. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. VOL. LVIII—NO. 4 HAMILTON, ILL., APRIL, 1918 MONTHLY, $ A YFAR THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEEHIVE The First of a Series of Articles Showing the Development of Hive Construc- tion Since 1780 ALTHOUGH nothing is so impor- tant in beekeeping as the 'bee itself, the beehive and its ease of manipulation are next. Bee economy was a closed book and the most important facts of bee physiology were unknown until a lit- tle over a century ago. The trunks of trees and hollow caves were the abodes of the bees. Swarms were hived in "skeps" made of rushes, o
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. VOL. LVIII—NO. 4 HAMILTON, ILL., APRIL, 1918 MONTHLY, $ A YFAR THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEEHIVE The First of a Series of Articles Showing the Development of Hive Construc- tion Since 1780 ALTHOUGH nothing is so impor- tant in beekeeping as the 'bee itself, the beehive and its ease of manipulation are next. Bee economy was a closed book and the most important facts of bee physiology were unknown until a lit- tle over a century ago. The trunks of trees and hollow caves were the abodes of the bees. Swarms were hived in "skeps" made of rushes, osier, straw, clay, earthen ware and logs split and hollowed out. The Caucasian views of apiaries so kindly sent to us by the Caucasian Beekeep- ers' Association, of which we have already published several, are very good illustrations of the various re- ceptacles used for bees. As observers noticed that the bees built their combs side by side, the idea was evolved to have them built on separate racks or frames for the easier removal of a part of the con- tents. If we tried to tell our readers just when the first progressive changes Were made in beehives we would probably deceive them unwittingly, for improvements were made, from time to time, and abandoned, to be again resumed later in better and more practical form. We can probably best interest our readers by giving them copies of actual improvements made about 130 years ago. We have in our posses- sion a three-volume "Complete Treatise on Bees" by L' Abbe Delia Rocca, Vicar-general at Syra, one of the Cyclades, an island in the Medit- erranean. His book bears the date of 1790. Plate 1 shows a house apiary, built of stone, with straw roof. The hives, 6 of clay and 2 of wood, are inserted into the structure and project BY THE EDITOR through to the other side. The clay hives show their posterior end, closed by an earthen disk. The wooden show their front, with entrances of metallic plates perforated for the egress of
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
