August 22, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAJBDENEB. 



101 



tiirity, and slie emerged from her crndlo upou the ;i()th, aud 

 has I'lruvt'd amazingly in-olifio. 



May Itli a nucleus waK formed by taking tkrt'o combs with 

 the adhering bees fioiu i), lUid placing them wilh a frame of 

 sealed henoycomb in a four-frame box. The bees were coutiiied, 

 but witii nniple ventilation, until dusk. When set at Uberty 

 upon the following day a great number of the bees returned to 

 the parent hive, but .sufficient remained to construct three 

 royal cells ; in three or four days, as the colony was very weak, 

 a fourth frame of brood aud bees was substituted [or the frame 

 of honeycomb, aud most of the bees remained with the juvenile 

 colony, and when a young queen emerged upon the 18th, the 

 hive had become quite populous. Only one royal cell was fully 

 completed. On the 7th of June I found that the hive already 

 contained a good deal of sealed brood from eggs laid by the yoimg 

 queen, so I at once removed the bees into a fidl-sized ten- 

 frame hive. Two frames of ripe brood from A were added to 

 them, but all the adult bees were first swept off to prevent any 

 chance of casuality to theyoimg queen. This hive soon became 

 very strong, aud was fidly occupied by the end of June. 



May 20th d was completely sub-divided. In the first place 

 the queen (pure Italian), with oue comb of brood, was put into 

 a new hive (u| with several frames of empty comb, and this 

 hive was then located on the site of the old stock. Two frames 

 of bees and brood were then jdaced in another hive (n) con- 

 taining six frames of empty comb, and the hive was then put 

 upon the stand of a very strong stock (a), which was removed 

 to another part of the garden. The remaining frames of brood 

 from D (.5j were then replaced with the aiUiering bees in the 

 original hive, with two or thi-ee additional frames of comb, aud 

 were located upon a stand about a yard to oue side of the one 

 they previously occupied. The majority of the adult population 

 rctmued to their queen in o ; but a cousiderable number, re- 

 cognising their old habitation, joined the queeuless stock. 



The bees in n made a great nmnber of royal cells upon the 

 two fi'omes of brood with which they were suppUed (three upon 

 one, and ten at least upon the other). On the 30th of May I 

 killed the black queen in a, and gave the bees one of the frames 

 from n, containing three royal cells, two qiieens were ejected, 

 and the third now reigns monarch of the hive. Five cells were 

 then excised fi-om the other comb in h, and three brood combs 

 having previously been removed from a, which had again be- 

 come veiy populous after its removal on the ^Oth, these cells 

 were inserted in one of them, and the three frames of brood, 

 with a frame of scaled honeycomb were placed in a four-frame 

 uueleus-box, which was then put on the stand previously occu- 

 pied by A, which was again removed to a new situation. From 

 some cause or other, thrs nucleus failed to rear a qiieen, but on 

 the 5th of June h sent out, as I anticipated, a maiden swarm 

 under oue of the yoimg queens. They were hived in an ordi- 

 nai-y straw hive fuU of comb, and containing also a good deal 

 of honey, and promise to do well. 



On my retiu-u home linding that piping in both keys was 

 still going on in H, I opened the hive, and, leaving the queen 

 already at hbeny mistress of the hive , removed the remaining 

 royal cells. A queen emerged immediately from one of them, 

 aud was at once put imder a tiuubler. The royal cells were 

 then inserted in oue of the combs in the nucleus. I then took 

 the captive queen out of durance, and placed her ujjon one of 

 the combs which I held in my hands, and watched to see the 

 result. One of the bees came up, seized the tip of the queen's 

 wings, and gave Several hard tugs, but then quitted her 

 without inflicting any injury; other bees subseqxxeutly came 

 up aud she imderwent a severe scrutiuy, which made her very 

 nervous, but no further violence was offered to her, and in half 

 an hour afterwards, upon again inspecting the hive, I saw the 

 queen quite at ease, pacing the combs, and she was. piping in 

 the evening. The royal cells were destroyed, and their inmates 

 ejected. 



By these operations, with only two hives in a position to give 

 me any assistance, five good swaims have been estabhshed, a 

 drone-breeding stock has been reserved from destructiou, andB, 

 which contained a yoimg but very indifferent queen, has been 

 supplied with a monarch reared from the brood of a pure 

 Italian mother. 



I have now nine flourishing colonies, seven of which ai'e 

 headed by fertila yoimg queens reared from the brood of the pm-e 

 queen received from Mr. Woodbm\v last autumn. This queen 

 is monarch of the eighth hive, and the ninth is, I believe, 

 under the guidance of a queeu nearly three years old, sole 

 surviving daughter of the original Italian queen received fi'om 

 Exeter in 18G1. 



All the qucona raised this eeasou commenced to lay within a 

 few days of the time of their emerging from their cells, and 

 have demouHtrated by their amazing fecundity, that what are 

 technically called artilicial queens, are in all respects equal to 

 thos(! originully laid in royal cradles; and I doubt not that Mr. 

 Lowe will liud that artilicial queens raised in favourable seasons 

 prove (piito as fertile as those reared naturally by the bees, 

 without iuterfereuce from the bee-master. Since IS'M, I have 

 raised a great number of artificial queens, and only two out of 

 the (mtire uumlier have proved themselves th'ono breeders. A 

 third, though kejit a considerable time, did not lay, and would, 

 1 believe, have turned out the same ; but all these queens were 

 raised in a unicomb hive, from which the exit was rather 

 complicated and contracted. All those produced in ordinary 

 hives or boxes have in every case proved perfectly fertile. — 

 J. E. B. 



THE OLD BKE. 



[From the German of Johann Baumakn.] 

 By " A Dkvonsiiibe Bee-kekpek." 



How many jouruies hast thou travell'd 

 To distant hiUs — to distant vales ? — 



How oft the leafy maze imravell'd 

 Where dayUght into twilight pales ; 



With W'ing untii'ing day by day. 



From morning's dawn tUl ev'ning gray ? 



With honey or with pollen freighted 

 Often and often cam'st thou home ; 



Brief was thy rest when overweighted. 

 But prompt to fill the waxen comb ; 



Sole end and aim of all thy zeal 



The progress of the common weal. 



If when on guard before the city 

 Thy post were tlu'eateu'd by the foe. 



Then undeterr'd by ruth or pity 



All hostile schemes thou'dst overtlu'ow. 



He who attack'd whilst thou hadst breath 



Trod but the path that led to death. 



To build the combs thy aid was given. 

 To feed the brood, to rear the yoimg ; 



With willing mind and temper even. 

 With active limb aud pliant tongue ; 



By day or night no rest for thee : 



Say, if ou earth thy equal be ? 



Laboiu- and toil thy portion ever. 

 Thou faithful, clever, noble thing ! 



What thy reward for such eudeavoiu' — 

 Wliat crowning blessing doth it bring ? — 



Without remorse, wheu old and gray. 



To staiTe and die thou'i't tmn'd away. 



Thy wings that erst were full and rounded. 

 By w illin g toil are chafed and worn ; 



Yet with submission still imboimded 

 Thou tak'st thy last sad flight forlorn. 



And slowly flutt'riug to the earth 



Forsak'st the home that gave thee birth. 



T. W. Woodbury. 



Mount Rad/ord, Exeter, IGth August, 1865. 



BEES DYING— UNPRODUCTrVTS STOCKS. 



I H.U) a flight of bees on June 18th, but another issuing on 

 the same day I joined them, aud they progressed well until the 

 14th, when I noticed several dead bees on the ahghting-board. 

 Having swept them off I left them till evening, when I found 

 the board again covered. I determined to take up the hive 

 immediately ; it weighed 31 lbs., but the hive-board was covered 

 with dead bees to from 1 to 2 inches deep. I had never noticed 

 any fighting. The hive was on a po.st .5 yards fi-om a weaker 

 stock, and 50 yards from two others, all flights of this year. 

 Can you give any reason for the death of so many bees ? Honey 

 is good, and everything seemed satisfactory ? 



I have also been unable to obtain a glass fi'om a single old 

 stock this year. I have a beautiful glass taken off July Sth 

 from a swann only hived ou the 9th of June of this year. The 

 glasses were put ou principally on May 1st, the others on May 

 ■ 8th. There was a little comb in some, but they all sent out 



