March 27.J 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
405 
to renew it immediately that the drones appeared; but as 
lie lived at some distance, and could not, tell a drone from a 
common bee, the luve was left to its own resources. It threw 
off a famous swarm accordingly on the first of June, and a 
cast some days later, which, however, returned to the parent 
stock. Both hives are now heavy, and promise well. I 
mention this story to show with how much impunity a stock 
may be meddled with even at the height of the breeding 
season ; it should, however, be carefully handled for fear of 
disengaging the combs, which are now heavy witli brood, 
especially in the case of a new hive, whose combs are fresh 
and brittle. 
Three days after the above incident I paid my apiarian 
friend, Mr. C., a return visit, and assisted him in forming 
several artificial swarms. He had three stocks, in different 
degrees of prosperity, upon all of which he determined to 
operate. The first, a very strong one, had been set over an 
empty flat-topped hive, far down into which the bees already 
descended, though no works had yet been commenced in it. 
This was driven in the early morning, before breakfast, with 
complete success, though these bees were excessively irri¬ 
table ; the fact was, that the day before saw the commence¬ 
ment, in tliis part of the country, of the grand honey-harvest, 
of the year, and the bees, in consequence, were in an universal 
state of bustle and activity. The morning, too, was warm 
and cloudless, and the sun shone full upon the hive. It may 
be (though 1 am as sceptical as anybody on the point) that 
the bees had scented the honey-dew , and that this was one 
of those critical moments when (to ((note Dr. Bevan’s words) 
“ so great is the ardour of the bees, and so rapid their 
movements, that it is often dangerous to be placed between 
the hives and the dew.” * Be this as it may, thanks to the 
protection afforded by two of Mr. Payne’s admirable bee- 
dresses, our insect foes were vanquished in spite of prodigies 
of valour on their part; the swarm was driven out of the 
ohl stock in due time, forced to enter a large new hive, seven¬ 
teen inches in diameter by twelve inches in height, and (in 
the course of the afternoon) made to replace the old stock, 
which, by the way, had been instantly removed to another 
stand (after the expulsion of the swarm), fastened up, and 
well shaded from the sun. In this instance, because we 
had taken precautions to leave a considerable number of 
bees among its combs, the aid of artificial or external heat 
was not so necessary as in the previous case. 
Towards the close of the day, about six o’clock r.ai., we 
drove, with equal success, the second stock, in which no drones 
had yet appeared, on which account I in vain endeavoured 
to dissuade my friend from disturbing them. A consider¬ 
able number of bees in this instance, also, were left among 
the combs of the old hive, which was moved away as the 
former had been (its place being taken by the new swarm, 
its hopeful offspring), and planted close beside it, with all 
the means of egress from it carefully stopped up. The 
swarm obtained at this second driving could not have been 
more than one-third as large as the first swarm, yet it was 
placed, contrary to my advice, in a hive in every respect 
similar to the other. 
The third artificial swarm was not made till quite dusk. 
[ 
* Happening to be in London the other day, I availed myself of the 
opportunity of increasing my apiarian library by sundry purchases among 
the Holborn booksellers. Among other authors an old copy of Bonner’s 
celebrated work fell into my hands, who, I find, was himself practically 
ignorant of the existence of honey-dew, and its collection by bees. As 
this is at present a subject of critical investigation among your apiarian 
readers (and we must all have our eyes about us next summer), I may be 
allowed to transcribe the following observations of this admirable bee- 
master. “ A friend informed me,” he says, “ that he has often discovered 
both bees and ants upon the oak leaves, sipping the honey-dew; which 
agrees with the Abb4 Boissier de Sauvages’s account of it in France, as 
quoted by Wildman. For my part, although I have often travelled many 
miles in the finest weather to places were oaks were growing in great 
abundance, in order to satisfy myself on that point, yet I never could 
discover a single drop of honey on them or any bees to collect it. And 
many persons have assured me, that they never saw a single bee upon an 
oaken-leaf collecting honey.” Yet he goes on to say, “ I am, neverthe¬ 
less, far from discrediting the report; as those who are situated nearer 
extensive woods have doubtless much better opportunities of ascertaining 
this fact than I. And that there are honey-dews to be discovered in such 
situations I readily believe, as I have often observed my own bees col- i 
lecting honey (? propolis) from the outsides of the sockets of different \ 
flowers, particularly from those of the wildrunchos (?), instead of extract¬ 
ing it by their proboscis from the inside. I have sometimes, though very 
seldom, observed them on a fine morning about sunrise, busily employed | 
upon the leaves of a white thorn at a lime when there was not a single : 
flower to be seen on it.” I have, myself, seen much sweet dew on oaks, 1 
but certainly not a bee to eat it. 
As the old Hive was only half full of comb, not. half the bees 
were got out of it. These, however, were shaken out at 
night into a small flat-topped hive, and took the place of the 
old hive, which, in its turn, was located near the other 
similarly circumstanced hives, and treated in the same 
manner. 
On revisiting the scene of action the following day, all the 
swarms seemed to be very busy ; but, on examing the third 
swarm the next morning, to our astonishment, not more 
than a cupfull of bees were found in it. The only reason¬ 
able conjecture we could make, and it was doubtless the true 
one, was, that we had failed in driving the queen, on which 
account, when the bees missed her, they must have entered 
the neighbouring hive, which fortunately happened to be the 
weakest of the two remaining swarms. Certain it is that 
this swarm, which had been small out of all proportion to 
the extent of its dwelling, appeared to have increased con¬ 
siderably in size, and it throve far beyond my utmost 
expectations, as will be shown in the sequel. 
The imprisoned bees in the old stock, whose inhabitants 
had first been driven, were liberated the second evening, 
the others not till the third morning, after which everything 
seemed to go on well. Thus we had succeeded in forcing 
two magnificent swarms (one answering to this description 
more particularly), while the three original stocks remained 
for further experiment; two of them being without queens, 
as we certainly ascertained afterwards, and all three suffi¬ 
ciently well off in point of population. A Country Curate. 
THE YEARLY TRANSACTIONS OF THE HEN-YARD. 
A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR THOSE WHO MAY WISH TO KEEP A 
FEW FOWLS AND FIND THEM PROFITABLE. 
{Continued'from p. 380.) 
APRIL. 
Having now considered at large the management of the 
hen whilst sitting, we next come to the process of hatching, 
and the care of both hen and chickens at that period. 
From the twentieth to the twenty-second day, the little 
chickens make their appearance. The hatching will some¬ 
times take place on the nineteenth or twentieth day, but the 
day three weeks is, I believe, the most usual time. I have 
found it best to take the chickens away from the mother, 
until she has hatched all the eggs; but I have known some 
persons who leave them with the hen, and have quite as 
much success with their broods as I have. The hen must 
not be disturbed more than necessary while hatching—at 
the usual feeding time, and once more in the twenty-four 
hours—not oftener. 
As to helping the chickens out of the eggshell, this is 
indeed a sorry task, and I am sorry, on this point, to agree 
with all who have written on the subject. A chick that is 
too weakly to get out of the shell without assistance, stands 
little chance of living to enjoy the life thus preserved to it. 
Malay chickens, however, I have assisted with success, for 
in the eggs of this fowl, the inner skin of the shell is so 
tough, that a strong chick is often unable to burst it without 
help. In this case, after the egg has been sprung sometime, 
and if the chicken makes the shell crack, but is unable to 
to break the inner skin, this may be a little nipped with 
something sharp, but it must be done with the greatest care, 
as a touch may kill or greatly injure the little delicate being 
within. When you remove the lien, clear away the empty 
shells and any eggs you are quite sure are bad, but handle 
them with the greatest caution. 
Wet, or at any rate damp weather is most favourable for 
hatching. If the day is fine and dry, I have found it a good 
plan to moisten the air artificially. Have a tea kettle full of 
boiling water carried into the hen-house, place a watering- 
pot near the nest, and pour the water into it making as 
much steam as you can; then with the water in the watering- 
pot, water the floor of the house, using a rose. If the hen is 
tame, she will be glad to have a little water offered to heron 
the nest, and will drink eagerly. If the little chickens are 
removed from the nest while the hen is still engaged in 
hatching, they must be placed in a basket and kept warm. 
If a knitting pattern could be admitted within the pages of 
a book on gardening, I could give a receipt for a much 
better temporary mother than a simple piece of flannel. 
I 
