



Produced by Roger Frank








A
MANUAL
OR AN
EASY METHOD
OF

MANAGING BEES,

IN THE MOST
PROFITABLE MANNER TO THEIR OWNER,
WITH
INFALLIBLE RULES TO PREVENT THEIR
DESTRUCTION BY THE MOTH.

BY JOHN M. WEEKS,
Of Salisbury, Vt.

SECOND EDITION.

MIDDLEBURY:
ELAM R. JEWETT, PRINTER.

1837.




Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1836.
By John M. Weeks,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Vermont.




PREFACE.

It appears to the writer of the following pages, that a work of this
description is much needed in our country.

The cultivation of the bee (Apis Mellifica) has been too long neglected in
most parts of the United States.

This general neglect has unquestionably originated from the fact, that the
European enemy to the bees, called the moth, has found its way into this
country, and has located and naturalized itself here; and has made so much
havoc among the bees, that many districts have entirely abandoned their
cultivation. Many Apiarians, and men of the highest literary attainments,
as well as experience, have nearly exhausted their patience, in examining
the peculiar nature and habits of this insect; and have tried various
experiments to devise some means of preventing its depredations. But,
after all that has been done, the spoiler moves onward with little
molestation, and very few of our citizens are willing to engage in the
enterprize of cultivating this most useful and profitable of all insects,
the honey-bee.

The following work is comprised in a set of plain, concise rules, by
which, if strictly adhered to and practised, any person, properly
situated, may cultivate bees, and avail himself of all the benefits of
their labors.

If the Apiarian manages strictly in accordance with the following rules,
the author feels confident that no colony will ever materially suffer by
the moth, or will ever be destroyed by them.

The author is aware of the numerous treatises published on this subject;
but they appear to him, for the most part, to be the result not so much of
experience as of vague and conjectural speculation, and not sufficiently
embodying what is practical and useful.

This work is intended as an accompaniment to the Vermont hive, and will be
found to be the result of observation and experience, and it is thought
comprises all that is necessary to make a skilful Apiarian.

                                                             THE AUTHOR.

INDEX

   CHAPTER

   Rule I.  On the construction of the hive,                     5

  Rule II.  On swarming and hiving,                             11

 Rule III.  On ventilating,                                     23

  Rule IV.  On preventing robberies,                            24

   Rule V.  On equalizing colonies, by doubling, trebling, &c,  26

  Rule VI.  On removing honey,                                  30

 Rule VII.  The method of compelling swarms to make extra
            Queens, and keep them for the use of their owner,   33

Rule VIII.  On supplying swarms with Queens, when necessary,    38

  Rule IX.  On multiplying colonies to any desirable extent,
            without swarming,                                   42

   Rule X.  On preventing the depredations of the moth,         43

  Rule XI.  On feeding,                                         56

 Rule XII.  On wintering,                                       60

Rule XIII.  On transferring bees from one hive to another,      60

      XIV.  General Observations,                               65




MANUAL, &c.




RULE I.

ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BEE-HIVE.


A bee-hive should be made of sound boards, free from shakes and cracks; it
should also be planed smooth, inside and out, made in a workmanlike
manner, and painted on its outside.

REMARKS.

That a bee-hive should be made perfect, so as to exclude light and air, is
obvious from the fact, that the bees will finish what the workman has
neglected, by plastering up all such cracks and crevices, or bad joints,
as are left open by the joiner. The substance they use for this purpose is
neither honey nor wax, but a kind of glue or cement of their own
manufacturing, and is used by the bees to fill up all imperfect joints and
exclude all light and air. This cement or glue is very congenial to the
growth of the moth in the first stages of its existence