October 15, 1668. ] 



JOURNAL OP nORTIOOLTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



293 



3l smoke to both hives just before uniting " makes assurance 

 doubly sure." 



I cannot say I ever approved of Payne's plan of uniting. 

 Knocking out beos on a cloth spread on the cold ground " an 

 hour and a half after sunset " is anything but sound practice, 

 as a considerable number will inevitably find their way under 

 the cloth, crawl away to a distance, and become chilled and 

 lost ; and to set a cold draught passing underneath is the very 

 thing to arouse them, and should the guards seize one or two 

 of the incomers, skirmishes would quickly follow, and the 

 probability is a general battle would be the result. If the bee- 

 keeper has not a spare hive with bars and slides, far better 

 for him to drive np the bees in the stock with a good pnfling 

 smoke, then invert the stock, and sprinkle the combs and inmates 

 with a small quantity of thin sugar syrup, flavoured with a little 

 peppermint. Serve the driven bees in like manner, and instead of 

 knocking them out on the ground, knock them at once into the 

 inverted stock ; set on the floor board, stop up the door, re-invert 

 the stock in its place ; after a minute or two open the entrance, 

 the object of closing it being to prevent the bees rushing out in 

 the first confusion, and provided the honey bags of the driven 

 bees be well laden, fighting I have never found ensue in such 

 circumstances. 



Well filled driven bees invariably ascend with pleasure and 

 delight from their empty hives into a fully combed stock set 

 over them, on the removal of the slides, and are as invariably 

 made welcome. I generally dispense with the smoke, the syrup, 

 and the peppermint unless the evening be somewhat chilly. 

 The beginner may employ all these, as they induce confidence, 

 and during a warm evening, if at all neatly managed, by either 

 the above modes success is reduced to certainty. — A Renfkew- 



SHIRE BeE-KEEPEE. 



BEES NOT THRIVING. 



I HAVE kept bees in one of Marriott's humane bee hives since 

 May last. They have worked so as to about half fill the hive 

 with comb, but much of this appears to be empty. In August 

 I put on the super — a rather large bell-glass. In this they did 

 not work at all, and I have now removed it, closing up the 

 apertures. I have also now narrowed the opening to about 

 half an inch. A few bees go in and out iu fine weather, but 

 through the windows the hive appears to be almost deserted. 

 About three months ago the hive was blown over, but was re- 

 placed without damage, and the bees have continued to work 

 in it since. Its situation faces the south, and is sheltered from 

 the north by a holly hedge. When the hive was replaced after 

 the accident referred to, its position, with reference to the open- 

 ing, was altered by my gardener. The part that was at the back 

 was brought about one-third of the circle towards the front. 

 This may have puzzled the workers. — J. S., Lee. 



[Your swarm has not done well, owing either to a failure in 

 the honey harvest, or insufficient numbers at the outset. It 

 would be much benefited by the addition of a stock of cou- 

 demned bees in the manner described in page GO of the last 

 edition of " Bee-keeping for the Many." In any event it is 

 likely to be short of food, and this is a question which should 

 be at once decided by weighing. The nett contents of the 

 hive should reach at least 1.5 lbs., and anything short of that 

 weight should be immediately made up by feeding with an in- 

 verted bottle. If the entrance is made in the floorboard, it 

 probably remains iu its original position, and in this case no 

 harm whatever was done by the hive beiug partially turned 

 round when replaced after its capsize ; but if the entrance was 

 shifted, the bee?, doubtless, suffered some temporary incon- 

 venience. ] 



FOUL BROOD. 



Prior to the 20th of last month, we had a week of chilling 

 east and north-east winds, and many hives that showed great 

 activity about the beginning of the month passed suddenly 

 into a semi-dormant state. With a view to solving the origin 

 of foul brood, I shall be glad to learn whether any apiarian 

 now finds foul cells in those hives which at the beginning of 

 the cold weather had brood iu the larva state, and only a 

 scanty population. 



The " Renfrewshire Bee-keeper " evidently inclines to the 

 idea of over-heating as the cause. When he first stated his 

 views, I was much impressed with them, but circumstances 

 have since occurred which lead me to receive them less favour- 

 ably. Some time ago when the weather was so warm that it 



seemed impossible, our friend "Apicola," had a batch of 

 nearly matured brood placed over a strong hive chilled to 

 death.— B. S. 



LARGE HARVEST FROM ONE HIVE. 

 When I transmitted some remarks on brood in supers, I gave 

 as an illustration a strong octagon hybrid Italian colony of my 

 own, estimating the this-season's harvest from it at IfJO lbs., or 

 the average full contents of the eight supers then taken, not 

 having the weights beside me, and some of the supers still to 

 weigh. As it may prove interesting to your apiarian readers, 

 I now append the exact weight of each, and the date it was 

 harvested, together with an estimate of the honey left in the 

 stock hive. 



July 9.— 1 Octagon Super 23( lbs. 



„ 9.— 1 „ „ 22" 



„ 16.-1 „ „ 2U 



„ 27.— 1 „ „ 28 



„ 27.-1 „ „ 21? 



„ 27.-1 „ , 19J 



„ 27.-1 „ , 19 



Aug. 1.— 1 „ „ 22J 



Sept. 14.— 1 „ „ 12 



„ 14.— 1 „ , 10 



10 Octagon Supers, gross 194} 



Deduct— 10 Supers at 8 lbs. each SO 



Net Super Honey 164J 



— l&4i 



Sept. 17. — Stock hive weighed, gi-oss 70i 



Deduct— 



Board and stock boxes 2H 



Bees' comb and pollen, allow 9| 



Surplus honey in spring, suppose 10 — 40^ 



Net body honey.... 30 — 80 



Total harvest 194J 



As the honey harvest terminated in this quarter by the 

 middle of August, I have no doubt, had this colony been 

 weighed then, the result would have been a weight of upwards 

 of 200 lbs. 



This large yield is mainly due to the continuous dry warm 

 weather of the late summer, so very unusual to us pluvians of 

 the west coast, enabling strong colonies of our little favourites 

 to show what they could do when fairly at it, more than to any 

 great flow of honey or prevalence of honeydew, which latter 

 was very unusual. The white clover from which the above 

 was chiefly gathered, was certainly rather above, while the yield 

 from the lime trees fell considerably below, the average, owing 

 to the blightiug wind, which despoiled them of their foUage 

 early in the season. 



Had the colony been moved to the heather, from the large 

 band of reapers, the harvest would in a very few days have been 

 largely augmented, and I need scarcely add, that the whole 

 was the bona fide ingathering of the bees, no feeding in any 

 form, to the extent of even a teaspoonful, having been ad- 

 ministered to this stock for the la st two years. The very re- 

 prehensible mode resorted to by some bee-keepers of feeding 

 largely with sugar syrup, with the view of getting up and more 

 thoroughly completing supers, aud palming the produce off ou 

 dealers as honey, is most disgi-aceful to themselves and injurious 

 to the more general consumption of the commodity. 



I may give at a future time a report of the harvest sipped by 

 my other colonies, which was good, but nothing approaching 

 the above — by far the best colony ever possessed by — A Ben- 

 FEEwsniiiE Bee-keeper. 



THE BERKSHIRE HIVE. 



I HAVE often seen the question a^ked in your Journal as to 

 what is the best hive. Now, though there can be no dtubt but 

 that the Woodbury frame hive is the best for scientific purposes 

 in the hand of the skilled apiarian, yet for all other purposes 

 I have seen nothing equal to the Berkshire hive, as constructed 

 by Mr. James Sadler, of Sonning, near Heading, and for which 

 he obtained a silver medal at the Reading Industrial Exhibition. 

 For facilities of observation, for simplicity of management, 

 and for profit, all combined, it is unrivalled. 



The stock box is made of inch wood, 11; inches square by 

 10 J inches deep, inside measurement. There are thrte large 

 window.-;, 10 inches by 8, by which the apiarian is admitted to 

 a full view of the interior of the hive — that is, one on each side 

 except the front. The advantages of glass are thus combined 

 with the utility of wood. The honey is taken from the top of 



