i6 



IRISH GARDENING. 



January 



Bee-Keeping. 



By T. Magiiri;, The Orchard, Enniskilleii. 



Extracting — II. 



AFTER doubling drones will hatch out in the super, 

 and the excluder being" on they will be unable to 

 gel out. Unless released they will die, and 

 become a nuisance to the workers, who will be con- 

 stantly wt^rrying to get them out. A small c>pening 

 made in the lower edge of the super box will give them 

 egress to the roof, which can be removed occasionally, 

 or in warm weather tilted for a few dajs till all have 

 escaped. 



Sometimes a cold spell comes on, and all the honey in 

 the doubling box is consumed ; if sections are on top 

 they also suffer, and unless precautions are taken they 

 will not be properly filled again. In such a case a few 

 of the best brood frames — those containing most brood 

 and least pollen — should be exchanged into the super, 

 when the sections will get pretty much the same atten- 

 tion as if they were put on over the brood nest in the 

 ordinary waj\ The same precautions regarding the 

 queen and cutting out of any queen cells must be taken 

 as when doubling in the first instance. 



When the heavy flow of honey comes the super soon 

 gets filled up, and more room will be required for the 

 honey coming in before that which is gathered is sealed 

 and ripened and ready to be extracted. A second 

 super of frames is put on underneath the full one, if 

 drawn-out combs are available, if not the brood combs 

 must be raised once more and wired frames of founda- 

 tion put in their place, not forgetting the queen as 

 before and any queen cells that may be started a few 

 days afterwards. When these operations are per- 

 formed carefully and at the proper time there is 

 generally no trouble from swarming, particularly if the 

 hive is kept shaded and cool, but if the combs are not 

 examined for queen cells as directed the latter are 

 almost sure to be started, in which case swarming is 

 inevitable — not only that, but the young queen will be 

 excluded in the super, and may become useless before 

 she gets an opportunity of mating. Should the old 

 queen get lost the stock will appear to be queenless, 

 and the owner will be firing off queries to the bee papers 

 and the local instructor to know what is the matter, as 

 it will, of course, be impossible to introduce a strange 

 queen whilst the young one is there. On the other 

 hand, when these little precautions are taken it is 

 marvellous to see the energy with which a strong stock 

 will continue to work in the hottest weather. During 

 the past season I had several gigantic stocks working 

 on three storeys, with two crates of sections on top. 

 They worked like furies right through the extreme heat, 

 and never attempted to swarm. Young queens were 

 raised and mated in the back apartment without 

 trouble, and when the flow was over each hive con- 

 tained two strong stocks instead of one. 



As soon as the sections are finished they should be 

 removed. The whole force of bees will then be crowded 

 on the frames, and the ripening and sealing will pro- 

 ceed rapidly. No frames should be removed for 

 extracting until completely sealed, and if they can be 



left on for some time afterwards so much the better. 

 The honey will gain immensely in quality. Unsealed 

 honey will be much thinner, poorer in quality, and more 

 inclined to candy than that which is properly ripened. 

 The so-called " ripener " (a long tin aflFair, provided 

 with a tap) should not in general be trusted to ripen 

 honey. It is only effective when used in a uniform high 

 temperature, and even then is far behind the natural 

 method. In the ordinary temperature of a room it is 

 more calculated to injure honey than otherwise, but it is 

 a very useful utensil when extracting. 



News Items. 



National Sweet Pea Society. 



The annual meeting of the National Sweet Pea Society 

 was held on December i ith, when Sir Randolph Baker, 

 Bart., was elected the new president, on the retirement 

 of Mr. Cuthbertson, and Mr. Horace J. Wright was 

 elected chairman of committees. Mr. C. H. Curtis was 

 re-elected hon. secretary, and the committee, in recog- 

 nition of his untiring labours in the interest of the society, 

 voted him a honorarium, accompanied with a well- 

 deserved appreciation of his past services. 



The DubKn Seed and Nursery Employees' 

 Association. 



The annual dinner of this active society was held at 

 the Gresham Hotel on Saturday, 12th of December last, 

 when the fifth annual report of accounts and transac- 

 tions was distributed and the prizes for the vear 

 presented to the successful competitors. The after 

 dinner proceedings took the form of speeches (in pro- 

 posing and replying to toasts), interspersed with songs, 

 recitations and instrumental solos. The report set 

 forth the educational and other work done in the year, 

 together with the text of the two essays that secured the 

 first and second prizes. We sincerely congratulate the 

 association upon their successful efforts and upon 

 having at their command such an untiring secretary as 

 Mr. McDonough has proved himself to be. 



Irish Seed and Nursery Trades" Association. 



The annual general meeting of this bodj- was, by 

 kind permission of the .Agricultural Superintendent, held 

 in the Roj'al Dublin Society's Committee Room, Balls- 

 bridge, on Thursday, December loth. There was a good 

 attendance of members, who discussed with great in- 

 terest the council's report of the year's work, which, with 

 the statement of accounts, was unanimously adopted. 

 The practice, recently started, of some local show 

 committees charging nurserymen for space at shows 

 was mentioned by Messrs. J. \\'atson and S. A. Jones. 

 In Dublin and acro.ss the water nurserymen's exhibits 

 are eagerly sought for and welcomed, and no charge 

 whatever is imposed. Exhibiting firms are at consider- 

 able expense in travelling long distances to shows, and 

 the association is of the opinion that nurserymen would 

 be justified in not exhibiting at those shows where any 

 fee for space is charged. X'aluation of greenhouses, 

 &c., and other matters, were before the meeting, and 

 the election of president and council for 1909 took place. 



