June 1, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



395 



pose, eboose a fine day, and having an empty hive ready, place 

 it on a stand close by the stock. You now lift out and examine 

 each comb in order to discover the queen, beginning at an end 

 one, which, when satisfied that her majesty is not on it, is 

 rested on one side of the box. The next comb having been in- 

 spected with a similar result, is slipped into the place which 

 was occupied by the first, and so on until the queen is dis- 

 covered on the surface of one of the combs. This comb, with 

 the queen and the adhering bees, is placed in the second box, B. 

 The other frames are inserted in their posiiions, and, if 

 possible, one or more empty worker combs are given on both 

 sides of the brood comb. B, with the queen, is put on the 

 stand that A occupied. The combs in A having been brought 

 together, so as to allow of no vacant space in the centre of the 

 hive, and a frame with or without worker comb having been 

 substituted for the one removed, the cover is fixed on, and the 

 hive is shifted at once to another part of the garden. The bees 

 on the wing, and many which will leave the stock hive, will 

 join their queen in the new hive, B. 



The bees, after the discovery of the loss of their queen, will 

 soon commence the formation of royal cells. In due time a 

 young princess will arrive at maturity, and on gaining her 

 iiberty immediately endeavours to destroy all her leas-matured 

 rivals. You should prevent this destruction by a timely re- 

 moval of some of the superfluous royal cells, which you may 

 make available in the formation of other artificial swarms. 



Your nucleus boxes can now be called into service. You 

 must choose one of your transferred stocks which is well supplied 

 with bees and brood, and proceed to examine the combs as 

 before ; but this time your object is to discover a brood comb 

 with eggs or brood of suitable age, and to make yourself sure 

 that the queen is not on it. Having satisfied yourself on this 

 point, you take two of the superfiuous royal cells which you 

 have cut out from the old stock A, and insert them in the 

 middle of the brood comb, being careful that the cells occupy 

 their proper positions, and are not in any way bruised or muti- 

 lated. It is best not to rest satisfied with the fact of your not 

 having been able to find the queen on the brood comb you have 

 chosen, but to search diligently through the remaining combs 

 until you catch sight of her. Having done so you brush off 

 the adhering bees from one or two other brood combs, and, 

 instead of the ordinary cover, substitute one of perforated zinc, 

 close the entrance also with the same, and remove the bos 

 within doors until the evening. As in the former case, an 

 empty frame must be given to the old stock at the side, the 

 others being pushed up together, so as to leave no vacant space 

 near the centre. The nucleus must be examined the next day 

 to see if the sealed royal cells appear to be all right, or whether 

 fresh ones have been commenced, and also to determine if 

 there is a sufficient population. If not, some more bees must 

 be given to it in the same manner as before from the same 

 hive. When a young queen has commenced breeding you can 

 destroy or remove the queen of one of your common stocks, 

 and having captured the young queen, you must confine her 

 with two or three of her own bees in a queen cage (a small wire 

 pipe cover sold for the purpose) on the surface of one of the 

 brood combs for about twenty-four hours, wh n the hive must 

 be opened and the prisoners liberated. A few days afterwards 

 the combs must be again inspected, to ascertain if the queen 

 has been favourably received, or whether she has been destroyed. 

 The conclusion may be arrived at either by obtaining a sight 

 of her, or by finding royal cells in the course of formation. 



These small artificial swarms in the nucleus boxes may, if 

 yon please, be built up into strong colonies by another process. 

 As soon as the queens are hatched out, open any of your frame 

 hives and choose one or more combs containing brood in an 

 advanced state. Brush ofi with a feather all the bees, and 

 give the comb or combs to the nucleus. When the population 

 has increased sufficiently, the combs and bees of the small 

 hive may be transferred to a full-sized box, and more brood 

 combs may be given. We have frequently built up our best 

 and strongest hives in this way. 



As your stocks consist almost entirely of common bets, it is 

 nearly certain that your young queens will pair with common 

 drones, so that their worker progeny will be only hybrids. But 

 as the drones raised by these queens will be pure, yon will have 

 to rear a fresh supply of young princesses in the following 

 season, and again go through the process of exchanging 

 queens in all your stocks, with the exception of that which 

 contains your original Ligurian queen if she be still alive and 

 vigorous. 



If you really desire to thoroughly lignrianise your apiary 



you must forego all expectation of deriving any benefit from it 

 in the way of honey, and must be prepared to sacrifice every 

 queen which does not exhibit by her progeny unqualified proof 

 of purity. You must also be prepared to see a considerable 

 weakening of the strength of some or all of your coloniep, 

 and, if necessary, supply artificial food with a judicious but 

 liberal hand. Either go through the matter completely, or not 

 at all. 



You will find Langstroth's work on the honey bee the one 

 best suited to your requirements. It can be ordered through 

 any bookseller. — Eds.] 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



I HAVING a strong stocl: of hybrid bees whicb I wish to prevent 

 swarming naturally, but whicb I also wish to propagate, I propose 

 doing so in the following manner, and wish for advice under the 

 circumstances. 



Some fine morning I take the stock from its place in the bee house 

 {it is in a Woodbury frame hive), and drive the bees upwards into a 

 similar hive with or without empty combs fitted into frames, wMch 

 hive and bees I remove to another garden about ten minutes' walk from 

 mine, with large houses and trees between. Will the returning bees 

 make up a small stock sufficient to carry on the original colony, which 

 I replace in its former position, and will they hatch out a queen in the 

 correct style ? 



I am not much of a bee-master yet, or I would endeavour to take 

 out the frame with the queen on it, and place her with her attendants 

 in a nucleus box ; but the bees have built comb between the ends of 

 the frames and the sides of the hive to such an extent that I fear a 

 fearful row would result if I endeavoured to abstract one or two, and 

 in this case alone I labour under another disadvantage — not knowing 

 how to smote a pipe, and I can get no one to do it for me, as my 

 manipulating powers are not credited to a suflicient extent. 



Also, I have one other stock of black bees which began the season 

 well, but now appears weak ; I conclude it has a queen as drones 

 appear ; pollen also is carried in. I have had it about four years, and 

 it has always given me satisfaction in the shape of a good-sized super 

 every year. It has not swarmed since I had it, and I do not know its 

 age. It is in a Neighbour's hive with three windows. It had a good stock 

 of food, some cells are still sealed np containing honey, and everything 

 about it looks clean, and no dead bees on the ground in any quantity ; 

 it appears on friendly terms with its neighbour the strong hybrid stock 

 before mentioned. 



What a pity it is that our French friends will not study the economy 

 of a hive of bees, and apply it to their own sad state just now, and why 

 will they not accept one of the two or three pieces of " brood comb " 

 offered them '? 



Any information and assistance in these two dUemmas will be most 

 gratefully received (more especially if it come in your next impression) 

 by— C. A. J. 



[Some people in trying to avoid an apparent diificulty plunge into a 

 course of action which must involve them in undoubtedly real diffi- 

 culty. As yon appear to be so very unpractised an operator, and timid 

 withal, we should advise yon to allow your hive to send oij a natural 

 swarm. We have little doubt that you would thus propagate, as you 

 desire, from your hybrid queen much more effectually than by attempt- 

 ing to do so by artificial swarming. But if you still must carry out 

 the latter plan, having snugly ensconced your head and neck in a bee- 

 dress, donned your bee-gloves, and securely tied round your coat 

 sleeves at the wrist, and your trousers at the ankles, take a roll of 

 linen raps tied to a short stick, and having succeeded in causing it to 

 smoulder and smoke, start the cover of your hive, and pushing it a 

 little on one side blow in some of the smoke, then lift the cover a bit 

 at one end and send in some more, thus driving the bees down among 

 the combs. Then, with a properly curved honey knife, separate the 

 combs between the frames and the box, loosen three or four of the 

 frames, shift them a little towards the centre until yon can remove one 

 of the outer frames, the rest can then be easily taken out one by one* 

 You may require to use the smoke occasionally during these proceed- 

 ings. You can then follow any conrse of procedure you please. You 

 will find the details given in the reply to a previous correspondent 

 applicable to your own reqnirements. 



With regard to your stock in the Neighbour's hive, the weakness 

 may arise from various causes. The queen may be almost worn out 

 from age ; the combs may be so clogged with honey as to cramp the 

 queen's powers of breeding ; or the hive may be affected with chronic 

 foul brood, which we know to have been prevalent in the apiary of a 

 neighbour of yours. The first of those named seems to ns to be the 

 most probable cause of your hive's present condition. We shr nld re- 

 commend you to drive the bees into an empty hive, cut out C e combs, 

 and, if not affected with the foul brood, fix them into frar es. You 

 will then be enabled to ascertain better what is the matter, nd if the 

 qneen appears to be old and worn out she can be destroyed, : nd proper 

 means adopted of supplying her place either from your hjbii. stock or 

 from some other source. If the non-prosperity should arise lom too 

 limited space for a prolific queen, some of the combs can be absti cted 

 and the bees induced to build fresh ones. If, on the other hand, foul 

 brood in any form should be the cause of the mischief destroy the hive 



