September 19, If89. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
255 
existed. Had I been plodding on in the old rut with straw hives, 
or even wooden boxes with solid crowns, I could not have improved 
the condition of things, but using then divisional hives, much like 
those I now use, I prevented drone comb being built in excess by 
preserving the barred boxes full of comb from the previous year to 
eke with, thereby getting stronger hives with less drone comb. In 
a year or two after I hit upon my frame hive contemporaneously 
with continental bee-keepers without having the slightest knowledge 
of what they were doing. This led me on to have a better know¬ 
ledge of the cause and effect of certain things in connection with 
the honey bee. I saw at once that a young and fertile queen did 
not influence the bees to swarm as in the cases where an aged one 
was regnant, unless when the bees became crowded in a too small 
hive, but I also saw that in cases, whether the queen was young or 
old, if the hive was extra large with a teeming population that hive 
had an inclination to swarm. Then if the weather was warm and 
favourable for bees to work and gather much pollen and a little 
honey, swarming was more certain than when honey was abundantly 
carried into the hive, the bees evidently more bent on filling up 
every available space with honey than on the increase of the colony; 
hence the queen, naturally desiring rest, was left undisturbed, and 
the weather breaking after the honey glut the bees became contented 
and swarming for the time ceased. Owing to this perhaps almost, 
if not wholly, exhausted queen, a fugitive swarm in spring was 
almost sure to issue, leaving nothing but combs behind, or an 
untimely one further on, leaving behind it comb3 but sparsely filled 
with brood. I have dissected many queens of the so-called 
“hungry swarms,” and not one of them had spermatheca to 
fertilise any great number of eggs, while some of them were com¬ 
pletely exhausted as well as the ovaries. I predicted last autumn 
that there would in all probability be much disappointment this 
summer from the above causes owing to so few young queens 
having mated, causing old ones to be kept, and it has turned out as 
I warned. 
Even lately some bee-keepers were bent on keeping queens that 
have done well the past summer, but after I remonstrated with 
them on the folly of doing so imported queens were obtained, and 
the old queens sent me for examination. All of them were 
exhausted, which not only showed on dissection, but the combs 
after heavy feeding did not contain a single egg. 
The foregoing shows plainly how swarming is brought about in 
ordinary bee-keeping. If a queen is seeking for repose or exhausted 
at a time the bees are actively at work, whether there is plenty of 
empty combs or not, royal cells are brought forward in greater or 
less numbers, which has something to do with the number of after 
swarms that will issue, depending on the breed in this respect only, 
but has nothing whatever to do with the issuing of the prime 
swarm. It is safe to say that the conditions required to bring about 
swarming are almost identical, whether the hive be large or s mall , 
unless in the case of a very fertile queen, when an eke has been 
given. 
HOW TO PREVENT IT, 
There is but one way, and that is to keep the hive in a normal 
state for working. Overhaul the combs at a suspected time, and 
note the appearance and attitude of the queen, and of the bees 
towards her, as well as that of the number of eggs laid, for it is 
well to state that shortly before the exhaustion of a queen she lays 
an extra number of eggs. If no royal cells are being raised the 
hive may be allowed to go on for a few days longer, but in most 
cases after a queen has laid greatly for nearly a year she should be 
marked as suspected. Before attempting to depose a seemingly 
fertile queen have in readiness a fertilised one to take her place. 
Take every precaution necessary for her welfare, cageing her at 
least twenty-four hours amongst or over the bees after the colony 
show signs that they miss their previous one, with a further 
examination to find if queen cells are being brought forward before 
letting her free. The young queen on being set free amongst the 
fraternised bees will shortly begin to lay, and that greater than at 
any time during her whole after-life. It is therefore absolutely 
necessary to give full scope to her laying powers by the introduc¬ 
tion of empty combs in lieu of full honey ones, or an additional 
breeding box. The daily hatching of many young bees will give 
her full scope, and there will be no inclination of the bees to 
swarm again from four to six weeks after, which by that time in 
many cases will not take place. The above is the only method by 
which swarming can be prevented.— A Lanarkshire Bee-keeper, 
BEES IN STRAW SKEPS—TAKING HONEY. 
I bought a swarm of bees this spring. They have swarmed twice, 
first about middle of June, second about fortnight later ; they are all in 
straw skeps. I intend taking the honey from the parent hive. Could 
you inform me the best time for such operations, also how to get the 
bees into another hive, and what kind would you recommend ? Which 
is the best manner to feed bees in skeps, and what is the best mixture l 
How would you manage to get the honey from the combs in a clean, 
state ?—-A Novice. 
[The best time to take the honey from straw skeps is in three weeks 
after the first swarm issues, because at that time, as a rule, little brood 
is in the combs, but even now there will be comparatively little. The 
bees require to be driven by the usual method, and then they can be 
re-run into whichever hive you choose, or the bees may be shaken on to 
a cloth and the hive placed directly over them, avoiding crushing any 
by placing two sticks beneath the hive. 
The best hive for every purpose is the Lanarkshire storifying hive., 
or if honey is not for sale the Stewarton. Any novice can make the 
former, and the latter can be had from Messrs. G. Neighbour & Sons, 
149, Regent Street, London. The mode of making the first named was 
fully described in previous numbers of this Journal. It will be neces¬ 
sary to have the frames fitted with foundation. A tin fountain with a 
wooden float (thin) is the best feeder for straw hives, but in case the 
bees do not clean out the syrup thoroughly remove it every morning. 
May be had from some dealer. The best feed is the best sugar to 
its equal weight in water dissolved over a slow fire, stirring the while 
till dissolved, boiling about one minute. 
To take the honey from combs in a clean state where it is much 
thickened nothing equals the Lanarkshire honey presser. Select the combs 
to be pressed, setting aside the portions containing pollen, then cut into 
strips size of perforated cylinder, ram down, and when full put unde? 
the screw. The portions containing pollen should be laid on their flat 
and pressed gently. After the honey is pressed it is necessary to strain 
through muslin. My strainers are a series of sieves, the last being a 
tapered and pointed muslin net bag depending on the kind of honey. 
The so called “ Rait presser” originated from this one, but is not 
adapted for taking large quantities of honey. Moreover, the hands are 
always soiled with honey, whereas with the Lanarkshire one no such 
thing occurs. As you will also be wishing to extract the wax no better 
instrument can be had for this purpose than the Lanarkshire presser, 
A wide cylinder of perforated tin lined with cheesecloth is all that is 
necessary. Put the wax into a large melting pot, melt, but not to boil 
the combs, then ladle the wax into the cheesecloth (bag or loose)-, 
close the opening and press. With such an instrument several combs of 
wax could be melted daily, and not a speck of wax out of place.—A 
Lanarkshire Bee-keeper.] 
° a ° All correspondence should be directed either to “ Tun 
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Hogg or members of the staff often remain unopened un¬ 
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unjustifiable trouble and expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions, 
relating to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and shoulds 
never send more than two or three questions at once. All 
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tions. 
Address (W. S .).—You have inadvertently omitted your name and-i 
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Grapes (A C. and Cambrian ).—Letters arriving on Wednesday' 
morning cannot be satisfactorily answered in the current issue, whichi 
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