My ingenious friend, the Rev. T. Clark, of Gedney-Hill, suggests the propriety of recommending that the window-doors be self-shutting doors. This, he says, may be done by fixing upon each door a light, easy spring, similar to those made use of to shut doors in good houses; or by a cord attached to each door, and passed through an eye, and over a small pulley fixed to the side of each box; from the end of which cord a weight of two or three ounces must be suspended. This weight, acting upon the cord, will draw the little doors to the windows, that is, it will shut them. The cords, eyes, and pulleys, he further says, may be so arranged, that one small weight will keep all the hive doors, in a set of collateral-boxes, closed and safe, and may be made to hang under the floor. I have no hesitation in recommending his suggestion as ingenious, practicable, and useful. The best security, however, after all, is that afforded by lock and key, the key being in the constant possession of the owner.
Ventilate your collateral-boxes and bell-glasses, when the interior temperature is at, or above, 70 degrees.
Never irritate your Bees, nor offer any sort of violence or opposition to them; and should an angry Bee or two at any time attack you, walk quietly away, and leave them to settle into peace again.
On no account drive your Bees; it is a ruinous practice. With boxes, however, I trust, it is impracticable, and totally superseded.
Never disturb, nor in any way interfere with, the middle-box.
On no account destroy any of your Bees: independently of its cruelty, it is an impolitic practice: it is like cutting down a tree to get at its fruit, which may easily be gathered by less laborious and indestructive means. Encourage your Bees,—accommodate them,—support them,—and by all means preserve them; and, when seasons are favourable, they will richly reward you for your attention to them.
Always keep a cottage-hive, or single box or two, in your apiary, for the purpose of having swarms from them, with which to stock empty boxes, or to strengthen such stocks as may stand in need of additional numbers; and proceed with such supplementary swarms as directed in [pages 42-45].
Never impoverish your Bees by taking from them more honey than they have to spare. Always suffer them to be in possession of a plentiful store. Over-deprivation distresses them, and is no gain to the proprietor. Among other reasons this is one for my repeated directions—not to touch the middle-box.
Honey of the very finest quality may commonly be obtained from collateral-boxes, as early in the season as the months of May and June, without injuring the parent-stock in the slightest degree. The enlargement of their domicil by returning an empty glass, or an empty box, to the place from which a full one has been taken, is at this busy period of their labour an accommodation to Bees, and is one great means of preventing the necessity for their swarming, as it enables them to continue their work at the time that there is the greatest abundance of treasure for them in the fields, and when Bees in cottage-hives cannot profit by it, owing to their want, not of inclination to gather it, but of room in their hive to store it; they therefore swarm once, twice, perhaps three times. What then can be afterwards expected from such exhausted stocks but weakness and poverty? The more numerous the working Bees are in any colony, the more honey they will collect, provided they have room wherein to store it. Accommodate them, then, with convenient store-room, and the more workers you have in your boxes the better. Up to the middle of August you may, with safety, that is, without injury to the Bees, take off glasses and boxes, as they become ready. After that time it is advisable to have, and to leave, in every colony, honey sufficient for the subsistence of the Bees until next spring; and should you take off a full box, later in the season than the middle of August, instead of emptying it of all its treasure, be content with a part of it,—take a part, and return a part—share it with your Bees, and let their share be a liberal one. As has been already enjoined—on no account impoverish them by over-deprivation, at that precarious season especially. They possibly may collect much honey after that time; if so, share with them again; if not, have them rich from your first bounty.
When a box, well-stored with honey, is taken off, it is not an easy matter to extract the first comb or two, without breaking them and spoiling their beauty, besides shedding more or less of the honey; therefore, be prepared with proper knives. Any common knife that has a blade long enough, may serve to sever the combs from the sides of a box: but, to cut them from the top, it is advisable to have an instrument, which may be called a Bee-knife, of the following construction:—a two-edged, lancet-shaped blade, two inches long and three-eighths of an inch broad, having the hole, through which the rivet would pass to fix it in a haft, drilled large enough to admit the end of a steel rod, upon which it is to be well brazed or riveted: the other end of this rod may be finished with a neat handle, leaving its clear length between the contrate blade and the handle eleven inches—that being rather more than the depth of my Bee-boxes. A knife of this description may easily be passed between the combs, and is very convenient for cutting them from the top of a box.