§ VII. NUTT'S COLLATERAL HIVE.
The late Mr. Nutt, author of "Humanity to Honey Bees," may be regarded as a pioneer of modern apiarians; and though his hive is now comparatively little used it is still worthy of description from the part it has played in the history of bee-keeping.
It consists of three boxes placed side by side (C, A, C), with an octagonal box (B) on the top, which covers a bell glass. Each of the three boxes is nine inches high, the same wide, and eleven inches from back to front. Thin wooden partitions, in which six or seven openings corresponding with each other are made, divide these compartments, so that free access from one box to the other is afforded to the bees; this communication is stopped, when necessary, by a zinc slide passing down between. The octagonal cover b is about ten inches in diameter and twenty high, including the sloping octagonal roof, surmounted with an acorn as a finish. There are two large windows in each of the end boxes and one in the centre box. Across the latter is a thermometer, scaled and marked, so as to be an easy guide to the bee-master, showing him, by the rise in temperature, the increased accommodation required; this thermometer is a fixture, the indicating part being protected by two pieces of glass, to prevent the bees from coming between it and the window, and thereby obstructing the view.
D D are ventilators. In the centre of each of the end boxes is a double zinc tube, reaching down a little below the middle: the outer tube is a casing of plain zinc, with holes, about a quarter of an inch wide, dispersed over it; the inside one is of perforated zinc, with openings so small as to prevent the escape of the bees; a flange or rim keeps the tubes suspended through a hole made to receive it. The object in having double tubing is to allow the inner one to be drawn up, and the perforations to be opened by pricking out the wax, or rather the propolis, with which bees close all openings in their hives. These tubes admit of a thermometer, enclosed in a cylindrical glass, being occasionally inserted during the gathering season; it requires to be left in the tube for about a quarter of an hour, and on its withdrawal, if found indicating ninety degrees or more, ventilation must be adopted to lower the temperature. "The grand object," as Mr. Nutt expresses it, "is to keep the end boxes and the bell glass cooler than the pavilion or middle box, so as to induce the queen to propagate her species there and there only, and not in the depriving part of the hive; by this means the side and upper combs are in no way discoloured by brood. The queen requires a considerable degree of warmth; the middle box does not require more ventilation than the additional openings afford. The bees enjoy coolness in the side boxes, and thereby the whiteness and purity of the luscious store are increased." The ornamental zinc top D must be left raised, and is easily kept in that position by putting the perforated part a little on one side.
The boxes before described are placed on a raised double floor-board, extending the whole length—viz., about thirty-six inches. The floor-board projects a few inches in front. In the centre is the entrance (as our illustration only shows the back of the hive we must imagine it on the other side); it is made by cutting a sunken way, of about half an inch deep and three inches wide, in the floor-board, communicating only with the middle box; it is through this entrance alone that the bees find their way into the hive, access to the end boxes and the super being obtained from the inside. An alighting-board is fitted close under the entrance, for the bees to settle upon when returning laden with honey. This alighting-board is removable for the convenience of packing. The centre, or stock box, A, called by Mr. Nutt the Pavilion of Nature, is the receptacle for the swarm, E E are two block fronts, which open with a hinge. A semicircular hole, three inches long and two wide in the middle, is cut in the upper floor-board immediately under the window of each box; these apertures are closed by separate perforated zinc slides. The blocks, when opened, afford a ready means of reducing the temperature of the side boxes, and they are also useful for allowing the bees to throw out any refuse.
The centre F is a drawer, in which is a feeding-trough, so constructed that the bees can descend through the openings just mentioned on to a false bottom of perforated zinc. Liquid food is easily poured in by pulling out the drawer a little way; the bees readily come down on to the perforated zinc, and take the food by inserting their probosces through the perforations, with no danger of being drowned. Care must be exercised that the food is not given in such quantity as to come above the holes; by this means each hive has a supply of food accessible only to the inmates, with no possibility, when closely shut in, of attracting robber bees from other hives.
The exterior of these hives is well painted with two coats of lead colour, covered with two coats of green, and varnished: Notwithstanding this preservation it is absolutely essential to place such a hive under a shed or cover of some sort, as the action of the sun and rain is likely to decay the wood, whilst the extreme summer heat might cause the combs to fall from their foundations. Neat and tasteful sheds may be erected, consisting either of zinc or thatched roofs supported by iron or wooden rods, and they will form a pretty addition to the flower-garden. It will be well to make the covering a foot or two longer, so as to allow of a cottage hive on each side, as the appearance of the whole is much improved by such an arrangement.
The super will be almost sure to be filled first, having been first opened to the bees. This will be removed according to the general instructions. The removal of the end boxes is a somewhat similar process, but they should on no account be taken away at the same time as the glass, or, indeed, at a time when any other hive is being—robbed we were going to say, for it is robbery to the bees: they intended the honey for their winter food, and are much enraged at being deprived of it. First shut down the dividing tin; the bees in the end box are now prisoners separated from the hive; keep them so half an hour, and then take away the box bodily to another part of the garden, or into a dark outhouse.