The Honey-Bee: Its Natural History, Physiology and ManagementBevan, Edward
History
The Honey-Bee: Its Natural History, Physiology and Management
Bevan, Edward
Bee culture; Bees
+Huber's+ glass doors had only an interspace of an inch and half betwixt
them: in this hive the bees could not cluster upon the surfaces of
the comb, and yet had room to pass freely over it. Mr. +John Hunter+
recommended the diameter of these narrow hives to be three inches,
and the superficies of the sides to be of sufficient size to afford
stowage for a summer's work. Mr. +Dunbar+, with his mirror-hive,
constructed somewhat like Huber's, has been able to make some interesting
observations on the œconomy of the bee. _Vide_ Edinburgh Philosophical
Journal, vol. iii. The distance of his glass doors from each other is one
inch and two thirds; the height and width of the hive, according to the
plan in the Journal, about a foot. Across the centre of the mirror-hive
Mr. Dunbar introduced a light frame, which though apparently dividing the
hive into four compartments, allowed the bees a free passage: they were
skreened from the light by a pair of folding shutters on each side.
Mr. Dunbar hived a small swarm in one of these narrow boxes, in June
1819: the bees began to build immediately, and he witnessed the whole of
their proceedings, every bee being exposed to his view. The narrowness
of their limits constrained them, from the very commencement, to work
in divisions, so that four separate portions of comb were begun and
continued nearly at the same time.
[Illustration]
But this arrangement did not sufficiently employ these industrious
creatures; for contrary to their usual mode of building, which is from
above downwards, they laid two other foundations of comb, upon the upper
parts of the cross sticks.
[Illustration]
The bees now wrought upwards and downwards at the same time, till the
originally separate portions were united and become one comb.
[Illustration]
For want of proper precautions, the bees of this hive perished, during
the intense cold of January 1820.
On the 25th of March following, Mr. Dunbar introduced another swarm into
the same unicomb hive; and so early as the 27th, he saw the queen laying
the eggs of workers. This second swarm found plenty of honey and farina
in the hive, left by its former tenants. Other particulars reported by
Mr. Dunbar are detailed in the Chapters to which they belong.
These hives are of course only useful to the amateur apiarian, who is in
quest of information or amusement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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