Box For Wren
Categories: PUTTING ON AND TAKING OFF BOXES.Bee Keeping: Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained
If you would take the trouble to put up a cage or two for the wren to
nest in, he would be a valuable assistant in this department of your
labor. He would be on the lookout when you were away, and many worms,
while looking up a hiding-place in some corner, would be relieved from
all further trouble by being deposited in his crop. The cage for him
need not be more than four inches square; it may be fastened near as
poss
feet high. I have seen the skull of some animal (horse or ox) used, and
is very convenient for them, the cavity for the brains being used for
the nest. A person once told me the wren would not build in one that he
had put up. On examination, the stake to support it was found driven
into the only entrance. I mention this to show how little some people
understand what they do. It is sometimes well enough to know why a
thing is to be done, as to know it _must_ be done. I could tell you to
do a great many things, but then you would like to know _why_, then
_how_ to do it. Now if this prolixity is unnecessary for you, another
may need it. You must remember I am endeavoring to teach some few to
keep bees, who are not over supplied with ingenuity.
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Ants A Word In Their Favor
Ants come in for a share of condemnation. This little industrious insect shall have my endeavors for a fair hearing; I think I can understand why they are so frequently accused of robbing bees. Many bee-keepers are wholly ignorant, most of the time,... Apparent Contradiction When Feeding Causing Starvation
It is possible that feeding a stock of bees in spring, may cause them to starve! whereas, if let alone, they might escape. Notwithstanding this looks like a contradiction, I think it appears reasonable. Whenever the supply of honey is short, probabl... Appearance Of Bees In Cold Weather
We will first endeavor to examine the condition of a stock left to nature, without any care, and see if it affords any hints for our guidance, when to assist and protect with artificial means. Warmth being the first requisite, a family of bees at ... Apt To Be Deceived About The Worms
But the worms, you can surely keep them out, you think, since you can seal up the boxes perfectly close, preventing the moth or even the smallest ant from entering! Yes, you may do this effectually, but the worms will often be there somehow, unless ... Apt To Deceive
Yet I can imagine how one can be deceived by such a small hive, and recommend it strongly; especially if patented. Suppose you locate a large swarm in a hive near the size of Dr. Bevan's; the bees would occupy nearly all the room with brood-combs; n... Are All The Birds Guilty?
But for some of the birds accused of preying upon bees, I would say a word. ... Are Not Bees An Advantage To Vegetation?
Vegetable physiology seems to indicate a similar necessity in that department. The stamens and pistils of flowers answer the different organs of the two sexes in animals. The pistil is connected with the ovaries, the stamens furnish the pollen that ... Are Not Bees Directed Alone By Instinct?
On this subject I have but little to say, as I have failed to discover anything uncommonly remarkable, separate and distinct in one swarm, that another would not exhibit. I have found one swarm guided alone by instinct, doing just what another would... Are They All Guilty?
But some of these are probably clear of any actual mischief. I strongly suspect that the spirit of destructiveness with many people is altogether too active. There are some farmers, with this principle predominant, so short-sighted, that if it was i... Arrangement For Feeding
I got a tinman to make some dishes, two inches deep, 10x12 inches square, and perpendicular sides. A board was then got out, fifteen inches wide, and two feet long; two inches from one end, a hole is cut out the longest way, just the size of the dis... Artificial Swarms Only Safe Near The Swarming Season
By what I have said about artificial swarms, it would appear that it is unsafe at any time but the swarming season; that is my opinion. It may do a little in advance or a little after, providing royal cells can be had. By feeding as directed, (in Ch... Bad Policy To Raise The Hives
A great many apiarians raise their hives an inch from the board early in spring. They seem to disregard the chance it gives robbers to enter on every side. It is like setting the door of your own house open, to tempt the thief, and then complain of ... Bee Pasturage
In some seasons the earth is covered with snow much later than others. When this occurs, a greater number of warm days are necessary to melt it, and start the flowers, than otherwise. ... Bees Changeable
Bees are so changeable, especially in the summer and swarming season, that we can seldom be certain what they are, by what they have been. It is safest, therefore, _to know what they are now_. ... Bees Disposed To Carry Away Honey
When boxes are taken off at the end of the honey season, a different method of getting rid of the bees must be adopted, or we lose our honey. Unless the combs are all finished, we lose some then any way, as most of the bees fill themselves before le... Bees Do Not Increase If Full After The First Year In Same Hive
I only will notice the fact, that the bees somehow disappear, and there is no more at the end of five years than at the end of one. A stock of bees may contain 6,000 the first of May, and raise 20,000 in the course of the year; by the first of the n... Bees Mark Their Location On Leaving The Hive
They rise on the wing, but do not leave in a direct line, but immediately turn their heads towards the entrance of their tenement, describing a circle of only a few inches at first, but enlarge as they recede, until an area of several rods have been... Bees When In The House Should Be Kept Perfectly Dark
When not kept perfectly dark, a few would leave the hives in either case. I have found it much better to make the room dark to keep the bees in the hive, than to tie over them a thin muslin cloth, as that prevents a free passage of the vapor, and a ... Best Conveyance
Probably the best conveyance is a wagon with elliptic springs. But a wagon without springs is bad, especially for young stocks. Yet I have known them moved safely in this way, but it required some care in packing with hay, or straw, under and around... Best Time To Witness Comb-making
The only time when I have witnessed the process with any degree of satisfaction is when the combs approach the glass, and but few bees in the way; then, by watching patiently a few minutes, some part of the process may be seen. ... Best To Use Old Combs As Long As They Will Answer
I am satisfied of this much, from actual experience, that every time the bees have to renew their brood-combs in a hive, they would make from ten to twenty-five lbs. in boxes, hence I infer that their time can be more profitably employed than in con... Both Old And Young Leave With Swarms
It is probable that no rule governs the issue of workers. Old and young come out promiscuously. That old bees come out may be known sometimes, by so many leaving, that not a quarter as many will be left, as commenced work in the spring. That young b... Bottom-boards For Hiving
You will want also a number of bottom-boards, expressly for hiving; get a board a little larger than the bottom of the hive, nail strips across the ends on the under side to prevent warping; in the middle cut out a space five or six inches square, a... Box For Wren
If you would take the trouble to put up a cage or two for the wren to nest in, he would be a valuable assistant in this department of your labor. He would be on the lookout when you were away, and many worms, while looking up a hiding-place in some ... Boxes For Double Swarms Immediately
It should then be taken out, and boxes immediately put on, which should be changed for empty ones, as fast as they are filled. Yet, this extra honey is not quite as much advantage as increase of stocks; when that is an object, I will recommend anoth... Burying Bees
Burying bees in the earth below the frost, has been recommended as a superior method of wintering, for small families. I have known it confidently asserted, that they would lose nothing in weight, and no bees would die. I found, in testing it, that ... But Little Risk With Good Stocks
All _good stocks_ may be wintered in this way, with but little risk in most situations. Whether in the bleak north-wind, buried in a snow-bank, or situated warm and pleasant, it will make no great difference. The mice cannot enter; the holes give th... By Gaining One Point Produce Another Evil
I think it will be an easy matter to show that every departure from simplicity to gain _one_ point, is attended in another by a correspondent evil, that often exceeds the advantage gained. That we have made vast improvements in art and science, and ... Can Be Taken Some Distance
When bees are taken beyond their knowledge of country, some two miles or more, the case seems to be somewhat different, but not always without loss, especially if many hives are set too close. They leave the hive of course without knowing that the s... Can Often Be Prevented
"Prevention is better than cure." We can, if we keep a good lookout, often prevent more than one issuing at a time. This depends on our knowledge of indications, in a great measure. I have said that before starting to fly off, they were about the en... Canal Bottom-board Discarded
I used what is termed a canal bottom-board, until I found out it did not pay expense, and have now discarded it, and succeed just as well. It is generally recommended as a preventive of robberies, and keeping out the moth. It may prevent one hive in... Care In Selecting Stock Hives For Winter
Again, after the breeding season is over, in the fall, _every stock should be thoroughly inspected, and all diseased ones condemned for stock hives_. It is better to do it, even if it should take the last one. It would pay much better to procure oth... Care In Turning Over Hives
When a hive is full of combs, the edges are usually attached sufficient to steady them, and it is of less consequence which way it is turned, yet in very warm weather the honey will run out of drone cells if perpendicular. In _very_ small swarms,... Care Needed
Considerable care is requisite, and but few know how to manage it properly. Honey fed to bees, is almost certain to get up quarrels among them. Sometimes strong stocks scent the honey given to weak ones, and carry it off as fast as supplied. ... Cat-bird Acquitted
The cat-bird also comes in for a share of censure. It is said "they will get right down by the hive, and pick up bees by the hundred." Yet, right in the face of this charge, I am disposed to acquit him. With the closest observation, I find him about... Catnip Mother-wort And Hoarhound Are Sought After
Catnip, (_Nepeta Cataria_,) Mother-wort, (_Leonurus Cardiaca_,) and Hoarhound, (_Marrubium Vulgare_,) about the middle of June, put forth their flowers, rich in sweetness, and like the Raspberry, the bees visit them at all hours and in nearly all ki... Cause Of Its Spreading
Suppose one stock has caught the infection, but a small portion of the brood is dead. In the heat of the hive, it soon becomes putrid; other cells adjoining with larvae of the right age are soon in the same condition. All the breeding combs in the h... Cause Of Starving In Such Hives
I said one apartment would be filled with brood-combs; this will be occupied, at least partially, with brood as long as the yield of honey lasts; consequently, there will be but little room for storing here, but the other side may be full throughout... Cause Of The Queen's Inability To Fly Suggested
The old queen often gets down in the same way; but I would assign another cause for her inability to fly; that is, I would suggest it to be her burden of eggs. ... Cause Of Their Superior Thrift
One cause of superior thrift may be found in the circumstance, that all moth eggs and worms are frozen to death, and the bees are not troubled with a single worm before June. No young bees have to be removed to work them out. Nearly every young bee ... Caution
Whenever we make additions in this manner, it would be well first to ascertain what was the cause of a scarcity of bees; if it was over-swarming or loss of queen, it is well enough--but if from disease, reject them, unless the bees are to be transfe... Caution Respecting Diseased Brood
When no apiary from which to purchase can be found, but where the disease _has made_ its appearance, and you are necessitated to purchase from such, or not at all, you cannot be too cautious about it. It would be safest in this case to take none but... Cells Larger Than Necessary At First
The bees seem to make a provision for this emergency, the sheets of comb are farther apart than actually necessary at first, the diameter of the cell is also a little larger than the size of the young bee requires. _Of this we are certain_--great ma... Chamber Hive
The chamber hive is made with two apartments; the lower and largest is for the permanent residence of the bees, the upper or chamber for the boxes. Its merits are these: the chamber affords all the protection necessary for glass boxes; considered as... Changing Stand Attended With Loss
After a few excursions, when surrounding objects have become familiar, this precaution is not taken, and they leave in a direct line for their destination, and return by their way-marks without difficulty. Man with his reason is guided on the same p... Clustering Bushes
If there are no large trees in the vicinity of your apiary, all the better, as there will then be no danger of your swarms lighting on them; but all bee-keepers are not so fortunate, myself being one of the number. In such a place it is necessary to...