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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



That division which is to remain in the origi- 

 nal hive, on its old stand, and which may be 

 termed the parent stock, must retain the unseal- 

 ed larvfo, in its various stages, and the remain- 

 ing stores of honey and pollen. It of course 

 retains nearly all the old bees, since most of 

 those transferred to the new hive will return to 

 it again ; and these will furnish the larvoe with 

 the pollen and water which may be needed. 



These are the essential principles by which 

 the process of artificial multiplication is to be 

 regulated. The operation is to be undertaken 

 when external circumstances are favorable, and 

 when the requisite conditions exist in the hive. 

 It is obvious that the best time of day for this 

 work is when most of the old bees are absent 

 gathering honey ; for then the larger portion of 

 those transferred with the combs, or brushed off 

 into the new hive, are such as have not yet flown 

 out, and which will become attached to the new 

 location. All of these, however, will not be 

 secured, nor is it desirable that they should be, 

 as some nurses are needed for the larvae remain- 

 ino; in the narent hive. 



Bee-Kecping in Poland. 



The extent to which bee-keeping is carried 

 in other countries, and the profit resulting from 

 it, may be adduced in support of our opinion 

 that bee culture should occupy a more promi- 

 nent position than it does in our rural economy. 

 Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and 

 other parts of Germany, are noted for their 

 bee-gardens ; but they are all surpassed, both 

 in number and productiveness, by the bee-gar- 

 dens of Old Poland. In that country, there are 

 cottages, with very small portions of laud at- 

 tached, where fifty hives may be counted : 

 while in some districts, proprietors aud farmers 

 may be found who are possessed of from one 

 hundred to ten thousand hives, and in others, 

 there are nobleman who possess from twenty 

 to eighty villages devoted, to a large extent, to 

 the cultivation of the bee for its honey. 



The profit derived from honey aad wax is 

 very considerable in these countries. The ex- 

 pense incurred is trifling, and the labor still 

 more so, while the amusement aflbrded is very 

 considerable. In Poland it assists the tenant 

 to p;iy his rent, helps to defray his domestic ex- 

 penses, and often enables him to accumulate a 

 dowiy for his daughters. In favorable seasons, 

 when the weather is neither too hot nor too cold, 

 too humid nor too dry, fifty old hives, which 

 count a genealogy of centuries, will yield to the 

 cottager from 100 to 150 new swarms, each 

 swarm resembling a little cloud while hovering 

 in the air. Even in the Muscovite provinces, 

 on the Dnieper, which forms the boundary of 

 Old Poland, and which in the winter is usually 

 very severe, although they are obliged to pro- 

 tect their hives from the frost during winter, by 



placing them in large cellars built for the pur- 

 pose, the inhabitants cultivate the bee with suc- 

 cess. 



The method pursued by the bee-masters in 

 Poland is much less expensive, but more profit- 

 able ; less scientific, perhaps, hut more in ac- 

 cordance with the natural habits of the bee, than 

 that pursued in this country. The forests of 

 Poland abound in pines, oaks, birches, beeches, 

 and elders ; but the timljer chiefly used in the 

 construction of hives is fir, cut into narrow 

 deals. These boards should be an inch and a 

 half thick, sound, and thoroughly seasoned, 

 and they should be well joined together by 

 means of wooden pins, so as to form a pyra- 

 midal house. The size generally adopted is 

 eight inches at top, and twenty inches at bot- 

 tom, increasing the diameter at the bottom two 

 inches for every six inches above the indispen- 

 sable height of three feet and a half. The top 

 of the hive should be covered with a round 

 lid, of the same board as the body of the hive, 

 made so as to fit into the top, having a strong 

 handle attached to it ; over this lid is placed an 

 earthenware or clay roof, with a sloping pent- 

 house or ledge to throw oS'the raiu. The hive 

 should be corded round with rope about the 

 thickness of a finger, twisted hard and painted 

 over, so as to render it impervious to rain. 

 This rope should be carried down to the mid- 

 dle of the hive. 



An entrance is made in front for the bees 

 by means of a triangular cut, each side of the 

 triangle being an inch in length. A door is 

 not absolutely necessary in a hive of this de- 

 scription, as the opening in the bottom answers 

 every necessary purpose. But most bee-keepers 

 make doors in the hive prepared for winter 

 stock. This door is cut into the ba< k of the 

 hive, just opposite the triangular entrance for 

 the bees, and should be about eighteen inches 

 long and six inches wide, beginning at the 

 middle of the hive, and descending towards the 

 bottom. 



In Poland almost every farm has its orchard, 

 sheltered from the north winds by farm build- 

 ings, and generally a portion of land is set 

 apart for a bee-garden. The landed proprietors 

 who pos.sess more extensive domains, choose 

 for their bee-gardens low, dry situations, in 

 a valley, at the foot of a hill, or on the borders 

 of a forest : — these v.oodlands being generally 

 planted so as to afford shelter to the bee-garden. 

 Each garden is also surrounded by a close 

 wooden fence, about six feet high, behind which 

 a dry ditch is dug round the garden, to carry off 

 rain and snow water, it being essential to keep 

 the bee-garden perfectly dry. Thegiound on 

 which the garden is formed must be kept clear 

 from all sorts of injurious insects, and as bees 

 use much water, a fountain or brook near at 

 hand is essential to their well-doing. 



When the hives are to be placed in a garden, 

 the grass should be kei)t close. In tlie bee-gar- 

 'dens of Poland the turf is generally removed 

 altogether, and the surface covered over with 

 sand or gravel, well trodden down. When the 

 turf is not altogether removed, it must r.t least 

 be taken up lor two feet round the hive, the 

 space from which the lurf has been removed 



