548 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  23,  1904. 
Wy 
HE  BEE-KEEPER. 
.1  ■  J  ■  1.  i  ■  I  -  l-l  •  I  -  .  -  I  -  I  -J  -  -.J.-  '  -  I  M-I  -  I 
Ants  and  Bees. 
Til  .some  parts  of  the  country  ants  prove  a  great  pest  to  the 
hee-keeper,  although  I  fear  the  harm  they  do  is  nipre  imaginary 
than  real.  Where  these  in.sects  visit  hives  it  will  be  noticed 
that  they  pay  more  attention  to  those  which  are  inhabited  than 
those  which  are  empty,  as  far  as  bees  are  concerned,  but  have 
plenty  of  stores’,  and  this  leads  one  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
visit  ‘inhabited  hives  as  much  as  anything  for  the  warmth. 
When  the  ants  commence  to  make  mounds  in  the  spring, 
take  a  kettle  of  boiling  water  and  pour  it  into  the  nest,  or  if 
they  are  very  troublesome  pour  kerosene  over  the  mounds.  They 
can  easily  be  kept  out  of  the  hives  by  placing  the  legs  of  the  hives 
in  saucers  containing  water.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  a  strong 
colony  will  always  clear  the  hives  of  these  intruders  by  carrying 
them  away  as  they,  do  dead  bees,  and  dropping  them  some 
distance  from  home. 
Foundation. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  our  beginners  in  the  art  of 
bee-keeping  do  not  attach  sufficient  imiiortance  to  the  need  of 
procuring  good  foundation.  To  purchase  much  of  the  founda¬ 
tion  that  is  sold  so  cheaply  is  a  waste  of  money,  and  it  is 
penn.t  wise  and  pound  fooli.sh  to  use  starters  only.  Most  of  our 
cleverest  men  affirm  that  the  bees  consume  151b  to  201b  of  honey 
to  make  11b  of  wax.  Then  where  i.s  the  gain  ?  for  a  pound  of 
foundation  can  be  obtained  for  2s.  4d.,  and  201b  of  honey  costs 
at  least  10s.  Use  full  sheets,  then,  of  the  best  foundation  if 
you  wish  to  secure  the  best  results. 
Some  time  ago  I  was  a.sked  by  a  lady  to  place  some  founda¬ 
tion  in  the  frames  of  a  good  stock  of  bees.  About  tliM  time  I 
was  doing  the  same  in  one  of  my  own  hives.  It  was  nrost  in¬ 
teresting  to  notice  the  rates  at  which  the  bees  drew  out  the 
comb  and  filled  it  with  brood.  The  foundation  in  the  first 
instance  was  a  composition  and  cheap ;  and  used  in  my  hives 
was  the  best,  and,  in  some  instances,  mine  was  drawn  out  and 
occupied  Avith  brood  before  the  other  was  touched.  If  I  needed 
any  convincing  before,  I  required  none  noAV.  By  using  founda¬ 
tion  in  the  brood  chamber  we  can  regulate,  in  a  degree,  the 
number  of  drones;  this  of  itself  is  very  desirable. 
There  is  no  economy  in  using  thin  foundation  in  the  queen’s 
apartments.  Eight  sheets  to  the  pound  I  find  very  satisfactory 
in  every  Avay.  Ahvays  make  them  secure  in  the  frames,  and  the 
best  results  are  obtained  by  Aviring.  In  any  case  let  about 
quarter  of  an  inch  of  foundation  remain  above  the  top  of  the 
frame,  and  then  run  a  hot  iron  along  it  to  melt  the  Avax,  and 
thus  seal  it  in.  When  I  first  commenced  bee-keeping  I  omitted 
this  last  isiece  of  advice  Avith  the  most  disastrous  results,  for  I 
started  during  a  very  Avarm  autumn  Avith  some  driven  bees,  and 
one  day  Avhen  I  Avent  to  feed  them,  I  found  the  bees  and  founda¬ 
tion  in  a  ma.ss  on  the  floor  board.  I  have  learned  more  about 
bee-keeping  through  failures  than  by  success. 
In  sections  always  use  the  thinnest  foundation  Avith  a  Avorker 
base,  for  if  drone  base  be  employed  it  makes  the  sections  look 
clumsy  and  unattractive.  For  extracted  honey  in  shalloAv 
frames  use  that  Avith  the  drone  base. 
Frame  Spacing. 
Having  discussed  how  necessary  it  is  to  place  full  sheets  of 
foundation  in  the  frames,  it  may  be  AA'ell  to  say  a  feAA’  Avords  on 
.-jpacing  them  in  the  brood  chamber.  AVhat  is  our  object  in  the 
body  box  All  of  us  are  agreed,  I  believe,  that  AA'e  require  as 
much  brood  space  as  possible,  coupled  Avith  an  economy  of  the 
heat  of  the  cluster.  Hoav  then  can  Ave  discover  the  correct  dis¬ 
tancing?  An  eminent  German,  I  believe,  examined  bees  in  a 
natural  state,  i.e.,  in  trees  and  skeps,  and  he  found  the  centre 
combs  Avere  much  nearer  together  than  those  on  the  outside, 
and  that  the  average  distance  AA  as  about  Ifin.  After  many  ex¬ 
periments  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the  best  results  are 
attained  by  spacing  them  in  lUn  apart  from  centre  to  centre.  It 
IS  simplest  to  purchase  metal  ends,  Avhich  are  very  cheap,  and 
save  infinite  trouble. 
If  combs  ai-e  Avider  apart  I  find  more  honey  is  stored  in  the 
brood  chamber,  and,  as  a  consequence,  there  is  less  brood  and 
less  .super  honey.  Clo.se  spacing  encourages  more  brood  raising 
consisting  of  Avorkers,  and  retards  the  raising  of  drones. — 
Hybla. 
Doubling. 
During  the  past  feAV  years  the  conviction  has  been  forced 
upon  many  bee-keepers  that  honey  in  bulk  as  a  commercial  com¬ 
modity  is  far  more  valuable  than  comb  honey,  and  it  is  con.se- 
quently  easy  to  understand  that  in  those  apiaries  Avhere  its 
production  is  the  main  object,  any  suggestion  liy  Avhich  the 
liarve.st  of  it  may  lie  augmented  Avill  be  very  acceptable.  There 
is  really  nothing  strange  in  this  preference  for  extracted  honey, 
Avhen  the  matter  i.s  logically  considered.  For  one  thing,  there 
i.s  a  great  deal  less  trouble  in  Avorking  colonies  for  it,  and  there 
i.s  also  less  care  required  in  afterAvards  dealing  Avith  honey  in 
bulk  irrespective  of  the  increased  Aveight  obtained. 
A  method  of  management  under  Avhich  greater  harvests  can 
be  secured  is  termed  doubling  or  storifying.  Not  only  is  the 
yield  more  by  this  plan  than  any  other,  but  SAvarming  is  at  the 
same  time  checked  Avith  tolerable  certainty.  There  have,  Iioaa- 
ever,  been  so  many  conflicting  reiiorts  as  to  the  achievements  of 
the  system,  that  many  are  seeking  aiithoritatiAm  information  on 
the  subject. 
Oetl’s  golden  rule  for  the  successful  production  of  honey  was 
“  tveep  your  stocks  strong,”  i.e.,  have  the  AAorking  population 
largely  in  Gxce.s.s  of  that  required  for  the  duties  of  the  hive, 
such  as  comb  building,  nuqsing,  Ac.  In  the  first  place,  it  must 
be  obvious  that  the  quantity  of  honey  collected  by  the  bees 
must  ahvays  be  in  proportion  to  the  number  AA’hich  can  be 
spared  from  the  labours  of  the  hive  to  gather  it,  and  it  Avill  be 
observed  that  those  colonies  Avhich  produce  the  largest  quantity 
of  honey  are  those  AA'hich  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  Avere 
very  strong. 
Again,  if  a  young  and  prolific  queen  at  the  head  of  a  colony 
is  from  some  cause — say,  paucity  of  bees — unable  to  deposit  the 
maximum  number  of  eggs  until  the  commencement  of  the  honey 
season,  the  inevitable  result  Avill  be  an  excess  of  brood  at  an 
inopportune  time,  and  a  large  number  of  labourers  AA’hose  efforts 
might  have  been  expended  in  gathering  honey  will  have  their 
attention  monopolised  by  the  brood  and  its  wants,  and  conse¬ 
quently  those  feAV  bees  Avhich  are  able  to  gather  honey  Avill  only 
bring  sufficient  in  for  the  daily  requirement  of  the  colony. 
Noav,  if  the  number  of  adult  bees  above  those  required  for 
nursing  are  not  produced  before  the  honey  floAv,  the  same  dis- 
liroportion  sometimes  continues  until  the  best  part  of  the  floAv 
is  past,  and  there  is  comsequently  little  or  no  surplus  stored ; 
but  should  there  be  tAvo  colonies  in  a  similar  condition,  or  ju.st 
on  the  verge  of  entering  the  supers,  and  the  season  passing 
aAvay,  a  larger  population  can  be  obtained  in  time  to  accumulate 
a  little  surplus  by  doubling  them  and  leaving  only  one  queen. 
The  hatching  of  the  brood  above  and  beloAv  after  doubling 
secures  a  colony  of  foragers  far  in  excess  numerically  of  that 
Avhich  Avould  have  been  the  case  if  separated,  and  comsequently 
better  results  are  secured  l)y  the  union  of  the  tAvo  stocks. 
The  best  plan,  hoAvever,  Avith  such  doubtful  colonies  is  to 
stimulate  them  early  in  order  to  produce  as  much  brood  as 
possible,  and  immediately  both  brood  chambers  are  full  of  comb 
and  bees,  and  honey  is  coming  in,  double  them  as  folloAvs 
Select  two  of  the  best  stocks,  remove  the  quilts,  and  after  find¬ 
ing  one  of  the  queens,  place  her  Avith  the  bar  of  bees  and  brood 
npon  AAdiich  she  is  found  on  the  old  stand  in  a  neAv  brood  box, 
fixing  the  brood  chamber  Avith  the  remaining  combs  and  bees 
above  the  other  colony  still  in  possession  of  its  queen. 
If  queen  excluder  is  first  placed  betAveen  the  tAvo  brood 
nests  the  combs  in  the  upper  one  may  (after  twenty-one  days 
have  elapsed)  be  removed  as  soon  as  sealed  and  the  honey 
extracted,  as  all  the  brood  Avill  bv  that  time  have  hatched,  and 
the  qneen  being  confined  to  the  loAver  chamber  there  is  not  the 
slightest  risk  of  interfering  Avith  or  injuring  her.  The  stock 
from  Avhich  the  combs  of  brood  have  been  taken  must  be  treated 
as  a  SAvarm,  empty  combs  being  su_pplied  and  feeding  com¬ 
menced,  as  all  the  old  bees  Avill  return  to  their  former  position 
and  their  OAvn  queen.  Doubling  or  storifying,  as  explained  above, 
secures  an  immense  force  of  young  bees  through  the  double 
quantity  of  brood,  and  at  the  same  time  furnishes  ample  .storage 
space  as  the  brood  hatches  out,  Avhich  the  bees  soon  take  advan¬ 
tage  of.  A  hive  so  managed,  Avitli  a  young  prolific  qneen  to 
maintain  the  increase  of  population,  ought  to  produce  as  much 
as  20dlb  of  honey  in  a  moderate  season,  but  the  production  of 
honey  in  large  quantities  is  only  possible  Avith  vast  surplus 
populations  Avhen  honey  is  abundant. — E.  E.,  Sandbach. 
- • - - 
Fruit  and  Vegetables. — Wgetables  of  all  kinds  have  been 
vei-y  plentiful  during  the  AA'eek,  and  piices  have  given  Avay  all 
round,  especially  for  Potatoes.  At  Leeds,  oAving  to  heavy 
arrivals  from  Jersey.  neAV  Potatoes  fell  Gs.  per  CAvt.  The  Man- 
che.ster  reporter  refers  to  the  first  arrival  in  the  market  of 
Cheshire  outdoor-groAvn  Potatoes,  AA’hich  sold  at  8s.  per  601b. 
English  Gooseberries,  French  Cherries,  and  StraAvberries  are 
very  plentiful  and  cheap.  Tasmanian  Apples  are  noAV  arriving 
“  Avasty,”  and  have  fallen  in  price.  The  Leeds  reporter  states 
that  Cabbage  of  exceptionally  good  quality  is  arriving  from  Lin¬ 
colnshire,  and  a  plentiful  supply  of  vegetables  is  generally  re¬ 
ported.  The  London  repoiter  states  that  the  cloudy  weather 
is  affectine  the  groAvth  of  British  StraAA’berries,  and  supplies 
are  not  arriving  freely.  He  refers  to  the  first  arriA’al  of  Dutch 
Cucumbers. 
