302. 



JOtttHSTAL OF HOBTICtJXTTJBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ October 11, 1364, 



especially keep children, in fact all but experts, out of harm's 

 way, for if the queen, in a fit of perversity or weakness, 

 were to alight on the head of even an experienced bee- 

 keeper the swarm might be hived, but it would be at the 

 very imminent peril of human life. When they have all 

 settled, and are quiet, hive them according to the best 

 experience or directions obtainable. 



But thirdly, hiving is not always an easy matter. Bees 

 will not always go where you wish them, frequently where 

 you least expect them. This is a' point to be considered in 

 the establishment of an apiary. The first step in this, as in 

 other things, is the most important. The best locality, at 

 least one which in my case has proved most satisfactory, is 

 the sheltered corner of a kitchen garden, with rows of cur- 

 rant trees in front. The majority, by far, of my swarms have 

 alighted on currant trees, although some have selected rasp- 

 berry trees in preference, and they have not unfrequently 

 settled on the part where the canes are secured to the stakes. 

 In this case the greatest care is required in handling the 

 swarm, lest the queen should be crushed. The only thing 

 to be done is either to cut through the canes below the bees, 

 and bending the stake over the hive, to give it a sharp rap, 

 and thus house the swarm ; or, as I have mostly done, to cut 

 out only a few of the canes, so as to make an opening through 

 which the bees are precipitated when dislodged. A knowing 

 hand will always mark where the bees first begin to cluster, 

 and will take especial care to get that part of the swarm 

 hived first, well aware that the queen is there, and that, if 

 secured, the rest of the bees will be sure to follow. It is a 

 great point with me to ascertain this, if possible, and I have 

 on two or three occasions found it of immense advantage to 

 do so. Two years ago I had a large swarm alight on the 

 thick stem of a large plum tree, where the shaking principle 

 could not be brought to bear. There was, of course, no 

 grape-like pendant clustering. The stem was bandaged with 

 a large thick poultice of winged life. I knew whereabouts 

 in the mass her apian majesty was located, and, with a 

 housemaid's dusting brush, I had little difficulty in getting 

 her into my power, and then at my leisure swept the remain- 

 ing bees from the stem to the sheet, on which the hive was 

 placed beneath the tree. I once had a swarm drop in the 

 centre of a thick and tangled row of peas, and, instead of 

 clustering into a compact mass, the bees spread themselves 

 over a space bordering upon 15 or 16 inches square. I. did 

 not see where the queen alighted, and failed in my first 

 attempt to hive her. Fortunately, however, I noticed a 

 small cluster of bees on the ground, and on separating them 

 found the queen. Taking her gently up between my finger 

 and thumb, I placed her under the hive, and the swarm was 

 secured. — William Law, Marston Trussell Rectory, Tliedding- 



> 9 V- (rpo oe continued.') 



DAEE-COLOTIEED HONEY— BEE FOOD— 

 WOODBURY FEAME-HTVES. 



I see in The Journal of Horticulture for last week, 

 this answer to a correspondent. "■ The dark colour of your 

 honey this year is owing to some peculiarity of the season 

 and its effects upon the pasturage." Now, I dare hardly 

 venture to have an opinion contrary to that of the Editors 

 of the Journal, but I had made up my mind that the dark 

 colour was owing to the honeydew. I never remember so 

 much as there has been during the latter part of this sum- 

 mer — viz., the last week or so of July and the whole of 

 August. Now, I found that the storing of dark honey was 

 coincident with these honeydews, and this autumn, when 

 removing supers, it was quite curious to observe how plainly 

 and distinctly you could mark the change from the purest 

 white to this dark honey. All that I have taken since August 

 has not only the colour, but also the flavour, of coarse brown 

 sugar syrup, and I have handed over some 15 lbs. or so to 

 the nursery and kitchen, where it is appreciated. 



Secondly. I see a letter in the same Number headed, "Are 

 Bees Omnivorous ? " I know nothing on this point of my 

 own knowledge, but I feel sure that I remember hearing my 

 brother-in-law say some years ago, before I kept bees, or 

 took any interest in them, that he often fed his on chicken 

 bones from the table, and occasionally gave them a black- 

 bird, but lest I should have dreamt it, I have written to him 



to ask particulars, and as he is very accurate and a good, 

 observer, I shall be fully satisfied with his reply, which 

 I will forward, to you if you desire it. And now I 

 would ask a question. Three years ago I procured a Wood- 

 bury bar-hive, which has been most satisfactory in all 

 respects. Two years ago I obtained a Woodbury bar-frame 

 hive, and each year the frames have got a little out of the 

 perpendicular as soon as the bees began to work, and thus 

 scarcely any of the combs are true, and many are joined' 

 together so that the frames are useless. I do not wish to 

 break up this stock this autumn. Can I, now or next spring, 

 take out each bar and prune and straighten the combs, and 

 then how can I keep them straight ? 



Query 2. Is the borage, so much recommended as bee 

 food, the common rough-leaved blue borage ? If so, where 

 can the seed be obtained, and would it answer to sow some 

 quarter of an acre of poor land with it ? — A. W. B. 



[You may very probably be right in connecting the col- 

 lection of dark-coloured honey with the existence of honey- 

 dew, but we do not deem this opinion contrary to our own. 

 Honeydews do not always produce thick dark-coloured honey, 

 and its very general appearance this summer we still believe- 

 to be owing to some peculiarity in the season and its effects 

 upon the pasturage. 



We shall be glad of any evidence with regard to the car- 

 nivorous propensities attributed to bees. 



Every Woodbury frame-hive either is, or should be, fur- 

 nished with a notched bar fitted transversely at the bottom 

 of the hive; Each frame drops into its appropriate notch, 

 and is in this way kept perfectly steady and perpendicular 

 until filled with comb. When this has been accomplished 

 the notched bar had better be removed as the weight of the 

 combs renders its presence unnecessary, and it would be a 

 hindrance to their free manipulation. During any warm 

 day in either April or May the combs may readily be set 

 straight ; and if kept in their projier position by clips formed 

 of tin or sheet zinc, strips of wood, wire, or other temporary 

 supports, they will in twenty-four hours be so firmly fixed 

 by the bees that all extraneous appliances may be safely 

 removed. 



The plant referred to is the common blue borage. The 

 seed may be procured of any seedsman, and, once sown, it 

 will probably increase and multiply fast enough.] 



JOINING LIGrUEIAN QUEENS AND BEES TO 

 BLACE BEES. 

 I observe in some of your last Numbers that you seem to 

 doubt the joining of Ligurian and black bees together. T 

 have lately joined four hives, first taking the black queen 

 away, and without the least fighting. This I have done by 

 fumigation, joining during the time they are fumigated. I 

 do not observe any of your apiarians have hit upon a sure 

 plan of joining Ligurian queens to black bees; but I have 

 joined several by fumigation, taking the black queens away 

 first ; or, if they are in frame-hives, it saves a great deal of 

 trouble to first take away the black queen, and when the 

 bees have settled in the evening, to fumigate them, and 

 then join the queen, which need not be fumigated. Care is 

 required after fumigation that they be shut in until they 

 recover, and plenty of air (warm, not cold) given, and that 

 they be let out next morning. By this plan you may join 

 three or four hives together. — A. W. 



FOUL BEOOD IN YOEESHLEE. 



On perusing Mr. Woodbury's reply, that the sample of 

 comb sent from my hive " was unquestionably foul brood," 

 and that he " never saw any presenting a worse appearance," 

 I felt that, at this late season of the year, it would be the 

 wisest course to take his advice, and destroy both my in- 

 fected colonies. 



I did not, however, like the opportunity of trying the cure 

 of this fell disease to pass away, and, therefore, determined 

 on making the attempt. I should say that both the dis- 

 eased stocks are Ligurians (though in the older one the 

 breed is not so pure), and that they were both in Woodbury 

 frame-hives. 



I first removed the queen from each hive, and then pro- 



