^November 19, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
183 
It must not be forgotten that when we have entered 
upon the month of April we are within two months of 
tho honey season, which, when it arrives, if we have 
not a large number of surplus bees in each stock, our 
chances of a good harvest are lost. Bees can only raise 
brood to the extent of the amount of comb they can 
cover ; whilst the cluster of bees, at the same time, is 
sufficiently compact to generate enough heat for the 
purpose of rearing brood. 
It will therefore be seen that the process of increase 
cannot at first be rapid, as extensive brood-rearing can 
only proceed in a populous colony. Early breeding is 
thus necessary to enable us to have plenty of bees 
hatching out by the middle of May ; and early feeding 
is also a necessity, as breeding is not so much regulated 
by the amount of stores they possess as by the amount 
steadily coming in. Feeding must he constant when 
once begun, and the bees must not be allowed to take 
the syrup quicker than they can consume it, as you do 
not want the syrup stored, hut converted into bees. 
Get your stock populous by the middle of May, with 
plenty of bees hatching out, and you are then in a 
position to take advantage of the harvest to be obtained 
from the fruit blossom. You are also in a position to 
begin queen-rearing or to make an artificial swarm, a3 
may seem best to you ; or the bees may be occupied in 
building comb. The more comb you have ready the 
better are your prospects. No stock can possibly store 
an exceptionally large weight of honey which has to 
build its surplus comb during the honey-flow, but with 
it ready built an exceedingly large amount of honey 
may, in a good district, be stored by a strong stock. 
"When breeding has once begun in earnest take care 
room is given in advance of their requirements, other¬ 
wise preparation for swarming will have commenced, 
and those who desire a good harvest must endeavour 
to prevent the latter. 
So far, an endeavour has been made to show the 
importance—nay, the absolute necessity—of having an 
abundance of bees, in order fully to take advantage of 
a copious flow of nectar. Having obtained such, and 
the flow begun, excessive brood-rearing can no longer 
be profitably continued, but should henceforth gradu¬ 
ally decline to the end of the season. It has been 
estimated that the “brooding, feeding and sealing of 
a single bee from the egg upwards costs as much to the 
colony as storing four cells with honey.” Only the 
bees hatched before or near the beginning of the honey- 
flow are able to more than cover by their labour the 
cost of their production ; it follows that those hatched 
towards the end of the season cannot possibly give any 
return. Breeding, therefore, should only be continued 
at such a rate as will keep the stock sufficiently 
populous at the end of autumn for wintering purposes. 
The manner in which surplus honey is obtained 
necessarily varies much in detail, the bee-keeper being 
guided by locality, length of the season, condition of 
his stock, or other surrounding circumstances which 
experience and an ever-watchful eye dictates. 
Under natural conditions the bee stores its honey at 
a point furthest from the entrance, where it is thus 
least accessible to an enemy, and at the same time 
conveniently near the brood nest. In working for 
surplus honey we must adapt our practice to nature’s 
teaching, and place our receptables for such surplus 
above the brood nest. Should we intend to work for 
extracted honey, it might be found an advantage very 
early in the season to place a box containing frames 
with starters, or filled with comb foundation beneath 
the brood chamber, the frames being spaced lj ins. 
from centre to centre, the same distance being observed 
also in the brood chamber. Should we have a young 
newly mated queen at the head of the colony starters 
are preferable, but with an older queen frames filled 
with foundation should be given to prevent excessive 
building of drone comb. "When the white clover begins 
to flower, this being our chief honey source, or sooner 
should there be a copious flow of nectar from other 
sources, it will be necessary to add a box of ready-built 
combs at the top, but spacing the combs not less than 
lj ins. from centre to centre, as at this distance apart 
there is less likelihood of the queen occupying them 
with brood, and as they are only placed over the brood- 
nest, after the flow of nectar has begun, the bees will 
at once deposit honey therein, thus providing a further 
barrier to the operations of the queen. The work in 
the lower box will now proceed slowly, the combs in 
which will, probably, not get completed at all during 
the season, thus providing a good safety valve against 
swarming. There will be little else now to do other 
than to keep the extractor going emptying the combs 
as soon as they are sealed over, but on no account is it 
advisable to extract unsealed honey, which being 
unripe will ferment, rendering it unfit for food. 
In working for comb-honey, our practice will be 
somewhat different. When a little honey lias begun 
to come in, we must endeavour to get the bees to draw 
out comb in sections. If we are able to give them some 
ready built to begin with, but little difficulty will be 
experienced in inducing them to take possession. 
It will be necessary, before placing the crate of 
sections on the hive, to reduce the number of combs in 
the brood-chamber, leaving only eight or nine, these 
being, if possible, filled with brood. The bees will 
thus be crowded aloft and forced into the sections. 
When combs in the sections are about half drawn out, 
a second crate may be added, placing this under the 
first one ; and when this is equally advanced, a third 
may be added in a similar manner ; but in this the 
bee-keeper will be guided by circumstances. The 
sections in the top crate will be finished first, and 
should be removed as soon as sealed over, or their 
appearance will be spoiled. It will be found that the 
difficulties in securing comb-honey are greater than 
when working for extracted, as we are ever confronted 
with the swarming fever. Should a swarm issue, it 
may be at once converted into a stock for storing surplus 
by limiting the space in the brood chamber of the hive 
into which it is put to not more than six frames, giving 
starters only, and placing over these queen-excluder 
zinc, giving a crate of sections with comb ready built or 
partly drawn out on the top. The brood in the chamber 
below can only slowly extend as comb is built ; but 
storing in the sections above will proceed rapidly. In 
working for comb or extracted honey, no hard-and-fast 
lines can be drawn beyond the necessity of securing 
strong colonies for the opening of the season. Circum¬ 
stances vary much, it frequently happening that two 
stocks standing side by side, each being worked with 
the same object, have to be differently treated. 
There should, however, be no delay in providing 
room for the storing of surplus honey, for should this 
not be promptly given, the brood-nest as the young 
are hatched out will be filled with honey, leaving no 
room for the operations of the queen, spoiling the stock 
for the production of comb-honey, and when autumn 
arrives it is more than possible there would be such a 
paucity of bees, that the stock would be too poor for 
wintering. 
At the end of the season, "when all surplus has been 
removed, it will often be found that those stocks which 
have given the best returns have little or no stores left. 
In such cases it is essential at once to give a good dose 
of syrup—say 15 or 20 lbs.; this will put the bees in 
good spirits after being deprived of their stores. If the 
season continues favourable some little honey will yet 
be coming in, sufficient, perhaps, to keep the queen 
breeding ; if not, syrup must be given, as we want a 
few bees hatching out during August and September, 
leaving us in a better position for wintering. 
See that by the end of September they have enough 
stores for winter, and where short supply the de¬ 
ficiency, feeding as rapidly as the bees can take it. 
Give greater space between the combs, placing them 
If ins. from centre to centre, and before cold weather 
sets in, fill the spare room between the dummies or 
division-boards and the hive walls with chaff or cork- 
dust, putting over the frames a chaff cushion, or, what 
is better, a box with a canvas bottom filled with cork- 
dust to the depth of 4 ins. They will be thus less 
influenced by the sudden changes in temperature to 
which we are subject, and being kept warm and snug, 
will consume less food during the winter and come out 
stronger in spring. In concluding, I may add that 
the modern practice of bee-keeping has considerable 
advantages over that previously obtained. More honey 
of superior quality can be secured —honey free from 
the stains of pollen or other contaminations of the 
brood nest—and, what is most important, we are able 
to dispense with the sulphur pit, whereby the “hen 
was killed to get the golden egg.” The hive of the 
past, the old straw skep, is to all intents and purposes 
a sealed book, to be discarded by the practical Sbee- 
keeper. 
Any person having a little spare time, either in early 
morning or at evening, may with advantage adopt bee¬ 
keeping. With proper management a profit is certain, 
bringing with it at the same time a not unworthy 
offering to our tables; whilst the pleasing duties 
connected with the apiary have to be experienced ere 
they can be realised. And to the lover of nature there 
is in the study of the honey bee a page in nature’s 
book before him filled with marvellous wonders, pro¬ 
viding food for thought and reflection, the whole 
tendency of which is to refine the tastes and elevate 
the desires. It brings us face to face with the match¬ 
less works of creation, leading us through nature to 
nature’s God. 
The Am ateurs’ Garden. 
The Lawn. —At this season of the year when out¬ 
door amusements are less enjoyed and less patronised 
than in summer, this invaluable adjunct to a garden is 
liable to suffer neglect, and the requirements in the 
shape of repairs or alterations that were felt to be 
necessary when the weather was warmer are now over¬ 
looked or forgotten. In other cases it may be that 
spring is considered early enough to attend to the 
matter, a decision, unfortunately, but too common, 
especially in the case of small gardens. If a verdant 
and velvety green turf be the desideratum, the 
best means to secure that should be a primary consider¬ 
ation. 
If alterations are deferred till spring, it is more than 
likely that the latter season finds us too busy to proceed 
with the work, owing to the pressure of other matters 
that must be done in season. As far as outdoor 
gardening and routine work is concerned, now is the 
dullest time, which may profitably be devoted to any 
projected alterations or improvements ; and to those 
interested in garden work, the operation need not be 
uninteresting. Should the weather keep mild and 
open, a more favourable opportunity could not be 
embraced, both for the work itself and for the benefit 
of the turf, which will so far recover from the dis¬ 
turbance as to be practically established before dry or 
warm weather can set in the following season. The 
soil is now in excellent condition for root extension, 
and even if little or no growth is observable 
above ground, the root system is rapidly extending 
its area. 
"Where much treading is occasioned in summer, and 
especially in wet weather, the ground has a great 
tendency to become uneven where it is soft or naturally 
moist; so that undulations caused thereby are not only 
inconvenient but unsightly. The sites of old beds are 
extremely liable to this sinking, and should they be 
few and the rest of the lawn tolerably even, no more 
turf need be lifted than to uncover the sunken portions, 
where a quantity of soil may be introduced and the 
whole trodden firm. Should, however, any extent of 
the lawn require alteration, a better plan would be to 
lift the turf entirely and relevel the ground. No degree 
of 'perfection can hope to be attained at this sort of 
work without the use of proper tools ; these will consist 
of a turfing iron, a verger, a garden reel] and line by 
which the turf may be cut regularly in widths of 1 ft. 
and in lengths of 3 ft. If the lawn is of any extent 
and cannot all be conveniently done within a reasonable 
time, the more advisable plan would be to execute the 
work in several distinct sections. The explanation of 
this is that the turf gets destroyed by rotting of the 
grass if, through any untoward cause, it should have to 
lay in the heap and rolled up for any period of time. 
Even in winter, while little growth is being produced, 
grass cannot be kept in darkness with impunity, so 
that provision should be made for relaying it at an 
early period. 
Before proceeding to lift the turf, a regular survey 
of the ground should first be made, so as to determine 
the levels at numerous and various points to which it 
will be most convenient to conform the surface as a 
whole when re-levelled and completed. To do this a 
little experience with the borning-rods is necessary ; 
and where this experience has not been acquired, it 
would be advisable to call in the assistance of an ex¬ 
perienced man. In all cases, three persons will be 
required to take up the levels in a proper manner by 
this means. For the same reason, three borning-rods— 
which consist of an upright piece, with a transverse 
bar in the shape of a X square—will be necessary. The 
transverse bars should all be painted in different colours, 
so as to be readily distinguishable by the eye when 
taking the levels. As the exact levels are determined, 
a stout peg should be driven into the ground, with its 
head at the exact point ascertained by the horning-rod. 
A stout one is necessary to prevent any displacement 
during the operation, and another may serve to mark 
the place. 
Having ascertained the level for the whole piece of 
ground, the lifting of the turf may be commenced in 
sections. It should be cut in pieces of the size above 
described, rolled up carefully, and laid on one side out 
of the way of the operators. Then proceed to dig the 
ground rather deeply and of an equal depth all over, 
so that in settling down it may do so evenly without 
presenting any inequalities. It is the more essential 
that this matter be strictly attended to if the lawn has 
previously been intersected with flower-beds, because 
