Janaary 03, 1865. ] 



JOURNAIj of HORTICULIUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



81 



set them over a hole in the crown-board of A, vritli a piece of 

 perforated zinc intervening. As soon as the scent of the lower 

 hive bad weU ascended into the little box, a bee was allowed to 

 ascend from time to time, until it was deemed safe to with- 

 draw the zinc slide altogether. In twenty-foiu- hours queen 

 and all had descended into the lower hive. 



The following is the present condition of my apiary lettered 

 according to the foregoing statement : — 



Bom IS65. Strong and Bred out of C in 1S64. Bom 1865. Strong 

 rich. Sti-ong and rich. and rich, 



USDEK COVEE. 



G. 



Pure Italian queen. Bred out of C in 18G3. Strong. 



GiKDEK. 



M. 



H. 



AboHshed. 



Hybrid Italians. Strong. 



Q. I. 



Pure Italian queen. Degenerate queen. Pure Italian queen. 



Bom ISCJ. Bred out of C. Bom 1865. Strong. Bred out of C in 1864. 



Very strong and rich. Very strong and rich. 



Tasmanian hive. Tasmnniiin hive. 



FOWL-nOCSE. 



p. o. 



Degenerate queen. English queen. 



Bom 1865. Strong and rich. Bom 1S641 Strong and rich. 



K. N. 



Degenerate queen. Degenerate queen. 



Bom 1805. Very strong and rich. Born 1865. Rather vreak. 



— B. & W. 



APLVEILVN NOTES. 



The above heading recalls to my mind the name of a worthy 

 gentleman and frequent contributor to the columns of this 

 periodical, both long ago when it was known as The Cottage 

 Gaedenee, and of late years since it has received the name of 

 The Jouknal of Horticulture. For a great number of years 

 Colonel Newman frequently detailed his observations and ex- 

 perience on bees and other scientific subjects, and was very 

 partial to the title of " Apiarian Notes " as the heading of his 

 papers on the former topic. I had not the honoiu- or pleasure 

 of personal acquaintance with Colonel Newman, but having re- 

 ceived more than one courteous invitation fiom him to pay him 

 a visit at his residence in Cheltenham, I promised to do^so when 

 opportunity might offer. For some years I was unable to find 

 any such opportunity ; but in September of the past year, having 

 gone nil to Gloucester to attend the grand Choral Festival, I 

 proceeded to Cheltenham for the purpose of paying the long- 

 intended visit to Colonel Newman. I had not previously written 

 a note signifying my intention, but trusted to the chance of 

 his being at home. On inquiry I was informed, to my very 

 great i-egret, that he had died a few weeks previously. We must 

 all feel more or less sorrow when any well-known contributor 

 to the pages of our pleasant periodical passes away, and when 

 we consider that the name once so familiar to our sight must 

 hencefonh cease altogether to appear-. But I must proceed to 

 the more immediate subject of this article, which ia intended 

 to be an epitome of my apiarian doings of last year. 



The winter of 186-1^3 was rather a trying one for bees, from 

 the long period of confinement to which they were subjected 

 owing to the cold weather. Fortunately the majority of my 

 hives, as well, I believe, as of those of most of the cottagers in 

 the neigiibourhood, contained ample stores of food, the result 

 of a tirst-rate honey harvest in the previous summer. Not a 

 single stock in my apiary received, or at all stood in need of a 

 single ounce of artificial food, either in the autumn or in the 

 spring. I was, however, very soiTy to see that the bees of 

 several of the hives were attacked by dysentery of a very viru- 

 lent character. Twenty-two stocks had been made up in the 

 previo-a? autumn for the winter and succeeding summer cam- 

 paign, cut of which number four had been lost from dysentery, 

 death of queens, and other causes. Of the remaining eighteen 

 hives in March and the early part of April, three were suli'er- 

 ing from dysentery. The bees in each of these diseased hives 

 were far from numerous ; but, as I have frequently noticed 

 under similar circumstances, the quantity of brood was very 

 considerable, appearing to he mueli more than the very reduced 

 population could by any possibUity cover for the purpose of 



hatching out. These affected stocks being in frame hives, I 

 removed aU the combs in each, with the exception of three or 

 four which contained brood and eggs or sealed honey. At the 

 same time in two of these hives I examined the combs to see 

 which possessed the most apparently prolific queen. There 

 seemed to be a slight difference in favour of one, but she 

 laboured under the disadvantage of being a year older than 

 the other, which was her own daughter, so her fate was sealed, 

 and with sure but reluctant hand she lay crushed and lifeless. 

 The combs which had been selected were restored to their re- 

 spective hives, being inserted iu the centre, leaving the sides 

 vacant. The bees were allowed to settle quietly in their own 

 domiciles, and were left undisturbed until the next day. Then, 

 after gently taking off the cover, I removed two of the combs 

 in the box which possessed its own queen to the next notch, 

 leaving a space for one frame to be slipped down between. 

 I took out one of the frames containing most brood from the 

 queenless stock, with the bees peaceably clustering over the 

 sm-face, and inserted it gi-adually in the vacant space adjoin- 

 ing one of the principal brood combs in the other hive. Then 

 a second brood comb was similarly dealt with, being placed on 

 the other side of the two central frames. The third comb 

 having some eggs was made to take the situation of one of 

 the four, which contained only sealed honey. The remaining 

 apace was fiUed up by a frame of clean worker comb, which 

 had lain wrapped in paper during the winter. From the two 

 stocks nine of the sixteen combs were abstracted, and were 

 condemned to be burnt, owing to their filthy condition. The 

 cover being replaced on the now-united colony, quietness 

 was soon restored ; hardly a death from fighting or otherwise 

 resulted. The increased vigour with which the bees went to 

 work augiu-ed well for the futtire, and, as will be seen, I had 

 no reason to regret the step taken. 



There was yet but one other affected stock, which it did not 

 please me to retain, and I resolved to unite the bees and brood 

 combs to its neighbour, a tolerably populous and well-supplied 

 colony in a ten-frame hive. AU the combs were removed but 

 two, the queen destroyed, and spaces made by removing the 

 two end frames and shifting some of the others to the side, so 

 as to leave vacancies for the insertion of the two frames. In 

 this instance I did not make the delay of one day, but as soon 

 as the bees were tolerably settled completed the operation, and 

 with success equal to the former. In this case also the union 

 was fraught with very evident advantage, the stock quickly he- 

 coming one of the most populous in my apiary. 



In performing these imions I never fear any failure in the 

 spring ; the bees appear less disposed to resent intrusion, and 

 i are altogether more peaceably disposed than at a later date. 

 ! As a general rule, it is advisable to allow a day to elapse after 

 ' the preparation of the hives and the destruction of the queen 

 ' of one of them, before the union of combs and bees is at- 

 i tempted. Care must be taken to put all the combs containing 

 larva; or eggs together in the centre, otherwise, if separated, 

 there may not be a sufficient number of bees to cover them, 

 consequently, considerable loss may take place. I cannot help 

 repeating the advice which I have more than once given when 

 relating the history of " My Apiai-y " from year to year, of 

 making it a rule always to unite two or more weak stocks to- 

 gether, or a weak stock to a more populous one, in the spring. 

 I have almost invariably found hives so strengthened answer 

 remarkably weU, whereas if all the weak stocks had been re- 

 tained singly they would, probably, have utterly failed iu doing 

 anything for their owner during the entii-e summer. 



The season, which commenced with a very backward and 

 rmpropitious spring that seemed to try to the utmost the powers 

 of the best stocks, suddenly changed to one of a very different 

 character ; a first-rate honey harvest, which set in early in May, 

 induced extraordinary activity throughout the entu-e apiaiy, 

 and so gi-eat was this activity, that it was difficult to believe 

 that it was exhibited by the same hives which only a fortnight 

 previously had presented such an appearance of scanty and im- 

 thriving populations. So suddenly and unexpectedly did this 

 propitious change make its appearance that a mishap, which 

 might easily have been prevented, resulted in the case of 

 several of my best stocks. It has been my custom, previously 

 to making up the hives for the winter, to remove from the 

 large ten-frame boxes a frame, with comb, on each side, leaving 

 the spaces unoccupied. This is done to prevent these combs 

 from becoming mildewed, and to afford more space for air. 

 The removed frames are wrapped up in paper, and put securely 

 away until the spring, when they are restored to their places. 

 Unfortimately, before I thought that the bees could have com- 



