Supplement to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica/Apiary
APIARY. Under the article Bee, in the Encyclopædia, directions have been given at considerable length as to the management of an apiary; and various methods are there detailed of procuring honey and wax from the hive; without destroying the bees themselves. The most economic mode of attaining these ends, deserves more attention as a national object, than it has in general received in this country. It appears, from the returns of the Custom-House, that England pays annually to the North of Germany from L.40,000 to L.50,000 Sterling, for the wax and honey which are imported from thence, and which might very easily be raised by a more extended and judicious cultivation of bees at home. Greater attention to this useful appendage to the Cottage, would not only be productive of commercial advantage, but would tend to improve the condition of the lower order of Peasantry. It is not generally known, indeed, what profitable returns may be obtained, at a trifling expence of time and labour, by very simple processes. Mr Huish, who has lately published a valuable practical treatise on the management of bees, has made a calculation, from which he infers, that even supposing the first cost of a swarm to be one guinea, which is the price in the places where they are sold the dearest, the Cottager is almost certain, by proper care and management, of clearing, in five years, a net produce of nearly L.60; and of having besides, at the end of that period, ten good stocks of bees in his garden.
The principal objects to be attained in the construction and management of an apiary, are to secure the prosperity and multiplication of the colonies;—to increase the amount of their productive labour;—and to obtain their products with facility, and with the least possible detriment to the stock. The apiary should afford to the bees the best shelter against moisture and the extremes of heat and of cold, and especially against sudden vicissitudes of temperature; it should protect them against their numerous enemies; it should afford them every facility of constructing their combs, and of rearing their young; it should allow of every part of the combs being occasionally inspected, and being capable of removal when requisite; and, while due attention is paid to economy, it should be made of materials that will ensure its durability. Much ingenuity has been displayed by different Apiarians in the construction of hives, which should unite in the greatest possible degree all these advantages. Although it be in vain to hope that every one of these objects can at once be perfectly attained; yet there is still great room for improvement on the hives that are at present in common use; and we shall point out, in this Supplementary article, such modes of construction as have been recommended since the publication of the article Bee, above referred to.
While some Cultivators of bees have been chiefly anxious to promote their multiplication, and to prevent the escape of the swarms in the natural way, by procuring what they have termed artificial swarms,—which they effected by separating a populous hive, previous to its swarming, into two parts, and allowing to each greater room for the extension of their works; others have contemplated only the abundance of the products which they yielded, and the facility of extracting them from the hive, without showing any particular solicitude as to the preservation of the bees themselves. Another class of Apiarians have, on the other hand, had it more particularly in view to facilitate the prosecution of researches in the natural history and economy of bees. Mr Huber’s Hive.The hive invented by Mr Huber is peculiarly calculated for the last of these objects, and its construction is founded on an accurate knowledge of the habits of these insects. He has given it the name of Rache en livre ou en feuillets, from its opening and shutting somewhat in the manner of the leaves of a book. This book or leaf hive is composed of from eight to twelve square wooden frames, placed vertically, and joined together sideways like the hoops of a cask. Each frame consists of two uprights, one inch in thickness, a foot in height, and an inch and a third in width, connected by an upper and lower cross bar, ten inches long, and of the same breadth and thickness as the former; so that all the frames may be joined together, without leaving any interval. The two external frames are closed each by a pane of glass, which is covered by a shutter on the outside: and the whole is properly secured in its place, and further protected by an external cover. An aperture must of course be left in the lower part of one of the frames to serve as a door. In order to determine the bees to construct their combs in the plane of each leaf, a small piece of honey-comb is fixed, by means of pegs, to the top of each in the proper position; as it is well known, that bees always complete their work in the direction in which they find it begun, unless they meet with some insurmountable obstacle. A proper distance is thus preserved between the lateral surfaces of the perpendicular combs; and the external ones, being only three or four lines distant from the glass panes, may be easily inspected by opening the shutters: and also, by opening in succession the different divisions of the hive, both surfaces of every comb may at pleasure be fully brought into view. No difficulty is experienced in introducing swarms into hives of this construction; and after the lapse of a few days, when the colony is fully established, the bees will very patiently submit to be daily inspected.
Mr Huber’s hive is exceedingly well calculated for producing artificial swarms on the principle of Sebirach's discovery, of which a full account will be given in the Article Bee in this Supplement. It allows us to judge by inspection, whether the population is sufficient to admit of division,—if the brood is of the proper age,—and if males exist, or are ready to be produced, for impregnating the young queen; all which circumstances are of material consequence to the success of the operation. It is essential, that some of the larvæ should not have been hatched above three days before this attempt is made. The frames must then be gently separated at the middle of the hive, and two empty frames be introduced in the interval between the former; each of these new frames having a partition which closes them completely, so as to enable the two portions to be entirely separated without leaving any opening. The door of that portion, in which the queen happens to be at this time, may remain open; but the one belonging to the other part must be closed, so as to retain the bees that have no queen, prisoners for four-and-twenty hours, allowing still, however, sufficient circulation of air. After this interval of time, they appear to have forgotten their queen; at least they are no longer anxious to seek for her, but bestow all their solicitude in the education of the larvæ, so as to convert a certain number of them into queens to supply the loss they have sustained. This they accomplish in ten days or a fortnight after the operation. The two colonies are now perfectly distinct, and are never found afterwards to intermix.
Another advantage attending a hive of this construction consists in its enabling us to force the bees to produce a much greater quantity of wax than they would naturally do. The interval which separates the combs, when the bees have not been disturbed in their operations, is constantly the same, namely, about four times. Were they too distant, it is evident that the bees would be much dispersed, and unable to communicate their heat reciprocally, and the brood would not be preserved in a sufficient degree of warmth. Were the combs too close, on the contrary, the bees could not freely traverse the intervals, and the work of the hive would suffer. It is evident that we may avail ourselves of this instinct, and by separating farther asunder the combs that are already built, induce the bees either to extend the breadth of those they had begun, or to build others in the interval, if sufficient space be allowed them for this purpose. Thus, by interposing three empty frames, one between every alternate interval of the combs in a hive containing six combs, three additional combs, if the proper season be chosen, will be obtained at the end of a week; and if the weather continue favourable, the operation may be repeated, and the same number of additional combs procured the week after.
The principal obstacles to the general employment of M. Huber’s hives are the expence of constructing them, and the greater degree of attention which they perhaps require from the Cultivator. It has also been objected that the flatness of the roof was prejudicial, by allowing the moisture which exhales from the bees to collect at the top, and to fall in drops at different parts, to the great injury of the subjacent contents of the hive. Hives of other Apiarians.Féburier proposes therefore the employment of frames in the form of a trapezium, so that the roof shall be considerably inclined to the horizon. He borrows this shape from Bosc, whose hive consists, however, only of two boxes joined together sideways, and separable in order to form artificial swarms. This was an improvement upon Gelieu’s hive, which was formed of two square boxes united laterally. Delator had recommended a still more simple form than that of Bosc, though less convenient, namely, that of a triangle resting on its base. Mr Ravenel’s hive consists of three square boxes instead of two; Mr Scrain’s is also made up of three boxes; but they are low and of great length, and are joined endwise: a communication being established between them by apertures made in the divisions which separate the boxes. It is now, however, well established, that partitions of any kind are detrimental to the prosperity of the colony. The same objection applies, though perhaps in an inferior degree, to the system of storied hives, or those which are divided into stories one above another. A great variety of the latter description, however, have been recommended by different Cultivators. In France they are known by the name of ruches en hausses. Mr Thorley’s improved hive, of which there is an account in the article Bee, is of this class, and Mr Lombard’s ruche villageoise may also be referred to the same head, although it be of much simpler construction than any other compound hive. Mr Lombard’s hive is composed of two parts, a body, and a cover, forming together an elevation of from seventeen to twenty inches, on a uniform diameter of one foot; excepting the upper part, which ought to be convex. The body is formed of bands of straw, similar to that of the cottages in this country. At the top and bottom of the body is placed an exterior band, which forms a projecting border, on each end; the lower one giving the hive a firm station on its pedestal; the upper one contributing to secure the attachment of the cover, or allowing of another similar body being placed above the first, if such an addition should be deemed necessary. At the top of the body, and even with the upper band, is placed a flooring hoard, made of a light plank, ten inches in breadth in ail directions; and the four corners of which are sawed off in such a manner that the breadth along the diagonal measures one foot. This board is fixed by nails inserted in the upper double band, and entering a little into the front. The four openings that are left on the sides are necessary for the passage of the bees, and for the escape of the vapours which are exhaled from them in winter. A flat rod traverses the hive immediately under the board; and projecting from the two sides about on inch and a half, affords handles for lifting the hive, and facilitates the fastening of the cover, which has also a projecting rod, corresponding with that of the hive. At the bottom is an opening, two inches broad, and nine lines in height, for the ingress and egress of the bees. The cover is formed in the shape of a dome, with a vertical handle at the top, and a cross bar at the lower part, by the projecting ends of which it may be tied to the ends of the bar in the body; and which serves also as a support to the combs that are constructed in the cover. For the latter purpose, also, two other bars are placed crosswise, one above the other. All the hives, and all the bases of the covers, are to be made of one uniform diameter, in order that the hives may, if occasion require it, be placed upon each other, and the covers be adapted to any of the hives that may happen to be at the top.
The pyramidal hive of M. Ducouédie, which the inventor extols in his book, entitled, La Ruche Pyramidale, avec l’art d’établir et d’utiliser les ruches, &c. as leaving nothing more to be wished for as to the cultivation of bees, differs but little from that of Mr Thorley. A common straw hive is taken, containing a swarm, which is allowed to remain till the spring of the following year; it is then placed on the top of a square box, with which it is made to communicate by a round aperture at the top of the box. In this state, it is termed by the French la ruche Ecossaise, or, ruche de M. de la Bourdonnaye. On the following spring, a second box is placed under the first, and the whole now assumes the name of la ruche pyramidale. The bees are still allowed no other ingress or egress, but by a single hole made in the lowest story. The upper stories may then be removed im succession, while further room is allowed below by the addition of fresh boxes. It is stated by M. Ducouédic, that the bees in his pyramidal hive never perish by hunger or by cold; for they always abound in provisions, and are too numerous to he affected by the most rigorous winter. When the bees are in groupes, they maintain the necessary warmth in the hive, and the brood, on the return of spring, is hatched one month sooner than in any other hive. Mr Huish has, however, made it clearly appear, that these pretended advantages are much exaggerated, while its inconveniences are passed over in silence. It is difficult, if not impossible, to proportion the hives in all cases to the magnitude of the swarms, or to the energy with which they labour. The honey being taken from the oldest cells, is deteriorated by an admixture of pollen, communicating to it a degree of bitterness, of which it is difficult to deprive it; and is less abundant in consequence of the diminished capacity of the cells, in which the coccoons of successive bees in their state of nympha have accumulated. From their being divided into different stories, the bees are obliged to live, as it were, in different families; while their own preservation, and that of the brood, requires them to live in the strictest union. The heat is also lessened by the division of the bees into different groupes. The upper part of these hives, being all necessarily flat (except the first or straw hive), occasions a serious inconvenience, by allowing moisture to collect and drop down into the middle of the hive, instead of trickling down the sides. The injury which this does to the combs, and to the bees themselves, who are constantly exposed to its influence, is, according to Mr Huish, the most common cause of the loss of the hives during the winter. The bees, he observes, always begin their work in the most elevated point of the hive, and seek for that purpose the central part of the roof. If the top be flat, and especially if it be as spacious as in the hives called pyramidal, the bees will not find this centre; they will work one year in one part, and the following year in another. This is, without doubt, one of the causes which obliges a proprietor to wait three or four years before any honey can be gathered from these hives.
The hive recommended by Mr Huish, as affording sufficient facility for examining any of the combs, and performing on them any operation at pleasure, is very similar in form to that described in the Encyclopædia (See Bee) as being used in Greece; and of which a figure has been given. The body of the hive is a straw basket in the shape of a flower-pot, that is, of a broader diameter above than below. Eight pieces of well seasoned wood, about eight inches broad, and half an inch thick, are laid parallel to one another, at equal distances, over the top of the basket, and fastened to an outer projecting band: they are then covered with net-work, over which is placed a circular board, or what is better, a convex cover of straw extending over the whole of the top of the hive. This net-work obliges the bees to fasten their combs to the transverse boards; by means of which, each comb can easily be lifted up, without interfering with any other part of the hive, or occasioning the loss of a single bee; and the whole of the interior of the hive is thus open to inspection, and we are enabled to trace the devastations of the moth, or to ascertain the presence of any other enemy.—See the article Bee in this Supplement. (W.)