The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1856-09-16
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
TIE CULTIVATION OF BEES.

sts4.arns of light through the thick shrub
Aery of the garden, the blossoms have un-
folded their thin robes to receive the light
which invigorates the germ and clothes the
metals in their variegated tiRts, A tiny in
sect, all life and music, dances from flower
TO flower, drinking honey from their cups,
and, like a BechaRalian, singing as he
drinks His Jet black breeches and yellow
vest are conSpicSous among the white and
pink blossoms IS he thursts his head fear
with stameRs and pistils, and extracts the
liquid sweetness they secrete. Not bios
som escapes his visit, and when all are TINS
robbed bv this ncciariferous burglar, off he
starts, with n directness of course and a ra-
pidity that makes one instinctivcly dodge
his head to give him free course, so dis
proportinate seems the power eVineed in his
activity to the diminutive size Of the body,
This little insect, noted for its industry,
though dreaded for the virulence of its
sting, is the honey bee, which may be do
Inesticated and cultivated until it can be
harmlessly handled, and the labor which it
in the blossom session, may have its rich
results transferred by man to his own ben
eft. All that IL required is to know how
to do it, and this knowledge, fortunately,
is easily acquired by the study of the hab
its and the peculiarities of the insect, so as
to know practically how to manage it.
The Apiarian, or bee cultivator, is man
ufacturer, though his productions may not
enter into the calculations of national wealth.
He is the proprietor of thousands of busy
workmen, who voluntarily perform labor
without asking division of the profits in
wages. He takes their surplus as his own,
and there are none to question his right
and he is able to do this through Observa
ton of natural objects and patient investi-
CATION of the laws which control their life.
His business is an art, and he can impart
its principles to others till they become
equally as expert as himsel. 1t is now
fifteen years since Mr.. Langstroth, of
Greenfield, Mass, first turned his attention
to the cultivation of bees, In the course
of his experiments he found that he could
dispense entirely with natural swarmng,
and yet multiply colonies of bees with great.
er rapidity and certainty than by the COM
mon methods. 1t is the quality of the bee.
as In mon, of being exceedingly goOd-natu-
red after a meal. which enables one to cul-
he Hoa
tack or acts on the offensive when filled
with honey and when it intends to swarm
It fills its honey-bag to its utmost capacity.
Bees cannot, under any circumstances. re-
sist the temptation of sweetness, and lit
tie sugar and water mollifies their wrath
and seduces them as surely as sweet words
poured into the unsuspecting ear of maid
emily affection.
A hive contains three kinds of bees-the
queen, the drone and the worker. The
queen bee is the only perfect female in the
hive and lays all the eggs, amounting to
two or three thousand per day during the
height of the season. By a curious provi-
sion of nature, though not peculiar to the
bee, the feoundition of the queen lasts for
several years, or probably rs long as she
lives. AT least this is the prevailing opin-
ion among the apiarians, though it is not
without its difficulties and its doubts If
this formulation is retarded, her eggs will
all produce drones. The queen bee Is es-
sential to the existence of the colony, and
when she is taken away there is as great
a commotiOn in the hive as in a nation when
1t loses its reigning female sovereign The
labor of the hive is abandoned or the work
of rearing a successor to the insect mon
arch Is Immediately commenced. The
drone is the male bee, and several hundreds
will DO found in hive. He is nece ssarv
to the propagation of the species, but adds
nothing to the accumulation of the stores
of honey. He goes forth filled and comes
back empty, and like all such profitless
members of an industrious community, is
driven out of the hive soon after the swarm
ing season is over. The life of such an
idler fortunately lasts but three or four
months.
The third kind of bee is the smallest in
size, the greatest in number and the most
useful in the hive. This bee is called the
worker, and is the common bee we see Wis
iting the blossoms. 1t is an imperfectly
developed female. incapable of breeding
A good swarm will contain from fifteen to
twenty thousand of workers, which live six
or seven months. The wax with which the
bee builds its comb is a natural secretion
OF the insect, and is, in the opinion of ex-
Perienced naturalists and apiarians, not de-
rived from the pollen of the flowers 1t is
an animal oil, secreted from honey, and
twenty pounds of honey are required to be
consumed to produce one pound of wax
The building of the honeycomb is carried
ON during the night and in bad weather. SO
that little time is lost by the industrious
bee. The young are nourished with the
bee bread or pollen of flowers, which the
bee carries home ON his THIGHS SuccesS-