a cap or cork. And, above all, let it have a flat top, as in the illustration, because you will want to place upon it, what is called a super, in which the bees will make honey for you to take, and this super will not stand well if the top is round. And then by some means you must manage to keep the hive dry ; placing over it some kind of covering, so that no rain can reach it to make it damp. And, when you choose a place for it to stand, see that it is well sheltered from cold winds, and in a situation where, as far as possible, the early sun will shine upon it. A guide-book will give you other directions, but these are the chief things to remember.
Formerly the straw skep was nearly the only kind of hive used, and many bee-keepers even now, prefer them to others. And certainly such hives have their advantages. They do not require so much care or trouble as other hives ; and bees thrive very well in them for a time, for the straw is a very good material to keep the bees warm in winter, and at the right temperature in summer. And although they are called old-fashioned, they may easily be kept without there being any necessity to kill the bees in the old-fashioned, cruel way. And very good honey may be obtained from them, although not nearly the quantity which we get from the more modern hives.
But at the same time they have their disadvantages, and I am only advising you to get such a hive just to begin with, and that you may get accustomed to the bees; and also that you may, when you want it, get a swarm to put into a better hive. The disadvantages, indeed, are so many and so serious tha I hope you will not be content without soon having something better.
To give you some idea of these disadvantages : suppose something goes wrong with the bees--some of their enemies get inside, or the bees are ill, as sometimes is the case ;--you know that it is so, that things are wrong ; but what can you do? There the bees are, safely shut up in a hive, where you cannot either see or help them. There are things you could do, and remedies you could apply, which would soon put all straight again, but you are helpless to do anything.
Think how it would be if you yourself were in similar circumstances. We will suppose that you are ill, and the doctor sent for. He comes, and feels your pulse, and asks you many questions, and so prescribes his medicine. But what could the doctor do if, when he came, he had to stand outside the house, and not even see you through a window? And of what use would be all his medicine if, when brought, it had to be set down outside the house, and there was no one to bring it in? You see, of course, the absurdity of the whole thing. And yet this is much the case with the bees in a straw hive when things go wrong. We cannot get at them, either to see what is amiss, or to give them any remedy.
And then there are frequently other occasions when many things can be done to assist the bees, and to make them into thriving colonies, if only we are able to see into the hives, and to handle the separate combs.
And now, keeping all this in view we see not only the objections to straw skeps, but also what are the chief points to be observed in the construction of any good hive. It must, we see, be so constructed that we can easily and thoroughly examine it in every part, and, if necessary, see every bee and all that is going on within--what is right and what is wrong.
## Chapter Xxxxi.
The frame-hive and the principles of its construction.
In the modern hive, all that I have spoken of in the last chapter, as most necessary, can be done perfectly and with ease. This is the Moveable Comb or Frame-Hive. It is constructed in a hundred different ways, but in all there is the great principle of the moveable frame. In a general way it may be said that the principal part of the interior of the hive is simply a warm, dry box, of a certain size, and made very exactly to that size. It may or may not stand upon legs ; and, instead of an ordinary flat top, it has a roof, like a house, so made that it can be lifted off without difficulty.
But we are now chiefly concerned with the frames, which are shaped as shown in the illustration, and of which there are a number--at least ten--with which the body of the hive is filled. All these frames can easily be taken out of the hive. They have, you see, shoulders (these shoulders are made of various patterns) which rest on ledges running along the sides of the hive. They are made, also, just a little smaller than the inside of the hive, so that when they are in their places they hang quite loose and free, as seen in the illustration on the next page. You will thus easily understand that if we can only get the bees to make their combs in these frames, and exactly straight and true, we shall have obtained what we wanted, and be able to lift them out, one by one, just as we require, and see every part of the hive and every bee.
If, however, the bees do not build their combs straight and true in every frame, but crossways or crooked, we are no better off than without them. So that this is the first essential thing with a frame-hive --to get the frames filled properly with comb. The hive may be very beautifully made, but all is useless unless the bees build their combs exactly straight and true in all the frames.
To get the bees to do this might seem very difficult. Formerly it would have been thought out of the question. It is, however, really the easiest thing possible, by means of sheets of wax, called Comb Foundation, ingeniously made of the required size, and in a manner most helpful to the bees.
This comb foundation is made by dipping a flat, smooth piece of wood, which has first been wetted, into melted wax one or more times (like a tallow dip), according to the thickness required. The wax which adheres to each side of the wood is then easily peeled off in sheets.
Afterwards, these sheets of wax are pressed by a machine, and run through rollers, which have, cut upon them and all over them, the exact resemblances of the beginning of comb-cells. And so, when the sheet is passed between the rollers and is finished, it has received on all parts, and on both sides, impressions just like the commencement of cells.
These sheets--at least, if for use within the hive--are also made of just that thickness of wax which gives the bees sufficient material with which to lengthen out, and to finish off, the cells thus begun for them, so saving them the time and trouble of making any more wax.
For use in supers a very much thinner kind is made, for this is used more as a guide for the bees, to show them which way we wish them to build their combs, rather than as a help to them in wax-making.
These sheets of comb-foundation are fixed without much difficulty, perfectly straight within the frames. When all are thus filled they are put into their places within the hive, and well covered over with proper material--generally layers of flannel or carpet. And then, when the bees of a swarm are put into the hive, they are so delighted to find such good provision for them, and almost half their work of comb-building already done, that they at once and without hesitation, set to work to make and finish their combs out of these sheets in the frames. And the result is that every comb, when made, is in a frame by itself, and true and straight as we wanted. And thus, without difficulty, the first great and essential thing is obtained. Each frame is independent of the others, and can be lifted out with comb and bees upon it whenever wanted.
egin{tabular}{c c} Frame filled with Comb. & \ (\(a\).) Sealed honey stores. & (\(c\).) Sealed drone comb. \ (\(\delta\).) Sealed worker-broad comb. & (\(d_{1}\).) Unsealed drone comb. \ (\(d_{2}\).) Unsealed worker comb. & \ \end{tabular}
All frames--whatever the sort of hive--are now made of the same size, namely, 14 inches long by \(8
rac{1}{3}\) inches deep. This is called the standard size. They are also made just of the proper width to hold a comb ; and so contrived at the shoulder that, when in the hive, they are exactly at equal distances from one another, and just at that distance which the bees choose when making comb for themselves.
And now going back to 'the hive itself, I will point out a few more of the principal conditions to be fulfilled before it can be called a good hive. You will find full particulars and many such conditions in the best guide-books ; but the mention of three or four will be sufficient.for our present purpose. Of these the first is that the hive must be well and strongly made of good-seasoned wood. It may be very rough, but it must be strong, and must not warp or crack. In the next place, the inside of the hive, where the frames hang suspended, must be exactly of the right depth and width. It should hold ten frames at least, and it would be well if there is room for several more ; for, if not filled up with frames, the vacant space is cut off from the bees by a stout division-board, and is always useful when examining the hive.
But whatever the number of frames, the width and depth of the hive inside must be true to measure ; so
made that when a frame is suspended within, there is a space of half an inch between the bottom of the frame and the floor of the hive, and a quarter of an inch between the sides of the frame and the sides of the hive. And there is great reason for this exactness. If the space at the sides is greater tha the bees will build comb in it, and so fix the frames ; and, if less than a quarter of an inch, they are unable themselves to get round the frames as they require, and so they fill up the space with propolis, and fix everything tight, which is worse still. The space below the frames the bees require as they come rushing in with their loads, to carry them to all parts of the hive.
In the next place, whatever the description of hive, it must be warm in winter, and not too hot in summer.
This is best provided for by its having double walls with, if possible, a space between. Good hives, however, may be made with single walls if only the wood is of sufficient thickness. But, whatever the walls, you must always remember that it cannot be a good hive unless, as I say, it is warm in cold weather, and the bees inside are protected in summer from the scorching heat of the sun.
Again, our hive must be very dry. This is quite essential for the bees. They cannot live in a damp house. If therefore the hive stands out in the open, it must be well painted, and must have a good roof, well made, to throw off the rain. And then this roof --which must either be hinged to the hive, or made separately, so that it can be taken off--must have plenty of room inside. You will hear the reason of this presently, but remember it as a necessity--a good high roof with plenty of room inside.
And now I have really told you the chief points of a good hive. There are other things of importance, such as the size and construction of the entrance, and how it should be sheltered ; and, within the hive, how the frames should be kept true in their proper position, and how thick should be the flannel covering over them ; but of all these things I shall leave a guide-book, or some bee-keeping friend, to tell you.
With these few simple rules to be observed, I think it very possible that at some future time, if you have intelligence, and a ready hand to use a few simple tools, you may wish to make a hive for yourself. Only if so, it will be best for you, in the first instance, to purchase or to obtain the loan of one as a model. You will hardly succeed without this, although there will be no occasion for your hive to have the polish and finish of first-rate workmanship. Your home-made hive, indeed, may be a very rough one, but all the same very serviceable, if only you copy your model and abide by the first principles I have mentioned, and do not substitute fancies of your own. In any case, however, you will do well to buy the frames, which can only properly be cut by machinery, and cost a mere trifle.
If in the construction of your hive you can plan and contrive with old material, and manage to use odds and ends of wood, without the expense of buying new from the carpenter, your interest in your hive, when completed, will, I think, be all the greater. And it is always wonderful how the exercise of ingenuity will get over many difficulties in such things, and find some way of adapting to the end in view the most trivial things possible.
Here is an account how some of the greatest men, distinguished in after life in science and art, began in the most humble way as boys, contriving to work out their schemes, and to practise their art with the most odd things possible :--
'A burnt stick and a barn-door served Wilkie (the great painter) in lieu of pencil and canvas ; Bewick (artist and engraver) first practised drawing on the cottage walls of his native village, which he covered with his sketches in chalk ; and Benjamin West (afterwards President of the Royal Academy) made his first brushes out of the cat's tail. Ferguson laid himself down in the fields at night in a blanket, and made a map of the heavenly bodies by means of a thread with small beads on it, stretched between his eye and the stars. Franklin first robbed the thunder-cloud of its lightning by means of a kite made with two cross sticks and a silk handkerchief. Watt made his first model of the condensing steam-engine out of an old syringe. Gifford worked his first problem in mathematics, when a cobbler's apprentice, upon small scraps of leather which he beat smooth for the purpose ; whilst Rittenhouse, the astronomer, first calculated eclipses on his doughhandle : *
## Chapter Xxxxii.
some advantages of the frame-hive.
We proceed now to think of some of the advantages of the frame-hive. Some of these are plain enough. For instance, you are able, as I have said before, at any time thoroughly to examine such a hive by taking out the frames one by one, and thus see all that is going on within. Again, if you have more than one such hive, it is always possible and generally easy, to make one hive help another, as occasion requires. If one hive is weak and another strong, the bekeeper will take from the strong hive some of the frames containing brood or honey, as may be needed, and give them to the weak one.
Then, when winter comes, the bee-keeper will take some of the frames away, and confine the bees to a smaller space, and thus make the most of that heat which is so necessary to the welfare of the hive. These frames he can return to them in the early spring when food is needed.
Again, a very important part of bee-keeping is to take care that the queen in every hive is young and healthy. In a straw sleep the bee-keeper cannot find or see the queen, but with a frame-hive he can easily do so; and when she is too old to be useful, she can be removed, and another queen given in her place. There are many ways of doing this, as also of obtaining young queens, but I cannot now explain the process. Here, again, a guide-book will help you.
I may, however, just mention how a new queen is generally given to a hive. It is an operation very interesting, but requiring care. If the new queen were merely put into the hive instead of the old one, there would be little chance of her life. The bees, faithful and loyal to their old sovereign, would kill the intruder. They sometimes do this by stinging her, but more generally by encasing her, as it is termed,--clinging round her, making her the centre of a ball of bees, and so suffocating or squeezing her to death.
Consequently when the bee-keeper wishes to give a new queen to a hive, he first removes the old one, and gives the bees a little time to mourn her loss. Then, when they are beginning to prepare to make a fresh one for themselves, he puts his new queen into a little wire cage, like one of these here illustrated, and then puts cage and queen carefully into the hive. The bees at first may wish to destroy her, but are prevented by the wire covering of the cage. After a while they get used to her, talking to her through the wires, and are ready to adopt her as their own queen. As soon as this is the case, the bee-keeper lets her out, and she is welcomed, and the hive once again prospers with a young and active queen and mother at its head. But one of the greatest advantages of the frame-hive is that the frames, when the combs are full of honey, can be taken out, and by means of a machine called an Extractor,which will be presently described, be emptied of their sweets without destroying the combs, and then put back again for the bees to refill. This cannot, of course, be done with the combs in a skep. A very great quantity of honey can be taken in this way, for the bees, being spared all the trouble of making fresh comb, very soon fill the empty cells, and the beekeeper can again and again, during the season, take away a good supply of honey out of the same combs.
Another great advantage of the frame-hive is that the bee-keeper can, without much difficulty, at the proper time of year make an increase of his colonies, just as he thinks fit. He can, as a good guide-book will explain, make one hive into two ; or, which is an excellent plan, he can make three out of two, or four out of three. He is indeed the bee-master as well as the bee-keeper, and the bees are his most willing and industries little servants.
Then, again, with the frame-hive, many enemies can be destroyed, diseases cured, new frames given when required, the number of drones regulated, and many other things done, most helpful to the bees ; so that, as I have said, you must not always be content with the straw skep, although, to begin with, it is a good hive.
But now, doubtless, the question has been suggested to your mind. Yes, but when you talk of lifting out frames, and finding the queen, and doing all that has been described, will the bees permit you? Will they not so attack and sting you as to compel you to give in? No, not so ; for they patiently submit. Some people think there is a great mystery in this, and that bee-keepers have some secret charm. There is, however, nothing of the sort, unless it is the charm of gentleness, kindness, and a knowledge of the bees' habits ; and nothing can compensate for this. But then to avoid being stung, you can wear a veil ; and, if necessary, gloves, although these latter are but seldom needed, and indeed do much to aggravate the bees.
The greatest help, however, is obtained from smoke, a very little of which, puffed into the hive, will generally very soon quiet the bees, and make them almost as harmless as flies. The effect of the smoke upon the bees is very curious. In the first place, it frightens them,and the result of their alarm is that they instantly run to the honey-cells, and fill themselves with the sweets. It is supposed that instinct teaches them thus to prepare, if necessary, to leave their home, carrying with them as much store as possible. But having thus filled themselves with honey, they generally become in the best possible temper, and seem to put away their stings ; just like a bad-tempered man, who is always in better humour after a good dinner than when hungry.
Some bee-keepers, however, hardly use any smoke, and some use a preparation of carbonic acid, a very little of which applied with a feather to the tops of the frames answers almost as well. A spray diffuser with sweetened water is also very useful at times.
## Chapter Xxxxiii.
super honey and the extractor.