Febrnary 27, 1888. ] 



JOUBMAL OF HOBTIOULTDBE AND OOTTAQE OABDENEB. 



170 



that time two guineae, exclusive of hires. I have also made 

 arraufiementa for importing queens from the best locality in 

 the Italian Alps, which will enable me to supply them through- 

 out the season at one guinea, and in the autumn (October), at 

 half a guinea each. Frame hives, either in straw or wood (the 

 former recommended), one guinea. 



In all cases the purity of queens, and the safe transit ol 

 queens and bees to any part of Great Britain and Ireland, are 

 guaranteed. — T. W. Woodbuky, Mount Radford, Exeter. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING IN COMMON HIVES 



As many of your readers still keep bees in the old-fashioned 

 straw hives, or in hives without bars, it may interest them 

 to know that artificial swarms can be made from them without 

 difficulty, and quite as protitably and successfully as out of the 

 most approved bar-and-frame hives. All that it is requisite to 

 know is how to drive bees efficiently. The mode of operating 

 mast first be mastered according to the instructions so lucidly 

 given by " A Devonshire BEE-KEEPEn " in recent numbers of 

 " our Journal." To anyone familiar with the art of driving, 

 the further process is easy, and can rarely fail of success ; in 

 fact, 1 have never jet known an instance of failure with ordi- 

 nary care. 



My plan is to make one swarm out of two hives ; and it is 

 carried out as follows : — Let A and E represent two strong 

 hives (strong in numbers they must be), standing side by side 

 or far apart, it matters not which, although success will, per- 

 haps, be tho surer as they are more remote from one another. 

 I generally prefer to make these swarms somewhat early in the 

 year, so as to anticipate the natural issue of swarms, but not 

 earlier than the first week in May, and later, of course, in 

 backward seasons. Begin by driving A into an empty hive. 

 As soon as the queen is secured with a tolerably large swarm 

 of bees, put the driven bees on the stand lately occupied by 

 A. Remove A to some distance, say 20 yards or so, allowing 

 the bees to come out of it if they please. They will naturally 

 find their way to their old stance, and remain v.ith their queen 

 and companions in the new hive. The next day remove B to 

 a new stand in the busiest part of the day, and put A on the 

 stance vacated by B. The last-mentioned hive should be per- 

 manently located at some distance ; in fact, it will be advisable 

 to have your apiary divided into two, with as much space inter- 

 vening as you can conveniently allow, so as to lessen the 

 chance of too many bees returning to their old hive. The 

 work is now done. It only remains to see that the swarm is 

 not starved in bad weather, which, by the way, often destroys 

 many natural swarms, when the bees are uuable to go out 

 foraging. 



The principle of this method of making artificial swarms is 

 not original. It is that which Langstroth, the eminent Ameri- 

 can bee-master, published to the world years ago. Its merit lies 

 in its great simplicity, which it has in common with many 

 greater inventions. 



By this plan we have the greatest chance of success with the 

 minimum of risk. First, natural swarming is anticipated, and 

 the grievous disappointment occasioned by the flight and escape 

 of swarms is avoided ; secondly, all excessive swarming is put 

 a stop to ; and lastly, there is the greater hope of an abundant 

 honey harvest, for the swarm being early and strong (as it 

 always must be by this plan), it has the whole season before it. 

 If honey abounds, supers will soon have to be given. If, ou 

 the contrary, the season is an indifferent one, these early and 

 strong swarms will have so much the better chance of sur- 

 viving. 



At the same time some attention must be paid to A and B. 

 As the former will have to rear a new queen, there will be 

 some chance of its sending out a swarm in the course of three 

 weeks or so ; but this will rarely happen except where a very 

 large quantity of brood was left by the uld queen when the first 

 swarm was made. In this case the former process may be 

 repeated, by driving a swarm out of B, locating it on B's stance, 

 and the fullowing day, when the population of B has been 

 thinned, putting B in place of A, and moving A to a new 

 stand.— B. & W. 



SILKWORM-RE ARINCx IN ENGLAND —No. 0. 



The preparation and conatructinn of materials for silkworms 

 to spin in require the attention of every Biikworiii-rearer some 

 time before the worms commence woik. The method of 



twisting papers thimble-form, practised in England, is all verj- 

 well for the amateur with a few score worms, but would not do 

 where hundreds of thousands have to be provided for ; a more 

 simple and expeditious way is then requisite. I shall describe 

 three or four of the best systems, and one of recent invention 

 by Count Delprino. 



The broom system is that most commonly adopted ; it is an 

 ancient method, and answers very well when properly carried 

 out. It consists in preparing small brooms, formed of branches 

 and stems of various trees or plants without thorns. Half a 

 dozen or more such stems are tied together within an inch of 

 their bottoms, leaving the top expanded and open, er full of 

 spaces an inch or more across. The diameter of the top or open 

 part is about 4 inches, and that of the bottom where tied little 

 over an inch. They can be tied with garden matting, twigs of 

 the willow, or thin iron wire previously made pliable by being 

 heated red hot. They must be made fi inches higher than the 

 distance from stage to stage, or about 2 feet, their tops being 

 easily bent ; for when stood on a stage they should be made to 

 curve beneath the stage above them, by which means they are 

 secured in position. At 6 inches apart about eighty, set in 

 single rows, will fill such a stage as 1 have described, but if in 

 double rows, each alternate broom being curved in opposite 

 directions, and placed on the cross pieces at 4 inches apart, 

 about one-third more will be required. The double row is, 

 perhaps, to be preferred, as the worms are better distributed, 

 having extra room to work in. On finding the foot of a broom 

 they crawl up into the open head, and mostly to the very top, 

 directly under the stage above, and there begin to work. The 

 materials for forming these brooms should be thoroughly dry 

 before use. I have found the most suitable to be the common 

 broom found in woods and about commons, garden cress which 

 has run to seed, twigs of oak with the leaves, or of elm, radish 

 and turnip tops, the stems of various woody weeds, garden flower 

 stalks, and mixed therewith, pea straw in which the insects 

 readily spin. Nothing of a thorny or prickly nature, or with a 

 disagreeable odour, should be used. Into the head or centre of 

 the brooms it is an excellent practice to place a small handful 

 of shavings, straw, pea haulm, &c. 



The above is the most pimple and generally adopted system, 

 but I find it defective, inasmuch as many worms pass between 

 the brooms, nnable to find and mount them, and thus sufier ; 

 often so losing time, wasting their silk over the leaves, and 

 eventually spinning a cocoon with little substance. To remedy 

 this evil my plan is to fix edge upwards across the stages laths 

 on which to stand the brooms, making these steady by opening 

 their bottoms to admit the laths. The silkworms go by the laths 

 to the brooms without loss of time. The laths should be made 

 secure in grooves formed in the inside of the side rails of the 

 stages, and carried to within a quarter of an inch of the paper 

 thereon. By this means they will be supported just above it, and 

 the paper can be removed along with the dirt and excrements 

 without disturbing the brooms. 



Another system, more expeditious than making brooms, is 

 to lay the materials across the stages, in rows about 8 inches 

 wide at their base, and 18 inches apart, carrying them up to 

 within 4 inches of the stage above. Then pieces of branches 

 or sticks are laid from top to top of the rows quite up to the 

 stage, thus making the whole steady, and forming as it were so 

 many bridges, sutficiently high not to be disturbed or touched 

 when feedmg the worms or performing other necessary work. 

 This method is excellent, for the worms arrive quickly at their 

 spinning quarters, and may please themselves about remaining 

 at the bottom or going to the top. I have found many sluggish 

 worms which spin sometimes even among the leaves on the 

 stages, and I particularly noticed it with the Japanese breeds, 

 so that this system is especially adapted for them. 



An excellent method also would be arranging the materials 

 on the under part of every stage except the bottom one, and 

 securing them by means of twine run over and laced to the 

 cross bars before putting the silkwonns' castle, or house, to- 

 gether — viz., to lay the stages bottom upwaids on the ground ; 

 to throw over all a sprinkling of shavings or pea straw, or both, 

 then stems of broom, and flower stems, and over all a few oak 

 or elm shoots, and to fix all together by lacing the twine to the 

 cars. The materials may be about inches thick in the centre, 

 gradually diminishing to almost nothing at the sides of the 

 stages. When the time arrives for the worms to spin, it is only 

 necessary instead of brooms, Ac, to stand up twigs or stems of 

 plants for the worms to crawl up by to the materials already 

 prepared. These twigs, can be slit at the bottom and placed 

 over laths as for the brooms. As the chief preparation is made 



