 2nd Chapter 10 of Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey Bee by L. L. Langstroth This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Adam Marcicic, August 2009, Alexandria, Virginia Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey Bee by L. L. Langstroth 2nd Chapter 10, Artificial Swarming, Part 3, Continued from Part 2 On the supposition that by the time the fruit trees are in blossom, the Aperian has, in hives of my construction, ten powerful colonies, let him select four of the strongest and make from each a forced swarm. He will now have four queenless colonies, which will at once proceed to supply themselves with a young queen. In about ten days, he may make from his other six stocks six more forced swarms. He will probably find in making these many sealed queens. If he has delayed the operation until about swarming time, so that he may give to each of the six stocks from which he has expelled a swarm, the means of soon obtaining another. If he has not enough for this purpose, he must take the required number from the four stocks, which are raising young queens, the exact condition of which ought to have been previously ascertained. Some of these stocks will be found to contain a large number of queen cells. Huber, in one of his experiments, found twenty-four in one hive, and even a larger number has sometimes been reared by a single colony. As the Aperian will always have many more queens than are wanted, he ought to select those combs, which contain a sealed queen, so as to secure, say, about fifteen combs, each of which has one or more queens. If necessary, he can cut out some of the cells and adjust them in the manner previously described. Each comb containing a sealed queen must be put with all the bees adhering to it into an empty hive, and by divider, or a movable partition, they must be confined to about one-quarter of the hive. Water should be given to them, and honey, if none is contained in the comb. I always prefer to select a comb which contains a large number of workers almost mature, and some of which are just beginning to hatch, so that even if a considerable number of the bees should return to the parent stock, after their liberty is given them, there will still be a sufficient number hatched to attend to the young, and especially to watch over the maturing queens. If the comb contains a large number of bees just emerging from their cells, I prefer to confine them only one day. Otherwise, I keep them shut up about an hour before sunset of the third day. The hives containing the small colonies ought, if they are not well protected by being made double, to be set where they are thoroughly sheltered from the intense heat of the sun, and the ventilators should give them an abundance of air. They should also be closed in such a manner as to keep the interior in entire darkness, so that the bees may not become too uneasy during their confinement. I accomplish this by shutting up their entrance and replacing their front board, just as though I were intending to put them into winter quarters. These small colonies I shall call nuclei, and the system of forming stocks from them, my nucleus system. And before I describe the system more particularly, I shall show other ways in which the nuclei can be formed. If the Aperian chooses, he can take a frame containing bees just ready to mature, and eggs and young worms, all of the worker kind, together with the old bees which cluster on it, and shut them up in the manner previously described, even if he has no sealed queen to give them. If all things are favorable, they will set about raising a queen in a few hours. I once took not more than a teacup full of bees and confined them with a small piece of brood comb in a dark place, and found that in about an hour's time, they had begun to enlarge some of the cells to raise a new queen. If the Aperian has sealed queens on hand, they ought, by all means, to be given to the nuclei, in order to save all the time possible. I sometimes make these nuclei as follows. The suitable comb with bees, etc., is taken from a stock hive and set in an empty one, made to stand partly in the place of the old hive, which, of course, must previously be moved a little on one side. In this way, I am able to direct a considerable number of the bees from the old stock to my nucleus, and the necessity of shutting it up is done away with. If the bees from the old stock do not enter the small one in sufficient numbers, I sometimes close their hive, so that the returning bees can find no other place to enter. My object is not to catch up a large number of bees. For reasons previously assigned, I do not want enough to build new comb, but only enough to adhere to the removed comb and raise a new queen from the brood or develop the sealed one which has been given them. A short time after one nucleus in this way has been formed, another may be made by moving the old hive again and so a third or fourth, if so many are wanted. This plan requires considerable skill and experience to secure the right number of bees without getting too many. If bees are to be made to enter a new hive, by removing the old one from its stand, it will always be very desirable not only to have the new one contain a piece of comb, but a considerable number of bees clustered on that comb. I repeatedly found my bees, after entering the hive, refused to have anything to do with the brood comb, and for a long time I was unable to conjecture the cause, until I ascertain that they were dissatisfied with its deserted appearance, and that, by taking the precaution to have it well covered with bees, I seldom fail to reconcile them to my system of forced colonization. I can usually tell, in less than two minutes, whether the operation will succeed or not. If the returning bees are content, they will, however much agitated at first, soon begin to join the cluster on the comb. While if they are dissatisfied, they will abandon the hive, and nearly all the bees that were originally on the comb will leave with them. They seem capricious in this manner, and are sometimes so very self-willed that they refuse to have anything to do with the brood comb, when I can see no good reason why they should be so rebellious. I shall here state some conjectures which have occurred to me on this subject. Is it absolutely certain that bees can raise a queen from any egg, or young larvae which would produce a worker, or if this is possible, is it certain that any kind of workers can accomplish this? Huber ascertained to his own satisfaction that there were two kinds of workers in a hive. He thus describes them. One of these is, in general, destined for the elaboration of wax, and its size is considerably enlarged when full of honey. The other immediately imparts what it has collected to its companions. Its abdomen undergoes no sensible change, or it retains only the honey necessary for its own subsistence. The particular function of the bees of this kind is to take care of the young, for they are not charged with provisioning the hive. In opposition to the wax workers, we shall call them small bees or nurses. Although the external difference may be inconsiderable, this is not an imaginary distinction. Anatomical observations prove that the capacity of the stomach is not the same. Experiments have ascertained that one of the species cannot fulfill all the functions shared among the workers of a hive. We painted those of each class with different colors in order to study their proceedings. And these were not interchanged. In another experiment, after supplying a hive deprived of a queen with brood and pollen, we saw the small bees quickly occupied in nutrition of the larvae, while those of the wax working class neglected them. Small bees also produce wax, but in a very inferior quantity to what is elaborated by the real wax workers. Now if these statements can be relied on, and thus far I have nearly always found in Huber's statements wherever I had an opportunity to test them to be most wonderfully reliable, then it may be that when bees refuse to cluster on the brood comb and proceed at once to rear a new queen, it is because they find that some of the conditions necessary for success are wanting. Either there may not be a sufficient number of wax workers to enlarge the cells, or a sufficient number of nurses to take charge of the larvae, or it may be that the cells contain only young wax workers which cannot be developed into queens, or only young nurses which may be in the same predicament. If any of my readers imagine that the work of carefully experimenting in order to establish facts upon the solid basis of complete demonstration is an easy work, let them attempt now to prove or disprove the truth of any or all of my conjectures upon this single topic. They will probably find the task more difficult than to blot over whole choirs and reams of paper with careless assertions. All operations of any kind which interfere in the very least with the natural mode of forming colonies are best performed in the swarming season, or at least at a time when the bees are breathing freely and are able to bring in large stores of honey from the fields. At other times they are very precarious and unless under the management of persons who have great experience they will in most cases end in nothing but vexatious losses and disappointments. It is quite amusing to see how bees act when they find on their return from foraging abroad that their hive has been moved and another put in its place. If the new hive is precisely similar to their own in size and outward appearance they enter it though all was right but in a few moments they rush out in violent agitation imagining that they have made a prodigious mistake and have entered the wrong place. They now take wing again in order to correct their blunder but find to their increasing surprise that they had previously directed their flight to the familiar spot. Again they enter and again they tumble out in bewildered crowds until, at length, if they can find the means of raising a new queen or one is already there they seem to make up their minds that if this is not home it not only looks like it but stands just where their home ought to be and is at all events the only home they are likely to get. No doubt they often feel that a very hard bargain has been imposed upon them but they seem generally determined to make the best of it. There is one trait in the character of bees for which I feel not merely admiration but the most profound respect such as their indomitable energy and perseverance that under circumstances apparently the most despairing they will still labor to the utmost to retrieve their losses and sustain the sinking state so long as they have a queen or any prospect of raising one they struggle most vigorously against impending ruin and never give up unless their condition is absolutely desperate. In one of my observing hives I once had a colony of bees the whole of which might have been spread out on my two hands busy at work in raising a new queen from a small piece of brood comb for two long weeks they adhered with unfailing perseverance and industry to their forlorn hope until at last one of the two queens which they raised came forth and destroyed the other while still in her cell the bees had now dwindled away to less than half their original number and the new queen had wings so imperfect that she was unable to fly I watched their proceedings with great interest they actually paid very unusual attention to this crippled queen and treated her more as they are want to treat a fertile one in the course of a week there were not more than a dozen left in the hive and in a few days more I missed the queen and saw only a few disconsolate wretches crawling over the deserted comb shame upon the faint hearted and cowardly of our own race who, if overtaken by calamity instead of nobly breasting the dark waters of affliction and manfully buffeting with their tumultuous waves meanly resign themselves to their ignoble fate and sink and perish where they might have lived and triumph and double shame upon those who thus faint in the day of adversity when living in a Christian land they might, if they would only receive the word of God and open the eye of faith behold a bow of promise spanning the still stormy clouds and hear a voice bidding them like the great apostle of the Gentiles learn not merely to rejoice in hope in the glory of God but to glory in tribulations also I have been informed by a Mr. Wagner that Ciersone has recently devised a plan of forming nuclei substantially the same with my own his book, however contemplates having two apiaries three or four miles apart and his plans for multiplying colonies as they're described were based upon the supposition that the Aperian will have two such establishments such an arrangement would no doubt very greatly facilitate many operations our four swarms might all be removed from the apiary where they were formed to the other and our nuclei treated in the same way and there would be no necessity for confining the bees after their removal there are however weighty objections to such an arrangement which will prevent it at least for some time from being extensively adopted the labor of removing the bees backwards and forwards is a serious objection to the whole plan and in addition to this the necessity of having a skillful Aperian at each establishment puts its adoption out of the question with most persons who keep bees it might answer however if two beekeepers sufficiently far apart would enter into partnership and manage their bees as a joint concern Sierzone's new plan of creating nuclei is as follows towards evening remove a piece of brood comb with eggs and bees just hatching and put it with a sufficient number of mature bees into an empty hive there must be enough to keep the brood from being chilled overnight if the operation is performed so late that the bees are not disposed to take wing and leave the hive by morning a sufficient number will have hatched to supply the place of those which may abandon the nucleus in my numerous experiments last summer in the formation of artificial swarms I tried this plan and found that it answered a good purpose the chief objection to it is the difficulty often of selecting the suitable kind of comb if the operation is delayed until late in the afternoon I prefer therefore to perform it when the sun is an hour or two high and to confine the bees until dark if there are not a sufficient number of bees on the comb I shake off some from another hive directly into the hive and shut them all up giving them a supply of water sealed queens if possible should be used in all these operations I shall now give a model of creating nuclei which I have devised in which I find to be attended with great success hive a new swarm in the usual manner in an old box and as soon as the bees have entered it shut them up and carry them down into the cellar about an hour before sunset take combs suitable to form as many nuclei as you judge best say 5 or 6 or even 8 or 10 if the swarm was large and you need as many bring up the new swarm and shake it out upon a sheet sprinkling it gently with sugar water with a large tumbler or saucer scoop up without hurting any of the bees a pint or more of them and place them before the mouth of one of the hives containing a brood comb repeat the process until each nucleus has say a quart of bees if you see the queen you may give the hive in which you put her 3 or 4 times as many bees as any other and the next day it may be strengthened with a few combs containing brood just ready to mature if you did not find her at the time of forming the nuclei when you afterwards examine them the one which contains her may be properly reinforced with bees and comb so as to enable it to work to the best advantage if this plan of forming nuclei were attempted earlier in the afternoon it would be difficult to prevent the bees from communicating on the wing and all going to the hive which contained their queen if however the bees when first shaken out of the temporary hive are so thoroughly sprinkled as not to be able to take wing and unite together this mode of forming colonies may be practiced at any hour of the day and an experienced aperion may prefer to do it as soon as he has barely hive the new swarm when the bees are shaken out in front of a hive which has a sealed queen or eggs from which they can raise one having a whole night in which to accustom themselves to their new situation they will be found the next day to adhere to the place where they were put with as much tenacity as a natural swarm does to their new hive the act of swarming should so thoroughly impress upon the bees an absolute in disposition to return to the parent stock if this were a fixed and invariable unwillingness a sort of blind unreasoning instinct it would not be so surprising but we have already seen that in case the bees lose their queen they return in a very short time to the stock from which they issued if the nuclei formed in the manner just described found in their new hive no means of obtaining a queen they would all return next morning to the parent stock when the aperion can obtain a natural swarm from any other apiary it may be divided into nuclei in the same way and even a forced swarm if brought from a distance will answer equally well if the aperion wishes to form colonies earlier in the season of natural swarming and cannot conveniently obtain a forced swarm from an apiary at least a mile distant he may, before the bees begin to fly out in the spring transport one of his stocks to a neighbors and force from it a swarm at the desired time even if it is moved more than half a mile off the aperion will be almost sure to succeed of all modes of forming the nuclei this I believe will be found to be the neatest, simplest and best having thus described the various ways in which I have successfully formed my nuclei I shall now show how they may be all built up into powerful stocks it will be very obvious that on the ordinary plan of management they would be absolutely worthless even if it were possible to form them with the common hives if they were not fed they would be unable to collect the means of building new comb and would gradually dwindle away just as third or fourth swarms which issue laid in the season nor could they be saved even from the most generous feeding as they would only use their supplies to fill up the little comb they had so that when the queen was ready to lay there would be no empty cells to receive her eggs and too few bees to build any even if they had all the honey that they required such small colonies must gradually waste away unless they can be speedily and effectually supplied by the number of bees and this can be done only by hives which give the control of all the combs with such hives I can speedily build up my nuclei provided I have not formed too many to the strength necessary to make them powerful stocks the hives containing them ought if possible to stand at some distance from other hives and if this cannot conveniently be done they should in some way be so distinguished from the adjoining hives that the young queens when they are hatched and go out to seek the drones will not be liable to lose their lives by entering a wrong hive on their return a small leafy twig fasten on the alighting board of such hives when they stand near to others they feel sure to prevent such a catastrophe if they stand near to each other some may be marked in this way and others with a piece of colored cloth see page 159 to guard them against robbers etc the entrances to these nuclei should be contracted so that only a few bees can enter at once those which were confined should be examined and the quality is given to them the others the day after they were formed when, if they were not supplied with a sealed queen they will be found actively engaged in constructing royal cells a new range of comb should now be given to each one and it should contain no old bees but brood rapidly maturing and if possible eggs and worms only a few days old this new addition of strength will greatly encourage the nuclei and give them the means of starting young queens if they have not succeeded in doing so with the first comb I have very frequently found that for some cause which I have not yet ascertained they often start a large number of queen cells which in a few days are all discontinued and untenanted the second attempt seldom fails does practice in this thing make them more expert but I will simply state the fact referring to my conjectures on page 218 and remarking that when they make a second attempt they seem frequently disposed to start a much larger number than they otherwise would have done in two or three days after giving them the first piece of comb I give them another if their queen is nearly mature and I now let them alone until she ought to be depositing eggs in the hive then I give them at intervals of a few days two or three combs more and they will now be sufficiently powerful in bees to gather large quantities of honey and fill the empty part of their hive the young queen is supplying with thousands of worker eggs from which the brood has emerged and also the new ones built by the bees and the new colony will soon be one of the best stock hives in the apiary if some of the full frames are moved and empty ones placed between them as soon as the bees begin to build powerfully there need be no guide combs on the empty frames and still the work will be executed with the most beautiful regularity but what in the meantime is a condition of the hives from which we are taking so many brood combs for the proper development of our nuclei are they not weakened so much as to become quite enfeebled I come now to the very turning point of the whole nucleus system if due judgment has not been used and the sanguine beekeeper has endeavored to multiply his colonies too rapidly a most grievous disappointment awaits him either his nuclei cannot be strengthened at the right time or this can be done only by impoverishing the old stocks and the result of the whole operation will be a most decided failure and if he is in the vicinity of sugar houses confectionaries or other tempting places of bee resort he will find the population of his colonies very seriously diminished and will have to break up the most of the nuclei which he had formed and incur the danger of losing nearly the whole of his stock I lay it down as a fundamental principle in my nucleus system that the old stocks must never be so much weakened by the removal of brood combs and bees that they are not able to keep their numbers sufficiently strong to refill rapidly all the vacancies among their combs if the aparian attempts to multiply his stocks so rapidly that this cannot be done I will ensure him ample cause to repent at leisure of his folly if however the attempt at very rapid multiplication is made only by those who are favorably situated and who have skill in the management of bees a very large gain may be made in the number of stocks and they may all be strong and flourishing if a strong stock of bees in a hive of moderate size which admits of thorough inspection is examined at the height of the honey harvest nearly all the cells will often be found filled with brood bees the great laying of the queen according to some writers is now over not however as they erroneously imagine because her fertility has decreased but merely because there is not room in the hive for all her eggs she may often be seen restlessly traversing the combs seeking in vain for empty cells until finding none bees compelled to extrude her eggs only to be devoured by the bees see page 52 if some of the full combs are removed and empty ones substituted in their place she will speedily fill them laying at the rate of two or three thousand a day when my strong stocks are from time to time deprived of one or two combs if honey can easily be nurtured the bees proceed at once to replace them and the queen commences laying in the new combs as soon as the cells are fairly started if the combs are not removed too fast and care is taken not to deprive the stock of so much brood that the bees cannot keep up a vigorous population a queen in a hive so managed will lay her eggs in cells to be nurtured by the bees instead of being eaten up and thus in the course of the season she may become the mother of three or four times as many bees as are reared in a hive under other circumstances by careful management brood enough may in this way be taken from a single hive to build up a large number of nuclei towards the close of the season however as such a hive has been constantly tasked in building comb and feeding young bees almost all its honey will have been used for these purposes and although it may be very populist unless it is liberally fed it will be sure to perish since the discovery that unbolted rye flower will answer so admirably as a substitute for pollen we can supply the bees not only with honey when none can be obtained from the blossoms but with an abundance of beebred when pollen is scarce as I am writing this chapter March 29 1853 my bees are zealously engaged in taking the flower from some old combs in front of their hives and they can be seen most beautifully molding the little pellets on their thighs by my movable combs I can give them the flower at once in their hives as it can easily be rubbed into an empty comb the importance of sierzone's discovery of a substitute for pollen can hardly be overestimated if he had done nothing more for the cause of aperian science no true hearted beekeeper would ever allow his name to be forgotten in the chapter on feeding I shall give more specific directions as to the way in which the cultivator must feed his bees when he aims at increasing as rapidly as possible the number of his stocks unless this work is done with great judgment he will often find that the more he feeds the less bees he has in his hives the cells being all occupied with honey instead of brood such is the passion of bees for storing away honey that large supplies of it will always most seriously interfere with breeding unless the bees are sufficiently numerous to build new comb in which the queen can find room for her eggs I have no doubt that some who have but little experience in the management of bees are ready to imagine that they could easily strike out a simpler and better way of increasing the number of colonies for instance let a full hive have its comb and bees put into an empty hive and the work of doubling which is without further trouble effectually accomplished but what will the queenless hive do under such circumstances why build of course queen cells and rear another comb will they fill their hives with before the young queens begin to breed of that perhaps you had never thought let me now lay down the only safe rule for all who engage in the multiplication of artificial swarms never under any circumstances take so much comb and brood from your stock hives as seriously to reduce their numbers this should be to the a perian as quote the law of meaties and persians which alter it not end quote suppose that I divide a populist stock about swarming season into four or five colonies the strong probability is that not one of them if left to themselves will be strong enough to survive the winter if fed in the ordinary way and yet not supplied with combs and bees their ruin will often be only accelerated if on the contrary I had taken from time to time comb sufficient to form three or four nuclei and had strengthened the new colonies in such a way as not to draw too severely upon the resources of the parent stock I might expect to see them all in due time strong and flourishing in the spring of the year if I desire to determine the strength of a colony principally to raising young bees I can easily affect it by the following plan a box is made of the same inside dimensions with the lower hive into which the combs and bees of a full hive can all be transferred as soon as the bees are gathering honey enough to build new combs this box is now set over the old hive which contains its complement of frames with guide combs or better still with empty combs as soon as the bees begin to build they take possession of the lower hive through which they go in and out and the queen descends with them in order to lay her eggs in the lower combs the old apartment becomes pretty well filled a large number of combs with maturing bees may be taken from the upper one and when the hive below is full they may all be safely removed if none of the upper combs are removed they will be filled with honey as soon as the brood is hatched and as they will contain large stores of bee bread they will answer admirably by replenishing stocks which have an insufficient supply in no other way so far as I know can so much honey be secured and if quantity not quality is aimed at or if the test of quality is its fitness for the use of the bees I would recommend this mode as superior to any other if two swarms are hived together or a very powerful stock is lodged in a hive so that at once they can have access to the upper apartment an extraordinary quantity of honey can be secured and of a very excellent quality as soon as the bees have raised one generation of young in the combs of the upper box or rather in a part of them they will use it chiefly for storing honey and all that it contains may be taken from them in flavor it will be found to be nearly as good as honey stored in what is called virgin comb in the chapter on the requisites of a good hive I have said that in size it should be adapted to the natural instincts of the bee and yet admit of enlarging or contracting according to the wants of the colony placed in it I never use a hive the main apartment of which holds less than a Winchester bushel if small colonies are placed in such a hive it must be temporarily partitioned off to suit the size of its inmates for if bees have too much room given to them they cannot concentrate their animal heat and are so much discouraged that they often abandon their hive I am aware that many judicious aparians recommend hives of much smaller dimensions and I shall now give my reasons for using one so large if a hive is too small then in the spring the combs are soon filled with honey, bee bread and brood and the surprising fertility of the queen bee can be turned to no efficient account if the honey harvest in any year is deficient such a colony is very apt to perish in the succeeding winter whereas in a large hive the honey stored up in a fruitful season is a reserve supply in time of need in very large hives I have seen large accumulations of honey which have been untouched for years while on the same stand stocks of about the same age in small hives have perished by starvation a good early swarm in any situation at all favorable will fill in the first season a hive that holds a bushel and if there is any location in which they cannot do this a doubled swarm should be put into the hive or bee keeping may as far as profit is concerned be abandoned but it may be objected if the swarm was not sufficiently strong to fill their hive the bees often suffer from the cold in winter and become too much reduced in numbers to build early and rapidly in the ensuing spring this is undoubtedly true and hence the great importance of putting a generous allowance of bees into a hive at the first start unless, as on my plan the requisite strength can be given to them at a subsequent period the hive, if large should be all the more carefully protected from extremes of cold in order to give the bees an opportunity of developing their natural powers of reproduction to the best advantage in such a hive the queen will be able to breed almost every month in the year and the coldest climates where bees flourish and on the return of spring thousands of young bees will be found in it which could not have been bred in a small or badly protected hive the Polish hives described by Mr. Doheogost have already been referred to some of these hold about three bushels and yet the bees swarm from them with great regularity and the swarms are often immense size these hives are admirably protected and at the time of hiving at least four times the number of bees are lodged in them that are ordinarily put into one of our hives the queen bee in such a hive has ample room to lay her three thousand eggs or more daily and a prodigious colony is raised and often stores enormous supplies of honey as all the frames in my hives are of the same dimensions the size of the hive may be conveniently varied to suit the views of different beekeepers for they may be large or small according to the number of frames designed to be used I hope before long to experiment with hives as large again those that I now use or rather with such as by containing an upper box may be made to accommodate twice as many bees this whole subject of the proper size of the hives certainly needs to be taken entirely out of the region of conjecture and to be put upon the basis of careful observations unquestionably the size will require in some respects to be modified by the more or less favorable character of the country for beekeeping but I am satisfied that small hives will be found of but little profit and that large ones unless well stocked with bees from the first and thoroughly protected will often fail to answer any good end if I should find on further experiment that the very large hives of which I have spoken are better my hives are at present so constructed that without any alteration of existing parts they can easily be supplied with the required additions I have already mentioned that I sometimes build my hives three in one structure in order to save expense in their construction I do not however wish to be considered as recommending such hives as the best for general use for some purposes a single hive is unquestionably the best as it can be easily moved by one person and this will many times be found to be a point of great importance the double hives or two in one are for most purposes to be the best as well as the cheapest I have quite recently contrived the plan of constructing my wooden hives in such a manner as to give them very great protection against extremes of heat and cold while at the same time they can be easily and cheaply made by anyone who can handle the simplest mechanical tools it has been previously stated that the queen bee cannot be induced to sting by any kind of treatment however severe the reason of this strange unwillingness to use her natural and powerful weapon will be obvious when we consider how indispensable the preservation of her life is to the very existence of the colony and that her single sting the loss of which would be her death little for their defense in case of an attack she never uses her weapon except when engaged in mortal combat with another queen as soon as the two rivals come together they clinch at once with every demonstration of the most vindictive hatred why then are not both of them often destroyed and why are not hives in the swarming season almost certain to become queenless we can never sufficiently admire the provision of so simple and yet so effectual by which such a calamity is prevented the queen bee never stings unless she has such an advantage in the combat that she can curve her body under that of her rival in such a manner as to inflict a deadly wound without any risk of being stung herself the moment that the position of the two combatants is such that neither has the advantage and that both are likely to perish they not only refuse to sting but disengage themselves and suspend their conflict for a short time if it were not for this peculiarity of instinct such combats would very often terminate in the death of both the parties and the race of bees would be in danger of becoming extinct end of second chapter 10 artificial swarming part 3 second chapter 10 of Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey Bee this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Adam Marcetic August 2009 Alexandria, Virginia Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey Bee by L. L. Langstroth second chapter 10 artificial swarming part 4 of 4 the unwillingness of a swarm of bees which has been deprived of its queen to receive another until after some time has elapsed must always be born in mine by those who have anything to do with making artificial swarms about 24 hours must elapse before it will be safe to introduce a strange mother into a queenless hive and even then if she is not fertile she will run a great risk of being destroyed to prevent such losses I adopt the German plan of confining the queen in what they call a queen cage a small hole about as large as a thimble may be gouged out of a block and covered over with wire gauze or any other kind of perforated cover so that when the queen is put in the bees cannot enter to destroy her before long they will cultivate an acquaintance by thrusting their antenna through to her so that when she is liberated the next day they will gladly adopt her in place of the one they have lost if a hole large enough for her to creep out is closed with wax they will gnaw the wax away and liberate her themselves from her confinement queens that seem bent on departing to the woods may be confined in the same way until the colony has given up all thoughts of forsaking its hive a small paste board box with suitable holes or a wooden matchbox fully scalded I have found to answer a very good purpose I shall here describe what may be called a queen nursery which I have contrived to aid those who are engaged in the rapid multiplication of colonies by artificial means a solid block about an inch and a quarter thick is substituted for one of my frames holes about one and a half inches in diameter are bored through it and covered on both sides with gauze wire slides the wire ought to be such as will allow a common bee to pass through but should be too small to permit a queen to do the same any kind of perforated cover may be made to answer the same purpose as the gauze wire if a number of sealed queens are on hand and there is danger that some may hatch and destroy the others so that the queen can make use of them in forming artificial swarms he may very carefully cut out the combs containing them and place them each in a separate cradle the bees having access to them will give them proper attention and as soon as they are hatched will supply them with food and thus they will always be on hand for use when they are needed the nursery must of course be established in a hive which has no mature queen or it will quickly be transformed into a slaughterhouse by the bees I have not yet tested this plan so thoroughly as to be certain that it will succeed and I know so well the immense difference between theoretical conjectures and practical results that I consider nothing in the bee line or indeed in any other line as established until it has been submitted to the most rigorous demonstrations and has triumphantly passed from the mere regions of the brain to those of actual fact a theory on any subject may seem so plausible as almost to amount to a positive demonstration and yet when put to the working test it is often found to be encumbered by some unforeseen difficulty which speedily convinces even its sanguine projector that it has no practical value nine things out of ten may work to a charm and yet the tenth may be so connected with the other nine that its failure renders their success of no account when I first used this nursery I did not give the bees access to it and I found that the queens were not properly developed and died in their cells perhaps they did not receive sufficient warmth or were not treated in some other important respects as they would have been if I left under the care of the bees in the multiplicity of my experiments I did not repeat this one under a sufficient variety of circumstances to ascertain the precise cause of failure nor have I as yet tried whether it will answer perfectly by admitting the bees to the queen's cells last spring I made one queen supply several hives with eggs so as to keep them strong in numbers while they were constantly engaged in rearing a large number of spare queens two hives which I shall call A and B were deprived at intervals of a week each of its queen in order to induce them to raise a number of young sealed queens for the use of the apiary as soon as the queens in A were of an age suitable to be removed I took them away and gave the colony a fertile queen from another hive C as soon as she had laid a large number of eggs in the empty cells I removed the queen cells now sealed over from B and gave them the loan of this fertile mother until she had performed the same necessary office for them by this time the queen cells in C were sealed over these were now removed and the queen restored she had thus made one circuit and laid a very large number of eggs in the two hives which were first deprived of their queens after allowing her to replenish her own hive with eggs I sent her out again on her perambulating mission and by this new device was able to get an extraordinary number of young queens from the three hives and at the same time to preserve their numbers from seriously diminishing two queens may in this way be made in six hives to furnish all the supernumeric queens which will be wanted in quite a large apiary it will be perfectly obvious to every intelligent and ingenious aparian that the perfect control of the comb is the soul of an entirely new system of practical management and that it may be modified to suit the wants of all who wish to cultivate bees even the advocate of the old fashion plan of killing the bees can with one of my hives destroy his faithful laborers by shaking them into a tub of water almost if not quite as speedily as by setting them over a sulfur pit while after the work of death is accomplished honey will be free from disgusting fumes and all the labor of cutting it out of the hive may be dispensed with I am now prepared to answer an objection which doubtless has been present in the minds of many all the time that they have been reading the various processes on which I rely for the multiplication of colonies a very large number of persons who keep bees or who wish to keep them so much afraid of them that they object entirely even to natural swarming because they are in danger of being stung in the process of hiving the bees how are such persons to manage bees on my plan which seems like bearding a lion in its very den the truth is that some persons are so very timid or suffer so dreadfully from the sting of a bee disqualified from having anything to do with them and ought either to have no bees upon their premises or entrust the care of them to some suitable person by managing bees according to the directions furnished in this treaties almost anyone can learn by using a bee dress to superintend them with very little risk while those who are favourites with them may dispense entirely from any protection I find in short that the risk of being stung is really diminished by the use of my hives although it will be hard to convince those who have not seen them in use that this can be so there is still another class who either keep bees or can be induced to keep them and who are anxiously inquiring for some new hive or new plan by which there is no trouble they may reap copious harvests of the precious nectar this is emphatically the class to seize hold of every new device and waste their time and money to fill the coffers of the ignorant or unprincipled there never will be a royal road to profitable beekeeping if there is any branch of rural economy which more than all others have experienced for its profitable management it is the keeping of bees and those who have a painful consciousness that the disposition to put off and neglect was so to speak born in them and has never been got out of them will do well to let bees alone unless they hope by the study of their systematic industry to reform evil habits which are curable while I feel very sanguine that my system of management will be used extensively and very advantageously by careful and skillful aparions I know too much of the world to expect that it will with the masses very speedily supersede other methods even if it were so absolutely perfect as to admit of no possible I hope however that I may without being charged with presumption be permitted to put on record the prediction that movable frames will induce season be almost universally employed and thus whether bees are allowed to swarm naturally or are increased by artificial means or are kept in hives in which they are not expected to swarm at all the very day on which I contrive the plan so perfectly simple and yet so efficacious of gaining the control of the combs by these frames I not only foresaw all the consequences which would follow their adoption but wrote as follows in my bee journal the use of these frames will, I am persuaded give a new impulse to the easy and profitable management of bees and will render the making of artificial swarms and easy operation end quote end of part four of four end of second chapter ten artificial swarming chapter eleven of laying stroth on the hive and the honeybee this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Adam Marsatich August 2009 Alexandria, Virginia laying stroth on the hive and the honeybee by L. L. Langstroth chapter eleven part one the bee moth and other enemies of bees diseases of bees of all the numerous enemies the bee moth in climates of hot summers is by far the most to be dreaded so widespread and fatal have been its ravages in this country that thousands have abandoned the cultivation of bees in despair and in districts which once produced abundant supplies of the purest honey beekeeping has gradually dwindled down into a very insignificant pursuit contrivances almost without number have been devised to defend the bees against this invidious foe but still it continues its desolating inroads almost unchecked languishing as it were to scorn at all the so-called moth-proof hives and turning many of the ingenious fixtures designed to entrap or exclude it into actual aids and comforts in its nefarious designs. I should feel but little confidence in being able to reinstate beekeeping in our country into a certain and profitable pursuit if I could not show the Aperian in what way he can safely bid defiance to the pestiferous assault of this his most implacable enemy I have patiently studied its habits for years and I am at length able to announce this system of management founded upon the peculiar construction of my hives which will enable the careful beekeeper to protect his colonies against the monster the careful beekeeper I say for to pretend that the careless one can by any contrivance effect this is a snare and a delusion and no well-informed man unless he is steeped to the fraud and imposture will never claim to accomplish anything of the kind the bee moth infects our apiaries just as weeds take possession of a fertile soil and the negligent beekeeper will find a moth-proof hive when the sluggered finds a weed-proof soil and I suspect not until a consummation so devoutly wished for by the slothful has arrived before explaining the means upon which I rely to circumvent the moth I will first give a brief description of its habits Swamurdham towards the close of the 17th century gave a very accurate description of this insect which was then called by the very expressive name of the bee wolf he has furnished good drawings of it in all its changes from the worm to the perfect moth together with the peculiar webs or galleries which it constructs and from which the name of Tyneia galleria or gallery moth has been given to it by some entomologists he failed however to discriminate between the male and female which because they differ so much in size and appearance he supposed to be two different species of the wax moth it seems to have been a great pest in his time and even Virgil speaks of the Tyneia genus the dreadful offspring of the moth that is the worm this destroyer usually makes its appearance about the hives in April or May the time of its coming depending upon the warmth of the climate it is seldom seen on the wing unless startled from its lurking place about the hive until towards dark and is evidently chiefly nocturnal in its habits in dark cloudy days however I have noticed it on the wing long before sunset and if several such days follow in succession the female oppressed with the urgent necessity of laying her eggs may be seen endeavoring to gain admission to the hives the female is much larger than the male and her color is deeper and more inclining to a darkish gray with small spots or blackish streaks on the interior edge of her upper wings the color of the male inclines more to a light gray they might easily be mistaken for different species of moths these insects are surprisingly agile both on foot and on the wing the motions of a bee are very slow in comparison they are, says Rea Moore the most nimble-footed creatures that I know if the approach to the apiary be observed of a moonlight evening the moths will be found flying or running around the hives watching an opportunity to enter while the bees that have to guard the entrances against their intrusion will be seen acting as vigilant sentinels performing continual rounds near this important post extending their antenna to the utmost and moving them to the right and left alternately woe to the unfortunate moth that comes within their reach end quote it is curious, says Huber quote to observe how artfully the moth knows how to profit to the disadvantage of the bees which require much light for seeing objects and the precautions taken by the latter in reconnoiting and expelling so dangerous an enemy end quote the entrance of the moth into a hive and the ravages committed by her progeny forcibly remind one of the sad havoc which sin often makes of character and happiness when it finds admission into the human heart and is allowed to pray unchecked upon all its most precious treasures and he who would not be so enslaved by its power as to lose all his spiritual life and prosperity must be constantly on the defensive and ever on the watch against its fatal intrusions only some tiny eggs are deposited by the moth and they give birth to a very delicate, innocent looking worm but let these apparently insignificant creatures once get the upper hand and all the fragrance of the honey dome is soon corrupted by their abominable stench everything beautiful and useful is ruthlessly destroyed the hum of happy history is stilled and at last nothing is left in the desecrated hive but a set of ravenous, half famished worms knotting and writhing around each other in most loathsome convolutions wax is the proper element of the larvae of the bee moth and upon this seemingly indigestible subject they thrive and fatten when obliged to steal their living as best they can among a powerful stock of bees they are exposed during their growth to so many perils and seldom fair well enough to reach their natural size but if they are rioting at pleasure among the full combs of a feeble and discouraged population they often attain a size and corpulency truly astonishing if the beekeeper wishes to see their innate capabilities fully developed let him rear a lot for himself among some old combs and if prizes were offered for fat and full grown worms he might easily obtain one in a course of a few weeks the larvae like that of the silkworm stops eating and begins to think of a suitable place for encasing itself in its silky shroud in hives where they reign uncontrolled this is a work of but little difficulty almost any place will answer their purpose and they often pile their cocoons one on top of another or join them in long rows together but in hives strongly guarded by healthy bees this is a matter not very easily accomplished and many a worm while in its cautiously prying about to see where it can find some snug place in which to itself is caught by the nape of the neck and very unceremoniously served with an instant writ of ejection from the hive if a hive is thoroughly made of sound materials and has no cracks or crevices under which the worm can retreat it is obliged to leave the interior in search of such a place and it runs a most dangerous gauntlet as it passes for this purpose under the ranks of its enraged foes even in the worm state however its motions are exceedingly quick it can crawl backwards or forwards and as well one way as another it can twist round on itself curl up almost into a knot and flatten itself out like a pancake in short it is full of stratagems and cunning devices if obliged to the hive it gets under any board or concealed crack spins its cocoon and patiently awaits its transformation in most of the common hives it is under no necessity of leaving its birthplace for this purpose it is almost certain to find a crack or flaw into which it can creep or a small space between the bottom board and the edges of the hive which rest upon it the previs will answer all its purposes it enters by flattening itself out almost as much as though it had been passed under a roller and as soon as it is safe from the bees its speedily begins to give its cramped tenement the requisite proportions it is utterly amazing how an insect apparently so feeble can do this but it will often gnaw for itself a cavity even in solid wood and thus enlarge its retreat until it has ample room for making its cocoon the time when it will break forth into a winged insect depends entirely upon the degree of heat to which it is exposed I have had them spin their cocoons and hatch in a temperature of about 70 degrees in 10 or 11 days and I have known them to spin so late in the fall that they remained all winter undeveloped and did not emerge until the warm weather of the ensuing spring if they are hatched in the hive they leave it in order to attend to the business of impregnation in the moth state they do not actually attack the hives to plunder them of food although they have a sweet tooth in their head and are easily attracted by the odor of liquid sweets the male having no special business in the hive usually keeps himself at a safe distance from the bees but the female impelled by an irresistible instinct seeks admission in order to deposit her eggs where her offspring may gain the readiest access to their natural food she carefully explores all the cracks and crevices about and if she finds a suitable place under them lays her eggs among the pairings of the combs another refuse matter which has fallen from the hive if she enters a feeble or discouraged stock where she can act her own pleasure she will lay her eggs among the combs in a hive where she is too closely watched to affect this she will insert them in the corners into the soft bolus or in any place where there are small pieces of wax and beebred which have fallen upon the bottom board and which will furnish a temporary place of concealment for her progeny and also the requisite nourishment until they have strength and enterprise enough to reach the main combs of the hive and fortify themselves there as soon as hatched it encloses itself in a case of white silk which it spins around its body at first it is like a mere thread but gradually increases in size and during its growth feeds upon the cells around it for which purpose it has only to put forth its head and find its wants supplied it devours its food with great avidity and consequently so much in bulk that its gallery soon becomes too short and narrow and the creature is obliged to thrust itself forward and lengthen the gallery as well as to obtain more room as to procure an additional supply of food its augmented size exposing it to attacks from surrounding foes the wary insect fortifies its new abode by blending with the filaments of its silken covering a mixture of wax and its own excrement for the external barrier of a new gallery the interior and partitions of which are lined with a smooth surface of white silk which admits the occasional movements of the insect without injury to its delicate texture in performing these operations the insect might be exposed to meet with opposition from the bees and to be gradually rendered more assailable as it advanced in age it never however exposes any part but its head and neck both of which are covered with stout helmets or scales impenetrable to the sting of a bee as is the composition of the galleries that surround it end quote as soon as it has reached its full growth it seeks in the manner previously described a secure place for undergoing its changes into a winged insect before describing the way in which I protect my hives from this deadly pest I shall first show why the bee moth has so wonderfully increased in numbers in this country and how the use of patent hives has so powerfully contributed to encourage its ravages it ought to be born in mind that our climate is altogether more propitious to its rapid increase than that of Great Britain our intensely hot summers develop most rapidly and powerfully insect life and those parts of our country where the heat is most protracted and intense have as a general thing suffered most from the devastations of the bee moth the bee is not a native of the American continent it was first brought here by colonists from Great Britain and was called by the Indians the white man's fly with the bee was introduced its natural enemy created for the special purpose not of destroying the insect on whose industry it thrives and whose extermination would be fatal to the moth itself but that it might gain its livelihood as best it could in this busy world finding itself in a country whose climate is exceedingly propitious to its rapid increase it has multiplied and increased a thousand fold until now there is hardly a spot where the bees inhabit which is not infested by its powerful enemy I have often listened to the glowing accounts of the vast supplies of honey supplied by the first settlers from their bees fifty years ago the markets in our large cities were much more abundantly supplied than they now are and it was no uncommon thing to see exposed for sale large washing tubs filled with the most beautiful honey various reasons have been assigned for the present depressed state of Iperian pursuits some imagine countries are most favorable for the labors of the bee others that we have overstocked our farms so that the bees cannot find a sufficient supply of food that neither of these reasons will account for the change I shall prove more at length in my remarks on honey and when I discuss the question of overstocking a district with bees others lay all the blame upon the bee moth and others still upon our departure from the good old-fashioned way of managing bees that the bee moth has multiplied most astonishingly is undoubtedly true in many districts it's so super abounds that the man who should expect to manage his bees with as little care as his father and grandfather bestowed upon them and yet realize as large prophets would find himself woefully mistaken the old beekeeper often never looked at his bees after the swarming season until the time came for appropriating their spoils he then carefully hefted all his hives so as to be able to judge as well as he could how much honey they contained all which were found to be too light to survive the winter he had once condemned and if any were deficient in bees or for any other reason appeared to be a doubtful promise they were in like manner sentenced to the sulfur pit a certain number of those containing the largest supplies of honey were also treated in the same summary way while the requisite number of the very best were reserved to replenish his stock another season if the same system precisely were now followed a number of colonies would still perish annually through the increased devastations of the moth the change which has taken place in the circumstances of the beekeeper may be illustrated by supposing that when the country was first settled weeds were almost unknown the farmer plants his corn and then lets it alone as though there are no weeds to molest it at the end of the season he harvests a fair crop suppose however that in process of time the weeds begin to spread more and more until at last the farmer's son or grandson finds that they entirely choke his corn and that he cannot in the old way obtain a remunerating crop now listen to him as he gravely informs you that he cannot tell how it is but corn with him has all run out he manages it precisely as his father or grandfather always manage theirs but somehow the pestiferous weeds will spring up and he has next to no crop perhaps you can hardly conceive of such transparent ignorance and stupidity but it would be difficult to show that there would be one width greater than that of a large number who keep bees in places where the beemoth abounds and who yet imagine that those plans which answered perfectly well 50 or 100 years ago when moths were scarce will answer just as well now if however the old plan had been rigidly adhered to the ravages of the beemoth who have been so great as they now are the introduction of patent hives has contributed most powerfully to fill the land with the devouring pest I am perfectly aware that this is a bold assertion and that it may at first sight appear to be very uncourteous if not unjust to the many intelligent and ingenious aparians who have devoted much time and spent large sums of money in perfecting hives designed to enable the beekeeper to contend most successfully against his worst enemy as I do not wish to treat such persons with even the appearance of disrespect I shall endeavor to show just how the use of the hives which they have devised has contributed to undermine the prosperity of the bees many of these hives have valuable properties and if they were always used in strict accordance with the enlightened directions of those who have invented them they would undoubtedly be real and substantial improvements over the old box or straw hive and would greatly aid the beekeeper in his contest with the moth the great difficulty is that they are none of them able to give him the facilities which alone can make him victorious no hive as I shall soon show can ever do this which does not give the complete and easy control of all the combs I do not know of a single improved hive which does not aim at entirely doing away with the old fashioned plan of killing the bees such a practice is denounced as being almost cruel and silly as to kill a hen for the sake of obtaining her feathers or a few of her eggs now if the a perian can be furnished with suitable instructions and such as he will practice for managing his bees so as to avoid this necessity then I admit the full force of all the objections which have been urged against it I have never read the beautiful verses of the poet Thompson without feeling all their force quote ah see where robbed and murdered in that pit lies the still heaving hive at evening snatched beneath the cloud of guilt concealing night and fixed or sulfur while not dreaming ill the happy people in their waxen cells sat tending public cares sudden the dark oppressive steam ascends and used to milder sense the tender race by thousands tumble from their honeyed dome into a gulf of blue sulfurous flame end quote the plain matter of fact however is that in our country as many bees if not more die of starvation in their hives never were killed by the fumes of sulfur commend me rather to the humanity of the old fashioned beekeeper who put to a speedy and therefore merciful death the poor bees which are now by millions tortured by slow starvation among their empty combs at the present time April 1853 I am almost daily hearing of swarms which have perished in this way during the last winter and I know of only one person who was merciful enough to kill his weak stocks rather than suffer them to die so cruel a death if the use of the common patent hives could only keep a stock strong in numbers and if the beekeepers would always see that they were well supplied with honey then I admit that to kill the bees would be both cruel and unnecessary such however are the discouragements and losses necessarily attending the use of any hive which does not give the control of the combs that there will be few who do not continually find that some of their stocks are too feeble to be worth the labor and expense of attempting to preserve them over winter how many colonies are annually wintered which are not only of no value to their owner but are positive nuisances in his apiary being so feeble in the spring that they are speedily overcome by the moth and answer only to breed a horde of destroyers to ravage the rest of his apiary the time spent upon them is often as absolutely wasted as the time devoted to a sick animal incurably diseased and which can never be of any service while by nursing it along its owner incurs the risk of infecting his whole stock with its deadly taint if on the score of kindness he should shut it up and let it starve to death few of us I imagine would care to cultivate a very intimate acquaintance with one so extremely original in the exhibition of his humanity ever since the introduction of patent hives the notion has almost universally prevailed that stocks must not under any circumstances be voluntarily broken up and hence instead of apiaries filled in the spring with strong and healthy stocks of bees easily able to protect themselves against the bee moth and other enemies we have multitudes of colonies which if they had been kept on purpose to furnish food for the worms could scarcely have answered a more valuable end in encouraging their increase the simple truth is that improved hives without an improved system of management have done on the whole more harm than good in no country have they massively used as in our own and nowhere has a moth so completely gained the ascendancy just so far as they have discouraged beekeepers from the old plan of killing off all their weak swarms in the fall just so far have they extended aid and comfort to the moth and made the condition of the beekeeper worse than it was before that some of them might be managed so as in all ordinary cases to give the bees complete protection against their scourge I do not, for a moment question but that they cannot from the very nature of the case answer fully in all emergencies the ends for which they were designed I shall endeavor to prove and not to assert the kind of hives of which I have been speaking are such as have been devised by intelligent and honest men practically acquainted with the management of bees as for many of the hives which have been introduced they not only afford the a perian no assistance against the inroads of the bee moth but they are so constructed as positively to aid in its nefarious designs the more they are used the worse the poor bees are off just as the more a man uses the lying nostrums of the brazen faced quack the further he finds himself from health and vigor I once met with an intelligent man who told me that he had paid a considerable sum to a person who professed to be in possession of many valuable secrets in the management of bees and who promised among other things to impart to him an infallible remedy against the bee moth on the receipt of the money he very gravely told him that the secret of keeping the moth out of the hive was to keep the bees strong and vigorous a truer declaration he could not have made but I believe that the beekeeper felt not withstanding that he had been imposed upon tragically as a poor man would be who after paying a quack a large sum of money for an infallible life preserving secret should be turned off with the truism that the secret of living forever was to keep well there is not an intelligent observing a perian who has been in the habit of carefully examining the operation of bees but wherever he could find them who has not seen strong stocks flourishing almost any conceivable circumstances they may be seen in hives of the most miserable construction unpainted and unprotected sometimes with large open cracks and clefs extending down their sides and yet laughing to defiance the bee moth and all other adverse influences almost anything hollow in which the bees can establish themselves and where they have once succeeded in becoming strong will often be successfully tenanted by them for a series of years to see such hives as they sometimes may be seen in possession of persons both ignorant and careless and who hardly know a bee moth from any other kind of moth may at first sight well shake the confidence of the inquirer in the necessity or value of any particular precautions to preserve his hives from the devastations of the moth after looking at these powerful stocks in what may be called log cabin hives let us examine some in the most costly hives which have ever been constructed in which have been called real bee palaces and we shall often find them weak and impoverished infested and almost devoured by the worms their owner with books in his hand and all the newest devices and appliances in the aparian line unable to protect his bees against their enemies or to account for the reason why some hives seem like the children of the poor almost to thrive upon ill treatment and neglect while others like the offspring of the rich and powerful are feeble and diseased almost in exact proportion to the means used to guard them against noxious influences and to minister most lavishly to all their wants I once used to be much surprised to hear so many beekeepers speak of having good luck or bad luck with their bees but really as bees are generally managed success or failure does seem to depend almost entirely upon what the ignorant or superstitious are want to call luck I shall now try to do what I have never yet seen satisfactorily done by any writer on bees visibly show exactly under what circumstances the bee moth succeeds in establishing itself in a hive thus explaining why some stocks flourish in spite of all neglect while others in the common hives fall a prey to the moth let their owner be as careful as he will I shall finally show how in suitable hives with proper precautions it may always be kept among the bees it often happens when a large number of stocks are kept that in spite of all precautions some of them are found in the spring so greatly reduced in numbers that if left to themselves they are in danger of falling a prey to the devouring moth bees when in feeble colonies seem often to lose a portion of their wanted vigilance and as they have a large quantity of empty comb which they cannot guard even if they would the moth enters the hive and deposits a large number of eggs and thus before the bees have become sufficiently numerous to protect themselves the combs are filled with worms and the destruction of the colony speedily follows the ignorant or careless beekeeper is informed of the ravages which are going on in such a hive only when its ruin is fully completed and a cloud of winged pests issues from it to destroy if they can the rest of his stocks but how, it may be asked can it be ascertained that a hive is seriously infested with the all devouring worms the aspect of the bees so discouraged and forlorn proclaims at once that there is trouble of some kind within if the hive be slightly elevated the bottom board will be found covered with pieces of bee bread etc mixed with the excrement of the worms which looks almost exactly like fine grains of powder as the bees in spring clean out their combs and prepare the cells for the reception of brood their bottom board will often be so covered with pairings of comb and with small pieces of bee bread that the hive may appear to be in danger of being destroyed by the worms if, however none of the black excrement is perceived the refuse on the bottom board like the shavings in a carpenter's shop are proofs of industry and not the signs of approaching ruin it is highly important, however to keep the bottom boards clean and if a piece of zinc bee slipped in or even an old newspaper by removing and cleansing it from time to time the bees will be greatly assisted in their operations as soon as the hive is well filled with bees this need no longer be done even the most careful and experienced aperion will find too often that although he is perfectly well aware of the plague that is raining within his knowledge can be turned to no good account the interior of the hive being almost as inaccessible as the interior of the human body the way in which I manage in such cases is as follows having ascertained in the spring as soon as the bees begin to fly out that a colony although feeble has a fertile queen I take the precaution at once to give it the strength which is indispensable not merely to its safety but to its ability for any kind of successful labor as a certain number of bees are needed in a hive in order as well to warm and hatch the thousands which a healthy queen can lay as to feed and properly develop the larvae which they are hatched I know that a feeble colony must remain feeble for a long time unless they can at once be supplied with a considerable accession of numbers even if there were no moths in existence to trouble such a hive it would not be able to rear a large number of bees until after the best of the honey harvest had passed away and then it would become powerful only that its increasing numbers might devour the food which the others had previously stored in the cells if the small colony has a considerable number of bees and is able to cover and warm at least one comb in addition to those containing brood which they already have I take from one of my strong stocks a frame containing some three or four thousand or more young bees which are sealed over in their cells and are just ready to emerge these bees which require no food and need nothing but warmth to develop them will in a few days hatch in the new hive to which they are given and thus the requisite number of workers in the full year and energy of youth will be furnished to the hive and the discouraged queen finding at once a suitable number of experienced nurses to take charge of her eggs deposits them in the proper cells instead of simply extruding them to be devoured by the bees while bees often attack full grown strangers which are introduced into their hive they never fail to receive gladly all the brood comb that we choose to give them if they are sufficiently numerous they will always cherish it and in warm weather they will protect it even if it is laid against the outside of their hive if the bees in the weak stock are too much reduced in numbers to be able to cover the brood comb taken from another hive I give them this comb with all the bees that are clustered upon it and shut up the hive after supplying them with water until two or three days have passed away by this time most of the strange bees will have formed an enviable attachment to their new home and even if a portion of them should return to the parent hive a large number of the maturing young will have hatched to supply their desertion and the little sugar water scented with peppermint may be used to sprinkle the bees at the time when the comb is introduced although I have never yet found that they had the least disposition to quarrel with each other the original settlers are only too glad to receive such a valuable accession to their scanty numbers and the expatriated bees are too much confounded in emigration to feel any desire for making a disturbance if a sufficient increase of numbers has not been furnished by one range of comb the operation may in the course of a few days be repeated instead of leaving the colony to the discouraging feeling that they are in a large empty and desolate house a divider should be run down and they should be confined to a space which they are able to warm and defend and the rest of the hive until they need its additional room should be carefully shut up against all intruders if this operation is judiciously performed the bees will be powerful in numbers long before the weather is warm enough to develop the beemoth and they will thus be most effectually protected from the hateful past a very simple change in the organization of the beemoth would have rendered it almost if not quite impossible to protect the bees from its ravages if it had been so constituted as to require but a very small amount of heat for its full development it would have become very numerous early in the spring and might have then easily entered the hives and deposited its eggs among the combs without any let or hindrance for at this season not only do the bees at night maintain no guard at the entrance of their hive but there are large portions of their comb bearer of bees and of course entirely unprotected how does every fact in the history of the bee when properly investigated point with honoring certainty to the power wisdom and goodness of him who made it if there is reason to apprehend that the combs which are not occupied with brood contain any of the eggs of the moth these combs may be removed and thoroughly smoked with the fumes of burning sulfur and then in a few days after they have been exposed to the fresh air they may be returned to the hive I hope I may be pardoned for feeling not the slightest pity for the unfortunate progeny of the moth thus unceremoniously destroyed bees as is well known to every experienced beekeeper frequently swarm so as to expose themselves to great danger of being destroyed by the moth after the departure of the after swarms the parent colony often contains too few bees to cover and protect their combs from the insidious attacks of their wily enemy as a number of weeks must elapse before the brood of the young queen is mature the colony for a considerable time at the season when the moths are very numerous are constantly diminishing in numbers and before they can begin to replenish the exhausted hive the destroyer has made a fatal lodgement in my hives such calamities are easily prevented if artificial increase is relied upon for the multiplication of hives it can be so conducted as to give the moth next to no chance to fortify itself in the hive no colony is ever allowed to have more room than it needs or more combs than it can cover and protect and the entrance to the hive may be contracted if necessary so that only a single bee can go in and out at a time and yet the bees will have from the ventilators as much air as they require if natural swarming is allowed after swarms may be prevented from issuing by cutting out all the queen cells but one soon after the first swarm leaves the hive or if it is desired to have as fast an increase of stocks as can possibly be obtained from natural swarming then instead of leaving the combs in the parent hive to be attacked by the moth a certain portion of them may be taken out after swarms is over and given to the second and third swarms so as to aid in building them up into strong stocks but I have not yet spoken of the most fruitful cause of the desolating ravages of the bee moth if a colony has lost its queen and this loss cannot be supplied it must as a matter of course follow sacrifice to the bee moth and I do not hesitate to assert that by far the larger proportion of colonies which are destroyed by it are destroyed under precisely such circumstances let this be remembered by all who have anything to do with bees and let them understand that unless a remedy for the loss of the queen can be provided they must constantly expect to see some of their best colonies hopelessly ruined the crafty moth after all is not so much to blame as we are apt to imagine for a colony once deprived of its queen and possessing no means of securing another would certainly perish even if never attacked by so deadly an enemy just as the body of an animal when deprived of life would speedily go to decay even if it is not at once devoured by ravenous swarms of filthy flies and worms End of Part 1