40 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 12, 1864. 



fastened to a pole, this ' bee-bob ' about his apiary when 

 the bees are swarming, or by placing it in some central 

 position, he invariably secures every swarm." 



I wish some of my apiarian friends would try a " bee-bob " 

 of some kind, and report results in The Joubnal of Hoe- 

 ticttltuee. — A Devonshiee Bee-keepee. 



APIARIAN" ]N T OTES. 



A Kule to Asceetain the Loss of Queens. — Soon after 

 they swarm, the queens when on a bridal trip, and are en- 

 joying the society of the drones, as they course through the 

 air, become so intoxicated with their amorous enjoyments 

 as to be confounded on their return. Not recognising their 

 distinctive homes, they mistakingly land in a foreign colony, 

 only to meet a sudden death by the subjects of a queen, 

 whose jealousy prompts them to the attack. Should we 

 inspect a hive about this time, and find no eggs or brood, it 

 is proof positive that it has no queen. The usual time for 

 this is about twenty days after the issue of the first swarm. 

 Again, if the bees allow the drones to remain in the hive 

 long after the general massacre — say to the 1st of September 

 or October — it is a never-failing sign that the queen is want- 

 ing, or that she is in an unhealthy condition. In such a state 

 the stock should be supplied with a queen immediately, or 

 united to another. 



Rules foe Puechasxng Bees. — Select two-year-old stocks 

 of large size, that swarmed the previous year. It has been 

 demonstrated that such stocks have young and vigorous 

 queens, and are generally well-conditioned, promising a 

 healthy generation. A very old stock should be rejected, 

 even if it swarmed the year before and contained a yearling 

 queen, for the obvious reason that the bees, having been 

 bred in the old contracted cells, will be found of small size 

 and insignificant in numbers. If you take your hive away 

 to get a swarm placed into it, always purchase the first or 

 prime swarm, and see that it is given you. Do not be put 

 off with a second or late swarm. Choose a stock to commence 

 with as you would choose a wife — get the best you can find. 

 If you obtain one in the old bos-hive invert it, and secure 

 the bees by a cloth tacked securely over the bottom. Take 

 it home when the air is cool, attend to it regularly, obey the 

 directions as given, and then congratulate yourself as having 

 started right. 



In the purchase of bees there are many things it is well 

 to observe. Remember if stock -hives are to be procured, 

 ascertain the age of the queen. To select a young healthful 

 mother seems to be a forward step towards a vigorous pro- 

 geny, — (Flander's New Bee-look, American.) 



FOUL BROOD AND DYSENTERY. 



As it is the desire of some of your correspondents to learn 

 from different observers their experience of foul brood, I give 

 you what has come under my notice regarding it during the 

 last few months. The first case was a hive that was much 

 diseased, and was broken up in autumn, and the contents 

 given to a healthy hive for the very purpose of proving in- 

 fection, by " A Stewaeton Apiaeian," and no bad result 

 has accrued ^herefrom since. The hive is all but healthy. 

 The second is a hive in my own apiary which was almost 

 reduced to a mere handful in the spring from what is termed 

 dysentery. But I differ a little in my opinion, thinking it 

 rather an overgorging, or feeding in winter more than they 

 ought to do, in consequence of sudden changes of temper- 

 ature arousing them to activity and causing them to feed 

 oftener than would have been the case had they been shaded 

 from the sun. At all events I have never found those attacked 

 that were thus shaded. The bees were not able to fly, falling 

 in hundreds on the ground, and leaving their excrements 

 in the hive until it was thoroughly polluted. I took the 

 advantage of the first fine day and turned the hive up to the 

 rays of the sun for an hour and half till the bees were perfectly 

 dry and able to fly. I then removed all filth, and took away one 

 stock-box (it being in a square bar-and-slide hive), leaving 

 in it one box only. It immediately commenced breeding, 

 being about six weeks earlier than the majority of hives 

 here. The spring this season was backward until April, 

 the weather then continuing favourable till the 17th of May, 



when it took a turn and continued increasing in cold till the 

 31st, when it appears to have reached its climax. The frost 

 on the 31st of May and 2nd of June was so severe that icicles 

 were suspended from the roofs of the bee-houses and covers, 

 whilst the ice was an eighth of an inch thick, and newly- 

 wrought ground was penetrated half an inch, so that all 

 tender plants and the Potato crop have suffered severely. 



But I must return to the condition of the hive. It had 

 not been long in the breeding state when I found there was 

 something wrong from the strong effluvium emitted. I im- 

 mediately turned it up and examined it, when I found it in 

 a backward state, with foul brood, and the bees scattered 

 throughout the whole hive, evidently paying all the attention 

 they could to the scattered brood. I used no means what- 

 ever to restore it farther than cutting out some of the worst 

 combs for microscopical examination. This forced the bees 

 to concentrate themselves, having very few combs for the 

 queen's peregrinations, so that at the present time it is in 

 a very thriving state and has got additional room. I am 

 not, however, oversangufne of its future prosperity, but if 

 spared I will report to you how it gets on. — A Lanarkshire 

 Bee-keepee. 



["Who shall decide when doctors disagree?" In illus- 

 tration of this adage we quote the following paragraph 

 from a letter recently received from an able and highly- 

 valued apiarian correspondent in the adjoining county of 

 Dumfries : — "The past winter has been cold and change- 

 able. We had occasionally severe frosts, but at no time in 

 this county above an inch depth of snow. On the 14th 

 December, the bees in hives exposed to the one-o'clock sun 

 got all out and evacuated. Those shaded remained within 

 and were obliged to remain till after the middle of March. 

 The consequence, as might have been expected, was dysen- 

 tery, and, in most instances, destruction." 



Foul-breeding stocks should be isolated as much as possible 

 in order to prevent the disease from spreading to others. 

 Tours appears at present to be what Dzierzon terms the 

 mild and curable type. Take heed lest it degenerate into 

 the virulent and incurable.] 



HOUSEHOLD RECIPES. 



Soiled Caepets. — When soiled, carpets may be cleansed 

 after beating with the following mixture : — Two gallons of 

 water, with A lb. soft soap dissolved in it, to which add 4 ozs. 

 of liquid ammonia. This may be rubbed on with a flannel 

 cloth, and the carpet then rubbed dry. 



Cemekt foe the Mouths of Coeeid Bottles. — Melt 

 together J lb. of searing" wax, the' same' quantity of resin, 

 and 2 ozs. of beeswax. When it froths, stir with a tallow 

 candle. As soon as it melts, dip the mouths of the bottle 

 into it. This is an excellent thing to exclude the air from 

 such things as are injured by being exposed to it. 



OUR. LETTER BOX. 



Preventing Swarming [A?i Amateur, Preston). — Raising the hive on an 

 eke 4 or 5 inches deep may prevent its swarming, or if the bees will work 

 in a bell-glass it may have the same effect. Payne's improved cottage-hive 

 is good and ch^ap, and may be obtained of Messrs. Neighbour. Buv "' Bee- 

 keeping for the Miny," price 4d., free by post from this office for Sd. 



Bees Octside a Hive (Gardenia). — The entire colony appears to have 

 taken up its quarters outside the hive, and not merely thrown out a swarm 

 as you imagine. During the middle of a fine day we should disperse and 

 quiet them by the means of a little smoke, cut off the combs (keeping a 

 sharp look-out for the queen), and fit them into a, frame-hive into which we 

 should then sweep the bees. If you cannot manage this, we see nothing for 

 it but to destroy them in the autumn and appropriate their stores. 



Bees— Qceens, &c. (/. M.).— It is impossible to say exactly what 

 amount of delay from bad weather or other causes may suffice to compel a 

 virgin queen to lay eggs and thus become a drone breeder. On one occasion 

 I knew impregnation deferred a month without injury. A month after the 

 issue of the last swarm the presence of a queen may be ascertained by 

 driving the bees into an empty hive and inspecting the combs. If sealed 

 brood be found the stock is, of course, all right ; if none can be seen it is, 

 probably, queenless. If you cannot drive bees you may, perhaps, obtain 

 a sufficient insight into the state of affairs by simply turning up the hive 

 and dispersing the bees by means of a little smoke.— A. Devonshiee Bee- 

 keeper 



Canaries (P. Cater). — We conclude from what you state, that either the 

 weather is too cold for your Canaries, or that the other birds do not allow 

 them to feed. We would recommend their being taken out of the aviary 

 and removed to warmer quarters, and that their food be hard-boiled eggs, 

 bread, and canary seed, with occasionally a little hemp, mawseed, and green 

 meat, "We presume you supply the birds with plenty of sand in the aviary. 



