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The Handy Book of Bees

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The Handy Book of Bees CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ' NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE EVERETT FRANKLIN PHILLIPS BEEKEEPING LIBRARY Cornell University Library The original of tinis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924003422056 THE HANDY BOOK OP BEES A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THEIR PROFITABLE MANAGEMENT A. PETTIGEEW WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND. LONDON PEEFACE. Dr M'Kenzie, in a small book on bees, says he was induced to study the subject from the fact that one of his two labouring men having found a swarm of bees in a hedge, and therewith commenced bee-keep- ing, was enabled afterwards to go without his wages till they were earned. Previously, both labourers got their wages in advance. The lift given to the one man by the possession of this fugitive swarm was so great and pleasing to the Doctor, that he com- menced to read works on bees, and study their management both in this country and on the Con- tinent. By -and -by a small fourpenny book on the subject fell from his pen, which received no patronage. This little incident is mentioned to show what a swarm or two of bees may do for a poor labourer. Indeed, if there is anything more profitable to cottagers living in the country or on the skirts of towns, than a few swarms of bees, and can be more easily managed by them, all we can say is, we have never seen that thing, or known what it is. " Bees," says Cobbett, " are of great use in a house, on account iv PEEFACE. of the honey, the wax, and the swarms they produce —they cost nothing to keep, and want nothing but a little care." The author's father, James Pettigrew, was a labour- ing man, and perhaps the greatest bee-keeper that Scotland has ever produced. He was so successful and enthusiastic in the management of his bees, that he earned and received the cognomen of " The Bee-man," and by this name he was well known for thirty years in a wider circle than the parish of Car- luke, Lanarkshire, in which he resided. Even the district of the parish in which he lived when he kept most hives took then the name of " Honey Bank," which it still bears. And though the author left his native village thirty-five years ago, he is best known there on an occasional visit as " The Bee-man's son." AVhile a common labouring man, he saved a great deal of money from his bees ; indeed it was reported in the Glasgow newspapers that he realised £100 profit from them one season. His example and suc- cess twenty-five years after his death have not yet lost their influence on the successful bee-keepers of his native village, who say, " The old bee-man taught us all we know; who taught him?" "The bee- man" saved money enough to purchase the Black Bull Inn of the village, and therein commenced busi- ness as a publican and butcher. When his sons reached their 'teens, the management of his bees was left in great measure to them. It was then that the foundation of what we know of bees was laid. And as most readers of a book like to know a little of the PEEFACK. V author, we may be pardoned the egotism of saying that we were at the age of eighteen apprenticed to the profession of gardening at Carstairs House. In about four- years afterwards we went to London to pursue our profession, which we have followed ever since. "While an apprentice at Carstairs, and a journeyman in Middlesex, we kept bees in " hidden jDlaces " in the plantations and shrubberies ; and while acting in the capacity of head-gardener, we managed the bees of our employers. ISTow we have a small garden of our own, in which we keep " lots of bees " for profit. Such is a brief outline of the author's history from a bee-keeping point of view. The work before the reader, then, is a practical one, and written by a practical man. Three or four years ago, we were induced by our respected friend Mr Thomson, editor of ' The Gar- dener,' to contribute a series of articles on Bees for that periodical, then called ' The Scottish Gardener.' Mr T. heralded these articles with a few remarks " rather too complimentary. He then said : We had practical proof of the extraordinary success resulting from Mr Pettigrew's system of bee - management when he was our foreman in the Gardens at "Wrotham Park, Middlesex, twenty-five years ago. We assure our readers who may peruse his letters, that though he may recommend what may clash violently with their present knowledge of the subject, he is, notwith- is the standing, a safe guide ; and that, where profit object, no writer that we have ever read can be com- pared with him. We predicate that his letter^ will vi PREFACE. be of far greater value to all interested than the cost of the journal for many years to come." Bread is the first consideration of man. After food and clothing are obtained, he may seek recreation, music, society, knowledge, or anything else lawful. So in bee-keeping we reckon the question of profit is of first importance. Stings do not seem half so pain- ful to the man whose annual proceeds of bee-keeping amount to £10, or £20, or £50. But in addition to the profits of bees, there is a fund of interest and enjoyment derived from keeping them, uplifting in its nature and tendencies. One of the most pleasing sights on earth is that of a son of toil, after the labour of the day is done, taking a child in his hand, and going to see his pig, or cow, or bee- hive in his garden. Who has not seen hundreds of working men blessed and charmed beyond description in attending to their bees and cows ? Such men are superior to the low vulgarities of the public-house, and superior in every sense to those who waste their time and strength in drinking. We hold that all em- ployers of labour would do well to encourage their servants to spend their leisure hours in a profitable way. In country places and villages the gift of a few swarms of bees to deserving servants, and a practical treatise on their management, might become a source of perennial income and pleasure to them, and be, in fact, a greater boon and benefaction than a row of cottages d la Peabody. The author, who is a working man himself, humbly greet^ working men on the completion of this work. PREFACE. VU Avhich has been written with an eye to their welfare, and with the hope that the " finger-posts " herein set np will guide many of them along the highroad to great success in bee-keeping. There is no literary merit at all in these pages ; in fact the author knows that the reader of taste and education wUl find much to " wink at." There is a great deal of repetition, and sometimes " nouns " keep out the "pronouns." There has been the strongest desire possible on the part of the author to write in the plainest and simplest style and manner, so that the most untutored man in England that can read, would not fail to catch the meaning of every page presented to his eye. The grand old words of the grand old parable of " The Sower " are worth repeat- ing in every preface : "When any oncsheareth the Word, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth it away ; but he that hear- eth the Word, and understandeth it, beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." RosHOLME, Manchester, March 1, 1870. CONTENTS. PAET riEST. CHAPTER I. CHAPTER III PAOE PACE The queen bee, 1 Working bees, 29 Her shape and appearance, ... 1 Their industry, 29 Mother and monarch, 2 Their ingenuity, 31 The age of queen bees, 2 Their courage, 33 How long in being hatched, ... 3 How to tame and domesticate The food of princesses, 3 vicious bees, 34 Impregnation of queens, 4 Have bees a language? 3.5 Where impregnation takes place, 6 CHAPTER IV. Sometimes lost on their mar- Ligurian or Italian bees, 37 riage-tour, 7 Egg-laying, 7 CHAPTER V. How many eggs laid daily by a The government of a hive, 39 queen, 8 The sexes of eggs, 9 CHAPTER VI. Mr Woodbury's letters, 11 Swarming, . 41 Mr Quinby's opinion, 16 Preparations made for it, 41 The author's, 19 The signal and the rush, 42 Experiments suggested, 21 Piping, 44 Second and third swarms, 44 CHAPTER II. Drones or males, 25 CHAPTER VII. How long in their cells, 2.5 Fertile workers, 46 Why BO many drones, 26 Their idleness, 26 CHAPTER VIII. Their sorrowful end, 27 Honey, 47 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER XI. Honey-dew, 50 Boe-bread, 55 CHAPTER XII. CHAPTER X. Propolis, 57 Wtii-, 52 How much honey is consumed CHAPTER XIII. to make 1 lb. of wax, 62 Water, 58 PAET SECOND. PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT. CHAPTER XIV. "Why? The apiary or bee-garden, 62 Facts and figures better than How far should hives be off the logic and argumentation, ... 77 ground? 63 Successful management at Car- How far asunder ? 64 hike, Lanarkshire, Mr Reid's letters, CHAPTER XV. English bee-keepersfar behind.
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