July 27, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



become oval instead of hexagonal. We all know the exquisite 

 delicacy and lightness of newly-made unsoiled comb. I am 

 afraid to estimate its weight, but certainly it would run con- 

 siderably more than 4 square feet to the pound. That, "Novice " 

 states, is the desirable weight of his comb foundations, which 

 costing a dollar per lb., makes the expense of filling a Woodbury 

 hive about 7s.— far too costly for general use in England. — John 

 Hdniee, Eaton Rise, Ealing. 



HONEY PROSPECTS. 



" A coebespondent wishes to know what is the prospect of 

 the honey crop this season ? " 



It is to be hoped that many of our readers will send their ex- 

 perience in bee-keeping to the pages of this Journal. I am in 

 the habit of gathering up the results annually of some of the 

 must successful apiarians in England and Scotland, and pre- 

 senting them to our readers every autumn. At present I can 

 speak about this district only. Until the middle of June the 

 season was the worst for bees I ever remember. Since that time 

 they have done pretty well. Our stocks rapidly rose in weight 

 before swarming, and now, three weeks after swarming or there- 

 abouts, we are turning the bees out of the stock hives into empty 

 hives. We obtain about 100 lbs. of excellent honey from every 

 five stocks. The first swarms, though late this year, are doing 

 well. The flowers are later than usual, as well as the swarms. 

 We have still the chance of three weeks on the clover, and 

 afterwards three weeks on the Derbyshire moors. A run of 

 fourteen days of fine weather on the heather gives bee-keepers 

 splendid harvests of honey. — A. Pettigrew. 



ONE STOCK OCCUPYING TWO HIVES. 



One of my stocks of bees are now displaying a most singular 

 freak. They are working in two distinct hives as one colony. 

 To enable your readers clearly to understand how this happened, 

 I may state that part of my apiary consists of a closed house 

 furnished with Woodbury bar hives arranged side by side. 

 One of these hives contained a very weak stock, which, being 

 very old, I allowed to take its chance. The bees have gradually 

 diminished in numbers until the 12th inst., when I found the 

 last of them (about a score) dead on the floorboard, and not a 

 particle of honey in the hive. I immediately closed the per- 

 forated zinc elide at the entrance, intending to remove the hive 

 next morning; I accordingly proceeded to do so, but first 

 opened the top of the hive, and was surprised to find a number 

 of very active bees inside. I then discovered the slide was not 

 quite closed, and that the bees from the adjoining hive had 

 taken possession. I immediately opened the slide again, imagin- 

 ing that a new colony had located themselves there ; I, however, 

 soon discovered that both hives were really being worked with 

 one distinct stock of bees. They are now depositing honey in 

 the old combs, and running (not flying) to and fro between both 

 hives in the most friendly manner. The bees now in possession 

 are very strong. They have completed a 30-lb. super, and to 

 give them more room I recently added a bell-glass ; notwith- 

 standing this, upwards of two quarts of bees were clustered out- 

 Bide the hive previous to their taking possession of the other hive, 

 although they are completely shaded from the sun. I imagine 

 that the bees, finding this hive empty and being deficient of 

 room, resolved on usiog it as a storehouse. I have kept bees for 

 many years, but have never seen or heard of a Bimilar case ; 

 perhaps some of your readers may. — W. Buckenham, Longleat. 



HONEY HARVESTED BY SECOND SWARMS. 



■ On the 2nd of this month we had two second swarms from 

 18-inch Pettigrew hives. As they did not seem very large, and 

 and it was so late in the season, we put them into a 13-inch hive. 

 As they appeared rather crowded a super was put on two days 

 later. On the 13th the gardener observed the bees hanging out, 

 but as I was absent from home nothing was done. I returned 

 on the evening of the 17th, and on the 18th the super containing 

 rather more than 10 lbs. of the most perfect honeycomb was re- 

 moved, the hive being also perfectly full. I should mention the 

 bees were put into a perfectly empty hive and super, not even 

 containing guide comb, and had no feeding. The hive has now 

 been placed on a 16 inch nadir, and the bees appear to be work- 

 ing harder than ever. I should like to know if the hive should 

 be left on the nadir till the end of the season, we have no 

 heather near enough for the bees to visit, or if it may be re- 

 moved sooner ? Judging by the size and weight of the super 

 we guess the hive to weigh between 30 and 40 lbs. — A Constant 

 Subscriber. 



[The second swarms referred to above have been larger than 

 our correspondent fancied. They have done exceedingly well, 

 and we are greatly obliged for her letter, as it contains a lesson 

 of permanent and practical importance— namely,. the possibility 

 of getting supers filled on second swarms or turn-outs before 



their queens begin to lay. In the pages of this Journal we 

 suggested this three years ago. Young queens unfertilised go 

 with second swarms, and in about ten days after they begin to 

 lay. Sometimes it is fourteen days before an egg is deposited. 

 Our correspondent's experience, and the record of it so inarti- 

 ficially given, will I trust be of considerable advantage to her 

 and many of our readers. She has done well, too, in nadiring 

 the hive, which will in a short time be well filled with honey 

 and ready for removal from the nadir. About the 1st of August 

 a hatch of brood will issue from the cells, when the hive may be 

 removed for honey. We have known two swarms join each 

 other in natural swarming, and, of course, were hived as one. 

 They filled their hive quite full, and sent off a virgin swarm on 

 the eleventh day after being hived. — A. Pettigkew.] 



SYSTEMS OF MANAGEMENT.— No. 5. 



NADIRING AND EKING. 



In closing our last letter (the one on supering) we forgot to 

 state that broad Bhallow hives are better for honey-gathering 

 than deep hives, and that honeycomb is also more easily cut 

 from them. For breeding purposes we have always considered 

 that deep hives are better than shallow hives. 



Nadiring is simply the placing of empty hives beneath full 

 hives, and closing the doors of the upper hives. It is a simple 

 mode of enlarging hives, which does not always prevent swarm- 

 ing. When both stocks and honey are wanted nadiring is re- 

 sorted to. It answers best with first swarms when they have 

 filled their hives with combs and need enlarging. In some 

 instances we have seen it answer well with non-swarmers. In 

 seasons rather unfavourable for honey-gathering the nadired 

 hives did better and yielded more honey and better stocks than 

 the hives that swarmed. With all kinds of hives the nadiring 

 principle can be acted on. It is as complicated as supering, but 

 more natural, inasmuch as bees like to work downwards. It 

 gives more scope for breeding than supering, and is therefore 

 better for multiplying populations. But very often bees build 

 far too much drone comb in nadirs, and this is one of its greatest 

 drawbacks, causing many bee-farmers to think twice before they 

 introduce nadirs to their apiaries. Though we ourselves use 

 nadirs, we would not suggest their general adoption. With 

 early swarms and hives that are not ripe for swarming at 

 the proper season, nadirs are sometimes used with advantage. 

 Thus the nadired hives yield honey, and the nadirs become 

 stooks. 



Eking is a mode of enlargement which receives special regard 

 in our apiary. It is to us of far more importance than either 

 supering or nadiring. It is less complicated and more natural 

 than either of them. Bees do better in one apartment than in 

 two or more; they gather 3 lbs. in ekes for 2 lbs. in supers, 

 and breed faster. In a former letter it was seen how we 

 obtained honeycomb enough in good seasons from swarms in 

 large hives without superB. Where super honey is the object of 

 bee-keeping, supers are largely used. With us, and most bee- 

 farmers, profit ia our aim, and we find eking is safer and more 

 certain than supering, and quite as profitable. But in some 

 districts there is but little demand for run honey; here we 

 readily sell all the bees can store up at Is. 3d. per lb. for clover 

 honey, and Is. for heather honey. It is retailed out to our 

 neighbours at these prices, which makes bee-keeping as profit- 

 able as anything else in our way. Virgin honeycomb we sell at 

 Is. 3d. and Is. 6d. per lb. ; wax at 2s. per lb. 



It is not often that ekes now-a-days are used to prevent bees 

 from swarming too early, for if swarms are obtained very early 

 where there is not good pasture for them, a few pounds of sugar- 

 syrup given to them will not only prevent discouragement and 

 collapse, but give them an impulse at the commencement of 

 their career which will not lose its power till the time of harvest. 

 When sugar was higher-priced we have known the first ripe 

 hives eked to prevent very early swarming. Since sugar has 

 been cheap we take all the early swarms we can. In honey 

 seasons both swarms and stocks require ekes or other enlarge- 

 ments, and the interest and aims of the bee-master must deter- 

 mine whether supering, nadiring, or eking be resorted to. In 

 the absence of straw ekes riddle-rims may be UBed for enlarging 

 hives. Square wooden hives may be enlarged by ekes of wood 

 made to fit. In placing ekes beneath hives they should be 

 Becurely nailed to them. 



Almost all the salient points of practical management have, I 

 think, been briefly noticed in this series of letters. The intelli- 

 gence of the reader will enable him to compass and comprehend 

 details and modificatioms which have been left out for the sake 

 of brevity. I will finish as I began, by saying it is wise to have 

 a definite system and to develope it as fully as possible. All 

 bee-farmers should aim at an annual profit of £2 per hive. 

 Some years bees yield very little profit, and some years £3 and 

 -M per hive. When very fine seasons for honey come, filling 

 the hives to repletion, it is wise to take the honey from all 

 the hives and create a stock by feeding the bees. In the year 

 1864 nine stocks belonging to a friend yielded .£55 worth of 



