The character of Huber and the circumstances under which he pursued his observations are so remarkable that we need scarcely apologise for stating a few particulars respecting him here. He was born at Geneva, in July 1750, his family being in honourable station and noted for talent. Just as he attained to manhood he lost his sight, and remained blind to the end of his days. This apparently insuperable obstacle in the way of scientific observation was overcome by the remarkable fidelity with which Burnens, his assistant, watched the bees and reported their movements to Huber. Madame Huber also, who, betrothed to him before his calamity, had remained constant in her affection, assisted in the investigations with great assiduity during their long and happy wedded life. Huber, fortunately for science, was in a position to devote both means and leisure to these observations; and Burnens, though only a peasant, was a superior man, and rose by his worth to become chief magistrate of his native village. In later years Huber's son Pierre rendered important aid. We quote the following from "Memoirs of Huber" by Professor de Candolle:—
"We have seen the blind shine as poets, and distinguish themselves as philosophers, musicians, and calculators; but it was reserved for Huber to give a lustre to his class in the sciences of observation, and on objects so minute that the most clear-sighted observer can scarcely perceive them. The reading of the works of Réaumur and Bonnet, and the conversation of the latter, directed his curiosity to the history of bees. His habitual residence in the country inspired him with the desire, first of verifying some facts, then of filling some blanks in their history; but this kind of observation required not only the use of such an instrument as the optician must furnish, but an intelligent assistant, who alone could adjust it to its use. He had then a servant named Francis Burnens, remarkable for his sagacity and for the devotion he bore his master. Huber practised him in the art of observation, directed him to his researches by questions adroitly combined, and, aided by the recollections of his youth and by the testimonies of his wife and friends, he rectified the assertions of his assistant, and became enabled to form in his own mind a true and perfect image of the manifest facts. 'I am much more certain,' said he, smiling, to a scientific friend, 'of what I state than you are, for you publish what your own eyes only have seen, while I take the mean among many witnesses.' This is doubtless very plausible reasoning, but very few persons will by it be rendered distrustful of their own eyesight."
The results of Huber's observations were published in 1792, in the form of letters to Bonnet, under the title of "Nouvelles Observations sur les Abeilles." This work made a strong impression upon many naturalists, not only because of the novelty of the facts stated and the excellent inductive reasoning employed, but also on account of the rigorous accuracy of the observations recorded, when it was considered with what an extraordinary difficulty the author had to struggle.
Huber retained the clear faculties of his observant mind until his death, which took place on the 22nd of December, 1831. Most of the facts relating to the impregnation of the queen, the formation of cells, and the whole economy of the bee community, as discovered and described by Huber, have received full confirmation from the investigations of succeeding naturalists.
§ IX. THE WOODBURY FRAME HIVE.
I. Wood.—The late Mr. Woodbury's "Bar-and-Frame Hive," as originally made, consists of a wooden box, fourteen inches and a half square inside, and nine inches deep. The actual habitable space inside is lessened by the room occupied by the frames, of which there are ten; these rest on a rabbet a little below the surface, leaving a space of three-eighths of an inch between the upper side of the bars and the crown-board. This allows a free passage on the top for the bees, entirely obviating the necessity of making excavations in the crown-board, as has hitherto been recommended. The frames are nearly an inch wide, and rest in notches, with spaces of half an inch between them; they extend to within three-eighths of an inch of the floor-board, so as to hang without touching any part, leaving about the same distance from the sides. It will be seen that there is thus a free passage for the bees on every side, so that they are kept from coming in contact with the sides of the hive. Our illustration shows the hive open, and exposes to view the top of the ten bars and frames, as they range front and back. A window is also shown; this is placed in the figure over the entrance, but the proper position would be just opposite. The drawing is made so as to show back and front at once.
As before mentioned, the stock hive has ten frames—each thirteen inches long by seven and a quarter high (inside measurement), with a five-eighths of an inch projecting piece at each upper end, which rests in the notches at back and front. We have placed this hive first in our list of modern frame hives in accordance with the part it has played in rendering them popular in this country as explained in the preceding section.
