378 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



November 19, 1904. 



BEE KEEPING. 



Nuclei in Queen Rearing. 

 It has been recoiinneuded by prominent queen 

 breeder-s in the United 8t.ites that, after raising the 

 young queens by one or other of the methods in vogue, 

 it is "best to transfer them to nuclei formed from the 

 strongest colonies — thus having to sacrifice a colony 

 that would otherwise bring in a good return in honey. 

 The following is a short summary of an article in 

 Glean i.iujs in Bee (J alt are for October 1.5, showing 

 how this may be averted by the use of 'baby' nuclei: — 



It i.s supposed that the young (virgin) queens are 

 between five and seven days old, ready to be placed in the 

 nucleus. There i.s at hand a special l)ox just large enough 

 to hold a frame, filled previously with honey by some colony. 

 The size of this frame will allow of thirteen of them being 

 placed crossway.s in an eight-frame, half-depth super. The 

 box opens from above with a close-fitting, water-proof co\x'r. 

 A hole, j\ or | inch in diameter, is bored near one of the 

 lower corner.s of the box right into the frame: over this is 

 placed a little button turning on a central pivot immediately 

 above the hole so that one end acts as a queen excluder 

 while the other closes the entrance. The frame of honey 

 is fixed inside the box so that it is immovable. 



Ha\ing got your young queens and nuclei lioxes ready, 

 proceed to shake all the bees from the condss of some 

 previously made queenless colony. It is most important to 

 have the bees thoroughly filled with honey before shaking. 

 After shaking, place the combs with brood in an enq)ty hive 

 and return them to the old stand. Now, with a .small tin 

 cup dip from the cluster of shaken bees about I'OO, lilace 

 them in the nucleus box on to the frame of honey, then close 

 it and proceed to dip and fill until all the boxes are filled 

 iiccording to the number of queens ready. Iveep the bees 

 confined for ten to thirty minutes in each box and then run 

 in the virgin queen through the little entrance, closing it 

 again. Never wait over-night to do the introducing. Keep 

 them confined until near sunset of the next day, then remove 

 them several hundred yards away. They can, of course, be 

 moved about i miles away along with the liive containing 

 selected drones. After the third day turn the l.iutton until 

 the zinc queen-excluding slot coxers the entrance. When 

 another liatch of virgins is' ready, or at your convenience, 

 the fertilized queens in the nuclei can be caged and put in 

 what are known as 'nursery' hives. Some of the advantages 

 of this system are : — 



1. It will permit of the use of virgin queens from five 

 to .seven days old, with practically no loss. 



2. There is no lo.ss from absconding. 



3. We avoid all trouble from fertile workers. 



4. We can control the fertilization of our queens to an 

 almost absolute certainty. 



5. We can proceed with the production of honey ; and in 

 order to raise large ipiantitics of queens we are not conq)e!led 

 to break up into miclei so many of our best colonies of bees 

 a.s is done by the methods now in use. 



PRUNING TREES. 



We have frequently referred in the Ar/ricultu7'(d 

 Xrtrs to the great damage done to trees by careless 

 pruning. Witli the object of affording information as 

 to the best methods of pruning — so as to minimize 

 the damage to the tree — we Dublish the foUowircr 

 extracts from an article in the Trinidad Ballcfiu cf 

 MisceU(niei>as laformiifion -. — 



In [iruning away the large bvanche.-- from street trees it 

 is nece.s.sary to ob.serve great care. When it is determined 

 to cut off a large limb, the first thing to be done is to 

 lighten the weight of the same by trinnning off its smaller 

 branches and leaves, and then to .secure it by fastening 

 the rope about midway of its length .so that it will balance 

 when cut, the free end of the rope should be passed 

 over the crutch of a higher and stronger branch and thence 

 to the ground, where it should be secured by a workman 

 around the base of any other tree, so as to enable him to take 

 the weight of the branch as it is severed from the trunk. 

 The branch should then bo cut with the saw or axe some 

 2 or 3 feet from the point at which it is desired to remove it, 

 leaving a stunqi .some 2 or 3 feet long. The object of this is 

 to prevent the tearing or stripping of the bark, which would 

 otherwise take place, when the weight of the branch causes it 

 to fall. Supported bj- the rope, the only stripping which 

 will occur will be on the 2-foot stunq), but as this is 

 eventually to be removed, it will not matter. When the 

 branch is cut through and lowered gently to the ground, the 

 stump which is left should then be cut away, first securing it 

 in the same matuier and lowering and supporting its weight 

 by the rope while cutting. 



Begin the cutting of the stunqi by making a cut with 

 the saw on its underside, and then finish by cutting quite 

 close to the main stem from above. As soon as the branch 

 is removed, the chisel should be used to clean and smooth 

 the surface of the wound, which slinuld then be covered with 

 a coating of coal tar. 



The object in cutting the branch clo.se in to the stem is 

 to enable the tree to heal the wound by a growth of cambium 

 from its edges, which will eventually cover and secure it from 

 the weather. If a stump is left, it will assuredly die back, 

 and the dead wood remaining in its centre will prevent the 

 cambium from growing and covering up the wound. 

 Smoothing with the chisel prevents the lodgement of water, 

 and the coating of coal tar preserves the wood by keeping off 

 the spoi'es of microscopic fungi which cause decay. The cut 

 should always be made in a sloping direction, so as to .shed 

 any water that may fall upon it. 



Experiments in planting Cocoa-nuts. Professor 

 .1. ]'.. Harrison, C.M.O., !M.A., has forwarded to the Imperial 

 Conunissioner of Agriculture a series of phntograplis 

 illustrating experiments which he has conunenced in British 

 Guiana to decide the best method of planting cocoa-nuts, 

 more especially the position in which tlie nuts should be- 

 placed in the holes. Two cocoa-nuts were planted in 

 Se[)tember 1902, A placeil horizontally, and B verticallj-. 

 The former germinated about four weeks earlier than the 

 latter. In December 1902 they were planted in similar 

 [lositions in large holes filled with a siiecially formed compost 

 of .soil, .sand, burnt earth, and stable manure, under very 

 favourable conditions of drainage, etc. In Jul}' of this year 

 both looked healthy, but A was over 8 feet high, while B,. 

 checked in devcloiiment, was le.ss than 5 feet in height. 



