Bee Sheds & Bee Houses – Number of Hives
by David Taylor (1860)
BEE SHEDS AND HOUSES.
Under the head of Hive-covers we have shown in what way exposed hives can be protected from the effects of weather; and where only one or two of them are kept, any of these might suffice. The case, however, is altered when a well-stocked apiary is aimed at, requiring a more complete provision for permanent safety. For this purpose, some proprietors like a covered shed or verandah, in a well-screened spot, partially open in the front only. There should be ample space inside for a passage behind the hives, which may be ranged far enough from the front to be beyond the reach of wet and too much sun.
The common wooden bee-houses, as usually constructed, open in front, and closed altogether behind, retaining the sun’s heat as an oven, are objectionable. These are frequently the receptacles of dirt and vermin, and most inconvenient to operate in. It would be an improvement to make them deeper backwards; or with a falling front, moving on hinges, so that the hives can be recessed behind it, away from the influence of weather. At the back should be folding doors, opening from top to bottom, allowing a good access to the hives. For greater convenience, it is best only to have them in a single row, with good head room. But a still more desirable plan is to board up the front of the house entirely, making oblong openings through for a passage to the bees, with an exterior alighting board, a good deal slanted downwards (the bees preferring this to a flat surface). The hives are arranged immediately behind, upon a shelf, the further apart the better, as the bees occasionally mistake their own homes, and fall a sacrifice in consequence. This kind of house is capable of receiving some architectural form; and, with locked doors at the back, gives better security than most others against depredation; for hive-stealing is by no means rare, in many localities.
A spare room in a dwelling or an outhouse may often be fitted up to serve the purpose of an apiary, with great convenience; but a lower room is to be preferred, as bees placed at a high elevation often fly a long distance before they alight when swarming, or, perhaps, may settle on the top of a tree. A shelf can be fixed along the wall, with perforated passages facing the hives, leading outside. Any space there may be between the mouth of the hive and the wall should be filled up by means of a suitably formed wooden block or covered passage, well hollowed out on the underneath side; admitting the bees freely through it into their dwelling, but excluding them from the room itself, and thus ensuring safety in operating. Even at a common window, I have sometimes placed a stock-hive on a doubling-board; the latter fitting within the frame of the window, which is raised, to admit of its being projected under the lower edge, so that the bees have no admission except to their domicile.
POSITION AND ASPECT.
As regards position, it is of great importance that an apiary should be as free from damp, or the drippings of trees, and as little exposed to the direct influence of the wind as possible, for which end a sheltered nook on a low level is preferable to an elevated one. A dry gravel, or well-mown grass plot, is often to be preferred; closed in with evergreens, especially the laurel and laurustinus, which are much resorted to by the bees; but always leaving an approach at the back of the hives. Let these not be placed too near water, into which the bees are apt to fall or be blown; and it is desirable that they should be within sight of some dwelling-house, to prevent losses in swarming time. The absence from noise and of bad smells ought to be studied; for no sense in bees is so acute as that of scent. Disturbers of any kind, as fowls, dogs, pigs, &c., should be kept at a distance. Experience has shown that where bees are very extensively kept, the apiary is best divided on the same premises, so as not to have the whole crowded together; often inconvenient, particularly in the season of swarming. Nothing high enough to obstruct the direct flight of the bees should be allowed immediately in front of the hives; but a few low plants are rather useful as resting-places; for bees, from fatigue, often fall to the ground just on reaching home, especially in an evening, and numbers in consequence fall a prey to cold, and various enemies. Many lives may be saved by spreading out a cloth or mat in front of a hive, when this is observed. Shrubs or bushes, at no great distance, are convenient in the swarming season for the bees to alight upon; and often prevent a longer flight, or collecting on high trees, &c.
As regards aspect for bees, many and conflicting have been the recommendations relative to it, influenced by locality and climate. So many circumstances have to be taken into account, that it is difficult to lay down any rule of universal application, and they have been known to prosper in all positions, from due south to north. We know that it has been sometimes advised to turn the hives from the sun in winter, and to screen them from its direct rays in summer: this has led to an opinion that a permanent north aspect is the best; and often it is so. Still local considerations must have their weight, and we are to look to these as regards shelter from cutting winds; the more necessary where no sun reaches the front of the hives. A north aspect need not necessarily be an exposed one in winter; nor at other times one wholly uninfluenced by the effects of the sun. We have recommended doors at the back of a bee-house, by opening which at proper times, in the case of a north frontage, the sun’s rays have access from behind, with sufficiently good effect in producing a genial general warmth. In forming a decision as to aspect, we ought to take into account the position of buildings, trees, &c., for we have already observed that the flight of the bees from the hives should be uninterrupted. Moreover, the kind of house must have its weight in the scale; for where this is one closed at the front from the immediate influence of the sun, aspect is of less importance. Dr. Bevan placed his hives around the interior of an octagon erection, without perceiving any sensible difference in their well-doing. It may, however, be remarked that, occasionally, in a hive exposed to the earliest rays of the sun, the bees have been prematurely tempted out in the spring months, and fallen victims to the effects of a damp and chilly atmosphere.
When once fixed, do not move your bees, the mischief of which is self-evident. I cannot enforce this recommendation better than Gelieu has done. “I have seen people,” says he, “shift about their hives very inconsiderately; but change of place invariably weakens them, as the bees will return to their old residence, the environs of which are so familiar to them. A hive should remain as fixed to the spot as the ancient oaks, in the hollows of which they delight to establish themselves; where they have their young, their companions, their beloved queen, and all their treasures. When the young bees take wing for the first time, they do it with great precaution, turning round and round, and fluttering about the entrance, to examine the hive well before taking flight. They do the same in returning, so that they may be easily distinguished, conducting themselves nearly after the same manner as the workers of a newly-hived swarm. When they have made a few excursions, they set off without examining the locality; and returning in full flight will know their own hive in the midst of a hundred others. But if you change its place you perplex them, much the same as you would be if, during a short absence, some one lifted your house and placed it a mile off. The poor bees return loaded, and, seeking in vain for their habitation, either fall down and perish with fatigue, or throw themselves into the neighbouring hives, where they are speedily put to death. When hives are transported to a considerable distance, there is no fear that the bees will return. But this inconvenience would be sure to take place if they were removed only a few hundred paces from the spot they have been accustomed to. The hive may not perish, but it will be greatly weakened. In my opinion, if the situation is to be changed at all, they should be taken at least a mile and a half.” This removal should only be attempted in winter or early spring, under usual circumstances. It might, however, happen that it was required to move a hive only a very short distance, in the summer time; when no harm would arise were the change of location made by daily shifting it a few inches.
BEE PASTURAGE, AND NUMBER OF HIVES.
It is almost needless to say that on the nature and extent of the vegetable productions, following in succession, in the immediate neighbourhood of an apiary, must mainly depend its prosperity. After every care has been bestowed on all points of housing and management, it is in vain to expect a large harvest of honey where nature has limited the sources of supply, or restricted them to a particular season of the year. The most highly-cultivated corn districts are rarely so favorable to bees as those in which wild commons, woods, and heathy moors prevail; or where some such farm products as Dutch clover, trefoil, saintfoin, buck-wheat, tares, mustard, colewort, turnip and cabbage blossoms, etc., do not enter largely into the staple of the country. The neighbourhood of certain kinds of willows, and of hazels, in the opening spring, is of great advantage to our little collectors in furnishing farina; as also the blossoms of the furze, broom, bramble, wild thyme, &c. To these we may add the large early stores of honey and farina available from many of the products of our horticultural gardens and orchards, as gooseberries, currants, raspberries, apples, pears, plums, and other fruits. Payne says, “I have always found the advantage of planting in the vicinity of my hives a large quantity of the common kinds of crocus, single blue hepatica, helleborus niger, and tussilago petasites, all of which flower early, and are rich in honey and farina. Salvia memorosa (of Sir James Smith), which flowers very early in June, and lasts all the summer, is in an extraordinary manner sought after by the bees; and, when room is not an object, twenty or thirty square yards of it may be grown with advantage. Origanum humile, and origanum rubescens (of Haworth), and mignonette may also be grown. Cuscuta sinensis is a great favorite with them; and the pretty little plant anacampseros populifolium, when in flower, is literally covered by them. Garden cultivation, beyond this, exclusively for bees, I believe answers very little purpose.”
It will follow as a matter of course from what we have said, that the size of an apiary in any district must be mainly determined by circumstances. In some seasons, so prolific a harvest of blossoms and honey comes all at once, that a large number of hives may abundantly be filled together. The locality must be the chief guide; and I have known instances where fewer stocks would have yielded a much better return; for one rich colony is worth more than two or three half-starved ones.
The distance to which bees will resort during the honey harvest has been the subject of controversy; some limiting their flight to one mile, and others extending it to three or four. When pressed for stores, they will doubtless fly a long distance, directed probably by their very acute sense of smell; but I am inclined to believe, with Dr. Dunbar, that the ordinary range of their excursions is comprised within the radius of a comparatively small circle.
