PART I.

Under the above title it is intended to give a series of six papers on the subject of “Practical Bee-keeping,” of which this one is the first.

STOCK-BOX AND FLOOR, SHOWING QUILTS AND FRAMES.

It is presumed that the reader is a stranger as yet to the pleasures of bee-keeping, but has some desire to know a little about these extraordinary, interesting and useful insects, and thus to solve some of the mysteries of the hive. The best way to do this is to keep a hive of bees of your own, and the following papers, as they appear month by month, will aim at giving seasonable directions for establishing and managing it.

A MODERN BEE-HIVE.

Bee-keeping is a pursuit that has several peculiar advantages to recommend it. Much pleasure is derived in obtaining an insight into the habits and requirements of these interesting insects by actual handling and observation. There is also the aid to health, which a moderate amount of exercise in fresh air and sunlight, with a restful change of occupation for the mind, cannot fail to bring. And last, but not least, there is the honey—the prize at the end of the season for the diligent bee-keeper, the sum-total of little tokens of gratitude contributed by thousands of little workers, each so tiny, but which, when put together, form a very substantial and adequate return for all the trouble and attention bestowed upon them. This last brings with it the pleasure of being able to place on the family table the product of one’s own bees, or if it amounts to more than can well be disposed of at home, there will be the profit that will accrue from disposing of it at a fair price to friends. There are, indeed, many people living in the country who are able to make quite a useful addition to their income by following this pursuit.

Perhaps the only thing that can be said against commencing bee-keeping is the possibility of getting stung, but this is almost always the result of too frequent or careless handling; it is seldom worse than a passing inconvenience, and the bee-keeper soon learns to look upon it as a factor not worth taking into account. The timid, however, may render themselves nearly sting-proof by the use of india-rubber gloves lined with wool, besides the veil usually worn by bee-keepers to protect the face.

Few people are unsuited for bee-keeping. The invalid can manage to attend to a few hives during the warm sunny weather in summer without fatigue. The only persons who are really unfitted to take up bee-keeping are those who have not the desire or opportunity to attend to the bees regularly, or those who at first, perhaps, take up the new hobby with great zest, only to leave their pets to neglect when the novelty of the thing has somewhat worn off, or on the occasion of the first difficulty. Such a one should not keep bees. When we become the possessors of dumb animals, which depend more or less upon human aid for their well-being and comfort—and bees certainly do—a responsibility rests upon us which it would be wrong to ignore.

There are few places in this country where bees may not be kept. The heart of a large city is perhaps the most unfavourable place for bee-keeping, but even in London bees have been kept successfully in Regent Street, Holborn, and in other parts. Wherever flowers flourish, bees will generally find a subsistence. In country districts where Dutch clover and sainfoin are largely cultivated, and on the heather-clad moors of Yorkshire and Scotland, they will yield considerable returns of honey in favourable seasons.

On the whole, bee-keeping is a fascinating pursuit to those who are engaged in it, and thus almost every intelligent bee-keeper is more or less of an enthusiast, and there is, I think, a general fellow-feeling and desire to help one another amongst all interested in the craft, be they old hands, beginners, or even merely desirous, would-be bee-keepers, which is a pleasing indication of genuine love of the work they have at heart.

OLD-FASHIONED SKEP AND MODERN FRAME HIVE.

The best advice I can give to those who intend to start bee-keeping is to go and see a practical bee-keeper living in the neighbourhood, who keeps a few colonies of bees in the modern wooden hives. Choose a warm, sunny day sometime this month for the visit, and ask him to open one of the hives before you, and to explain its contents to you and how to handle the bees.

It will be seen that a bee-hive consists essentially of three separate parts, (1) the floor, (2) the stock-box, and (3) the roof.

The stock-box contains the combs and bees. The combs vary in number from eight to twelve, or more; they are built in wooden frames which hang from the sides of the stock-box, and are kept a certain distance apart by means of metal ends, so that the bees may have free passage between them. The number of the frames of comb may be varied according to “the strength of the bees.”[1] When there are fewer frames than the stock-box is capable of containing, the empty space beyond them is shut off by means of a close-fitting board called a dummy. The entrance is a narrow slit on one side of the hive between the floor and the stock-box through which the bees pass in and out. The portion of the floor which projects beyond the entrance is called the alighting-board. Several thicknesses of cloths, or quilts as they are called, are placed on top of the frames to keep the bees warm.

Besides these simple essentials of every hive, there should be an upper story or lift to contain the super, which is a box placed over the frames in summer, in which the bees may store all honey beyond what is required for their own use. In many hives the lift is made so that by inversion it will drop down over the stock-box for the winter, and so help to keep the bees extra warm.

It will not be necessary to trouble the reader at present with any details of the structure of the bee-hive, these being of use chiefly only to those who intend to make their own hives; and this is not recommended, as good hives can now be obtained ready-made from the leading dealers, which are much more satisfactory.

A hive with the combs fixed in movable frames like the one described above has a great advantage over the old-fashioned round straw hives or skeps in which the combs are fixed immovably. In the former, any or all of the frames of comb may be lifted out and examined, and the exact state of the colony ascertained in a few minutes, while with the latter the bee-keeper could never tell what was going on inside the hive. Without knowledge there cannot be much progress, and we can understand how, by keeping bees in this latter style, our forefathers for so many centuries never dreamt of any improvement on their barbarous plan of destroying the bees by burning brimstone when they wanted to obtain the honey.

In this country we have now a further advantage in the movable comb system by the universal adoption of a standard size of frame, which has been fixed by the British Bee-keepers’ Association. These standard frames are of course interchangeable, and will fit any hive made to take them.

There are one or two ways of making a start in keeping bees, but the best for this time of the year is to procure a swarm. Two swarms obtained in May or the early part of June would make a very good beginning. It is not advisable to start with more, until a little experience is gained, and thus the chances of failure and disappointment will be diminished.

The following is a list of articles necessary for commencing bee-keeping which should now be procured, so that all may be in readiness for the swarm when it comes, some directions for hiving which will be given in the next paper.

LIST OF ARTICLES FOR COMMENCING BEE-KEEPING.

s.d.
1.Hive, with 10 standard frames and 2 dummies, 10s. to200
2.Super, containing 21 1-lb. sections26
3.Sheet of queen-excluding zinc08
4.Brood foundation, 1½ lbs.33
5.Super foundation, ¼ lb.08
6.Bottle feeder with wooden stage10
7.Smoker, with guard23
8.Bee-veil; net, with black before the face10

(To be continued.)

[THE HOUSE WITH THE VERANDAH.]

By ISABELLA FYVIE MAYO, Author of “Other People’s Stairs,” “Her Object in Life,” etc.