In this plate the engraver has made the floor-box to extend beyond the ends of the C. C. boxes; but, as has already been observed, and for the reason before given, it is better that the floor-box be made so that those (C. C.) boxes project a little over the ends and also over the back of the floor.
EXPLANATION OF THE REFERENCES TO THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF A SET OF COLLATERAL-BOXES.
For a Bee-passage between the pavilion and the bell-glass, is cut, in the centre of the top of the pavilion, a circular hole, an inch in diameter, and from the edge of that circular hole are cut four or six passages, just wide enough to allow the Bees space to pass and re-pass. These lineal cuts must of course terminate within the circumference of the circle formed by the edge of the bell-glass that is placed over them.
Perhaps it may be said,—in fact, it has been said—that these boxes are in reality nothing more than a common cottage-hive. Be it so: but it is an improved cottage-hive, made convenient by being divisible, and by having its parts well arranged. The middle-box, or department, marked A, is, however, square, and not round, like the common straw-hive. But beyond this one box the comparison cannot easily be carried; the common straw-hive possesses no such conveniences and accommodations as those afforded both to Bees and Bee-masters by the end-boxes of my hive.
In the middle-box the Bees are to be first placed: in it first they skilfully construct their beautiful combs,—and, under the prerogative of one sovereign—the mother of the hive—carry on their curious works, and display their astonishing, architectural ingenuity. In this box the regina of the colony, surrounded by her industrious, happy, humming subjects, carries on the propagation of her species,—deposits in the cells prepared for the purpose by the other Bees, thousands upon thousands of her eggs, though she deposits no more than one egg in a cell at one time: these eggs are hatched and nursed up into a numerous progeny by the other inhabitants of the hive. It is at this time, viz. when hundreds of young Bees are daily coming into existence, that my collateral-boxes are of the utmost importance to the Bees domiciled in them: for when the young larvæ are perfected upon the cottage plan, a swarm is the necessary consequence. The Queen, with thousands of her Bee-subjects, leaves the colony, and seeks another place in which to carry on her astonishing labours. But as swarming may, by proper precaution and attention to my mode of management, generally be prevented, it is manifestly a good thing to do so; for the time necessarily required to establish another colony, even supposing the cottager succeeds in saving the swarm, would otherwise be employed in collecting the pure sweets, and in enriching the old hive. Here, then, is one of the advantages of my plan, viz. the prevention of swarming. When symptoms of swarming begin to present themselves, and which may be known by an unusual noise in the hive or box (for it is of Bees in boxes that I am now treating), and by the appearance of more than common activity among the Bees; when these symptoms are apparent, then the Bee-master may conclude that more space is required. At this period, therefore, he should draw out the sliding-tin, marked 1, from under the bell-glass, which simple operation will immediately open to the Bees a new room—a palace—which they will adorn, and fill with their sweets as pure as the crystal stream. But if by mistake the manager should draw up either of the collateral-slides, which divide the end-boxes from the pavilion, the Bees in that case will refuse to go up into the glass, and will commence their works in the collateral-box opened to them, in preference to the elevated glass; so well aware are these matchless insects of the inconvenience attending the carrying of their treasures into an upper room, when a more convenient store-house is to be had in a lower one. The natural movements of Bees have demonstrated to me this fact by more than a thousand trials: year after year I have made this experiment to my entire satisfaction. The natural movements of the Bees also suggested to me the idea of the utility of ventilation, and that by its influence their works might be both divided and purified; and that a place of safety might still be preserved for the Queen in the pavilion. She wants a certain situation in which to carry on the work of propagating her species. Like the fowls of the air, she will not, if she can avoid it, propagate her young whilst under the observation and influence of man: she, therefore, prefers the middle-box for her work of propagation; as well on account of its privacy, as because the ventilation of the end-boxes so cools their temperature, that they are not the situation nature requires to bring the young larvæ to perfection; yet they can be kept at such a temperature as to make them desirable store-rooms for the Bees' treasures. By this mode of management we prevent the necessity of swarming; and behold the grandest chemists in the world, and stores after stores of their pure treasure, unadulterated by the necessary gathering of immense quantities of farina for the young larvæ, which we see in the piling system, as well as in the common cottage-hive; but this is all carried into the immediate vicinity of the seat of nature, the place where it is wanted.
When the glass is nearly filled, which in a good season will be in a very short space of time, the Bees will again want accommodation. Previously, however, to drawing up the tin-slide to enlarge their crowded house, the manager should take off the empty end-box he intends to open to them, and smear or dress the inside of it with a little liquid honey. Thus prepared, he must return the box to its proper situation, and then withdraw the sliding-tin between it and the pavilion, or middle-box, and thereby enlarge the Bees' dominion, by opening an end-box to them, which will produce the greatest harmony in the hive. The Bees will immediately commence their operations in this new apartment. This simple operation, done at a proper time, effectually prevents swarming; and by it the Queen gains a vast addition to her dominions, and consequently additional space for the population of her enlarged domicile. There is now no want of store-house room, nor of employment, for our indefatigable labourers. And while the subjects are employed in collecting, and manufacturing (if I may so say) their various materials, the regina is engaged in carrying on the great, first principle of nature—the propagation of her species. This she does in the department (A.) re-filling with her eggs the cells which have been vacated by the young larvæ. When, however, her next new progeny are about to be brought into life, the Bee-master must draw out the other tin-slide, and thereby open a communication to the other empty apartment, and so make a further addition to the Queen's realm; which the new, and even veteran labourers, will presently occupy, and set about improving and enriching their again enlarged commonwealth. No sooner have the Bees finished their operations in the several compartments of their box-hive, which may be ascertained by looking through the little windows at the back and ends of the boxes, than the Bee-master gently puts in the tin-slide (1.) lifts up the lid of the octagon-box or cover (H.) and takes off the bell-glass, filled with the purest and most perfect honey. Before, however, he endeavours to take away the glass, it is necessary that he should cut through between the bell-glass and the box, with a fine wire, in order that the tin may the more easily slide under the full glass of honey; when this is done, he may take off the full glass and replace it with an empty one. He must then draw out the tin-slide (1.) and so on for even The operation of taking off a glass, or a box, of honey, may be best performed in the middle of a fine, sunny day; and in taking off a glass, the operator, having put in the tin-slide (1.) as already directed, should wait a few minutes, to see whether the Bees made prisoners in the glass manifest any symptoms of uneasiness; because, if they do not, it may be concluded that the Queen-bee is amongst them; and in that case it is advisable to withdraw the slide (1.) and to re-commence the operation another day. But if, as it generally happens, the prisoners in the glass should run about in confusion and restlessness, and manifest signs of great uneasiness, then the operator may conclude that all is right, and, having taken off the octagon-cover, may envelope the glass in a silk handkerchief, or dark cloth, so as to exclude the light, remove it with a steady hand, and place it on one side, or so that the Bees may have egress from it, in some shady place, ten or fifteen yards from the boxes, and the Bees that were imprisoned in it will in a few minutes effect their escape, and return with eagerness to the pavilion and their comrades.
And what may be done with B, may also be done with either of the C. C. boxes, as occasion requires. It may not, however, be amiss to be more explanatory of the mode of taking away the treasures of the Bees in the side-boxes. It will be necessary to examine minutely the state of your boxes, particularly when the whole of your colony is full of the Bees' works. When the tin is put down to divide an end-box from the mother-hive, you, no doubt, make many prisoners; to prevent which, the night before separating an end-box from a middle one, lay open the ventilator, which will not only lower the heat of the box, but will admit the atmospheric air, which naturally causes the Bees to leave that apartment, and to draw themselves into the middle-box—their native climate; when this is done, you may put down the tin-slide (D.) as already directed, and let your Bees remain fifteen or twenty minutes in total darkness: then open the windows of the box you are about to take off, and if the Queen-bee is not within that box, the Bees that are in it will show a great desire to be liberated from their disagreeable confinement, by running about in the most hurried, agitated, and restless manner. But should the Queen-bee be there, you will then find the Bees show no desire to leave her;—the commotion will appear in the middle-box. Under such circumstances, which sometimes happen, you must act with caution; for were you to open the egress from the box, that is, the block (F.) and tin-slide (2. or 4. as the case may be) to permit their departure, very shortly would the whole of the working Bees join their sovereign in the box you intended to take; and this would be a great disappointment and complete puzzle to the Bee-master, not thoroughly acquainted with the moves of, or proper mode of managing, his valuable hive. To me such an occurrence would be a repetition only of a demonstration of facts—of pleasures unspeakable, in beholding the grand works of nature, the noble influence of her majesty—the Queen of the Bees.
When, however, you do find the Queen in the box you are about to take off, is it not easy to draw the tin-slide up again? Certainly it is easy to draw up the dividing-tin. Do so, then, and that done, the Queen-bee will readily embrace the opportunity of leaving the place of her confinement; and then, having put down the dividing-tin, you will presently be in a situation to accomplish your object. You will soon see the Bees running to and fro upon the windows in the box you are about to take off, and when you thus find them anxious to leave your box of honey, close the windows, and you have then only to open an egress by withdrawing the tin, No. 2. or 4. as your box may require; the Bees finding an aperture, with light to direct their departure, will immediately embrace the opportunity of regaining their liberty, will fly away from their prison, and join their fellow-labourers at the entrance of the mother-hive. In a few minutes you will be in possession of a box of honey, and all your Bees will be in safety and harmonizing with their beloved parent—the Queen of the hive. Take from them the box your humanity entitles you to, minding that the tin-slide is safe to the middle-box. You will then empty the full box, and return it empty to its former place; then draw up your tin, and you again enlarge their domicil, having gained a rich reward for your operation, at the expense of their labour. A child of twelve years of age may be taught to do this without the least danger; there need no Bee-dresses,—there needs no fumigation of any sort. It is a natural movement for the welfare of these worthies, that prevents their swarming, and at once secures to the sovereign Queen of Bees her rightful throne. Reader, this declaration is founded on facts,—on the practical experience of many years. And that you may adopt this principle and mode of managing Honey-Bees, that is, of taking from them their superabundance of treasure, and preserving your Bees uninjured, and, if you can contrive it, improve upon the instructions here given you, and upon the example here set you, is my hearty wish, for my country's welfare, and for the welfare of my admired, nay, my beloved BEES.