The Welsh Hermit on Bees, 1867
The Hermit has a large establishment of bees, to which industrious insects he is not only particularly partial, but he has a sort of respect, I might almost say reverence,…
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From Good Cookery Illustrated by Augusta Llanover, 1867.
Bees
The Hermit has a large establishment of bees, to which industrious insects he is not only particularly partial, but he has a sort of respect, I might almost say reverence, for them, which is very general among his country-men, and which surprised me, although he appeared to be as much surprised at my knowing so little about their habits or their treatment; but still I was able to inform him that there were in England many scientific Apiarians, who had made the treatment of bees their especial study.
He asked me whether the study had led to a great increase of bee-keepers in England generally, but I told him that the houses or boxes recommended for their abode were so very expensive, and required such very neat joiners’ or cabinet-makers’ work, that it was impossible to expect that any but those in affluent circumstances could keep bees; this unfortunate remark has brought a storm down upon my devoted head, as I unfortunately furnished my host with a new argument in support of his opinion, that everything he hears from me proves that the present age is anything but an age of common sense.
There is, however, no doubt that the Hermit’s bees thrive remarkably well, and that so far from their houses or their management being complicated or expensive, they are neither one nor the other; and for the benefit of my friends, I have made sketches of the hives, which are all double, a small one at the top, and a large one at the bottom. It appears that the bees fill the top hive for the Hermit, and make further provision for themselves in the lower hive.
In the month of July, the Hermit takes off the top hive, which is generally full of the finest honeycomb. He replaces it with another the same size, leaving the contents of the lower hive undisturbed. The lower hive has a flat top, with an extra round of straw on the outer rim, within which the upper hive fits, and the hole in the centre of the top of the lower hive admits the bees from one to the other. There is a simple hoop of wood at the bottom of each of the lower hives, which the Hermit had neatly mortared round outside, so that there could be no egress into the hive, for any insects besides the bees themselves, who entered by one small aperture cut purposely in the hoop. Everything else was made of straw, worked in the usual beehive fashion, roll upon roll of straw, fastened together with strips of thin willow.
Part of Plate X from text
The Hermit had fifty double hives. I requested one of the widows to weigh a small top hive empty, and another of the same size full. The empty hive weighed one pound and a half; the full hives six pounds and a half; consequently at the rate of five pounds for the owner's share, my host's bees produced an average of two hundred and fifty pounds of honeycomb, all filled with the purest honey, for there never is either bee-bread or young bees in the upper hives.
I was informed that there is no absolute necessity for the round mat of straw which I observed under each of the top hives, though it was convenient and useful, as the hive was more easily lifted off without disturbing the bees below, in a manner which would not be the case if the upper hive rested only on the top of the lower hive, without having any independent platform; and as bees carefully fill up every crevice which admits light, or might give admission to insects, the upper hive is generally cemented round the edge to whatever it is placed upon, and therefore to take it off suddenly produces a great wrench and disturbance throughout the establishment, entirely avoided by the little mat, which, having a hole in the middle answering to the hole in the top of the lower hive, admits the bees from one to the other.
When the bees swarmed, they were hived in the lower hive, and the hole at the top had a cork in it; but the evening after (if they had settled quietly) the cork was withdrawn, and the top hive with its mat put in its proper place, and as soon as the bees were thoroughly at home, the hoop of the lower hive was mortared round with a trowel, after dark, a piece of white paper, pricked full of holes, being placed over the entrance attached by four pins to the hoop (while the above operation was performed), to prevent the bees from coming out.
The Hermit's bees were always fed from the month of November, till the spring blossoms rendered it no longer necessary. Their food was so inexpensive that the Hermit never permitted the question of their being sufficiently provided with their own honey to prevent their having the offer of supper every night, during the period above mentioned, as he said that, if they did not require it, they would not eat it, but it very seldom happened that they did not take the whole quantity, except in very hard frosts, when they are in a state of torpor.
Their food consisted of treacle, in the proportion of one teacupful to two of water, boiled together, in a jug plunged in a saucepan of boiling water, with as much salt sprinkled in as gave it the very slightest saline flavour. This mixture was kept in jugs with narrow spouts and flat tops, over which thick brown paper was tied, to keep out the dust; and every night two of the widows went to each hive, with a candle, the jug of boiled treacle and water, and scoops made of elder or other wood, which they placed in the mouth of each hive, leaving the portion outside which was not hollowed. They filled each scoop with as much of the prepared food as the cavity would hold without overflowing. The first thing in the morning the scoops were withdrawn, and, being well washed, were put to dry in the house, on a shelf, till the following night. If the bees left any of their food in the scoop, it was not washed out, but withdrawn during the day, and replaced the next night in the hive from which it had been taken.
When the spring is sufficiently advanced for the bees no longer to require food in the hive, they will not take it; but as the weather is very uncertain, and the sun and a few flowers may tempt them out for two or three days, after which a change may take place, to prevent their obtaining any food abroad, the Hermit's widows were frequently obliged to recommence feeding between the end of February and April. The Hermit explained that feeding the bees not only kept them strong and vigorous, but that it saved a great deal of time with regard to their labours in the spring; as, if they had a good stock of honey for their own use, they begun the sooner to work for their master, and in good years the top hive may be changed twice between June and September.
The Hermit was very indignant at the idea of joiner's work or cabinet-maker's work being necessary to make houses for bees; and he said there was no greater mistake than to suppose that bees could only thrive under one aspect;—that a little observation might convince any one interested in the subject that bees will thrive in various aspects, provided they are sheltered from wind, and they have easy access to pure but shallow water, where they can drink without danger of being drowned; also that where the locality will not admit of a safe-watering-place for the bees, fresh water should be placed twice or thrice a day in shallow pans, in the shade, near the bee-house, which, if possible, should have a projecting roof of stone-tile to screen them well from the rays of the sun.
A little penthouse of this description, built against the wall, with the ends boarded or bricked up with a shelf from end to end (which shelf ought to be about an inch from the back wall), is quite sufficient for all useful purposes connected with bees. If stone-tile cannot be had, the roof should have double boards as a protection against the sun, and it should be plastered inside, and whitewashed inside and out every year, and frequently swept between the hives and examined, to see that no ants or snails, or other insects or reptiles, have taken up their abode in the bees’ dominions, which is often the cause of their deserting their hives.
While I was with the Hermit, the widows were terrified one morning, at seeing a long black tail, and part of a black body, at the entrance hole of one of the hives, and I then had ocular demonstration of what before I never believed, viz. that mice would venture to interfere with bees, as a mouse attracted by the smell of the honey, of which they are particularly fond, and being, no doubt, very hungry, had entered the hole of one of the bee-hives in the night, or early in the morning. It appeared that the mouse had only been able to squeeze little more than its head and its fore-feet into the hive, when it was so violently attacked and stung by the bees, that it died without being able to extricate itself, and, no doubt, had it not been discovered soon, it would have caused the death of all the inhabitants of the hive from suffocation, the body having swelled and filled up the entrance.
The Hermit's bees knew the widows that fed them as well as possible, and were not alarmed by the introduction of the scoop in the evening, and the evil consequences were explained to me of ever feeding bees in the daytime, or putting their food on the outside of the hives at any time, as such a practice not only distracted their attention, and prevented the bees from following their regular routine of daily duties, but attracted their enemies, and subjected them to the continual annoyance of wasps, hornets, and other as troublesome, though less powerful insects.
On the approach of winter, a quantity of dried fern was placed between the back of the hives and the back of the bee-house, and over the top of the hives. Fern is considered better than straw, less likely to harbour insects and birds, and more tough and lasting. The fern is removed when the bees begin their spring work, and the bee-house is well swept from cobwebs or any other impurities. Care was also taken to prevent weeds or flowers from growing underneath the shelf on which the hives are placed, and the Hermit preferred paving-stones, or pitching, as not affording any harbour for insects or reptiles.
He said that it was remarkable, that although few people were ignorant that the bees, in a state of nature, made the hollow of a tree or a rock their chosen residence, and always selected a place impervious to the rays of the sun, yet that he had repeatedly noticed the bees were often exposed to the fierce heat of the sun, without any reflection as to the torture those valuable little labourers must endure, if the top of the hive became so warm as to affect their honeycombs by partially melting their wax, also that bees required as much protection from the sun over their hives, as from the rain, but in front of their hives wind was their greatest enemy, and they should be so placed as to be able to issue forth and return home, without being blown over, which frequently occurs when the bee-house faces the windy quarter.
When they swarm, their new hive should be rubbed with balm-leaves (but not daubed with beer and sugar), and every empty hive should be boiled in a copper of clean water, and well dried, in the month of April, to be ready when wanted, as without boiling it would be impossible to ensure them from insects (or their eggs) having a domicile between the straw bands.
Llanover, Augusta. Good Cookery Illustrated and Recipes Communicated by the Welsh Hermit of the Cell of St. Gover, with Various Remarks on Many Things Past and Present. Richard Bentley, 1867.
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