236 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 24, 1863. 



The last week of January I removed the hives from their 

 hoards, which I scraped and cleaned, as the crocus was showing 

 hloom, and I thought they might be stirring out to see the world 

 once more. All were then alive, but No. 1 was very light. I 

 had ordered barleysugar to be in readiness, but, unfortunately, the 

 cook had made it of brown sugar, and it was toffee, not barley- 

 sugar, and 1 feared to give them this. This delay appeared to 

 have been fatal, for within a week I noticed after a very fine day 

 a large number of bees were dead in front of No. 1, and within 

 it there was not one alive. It was a case of starvation, not a 

 particle of anything edible was there to be found. Numbers had 

 buried themselves in the cells in the faint attempt to find sus- 

 tenance. The queen Beemed to be perfect. The barleysugar 

 came too late. The lesBon I have thus early learnt is to feed 

 my bees. 



In the month of August, outside the hives I found many of 

 the enclosed, which I presume to be larvse of the drones, as 

 about this time the drones became less numerous, and far more 

 languid in their movements ; shortly afterwards they wholly dis- 

 appeared. My bees are at present (March 4th) enjoying their 

 feeding-trough, but do not eat so much as I had expected. 

 "When should the trough be removed ? I judge from a letter in 

 a recent Number, that the air which must necessarily pass 

 through the hive to it tends to keep the hive cool, and so to delay 

 the formation of brood. On lifting No. 2 I found several small 

 white maggots beneath the edge of the box. Were these the 

 maggots of the wax moth mentioned as one of the enemies of 

 the hive? 



Can I venture to give my bees the brown sugar cake, or must 

 it be thrown away ? I have a friend who for more than twenty 

 years has had a Nutt's hive with the side boxes fiied in his wall 

 with the door behind. These have thriven according to the 

 season ; but his gardener is so afraid of them, that except to 

 move the zinc slips to give admittance to the sides, they are 

 never touched or interfered with in any way, still they thrive ; and 

 they gave a large quantity of first-rate honey in 1861 — a good 

 illustration of the wise maxim to let well alone. — B. J. S. 



[It is very possible that what you enclosed were drone larvae, 

 hut they had disappeared before your letter reached us. If closely 

 covered, the feeding-trough will do little harm, although we 

 decidedly prefer the bottle. We have given bees brown sugar 

 in the form you describe, without any evil resultB, and, therefore, 

 see no reason why you should not use up what you have on hand, 

 although it might not be advisable to give it habitually. The 

 white maggots found under the edge of the box were, doubtless, 

 the larvae of the wax moth.] 



FERTILE QUEENS— DISTANCE BEES ELY- 

 HONEY SEASON. 



The remarks of " A Lakaekshiee Bee-keepeb," in your ex- 

 cellent Journal of March 3rd, powerfully revive in my mind the 

 two questions I ventured to put a few weeks ago. The first was, 

 What is the best method of insuring a succession of fertile 

 queens ? The second, Are there any facts determining the dis- 

 tance of the flight of the bees in search of honey ? I sincerely 

 hope some of your correspondents will afford us a reply. 



The remarks to winch I particularly refer are these : " They 

 might do very well in good honey weather ; but as the honey 

 season generally lasts only about two weeks here, they would, 

 probably, lose a great many bees in ordinary weather." The 

 fact stated in these words I think not sufficiently appreciated. 

 " The honey season" I believe to be short everywhere ; but will 

 our friend kindly inform us which he considers to be about these 

 two important weeks, and also what flowers bloom then from 

 which the bees gather their harvest ? How much muBt de- 

 pend upon their proximity to the apiary? Probably the "sea- 

 son" may occur at different times in different localities, as the 

 same flowers may not be within reach of the bees in different 

 places. 



I have often been surprised at the apparent contradiction 

 even of my own observations, in their increase or decrease of 

 weight at different periods, and my observations again differed 

 from those of others ; but as there never was an effect without a 

 cause, one feels earnest m the desire to comprehend some of 

 those causes which produce the mysteries as witnessed amongst 

 " our favouriteB." 



I know that the keen observing eyes of those I could name 



among your correspondents, may see perfectly what appears so 

 strange to ub. If, therefore, they will favour us with the benefit 

 of their knowledge we shall esteem ourselves happy. — Edwd. 

 Eaiebeothee, Woolwich. 



P.S. — I might subscribe myself "A London Bee-keepeb," 

 and not be far out. 



[We shall be very glad if any of our able correspondents will 

 reply to the questions asked by Mr. Eairbrother. We ourselves 

 find it difficult to do bo with any great degree of certainty. 

 "Destroy first swarms and keep old stocks," is a very good 

 maxim for the old-fashioned bee-keeper who wishes to secure 

 young queens, but beyond this little can be said, unless we 

 advise our correspondent to become a first-rate operator like 

 " A Devonshiee Bee-eeepek" and others, in which case he 

 will find the selection and renewal of queens easy enough. The 

 time of honey harvest varies in different localities, and in dif- 

 ferent years. In some, such as 1860 and 1862, it never occurs 

 at all. We know of no facts positively determining the distance 

 traversed by bees in search of honey. Huish is so notoriously 

 unreliable, that we do not think much of his authority. With- 

 out, therefore, any very decisive information to guide us, we 

 venture an opinion with some diffidence, although it is founded 

 on an experience of many years. We believe that the range to 

 which the honey bee can profitably extend its flight is limited to 

 a radius of a mile, or at the outside a mile and a half.] 



BEE-KEEPING IN THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND. 



An old and formerly a very successful apiarian writes as 

 follows : — " Absence from home and a careless gardener have 

 reduced my once-numerous colonies to one stock ; and another 

 wet summer will certainly finish-off the very lew remaining bees 

 in the north. We depended chiefly on heather for main crops 

 of honey, and I can only describe our weathe' for the last three 

 years, by saying that my stocks sent to the heather about the 

 20th of July, that used to come back weD filled, have uniformly 

 returned lighter than they went ; the incessant rain completely 

 preventing all collecting of honey, and obliging my poor friends 

 to use up the little they had made in summer. Formerly less 

 rain used to fall in summer hereabouts than in any other part of 

 Britain, and we had frost and Bnow in whiter, which now are a 

 matter of surprise. "— M. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Hens with Swollen Eyes («/. A. Bolton).— Your fowls have incipient 

 roup among them. Separate sickly from healthy birds. Givethera castor 

 oil and Baily's pills. Feed on bread and ale, and l«t them have green 

 meat. Wash their faces with cold water, vinegar, and camphor julep. It 

 only adds to the suffering to tie up the legs and prevent a comfortable 

 scratch. 



Malay Fowls (Rustic Robin).— *' Fheasant Malays" and "Malays" 

 are as distinct as Hottentots and Caucasians. The Fheasant Malay is, pro- 

 perly speaking, an Indian Game fowl. It is essentially a bird of feather, 

 quite distinct in every particular from the bird we described. Yours 

 should be covered with feathers of a rich deep chocolate, spotted all over 

 with spots of a glossy green black. They should have bright yellow legs, 

 and be neither as high nor as large as the Malay. 



Creve Cosur Fowls not Laying {Lady Amateur). —There are two 

 things wrong in the treatment of your fowls. Either would account for 

 partial failure, and together they may account for all your disappointment. 

 The paved yard is very bad, and it mends it little to cover it with straw. 

 Cover with loose gravel, mould, road sand and bricklayers' rubbish, or 

 what you will, a few inches deep ; it will keep sweet and afford a scratch, 

 but straw will not. Next, you overfeed, and jour fowls are too fat to lay. 

 Give ground oats slaked with water night and morning. Feed on what 

 you will at midday. Your expenses will be less, and your eggs tenfold. 



Ligtjrian Bees [B. G. £.).— T. Woodbury, Esq., Mount Radford, Exeter, 

 can supply yon. 



Work on Bees (R. Levett). — Mr. Payne's " Bee-kaeping for the Many " 

 can be had post free from our office if you .enclose five postage stamps* 

 Mr. Payne'js hive is the most simple and effectual for managing bees cheaply 

 on the depriving system. We know a party who supplies a hive and its 

 super complete, money paid in advance. 



Choice of Hives — Ligurian Bees (C. J?.).— We are not acquainted 

 with Kniaht's hives, nor, in fact, are we disposed to recommend any par- 

 ticular description of bee-hive. Why not pay a visit to Messrs. Neighbour 

 and Sons, at 149, Regent Street, where you will find a large assortment of 

 all kinds, from Payne's Improved cottage-hive at half-a-crown up to any 

 price you please. For information respecting the Italians, write to T. 

 Woodbury, Esq., Mount Radford, Exeter. 



Berkshire Pigs Wanted (J. G.). — You had better advertise in our 

 columns, and you will have replies with more particulars than we can give 

 you. 



