Part 1 (1/2)
Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee.
by L. L. Langstroth.
PREFACE.
This Treatise on the Hive and the Honey-Bee, is respectfully submitted by the Author, to the candid consideration of those who are interested in the culture of the most useful as well as wonderful Insect, in all the range of Animated Nature. The information which it contains will be found to be greatly in advance of anything which has yet been presented to the English Reader; and, as far as facilities for practical management are concerned, it is believed to be a very material advance over anything which has. .h.i.therto been communicated to the Apiarian Public.
Debarred, by the state of his health, from the more appropriate duties of his Office, and compelled to seek an employment which would call him, as much as possible, into the open air, the Author indulges the hope that the result of his studies and observations, in an important branch of Natural History, will be found of service to the Community as well as to himself. The satisfaction which he has taken in his researches, has been such that he has felt exceedingly desirous of interesting others, in a pursuit which, (without any reference to its pecuniary profits,) is capable of exciting the delight and enthusiasm of all intelligent observers. The Creator may be seen in all the works of his hands; but in few more directly than in the wise economy of the Honey-Bee.
”What well appointed commonwealths! where each Adds to the stock of happiness for all; Wisdom's own forums! whose professors teach Eloquent lessons in their vaulted hall!
Galleries of art! and schools of industry!
Stores of rich fragrance! Orchestras of song!
What marvelous seats of hidden alchemy!
How oft, when wandering far and erring long, Man might learn truth and virtue from the BEE!”
_Bowring._
The attention of Clergymen is particularly solicited to the study of this branch of Natural History. An intimate acquaintance with the wonders of the Bee-Hive, while it would benefit them in various ways, might lead them to draw their ill.u.s.trations, more from natural objects and the world around them, and in this way to adapt them better to the comprehension and sympathies of their hearers. It was, we know, the constant practice of our Lord and Master, to ill.u.s.trate his teachings from the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and the common walks of life and pursuits of men. Common Sense, Experience and Religion alike dictate that we should follow his example.
L. L. LANGSTROTH.
_Greenfield, Ma.s.s., May 25, 1853._
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I.
The present condition of practical bee-keeping in this country, is known to be deplorably low. From the great ma.s.s of agriculturists, and others favorably situated for obtaining honey, it receives not the slightest attention. Notwithstanding the large number of patent hives which have been introduced, the ravages of the bee-moth have increased, and success is becoming more and more precarious. Mult.i.tudes have abandoned the pursuit in disgust, while many of the most experienced, are fast settling down into the conviction that all the so-called ”Improved Hives” are delusions, and that they must return to the simple box or hollow log, and ”_take up_” their bees with sulphur, in the old-fas.h.i.+oned way.
In the present state of public opinion, it requires no little courage to venture upon the introduction of a new hive and system of management; but I feel confident that a _new era_ in bee-keeping has arrived, and invite the attention of all interested, to the reasons for this belief.
A perusal of this Manual, will, I trust, convince them that there is a better way than any with which they have yet been acquainted. They will here find many hitherto mysterious points in the physiology of the honey-bee, clearly explained, and much valuable information never before communicated to the public.
It is now nearly fifteen years since I first turned my attention to the cultivation of bees. The state of my health having compelled me to live more and more in the open air, I have devoted a large portion of my time, of late years, to a careful investigation of their habits, and to a series of minute and thorough experiments in the construction of hives, and the best methods of managing them, so as to secure the largest practical results.
Very early in my Apiarian studies, I procured an imported copy of the work of the celebrated Huber, and constructed a hive on his plan, which furnished me with favorable opportunities of verifying some of his most valuable discoveries; and I soon found that the prejudices existing against him, were entirely unfounded. Believing that his discoveries laid the foundation for a more extended and profitable system of bee-keeping, I began to experiment with hives of various construction.
The result of all these investigations fell far short of my expectations. I became, however, most thoroughly convinced that no hives were fit to be used, unless they furnished _uncommon protection_ against _extremes_ of _heat_ and more especially of COLD. I accordingly discarded all thin hives made of inch stuff, and constructed my hives of _doubled_ materials, enclosing a ”dead air” s.p.a.ce all around.
These hives, although more expensive in the first cost, proved to be much cheaper in the end, than those I had previously used. The bees _wintered_ remarkably well in them, and swarmed _early_ and with unusual _regularity_. My next step in advance, was, while I secured my surplus honey in the most convenient, beautiful and salable forms, so to facilitate the entrance of the bees into the honey receptacles, as to secure the largest fruits from their labors.
Although I felt confident that my hive possessed some valuable peculiarities, I still found myself unable to remedy many of the casualties to which bee-keeping is liable. I now perceived that no hive could be made to answer my expectations unless it gave me the _complete control of the combs_, so that I might remove any, or all of them at pleasure. The use of the Huber hive had convinced me that with proper precautions, the combs might be removed without _enraging_ the bees, and that these insects were capable of being domesticated or _tamed_, to a most surprising degree. A knowledge of these facts was absolutely necessary to the further progress of my invention, for without it, I should have regarded a hive designed to allow of the removal of the combs, as too dangerous in use, to be of any practical value. At first, I used movable slats or bars placed on rabbets in the front and back of the hive. The bees were induced to build their combs upon these bars, and in carrying them down, to fasten them to the sides of the hive. By severing the attachments to the sides, I was able, at any time, to remove the combs suspended from the bars. There was nothing _new_ in the use of movable _bars_; the invention being probably, at least, a hundred years old; and I had myself used such hives on Bevan's plan, very early in the commencement of my experiments. The chief peculiarity in my hives, as now constructed, was the facility with which these bars could be removed without enraging the bees, and their combination with my new mode of obtaining the surplus honey.
With hives of this construction I commenced experimenting on a larger scale than ever, and soon arrived at results which proved to be of the very first importance. I found myself able, if I wished it, to _dispense entirely_ with _natural swarming_, and yet to multiply colonies with much greater _rapidity_ and _certainty_ than by the common methods. I could, in a _short time, strengthen my feeble colonies_, and furnish those which had _lost their Queen_ with the means of _obtaining another_. If I suspected that any thing was the matter with a hive, I could _ascertain_ its _true condition_, by making a thorough examination of every part, and if the _worms had gained a lodgment_, I could quickly _dispossess_ them. In short, I could perform all the operations which will be explained in this treatise, and I now believed that bee-keeping could be made _highly profitable_, and as much a matter of _certainty_, as any other branch of rural economy.
I perceived, however, that one thing was _yet_ wanting. The _cutting_ of the combs from their attachments to the _sides_ of the hive, in order to remove them, was attended with much loss of _time_ to myself and to the bees, and in order to _facilitate_ this operation, the construction of my hive was necessarily _complicated_. This led me to invent a method by which the combs were attached to MOVABLE FRAMES, and suspended in the hives, _so as to touch neither the top, bottom, nor sides_. By this device, I was able to remove the combs at pleasure, and if desired, I could speedily transfer them, bees and all, _without any cutting_, to another hive. I have experimented largely with hives of this construction, and find that they answer most admirably, all the ends proposed in their invention.
While experimenting in the summer of 1851, with some observing hives of a peculiar construction, I discovered that bees could be made to work in gla.s.s hives, _exposed to the full light of day_. The notice, in a Philadelphia newspaper, of this discovery, procured me the pleasure of an acquaintance with Rev. Dr. Berg, pastor of a Dutch Reformed church in that city. From him, I first learned that a Prussian clergyman, of the name of Dzierzon, (p.r.o.nounced Tseertsone,) had attracted the attention of crowned heads, by his important discoveries in the management of bees. Before he communicated the particulars of these discoveries, I explained to Dr. Berg, my system of management, and showed him my hive.
He expressed the greatest astonishment at the wonderful similarity in our methods of management, both of us having carried on our investigations without the slightest knowledge of each other's labors.
Our hives, he found to differ in some very important respects. In the Dzierzon hive, the combs are not attached to _movable frames_, but to _bars_, so that they cannot, _without cutting_, be removed from the hive. In my hive, which is opened _from the top_, any comb may be taken out, without at all disturbing the others; whereas, in the Dzierzon hive, which is opened from one of the ends, it is often necessary to _cut_ and _remove many_ combs, in order to get access to a particular one; thus, if the _tenth_ comb from the end is to be removed, _nine_ combs must be first _cut and taken out_. All this consumes a large amount of time. The German hive does not furnish the surplus honey in a form which would be found most salable in our markets, or which would admit of safe transportation in the comb. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, it has achieved a _great triumph_ in Germany, and given a _new impulse_ to the cultivation of bees.