FARMERS' REGISTER— MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



73 



February and JNIarch, the bees deceived by the 

 mild temperature quit the hives, and as tliey fly 

 very low, the coldness of the earth and snow, over 

 which they pass, strikes them and they fall and 

 perish. To prevent this accident the entrance of 

 the gratings should be temporarily closed, but so 

 as to leave the little holes open to supply air to the 

 bees. When the snow is completely melted their 

 liberty may be restored. 



15. In February, if the winter has been mild, 

 the bees in the light hives must be supplied with 

 food as directed in No. 10. 



16. The cold weather being over, hives may be 

 purchased and conveyed as in Nos. 3 and 8. 



March. 



17. In the cool of the morning, the bees should 

 be smoked by inclining the hive to one side ; and, 

 with a knife, all the black wax and loAver parts of 

 the combs which appear to be spoiled, should be 

 pared off. 



18. By following these directions, the dysentery 

 seldom makes its appearance amon^ the bees. See 

 what has been said of it in chap. vii. 



19. Where there is a scarcity of water in the 

 vicinity, it should be provided for the bees, and so 

 disposed that they may run no risk of being drown- 

 ed. For this purpose there must be made of a 

 cask, two tubs of eight or ten inches deep. They 

 should be sunk into the earth to a level with its 

 surface, and so placed, near a well, that the water 

 from one may flow into the other. In each vessel, 

 five or six inches of earth are put, and they are 

 then filled with pure water, and three or four water 

 cresses with their roots are planted m each. These 

 cresses will soon cover the tubs, their vegetation 

 will preserve the water pure, and the bees will 

 frequent it without danger. If two tubs are not 

 sufficient, others may be added, taking care that 

 the water shall flow from one to another, and all 

 should be kept full during the summer. There is 

 no danger to be apprehended in approacliing the 

 bees which come to drink ; and as they are very 

 cleanly, the cresses may be used at table to pre- 

 vent their becoming too thick. 



20. The principal object in keeping bees, is to 

 obtain from them as much wax and honey as pos- 

 sible; and it is this which induce^ those persons 

 who are in the habit of smothering their bees, to 

 destroy all in the heaviest hives. But we, who 

 wish to preserve our bees, imitate these destroyers 

 only in their desire to obtain the stores of the 

 fullest and heaviest hives, without waiting till they 

 are four or five years old. Therefore, when the 

 apiary is sufficiently stocked, preparations may be 

 made for transierring the bees from the v/ell stored 

 hives to others. At the commencement of the fine 

 weather, the bees should be put in a position which 

 will compel them to work in a new hive. To ef- 

 fect this, let the full hive be i-emoved from its 

 stand and an empty one set in its place ; the old 

 one should then be fixed upon this, and luted to it, 

 having its entrance also securely closed. The bees, 

 having no other means of exit, will soon become 

 accustomed to the new hive. As tlieir number is 

 increased by the hatching of tlie new brood, they 

 are too much crowded in the full hive, and their 

 instinct forcing them to labor in this season, they 

 will soon establish themselves in the new hive, to 



Vol. I.— 10 



which the cleanliness of the cells will in a short 

 time attract the queen, now in the height of her 

 laying, and she also will continue in the new abode. 

 Bothliives must be left in this state until the struc- 

 tures in the new one have been finished, and until 

 the young brood of the old one has reached its ma- 

 turity and taken its flight ; this will happen at the 

 end of four or five months, or in the beginning of 

 the summer in the following year. 



21. Those persons who have single undivided 

 hives, of the old form, may also make the prepa- 

 rations for transferring their bees into the village 

 hive. [This appears to be the name, given here 

 for the first time, to the straw hive and lid previ- 

 ously described.] For this purpose, if the base of 

 the old hive does not exceed 14 inches in diameter, 

 it may be fixed and luted upon the hive I have 

 mentioned, which must then be set in the place of 

 the old one. But if the old hive has a greater di- 

 ameter, a border or exterior roll of straw must be 

 added to the new one on which the old is to be 

 placed and luted, so that the bees may not be able 

 to go out or in, except by the new hive. The two 

 hives are to be left in this position until the proper 

 time for completing the transfer of the bees as di- 

 rected in No. 45. 



22. If the moth which produces the wax-worm 

 appeared at only one season of the year, it would 

 be easy to make war upon it; but it shows itself 

 first in April, and is seen in each successive month 

 until the end of October. To destroy this insect, 

 -the following means may be employed: 



The entrance of the hives should be small, and 

 they should be luted to the stands so that only the 

 entrance may be open ; and as the moths attack 

 weak hives, whose entrances are ill defended, 

 sooner than strong ones, we should endeavor to 

 have only good hives. The bats which come into 

 the neighborhood of the hives should not be fright- 

 ened or driven away, as they seize and swallow 

 these night moths in their flight. The moth keeps 

 itself concealed during tlie day against the hives, 

 under their coverings, beneath the stands, and in 

 obscure corners of the apiary ; therefore during 

 this month and until the last of October, the cover- 

 ings of the hives should be occasionally taken off, 

 and the insects should be sought for and destroyed, 

 which may be easily done, as from not seeing well 

 in the day they never move. Some cakes of wax 

 should be fixed against the sides of the hives under 

 the coverings ; the smell of these will attract the 

 moths, and they will ^o upon them to deposite 

 their eggs. Finally, it these insects are very nu- 

 merous, two old hives must be sacrificed in suc- 

 cession to destroy them. Let one of these be raised 

 on small wedges or blocks about 6 lines thick ; the 

 moths finding an easy entrance, will flock to it in 

 great numbers; and when it is observed that the 

 worms have taken possession, and the bees have 

 deserted the hive, it should be carried off and 

 burned with all its contents. The other hive 

 should be immediately set upon the blocks, and 

 treated in the same way. It has been said that 

 lights should be set near the hives, into which the 

 moths will fly and be burned at night; this is true, 

 as we iuay infer from the moths which produce 

 the little insects that gnaw the woollen stuffs in 

 our houses, and which fly into our candles at night. 

 This remedy might be practicable, if the wax- 

 moths appeared only at one season ; but as they are 

 seen tor more than six mouths together, this plan 



