44 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Arm 19, 1859. 
Drones hare also appeared very early in two of my stocks : in j 
No. 9, they were flying in and out on April 2nd; and in No. 10, 
on the following day. 
Tho loss of weight in five of my hives during the past winter, 
from the end of September to tho end of February, was as 
follows :— 
No. G decreased 5 lbs. 4ozs. I No. 8 decreased 4 lbs. 4ozs. 
No. 7 ,, Gibs. Gozs. j No. 9 „ 5lbs. Sozs. j 
No. 10 decreased. 4 lbs. 12 ozs. 
The rest were not weighed in the autumn. 
The stock which has appeared the most populous (No. 7) has j 
decreased the most; which rather tends to refute the argument of 
those who assert that, the more numerous the bees the less food I 
they require during the winter. No. 8 has certainly been my 
weakest colony, and has consumed less than any other. Perhaps I 
in a colder winter the reverse might be the result. 
One of the above (No. G) is a stock which was formed by the 
union of two very weak families last spring. The bees work 
beautifully, and show evident signs of an increasing population. 
Hence is made manifest the utility of the junction of weak hives : 
had these two been kept separate, in all likelihood neither would 
have been in existence at the close of summer. In the latter part 
of last autumn, through the pages of The Cottage Gardener, 
I requested Mr. Tegetmeier to inform mo of the result of his 
experiments with regard to artificial hives, formed from ex¬ 
patriated bees. He has lately had the kindness to do so; and 
states that he has been successful in keeping some, or all, alive. 
It may bo remembered that “ The Devonshire Bee-keeper,” 
in his interesting papers of that period, makes frequent allusion 
to a stock formed by the driven bees of four cottage hives. Being 
liberally supplied with sugared syrup, a large amount of comb 
tvas built, chiefly at the two sides of the box ; the centre combs 
remaining about six inches from the back window. Singularly 
enough, the great bulk of the bees chose this hollow space for their 
winter clustering, and were always fully exposed to view; while, 
in the boxes adjoining, hardly a bee was to be seen. About the 
20th of March, a great increase in the size of these centre combs 
was suddenly made manifest; and from that time to this, wax-work - 
ing has been carried on vigorously—two of the combs having been 
attached to the glass on April 6th, and a considerable quantity 
of the purest honey could be seen glistening in the cells. 'I he 
temperature was raised in this hive to a higher pitch, and much 
earlier than in any of the rest^seeming to prove that bees have 
the power, to a certain extent, irrespective of population, of 
raising the heat at will to a proper wax-secreting point. This 
stock bids fair to be one of the best in my friend’s apiary. As I 
rather endorsed Mr. Tegetmeier’s opinion as to pollen entering 
largely as a constituent of the food of adult bees, 1 must ac¬ 
knowledge that the success of this experiment seems rather to 
militate against our argument. These driven bees have had 
hardly any access to pollen at all from the time of their trans¬ 
ference to their present domicile, in September, until tho middle of 
February ; yet they have remained most healthy, and have shown 
an advancement equal, if not superior to, that of any other hive 
I know. The winter has certainly been most favourable for 
colonies formed under such circumstances ; and we must extend 
our experiments before we can come to any definite conclusion, 
either as regards the importance of pollen to the adult bees, or as 
to the advisability of forming artificial stocks, from such sources. 
In the general run of years such attempts will, probably, more 
frequently prove unsatisfactory than otherwise. 
On Christmas day I captured a queen wasp in a parlour, and 
kept it alive for many weeks ; but never could observe it make 
use of the moistened sugar with which it was occasionally sup¬ 
plied. 
Pollen was largely carried in during the second week in 
February; and on the 21st of that month, having occasion to 
remove two hives into town, I went out to do so at half-past five 
P.M., but the bees were so actively engaged, that a delay of an 
hour was necessary. 
Management eoe Atril.—I f not already done, the bottom 
boards—more particularly of old stocks—should bo removed and 
cleaned. As the population in a good hive has become pretty 
numerous, care should be taken to place three or four small 
wedges on the board or table before putting the hive down ; and 
when tho bees have become tolerably quiet, one wedge at a time 
can be gently removed—by which means none need be crushed. 
In some seasons feeding might still be necessary; but is not 
likely to be required this year. It is a good plan to weigh all 
hives once a week or fortnight; and if a diminution of weight is 
observable, and the bees appear increasing in numbers, a few 
ounces of food will be very beneficial. Particular care will be 
necessary, should a month or six weeks of cold, cutting easterly 
winds follow this late most genial period ; as breeding has re¬ 
ceived a great stimulus, and a corresponding consumption w ill be 
necessary. 
Towards the end of the month, if the weather be still favour¬ 
able, all strong hives, if appearing much crowded, intended for 
working on the depriving principle, should be afforded the 
necessary enlargement of space. But in my opinion it is always 
better to afford the room at the exact time" when required (that 
is, when the hive really becomes inconveniently crowded), than 
to do so long before the bees are in a state to take advantage of 
it: as, in tho former ease, they will often adjourn in a large body, 
and at once commence operations; while in the latter a few 
stragglers only will enter; and it may be a considerable time 
before the working cluster is, as it were, forced into the empty 
chamber by the increasing heat and population, which may both 
have been somewhat checked by the untimely enlargement.— 
S. Bevan Fox, Exeter. 
BEES SECRETING WAX.—THE SEASON. 
Mr. AVighton holds the Horatian motto good as to “ fenacem 
propositi virum;” and I am sure I wish him every success in 
the development of his new theory. As he alludes to one or 
two observations made by me in a former communication, 1 may 
mention that I was aware that bees carried propolis and farina 
on the cavities of their thighs more than fifty years ago ; and I 
note his remarks respecting the species of Nettle which produces 
a small, pendant, white blossom, and is the constant resort of 
several species of the wild bees, particularly the Botvins muscorwn, 
and Bomltts subterraneus, &e., for nearly three months after 
Midsummer. This Nettle, which may be found in almost every 
ditch in the west of England, I certainly did not give it the 
Linnaean name, nor do I at present know it; and, therefore, I 
refer him at somo future time to watch these bees on this most 
common species of the Nettle to be found anywhere. 
My apiary, at present, is a very limited one, having a small 
garden, and living in but a middling bee country ; but a few years 
ago I could muster twenty-six hives in my garden, besides tw o 
show-hives indoors, leaf hives invented by Huber, and now gene¬ 
rally in use by bee-keepers who wish to study the movements in 
the hive. 
During this most extraordinary early spring, I hope some bee¬ 
keepers will announce their first swarms. Up to this date I never 
recollect so forward a blossom on the trees. 
I greatly fear a considerable number of days of cold easterly 
winds are in store, and a dry May—too frequently the prelude 
to a wet summer. The vernal equinox was a very tempestuous 
one, with south-westerly winds. This, also, is generally an index 
of a showery, cold summer.—H. AY. Newman, Lansdowne , 
Cheltenham. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Deficiencies (Mrs. F. II.). —You are quite right, and we are making 
arrangements to remedy them. 
Chewe i’ori.TRY Fiuees (A. F. Watlcins). —Issue the summons from the 
County Court District Office in which Crewe is situated. Though, we 
believe, you might issue it from the Court within the District in which you 
reside. Ask some attorney who practises in your County Court. 
Food for Young Chickens (A very Old Subscriber). —“We have given 
them boiled egg and ground barley for the first week. Afterwards, ground 
barley only. The result is, the death of one-half of two broods of twenty- 
two. The crops are full of food and hard.” 
[You will see some notes on this subject in another column. The sudden 
change from a mixed animal and vegetable diet, to a diet exclusively vege¬ 
table, was had management. We continue to give chickens chopped egg 
and shreds of cooked meat until they are a month old; and we prefer oat¬ 
meal to barleymeal for them. AVe also give them abundance of green 
food daily, when the weather does not permit their running out upon the 
grass. W'e give cabbage and lettuce leaves chopped very small.] 
AsrECT for Bees (A. Y- -, Darlington).— Much controversy has been 
expended on the subject of the best aspect for an apiary; hut local circum¬ 
stances must, after all, be largely taken into account. We have known 
bees do well in almost every aspect, from due south to north, provided 
they were not exposed to much wind, and had a clear opening for an unob¬ 
structed flight in front, with good protection at the hack, either by build¬ 
ings or a plantation of evergreens, &c. We cannot recommend the use of 
either ether or chloroform for stupifying bees: neither do we advise you to 
make any attempt to remove your stocks from one kind of hive into some 
other. Your straw hives being old and worn out, you had better let the 
bees swarm, and hive them in a new habitation. The old stocks then become 
available for spoliation in the autumn; the bees being then added to some 
weak stock, either by tire process of driving or fumigation. 
