IRISH GARDENING 



103 



bruise tlie bud, and the operation will fail. 

 During dry weather the plant should be re- 

 gularly watered to promote a good flow of sap. 

 After a month or so, if the bud has taken hold, 

 the tie may be slightly loosened to allow for 

 the natural swelling, but if loosened mcjre 

 than is necessary the bark may become se})ar- 

 ated at the cut, with the natural result in the 

 decay of the bvid. It is best not to interfere 

 with the growth of the stock until the bud is 

 making progress, then they can be cut back, 

 leaving for the present one brier eye or growing 

 slioot. This afterwards may be removed with- 

 out checking the flow of the sap. 



J. A. F. G. 



Beekeeping. 



It is to be hoped that July will afford a month 

 of better weather for bees than its predeces- 

 sors, which have proved very disappointing. 

 The honey that was stored in supers in May 

 was nearly all cleared out during the three 

 weeks of cold, wet weather which followed, 

 till the next honey flow set in on 13th June, 

 l)ut it only lasted four days when the tem- 

 perature again dropped. The sycamore has 

 been the principal source of support this 

 season, as it yields nectar at a lower tempera- 

 ture than either fruit blossom or hawthorn. 

 There is very little fruit blossom honey this 

 season, and, with the exception of two days, 

 the temperature was too low during the time 

 the hawthorn was in bloom. Rape, and in 

 some places charlock, is the principal source 

 from which bees have been obtaining a scanty 

 subsistence of late, while in less favoured dis- 

 tricts the feeders have been in use, especially 

 witli swarms, for the past four weeks. The 

 majority of stocks in the best districts are 

 abnormally strong, having two crates of sec- 

 tions well tilled with bees and di'awn-out 

 comb — some about half-filled — and the bi'ood 

 fi'ames so well covered from corner to corner 

 with capped brood that they are in the best 

 jjossible condition for storing a record crop in 

 record time. Pastures are very bare at present, 

 and cattle as well as bees are passing through 

 a period of scarcity. White clover promises to 

 be i)lentiful, but it will be about ten days later 

 than usual. If the British weather chart 

 should pi'ovt' as correct for the future as in 

 the j)ast of this season — June, " very warm 

 and close;" and July, "a warm, latbcr (lr\ 

 month " — honey will be stored rapidly, if pi'c- 

 cautions as to ventilation, shading, removing 

 queen cells, and giving room in crates or supers 

 as required, so as to reduce the risk of swarm- 

 ing to a minimum 



The extractor should be in readiness for deal- 

 ing with frames from the extracting supers as 

 they become fit, and immediately returned to 

 the bees. Remove sections immediately they 

 are finished, so as to avoid travel-stain, which 

 reduces their market value. They should then 

 be scraped free from wax or propolis, graded, 

 wax-i)apered, and if they have to be kept for 

 some time before marketing they should be 

 carefully packed in paper-lined boxes, and kept 

 in a warm, dry jjlace. If required for home use, 

 the best way to keep comb-honey in perfect 

 condition over the winter without the risk of 

 its granulating — or, as country describe ii, 

 " getting sugary " — is to pack it in scpiare 

 biscuit tins which hold sixteen sections, and 

 keej) it in a warm press near a fire-place. 



No hard and fast rule can be laid down as 

 to dates on which it is safe to continue or stop 

 adding crates or supers with a fair prospect 

 of their being filled and sealed. In districts 

 where the blackberry and lime close the sea- 

 son, care should be taken to remove all well- 

 finished sections in time, and returning the un- 

 finished sections so that the bees may be well 

 crowded on them with a view to getting them 

 filled and capped. In late districts with the 

 heather and wild scabious — better known here 

 as blue button — to fall back on next month, 

 crates or supers should be given as required. 

 The bee-keeper who has studied tlie sources 

 of supply in his district invariably aims at 

 getting the greatest number of well-fllled and 

 capped sections, without having a lot of quar- 

 ter or half-filled that are unsaleable; it is only 

 those that weigh 16 ozs. or over, and are 

 capped in the corners, that command top price. 



Nuclei formed last month should be examined 

 to see how they stand for stores, and whether 

 the queens have mated. If there should be a 

 shortage of stores, the necessary hel]) can in- 

 vai'iably be obtained by swopping an empty 

 comb from a nucleus with a comb containing 

 sealed honey from the back of the stoc]<; hive. 

 This is a much safer method of feeding a 

 nucleus than giving syrup, which is liable to 

 create excitement, and attract robbers from the 

 strong hives. Any old queen showing signs of 

 failing in vigour sliould be replaced by a young, 

 mated queen from a nucleus. The nucleus may 

 then be re-queened on the evening of the third 

 day after removing the laying queen, either by 

 giving a frame with a ripe queen cell, which 

 should have a cell protector, or by removing 

 the combs containing eggs or brood at the 

 time of i-emoving the laying queen, the bees 

 will then accept a virgin queen on the evening 

 of the third day, and she may be introduced 

 direct. 



Petkr P)R0CK. 



Fairview, Ennislcillen. 



