218 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



if the hive is not level from front to rear, as 

 would be the case in having the sections 

 placed the other way. To keep these sec- 

 tions together while handling, a case made 

 of thin stuff should be made, with a thin 

 strip nailed around the bottom to prevent 

 the sections slipping through. By placing 

 them in this case, they can be put on or 

 taken off without trouble. 



If boxes are used, I find it better to make 

 them large enough to have them cover the 

 hive if placed cross-wise. The boxes can 

 be made of a size to suit one's fancy, large 

 or small, though I prefer larger ones, having 

 the set just cover the hive, placing rests up- 

 on the bars for the ends of the boxes to rest 

 upon, raising them as high as the sides of 

 the hive project above the frames; thus 

 giving the Dees a full passage between the 

 Boxes and the top of the frames. 1 think it 

 well to bore two holes in large boxes IX in. 

 in diameter for ingress to the boxes. In 

 one side cut out a circular piece 3 inches in 

 diameter, covered with glass upon the in- 

 side by which to display the contents of 

 the box. When the boxes are removed 

 after being filled and the bees have all left 

 them, cover the holes with cloth pasted 

 tightly over them to exclude the moths. 

 This is not always sure to exclude them, 

 however, and consequently they will need 

 looking after occasionally. M. F. 



From the English Manual of Bee-Keeping. 



Pasturage for Bees. 



With the exception of an occasional gath- 

 ering from honey-dew, bees gather the 

 "whole of their honey from flowers, and con- 

 sequently where there are no flowers they 

 cannot thrive. But the term flowers must 

 be taken in a broader sense than meaning 

 such as we cultivate for garden ornaments 

 or home decoration. The inconspicuous 

 blossoms of many trees, the wee modest 

 wild flower, scarcely noticed by passers by, 

 furnish abundant pasturage for bees. Many 

 persons who have lived in the country all 

 their lives, are scarcely aware that our 

 noblest forest trees have flowers at all, but 

 from the brave old oak and the wide spread- 

 ing beech, bees gather many a pound of 

 honey. ■ An avenue of limes or sycamores, 

 a field of beans or white clover, form a very 

 El Eldorado for the busy bees, their pleas- 

 ant hum on the snowy hawthorn or the 

 sweet-smelling sallow, (palm, as it is com- 

 monly called) is very noticeable when na- 

 ture is awakening from the gloomy sleep of 

 winter, and our thoughts and feelings are 

 glad with the prospect of returning sum- 

 mer. Where large heaths abound, tiie bees 

 have a second harvestj and it is a common 

 practice in such localities for bee-keepers 

 10 send their hives to the moors for about 

 two months, the trouble and cost being 

 amply repaid by the immense weight of 

 honey brought home, whicli tlie common 

 heather yields freely during August and 

 September. 



In Scotland and on the Continent cart- 

 loads of hives may be seen traveling to and 

 from the heatlier". Often they are looked 

 after on the spot by some resident cottager 

 who receives a gratuity of Is. per liive from 

 the proprietors of the stocks. In the soutli 

 of England this practice is not pursued, al- 

 though 1 do not see why it should not be in 

 many places, there being miles of heather 



equally available as in Scotland. On the 

 Nile there are bee-barges which travel only 

 at night, stopping in the day-time at any 



Elace that affords abundant pasturage for 

 ees, and we read in Pliny that this was 

 likewise the practice in Italy in his time.* 

 "As soon," says he, "as the spring food for 

 bees has failed in the valleys near our 

 towns, the hives of bees are put into boats 

 and carried up against the stream of the 

 river in the niglit in search of better pastur- 

 age. The bees go out in the morning in 

 quest of provisions, and return regularly to 

 tneir hives in the boats with the stores 

 they have collected. This method is con- 

 tinued till the sinking of the boats to a cer- 

 tain depth in the water shows that the hives 

 are sufficiently full, and they are then car- 

 ried back to their former homes, where the 

 honey is taken out of them." And this is 

 still tne practice of the Italians who live near 

 the banks of the Po, the river which Pliny 

 instanced particularly in the above-quoted 

 passage. It was the advice of Celsus that 

 after the vernal pastures were consumed, 

 the bees should be transported to places 

 abounding with autumnal flowers, as was 

 done by conveying the bees from Achosia 

 to Attica, from Euboea and the Cyclad Is- 

 lands to Scyrus, and also in Sicily, where 

 they were brought to Hybla from other 

 parts of the island. What portion of our 

 fertile land does not afford sustenance for 

 bees? Mr. Alfred Neighbour, in his work, 

 "The Apiary," devotes a chapter to Bee- 

 keepiilg in London. Could we ever imagine 

 a more unpromising field for honey-gather- 

 ing?— London! Foggy, smoky London! But 

 think a moment. London nas parks,squares, 

 gardens, and each of these has trees, flowers 

 and shrubs. What matter if the flowers be 

 dirty — their nectaries secrete the coveted 

 sweet, and the natural filter of the bees will 

 clarify it better than any artificial one 

 could do. Only last year a lady living in 

 Kensington told me she kept bees there. 

 They throve well and had furnished her 

 with a super of fourteen pounds weight. It 

 has been asserted that bees will fly five or 

 six miles for honey, if a supply nearer 

 home be not attainable. They may, but 

 such an extreme labor would not allow the 

 stock to thrive. Too much time and mus- 

 cular strength would be consumed in mak- 

 ing the journey. The great danger to bees 

 is their liability to be tempted into shops, 

 such as grocers, confectioners, etc., where 

 they get bewildered, fly to the window, and 

 in vain attempt to penetrate the glass, they 

 die. Breweries are also fatal places, the 

 sweet work attracting numbers which 

 perish by drowning. 



Most bee-keepers have a garden, and in it 

 can be grown many flowers pleasing to the 

 eye, grateful to the nose and useful to the 

 bees. 



Mignonette, borage, honeysuckle, hya- 

 cinth, crocus, laurustinus, lavender, lily, 

 Eriinrose and many other flowers are visited 

 y bees, and may well be cultivated with 

 advantage. The arable fields supply buck- 

 wheat, beans, mustard, clover and lucerne, 

 which all • give an abundant supply of 

 honey; and if we follow America's ex- 

 ample, we should sow, when possible, 

 special bee flowers. 



Borage has the reputation of being the 

 best of all bee flowers. It blossoms continu- 

 ally from June till November, and is fre- 

 quented by bees even in moist weather. 



