810 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 9, 1884 
had some experience before attempting that. The most clever 
attempt I ever made in capturing a queen bee occupied exactly 
one week, from about eight o'clock a.m. till four o’clock p.m. 
each day. I was quite familiar with this queen’s appearance, 
having witnessed her a number of times leaving, then re-entering 
the hive after being in search of the drone. Her appearance, 
unless in the legs, was similar to the workers, and after she w'as 
caught distinguished bee-keepers pronounced her a small woi-ker. 
A post-mortem examination proved her quite a normal queen in 
other respects. To find such a queen would have puzzled many, 
and not a few of the experts who compete in driving and catch¬ 
ing the qiieen at bee shows. 
To be successful in catching queens the bee-keeper must 
know first the appearance of queens, then experience must teach 
the rest. To assist, however, in the art of catching queens 
I may be allowed to explain that queens in common straw hives 
will, when the bees are being driven, drop to the top of the hive, 
the bottom when inverted ; then when frame hives are manipu¬ 
lated the queen drops from the comb to the side of the hive or 
tioor, and will not unfrequently by out. If her wings are not 
mutilated and the day warm she may return, but if they are 
injured she will probably be lost. The mutilating of queen’s 
wings incite the bees to raise young ones, which hastens her 
deposition; then the better a queen can by the abler will she be 
to follow the swarm, which I never knew one fail to do. When 
the queen is unable to by, or is caught in the act of swarming, 
the bees neither settle nor swarm satisfactorily. 
When hives are properly managed there should not be any 
manipulation required after September until the month of April 
or May (suspected cases excepted', unless in the cleaning of 
floorboards, which can also be dispensed with if perforated zinc 
is used. All inspections of hives during winter, to ascertain 
whether food is required or anything el^se, is but the work of 
ignorance, and hastens that which eminent bee-keepers seek to 
avoid—viz., the wearing out and the loss of bees; but here 
again must the novice be puzzled, because the individuals who 
seek to do away with the brimstone pit by saving the con¬ 
demned bees through driving tell us that bees living now are of 
no use in a hive in spring, if such teachers would explain how 
these conflicting statements can be reconciled it would benefit 
beginners. 
Having disposed in a partial way of the impropriety of hand¬ 
ling queens and manipulating the hive, I will endeavour to show 
some of the causes of queenless hives and how to detect them. 
Any manipulation that induces bees to gorge themselves and 
exposure of the combs excites robbers that often set upon the 
queen and kill her, when the bees through their surfeit do not 
attempt defence. Injudicious feeding, exposure of honey or 
syrup, gives the bees in all apiaries for miles around the fever to 
rob, when many queens may be expected to be killed. 
Then there is the deposition of queens through stimulative 
feeding and irregular combs, such as is sure to be found in the 
hives of those who spread the brood, or in those containing much 
drone comb, perhaps made if the queen was removed, when the 
gathering of honey takes place. Here again is information 
wanted. Do bees hatch quicker or begin to work at a younger 
age when queen is removed than when they are allowed to 
remain, as they should be ? I will pause for an answer to this, 
and explain to “ Y. B. A. Z.” that what he describes as “ the 
bees were in a state of great excitement, dashing wildly about in 
the front of the hive, as if robbing was going on,” &e., is exactly 
as he describes the first signs of the want of a queen, which 
almost bat not always takes place. When the excitement had 
subsided it is a proof that a successor is being raised, and he 
may find his hive not queenless, but with a confirmed drone- 
breeder. To kno V a queenless hive by the disconsolate hum it 
is necessary to listen for some time. If a steady hum is con¬ 
tinued then all is right, but if the noise is spasmodic then it is 
queenless. In quesnless hives the bees at the entrance seem 
more languid, and do not rush out and in with the same activity 
as do the bees with a queen; their antennae are more drooping, 
and they do not seek water, nor feed as bees having a queen. 
In manipulating an experienced bee-keeper can tell at a glance 
by their movements as well as the sound. The easiest way to 
detect the presence or non-presence of a queen is to examine the 
combs. If there are eggs and worker brood, all is right; if not, 
something is wrong. The feeding back supers or frames of 
honey in the body of the hive if cautiously done is very good, 
but neither so good nor safe as when done from above, and if 
done on the principle of interposing an empty super between the 
hive and the full one the bees will soon clean the honey down, as 
they often do with filled supers, to the bee-keeper’s chagrin. 
If “ Y. B. A. Z.” will turn back to some of the earlier issues 
of this Journal he will find that the system of feeding back is not 
a suggestion of Abbott's, and if he searches farther he will 
find “ R. S.” suggested carbolic acid as a quieter, preventer of 
robbing, and disinfectant as well. The reasons it was not gene¬ 
rally adopted and fell into abeyance I could easily explain, but 
it is a fact that caiholic acid has been used in some apiaries for 
at least a dozen years, and an Ayrshire bee-keeper with whom I 
am ac (uainted had at that time a supply of two gallons to fight 
the fell destroyer. From the many experiments I have made, 
microscopically and by the application of carbolic acid, I can 
endorse much of what Mr. Cheshire says, which every bee-keeper 
ought to be proud, and trust Mr. Cheshire will reap reward for 
his labours, notwithstanding the fact so many are trying to fore¬ 
stall him. I have some combs that were treated in a diseased 
state two years ago perfectly free from disease, and two of my 
best hives at this moment were much diseased last aut imn, but 
being treated with carbolic acid are now free from disease. 
Notwithstanding these assuring experiments I look upon carbolic 
acid more as a preventive than a cur?, and always r gard dis- 
eas d hms as unprofitable.—A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper. 
THE BESr ASPECT FOR WINTERING BEES. 
In reply to “ R. S. V. P.,” I may state that my halcyon days in bee* 
keeping were for nearly twenty years, when all my hives faced north 
during both summer and winter. The apiary was, however, within an 
enclosure where the winds from north-wesq north, and east never touched 
the hives, and not the slightest eddy at any time could be felt. When 
the sun shone its rays penetrated the enclosure, so that when the bees 
ventured out tliey had every advantage ; and as I took especial care to 
have all the alighting beards protected from damp, the bees were never 
chilled, enabling them to reach their entrance with safety. The hives 
stmding in complete shelter, the bees were never seduced to leave their 
hives at an improper time, the result being always good and well-advanced 
hives. 
Another aspect with the hives facing north would not be so favour¬ 
able—viz., if the hives were placed on the north side of a high wall or 
other fence without shelter from north-west, north, and east, many bees 
would be lost when out, besides those in the hive would be more con¬ 
tracted, and the hive colder, so that breeding would not go on so briskly, 
early, and profitable. At all seasons hives should have a position free 
from winds. Where that is wanting artificial means to attain it should 
b3ad)pted. Doubtless the less bees fly during winter the less food is 
consumed. Another important matter is that hives should afford ready 
access to the bees ; tunnels detain them, and during chilly weather many 
are lost. 
Bees leaving their hives prematurely can only be remedied after the 
fact, if they are not lost. On capturing the swarm they should be put 
into dry comb®, if these can be had ; if not, the hive they left should be 
thoroughly heated and dried before returning them. Then feed to en¬ 
courage breeding, as after that is commenced in earnest bees do not leave 
prematurely so readily.—A Lanarkshire Bee-kkeper. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
William Barron, Sketty Nursery Farm, Swansea.— Catalogue of Orna¬ 
mental Trees, Shrubs, Fruit Trees, <^e. 
George Bunyard & Co., The Old Nurseries, Maidstone.— Catalogue of 
Roses, Bulbs, ij'c. 
Dammann ifc Co., Portici, Naples.— General Seed Catalogue. 
All coiTespondence should be directed either to “The Editor” 
or to “ The Publisher.” Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. We 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions rel.it- 
ing to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should never 
send more than two or three questions at once. All articles in¬ 
tended for insertion should be written on one side of the paper 
only. "We cannot reply to questions through the post, and we 
do not undertake to return reiected communications. 
Making Stokehole Watertight (P. R.). —If you consult a practical 
builder on the subject we think he will have no difficulty in erecting a 
divisional wall that will resist the action of the heat; the greatest diffi- 
