May 14, 189L ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
895 
■want of sunshine is against the bees, many still being chilled to 
death ■when returning from long flights. 
Severing Storifying Hives. 
Very often the bees round and finish off their combs without 
attachments, but when it occurs insert the wire from the front, 
whether they be supers or divisions ; if the latter, draw the mouth¬ 
piece, this ■will facilitate matters. With a knife or thin screwdriver 
pressed wedge-ways about an inch or less from the front separate 
the two divisions enough, but not more, to allow the wire to enter. 
Common copper bell wire is a good size. No. 16, as it does not 
run into the wood so readily as smaller sized wire. One piece of 
short wood is fastened at each end, which forms what we call a 
“ twitch ” as handles. When the wire is drawn back (by a sawing 
movement) to the screwdriver or turnscrew take the latter out and 
put it in front a little further than at first, and you will find the work 
easy, and much quicker done than it takes to write this. After 
the wire is half through the turnscrew may be pushed still 
further in. 
Fixing Foundation to Super Bars. 
The best method of fixing foundation to super bars is to have 
the bars grooved wide enough to admit the foundation easily 
without pressing. Then pour melted wax from a smelter on 
both sides, holding the bar at an angle so that the wax will 
flow freely to all parts the whole length of the foundation. Or 
take melted wax from a glue-pot ■with a teaspoon, and pour from it 
into the groove of the bar ; the spoon to be kept immersed in the 
■wax when not in the act of pouring, as if kept out the wax sets, 
and it is too cold to take a grip of the foundation. If the bars are 
more than one-eighth of an inch thick the above process is the best, 
but if only one-eighth it will be better to secure the foundation 
with a fastener of some sort. 
I fasten mine by the aid of the honey presser, and a foundation 
fastener, consisting of a sole having a slotted gauge to guide the 
foundation to the centre of bar. The upper part is suspended on 
two kneed irons, and has a tooth wrought upon the front edge 
about one-eighth of an inch broad and a quarter of an inch deep. 
A piece of tin is fastened to the slotted gauge, which is the guide 
proper. The front edge of it is angled to catch the foundation, 
and as the upper jaw is balanced so that the back part is a little 
hea'vier than the front the jaw rises with the screw. The founda¬ 
tion is laid flat upon the bar or section, and the tin tongue guides 
it to the centre ; then a quarter or half turn of the screw presses 
it firmly on and into the wood ; then the foundation is turned 
against the face of the jaw to a right angle. The whole thing is 
performed in a few seconds. I have other fixers that are fastened 
to a bench, but the principle is the same, and are wrought by the 
hand. Foundation is sometimes fixed by dipping its edge into a 
shallow saucer of wax kept warm by a spirit lamp. When fixing 
foundation both it and the wood should be slightly heated. Then 
there is the plan of fixing by heating the edge on a hot plate, 
described and illustrated lately by “ A Sussex Bee-keeper.” 
Forming Nuclei. 
There is no better way of forming nuclei than in about ten 
days after the first swarm has issued from a stock hive to divide 
the combs, bees, and queen cells into as many nuclei as the bee¬ 
keeper thinks will be strong enough to work and defend itself from 
robbers. From six to eight make capital nuclei, although I have 
frequently formed twelve from a single stock, but it is much safer 
to have the lesser number. I use small boxes that hold four 
frames for the purpose. Every nucleus must have a queen cell, 
with all the bees adhering to the comb. The one that is kept upon 
the old stand will have most bees. Give it the fewest combs, 
and all small entrances, and fill the box with full-sheeted frames. 
Premature S-warms. 
The fine weather has brought the cuckoo, the swallow, land¬ 
rail, and absconding or “ hunger swarms.” It is only a few months 
since one of our contemporaries said that “ the cause of these 
swarms was unknown.” I have repeatedly for many years past ex. 
plained what was the cause of the majority of them. On the 5th 
of May I observed an unusual commotion amongst my bees, which 
I suspected absconding swarms to be the cause, but could not 
determine whether they might be from some of my own or from 
some other apiary. However, by the afternoon of that day I 
observed many killed bees at a number of my hives. The follow¬ 
ing day there were still more, and at one of them found a dead 
queen not belonging to any of mine, which I dissected, and as usual 
found the ovaries completely dried although healthy looking. 
There were only three or four young bees in the hive, and there 
can be no doubt but that in most cases of bees deserting their 
hive is due to effete queens. I have had others sent me, and every 
one shows signs of exhaustion or decay of the ovaries. 
Healthy Bees Without Pollen. 
Lately in a previous article I showed the absurdity of writers 
asserting that bees required pollen in addition to honey to preserve 
them alive and vigorous during winter. I can now give further 
testimony refuting the argument. The hive that I referred to in 
that article has lost few bees, and are besides healthy. Other 
three sugar-fed hives, in a district where it was impossible for bees 
to get pollen, are in a similar prosperous condition ; it is therefore 
simply absurd to say that bees, like some animals, require both 
nitrogenous and carbonaceous foods to keep them in health and 
strength. It may look well from a theoretical point of view, but 
it is not sound practically. 
Comb-building. 
It is quite desirable that beginners should know something 
about how bees build their combs, and for what purposes. Wax is 
a natural secretion, which oozes from the rings or joints of the 
abdomen in small scales, two coming from each joint, one from the 
right and the other from the left side, from at least four of them. 
After several weeks old every bee in the hive is capable of secret¬ 
ing wax, which goes on more or less for nine or ten months in the 
year, or from the time breeding commences in December till it 
stops in October, for in many cases bees breed so early and so late 
It is used for comb-building, and in combination with pollen for 
sealing the brood cells, and by itself or in combination with 
propolis for stopping up crevices in the hive or contracting its 
doorway in autumn. The bees take the wax scales from their 
own bodies by the aid of their feet, but more often one bee 
yields it up to its neighbour, which may be witnessed in any hive. 
The bees manipulate these scales of wax between their mandibles^ 
which by the aid of a secreted substance from the glands in their 
head the wax is softened and becomes pliable to the will and 
mandibles of the bee. It will thus be seen that new-made combs 
are not absolutely pure wax, but consist of something else which 
gives the combs more delicacy, and although greyish at first soon 
become beautifully white. 
I should say the proportion of this unknown matter is about 
one to six of pure wax in some cases. It is much heavier and 
more brittle than wax, and cannot be made into foundation. It 
certainly consists of pure wax in certain proportions to the other 
material, and is most plentiful in the seals of the honeycomb. 
There is not so much of it to be found in brood comb, but in all 
pure honeycomb it is present. Wax from pure white super comb 
smells strongly of tallow, while that from brood combs has the 
odour of pollen and propolis. Pure wax of the former has been 
pronounced by some of our modern experts as a mixture of tallow 
and wax! 
Worker Cells. 
These are always built when a swarm is put into an empty hive 
ha^ving a young or fertile queen, until the combs exceed the size of 
the swarm. After that, if honey is coming in, drone combs are apt 
to be built, nor for the purpose of storing honey, as some writers 
say, but simply to work out Nature’s plans, and preparing to 
swarm. Whenever the incoming of honey ceases drone combs are 
