CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



one of the queens is necessary, to facilitate their 

 cordial junction into one community. 



Besides the union of young swarms, it is often 

 advisable to reunite weak swarms with their 

 parent stocks, to unite weak stocks with each 

 other, or even to add to some weak community a 

 portion of one more numerous and healthy. In 

 either case the object is the same namely, to 

 obtain well-filled, strong, and consequently more 

 active hives. The three usual modes by which 

 union has been attempted, and, indeed, their 

 advocates say accomplished, are fuming them, 

 immersing them in water, and aspersing them 

 with sugared or honeyed ale. To these we may 

 add a fourth namely, operating upon their fears, 

 by confining them for a time, and then alarming 

 them by drumming smartly upon the outside of 

 their domicile. By operating on their fears, Wild- 

 man was enabled to perform extraordinary feats 

 with bees. ' When under a strong impression of 

 fear,' he says, 'they are rendered subservient to 

 our wills to such a degree as to remain long 

 attached to any place they afterwards settle upon, 

 and will become so mild and tractable, as to bear 

 any handling which does not hurt them, without 

 the least show of resentment.' 



The neatest and most scientific mode with 

 which we are acquainted of uniting weak fami- 

 lies together in harmony, was invented by the 

 Rev. Richard Walond, whose experience in the 

 management of bees, for nearly half a century, 

 entitles his opinions concerning them to great re- 

 spect. His theory and practice upon this subject 

 are as follows : ' Bees,' says he, ' emit a peculiar 

 odour, and it is by no means improbable that 

 every family of bees emits an odour peculiar to 



kept dry till wanted. A round box, made of 

 thick tin, without any solder, is to be provided, 

 about two inches in diameter, and an inch and a 

 half deep ; with a conical movable top, about an 

 inch and a half high, perforated with holes. The 

 bottom must als6 have three holes in it With 

 this box, and a piece of a puff-ball about the size 

 of a hen's egg, in readiness, the operator com- 

 mences by fixing an empty hive, of the same size 

 as that from which he intends to take the bees, 

 securely, in an inverted position. A sharp-pointed 

 stick having been stuck into the empty hive, so as 

 to stand upright within it, the box is fixed there- 

 upon by inserting the stick into one of the holes 

 in its bottom. The piece of puff-ball is then lighted 

 and put in the box, over which the conical lid is 

 placed. The hive from which the bees are to be 

 taken is then placed over the empty hive and the 

 burning fungus. To keep all close, a wet cloth is 

 put round the place where the two hives join. In 

 a minute or two, the bees may be heard dropping 

 heavily into the empty hive, where they lie stupe- 

 fied. After a short lapse of time, the full hive 

 may be tapped, to cause the bees to fall faster. 

 On removing the upper hive, the bees from it will 

 all be found lying quiet at the bottom of the lower 

 one. The queen may be taken from them and 

 placed under a glass with a little honey on a small 

 piece of comb. The stupefied bees must then be 

 sprinkled freely with a thick sirup made of sugar 

 and ale boiled together. The hive containing the 

 bees with which it is intended to unite the stupe- 

 fied bees, must now be placed on the top of that 

 containing the latter, just as the hive was from 

 which they have dropped. A cloth must be 

 closely fastened round the two hives, so as to pre- 



itself ; if so, as their vision seems to be imperfect, j vent any of the bees from escaping. The hives 



and their smell acute, it may be by this distinctive 

 and peculiar odour that they are enabled to dis- 

 criminate betwixt the individuals of their own 

 family and those of a stranger hive. Upon this 

 supposition, if the odours of two separate stocks 

 or swarms can be so blended as to make them 

 completely merge into each other, there will then 

 probably be no difficulty in effecting the union of 

 any two families that it may be desirable to unite.' 

 To accomplish this end, therefore, Mr Walond 

 had recourse to a very ingenious contrivance. He 

 confined, in their respective hives or boxes, the 

 two families to be united, and placed them over 

 each other, with only a perforated tin plate between 

 them. Immediately the bees began to cluster 

 with hostile intentions, one family clinging to the 

 upper, the other to the under side of the perfo- 

 rated plate ; when, after remaining in this state for 

 about twenty-four hours, they had so far com- 

 municated to each other their respective effluvia, 

 and so completely commixed were the odours in 

 both hives, that on withdrawing the perforated 

 plate, the bees mingled together as one family : 

 no disturbance was excited, but such as arose 

 from the presence of two queens, one of which 

 soon killed the other. Keys has observed that 

 these incorporations seldom turn to account un- 

 less they are effected in summer. Fumigation, 

 however, is the easiest and surest operation. 

 The plan is as follows : In autumn, three or 

 four puff-balls a kind of fungus growing in 

 meadows, and jcommonly called the ' Devil's Snuff- 

 box' must be pulled before they are fully 

 ripe. These are thoroughly dried in an oven, and 



684 



in this position must be put aside, where they will 

 not be likely to be thrown down or disturbed. 

 The bees in the upper hive, attracted by the scent 

 of the sirup, go down, and begin to lick the 

 sprinkled bees clean. The latter gradually revive, 

 and all get mingled together, and ascend quietly 

 in company to the upper hive, where they dwell 

 as if they had always been one family. The two 

 hives should be left undisturbed for twenty-four or 

 thirty hours, at the end of which time the upper 

 hive is to be removed and placed immediately on 

 the spot from whence it was taken. The object of 

 taking the queen away is to avoid all risk of dis- 

 agreement. It is, however, recommended to pre- 

 serve her as long as she will live, lest any accident 

 should happen to the sovereign of the other com- 

 munity. 



Summer Management of Bees. 



The feeding of bees at different seasons is an 

 important point to the bee-keeper. In summer 

 they feed themselves, and of course a good supply 

 of the requisite material is then essential to their 

 well-doing. The most highly cultivated districts 

 are not so favourable to bees as those in which 

 wild heaths, commons, and woods prevail ; or 

 where white clover, saintfoin, buckwheat, mustard, 

 and cole-seed, are produced in abundance. Bee- 

 keepers, however, may do something to further 

 the supply of summer food by growing near their 

 apiaries a selection of such plants as we have 

 recommended under a previous section. But on 

 the natural products of the country, generally 

 speaking, bees must rely for summer food, if the 



