378 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September 20, 1859. 
The old stock, witli hire and board . . .30 lbs. 
The first swarm . . •. . . . . 37 
The issue from the first . . . . .30 
The last.34£ 
13H 
Thus giving 131J lbs. gross weight, the result of one stock. 
In the next paper I hope to give a table of the produce taken 
from my own apiary, consisting of sixteen hives; but I must 
now draw the attention of those interested in the study of bees 
to a few facts which appear by no means of common occurrence. 
Fact I.—In the garden of Mr. G. Fox, of Kingsbridge, stood 
an old straw hive full of combs, but untenanted by bees since 
the preceding November. There was no honey whatever in the 
hive. Towards the end of June bees began to visit it; a few 
score of which remained through the night. On July 6th, bees 
were flying in and out pretty regularly, and were storing honey 
in the old conib ; and not only so, but they actually made a small 
bit of new comb. At no time was there any queen in the butt. 
The nearest hive was at least a quarter of a mile distant, so that 
it is evident that the bees of some probably-well-filled stock were 
using this skep of empty combs as a temporary storehouse. Such j 
instances have been recorded, but are, I should think, very rare. 
Fact II.—The same observer states, that in cutting out a few 
strands in the centre of a straw hive some new and white comb 
was removed with it, and thrown by. He saw bees visit it, and 
load their thighs with the wax. He puts this query—“Were 
they going to work it up for new comb, or use it as propolis ? ” 
I have no doubt that it was destined to be worked up into new 
comb, as I have noticed more than one instance this year of 
fragments of comb being used for the purpose. 
Fact III.—The following account of a swarm’s vagaries is 
rather amusing. A stock belonging to a reverend gentleman of 
Kingsbridge threw off a fine swarm on Wednesday, June 29th. 
No one being near to hive them, the bees returned; but, after¬ 
wards, a fine, old , weighty queen, in the midst of about twenty of 
her subjects, was discovered on the ground, about midway between 
the hive and where the swarm clustered. The watcher, a boy, 
restored her to the hive. Four hours and a half afterwards they 
again swarmed, were hived, but soon went back. The following 
day (Thursday), they a third time issued, and divided in two 
portions—first, a good-sized swarm in a bush near the hive; 
then a smaller cluster pitched two fields off; while a still smaller 
lot left the last and settled near it. The owner hived the two 
clusters in the field, leaving the hive there while he returned to 
secure the other and larger part of this undoubted first swarm : 
but, behold, they had all left, and were back in the parent stock ! 
The owner now called in the aid of Mr. G. Fox, who inspected 
the two united clusters, which, though by no means forming a 
large swarm, he wished to retain as a stock. On lifting the butt, 
a dead young queen lay on the cloth. Nothing could have 
delayed swarming so far as weather was concerned, yet this issue 
of young queens took place on the day following the first issue of 
tire old queen with the first swarm. The new swarm was now 
placed on the old stock’s stand that it might be strengthened, 
but was removed the following day to its proper position and the 
old stock reinstated. In the afternoon of that day (Friday), the 
old stock swarmed again —a very fine swarm, and hived nicely in 
a clean good hive. The smaller lot was united to them, and they 
were left apparently contented. At five o’clock the same day, 
after four hours of quiet, they had all gone back to the stock. 
On Saturday they swarmed for the last time, pitched in the same 
place, were hived in the same butt, and, although apparently not 
so large as before, they remained quiet and worked satisfactorily. 
Fact IY.—Bees will, contrary to Huber’s assertion, imme¬ 
diately attack and sting to death a strange queen. I introduced 
a queen at the entrance of my observatory-hive. In one moment 
she lay quivering in the agonies of death, stung by two bees. 
Again : a few days since I removed the queen from a box, prior 
to substituting one of the yellow Ligurian race obtained from 
Switzerland. I placed the dethroned queen in a tumbler, with 
but one of her subjects, which died. As I wanted to keep her 
for a few days, I caught a few bees from another stock, and 
placed them with her. At first they did not perceive her, but 
commenced filling themselves with the honey in the glass; but 
when by accident they came near her, first one, and then another, 
attacked her with the greatest fury, and the sting of one was 
quickly fastened in her head, and the other pierced her frequently 
between the abdomen and thorax. Now, Huber, if I recollect 
rightly, asserts that bees will surround a queen and starve, or 
suffocate, but never sting her to death. In this he is undoubtedly 
wrong, as three such instances as I have related have now come 
under my own observation. 
In The Cottage Gardener of June 21st, there appeared a 
paper by its respected correspondent, “ B. and \V.,” relating how 
his fourth apiary was established by means of artificial swarms. 
It would be very gratifying to me, and, doubtless, to many others, 
if he would give an early report of his success with these hives. 
I have tried it in one instance this season, prior to the appearance 
of his paper, but it did not answer so well as the natural swarms 
of equal weight which I hived at the same time. But this may 
be accounted for from the probability of the queen being an old 
one, the stock having never been permitted to throw off a swarm. 
Nevertheless, this hive, though it appeared to increase but little 
in population during the summer, was found on its removal from 
the heath, where it had been located for the past three weeks, to 
have every comb that was not filled with honey completely full 
of sealed brood, larva, and eggs. I captured the queen, which 
■was evidently an old one. 
It cannot be said that this artifically-made swarm has not 
answered, as it has given me 8|- lbs. of fine honey, by removal of 
loaded bars, and has filled its one Stewarton-box; but in com¬ 
parison with others, and more particularly with a Stewarton-hive, 
stocked at the same time and which completely filled two boxes, 
it has neither increased so much in numbers, nor constructed so 
much comb as they have done. Where it can be safely left to 
the bees to throw off their swarms naturally, I have no doubt 
that it is best to do so, as it is very probable that many an old, 
worn-out queen is, at such a time, got rid of, either by the bees 
themselves, or by falling helplessly to the ground, as in the 
previously recorded instance of the swarm’s vagaries. The bees 
re-issue with a young queen, and with vastly improved prospects. 
Management for September .—It is too often the practice of 
apiarians to leave partially-filled hives, whether as supers, nadirs, 
or collaterals, in open communication with their stocks during 
the winter. This should never bo done. Not only are the bees 
thereby prevented from maintaining in cold weather a sufficient 
heat, but the combs in such receptacles become mouldy and 
offensive, and are often totally unfit for use the following season; 
therefore, whatever extra box, glass, or hive now remains attached 
to the stocks should be at once removed; and any which contain 
empty combs, or but little honey, should be closely tied up in 
paper or cloths, and kept in a room of equable temperature; 
when, the following season, they may assist the bees in supplying 
their proprietor with an abundant harvest. 
It is well now to contract all wide entrances a little, to enable 
the bees to repel more effectually the assaults of wasps, robber- 
bees, and that pernicious pest the Tinea millonella, or wax-moth, 
which continues to use every effort to obtain ingress for the 
purpose of depositing its eggs. 
All who can or care to do so will find it interesting to weigh 
their hives periodically— say once a fortnight, and note the 
gradual decrease in weight which occurs from the middle of 
August until April; thus the supply of food can be always pretty 
correctly ascertained. 
Cottagers who have not yet taken up their hives intended for 
deprivation should do so without delay. If left longer the honey 
suffers in quality, and does not so readily drain from the combs'; 
nor can it often obtain so good a market price as that which is 
offered earlier. 
As a general rule to those who suffocate their bees, it will be 
found most profitable to take up the swarms in preference to old 
stocks, occasionally leaving one or two of the former to supply 
deficiencies which may occur.—S. Bevan Fox, jExeter. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Golden-pencilled Hamburgii (A Subscriber ).—The feathers of the 
pullet are good, hut not as good as might be. The ground colour is pale 
and the spots, or markings, or pencillings, are irregular. Perhaps you 
might have chosen abetter. A perfect bird should have a fully spiked comb, 
well piked behind, and the pike inclining upwards. It should be firmly 
fixed on the head. The hackle should be quite clear. The body accurately 
pencilled; the deaf ear quite white, and not too large; the legs blue. 
The feathers from the cock appear good. He differs from the hen in two 
particulars. He has no pencilling, and his tail should be black, but the 
sickle feathers should be bronzed at each edge. 
Removing Bees (X).—Place the hive on a board, stop up the entrance, 
enclose the whole in a cloth tied together at the four corners over the top • 
pass a pole beneath the corners so tied, and let two men, each holding an 
end of the pole, keeping the step, carry them gently over the three miles. 
If they are in the old-fashioned straw hive, there is' no better cover for it 
than the common straw hackle, with its lower ends retained round the 
hive by a hoop. 
