Instructions for Managing Bees

Instructions for Managing Bees

INSTRUCTIONS MANAci Na : B 3) ES. Drawn up and Publithed by Order of | the - DUBLIN SOCIETY. v DUBLIN: Printed by A. Ruames, Printer to the Dusrin Society. M.DCC. XXXIII, ep ba Fd vo LIBRARY COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON INSTRUCTIONS: FOR MANAGING BEES. » T is propofed in the following Paper to give fome'thert Account of Bees 5 f0 lay downing ftru&tions for the due Management -of them, - in fuch manner as to procure with Eafe and Plenty, the ufeful Produce of Honey and Wax ©. which they afford; and then to confider the great Profit that ,arifes from this Branch of Husbandry, as an Encouragement to the Farmer to beftow fome pains upon what will afford him fo plentiful a Re- compenee. ft People, when by Exchange, Gift, or other wife, they have got an Hive of Bees, (for there is a ridiculous Superftition,that if they are bought,they won't thrive) leave them carelefsly upon 3 Stool, in any Situation: If they happen to thrive, they are well pleas’d with rhe Produce, but never mind whe- ther they do or no, till they come to enqnire what they can get from them ; but if thro’ Neglect they mifcarry, if they be plundered by Vermin or other Bees, or if they perith for ant of Food, they then 2 im- impute that Mifcarriage fo the wetnefs and windi- nefs of the Seafon, which ought rather to be charg- ed to theit own Negle@. There are very few Parts of Ireland, which do not afford fufficient and proper Provifion for Bees, There is indeed ‘a Dif- ¢rence in point of Goodnefs obferv’d in the Honey which is gather’d in different Places, arifing from the Diverfity of Plants that Bees feed on. And in- deed it cannot be otherwife, when we confider that Honey and Wax are neither of them entirely the Produce of Bees, but being gathered from Flowers by them,are worked up,and depofited in theHives; it is no wonder then that f{ych very delicious and whole- fomeLiquor fhould be obtained from Honey, fince it is no other than the moft elaborate and refined Juice of the Plant gathered from the Flower by the Bee, and laid up in its proper Store-Houfe. But in fach Places where the common Flowers afford but an indifférentfort of Honey, that Inconveniency may in fome meafure be remedied by railing and pro- pagating fuch Flowers and Plants as produce the beft Honey, - as fhall be thewn hereafter. ~ | mas ad a ’ E obferve three forts of Bees in each y Hive, the common working Bee, q which is the Female, thé Drone, | which is the Male, and the Queen-Bee. _ ~The common working or Female-Bee is about three quarters of an Inch long, with four Wings, fix Legs, ae Sarena | v alarge : (5) a large Head, very fmall Neck, and flender in the middle part. Her angs or Jawsare furnifh’d with "Teeth, which meet fideways, and not one over ano- ther, like thofe ofother Animals. ‘They knead their ‘Wax with thefe Fangs, attack, and hold their Ene- ‘mies, carry out the Deed and Dirt from their Hives, and do many other Offices: The Sting is in Shape like a barbed Spearg very harp, ecafily penetrates any Subftance, but with iffculcy is brought out a- gain, about a quarter of an Inch long, of which the _berter half is barbed, where there is a {mall Hole, through which an inflammatory kind ef Liquor is let into the Wound occafioned by the Sting, and {queezed out by that A@tion, which occafions the Smart we feel upon being ftung. Their Eyes are very large, covered with a thick horny Membrane, upon which account they are very dim-fighted. To fupply this Defe&, they have two jointed Horns © which grow above the Eyes, about the Tenth of an Inch long ; thefe they can contract or put forth at pleafare, and thereby very fenfibly fee} any thing within their reach; The moft ufeful Ine - ftrument they have is their Probofcis, commonly called their Tongue, it is too long to be contained at length in their Mouth, and fo is doubled under- neath, and reaches a good way down the Breaft : ‘This is an hollow Tube, which fhe hath a power of lengthening or contracting at pleafure, and commu- nicates with theHoney-bag plac’d in the hinder-part of her Body, between the Sting andthe Gut. She throfts this Tongue ‘into the Flower and gatherecht the Honey, which fhe depofites in her Bag till the foes home to the Hive ; fometimes by means of this Tongue fhe puts Water in. her Bag to carry home, in order to mix up the Sandrack or Bee-bread for feeding the Young: This Bag is furnifhed with pro- per Mafeles, by which at pleafure the Honcy is mo - . emptied x [6] emptied into the Comb, or the Water fqueezed out for Ufe. The Defcription of thefe Mufcles, toge- ther with the Heart and Lungs, the Anus and Sphinéter, and the hairy Covering of its Body, are all difcoverable by the Microfcope, but would be too tedious for this Place. Her Feet are fix, very pliant, full of Joints, hai- ry with two Toes at the Extfemity of either Foot. er hindmoft Feet are longeft, that fhe may put them forward to the foremoft, which receive from her Tongue and Fangs the Bee-brcad and Wax, and working it on the Thighs of the hindmoft, fhe ftands in the mean time on her middlemoft, and tho’ fhe can and doth ordinarily ftand and go on all her Fret, yet the two foremoft have with her the Ufe of Hands, therewith fhe ftroaks and clears her Eyes. before her fetting out, but they are principally ufe in working to difpofe the Wax on her Thighs. ’ The Male-Bee, commonly called the Drone, is target every way than the Female, and more beau- tiful, he hath no Sting, neither are his Fangs and ‘Tongue made for gathering Honey, as may appear Ypon flender Obfervation: The Naturali s have difcovered by Anatomy. the Parts proper for Gene ration, which together with his heating and nourifh- ing the Brood, are the only Ufes he is fit for. So foon as this Work is done, the Honey-Bees drive the Drones out of the Hives, and they die. _ It is too mucha Cuftom with many People to de= ftroy the Drones in the beginning of the Seafon, to the great Damage of the Stock: They will not breed or fwarm for want of the Drones, and will be liable to mifcarry the enfuing Seafon,whereas plent of Drones in an Hive is a certain Mark and Caufe of their thriving, and throwing forth early and ftrong Swarms: The Drone feldom appears till Afternoon, when the Honey-Bee comes from Worle an [7] and takes his Place ; then they are fe¢n flying abaut the Hives, refrefhing, airing - and emptying them- felves, and after fome time they return into the Five, to propagate the Stock, and nourith the ‘There is in every Hive one Bee more beautiful in Shape and Colour than the reft larger and longer than the working Bee, but not {6 large as the Drone, the Wings are of the fize of the working Bee, but- the Sting and Tongue are lefs,fo that the js not made for Flight or Work, the is called the Queen-Bee, becaufe no Swarm of Bees will profper without one of them, and no Swarm will go off without one or more, and when they ferttle they kill all but one, Several Experiments have been made, by taking the Queen-Bee from a Stock, and returning her again, by which the Attachment of the Bees to the Queen hath been‘ difcovered. If the Imppen to drop in {warming, or to be loft by any: Accideat from: the Hive, the Bees dwindle to nothi and forfake their live, unlefs another of the fame; kind be brought to them, or another Stock joined to.them, which, tho’ weaker, hath aQueen-Bee withthem. =”. .. What Bees are annuals, or do.-nbt live above 14 or 15 Months, appears from feveral Obfervati but chiefly from the. great Decreafé of the Stock in the Months of duguft and September, for which no Caufe can be afligned but the Death of the old ones 5 about that time they begin to dwindle in their Size their Bodies wither, their Wings. wear away, and they are moft frequ ely overcome with Labour: and Age abroad in t Fie id, and never reach, home: IF they dic in the Hive, their Fellows carry them © forth, and drop: them at thirt of forty yards Dif tance from the Hive; their. Otng are left in Pos feflion of the Stock, ‘of Provifions, laid up for the Wistéi, and after: they haye bred the enfaing Year, ‘ and C3] .and taught their Young their Art of Management, they go off in their turn, and leave their Pofterity to continue the Colony. The chief time of breed- ing is in the Spring, earlier or later, according as the Scafon is more or lefs forward ; moft Authors agtee . March and April are the breeding Months, fo that ‘in May they {warm ; but it fometimes happens upon ,afadden Alteration of the Weather in the Spring, .that the whole Hive is in Danger of perifhing : The warm Weather in March encourages them to work and breed, upon a fudden change to cold or ftormy Weather, they have not Provifion enough for the young Brood,which are daily encreafing, and being .confined at home, they mutt perith for Want, unleds they be carefully looked after, and ted at this time, and -in this circumftance, of: which in its proper ace. _ . The Female-Bee lays her Egg in the bottom on -one fide of a Cell ina Comb, and never puts more than one Egg in one Cell: Thefe Eggs are white, fomewhat bigger than a common Fly-blow, but not fo big as the E gs of Ants. They are laid in the Center of the Hive, no where within three or four Inches of the Top, Bottom, and Sides ; left they fhou’d be chilled with Cold, or not receive fufficient Heat from the Bees, which heap together between the Combs in the Hives, and fo be rendred abor- tive: This Egg fometimes turns into a Maggot, which is. fed by the Mother-Bee with Sandrack or Bee-Bread, for atime ; it is then turned into an 4u~ velia, after the manner of other Infeéts: In this ftate it is hut up for a while in the Cell, by a coverin of Wax ;- whence at length it comes out a perfe Bee, breaking the covering with its Head: ‘This time of breeding takes up about one and twentyDays from the Egg to the Bee: The young Bees are whi- ter than the old ones, and are always fed for fome Days . CoP Days at the Mouth, ‘as: 4 Sparrow ‘feedéth «her Young; wheii: th¢y grow ftrong enough ‘they go forth to work; ‘and ‘leafry ‘thé ‘Arts of their Parents. A Number of thefe young ‘Bée¢s ‘being generated in the’ Spring, ‘the Hive is not able to hotd therh, ‘and this isthe secation of their fwatining, “The Reader ‘however is ‘siot‘to imagine, that the Swarm confi fts ‘wholly of youtig ones; but’when the Hive is over= fall, and one QucemBee-dr-more teady, Young and ‘Old, Male ‘and Female, go off together, I mutt here “heave them ready for Flight; while I give fome Di- -re€tions fo prépare an Hive for their Reception. * ao ate oy - HE bit Hives for Bees are made of Straw, i whieh ds the mott equal Fence againft the rn ' Samfiier’s Heat’ and’ Winter’s Cold: Tf "e, they- alle -to be placed upon fingle Stools, they thoatd be: plaifter’d all over with Lime, Clay, ‘arid Cow-Dung + If in the Bee-Honfe, only round the Bottom. “I would further recommend to fix a wooden Heep round the Bottom of the Straw-hive, ‘which will occafion it to ftand level upon the Bench - ia the Beé-Houfe ; this Hoop is to be two Inches deep, it matt fie the taft Round of the Straw-Hive, and be pege’d on from within to keep it faft. * ¥n fomé Places the Hives ‘ate made of Wicker or mall Sallies, which are not fo convenient, for they expofe the Honey to riin by the Heat of the Sum- mer Sun, and the Stocks to.Cold and Robbers irf Dr. Warder hath recommerided a Method af pre- ferving Bees in wooden Boxes inftead of Straw- Hives, placing two or three Boxes one over ano- ther [ 19 J | ther ina Bee-Houfe; the manner of ufing-them is this: When the Bees have fill’d one Box with Ho- ney, and are preparing to.fwarm, then you are to raife the Box that is full, upon another empty Box, which has afquare Hole on the Top for the Bees to pafs from the upper Box to the lower ; the Bees finding Room in the lower Box, immediately fall to work co fill it with Combs and Honey. ‘The propos’d Advantage of this Method is this, that when yau intend to take.the Honey, you need only take away the upper Box, running 2 wooden Slider acro{s the Hole of Communication,. which cuts the Combs, and feparates the upper Box from the lower, by which means the {warming of Bees is prevented, and the Honey taken without fmothering or de= ftroying the Bees. But-thefe Boxes are coftly and troublefome, fo as not to be fit for tHe Countryman. The Box-Hives for four Colonies, at three Boxes to each, -will-coft Ten Pounds, befides the Beo-Houfe: ; ‘whereas the Straw-Hive cofts but Eight-pence, the Hoop at. Bottom Two-pence,;and an Hoop to en~ large it, hereafter to be defcribed, Six-penee, which for twelve Hives comes-not to a tenth part of that “Expetice ; by the Boxes indeed the Honey is taken ‘without deftroying the Bees, which is but a fmall Advantage, ‘confidering the Bees are Annuals, and ‘that taking their Winter-Provifion from them, is ‘little, fhort of deftroying them ; fo that unlefs they pe well fed, the Colony will be in Danger of being “1010. . - 3 : , . _ AGentleman of. this Socrery, whofe Curiofity _prompreéd him to try this Experimeat_ of Dr. Ware ders, asfures me, that tho’ ie were cheaper .than the , Method here recommended of Strawhivesand Hoops, yet he found it both in point of Profit and convenj~ ence, much inferior to this Method for many Rea- fons. * _ There ‘There is great Hazatd'in-moving tle Boxes fo. as not to difturb the Bees very much, and it can‘ rarely be done without being much ftung ; che Boxes mutt be lifted up, and the freth Box put under al- moft inftantancoufly, and by-the moft fteady Hand, for if. the Bees are very angry, (which is almoft al- ‘ways the Cafe) the’ Apprehenfions of being ftung, make the Operator blunder in the Performance. And this is-ftill more difficult at the fecond raifing,- when ‘the Box and Hive are both to be lifted together. If the loweft Box be filled with.Combs and Honey in the beginning of Aug the Hive at Top may be taken off for Ufes But if:it chance otherwife, that there be not Honey in the Combs of the loweft Bax, the Hive cannot be taken off without endangering the Stock for want of Food, and if it be left, you get no Honey that Year: Aad where it is taken, it is eafier and lefs dangerous to {mother 20 Hives with Brimftone in the common way, than to take one Hive or Box of one Colony. : To Another Inconvenience that attends Dr. Warder’s Bee-Boxes, is, that by taking off only the upper Box yearly, the Wax in cach Box-will betwo Years old, and. confequently ill coloured, neither will the Honey-be of that Year’s-gathering, by which means ‘you never get the pureft Honey or Wax. - ~_Sinee Bees do beft defend themfelvesfromCold when they hang:round together in a globular farm, the nea- rer the Hives approach tothat form, they will be the warmer,butof neceflity. the Bottom muft be broad,that the Hive may ftand firm upon the Bench, andthat the Combs may: be eafier taken out ; and the Top muft be three or four Inches higher than the juft Form of a Globe (whether the Hive be covered with Hac- klés or not) becaufe they delight to hang in a‘Cone, and work from a Point: But chiefly to prevent fink- ing when they are full of Honey. or young Bees, to B2 which [2] ‘which the broad-crowned Hives are generally fub- j Upon this Account, the Shape of the Hive is re- commendcd to be like an Egg, wich one Ead cut " off, as_ People order it.when they are about to eat it, it may confit of twelve Straw-Wreaths or Rowls, according to the Bignefs of it ; the three firft Rowls of one Magnitude, and about 2 Foot or fomewhat more in Diameter, the four next above them larger, bellying. out a little each beyond his Fellow, that the Combs may be more firmly faftned: ‘The other five by little and little are to be narrowed to a Cen- ter at the Top, that it may be Pyramidal. ; . Some recommend ‘Hives that will hold a Bufhel or more, ,yet an Half-buthel Hive will contain a competent Stock : However an Hive had better-be tgo little than too big, for: fuch are hurtful to che ' Encreafe and Profperity of Bees: If the Hive be too great, the Bees will be more lazy, working an= comfortably, becaufe they defpair cver. to furnifh and finifh their Houfe ; an over-large Hive is pre— judicial to their {warming, and therefore I have fee an Half-bafhel Hive as the Medium: And for the fame Reafons, an Hive of one Peck Dimenfions may be proper for Cafts, or Swarms. from thofe Hives that have {warmed before in the fame Seafon. . Before: the Hive be ufed it is neceflary to rub off with great Care all the fticking Ends of Straws from within-fide ; fome recommend fingeing for this Pars pofe, and rubbing well.with a Syth-ftone: If it be not fmoothed fome way or other, the Bees‘are at - incredible labour to fmooth it with their Fangs ; which may. be obferved in the Night, by applying your Ear to the Hive, .and the fhort Bits and Finds of Straw fo cut off ate thrown out of the Hive. The daubing the Infide of the Hive with fweet Hesbs, Cream, or other Subftances, commonly called dref- | -L13 ] 7 fing it, is prejadicial, for fuch Subftances are apt to cuea fawen, tnd {0 ‘prove offenfive to the Beat Bue if fomething muft be done, it is beft to rub a little Water and Honey at the upper-end, becanfe that may allure the Bees toit: ‘Tho’ even thisis not al~ ways neceffary, for if the Hives be thoroughly, clean- ed, they will generally {peaking take to it.. The next thing to be done is, tocut a Notch in théloweft Rownd of the Hive, or in the Hoop beforeemtn~ tioned, two Inches long, and half an Inch deep, for a Door or: Paffage . for the Bees to go in and out. ‘Then forthe Support of the Honey and Combs with= in the Hive, -get a Stick of green Afh, or of any o~ ther Troee‘near at hand, and ftick it in the middle of the Top of the Hive within-fide, fo long as to reach within half'an Inch of the Bottom, having firft cleft the Stick, then within the Cleft of the Stick, fix another Stick of the fame fort crofs-ways, faftening each End into the Sides of the Hive, and another in the fame manner about five Inches above that. The fame ingenious Gentleman, whom I men- tioned in the 9th Page, hath added the following Direétions: for fticking the Hive: ‘ Take a clean “ Stick as thick as the Top of your little Finger, “ fharpen one End, and thruft it through the Hive, “. within four or five Inches of the Top within-fide, “:then take a Sally-Stick, becaufe it will fplit well, « aa thick as your middle Finger, then bind it Hard “ with two or three turns of Packthread, within “ two: Inches of the End, to prevent its fpliteing. “ ‘quite thorough, Then fplit it in the middle from “ the other End up to the Packthread, after fplit “ it‘the crofs-way of that, and inthe End above the. “ Binding cnt a large Notch tofix it againft the Stick “in the Upper-part of the Hive ; and when the “ Stick is thus fplit into four, the Infide of cach “ Piece muft all the Length be pared off, and- pander ost “6 fomee [14] | “ fomething flat, that they, may the eafier be bent ; “¢ then bend cach of them outward about the fourth “ part of a Circle, and fharpen the Points of them, “and with a pointed Stick make four Holes “ through the Hive within five Rounds of the Bot- “ tom, but if it ftands on an. Hoop, within four . Rounds of the Bottom, then fet the Notch to rhe “ middle of the Stick fixed in the Crown of the _ © Hive, and put each of the Ends of the fplit End “ through the Sides, where the Holes were made, “* and two Rounds lower than that exa@ly to an- “ fwer, between each of thofe Sticks thrat two “ Sticks, the Thicknefs of that on the. Top of the “ Hive, through the Hive, and thefe will be ex- “ aély acrofs cach other, a3 you may fee in “ Figure 11. Having thus prepared the Hive, it may be next proper to let you know how you are to ale it. Cua. HL Of Swarming. py’ HE old Stocks having bred in the Spring . and the Bees by reafon of their Num- . bers being ftreightned for Room, prepare ; to. fend forth a Colony or Swarm, : and fometimes afterwards another, as the Seafon proves favourable; the firft Swarm that goes off .is called the Prime Swarm’; and whatever Swarms go off aftcrwards, as fometimes there will two or three, they are called Cafts. : a, There is no precife Time that.can be named for. the {warming of Bees, generally fpeaking. the two fwarming Months, are May and “fune, tho’ there are . L115] a, fometimes Swerms.in April, and very often in Fuly; thofe in Apri? are in great Danger, (if Cold Wea- . ther fhould follow their {warming) to be ftarved, be- fore they can get any thing to begin Houfe-keeping withall : - Thofe that {warm in uly, tho’ they. are .in,no Danger..of any fudden Want, Honey-gather- ing being plenty every where, yet; are they in great Danger’ in the Winter following, leaft haying fo | fhorta Summer, they fhou’d. not have gathered Ho- -mey enough to ferye them till the next Spring. _-. Tho’ -it be .impoffible to determine the precife Time of the Year when Bees: will: fwarm, yet by the forwardnefs-ef the Spring and warmth of the Wea-. ther, one may guefs very near the Time. _ Awarm, calm, and fhowering Spring, caufes ma- ny and early Swarms ; dry weather maketh Plenty. of Honey, ‘and : moift of Swarms, fo when a dry ‘Summerfollowesth a moift Spring, the-Beefolds are rich, but if the Summer be alfo moift, the Encreafe ‘of Bees will be-grear, and becaufe of the Scarcity of Honey, there.will be, Danger of their perithing 5 fo that many Swarms at the End of Summer, unlefs you carefully feed them, will be-no great-Advah- tage; for oxcept fome very early Swarms, and fome good Stocks which caft betime, or not at all, if left to themfelves, they; will die for Hunger; and. the Reafon is, that the Weather keeping-them much is, they can do nothing but breed, and when they-go > abroad, bring in nothing but Bee-bread and Water, wherewith they feed their Yqung, but can find nog thing to lay.up in Store. ae Sometimes by reafon of the Uncertainty of the | -Weather, early Swarms are-not- the beft, the, Wind oftentimes continuing high-and cold, and the Seafon -clofe, fo that, without alittle refrefhing, many Swarms are like to perifh, and if a Swarm by bad _ Weather .be checked, and hindred in their ork . 7 the the firft Week, they will feldom work couragioufly all the Sommer following. "The Signs of the firft Swarms are fomewhat un- _ certain; but lying out, abvut, or under the Hive, in the Morning and Evenings only, is a prebabte Sign of fwarming, whereas to lye out’ conftantly is .a Sign of not fwarming. °* | Cae -. When Bees lye.continually forth of the Hive, ufually fwarm late, fometimes not et all that Year; for the Hive being fall of Bees, and therefore very ‘hot, the Bees to retreth and coal themfelves, lye abroad under the Hive, or upon the Sides there- of, whereby the Hive never feems over-ful: and having ufed. a while to lye forth, find no Inconvéni- -ence from their Multitudes, and are loath to forfake what they have gathered. . re If they begin a Comb under the Board, it is a fure ‘Sign of not {warming ; and-in fomie Cafes they will not {warm by any Methods you can ufe: A Reme- dy to prevent any Inconveniance from’ hence, will -be afterwars offered, when I come to fpeak of taif- ‘ing the Hive by the Hoop, to prevent finall- Cafts, ~Purchas, Warder, and other Authots,: very reafo- ‘ably fuppofe, that when they will: not fwarm, it mutt be for want of a Leader or Queeh«Bee to head them. When they are about to fwarm, you may obferve in the Morning, about Nine a Clock, that ‘they. run in and out of the Hive, and on the Outfide of.the Hive; they appear in great Confufion, and ‘muft then be watched ; when they’ will prefently fwarm, you may fometimes know by their gathering ‘together, without at the Door of the Hive, -and not only upon the Hive, but on the Stool alfo ; where. when you fee them begin to. hang one upon anothet in fwarming time, and to grow into a Clufter, that covers the Stool in an Place, then befure they will prefently rife, ifthe Weather hold: But common- ly Cay]. . v fome few .do fir, fly forth,-to and fro about the Door of ‘the Hive, with a greater Noife than ordina- ry, and a they eneredfe in Number, the Noife made ‘bythem is more fmart.and yehement ; then they be~ in 9 dance before the Hive, and make many. cir- ;cling. Motions with an bulnming Nolfe, ..at length ‘they go off with an unufyal Humming, are yery. an- Bry Le that Time, and will fling all that come in _their, Way: Bees,will fwarm any-time of the Day, ‘between Hight in the. Morning, and Four in the Ale - .ternoon, bat the chief time ot {warming is between leven and One. s,0 aot, _ Bees. when they ‘alight, generally fettle all to- gcther, fometimes, but ,feldom, they divide into two or: three Parcels“ in“their fettling, which thall be confdered hereatter ;; fometimes they will go clean ‘off, to fome Place they, have beforehand provided, as an-Hive of ‘old Combs, an hollow. Tree, or the hollow emt of fomeBuilding, perhaps a Mile ortwo yt-from, the: Place, where they fwarm ; but. often in thefe Cafes, ‘they take. fome ftand frit to mutter their Strength, and fee if they have the Queen-Bee with them: For the.Queen-Bee fometimes goes off firft, fomeétimes ftays to fee the Flight go off, and ‘then follows them, and, becaufe her Wis sare fhor- rer in Proportion to, the, Length of her. Body, than that, of other Bees, it.'fometimes happens that fhe falls down ‘to the Ground:by the way; in any of which Gafcs.the Beesrwall never fectle right; but re- turn fo their. own Hiyey or difperfe elfewhere, or be loft. Dr. Warderfays, .be bas frequently remc- died this Inconvenience. by finding the Queen-Bee, fomewhére berwden: the Hive whence the Bees {warmed, : and the Place where they firft alighted ; - and fo hiving her with the Swarm, ‘or ‘by hiving ‘ghem with -another Queen-Bee, hath faved. them ; but thefe Cafes da. net. oftén happen, for generally, ; - as ‘ 4 [ 18 ] as I faid before, they go all together, and alight ‘upon fome Bough of a Tree, or about the Body of it, or upon fome Hedge, or Pales, and {ometimes, “but very rarely, upon the Grafs. oO ‘ When Swarms are up, and bufy in their Dance, it hath been an old and common Pra@tice, ‘for want of other Mufick, to play them a fit of Mitth, upon a Bafon, Warming»pan, or Kertle, to make them ‘more fpeedily alight,and tokeep them from flying a- way; but this is perfectly needlefs, for ‘they will fettle of themfelves, except they have chofen a Place beforehand which is very near; in which Cafe,when ‘their Company is all out, they will fly directly thi- ther, and your ringing and ‘tingling will-prevail no- thing to perfuade them to ftay. « - . on * The only Benefit of this’ tingling is, that if you chave Neighbours near you, that keep Beés, youmay give Notice thereby to prevent wrangling, if fome ‘of theirs fhould arife at the fame timle. © ~ ‘ By the-time the Swarm is fettled, the beft way is to hive it immediately, (havidg Hives of’ all forts always reddy) for fear of their rifing again, or df o- thers coming to it. ‘The Hive fhould be choftti an- fwerable to the Swarm, it is recommended to chufe an Hive fomewhat more in Dimentions’than' three Pecks for a forward Swarm,’ and three Pecks for a . Prime Swarm in the beginning of ¥ane 3; ‘but ufe no Hive under half a Bufhel. * we _ Jf it be in the Heat of the Day, and the Sin fhine upon the Swarin, they will not ftay long; if they be provided of a Place (Hive or Tree) as fome are be- forehand, prefently after they are fettled, and all their Company gathered together, they will uncluf ter, rife again, and be gone, and fly right thither, and will not; be ftay’d by any Courfe you cai ‘take: If they arenot provided beforehand, as foon as they wre gathered together, they depute or empower £19 } ome. of thei Compeny to fpy out a Place, if they return with the News of. it, before {Warming-time is patt fog that Day, then-(ifithey: are néchived) they will. orefently uncluter.and away 5: otherwife they will hang until the nexe Day. It is therefore very in- difcreet to. ket them hang till Night, as fome do, for the Swarm. may be loft, befides the hindrance to their Work; for if they be hived early: in the after- noon, they. will. inimediately fall to work, and fome=- , times make a Comb. a6 handful long before Night, and fill muc¢hof it with Honey ; as hath been difco- vered upon uniting two Cafts. yt . There areother Inconveniences which attend ‘a De- lay ofhiving them, for by too long hanging they will befond of the Place, hanker thereabouts, and negle& their Labours. Where there are many Hives,* there is great likelihood of other Swarms rikogat:the fame time, if they be within hearing, and fometifnes two Prime Swarse will rife and fly together; all thefe Circumffances: require ‘particular. Direétions in: the hiving, which thall be next laid down--= though af ter all, Ufe and Experience are better Mafters, when guided by Reafon and Difcretion, than any Rules which can be given; for the different manners of hive ing depend very mach upon the different Circumftan- ces of lighting and pitching. oe If the Swarm fetcle upon. fome Bough of 4 Tree within reach, or upon Pales, or-an Hedge where you can come readily at them, the firft thing to be done, is to fhade them with a Sheet, till your Hive be ready to receive them; and if it can be con- trived to prop up the Hive any way over them, till they crawl up inte it, (which will happen fome- ‘times in halfan Hour to a Top-Swarm) it is the beft way, otherwife you muft, as gently as ‘you’ can,fhake them iato the Hive, qunen they are there, place . G2 the \ ee ’ the Hive upon the Ground upon: a Sheet or Board near the Place, having laid‘under it two Sticks of a= bout an Inch Diameter, andja! Foot afunder, to rear up the skirts of thé Hive, that no Bee may be crufh- ed by the Hive, and thatthe Bees‘may more readi- ly enter, and.that fuch Bees‘as are within hearing, and hanker, about the Place, may come to’ ‘their Fellows; but ‘if yon remove the #five immediately to the Bee-Houfe, or to any Diftance from the Place where the Swarm pitched, many will be loft, or at leaft return home again; tothe Damage of the Swarm: When they have ftood thus till Evening, remove, thear.-to the Stool,. or Stand ia the-Bee- Houfe, where they are to'remain.. If they fhould {ettle.very high on the Top of a Tree, where you cannot geome -coveniently tofhade them, and they be upon a fingle Bough, the beft way is, with’a very fharp Knife to cut the Bough off, and having -before tied a String to ir, to let it down to the Ground up= on a,Board or Sheet, and-fo fhading them,and place~ ing the Hive over them, they will foon be-hived, in the manner.betore directed ; This whole AGion mu ft be done very gently, left by thaking the Swarm tco much, the Bees be fcattered, and befide thé lofs of the Swarm,. the Operator may be mo dreadfully, ‘flung. if they fhould fettle very high, and that around the Trunk of the Tree, fo that.it will be impoffible to get them all into the Hive together, carry up 2 Cloth with, you, and getting as many as you canine to the Hive,cover them in the: Hive with the Cfoth, atfd bring ic down with the Mouth upward, and fet them upon the Ground upon a Board or Sheet, as before direéted; let the Remainder be brought inte another empty Hive, covered in the fame manner, and when the Hive is down, knock them out by the fide of the former, and place the firft Hive over them ; a I, ‘ > ‘ {21 J : thein ; this is fometimes neceflary to be repeated _ three or four times, before the whole ‘be got. _. It fometimes happens, that a Swarm fhall feparaté in their Flight, and fettle in two or three diftin® Places, which is always attended with a Queen-Bee "to each Party, and is the Canfe of that Separation : ‘In this Cafe they mutt be hived feparately, and join~ ed together at Night, in the fame-maaner as will be ' fhewed by and by, inthe joining of Cafts, for they anay in this ftate be confidered as fo many Cafts; and gherefore the Rules there laid down ‘are applicable If ie fhould happen that another Swarm fhould — rife before you havehived your Swarm, there is gteat Danger of their flying together, if the firft be with+ in hearing; therefore: they fhould be ftopt up with a Cloth, and let go’again after you have hived the firft Swarm ; ‘but if this cannot be done time e- nough; but ‘that they are already upon the Wing, and come towards you, the firft Swarm fhould be | covered with a Sheet, until the laft be fertled elfe- . where ; but if they fly about the covered Hive, feek« ing to enter there, fet down a prepared empty Hive by. it, and they will often go in of themfelves. | If two Prime Swarms fhould rife together, they, will for the moft part fettle together: There is no Remedy but hiving them into two Hives as equally as you can divide them. If you happen to give each Hive a Queen-Bee, they will cach Swarm remain quict in their refpe@ive Hives, otherwife they will quit the Hive, where no Queen-Bee is, and go intd the other; when they are all got jnto one Hive, you mutt knock them all out upon a Cloth or broad Board, and divide them again. But if this fhould fail of an effe€tual Divifion, and they will all go into one Hive, knock them out again, and over one Par ty place an Hive inhabited by a weak Caft, for there oF, you ; [ 22 J you are.fure of a Queen-Bee, and carry the reft a- way to fome Diftance, fo you may be pretty fure of two good Hives however. Some Authors give Dire&ions, how to defend the Hands and Face from the fting of the Bees ; but unlefs they be fettled in an untoward Place and Pof- ture for hiving, there is not any great Danger ; how- ever the Hands may be covered eich a pa of wool- len Gloves, (for the Bees will ftick their fting thro’ Leather) and a Gaufe or Cyprefs may vail the Face, and fecure it from Danger. ; Cafts, or fecond Swarms, except they be early, and out of large Stocks, {eldom thrive, there is fcarce one Caft in twenty that will gather Honey enough to keep them till the next Spring ; {0 that they are generally taken up, at the End of the Sea- fon, with the old Stocks, but they have fo litele Honey in them, that they turn to no Account ; rhe way to make fomething of them, is to put two or three of thefe Cafts together into one Hive, and fo they will become one Stock, and ftand out the Year very well. The manner is as follows. _ _ When you have a Caft or fecond Swarm, take it into the Hive as you do the Swarms, and put it in- toits Place ; then perhaps two or three Days af- ter, or a Week, you may have another Caft up, and pitched; let this fecond Caft be hived by ir felf alfo, and fer under the Tree where it pitched till Night, when you muft join them thus; fpread a Napkin about Ten a Clock at Night, on the Ground, clofe by the Stool of the firft Caft, then lay a ftick crofs the Napkin, fetch the fecond Caft that {warmed that Day, and with a ftrong ftroke on the ftick that lies crofs the Napkin, knock out the Bees, which will all come out at that one ftroak, ap onthe Napkin in a broad Lump ; then throwing t ne Rlive out of your Hand, take your firft.Ca | from £234 from the Stool, and fet it over the Bees on the Nap- kin, and they will in about anHour all crawl up,and become one Family ; if any of them crawl about on the Out-fide of the Hive, as they fometimes will, brafh them off upon’ the, Napkin, and they will food yo to their Fellows; then about Eleven or Twelve a lock take up the Hive, and put it’in its Place, fo - you fhall have two Cafts in one Hive, and in the fam¢ manner you may have a third, and a fourth ; and thus you may have'4 ftrong Swarm of Bees for the next Year. There is another way of joining Cafts, which may fometimes be more conveniently doné ; “having hived the Cafts in feparate Hives as before," join the two Bottoms at Night, ‘ fetting them upright, the leaft Caft undermoft, fix them faft for ‘one whole Night, and ftop.them in ; if you find ,in the Morning, by’ applying. your Ear to th¢ Out-fide of the Hive,that all is quiet within,let them sémain {fo till Night, arid then ftool them 3 if they da not, join, the leffer may be krorked dut, an the‘l tger placed ‘over’ them the Night follow- ing. When Caits are‘put together they will fighe till one of the Queen-Bees is dead and thrown out - of the. Hive, and then they will join quietly. _ ing forth thefe Caits or ‘Techn Since generally {peaking the taking of Cajfts is troublefome, and unlefs they be joined as is here di- rected,. thty-feldom-come to an thifig, the throws warm, “fhould revented if poffible. Now the Reafon of Bees | warming (as was before fhewed). ig for want of Roont to work in, ‘and if by anj‘inedn$ the Hivecas be enlarged, in’ Proportion to, the Enereafe ofithe Stock By this fecbui Brood, they will not caft. For - this Purpofe therefore; . the-Perfon who makes the Hive, thould make three or four'Rounds of Straw, if fach manner’ as to fi¢ the Mouth of the Hive, up’ of which at convenient timés, it may be raifed, prt " ting [ 24 ] ‘ting a-fmall ftick scrofs to fix the Combs upag: But the Hoop at the Bottom of the Hive, that was for merly recommended, makes this Affair much tafier; for by means of another Hoop about four or five Inches broad, upon which the firft Hoop may thut, like the Lid of a Box, the Hive is eafily en- larged : This Hoop hath two-fmall Handles,” one on ‘cach fide, ‘to lift up the’ whole Hive’: And there are four thia pieces of Wood faftned on ‘the Infide, about an' Inch long, two on each fide, for rhe crofs fticks that fupport the, Combs ‘to raft upon Fig. 4. is a little Door, abont. two Isiches broad, to flip up and down in a Groove, which mutt ‘be kept fhut from the latter End of ¥uly to April foltowing; alittle bit of Wood,. with two or, thtee ‘Notcher, juit big enough for one Bee to pafs, and fappartet f a Nail, is fufficient’for the Sttaw-Hive. * Fag. 5. Reprefents the Hive with the two Hoops;. thefe Hoops are of great Ufe,. for they are much ‘the neateft way, and will-ferve many Years, provide Care be taken, by wafhing them in warm Water, to cleanfe away thoroughly the {cent of the old Stock. | e . Uy Cuar. IV: Of the Bee-Hovfe. a a a ee a Ae tee po. . 4 HE Pofition of the Apiary or Bee-Honfe f= -muft bg to. the Seuth, in: fach Pare. of the, - _ sGarden or Orchard, #8-1s moft opén before the. Hives, that the Bees may not be intere rupted in their. Flight; thé Bee-Hovfe is made thus: Take two Deal Boards well feafoned, and fo broad, as when joined together may. admi. the Hive a . oO an i AME ar in deh dd i S ANON ALT HATE TH OR” TOVOTTNATHTTONALET RIPPER” “tna, sat alae LNA Lin . Unley "sweet. -3 the under hous. _— 4 Mhe slitting door and | frane_~ 9 the Bechouse. 6 alive upon the under hoop with} siting door 6 @ moveable door to fix on the hooks SY yrohis beling ing to the Bielwuse tn Winter [25]. 7 - and three Inches befide for a Landing-place for the Bees tolight on, join them, and fix them upon four or fix Pillars faftned to the Ground ; back it up with Boards, and cover it in the manner of an halt Cop-. ing, as in Fig.2. Make Partitions between.cach ive,that a Door may be fixed onto fhut them up all Winter, this Door is to hook on and off, as Fig. 6. By this Means Bees may be preferved from the itt juries of the Weather,from Mice, Vermin, and other _ Accidents, which Hives upon fingle Stools are ex- pofed to. It is neceffaty upon removing Hives rom fingie Stools to vacant Places in the Bee-houfe, that the Places where old Stocks have ftood, be well wafhed and cleaned, fo that no Scent remain ; “for. the fame Reafon Bees thou’d not be placed near a Dung- hill, or Cucumber-bed,bad Smells and Dirt being vee ry offenfive to them. The, Largenefs of the Apiary muft be propor- . tioned to the Number of Hives, and the Number of Hives to theQuantity of Flowers you have near you to feed on, for an Orchard may as well be over=- ftocked with Bees,