374 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 13, 1860. 
six months have elapsed since the removal of the English queens, 
and the ordinary black bees are still very numerous. My belief 
is, that from eight to nine months are the duration of common 
worker-bees’ existence ; but we shall soon have sufficient proof of 
the real state of the case. 
Endurance of Intense Cold. —This last winter has given 
abundant evidence (if it were before wanting), of the power of 
bees in well-peopled colonies of resisting cold. In the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Exeter, the thermometer stood very nearly at zero, 
yet so far as I have been able to determine, not one of my fourteen 
stocks has materially suffered from the cold, and some are ap¬ 
parently crowded with bees. The working season seemed likely to 
be an early one, as pollen was carried into hives, in this neighbour¬ 
hood, on the 5th of February. But since that time the weather 
has been very unpropitious for the collection of pollen. 
Management for March. —As the warmer weather comes 
on, it will be advisable to remove and clean floor-boards. Also, 
it will be well to see that the hives are not too much exposed to 
the glare of a March sun, which often tempts thousands of bees 
to destruction, on bright, cold, windy days. But anything like 
confinement is, of course, not to be thought of. It will be neces¬ 
sary now to inspect all hives whose store of food is doubtful, and 
supply those that are deficient with small quantities from time to 
time; and this should be done until the end of April, or even later, 
as the consumption of food by the young is so great at this 
season, that many hives perish, after having early appeared to 
commence work vigorously.—S. Betan Fox, Exeter. 
LIGURIAN QUEENS—MODE OF UNITING TO 
SWARMS. 
Although a bee-keeper of many years’ standing, I am not yet 
a bee-master, and have not much experience in manipulating 
with them. I should, therefore, deem it a favour if you will 
inform me whether the following will answer as a means of 
adding a stock to her Ligurian majesty. My present stocks are 
all in flat-topped straw hives, but as I do not expect to get my 
Ligurian queens before swarming time, I propose to have a 
couple of young swarms settled in two of Tegetmeier’s bar- 
boxes, and remove the combs, one by one, into an empty box; 
of course, in doing so, looking carefully for the queen, and if I 
can find her, I shall secure her, and place the small box con¬ 
taining the Italian queen and her attendants over an opening 
in the top of the box at night, a slip of perforated zinc inter¬ 
vening before allowing free access to the new comers.—J. M. 
[We think your plan a good one, and would recommend it to 
the attention of bee-keepers who may be desirous of availing 
themselves of the offer made by “ A Devonshire Bee-keeper,” 
but who possessing only common hives, are deterred by distrust 
of their own ability, to discover and remove the original queen 
from the stock appropriated to the Ligurian sovereign. It is 
always easy to discover a queen in a bar-hive by transferring 
the combs, bees, and all, into another box, and keeping a sharp 
look-out during the removal. In the case of a recent swarm 
care is requisite in handling the combs which are new and 
brittle, and if the weather be warm at the time, iUwould be best 
to operate in the cool of the morning. An efficient veil and 
stout gloves should be worn, although the bees are generally 
taken too much by surprise to make a serious attack.] 
LIGUEIAN BEES. 
Before accepting “ The Devonshire Bee-keeper's” liberal 
offer, would you be pleased to inform me— 
1. What advantage is anticipated from the Ligurian over the 
British bees ? ? 
2. Would they be equally hardy and industrious in our vari¬ 
able climate ? , 
3. How is it possible for “ The Devonshire Bee-keeper” 
or his customers to preserve either breed pure from the drone 
influence of his own and adjoining apiaries ? Would, therefore, 
this cross of foreign blood be an improvement or the reverse on 
the constitution of our own bees? 
These are questions of interest to all your apiarian readers, 
and of the highest importance to those intending to give them 
a trial, as well as to parties into whose immediate neighbour¬ 
hood they may be introduced.—A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper. 
[1. The question has been already asked by “ A Lady Sub¬ 
scriber,” and was answered in our last number. 
2. The Italian species having been found more hardy, in¬ 
dustrious, and prolific than the common bee, both in Germany 
and in the Alpine districts, there can be little doubt that it will 
prove equally valuable in this country. 
3 . “ The Devonshire Bee-keeper ” will banish all his 
stocks of the ordinary kind of bee to a distance of a mile and a 
half from his apiary during the next swarming season. As none 
of his immediate neighbours keep bees, he considers the cloud 
of drones arising from his four Ligurian stocks will be amply 
sufficient to insure the purity of the breed, especially as Dzierzon 
states that even where both kinds of drones exist in about equal 
numbers, the Italian queens will usually encounter Italian 
drones. Those who avail themselves of the offer of “ A Devon¬ 
shire Bee-keeper” should not permit their metamorphosed 
stocks to swarm during the present year, as there will probably 
be few or no Italian drones to fertilise the young queens. In 
the next and succeeding years it may also be advisable to isolate 
the strangers as much as possible during the swarming season. 
No bee-keeper need fear the introduction of these foreigners 
into his own or adjoining apiaries, since in Germany the Ligu¬ 
rian has been successfully crossed with the common bee, pro¬ 
ducing a variety which is considered by some apiarians to equal, 
if it does not actually excel, the pure-bred Italian race.] 
WATER FOR BEES. 
In my communication in your last number, on the subject of 
meal or flour as a substitute for pollen to bees, I observe an 
omission which I may be permitted to supply. I ought to have 
mentioned that the German authorities alluded to, make a prac¬ 
tice of giving a supply of water to the bees simultaneously with 
the meal. Indeed, this has long been a custom with many 
apiculturists, even as early as January, for without water pollen 
is of comparatively little use. Both the meal and the water are 
in the early spring introduced within the hive; old combs 
being used in each case where no better receptacle exists. . 
It may be well to remark, that as a difference of opinion 
prevails respecting the probable intermixture of breed between 
the common and Ligurian bees, Dzierzon’s experience is 
opposed to placing both kinds near together. When this was 
the case, he found that out of fifty young queens, one half only 
were impregnated by Italian drones; the other half produced 
a bastard progeny. —An Old Apiarian. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Minorca Fowls (TF. II.). —The Minorca is a black fowl with intensely 
red face, and white ear-lobe. It differs from the Spanish, inasmuch as it 
is round-bodied, and shorter on the leg. It is altogether more squat and 
dumpy in appearance. They are excellent layers, and handsome enough 
to attract in the Various Class. 
A kind of Bantam! (II. T. J.).— If you had not said the bird in ques¬ 
tion was a Bantam we should have thought it a small and faulty Golden- 
spangled Hamburgh. It is probably the result of an experiment of cross¬ 
ing between a Sebright Bantam and a Golden-spangled Hamburgh ; and 
the bird in question takes more after the latter than the former. 
Eggs for Sitting [A. S. B.).— They need not be excluded from the air, 
and will be equally good, or rather much better, if left in the nest. No 
other proof need be quoted than that you mention—“ A stolen nest usually 
produces a strong brood.” 
Baldtteai) Tumblers [T. Hussey). —Whether blue, black, dun, or almond 
coloured, the head must be perfectly white, with an even edge all round 
where the white joins the body colour just below the chin. If the edge is 
uneven, it is said to be “ slobbered.” The flight feathers (seven to ten) in 
each wing must be tvhite, and so must the tail, rump, thighs, and vent; 
pearl-eyed ; and thighs clean. 
How long Bees can Live without Food ( Anonymous ).—Your inquiry 
as to the length of time needed to starve a bee to death is one we cannot 
answer, never having tried such an experiment. At all events, whatever 
be the distance to which you propose to send a stock destitute of food at 
this most important period of the year, we should ask you to consider how 
far it is worth the trouble. The Wax Moth ( Tinea mellonella ), or Gallery 
Moth, as some call it. is chiefly seen from April to October, flying only at 
dusk or by night, being of a whitish or brown grey colour. It is small, 
but of extremely active habits, giving the bees an infinity of trouble in 
guarding the entrance of the hive. Having once obtained admission, they 
deposit eggs amongst the combs ; a small caterpillar shortly appearing, 
but increasing in size, and spinning around it a case of white silk, feeding 
upon the cells adjacent. As soon as it becomes a perfect moth more eggs 
are deposited, and in time destruction to the commonwealth ensues. 
Taking a Quf.f.n—Wood for Hives (It/noramus). —The common prac¬ 
tice before removing a queen bee from a hive is to fume the family, and 
seek her as the bees fall down from the effects of the smoke. In a bar-hive 
there is less difficulty; as, after fuming and removing the covers, the 
eornbs may be taken out and examined separately. The best wood for 
making bee-boxes is the more porous kinds, consequently mahogany is the 
worst. The thickness should not be less than from one inch to an inch and 
a quarter. The bars may be of half-inch deal. 
Shelter for Bee-hives (A Young Apiarian). —In the first line of our 
answer last week for “A wooden Bee-Atv«,” read "Ewe-house.” 
