76 



FARMERS' REGISTER— MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



returned to llic hives, or at night, or early in the 

 morning before the bees have gone out, other-ivise 

 the bees that are abroad might have great diffi- 

 culty in finding their hives. It' the bees are to be 

 conveyed by land in wagons, the inconveniences 

 ■which may result from the heat of the season 

 should be obviated. Therefore, a cool evening 

 should be chosen ; the cloths which envelop the 

 hives should be wetted, the straw also in which 

 they are placed must be wet, to render it cooler, 

 more supple, and less slippery. The wagons should 

 be covered with cloths, tied loosely to allow the 

 wind to agitate them on their passage, or boughs 

 with their leaves may be fixed over the wagons so 

 as not to touch the hives. In this condition, they 

 should set out after sunset and travel all niglit so 

 as to reach their destination by seven or eight 

 o'clock in the morning, stopping only long enough 

 to teed the horses; in this way a distance of tenor 

 twelve leagues may be accomplished. 



Individuals may readily be ibund willing to re- 

 ceive the bees, and who, for a recompense of eight 

 or ten sous per hive, will attend to their preserva- 

 tion; this, at least, is the case in the neighborhood 

 of the forest of Orleans. A small gratification 

 is added besides, proportioned lo the care bestowed 

 by tlie keeper, who is responsible for no accident, 

 not even for the loss of the hives by robbery. Nei- 

 ther posts for the stands, nor stands themselves are 

 now required to support the hives, as the humidity 

 of the earth is but little felt at this season. The 

 hives may be set in the fields, near some shelter 

 or arbour, upon small pieces of plank a little raised 

 by stones placed under them : the bees will defend 

 themselves from all creatures that attempt to enter 

 the hives. 



yfugust. 



41. The death of the queens generally occur in 

 this and the following month. We should occa- 

 sionally take a look at the hives, and if in any the 

 bees are observed to be in commotion while those 

 in the other hives are quiet, the queens of the first 

 are dead, and the hives suffering from pillage; 

 they should be set aside for examination. If there 

 is any grated wax, that is, parcels of wax reduced 

 to the size of coarse bran upon the stands, and if 

 the hives are not defended by the working bees, 

 they should be immediately removed to save the 

 rernnant, or to supply them with queens, as in 

 No. 39. 



42. At the end of this month those persons who 

 are not in a situation to send their bees to ncv/ 

 feeding grounds, should sound their hives, and judg- 

 ing thus of their weight, should take the lids sup- 

 posed to be full. (See No. 24.) 



September. 



43. The last robbing of the lids may now be 

 made, as directed in No. 24. 



44. In the course of this month we should ex- 

 amine the village hives, prepared as in No. 20, 

 for the transferring of the bees; and if there is a 

 sufficient quantity of comb in the new hives, the 

 transfer should be completed. For this purpose, 

 on some clear day, about ten o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, strike, with a rod, some slight blows on the 

 new hive to attract the queen to it. Then, leav- 

 ing the new hive upon the stand, separate from it 

 the old one and place it upon the rounds of a chair 

 turned upon its side. Put an empty lid upon the 



new hive, loosen the lid which is on the old hive, 

 and then smoke it from below; the bees will im- 

 mediately take refuge in the lid, which must be 

 raised from time to time to see if they have ascend- 

 ed. If they have, take off the lid which is upon 

 the new hive iind replace it by tliat which is upon 

 the old one ; carry the old hive into a room at some 

 distance from the apiary, leaving the door and 

 v/indows open that tlie bees still remaining in the 

 hive may go to seek their queen. Some days after, 

 these new hives must be covered with full lids, 

 which should be taken off other hives with the bees 

 that are in them. These hives will, in all proba- 

 bility, flourish. If there is but little comb in the 

 new hives the two must be left untouched, and the 

 transfer postponed till the succeeding year. 



45. To complete the transfer from the hives of 

 tlie old form, several holes should be made in the 

 top of the hive, so that the bees may pass through 

 them easily. A lid must be placed upon each, the 

 old hives must be taken off the new ones and 

 smoked, and the transferring of the bees completed 

 as in No. 44. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER TO 

 « AN ESSAY ON CAI.CAREOUS MANURES." 



The use of calcareous earth recommended to pre- 

 serve putrescent raanures, and to promote clean- 

 liness and health. 



The operation of calcareous earth in enriching 

 barren soils, has been traced, in a former part of 

 this essay, to the chemical power possessed by that 

 earth of combining with putrescent matters, or 

 with the products of their fermentation — and in 

 that m.anner, preserving them from waste, for the 

 use of the soil, and for the food of growing plants. 

 That power was exemplified by the details of an 

 experiment, (page 91,) in which the carcass of an 

 animal was so acted on, and its enriching proper- 

 ties secured. That trial of the putrefaction of ani- 

 mal matter in contact with calcareous earth, was 

 commenced with a view to results very different 

 from those which were obtained. Darwin says 

 that nitrous acid is produced in the process of fer- 

 mentation, and he supposes the nitrate of lime to 

 be very serviceable to vegetation.* As the ni- 

 trous acid is a gas, it must pass off into the air, 

 under ordinary circumstances, as fast as it is form- 

 ed, and be entirely lost. But as it is strongly at- 

 tracted by lime, it was supposed that a cover of 

 calcareous earth would arrest it, and form a new 

 combination, v.hich, if not precisely nitrate of lime, 

 would at least be composed of the same elements, 

 though in diflferent proportions. To ascertain 

 whether any such combination had taken place, 

 when the manure was used, a handful of the marl 

 was taken, which had been in immediate contact 

 with the carcass, and thrown into a glass of hot 

 water. After remaining half an hour, the fluid 

 was poured off, filtered, and evaporated, and left a 

 considerable proportion of a white soluble salt (sup- 

 posed eight or ten grains.) I could not ascertain 

 its kind — but it Avas not deliquescent, and there- 

 fore could not have been the nitrate of lime. The 

 spot on which the carcass lay, was so strongly im- 

 pregnated by this salt, that it remained bare of ve-. 

 getation for several years. 



* Darwin's Phytologia, pp. 210 and 224, Dublin Edi- 

 tion. 



