Occasionally bees will attack fowls, although it is more than likely in most such cases that the fowls are the aggressors and mistake the bees for flies, of which they are very fond.
Stingless Bees.—There has been much talk of breeding stingless bees, but personally I do not think such bees are ever likely to oust our native breeds, for what chance could they have in fights with the armed variety?
CHAPTER II
Hives
The question of the hive is, of course, the all-important one to the bee-keeper; upon it depends in very large measure the success or non-success of his enterprise. To the beginner, especially, it is a matter for serious consideration, one not to be dealt with in any haphazard fashion. There are so many forms and varieties of hive on the market to-day that the novice, who perhaps started out with the idea that a hive was merely "a hive—any one would do—and the bees would accomplish the rest," is puzzled as to how to make a selection. As a general recommendation in this direction I would say, select the one that is least complicated and easiest to clean. Simplicity in working, combined with efficiency in its purpose, is a sure and safe standard to apply when selecting a hive. It is as well for the beginner to try one or two varieties, so that he may find out by experience which is better suited to his particular district, and the most convenient to manipulate. That settled, he can then adopt for general use the one best suited to his purpose.
The Skep Hive.—The skep hive, made of straw, is the survival of those pre-scientific days when bee-keeping was conducted without method, other than providing a house for the bees. Except that it is still used by some who will not take the trouble to adapt themselves to the modern methods, the skep hive would find no mention in a book on bee-keeping for profit. Primarily the skep was made by our forefathers merely as a means of securing the bees for the honey season, by providing them with a ready-made home in which they could prepare their combs and store their honey. Originally it was a rough structure of straw, bound together probably with bramble-runners, peeled and split, and it has developed into the form in which we know it to-day. Its picturesqueness in the cottage flower garden cannot be denied, neither can its utility up to a certain point, and that point was when the time of the ingathering of the honey harvest arrived, for to secure the honey the bees were destroyed. As a rule, it is the hive that contains the best queen which has the most honey, and as the skep that was heaviest was always selected for clearing, it necessarily followed that in destroying the bees the best queens were sacrificed.
The usual plan of "taking" a skep hive was to dig a hole about a foot deep, not quite large enough to hold the skep. A few red hot cinders were placed on the bottom and on these was scattered brimstone. Then the skep was placed over the hole and the bees smothered by the sulphur fumes. It was a cruel and wasteful practice and it is strange that it should survive in these days when the knowledge of better and more economical methods is within reach of all.
Unless, however, disease is rampant in the district the "skepist" is oftentimes a benefactor to a neighbouring up-to-date apiarist by supplying him with swarms, or "driven" bees.
The capacity of a skep is sometimes increased by means of an "imp" made of straw of the same circumference as the base of the skep on which the hive is placed. Another method is to use bell glasses and sections as a "super" placed over the feed-hole of the hive.
Although it can find no place in profitable bee-keeping—unless it be for temporarily hiving a swarm—the skep nevertheless possesses some advantages over the wooden hive. It is not liable to the attacks of fungus, or rot; it is also warmer for the bees in winter if properly covered in severe weather, for as the combs are fastened to the sides of the hive they serve the purpose of a cavity wall or dead space.
Wooden Hives.—The wooden hive now reigns supreme in all well-regulated apiaries, and the mechanical methods of working wood, with their accuracy of joining, &c., from a constructional point of view have brought them practically to perfection. It must be confessed, however, that wood is not the ideal material for hive making. As we have already suggested, it is subject to deterioration from fungus and rot, and, even when well-seasoned, contains a certain amount of moisture which renders it readily liable to these evils. The interior of a hive, too, becomes moist from condensation, which again helps to promote decay, a decay which in turn is favourable to the development of disease among the bees.