Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-02-05


Friday evening we listened to Prof. Kirt-
lands lecture on the Habits and Culture of
Bees. It was much more interesting than
we had anticipated. He did not dive into
what might be termed a scientific descrip-
ton, that could not be appreciated by ANA
teurs in the bee line; but his lecture con-
sisted of plain, practical illustration of the
progress in the system Of managing them.
In the first place, the bee raiser must under
stand how to control the honey bee. Itwas
stated, by the way, that this species of bee is
not native of this country, but was brought
here by the Swedish, Dutch and French eel
onists. Peter Calm speaks Of it in his trav-
els, in 1920. At that time it had not found
its way over the Allegheny Mountains.
Then, the settlers lost many swarms, which
escaped to the forests, rthe lack of a proper
knowledge of controlling them. There are
but few bees in the new Territories. He
spoke of the ravages of insects that formerly
destroyed vast numbers. Since 1906, the bee
moth has proved very injurious, and various
kinds of hives have been introduced to pre-
vent the destruction of these valuable honey
manufacturers. He spoke highly of Mr..
Langstroth's beehive, which gives one an
opportunity of inspecting the bees at any
tine, and handling the interior parts of the
hive, when necessary, to detect and destroy
these pestilential moths. Mr.. K. said he
did not aspire to be a horse-tamer or Van
Amburgh among wild beasts but he fancied
he could control the honey bee with as much
ease as folks do Shanghai chickens, without
the aid of & wire-g gauge covering and rubber
gauntlet, etc. His only protection was q
piece of cotton cloth, rolled up and ignited,
50 as to smoke we'll On blowing a little
smoke among them, the bees retreat totheir
honey quite harmless, and when well gorged
thev are easily handled. In ordinary hives
there are 10000 working bees, 500 drOnes,
and one Queen. The workers are females
partly developed, and are smaller than the
drones or Queen.
The stomach of the bee has in it little
sack, which contains the nectar of the how-
ers, and other little sacks placed back Of
their legs hold the honey bread. The honey
is secreted from the comb, which latter is
thrown out from the joints of the abdomen.
The process of secretion is carried on while
the bees remain suspended in their hives in
festoons, whero they hang for space Of si1
nr eight ho0rs. The comb is taken, flake by
aake, and is plastered together with mathe'
matical precision. The young working beei
who do not leave the hive until month old
are employed in polishing .he comb. Th'
male bees are called drones; they eat larg
quantities of honey, but collect none at all
In order to prevent the drones from enterint
with the bees, DR.. K. suggested that tn
orifce to the hive be made only fve-six
teenths of an inch in size.
The queen bee is about as large as th
drone, and lives from four to six years, Will
the workers live only as many months. o.
the appearance of tne new queen after he
birth, the colony becomes divided in senti
ment, part continuing loyal, and the re
mainder insisting upon new order of at
fairs. The contest finally terminates in tn
issuing forth of the old queen and her ad
herents to find another home. This is wha
is called swarming. In winter, bees shoul
have a certain amount of warmth, and tn
r hives be kept well ventilated. A dry an
airy cellar is an excellent place for keepin
t them. They should have plenty Of foo
also, and from hive abundantly stored h
would take material to aid poorer one. H
expressed himself much pleased with th
Italian bees, of which variety he has 81
! colonies.
Few people are aware of the amount
! capital and labor expended in Ohio upo
# bee culture. Estimating the number {
townships at 300, and the number of colo
MES in each at 200, each worth at an averag
j So, the total value will be seen to be 81, 500
600.
; The lecturer concluded by saying that th
L care and raising of bees afforded plcasar
}. employment for aged and infrm people, an
e also for invalids.
He intimatedthat young physicians migl
fill up their leisure hours advantsgeously b
= experimenting a few colonies of bees. 3
j.: felt confident that no could instruct youn
n girls of ten or twelve yeare of age, so thi
i they could control and take care of be-
is equal to a grown person. When skillfull
" managed, they are very profitable.
Il N,,,rr,,vr Fsh 9 1871