BEE-KEEPING. W 



should be set on a pedestal next to the parent hive ; if allowed to continue 

 where they alight, even till night, many bees will return thither nes.t day, 

 and be lost. 



1341. Second swarms will most likely come off between the ninth and 

 fourteenth day from the rising of the first. If second swarms rise before the 

 end of ]\Iarch, or even the beginning of April, and are large, they may be set 

 up ; if not large, they, as also third swarms (which do not often come off), should 

 be returned to the parent hive, or joined to some other second swarm that 

 has been set up, or to some weak stock. Should the weather be bad directly 

 after swai-ming, feed them a little, otherwise the bees will most likely perish. 

 Any sweet syrup given in a saucer, with some bits of wood floating in it, will 

 do for feeding them at this season. Do not fix down the hives with clay or 

 mortar, — the bees will do this themselves far better than it can be done for 

 them, with the propolis or gummy substance which they collect from the 

 horse-chestnut and other trees ; but fix it firmly to the board, to prevent it 

 from being blown down in windy weather. Keep all plants round about the 

 entrance below the level of the floor-boards. 



1342. "When the hives are about three-quarters full, m.ore room shouldbe given, 

 or a swarm may I'ise from the stock ; if quite full, the honey should be taken 

 away. A hive is full when all the cells are ceiled over. Where there ?.re small 

 glass windows, it can easily be seen if they are full or not ; where there are 

 none, discretion must be exercised. As a rule, when the bees begin to cluster 

 at the mouth of the hives, extra room should be given, and about a fortnight 

 after this (if the weather has been fine) the full hives may pretty safely be 

 removed. 



1343. In hot weather attention must be paid to the shading and ventilating 

 of the hives, and watching for and destroying vermin. Fresh hives should not 

 be given till the second week in July, or the bees will want a great deal 

 of feeding in October. This applies to garden counties, and in heather 

 counties the season both begins and ends much later. 



1344. As hives are removed, a piece of wood or straw, or, if the weather bo 

 hot, a piece of perforated zinc, should be replaced over the centre hole in the 

 stock. In good seasons between twenty and thirty pounds of pure honey may 

 be taken by this means, and the honey is much better than that taken from the 

 stocks both in quantity and colour. Early swarms sometimes themselves throw 

 off swarms : these are called virgin swarms, and the honey from them virgin 

 honey. They should always be returned to the parent hive or joined to 

 a weak stock. 



1345. Beehives may be formed from various materials, the selection de- 

 pending partly on the country or district in which they are used, and partly on 

 the taste of the apiarian. Osiers, rushes, sedge, and straw, have all been put 

 in requisition for the purpose ; and Bonnei*, an eminent bee-master in Scot- 

 land, proposed making them of earthenware : this material was formerly 

 used in France, and is to this day in some of the Grecian isles. In North 

 America they are formed from the hollow trunks oi amber-trees, cut to a 



