228 

KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 

unite the weak ones with the stronger ones, 
which should be fed forthwith. 
The combs in the weak hives should not 
be taken out or disturbed, but carefully pre- 
served, as there is no honey to be had from 
them, and as they would be of great service 
to the swarms of next year. When aswarm 
is put into a hive containing combs, they are 
soon filled with honey or eggs ; the latter of 
which the queen lays in abundance at 
swarming time. When a swarm is put into 
an empty hive, the bees must first make 
combs ere honey or eggs can be deposited. 
A few clean nice combs,in a hive are of great 
value indeed, at swarming time. Up to Sep- 
tember all the brood is not hatched; hence, 
it is not proper to remove the bees from the 
combs sooner. Were the bees removed 
before the hatching is completed, the brood 
would rot in their cells, and thereby make 
the combs worse than useless. No swarm 
would prosper amongst them. 
As it is considered by some people a very 
difficult matter to get bees out of a hive 
alive at this season, I very recently tested the 
use of chloroform for this purpose. One of 
the surgeons of the place supplied me witha 
quarter of an ounce of it for sixpence. I 
lifted a weak hive, and then placed onthe board 
a small flower-pot saucer, into which the 
chloroform was put. The hive was speedily 
let down and the door closed ; and before any 
one had time to speak, there was heard a 
great noise and hubbub inside, which did not 
last more than halfa minute. The hive was 
again lifted off its board, on which all the 
bees had fallen. Some of them were tum- 
bling about; and some were apparently 
quite dead. The queen seemed as much 
Overcome as any of them. -As this was 
tried at noon (an improper time to unite 
swarms), and as I was anxious to see how 
long they would remain affected by the chlo- 
roform, I merely put an empty hive over 
them, into which plenty of air was admitted. 
In about twenty minutes, many of the bees 
were able to fly. But it was nearly an hour 
before the whole of them recovered. About 
two dozen, which fell into the liquid in the 
saucer, did not recover. Had I covered it 
with a perforated card, the life of every bee 
might have been preserved. In the evening 
the little swarm was found beautifully clus- 
tered on one of the sides of the empty hive, 
from whence I shook it into the hive standing 
next to it. IJ then gave thema nuptial feast, 
by pouring over them a little mixed sugar 
and water. 
The uninitiated, and those who are afraid 
of bees, may safely and successfully employ 
chloroform in uniting swarms and in artifi- 
cial swarming. Those accustomed to bees 
do not require the use of it, By blowing a 
little smoke from a bit of ignited fustian or 
corduroy cloth into a hive, they are able to 
turn it up, and doa great many things with 
the bees. In summer, bees can be drummed 
out of the hive; but in autumn and winter, 
drumming does not answer—the bees will 
notrun. To meet this difficulty, we pour a 
little sugar and water over the combs whence 
the bees are to be taken. In two or three 
minutes, they will be found sitting loosely 
on the combs, sipping at the sugar. From 
this they may be shaken by one sudden jerk, 
like snow from a man’s foot; or china from 
a tea-tray when it strikes against the door- 
post. In cold weather, it is a good way to 
unite swarms by candlelight, in abarn or 
empty house. 
First sprinkle the combs with sugar and 
water; then let the edges of the hive (in its 
right position )rest on your two hands, placed 
at opposite sides. Now lift it erect off the 
floor two feet, and give it a sudden shake 
downwards. You will thus cause all the 
bees to fall on the floor ; when the hive that 
is to receive them should be placed over 
them. 
If a little sugar is sprinkled over the combs 
of the receiving hive, all the better; though 
swarms neyer quarrel nor fight when united at 
night. They'’coalesce and become one asreadi- 
ly as water does with water. ‘The operation, 
so difficult to explain in few words, may be per- 
formed in less than five minutes; and by 
using chloroform, the bees may be got out of 
one hive and put into another in the space of 
two minutes. There need be no concern 
about two queens going together, for one will 
be kept—the other killed. 
One thing more should be mentioned—the 
hives one against another ought to be united. 
Were two swarms between which others are 
standing united, the bees would naturally go 
back to their old stool. 
For feeding bees, nothing can surpass loaf- 
sugar and water; mixed at the rate of a pound 
of one to a pint of the other, slightly boiled. 
As to the mode of giving it, nothing needs be 
said-—it is like poking the fire; everybody 
thinks his own way the best. . 
A. PETTIGREW. 
Woodside Gardens, Whetstone, 
September 20. 
SIGNS OF GOODNESS. 

If a man be gracious, and courteous to strangers, 
it shows he is a citizen of the world,—that his 
heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a 
continent that joins to them. 
If a man be compassionate, it proves his heart 
to be like the noble tree which is itself wounded 
when it gives forth the balm. If he easily pardons 
others, it shows that his mind is above injuries. 
If he be thankful for “small benefits,” it proves 
that he weighs men’s minds, and not thetr trash. 

