Uanh ;, 1865. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTTKE AlfD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



205 



with the bird it is easily done, and he experiences immense 

 relief, for these spurious pi-ocesses are very painful, but the 

 greatest care and tenderness must be adopted, as the quills 

 are very evidently tender and painful to the touch, and 

 irritate the adjacent skin ; so of the cheeks and breast, which 

 I shell alvrays, and below the beak. 



EEMOY]:S'& OLD COMBS. 



"Which is the best and simplest way of taking: out the 

 combs, which are four years old and quite black, from one of 

 Taylor's amateur's hives ? Shall I take the old black 

 empty combs out and leave the new ones in, and how shall 

 I get the bees out, and where drive them to while I take out 

 the combs ? I should much like to know if Mr. Lowe dare 

 mate such experiments with common straw hives, and if he 

 does not protect himself in some way against their sting. 

 He states in his last chapter that he has great faith in 

 operating on their fears. I should very much Uke to know 

 when bees are in that state, for they often put me into it ? 

 — A TorxG Bee-eteepee. 



[The usual mode of operating on the fears of bees in com- 

 mon hives, is by what is called " driving," and this was, we 

 believe, what Mr. Lowe refers to in page 123. Tou will find 

 a full description of the process from the pen of Mr. 'Wood- 

 bury, in p. 423 of our fifth volume. In yoiu- case, however, 

 having to deal with a bar-hive, driving is not necessary, and 

 a different system of tactics should be resorted to, selecting 

 the middle of a fine day for the operation. Tou wiU require 

 a bee-dress and stout gloves, a strong spatula or palette- 

 knife, a bent knife, some sweetened watei-, an empty bee- 

 box, and a lighted fumigator or cigar, or some smoulderino- 

 ragjs firmly rolled together. Having withdrawn the screws 

 which secure the crown-board, and donned both bee-dress 

 and gloves, pass the spatula under it all round until it be- 

 comes loosened, then slightly raise it at the back, and blow 

 under it two or three good whiffs of smoke, after which it 

 should remain closed a minute or two whilst the bees are 

 filling themselves with honey. Next, lift it boldly off, and 

 stand it safely on one side so as not to crush any bees which 

 may adhere to it, and liberally sprinkle the intei-stices be- 

 tween the exposed bars with sweetened water. Should the 

 bees take this in good part without commencing an attack, 

 the operation maybe at once proceeded with; "but if their 

 pugnacity be not quite subdued, a second subsidy of sweets 

 should be accorded them, and the crown-board replaced for a 

 few minutes to give time for their acceptance of the proffered 

 bribe. All these manipulations are based upon the fact, that 

 when bees are alai-med they immediately fiU themselves with 

 honey, or such other sweets as may be'at hand, and that if 

 we can induce them to do this they become as inoffensive as 

 house fiies. No provocation short of absolute crushing will 

 induce them to sting. Having proceeded thus far, the'next 

 step will be to sever the end attachments of one of the side- 

 combs, which must then be lifted out and stood in the 

 empty bjx placed ready to receive it. Loosen the next comb 

 in like manner, and having examined it put it in the place 

 in the hive previously occupied by the side-comb. Continue 

 this process until you have examined and shifted every comb, 

 and made up your mind which two (if any), it will be desir- 

 able t-o remove. There wiU be little brood at this season. 

 and none of it must be sacrificed, neither should the stock 

 be deprived of more than two combs. Having selected these, 

 the bees should be brushed off them into the hive with a 

 feather, and the combs at once conveyed in-doors. The re- 

 maining combs must be brought together so as to leave the 

 vacancy on one side, and the crown-board replaced. If there 

 are more worn-out combs to be got rid of, the operation may 

 be repeated next spring. 



"We have given the information you require, but with 

 combs only foni- years old we doubt the necessity or even 

 the expediency of removing any of them.] 



KE-rSIX& THE COMBS IN DESEETED HIYES. 

 I HAVE a nine-frame-hive that was deserted bv its tenants 

 last autumn, the runaways leaving the fi-ames filled with 

 comb containing much of bee-bread and some sealed honey. 

 The box beingleft for some time without inspection, I now find 



that aU the combs are more or less mildewed, and the bee- 

 bread, whore not covered with mildew, has a moist watery 

 appearance as though from fermentation. "Would there be 

 any danger attending the use of the combs ? Is there any 

 means of cleansing them ? or if used would the process of 

 cleansing \>y the bees themselves be more troublesome tc 

 them than profitable to — L. G. ? 



[If there be no foul brood in your deserted combs they 

 may very probably stiU be made useful. Remove immediately 

 as much of the mUdew as possible by brushing their surfaces 

 lightly with a soft brush, pick out any dead bees there may be 

 in the cells, and then put the whole carefully away in a dry 

 place out of the reach of mice, moths, or other vermin, until 

 wanted for use.] 



OBTAIIflXG- THE MOST HONEY. 



I HAVE five stocks of bees — two in "Woodbury frame hives, 

 two in straw skeps, and one in an old-fashioned box. 



The two in the "Woodbury hives and one in a straw skep, 

 having a flat top and a super to fit, are swarms of last year, 

 the other two are older. As far as I can see there are plenty 

 of bees having large stocks of honey in each. 



Now, I want a"!! the honey I can possibly obtain this 

 season. "Will you kindly advise me how to proceed to 

 attain that end ? 



I tried putting small boxes on the top last season, but 

 failed as they were always filled with brood. — Novice. 



[Tou cannot do better than put the usual sized supers on 

 your "Woodbury hives. These will hold about 25 lbs. each, 

 and, if rapidly filled before the honey season be over, may 

 either be removed and others substituted or raised on 

 square wooden frames or boxes, without either top oc bottom, 

 fi-om 3 to 5 inches deep, and of the same diameter as 

 the supers. Side communication is preferable, as tending 

 to prevent the queen ascending and breeding in supers. 

 Full-sized supers shotdd also be put upon such of the straw 

 hives as will admit of it, and the others may "be permitted 

 to swarm. "When the honey harvest is over the bees of the 

 surplus stocks or swarms should be expelled by driving, and 

 united to those intended to stand the winter.] 



THE EET. W. C. COTTON AGAIN 

 AMONGST US. 

 Most old apiarians will remember the interest excited 

 some three-and-twenty years ago by the appeai-ance of " My 

 Bee-book," by the EeV. "William Charles Cotton, M.A., 

 student of Christ Church, Oxon, and there are probably few 

 among us either old or young that have not at some time 

 sought -with eagerness the opportunity of perusing it and 

 thoroughly enjoying the genial style in which it is written, 

 as well of admiring the profuseness and beauty of its 

 illustrations. Long has he been absent from among ns, and 

 long have I and many others mourned for him as for one 

 dead. I feel sure, therefore, that the breasts of hundreds 

 will feel the same thrill of pleasure which pervaded my own 

 on first hearing that he is not only yet alive and again 

 amongst us, but that he takes much interest in what is going 

 on in the apiarian world, and is desirous of initiating some 

 experiments connected with his old pursuit. That the 

 genial pen which has so long Iain dormant may again be 

 roused to activity, and that this ripe scholar and accom- 

 plished gentleman may long be spared to investigate the 

 hidden mysteries of apiarian science is the fervent prayer of 

 — A Devonshiee Bee-eeepek. 



TAEING HONET IN ASSAM. 

 Lteut. Cock, 43rd Eegt., N.I., writing in a recent Num- 

 ber of our sporting contemporary The Field, thus de- 

 scribes the native mode of taking honey from wild bees in. 

 Assam: — "On the 18th April, the Garrows* soon joined 

 me, and told me they had marked a bees' nest, and would 

 take it if I hted. Thinking a little honey would be nice, I 

 said I would come with them. A naked Garrow now stepped 



* The Garrows are a fiae athletic race of savages, who go naked and live 

 in Che hills. 



