BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
"According to the statistical tables of the kingdom of Hanover, the annual production of bees-wax in the province of Luneuberg is 300,000 lbs, about one-half of which is exported ; and, assuming one pound of wax as the yield of each hive, we must suppose that 300,000 hives are annually '_brimstoned_' in the province ; and assuming further, in view of casualties, local inflaences, unfavorable seasons, &e., that only one-half of the whole number of colonies maintained, produce a swarm each every year, it would require a total of at least 600,000 colonies (141 to each square mile) to secure the result given in the tables. The number of square miles stocked, even to this extent, in this country, are, I suspect, 'few and far between.' It is very evident that this country is far from being overstocked ; nor is it likely that it ever will be.
"A German writer alleges that 'the bees of Luneuberg pay all the taxes assessed on their propriators, and leave a surplus besides.' The importance attached to bee-culture accounts, in part, for the remarkable fact that the people of a district so barren, that it has been called 'the Arabia of Germany.' are, almost without exception, in easy and comfortable circumstances. Could not still more favorable results be obtained in this country, under a rational system of management, availing itself of the aid of science, art, and skill?
"But I am digressing. My design was, to furnish you with an account of bee-culture as it exists _in an entire district of country_, in the hands of _the common pensantry_. This, I thought, would be more satisfactory, and convey a better idea of what may be done on a large scale, than any number of instances which might be selected of splendid success in isolated cases.--Very truly yours, "Itkv, I. L. Langarotte. Samuel Wagner."
I am persuaded that, even in the poorest parts of New England, there are but few districts which could not be made to yield as large returns as the province of Luneubergberg, even if the old-fashioned plan of management was adhered to. The following interesting statements have been furnished to me by Mr. Wagner:
"When a large flock of sheep," says Octtl, "is grazing on a limited area, there may soon be a deficiency of pasturage. But this cannot be asserted of bees, as a good honey-distriet cannot readily be overstocked with them. To-day, when the air is moist and warm, the plants may yield a superabundance of nectar; while to-morrow, being cold and wet, there may be a total want of it. When there is sufficient heat and moisture, the saccharine juices of plants will readily fill the neetaries, and will be quickly replenished when carried off by the bees. Every cold night cheeks the flow of honey, and every clear, warm day re-opens the fountain. _The flowers expanded to-day must be visited while open ; for, if left to either, their stores are lost._ The same remarks will apply substantially in the case of honey-dews. Hence, bees cannot, as many suppose, collect to-morrow what is left ungathered to-day, as sheep may graze hereafter on the pasturage they do not need now. Strong colonies and Iargo Aparies are in a position to collect ample stores when forage suddenly abounds, while, by patient, persevering industry, they may still gather a sufficiency, and even a surplus, when the supply is small, but more regular and protracted.'
"The same able Apiarian, whose _golden rule_ in bee-keeping is, to keep none but _strong colonies_, says that, in the lapse of twenty years since he established his Apiary, there has not occurred a season in which the bees did not proeure adequate supplies for themselves, and a surplus beside. Sometimes, indeed, he came near despairing, when April, May, and June were continually cold, wet, and unproductive; but in July, his strong colonies speedily filled their garners, and stored up some treasure for him; while, in such seasons, small colonies could not even gather enough to keep them from starvation.
"Mr. A. Braun states, in the Bienenzeitung, September, 1854, that he has a mammoth live furnished with combs containing at least 184,230 cells," and placed on a platform scale, that its weight may readily be ascertained at stated periods. On the 18th of May, it gained eighteen pounds and a half. On the eighteenth of June, a swarm weighing seven pounds issued from it, and the following day it gained over six pounds in weight. Ten days of abundant pasturage would enable such a colony to gather a large surplus, while five times the number of equally favorable opportunities would be of small avail to a feeble stock.
"The island of Corstea paid to Rome an annual tribute of 200,000 lbs. of wax, which presupposes the production of from two to three million pounds of honey yearly. The island contains 3790 square miles.
"According to Octtil (p. 389), Bohemia contained 160,000 colonies in 1853, from a careful estimate, and he thinka the country could readily support four times that number. The kingdom contains 20,200 square miles.
"In the province of Attica, in Greece, containing forty-five square miles, and 20,000 inhabitants, 20,000 lives are kept, each yielding, on an average, thirty pounds of honey and two pounds of wax.
"East Friesland, a province of Holland, containing 1,200 square miles, maintains an average of 2,000 colonies per square mile.--(Hebebel, _Biennezeitung_, 1854, p. 11.)
"According to an official report, there were in Denmark, in 1838, eighty-six thousand and thirty-six colonies of bees. The annual product of honey appears to be about 1,841,800 lbs. In 1855, the export of wax from that country was 118,379 lbs.
"In 1856, according to official returns, there were 58,964 colonies of bees in the kingdom of Wurtenberg.
"In 1857, the yield of honey and wax-in the empire of Austria was estimated to be worth over seven millions of dollars."
Doubtless, in these districts, where honey is so largely produced, great attention is paid to the cultivation of crops which, while in themselves profitable, afford abundant pasturage for bees.
man set a well-stocked live of bees on a tab turned bottom up, after having made a hole through the bottom, and took from the tab four hundred and twenty people of honey."Although bees will fly, in search of food, over three miles,* still, if it is not within a circle of about two miles in every direction from the Apiary, they will be able to store but little surplus honey.! If pastureage abounds within a quarter of a mile from their hives, so much the better ; there is no great advantage, however, in having it close to them, unless there is a great supply, as bees, when they leave the hive, seldom alight upon the neighboring flowers. The instinct to fly some distance seems to have been given them to prevent them from wasting their time in prying into flowers already despoiled of their sweets by previous gatherers.
In all my arrangements, I have aimed to save _every step_ for the bees that I possibly can. With the alighting-board properly arranged, and covered, in windy situations, with cotton cloth (p. 279), bees will be able to store more honey, even if they have to go a considerable distance for it, than they otherwise could from pasturage nearer at hand. Many bee-keepers utterly neglect all suitable precautions to facilitate the labors of their bees, as though they imagined them to be miniature locomotives, always fired up, and capable of an indefinite amount of exertion. A bee _cannot_ put forth more than a certain amount of physical effort, and a large portion of this ought not to be spent in contending against difficulties from which it might easily be guarded. They may often be seen panting after their return from labor, and so exhausted as to need rest before they enter the hive.
Dzierzon's* experience as to the _profits_ of bee-keeping has already been given (p. 21). With proper management, five dollars' worth of honey may, on an average of years, be obtained for each stock that is wintered in good condition. The worth of the new colonies I set off against
* It is by no means easy to devise a rule for estimating the profits of bee-culture, whether we regard the number of colonies or the number of square miles. He is not the best Aiparian who obtains the largest yield from a single live, but keeps only one or two. By very fidelboat and careful management, a hundred colonies might yield a large profit, yet fall far short of what three hundred would have yielded in the same location and some season, with much less supervision and attention. He is not the most successful former who produces the most extraordinary yield from a single red of ground, but he who secures the subject errope from an extensive area, well cultivated. The warming system may be very advantageous in certain localities, in spite of its manifest wastefulness; though, in other localities, it would, become of that unavoidable wastefulness, render bee-keeping a decidedly losing business, since the system involves a vast expenditure of honey for the production and maintenance of brood, which scarcely mature before it is doomed to the brustonse-pit, leaving to its owner often a smaller quantity of honey than the swarm would have produced if taken up three weeks after it was hived.
* Confine the queen of an artificial swarm, so as to prevent her from depositing eggs in the combs, and the colony will, in a short time in the gathering season, accumulate much larger stores of honey than one whose queen is left at liberty, though equal in age and population. Thus, also, a colony having a very pedific queen, will, even in favorable seasons, lay up much less honey, national ample storage, room le given them, than one whose queen lay fewer eggs. From these and stentifar facts, which might be enumerated, it is evident that a very large number of particulars must be taken into consideration when endeworking to form some general rule for estimating the profits of bee-culture,"--Dassinos.
The old-fishtoned bee-keeper should know well the honey-researchers of his daiririet, in order to decide upon the best time for "taking up" his bees. If been sure smothered, it will be found decidedly advantageous to remove and destroy their parents, at least three weeks before taking their honey. In this way, the production of brood and consumption of honey will be checked, and the combs will be in a much better condition for melting.
the labor of superintendence, cost of hives, and interest on the capital invested.
A careful man, who, with my hives, will begin bee-keeping on a prudent* scale, enlarging his operations as his skill and experience increase, will find, in any region where honey commands a good price, that the preceding estimate is a moderate one. In favorable localities, a much larger profit may be realized.
* Be-kepers cannot be too cautious in entering largely upon new systems of management, until they have ascertained, not only that they are good, but that they can make a good use of them. There is, however, a golden mean between the study conservatism that tries nothing new, and that rash experimenting, on an extravagant scale, which is so characteristic of the American people.
The gentleness of bees, when properly managed, makes them wonderfully subject to human control. When gorged with honey, they may be taken up by handfuls, and suffered to run over the flec, and may even have their glossy backs gently smoothed as they rest on our persons ; and all the feats of the celebrated Wildman may be safely imitated by experts, who, by securing the queen, can make the bees hang in large festoons from their chin, without incurring any risk of being taken by the beard.
"S@ch was the spell, which round a Wildman's arm, Twiln'd in dark wreaths the fascinated swarm ; Bright 0'er his breast the glittering legions led, Or with a living garland bound his head. His dextrous hand, with firm yet hurlleas hold, Could neire the chief, known by her scales of gold, Prune'mid the wondering train her glimp wing, Or o'er her folds the silken fetter filing."
M. Lombard, a skillful French Apiarian, narrates the following interesting oceurrence, to show how peaceable bees are in swarming time, and how easily managed by those who have both skill and confidence :
"A young girl of my acquaintance, who was much afraid of bees, was completely cured of her fear by the following incident : A swarm having come off, I observed the queen alight by herself at a little distance from the Apiary. I immediately called my little friend, that I might show her the queen ; she wished to see her more nearly ; so, after having caused her to put on her gloves, I gave the queen into her hand. We were in an instant surrounded by the whole bees of the swarm. In this emergency, I encourage :the girl to be steady; bidding her be silent and fear nothing, and remaining myself close by her. I then made her atreach out her right hand, which held the queen, and covered her head and shoulders with a very thin handerehief. The swarm soon fixed on her hand, and hung from it, as from the branch of a tree, The little girl was delighted above measure at the novel, sight, and so entirely free from all fear, that she bade me uncover her face. The spectators were charmed with the interesting spectacle. At length I brought a hive, and, shaking the swarm from her hand, it was lodged in safety, and without inflitering a single wound."
A practical acquaintance with the principles set forth in this Treatise, will render it unnecessary, _under any circumstances, to provoke to fury a colony of bees._ When thoroughly aroused, by the overturning, or violent jar ing of their hive, or by the presence of a sweaty horse, or any offensive animal, they are terribly vindictive and severe, and even dangerous consequences may ensue. As our domestic animals may, by ill-treatment, be roused to such fury as to endanger our lives, so the most peaceful family of bees may be quickly taught to attack any living thing that approaches their domicile.
When a colony of bees is unskillfully dealt with, they will "compass about" their assailant with avage ferocity; and wo be to him, if they can creep up his clothes, or find a single unprotected spot on his person. He will fare as badly as the "Untoritnatar Bee-ing," so ludicrously depicted in "'Hood's Comic Sketches."
Those who have much to do with bees, should wear a _bee-hat_, unless they are proof against the venom of their stings; for, while tens of thousands will continue their pursuits without annoying those who do not molest them, a few _dys appetite_ bees (p. 256), will come buzing around their ears, determined to sting, without the slightest provocation. Even these, however, retain some touch of grace, amidst all their desperation. Like the seold, whose elevated voice gives timely warning to escape the sound of her tongue, so a bee bent on mischief, by raising its note far above the peaceable pitch, gives fair warning that danger is impending. Even then, if it has not been provoked to madness, it will seldom sting, unless it can plant its weapon on the face of its victim, and, if possible, near the eye; for, like all the stinging tribe, it has an intuitive perception that this is the most vulnerable spot. If the head is quietly lowered, and the face covered with the hands, they will follow a person, often for rods, all the time sounding their war-note in his ears, and daring the snaking fellow to allow them to catch but a glimpose of his coward face.
attempt should be made to set on the offensive ; for, if a single one is struck at, others will average the insult; and if resistance is continued, hundreds, and at last, thousands, will join them. The assailed party should quickly retreat to the protection of a building, or, if none is near, should hide in a clump of bushes, and lie perfectly still, with his head covered, until the bees leave him. When no bushes are at hand, they will generally give over the attack, if he lies still on the grass, with his face to the ground. Those who are alarmed if a bee enters the house, or approaches them in the garden or fields, are ignorant of the important fact, that _a bee at a distance from its hike, never volunteers an attack._ Even if assaulted, they seek only to escape, and never sting, unless they are hurt.
If they were as easily provoked away from home, as when called to defend those sared precincts, a title of the merry gambols in which our domestic animals indulge, would speedily bring about them a swarm of infuriated enemies; we should no longer be safe in our quiet rambles among the green fields; and no jocuand mower could whet or swing his peaceful scythe, unless clad in a dress impervious to their stings. The bee, instead of being the friend of man, would, like savage wild bests, provoke his utmost efforts for its extermination.
Let none, however, take encouragement from the contrast between the conduct of bees at home and abroad, to reserve all their pleasant ways for other places than the domestic roof; for, towards the members of its own family the bee is all kindness and devotion; and while, among human beings, a _mother_ is often treated by her own children with disrespect or neglect, among bees she is always waited upon with reverence and affection.
It is true, that if any members of a colony become unable to perform their share of labor, they are dragged from
the five by their pitless companions. It is, however, a necessary law of their "economy, that those who _cannot_ work, shall not eat; nor is there anything in the nature of a bee, that can be benefitted by nursing the sick, while the noblest traits of humanity are often developed by the incessant care bestowed upon the weak and helpless."
Huber has demonstrated, that bees have an exceedingly acute sense of smell, and that unpleasant odors quickly excite their anger.* Long before his time, Butler said, "Their smelling is excellent, whereby, when they fly aloft into the air, they will quickly perceive anything under them that they like, even though it be covered." They have, therefore, a special, dislike to those whose habits are not neat,! and who bear about them a perfume not in the least resembling
Footnote *: Strobie pertains, however pleasant to as, are disagreeable to bees; and Aristolete observers, that they will at rating those seated with them. I have known persons ignorant, of this fact to be severely treated by bees,
* Some persons, however cleanly, are examined by bees as soon as they approach their lives. It is related of a distinguished Aplaran that, after a severe attack of fever, he was never able to be on good terms with his bees. That they can readily perceive the slightest difference in smell, is apparent from the fact that any number of colonies, fed from a common Vessel, will be gentle towards each other, while they will still the first strange bee that allephts on the feeder;
*poison produces the most virulent effect. Something in the secretions of such persons may both provoke the attack and render its consequences more severe.
The smell of their own poison produces a very irritating effect upon bees. A small portion of it offered to them on a stick, will excite their anger.* "If you are stung," says old Butler, " or any one in the company--yea, though a bee hath stricken but your clothes, especially in hot weather--you were best be packing as fast as you can, for the other bees, smelling the rank flavor of the poison, will come about you as thick as hail."
Footnote *: When bees thrust out their stings in a threatening manner, a minute drop of poison can be seen on their points, some of which is occasionally flirted into the eye of the Aplartan, and causes severe irritation.
Remarks for the sting of a hack.
If only a few of the host of cures, so zealously advocated, could be made effectual, there would be little reason to dread being stung.
The first thing to be done after being stung, is to pull the sting out of the wound _as quickly as possible_. When torn from the bee, the poison-bag, and all the muscles which control the sting, accompany it; and,it penetrates deeper and deeper into the flesh, injecting continually more and more poison into the wound. If extracted at once, it will very rarely produce any serious consequences. After the sting is removed, the utmost care should be taken not to irritate the wound by the _slightest rubbing_. However intense the smarting, and the disposition to apply friction to the wound, _it should never be done_, for the moment that the blood is put into violent circulation, the poison is quickly diffused over a large part of the system, and severe pain and swelling may ensue. On the same principle, by severe friction, the bite of a mosquito, even after the lapse of several days, may be made to swell again. As most of the popular remedies are _rubbed in_; they are worse than nothing.
If the mouth is applied to the wound, unpleasant consequences may follow ; for, while the poison of snakes, affecting only the circulating system, may be _swallowed_ with impunity, the poison of the bee acts with great power on the organs of digestion. Distressing headaches are often produced by it, as any one who has been stung or has tasted the poison, very well knows.*
Mr. Wagner says : "The juice of the ripe berry of the common coral honeystackle (_Loniecera caprifolium_) is the best remedy I have ever used for the sting of bees, wasps, hornets, &c. The berries or the expressed juice may be preserved in a bottle well closed, and will keep their efficacy more than a year."
The milky juice of the white poppy is highly recommended. An old German writer states that it will instantaneously allay the pain and prevent swelling.
Others recommend the juice of tobacco as a sovereign panacea. Relief has unquestionably been found, by different persons, from each of these remedies, and there is as little reason to expect that one remedy will answer for all, as that the same disease can always be cured by the same medicines.
In my own case, I have found _cold texter_ to be the best remedy for a bee-sting. The poison being very volatile, is quickly dissolved in it ; and the coldness of the water has also a powerful tendency to check inflammation.
The leaves of the plantain, crushed and applied to the wound, are a very good substitute when water cannot at once be procured. Bevan recommends the use of spirita of hartshorn, and says that, in cases of severe stigings, its internal use is also beneficial:1
Footnote 1: It may be some comfort to invicoas to know that the poison will produce less and less effect upon their system. 044 bea-kepers, like Mithridatosa, appear almost to thrive upon poison itself. When I first became interested in been, a string was quite a frendiable thing, the paths being often very intense, and the wound swelling so as sometimes to obstruct my sight. At present, the path is usually slight, and, if the string is quickly extracted, no unpleasant consequences ensane, even if no remedies are used. Hulsh speaks of seeing the ball head of Boomer, a celebrated practical Aplarian, covered with silings, which seemed to produce upon him no unpleasant effects. The Hev, Mr. Klotine advises beginners to suffer themselves to be strong frequently, meaning them that, in two seasons, their system will become accustomed to the poison!
An old English Aplarian advises a person who has been stung, to catch as speedly as possible another bag, and make it ating on the same spot. Even an enthusiastic dislcp of Huber might hesitate to venture on such a singular homeopathic remedy; but as this did writer had stated, what I had verified in my own-experience, that the oftener a person was stung the less he suffered from the venom, I determined to make trial of his prescription. Allowing a sting to remain until it had discharged all its poison, I compiled another bee to insert,lasing, as nearly as possible, in the same spot. I used no remedies of any kind, and had the satisfaction, In my real for new discoveries, of suffering mere from the path and swelling that for years before.
wide, by two and a half feet long, will make a good fit for most persons. With such a hat, there is no danger from waspish bees, and its cape may be tucked under the coat, or so securely listened, as to defy all assailants.