IRISH GARDENING. 



185 



of 



were 

 after 



played the tendency to keep down mciease 

 stocks by returning the swarms that came off 

 June. In most cases the swarms that 

 returned in a few hours after commg off 

 removing all queen cells and giving increased 



ventilatiL and more room in crates or «uper^- 



settled down to work for the remamder of the 

 season without giving further trouble. Some of 

 Th^besr ilds have f is year been obtainedjrom 



stocks that swarmed once and had the swaim 



returned In a good season the same procedure 



would be almost 



certain to end in 



considerable loss 



of time, and that 



may be during the 



best part of the 



honey flow, 



through the per- 

 sistency with 



w hie h returned 



swarms refuse to 



settle down to 



work. The change 



able weather and 



scarcity of iiectai- 



assisted the bet- 

 keeper in restrict 



ing the increase of 



stocks and ha\ing 



the hives well- 

 crowded with bees 



when the hones 



did set in, in a way 



that he covUd not 



possibly manage 



it under better 



liee-weather coti 



ditions. 



There is a good 



deal of diversit> 



of opinion regard 



ing the clippiTig of 

 queens' wings. 

 Some assert that 

 the queen is i7i 

 jured by having 

 her wings clipped, 

 and for this reason 

 many are super- 

 seded by the bees : 

 while others main- 

 tain that the 

 shortening of the 

 wings does not 



affect her-egg producing capacity in t he least. If t lie 

 clipping is carefully performed and not more t ha 11 

 two-thirds of the wing removed with small shaip 

 scissors, it does not seem to injure them in t he least . 

 In any case the practice is gaining in pof)idarity, 

 especially with those who have farming operations 

 or ot her business to attend to during the day, and 

 with those situated near high trees where swarms 

 give trouble by clustering on inconveniently high 

 branches, necessitating considei-able climbing or 

 scaffolding to capture them, and sometimes seeijig 

 them abscond before they can be secured. The 

 principal objection to clipping the queen is that 

 she may be lost the first time she leaves the hive 

 with a swarm, unless someone sees the swarni 

 rising who can put iiei' in a skep or \>n\. w hich 



should then be placed on the stand of the parent 

 hive ; the bees foi-ming the swarm and the bees 

 returning to the parent stand will join the queen, 

 and the swarm will settle in a few minutes. I have 

 frequently met with a swarm accompanied by 

 clipped qiieen having been under the hive from 

 which it issued unknown to the owner. The 

 surrounding of hives where queens are clipped 

 should be kept free from long weeds or grass, so 

 that the queen may be more easily found by the 

 owner, or by the bees returning after missing her. 



The bees being 

 confined to the 

 hive for long peri- 

 ods at this season, 

 any re- arrange- 

 ment of hives for 

 short distances 

 may now be safely 

 carried out, care 

 li.ing taken not to 

 1 .uise any distur- 

 liaiKc to the bees 

 w h e n m o v i n g 

 hives. 



Any spare time 

 should be devoted 

 to the making of 

 hives, boxes for 

 nuclei, and e x- 

 tracting supers. 

 The measurements 

 of a standard 

 hive should be 

 closely adhered to, 

 otherwise the mak- 

 ing of hives should 

 be left to those 

 w ho can make 

 them to h a i r- 

 breadth accuracy 

 in measurements. 



Attend to re- 

 moving snow from 

 roofs of hives be- 

 fore it t h a w s . 

 Shade entrances 

 from direct sun- 

 shine while snow 

 is on the ground. 

 Remove leaves or 

 weeds from proxi- 

 mity of hives so 

 that the surface 

 may be clean and 

 • Iry. 



American Melons a Probable 

 Hybrid. 



TiiF genus Cucumis, to which the cucumber and 

 melon be ong, is one wliich seems to vary much 

 Imde? cultivation, and advantage has been taken 



<,f this fact by cultivators to 'Ify^^^I^J, l^-^lnv; 

 ,nany marked varieties to which ^^^ " ftue 

 names are given. In the case of the "U'l""^ «^. 

 vo in the United Kingdom adhered rather 

 tuilv to a certain marked type, b" "VhoTTs 

 (Hmes especiallv where open air cultivation _ is 

 ,\otonl- possible, but prkerable. »|^;vanation 

 in types is much more divergent. >.indni and 



