January  30, 1866. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
10? 
I 
I 
i 
3ff| 
(HE  BEE-KEEPER. 
APIARIAN  NOTES. 
On  the  15th  of  January  I  saw  young  bees  in  a  number  of  hives, 
and  the  next  day  observed  some  in  search  of  flowers  in  the  garden. 
Snowdrops  have  been  in  bloom  since  the  2nd  of  the  month,  and 
Crocuses  are  showing  flower.  Doronicum  Harper  Crewe  has  been 
in  bloom  all  the  winter.  On  a  wall  large  plants  of  Jasminum 
nudiflorum  have  been  a  sheet  of  bloom  since  September,  and  are 
likely  to  continue  for  two  months  longer,  while  Pyrus  japonica 
has  been  in  bloom  for  a  month  or  more.  On  the  14th  we  had  a 
storm  of  wind  from  the  north-west,  the  most  severe  experienced 
from  that  direction.  Not  anticipating  such  a  storm  from  nearly 
north,  several  hives  were  blown  over,  which  could  have  been 
prevented  by  a  few  stakes,  having  a  rail  of  wood  nailed  on  The  top 
running  in  a  line  with  the  hives,  and  close  to  the  front  of  them, 
each  hive  being  securely  fixed  by  a  cord.  This  is  a  neat  and 
elective  way  of  securing  hives  against  storms,  and  maybe  permanent, 
as  it  in  no  way  affects  free  manipulation. 
Many  years  ago  a  well-known  contributor  to  these  pages  wrote 
a  letter  to  me  in  March  saying  several  of  his  best  hives  were  dead 
and  others  nearly  so,  because  of  the  dead  bees  closing  up  the  door¬ 
way,  which  would  have  been  avoided  had  he  kept  the  doorway 
open  above  the  eke  or  “raise.” 
I  replied,  stating  that  if  he  altered  his  outside  cases  so  that  they 
would  project  over  the  floor,  and  adopt  ventilating  floors,  there 
would  be  an  end  to  the  loss  of  hives , during  the  winter,  and 
no  necessity  of  doubling  colonies  during  the  autumn.  Though 
expert  managers  may  do  without  them  I  wish  to  impress  on 
beginners  the  importance  of  ventilating  floors,  the  foundation  of 
the  hive,  safeguards  against  certain  contingencies  that  come  to  the 
experienced  unawares,  and  are  conducive  to  the  health  of  the  bees. 
All  falling  debris  which  passes  through  the  perforations  of  the  zinc 
can  be  collected  and  destroyed,  together  with  the  numerous 
parasites  which  molest  hives,  and  are  a  great  source  of  carrying  any 
disease  that  may  exist  from  one  hive  to  another. — A  Lanarkshire 
Bee-keeper. 
AIDS  TO  SUCCESS  IN  BEE-KEEPING. 
As  is  now  well  known,  when  bees  are  left  to  shift  for  them¬ 
selves  without  .any  assistance  from  the  bee-keeper,  whether  they 
are  placed  in  an  empty  modern  frame  hive,  the  homely  straw  skep, 
in  a  hollow  tree,  or  the  roof  of  some  building,  the  result  will  be 
the  same,  a  great  loss  of  time  in  comb  building.  Some  authorities 
assume  that  it  takes  20  lbs.  of  honey  to  produce  1  lb.  of  wax. 
Whether  this  is  a  fact  or  not  I  am  unable  to  say,  though  from 
various  experiments  tried,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  half  the 
amount  is  nearer  the  mark. 
But  whether  more  or  less  is  consumed  by  the  bees  to  produce 
the  desired  effect,  the  fact  remains  that  there  is  a  great  waste  of 
energy  on  the  part  of  the  busy  worker.  Valuable  time  is  lost,  and 
this  is  a  great  consideration  with  bee-keepers,  whose  chief  harvest 
is  obtained  from  the  White  Clover,  and  which  in  my  district  is 
usually  at  its  best  the  last  fortnight  of  June  and  the  first  week  in 
July.  It  is  even  more  so,  however,  to  those  whose  chief  supply  is 
obtained  from  the  fruit  trees  when  in  bloom,  as  this  takes  place 
about  two  months  earlier.  In  other  districts  where  Mustard  is 
grown  very  extensively,  a  rich  harvest  of  honey  is  yielded  early  in 
the  season.  Although  this  is  not  of  the  first  quality,  when  com¬ 
pared  with  that  obtained  from  the  White  Clover  it  invariably  finds 
a  ready  market  on  account  of  its  colour  being  very  white.  I  am 
reminded  of  the  fact  that  an  apiary  in  Lincolnshire  worked  on  the 
lines  advocated  in  these  pages,  which  averaged  in  1895  from  70  to 
80  lbs.  per  hive  obtained  from  Mustard  alone,  thus  showing  what 
good  management  will  do,  coupled  with  the  fine  weather  experienced 
before  the  White  Clover  was  in  bloom.  This  could  not  have  been 
achieved  had  the  bees  been  left  to  chance. 
Comb  foundation  is  one  of  the  greatest  aids  to  success.  When 
first  introduced  it  was  used  chiefly  in  narrow  strips  secured  to  the 
top  bar  of  the  frame.  From  this  the  bees  built  their  combs 
perfectly  straight,  but  much  valuable  time  was  lost  in  the 
operation.  Since  then,  however,  great  strides  have  been  made  in 
the  manufacture  of  foundation,  and  at  the  present  time  many  tons 
of  wax  are  annually  made  into  foundation  in  this  country  alone  ; 
and  as  it  can  be  obtained  in  sheets  the  size  of  any  frame,  whether 
standard  or  otherwise,  all  may  have  their  wants  supplied  at  a  very 
small  cost  above  the  price  of  ordinary  wax. 
It  will  readily  be  seen  the  great  advantage  derivable  from 
using  full  sheets  of  foundation,  on  which  the  bees  will  at  once 
commence  to  draw  out  the  cells,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time 
a  strong  colony  will  have  all  the  cells  the  required  length.  Within 
twenty-four  hours  the  queen  will  have  laid  some  thousands  of 
eggs,  and  if  the  weather  is  favourable  honey  will  at  once  be  stored. 
Should  the  weather  be  dull  or  showery,  the  bees  may  be  kept 
employed  in  drawing  out  the  foundation  by  feeding  with  a  pint  uf 
thin  syrup  daily  until  a  favourable  change  takes  place  in  the 
weather. 
It  is  advisable  for  a  beginner  to  use  full  sheets  of  thick  brood 
foundation,  these  averaging  about  six  sheets  to  the  pound.  I 
always  use  thin  foundation,  of  which  there  are  about  sixteen  sheets 
to  the  pound,  thus  effecting  a  great  saving  ;  but  some  experience 
is  needed,  and  great  care  required  when  used  in  brood  chambers,  or 
a  breakdown  will  occur.  Compare  this  with  the  let-alone  system 
of  placing  the  bees  in  an  empty  hive  to  take  their  chance  of  comb 
building,  and  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  it  is  money  well  spent  to 
provide  the  bees  with  full  sheets  of  foundation  in  preference  to 
only  using  guide  combs,  or,  what  is  worse,  none  at  all. 
Foundation  may  be  obtained  from  any  dealer  in  bee  appliances 
who  advertises  in  these  pages,  and  if  ordered  during  the  winter 
months  can  usually  be  obtained  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  when  left 
until  the  busy  season  sets  in.  I  prefer  the  thin,  light  coloured  for 
supers,  but  for  the  brood  chamber  it  does  not  matter  whether  light 
or  dark,  so  long  as  it  is  worker  comb  and  not  drone  cells. — 
An  English  Bee-keeper. 
A  Bee  Puzzle. 
As  an  amateur  I  read  every  line  in  your  bee  columns  with  great 
interest,  and  have  learned  very  much  from  your  expert  practitioners 
to  my  advantage.  One  of  them  has  now  puzzled  me,  and  I  said  to 
myself  the  other  day — Our  friend  over  the  border  must  have  been 
having  forty  winks  after  his  dinner  and  wrote  the  article  on  page  41 
before  he  was  well  awake,  or  how  is  one  to  account  for  the  following  : 
— “  At  the  present  time  I  have  not  a  younger  bee  in  my  apiary  than 
five  months,  while  most  of  them  are  older.”  When  I  read  this  I 
rubbed  my  eyes  and  wondered  if  I  were  awake  or  dreaming,  but 
eventually  passed  it  as  a  slip  of  the  pen.  As  “  A.  L.  B  ”  is  so  careful 
to  be  accurate  and  has  made  no  correction,  I  am  now  beginning  to 
wonder  whether  I  am  as  wide  awake  as  I  ought  to  be,  and  shall  be 
glad  if  he  will  open  my  eyes  on  the  subject,  for  I  really  cannot 
understand  the  statement  alluded  to. — A  Surrey  Novice. 
All  correspondence  should  be  directed  either  to  “  The 
Editor  ”  or  to  “  The  Publisher.”  Letters  addressed  to 
Dr.  Hogg  or  members  of  the  staff  often  remain  unopened 
unavoidably.  We  request  that  no  one  will  write  privately 
to  any  of  our  correspondents,  as  doing  so  subjects  them  to 
unjustifiable  trouble  and  expense. 
Correspondents  should  not  mix  up  on  the  same  sheet  questions 
relating  to  Gardening  and  those  on  Bee  subjects,  and  should 
never  send  more  than  two  or  three  questions  at  once.  All 
articles  intended  for  insertion  should  be  written  on  one  side  of 
the  paper  only.  We  cannot  reply  to  questions  through  the  post, 
and  we  do  not  undertake  to  return  rejected  communications. 
Sowing  Violet  Seed  (J.  JE.). — The  best  time  to  sow  Violet  seed 
generally  is  in  the  spring,  affording  the  plants,  that  is,  the  seed  bed, 
an  open  rather  than  a  shaded  situation,  for,  though  the  plants  grow  beBt 
in  a  shaded  and  moist  position,  they  do  not  make  that  stout  growth  so 
essential  for  early  and  strong  flowering  as  in  an  open  one,  always  provided 
the  soil  is  rich,  firm,  and  kept  properly  moist.  You  may  sow  in  good  rich 
soil  on  an  east  or  west  border,  covering  the  seed  about  an  eighth  of  an 
inch  with  fine  mould,  and  when  the  plants  have  about  two  rough  or 
second  leaves,  transplant  them  carefully,  giving  each  from  9  to  12  inches 
square  space  to  grow  in,  watering  until  established. 
Watering  Orchids  (IF.  A). — This  question  has  been  repeatedly 
answered  in  ttiis  column,  and  we  can  only  say  again  that  the  amount 
of  water  required  depends  entirely  upon  the  species  and  the  amount  of 
activity  at  the  roots.  Perhaps  the  spotting  of  the  blossomS  is  due  to 
overabundant  atmospheric  moisture ;  we  are  presuming  that  no  water 
has  been  allowed  to  touch  the  flowers,  as  this  would  at  once  account 
for  it.  Water  drawn  straight  from  the  mains  is  much  too  cold  for 
watering  Orchids  of  any  kind  ;  it  ought  always  to  be  a  few  deprees 
warmer  than  the  house  in  which  the  plants  are  grown.  Soft  or  rain 
water  is  much  better,  especially  for  use  over  the  foliage  in  summer.  The 
supply  must  never  be  entirely  withheld  from  Cattleyas ;  always  give 
sufficient  to  keep  the  pseudo-bulbs  plump. 
