NEIGHBOUR'S IMPROVED COTTAGE HIVE. No. 5.
Our "Improved Cottage Hive" is neatly made of straw bound with cane, and therefore very durable.[3] The lower hive is covered with a wooden top having in it three holes, through which the bees convey their honey into three middle sized bell glasses with ventilators, which when filled hold about 6 lb. each. There is a hoop at the bottom, another round the top of the lower hive; to this the wooden crown board is fastened. These hoops are a great improvement, and are less liable to harbour insects than if straw alone were used. The floor-board, as its name implies, is a wooden board, 1¼ inch thick, with a projection of 3 or 4 inches under the entrance to form an alighting place. This entrance is cut out of, or sunk in the board.
[3] This is the hive referred to by the Bee-Master of the Times, when he says:—"The second kind of hive I alluded to is made of straw, and may be purchased at Neighbour's, in Holborn. * * * * It is so well made that it will last very long. I have had one in constant use during ten years, and it is still as good us when it was bought."
There are three windows in the lower hive, each closed with a shutter, these are very useful and interesting for inspecting the progress made. Across the centre window is a thermometer, enclosed at the sides by slips of glass. The window shutters being painted green, add very much to its appearance. The upper hive, which is merely a cover for the glasses, is a conical topped hive, also made of straw bound with cane; a hoop is worked into the straw, and made sufficiently large to allow the cover to drop over the top hoop of the lower hive, keeping the whole close, and preventing wet from drifting in. A zinc ventilator, ornamentally painted, forms the apex: this is useful in letting the confined hot air pass away in warm weather. The ventilator is opened by raising it. The dimensions of the lower or stock hive are 15 inches diameter, 9½ inches deep outside, its weight when empty 7½ lbs., the cover or top hive is 12 inches deep, and 15 inches in diameter, the ornamental zinc top being 4 inches deep. The whole is about 24 inches high. The weight of a hive packed, including glasses, &c., is about 18 lbs.
These hives have a tasteful appearance in the garden, but they require some further protection from the weather in the form of a cover or of a bee-house—contrivances that have yet to be described. In extreme cold weather, a little additional protection by having matting folded round them will be advisable.
One of the advantages this hive has over the common cottage hive is that it affords opportunity for the humane management of bees. The owner has also the power of taking a glass of honey-comb of pure quality, free from the extraneous matter, known as "bee-bread," instead of combs that are darkened by having brood hatched in them. By this system, we have combs newly made and used only for depositing the honey first put into them, hence the name "virgin honey." These glasses have a very pretty appearance, and when nicely filled, are very convenient for home use or for making presents. The lower hive is the receptacle for the bees; when a swarm is placed in this hive, they immediately proceed to fill it with combs, in which to store honey for themselves, and for cells to breed in. This hive remains undisturbed.
The best mode of tenanting a hive of this description is by placing an early and strong swarm in it, which may be generally procured of a neighbouring bee-keeper; if from a distance, considerable care is necessary to admit plenty of air; the shaking attendant upon carriage irritates the bees so much that, if not well ventilated, there is danger of the swarm being stifled, and the finer the swarm, the greater the danger. For the purpose of ventilation, remove the slides and substitute perforated zinc, wrapping the hive up in a coarse cloth of open texture (dispensing with the floor-board during transit when the distance is great).
It is necessary only to send the lower or stock hive to the party furnishing the swarm, taking the precaution to fix the slides at top with tacks, as the hive has to be inverted to receive the bees. They are shaken into it in the usual manner, as they cluster around the branch of the tree or shrub on which they may have chosen to alight. After the hiving is accomplished, the hive should be left near to catch any stragglers, for there will always be a few; towards evening, close the entrance, and remove them to the exact position they are intended permanently to occupy. Success depends on this, and also on their careful removal on the day or evening of swarming. The following morning the bees labour in the new location, marking well their habitation before they take flight, and to which they will not fail to return loaded with luscious store.
A fortnight must be allowed for filling the stock hive; then, if the weather be fine and warm, they will prepare to swarm again, as will be indicated by the thermometer rising rapidly to 100 degrees or upwards; one of the zinc slides on the wooden top must now be withdrawn, and a bell glass put on covered and protected by the upper hive, the other glasses may then be given in the same manner; a day or two after which, should the weather continue favourable, all signs of swarming will at once disappear, the bees now having increased store room which they will readily fill with comb. It is often found useful to attach a piece of clean empty honey comb to the ventilating tube of the glass; it is an attraction, and induces the bees to commence working in it sooner than they otherwise would do. The ventilator should also remain open during the day to allow the hot air to pass away from the interior, thereby contributing to the whiteness and beauty of the work; the bees enjoy the refreshment of coolness thereby afforded, and they work the faster for it. At evening all ventilation should be stopped, and the glasses wrapped round with flannel or some warm material, for the reasons mentioned on [page 25].