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JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ November 13, 186C. 



TAKING COMBS FROM A BAR-HIVE. 



A few days ago I performed the operation of taking the two 

 outside combs from a square bar-hive, or rather attempted to 

 perform it, for I only succeeded in securing one. 



I covered my head with a bee-dress, and my hands with 

 leather gloves, about 11 a.ji. on a sunny day. I unscrewed the 

 top and slipped it a little to one side, so as to expose one bar ; 

 the bees at once swarmed up through the opening. As the 

 comb was on a bar, but not in a frame, I had to cut the comb 

 away from the side. I was provided with a knife made on 

 purpose for this operation ; I introduced it, and in a moment 

 slipped it up and down one side. So far all safe, but now com- 

 menced active hostilities. As soon as the knife and the hand 

 which held it approached to sever one side, the glove was 

 covered with bees, and before attempting the other side I had 

 to retreat and clear my glove of the bees, which, having got 

 their stings in the leather, could not escape — a few of them had 

 even penetrated to my hand. After this I returned to sever 

 the other side, and again had to kill numbers of the bees firmly 

 fixed in the glove. I now introduced two hooks to lift out the 

 bar. As soon as my two hands came near to introduce the hooks 

 both gloves were again covered ; and on lifting out the comb I 

 was so surrounded and beset by the angry bees, that, although 

 protected from their stings, I was afraid to interfere with the 

 other outside comb. 



Now as, in the pages of the Journal, I have often seen this 

 operation described as if it were the easiest thing imaginable, 

 I did not expect to be so beset, or to cause the death of so many 

 bee-;, for I must have had hundreds of stings about my dress. 

 This is my first year of bee-keeping, will you tell me whether 

 what I have described always accompanies the operation of 

 taking out a comb, and whether there is any way of preventing 

 it, either by fumigation or any other means, and did I proceed 

 in a proper manner ? Also, in draining honey from the comb, 

 what is the brown red matter in some cells, and the white 

 matter in others ? and should these be put in to drain with the 

 honeycomb ? Which do you consider the best book for a 

 novice in bee-keeping ? In giving 20 lbs. as the nett weight of 

 a stock to stand the winter, do you include the bees and comb ? 

 if not, what should be allowed for them ? — J. B. Beyton. 



[We always remove the crown-hoard entirely, believing that 

 sliding it partially on one side, is, like most half measures, a 

 mistake ; nor do we require to use smoke or to wear gloves 

 during such an operation. The conduct of bees, however, varies 

 so greatly, and yours in particular have manifested so pug- 

 nacious a spirit, that we should advise your blowing a few 

 whiffs of smoke under the top board prior to commencing 

 your next operation. In about half a minute lift off the crown- 

 board and go boldly to work, remembering that coolness and 

 resolution go for a great deal in manipulating bees, and that 

 timidity and hesitation are very apt to be not only the pre- 

 cursors but the actual causes of failure. We recommend 

 " Eee-Keeping for the Many,"' as the best adapted to a novice. 

 The weight of 20 lbs. includes bees and combs. The coloured 

 substance found in some of the cells is pollen, and the white 

 matter young larva' with their food. Neither should be per- 

 mitted to mix with and contaminate the honey.] 



A LATE SWARM. 



An instance of the advantage of knowing each queen in- 

 dividually occurred in my apiary on the 19th day of Septem- 

 ber last. About 11 a.m., I was walking round my garden, when 

 at some distance from any of my hives I discovered upon one 

 of the beds a cluster of from four to five hundred bees, and on 

 examining them I found a Ligurian queen amongst them, 

 many of the bees being chilled and apparently dead. I had 

 no idea from which hive the bees had come, and it would have 

 been no easy operation at that time of the year to have ex- 

 amined all my stocks of Ligurians, to find out to which they 

 belonged ; so I put them into a small box with some honey- 

 comb, and took them to the fire, when all the chilled bees revived. 



It was too windy and cold to examine any of my stocks that 

 day, and the next I exhibited my bees, &c, at the Middle- 

 ton Agricultural Show, and had awarded to me six prizes for 

 the best make of bar-frame bee-hive, honeycombs in bar-frames, 

 &c. The Ligurian queen in my improved unieomb-hive was 

 laying e^gs all day, although so late in the season, and was an 

 object of interest to numerous visitors. 



The 22nd of September being fine, and having examined 

 the pedigree of my queens, I found the description of one to 



correspond with the queen I had found, so I went straight to 

 the hive and examined every comb, but could not find any 

 queen in the hive, but on one comb I found two royal cells 

 commenced, and one on another. This was a positive proof 

 that the stock had lost its queen two or three days before, so I 

 cut out the royal cells and returned them their queen, which 

 they gladly accepted and they seem to be all right since. 



I cannot account for this swarm leaving the hive, as the 

 queen was only two months old, having been hatched on the 

 17th of July, and is a very prolific one. I think the swarm had 

 issued the day before, and that all the bees except the few I 

 found with the queen had returned to the hive, and that would 

 account for so many of the bees being chilled. I believe this 

 is the latest swarm on record. — William Caek. 



[We have some doubts as to whether this was an actual 

 swarm, but are inclined to fancy that the queen had deserted 

 her hive and was afterwards discovered by the few workers that 

 clustered about her. We should in this case fear that she will 

 come to grief during the approaching winter, and that little will 

 really have been gained by returning her to a home which she 

 may have deserted, or from which she may have been expelled.] 



HYBRIDISATION OF BEES. 



I send you a bee which I think has some strain of the 

 Ligurian in it. What makes the circumstance more peculiar 

 is, that there are no Ligurians kept within five miles of my 

 apiary. The hive the bee is from is a stock which threw out a 

 large swarm about the 21st of June. Do you think it is 

 possible that the young queen on her wedding trip would meet 

 with a Ligurian drone kept so far from her own home ? I should 

 say that about one bee in every six that came out of this hive was 

 marked like the enclosed. — A South Lancashiee Bee-keeper. 



[The bee is a distinctly marked Ligurian, and we have no 

 doubt that the queen which bred it has been crossed by an 

 Italian drone. Five miles is, we believe, a longer distance than 

 has before been recorded in England, but German apiarians de- 

 clare that drone influence sometimes extends as far as six miles.] 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Bantams Running with Dorkings (Old Subscriber). — Some people say 

 that Bantams and Dorkings or Cochins will cross. We say they will not. 

 We have allowed them to run together for years without injury. Of 

 course we speak of real Bantams — small birds. We have seen so-called 

 Bantams as large as small Game cocks. 



Bantams ( II". II'.).— Black, White, or Game are the best Bantams for a 

 beginner to keep, because they breed freely. In the ordinary qiafises all 

 these should have clean legs. The Game must of course have single 

 combs ; the Black and White should have double. The cocks of the 

 Game only should be dubbed. The Japanese and some others are fea- 

 thered-legged. The Sebright are remarkably beautiful, but they do not 

 breed so freely as the commoner sorts. 



Brahma Pootra Cockerels (J. B. Beyton). — Brahma cockerels show 

 their combs long before twenty-one weeks. Even as chickens at seven or 

 eight weeks old the sexes are plainly distinguishable both by size and 

 plumage. Leaving combs out of the question, the heads are larger, the 

 plumage is quite different, being black and white, while the pullet is 

 uniformly marked, and the cock has for a tail a email round bunch of 

 eight feathers. 



Size of Perch (Idem). — The perch mentioned at page 360 is none too 

 large. It is injurious to fowls to have them so small that they can clasp 

 round them. Such are pre J ctive of crooked breasts. Watch Pheasants at 

 roost — you will find they do not choose the smallest boughs. We have 

 used the broad but not flat perches with success for years. In a house 

 where we have between fifty and sixty Brahmas. with perching accom- 

 modation for all, one-third always roost on the ground. 



Rouen Drake (A Quad:). — Yes, the drake should have a ring round 

 his neck. Rouen Ducks should be the counterparts of wild Ducks in 

 everything but size. 



White Dorkings (Harriet). — The White Dorkings are not considered 

 better than the others in any respect. They are liked by some on account 

 of their colour, which is plen3ing ; but the scarcity of them shows they 

 are not much kept. If the White pullet is running with a cock similar 

 to herself you may set her later eggs, but not the early ones. None of 

 these small eggs would be fit for sitting. It is never advisable to set a 

 pullet's first eggs — they do not produce good chickens ; but the same rulo 

 does not apply to the last eggs of the first laying. 



Perches (Guliehnut). — You will see some remarks on roosts in answer 

 to another correspondent to-day. See what was said at page 360. Crooked 

 breasts do not injure the breeding power of fowls, but are fatal to prize- 

 taking. Low perches and a sand floor are better than a barred floor. 



Honey (W. D. A.).— The honey is excellent, and the wax white and pure 

 — we never met with any better. We, therefore, differ entirely from the 

 " wife of your bosom ; " but she could have had nothingto do with putting 

 them into the jar, or she would have tied something over the mouth to 

 have prevented the houey running out. 



Canary not Singing A. li. EL.). — You do not say if this is the second 

 season of your canary's moulting, or if he has moulted twice this autumn. 

 I conclude that you mean the latter, in which ease I suFpect there is 

 something wrong in your management. Either the bird has too much 

 hemp or rape seed, or else is kept in too close an atmosphere, possibly 

 where gas is burned. Feed him more naturally, and in time he will re- 

 gain his song.— B. P. Brent. 



