422 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAG-E GARDENER. [ November 22, 1861. 



No. 23. A new adjuster-hive. — Some comb made, but no 

 honey stored in the super. 



No. 24. An artificial swarm raised this summer. — The bees 

 destroyed the first of two young unimpregnated queens 

 given to them, though every precaution was used. 



Having given a short account of each hive and its doings, 

 I will now add a table which will more plainly demonstrate 

 the amount of my honey harvest for the year 1864. 



Hives. 



Weight, 

 lb. oz. 



No. 2 37 



3 36 



31 



30 



37 



27 



40 



12 8 



6 8 



8 swarmud and gave . 



10 

 12 

 13* 



artificial swarm taken 



Weight. 

 Hives. lb. oz. 



No. 14 75 8 



15 artificial swarm taken 10 8 



swarmed 15 8 



12 



swarmed 23 



31 



15 8 



16 hives 



440 



The foregoing table shows an average produce of 27-£ lbs. 

 from each of the sixteen hives (notwithstanding that several 

 threw off swarms, or were deprived of artificial swarms), 

 which is, I imagine, far above the usual average afforded by 

 the majority of apiaries, consisting of more than six stocks, 

 in any known season. By referring to the early part of this 

 paper it will be seen that the four hives which, in spring, 

 were weak, afforded an average supply of 9 lbs. 4 ozs. ; the 

 five that were only in a moderately populous condition, also 

 an average of about 9 lbs. 4 ozs ; the seven set down under 

 the head of strong show an average of 26 lbs. 10 ozs. ; and 

 the four named as very strong exhibit an average of 42 lbs. 

 6 ozs. Thus will be seen the importance of maintaining 

 every hive in the highest possible condition as to population 

 during the winter and spring. Had the summer turned out 

 a less abundant honey season, many of the hives which 

 came under the category of weak and middling would have 

 done nothing at all. Therefore my advice is to let no weak 

 hives be put up for the winter ; and if any hive shows signs 

 of weakness in early spring join it to another. My time 

 was so very much occupied in the early part of this spring 

 that it was quite out of my power to attend properly to 

 carrying out this rule, or I have no doubt that a larger 

 supply of honey would have been the result. — S. Bevan 

 Fox, Exeter. 



TAKING- HONEY FROM COMMON HIVES. 



Theke are many individuals, and, perhaps, some amongst 

 the readers of The Journal op Horticulture, whose cir- 

 cumstances do not permit them to make use of the new and 

 improved hives, or the methods adopted by means of glasses 

 and caps, whereby what is termed virgin honey is obtained. 



For the benefit of those, therefore, who have only bell- 

 shaped straw hives, I can recommend the following as a 

 good method for obtaining honeycomb equal in beauty and 

 purity to any I have ever seen produced in glasses. But I 

 must premise that the person who would put it in practice, 

 must first acquire the simple art of driving. Well, then, 

 supposing a large swarm (either a top or two casts united) 

 comes off at the commencement of good weather, and the 

 season continues favourable, it will be found that at the end 

 of four or five, or at most six weeks, the skep, if of moderate 

 size, is quite filled with honey and brood. This can easily 

 be ascertained by feeling its weight. If satisfied that it is 

 so, remove the skep to a little distance, and drive out about 

 half of the bees, with their queen, leaving the remainder to 

 hatch out the brood, and carry on the labours of the hive. 

 The expelled bees may occupy their former position. The 

 skep from which they have been driven must be placed at 

 some distance, not less than twenty or thirty yards. 



Leave it thus three weeks longer and drive it again, and 

 you will find that you have a skep well filled with beautiful 

 honey, and with scarcely any young bees in the brood cells. 

 Take two instances out of many. 



1863. — Swarm lodged in a common straw hive July 9th ; 

 driven August 6th ; driven finally August 20th ; contained 

 36 lbs. of honeycomb equal to any wrought in glasses. 



1864. — Swarm lodged in a common straw hive July 4th ; 

 driven August 3rd ; driven finally August 22nd ; and con- 

 tained 30 lbs. of pure honeycomb equal to any wrought in 

 glasses. 



* Gave i.n artificial swarm and 6 lbs. 8 ozs. 



Precautions. Drive on a damp or cloudy day, or in the 

 forenoon or afternoon when the heat is moderate, and after 

 driving the skep place the floor-board on the mouth, and 

 invert it with the edges of the combs to the zenith. 



There is little danger of expelling too many bees, the 

 nurses adhere so tenaciously to the brood-combs. 



In the case of doubled casts there will occasionally be no 

 eggs laid by the young queen for five or six weeks. The 

 driven bees may be profitably returned to the old stock, or 

 sent to the heather, if the driving takes place at the end of 

 July.— R. S. 



A NEW BEE BOOK. 



Seeing the request of your correspondents, " R. S." and 

 a " Constant Reader," that a " Bee Book " might be written 

 by Mr. Woodbury, I quite coincide with them, that it would 

 be an inestimable favour to all apiarians, and I feel sure it 

 will greatly assist beginners, by describing those recent dis- 

 coveries in bee-keeping which Dr. Cumming states have not 

 been made ; but which I fear he has not seen, and, therefore, 

 concludes no one else has. I send this in acknowledgement 

 of the many inquiries I have made of Mr. Woodbury through 

 your Journal, and his practical suggestions have answered 

 my purpose in every respect. — T. S. 



CAUTION IN OPERATING WITH BEES. 



In operating upon bees at this season much caution seems 

 to be necessary, and experience is almost the only guide to 

 enable one to meet emergencies which may arise. 



When examining a hive on the 24th of September I 

 allowed it to remain on its own stand, and shifted each 

 frame separately into another box a yard or two on one side 

 of the stock under inspection. I soon observed that the 

 bees which took wing, instead of returning to their own 

 hive, were crowding into the unicomb-hive which stood close 

 to it. I at once completely closed the entrance to prevent 

 any farther ingress, and kept it closed until the operation 

 was completed, and the dusk began to quiet the uproar 

 occasioned in the apiary. On looking into the unicomb I 

 saw that it had received a vast accession to its population, 

 but no fighting had taken place ; the bees were, however, in 

 a state of great agitation, but on the following morning I 

 found that the queen in the unicomb-hive was under arrest. 

 I allowed the cluster to remain undisturbed, as I did not 

 value the queen, until the evening, and then dispersed it 

 with a few whiffs of tobacco smoke. The officers in charge 

 soon began to give way, and a general cry of " sauve qui 

 peut " seemed to be the order of the day, with a grand run 

 upon the stores. The queen regained her liberty, and is now, 

 I believe, all right, but I failed to discover her this morning. 

 She is, however, so small, scarcely any larger than a worker, 

 that it is sometimes difficult to single her out. Nearly all 

 the bees which had betaken themselves to the unicomb 

 returned to their own hive the next day. 



The disturbance brought a vast number of robbers into 

 the field, and a great many entered the hive and helped 

 themselves to honey whilst my search for the queen was 

 going on, and after all was finished the hive was almost in a 

 state of siege. Two hives, I noticed, were particularly busy 

 in sending out foragers, and the entrances of these, and 

 also of the adjoining hives, were at once stopped to prevent 

 fresh reinforcements from being sent to the invading array. 

 The robbers, when loaded, returned honae ; and clustered out- 

 side their respective hives, and comparative tranquillity was 

 soon restored in the besieged hive. When the robbers had 

 all departed I closed its entrance with perforated zinc to 

 prevent any further inroads being made before the bees had 

 recovered their equanimity after the disturbance caused by 

 the inspection. I afterwards contracted the entrance, so as 

 to admit of only a single bee going in, and the inmates 

 seem to have kept the burglars at bay, although many 

 rascals were hovering about the hive all day. — J. E. B. 



Rules for Purchasing 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 



